Chapter Text
A Second Chance
Part 1
2004 San Francisco Hospital Memorial
The family was gathered in the room, still under the shock. Phoebe was holding Wyatt, Paige was leaning back against the wall, Leo was staring at his wife and Piper was staring at the baby in her arms.
A girl. She had given birth to a baby girl. They all thought she would have a boy. The echography, the doctors, Chris’s very presence –they all thought the newborn would be a boy. And yet, here she was, sleeping, oblivious to the world around her.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Paige said faintly.
Chris should have been here. His existence should have been renewed, and they would have started a new life altogether…a real life with no repeated mistakes, where all of them could learn from the future their second son had changed for the better.
“Do you think…” Phoebe started. “Do you think that he wasn’t reborn because his destiny was only to warn us about Wyatt?”
The rest of the room glared at her so violently she flinched back.
“My son was not born for some higher kind of purpose only,” Piper shot back coldly. “Something must have happened. There must be a way to explain this.” She glanced at her husband. “Why don’t you go Up There and ask them? They must know something!”
Her voice grew thinner and shakier. Leo stared down, his own doubts creeping on his face. Fate could be cruel, they all knew that, but that Chris would be the only one to pay the price- it wasn’t fair. He glanced at the newborn –his daughter –felt the doubt creeping in. Piper wasn’t wrong when she said there must be an explanation. He barely had made up with his son, it wasn’t to lose him so soon. But where did this baby fit in the whole scheme?
“I don’t think even Elders have the answer to that,” he said, and was about to say that he would be going anyway when someone knocked on the door and a nurse peeked in.
“Excuse-me,” she said. “Is this Mrs. Halliwell’s room?” Phoebe nodded for them all. “There is a phone call for you, a Mr. Perry who would like to pass on his congratulations.”
Stunned silent. Only for a short while.
“Send him through!” Paige yelped, jumping off the wall and waiting next to the phone. The nurse disappeared from the threshold. They all waited with tense anticipation and when it rang, she nearly dropped it. “Chris?”
Her voice was halfway shaking already and the tension in the room so thick it could be cut with a knife. She heard someone breathing softly, clear their throat, and speak with the same emotional charge:
“Hello Aunt Paige.”
She covered her mouth with a hand, smothering a sob. Leo nearly snatched it from her hands as he pressed it to his ear.
“Is that you? Where are you? What’s going on?”
Soft chuckle –disbelief and awe at the same time. It was Chris’s alright.
“I’m not sure,” the younger man replied slowly. “I was fading one moment, and the next, I was speaking to an Angel of Destiny.”
“What is he saying?” Piper asked, still holding the baby tightly to her chest.
Leo reluctantly set the phone in the middle of them all. His son’s quiet voice could be heard by all now.
“The Angel of Destiny told me my soul couldn’t return to the future.” Wyatt peeked up as he recognized the voice too and cooed ‘Kwis?’. Phoebe hushed him. “The merging of alternative-me and present-me would be too complicated to handle, so I was given the choice to either fade away or stay in the past.” He paused. “The consequences already happened with the baby, because I couldn’t exist in two places at once.”
They all stared back at the sleeping newborn. Chris had chosen to say; therefore a girl was born, cementing the change in destiny.
“Call me selfish but…I didn’t want to fade away. Not even if it meant losing everything I ever knew.” His voice was trembling now, his breath shaky. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t ready to let go.”
“It’s alright sweetie,” Piper spoke up. “We can smooth out the details later. Where are you? Leo or Paige will come and get you.”
They needed to see him. They needed to make sure he was alright. Leo and Paige had seen him fade away. Phoebe and Piper hadn’t seen his death, but the news had shaken them too. And Piper wanted her son near, safe and sound.
“I can’t tell you that, and I can’t come home yet.”
Another stunned silence fell upon the room. They glanced at each other, confused.
“Why?” Phoebe asked.
“Even though we’re different, she’s still supposed to be me. Our magic might clash if we meet too early and we will only hurt each other.” Pause. They heard him take a deep breath. “I’m not supposed to interfere with your lives either. My presence –my knowledge of the future –is a danger to the destiny lying ahead. I can’t go home right now.”
“Screw destiny,” Piper hissed. “You belong with us, your family, at home!”
Chris’s only response was another soft chuckle.
“That’s the thing mom, I can’t officially be your ‘family’. A distant cousin at best, but not a Halliwell. That’s the price for my living today. It’s the price I agreed for all of us to pay.”
They exchanged another glance, heavy and silent. There was one thing he hadn’t told them, and they dreaded that answer.
“So…when can you come home?”
“I don’t know yet.” His voice was still soft, as if he wasn’t delivering a hefty blow. “Could be months, could be years. Maybe even decades.”
Decades.
“Is there really no other way?” Phoebe asked. “Like, you could meet us, without the baby around. Paige or Leo could orb us to another country or something?”
“That won’t work,” he replied. “And there still might be future consequences. Besides, I think I need this. I need time on my own, after everything.”
Phoebe didn’t look convinced, but one stare from her sisters shut her up. Leo too looked resigned. Chris was right, he had earned a respite. After everhting he had been through…he was a grown man now. They couldn’t stop him from doing whatever he wanted.
“You will call,” Piper said, her eyes blinking fast. “If you’re in trouble, if you need anything, you will call.”
Another soft chuckle.
“I will,” he promised before he became a little quicker: “I need to go. Take care everyone and…thank you for believing me.”
“Believing you?”
“You still trust that I’m your son. I could have lied all along.”
They exchanged a glance
“Actually, it never crossed our minds,” Paige said.
“I did have a premonition,” Phoebe reminded him.
“And you look too much like Prue,” Piper concluded quietly.
Another silence, shaky breath, and they knew he too was feeling a little emotional too.
“Thanks mom.” Pause. “Could you do me a favor?”
“Of course,” Leo said immediately, echoed by the rest of the room.
“Don’t call her Melinda, or any variant of ‘Chris’. I’m not fond of the former and the latter would be maudlin.”
Paige barked a nervous laugh. Piper smiled fondly.
“That’s up to your father and I, but we’ll take your request in consideration,” she said and added softly: “Goodbye Chris. Take care of yourself and come home soon.”
The line cut abruptly. They all exchanged a glance, wondering if they hadn’t been dreaming. As if waiting for the right timing, the newborn began to hum and blink slowly awake. The whole room focused back on her. Even Wyatt peeked in slight interest.
“So no Melinda or any variant of Chris,” Leo said quietly.
They needed something, seriously, because the baby was still here. Perhaps that was why he insisted on a different name, to remind them that she wouldn’t be him. Still, those chubby cheeks, fuzzy black hair, already fussing in her mother’s arms…they could already guess her future appearance, see the physical resemblance in the lines of her face. Only time would tell.
“Something with a ‘P’?” Phoebe suggested. “After mom or grams…Prue, maybe?”
“No, not Prue,” Piper interrupted categorically, her voice a little strangled: “It’s too soon for Prue. And not Penny or Patricia either.” She glanced at her husband. “Your mother’s name was…”
“Violet,” Leo replied and shook his head in turn. “But I wouldn’t pick that one.”
“Peyton, Parker…oh Johanna is nice,” Phoebe inputted.
Piper shook her head, unconvinced.
“Shame he doesn’t want us to use a variant of Chris,” Paige mumbled, deep in thoughts.
“That would be too easy,” Piper pointed out.
“He didn’t say anything about ‘Perry’ though.”
Another silence and everyone looked at the youngest sister again. She shrugged.
“It starts with a ‘P’ and if you write it with an ‘I’, it’s a girl’s name.” She grinned a little. “She’s still ‘Chris’ and he’s still ‘her’, in a way.” Frown. “Did he ever say where ‘Perry’ came from?”
The two parents exchanged glances before staring at the newborn. Piper tasted the name:
“Perri, eh? What do you say about that?”
The baby ‘mmmm-ed’ in reaction. Leo smiled, so did she. Phoebe grinned slightly.
“I think we have a winner.”
2005 Undisclosed location
Piper watched with some kind of resignation as the manor burned down into flames. Zanku or Homeland Security hadn’t left them a choice, but it still stung to see their family home down to ashes. Her only consolation was that their father wouldn’t sell it and make sure to rebuild it. What bothered her most though…
“You think Chris will know we’re alright?” she wondered out loud. Paige and Phoebe exchanged a glance, as if realizing there was one more person that might have needed to be told.
Leo sighed. It was too late to backpedal now.
“He’s clever, he’ll understand,” he said. “I just wish we had a way to contact him.”
At least the children were safe at Victor’s. Chris was the one child they didn’t technically need to worry about, since he had already survived a war and a tedious time-travel. Still, one year without news had gone by and they worried sometimes.
Unfortunately, they had higher priorities; they had to find a way to solve this so they could all go home. Piper just silently wished Chris wouldn’t accidentally learn of their ‘death’ through the newspapers. That would be a new kind of awkward.
2005 Victor Bennett’s apartment
Victor knelt next to the children. Wyatt was out deep, protectively curled around his little sister. Perri wasn’t asleep and stared back at him with her wide eyes. She was a curious little thing, he thought. A quiet one too. He wasn’t quite certain about the whole story, but all he
was that he had gained a granddaughter without quite losing his second grandson. The older Chris was still out there somewhere, living out his freedom.
He missed the young man. He had liked him, a lot, thought he would be given the opportunity to know him better growing up. It turned out, if even the adult version remained out of sight…
The phone rang. He picked up, wondering who would call at this time of night. Reporters had mostly given up by now at least.
“Hello?”
He heard someone breathing sharply.
“Are they alright?”
It took him a few seconds to realize who was on the other side of the phone. He wasn’t used to hearing the urgency in his voice.
“Chris?”
“Gramps, are they alright?”
He had to sit for a second, his heart pounding so loudly his chest almost hurt. Of course Chris would call him, if he heard the news.
“They’re finding their way home,” he replied. “How are you, Chris?”
He heard the sigh of relief, like a heavy weight had left his shoulders.
“Better now. I’m sorry, I can’t –I shouldn’t be calling, but I needed to make sure. How are you holding up?”
“I’m alright. The kids are very subdued, they don’t understand everything that’s going on. I’m in better health, thanks to you. Stopped the cigars and avoided a nasty development,” he added, thinking of his doctor’s recommendations. “They are sleeping right now. Your parents and aunts are out there, running after a demon, I believe.”
What else, he wanted to add.
“Good. Good. Thank you gramps, thank you for everything. I swear if I could return, I would. But it would hurt us, she and I. Saying away is the safest for now.”
“I suppose it is,” Victor said. “I’m not a specialist though. I think Perri looks a bit like you though.” He heard a sharp inhale and Chris repeated softly:
“They named her Perri?”
“You didn’t know?” he asked and realized Chris never actually had the opportunity to ask. From Piper’s tell, he only knew what she wouldn’t be named. “They named her Perri Victoria Halliwell,” he added, a little proudly. Piper had insisted for the middle name. If ghosts could have heart attacks, Penny definitively would have had one.
He heard a soft chuckle.
“I like it,” he said. “They picked well.” Silence. “Don’t tell them I called, please. It’s too soon yet.”
Why, Victor wanted to ask, but had a feeling it would be in vain. The young man never answered questions regarding the future. His own confession regarding ‘the Event’ happened because Chris trusted him not to speak. He wouldn’t talk to him now, least of all over the phone.
“Take care of yourself Chris,” he found himself saying instead. “And come back soon. We all miss you here.”
Chris hung up first, leaving Victor to contemplate the situation. Perri was still awake, staring at him, as if wondering what was bothering him. He smiled, patter her small head. She grinned gummily back.
“I hope you become exactly and nothing like him, little girl,” he whispered.
2006 Halliwell Manor
Nothing seemed to have changed. Chris walked down the alley, heart beating hard. The manor seemed normal from the outside, thin curtains betraying activity inside, but nothing that could tell him anything about what was truly going on.
He had felt the shift of power, all the way to the other side of the world. The Nexus had been breached, his core power altered somehow. His family might have been in danger, and in spite of the risk of coming close, Chris couldn’t stand still. So here he was, standing behind a tree on the other side of the pavement, wondering whether he should cross that street and knock at the door, orb in, or just leave.
The front door suddenly opened and he saw himself walk out.
No, not himself. He didn’t have breasts.
Perri, he thought, stunned, as she crossed the street without hesitation and went straight to him.
They looked alike, she and him. As she drew closer, he could spot every similarity –the shape of her face, the lips, the green eyes, the thick hair, the neck and the height –but also the differences –the thin eyebrows, the curvy, shaped body, slender shoulders, deceptively strong arms and the long slender legs. Thankfully no high-heels –he didn’t know what he would think seeing himself in high-heels.
But damn, he was gorgeous as a girl.
“Hello Chris,” she greeted, and even her voice had that same eerie, light edge to it.
“Hello Perri,” he replied.
They were evenly matched, height-wise. She grinned happily, visually devouring him just as eagerly as he was devouring her, and laughed.
“Hell, this is so weird. We could be twins,” she said, reached out to his face. He leaned into her touch, shivered as her fingers brushed his cheek. “I’ve always wanted to meet you at this age.”
So they knew each other in the future. It bode well. He would one day be able to return without endangering each other.
“And you look stunning,” he replied sincerely.
Her smile grew a smidge.
“I’d call you flatterer, but since we are one and the same, I’ll take it.” She took a step back, her smile diming slightly, turning apologetic. “You have to leave, Chris. It’s not the time yet.”
“When will it be?” he asked in return. “Can you tell me?”
She shook her head.
“Your future-self told me ‘future consequences’, but that you would know. You would feel it, when the time is right. That’s what happened to him.” she blinked again, looked longingly at him. “Stay out of it. The Charmed Ones still have a few battles to go through before you can return. So whatever you hear, just ignore it and return when the time is right, okay?”
Anyone else, he would have demanded more information. As it was, he had a feeling his usual tricks wouldn’t work on her. They were, after all, one and the same. So instead of talking, he took a step forward into her welcoming arms, wrapped her in a hug and held her tight. They would never meet again, not like this, but he was glad he had come anyway.
“Thank you, Perri,” he said. “I hope we get to see each other again.”
They broke away. Perri was still smiling.
“I’ll see you in the future. You’ll see me soon enough. And Chris? Thank you for everything you will do for me. I won’t say it, but I will be grateful.”
He squeezed her hand and, feeling a little more at peace, orbed away.
2011 Halliwell Manor
The rain is falling hard today, Piper thought as she glanced out the window.
The dish washer was half-empty now, everything piled up on the table. The new recipe she had created would be put to test tonight with Leo and Phoebe as her feedbacks. Coop would be babysitting the girls, giving him some father-daughters time and a well-deserved break to his beloved wife. Her own kids were staying over at her father’s. Henry would be at the station and Paige still had trouble separating from Henry Jr. The baby was not her blood, but she loved him as if.
Someone rang at the doorbell. Piper glanced at the clock, wondering who would be knocking at this time of day. Not particularly late or early, but she didn’t know anyone who might show up unexpectedly without warning.
Or rather yes, she did have an idea, but it had been years already and she had stopped expecting his return for a while. Seven years had already come and gone, so many things had happened. He probably didn’t even know of Melinda’s existence. She understood his reasons –he couldn’t stay–but it still galled her that he was missing all this.
She headed to the door, opened it, resigned at the idea that another magical issue had somehow aroused and that she might have to transform diner into another intel meeting-
Dropped everything she held –the plate splattered on her clear floor -and pulled the newcomer into her arms without a word. He held her back, equally wordlessly. He was drenched to the bones, wetting her own clothes with the rain, tall and firm and so unfamiliar and yet easily recognizable. When she pulled back, she noticed his haircut was terrible –probably did that himself –and his cheeks were wearing a light stubble. She didn’t care about all that. All she saw was the clear, warm green eyes, the toothy grin, the healthy hale and the strong hands over her arms to keep her steady.
“Hey mom,” Chris greeted, his voice still light and eerie and filled with warmth. “I’m back.”
He was here. Seven years later, he stood in her arms, very real, very solid. Real, and no longer a dream. She wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Didn’t dare to do it in front of him though.
“When did you return?” Piper asked as she finally released him. He stepped inside. He hadn’t changed much physically. Same features, although more mature. He had filled out a little. Still tall and slim.
“Couple days ago,” he admitted. “I’ve been staying at a friend’s house.” He glanced at the entrance, didn’t move past the carpet. His clothes were dripping on the ground. “I was in the area and I…I just had to come.”
“You should have come straight to us,” she chided, feeling the clenching disappointment and an uncomfortable feeling that he didn’t want to meet with them. “We’ve been waiting for you all this time –and you never sent a word.”
Chris looked a little sheepish.
“I didn’t realize time was going so fast. I’ve been really busy –traveling, exploring, demon vanquishing occasionally…evil plotting to take over the world doesn’t only happen in San Francisco, just so you know.”
Piper snorted and crossed her arms.
“One word. A phone call, a letter, anything to let us know you were alive. It would have meant a lot.” They hadn’t lost it completely because they had gotten second-handed news about Chris when her kids had time-travelled to the past, but still…
He put his hands in his pockets, shifted uncomfortably on his feet again.
“I did try to call,” he admitted. “A few times. I stayed in some town in Japan a couple months, sent a card, it came back two days later. Fate didn’t want me to contact you, so I gave up.”
“Then why did you return? You said you couldn’t stay because of fate and your alter-ego. Is it all fixed now?”
He smiled a little then.
“It is. Perri and I aren’t a risk to each other anymore and whatever I do now won’t change the course of time.”
Piper blinked, a little startled.
“How do you know her name?”
They had decided after his phone call, and unless she was mistaken, he hadn’t come close to the family in the past few years. He scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed.
“I called gramps when you blew up the manor back in 2005. And I met her in 2006, when something happened with the Nexus. I came back to check on you and she told me I would eventually go home. Just not right now.”
Piper looked away, arms still crossed, shaken by his admission. Seeing Perri Halliwell, age twenty-four, orbing into her living room with her older brother in tow had rattled them all. She had been Chris’ spitting portrait –the same angular face, tall and skinny frame, the same sparkling green eyes and eerie soft voice. It had been painful, since they looked so similar. At least, she had assured them that Chris was healthy and happy in their time.
That he would eventually come home.
Second best news that day, after saving the world and getting Leo back.
“Truth be told, I wasn’t sure you wanted to see me again,” he admitted quietly.
She stared at him in shock.
“Why wouldn’t we?”
“I’ve been gone for years, Piper. Things change. You hadn’t known me for that long and you didn’t like me in the beginning either. You could have…changed your mind. Preferred to leave that part of the past behind.”
This time, she felt ashamed. Her earlier behavior towards him never made her proud. She thought she ought to do better, that she would do better eventually. She stepped closer, took his face between both hands. His stubble grated against her skin, which reminded her that he was very much here.
“I will never not want to see you, Chris. You are my grown-up son and I love you.” He smiled again, and the warm twinkle was back. She laughed a little, kept touching him. “I can’t believe you’re here!”
“Believe it, I’m staying for a while,” he said, and pulled her into a warm embrace once again.
She was still holding him tight when Phoebe beamed into the main hall. Probably sent over by Coop.
“I know you’d prefer we take the car, but with the rain-“ she heard Phoebe start and stop at once. “Piper? Who is your friend?”
She grinned, stepped aside, and watched with satisfaction as her sister’ jaw dropped in shock. She covered her mouth at once, tears pearling in her eyes, and Piper shouted out loud:
“Paige! Come over here right now!”
Chris squirmed, more uncomfortable than ever, but she didn’t care. Her son was home. It was time to celebrate.
2013 P3
“Are you sure?”
Chris stared down at the papers, breathed in and out slowly. Whether he wanted it or not, it was too late to back down. He signed and handed everything to Piper.
“There,” he said. “Starting next week, you are now no longer the owner of the P3.”
Piper nodded, slightly solemnly. The club had been hers for so long, and she still wanted to open her own restaurant. For the past two years, Chris had co-managed to establishment with her, taking over her responsibilities little by little, to the point where she barely had to supervise. When he had offered to buy it from her, she had hesitated a very long time. But he had managed to get a loan, had convinced their partners, and most importantly, had convinced her it was time to step down. She had other dreams, he had been the unofficial manager for a while, and both knew it.
“At least I’ll leave it in good hands,” she said, a little mournfully.
They would only have to drop it at the attorney’s office and legally finalize the whole thing. Chris nodded, both nervous and excited. He had plans for that club. Plans he intended to hold up, if the people on the project were still game. Not something he intended to inform his mother yet though.
“I’ll drop this on the way home,” she said. “If you don’t mind resuming your babysitting duties for the rest of the afternoon, I still have a club to manage for another week.”
Chris grinned.
“I don’t mind at all. See you at the manor.”
He orbed out and into the living room, right where he had left it. Wyatt was still on his video games while Melinda was reading a book. Perri was noticeably absent once again. His once-siblings peeked up at his arrival.
“You’re here!” Wyatt, eleven and cheery, welcomed him back. Melinda grinned wildly too. Chris had always been their favorite baby-sitter and that applied to the whole next generation. Maybe because he was the ‘single cool uncle’.
“Homework done?” he asked, nodding towards the PlayStation. Wyatt grinned sheepishly. “Finish your game. I’ll help you then. Mel?”
“All done,” she replied proudly. “Perri’s upstairs,” she added before he could ask.
He suspected it of course. His female alter-ego and he were frighteningly similar on so many levels, he could almost read her mind. So he headed up to the attic, pushed the door opened, and caught the nine-year-old girl perched over a boiling caldron. She barely startled when he came in.
“It’s a safe one,” she announced before he could ask her about it. Had it been anyone else, she would have added a hint of defiance in her tone. With Chris, never, because she knew he knew she had taken all the proper precautions. Just like he used to do at her age. “A fancy fertilizer. Aunt Paige’s plants are dying too quickly.”
“You should have still waited for me or an adult to arrive,” he replied and sat next to her, supervising the rest of her actions. “You’re clever, Perri, and you know it, but you also know what happens when people think too highly of themselves.”
“They make mistakes and they can get hurt, just like everyone else,” she replied seriously as she slipped a few leaves of laurel into the mixture. “This is fine, Chris. I was very careful.”
It was, he could tell, but he still didn’t feel comfortable with her studying magic on her own, not when Wyatt and Mel were downstairs and all Mel wanted was to go out and play. Perri wasn’t as close to her siblings than he used to be with Wyatt. It worried him sometimes. Not even he was that much of a loner. Well, not that he remembered.
“Adult next time,” he repeated without scolding her. He couldn’t get angry whenever she acted like that, because she resembled him so much. “And three, two…”
“One,” she completed and covered the pot. She met his green eyes and smiled. “So, any mistakes?”
He rolled her eyes, picked her up with a little difficulties –she was tall for a kid her age -and threw her over his shoulder. She yelped in protest but with laugher in her voice as he carried her downstairs.
He spotted PJ and Parker downstairs, sitting next to Wyatt, assumed Phoebe had sent them over. He would have to remind his aunt that soon enough, he wouldn’t have free time to supervise her kids, especially on short notice. Paige was also standing in the living room with her own children.
“I’m so sorry,” she said as soon as Chris appeared. “Could you keep the girls and Henry for a while? Something came up and-“
Whitelighter mission, she didn’t say. He grinned.
“It’s fine. Take advantage while you still can.”
His aunt grinned back.
“True, new P3 owner soon. I’m sure you’ll do great. And thanks, you’re a lifesaver.”
She orbed away while Tamora and Kat excitedly came to hug him and Henry toddled over. Melinda frowned and left her seat to hold onto his left leg. Parker looked up, cried: ‘Climb the tree!’ and he found himself carrying a bunch of little kids latching over every free limb, laughing as he pretended to struggle to move. Only Wyatt stayed in the couch, eying them with that haughty ‘I’m too old for this’ stare, even though Chris suspected he really wanted to join in.
They would have their exclusive little man-to-man talk later. It was a way for Wyatt to decompress from being only surrounded by girls, and a way for Chris to secretly check that he was mentally alright.
Right now though, he had no attention to spare.
2014 Unnamed bar
“So word is there’s a bar for the magic community in downtown San Francisco.”
Chris drank his coffee without blinking and maintained Leo’s eye contact.
“Heard something like that,” he agreed.
“Close to P3. A place named ‘Haven’.”
“Really?” Chris repeated nonchalantly.
“All type of creatures hang out there, they say,” Leo went on. “And the owner is a witch too.” He leaned forward, narrowed his eyes. “Chris, mingling so many different types of people like that in one place is a dangerous gamble.”
He set his coffee cup down on the table.
“It works,” he replied unapologetically, as if he wasn’t aware of the dangerousness of the situation. “That’s all that matters to me.”
Leo sighed. His relationship with Chris might be way better than in the past, he still was annoyed by the younger man’s behavior at times.
“You hired a demon as a DJ and a warlock as a waiter. Good witches go there too. That’s just an accident begging to happen.”
“Alistair’s fashion sense is terrible but he’s got an undeniable ear for music,” Chris replied. “And Nate is great at settling demons disputes. I have Linda and Oliver as common witches. They all work well together, and I’ve got no major complaint about my staff so far.”
Leo sighed deeply, ran a hand over his face.
“Look, Chris, I’m worried about you. Your decisions don’t feel rational most of the time. You’re still single and unattached. Do you even have any friends?”
The young man took another sip, gently put the mug down on the table. The cup was empty.
“When I chose to stay in the past,” he started. “I knew I was sacrificing a lot, that I would be alone and lonely, stranded. You weren’t the people I knew, and everything that was once familiar was no longer there. The codes weren’t the same. There was no endgame to pursue.” He paused, stared at his glass. “My life, my existence, would have been erased from time, had I not decided to live.”
He met Leo’s eye, who remained silent.
“The Haven is something I built, something I can relate to. The atmosphere in there reminds of me of the Resistance, where everyone worked together against a common goal. There were bad moments, good ones too. That bar feels like home to me, more than the manor ever will.”
“We’re your family, Chris,” Leo reminded him. “Don’t forget that.”
His son gave him a tight smile.
“You both are and aren’t, that’s the thing. I’ve already met a PJ, a Parker, a Peyton, a Tamora and a Kat. I’ve already met a Henry Jr. too. Heck, I grew up with them, just as I grew up next to Wyatt. I love them, don’t mistake me, but they’re not…they’re different. Everything is different.” He paused again. “I know what I’m doing with the Haven, and I won’t apologize for it.”
His voice had a hint of steel in it, as if daring Leo to challenge him on that field. Leo knew Chris wouldn’t listen to him, no matter what he said.
“As for my social life…” he went on, still very calmly. “I’m not a monk, and I do have friends. I just don’t feel the need to introduce them to you.”
Leo looked down, very aware he wasn’t wrong. Chris wasn’t their ‘son’, even if they had been his parents in another future. He didn’t owe them anything. Not even the P3. Piper’s former nightclub was still working really well and drawing new people in. He didn’t need them anymore.
“One last thing.” Leo looked up. Chris stared at him in a distant, passively irritated way. “Take better care of Perri. She’s been having that look in her eye, the kind I had at her age. I’d hate to have her go through the same things I lived.”
He stood up, dropped a few bills on the table and left, leaving Leo to return to the manor and ponder over those last words. When he arrived, Perri was sitting in the garden, writing something in a little notebook. He stepped closer.
“So what are you up to?”
She hesitated, as if startled by his question. She was about to answer when he heard Melinda cry out in anger –he recognized the premises of a tantrum -from the window. Leo nearly hurried inside the house, but the look on Perri’s face stopped him. Disappointment, slight sadness and resignation, and he realized he might have prioritized his other children over her. Perri was the quietest, the one who could handle herself best. It didn’t mean she should handle herself all the time.
“Your mom’s inside, she can call me if there’s real trouble,” he said out loud, more to himself than her, and sat by her side. “Tell me, what are you up to?”
Surprise replaced her resignation and she was smiling when she started explaining a new way to organize the garden. Leo made a mental thank to Chris for calling him out on his behavior, and figured that instead of taking care of others business, he should keep a closer eye on what was going on at home. Starting with his eldest daughter.
2015 The Haven
Chris was going through the accounts of both P3 and the Haven when he felt the air vibrate and Wyatt orbed in. His once-brother looked sheepish, as did look Peyton and Henry Jr. and surprisingly Perri.
It was a universal truth by now that if one of the Halliwell kids got into trouble, they would always call for Uncle Chris. For problem solving first, for playing the buffer with the parents next. They also knew he had a soft spot for Perri, though the story hadn’t been told to the next generation. Chris didn’t want them to know yet. Perri was definitively aware of their situation in 2006, but he wasn’t certain when she had learned the truth, or under which circumstances. They were still young, he wanted them a bit older before…
“We tried to give Henry temporary powers,” Wyatt explained. “We drafted the spell but something went wrong and now…”
He glanced at his cousin helplessly. The little boy blinked and his skin started turning a deep pink. Another blink and it shifted to green, purple…
“Who drafter the spell?” he asked. Peyton and Perri raised their hands sheepishly. “Seriously?”
“It was a one hour spell,” Perri said defensively. “It’s been over two now.”
“Tell me you wrote it down,” he said, and Wyatt obediently handed a paper out to him. He glanced at it, saw the mistake and snorted inwardly. “Good god, go home, I’m busy right now.”
“But-“ Wyatt started. “What about Henry?”
He glanced at the little boy, who had turned back to green.
“Aside from the skin-shifting color, are you alright? No headache, stomachache…” Henry shook his head. Chris nodded. “Henry’s fine. He’ll return to a normal coloring tomorrow. You mixed up the lines –should have just written an ‘hour’ instead of ‘daily hour’.”
“But mom and dad are going to kill us!” he protested weakly. Chris snorted a little.
“Yeah, well, maybe it’ll teach you a lesson. I’m serious, go home, he’s fine. You’re fine, and out of school tomorrow,” he added towards the little boy, who seemed cheered up by that perspective. “But don’t mess up unnecessarily with magic next time.”
Wyatt pouted as he reluctantly orbed away. Perri followed, looking a bit distraught, taking the two others with her. Chris leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes. He would have to stop by the manor and hear the end of the story to make sure the punishment was fair. Piper tried, but since Peyton was involved, Phoebe might stick her nose in the whole mess and defend her daughter only to cause unnecessary tensions. He knew well how to deal with her though, better than Coop did sometimes.
A bird began singing out the window, distracting him, and he decided he should take a break. He stood from his desk, walked towards the back of the room.
He paused to stare at the pictures hanging onto the wall. Various people he had met over the years, during his travels. Some he was still in contact, others not. There were also pictures of places he had been, things he had seen…it was amazing how fast everything changed. He managed to stay ahead of things using his knowledge of the future –less money issues since he knew where to invest but not too much either to draw attention; artists he could promote to the P3 to ensure the Haven wouldn’t sink after the first week…the demons amendable to work with other species, the open-minded witches, the right words to say during a dispute…
It wasn’t easy, but it was his life now. At least he had reliable friends, a life outside the manor. His worries were more about maintaining a clean establishment and the good timing of delivery rather than saving people’s lives –demon quests aside, that is. He was content with that, even if he still lived alone.
The few intimate relationships he had tried to build hadn’t lasted long enough for him to bet on long-term. Joan and Lewis and their ménage à trois might have worked out, but it was too soon and he wasn’t ready to be tied down. He took out the ring from his pocket and stared at it. He always kept somewhere on him, no longer as a promise for a better future, but as the memento of a lost time. It helped him keep himself grounded, reminded him everything he had sacrificed, everything he should live for.
Everything he should keep living for. It was a choice he had made after all.
2019 The Halliwell Restaurant
Servers were running in perfect sync. The food was great, and he told her so. Piper flushed a little, always happy to get a compliment from her son.
“We’re finally stable,” she said. “Orders are coming in and out, and I get people to cook my way.”
They had found a moment in her office. It was early service, not too busy yet. The second part of the evening would be busier for sure. His mother was a great cook, he was glad she had fulfilled her dream this time around.
“Are you sure you won’t take a dessert?” she asked. “I made a pistachio-based cake for this month.”
“I’ll have to come back to try it then,” he replied lightly and stood up. “But I really need to go.”
It was true; he was late in the billing process and another conflict between witch and warlock had caused half his bar to be destroyed. Though the members of both parties had agreed to build it back, he still needed to check if the work was well done. He wasn’t worried about losing customers, this kind of rift didn’t discourage people from coming. As long as no-one was vanquished…
He really needed to invest in efficient bouncers and security guards.
“Alright. Good evening, Chris,” she said with a half-smile.
He left, preferred walking down the street instead of orbing back to the Haven. The fresh air called to him tonight, and even though it was still late afternoon, there weren’t many people outside.
Thanks to that, he could hear the odd sounds coming out from the corner. The sound of an injured something.
He cautiously entered the alley, peeked inside…
Froze.
A woman was pinned to the wall through a spike. A very bloody, weak, painfully-familiar-looking woman.
“Hey,” he said, heartbeat racing as he stepped closer. She barely had enough strength to open her eyes. He wasn’t too late. “Hang on, I’ll try to help, okay?”
She nodded faintly. He closed his eyes, prayed it would work and called: ‘spike.’ The spike orbed out of her chest. The young woman gasped and gargled but he slammed his hand over the gaping, bleeding hole, and began to heal.
That power was a secret he had kept for himself. At some point during his travels, he had ‘unlocked’ that ability in a very dire situation. He rarely tried to heal though, because his healing wasn’t as powerful or instantaneous as his brother’s or his aunt’s. Sometimes it didn’t even work. Thankfully here…
As he felt his magic mend the injury in her chest, he looked up and met her eyes.
Dark, almond eyes, younger than he had ever seen them in his whole life, alive.
He forced himself to keep healing until he could feel her stand on her own. Even then, he didn’t remove his hand from her chest. He couldn’t. She was there, just standing there, in front of him, her skin rising and lowering under his palm, warm and-
“Are you going to release me now?” she asked, and her voice was sharp as a whip, cautious and warning and everything she had once been and might still become.
Bianca, age nineteen –or was it twenty? –hadn’t taken a life yet. Her career would start on her twenty-first birthday, later than most Phoenix witches did, because she had hesitated to be an actual assassin for so long. It would be soon, and he…
He released her and took a step back. She lost a bit of balance without his support, regained it quickly enough and met his eye defiantly.
“Who are you?” she asked sharply. “Why would a whitelighter heal me?”
He smiled at that, feeling the parallel between now and then. She hadn’t known of his background during their first meeting, a few years later. Roland had healed her on his request, and it had been the first stepping stone for her shift of loyalty.
“Witchlighter,” he corrected softly and couldn’t help taking her in. Young but full of life, the arrogant little twitch of her eyebrow, the thin line of her mouth when she was unpleased. The mark of the Phoenix witch, clearly visible on her wrist.
She pulled her sleeve down quickly when she noticed him watching.
“What do you want?” she asked again, more dryly.
He didn’t think. He pulled out a card from his pocket with his number and handed it to her. A split second decision, an investment in the future maybe. It could backfire drastically, or it could be the start of something or nothing at all…but it would be her choice.
“I’m the owner of the Haven,” he said. “I’m looking for a bouncer…if you’re not keen on keeping up the family tradition.”
She narrowed her eyes at his words, contemplated him carefully. Still, she took his card, which was a good start.
“A bouncer?” she echoed suspiciously. “And I’d be good for that job?”
“Nothing poses a greatest threat than a pissed-off Phoenix witch,” he teased before turning serious. “Think about it, Bianca.” Her eyes grew wide as he pronounced her name. Imprudent, but he never claimed to think straight whenever she was involved. “You don’t have to live with blood on your hands. There’s always another way.”
He orbed away then, because if he stayed any longer, he would pull her into his arms and hold her tight and end up stabbed for his efforts. Bianca didn’t know him here. He was just the weirdo who healed her and offered her a job in a span of five minutes.
Time would tell if he made the right choice. He just kinda hoped she would make the right one too.
2020
“So, you have a thing for the boss?”
Bianca stared at Oliver, caught off-guard. The Haven wouldn’t open until another half-hour, they were enjoying one last drink before all hell got loose in the nightclub. Sometimes, the expression was so accurate it wasn’t even funny.
“What?”
Linda elbowed her arm in a friendly gesture.
“You keep flirting with him,” she pointed out. “Isn’t he a bit old for you? I mean, if you’re into older guys, I’d say Mr. Perry isn’t the worst you can get.”
She wanted to say she wasn’t flirting. She had only joined as a bouncer to find out how come he seemed to know so much about her, but it wouldn’t sound like a valid reason. The crew was very protective of their manager, and after a few months spent here, she understood why. Chris Perry was understanding but firm, straightforward but willing to bend when the situation needed it, and definitively not a pushover.
Close to the Charmed Ones too, although she hadn’t figured out that one yet. Their kids kept orbing and beaming in the establishment regardless of the potential security threat. It wasn’t until she had gone and complained straight to Chris, with strong words, that he had agreed to extend the anti-transporting ward to his office. She was pretty sure the Parker pest had never forgiven her for it, since now she was supposed to go through the front door like everyone else.
“Mr. Perry? Really?” Nate intervened. “Ain’t he a bit skinny?”
Nate had a bit of a crush on her. Bianca thought him friendly, but not necessary attractive.
“He is tall and, well, not broad and all, but nicely shaped,” Sue, a recent addition, added. They all stared at her. “What? I have eyes too. And his ass-”
Bianca’s thoughts drifted quite involuntarily on the man’s bottom and decided that yeah, he didn’t look bad from behind after all.
“I do like his eyes,” one of them –she didn’t follow -said. “So green and intense.”
Very true too. Sometimes, she felt he could see through her soul with one measly look.
“I’d love to touch his hair,” Linda inputted. “It looks so soft and thick. So, what do you like about him?”
Bianca didn’t have to think for long. She would be stupid to deny he was a handsome man, and that what drew her more was…
“His smile,” she admitted. “When he smiles –genuinely smiles –it’s…beautiful.” Silence answered. All of her coworkers were grinning. She flushed a little. “He’s behind me, isn’t he?” she asked with resignation.
“Everyone, off to work,” the dreaded voice of her boss echoed in her back. “Bianca, a word?”
She followed him to his office, wishing the ground would swallow her whole. Unfortunately, gravity held on long after the door closed behind him. She forced herself to turn around and faced him. He stared back, in that imperturbable way he did sometimes. The way that drove her mad with questions, with wonders, with –what does he really want from me?
He never touched her inappropriately, never spoke a comment, never let his eyes wander, treated her with respect and the polite distance he set between himself and his employees. And she wanted to break that expression, see something else –something more. He had offered her a fucking job so she would have a way out of the Phoenix tradition way. It had to mean something, right? Or was she just deluding herself?
Maybe she did have a crush on him after all. And now they were alone in his office, and he was looking at her, about to speak. Her eyes were drawn to his mouth and she thought-
Ah well, what did she have to lose? He had heard her anyway.
She closed the distance between them and kissed him.
She didn’t know what to expect. Perhaps rejection, perhaps an embarrassing moment where he would mercifully not fire her and she would do her uttermost to forget everything.
But he kissed her right back –and before she knew it, she was trying to steal his breath away with her arms around his neck and her body pressed to his, his own arms tight around her waist, melting against him so closely-
They had to break apart at some point to breathe and when she met his eyes again-
His eyes were lit in a way she hadn’t seen before and that smile-
She wanted to know every secret behind that smile.
“I have to work,” she whispered. Derek was her partner tonight, and if she failed to show up, no matter good the reason, he would be a pain for a full month. “I’ll see you after my shift.”
He kissed her again, slower this time, just as firm though. She let him, enjoyed the promise those lips held, and thought tonight would be exceptionally long.
“After your shift,” he repeated with his ‘boss’ voice but with twinkling, happy eyes. “I’ll hold you onto it.”
Every secret, she thought, her heart beat accelerating as she watched him watch her leave. She would find out everything.