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

[jesterladyfic]

Chapter Ten

This was so awkward. Now everyone looked at him differently, which was partly why he hadn't said anything. They expected to be part of his life and he resented it a little bit, like the automatic induction to the family meant trust when all his work of the last year hadn't. But he couldn't blame them. Family had always been the furthest thing from him and the most important. So he got it. But it was still awkward. In some ways it was like the last year had never happened and they were back to the beginning where he technically hadn't even met one of them before and the others he’d lost when he was too too young. As an adult he'd never had to answer to them. So…weird.

Piper almost waddled into the elevator while Paige frantically tried to do damage control. It was actually a little bit freeing to be pregnant because while Piper was never exactly overly careful about speaking her mind, there were a lot of things it felt easier to get away with while wearing the belly. If only people would stop touching it without asking!

She tried to put away her real concerns, which were about her family, as per usual. Phoebe was on a huge kick to find her future soul mate so that she could get married and have the child she'd seen in her vision of the future when she'd figured out Chris was Piper's son. This meant she went on dates constantly when she wasn't working.

Paige had surprisingly moved back home once Leo had gone, to help out, as she'd put it. Which Piper appreciated more than she could say. Richard was around an annoying amount of time but he was actually quite useful when it came to magic stuff. Apparently moving home had put a bit of a crimp on Paige's magical journey with her temp jobs but Piper couldn’t bring herself to care so long as Paige kept giving her back rubs.

Chris was also living in the manor now. Piper had insisted on that right away as soon as she’d found out he was her son. He’d acquiesced, somewhat awkwardly, but now he was sleeping on the couch in the living room. She liked having him close by, if only so she could get to know him. It was hard work, though not as much work as gestating his younger self in her womb.

Being pregnant sucked, she had forgotten how much. And she hadn't realized exactly how much Leo had been there for her while she was pregnant with Wyatt. The others had been mostly dealing with the magical stuff lately, which was nice, but it just meant Piper had more time to think about how much she missed Leo. It was different than the other times he'd been gone. At least then she’d known somewhat when to expect him home. But the other Elders were basically holding him hostage with the leverage of sending Chris back if Leo didn’t agree to stay. He'd sent a younger Elder named Orlando to explain the situation to them. Piper had grudgingly decided to like Orlando when he expressed his sorrow about the situation, but she was still very suspicious of any Elder she met.

Leo had also arranged for Chris to remain their Whitelighter and was trying to keep everything else normal. It was all a little bit ridiculous because even though she’d told the world her husband was on a long-term business trip, it wasn’t like she was even getting phone calls. She still spoke to him every night while putting Wyatt to bed and she knew he could hear her. She just wished she could hear him. She missed his voice. She couldn’t be mad at him though, knowing the reason why he was gone.

Apparently Chris could though and Piper felt very saddened at how much her youngest son appeared to resent his father. She had been able to pull little bits of information out of Chris, especially via her father, whom Chris apparently loved. She gathered she had died very early on in his life and Leo hadn't been able to help because none of the other Elders had survived the first Titans attack. Paige had already been gone at that point, but Chris was stubbornly mum on Piper's actual fate and what had happened to Phoebe and what his relationship with Leo was like.

As for getting him to talk about Bianca, that was like pulling teeth. All he would say were little things, like her favorite color, he’d proposed in a park, she’d hated cheese. And those things came out randomly at unguarded moments when Piper wasn’t prying. Piper wanted to know more, she wanted to know her son, to understand him, but she guessed it would take time. But he was still so closed-mouthed. She felt awkward, like she couldn’t expect his approval when all she'd done for a year was undermine and not trust him. And sometimes she wondered at how quickly she'd come to love him when she barely even knew him, especially when he remained so distant at times.

Everything just made Piper worry more. At least she knew that he loved her. He'd started calling her Mom, which gave her a thrill the first time since he'd so resisted doing it beforehand. His hard earned habits of detraction and suspicion were slowly dying away and she marveled at discovering what a unique, caring boy she had. He was really good with Wyatt, which she hadn't expected considering the future. Chris was so like her in personality and expression, but he had such obvious bits of Leo in him, that sometimes she ached to see it.

Right now she chuckled slightly as Paige got in the elevator with her.

"No wonder Chris grows up to be such a neurotic little freak," Paige huffed. Then she settled down and asked, "So, are you excited?"

"About what?"

"About what the doctor said. That it's gonna be a healthy baby."

"Well, I know he's healthy. I've seen him twenty-two and walking around."

"Well, you never know, something could happen," said Paige.

"Oh, don't be such a worry wart. Now you're starting to sound like..."

Chris interrupted her, orbing in.

"Hey," he said.

"Okay, if this is about demons, I don't wanna hear it, cause I am on my lunch break," said Paige.

"No, no, no, I just wanted to know how it went with the doctor," he said.

"Well, you'll be happy to know that you're a boy," said Piper, holding up his ultrasound picture.

"That's not what I meant."

The doors opened and they walked out to the underground garage.

"Why are you so edgy anyway? Relax," said Piper.

"Well, it's not me in there I was thinking about, it's you. I'm just making sure you're okay."

"See, that's where I'd ask for money to go to the movies," said Paige.

"Very funny," said Chris and Piper hid a smile behind her hands. "I've never asked her for money."

"I'm your mother. Why didn't you come to me for money?"

"Because I don't want to bother you, you'll have too much to deal with."

"What about your dad?" asked Paige and Piper winced at the sore subject.

"Uh, Leo's not much of a factor," said Chris with a tight edge to his voice.

"What does that mean?" persisted Paige.

"I'd rather not talk about it," said Chris.

"Future consequences?" she asked.

"More like future issues." He turned away. "I have an idea; let's change the subject."

With such timing that Chris couldn't have planned it better, a woman dropped down from the roof and Piper stood still for a long, stupid moment, not really knowing why she felt safe, then dodged, feeling Chris pull her out of the way just in time.

Paige threw a fire extinguisher at her, but then the woman vanished. Piper was still picking herself up from her fall, but she remembered the woman had a pale face and red eyes and elongated fangs. She also looked like she'd turned into a spider.

"Are you guys okay?" asked Paige.

"I don't know. Am I?" Chris asked, touching his neck. Three deep scratches appeared engraved on his neck.

"I don't know," said Piper, worriedly.

She felt her stomach and realized with a shock she'd been counting on having a force field like she'd had with Wyatt and that’s why she hadn’t bothered to move when the woman jumped on top of her. Piper hadn't been attacked since she'd gotten pregnant and so she hadn't thought about it. But it appeared baby Chris didn't come with the same toys baby Wyatt had. Which should have been obvious considering the man standing in front of her.

She worried all the way home. They sat down when they got there and she got out the bandages for his neck. She wished Leo was there but she resolutely put that thought away.

"So I'm okay, right? I mean, mini me in there?" Chris asked, gesturing to her belly.

"Well, if he wasn't, I think you'd be the first to know. Now, sit still," she said, leaning forward. "Thanks for pulling me out of the way. I guess I'd just counted on a force field," she said.

"What force field?"

"The one she had when she was pregnant with Wyatt," Paige answered idly, leafing through the Book of Shadows to find their demon.

"Wait, you had a force field with Wyatt but not with me?" he said, leaning back, looking annoyed.

"Well, I didn't have one, he had one. It was all his doing."

"From the womb?" Chris said, throwing his hands in the air. "He had powers from the womb? That's unbelievable! I knew it was from really early on, but from the womb! It's not like I don't have an inferiority complex with him already. Thank you."

Piper raised her eyebrow and turned to Paige. She wasn't going to touch that one with a ten-foot pole.

"Did you find that demon yet?"

"Yes, actually, I did,” Paige said, showing them the page. “It's the Spider Demon. An evil creature that emerges from its hidden lair every hundred years, to capture and feed off the most powerful and magical demon it can detect. In this case that would be you."

"Baby me helped, right?" Chris said, obviously not recovered from his neuroses.

"You must be so proud," Piper said, smiling sarcastically.

"It's kinda creepy how she knew to lay a trap for you. Obviously she didn't count on us being there," said Paige.

"Well, at least there's a vanquishing potion here. Okay, what do you say we make this eight-legged freak wish it'd never been hatched?" Piper said, moving to get up.

"Whoa, hold it. You are not going anywhere, Mom, this is way too risky," said Chris.

"He's actually right. Without the Wyatt force field thing," Paige said, gesturing.

"Okay, do you have to keep rubbing that in?" Chris said.

"Aren't there any therapists in the future?" said Paige, but without any venom.

They both knew Chris didn't have the luxury of much of anything in the future. But it had become Paige's way of relating to Chris and neither of them seemed to mind it.

They argued a bit about interrupting Phoebe's date with her latest guy and Piper watched Chris touch his neck gingerly.

"So does that Book say anything about that spider being poisonous?"

Piper and Paige looked at each other worriedly.

"Come and sit down," Piper said. "Let me look at that again. Paige, could you call the club for me and tell them I'm gonna be a little bit late?"

"No, I thought we already discussed this," said Chris. "You're not going anywhere without a force field."

"Why? Because it's so much safer here? I have to go to work, I booked a band tonight."

"Let Paige cover for you."

"No, I can't, I have to go back to my temp job. I'm already late."

"Blow it off. This is more important," said Chris, glaring at her.

"My temp jobs are important. It's how people who need help find me."

"Okay, I get that, I do, but right now your sister needs your help, okay?"

“I’ve been already helping her and neglecting them a lot lately,” Paige argued.

"Hello, I'm right here," said Piper.

"Why don't we just call Leo?" said Paige brightly, knowing perfectly well what would follow.

"No, no," said Chris vehemently.

"Why not? He can help us. Besides, Piper's in danger, which means the baby's in danger, which means you are in danger," said Paige triumphantly.

"Because we don't need him," said Chris.

Piper shook her head.

"I would love to call Leo, but you know we can't do that, Paige. He's protecting Chris in other ways."

"Whatever," mumbled Chris. "Look, he has been gone for six months. If he didn't care enough to stay while Piper was pregnant, why would he care now?"

"You know that's not why he left," said Piper, feeling a twinge in her stomach.

She followed her instincts and sat down.

"Hey, are you okay?" asked Paige.

"Yeah, I just need to sit down for a minute," said Piper.

"Okay, well, I'll go deal with the club; you work on the vanquishing potion and call Phoebe and I when it's done. Chris can play protector and watch Wyatt. I'll call Richard and see if he has time to help, maybe he can deal with the club while I actually get back to work."

With her pronouncement Paige headed out the door and left Piper and Chris staring at each other.

“She’s kinda the take-charge type,” said Chris.

“I think she’d make a good teacher,” said Piper.

“Looks like we’ll get to find out this time around,” said Chris.

“Thank you for that,” said Piper, putting her hand on his arm. “Really, I couldn’t bear to lose another sister.”

He shrugged, obviously not used to receiving praise.

“I came back to do it.”

“Why don’t I go get started on that potion,” said Piper, feeling his discomfort and wanting to give him an out.

They’d made huge strides over the last six months, but sometimes it felt weird to her to have this stranger be her son and to feel so strongly for him and yet feel like she didn’t know him at all.

“Good idea,” he said, getting up. “I’m gonna go get Phoebe. I’ll take Wyatt to Magic School on my way so he’ll be safe.”

“Thank you,” said Piper.

She made her way to the attic and began the usual mixing and chopping.

It wasn’t long before she was done and she blessed it, then went downstairs and gave it to Phoebe, who was regaling a paler than usual Chris with the disappointment of her date.

Piper rubbed her back and headed back upstairs to use the bathroom and call Paige to come do her part. She’d forgotten the worst part of pregnancy.

When she came back downstairs Chris was sitting on the stairs and Phoebe was asking him if he was okay.

“Yeah, I think I’m just coming down with something,” he said.

“What do you mean? From the attack?” Piper asked, her mom senses going into overdrive.

“Now who's the worry wart?” he asked ironically. “Look, we still need Paige to bless this. Did you call her?”

“Yeah, she's on her way.”

“Okay, well, we gotta get a move on here,” said Phoebe. “Because I need to find my husband, like, yesterday.” At Piper’s snort, she put her hands on her hips. “Seriously. I did the math. It's gonna take me like a year to fall in love, and there's the whole engagement and the wedding, and then the year of wedded bliss. And then I have to wait a year to find out if I really want to have his kid, you know, and the pregnancy's, like, nine months. Well, ten months, they just tell you it's nine months. So clearly, let's move on here.” Piper started laughing, she couldn’t help it, but Phoebe looked offended and glared at her. “I'm sorry, what's so funny?”

“This whole family needs a shrink.”

Before a sisterly war could break out, Paige orbed in holding a leprechaun’s shillelagh, but before they could ask anything, Chris practically shoved the potion at Paige.

“You need to bless this vanquishing potion.”

“Wow. Hello to you too.”

Chris looked anxious, his gaze shifting to the floor, his hand on his neck. Piper wondered again if anything had happened to him and she meant to ask him whether he wanted to be asked or not.

“Hey, the Book says for all three of you to bless it. Phoebe will help you. Piper, can I talk to you, please?”

Paige and Phoebe went into the kitchen and Piper followed her son in confusion.

“Piper? What happened to Mom? What is it, Chris? What's the matter? Your eyes are dilated.”

“Are they?” he asked absently before he suddenly stiffened and cried out. “Mom, no! I’m sorry.”

The Spider Demon suddenly appeared in the corner of Piper's living room and sticky white fluid flew out of her hands and wrapped around Piper, twirling her around, making her dizzy. She felt her back slam into something and hazily she heard Phoebe and Paige run into the room and begin to fight only for Chris to stop them and help the spider get away.

“Chris, what are you doing?” yelled Phoebe.

Something hissed and Piper struggled to see, to move, to talk.

Piper’s thoughts started to go dark, but not before she heard Phoebe say she was going to lock Chris up in the cellar and call Leo back.

Piper wanted to yell out for them not to, but her mouth wouldn’t work and her brain was going dark and then she heard the familiar sound of someone orbing into the room.

***

What was he doing? Why was he doing it? He hated this, hated the struggle. Was this how HE had felt? Was this what it meant to be human? He was so confused and yet there was this lure of peace. He wanted that more than anything, to finally give up the struggle. He was so tired of fighting.

Leo was struggling to meditate. Or, rather, he was struggling not to meditate. It was so easy Up Here to just release any other thoughts and fall into peace and work out issues that way.

In one way it was a good thing he’d been Up Here for so long because a lot of the problems that had been an issue after the Titans attack were worked out. There was a rotating schedule, four more Elders had been chosen, the Whitelighters were once again given proper instruction and were not panicking about how to do everything. At this point Leo could go home and the denizens of Up There would not miss him. But they were still refusing to let him go and he was bound by his promise to stay in order to protect Chris unless there was a real emergency that the sisters called him for. So far they hadn’t.

The hard thing was that sometimes he felt like he’d been Up Here forever, that there had never been a time when he wasn’t an Elder. His memories of his family were blurring and he knew that’s what the other Elders were counting on by making him stay for so long. They were trying to force a decision from him. He resented it, but he didn’t quite know how to fight it. At first he’d missed Piper and Wyatt so badly it was like a physical ache. His feelings of concern and love hadn’t faded, but they had become harder to bring to the forefront of his mind. Phoebe and Paige were almost distant memories to him. There was a bright spot in his heart labeled Chris, but everything else was so hard to see. Regularly he heard Piper speaking to him and Wyatt’s happy giggling as she spoke about her day or things Wyatt had done as she was putting him to bed. Those times were the only times he felt truly happy, felt truly secure in himself. He hoped she never stopped doing that, because it made it easier to focus on the two of them.

The more he meditated the harder it got, but meditating was the easiest thing in the world. Thus, he was fighting not to meditate.

But then it happened - a call. His name wafted to his ears and at first he didn’t remember what that meant. It was Phoebe’s voice, Phoebe, his sister-in-law, his dear friend. She was calling him. That must mean…he was free.

Leo stood tall and gave a little waggle of his fingers to the nearest Elder to him. Orlando stood nearby and smiled slightly and that was Leo’s last sight before he disappeared and orbed back home.

But it was disorienting to be away from the peace and serenity he had become accustomed to. The lack struck him as a physical need and so he automatically reached for that feeling and clothed himself with it even though he was on Earth. It made concentrating difficult, but he almost wasn’t sure he could survive without it until he re-acclimated himself.

“Phoebe, Paige, how are you?” he asked pleasantly, glad to see them, hands in his robes.

“Not so good, we have a problem,” said Phoebe. Leo had to struggle to not suggest meditation as the answer. “Piper, right there,” Phoebe said, pointing.

Leo turned and saw a cocooned shape stuck to the wall in a spider’s web and though there was a stab of fear that ran through him, it wasn’t nearly as potent as it would have been had he not been clinging to his Elder’s mindset.

“Ah, the Spider Demon,” he said, to remain calm, running over all he knew about the demon. “She cocoons her victims before feeding on them.”

“Great, well, can you get her out of there?” asked Paige impatiently.

“Uh, well, the only way to get her out of there is to vanquish the Spider Demon. But it's okay, the cocoon is meant for preservation, so she's safe for now.”

“Good, that means Chris is too,” said Paige.

A little more reality seemed to seep into Leo’s mind.

“That’s not big enough to have Chris in there too,” said Leo, then blinked slowly, realizing. “Oh, you mean baby Chris?”

“Well, of course,” Paige said. “Adult Chris is in the basement.”

“Yeah, he was acting a little crazy so I locked him in the basement,” said Phoebe.

“Yeah, after the Spider Demon infected him, he got a little crazy, went after-”

“Maybe I should talk to him,” Leo said, suddenly feeling unsure. “Yeah, I'll talk to him.

“Be careful,” Paige called after him and then muttered to Phoebe that they shouldn’t have called him.

Leo felt more and more secure in his identity with every step down into the basement. It was dark down there which made it less easy to keep his peace of mind which made him feel more connected to the world he was in. It was an interesting way to feel. Cold and alone and unsure, and yet somehow that was better than feeling protected and together and at peace.

“Chris? Chris? Chris, I'd like to talk to you, it's D-Leo.” Leo startled as Chris walked out of the shadows and his face was pale and his eyes were tinged red. “Chris,” Leo said in shock.

Somehow with everything, he hadn’t really expected everything to be different, or maybe because he’d spent so long trying to hold on to Chris and his memory while Up There, he’d somehow hoped Chris would do the same for him. But apparently not.

“Bastard!” Chris said loudly and all of a sudden spider webs shot out of his hands and headed straight for Leo.

Leo’s eyes widened and he orbed quickly, reaching the kitchen and slamming the door shut, locking it.

Hearing the noise Phoebe and Paige ran into the kitchen.

“What happened?” asked Paige.

“He attacked me,” Leo said, a little breathless and definitely not used to orbing so quickly anymore.

“I tried to warn you,” said Paige.

“He's got issues,” Phoebe agreed.

“From being infected?” Leo asked, knowing it wasn’t that and wishing it was.

“His issues definitely precede that,” Phoebe said, putting her hand on Leo’s shoulder.

“I was trying to protect him,” Leo said, closing his eyes.

Paige’s phone rang and she excused herself while Phoebe rubbed Leo’s back.

“I think that was just the tip of it,” Phoebe said. “Whatever happened between you two, it happened before he came back to the past. You’re paying for Future Leo’s sins.”

“I guess,” said Leo, trying to think how he could have done things differently in his own past. “Why is he so mad at me?” he asked, not really expecting an answer but feeling if he knew the exact reason, he could somehow fix it.

“I don't know, sweetie. He's real tight lipped about the future.” Phoebe looked him in the eyes. “I know it’s a lot for you. But, uh, you gotta try to pull it together because we need you. Your family needs you.”

“Right. You're right,” he said, trying to blink the last hazy thought from his mind so he was fully in this moment. “It’s nice to have a family.”

“We missed you a lot,” said Phoebe, hugging him.

Leo nodded and concentrated on thinking about the situation at hand.

“Well, uh, if I remember correctly, the Spider Demon's last victim was a wizard. So maybe I should go to Magic School and see if there's something there that I can use to scry for him.”

“Okay, and what about Chris?” asked Phoebe.

“Check the Book of Shadows, I think there's an antidote,” he said.

“Okay, and…welcome home,” she said.

Just then Paige came back in.

“I gotta go, Phoebe, can you watch Piper?”

“What’s happening? Why now?” asked Phoebe.

“Richard’s got the club handled, but my little leprechaun problem has mutated,” said Paige. “The wicked witch has struck again.”

“I’m just a call away if there’s a problem,” said Leo and orbed.

It felt a little uneasy to be at Magic School. It was too much like Up There, but it was where the information he needed happened to be. So Leo put aside his misgivings and worked with Sigmund to figure out which wizard had been captured by the Spider Demon.

They worked for a while to find the wizard and finally found one that looked promising but before Leo could grab his wand and leave Gideon had entered the room.

“Would you excuse us please, Sigmund?” asked Gideon.

“Of course,” said Sigmund and left.

Leo debated about whether to try and start a conversation, but he had a sense of urgency that felt very refreshing after so many months being immobile and he was too worried about his family to care about what Gideon had to say. Even his closest friends among the Elders were against him in this matter and he couldn’t trust Gideon’s opinion about this.

“Not now, Gideon,” he said, looking through the wand collection.

“Leo, this is a serious matter, and one that we have been over countless times. You abandoned the other Elders without so much as a warning.”

“You know why I did that.”

“Was this a true emergency?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Are you sure? Because you can't just pop on down whenever you feel the need arise. You're not just putting yourself at risk; you're putting all Elders at risk too.”

“I'm trying to save my son,” said Leo.

“Wyatt? Has something happened to him?” asked Gideon and Leo must surely have imagined the almost eager look on Gideon’s face.

“No, not Wyatt, to Chris. If I don't find the demon who hurt him, I may not be able to figure out why he hates me so much.”

“You knew that already,” Gideon said.

“Look, I complied with our agreement,” said Leo. “I stayed until there was an emergency. My wife is pregnant and my son is in trouble. My family needs me. The Elders don’t need me. We can figure out the rest later, but right now, I’m going to stay here and if I don’t there probably won’t be a Chris for you to send back to the future.”

Leo grabbed the wand he was looking for and resisted the urge to go see Wyatt in the nursery. Now that he was fully himself again, being so near Wyatt and not able to hold him was almost like torture. But Leo needed to hold Piper too and he wanted to help Chris. Wyatt had to wait for the moment.

When Leo got back to the house Paige and Phoebe were working on the antidote and a new vanquishing potion.

“We got everything we need?” he asked.

“Yup, why don’t you start scrying?” said Paige.

“Was everything okay with your temp job?” asked Leo.

Paige suddenly hugged him.

“Yes, thanks.”

“What was that for?” he asked.

“What, a girl can’t miss her brother-in-law?”

“I missed you too,” said Leo.

Less and less as time went on, but he’d missed them all so desperately at first.

He told them about his conversation with Gideon as they worked.

“I gotta tell you, Leo, whatever Chris has against you in the future, it can't be your lack of determination,” said Phoebe.

“Still, you might not be in this mess if I hadn't been gone so long,” said Leo.

“Well, you had to do what you did,” said Paige.

Phoebe suddenly straightened up and spoke.

“Leo, could you be bigger of a hypocrite? Nothing you say is ever the truth!” Then Phoebe looked chastened. “Uh, that was kind of weird. Sorry.”

“Yeah,” said Paige slowly.

“You totally bailed on us,” Phoebe spouted again.

Leo tried not to take it personally, but then again, if Phoebe wasn’t angry with him, then there was only one explanation for why she was feeling angry.

“Okay, maybe Chris is angry and I’m channeling that,” said Phoebe.

“Can you empath from so far away?” Leo asked.

Maybe her powers had expanded while he was gone. Another thing he’d missed.

“Did he get out?” asked Paige.

They went into the kitchen but the basement door was still locked. They went back into the dining room and then into the living room but they still didn’t see anything.

Leo tried to sense Chris, but he hadn’t been able to before, even when Chris was in front of him in the basement. There was an alien rage lurking in Leo’s senses but he couldn’t tell where it was coming from.

There was a slick clicking sound and then Chris suddenly morphed from spider form into his human shape in front of them. He shot webbing from his hands and Phoebe’s hands flung her backward and stuck her to the wall.

Paige tried to throw one of the bottles of antidote at Chris, but he blocked it by encasing it in webbing and then stuck her to the wall right beside Phoebe.

Leo edged toward Chris, holding his hands up.

“Chris, stop, this isn't you.”

“Wanna bet?” Chris asked, shoving Leo aggressively.

“Chris, don't,” said Phoebe.

“He's your father,” said Paige.

“Not if I can help it,” said Chris, throwing Leo with superhuman force up the stairs.

Leo felt something crack in his ribs as he fell. He tried to get up to stop Chris but he moved too fast and had already orbed out with Piper’s cocoon.

Leo picked himself up painfully and realized he hadn’t gotten to even see Piper since he’d been away from her for so long. He tried not to think about it and turned to his sisters-in-law, currently stuck where they were.

It was a bit funny to look at Phoebe and Paige stuck to the wall like butterflies on a board.

“Yeah, quit laughing,” said Paige. “Get us down. I can’t orb out.”

“I don’t know if I can,” said Leo. “The webbing is only supposed to dissolve when the demon that issues it is vanquished.”

“Isn’t being an Elder good for anything?” asked Paige.

Leo felt his cracked ribs and winced.

“I don’t know,” he said. But he didn’t have time to feel sorry for himself. His wife and both versions of his son depended on him keeping it together. “Let me try something, but it may hurt.”

“Of course it will,” said Phoebe.

Leo concentrated very hard and let just one spark of lightening flicker on his fingertips. He didn’t want to let it get any bigger and run the risk of it electrocuting them or blowing them up. But he made it extra hot, trying to lower the voltage as much as possible and yet keep it effective.

He kept his attention solely on that spark and very carefully rubbed it up and down on the webbing attached to Phoebe’s right wrist. It started to melt the webbing, causing a burned smell to filter into the air. It worked and Phoebe now hung lopsided from the wall. She reached upward and grasped hold of one of the banister rails to brace herself. Leo repeated the process with her other arm.

He was sweating when he was done and he had to rest for a minute before he tried Paige for fear his concentration would waver.

When he was finally finished freeing both of them he felt as weak as a baby and had to sit down.

“That’s pretty snazzy,” said Paige, rubbing her wrist. “I’ve never seen that before. Can all Elders do that?”

“I don’t know if it’s ever been used for that before,” said Leo, feeling a bit better. “We can all generate lightening though.”

“Yet you’re so kind as to let us do all the vanquishing,” she said. “How thoughtful.”

“Let’s just try and find out where Piper is,” said Leo.

He sat down at the table and started to scry for the wizard again with the wand.

There was nothing and it frustrated him to no end. He felt utterly helpless and like this was all his fault. Chris had been so angry. Leo didn’t have enemies. He had opposites, like Darklighters, and people had had reason to find fault with him like Rick and Nathan, but Leo generally didn’t have people who hated him. Yet his own son had just assaulted him. Granted, he wasn’t really himself, but it was obvious that the spider was only being powered by the natural rage felt by Chris all the time. Had Chris been holding that in ever since he came back from the future?

“This isn’t working!” Leo finally shouted and threw the wand on the floor. “Did I pick the wrong one?”

Phoebe stopped capping potions and looked over at him.

“Maybe there's nothing to find. Leo, you’ve gotta stop beating yourself up over this, okay? It's not your fault.”

“I just, I don't understand why he hates me so much,” he admitted quietly.

“Yeah, but, Leo, it's in the future, it hasn't happened yet, so you can change it.”

“If Chris lives long enough to tell me what to change.” Leo straightened up, realizing something. “Why am I scrying for the wizard? The demon has Piper, I should be scrying for her.”

Using Piper’s keys, Leo found Piper within seconds.

“Okay, our only issue is Piper didn’t bless this new vanquishing potion,” said Phoebe.

“But we need the power of three. How are we gonna make up for Piper?” asked Leo.

Paige walked in just then with a leprechaun, a nymph, a fairy, and an ogre following her. A brilliant stench followed in their wake.

“Well, how about with a little help from our friends?” Paige said, smiling.

“What’s this?” asked Phoebe.

“Aren’t you glad I have my temp jobs?” asked Paige.

After the magical creatures put their magic into blessing the potion they all orbed to the location and quickly discovered the cave with a wall of webbing over the entrance.

“Can you blast it?” asked Phoebe, gesturing.

“I doubt it,” said Leo. “I don’t want to do any damage to the structure of the cave and I’m guessing the only reason I could get through it before was because Chris wasn’t a full blown spider yet.”

“Just try a little bit,” urged Paige.

Leo concentrated again, feeling drained, and got a hot flicker of energy dancing in his palm, but it didn’t do any good, even when he upped the temperature.

“No, it's impenetrable,” he said.

“Well, maybe we can draw her out?” said Paige.

“How's that?” Leo asked.

“I could just knock,” said the ogre.

The ogre started thudding on the rock next to the entrance. It was only a short while before the Spider Demon appeared and the webbing vanished.

“Well, well, looks like the takeout I ordered has arrived,” she said, licking her lips.

“Better check to make sure the food hasn't gone bad first,” said Phoebe, throwing one of the vanquishing potions.

The Spider dodged, but then the fairy converged on her and started fluttering around her head. The ogre backed in behind her and Paige threw the other potion. It landed square at her feet and the Spider Demon shrieked and dissolved into little bits of webbing that slowly dissolved as they floated to the ground.

“Okay, now we have to go and get Piper,” said Phoebe.

“This is my responsibility,” said Leo. “Give me one of the antidotes.”

She handed it over to him and he orbed into the cave. Piper was just inside and was pulling webbing off her clothes, trying to dust herself off.

“Piper, are you okay?” he asked, rushing over to her.

“I think so,” said Piper. “You’re here.”

“Yeah, that’s a long story,” said Leo, “but we don’t have time for that.”

A clicking sound echoed in front of them and Piper froze.

“What’s that?”

“Our little boy,” said Leo. “You have to get out of here.”

“What about Chris?” asked Piper, as Chris walked in slowly, his eyes now burning red, his teeth gleaming in the dim light.

“You worry about that Chris,” said Leo, looking pointedly at her stomach. He waved his hand and orbed her away. “I love you.”

He turned to face Chris and when he got close enough Leo threw the antidote potion.

Chris jumped out of the way and Leo’s last weapon was gone. He went to orb but he discovered Chris has re-webbed the entrance and Leo’s way out was gone.

“You’re still Chris,” Leo said, backing away, hands up in supplication. “You don’t have to do this.”

“You don’t know me,” said Chris, his eyes looked odd with their new color and Leo couldn't read them.

“But I’d like to,” said Leo. “I want to know you, not some spider hybrid.”

“I am myself now,” hissed Chris. “This is all of me.”

He bared his teeth at Leo and grinned sardonically.

“This isn’t what you want,” said Leo.

“You don’t know what I want,” said Chris. “You’ve never had the time. Well, at least now we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other…Dad,” said Chris scornfully, stalking toward Leo.

“See, that's what I'm talking about. That's not the demon talking, that's you talking, Chris. It's not too late; you just have to fight it.”

“Why fight it when I've already won?” asked Chris, shooting webs that covered Leo’s right hand.

Leo tried to play for time, tried to figure out what he could say. Here he was, face to face with the biggest question he’d ever faced, and he was just trying to stay alive. Chris was still there, but he’d been pushed so deep down that only his anger was left. Well, if that’s all there was, Leo would work with that.

“Tell me why you hate me so much, Chris. Huh? What did I do to become such a bad dad?”

“It doesn't matter anymore,” said Chris, but he hesitated slightly.

“No? The hell it doesn't. Deep down you hate my guts. Huh? Admit it. Come on, admit it. What, you afraid?”

Chris shoved his hands against Leo’s chest.

“I'm not afraid of you.”

“No? Then why don't you tell me what I did to you? What, did I miss a school play? Did I take away your favorite toy?” Chris began to shake with anger. “Did I play favorites with Wyatt?”

Chris roared and then grabbed Leo and threw him across the cave. Leo landed hard on his ribs and he couldn’t get his breath. Chris ran over to him and began to punch Leo.

“You don’t know me!” yelled Chris.

Leo didn’t fight him. He wouldn’t hurt Chris with his powers and he was too physically weakened to do much fighting anyway. Besides, somewhere in this rage was the real Chris. The spider was loosening its hold under the anger. Somehow this was getting Chris to emerge. And this was what the real Chris needed; some kind of catharsis for what he felt had been done to him. Some kind of vindication against the person he obviously blamed for everything wrong that had happened.

It hurt terribly and even though Leo couldn’t die, he could still feel pain and it hurt a lot more than he remembered. Especially because of who was doing the hitting.

“Chris,” he finally breathed out.

The fangs and red eyes suddenly vanished and Chris paused as if jolted out of himself.

Then his face tightened and he kept on punching.

“You don't know me, you don't know me! You don't know me!”

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige ran into the cave and rushed over to them.

“Chris, no!” shouted Piper. “Chris! Chris, look at me!” She grasped him and pulled him away from Leo and finally the beating stopped. Leo blinked painfully. “It's okay. It's over.”

Leo started to try and move and Chris suddenly turned on his heel and marched out of the cave.

Phoebe ran after him but then came back in.

“He’s gone,” she said.

Piper helped Leo up gingerly.

“We need to get you to Gideon,” she said.

“Okay,” he agreed, barely able to move, feeling blood on his face and the numbness of pain.

“Not the way I’d pictured our reunion,” she said, kissing his hand.

He laughed and then choked.

“Me either.”

They all crowded around him and Paige orbed them to Magic School.

Gideon rushed in.

“What happened?” he asked in horror, immediately beginning to heal.

Leo felt better instantly, breathing became easier, and the sharp pain in his nose was gone.

“Chris had a little run in with the Spider Demon,” said Piper.

She had sat down, rubbing her stomach. Leo worried about her, had either of them been hurt by the Spider Demon?

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” Piper said. “I’m starting to realize how hard pregnancy is when you’re not invulnerable, however. And exhausting.”

“You are much too vulnerable,” agreed Gideon. “Why don’t you stay here where you can be protected? Just until the baby’s born, of course. You and Wyatt can move into the teacher’s quarters.”

“I’m still not going back,” Leo said to Gideon.

Gideon frowned.

“I offered out of a desire to help, Leo, not blackmail.”

“I know,” Leo said, releasing his suspicion. “I’m sorry. I’ve just spent the last six months feeling like a prisoner and I don’t want my wife and child involved.”

“I can understand that,” Gideon said.

“Hey, what if I don’t want to move in here?” said Piper, waving her hands. “Remember me, the pregnant lady who likes to blow up Elders?”

“Piper,” hissed Phoebe.

“What? I’d like to make my own decisions,” said Piper.

“What do you want to do, honey?” asked Leo.

Piper blew out a breath and rubbed her stomach.

“I’ll stay here. It’s definitely what’s best for Chris. However, that means I want Leo either here with me or at the manor so he can protect big Chris and help the girls.”

“Done,” said Leo quickly.

Gideon didn’t look ecstatic, but surely he couldn’t argue that if Leo was at Magic School that he’d be endangering the Elders?

After that the details were arranged and they spent the next few hours packing things and getting all of Wyatt’s toys together.

After hugging him a lot Paige and Phoebe went back to their lives, Paige, still planning on staying in the manor at least until Piper got back. Richard helped them pack and then took Paige to the club so she could supervise the band for the night. Phoebe presumably went to work so she could edit her column, but Piper commented wryly that she was probably just trying to find more guys to go on dates with.

“I’m worried about Chris,” Piper said quietly to Leo as they stood in the Great Hall at Magic School. “He won’t come when I call to him. Do you know where he is?”

“I think I have an idea,” said Leo. “I’ll go check on him after you’re settled in.”

“Do you think that’s wise?”

“We have to talk somehow. I need to get through to him.”

“Just be careful,” said Piper.

Leo felt his face and smiled ruefully.

“I will.”

They picked up Wyatt from the nursery and Leo squeezed him so tightly that Piper reprimanded him.

“You're suffocating the boy.”

“It's just, you know,” Leo said, “I just miss him a lot.”

“I know,” said Piper softly.

Leo helped her get settled in and then they put Wyatt to bed. Leo lay next to Piper on the bed.

“You’re so big,” he said, smoothing his hand over her stomach. “I can’t believe how much I missed.”

“Me too,” said Piper, running her hands through his hair. “I missed you.”

“Me too,” said Leo. “It was hard to think Up There. I know they wanted me to forget you. But I can’t.”

“I’m glad,” she said. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

“Me too.”

“That appears to be all we know how to say,” said Piper, giggling.

“Yeah,” said Leo, kissing her softly.

“This is better,” she said, twining her arms around his neck.

“Me too,” he said.

She bit his neck affectionately.

“We can’t have a reunion yet,” she said, sighing. “You have to find Chris.”

“I will,” said Leo, getting up and kissing her forehead.

“You know, Leo, you can get through to him. You just can't give up. He's just as stubborn as you are,” she told him.

“I think you mean as you are,” he teased.

“Orb away,” she told him.

He smiled and did. As he had suspected, Chris was on the bridge. That, more than anything, continued to give Leo hope. Why would Chris keep coming back here when it was Leo’s special spot if Chris didn’t somehow want to connect with him?

“Can we talk?” asked Leo.

Chris sighed and looked down.

“There's nothing to talk about.”

“I think there is. Quite a bit, actually.”

“Look, I’m sorry about your face, okay? But the rest…it doesn't matter.”

“It does to me, Chris.” Leo paused. “You're my son. I think I deserve to know what I did that's so bad.”

Leo was gambling here. He no longer wanted to make Chris mad. He just wanted Chris to speak to him.

Chris looked up and then laughed at the sight of Leo.

“It’s like I didn’t even touch you,” he said.

Leo touched his now healed face.

“But we both were there,” Leo said. “We both know what happened. But you’re the only one who’s been to the future, Chris. You’re the only one who knows what I did.”

Chris didn’t speak for a minute, but when he did, his voice was dull, like he was trying to distance himself from what he was saying.

“You were never there for me. You were there for everybody else. For Mom, Wyatt, the world…but you were never there for me. You didn't have the time.”

Leo couldn’t imagine such a world and he hated the idea that his own son had been through so much on account of him.

“Why?” Leo whispered after a minute. “Why didn’t I?”

“Does that matter?” Chris said.

“I think you know I would never do that without a reason,” said Leo.

Chris half-smiled.

“I’ll give you that much, you had a good reason.”

“Which was?”

“You were the only Elder there was apart from Gideon,” said Chris, sighing. “When the Titans attacked every single Elder died but Gideon since he was at Magic School. You ascended like you did this time, but too late to save anyone else. Mom got pregnant with me right after that, but then there wasn’t anything- the whole world needed you.”

“I’m sorry,” Leo said.

“Yeah, me too,” Chris said, swallowing.

“I know it’s hard,” Leo said, then stopped. “What I mean is, there has to be something between us other than hate. If not you couldn’t have healed me.”

Chris shrugged noncommittally.

“I am a Whitelighter. Whitelighters heal.”

“Out of love,” said Leo, but didn’t want to push it, so just said, “So maybe you came back from the future not just to save Wyatt, maybe you came back to save us too.”

Chris looked right at Leo and didn’t say anything, and then he shook his head.

“I doubt it.”

He orbed away and Leo slumped down and cried for a good half an hour. This was too much, too much for him, too much for Chris. It wasn’t fair. It was so much to take in at one time, especially after having been removed for so long. It was overwhelming.

For a minute Leo hated himself as much as Chris did, but he knew that wasn’t the answer. Instead, he had to do everything he could to win trust and to let Chris know that this time would be different. That when Chris finally did go back to the future, he would be entering a world where he was loved, where he was valued, where he had a good father.

Leo couldn’t think about it anymore than that because he would completely break down if he did so when he was done crying, he went back to Magic School and crawled into bed with Piper and told her what Chris had said and cried again with her.

He had never lost control like that in his life. He’d never been so angry. And he’d never been so ashamed. He had felt like murder and someone else had pulled him away. He wasn’t regretful, if that made any sense, but he felt like he’d given away some of his control by reacting. Things were different now, he could see that. He’d revealed so much of himself and he’d seen more than he wanted to. He wanted to stop the knowledge from getting into his head, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t even stop hope from burgeoning in his heart. But he could stop anyone from seeing him lose control like that again. That way no one could hurt him anymore.