Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed

Present Mistakes

Chris peered around the kitchen door, alert for any sign of his mother. Ever since she had found out he was her son, she had been trying to convince him to get a haircut, and he didn't want to be ambushed again. Fortunately, there was no sign of her anywhere, so he entered the kitchen and helped himself to some crumpets that he had helped her make the night before.

It wasn't that he minded her fussing over him, it's what she did. But, while he did appreciate her fussing, sometimes she just went a little too far, like when she volunteered to cut it herself.

Chris' life had changed significantly ever since they had discovered he was her son, and it had nearly been too late to discover that. Piper had fallen hard and fast for her ex boyfriend Dan Gordon, who had returned to town. However, used to thinking of himself as perfect, he had tried to control Piper, and had wanted to exclude anyone who he saw as a threat to his happiness with her. Growing in paranoia and in obsession, Dan had strangled Chris almost to death, and his mother and her sisters had barely arrived in time to resuscitate him. After that, the entire story of who Chris really was and why he was really here had come out, and Dan had wound up in prison, and then an asylum where he belonged, where his aunt Prue, his grandmother and his great grandmother were all tormenting him in spirit form.

As he tucked into a crumpet, he walked around to get himself some tea, when he trod on something lying on the floor, earning a yelp from whatever it was, and Chris jumped back in shock, and winced at the glower Piper was giving him as she pulled her head out of the oven.

"For a thin kid, you have big feet." She said ruefully, and he looked at her apologetically.

"Sorry mom, I didn't see you there. Why do you have your head in the oven?" he asked, and she pouted.

"My life has no meaning, so I decided to kill myself." She deadpanned.

And regretted it at the look of alarm that Chris had on his face and stood up, smiling at her son, wanting to banish the panicked, saddened and scared look she had put there.

"I was kidding sweetie, I'm not going to kill myself." She assured him, patting his cheek fondly.

"That wasn't funny." He growled, his eyes hurt and she smiled.

"Sorry baby. Why were you sneaking around anyway?" she asked curiously, and he looked nervously at her.

"In case you were looming with scissors to try and give me a haircut." He said, and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm hardly going to attack you with scissors, but it is a bit long baby, why not let me trim it?" she asked, and he grinned.

"Because I saw the mess you made of the turkey you were just 'trimming' last week, and I don't want to wind up like the poor bird. Bad enough it was dead and cooked, you went and mutilated it for good measure." He said, and she glowered at him.

"Well it's been a while since I've had to carve something, sue me. Alright fine, keep your hair long. But don't come crying to me if it gets stuck somewhere." She said, and he rolled his eyes, just as the bell rang.

"Go and get that, I'm sticking my head back in the oven, it's clarty." She said, bent down and stuck her head back inside it, cursing as she did so.

"You've cracked mom." He said fondly, and went to open the door, as Phoebe and Paige were still clattering around upstairs.

He opened the door to see a girl of about sixteen staring up at him.

"Whoa." She said, clearly impressed by what she saw, and he grimaced. Just what he needed, a teenage fan.

"Can I help you?" he asked politely, and she nodded, her eyes taking in all of him.

"Yeah, can you tell me if Piper is here? I need to talk to her." She said earnestly, and Chris shot her a mistrusting look.

"Why?" he asked suspiciously, and she looked at him nervously.

"About my uncle Dan." She said, and Chris backed away, automatically realising who she was.

"Mo...Piper!" he called, and he heard his mother curse as she smacked her head on the way out of the oven, swearing as she did so, walking through, massaging her head.

"Piper? What happened to mo-oh hi Jenny!" Piper said in surprise as she saw the girl standing in the doorway, and the next thing she knew the girl had rushed up to her and hugged her.

Chris flinched as she did so, not wanting anyone remotely connected with Dan anywhere near his mother. And a niece of his, well that could only spell trouble, a trouble he was more than eager not to repeat.

"Chris? Ah there you are. I've found a new demon," Phoebe said, breaking off in alarm as she saw Jenny, "striation, of the sort that you were looking for, and was wondering if you wanted to take a look?" she asked, covering rather well before turning to Jenny.

"Hi Jenny, what are you doing here?" she asked, hugging her old neighbour.

"I wanted to talk to you about uncle Dan." She said, looking at Piper, whose eyes immediately went to her son, who was looking at her warily.

"Alright. Why don't you go into the conservatory sweetie and we'll talk?" Piper asked, and Jenny nodded, trekking through with her backpack.

"You ok?" she asked her son, who nodded.

"Yeah. What demon have you found aunt Phoebe?" Chris asked, and she beckoned him up the stairs.

"Come see, come see." She said, giving Piper a significant look, and her sister smiled in silent thanks.

Not that she would admit it, but she would also feel safer if her son was as far away from any of Dan's family as possible. Even if it was Jenny.

As Phoebe pulled her nephew up the stairs, Piper filled two glasses with juice and set one in front of Jenny as she entered the conservatory.

"So Jenny, what's up?" she asked, and Jenny looked at her sadly.

"Firstly, we had no idea about how ill uncle Dan was. We didn't have any idea that he would force his way into your lives, tell you what to do, and we never dreamed that he would try to kill anyone." She said earnestly, her eyes wide and shocked as she recounted her uncle's crimes.

Piper nodded, but inside her head, her eyes were narrowed. Perhaps Jenny didn't know that her incredibly nosey father had investigated both Leo and Chris, and had also buried the assault charge Dan had been convicted of before he had even come back into her life. Either way, she didn't want to ruin her illusions of her uncle, which aside from what he had done to Chris, must have been relatively good.

"Well I'm sorry Jenny, but he did try to kill someone. The cute kid that opened the door to you, he was the one who your uncle tried to kill. And if we hadn't gotten there when we did, then he would have succeeded too." Piper said softly, suppressing a shudder.

Because if they hadn't gotten there when they had, she would have lost the son she didn't even know she had, and the fact scared her more than anything else.

"He was who Dan tried to kill? Wow, now I think he's extra crazy." Jenny stated musingly, and Piper sensed her maternal instincts kicking in, figuring out what she was talking about.

"Jenny, trust me, cute though he might be, Chris isn't for you." She said patiently, and Jenny blushed.

"I know that Piper, geez, it just seems a shame that uncle Dan nearly killed someone as cute as him." She said conversationally, and Piper rolled her eyes, already accepting that when baby Chris was all grown up and started dating, he would most likely keep any girlfriend far away from the house, in order to spare them the wrath of his overprotective mother.

"So why are you here, other than to apologise?" Piper asked curiously, and Jenny looked at her pleadingly.

"Well, I came to see uncle Dan, and he isn't doing so good. He's completely crazy, he thinks he's haunted." She said sadly, and Piper had to suppress a grin at the thought of Prue, her mom and Grams terrorising him.

"Yeah, so I heard. But Jenny, I can't do anything about that, your uncle is, well he's very ill, he's having delusions." She said, and Jenny nodded.

"Yeah, I get that, I do. But see, my mom and dad are out in Nigeria with work, and I'm sort of here on my own, so I only have him to talk to. He really misses you Piper. He keeps muttering about you, and I don't know, I sort of hoped that, despite what he's done, you might go and see him? It might really help him, the doctors reckon it might too. And I know it's asking a lot, considering what he nearly did to Chris, and you seem to quite like him, but you used to love uncle Dan, so, could you maybe just go and see him? Once? Please?" Jenny begged, and Piper looked at her, trying to keep the incredulity of the statement from getting to her.

She wanted her, to go and see her ex boyfriend, who was insane, had wanted to control her life, was suspicious, paranoid and jealous, who had tried to turn her against Leo, tried to force out Paige, had actually turned her against Chris and to top it off had tried to murder her son?

She was crazier than Dan was!

"Jenny sweetie, I'm sorry, but I just don't think that's a very good idea. After all, it was because of me that your uncle had his breakdown, and somehow I don't think seeing me will help him any. Not that I don't want to," she lied, seeing the crestfallen expression on Jenny's face, "I just don't think its a very good idea. Besides, I can hardly go to a mental hospital with Wyatt." She reasoned, and Jenny nodded.

"Oh, that's ok then. But couldn't you get Phoebe or Prue to watch Wyatt? He's your son right?" she asked, and Piper looked at her in astonishment.

"Jenny sweetie, Prue's dead." She said, and Jenny's eyes widened in shock.

"What? Dead? When? What happened?" she demanded, and Piper looked at her incredulously.

Dan had known about Prue's death, surely he had told Jenny? Mind you, he was crazy back then too, and considering his rather medieval views on women he probably hadn't told her because then she would be getting upset, probably didn't think she could handle it as she was too young, an emotional woman.

"Honey, she died three years ago." Piper said softly, and tears formed in Jenny's eyes and she broke down into sobs, leaving Piper with a distraught teenager on her hands.

"Paige!" Piper called desperately, and looked for tissues to give to Jenny.

XX

"Sorry aunt Phoebe but I don't think he's the one who's after Wyatt." Chris said, and Phoebe pouted.

"Well why not?" she asked petulantly, and he grinned.

"Because while it is a good theory, it can't be him, because I vanquished him the week you and mom kicked me out." He said brightly, and she went slightly pink.

After finding out he was her nephew, and apologising for hitting on him and being a crappy aunt in the future who ignored him in favour of Wyatt, since then she had been the sister working most tirelessly to help him find whoever was trying to hurt his big brother. While Paige and Piper were helping, they had their own problems, but Phoebe, being the sort of supernatural machine that she was, managed to attend to her job, her wiccan duties, fussing over her two nephews and helping Chris all at once.

"Oh. Well, that's ok then." She said sheepishly, not wanting to traverse over the painful reminder of what she and her sister had done to Chris when Dan had convinced Piper to turn on him.

Chris was looking ponderingly out of the window, and Phoebe didn't even need her empathy to know that something was bothering him.

"Chris, what is it? Come on, talk to auntie Phoebe!" she wheedled, sitting him down on aunt Pearl's couch and sitting beside him.

"It's nothing, I'm just being stupid." He said dismissively, and she looked at him in understanding, a far cry from what he was used to with her.

"Is it because of Jenny?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Yeah." He muttered, and she took his hand.

The poor kid was still rattled by how close Dan had come to destroying him. After all, Dan had turned the people he loved against him, and had then tried to kill him, and if they had arrived any later, Chris would have died. And while he hadn't admitted it to any of them, Chris was scared by how close he had come to death, how close he had come to nearly being condemned to death by a bad decision made by his mother and aunt, choosing Dan over him. And now, Jenny, Dan's niece, was in the house, and even though she was just a harmless girl, she was still related to Dan, and Phoebe supposed it was only natural that he was slightly frightened about having else who could be like Dan so close, especially with what Dan had wanted to do to his mother.

"Honey, Jenny's harmless." She said placatingly, and he shot her a look, half exasperated, half amused.

"You also said Dan was harmless, a great guy, and look what happened." He reminded her, and she did have to admit he had her there.

"Yeah, we got him wrong. Badly wrong. But Chris, she's just a kid, a normal, mortal kid. She can't hurt any of us, why would she want to?" she asked, and Chris shrugged.

"Why would a normal mortal man want to hurt me? He still did." He said sadly, and she rubbed his back.

"Because he was insane. Is that what's bothering you, you think because you're a witch you shouldn't be attacked by mortals?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"No, nothing like that. What I mean is, I'm a witch, who can orb all over creation, flick people away with my fingers, and as soon as he wrapped his hands around my throat, I was completely powerless. I couldn't do anything to protect myself, he nearly killed me." He said, and she sighed as she realised what was really going on in his head.

She took his hands in hers, and looked at him intently.

"Hey. I don't know if your mom or I ever told you this when you were growing up, but Prue once had a stalker. Crazy bitch wanted to be Prue. And believe me, she came very close to killing Prue, she ambushed her, lured us out of the house, and was just about to kill her when we got here to save her. Just because we're witches doesn't mean we don't attract normal bad guys Chris, we still do. And Prue felt nearly as defenceless as you did when Dan attacked you. It doesn't make you any less of a witch because you couldn't defend yourself, Wyatt's fiddled with your powers, you couldn't help feeling so powerless. It's not your fault you nearly died, and it in no way means that you're weak. Ok? Not all of our bad guys are demons and warlocks, some are human, and sometimes they're just as bad as the demons. It wasn't your fault what happened, and Jenny isn't Dan. Believe me, Piper would rather let the entire world burn than risk anything happening to you again. Your powers froze not because of anything wrong with you, but because of something Wyatt did. It wasn't your fault sweetie, you don't need to be scared anymore." She said softly.

"I just, hate that feeling of being so powerless, being unable to help myself, it was scary how weak I felt, how useless I was. He nearly got me, and I couldn't do a damn thing to stop him. And now, someone else who's related to him is here, and I'm just worried that they'll do that to me again, hurt me like that again, make me that powerless and useless. I had never been so scared as I was then, and I..." he said worriedly, and Phoebe pulled him into a hug.

"Oh honey, it's ok. Believe me, you wouldn't be the first Halliwell to freeze up because of something that seems trivial. You're freaking out over a girl with the same last name as the guy who almost killed you. Your mom freaked out because of a sea hag, who on any normal day she could blow up without so much as breaking a sweat. It's ok to be irrationally scared Chris. It's ok to be scared, to feel weak and powerless, because Dan made you weak and powerless, and was trying to kill you. What you're thinking is natural, if irrational." She assured him, and he smiled at her.

"Thanks aunt Phoebe. I know it seems weird, me being so scared, but..."

"Chris, he almost killed you. It's ok to be scared of him." She intoned, and Chris shrugged.

"Yeah but when I confronted him, it didn't bother me."

"That might have been due to the lack of his hands around your neck," she said wryly, and looked at him intently, "Chris, you aren't a coward, or weak. You're just human, who got spooked by a human bad guy. Trust me, Prue was spooked too. And between you and me, you're even braver than she was." She said fondly and he grinned.

"Thanks." He said, just as Piper entered, looking irate.

"I'm going to kill him!" she raged, and the two of them looked at her curiously.

"Who?" Phoebe asked in confusion.

"That asshole who tried to kill my son." She sneered angrily, and Phoebe looked at Chris with a smile.

"I'm assuming she means your one, most of the ones trying to kill Wyatt are gone." She said, and Chris grinned.

"Why? What's he done?"

"He didn't tell Jenny about Prue, so now she's crying her eyes out." She said and sank down onto a rocking chair.

"Great. He really was a jerk wasn't he?" Phoebe asked, and Chris smiled smugly.

"Told you so."

"I know you did honey. I mean, why the hell wouldn't he tell her?" Piper grumbled, and Phoebe nodded towards the door.

"What does she want anyway?" she asked curiously, and Piper scowled darkly.

"For me to go and visit Dan, she seems to think it will help him. She also doesn't think her father knew about him, but I'm not so generous." She said grouchily.

Chris' eyes flashed.

"She wants you to visit the guy who almost killed me?" he demanded angrily, and she nodded reluctantly.

"Don't worry, I told her no. I might not be able to control myself if I see him again." She said tartly, and Phoebe smiled, while Chris looked relieved.

"Alright, I need to go into the office. Want a lift somewhere?" Phoebe asked Chris, who looked at her in surprise.

"Oh, um, I don't know, I was going to stay here, but with someone related to Dan here..." he said nervously.

"Who also thinks you're cute." Piper said in distaste, approving as Chris rolled his eyes and sighing in disgust as the smile on Phoebe's face.

"Go with Phoebe sweetie, go shopping or something, just until Jenny's gone. Then she can get on without thinking romantically about you, and you don't have to be in the same place as her." Piper said, and Chris grinned a little.

"You trying to get rid of me?" he asked, and she smiled.

"Ys. The last thing I need is the niece of my insane, murderous ex boyfriend fancying my son. Go on, scat." She said, and Chris rose to go with Phoebe, who was rummaging in her purse.

"Here, go and treat yourself, buy some clothes, some books, go to the arcade, buy lunch for yourself, just relax a little." She told him, giving him fifty dollars.

"Wow, thanks Phoebe. Strange, it used to be Paige I would rip off." He mused, and he followed her towards the stairs.

"And you could get a haircut!" Piper called after them.

"Give it a rest mom!" he yelled back, and Phoebe laughed as they headed down the stairs.

XX

Jenny eventually calmed down, and started a rapport with Paige, finding out all about her as she got to know her.

"Wait, you're here on your own?" Paige asked incredulously, thinking it was highly irresponsible to leave a girl of sixteen to fend for herself.

"Yeah, it's ok though, I still go to school and everything, it's just better, I don't have any parents nagging me." She said brightly, and Paige frowned.

"Well, you can't stay by yourself, you shouldn't be on your own, you're underage." She said, and Jenny rolled her eyes.

"Paige, relax, I can look after myself." She said soothingly, but Paige shook her head.

"I don't doubt that, but I think you should stay here. It's closer to your school and to visit your uncle anyway." She said, and Jenny's face lit up.

"Really? You mean it?" she asked, and Paige nodded.

"Yeah. You're sixteen Jenny, we can't have you being off on your own. And Piper won't mind." Paige said, and Jenny hugged her.

"Thanks Paige, you're the best." She said, and Paige smiled too.

Yeah, she was that.

XX

"You did what?" Piper hissed, and Paige looked at her sister worriedly.

"I said she could stay here for a few days until her parents get back." She said, wondering what she had done wrong, all she was doing was helping the girl out.

"Paige...sweetie. Remember Chris? Quite tall, quite cute, very neurotic and was almost murdered by her uncle? Him? My son, who is staying here too, in the same house as someone even remotely connected with Dan?" Piper asked in a voice of forced sweetness, and Paige gulped.

"I hadn't thought of that. Sorry Piper, but she's just a kid, even if she is crazy, what harm can she do?" she asked, and Piper sighed.

"Probably not much, but that isn't something I'm willing to risk. Either way, Chris is still freaked and I don't think Jenny staying here will help him any." She said, and Paige nodded.

"I didn't think Piper, I'm sorry. But, I thought he was ok with it." She said in concern, and Piper shrugged.

"I don't know. I think it's just because Dan got really close, he's rattled. And I know the two of us are being irrational honey, but I can't help it. Alright. She can stay. But I don't like it." She said warningly, and Paige nodded.

"It's alright, she's already volunteered to stay on the couch, and it's just for a few days. And I'll make sure she stays away from Chris." She assured her, and Piper smiled.

"Thank you. I know we're being dumb, but still. Alright, I suppose I better think of something to look for tea then. Go on, tell your new bff she can stay. But make sure you imply that Chris isn't interested." She said warningly, and Paige nodded.

"It'll be fine Piper. She thinks he's cute, that's all. Don't worry, I won't let her steal your baby from you." Paige said teasingly, and Piper glowered at her, and Paige wisely, hastily made her escape.

XX

Chris and Phoebe entered together, Chris carrying a few shopping bags, grinning in anticipation at the comment of his mother when she saw he hadn't gotten a haircut.

"Thanks aunt Phoebe." He said, setting down the couple of bags of clothes, books and other things he had bought.

"You're welcome honey. Yay, my nephew loves me now." She said cheerfully, and he grinned, shooting her a sceptical look.

"Wait a minute, are you trying to buy my affections?" he asked, and she shrugged.

"If it works, yes." She said, and he snorted with amusement.

"Well, it does help, but that's not what's doing it. Just being a proper aunt for a change is winning you major brownie points." He said, and she smiled proudly, just as Jenny appeared around the corner, grinning.

"Hi Phoebe!" she said brightly, and Phoebe smiled back, though exchanging a confused glance with Chris.

"Hi Jenny, what are you still doing here?" she asked uncertainly, and Jenny gave her a big smile.

"Well Paige didn't want me staying on my own for the next few days, so she offered to let me stay here until my parents get back. Isn't that awesome?" she asked brightly, and Phoebe grinned.

"Yeah it is. Hang on, I need to go and talk to my sisters." She said and headed off to find Paige.

"Hi." Chris said uncertainly, as Jenny began peering into his shopping bags nosily.

"Hi Chris." She said with a shy grin, looking at him in interest.

"Um, what are you doing?" he asked, as she looked in another shopping bag, this one full of clothes.

"Just looking. I think you'll look great in that black shirt by the way." She said, then skipped off, leaving Chris slightly dumbfounded.

"Uh...thanks I think." Chris said, watching as she disappeared into the conservatory.

Jenny was staying here, in the manor. And it was clear that she already had something of a crush on him, which he could seriously do without. For a start, she was related to Dan, and anyone related to Dan, he didn't want anything to do with. Now at least he finally understood why people treated him with as much fear and anger as they treated Wyatt in the future, it just came naturally after a traumatic event. Secondly, she was sixteen, which meant she was both too young and much too old for him. And second, she seemed, well annoying, you didn't just go rummaging in people's shopping bags, especially when you hardly knew them.

He shook his head at his own paranoia and stupidity. He was being silly. Dan was a threat, he was a fully grown man, who clearly knew how to use his hands. Jenny was just a kid, some silly, lovestruck teenager. Besides, there was no proof she was insane like her uncle, her biggest problem was the fact that she was here and was willing to forgive Dan, and that she had an irritating personality.

But still, he had an uneasy feeling in his stomach as he headed through to the kitchen to greet his mother.

XX

Jenny watched as Chris headed towards the kitchen, eyeing him appraisingly. Who was he really? All she knew was that the three sisters seemed to be very protective of this dark, brooding hotty. Quite tall, with vivid green eyes, long hair that was to the length of his neck, tucked behind his ears, part of it brushed to the side, his face attractively pale, dressed in a black tshirt, jeans and hoody. God was he nice looking.

She couldn't fathom why her uncle would want to kill him, insane or not. He just seemed too yummy. She smiled, as images of Chris kissing her played in her mind. Sighing dreamily, she sat daydreaming, until Piper called her for dinner, interrupting the image of her in a wedding dress, outside a church, standing beside her gorgeous husband Chris.

Hello again!

I am refreshed and recharged, and here I am with a second story, a sequel to Past Mistakes.

I know not a lot happens in this chapter, this is mainly to set the scene.

Poor Chris, he's still a bit nervous after Dan tried to kill him. And Jenny has returned, and yes, I know how unpopular she was, that is sort of the point.

But its clear Jenny has the hots for Chris, but will she be as crazy as her uncle in going about attracting his attention, or is she just a normal whining teenager? Mind you, she cant be that normal, after all, she wants Piper to visit Dan, so she cant be all there, either that or shes just stupid.

Anyway, this is just a scene setting chapter, I hope to update tomorrow, but I hope you like so far, and it will start to get more exciting next chapter, I promise. Oh, and the 'villain' of the piece hasnt been seen yet

So, until next time, please read and review!