Chapter Text
For the sake of this story, Chris was never found out as Piper's son or as a whitchlighter and Gideon was discovered a lot earlier with still unfortunate results.
Lingering resentment
Part 1
Chris Perry was dying. Lying on the couch, a stab wound in the guts, given by the most unlikely foes of all. Leo tried to heal him, but failed. He wasn't sure whether Gideon's magic was stronger, the athame was that special, or if he was so shaken that it messed up his powers. In the end, he couldn't do anything for the time traveler who had done so much for their family...and protected Wyatt with his life.
"Stop trying," Chris breathed. His eyes were closed, the red stain spreading more and more on his clothes. Paige stood behind the couch, watching him with tears in her eyes. Piper had gone upstairs to care for an upset Wyatt, Phoebe by her side.
"You were supposed to go back to the future," she said. "I'm sorry, we really thought-I'm sorry Chris. I'm sorry we didn't believe you."
He had showed up one evening, looking pale, explaining Gideon was the one after Wyatt, that he had found proof in his office. They hadn't taken him seriously. Gideon had been nothing but supportive to their family, had helped them out in tight situations, and was an old friend of Leo's. He wouldn't betray them, right…
...until they found Chris bleeding out of the floor and Wyatt missing and Phoebe's premonition confirmed what he had been claiming all along.
They had found Gideon, taken care of the issue -not even an Elder could bear the wrath of a mother, especially a Charmed One with sisters and another pissed of father slash Elder as backup. And now, after everything, he was dying.
Chris merely snorted, a weak, soft sound.
"There's nothing left for me in the future anyway," he muttered.
It pained Leo to see him so weak. Chris was usually so filled with nervous energy, always fidgeting, that watching him so pale, so still...it wasn’t right. He didn’t deserve this.
"If you become a whitelighter again, I'll take care of you," Leo promised. "I hope for your sake it won't happen, but if it does, I'll guide you."
He would make up for his mistakes in the future, work to truly get to know the young man when his time came, and use patience to guide him. He owed him this much after all. But Chris only snorted again, his eyes fluttering, a small pained grimace on his face-
"That would be the day," he breathed and sighed one last time. Before Leo could understand his words, his body became transparent and vanished in thin air.
Silence fell in the room, as Leo watched Paige and she watched back, not quite knowing what to do. She was slightly shaking.
“I’ll get something to clean off the couch,” she said after a moment. The blood stains had vanished with the time traveler, but Leo could understand her unease. Just knowing he had been there, been bleeding out, agonizing for hours…
“I’ll go see Piper,” he said in return and stood up shakily.
He stumbled up the stairs, grabbed the handrail for balance, stopped mid-step. A lot of things had happened today. Gideon, his mentor, his friend, had tried to kill his son. Chris, the annoying, suspicious whitelighter, had died to protect him. And he, Leo, had killed the former with his own hands, and been incapable of saving the latter.
What did that make of him?
He sighed, ran a hand in his hair, and straightened himself. By the end of the day, his family was safe. Piper was unscratched, Wyatt didn’t fully have time to understand what was going on –or so he hoped –and Phoebe and Paige were there too. He reached the main bedroom, entered after knocking. His ex-wife was holding a sleepy Wyatt on the side. The slight curve of her belly was already showing the consequences of their one night in the astral plane. Phoebe was sitting next to her, lost in thoughts. They both looked up when he entered the room.
“It’s over. He’s gone,” he announced tightly.
Phoebe nodded solemnly. Piper pressed her lips together.
“Can we consider Wyatt safe now?” she asked, an angry undertone in her voice. “Or do we have to still be on the lookout?” she met her husband’s eyes. “Do we have to watch out for allies and enemies alike? Who can we trust now, Leo?”
He looked down uneasily. That was not a question he could answer. Phoebe put a hand over her sister’s, tried to soothe her.
“Listen Piper,” she said. “We will have to take it day by day, like we used to do before he showed. I’d say Gideon was a pretty big treat.” She paused. “There will always be treats, as long as there will be demons. We just need to make sure Wyatt is loved and protect him until he’s old enough to protect himself.”
Piper’s hand covered her stomach.
“And what about this baby? Chris didn’t say anything about it. He wouldn’t even tell me if it was a boy or a girl.” She bit her lower lip. “Do you think –do you think I’m going to lose it?”
This time, Leo took a seat next to his wife. She wasn’t looking good. In fact, she seemed even more bothered than before.
“Nothing will happen to this child,” he assured her. “If Chris didn’t speak of it, he must have had his reasons.” He paused, took her free hand, gave it a little squeeze. “We will watch over them. Both of them.”
Piper sighed and closed her eyes.
“Well, I guess the next step is to think about baby names,” she said tightly.
“It’ll be a good distraction,” Phoebe agreed. “And look, we already have a suggestion for a boy’s name.”
Leo caught her drift. Piper thought over it.
“Chris if it’s a boy?” she asked.
“It could be homage,” her sister suggested. “Since he did save Wyatt’s life.”
“Christopher is my father’s name,” Leo pointed out before glancing at his ex-wife. “What do you say?”
For a moment, she remained silent. Paige arrived at that moment, looking upset.
“Couch is clean,” she announced blankly. Her eyes were still red. “What are we talking about?”
“Naming the baby in Chris’s memory, if it’s a boy.” Phoebe said. “Christopher for Leo’s dad. And maybe add Perry too? It starts with a P, to keep the family tradition somewhere.” Christopher Perry Halliwell. Leo nodded. It sounded perfect for Piper’s child. Almost too perfect…
“Oh my god,” Paige suddenly blurted, her eyes wide, skin blanching at once. “Oh my god!”
Her voice broke in a choke and she covered her lower mouth with her hand. She was staring at Piper’s stomach openly now. Leo wondered why she suddenly looked so upset, followed her gaze-
“No.”
Piper sat on the bed, releasing his hand, holding both over her stomach. She had paled too.
“No, Paige. No.”
“It would make sense though,” the last sister said. “He would have pretended to be a whitelighter. It would explain why he couldn’t heal.”
Leo stiffened, realized they were talking about Chris.
“Why would he pretend to be a whitelighter?” he asked. “He was a whitelighter.”
Paige stared at him next.
“Half-witch, half-whitelighter. Like me. Like Wyatt. Like-“
“Don’t say it,” Piper snapped. “Don’t you dare say it.”
Paige obediently shut her mouth. And Leo thought-
No.
No, it couldn’t be. It couldn’t. Chris wasn’t his son from the future. He wasn’t. He was a neurotic whitelighter sent in the past to save Wyatt, not a son jumping back in time to save his family.
Was he?
“My son didn’t just die downstairs,” Piper went on, her voice shaking. “He didn’t. He would have told us.”
Or maybe not, because of future consequences. And Leo remembered clearly the conversation he had with the whitelighter, shortly after learning of Piper’s second pregnancy.
"Wyatt has a sibling in the future?"
Chris looked up from the Book of Shadows, barely blinking.
“Yes, he did.”
"And didn't it occur to you to tell us about it?" Leo growled angrily. The whitelighter merely shrugged.
"If I had told you he had a sibling, then there might have been consequences. I could have accidentally erased its existence just by speaking of it." He looked back to the Book. "Don’t worry, I’ll make sure Piper doesn’t go running after demons too often from now on.”
"That's not the point!" he snapped back. "That child’s conception is a miracle in itself!” he thought of his situation and the anger returned. “I’m an Elder now. I won’t be going down here as much as I want to.”
Chris only snorted and gave him the same look of disdain he seemed to keep for him.
“Today’s your lucky day, Leo, I’m going to partake some future insight with you,” he said coldly. “You were always meant to be an Elder. I only speeded things up. So don’t put the blame on me.”
It was Leo’s turn to pale.
“Future consequences,” he whispered. All the attention was snapped back on him. “He couldn’t tell us because of future consequences.”
“He’s known us his whole life,” Paige reminded them. “He said so, when the three blondes stole our identities.”
“If it’s a boy,” Piper repeated sharply. “There’s no need to talk about it until we know for sure it’s a boy.”
Leo nodded numbly. She was right; until they knew for sure their baby was a boy, they couldn’t assume of his identity. But deep inside, he thought he already had his answer.
The baby was healthy and turned out to be a boy.
Piper hadn’t wanted to know until the very last moment. She hadn’t wanted to know, because if she knew, then there was a chance that they had been blind for months and have not seen the obvious. If this baby was a boy, then he might be indeed be Chris, and that would mean…that would mean she had been horrible and cruel to her own child. She had fought him, disregarded him, kicked him out of her house, when he only wanted to save his brother.
She wasn’t certain how she could face him, if it turned out that way. As Piper watched him sleep, she wondered how long it would take until the familiar face would surface, or if it ever did. Chris had been in his twenties back then. It wouldn't be until at least over a decade before they would have a clear confirmation.
"He's very cute, very chubby," Victor said, watching him by her side. "Reminds me of Prue. She had chubby cheeks too."
Her father had been there for the childbirth. He had been waiting with her sisters, in the hospital room, nervous and edgy. He seemed to be the only one thrilled with Chris' arrival, since he never had contact with their whitelighter. Even if he had, Piper doubted he would have reacted the way they had.
Chris did look like Prue, now that she thought of it. The eyes mostly. The hair. And maybe some mimics, when he smiled or frowned.
"Wyatt would sleep soundly and never move," Victor went on. He nodded towards the baby, who was already fidgeting. "This one is going to be a handful. Restless. He will drive you crazy."
Piper thought of adult Chris, how he already drove them nuts with his lies, sneakiness, pushiness. What was she to expect, from a kid version? Something easier to handle?
"Hey, you alright?"
Piper glanced at her father, who was now staring at her with a pensive expression. She sighed, rubbed her face tiredly.
"Just a bit tired."
"If you need me to take the boys away for an afternoon..."
"It's fine, we're handling it."
Handling the fact she already knew the kind of man her son might become. Both her sons. And that one had turned evil while the other died trying to save him from that fate. She couldn’t tell her father that.
"Alright." He looked back at Chris.
Piper felt a little pang in her chest; the baby seemed to have subjugated him, even more than Wyatt. She wondered if they had a special relationship in the future. Future him had said he had barely gotten to know his own family. More than ever, she regretted not asking more about what happened. But then, maybe he would have been tight-lipped, like he usually was, and skillfully change the subject to something more Wyatt oriented.
This wasn't future Chris though. This was her baby boy, who didn't know a thing about worldwide catastrophes and evil older brothers. Whoever he might become in the future, she had to remind herself this was her son. The rest would matter later.
"Oh look, he's waking up," Victor said, slightly excited. "Hello Chris, you have a good nap, buddy?"
The baby barely fussed when his grandfather picked him up and held him. Piper watched them interact and thought that yes, maybe she would involve her dad in the boys’ education. With Leo absent with his Elder duties, they would need a male figure in their life. And maybe it would give him a reason to stop those damn cigars
"So, what did you do this time?"
Twelve-year old Chris was lying back on his bed when Wyatt came to see him. He had overheard his mother pestering downstairs and came up to see the damages. His brother had his arms nonchalantly crossed behind his back, but a slight frown on his face.
"She was losing an argument and didn't like it," he replied smartly.
"You opened your big mouth again," Wyatt concluded.
Chris rolled his eyes and stared through the window. He had this pensive expression, the one he got from time to time, when he was having bad thoughts. Wyatt hated it, because it meant he was overthinking things. And an overthinking Chris always led to some existential crisis. His little brother was too young to have existential crisis, even if he was really smart.
"She'll get over it," Wyatt said to distract him. "She always does. You were always a mama's boy.” Chris shrugged. He went on: "What did you argue about anyway?"
"The contents of a potion. I told her she was doing something wrong, and she maintained she was in the right."
"That's a bit stupid," Wyatt admitted. And strange. Their mother knew her way about potions, but so did Chris. Better than her sometimes. "And who was right?"
"The time we spent arguing ruined the potion anyway," Chris replied bitterly. "So she grounded me for distracting her."
Wyatt remained silent, but he was finding that reaction odd.
"Maybe she's on her periods?" he suggested. "She's always a bit explosive, y'know, that time of the month...or maybe a bit stressed."
Chris snorted.
"Yes, then she's been stressed a lot lately," he pointed out. "The moment I open my mouth, or contradict her, I’m suddenly a bad son or a bad nephew and I’m grounded.”
Wyatt looked down and stayed silent, because Chris wasn’t wrong. His father tended to ignore him –but unfortunately that was nothing new, his mother interrupted him when he tried to make a point, his aunts…well, they were far more fussy about his explanations than with Wyatt.
If even he had noticed, his brother was too smart to miss the shift in treatment, and Wyatt was worried. He was worried because he could see its impact on Chris's mental. His brother wasn't a weakling by any form -he had a steady mind, perfectly adequate control over his powers, he had friends who were loyal to him and he had Gramps and himself by his side. But having the parents and the aunts constantly undermining him, even if he was right, annoyed and hurt him. And Chris wasn't like Wyatt. He kept everything under wraps -his frustration, his anger -and focused on making himself better, smarter, sharper, until they had no other choice but to listen to him.
Chris claimed it was a stimulating process, that it made him a better witch. And while Wyatt couldn't deny his brother's skills were far better than his own -potion making, spell crafter, magical knowledge, everything aside from raw power, Chris would surpass him -he felt the situation wouldn't last as such.
One day, that frustration was meant to come out and blow up in their faces. One day, his parents and aunts would look back, realize their mistake, but it would be too late.
“Don’t make that face, Wy,” Chris said, interrupting his thoughts. “Maybe I’ve been mouthing off lately. Besides, I’m just a teenager, not an experienced Charmed One.”
Wyatt forced himself to smile, mostly because he knew his brother was trying to cheer him up.
"Yeah, maybe.”
Chris glanced back through the window.
“It’s sunny outside. Why don’t you go out?”
Wyatt hesitated then let himself fall back onto his own bed.
“Nah, I’d rather stay and take a nap. Maybe play a card game, if you’re up to it.”
His brother stared at him in disbelief.
“Uh…I’m grounded.”
“And I wanna hang out in my bedroom and play cards,” Wyatt replied, digging out a card from his pockets. “Shame we have to share the room.”
Chris grinned more genuinely this time.
“You’re still in your rebellious stage, but whatever, I’m in,” he replied and moved into a sitting position.
Rebellious attitude or not, Wyatt was just glad he could do these little things to support his brother.
It should have been a happy day. A cheerful day. As Piper slowly climbed up the stairs leading to her boys' bedroom, she wondered how it came to this. Everything had started so well -they had sent Chris out on shopping duty to prepare a surprise party, the food was cooking...and a demon had sneaked into the manor while she had her back turn.
When she next opened her eyes, she was lying on the floor, Paige's eyes filled with tears as she healed her, the scorch marks betraying the remains of a demon on the floor, and Chris-
Chris had returned home early, had called for help when he saw her bleeding out on the floor. The demon had attacked him, would have killed him if Paige and Wyatt hadn't orbed in time.
And Chris...
She had assumed he would be shocked. She had assumed he would be upset. Not that he would lock himself in his room for three days and refuse to speak to anyone. Paige had confessed not reacting properly at being called out of the blue, the memory of whitelighter Chris still lingering in the back of her mind. And Wyatt had to beg his father to go, because Leo had the same reaction.
"I asked him when was the last time Chris called for him," Wyatt said quietly, later. "He let me go after that."
Because this Chris never called for anyone. This Chris wasn't their annoying past whitelighter. This Chris was just a teenage boy, a teenager who could lie off white lies, not deceive them about the fate of the world. And they tended to forget that.
"Sweetie?" she called through the door. "Can I come in?"
No answer. She pushed the door and stepped in. Her heart broke a little when she saw him curled on his bed, back facing her, staring at the wall.
She stepped inside, sat on the mattress.
"Sweetie-"
"I'll never be good enough."
Whatever she intended to say remained stuck in her throat. She stared at her son in astonishment.
"What?"
"No wonder why I keep disappointing you all. I'm not even strong enough to fight a demon on my own."
No, she thought. No, that's not it. It's not-
"Chris-"
“I keep having nightmares where he kills you,” he went on. “And I can only stand and watch as the world burns down.”
“I’m here sweetie. I’m alive. People came in and-“
"Just leave me alone mom."
His tone was short and angry. Piper felt a bit hurt at that. She took a deep breath, stood up. Before leaving, she touched his shoulder, kissed the top of his head. The way he flinched hurt even more, so she left the room without a word and closed the door behind.
After a few seconds, she headed up to the attic. It was killing her to see him so depressed and down. Leo had told her he would get over it on his own, but she wasn’t convinced. He had enough nightmares to deal with due to their usual lives without having to add to it.
She went through the Book of Shadows, looking for a particular spell. When she found it, she hesitated a long time, wondering if this was the right thing to do. Blocking part of Chris’ memories to help him heal. He would still have nightmares, but he would forget them upon waking up, just have a nagging feeling in the back of his mind and no longer think about it.
“It’s just temporary,” she spoke out loud, mostly to herself. “I want to help him.”
She wanted him to be better, at least for a few days. She wanted to see him smile again, not those haunted eyes. So yes, this was the best decision to take.
She recited the spell, closed her eyes, and prayed she had done the right thing.
Chris woke up in an unfamiliar bed, in unfamiliar sheets, in an unfamiliar room. Also, he wasn't alone. A woman was fast asleep by his side, her back turned to him. He checked his phone, realized he had a few calls missing. And a few texts. A potion request from Phoebe, mostly, since he was the best potion brewer of the family and she 'never had the time'.
And she needed it for this afternoon. Good thing he didn't have classes today.
He slipped out of the bed, quickly found his clothes and sneaked out of the apartment. Once he was in a safe environment, he orbed home.
'Home' was the apartment he and Wyatt rented, a little bit outside of San Francisco. Just close enough to college and not too far from the manor. Distance didn't matter much, since Chris could orb around, but there was something reassuring about the closeness nonetheless.
He immediately got to work, preparing the herbs, heating the water...his brother stumbled out of his bedroom, looking still half-awake.
"You're up early," he said before glancing at his clothes and smirked. "Or did you just come home?" Chris rolled his eyes. The mark on his neck would betray him anyway. "C'mon, spill. What's her name?"
"Don't remember," he replied, absentmindedly measuring the dosages he needed. "Something with a B, I think? She's a friend of Cecilia's."
"Oh? Cecilia didn't warn her about you?"
He rolled his eyes again.
"She came to me actually. I think she just wanted to have some fun. Who was I to deny her?"
Wyatt snorted, but his smile dimmed when he realized what he was doing.
"Aunt Phoebe again?"
"She needs the potion by two this afternoon. It has to rest a couple hours before being viable."
His brother said nothing, but the familiar frown returned.
"You don't have to do this, you know."
"I know,” he replied calmly. “I don't mind."
"They are exploiting you," Wyatt pointed out. "You're a good potion brewer, but you're pushing yourself too hard, you need to rest too. Phoebe can do her own stuff later. If not, she has three daughters too."
His brother seemed to want to add something but held back. Chris knew what he had in mind. Ever since that fourteenth birthday, he had tried to strive. He had always been a bit of an overachiever, but almost losing his mother had made him realize how much he was lacking. He wasn't a powerhouse like Wyatt. He wasn't a Charmed One. But he was smart and had a good memory, so he used those skills to keep himself in the game.
The problem was that they kept questioning his judgment, and he was growing tired of having to prove himself to them around every corner. He was capable. He had some experience, more knowledge than them, but they kept...undermining his words.
He had stopped requesting their help when he went after demons, because they would either be 'on a break', 'busy with their personal lives'. He wasn't a pesky whitelighter nagging them to do their job, but their son slash nephew who needed a hand! At least Wyatt had real excuses when he couldn't come.
Still, he played along when they asked things -like a potion -because they all knew he was the best at it. Even Phoebe, who thought the world of her daughters and tended to overestimate them, turned to him.
He supposed it was some sort of recognition. Still annoying.
He wondered how long he would be able to deal with that anger before it got the best of him.
"You may have missed out sex this morning," Wyatt pointed out instead. Chris snorted. That part didn’t actually bother him.
"I never had trouble finding a partner," he replied, mostly because it was very true.
Wyatt snorted and shook his head.
"One of these days, Chris, you will fall head over heels for a woman and she will break your heart."
He would have to find that woman first, he thought as he finished the brewing. Now he only had to text Phoebe to let her know it would be ready on time and-
He froze mid-movement. His phone. He clearly remembered placing it on the nightstand as he picked up his clothes, and leaving without it.
Shit.
He checked the time. Eight thirty. Not too late. The potion didn't need surveillance anymore, just needed to cool down on its own.
"I have to leave for a short time," he said. "Don't touch anything, okay?"
Wyatt raised an eyebrow.
"Why would I want to touch an unknown thing you've been brewing? I know better than that." He peeked at the caldron and added: "You sure it's safe? I mean, we do use gas, but I'm not sure it'll be enough as a cover up story for an explosion."
"It was one time, and I was eleven!" Chris protested, He'd been too cocky on his own, and blew up half his mother's kitchen as a result. Good thing she had intended to modernize the equipment anyway.
"I won't touch it," Wyatt promised, and added with a wink: "Have fun."
“Right, fun,” Chris echoed sarcastically as he orbed away and made his way back to her apartment. The whole trip, he racked his brain, trying desperately to remember her name. It definitively started with a 'B'. Betty? No. More exotic. But what-
The door opened, and he was suddenly reminded why he had followed this one home. She was smaller than him -perhaps a head shorter -curvy in all the right place, with dark almond eyes, long dark hair, a pleasant face and tanned skin. A few years older -early twenties at most -a little blunt and arrogant in her speech, not much, just enough to make her sound charming. And, in the throes of passion, really sexy.
Fuck, he thought, he should have stayed this morning. Pull the breakfast move on her. He still might have had time to make that potion. Oh well, no use to cry over spilled milk.
"Hi?" he said, and realized his voice sounded a pitch higher than usual.
That never happened, he thought as he began to slightly die inside. He was usually smoother than that. He blamed the early morning, the startling revelation that B -damnit, what's her name again? -looked a lot more beautiful than he remembered, even in an oversized T-shirt and with her hair in a mess.
She raised an eyebrow, looked amused. He was already feeling his body react.
"Forgot something?" she asked, and yes, that voice did things to his lower belly and he should focus before embarrassing himself.
"My phone."
"I see." She stepped back, leaving enough space to let him. "I'll go get it."
Chris hesitated a few seconds before entering. This time, he took a good look at his surroundings. Her apartment was smaller than he thought -just a kitchen slash living room and a few doors leading to the bathroom and the bedroom. It felt homely though. Comfortable. He felt the tension ease from his shoulders and regained a bit of confidence.
"Here you go," she said, returning with the device. He took it, slipped it back in his pocket without checking the screen. He couldn't take his eyes off her and he wasn’t sure why. He had plenty of one-night stands before. She shouldn’t be different.
Should she?
"Thanks."
And he stood there, not quite knowing what to do. Leave? Start a conversation? Make a move? For the first time in a while, he was at loss, and stupidly so.
"So," she started. "What-"
"You're beautiful."
She paused, blinked at him, and if he wasn't mistaken, her cheeks seemed to flush slightly. He had caught her off-guard.
"No need for compliments," she said. "Last night was fun, I was going to offer you to have sex anyway."
He couldn't help but smile a bit at that, flattered.
"I meant it. No second thoughts. You are beautiful. But I'm not turning that offer down."
Bianca -her name was Bianca! -rolled her eyes, but there was an underlying laugher in them. She stepped closer as he leaned forward, wrapper his arms around her waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him soundly.
Piper smiled as she overheard bits and parts of laughs in the other room. Her sons were here for the Sunday lunch, along with the rest of the family, and things were looking up.
Chris seemed to have gotten over this inferiority complex that followed him since his teenage years, he had become a reliable member of the family, a formidable witch in his own right too. And she couldn't be prouder.
She and Phoebe were preparing the last bits of the upcoming feast when she heard a name that caught her attention.
"-Bianca out?"
Piper immediately dropped her attention away from the food to focus on the conversation.
"Maybe. We're more like each other's booty call right now."
"But you like her."
"Yeah, I think so. I feel like I’ve known her for years. I never felt like this with any other girl before."
"One question to solve it: how many other girls have you been sleeping with since you started seeing her?"
Silence.
"I get your point. Right now's not the time though, with the exams coming up..."
The voices got away and an uncomfortable feeling settled in her stomach. Bianca had been the Phoenix witch the other Chris had been engaged to, the one who came back in time to bring him to a future Wyatt.
"Do you think it’s her?" Phoebe asked, having followed the conversation too and looking equally uncomfortable.
"I'll find out," she replied. It could be a coincidence. It could be just a name, and 'Bianca' could be a mortal he had met somewhere. Her son had never been very stable in his love life. Unfortunately, it seemed that this Bianca was someone who might change his mind. And if she were that woman...
She headed upstairs, into the attic, looked for the page on Phoenixes and left it open. On her way down, she noticed Chris's phone lying in a corner, temporarily abandoned. She hesitated for a moment, checked into the corridor to see where her son had gone, and made up her mind.
Slightly guilty, she took his phone, used a quick spell to use the facial recognition to break into it and looked for a particular name. When she found it, she blocked the number. Her heart racing, she put the phone back, told herself she was doing the right thing, and returned to the living room. Her son deserved better than a Phoenix witch in this life.
Leo sighed, irritated as he checked his watch once again. Chris was late, and he didn’t have time to waste…
Finally, his younger son orbed in.
“Finally,” Leo said, letting his irritation bleeding through. “What-“
Chris looked pale and tired, but still standing, like he hadn’t slept well in a few days. It brutally brought Leo back two decades, when he was still stalking the suspicious whitelighter that had invaded their lives.
“What’s going on?” he asked after a short pause.
His son blinked but barely showed a reaction. They hadn’t seen each other in a while, and Leo thought he might be a bit more opened, or even happy to see him.
“What did you want?”
For you not to be late, he wanted to say, but since he didn’t look so well, he would let it go this time.
“The Elders were holding council about your powers. They think it would be wiser if you trained your skills Up There.”
“What skills?” Chris echoed, sounding a bit lost.
Leo sighed, a little irritated.
“You asked for training sessions for your whitelighter powers. I know I’m a bit late, but I finally got to ask around and Roland is willing to help you out.”
He was not expecting the stunned silence, nor that expression on his face. Chris was looking at him with a somewhat baffled surprise and disbelief.
“I asked for those training sessions when I was sixteen, dad.”
Leo blinked, thought –no, it hadn’t been that long, it felt just like yesterday and –
“Oh…time does go fast,” he found himself saying. Chris was not impressed. “Look, I’m sorry Chris. I’ve been really busy and –you know, watching over the world and-“
But his son’s expression remained blank and Leo was once again reminded of the resentfulness he had seen on the other version of his son. He supposed that in both timelines, their relationship hadn’t been good.
“Give my apologies to Elder Roland,” Chris said flatly. “I have other stuff to do.”
And he orbed away, just like that, leaving Leo standing on his own, stunned by his audacity. A phone call to his wife told him that Chris was currently dealing with a broken heart and that the attitude would ease up, he just needed to give him time. Leo decided to trust Piper –after all, it seemed that he had neglected his son for a bit –and orbed away.
Piper was thinking over a new recipe when Wyatt irrupted in the kitchen. His face was red and he looked absolutely furious.
"How COULD you?"
She put down her pan, narrowed her eyes at him.
"Don't use that tone with me Wyatt."
"I will use whatever fucking tone I want, especially after what you told Chris."
Piper's frown deepened. So her youngest son had sent his knight in defense. She should have expected it.
"I told him nothing but the truth. He got that girl pregnant. He will take his responsibility and marry her, or he will never set foot in this house again."
"Chris. Is. Not. The. Father. If he was, he wouldn't abandon his kid!"
She looked at him. Her eldest was angry, very angry. It hadn’t happened in a while. She blamed Chris for that –he always knew how to bring his brother to his side.
"He's a very good liar," she said. "You don't-"
"He wasn't her only lover. She had two others."
She paused.
"What?"
"Olivia sleeps around just as much as Chris does. Only difference is, she doesn't always use protection. Chris may be a slut, he always have condoms at hand."
"I did not need to hear that," Piper muttered.
"She knows exactly who the father is," he went on. "Chris wasn't even seeing her around the time the baby was conceived!"
The conviction in his voice made her pause. She remembered the girl, a nice, good-looking young woman, a good witch, explaining calmly but blinking back her tears that Chris was the father and that she wished they could just talk to sort things out, for the sake of the baby.
"Why would she come to us and lie about it?" she wondered. They weren’t exactly well-off and while she loved Chris, her son was a bit too neurotic for his own good.
"Because the father is a mortal, and her family would rather have her tied up to the son of a Charmed One than a mortal named Todd Rattler," he added sarcastically. "You only like her because she puts up a good front when you're around. Behind the scenes, she's a little bitch. Trust me, I’ve seen her act around."
He wasn’t lying, she could tell it from his eyes. But still…
"How can you be so sure?”
"Chris wants a family,” Wyatt said directly, and Piper had to bite back a snort. A player like Chris? A family? Her son went on, ignoring her reaction: “He wouldn't abandon a child of his, even an accidental one. If you are ready to believe a complete stranger over your own son, then you really deserve to never see him again."
That caught her attention.
"What do you mean?"
"He left," Wyatt repeated, back to being more incensed. "He said that since he wasn't welcomed here, he might as well go away."
"But -what, where?"
"I don't know," he snapped back. "He just had enough. You didn't listen to him. You didn't trust him. You didn't want him. Why should he stay?"
"Of course I'll always want him around!" Piper protested, dropping everything in her hands and looking up. "Chris? Chris! Come over please, we need to talk."
"He won't answer," Wyatt said sharply. "He put us all on mute."
"Shut up Wyatt," she snapped and called harder: "Chris! Chris!"
"He's tired of forgiving you all the time," Wyatt went on, unbothered. "He won't return, especially not on your terms. You fucked up mom. You, the aunts, you all fucked up big time. He's gone."