He felt a hand brush through his hair as he groggily woke up. As his green eyes opened he met concerned brown ones. He tried to smile but he couldn’t.

“You understand why I did this don’t you honey?”

He nodded afraid to speak as his voice would certainly crack. She had been there for him, always. Before his mom died she was always there to spoil him rotten and when Piper died and Leo would forget him she never did. He would wait and wait after he had reminded his father of the parent teacher’s meeting a hundred times but he would never come, and she would squeeze his hand and continue asking the teachers about him. She had arrived, in time, without him even having to tell her about the meeting. He knew Prue or Wyatt had mentioned. Wyatt would always get angry at their father later on. He would always berate him for missing the meeting.

“I’ll be there next time Wyatt,” Leo would say. “Don’t we have one next week?”

“That’s mine, and I know you’ll be there. I’m talking about Chris!”

He’d defend him. Be the best big brother Chris could ask for and Chris couldn’t understand what went wrong. Why would the brother who took care of him kill the ones he loved?

“These last four years, after I lost Henry and my girls you were all I was living for, Chris. Because I love you and because I knew that if the situation had been reversed Piper would have done all she could for my girls,” her voice was thick but she was still composed as she had been ever since he woke up in pain right after Bianca rescued him. He was eighteen. He had taken two years to figure out how to get them out and another year of fighting for their lives, for everyone’s, before he managed to convince them his plan was their best chance.

“I love you too Aunt Paige,” he said thickly as he got up and hugged her fiercely as if he could keep her with him.

After a while she let go and looked straight at him, “You should tell them. You have the right to have their support.”

“But what if when I go back she’s still dead?” he asked quietly, his eyes wet with unshed tears.

“You don’t know that. You’ve already changed some. Your dad’s here instead of up there.”

“Was she al-“

“No, she wasn’t,” she shook her head sadly, “that happened the same way but maybe, maybe you just have to show him that you both need him not just Wyatt.”

“I tried, all my life,” he said in a whisper.

“Yes, but he can be quite thick when he wants to. Maybe he needs help.” She smiled sadly. “But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love just as much.”

Chris shook his head, “He does Chris. Believe me.”

Chris didn’t answer, he just hugged her more.

---

“You know, I’m not going anywhere soon and in less then seven years, voilá, me again!”

Piper looked at her older sister, was she older still? Piper was already older than Prue had been when she died.

“Yeah, well you died. And no one had authorized that,” she said briskly as she changed Wyatt.

“You mean; you didn’t. You know back in my timeline, seven years from now, you pointedly ignored for a month before shouting at me. I thought we could skip that this time, even though I had fun watching you ignore me when I was standing right next to you.”

“Well watch me again,” she said picking up Wyatt and walking out of the nursery.

“Like mother like son,” Prue muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she smiled and Piper narrowed her eyes. She turned around and walked purposely towards downstairs and the kitchen. She passed older Paige and Chris. She noticed they both had bloodshot eyes but said nothing. Chris looked like he had just woken up. He was frowning at the blanket that was on him.

“How did I get here?” he asked.

“Ask Leo,” she answered. She was not going near that boiling kettle.

“He magically doped me didn’t he?” he asked annoyed.

She smirked at him as he huffed and stalked towards the kitchen. Phoebe and Leo where already there.

“Breakfast anyone?” Leo asked.

“You made me sleep!” Chris accused Leo poking him with his index finger. Leo was quite unfazed.

“Better than let you freeze,” he shrugged.

“That’s, that’s, that’s- cheating!” Chris spluttered.

“Yeah,” Leo agreed with a smile.

“Let’s have breakfast people. We need to get all our intel together and see what’s the best way for you to proceed,” older Paige said, well kind of ordered.

Everyone did sit down and young Paige said, “What will we do? We can’t very well just confront and blow all the elders and cleaners up!”

“That’s a good-“ Piper started saying but shut up as she glanced at Leo.

“She’s right. If this is an Elder he is either a loner or has too few supporters. If not he wouldn’t go through all this trouble. He would have all the Elders backup to act and they would just order Wyatt removed like when the Cleaners tried,” Chris said.

“This could be a Cleaner that wasn’t satisfied when they didn’t manage to remove Wyatt,” Leo pointed out and Piper did sympathize with him but she was not going to overlook the Elders.

“But an Elder is more probable since they are the ones that train the Whitelighters and have easier access,” older Paige stated. “But Chris is right, and the Elders do serve their purpose, we can’t just wipe them off. We need to find out which one or ones is behind this and deal with them, preferably in a way that will have the other Elders on our sides not his.”

“Yes, but the clock is ticking,” Phoebe said.

“Yet we still have six months before they make their move, especially if we don’t alert them that we are on to them,” Prue said.

“How do we do that?” young Paige asked and the three future members of their group traded smirks.

“Feed them false intel,” Chris said simply. “Let the Elders think we’re looking somewhere else. Let them comfortable.”

Piper couldn’t help but wonder how many of strategy meetings Chris and her sisters had to have had in the future to talk like that so easy. “Feed them false intel”. Was that a common practice? Paige had mentioned Bianca was supposed to spy for them. She couldn’t even imagine living in a world where you needed spies and to gather “intel”.

“We can’t rush this and risk them acting sooner because we alerted them. We have six months, then let’s use them to do this thoroughly,” Phoebe agreed with the future members. The others nodded and after they ate breakfast they gathered together to finish Paige’s list of potential enemies and to make a list of demons they could use as false leads. As twelve o’ clock approached Piper saw Chris excuse himself but she didn’t see him come back and the clock was ticking. In less then an hour Paige would leave. Where was he?

---

Chris tried his best to be inconspicuous and when the lunch break came he approached the little six year old girl without the teacher seeing.

“Hey Bianca,” he asked gently. “Can you do me a favor?”

The girl looked up at him and narrowed her eyes suspiciously, “How do you know my name?”

He crouched down and smiled, “I know the future, and I know you’ll be a heroin.”

“Really?” she asked bright eyed.

“Humhum, but right now I need a favor,” and he took a little coin. “I need you to take this and close your eyes and try to shimmer.”

“How do you know that? We’re not supposed to do that in public!” she said her eyes going round.

“No one is around,” he said smiling. And he was right the corridor was deserted. Luckily for him Bianca had strayed behind.

“Will you do me this favor? I need this very much.”

The little girl took the coin and pondered. She then resolutely nodded, “To where?”

“To here, I just need you to try and shimmer.”

She closed her eyes and Chris started chanting. The shimmering energy started to involve her and went straight to the coin witch went hot then cold again. The little girl gasped and dropped the coin.

“What happened? Did you steal my shimmering?” she asked suspiciously.

He smiled picking the coin up, “Just borrowed a bit. Try again. You’re good.”

And she did and shimmered away and back and smiled relieved.

“Good, mummy would be so angry.”

“Thank you,” he smiled, kissed her cheek and orbed out.

---

They were getting the portal ready and still no Chris. She thought of calling him but he wouldn’t deliberately miss Paige’s departure, would he? Piper asked herself. She was about to yell when he orbed in.

“Where were you?” she snapped.

“Getting something,” he answered vaguely.

“Better have been something important.”

“It was.”

“All ready,” older Paige said as she finished drawing the triquetra.

“I guess this is goodbye,” she tried to smile.

Piper nodded and came forward to hug her. She didn’t know why. They hadn’t talked or bonded much, but this was her little sister after all. “Good luck and take care.”

Phoebe came next, “We’ll change this all.”

Leo agreed as he too gave her a hug, “Tell my future self I’ll kick his ass if he doesn’t make sure you’re fine.”

Older Paige turned to her younger self and young Paige said, “This is weird.”

“Yes,” older Paige chuckled she hugged her younger self, “Hopefully you’ll never become me.”

She turned to Prue, “Hey big sister, don’t cry.”

“M’not crying,” Prue said through tears. “I know you. You’re too annoying to die,” she said as she hugged Paige fiercely. “I love you, you were never a replacement you know that?”

“Took me some time but eventually I figured that one out. I love you too.”

They drew apart but still held each other loosely and Paige planted a kiss on Prue’s forehead.

She then turned to Chris and pulled him in the same loose embrace.

“You take care, and think about what I said. Make sure Prue doesn’t cause too much trouble.”

“Hey!”

“You get out of there as fast as you can, okay? Don’t linger, and blast your way out if you have too,” he said his voice thick and his hands convulsively tightening on Paige’s arms, and Piper had the feeling Paige knew all that but let him talk to feel better. “I got you this,” and he handed her a coin and Paige smiled.

“He’ll probably have thought of that you know?”

“Doesn’t hurt to try,” Chris shrugged.

“Bianca?”

“Yah, I went to her school but that will work.”

Piper wondered what that was and then remembered Paige’s word, “found a way to put shimmering into objects”. The Manor would be warded against orbing not shimmering. Chris was trying his best to give her an escape route.

Paige hugged Chris again and Piper was startled by his words, “You were the best second mum I could have asked for.”

Second mum, did Paige raise him after he lost his family? That would explain the closeness.

“You were always my favorite you know?” she smiled at him. As he reluctantly released her she walked back and the girls started chanting. The portal opened and Paige stepped in with a last look back. Chris’s face was set. Piper knew he was trying his best to hold his emotions together as he held a crying Prue. Be strong for her.

As the portal closed a part of Piper went cold at the thought of what her baby sister would face at her baby’s hand.