Chris Chronicles

Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed.

The night's temperature was a couple degrees above freezing, but to Chris it felt like a sauna. Fighting heated up muscles in that way. His hoodie lay in a heap somewhere down the block.

He was in the middle of a mission with the resistance. An old-school ski mask covered his face so that Wyatt's fighters would not recognize him. He ducked a fist and threw his trusty left hook, followed by his more trusty right hook. A stab in the jugular, and he was on to the next… It was Bianca.

He figured this day would come eventually. They played together as young children, but he couldn't think of that now; he shut his mind down to take her out. But she wasn't known as a renowned warrior for a charade. The two witches battled back and forth, pants getting heavier and heavier; leading, retreating farther and farther into the shadows as their comrades fell to death's stink. Finally Bianca pinned Chris with her knee digging into his clavicle and her phoenix athame strategically placed. Her spare hand ripped the mask from his face.

She recovered from her surprise quickly. "Well well… if there isn't a traitor in our midst."

"Just kill me," Chris sighed.

"Lord Wyatt would murder me on the spot for your slaying."

Chris suggested, "Then don't tell him."

"No. I ought to shimmer you straight to Wyatt right now and let him know about your little extracurricular activities." Chris internally shuddered at the fate awaiting him if that happened. He wouldn't die (Wyatt would never allow that), but he sure would wish for it.

"Get it over with!" he challenged.

Bianca didn't move. She continued to half-straddle him. She was looking right at him, but her eyes were unfocused, like she was staring straight through him to the concrete behind his head. She finally spoke, voice low. "Before Lord Wyatt's World Reformation, I enjoyed the cunning aspects of a hunt, the grace of a worthy kill. The life I live now offers none of that, save for a handful of righteous rebels to whet my appetite now and again." She slid off of him and sauntered off down the block a bit toward the team under her command. "Move out," She barked.

Chris waited and waited for the iron fist to come down in the following weeks, but it never came. Bianca obviously never told on him. But why? That was what bothered him. Did the ice queen actually have a heart somewhere under all that hard-edged malice? Maybe.

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Wyatt, with his brother and best friend at his heels, ran. He magically cleared a path, and weapons flew from their masters' grips where Chris worked his power.

His mind screamed –an urgent shriek!- to run faster. Because it was a race against time, a race against evil; and to lose the race meant to lose innocent lives. His legs kept pumping. His magic kept clearing the way. His brother and friend were taking care of the nearest threats. All he could do was pray they did their job and didn't get hurt in the process.

Fifty yards away… Forty yards… Thirty… Oily-haired guy holding Excalibur looked down at him defiantly. He put his arms straight in front of him with the hilt grasped aloft between entwined knuckles. Stupid demon didn't know to look anxious when the Twice Blessed Halliwell charged. But then again, according to his mom, Excalibur made any wielder other than it's rightful owner prideful and overconfident.

Twenty yards now. Sharp pressure dug into his shoulder. It disappeared. A pained grunt could be heard nearby just under the army's din. He flew up the incline. Ten yards, five, one. Wyatt magically neutralized the air around him so that the demon's powers couldn't touch him and body slammed it. In the process, he scrambled for the sword hilt. Good and evil scrambled upon sharp rocks. Out of the corner of his eye, Wyatt spotted one of demon's minions ready to join in the fight, but Manny intercepted the attack. Grunting, Wyatt yanked with all his might and employed his lower body strength to kick away. The demon shouted unintelligibly with rage, and then disappeared just as Wyatt attacked within an inch of unhuman flesh.

The Twice Blessed one leapt up to his feet and held Exalibur in the air. He threw a protective shield around Chris' and Manny's forms before rolling a blast of pure fire power in a outward ring around him that grew out and out. Any demon or creature that it touched vanquished instantly. He didn't have to worry about holding back his magic in check here. It felt magnificent!

Every single conscience demon scattered or shimmered to safety- the cowards.

Chris looked up from where he landed on the ground. He saw a silhouette on a raised patch of ground with a gleaming sword held high. Unadulterated power flowed from the being. The awe-inspiring, glorious sight looked like a painting. It was a wonder Chris' inferiority complex wasn't humongous.

Wyatt cut off his blazing ring and stopped the stream of magic flowing from him. Only he, Chris, and Manny remained in the large space. He dropped his arms down to his sides.

"Are you guys all right?"

"I'm fine, thanks to your suicidal little brother." Manny stood up slowly and brushed dirt from his clothes. All the while he glared at Chris. He instructed angrily. "Don't you ever put yourself in danger for me like that again Halliwell!"

Chris sat in the shadow of the incline, so seeing him clearly proved difficult. Wyatt could hear the tiredness in Chris' voice when he said, "It's better for me to take the bullet. Wyatt can heal me completely, but he can only heal half of you. What would your dad say if you came home with broken bones from a camping trip." A short laugh came out. "I wasn't just taking a hit for you, I was saving our story credibility."

Wyatt moved toward his brother and blanched. He rushed forward to use his healing power. Bones reattached themselves, blood sucked back , and gashes knitted together.

"Thanks," Chris said after his beaten up body reformed to its normal, healthy shape..

Wyatt helped him to his feet. Then he healed Manny's small wounds as much as possible. Finally, Wyatt focused internally on his own body. He was the only whitelighter ever who could heal himself. He usually preferred Aunt Paige to heal him if it were an option, because healing himself was a long and trying task.

When he finished, Wyatt announced, "Okay, let's go."

Manny grumbled, "Finally."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Wyatt was the first to notice the pretty woman lurking at the end of the driveway when they got out of the truck. Expensive looking clothes adorned her fit frame and long hair hung past her shoulders. Wyatt raised his hand in a friendly wave, but the venomous look she threw to him halted anything further than that. Chris looked to whom Wyatt waved to and halted. He stood still until Wyatt and Manny gathered some supplies up from their fake camping trip. He called for those two to go on inside and he would bring the rest of the stuff. Like a bobble on a fishing line, he made his way straight toward her.

"What did you do to me?" She hissed as soon as he came in ear shot. She had never seen this man a day in her life except for in her recent nightmares.

"I'm sorry."

"You're sorry." Malicious incredulity dripped from her tone.

He explained hastily, "I was under a spell when I did that to you (otherwise I never would have). They're dreams from an alternate universe that the Charmed One changed. I'm guessing you're having some vivid dreams from your point of view?" A brisk nod confirmed his guess. "When I did it, I guess I just didn't want to witness such awful things alone, and the only people who can view the other world are those of us that made the jump to this timeline," he half-smiled, "which is only you and me." He offered, "I'll research for a way to get you out of it." Her face hardened and her lips pursed; an expression he saw her wear a thousand times before in the exact same way. It was kind of surreal to see her in this universe though. Like putting Xena: Warrior Princess into Barney and Friends. "We'll see," she said finally. Bianca glanced surreptitiously around, then shimmered from sight.

Chris ducked his head before turning back toward his home.

"Weren't you going to bring in the rest of the stuff?" Wyatt looked up from where he got roped into playing Connect Four with Pandora.

"Uh, oh yeah." Chris about-faced to rectify his memory lapse. When he came back in the second time Piper was hanging up the phone and telling Manny, "You're dad wants you home on the double." The half-manticore saluted with a "yes, ma'am" and shimmered.

"Chris come play with us!" he heard young voices chorus. Yes, it was definitely Sunday. If he remembered he might have delayed the "camping trip" a little bit longer to get out of the big family dinner. Summer had the tendency of letting days blend together though.

Henry's disembodied voice floated from the kitchen. "Not now girls. Get to the table for dinner." Children and adults gravitated toward the dining room. The kids fought for the side closest to the adults at the kid's table like they did every time.

The Halliwell clan relaxed in each other's company. Laughter and chat mingled. Chris was shoving a spoonful of cobbler in his mouth when Aunt Paige turned to him and asked, "So are you excited that you'll be leaving for school in a month?"

Chris gulped down his mouthful of dessert. "Yeah."

Piper, who overheard the question, looked up. "Yes, Chris. Did you end up accepting your admittance into Stanford or USC?" Chris swallowed.

"Uh, I actually decided to go somewhere else."

Piper's eyes narrowed. "Really, where?"

Chris became aware that most of the room's attention diverted to him. "I chose it based on it's high respectability among colleges, and for the financial aid and scholarships it offered me of course."

"Christopher Perry Halliwell, just tell us."

"Columbia," Chris casually said.

"Columbia University? Like the one in New York?"

"That would be the one."

"But it's so far away!"

"Mom, we can appear anywhere in the world in the blink of an eye. I really don't think that distance will be much of an issue."

"But still honey, we won't be around to protect you in an emergency!"

Chris said softly, "I want a taste of independence without being," he willed his eyes not to look over at Wyatt or the other two members of the Charmed trio, "overshadowed." He stirred the remains of his ice cream into the small pile of cobbler.

Leo interjected after a small bout of silence, "We can talk about this later."

Chris searched his mind for a new topic of conversation, then literally gasped out loud. An ecstatic beam lit his face. "I have exciting news!" He announced.

"What is it?" Piper couldn't help but smile at how happy her son looked.

"Everybody stay here," Chris commanded before dashing out of the room with a clatter of his chair. His family eyed his vacated spot with befuddlement. They didn't have a long wait however. Chris orbed into sight with the Book of Shadows and five candles, the latter of which he placed in a circle. He lit them with a practiced hand.

Still smiling, he read, "Here these words. Hear my cry, spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee. Cross now the Great Divide."

"Why are you…" Phoebe began, but then trailed off when a familiar figure ghosted into existence within the circle. "Oh my God."

"Oh my God!" Piper repeated. After a single beat, Piper and Phobe leapt from their chairs and hurdled toward the dark-haired woman that looked like them. Prue laughed out loud as two large bear hugs cascaded down on her.

"Oh Prue," Phoebe cried.

Piper's voice was muffled from where her face was buried into her older sister's shoulder.

Prue lifted her hands to cover the back of both women's heads. "I've missed you too," she said softly.

Piper pulled her head back, tears trickled down her face. "We have so much to tell you."

Prue wiped the tears aside, "I know, I know. I've always watched over you." She looked at Phoebe. "Both of you."

Piper tried to shake off her overwhelming feelings. She grabbed Prue's hand and pulled her forward. "Come meet the family. Look, here's Paige!"

Paige held out her hand for a handshake, "I've heard so much about you over the years," she said shyly. "I'm so glad I finally get to meet you." Prue ignored the hand and pulled her youngest sister, whom she had never been in contact with, and pulled her into a hug.

She leaned back to look into Paige's face. "Thank you for coming into our lives, you saved us. And I couldn't be happier to have such a wonderful baby sister." Paige could only smile, pleased beyond words. Wyatt and Chris stood back as the merry reunion unfolded further.

"How'd you know?" Wyatt asked.

"Near death experience."

Wyatt nodded. "I guess one good thing came out of it."

Looking at his delighted father greet his sister-in-law again after many years while his mom looked on, Chris wholeheartedly agreed.

"It's going to be a long night," he commented. He could not have been happier about that fact. He really had the best family ever. Although he needed some space for awhile to become his own person, he knew that he always had a place, and a loving group of people, where he would be welcomed.

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A/N: CUT! And that's a wrap folks. Please click on the 'Review' button to tell me what you thought of the story as a whole.

I have a special thanks to those awesome individuals that consistently reviewed most/all of the chapters (you know who you are). I really, really appreciated it! You were the main reason why I bothered to continue updating some times. If I could I would offer you a pile of candy inside a "You're awesome!" mug.