Charmed Fic: Made Weak by Time and Fate: Chapter Twelve A
Chapter Twelve A
Funny how he had a part to play even now. This time it most definitely was for everyone’s good. He was anxious to leave, to figure out if he’d succeeded, but, deep down, he knew he hadn’t.
Piper finally finished her packing and sat back down to watch Leo get everything closed and ready to go. She’d also just finished telling him about Sheila and how her talk with Darryl hadn’t done any good.
“Darryl’s just scared, honey,” Leo said. “He wasn’t ever really trained for this world; he barely has the power to protect himself. If I were him I’d be scared to death for my family.”
“I understand that,” Piper said. “And it would be one thing to not want to help us out with the force, but he really seems to blame us for being scared in the first place. I can stand to lose a police detective, but I don’t want to lose a friend. I don’t want Wyatt to lose his friend either.”
“Well, you’re right,” Leo said, extending his hands to help her up. “I don’t want to lose them either. But right now we have to focus on helping Chris. He’s waited so long. And maybe once there’s no Chris for Darryl to arrest, he’ll feel easier about the situation.”
“There is that,” said Piper, wincing as she was hauled to her feet again. “I really doubt they’ll be able to send a newborn to jail for stealing a car.”
“Besides, Chris Perry doesn’t exist,” said Leo. “Darryl will know they’re the same, but then, Darryl will know to look for him in twenty years.”
“He’ll have a different name then too,” said Piper.
“He really thought of everything, didn’t he?” Leo asked as they walked to the Great Hall.
“He’s a bright boy,” said Piper.
“I’m so proud of him, Piper,” Leo said.
“I’m proud of you both,” Piper said, leaning against him. “You were right, you know? About this working out, about us being able to be a family.”
“You were right too,” Leo said. “It’s too hard to do it this way. I have to be a husband and father first. Now that the crisis is over, well, changes need to be made.”
“We’ll discuss that later,” said Piper, a secret thrill running through her.
They entered the Great Hall in time to hear Chris bug Paige about having the spell ready while Gideon hovered in the background.
“You mean since the last two minutes you asked me?” asked Paige.
“Look, I’m just getting nervous here, okay?” said Chris. “My birthday is really, really close and if I’m not out of here before I’m born…”
“What? Something else catastrophic you haven’t found fit to mention will happen?” said Paige.
Chris rolled his eyes at her.
“No, but if I’m still here when baby Chris is born then I’ll have my powers and he won’t. That’ll get fixed by my going back so nothing catastrophic, but I’d just like to get the timelines straightened out before I leave. Besides,” he said, with a sidelong glance around the room, “I came here and did what I had to do, and that was to save Wyatt. Now it’s time for me to go home.” Piper exchanged a glance with Leo and then they pushed the suitcase further into view. “Oh, no. No, no, no. Not yet. You’re early,” Chris exclaimed.
“Oh, relax,” said Piper. “I’m just getting a jump on things. I’m not in labor. I’m sending some stuff back to the house.”
“Just don’t scare me, okay?” he said.
“We’ve got everything together, right?” asked Leo. “The spell will work.”
“It should work,” corrected Gideon.
“Should work? What do you mean?”
“Well, there are no guarantees with time travel, Leo. You should know that better than anyone. Sorry. There’s always a chance that something might go wrong.”
“All right, we’re not taking any chances,” said Leo.
“We might have to. I’m running out of time here,” said Chris.
“No, I’m not sending you through a one-way portal unless I know where you’re gonna land,” Leo insisted.
Chris gave him a look, but Piper would swear it was half-affectionate, half-exasperated.
“You can never be certain, unless, of course, you went too,” said Gideon. “And even then…”
“All right, let’s just forget the spell and start to work on that potion again,” said Leo.
“But the spell has a better chance of working. It’s the Power of Three,” Gideon argued.
“Yes, but if something goes wrong, he’ll have extra potion with him and he can come right back,” said Leo.
Piper wondered if this was how matters were taken care of Up There. Was this why they always had their heads up their collective asses?
“I agree,” she said. “The potion sounds safer, so why don’t you guys get to work on that? Paige, can you orb these home for me? Just squeeze them into the nursery or something.”
“Nursery?” asked Paige.
“That was your one job,” said Piper. “You and Phoebe were going to set up your room as the nursery now that you’ve moved back to Richard’s.”
“I was working on the spell. I’m sorry,” Paige apologized.
“I would get on that,” said Piper. “Don’t forget to get lots of diapers.”
Chris turned around muttering to himself.
“I’ve gotta get out of here.”
Piper laughed.
“That much in a hurry to get rid of us?”
“Of course not,” said Chris, turning back around. “I’d just like a little sense of normalcy.”
Gideon left, saying something about attending to school matters, and Paige orbed back to the manor.
Piper walked closer to Chris.
“You changed a lot of things,” Piper said. “I’m probably even alive.”
Chris flinched.
“I hope so,” he whispered.
“You better believe she’s alive,” Leo said, walking to them. “I’m going to spend every minute of every day hovering by her side.”
“Wow, that’s going to get annoying,” said Piper.
Chris laughed, an actually genuine laugh, with no bitterness or sarcasm in it.
“This will take some getting used to.”
“It will be worth it,” said Piper, giving him a slight hug. “Now, I’m going to go get Wyatt and lay down until it’s time, okay?”
“Good idea,” said Leo.
Piper left them working over potion vials.
***
He’d definitely learned a lot, being here. He had so much to take back with him. But he wondered just exactly how much of this he would maintain? Would he still be himself, untouched by time, or would he be absorbed into another person’s life? Either way was better than this, it had to be. He hated being suspicious and constantly on edge. Just a few more days, then it would be over.
Leo finished the final ingredient and threw it into the cauldron. It was a complicated potion but Leo had years of experience and Chris had inherited his mother’s mixing skills.
Chris was leaning on the table while Leo started siphoning the potion into vials.
“I wonder how different the future’s gonna be, how much different my life is gonna be.”
“I don’t know,” said Leo. “I’m pretty sure you’re the only person who’s successfully accomplished this kind of alternate timeline.”
“Something for the resume anyway,” Chris said wryly.
“Even the Twice Blessed would be hard put to measure up to it,” Leo said.
“Don’t start over-favoring me,” Chris said. “Remember how Wyatt reacts to stress.”
Leo’s face fell as Chris brought up one of his worst fears.
“I don’t know what kind of a dad I’ll be to you both. But I won’t stop loving either of you. Equally. To the very best of my abilities.”
“I know,” Chris said, squirming slightly. “I get that. You-you’ve showed me that. It’s just hard to adjust to it.”
“I know,” Leo said, finishing the last vial. “But no matter what the future is like I just want you to get home safely.” Leo handed Chris a potion. “Now remember, if anything seems different, we have another vial of this to get back right away.”
“You worry too much, you know that? I’ll be fine,” said Chris.
“I’m your father. It’s my job to worry.” Leo paused, not sure if Chris was ready to take Leo’s next words. “Now, listen, when you get back there, you gotta take it easy on Wyatt, okay? You can’t hold a grudge.”
“Hey, as long as he’s not Ruler of All Evil, I’m cool,” said Chris.
“I’m serious. He’s gonna be different. Good. He’s not gonna remember he wasn’t. So if you really want to change the future, you gotta start with a clean slate. I think that will be the hardest bit for you.”
“So you think that passing through time here won’t erase my memories too?” asked Chris.
“I think it will…merge them. You’re going to have everything that you’ve done here, but you’ll be Chris Halliwell and will have grown up with the changes you instigated. The day you go back, I think you’ll get hit with a whole other set of memories.”
“It’s going to give me a headache,” Chris said.
“No more than the rest of us,” said Leo. “We’ve got it easy though. We’ll only know about the other future, we won’t have to live it like you did.”
“I’m glad about that,” Chris said.
“It just means you’ll have to make an extra effort not to react to things Wyatt hasn’t done.”
Chris gave him a look and Leo knew it meant Chris was really thinking of how he’d react to Leo, not Wyatt.
“Okay. Okay, I get it. How about you? Are you starting with a clean slate?”
“How do you mean?” asked Leo.
“Like you and the Elders. Look, all I’m saying is I’d like to know where you are headed before I go back, that’s all.”
“It’s complicated, I made a commitment.”
“You made another one first and I practically made you make the second one,” Chris said.
“All right,” Leo said, holding his hands up. “I know. That’s been our argument all along. And, yes, I’m planning on making some changes. I just don’t know exactly what they’ll be yet.”
Chris smiled.
“That’s good enough for me.”
Leo smiled too.
“Listen, we have enough of this stuff if you want to try a dry run before everybody gets here. What do you think?”
“Yeah. Let’s do it.”
Leo threw his vial against the triquetra drawn on the wall. The vial smashed and fell to the floor, but nothing happened. Leo squinted because it looked like the vial hadn’t even hit the wall and he could swear he almost saw something…something he should recognize. But mostly Leo just felt disappointed.
“That should have worked,” Leo said. He turned to Chris. “I’ll get you home, buddy, I promise.”
Chris opened his mouth like he was going to say something and then closed it again.
They walked into the hallway and Chris suddenly grabbed Leo’s arm and orbed him to the bridge.
“We have to talk,” Chris said.
“What’s going on?” asked Leo in confusion.
“Did you see anything in there?” asked Chris. “Like something in front of the wall?”
“I-I thought I did.”
“So did I. Listen, I know you’re going to think I’m just being paranoid and suspicious again, but I don’t think this is over yet.”
“What?” asked Leo, feeling stupid.
“It was all just a little too convenient that we found the Gamesmasters when we did,” Chris said. “Right when we were getting close to investigating other theories. And I’m telling you something kept that potion from working just now. I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to give myself away, but I know in my gut that someone’s still after Wyatt. I’m sure you’ll just think I’m being stupid, but-”
“Chris,” Leo interrupted. “I believe you.”
“What?” Chris said, the one staring this time.
“I believe you,” said Leo.
“Why?” asked Chris.
“Because you’re my son and you’re smart and you know more about this than any of us.”
“Oh,” Chris said.
Leo smiled.
“Is it that hard for you to believe?”
Chris swallowed and ducked his head.
“No, not anymore.”
Leo stepped forward and hugged his son.
“Good.”
When Leo stepped back Chris had tears in his eyes but he didn’t say anything.
“Thanks,” Chris mumbled.
“So what’s your plan?” asked Leo.
“I keep waiting for a strike, but something tells me if whoever it is didn’t want us using the potion then they’re counting on us using the spell instead.”
“Sounds about right,” agreed Leo.
“So, we use the spell, but take the potion with us. I think they want to trap us so we’re not around to help Wyatt.”
“What about the sisters?” asked Leo. “Won’t they be in danger?”
“It seems like whoever’s doing this doesn’t want to hurt anyone but Wyatt,” said Chris. “Otherwise, they could just attack us. They want to do this the sneaky way.”
“Agreed.”
“So I don’t think the sisters will be in harm’s way.”
“We still need to tell them, Chris,” Leo said gently. “I know you like to keep things close to your chest and I’m sorry I helped teach that to you in the future. But the whole point of family is trust.”
“I know,” Chris said. “I’m telling you, aren’t I?”
“So we need to tell Paige and Phoebe at least,” said Leo.
“Ooh, keeping secrets is probably not good in a marriage.”
“Knowing secrets isn’t good for a woman about to give birth,” said Leo.
“I can see that,” Chris said. “I do not want her going into labor.”
“Okay, but how do we let them know?” asked Leo. “Whoever it is could be watching us.”
“True,” said Chris, a pondering look on his face. “Well, the girls are at the house, let’s grab them and take them to Richard’s or something. Not Magic School.”
“I think you’re right,” said Leo.
So they orbed to the house where Phoebe and Paige had just started coming up the stairs. The nursery was still a bit of a mess. They were arguing.
“We can’t tell them. Chris is leaving and it won’t make a difference anyway!” said Paige furiously.
They looked up and started guiltily at Chris and Leo standing above them.
“What won’t make a difference?” asked Chris.
“The fact that Sheridan was just here trying to arrest you,” Phoebe said in a rush.
“Was Darryl here?” asked Leo.
“No,” Phoebe said, shaking her head. “She was on her own, but she said she was determined to look into why Chris Perry’s id didn’t seem to link anywhere and why he was always hanging around here and whether or not we knew where he was. Next time she’s coming with a warrant.”
“We don’t have time for that right now,” said Chris.
“We need to be careful,” said Leo. “Keeping you out of jail isn’t a problem, but we can’t expose magic, not with the Tribunal visit so close behind us.”
“I know,” Chris said, “but we don’t have time.”
“What’s going on?” asked Paige.
“Is Richard home?” asked Leo.
“No,” said Paige. “He’s away, remember? His mom called and needed him and she lives on the other side of the country now.”
“Come with us,” said Leo.
They orbed Paige and Phoebe to Richard’s house.
“This is getting creepy, what’s going on?” asked Phoebe.
They quickly explained their suspicions and the girls were slightly more reluctant than Leo, but they came around.
“The little twerp here is usually right even if he goes about it in odd ways,” said Paige.
Chris sighed, but the corners of his mouth turned upwards.
“So, you two are going to be the bait and we’ll close the trap?” said Phoebe.
“That’s the plan,” said Leo. “We don’t know what’s going to happen though so you’ll have to watch for anything that might seem like someone’s trying to get Wyatt.”
“Okay,” said Paige. “Now, you guys go back to Magic School and get the spell ready and we’ll get there when we were originally supposed to.”
Leo cocked his wrist back and looked at his watch.
“Which is almost now. And, remember, we don’t want anything to upset Piper.”
“Your funeral,” said Paige, lifting her hands.
But Leo knew they both agreed.
Leo and Chris orbed back to Magic School and Leo went in search of Gideon.
“Gideon,” he called, knocking on the outer door of Gideon’s office and then came inside. Gideon was just turning from stocking his shelves. “Hey, it looks like we’re going to need that spell after all.” Leo stopped, confused, his ears playing tricks on him. “Is there an echo in here?”
“It’s poor acoustics,” Gideon said smoothly. “Gather the sisters, and I’ll get the spell.”
“The potion should have worked,” Leo said casually.
“Like I said, time travel is tricky. You will still be escorting your son?”
“Well, I think so. I think it’s safest, don’t you?”
“Absolutely. Gather everyone together. I’ll be right along.”
Leo went to get Piper and shoved his thoughts to the back of his mind. He wouldn’t think such things.
***
This was so weird, working with other people. Yeah, he’d been doing that for a year, but now he was really working with them, and it didn’t make him nervous like it had at other times. He was feeling apprehensive about what would happen next, but he was definitely comfortable with the company he was keeping. Looked like he was going to fix more than he’d planned to.
Chris was acting restless again. Piper knew how anxious he was to get home, but now he seemed back to his pre-Wyatt-being-saved self. Almost like he knew something they didn’t again. If Gideon wasn’t hanging around with the spell she might pull Chris aside to interrogate him.
“You’re okay with me going too, right?” asked Leo.
“I don’t have much of a choice,” she said. “You need to protect our son and I’ll do my best to keep him from being born.”
“I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself,” Chris protested.
“Remember the last time you went through a portal?” Leo teased gently. “You were almost dinosaur kibble.”
Gideon got up from where he’d been writing on the spell.
“I just wanted to go over the spell one more time, make a few tweaks,” he said.
“Tweaks? Let me see that,” said Piper, snatching it from his hands.
Leo and Chris leaned over her shoulders to look at it. It didn’t seem any different from when Piper had originally seen it in one of the Magic School books, though Gideon had obviously tightened up the grammar.
Leo and Chris exchanged looks and Leo gave a slight nod. Piper was about to question them both, Gideon or no Gideon, when Phoebe and Paige orbed in.
“Finally. Where have you two been?” said Chris.
“Sorry. We were a little, uh…held up,” said Paige, glaring at Chris, like it was somehow his fault.
“But we’re here now, so let’s get this show on the road, you know?” Phoebe said in her nervous voice. “The clock’s a-ticking. Tick-tock, tick-tock.”
“Here goes nothing,” said Chris.
Phoebe moved to him.
“Now don’t you worry about anything. You just go back to that beautiful, peaceful world that you helped create.” She hugged him tightly. “I’m really gonna miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too,” said Chris. “Well, you know what I mean.”
Phoebe smiled and Chris moved on to Paige.
“Aw, here comes the hugging part,” she said, giving him a big one. “Darn kid, you grow on a person.”
“Feeling’s mutual,” he told her.
Piper watched Chris move toward her and tried to hold back her tears. He was such a wonderful gift to her, to all of them, and she wasn’t losing him, but it would be a long time before he would remember today.
She folded him in her arms and held him there for a long moment.
“Thank you for coming here. I love you.”
“I love you so much, Mom,” he whispered into her ear.
She moved away, sniffing, and spoke briskly.
“Now go on. Hurry. You be safe.”
Chris smiled at her and then nodded to Gideon.
“Thanks for all your help,” he said.
“You did a noble thing in coming here,” Gideon replied, using his Elder voice or what Piper referred to as his Elder voice.
She had to refrain from rolling her eyes.
Chris squatted down in front of Wyatt and fake-shot him with his finger.
“Pow. Be good, bud.”
Wyatt smiled his most angelic smile and Piper wished with all her heart that Wyatt would remember this moment. That both of them would.
Everyone turned to the triquetra on the wall and Piper spoke the spell along with her sisters.
“In this place and in this hour, we call upon the ancient power, open the door through time and space. Create a path to another place.”
A portal opened in the wall and Chris and Leo stepped through, Leo squeezing her hand one last time.
Their shapes disappeared but then seemed to come back. There was a pause and then Chris and Leo appeared again, but they didn’t look the same. Their clothes and hair were vastly different, resembling evil overlords and unwashed vagrants. Leo’s hair was spiked with multiple tufts all over his head, his jacket of the long black leather variety. Chris had hair that was long and greasy and piercings on his face whereas he hadn’t before.
Everyone stared at each other for a long, blank moment before Gideon recovered. Way more quickly than Piper herself would have.
“Something’s gone wrong. Don’t let them leave,” he said sharply.
Before Piper could really focus, Leo had shoved Gideon into Phoebe, making them both fall over. Chris suddenly materialized a Darklighter crossbow and shot at Paige but Piper froze the arrow.
“Are you out of your mind?” she yelled.
Leo threw something to the ground and they all flinched, but nothing happened.
“Follow me,” said Leo to Chris and they orbed out.
Using black orbs. Piper’s breath caught in her throat and she simply stared. What had happened to them in a microsecond to change them so?
“What the hell was that?” asked Phoebe, standing up.
“I’m not sure,” said Gideon, but he didn’t sound unsure to Piper.
“You’re not sure?” Paige said angrily. “Chris just tried to kill me, and you’re not sure? We were supposed to send him back to the future, not turn him into a Darklighter.”
“Excuse me, people. Those were black orbs. Where did they get black orbs from?” asked Piper, trying not to hyperventilate.
She sat down and concentrated on that while Phoebe rushed over to her.
“Breathe. Breathe, Piper. You don’t wanna go into labor yet.”
Piper really wished Phoebe hadn’t said that. Now all Piper could think of was being in labor. Phoebe rubbed Piper’s stomach and slowly Piper felt better.
Meanwhile Paige was practically interrogating Gideon.
“Perhaps the spell wasn’t specific enough,” said Gideon.
“Meaning what?” asked Phoebe.
“Meaning it worked, obviously,” Gideon replied. “It opened up a portal. Not to another time, but to another world. A parallel world, not just any parallel world. One that’s the exact reverse of ours.”
“Reverse like what? Reverse like evil?” asked Paige.
“Precisely,” said Gideon. “You see, it’s all part of the grand design. A universe destined to maintain balance. Light and dark, yin and yang, good and evil. For good to prevail in this world, then an equally evil world must also exist.”
“That’s awfully convenient,” said Piper under her breath.
“Balance is everything,” said Gideon sagely and if Piper were feeling up to it she’d hit him. “Without it the cosmos doesn’t spin."
“Are you telling me that when our Leo and Chris stepped in there, their evil selves stepped out?” asked Piper.
“Yes. It’s a mirror world. Whatever happens there happens here.”
“You seem to know a lot about this world,” said Phoebe slowly.
Gideon’s face twitched, then he spoke smoothly.
“One of my constant sources of study here at Magic School. Unfortunately, perhaps I put a little too much of my knowledge into the spell.”
“Blame time later,” said Piper. “Figure out how to solve now!”
“So our Leo and Chris are in their evil world,” said Paige, exchanging a glance with Phoebe.
“Well, we gotta go get ‘em,” said Piper.
“You can’t go get them. You’re not going anywhere,” said Phoebe.
“Besides, what about those evil fellas that just came through here?” said Paige.
“We’ll go get them later,” said Piper.
“Actually, I think you should go after them now,” said Gideon.
“Why?” asked Phoebe hotly.
“Because for every second that they’re in our world, they risk throwing off the balance by doing something evil.”
“What does that even mean?” asked Piper.
“They’re evil. Our world is essentially good. It cannot have too much evil in it or it will become evil. And despite our struggles, that will be a very different world,” said Gideon.
Paige and Phoebe looked at each other again.
“Piper, you stay here,” said Paige. “Phoebe and I will go find the doppelgangers. I’m going to call Mrs. Winterbourne to stay with you. Gideon, you work on getting that portal open again. Piper, keep Wyatt with you, all right? It will make you feel better and probably him too.”
“All right,” said Piper, like she had any intention of leaving her son anywhere.
They vanished and Piper picked Wyatt up, heading back to her room and wondering what she was missing. Something was going on.
***
What the hell was going on? They were in a completely bizarre world where complete opposites tried to kill them and they couldn’t get back. They’d tried, but their escape route hadn’t worked. Now, he felt stupid, like he should’ve thought of this. They had been trying to lay a trap and now they were trapped.
When Leo had stepped through the portal he’d come face to face with his very pregnant wife and she’d attempted to blow him up. Phoebe and Paige were there as well, dressed like, well, like evil versions of themselves. Gideon with an earring had about done Leo in. But he was too busy trying to stay alive. The potion they’d carried with them hadn’t worked and he and Chris had had to flee. Leo had orbed to the bridge instinctively and now they were trying to figure out what had happened.
“Where are we and why didn’t the potion work?” asked Chris.
“I think we’re in a parallel world,” said Leo. “I don’t know much about it, but I know such a place exists and that’s what my gut says.”
“A parallel evil world?” asked Chris.
“Yeah, the universe is held in balance and for every good world, there must be an evil one. We went here instead of the future and that’s why the potion doesn’t work, it’s not designed for that.”
Chris tightened his knuckles and grimaced.
“So, our entire plan to lay a trap was all for nothing and we’re stuck here in Evil Land and Wyatt’s helpless on the other side.”
Leo thought for a moment.
“Not necessarily. From what I remember everything that happens in our world gets mirrored here so someone should be trying to hurt Wyatt here too. If we can find whoever it is here, we’ll know who it is over there. If we can stop them here, it should stop them there.”
“I already know who it is,” said Chris grimly.
Leo shook his head.
“I know what you’re thinking, but I’ve known- I won’t believe that.”
“Don’t be stupid, Dad,” said Chris.
Leo sighed. He knew Chris was right. He just didn’t want to think it. Not till he had proof.
“Let’s just keep an open mind for a moment,” he pleaded.
Chris sighed and nodded.
“Our focus is to get to this Wyatt anyway. Where would they be keeping him? At the manor? At Magic School?”
“We can try, but it will be well guarded,” said Leo. “We have to try anyway. Let’s orb quickly. But we may have to find refuge somewhere.”
“Where?” asked Chris.
“Where would you go in an evil world to find good?” asked Leo, smiling wryly.
Chris thought for a moment.
“The Underworld.”
“Spot on,” said Leo. “Now we shouldn’t count on the girls coming to get us because they know to keep Wyatt safe.”
“That will depend on if they keep up the pretense or not,” said Chris. “At this point I’m thinking that subterfuge is getting us nowhere.”
“That’s funny coming from you,” Leo said.
Chris glared at him.
“I know when to quit.”
“I know, I know,” said Leo. “Just teasing. Frankly, I don’t know what the girls should do. If they don’t come after us, they’ll have to tell Piper why. If they do, should they tell her since she’ll be the one left to protect Wyatt?”
“What if she goes into labor?” asked Chris, posing the question that Leo was sure was on both their minds.
“I don’t know,” said Leo. “Let’s just get back as soon as we can.”
“Agreed.”
They orbed first to the manor, but no one was home. They tried Magic School again but they couldn’t orb inside of it.
“I guess, the good are prevented from getting there, just like the bad are in our world,” said Leo.
“Then what can we do?” asked Chris.
“Find someone who can help us,” said Leo.
“Anyone in particular?” asked Chris with the air of someone who knew the answer already.
“You know it,” said Leo.
Chris sighed and followed Leo into the Underworld.
It was different.
The whole place was light and there were trees and flowers, a scent of fruit and freshness in the air, the temperature was just right. One felt alive down there.
“You’re different,” said a voice.
Leo and Chris turned to see Barbas, dressed all in white, smiling gently at them.
“Yeah, not a lot of time to explain,” said Leo, so he gave Barbas the quick notes version of what they were trying to do.
“Do you have the power to send us back to our world?” asked Chris.
“Alas, I do not,” said Barbas. “Not if you were brought here by the Power of Three. But, however, hope springs eternal, so I may be able to persuade the sisters of my world to help us simply by relying on their greatest hope, the hope to reunite with your counterparts, and then, maybe you will be able to return to your time before it’s too late as you hope."
“Can you get a hold of them or can you think of any way to get us close to Wyatt?” asked Leo.
“That is your dearest hope, is it not?” asked Barbas, waving his hand by Leo’s face.
“Um?” said Leo.
“How do you know?” asked Chris.
Barbas waved his hand by Chris this time.
“I know the truth of all your hopes because I can feel your greatest hope inside here, the hope to one day return home. Oh, and, of course, your presence here gives me great hope, the hope that someplace there really is a different kind of world, a world where the greater good, the, uh, the goodness of the heart prevails.”
He put his hand on Leo’s shoulder and Chris raised his eyebrows at Leo.
“Is he for real?”
“He must be,” Leo answered. “Demon of Fear in our world must be the Demon of Hope here.”
Barbas went to extend his touch to Chris, but Chris slapped his hand away.
“Don’t touch me,” Chris said sternly.
At that moment Paige orbed in and sighed with relief upon seeing them.
“Orb away quickly,” said Barbas and Leo had to repress an ironic reaction that Barbas was concerned for them. “I will deal with her, I have before.”
“No, it's okay. She's the good one,” said Leo, observing her same outfit she’d been wearing earlier.
“I have been looking everywhere for you two,” said Paige. “We have to go.”
“How?” asked Chris. “Where’s Phoebe?”
“She stayed behind to take care of the ‘you know what,’ ” said Paige.
“I’m glad you left someone there,” said Chris.
“Since I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get back,” Paige said. “Though I guess our counterparts didn’t do the same thing cause Evil!Gideon said-”
“Gideon?” interrupted Chris.
“Yeah, he met me on the other side and said to go find you and that the sisters would find me and then hopefully we could all get back since there were three of us.”
“Um, this is bad,” said Chris.
“I know what you’re thinking,” said Paige. “That’s why Phoebe and I left her behind. I’m thinking the same thing you are about-”
“Me too,” said a new voice that sounded exactly like hers.
Leo looked and saw the evil versions of Paige and Phoebe walking toward them.
“Hi there,” said Phoebe, waving her hands and smirking.
Both Paiges went into battle positions.
Leo and Chris looked at each other and ducked for cover.