Three Ways Chris's Identity Was Never Revealed
copyright@2004
A/N: This story was written for the charmedsanta project at livejournal for sparkle_fever. She shared a love of Chris Perry and how could I resist not writing him another story?
**
1. Paige Matthews, Super Sleuth
Paige orbed into the small room attached to P3 with a sneaky smile curling up out of the corners of her mouth. Chris was busy following up on some sort of massive attack on innocents for the Elders and wouldn’t be back for hours. Finally, Paige possessed a few minutes to herself to properly snoop and find out exactly why the Charmed One’s whitelighter from the future was so damn elusive about things. Their relationship with Chris was nothing like the one the girls had with their original whitelighter, Leo. Sure, it was doubtful that could happen since Leo was married to Piper and not from the future and stuff – but was a little back-story, maybe an anecdote about an evil ex-girlfriend, too much to ask for?
Her sisters were against the idea – sometimes it was because they thought he deserved to be left alone and sometimes it was simply because they were so infuriated with him that they couldn’t care less. Paige decided that her sisters were wrong and that Chris was definitely worthy of investigation. After all, there was something about him. Her gut screamed, her chest tightened, and her brain told her there was something there, something she needed to know.
She started with the desk in the corner, covered in books and papers. She glanced over them, but none of it made any sense to her. Timelines and other demon craziness that didn’t enthrall her at all. She was there for one purpose – to learn more about Chris the person. Surely there was more to him than his obsession with demons.
She moved onto his closet and searched through the hangers of shirts and pants only to discover...absolutely nothing.
She looked around the remainder of the room, stumbling upon one tape of Baywatch episodes that made her giggle, but nothing else. It was as if Chris was some sort of monk who had given up all materialistic possessions. That was definitely not normal, and somewhat suspicious.
That was when she saw it. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a golden picture frame glistening against the fluorescent lighting, peeking out from under a pillow. She picked it up and gasped.
It was a photo of her family – Piper, Leo, and Wyatt – with a small brown-haired boy included, arm draped over Wyatt’s shoulder. They were all smiling and looked happy. It was her family. Why would Chris have this photograph? She knew that he had studied Leo and the Charmed Ones before coming back to battle the Titans...but a photograph? That seemed a bit stalker-esque.
“It couldn’t be,” she muttered.
When she took a closer look at the photo, the green eyes staring back at her were hard to dismiss and it struck her. She knew what Chris had been hiding this whole time, but she couldn’t understand why. If he was...if this was...if he was a Halliwell, why wouldn’t he say anything? Why would he hide it and act like a stranger?
Of course, would she or her sisters have believed him if he showed up and said, “Hey, I’m Chris, Wyatt’s brother?" It took them long enough to accept Chris’ reasons for coming back in time, to save the future from Wyatt.
It all made sense though. The weird link she had always felt to him that she had tried to play off as a whitelighter/charge thing. The fierce protestations he made that he was trying to save them and Wyatt. The way he would stare at Piper when he thought no one was looking.
Chris was her nephew.
Chris was her family and he needed someone on his side while he was there. He needed her, someone who understood what it was like to come into this pre-constructed family unit and shake it up.
“What are you doing here?”
Paige dropped the frame and spun around. She met Chris’ angered gaze and shrugged, “Oops. I thought...aren’t you supposed to be following up on something in the underworld?”
“I did,” Chris replied. He picked up the picture frame and went completely rigid. His fingers brushed over the photo and he let out a long, hiss of a sigh. “Where did you find this?”
“You’re not very good at hiding things, Chris. For a Halliwell, that surprises me.”
Chris’ eyes widened, but he didn’t say anything. It was then that Paige knew for sure that she was right. He was her nephew, her blood. She reached out to touch his arm, but he pulled away. She rolled her eyes and said, “And you are a Halliwell, aren’t you? You're Piper and Leo’s son.”
“You shouldn’t have done this, Paige.”
“Why? So you could remain aloof and annoying? I don’t think so,” she paused and looked around the bare room. “Why wouldn’t you want your family, your mother, to know who you are? I mean, this is a ridiculous way to live, Chris.”
“It’s not…it's better this way. The less any of you know about the future, the better things are.”
“Better for whom?”
Chris sat down on his bed, dropping the picture on the sheets, and replied, “None of you needed to know who I was. It doesn’t change why I’m here or what needs to be done.”
“Of course it does. You’re Piper’s son, Wyatt’s brother. It makes sense that you would want to protect them, to protect your future with them. We can help you with that, Chris. That’s what families do.”
“You can’t tell them.”
“You need to.”
“Do you really think that’s what my mother needs right now? On top of everything else, you want me to point out that she’s gonna get pregnant with me soon? Do you even think she’ll believe it?”
Paige groaned and said, “She needs to know, Chris.”
“No, she doesn’t. Not yet anyway. She’ll know soon enough.”
Paige stood up and said, “Whatever.”
Chris jumped from his seat and grabbed her arm. He looked at her, eyes pleading, and asked, “You’re not going to tell her, right? Please, Aunt Paige. I need you to help me this one last time.”
“So I help you in the future?” Paige managed. Her heart had constricted when Chris had referred to her as his Aunt. She wondered when, exactly, she had become the mushy type – that was Phoebe’s shtick.
Chris smiled and replied, “What do you think?”
Paige returned the smile and said, “I always knew that I was the cool aunt.” She wrapped her arms around Chris in an awkward hug. She pulled back and wagged her finger in his face. “This emotional blackmail thing will only work so long, Chris. Your parents are going to figure this out.”
“Not now.”
“Fine, but if you don’t tell them soon, I will,” Paige replied. She smiled at her nephew and decided that things were definitely starting to look up.
And it could’ve gone that way...except it didn’t.
2. Leo and the Truth Potion
Leo knew the chances he was taking. If the Elders or even the sisters found out about his plan, there would’ve been serious repercussions. That was why it was imperative that he keep Piper and the girls preoccupied and manage to stay off the Elders' radar for a bit longer. He had to know. He couldn’t just “let it go” when his family might be at risk.
Leo had to know if Chris was responsible for his little trip last year.
He fingered the small vile of potion as he orbed into the room at P3. Chris was asleep on the bed, something that almost surprised Leo since the whitelighter always seemed too anxious and awake for things like rest. Leo looked upward for a moment, debating whether he could go forward with this plan of his. He knew it was wrong; to force things out of someone with magic, but again his need for the truth won out.
He moved over to the bed, careful not to wake Chris until he was in a position to overtake him, and hovered over him. He placed one hand over Chris’ mouth, forcing it open enough to slip the potion in, and the other he used to hold him down.
Chris’ eyes fluttered open and he glared up at Leo. He struggled to get free and, once the vile of potion was empty, Leo let go of his hold on Chris. Chris jumped out of bed and hollered, “What the hell are you doing?”
“I told you I was going to find out the truth.”
“Truth,” Chris spat the word back in Leo’s face. He folded his arms protectively over his chest and said, “Is this more of the same? Evil Chris out to ruin good Leo’s life?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
“I have been telling you for months. I’m not the enemy.”
Leo glanced at his watch and responded, “We’ll give it another few seconds.”
“Huh?”
“Veritas potion, truth...that potion I gave you. You won’t be able to lie to me, or anyone else you stumble upon for the next twenty-four hours.”
Chris’ face contorted in anger and horror as the veracity of that statement hit him. He forced out, “Do you have any idea of what you've done?"
"Foiling your plans, I suppose."
"Foiling my..." Chris stopped and laughed bitterly. He shook his head and replied, "There are things you can’t know. Things that if I share with you could ruin the future even worse than it already is.”
“Like that you sent me to that island?”
“Yes, but I had no choice,” Chris replied, the words slipping out against his will.
“I knew it.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Understand? I get it, Chris. You wanted me out of the way so that you could get to the sisters and my son.”
“I’m here to save your son,” Chris spat out. Chris sat down on the edge of the bed and glared up at Leo. “Wyatt destroyed the future. He destroyed my life, what was left of my family...”
“And you want revenge?”
“No.”
“You’re here to destroy him when he can’t protect himself.”
“I would never hurt my brother if I had any other options. Why do you think I'm here?”
Leo’s eyes widened at the comment. He wasn’t alone in his surprise at the words that had come out. Chris looked horrified and started to orb out, but Leo stopped him.
“Let me go. You got your answers. I’m evil.”
“Chris, what are you saying? Are you my son?”
“Biologically, but you were never much of a father to me, dad,” Chris replied, pushing free of Leo’s grip.
Leo stared at him. He knew that Chris wasn’t powerful enough to lie under a Veritas potion, but how? When? Why didn’t Chris tell them? “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Would you have believed me?” Chris replied. His eyes practically piercing through Leo’s. The same eyes. They had the same eyes. How had Leo missed it?
“I don’t know.”
“You wouldn’t have believed me. I know you, Leo. And it was better this way. No one needed to know why I was here. No emotional ties to deal with, no feelings to worry about, and I could do what had to be done.”
“Was that working for you, Chris? Being at odds with everyone all the time because you didn’t tell us who you were?”
Chris stood up and rolled his eyes at his father. “Do you think this is easy for me? Do you think being close to mom and my aunts knowing the things I do and not trying to fix it – I can’t. I could mess things up more. And what about Wyatt? Seeing him like this, when he was good...I lost my brother a long time ago. I lost my best friend because he decided power was more important than family.” Chris cleared his throat, trying to keep the pain out of his voice. He muttered, “I’ll never forgive you for doing this to me, Leo.”
“I had to know the truth.”
“And now you do,” Chris replied, orbing out of the room.
Leo let him go and didn’t attempt to follow him. Instead he sat down on the bed and wondered how he had never seen it before. Looking back over all of their conversations and the way Chris was so fiercely protective of the girls, it made sense. Chris was his son. And now his son hated him.
Leo knew he had to fix things between them. He had to help Chris anyway he could, get it through that thick skull of his that he wasn’t alone in all of this. He had to convince Chris to let his mother know the truth because Piper was much better at this parenting stuff and would know what to say to him.
Leo glanced around the room, his son’s room, one last time before orbing out. He was going to fix things for Chris.
And it could’ve gone that way too...but we know that it didn’t.
3. An Evil Wyatt from the Future Can Put a Real Damper on Things
Piper made her way toward the sounds coming from the attic. She stopped by the nursery to check on Wyatt first. He was playing with one of his toys and smiled up at his mother, unaware of whatever was going on above him. Piper returned the smile and said, “Wyatt, shield.”
Immediately Wyatt’s protective shield went up. Feeling contented in his momentary safety, Piper blew him a kiss and rushed up the stairs to the attic. When she opened the door she saw Phoebe and Paige getting their butts kicked by some sort of clan of demons. Piper threw out her hands and blew up one of them. She called out, “Chris!”
Chris orbed in within seconds as Piper managed to blow another one up. “What’s up?”
Piper rolled her eyes and pointed at the demon fighting with Phoebe. She said, “I can’t get a clear hit on him without blowing up my sister.”
Chris rushed to Paige’s side, helping her up, and said, “You and Piper need to get out of here.”
“What about Phoebe?”
“I’ll help her.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Paige...” Chris was interuptted as the demon that had been fighting with Phoebe turned its attention to him.
The demon picked Chris up, holding him up for examination. The demon grinned mirthlessly at him and said, “Chris, the master will be pleased that you’re still in one piece. This way he can take you apart bit by bit himself.”
Chris rolled his eyes and said, “Let them go, Loki. You’re here for me.” When Chris glanced at the three witches, he screamed, “Get out of here. Get Wyatt and go!”
“We’re not leaving you,” Paige stated. She had a piece of paper she had just scribbled a spell down on. The sister’s gathered around the piece of paper and read the incantation, causing the demon to drop Chris as he turned to dust.
Chris picked himself up off the floor, brushing the dust from his shirt, and glanced back at the sisters. He said, “They’re the initial team. More are coming and you need to go.”
“We’re not leaving you here to battle demons, Chris. This is what we do,” Phoebe responded.
“You can’t be here for this one. You need to get Wyatt and you need to go.”
Before any of the sisters could reply, a black portal opened in the middle of the room. When the light disappeared, a young man stood there, holding a sword and wearing a smirk.
“Did you think you could hide forever, Chris?”
“Who knew I garnered the big guy’s attention? I would’ve thought for sure it would’ve been lowly demons under your control that came, not you,” Chris commented. He motioned to the sisters and said, “Let them go. This doesn’t concern them.”
The young man laughed, “Of course it does. They’re the ones who made me who I am.”
“Don’t blame them for that,” Chris spat.
Piper stepped up and said, “You want Chris, you have to get through us first.”
The young man rolled his eyes and with the flick of a wrist the three sisters were thrown to the ground and encaged in magical bars. He smiled and said, “Not even the Charmed Ones are any match for me.”
“And who are you exactly?” Paige questioned, trying to orb free of the bars without much success.
The young man stepped closer to the three sisters, despite Chris’ protestations. His eyes traveled over the three of them before locking on Piper’s and he replied, “Surely you recognize your own son, mom.”
“What?”
Wyatt laughed and said, “You’ll be pleased to know that there is no greater force in my time than me.”
“Let them go, Wyatt,” Chris demanded.
Wyatt turned his attention back to Chris for a brief second before turning back to the sisters and said, “Take Chris for example...”
“Don’t Wyatt—“ Chris started.
Wyatt flicked his wrist and Chris’ mouth was bonded shut. Wyatt rolled his eyes and said, “Chris is always trying to do the right thing, always so afraid of his powers, always so jealous of mine.”
“I can’t imagine why. You crazy lunatic,” Paige muttered.
Wyatt focused his gaze on her and said, “It makes sense that you would take his side, Aunt Paige. You always did growing up. Chris was your favorite.”
“Excuse me?"
Wyatt concentrated his gaze back on his mother and laughed, “Surely his own mother recognized him.” When the girls remained quiet, Wyatt moved back over to Chris. He removed the binding over his mouth and said, “Poor Chris. No one knows who you are or cares. Do they, baby brother?”
“Brother,” Phoebe repeated. She glanced at Piper whose mouth was agape and tears were trailing down her cheeks. Phoebe didn’t need to use her empath powers to know that her sister was in a great deal of pain at witnessing this scene between her two sons.
“Yes, brother,” Wyatt replied. He raised his sword to Chris’ neck and said, “The one person I never expected to betray me, the one person I offered to share my kingdom with only to be rebuffed with a rebellion.” Wyatt's gaze pierced through Chris and he added, "One that I squashed the same way I'll squash you, Chris."
“You and your dragons destroyed the city. You killed people, innocents. I couldn't stand by your side while you did that, Wyatt. You used to understand our purpose, but somewhere along the way you got all messed up.”
“You've always been too good, too much like them, too blinded to see the greatness we were meant for,” Wyatt paused and pointed to his mother and aunts before continuing, “You could never understand the true power of magic, Chris. Your gifts were wasted, and for what? You can never overpower me.”
Chris glanced at his mother, who was now in an almost state, and he felt anger surge through him in a way it hadn’t in months. He sent Wyatt flying across the room, giving him enough time to remove his aunts and mother from the cage. He looked at them and said, “You need to send him back.”
“What?”
“I can’t do it. I’m not strong enough.”
“Chris...”
“I’ll keep him preoccupied long enough for the three of you to do it.”
“It would be better if we—“
Reading Paige’s mind, Chris snapped, “We don’t kill him. If it ever comes to that, it’s gonna be me that does it. I still believe he can be saved. Just get him back to the future and make it that he can’t come back again.”
“Chris! You think you can overtake me!” Wyatt called out.
Chris moved out of the way of an energy ball, ducking behind a table. From the small opening underneath, he released his own ray of energy, knocking Wyatt to the ground. He noticed the sisters writing down a spell and he knew that he had to keep Wyatt’s attention on him. Chris had no doubt that Wyatt would hurt them, family or not.
Chris moved over toward his brother and said, “I never wanted it to come to this, Wy.”
“Because you’re weak, baby brother,” Wyatt hissed, trying to stand himself back up. Chris hit him with another ball of energy, careful not to kill him, which caused Wyatt to stumble back to the ground.
Chris focused on the sisters and hollered, “Now!”
Wyatt followed Chris’ line of vision to where the sisters were huddled together and reading aloud a spell. Wyatt tried to stand himself up, but he cried out in pain as he became transparent and a whirl of lights encircled him. He called out, “This isn’t over, Chris. I’ll be back.”
“I know,” Chris mumbled as he watched his brother disappear. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said, “And I’ll be ready.”
Piper rushed over and pulled Chris into a hug. Not the normal Piper response to things in the past, but he knew now that things were different. He had hoped to avoid this, to manage to keep his identity from coming out because he didn’t want to get attached again, didn’t want to make it harder on himself to leave.
But he found his arms responding of their own accord, wrapping around his mother and tightening their grip. Her fingers ran through his hair before she finally pulled back and said, “You’re my son.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I couldn’t.”
“I’m sorry I ever doubted you or your reasons for being here.”
“It’s okay. I would’ve been suspicious of my motives too, especially where my family was concerned.”
“But you’re my family too, Chris.”
“You didn’t know that.”
“Well, now we do,” Phoebe added. She reached out and hugged him. She smiled and said, “Welcome to the family, sweetie.”
Paige took her turn and added, “So you’re my favorite? Could’ve fooled me.”
“Yeah, well, give it time. I grow on people.”
“Like fungus. Got it,” she said with a smile.
And it could've gone like that...but it never did.
{Fin}