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wildforce71Because it's been almost a month since I posted...sorry about that...here's the links to the rest of the chapters, in case you want to catch up.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chris let go of Phoebe as they orbed in at the base of the stairs, looking around. Paige was a heartbeat behind them with John. All four ducked under the balcony so Cantus wouldn’t be able to see them.
“Want to tell us the plan, Chris?” Paige asked quietly.
“Uh-uh. You’ll need the defense afterwards. Mom’s not going to be happy with me.”
“Seriously?” Phoebe asked.
“Mmm. Just try and distract him for a minute...I need to check something.”
Paige glanced at Phoebe; both shrugged and darted for the stairs. John looked from Chris to the girls before following them.
Chris, still under the balcony, moved closer to the ’Gate, touching it lightly. His eyes closed as he concentrated.
Above him, Paige orbed a paperweight into the back of Cantus’ head, staggering him. John shot a rapid burst; it didn’t seem to do any good.
“This isn’t working!” Paige yelled to Phoebe.
“Yeah, I know. CHRIS!”
Below them, Chris shook his head, looking surprised.
“Yeah...” he murmured. Clearing his throat, he repeated more loudly, “Yeah.”
“Whatever you’re waiting for...” Phoebe called, ducking as John fired again.
“You might want to hurry it up!” Paige finished over the noise of the gun.
Chris nodded, gaze lingering on the ’Gate for another moment. “Yeah,” he said softly. Orbing up, he joined the sisters on the balcony. Cantus hissed on seeing him.
“Mine!”
Chris leaned towards Paige, keeping his eyes on Cantus. “Go to Radek, ask him for the amulet. It’s not fun to touch, but get it back here.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“Don’t ask,” he said grimly. “Phoebe, keep him off me for a second.”
Chris slipped behind a console, out of the line of fire. Phoebe and Paige grimaced at each other before Paige orbed out.
Orb lights shone from behind Phoebe, but she didn’t turn, not daring to take her eyes off Cantus. “Chris? You still here?”
“Yeah. Just another second, Phoebe, I promise.”
Orb lights shone again. Phoebe took a step back as John swung in front of her, shooting again to drive Cantus back a few steps.
“Chris, what are...” Paige hissed from behind them.
“Trust me,” Chris said urgently.
“Well, you were right, Piper’s going to kill you. Here.” She came to join Phoebe and John, orbing a fireball back at Cantus.
“What the hell is going on?” Phoebe demanded.
“Oh, don’t even ask. Pointy...thing!”
A statue on Woolsey’s desk hit Cantus in the back. He roared, flailing awkwardly as he tried to pull it out.
“Nice,” Phoebe said admiringly.
“Thank you!”
Chris stepped up beside them. Little Chris was in his arms and Wyatt was standing beside him. John stared at the kids, obviously confused; he knew who Chris was, but he hadn’t seen Wyatt and had no idea why they were there.
“Oh my god,” Phoebe muttered. “You’re so dead.”
“I’m thinking I’ll just go straight back to the future from here,” Chris agreed.
“And leave us to explain?” Paige protested.
“I don’t even understand!” Phoebe echoed.
Cantus finally managed to get the statue off. Turning, he saw Chris and the kids and laughed. “Mine.”
“He keeps saying that, Mine, everytime he sees me,” Chris told the sisters, almost conversationally. “Because he knows Chris freed him.”
Radek had finally gotten the feed from the security cameras working. All three were huddled around the pad, watching the confrontation carefully.
Paige and Phoebe watched as Chris stared Cantus down. John was watching, still unsure, but he made no move to stop them.
“Higher level demons need a potion,” Chris continued. “We know that. But Cantus hasn’t manifested all the way yet. I released him. And my brother and I can put him back.”
“Chris...” Paige started.
“Wyatt and I face worse things all the time.”
“Wyatt’s twenty three years old where you came from!” Phoebe protested.
Chris didn’t turn. “The Charmed Ones are the strongest Warren witches, the culmination of four hundred years.”
Phoebe mouthed ’culmination?’ to Paige, who smacked her.
“But Wyatt and I, we’re Halliwells. We’re something different. And the Underworld is not ready for us.” He set Little Chris on his feet, crouching between the two boys. “Hey, buddy, you want to hold onto that for me? Yeah? Thank you.”
Little Chris took the pendant, studying it curiously. Wyatt watched for a moment before looking up at Chris. “Now?”
“Ready?”
“Mine!” Cantus snarled.
Chris shook his head. “Ours.”
Wyatt and Chris both lifted a hand and beams of light shot out, catching Cantus between them. Cantus howled, thrashing around to try and escape, but the light tightened around him, holding him steady.
Chris half twisted, looking down at his younger self. “Chris, can you throw that for me?”
Chris stared at the pendant, looking confused; Wyatt reached over to take it from him, throwing it to the floor in front of Cantus. The light beams tightened, forcing Cantus towards it.
Paige and Phoebe shielded their eyes as the light intensified, aware of John throwing up a hand. When the light died away, they looked up.
Cantus had vanished, and the pendant was lying innocently on the floor.
Coop grinned, thumping Radek triumphantly on the shoulder.
“It’s very good,” Radek agreed quickly, “but our reinforcements arrive soon and our people will begin to recover. You and yours must go.”
Coop nodded, straightening up and taking a step back. “We owe you. Really big. If you need us, we’ll be there.”
Radek nodded, watching as Coop clapped a hand to Agent Murphy’s shoulder and vanished.
Coop landed beside Phoebe, swinging her into his arms. She grinned, leaning against him.
“We should go,” he told Chris. “Their guys are almost here.”
“Yeah. Can you...” He gestured to the pendant. Coop stepped forward, scooping it off the floor.
“What about him?” Phoebe asked, glancing at John.
“Leave him,” Chris said absently. “He can’t understand us yet anyway. Radek will think of something.”
“Sure?” Paige asked.
“You want to try a memory spell? You’ve got about two minutes.”
“On second thoughts...”
“Uh huh.”
They vanished as a group. John blinked in surprise, turning in a circle to look around. When he completed the circle Radek was hurrying in, pad under one arm.
“Colonel, can you understand me?”
John nodded warily, watching him carefully.
“Good. HomeWorld’s reinforcements are about to invade. We must send message to SGC, yes? Your codes?”
They bent over the control panel together, typing rapidly.
The group reappeared in the living room. Chris let Little Chris down out of his arms; Wyatt took his hand and scampered off towards the kitchen. Paige and Phoebe collapsed onto the nearest chairs.
“That was...fun,” Paige decided.
“Chris!” Piper exclaimed from the kitchen, appearing a moment later with him on her hip. “Chris,” she repeated. “And...everyone. What happened?”
Coop held up the pendant. “Mission accomplished.”
“Don’t touch it,” Chris added when she stepped forward. “It’s not...fun. Hi,” he added when Wyatt climbed up to stand on the chair beside him. “You’re not supposed to stand on those.”
“You’re Chris,” Wyatt said.
“Yes, I am. You knew that.”
“Oooh, about that?” Coop half-raised his hand. “We were watching you guys. Radek knows who you are.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll be going home soon.”
Piper caught Phoebe’s eye, gesturing her away from the others. Phoebe swung Wyatt off the chair, carrying him out to the hall to join her. “What’s up?”
“Is something wrong with Chris? He’s very...”
“Disconnected?” Phoebe suggested. “Yeah, he’s been like that since the City. He was terrified you’d be angry with him.”
“He took Wyatt,” Piper murmured. “He didn’t tell me; he just called and Wyatt went. All of you were gone into that place.”
“It’s fine,” Phoebe said in alarm. “We’re all home, everything’s fine, and his plan worked. Your son’s very smart, Piper.”
“Smart ass, maybe,” Piper muttered, but the panic was gone from her tone.
Leo orbed in, glancing around in surprise at the suddenly crowded room. “The...Elders...say Cantus is gone.”
Coop held up the pendant again. “Cantus is here.”
“We need you to get rid of it,” Chris added. Coop tossed it to Leo, who studied it for a moment before looking up.
“That was a good job,” he said quietly.
“Yeah, well.” Chris shrugged. “Can you take that away, please?”
Leo nodded, orbing away.
“Radek?”
Radek looked up from his computer. “Colonel. Feeling better?”
“You’re making sense, anyway.” He stepped into the lab, letting the door hiss closed behind him. “What happened, Radek?”
Radek pushed back away from the computer, watching him. “I’m sorry?”
John began counting on his fingers. “Chris. Wyatt. Two women. Three men. All of whom you knew.”
“No.”
“Yes. I saw you, Radek. Couldn’t understand what you were doing, but you knew who they were.”
“I told you I knew of them. Chris’ family, come to take him home, and to solve the problems he caused us.”
“I need names, Radek.”
“No.”
“Radek...”
“No, Colonel. I will ask one of them to come, to talk to you. But I cannot give you the names.”
“Odd that the scanners didn’t pick up anything,” John said pointedly.
“Yes, with all power to cloak, it is odd that auxiliary system failed,” Radek agreed dryly. “Colonel, you think they had no questions about this place? I told them nothing. I can tell you nothing either.”
“And Chris is...”
“Gone home. Safe. He will not come here again.” Radek carefully closed down his computer. “The City is my home, Colonel. If I thought there was threat I would tell you. But they are not threat to us, they saved us.”
“From something that Chris started,” John reminded him.
“Chris is four. He walked through a room...Rodney said any of us could have done it! And Chris was not infected, or those who came for him. They could have left us alone here, Colonel.”
“Get me someone I can talk to,” John said quietly.
“Yes, sir.”
Chris was playing with the kids, laughing and smiling. Coop was sprawled across the couch, watching them with a grin. The girls had scattered, Paige gone to bring Murphy back to his office.
“Radek’s Cupid still on his tail?” Chris asked idly.
“Nah, I’ll head him off.” He thought for a moment. “Actually, maybe Phoebe should do it...they’ve met.”
Chris looked up in surprise. “They’ve...oh, Drazee, right?”
“Right, yeah. About three years before you were born. How do you do that?”
“I know the Book,” he murmured, looking down. “Paige spent – spends – almost a year bringing it up to date, everything the Charmed Ones faced. It’s her big project while she’s pr...” He cut himself off, glancing at Coop, who held up his hands innocently.
“Well, I’m sure he’d be happy to come and give his opinion, but they...Chris?”
Chris was on his feet, absently setting Wyatt down. “Radek’s calling.”
“Radek’s not your charge.” Coop eased to his feet, watching him.
“Doesn’t matter.” Raising his voice, he called, “Mom?”
“What?” she called from upstairs.
“Where’s Dad?”
“He’s gone Up There, why?” She came down the stairs, frowning. “What’s wrong?”
“Radek’s calling.”
“Chris.” She caught his chin in her hand, forcing him to look at her. “You’re not his Whitelighter. You don’t have to go.”
“Someone does. And they can’t trace me. They can’t track me back to you.”
“Chris,” Piper said warningly.
“He saved Chris,” Chris said quietly. “We owe him.”
“It doesn’t have to be you.”
“Yeah. It kind of does.” He glanced past her at Wyatt; she turned automatically to follow his gaze, and when she looked back he was gone.
“Want me to go after him?” Coop asked.
“No. Can you find Paige? She can keep an eye on him.”
Coop nodded, vanishing.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chris let go of Phoebe as they orbed in at the base of the stairs, looking around. Paige was a heartbeat behind them with John. All four ducked under the balcony so Cantus wouldn’t be able to see them.
“Want to tell us the plan, Chris?” Paige asked quietly.
“Uh-uh. You’ll need the defense afterwards. Mom’s not going to be happy with me.”
“Seriously?” Phoebe asked.
“Mmm. Just try and distract him for a minute...I need to check something.”
Paige glanced at Phoebe; both shrugged and darted for the stairs. John looked from Chris to the girls before following them.
Chris, still under the balcony, moved closer to the ’Gate, touching it lightly. His eyes closed as he concentrated.
Above him, Paige orbed a paperweight into the back of Cantus’ head, staggering him. John shot a rapid burst; it didn’t seem to do any good.
“This isn’t working!” Paige yelled to Phoebe.
“Yeah, I know. CHRIS!”
Below them, Chris shook his head, looking surprised.
“Yeah...” he murmured. Clearing his throat, he repeated more loudly, “Yeah.”
“Whatever you’re waiting for...” Phoebe called, ducking as John fired again.
“You might want to hurry it up!” Paige finished over the noise of the gun.
Chris nodded, gaze lingering on the ’Gate for another moment. “Yeah,” he said softly. Orbing up, he joined the sisters on the balcony. Cantus hissed on seeing him.
“Mine!”
Chris leaned towards Paige, keeping his eyes on Cantus. “Go to Radek, ask him for the amulet. It’s not fun to touch, but get it back here.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“Don’t ask,” he said grimly. “Phoebe, keep him off me for a second.”
Chris slipped behind a console, out of the line of fire. Phoebe and Paige grimaced at each other before Paige orbed out.
Orb lights shone from behind Phoebe, but she didn’t turn, not daring to take her eyes off Cantus. “Chris? You still here?”
“Yeah. Just another second, Phoebe, I promise.”
Orb lights shone again. Phoebe took a step back as John swung in front of her, shooting again to drive Cantus back a few steps.
“Chris, what are...” Paige hissed from behind them.
“Trust me,” Chris said urgently.
“Well, you were right, Piper’s going to kill you. Here.” She came to join Phoebe and John, orbing a fireball back at Cantus.
“What the hell is going on?” Phoebe demanded.
“Oh, don’t even ask. Pointy...thing!”
A statue on Woolsey’s desk hit Cantus in the back. He roared, flailing awkwardly as he tried to pull it out.
“Nice,” Phoebe said admiringly.
“Thank you!”
Chris stepped up beside them. Little Chris was in his arms and Wyatt was standing beside him. John stared at the kids, obviously confused; he knew who Chris was, but he hadn’t seen Wyatt and had no idea why they were there.
“Oh my god,” Phoebe muttered. “You’re so dead.”
“I’m thinking I’ll just go straight back to the future from here,” Chris agreed.
“And leave us to explain?” Paige protested.
“I don’t even understand!” Phoebe echoed.
Cantus finally managed to get the statue off. Turning, he saw Chris and the kids and laughed. “Mine.”
“He keeps saying that, Mine, everytime he sees me,” Chris told the sisters, almost conversationally. “Because he knows Chris freed him.”
Radek had finally gotten the feed from the security cameras working. All three were huddled around the pad, watching the confrontation carefully.
Paige and Phoebe watched as Chris stared Cantus down. John was watching, still unsure, but he made no move to stop them.
“Higher level demons need a potion,” Chris continued. “We know that. But Cantus hasn’t manifested all the way yet. I released him. And my brother and I can put him back.”
“Chris...” Paige started.
“Wyatt and I face worse things all the time.”
“Wyatt’s twenty three years old where you came from!” Phoebe protested.
Chris didn’t turn. “The Charmed Ones are the strongest Warren witches, the culmination of four hundred years.”
Phoebe mouthed ’culmination?’ to Paige, who smacked her.
“But Wyatt and I, we’re Halliwells. We’re something different. And the Underworld is not ready for us.” He set Little Chris on his feet, crouching between the two boys. “Hey, buddy, you want to hold onto that for me? Yeah? Thank you.”
Little Chris took the pendant, studying it curiously. Wyatt watched for a moment before looking up at Chris. “Now?”
“Ready?”
“Mine!” Cantus snarled.
Chris shook his head. “Ours.”
Wyatt and Chris both lifted a hand and beams of light shot out, catching Cantus between them. Cantus howled, thrashing around to try and escape, but the light tightened around him, holding him steady.
Chris half twisted, looking down at his younger self. “Chris, can you throw that for me?”
Chris stared at the pendant, looking confused; Wyatt reached over to take it from him, throwing it to the floor in front of Cantus. The light beams tightened, forcing Cantus towards it.
Paige and Phoebe shielded their eyes as the light intensified, aware of John throwing up a hand. When the light died away, they looked up.
Cantus had vanished, and the pendant was lying innocently on the floor.
Coop grinned, thumping Radek triumphantly on the shoulder.
“It’s very good,” Radek agreed quickly, “but our reinforcements arrive soon and our people will begin to recover. You and yours must go.”
Coop nodded, straightening up and taking a step back. “We owe you. Really big. If you need us, we’ll be there.”
Radek nodded, watching as Coop clapped a hand to Agent Murphy’s shoulder and vanished.
Coop landed beside Phoebe, swinging her into his arms. She grinned, leaning against him.
“We should go,” he told Chris. “Their guys are almost here.”
“Yeah. Can you...” He gestured to the pendant. Coop stepped forward, scooping it off the floor.
“What about him?” Phoebe asked, glancing at John.
“Leave him,” Chris said absently. “He can’t understand us yet anyway. Radek will think of something.”
“Sure?” Paige asked.
“You want to try a memory spell? You’ve got about two minutes.”
“On second thoughts...”
“Uh huh.”
They vanished as a group. John blinked in surprise, turning in a circle to look around. When he completed the circle Radek was hurrying in, pad under one arm.
“Colonel, can you understand me?”
John nodded warily, watching him carefully.
“Good. HomeWorld’s reinforcements are about to invade. We must send message to SGC, yes? Your codes?”
They bent over the control panel together, typing rapidly.
The group reappeared in the living room. Chris let Little Chris down out of his arms; Wyatt took his hand and scampered off towards the kitchen. Paige and Phoebe collapsed onto the nearest chairs.
“That was...fun,” Paige decided.
“Chris!” Piper exclaimed from the kitchen, appearing a moment later with him on her hip. “Chris,” she repeated. “And...everyone. What happened?”
Coop held up the pendant. “Mission accomplished.”
“Don’t touch it,” Chris added when she stepped forward. “It’s not...fun. Hi,” he added when Wyatt climbed up to stand on the chair beside him. “You’re not supposed to stand on those.”
“You’re Chris,” Wyatt said.
“Yes, I am. You knew that.”
“Oooh, about that?” Coop half-raised his hand. “We were watching you guys. Radek knows who you are.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll be going home soon.”
Piper caught Phoebe’s eye, gesturing her away from the others. Phoebe swung Wyatt off the chair, carrying him out to the hall to join her. “What’s up?”
“Is something wrong with Chris? He’s very...”
“Disconnected?” Phoebe suggested. “Yeah, he’s been like that since the City. He was terrified you’d be angry with him.”
“He took Wyatt,” Piper murmured. “He didn’t tell me; he just called and Wyatt went. All of you were gone into that place.”
“It’s fine,” Phoebe said in alarm. “We’re all home, everything’s fine, and his plan worked. Your son’s very smart, Piper.”
“Smart ass, maybe,” Piper muttered, but the panic was gone from her tone.
Leo orbed in, glancing around in surprise at the suddenly crowded room. “The...Elders...say Cantus is gone.”
Coop held up the pendant again. “Cantus is here.”
“We need you to get rid of it,” Chris added. Coop tossed it to Leo, who studied it for a moment before looking up.
“That was a good job,” he said quietly.
“Yeah, well.” Chris shrugged. “Can you take that away, please?”
Leo nodded, orbing away.
“Radek?”
Radek looked up from his computer. “Colonel. Feeling better?”
“You’re making sense, anyway.” He stepped into the lab, letting the door hiss closed behind him. “What happened, Radek?”
Radek pushed back away from the computer, watching him. “I’m sorry?”
John began counting on his fingers. “Chris. Wyatt. Two women. Three men. All of whom you knew.”
“No.”
“Yes. I saw you, Radek. Couldn’t understand what you were doing, but you knew who they were.”
“I told you I knew of them. Chris’ family, come to take him home, and to solve the problems he caused us.”
“I need names, Radek.”
“No.”
“Radek...”
“No, Colonel. I will ask one of them to come, to talk to you. But I cannot give you the names.”
“Odd that the scanners didn’t pick up anything,” John said pointedly.
“Yes, with all power to cloak, it is odd that auxiliary system failed,” Radek agreed dryly. “Colonel, you think they had no questions about this place? I told them nothing. I can tell you nothing either.”
“And Chris is...”
“Gone home. Safe. He will not come here again.” Radek carefully closed down his computer. “The City is my home, Colonel. If I thought there was threat I would tell you. But they are not threat to us, they saved us.”
“From something that Chris started,” John reminded him.
“Chris is four. He walked through a room...Rodney said any of us could have done it! And Chris was not infected, or those who came for him. They could have left us alone here, Colonel.”
“Get me someone I can talk to,” John said quietly.
“Yes, sir.”
Chris was playing with the kids, laughing and smiling. Coop was sprawled across the couch, watching them with a grin. The girls had scattered, Paige gone to bring Murphy back to his office.
“Radek’s Cupid still on his tail?” Chris asked idly.
“Nah, I’ll head him off.” He thought for a moment. “Actually, maybe Phoebe should do it...they’ve met.”
Chris looked up in surprise. “They’ve...oh, Drazee, right?”
“Right, yeah. About three years before you were born. How do you do that?”
“I know the Book,” he murmured, looking down. “Paige spent – spends – almost a year bringing it up to date, everything the Charmed Ones faced. It’s her big project while she’s pr...” He cut himself off, glancing at Coop, who held up his hands innocently.
“Well, I’m sure he’d be happy to come and give his opinion, but they...Chris?”
Chris was on his feet, absently setting Wyatt down. “Radek’s calling.”
“Radek’s not your charge.” Coop eased to his feet, watching him.
“Doesn’t matter.” Raising his voice, he called, “Mom?”
“What?” she called from upstairs.
“Where’s Dad?”
“He’s gone Up There, why?” She came down the stairs, frowning. “What’s wrong?”
“Radek’s calling.”
“Chris.” She caught his chin in her hand, forcing him to look at her. “You’re not his Whitelighter. You don’t have to go.”
“Someone does. And they can’t trace me. They can’t track me back to you.”
“Chris,” Piper said warningly.
“He saved Chris,” Chris said quietly. “We owe him.”
“It doesn’t have to be you.”
“Yeah. It kind of does.” He glanced past her at Wyatt; she turned automatically to follow his gaze, and when she looked back he was gone.
“Want me to go after him?” Coop asked.
“No. Can you find Paige? She can keep an eye on him.”
Coop nodded, vanishing.