It was past one in the morning and everyone was asleep or so she thought. Prue and older Paige had taken Phoebe’s bed and Phoebe and her Paige were supposed to be sleeping in Paige’s. Victor had brought Wyatt back from their little play date and had almost dropped him when Prue answered the door very chirpy with a:

“Hello dad!”

Victor’s reaction seemed to be more appropriate than his daughter’s and Paige’s since as soon as the shock and explanations were made he engulfed her in a hug and had been very reluctant to let her go hours later to go back home.

She still hadn’t managed to do that, she still wanted to yell but most of all she did not want to go through the pain of losing her again.

As she entered the kitchen for a midnight snack, she was pregnant after all she found she was not the only one who had that idea and Phoebe and Paige where already delighting themselves with the previously uneaten dinner.

“This is so good! Don’t let Piper hear me but this is even better then-“

“Phoebe!”

“What?”

“Behind you.”

Phoebe turned a guilty face and stammered, “Oh, Piper er-“

“You were saying?” Piper asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Er- nothing,” Phoebe tried lamely.

Piper huffed and took a plate putting some cold chicken in her plate, “Let’s see if you are right,” she put a fork full of chicken in her mouth and had to bite her tong not to humm in pleasure. This was delicious, and when cold food is still delicious you just know that the cook is good, but she wasn’t about to say that, “Passable.”

“Do you think he’s mine?” Paige asked.

“What?” she asked.

“Chris, I mean. Did you see his reaction to my possible death and we were so close and you know, he’s part whitelighter.”

“You said Wyatt killed your kids,” Phoebe sadly pointed out.

“Yeah, but maybe one survived,” she shrugged.

“That would explain why he is so familiar with this house,” Piper said but somehow she didn’t see him as being Paige’s son. Sure he had her little sarcasm streak but he was Prue’s charge, he must have been raised around Paige and her. Maybe that’s why he cooks so well, maybe that’s why he was so familiar, maybe she taught him. “But older Paige said he was best friends with Wyatt and any son of yours has to be a few years younger than him. I don’t see kids being best friends with little brats,” she smirked.

“Unless you are planning on getting pregnant now then the difference would be only two years and the bratinness can be overcome by the cousin factor,” Phoebe said. “But in my vision you didn’t have kids yet.”

“Just a thought,” Paige shrugged.

“Maybe he is just close,” Phoebe said. “He did say he lost his family. Maybe he came to live with us.”

“Yes, that did make more sense, after all if he were a Halliwell he would have said so when he got here right? Yes, they would know if he was family they would just feel it. They would never treat family like they did Chris- would they? She swallowed another mouth full of chicken and somehow this one didn’t taste as good.

---

He was cold. He hugged himself as the wind bit against his skin. Cold was good, cold left him numb, not enough to forget he was about to lose yet another member of his family though.

Maybe she would be able to get out of the manor. Who was he kidding? They must have had to break in to be able to open a portal. Wyatt would have been alerted and posted guards just to be there when they came back. He wasn’t stupid and just like Chris had known when he saw them, Wyatt would know Paige couldn’t stay. Chris had known, but knowing and accepting are way different.

And now, his aunt would die, why couldn’t someone else’s aunt die for the greater good just for once? Why did he have to keep outliving everyone, his mum, his cousins, his uncles, his Aunt Phoebe. He closed his eyes painfully, he would never get away the image of their horrible deaths from his head.

He had begged Wyatt not to. But Wyatt had said Chris needed to see what would happen to believe him. Chris yelled that he did believe him, that he would be good, please no. But Wyatt had anyway. He had felt pleasure at killing a Charmed One. Right in front of Chris, right in front of her husband and children.

And then he killed the children, said he couldn’t let them grow up to defy him. His Uncles, according to Wyatt were just useless. And he left Prue and Paige, so that Chris would learn; learn to rule by his side.

Chris didn’t want to rule, he just wanted to live, go to school maybe have a girlfriend. He told Wyatt this and Wyatt just laughed and said he would learn. That was when he was sixteen, four years later and Chris hadn’t learned yet. He still didn’t want to rule.

He heard and felt orbs behind him but didn’t move from his lying position on the cold metal.

“Freezing yourself to death won’t change the outcome.”

“What do you know?” he snapped. “You’re cozy and safe barking orders while others risk their lives.”

“I’m an elder, I couldn’t come, that would unb-“

“Fuck the balance!” he cried getting up hastily and almost lost his balance. Leo lunged forward and held him before he fell. “This is all screwed up because someone was so worried about the balance!”

“We’re going to change this Chris. None of that will happen they won’t die, she won’t die.’

“Yes she will,” he hissed through tears. “They’re all going to be still dead when I go back. They won’t be mine.”

And Leo didn’t try to placate him he just stared at Chris as if for the first time he understood, that when Chris went back, no one would be the same, no one would remember but he would.

“You’ll still have Prue, and everyone else may be different but in essence they are the same,” Leo said quietly and before Chris could answer he felt himself being orbed away, just like when he was little. He couldn’t remember the last time someone orbed him, he was in command, on his own for so long.

---

Okay, he cheated, but honestly. The kid needed the rest.

He had already realized for a while now that Chris wasn’t evil and whatever he did was to save Wyatt, but somehow Prue’s and Paige’s arrival opened a whole knew Chris to them. For the first time Leo saw he was just a boy  struggling to save his friend, and that he had been too harsh with him.

Yes, Valhalla was cruel but needed. He saw that now.

“What happened?” he heard Piper ask as he settled Chris on the living room couch.

“Oh you know, he fell asleep,” he tried to lie vaguely. “I used some of my powers to get him to sleep,” he finished lamely.

Piper shrugged, “Yeah, well, he needed to. But you’ll deal with the aftermath,” and Leo winced.

“Let’s go to bed,” she held a hand out to him, “We need the rest too. We have a full day of planning tomorrow before Paige has to- a full day of planning.” He saw her swallow and he nodded feeling a lump in his throat. They would change this. Paige wouldn’t die and she would never become the Paige they met.