Charmed Fic: Made Weak by Time and Fate: Chapter Four

[jesterladyfic]

Chapter Four

He couldn't believe the way they acted. Just how stupid were they? It shouldn't take a horrible life to make people realize how to take care of each other and live with common sense. Oh well, it was time for some extreme measures. He didn't like it, but he didn't see that he had a choice.

Piper was not really having that great of a day. But it wasn't really that bad either. Still, she could do without being sucked into a vortex. Was that too much to ask? In the end she managed to run the demon causing the vortex off and without the help of any of her sisters.

Chris was seething once he got them home, however. Sometimes he reminded Piper of herself and how she used to be when she was younger. There was something off about him; that she did have to admit. But she didn't want to keep feeding Leo's obsession with finding out some big secret about Chris, so she tried not to think about it too much. And, perhaps if she wasn't so busy dealing with demons and raising a boy and trying to keep a struggling marriage together, she might have more time for such things.

Chris did seem to be capable of fighting his own battles for the most part anyway.

"The fineries of what almost killed Piper aren't important. The point is she was almost killed and no one was here to help."

Phoebe and Paige were properly apologetic and that was enough for Piper because goodness knows she'd never stop anyone from having normalcy in their life.

Not that that seemed to matter to Chris. When she tried to get up to get ready for some actual friends coming to visit her, he stopped her.

"Not so fast, we've got a demon to hunt. If I could just find him in here," he said, flipping through the Book furiously.

"Okay, but regardless of what you find in there, I'm gonna hang out with my friends because I will have a normal life if it kills me."

Piper slammed her hand down for emphasis and winced. She'd cut it earlier in the kitchen and it was sliced pretty good. If Leo would ever bother to come home she might ask him to heal it, then again, she really tried not to depend on him for small things like this. It was all part and parcel of what she'd been saying about normalcy.

"I'd use magic for everything if I could," Paige said in response to that.

"Well, if I had done this fighting a demon that would be one thing. But I did it in the kitchen. The chef did it in the kitchen, so that person will wear this bandage for the shame of it all."

Chris kept waxing on about the vortexes and how he'd seen them before. Really, Piper needed to start keeping a log of all the things Chris said about the future, because for a guy who kept saying he couldn't tell them anything, he told them a lot of stuff.

"You should be aware that these vortexes suck their victims into pocket realms of alternate realities. Dangerous alternate realities, people. Based on fantasies, desires, dreams." The girls weren't really in listening mode and Piper couldn't blame them. Chris spent so much time worrying about demons that he'd almost become an indicator of when they didn’t have to worry about things. They left. "No! No, no, no. We have a demon to hunt, get back here," he called vainly after them.

Piper leant on his shoulder and he looked at her in shock as if he wasn't really used to people touching him.

"You are our new favorite Whitelighter and all, but you need to lighten up."

"No, you three need to get serious, because if you keep putting your personal lives before your wiccan duties, you're gonna pay for it."

"Maybe so, but not today. I scared away the demon, he's not coming back, I have friends coming, and I also have chocolate chip cookies in the oven."

Piper went about her day and didn't pay any attention to Chris orbing out. She hummed while she got her cookies out of the oven. She had some friends coming over for a girl's day and while she was annoyed it wasn't going to include her, Leo was supposed to take Wyatt Up There with him today and spend some time with him. Piper wasn't really sure about the merits of Elders having 'take your kids to work' days, but it seemed to be the only way for Leo to be able to spend time with Wyatt anymore. When he wasn't working Up There, he was obsessing about what Chris was doing. Too bad they didn't have 'take your wife to work' days. Then again, not really like she had time for that either.

Leo orbed in and she smiled at him. Beside them Wyatt sneezed.

"Was that a sneeze? Are you feeling all right, buddy? Daddy will heal you up right away and then take care of mummy's hand."

Piper felt a little better. After all, he'd noticed her hand. He hadn't even really had time to look and he'd still noticed. But…she was still on the no healing bandwagon.

"No, no, no, no. No magic, really. He has a common cold and babies need to develop immunities."

"Not when his father's a miracle worker."

"No, really, if I'm gonna lead any kind of a normal life; there will be no healing for any of us."

"If you're going to?" he said.

Piper winced.

"Sorry, I meant us. You, me, and him. It's just, well, I've kinda gotten used to you being gone so much. Sometimes I forget to plan for you." Leo looked hurt and Piper sighed. He was the one leaving all the time and now he acted like she'd hurt him. "I'm sorry if that makes you feel bad. I acknowledge your pain and will try to understand it better in the future."

He smiled as she brought out the tools. It was usually a sign that she was trying. Which, dang it, she was.

"I appreciate your acknowledgement and I express my forgiveness." But then he turned back to Wyatt and got his 'cannot bear to see my son in pain' face on. "So you just want him to suffer?"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic. If he had a serious illness, I would be the first one to call you, but he doesn't. So, in the mean time, just watch him and fret like a normal person."

"Well, that's... I can't take Wyatt today."

She dropped her towel in annoyance.

"You can't take Wyatt? What do you mean? You asked to take Wyatt. You know, father son bonding. Give mommy a break?"

"Yeah, but I just got some trips on one of my sensors. The Elders have agreed to hold a hearing on Chris and-"

She tried to keep her temper.

"Leo, this is not cool, I have people coming here in ten minutes."

"Chris isn't who he says he is, Piper. I'm concerned about the future he seems so sure he wants to come to pass."

That did it. Screw the tools and screw trying. She dug her fingers into the counter and leaned forward.

"You know what, Leo? Nothing will ever change with you. You will always find a way to make your job more important than your family."

His face hardened.

"That's not fair, Piper. Taking care of my family is my job, and right now I need to find out what Chris is up to."

He orbed away and Piper tried to calm herself down before she blew up one of her guests out of sheer frustration.

***

Sometimes it was handy knowing things ahead of time. This was all going perfectly. They were each exactly where he wanted them. Now all he had to do was save them.

Leo tried to keep from getting frustrated, but he was having a hard time. He knew that he wasn't being fair to Piper just like she wasn't being fair to him. It seemed like lately neither of them could remember anything good about the other.

And he was trying, but it was so hard. Piper just didn't understand how much good the Elders did and how thinly stretched they were after the Titan massacre. It had taken thousands of years to build up the number of Elders they’d had before. Becoming an Elder was a long arduous progress for most; it didn't usually just happen in hours like it had with him. His transformation had been borne out of need and a huge act of self-sacrifice and courage. Most Whitelighters didn't see situations on that kind of scale every day.

So the Elders needed Leo's help desperately. It would be years before they would be back up to their full quota. In the meantime, all the Whitelighters needed guidance. The Charmed Ones might be the most active witches in the world and the nexus might draw demons to San Francisco like crazy, but there were similar situations all around the world. Those witches needed help too. There had been two new Elders elevated in the last three months, which was huge. It made an unprecedented number of five new Elders in the last decade.

On top of everything with the Elders, Leo was also worried about Chris and had been ever since he'd shown up. Leo was in this situation because of Chris, both the good and bad aspects of it. It worried him to no extent that Chris wouldn’t tell them about the future, said something was after Wyatt, and only dropped information when he thought it would manipulate a situation to his good. If there was anything Leo hated, it was scheming and selfishness.

Leo knew he was right to pay so much attention to Chris and it bothered him that Piper wouldn't understand that. He knew she wanted a normal life and that she was tired of him not being there, but why couldn’t she trust that he had good reasons for doing what he was doing? Even when it had nothing to do with her she still felt like she had the right to make the final decisions. Well, this wasn't a Charmed One matter, it was an Elder matter, and Leo followed his instincts. They'd served him well for quite a long time and he wasn't about to stop listening to them now. Piper would just have to see that.

He spent a long time gathering his evidence and then attempting to find the object of his suspicion. Everything was arranged; he just needed to deliver a message. He looked for Chris, and for once Chris wasn't attempting to hide. Leo orbed into the attic where Chris was mixing a potion.

"We need to talk."

"Sorry, not now."

"Why not? You got somewhere urgent to be?"

"I don't have time for this," Chris said. "I've got more important things to do like protecting your family while you're off gallivanting."

"Taking care of the Earth isn't exactly what I'd call gallivanting," Leo said. "Besides, I've been doing much more than that. And I'll tell you what, I've got enough evidence to get your Whitelighter status stripped and your soul sent back down to earth for recycling."

A flash of panic and then Chris had set his face back to impassive. Which was usually what happened with him, Leo thought. He was so easy to needle, yet there was always some sort of inner fire that blocked all attempts to get him to crack.

"You do what you have to do," Chris said, shrugging.

"I already did. I arranged a hearing with the Elders tonight. I expect this to be your last day as a Whitelighter."

Chris gave an ironic laugh and stoppered his potion.

"That's quite possible. Excuse me."

"Why are you making a vanquishing potion?" Leo asked suspiciously.

"To help the sisters."

"Why aren't they making it?"

"Because they're busy."

Leo closed his eyes and realized with panic that he couldn't sense them anywhere, or Wyatt.

"I can't sense them."

"Don't worry, I'm on it."

"You know, Chris, if I can't sense them it means they're not in this world."

"I said I'm on it."

Chris started to leave but Leo put his hand on his arm.

"Where are you going?"

Chris gave him a sardonic look.

"To bring them back, now lay off."

"Until I find out what's going on, I'm not gonna let you out of my sight."

Chris did one of those pauses where he seemed to evaluate just how much information to give and then nodded.

"You don't trust me. Fine, I get it. But get this, if I don't show up where I'm supposed to be alone, they'll die. Your call."

Leo paused for a second himself. Obviously the sisters did need help and Leo didn't want to get in the way of that. Chris had been assigned as their Whitelighter and he had every reason to do everything he said he was doing. Leo didn't like it, but until the hearing he couldn't really hold Chris. But he would go and see if he could find the sisters himself, while keeping a very tight ear on Chris.

He stepped back and let Chris go.

***

Great, now he had to deal with possible extinction. As if he didn’t have enough to do. He was juggling too many balls and he had the feeling he was going to make a mistake. Maybe he already had.

Piper was actually feeling better. It turned out that all she needed was a bit of a girl's day with half naked men dancing around her living room. It really put things into perspective. And despite the fact that it did make her uncomfortable and she really felt too old and too married and too motherly to be participating, it was all so normal that she heaved a huge sigh of relief at one point.

Though she always kept her ears open for trouble and soon enough it found her in the form of Wyatt crying. She walked quickly to his room where he was in his crib.

"You're okay. What's the matter?" She picked him up. "Come here, come here. You're all right." She felt his forehead. "Actually, you're burning up a little." She pulled out the thermometer and stuck it in his ear. "Okay, look, look, look. Let me see." She pulled it out again. "One hundred and two. That's not good. Leo!" she called. "Leo, come on, I know we had a fight but Wyatt needs you."

There was no answer and for a moment Piper realized just how terrifying it would be not to have Leo in her life to fix all the problems that normal people didn't have answers to. Especially when the Book of Shadows suddenly became some random blank book on a pedestal in her attic and all of her potion making supplies were gone and she had absolutely no way to use magic.

So she got in the car and started to drive to the hospital. Which, she reasoned, mothers everywhere did when their children were sick. She didn't need magic to get help for Wyatt; she had just become too used to it. This was part of the reason why they needed more normalcy, why magic was too unpredictable, why she needed a husband who was around, why…

"Leo," she called again as she drove and Wyatt cried in the backseat.

And then another car smashed into her and Piper blacked out for a minute or two.

When she woke up she could smell smoke and gas and her head was aching fiercely. Wyatt was wailing behind her and Piper tried to move but her hands seemed glued to the steering wheel. His screams galvanized her to action and she worked quickly to get him out of the car and away from the flames licking at the engine. The car that hit her wasn't anywhere in sight and that's when she really understood something was wrong.

A demon appeared in front of her, the same one she'd run off that morning. He had an athame in his hand and she didn't have her powers. She had a baby in her arms and there was no one else there.

Still, she wasn't Piper Halliwell for nothing.

"You're not demon enough to kill me."

"Ah, the sweetest desire of them all. The desire to survive," he answered, advancing toward her.

But there was someone to help. Piper's sisters appeared in front of them and Phoebe immediately put her fighting skills into action.

"Are you okay?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, it's about time you guys showed up."

There was no time for niceties though. The demon was coming and they didn't have their powers. However, in his attempt to kill Piper, he had left a very convenient natural danger. So they ran with him screaming after them.

"There's nowhere to run! You're in my world!"

The car exploded behind them, catching the demon in its wake.

"Where are we?" Paige asked as the explosion seemed to rock them forward and land them in a dark cave.

"Who cares?" Phoebe said. "At least we're out of there."

Wyatt started coughing and Piper put her hand to his forehead worriedly. Apparently his illness hadn’t been advanced solely in the alternate reality. He was really sick.

"Wyatt needs help," she said.

Paige turned and gasped.

"Oh, so does he." Chris was lying on the floor, an arrow sticking out of his chest. Paige rushed over to him and felt his pulse. "He's still breathing."

"Leo!" Piper called. "Leo, please."

Leo orbed in and Piper sighed in relief.

"You're back, where were you?" he asked.

"Heal now, ask later," Piper said.

Leo looked and instantly assessed the situation as he was so apt to do. He bent down and held his glowing hands over Chris who began to moan softly. Then Leo held his hands over Wyatt.

Piper was just a little bit appreciative of him right then. Just a little bit appreciative of magic. Maybe, maybe having a few tricks up their sleeves was a bit nice.

***

He felt awful. Like his insides were burning and melting and it had been all he could do to fix one simple part of the problem. It saved his life in the end because there was a white glow and a feeling of peace and then he was whole again. Whole and ready to be judged. There just had to be some way to come out of this intact. There had to be.

Leo stroked Wyatt's hair and stood watching him. Wyatt was so beautiful while he slept, with such a powerful destiny, but such a peaceful innocent figure. It made Leo proud. Proud and worried of failure - because Leo had been so bent on a manhunt, he hadn't been there for Wyatt and Piper when they'd needed him. As much as Leo still wanted the truth, he knew how to offer an olive branch when needed. And Chris was the one who had saved Leo's family tonight by somehow depositing Phoebe into Paige's alternate reality, even with Darklighter poison coursing through his veins.

Piper entered the room behind him.

"His fever's down. He should sleep pretty well tonight," Leo said.

"Yeah, he had quite a day."

"Well, I'm glad you made it out of that other world all right," Leo said awkwardly as they walked back into their room.

"Yeah, and you have Chris to thank for that," Piper said.

"Chris. Yeah, well, he should have taken me with him to that cave or at least told me where my family was," Leo said sternly.

"Leo, give him a break. He earned it today."

Leo thought about that for a minute then turned back to her.

"So what about you? I heard your social life was interrupted again."

"Yeah, but, you know, there's always tomorrow," she said.

He smiled softly then, fondly even. She never ceased to amaze him.

"You never give up, do you?"

"No, not a chance. I firmly believe there will eventually be one day without demons, magic, or pocket realms."

"What about Elders?" he asked.

Her face got a little sad.

"Well, there's one I'm interested in keeping around. He does come in handy for a few things. Like, maybe he could heal my hand for me?"

She held it out.

"I thought you wanted a normal life," he gently teased.

"Yeah, I did, and apparently that's not gonna be today."

He healed her hand.

“Look, Piper, I’m sorry about today,” he said.

“I know,” she said. “Me too.”

“I should’ve honored my agreement to take Wyatt.”

“I should’ve realized you were just trying to protect us,” she said.

There was an awkward pause and Leo knew he should say more. After all, their apologies didn’t fix the underlying issues and they'd had to give up their counseling sessions because of his responsibilities so they were on their own for figuring out their problems. There was a knock at the door though before he could say anything else. Chris walked in and the hair of the back of Leo's neck rose up like it always did around Chris. There was just something about him.

"Hey."

"Hey. How are you feeling?" Piper asked.

"Better. Thanks," Chris said, looking a lot less anxious than he normally did.

"Thanks for trying to warn us about the demon. We should have listened to you in the first place."

Leo raised his eyebrow. Not every day a Whitelighter heard that.

"Well, as long as you learn something at the end of the day, that's all that matters, right?" Chris asked.

"Right," Piper said.

Chris almost smiled at her and then turned to Leo.

"So it's almost time for my hearing with the Elders. I thought I'd give you the pleasure of taking me in personally."

Leo struggled for a second and then made his decision.

"Yeah, well, maybe I'll just give you the night off instead."

"I don't understand," Chris said, looking as confused as Leo felt.

"Neither do I. Just take it before I change my mind," Leo said.

Chris smiled, a genuine smile, none of the smugness or sarcasm that generally graced his face. It made him look a lot younger and Leo tried to remember where he'd seen that look before but it escaped him.

Leo was trying, he really was.

"So, I, uh, I have to get back," he said apologetically. Piper's face dropped again and Chris had an impassive mask on again. "Gotta cancel that hearing," Leo said. "And, well, a lot of things really. But I'm always listening."

"I know," Piper said, sadness in her voice.

Leo hated hearing it so he hurried away.

And there it was again, that warm, peaceful feeling. It was confusing as hell. He hadn’t come here to be loved or to fix his feelings. He'd come here to do terrible things and stop something even worse from happening. So why did he like feeling like this so much? And why did it hurt so badly when it went away?