Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a beautiful Friday morning in San Francisco. The too-common morning fog was nowhere to be seen, the sun was shining, and the temperature was cool indicating a pleasantly warm but not hot oncoming day. The band for P3 was booked, none of the staff had called in sick, and the deputy manager was handling all the logistics for the day.

Piper Halliwell wasn't thinking about any of that. She only stared at the sheet of paper in her hand, digesting the news it was giving her. It wasn’t that the information displayed there was surprising, but she now had lost any chance of second-guessing the results, which left her feeling a bit adrift. It was a page from her doctor’s office, with the result of the blood test she’d taken the day before.

Pregnant.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She admitted to herself that she wasn't feeling terribly confident. Giving birth the first time had been plenty hard enough, but she'd had Leo by her side then. Even if he was constantly pulled away, he'd been around. Now, she was facing another pregnancy, but this time without him, and it broke her heart. It was too soon, too soon since he'd gone Up There for good, for her to call him back. And, she admitted to herself, if she did call, at this point she wasn't even sure if he would come.

She gently rubbed her belly, already completely attached to the baby she knew was there, her heart squeezing for the absent father he or she wouldn't get to know. “You know what, little one?” she said softly, “Whether your father is here or not, you'll be just as loved as your brother. If I have any say, you'll grow up safe, and strong, and you'll live a full and happy life.”

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself for the rest of the day. She'd already gone through what was now confirmed as her daily morning sickness, and the crackers she kept on the nightstand had helped soothe the queasiness.

She wondered what powers this one would develop; as far as she knew there was no great prophecy hanging like an axe over this child, for which she was profoundly grateful. It had taken her quite some time to accept Wyatt's destiny, and even though she eventually had, she still sometimes wished he could just be a normal kid, even a normal half-angel half-witch kid. This one might actually have a chance. And after the surprise that was Wyatt, she wasn't about to assume a boy or a girl. Whichever way, it was comforting to know that at least Wyatt wouldn't be an only child, even if he and this little sibling had to be raised by a single parent.

That thought brought to mind something cryptic that Phoebe had said a few weeks back; she'd dropped a hint, but had gone chasing after Chris right afterward, before Piper could get an explanation. Piper felt a familiar annoyance with their whitelighter rise up - future boy hadn't ever deigned to mention a second child, but there was no way she'd believe he didn't know of it.

Piper figured she'd have to pin down Phoebe once she got back from work - that had been right after her vision quest, if Piper recalled correctly, which indicated that she knew something. If so, the fact that she'd managed to keep a lid on it was almost miraculous, but at the same time exceedingly irritating, and she had no doubt it was somehow Chris’ doing. He seemed determined to interfere with just about anything and everything in their lives.

Suddenly determined to pry at least some answers out of him, Piper left the bedroom and headed toward the kitchen to make breakfast. The best way to loosen up a man was through his stomach, right? Well, she was an expert at that; maybe the magic of good food would work on their string bean of a whitelighter.

~ • ~ • ~ • ~

“Ooo, what's the occasion?” Paige said as she shuffled into the kitchen, still in her pajamas under a fluffy robe.

Placing a second batch of bacon onto a plate, Piper just shrugged. “I had a craving for a good hearty breakfast, that's all.”

Laid out on the kitchen table were several plates containing bacon, scrambled eggs, homemade hash browns, fluffy blueberry pancakes, and link sausages.

“Hearty enough to feed an army,” Paige teased. “How are you going to eat all this?”

“I'm not,” Piper said. “You are!”

At Paige's raised eyebrow, Piper caved. “Okay fine, I'm trying to get Chris to open up a bit, and I figure a full stomach won't hurt.” She hoped Paige didn't ask what she wanted him to open up about, as she wanted some time to process her pregnancy herself first.

“Good luck with that,” Paige muttered as she helped herself to the coffee pot, “you'd probably have better luck getting into Fort Knox.”

“Yeah well, it can't hurt to try,” Piper said. She looked up toward the ceiling and called out for the ever-shifty whitelighter. “Chris!”

They waited a beat, before Piper called again. “Come on Chris, when do we ever call you first? There's breakfast!”

A shower of electric blue descended into the kitchen before forming into the familiar lanky brunette. “What?” He asked somewhat crossly.

“I made way too much food,” Piper said. “You're skinny, you can probably put away a lot of this, right?”

Unfortunately her subterfuge didn't appear to go over well. Piper wasn't sure she'd ever seen Chris’ eyebrows climb any higher.

“You called me just to have breakfast?” The incredulity in his voice was unmistakable. “Piper, I'm busy trying to figure out who gets to Wyatt. I don't have time for a relaxed breakfast.” He did look at the spread, though, his eyes lingering on the hash browns. Perhaps he wasn't as immune to the call of food as he pretended to be. Whitelighters didn't actually need to eat, but even Leo had admitted that it was still pleasurable to eat good food and it was missed if they skipped eating for too long. Their magical bodies were still grounded in their earthly lives, after all.

It didn't appear to be enough to keep Chris here, though.

“Hey, wait!” Piper forestalled him as he was about to orb away. “I'm sorry, you're right, I just want to talk to you.”

“About?”

Piper sighed, wishing that Paige had somewhere to get to since her attempt to get Chris sitting down and eating had failed. Phoebe was already gone to the paper, but Paige was unfortunately between temp jobs at the moment, and was sipping her coffee contentedly while nibbling on a piece of bacon. Chris was far too direct to engage in any kind of small talk, so Piper decided to deflect for a moment.

“We're running low on some potion supplies. I put together this list,” she produced a little sheet of paper that she'd made for expressly this purpose, then continued, “and I thought you might have a look at it before I go shopping.”

“Why didn't you just say so?” Chris said with a touch of exasperation. He took the list from her and sat at the island to read over it.

“And actually … Paige …” Piper began, only to be cut off by a growl from her still-sleepy sister.

“Oh no, Piper, really? This is like my first morning off in weeks,” Paige complained.

“Well, I'm sorry but I've got work to do too you know,” Piper said, “The shopping won't take you that long, and it'd really help me out.” In actual fact her workload this particular day wasn't that heavy, but she really wanted to get Chris by himself in a way that didn't make him immediately suspicious. He always seemed to have a sixth sense about when any of them were trying to pull information out of him, and nothing made him clam up faster. The best information they'd gotten about anything in the future was always when he was relaxed and dropped a hint of something by accident. But those moments were incredibly few and far between, not to mention not very useful since they usually just involved popular culture.

“Fine,” Paige sighed. “Guess I'll go get dressed then.” She snagged another piece of bacon and sent Piper a mean face on the way out.

“I'm adding witch hazel and burdock root,” Chris said, as he scribbled on the list with a pencil, “plus some finished potions that I think you should stock up on.”

“Finished potions?” Piper had never bought potions before, only brewed them. Though she did remember that Leo had purchased the potion that blocked her and Paige's emotions from Phoebe; she hadn't thought to be curious about where it came from until now.

“Some things are easier to buy because they require very specific conditions to be made which are hard to set up,” Chris said. “I'll let Paige know where to go.”

“Alright Chris, thank you,” Piper said. “Now actually, I also wanted to talk to you about something else.”

He frowned and stiffened. “What?”

“I went to the doctor yesterday,” Piper started, only to be interrupted when Chris suddenly shot out of his seat, looking extremely uncomfortable.

“Sorry Piper, I've got to go,” he said hastily.

“Hey wait a minute, you can't just orb out in the middle of-”

But he was already gone, leaving the shopping list behind and Piper hanging. She barely resisted the temptation to scream in frustration. He knew what she wanted to talk about, there was no other explanation for his hasty exit. There might have been if he had any other charges, but the Charmed Ones were his only responsibility so he had absolutely no excuse. Except for not wanting to talk about her baby.

You just wait, mister. We're going to talk at some point whether you like it or not, Piper thought. She sighed in resignation and looked around the kitchen, wondering what on earth she was going to do with all the food.

~ • ~ • ~ • ~

“It's a good thing you're so adorable for such a mess-maker, you know that, right?” Wyatt just giggled, unaware of his mother's consternation as she looked over the third top that he'd covered in food this morning. He was in his high chair munching on cereal bits while Piper put away the morning’s leftovers, but even though the cereal was dry he'd still somehow managed to cover his shirt in green softened marshmallow.

“Alright, come here big boy,” Piper said as she lifted him and pulled off his soiled shirt to wipe off his face. “I hope your little brother or sister is cleaner than you, but I'm not holding my breath.” She finished tugging on one of the many spare shirts that were stashed around the house (shirt replacement being a common occurrence), just as Paige sauntered back into the kitchen showered and dressed.

“Hey there, how's my favorite nephew this morning?” she cooed as she gave Wyatt a quick tickle on the belly.

“Messy,” Piper replied, “but fed. Can you drop him off at Magic School before you go shopping? They said they've got some sort of craft activity planned today and I'm hoping that'll wear him out so he'll actually nap this afternoon.”

“Sure,” Paige said, grabbing the bag with his additional spare outfits and snacks. She picked up the sheet of paper Chris had dropped earlier. “Is this the list?”

“Yeah,” Piper said, feeling a bit guilty. They really did need the ingredients she'd put together, but she probably would have waited until next week if she hadn't needed the list as a distraction for getting Chris to come and talk. Well, what was done was done. “Chris put some other things on there, but I'm not sure where to go for them,” she said.

“That's okay, he's mentioned the marketplace before, so I think I know where to go,” Paige cocked her head slightly to the side. “You know, it's sometimes a bit disconcerting how much stuff he knows that we've never heard of before.”

Piper had no reply to that. Chris looked, and often acted, so young that it was easy to forget that he might actually be older than they were. Not for the first time, she wondered how old he really was, or if his past self had died yet. She once considered trying to look him up - the name “Perry” wasn't that common - but she ultimately decided it would be more frustrating than it was worth. Plus, Leo probably would have found out anything that was easily findable when he'd been in his ultra-suspicious phase. Chris had once mentioned not being a whitelighter for very long, so she suspected he wasn't that much older than he looked, but then again he'd lied about so much already she couldn't really take anything he said at face value.

“Alright, little man, are you ready to go to school?” Paige interrupted her thoughts by picking up Wyatt and settling him on her hip. “Say bye-bye to Mama,” she leaned over so Piper could give him a sloppy kiss on his chubby cheek.

“Be good for the teachers, okay Wyatt?” Piper smiled and gave him a little wave.

“Be back before you know it,” Paige said, before dissolving in a swirling swarm of bright lights.

Sighing, Piper grabbed the many soiled shirts and headed to the laundry room. She had just started the wash cycle when she was interrupted by the ringing of the house phone. She turned into the kitchen to answer it, cradling the receiver on her shoulder as she wiped detergent off her hand. “Hello?”

“Hi, Piper, it’s Amanda. Do you have a sec?” came a young woman's voice.

Amanda was one of the bartenders at P3. She was studying for a doctorate in Russian literature, but needed the extra income to make ends meet so she’d been working three days a week for the past few months.

“Hi Amanda, what’s up?” Piper replied curiously. All the P3 employees had Piper’s home number in case of emergencies, but nobody had ever called off-hours before.

“I really hate to do this … I know I don’t really know you all that well … but I have a huge favor to ask," Amanda sounded quite tentative. "I have a friend in my class who just lost her apartment in a fire. She’s got a place to stay for now, but she lost pretty much all her possessions. I remembered you talking the other day about donating a big box of clothes and … I was thinking instead of that if you could maybe give her some of them? She’s only got a handful of things to wear even after some emergency shopping, and I think you’d be about the same size. Or at least close enough. I don’t think she cares what they are, just something else to wear. If you’ve already given them away or are uncomfortable with it, that’s fine too I don’t want to impose-”

“Stop, stop, it’s fine!” Piper interrupted the stream of consciousness with a laugh. “I haven’t given them away yet and I’d be perfectly happy to give her some things.”

“Oh, phew, thank you!” Amanda exclaimed, the relief evident in her voice. “I know she’ll really appreciate it, you’re the best!”

“No problem at all, it’ll make me feel even better knowing they’ll be helpful. Shall I bring the box to the club?”

“Actually, I was hoping to pick them up later this morning? I'm not on until Monday and I’d rather not make her wait.”

“Alright, that’s fine. I’ll be home all day today so anytime is fine as long as it’s not too late.”

“Perfect! Thank you so much!”

Piper grinned, feeling her mood lighten. As frustrating as it was to manage the club sometimes, dealing with suppliers and bands and bureaucracy, little moments like this one kept her grounded - it reminded her that she could be helpful in ways that were normal, not just magical.

“You’re welcome,” she said into the phone. “I’ll see you in a bit then. Oh by the way, what’s your friend’s name?”

There was an infinitesimal pause before Amanda replied. “Linette,” she said. “Her name is Linette.”

Chapter Text

Piper had just put the now-clean clothes into the dryer when the doorbell rang, so she started the cycle then headed to the front of the house. Expecting Amanda, she opened the door only to be startled to see a stranger standing on the porch.

It was a young woman with chestnut hair pulled back into a low ponytail. She was wearing an attractive mauve top and jeans, though the top seemed just slightly big on her. She was holding a small-ish purse in one hand and had a large empty tote bag on one shoulder. The only thing very remarkable about her was a large pendant around her neck. It was perfectly square though it hung from one corner to make a diamond, with a sizable deep blue round stone set inside a border of intricate silver metal-work. It looked very old, and very expensive.

“Can I help you?” Piper asked.

“Hi, my name’s Linette O’Shea. Is Piper Halliwell home?” the young woman asked politely.

Piper felt an immediate but minor sense of surprise and hesitation. Amanda had said that she herself would come by, not that she’d give Piper’s address to her friend. Hadn’t she?

“I'm Piper Halliwell,” Piper said cautiously. “Uh, I'm sorry I was just expecting Amanda.”

Linette’s eyes widened. “Oh I'm so sorry! I thought … well Amanda said you said it was okay to come by and gave me your address. If she wasn’t supposed to, I’m so sorry!”

She looked so apologetic that Piper softened, the hesitation fading away. “No need, there must have been a miscommunication. I’ll have to talk it over with Amanda, but it’s not your fault. Come on inside.”

She opened the door wider and ushered Linette through, who stood in the foyer looking around curiously.

“Alright, the box of clothes is in my bedroom so just follow me,” Piper said, heading toward the stairs.

“Thank you so much for this,” Linette said as she followed Piper down the hall. “So many people have been so kind since the fire, I feel really blessed even though everything’s crazy right now.”

“Well I'm glad I can help even in just a small way,” Piper said as she entered her bedroom. “The box is-”

The door slamming shut behind her cut her off, and she spun around, startled. She heard something fiddle with the knob then a small cracking sound.

Immediately filled with alarm, Piper grabbed the door handle only to find that the door wouldn’t budge. She tried turning the knob with all her strength but it was totally jammed. With a sinking feeling, Piper realized that Linette had clearly broken something off on the other side, and she was stuck in her bedroom with a now-obviously-deceitful stranger loose in the house.

“Argh!” Piper wiggled the knob and the door as hard as she dared. She didn’t want to exert herself too much, though, knowing that the baby would be sensitive this early in the pregnancy. Gritting her teeth, she resigned herself to more house repairs. Standing on the other side of the room, she flicked her hands at her own bedroom door and blasted it to smithereens. Normally she loved how destructive her power was, but just once she’d have preferred a smaller, more targeted explosion.

She stepped gingerly through the splinters before dashing up the stairs to the attic and the most important thing in the house that Linette (whoever she was) might possibly be after - the Book of Shadows.

The attic door was likewise shut and jammed, but through it Piper could hear Linette’s voice in what ominously sounded like some sort of spell. She didn’t hesitate this time and blasted the door open before running through it and taking stock of what she could see.

The Book was closed and on the floor - Piper had a flashback to when the three identity thieves had first come after it - and Linette was standing over it holding her pendant in one hand and the other outstretched parallel to the ground.

“Hey!” Piper shouted, and tried to blast Linette’s shoulder. Instead of sending her flying, the explosion ricocheted and hit the couch instead, sending a flurry of furniture stuffing into the air. Piper belatedly noticed the crystals surrounding Linette and the Book, presumably creating a magical barrier. They were a dark purple color that Piper wasn't familiar with, indicating that Linette must have brought them with her.

“Get away from that!” Piper shouted.

Linette paid her no heed at all, continuing to chant in a language that Piper couldn’t identify.

“Chris!” Piper shouted, hoping for once he’d listen. As annoyed as she was with him right now, she needed her sisters and he could get them here the fastest.

Orbs started to coalesce right next to her, but instead of her whitelighter she was surprised to turn and see her sister.

Paige’s arrival was clearly a coincidence, as her arms were full of grocery bags. She started to talk to Piper when she noticed the stranger and the Book, eyes widening.

“No time,” Piper said quickly, “Break that barrier!”

Paige dropped the bags and, holding out her hand, called for one of the unfamiliar crystals. It disappeared momentarily in blue orbs, but reappeared in the same spot a second later. Paige then bent down and frantically fished through one of the bags she’d been holding, pulling out a vial containing some sort of greenish potion and throwing it at the barrier. It exploded in a shower of purple, but the dark crystals just glowed and Linette kept chanting.

“What kind of barrier is that!?” Paige exclaimed.

“I don’t know but whatever she’s doing we’ve got to stop her,” Piper said, thinking as fast as she could. She tried to blast one of the crystals directly but the same ricochet effect happened, this time taking out one of Wyatt’s play horses.

“Whoa there, watch where you’re pointing that thing,” Paige exclaimed. She called for one of the clubs from the demon-leftover trunk, and hurled it at the barrier - only to duck as it came flying right back at her.

“You were saying??” Piper shouted. “We might need the Power of Three to break that barrier. Go get Phoebe!”

Before Paige could comply, more orbs coalesced on Piper’s other side, this time forming into their surly whitelighter.

“You called?” Chris said before he noticed the stranger and his eyebrows shot skyward. “Whoa!” He had to immediately duck as another missile Paige had thrown came back at him.

“We need Phoebe!” Piper yelled at him, “Go get her!”

Chris stared at Linette, or more accurately it looked like he was staring at her pendant. His eyes dropped to the dark crystals on the floor. He quickly turned to them, his back to Linette.

“We don’t need Phoebe,” he said quietly but urgently, “Do you have any anti-gravity potion?”

“Yeah, I literally just got back from buying some,” Paige indicated the dropped groceries. “But I tried that and it didn’t work.”

Chris picked up the club Paige had thrown before and hefted it like he was getting ready to toss it. “Try it again,” he said, “on my mark.”

Getting the idea, Paige rifled through the bag once more and pulled out another green potion.

Before they could do anything else, Linette shouted a few last words before falling completely silent, opening her eyes with a triumphant look on her face. Her eyes, which had been brown before, now glowed the same dark blue as the stone in the pendant she wore, which was also glowing.

“You’re too late, Halliwells,” she smirked. “The amulet honors me as its rightful master, and my lineage is open to me. Now there is nothing to stop me from accessing the power of your precious Nexus, and taking my place as the strongest witch not only in my family, but in all the world! The Charmed Ones’ day is over - the day of Linette O’Shea is upon us!”

“Crazy and full of herself, what else is new,” Paige muttered under her breath.

Chris didn’t reply, instead he nudged Paige’s arm, and started whispering so only she could hear. “One … two …”

On an unspoken three, Paige threw the vial. Chris waited until it hit the barrier, then flung the club he was holding directly at one of the dark crystals while it was still glowing. This time, the crystal skittered away from its place in a shower of sparks.

Immediately, Piper directed her explosive power at Linette. She aimed for the shoulder again, since she was clearly a witch not a demon, but was surprised when Linette held up a hand and a swirling vortex appeared in front of her. The vortex was tinged dark blue until it absorbed Piper’s power, whereupon it turned totally white for a split second.

Frustrated beyond belief, Piper tried again, with the same result.

“Paige, the amulet!” Chris shouted.

Paige focused in on the ornate pendant; she held up a hand and opened her mouth to call for it, but before she could get a word out Linette whipped out a vial from her pocket, threw it to the ground and disappeared in a swirl of smoke.

The three in the attic stood still for a second, letting the proverbial dust settle, before Paige turned to her sister. “What on earth was that?!”

Chapter Text

“Okay, so … not a demon then?” Phoebe asked.

After confirming that the Book of Shadows was unscathed and uncorrupted, whatever Linette had been doing with it, Chris had been dispatched to fetch Phoebe so they could get her up to speed on the attack.

Paige was standing at the Book, back on its stand, flipping through it to see what she could find. Phoebe and Piper were on the couch where Piper was folding the freshly-dry laundry, and Chris was busying himself putting away the potions and potion ingredients that Paige had originally orbed in with.

“She came in through the front door through subterfuge, and she didn’t shimmer away, if that’s any indication,” Piper said. “Though why a witch would be after us doesn’t really make any sense to me.”

Chris made a sort of snort. “Demons aren’t the only exception to good magic,” he said. “Not all witches are good. You really should know that by now.”

“Whatever,” Paige said. “Thanks for tip O Knowledgeable One.”

Chris frowned. “It’s not a laughing matter! Piper, why on earth would you let a stranger into the house when you’re here by yourself, into the attic even?”

“Hey, I didn’t let her into the attic! And I thought she was a normal person, I even had a reference from someone I know!”

“Speaking of, do you think Amanda was in on it?” Phoebe asked, “Like, they’ve been planning this all along?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Piper replied. “I called Amanda after the whole thing was over, and she picked up and didn’t seem any the wiser. She asked if anything was wrong, so I fibbed a bit and told her Linette had tried to steal stuff when she was here.” Piper rubbed her forehead. “I actually think that it was Linette herself that played a long con - Amanda hadn’t met her before this semester, and when I asked her why she gave Linette my address instead of coming herself, she just got really confused. I think Linette must have cast a spell on her or something like that to orchestrate getting in the door.”

“Wow, that’s sort of scary,” Paige said, continuing her flipping. “I’m glad most of the underworld isn’t that smart or we’d be living perpetually paranoid.”

“Say, Chris,” Piper said, turning the direction of the conversation, “How did you know how to get through that dark crystal barrier?”

Chris shrugged. “Those,” he said as he pointed to the handful of dark purple crystals that Linette had left behind, “are purple sugilite. It’s rare, but it has unique magical properties that literally affect how space works. The barriers that sugilite crystals form create a kind of super-dense localized gravity field, which is why almost nothing can get through, and why projectiles rebound so badly.”

“So that’s why the anti-gravity potion worked,” Paige said. “I guess that makes sense. How on earth do you activate it though?”

“It takes very precise placement. If I had to guess, I’d say Linette might have used a template or a device of some kind to lay them down.” Chris replied.

“Okay back up a sec,” Phoebe interjected. “How did we just happen to have some ‘anti-gravity’ potion - which I’ve never heard of before - right when we needed it?”

“That would be our favorite close-mouthed whitelighter’s doing,” Paige chirped from the podium. “He added it to my shopping list.”

“I what?” he exclaimed far too innocently.

“It was in your handwriting, Chris.”

He sighed. “Okay, fine, yes I added it, and yes I knew you'd need some eventually, but I didn’t know you’d need it today, I swear.”

“Right,” Piper drawled. She didn’t believe him for a second - in fact, she was highly suspicious that his absence from the house earlier may have been planned. Although, he had seemed quite surprised at the situation when he’d come in answer to her call. She never knew with him, whether he was swimming along with the flow or whether he was the one directing the current. He was clearly more than willing to do both.

“HAH!”

Piper was jolted from her musings by Paige slapping her hand against a page in the book.

“Found her, I think,” Paige said, and began to read an entry. “O’Shea Clan. Descended originally from Irish travellers, the O’Shea clan is a family of witches who maintain a variety of family businesses through intimidation and fear. They move their seat of power every successive generation, to honor their nomadic predecessors. Although they have no direct allegiance to good or evil, their pursuit of power and control often brings them into conflict with good witches.”

“Sounds like the mob,” Phoebe commented. “I wonder what kind of ‘family businesses’ a magical Mafia would be into.”

“I don't really care that much until whatever it is messes with us,” Piper said. “And all that is informative but not very useful, is there more?”

“There is, actually,” Paige said, then continued reading. “The primary threat they pose involves the O’Shea family artifact, the Magauran amulet. Containing a rare cobalt spinel, this amulet protects its master from magical attacks, and has no known limit to its defensive capability. It is passed down from the head of the family to the most deserving of the next generation, during the Rite of Ascension. The prospect must engage with a powerful magical entity and recite an incantation; only after successfully doing so will the amulet recognize and protect its new master.

“Well, that’s what she wanted the Book for, sounds like,” Paige mused when she was done reading. “And she did it. Does that mean that she’s done and we actually don’t need to worry about her?”

Piper shook her head. “No, she’s definitely going to come after us again. She said something about absorbing the Nexus, and with the crazy despotic take-over-the-world stuff she was spouting, we can’t let her do that.”

“That’s true, but we can’t exactly blow her up, right? I mean, she’s still human, not a demon.” Phoebe said.

“Then should we bind her powers?” Paige suggested. “That’d pretty much solve all the problems, and we did that with those identity thieves. Although,” she mused. “I didn’t actually see what her powers are. She cast a spell, obviously, and used a potion, but I didn’t see her use an active power.”

“Well, whatever it is, I wouldn’t mind her not having it,” Piper agreed. “Binding all her powers is probably best. I don’t know what we’ll do with her once that’s done, but at least that’ll take care of the threat.”

Chris had wandered over and was looking down at the entry in the Book. He pointed to something at the bottom of the page. “There’s a footnote here, that’s newer than the rest.”

Paige looked at it and read, “Further info in Skelnik’s Compendium of Heritage,” she raised her hands helplessly. “Where on earth are we supposed to find ‘Skelnik’s Compendium of Heritage’?!”

Chris closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I dunno, where do you think you could find what sounds like a book from a magical library?” He looked pointedly at Paige.

“Oh!” Paige’s eyes lit up. “Magic school! Right?” He just stared back at her, deadpan. “Right, well,” she continued, “should I go look for it?”

“In a bit,” Piper said. “I'd rather us have at least the beginnings of a strategy before we separate.” She looked at Chris as he stood at the Book, re-reading the entry. “Chris, you seemed to know already that her pendant was a magical amulet. Anything else you care to share?”

He replied more openly than expected. “I've just crossed paths with the O’Shea’s - and that amulet - before, in the future,” he said. “Although it wasn't this ‘Linette’ who had it, then.”

“Oh?” Phoebe exclaimed curiously, “Who had it?”

“Not important,” he said immediately. “What's important is that it is very hard to handle because no matter how weak or strong the wielder's offensive powers are, the amulet’s defense is nigh impregnable as long as the wielder has it.”

“Well, I guess we better do all the research we can, then,” Paige said. “How about Phoebe and I go off to Magic School to see if we can find that book. In the meantime,” she looked at Piper where she was just done folding, “maybe you can start magic-proofing the house?”

“I can do that,” Piper exclaimed a bit too eagerly, earning suspicious glances from everyone. She tried to downplay it, but she immediately saw the opportunity to confront her elusive whitelighter, knowing that he couldn't just up and leave this time because of the looming threat. “Chris, could you help me with this laundry first?”

The look on his face was one of resigned consternation.

Chapter Text

“Just put it on the bed, please,” Piper instructed as she paused at the entrance to her bedroom. “Then I want your help making lunch so that we’re not starving while we strategize.”

Chris sighed, then obediently went in and dropped the hamper he was carrying onto the foot of the bed before joining her to head down the stairs.

“Look, Piper,” he began, but she cut him off.

“Nuh uh, Chris, you’re coming with me and we are going to talk.”

“I promise I didn’t know any O’Shea would be attacking today,” he said with a pleading note in his voice as they walked into the kitchen.

Piper noticed the specific wording of his statement, and she could tell that he was deliberately stopping short of outright lying - but he was definitely purposefully being misleading. At the moment, though, she was more concerned with the personal issue that had been weighing on her mind all morning, wanting to have it out with him so that she could focus on the external problem.

She turned and crossed her arms. “I’m sure that’s true,” she said in a tone that conveyed that her thoughts were just the opposite, “but I wanted to talk to you about something else.”

She was still pretty sure that he knew what she was talking about, but this time instead of bolting he just grimaced, looking like he was about to face a firing squad. “About what?” he said quietly, pretending that he wasn’t asking anything he didn’t know the answer to.

Piper gave him the best no-nonsense look she could muster. “About how you’re still hiding things from me that I deserve to know. As in, things about my family.”

The closed look that came over his face was expected, and just like the last time he looked extremely uncomfortable. “I don’t know what you mean,” he said.

“Oh I think you do know what I mean. I got the blood test back from the doctor’s today, which confirmed the 3 home tests I took two days ago,” Piper snapped. “How about you explain to me how you failed to mention I was going to have another baby.”

She was hissing by the time she got to the last part, but he had already looked away. There was tension rolling off of him in waves, even more than normal. The only time Piper had seen him so rigid was when he’d dropped the ‘Wyatt is evil in the future’ bombshell, and just like then, getting him to admit anything felt like pulling teeth.

“I didn’t want to risk messing with it,” he said very softly, examining the absolutely fascinating design of the floor tiles.

“Messing with it? How did you NOT mess with it?” She was trying to keep her voice down, so what came out was an angry stage whisper. “You split Leo and I up! You split us up and what if …” She had to trail off there, because suddenly her throat threatened to close up as she realized the terrible what-if that had almost occurred. “What if we didn’t …”

Chris must have followed her train of thought, because his face paled, but after giving her stomach a glance that was more freaked out than she’d ever seen on him he went back to staring at the floor and looking like he’d rather be literally anywhere else. “I’m sorry,” he said even more softly. “But it all worked out okay, so …”

“How could you risk that? How could you?” Piper was suddenly even angrier with him - not just for holding back information, but for actually threatening her child’s very existence with his machinations.

“I … know it seems bad, but really I have a reason …” he trailed off and Piper had a sudden epiphany.

“Wait, wait a minute. Do you … know …?” and she gestured vaguely at her own midsection.

She wasn’t expecting Chris to turn bright red, which frankly was as good as any answer she’d ever gotten from him. Huh. She wondered if he was an acquaintance, or friend, or …. boyfriend? His blush meant that this child clearly meant something to him, and she was incredibly annoyed at his recalcitrance. He was being even stingier with information about her second-born than he was about Wyatt, which was saying something.

“I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me anything. Even if it's a boy or a girl? I mean, it’s not like I won’t find out pretty soon myself anyway.”

He groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. “No, you know I can’t. Waiting until you find out yourself won’t be that bad, right?”

She pinched the bridge of her nose, because unfortunately he had a point.

“Look,” he said after a beat. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you anything, but if at any point–”

It was a good thing Piper had glanced back up, because she was looking right at him when he fell. Right in the middle of speaking he simply closed his eyes and went limp. The next second felt like it went by in slow motion as his knees buckled and he headed for the ground. By instinct Piper threw out her hands to freeze him - she had long since dropped the habit of trying to physically catch things - but she was startled when it had no effect. He went head and shoulder into the kitchen island before flopping to the floor.

“Chris!” Piper cried out as she immediately scanned her surroundings, hands up and prepared for a demon or wayward witch or whatever had caused him to collapse. Nothing made an appearance however, and after a few tense moments Piper stepped cautiously over to Chris. Tilting sideways rather than bend over and put undue pressure on the baby, she placed her fingers delicately on his neck and found with relief that his heart was still beating fine. His face was relaxed and he was breathing deeply. In fact, were he lounging on a couch rather than sprawled across the floor she might think he was asleep.

Thudding footsteps snapped Piper’s head up as Phoebe came dashing in from the dining room - she and Paige must have returned from Magic School quicker than expected.

“Demon? Crazy witch?” she asked breathlessly, her hands up in a defensive posture.

Piper shook her head and motioned toward Chris. “I don’t think so,” she said. “We were talking and he just collapsed.” She made a wry face as a thought occurred to her. “I’d bet on a spell, actually. We haven’t gone after Linette yet, and we already know she’d be capable of it.”

Phoebe knelt by Chris and felt his pulse herself. “A spell that puts someone to sleep, by the look of it. And quickly, too, that can’t be comfortable. What did this?” She cradled Chris’ head as she pulled his arm out from under him so he was lying on his back, then indicated a reddish growing bruise on his cheekbone and a scrape on his forehead.

“Hit the island on the way down,” Piper said, pushing her conversation with Chris out of her mind in favor of business - Linette clearly wasn’t going to back off, meaning that the Charmed Ones had better handle her before she ended up doing real damage.

“Okay, so we deal with Linette sooner rather than later. What did you find out from that book?”

~ • ~ • ~ • ~

Linette smiled as the last words left her lips. She’d always been attuned to the workings of magic, and unlike most witches she usually didn’t have to wait and see if a spell had worked - she could feel it. This spell rang true to completion.

However, she was also cautious - especially when dealing with witches as powerful as the Charmed Ones, and most especially the youngest. She had miscalculated earlier, expecting Paige to be out at one of her temp jobs, and had almost lost her advantage due to the whitelighter-witch’s power to summon. Hence, this spell - Paige needed to be taken out of play before Linette could corner the other sisters again. She pulled out her headphones and a small portable radio that was tuned to a particular set of frequencies that her family used for surveillance. When she was in the house earlier, she had released a small, magically-constructed robotic bee that could eavesdrop on the Halliwells unnoticed.

“… on a spell, actually,” Linette heard Piper’s voice fade in as the bee homed in on her location. She heard her own name before Phoebe too-astutely guessed the nature of the spell.

“... and quickly, too, that can’t be comfortable …” she heard Phoebe huff as she moved something heavy. So Paige was down, as Linette knew she would be.

“What did this? …. Hit the island on the way down …” Linette decided she’d heard enough and pulled off the headset. She grinned in amusement as she pictured Paige with a purple and black nose.

Chapter Text

“Not such a tough guy now, are we?” Paige mused wryly as she deposited their whitelighter onto the living room couch in a cloud of orbs. Turning to look back at her sisters who had followed her she observed, “He looks almost innocent when he’s asleep, doesn’t he?”

“All an act,” Phoebe snipped, before pausing with a frown, “Or … it would be if he was awake. Gonna have to rethink that one…”

“This is one of the few times he’s probably not responsible for all the mayhem, so I’ll take it,” Piper said as she walked over with a damp washcloth and a bandage. “What do we do about Linette?”

Paige sat in one of the chairs as Phoebe perched on its arm.

“Well, we ran into Gideon at the school so we found that book really fast. According to what I read, her family magic comes with some serious punch packed in,” Phoebe said, “For the past few generations, they’ve been exploring combining magic with technology. Apparently various O’Shea’s have quite a few technological patents - mortals only know about the non-magical characteristics, but they also have magical applications. And it sounds like they’re very insular - everything they do stays in the family. The mob reference earlier isn’t so far off.

“Gideon also had some additional info on the amulet - it actually predates the O’Shea clan but one of them a long time ago managed to enchant it so that it only responds to an O’Shea. And the Book was right - nobody good or evil has ever gotten past it. So the only way to get her defenses down is to get that amulet away from her.”

“Isn’t that where I come in?” Paige asked as she held out her hand as if calling for something. “I mean, I think that’s why she escaped when she did earlier - she didn’t want me to get it.”

Phoebe nodded but went on. “Right, but unfortunately that’s not the end of it. The amulet’s keyed to her family line so we won’t be able to use it. And given that she’s apparently the ‘heir’ to the next generation, she might be pretty tough even without it.”

“We never did see what her active power is,” Paige mentioned. “So maybe we should double down with a potion and a super strong spell.”

“That,” Phoebe agreed, “and even after we get the amulet away from her we’ll have to worry about containing it, because now that it’s “recognized” her as its wielder it’ll actually try to get back to her on its own.” She glanced at Piper, who had perched on the edge of the sofa and was dabbing Chris’ forehead with the washcloth. “Earth to Piper, we’re strategizing here!”

Piper just cast a sour look over her shoulder. “If he bleeds on the couch it’ll be you washing it out, how ‘bout that?” she sniped.

“Hey,” Paige said. “Didn’t Chris say he’d dealt with the amulet before? He might know how to contain it.”

“That doesn’t do us much good if he’s asleep,” Phoebe sighed. “Maybe that’s why she did it.”

“Well, let’s wake him up then.”

“We don’t know what she did! It might not have even been Linette who did it!”

“Oh, it was Linette,” Piper interjected. “I’ve got a gut feeling.”

“But,” Phoebe objected, “how do we reverse it if we don’t know the spell?”

“I’ll do that,” Piper said suddenly. She turned to her sisters. “I’m powerful enough to tackle a spell of hers with one of my own. I’ll write something to figure out what she did, then we can figure out how to reverse it. Meantime,” she pointed at Paige, then Phoebe, “you can whip up a potion against not-evil-but-not-so-good witches, and you can write us a binding spell for taking her powers.”

Sighing, Paige pushed herself out of the chair. “Back to the attic for me then. One day I’m going to show up for one of my temp jobs smelling like potion and accidentally turn my boss into a toad.”

Grinning, Phoebe followed her out as Piper plucked the bandage from the table and turned back to Chris. As she delicately placed the bandage over the scrape he’d gotten from the edge of the island and she smoothed his hair back out of the way, she was suddenly struck with a strong sense of familiarity. For a moment, everything about the situation felt … right. Like taking care of Chris was the natural thing to do.

Off-kilter, she looked more closely at his face, wondering why. She had to admit that Paige was right - asleep, he looked entirely too young to be as embittered and manipulative as she knew he was. From the moment they'd met him, he never did seem to really fit the mold of the magical world she was used to, and seeing him looking so peaceful felt a bit odd. It was a dichotomy, she realized. Whitelighters were supposed to be full of blessed be and the greater good and pacifistic tendencies. None of which described Chris.

Sighing, Piper stood and cast aside the mystery in favor of thinking up a spell about a spell, which she’d never tried before. She pulled a pad of paper and a pen from the dining room hutch and sat down, trying to think of inspiration. Her real reason for wanting to do this spell was simply because she realized she couldn’t trust her active powers just now. Her explosive power had seemed normal earlier, but her failure to freeze Chris before he fell must have come from the baby’s interference. Wyatt had waited until much later in the pregnancy to start messing with her powers, and she had hoped this baby might not do it at all, but of course she never got so lucky. She really didn’t want her sisters finding out about the pregnancy that way.

A half an hour later she was almost finished when she heard a distant yelp from the attic, followed shortly by Phoebe calling “I’ve got it!” down the stairs and the smell of burnt potion. Smirking slightly, she put the finishing touches on the spell then pulled Leo’s old Polaroid camera from the cabinet.

Standing at the head of the table, camera in hand, she recited the spell.

“I call upon the Halliwell line,
Bend my vision through space and time,
Show me the words that were cast by my foes,
To force my friend into sudden repose.”

Nothing happened for a moment, then the space before her over the table rippled and took shape. She saw Linette, like her, huddled over a piece of paper.

“Ha!” she cried in triumph. As the vision moved in closer she ignored Linette speaking, obviously spell-casting; she just looked through the camera and when all the words on the page were visible she took a picture.

Linette’s voice faded as the spell ended and the air returned to normal in front of her. The camera whirred and spat out a white sheet which Piper then fanned back and forth. As expected, the image clarified slowly and Piper sat down to read it to herself.

Then she had to read it again. She stared at the picture, and the words it contained, as her brain attempted to make sense of what it said. The handwriting was messy but clear enough that all the words were unambiguous, but what it meant was momentarily eluding her.

To suit my purpose that I may be free,
In the manor where lies my bee,
In slumber make mute, quiet as a mouse,
Silence the youngest Halliwell in the house.

Piper didn't quite follow the reference to a bee, but the last two lines were straightforward. She cast her mind to only an hour or so earlier. The youngest Halliwell … that was Wyatt, who was still safely away at Magic School. The youngest Halliwell in the house … that would have been Paige. Paige must have been her target, Piper thought. Which made sense if Linette was worried about her amulet being whisked away. But … Paige wasn’t asleep. That shouldn’t be, unless the spell hadn’t worked. But clearly it had.

Suddenly Piper’s thoughts broke wide open as she realized something new. Paige wasn’t the youngest Halliwell in the house. The youngest Halliwell was growing in Piper’s belly right now. And Chris was asleep. Chris who was from the future. What had he said on that first day? Only about twenty years or so…

And she hadn’t been able to freeze him. She tried to think back, to remember if she’d ever actually tried to freeze him before. Nothing came to mind.

Shaking, she stood and turned into the kitchen where she grabbed a plate, any plate, and tossed it, throwing out her left hand automatically. The plate stuck in midair and hung unmoving just like it should. Her freezing powers were, evidently, fine. Which meant that the only reason Chris wouldn’t freeze would be if he was a witch.

Mind racing, she plucked the plate back out of the air and set it on the counter as she tried to come to terms with the only explanation that fit. Because that explanation was both amazing and terrible, and made so much sense while also making no sense at all.

How … how could he be my son? Wouldn’t he have said something just a few minutes ago? No, she had to admit to herself that he probably wouldn’t. He’d held everything so close to the vest from the very beginning, which was part of what made her think it couldn’t be true - no Halliwell she was familiar with had ever managed to keep their identity a secret during a jaunt to the past, herself included.

But then again, he had always been more than familiar with all of them. How he seemed to always know when they were sweet-talking him, how he knew his way around the house, around the Book of Shadows; he’d even recognized the imposters for who they were with very little actual evidence.

On the flip side, he had never tried to get comfortable with any of them even though he’d been here for months - quite the opposite, he’d always held them out at arms length. Even his name didn’t fit - it didn’t begin with P. His last name had a P, but … that seemed too coincidental. Christopher … not a P, and it didn’t have any family significance like Wyatt’s did.

Family significance…

Piper's breath hitched in a barely restrained gasp when she suddenly remembered something, something that totally derailed her thoughts. Something that had been noticed but put aside as unimportant long ago. When she had falsified Leo’s birth certificate to get him a real passport, she had seen it.

In a daze, Piper walked slowly back out into the dining room. She didn’t go past the stairs, only glimpsing through the hall the pair of sneakered feet unmoving on the couch. She turned and went upstairs into her bedroom closet, reaching behind the seldom-used winter coats to the box of keepsakes she knew was there. She sat on the floor with it for a moment before lifting the lid to see the topmost item.

And there it was. Leo’s birth certificate, yellowed with age. She skipped right past Leo’s name and the modified dates to what it was that she remembered. Father’s name: Christopher Wyatt.

And just like that, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt. She knew what he’d been hiding for so long, and why he had been even more skittish than normal earlier. We were talking about him, Piper realized.

Moments ago, she couldn’t fathom looking at him, she hadn’t figured out what she was feeling. Suddenly though, it was all she could think of. She barely took the time to put the birth certificate back before she was out the door and down the stairs.

She slowed only when she caught sight of his feet again. Suddenly unsure, she slowly turned into the living room once more.

Chris hadn’t shifted at all, still laying completely relaxed. The bruise on his cheek had swollen up, and that plus the bandage on his forehead made him look very vulnerable, even though her rational mind knew he was normally anything but. It suddenly made sense why he never really seemed like a whitelighter; he was only half, and his other half - his witch half - must be dominant.

She sat on the coffee table and simply took in his face. Now that she knew to look, she could see herself stamped there almost unmistakably. His eyes were closed now in sleep, but she knew what color they were. Prue's color. Leo’s color. Piper frowned, thinking of all the times Chris and Leo had been together. They did not get along. Chris never made any attempt to improve the relationship either; rather, he almost deliberately antagonized it. But Leo … Leo was his father. How could they hate each other?

Suddenly a lump formed in her throat. Wyatt, she thought. Wyatt is your brother. The thought should have been comforting, but she didn’t suddenly throw away everything she’d observed over the past few months. One of the reasons she hadn’t fully trusted Chris was because she could tell how guarded Chris was around Wyatt. She hadn’t seen the future, hadn't seen the monster that Chris said he would become; all she knew was her darling boy, first-born child, who was as angelic as a child could get. It had always seemed like Chris’ distance made him a threat.

She clutched her stomach, then. But he wasn’t a threat. The distance wasn’t hatred - it was fear. She didn’t want to think about what could have caused that fear. And the lump in her throat grew when she realized that the existence he had risked when he broke apart her marriage … was his own.

More than ever before, she desperately wanted to ask him about everything and actually have him answer. What happened? What happened to make you do such drastic things? If I’m your mother, why did you lie to me?

She was still sorting out her emotions when stomping on the stairs abruptly broke her out of her reverie.

“Done!” Phoebe exclaimed as she waved a piece of paper and a vial. Paige followed grumpily, looking slightly scorched.

Piper stood hastily, stuffing the Polaroid picture into her pocket and gulping down the lump in her throat. She didn’t want to share this with her sisters just yet. She didn’t want to share it with anyone just yet.

Phoebe frowned at their still-unconscious whitelighter. She quirked an eyebrow. “You haven’t woken him up yet? What happened to miss all-powerful witch?”

Piper took a deep breath and tried to wave her hand dismissively. “So, she’s a bit sneakier than I gave her credit for. I got a look but she was hiding the spell with her hand so we'll have to improvise.”

Phoebe narrowed her eyes. Even though Piper had taken the empath blocking potion, Phoebe had been her sister for much longer than she had been an empath. To head the questioning off at the pass, Piper snatched the paper and snagged Paige’s arm as she pulled them into the foyer.

“We’ll just have to do without.”

Paige protested. “Piper, didn't you see any of the spell? Even knowing part of it would help.”

Faced with a direct question, Piper took a shaky breath, the toll of suppressing all the emotions she was experiencing preventing her from lying very well.

Phoebe put a hand on Piper’s arm. “Hey, what’s wrong? You were a bit off this morning, and now you’re really off. We can’t go up against Linette like this. What is it?”

Paige, now realizing that there was a sisterly moment going on, simply stood apart and flicked her gaze between Piper and Phoebe.

Piper felt her resolve crumbling. Now that they had the original spell, they could make a counter-spell to wake him up. She wasn’t sure she wanted him to wake up anytime soon - she had no idea what she would say to him. But Paige was right, they needed to know how to contain the amulet to tackle Linette. And soon - it was a miracle Linette hadn’t attacked them yet.

And now she’d blown it, because she’d have to explain to Phoebe why she didn’t want to wake Chris. And once Phoebe knew something, everyone knew it.

It all crashed in on her and she sat down hard at the bottom of the stairs, unable to hold it in.

“I’m pregnant,” she blurted.

Paige’s eyes grew wide as she stilled in surprise, but Phoebe merely grinned happily. She sat down gently next to Piper and took her hand.

“So … two kids then, huh?” she said.

Piper let Phoebe’s smile infect her face ever so slightly. “I’ve known for a couple days. I just didn’t know … how to handle it.”

Paige had reacted with more understanding than Piper expected. With a sympathetic look, she asked, “Does Leo know?”

Piper shook her head.

“And … that’s what you were talking with Chris about this morning, wasn’t it?” Paige added softly.

Piper nodded, the lump in her throat now interfering with speech.

“I gotta be honest, Piper, I was actually sort of expecting this to happen at some point,” Phoebe said gently. Piper raised her eyebrows at her sister in an unspoken question, so she continued, “Remember when I had my vision quest and I saw myself pregnant? I also saw Wyatt playing with kids who I somehow knew were his siblings.”

“And you didn't think to tell me about it?” Piper said incredulously, even though she'd suspected as much.

“Chris convinced me not to,” Phoebe said reluctantly. “I did manage to get him to admit that Wyatt isn't an only child in the future, but past that he wouldn't even tell me how many or if they're boys or girls.”

“I'm impressed you kept that a secret this long,” Paige said with a smirk.

“Yeah, yeah, dig all you want,” Phoebe looked back at Piper. “Were you able to get Chris to confirm anything else when you talked to him? I sort of got the feeling that he might know one or more of them in the future.”

Piper barked a half-amused laugh as she dug out the spell-picture and handed it to Phoebe. “I think that’s a safe bet.”

Uncomprehending, Phoebe read over the spell once then turned it so Paige could read it as well.

“Is this the spell that Linette cast?” Phoebe asked. Piper nodded.

Paige got it first. Her eyes bugged out and she stared at Piper for a moment, then turned on her heel toward the living room. Piper guessed she was going to reexamine Chris’ features.

Phoebe looked after her, still confused. She looked back down at the spell-picture. “I don’t understand, why would …” and then it clicked and she audibly gasped.

“But he … but he …” she started rambling.

“Leo’s father’s name was Christopher,” Piper blurted, as if the explanation for his name made everything else make sense.

It didn’t really help Phoebe. “He’s … wait, that means he’s a Halliwell. That means … he’s Wyatt’s brother!”

Piper just nodded, the yoyo in her throat growing again. “Guess it makes sense he’d want to save him, right?” She said dryly. Phoebe just looked at her with her own eyes wide. Piper continued, “And to hell with whatever happens to anyone or anything that gets in his way, including us, and including him!” Her voice was trembling now but she didn’t particularly care to pick apart why.

Phoebe came back to herself a bit at that. “What do you mean?”

Piper hadn’t really thought, yet, what she thought. Not that many minutes had passed since she was livid at Chris for (as she saw it then) recklessly endangering the conception of this second child. And now, now that she knew that he’d done it because to him his own life was an acceptable risk … she was still livid, but it was coated with a thick dose of … she wasn’t sure but whatever it was was threatening to make her burst into tears.

“He risked not even being conceived when he broke us up! He risked that! None of us knew but he must have always known, from the very beginning. How could he?” Piper had devolved into something that was part shout and part sob, and Phoebe immediately wrapped her in a big hug.

“It's okay, though,” she soothed, “it’s okay because you’re pregnant and he’s still here. So whatever he did it’s still okay…”

Paige came back into the foyer at that moment with her hand on her forehead. “I don’t know how we missed that!” she moaned.

Piper let out a soft laugh and took a deep breath, gently extracting herself from Phoebe. “Okay, I’m okay now, I think. I plan on having some … words … with my apparently grown-up younger son when he wakes up, but for now I’m okay.”

“Speaking of,” Paige said, “we can totally wake him up from that spell,” she pointed to the Polaroid that Phoebe still held, “but what are we going to say when we do?” Her eyebrows were raised speculatively.

Phoebe rubbed her forehead like she had a headache. “Ugh, I don’t know. How on earth do we say, ‘oh yeah, we totally found out your big secret so now you’re grounded’?”

Piper remembered how close he had been to fleeing the conversation she had with him earlier. “Honestly, he might just orb out and leave, if we do that,” she said.

The three sisters looked at each other helplessly.

Chapter Text

They decided to pretend as if nothing had happened, at least at first. Linette needed to be dealt with, they needed Chris’s help, and nobody could predict with any certainty how he would react to them knowing the truth. They didn’t want him to go off on his own, which Piper at least was sure he would if they confronted him.

That left them as they were now, with Phoebe and Paige in the attic getting prepared for the inevitable confrontation with Linette while Piper cast the waking spell by herself. It was what they had planned to do originally, so they figured it would be easiest to stick to, bombshell epiphanies notwithstanding.

Phoebe rubbed her forehead worriedly. “You know I’m terrible at secrets…” she mumbled.

“Well, think of it like it’s a secret about a secret, so it’s not really a secret as a lack of secret.” Paige said, looking altogether too chipper as she placed protection crystals in strategic locations around the walls of the attic.

“Huh?”

“Well, if you wrap it around enough times you’ll just confuse yourself so badly you won’t have to worry about it.”

Phoebe sent her a look that indicated how she felt about that tactic. “But, ugh, now I know that he’s my nephew! How am I supposed to forget that?”

Paige shrugged. “Let’s just focus on getting through this attack without losing the Nexus. After that, Piper can broach the subject with him however she decides.”

“I guess. Now I wonder what witch powers he has, if any. I mean, I’ve never seen him move anything the way you do.”

Paige stood upright at that, with a thoughtful look on her face. “True. But I guess he’d keep that under wraps if he does have it because if we’d seen him do that we’d know right away he wasn't a normal whitelighter.” Her face got excited suddenly. “Hey, I’m just realizing! This means he’s like me! I’ve never met anyone like me, except for Wyatt of course and I can’t really exchange tips and experiences with a one-year-old.”

Phoebe raised her hands in a slowing gesture. “Whoa, hold your horses. He might have molecular manipulation like Piper, or any of the various other powers that live in our line.”

“Yeah yeah, but even so it’ll still be nice,” Paige bent down to place another crystal. “Well, hopefully it will be, once we get over the ‘yeah we know who you are but we’re cool with it so don’t have a freak out’ thing.”

Phoebe nodded. “Yeah. I actually suspect Piper’s right that he might bolt when he knows we know. Because … I’ve been thinking. I honestly cannot come up with a good reason for not telling us who he is from the get-go, with all this manipulation and trust-me-or-trust-me-not dance he’s been doing. It’s not like our family doesn’t have plenty of history with meeting our past and future selves and relatives. So there might be, I dunno, an emotional reason for it rather than a rational one. And given what the future is supposedly like, and we don’t know what that reason is, it might be bad.”

Paige pressed her lips together grimly. She turned and placed the last crystal in its spot, then walked back toward the couch and potion table in the middle of the room.

“Well, we’ll just have to muddle through whatever it is when the time comes,” she said. “Are we ready?”

“Ready as we can be without Chris,” Phoebe replied, looking around the attic.

Their plan was straightforward. They didn’t have anything to reliably scry for Linette, and they knew that they had something she wanted, so they were laying a trap. The crystal barrier around the attic had two weaknesses in it - they decided to deliberately place two crystals just out of sync instead of one, because one would look like an obvious trap but two could be passed off as slight carelessness. They had set up the potion table with a bunch of the ingredients that were needed for summoning the Shadow, to make it seem like they were planning to do that. Of course, the basement would have been where they would start if that were the case, but they were banking on Linette not knowing that particular detail - after all, it wasn't common knowledge that the Nexus and the Shadow were linked but distinct.

The unresolved reference to a bee in Linette’s spell that they’d seen, but not understood, made them think she was somehow spying on them - but to what extent they weren’t sure. Linette hadn’t made a second attempt on Paige, so they figured whatever insight she had into the manor was limited. However, they also figured that she’d probably do more thorough reconnaissance just before attacking, were even counting on it so they could have an extra element of surprise. Paige was already getting herself as comfortable as she could on the couch to feign sleep.

Now they were ready, and just needed Chris to explain how to contain the amulet once it was taken.

~ • ~ • ~ • ~

Piper stared at the spell in her hand, then stared at Chris. She knew she would have to wake him soon, but she was taking some last few moments to watch him sleep. Spell-induced sleep or not, he seemed content and relaxed, but she knew that when he woke he would be irritated and nervous once again.

When we’re through this crisis, we are definitely going to have a talk, mister.

Sighing, she settled herself as best she could and read from the sheet of paper in her hand in a voice that sounded much more steady and sure than she felt.

“Spell was cast for unneeded sleep,
Now the man a promise must keep,
With open voice and clarity of manner,
Wake the youngest Halliwell in this manor.”

As soon as the last words left her lips she stuffed the paper into her pocket. The counter spell was just as revealing as the original, but it had to be done that way to make it effective. Linette had made reference to slumber, muteness, and the Halliwells in the original, and they had to do the same. Otherwise he might not wake up at all, might wake up but still be unable to speak, or some other unintended side effect.

As soon as the spell paper was safely in her pocket Chris started to stir. His face scrunched and he grunted a little as he moved his arms, before opening his eyes to see Piper standing over him doing her best to just look expectant.

His eyes immediately grew suspicious. “What happened?” He demanded shortly as he shot upright to take in his surroundings.

Piper was a bit taken aback before she remembered how quickly he usually moved. “Linette cast a spell on you that put you to sleep,” she said. “I made a counter spell so here we are.” She simply omitted the fact that the spell had clearly been aimed at Paige.

His face cleared of suspicion but it was replaced with concern. “Ugh, that’s not good. How long was I out?”

“About three hours,” Piper said. “We’ve actually got most of a plan together, but we need your experience regarding that amulet.”

At this, Chris nodded and stood, immediately heading toward the foyer. “Are Paige and Phoebe in the attic?”

“Yes. We've got a trap laid out and everything we need to bind Linette's powers. What we don't know is how to stop that amulet from getting back to her.” Piper said as she followed Chris as he made his way up the stairs.

“There’s a way,” he said as he continued hopping the stairs two at a time, Piper doing her best to keep up.

“Hey, Sleeping Beauty!” Phoebe exclaimed a bit too stiffly as Chris and Piper entered the attic. “Welcome back to the waking world!”

Piper sent her an incredulous look behind Chris' back, but fortunately he was too focused on getting to the potion cabinet to notice how forced it had sounded. 

He began rifling through the drawers, talking as he did so. “So, you know the principle behind a Faraday cage, right?” he said.

“Um, maybe?” Phoebe answered more naturally. “Something about blocking radio waves?”

“Right,” Chris finally found what he was looking for - it resembled one of the whitish crystals they had just placed around the attic, with the exception that it was much more regular - it looked like it was composed of several smaller cubes that held together to make a kind of blocky octahedron.

“Where did that come from?” Piper asked. She hadn't ever seen it before.

“I put it there a couple months ago,” Chris said. “I picked it up at the same time I … er … Leo got you that empath blocking potion.”

Piper and Phoebe both noticed the slip, but they pretended not to. Piper was amazed - Chris had clearly been doing even more behind their backs than they’d ever suspected. Even just that morning it would have made her suspicious, but now she just marveled at how much he knew about magic, knowing that he wasn't any older than he looked. He was incredibly self-reliant, she knew that already; it made her somehow both proud and profoundly saddened at the same time to know that he was so used to it.

Unaware of her musings, Chris continued his explanation as he set the blocky crystal on the table, balanced precariously on one of its tips. “This is a Bravais lattice,” he said. “It’s just made of normal quartz, but its diffraction pattern has a zero-level band structure when it’s activated, which negates all magical communication.”

“Okay,” Phoebe said slowly. “I take it that we can put the amulet in there and we should be good?” Chris nodded. “So how do we open it?”

“You’ll have to do it, it takes a witch to activate it,” Chris said, as he turned and started to scribble something on one of the pads of paper that were always lying around. Piper and Phoebe exchanged a look, knowing that he could activate it himself - he was still pretending to just be a whitelighter, which meant he wasn’t on to them yet.

Chris turned back after tearing off the sheet, and handed it to Phoebe. “This is the spell to activate it - but you’ll-”

Chris stopped short as for the first time he noticed Paige lying on the couch with her eyes closed. She’d been playing her sleeping part perfectly through it all, though now she must have sensed eyes on her because she popped one eye open. Upon seeing Chris giving her a curious look, she just winked and put a finger to her lips, then went back to “sleep.”

When Chris’ brow furrowed in confusion, Piper suddenly realized the flaw in their plan. Oh, the plan to trap Linette had come together perfectly now that they had this “magical Faraday cage” … but the plan to keep Chris in the dark was going to fall apart any minute, because as far as he was concerned there was no reason for Paige to be pretending to sleep. Given that he knew he’d been subject to a sleeping spell, it was only a matter of time before he figured out what had actually happened.

Desperate to keep hold of the situation, Piper snatched the page from Phoebe. “Alrighty, let’s get to our places, shall we?” she said briskly.

She grabbed the lattice and handed it and the paper to Paige, who opened her eyes long enough to read over the activation spell once, then tucked it and the lattice into the couch cushions where she could easily get to them, indicating that she had been listening to Chris’ explanation.

Piper snagged Phoebe’s arm and pulled her over to the potion table. Chris was watching her with a confused look that was descending into suspicion as she set up the cauldron. Phoebe took her cue and started opening and closing various jars, just to make herself look busy.

Piper steeled herself then looked back at Chris. “We’re setting a trap, pretending that we’re summoning the Shadow,” she said. “You probably don’t need to be here for this; in fact it might be better if you weren’t.”

He nodded slowly, but his eyes were narrowed now as he looked at their phony potion setup, then at Paige faux-sleeping on the couch. “I’ll go to P3 while you wait, so call me if you need to. And you can still call Leo if something happens,” he said.

Piper nodded, but he didn’t orb away, instead still looking at Paige. Finally he spoke again, this time a bit breathily. “What kind of spell did you say put me to sleep?”

“Well, we’re not sure,” Piper said before she could think of something better. “I just cast a generic waking spell…”

She knew immediately that she’d made a mistake, because Chris’ head shot up, alarmed, and he was looking at her like he was picking her apart piece by piece. He clearly knew as well as she did that a generic counter-spell would have had side effects. She saw it in his face the moment that he knew she was lying, and she knew right then that her own face was betraying her - that she didn’t want him to go, that at the same time she wanted him out of harm’s way, that she was afraid of how he would react. And so she also saw the moment he figured out why. He paled and stood stone-still, eyes determinedly fixed on the podium where the Book was perched.

Piper couldn't help it - she wanted to reach out to him, so she started to walk around the potion table. “Chris,” she said softly.

Unfortunately, approaching him was apparently the wrong thing to do, because he just sent an unfathomable expression her way then dissolved into blue orbs and disappeared.

Phoebe sighed next to her. “Well,” she said, “it looks like that cat’s out of that bag.”

An aborted jerking motion from the couch indicated that Paige might have wanted to say something or weigh in before she remembered she was supposed to be sleeping, but she ultimately kept up her charade. Piper was glad of it, because she felt like she was about to fall apart again - Chris had looked incredibly freaked out as he left, and she had no idea how she was going to face him. It's a good thing I’m not really making a potion, Piper thought, I’d undoubtedly blow it up right now.

Taking a deep, shaking breath Piper returned to Phoebe's side and tried to focus back on the pretend potion-making she was doing. She poured some rose water into the empty cauldron, knowing that there needed to be at least something in it to be believable. “First we handle this,” she said. “Then I can concentrate on figuring out how to fix things with Chris.”

Phoebe nodded and added powdered newt egg, absently swatting at a buzzing insect that had made it into the room. “Let's just make sure this potion doesn't blow up, then,” she said.

They weren’t sure how long it would be - or by what manner Linette would come to them. She’d walked in like a mortal the first time, and she didn’t appear to have any innate teleportation power, but her magical exit made it probable that she’d make some sort of magical entrance.

They were right, but were still surprised by the method she chose.

After they’d been waiting for about twenty minutes - and Piper and Phoebe had surreptitiously discarded several partial potions so they could keep looking busy - they were surprised to see orbs forming in the middle of the attic instead of a shimmer or some sort of demonic mist.

Piper didn’t think that Chris would return so soon, and she was confident that Leo wouldn’t look in on them after what he’d said to her as he left, so it was with annoyance that she expected the orbs to solidify into an interfering Elder.

Instead, her heart leapt into her throat as she looked straight into the glowing blue eyes of Linette, standing tall in the middle of the attic between Piper and Phoebe and the couch where Paige was lying. But it wasn’t Linette that concerned Piper - it was the fact that Linette had Chris on his knees in front of her with one hand fisted in his hair …

… and the other holding an athame to his throat.

Chapter Text

Earlier

Foot tapping impatiently, Linette O’Shea glared again at the empty room. She had been waiting for far too long at this point, so long that she was reconsidering her plan. The Charmed Ones hadn't cooperated very well with their whitelighter up until now, and she was wondering what about this time was different. Gathering information from the unsuspecting Amanda had been ludicrously easy, so she was confident that the intel was good; for whatever reason, their whitelighter was staying in the back room at Piper's club instead of staying up in the heavens, and was more often here than not, even when the sisters were dealing with magical problems. He'd been here when the foolish Order had attacked the young one, when there was that Magic School kerfuffle, even when a bunch of darklighters had banded together to go after the Elder. Why was he not here now?!

Growling in frustration, Linette started thinking of other options. She could easily take down a simple whitelighter, and she wanted the element of surprise that using his orbing power would give her. No one was here to help him at this hour but that didn't matter if he himself wasn't here. She only had one more teleportation potion and she wanted to keep it as a backup for escape rather than use it as the way to get in. 

She was interrupted - finally! - by the sight of orbs forming in front of the desk. She herself was hidden behind one of the storage cabinets, so he didn't see her. 

She was surprised when, as soon as he was fully materialized, he cursed and kicked the desk hard. Curious, she decided to watch him for a minute to see if he leaked anything useful. 

He was breathing hard, and bent over with one hand on the desk and the other hand running through his hair. “Damnit,” he muttered softly to himself. “A stupid sleeping spell, of all things…”

He heaved a great sigh, then stood upright, back straight, face tilted up slightly with his eyes closed. He was clearly overwhelmed by something, and Linette wanted to find out what it was before diving into her attack. She’d listened to her bee again a few moments ago, only to hear the telltale clinking and bubbling sounds of potion-making, along with enough snippets to tell that the two remaining Charmed Ones were trying to summon the Nexus in order to boost their power, which suited her just fine.

She was disappointed when it seemed like he got a grip on himself, shaking his head and heaving a great sigh. “At least they didn't try to coddle me,” he said to himself, as he began to walk around to the other side of the desk.

Linette took her chance, and she jumped out from behind the cabinet. The whitelighter reacted much faster than she anticipated, whirling around and lifting one hand towards her. Whatever he was going to do didn't matter, though; he had clearly been distracted by whatever had gone on prior to his arrival, and she had the element of surprise and speed on her side. Before he could accomplish anything the pommel of her athame came down hard on his temple, and he dropped to the floor unconscious.

Smirking, she unceremoniously rolled him over with her foot, pulling his hands behind him and tying them together with the paracord she had brought for the purpose. 

“Alright, whitelighter,” she said menacingly as she propped him up on his side. “Now we wait until you wake up, then we go visit your charges.”

~ • ~ • ~ • ~

Now

Phoebe dropped the jar she’d been holding and grabbed Piper’s arms. Phoebe’s fingers digging into her was the only thing that kept Piper from blasting Linette immediately, as she momentarily forgot the charade they had to keep up in response to the imminent threat to her son.

“Uh uh uh, Halliwells,” Linette sneered. “Unless you want to say goodbye to your whitelighter.” She jerked Chris’ head back a bit, causing Piper's heart rate to jump. His arms were tied behind his back, and he was holding as still as he could due to the knife pressed against his skin, but the expression on his face gave her pause. He looked pissed. He glanced her way and some of the uncertainty he'd displayed before crept into his expression, but it quickly resolved into a kind of determination she'd seen on him plenty of times, she had just never known where it had come from. The Halliwell stubbornness is alive and well, apparently, she thought.

Piper did her best to look indifferent, but she found it extremely difficult. She didn’t know how she’d developed such strong maternal feelings in such a short time, but clearly it had happened because the sight of the blade against Chris’ neck filled her with rage.

“A knife won’t hurt a whitelighter,” Phoebe tried to cover, even though all of them except Linette knew that a knife absolutely could and would hurt Chris.

“This one will,” Linette didn’t back down. “It’s been blessed by a powerful warlock. Not as slow and painful as darklighter poison,” she cooed as she flicked her eyes down at Chris, “but plenty sufficient to force his soul to be recycled.” She glanced back over her shoulder at Paige’s still form on the couch. “Looks like you couldn’t even wake up your only trump card,” she sneered as she turned back to the potion table. “Is this really all there is to the oh so powerful Charmed Ones?”

Phoebe threw an alarmed look at Piper. Part of their plan had worked flawlessly - Linette had completely disregarded Paige, and was standing facing the other two sisters with her back to the couch. But they hadn’t expected her to come in with a hostage.

Piper, however, was looking at Chris. How he’d gotten himself into this situation she had no way of knowing, but the look he was giving her indicated that he was far from helpless. What she was supposed to do about it, though, was a mystery. She decided to play along for now.

“Okay, okay,” she held up calming hands. “What do you want?”

“You are summoning the Nexus,” Linette said, pointedly looking at their potion setup. “You will still summon the Nexus, but you’ll give it to me, or,” she paused and tightened her grip on the athame, “you’ll say goodbye to him, and then to her.” She tilted her head back as if to indicate Paige behind her.

Throughout her demands, after Linette had glanced her way, Paige had opened her eyes and was silently shifting to reach for the lattice and the enchantment. Once she was ready, she gave Piper a wordless nod. Now they just needed a distraction.

“The Nexus isn’t for the likes of you,” Piper said as confidently as she dared. Phoebe sent her an incredulous look but didn’t say anything. “And we’re not really on that good of terms with our whitelighter, either. Although, if you could maybe stab him somewhere not too bloody I’d appreciate it … less mess to clean up that way.”

Linette goggled at her, and Paige’s eyes behind her were surprised as well. It was fortunate, though, that Linette couldn’t really see the expression on Chris’ face - he was downright smirking.

After a couple of beats, Linette shouted, “I’m NOT playing around, I will kill him!” And she moved the athame down from his throat to hold it right over his heart.

That, apparently, was what he was waiting for her to do. He jerked his head out of her grasp and looked down at the knife hovering over his breastbone, and then … squinted.

The athame shot out of Linette's hand and went flying across the attic to embed itself in one of the walls with a solid thunk. As soon as that happened he dove forward and rolled away from Linette, even with his hands tied. Linette was so startled that she barely reacted, but Piper was ready. She sent a blast directly at her, only to have the amulet’s vortex absorb the attack. However, it was enough to give Paige the opening she needed.

“Amulet!” Paige shouted as she jumped up from the couch. The amulet disappeared from around Linette’s neck and reappeared in Paige’s hand, who immediately held it and the lattice crystal together and began to recite the activation. It was a good thing she did, because the amulet started emitting a dark blue mist, like it was about to literally go up in a puff of smoke.

“Caveum aperi, pateris ingressum,” Paige chanted.

“NO!” Linette screamed with rage and flung herself at Paige, but Piper was ready again - this time Linette was blasted across the room, giving Paige the chance to complete the activation spell.

“Caveum claude, amuletum tuto!” she finished with flourish.

The Bravais lattice glowed and the small cubes separated, remaining connected by glowing white lines. The octahedron expanded to about double its previous size, and within it the amulet appeared suspended at the center, solid once more and with no sign of the ominous blue smoke.

Linette, one arm bloody from Piper’s power, gave a wordless scream and ran at Paige again. This time, Phoebe got there first and flung the potion Paige had made earlier. It hit Linette square in the chest, and she gave a couple of halting gasps before dropping unconscious to the floor.

“Quick, quick, here,” Piper said, and pulled out the piece of paper with the binding spell Phoebe had written.

“Crystals!” Paige called and swung her arm around. The crystals around the attic disappeared and materialized instead in a circle around Linette, and the magical cage rose up around her.

All three sisters stood together and as one recited the binding spell.

“I’ll take your fate in mine, 
And with these words I will entwine, 
Your powers I'll forever bind, 
From now until the end of time.”

A kind of dark bluish vapor rose up from Linette’s prone body, before dissipating into the air like it was never there.

“Well,” Paige said after a beat, “I guess that’s it? I mean, we got her, right?”

Phoebe stepped carefully over to where Linette was still lying unconscious, crouching just outside the crystal cage. “Well, she’s not a magical danger to us anymore I don’t think.” She pointed at where Paige had dropped the lattice with the amulet inside it. The amulet was no longer glowing like it had been. “I think binding her powers must have broken the connection with the amulet.” Looking back down at the now-mortal girl on the floor, she added, “I guess we should treat her arm now that she’s not magical anymore, right?”

Piper’s lips were pressed into a thin line. “I don’t care. Drop her off at an emergency room or something. She’s not going to die from that wound, and if she starts to spout off about magic they'll just put her on psych watch. Which frankly she deserves anyway.” She had, after all, threatened to take over the world, and endangered Piper's son while she was at it.

Speaking of … turning around, Piper looked to find Chris standing on the other side of the attic. He’d already freed his hands, and had shoved them into his pockets, awkwardly shifting from foot to foot. Piper took a moment to marvel at how confident and sure he’d been under the threat of violence, but how nervous and uncertain he looked now. She had noticed that about him before, and she hated that before today she hadn't bothered to be bothered by it. It didn't bode well as to what his life was like.

“Chris,” she started, but he immediately interrupted her.

“No, Piper,” he said quickly. “I don’t know exactly what happened, but whatever you think you’ve discovered, it doesn’t change a thing. It doesn’t change why I’m here or what I have to do.”

“How can you say that, Chris?” she said. “Family is everything to this family, isn't it?” Her voice sounded too much like she was pleading, but she didn't particularly care. “And,” she continued in a softer voice, “aren't you part of this family?” She gestured to her own midriff, but that might have been a mistake as he immediately looked away.

Phoebe had picked up the lattice with the amulet, and had turned to their conversation as Paige took down the crystal cage and was carefully turning Linette over onto her back. Phoebe approached them both almost gingerly. “Is it really so bad that we know who you are? You don't have to sneak around behind our backs anymore.”

Chris pinched his eyes shut, then opened them again with an almost pleading look on his face. “You don't understand. All I can say is what I’ve been saying for months. You can't know the future. Besides, everything in my life will change if I succeed. I can’t spend my time dwelling on my past.”

Phoebe clearly wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. She looked over at Piper. “Well? What are you thinking, Piper?”

Piper hadn’t looked away from Chris. “I’m thinking that you have Prue’s power,” she said.

Chris must not have been expecting quite that response, because a slight blush rose on his cheeks and he just looked down.

“Prue’s power?” Paige said as she came up to stand next to Piper. She had, after all, been on the other side of Linette when it had all happened, but Piper had had a clear view of that one moment when telekinesis had removed Linette's athame from play.

Piper had never thought that she’d see that again, the green eyes narrowing to channel magic, but it was so familiar to her that even if she hadn’t already discovered who he was, at that moment she would have known anyway. “He threw the athame with his eyes, like Prue used to,” she said softly.

“Oh,” Paige said. “Telekinesis with no orbs?” Now she just looked curious. “How do you manage that?”

“Uh…” Chris shrugged. “I can do both but this way is just easier,” he said.

“Cool,” Paige grinned.

Somehow, that little interaction had loosened him up a bit and he no longer looked like he wanted to escape, even returning Paige's grin with a small smile. Don't push, Piper thought as she unconsciously mimicked her son's expression. As long as I don't push too hard, I might get him to talk to me. 

Perhaps sensing the easing tension, Phoebe drifted over to the table to set down the amulet-containing lattice. “Well,” she said, “even after all this,” and she gestured to the empty space between the four of them, “we still need your help, Chris.” She indicated the lattice. “What do we do with this, now?”

Chris opened his mouth to reply, only to be interrupted by a low moan. All of them turned to where Linette was stirring.

“I guess that’s my cue,” Paige said. “Which hospital should be the happy recipient of a crazy lady?”

Chapter Text

Tap tap tap.

Piper lifted her head from where she’d been trying to coax a last bit of banana into her oldest child’s mouth. She hadn’t thought anyone was still in the manor, but just as she was about to chalk up the faint tapping to her imagination, she heard it again. Tap tap tap.

Frowning, Piper went over and double-checked the demon-alarm they’d set up around the house. After the confrontation in the attic, Paige had left to drop off their now-powerless attacker at the hospital, then had fetched Wyatt from the nursery at Magic School. Despite Piper’s plea for him to stay, Chris had orbed away at the same time, saying that he wanted to check with his demonic contacts to make sure no demons planned to ride Linette’s coat-tails. Although he hadn’t left as abruptly as the previous time, Piper was still heartily suspicious that he just wanted to avoid talking to her.

So, she’d sighed, and she and Phoebe had started tidying the attic. Most of the damage was from the rebounds of Piper’s power during Linette’s first attack - the couch now had a permanent fluffy hole in one of the cushions - but other than the doors that Piper had blown up to get in it mostly wasn’t too serious. They’d thrown out the biggest of the wood splinters and the couch foam, but the rest of it was put off until later.

Phoebe had gone back to work to finish as much of her column as she could since her workday had been interrupted. After bringing Wyatt back from Magic School, and since Chris wasn’t around to grill, Paige had gone to the temp agency to squeak in a few applications before close of business, leaving Piper to feed dinner to her child who was cranky from being at the nursery all day. Paige had insisted on setting up the crystals around the whole house before she left, though, since Piper would be by herself again and none of them wanted a repeat of the day’s events.

Fortunately, Wyatt calmed pretty quickly at Piper feeding him one of his favorite foods, and she was just about ready to put him down for a nap, when the faint tapping interrupted.

Curious but not alarmed, Piper put a drowsy Wyatt into his playpen and made her way up the stairs with monitor in hand, to see where the tapping was coming from. Expecting an open window or a flapping door or something, she was startled when she rounded the corner of the second floor and saw what looked like a small pile of thin wood planks next to her bedroom door.

The damaged door had been taken off of its hinges and propped against the wall in the hallway, and the wooden detritus that was the remains of the doorknob and part of the door jamb had been cleared away. Then, she heard another tap tap tap coming from the stairwell to the attic.

Cautiously, now having some inkling what she might find, she continued up the stairs. Sure enough, there was Chris kneeling in the doorway - with the damaged attic door similarly removed and the pieces cleaned up - holding a piece of wood and a hammer. There were hand tools around him and more wood pieces, one of which he was holding up against the door frame that was clearly going to be the replacement for the damaged door jamb, carefully nailing it into place.

It was a sight she wasn't particularly prepared for; he’d never done anything around the house before, but he seemed to know what he was doing. He’d even changed into a pair of work pants and a holey T-shirt that had clearly been the recipient of plenty of paint splatter. Not wanting to spook him, Piper approached slowly.

“Hey,” she said in greeting.

“Hey,” he returned without looking at her, lifting up another nail and tapping it into place.

“Um,” Piper wasn’t sure where to begin, “thanks for cleaning this up.”

“Sure,” he said. His tone wasn’t sharp or defensive, but it wasn’t necessarily very open either.

Wanting to get any sort of conversation going, Piper decided to start with what was, for him, a common and safe topic … demons.

“Did you find any enterprising demons that want to kick us while we’re distracted?” Piper asked.

“Nope, as far as I can tell we should be good to go,” he said readily. “I don’t think anybody in the Underworld even knew Linette was going to try this. The O’Sheas aren’t really good witches but they’re not really evil either so they don’t particularly consort with demons. No recent chatter on the Charmed Ones or the Twice-Blessed so we’re fine for today at least.”

Piper had caught a bit of a hitch in his voice at the words Twice-Blessed which she filed away - while she knew about it intellectually, she hadn’t really unpacked emotionally what Wyatt’s evil future could possibly mean for his younger brother, but she knew that trying to tackle that with Chris right now would be a mistake. For later, she thought.

“Do … do you need any help?” Piper asked softly as he tapped in the last nail for the particular piece he was working on.

“No, I’m good,” he replied, this time turning to actually look at her for the first time. Just one glance, then he turned and picked up another piece to fit against the upper part of the frame, marking the measurement with a pencil before dropping back down to saw off the end to size.

“Ehm, you never did tell us what we should do with the amulet now that it’s inside that lattice-thingy,” Piper said, hoping to get more than three words out of him.

“Nothing to do with that except wait,” Chris replied cryptically.

“Wait for what?”

“You’ll see,” is all he replied.

She frowned at his unhelpfulness, but didn’t want to call him on it. Unwilling to end the conversation on that note, she just continued to watch him work - he clearly knew what he was doing as he cut the ends at 45 degrees using a miter box and fit them together before nailing the boards in place. She wondered if Leo had taught him his handyman skills, but she was too cognizant of what was clearly a strained relationship to bring it up now.

Chris worked silently for a few minutes under her watchful eye before he finally heaved a sigh and paused what he was doing to look over at her.

“Look, Piper,” he said, “I don’t know what you want me to say. I can’t give away anything about the future that isn’t strictly necessary.”

Isn’t whatever the reason is that you aren’t calling me ‘Mom’ strictly necessary? she wondered, knowing that she could never actually say that.

“I know,” she said instead, “and … I don’t want to push.” She bit her lip before continuing. “But … can you at least tell me why you kept it a secret? Who you are?”

Chris paused and pondered a bit, seeming to weigh his words. “It was just … easier for me,” he said finally.

“Even when we didn’t trust you? Even when I kicked you out? When you let me kick you out?” Piper tried to keep the sharpness out of her voice, but she wasn’t able to remove all of the incredulity. She’d had time, now, to think and remember some of the things she’d said to him over the past few months, and marveled at him for just taking it from her like she was a stranger … because she didn’t know any better.

“Honestly, yeah” he said, “because that way I could just focus all my attention on saving Wyatt. And things like this,” he gestured in the air between himself and Piper, “wouldn’t distract me.”

“It sounds to me like you were too focused on that,” Piper said. “Why …” she trailed off as her throat tightened a bit like it had done earlier right after she’d first realized the truth, “why did you risk yourself when you first came?”

Chris turned to look at her in surprise. “Myself?”

Piper nodded and, fearing making him uncomfortable again but not knowing how to get it across any other way, gestured at her belly. “Leo and I, when you made him an Elder,” she said softly.

To her surprise, he blushed and instead of looking secretive as was usual, he just looked embarrassed. “Actually,” he said sheepishly, “that was mostly accidental.”

“Accidental?!” Her eyebrows rose incredulously.

Chris frowned. “I didn’t think he would actually leave,” he said, his voice laced with bitterness.

Piper wasn’t sure if she felt better or worse from that statement; on the one hand, it meant that Chris wasn’t as recklessly suicidal as she had feared, but on the other hand he clearly had some sort of standing issues with his father. Experienced with feelings of abandonment with her own father, she hated to see the confirmation that apparently her children would face something similar.

Chris must have sensed her thoughts because he sent her a look that seemed like an attempt to be reassuring. “Please don’t worry about that,” he said, “I have plenty of issues with Leo, but who knows what will change by saving Wyatt. This is one reason I didn’t want to have any of these conversations with you … my experiences won’t really count anymore if I’m successful.”

“But what about you then?” Piper asked, looking him in the eye. “What happens to your memories when you go back to the future?”

Chris shook his head. “I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll just join with my new future self and forget everything else, maybe I’ll remember both timelines … maybe I won’t be able to go back at all.”

Piper frowned. “I don’t like the sound of any of those options,” she said.

“It’ll be worth it,” Chris shrugged. “Saving Wyatt means saving everything. I can’t tell you any specifics, but there’s a reason I’m here to save him,” Chris looked earnestly at Piper, “I said that he’s the evil I came to stop, and that’s true, but he was also good, a lot of the time,” Chris smiled wistfully, like he was remembering something from the long past. “No matter what he became later, he was a good big brother, and I loved him. That’s who I want to save.”

Piper felt a smile come to her face, sensing for the first time something positive from the future - that Wyatt wasn’t totally gone, even in the bad version of things. And feeling like Chris was … on her side. That he wasn’t a stranger, that he was with her like they were on the same team pulling the same sled in the same race toward the same goal, instead of just going down a random road, coming to a T-intersection, and pulling in opposite directions.

“Well, we better start helping you,” she said. “I can’t promise Paige or Phoebe won’t complain about five demon vanquishes a week, or whatever you have on the schedule, but you won’t have to fight us about it anymore. Probably. Mostly.”

Chris grinned, and said, “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” He turned and resumed working on the door jamb. “But you know, I’m still your whitelighter, so you still have to listen to what I say,” he said seriously. “At least as much as you ever did before,” he then muttered under his breath.

“So no grounding you I take it?” Piper smirked.

Chris just smirked right back at her, and it filled her heart with warmth. “Nope, you’ll have to save that for mini-me in there.”

It’s a start, Piper thought as she left Chris to his repairs and made her way back down the stairs. It’s enough for now.

Chapter Text

For now turned out to be more prophetic than Piper had hoped; Chris wasn't necessarily avoiding her, but he had turned down her offer to move out of P3’s back room and into the manor, much to her disappointment. Hence, in the three days since Linette’s attack and defeat, even though he was around more than he had been previously, she hadn't had the chance to talk to him about anything deeper than run-of-the-mill household stuff.

Paige had taken a new temp job, but the magical purpose behind it hadn't become apparent yet so she kept gamely cleaning and putting away pool equipment at the local athletic club. Phoebe was as involved as ever in her column, and if anybody noticed that the questions she chose and her advice suddenly turned more family and children focused, they didn't care to comment.

Linette had disappeared from the hospital shortly after being treated, but without any powers they weren't too concerned about her coming after them again.

“You’ll just need to wait,” Chris had said when pressed about what to do with the amulet, but there hadn't been any sign of what that might mean yet. They hadn't removed it from the Bravais lattice, concerned that it might make an escape back to its previous master.

The waiting game came to an end with an unexpected knock on the front door during Wyatt’s afternoon nap. Paige and Phoebe were both at their respective jobs, and Chris was off researching something as he often was.

Piper peeked through the glass to see three men in business suits waiting patiently on the stoop. Remembering the last time she’d opened the door to a stranger, she pulled it open cautiously, fully prepared to not let anyone in.

“Can I help you?” she asked, only to be startled when the man in front gave her a low bow.

He was of medium build, middle-aged and of rather unremarkable appearance except for his flame-red hair only slightly flecked with gray. “I hope I have found the home of Piper Halliwell, oldest of the Charmed Ones,” he said. “For I owe them an apology and a debt, in addition to some business we must attend to.”

Piper’s eyebrows had shot up at the first sentence, but she immediately shut him down. “I’m not letting you in, whatever business you might have,” she said shortly.

The man was unperturbed. “Your ire is understandable,” he said, “My name is Michael O’Shea. I am Linette O’Shea’s father.”

Piper frowned deeply. “She’s not here. You can find her-”

He interrupted her. “Yes, I know, she’s back in our custody now. I came here to first and foremost apologize for involving you in our family squabbles.”

Surprised, Piper said nothing and let him continue.

“You see,” he said, “Linette was never supposed to involve the Charmed Ones. We try to stay well clear of such pillars of the magical community, on the side of both good and evil. She only did so because the Rite of Ascension was not hers to undertake. Her sister Lisbeth is the true heir, but Linette was unable to accept that, and she took it upon herself to force the issue.”

“I see,” Piper said drily. “So you let your daughters’ sibling rivalry threaten us?”

“I did not let Linette do anything,” Michael insisted, “I again apologize for any problems she may have caused. And,” he paused and bowed again, “I thank you for sparing her life when you need not have. As much as I am ashamed of her actions, she is still my daughter.”

As he stood upright again, Piper saw on his face something that she recognized in herself. That of a parent just happy to see his child safe. She couldn’t really say anything to that.

“We bound her powers,” she said, “so at that point she was just a mortal. I’m not going to lie - I’m not feeling like restoring them any time soon.”

“I am not asking you to,” Michael said. “We will handle the rest of her punishment according to our ways.”

“Alright then,” Piper said. “Is that all?”

At this, Michael shook his head. “No, I’m sorry that is not all. While I understand the situation, and I know you may be reluctant, I have also come for the Magauran amulet.”

“No, no way,” Piper said immediately. “That thing’s caused us enough grief don’t you think?”

Michael only looked more determined. “I’m afraid I must insist. That amulet is our heritage, as much as your Book of Shadows is yours. Lisbeth must go through the Rite of Ascension if there is to be a next generation for our clan. The amulet is required for that, and I am here to ensure its return, by force if necessary.”

Piper frowned, feeling suddenly outnumbered as she noticed the stiff stances of the men standing behind Michael.

The standoff was interrupted by the sound of footsteps, and she recognized Chris’ signature tread - he must have orbed back into the manor while she was at the front door.

“What’s going on?” he said cautiously as he came up behind Piper - he must have sensed the tension because he took up a supportive stance.

As glad as she was for his presence, Piper was distracted by the change that came over Michael O’Shea’s face as he looked at the newcomer. Up until this point, even when apologizing, he’d acted totally in control of the situation. But looking at Chris, he seemed completely taken aback by something.

“This is Michael O’Shea,” Piper said delicately. She looked up at Chris just in time to see his lips press together tightly. He clearly wasn’t surprised, but also wasn’t pleased to see the older man.

“You are not what you seem,” Michael said, his voice a bit shaky. His face grew distant, like he was deep in thought, before raising his eyes to Chris’ again. “The Rite is successful, then?”

“You can see better than I could tell you,” Chris said cryptically.

“Indeed. So it is best that we not meet again,” Michael said.

Chris nodded. Turning to Piper, he said, “Give them the amulet.”

“What?” Piper’s voice was tart with surprise and a bit of indignation. That amulet had caused them a great deal of angst, and here he wanted to just hand it over?

“They need to have it, and it's not ours,” Chris said, looking back at Michael, who still looked like he’d swallowed something sour.

Piper pursed her lips in frustration. She couldn’t really argue with him, though … after all, she supposed he needed to be able to run into it in the future in order to know about it after coming to the past.

“Fine,” she said. She looked pointedly at the door in silent command for Chris to stay and watch their visitors on the porch, while she went to retrieve the lattice. She recited the reverse incantation Chris had given them, only to see the lattice shrink back to its original size. The amulet appeared in her hand for a split second before vanishing in a puff of dark blue smoke.

Upon returning to the front door she saw it in the hands of Michael O’Shea, whereupon it started to glow again. She was concerned for a split second, but he just tucked it carefully into his suit pocket and gave her another short bow.

“You have my word that my family will never again bother yours regarding this amulet, and our business is concluded,” he said. With a curt nod, he turned on his heel and marched down the steps with his lackeys in tow.

Chris let out a breath he’d been holding as Piper shut the door behind them.

“What was that?” she asked.

Chris looked reluctant to answer, but she gave him the best ‘you better tell me now young man' look that she could muster, and finally he sighed. “Michael O’Shea has the ability to see into people’s pasts,” he said. “How much and in what detail vary, but he probably got more than he bargained for from me.”

“You’ve met him before?”

“Not met, just heard of,” he said. “But I did know that somebody would show up for the amulet eventually, and that we’d have to give it back.” 

Piper nodded, realizing he was right. “Well, I guess it’s one less thing for us to worry about, so that’s nice,” she said. She cocked her head at him curiously. “Is … is it this ‘Lisbeth’ who has the amulet when you encounter it in the future?”

Chris said nothing, just gave her one of his patented future consequences looks, although this time she thought she could detect a hint of real humor in the annoyed expression.

“Okay fine,” Piper gave up easier than she might have just a few days ago. “So, we should be done with the O’Shea's for good now?”

Chris grinned and nodded. “Yeah, we're good. And hey, you got some sugilite crystals out of the deal.”

Remembering the dark purple stones Linette had left behind, Piper had a thought. “They aren't going to come back for those too, are they?”

“No, I imagine Michael is probably leaving them behind deliberately as a recompense for all the trouble.”

“Huh, okay, I guess I'll take that,” Piper said. A magical adversary with scruples, for once, she thought. “So … since we're demon- and mafia-free at the moment, how about you stay for dinner?” Piper had been mostly leaving Chris to his own devices, from fear of pushing him away, but after a few days she was more than over doing that. She could be just as insistent as he could; he probably got it from her anyway.

“No thanks, I just stopped by to grab some ingredients,” he said off-handedly. He undoubtedly meant potion ingredients, but Piper saw an opportunity she couldn't pass up.

“Well, there you go - you can help me in the kitchen and get your ingredients at the same time,” her voice brooked no argument and she walked toward the kitchen without checking to see if he followed her. As she reached the stove and pulled out a saucepan from the cabinet, she was secretly thrilled to see that he had, looking pensive.

“You don't need to coddle me, you know,” Chris said as he pulled down a jar of dried buttercup petals, then absentmindedly also pulled out rosemary and handed it to her.

“Since when is cooking coddling? Your mother is a chef, didn't she teach you better than that?” Piper asked with a hint of tease in her voice. “And how did you know I was going to use rosemary?” She held up the jar he had just handed her. “I haven't touched anything but a pan yet.”

He shrugged with the ghost of a smile on his face. “You're right, my mother is a chef, one whose recipes I know by heart. Only one thing starts with that exact pan.”

Piper couldn't help but stare at him for a moment, floored by his easy admittance of being so familiar with her in the kitchen. She'd always thought that she'd teach her children to cook in a pie-in-the-sky kind of way; to see living proof of it actually happening, even in that terrible unknown future, overloaded her heart with happiness.

Before her staring could unnerve him, though, she put her hands on her hips. “Unfair,” she quipped. “I might just have to change it up to mess with you, oh ye of future knowledge.”

At that, he grinned. “Is that a challenge?”

“How about you start helping me cook, and we'll see when you notice something different,” she quirked one eyebrow, daring him to accept.

Chris simply held out a hand, as if to make a formal pact. “You're on,” he said as she reached out and shook it.

They got to work on the evening meal, side by side, and Piper let the stresses and cares of the world, both normal and magical, slough away. She didn't know what the immediate future held - issues with her pregnancy, when or if she'd have to talk with Leo, how they would figure out what happened to Wyatt and prevent him from coming to harm … but through it all she knew that now she not only had her sisters to lean on, but this unforeseen gift of another son. A son who would - who had already - turn the world upside down to make everything come out alright. In spite of the dark future looming, she somehow thought that it had never looked so bright.