Shades of Blue
a Charmed story
by Symphonyflute
Part 1:
"There are five types of lettuce," Phoebe announced into her cell phone as she pushed her grocery cart along the produce section. "Which should I buy?"
"Well what does the recipe say?" Paige asked reasonably.
Phoebe checked the internet printout she was carrying around in her pocket. "It says lettuce," she read.
"Hmm." Paige thought about it for a minute, trying to figure out what would be the best solution. "What's the best tasting lettuce?"
Phoebe rolled her eyes, though she knew her younger sister couldn't see it. "I have no idea," she said honestly. "I didn't even know there was more than one."
"Then buy the cheapest?" she suggested.
Phoebe thought it over. "Works for me," she decided, saying good bye to Paige and putting her cell phone back in her purse. She quickly scoured the shelf, placing the least expensive head of lettuce in her court. She checked the recipe again, and realized she had only one more thing to buy before she could do some personal shopping and go home.
"Why are there no scallions here?" she wondered aloud as she walked up and down the aisle she had decided the scallions were in.
"Maybe because they're onions," Paige said as she suddenly appeared behind
Phoebe.
Phoebe gasped and nearly jumped a foot in the air. "When did you get here?" she asked."A minute ago," Paige answered. "I you-know-whated out behind the building. Piper's been giving me the third degree about my plans for tonight; you know, the whole `I don't want a party' kick? So I decided to come see how your shopping was going."
Phoebe pushed her cart back to the produce section and Paige placed a bad of scallions in it. "Anything else?" she asked.
"Just some crap for me," she said. "I'll be home in a little while."
"Then I guess I'll go brave mommy dearest," Paige said, heading toward the exit to orb home.
Phoebe was walking down the skin hair/hair care aisle when her nose was suddenly hit with a monstrous tickle. Not expecting it, she didn't have time to move to cover her mouth as she sneezed loudly and openly at the floor. "HESHOO!" Several other women in the aisle blessed her, and she blushed and smiled her gratitude.
Figuring the highly scented shampoos the aisle was filled with were bothering her, she quickly hurried out of the isle. She had barely gotten away from the shampoos when a crippling pain erupted behind her eyes and she pressed her hand to her forehead and groaned, sinking to the floor as the store spun around her.
"Are you alright?" vaguely, she heard a man's voice calling to her through the fog of agony she was suddenly in. Strong hands helped her up from the floor and to an employee ladder to sit down on a few meters away.
Slowly, the pain eased and her vision cleared, allowing her to see an older man, about fifty or so, kneeling in front of her and staring at her with concern etched on his kind
face."I'm all right," she assured the man, standing up. He tried to get her to sit back down, make sure she was ok, but she waved his worries off with her hand. "Really, I'm fine," she repeated. "I'm sure it was jut stress from work catching up with me or something." He still looked doubtful, so she tried a stab at humor. "But I'll still buy out the painkiller section. Maybe an overdose will erase any memory of this ever happening." The man laughed and patted her on the arm, leaving her to continue his shopping.
Even though she had been joking, Phoebe still entered the pharmaceuticals aisle, which ironically enough she had been right next to when she got her surprise migraine, to get a bottle of aspirin in case it happened again. She was reading the labels of the seemingly hundreds of little white bottles trying to find one that said aspirin on it, when she heard two sneezes to her left. "Hetchoo! Etchoo!"
"G'bless you," she said absent-mindedly as she continued to search the shelves.
"Thanks," said a male voice, presumably the sneezer. Phoebe was so intent on finding her aspirin so she could go home, it took her a minute to process that she recognized the voice.
"Chris?"
The brown-haired whitelighter looked up at her with a surprised expression on his face. Apparently he hadn't recognized her voice either. "Phoebe? What are you doing here?"
"Looking for aspirin," she told him curtly. It was a public store of course, but she wasn't sure how she felt about seeing Chris there. Wordlessly, he reached in front of her, causing Phoebe to jump back involuntarily, and plucked a white bottle from the sea of identical white bottles and handed it to her.
"What's up with the gloves?" she asked curiously. He had a black glove, like the ones people wear in the winter, on one hand, and the other was sticking out of his pocket, which looked especially odd considering he was wearing T-shirt. "Not going al Michael Jackson on us, are you?"
He shook his head. "It's March. Not a crime to wear gloves when it's cold out."
"But just one?"
""Yes," he defended, "one. I have one cold hand, do you have a problem with
that?""Whatever," Phoebe said. She checked the label of the bottle he had handed her. It said Bayer extra Strength Aspirin. "Thank you," she said, surprised that he had helped her after all she and her sisters had said to him, but he was gone.
Phoebe shopped around for a few more minutes, before pushing her cart over to the do it your self checkout. She finished scanning her items, slid her credit card through the card reader, and grabbed her bags.
She caught a look at the clock above the door as she walked out, and realized she was supposed to be home in three minutes, because she'd told Piper she would watch Wyatt so she could go to P3. Piper was under the impression that Paige was going to work today too, which wasn't true because she and Paige were going to cook piper's birthday dinner, but keeping up appearances was vital when it came to trying to trick the eldest Halliwell.
Phoebe began walking faster in hopes of getting to her car faster, but her heel got caught in a crack in the Pavement. She just managed to keep her balance, but her groceries crashed to the ground. She sighed in frustration, and tried to take a step forward. As it turned out, her foot was stuck, and she stumbled again.
"Need a hand?" a voice asked behind her. This time she easily recognized it as Chris, and she could almost hear him rolling his eyes, though when she turned to look at him he wore his usual unreadable expression.
"It would be very much appreciated," Phoebe admitted. Chris put his two bags on the ground and hoisted her out of the ground. "Thanks," she said gratefully as they got down on the ground to collect her spilt groceries. "That's twice in one day you've saved my but," she told him. "You know, in the non-literal way."
She gathered her mass of bags and walked at a much more conservative pace to her car. After unceremoniously dumping the bags in the trunk, she backed out of her parking spot and drove toward the road. Out of the rearview mirror, she saw Chris pick up his brown paper bags and begin walking in the opposite direction. She briefly wondered why he didn't just orb, but didn't have time to dwell on it.
"Sorry I'm late," Phoebe called as she entered the manor through the front door. After kicking off her pumps and nudging the into a corner, se carried her mass of groceries unto the kitchen and dropped them on the table. Is Piper at P3 yet?" she asked.
Paige, who was sitting at the kitchen table flipping through the want ads, shook her head. "She decided not to go. Found it to be quite a coincidence when I did too."
"Are you serious?" Phoebe gasped. "We have to hide this stuff." the two sisters began stuffing the assorted ingredients for Piper's birthday dinner, and anything else that happened to be in the bag, into the back of the refrigerator bag by bag. By the time Piper entered the kitchen, there was only one bag left, which she eyed warily.
"What did you buy?" she asked suspiciously, bouncing Wyatt on her hip.
"Just some stuff," Phoebe answered nonchalantly.
Piper raised her eyebrows. "Like party stuff?" she pried.
"Of course not," Phoebe lied. "It's just-" She looked at Paige for little help, but the phone rang and Paige went to answer it. Piper grabbed the bag with her free hand and dumped it out. "Orange juice and a ski mask," she finished, after seeing what was on the bag.
"Why would you buy a ski mask?" Piper questioned.
"You know, I have no idea," Phoebe replied honestly. Piper looked like she was going to ask some more questions, but Paige came back in the room then, holding her hand ver the mouthpiece f the cordless phone.
"Chris is on the phone," she announced in a shocked voice.
"Why the hell would he call?" Piper demanded.
"He says he ran into Phoebe at the grocery store earlier. That true?"
"Yeah," Phoebe confirmed. "What's that have to do with anything?"
"He has a can of water chestnuts and a box of tampons, and wants to know if we have a thing of orange juice and a ski mask we didn't buy."
"We do," Piper said.
"We do," Paige said into the phone. She listened for a minute, then covered the mouthpiece again. "We can't go to the park and switch items, can we?"
"Absolutely not," Piper told her. "Tell him to orb his ass over here and grab his
crap.""Orb over and get it," Paige said into the phone. She listened some more, then said "OK, bye."
"Well?" Phoebe prodded.
"He has some stuff to do but he'll be over soon," Paige answered. "But in the meantime, I have a proposition."
"What's that?" Piper asked.
"You and Wyatt should go to that Mommy and Me special they have down at the aerobics club. Phoebe and I'll be here when Chris gets here."
Piper was hesitant to go, but after a few convincing words from her younger sisters, she bundled up her toddler and went to the aerobic club.
There wasn't much they could do without the water chestnuts, so Phoebe and Paige just sorted trough the stuff they had shoved in the fridge, placing the food on the counter and the aspirin in the cupboard.
About half an hour later, the doorbell rang. Phoebe pulled the large glass door open to reveal Chris, now wearing both gloves. Phoebe handed him the bag she had accidentally taken, and he gave her hers in return, blushing a bit at what it contained. No words were exchanged, and Chris turned to go.
"Oh my God!" Paige exclaimed as she entered the foyer right before Chris began to leave. They both looked at her to see what was the matter.
"What's wrong?" Chris asked, a bit peeved. He had planned on coming and going in les then a minute, but the whitelighter in him wouldn't let him leave if something was wrong.
"Your eyes," she said.
"What about my eyes?"
"They turned blue."
Part 2
"Are you suggesting my eyes magically transformed?" he asked tensely, looking longingly at the door.
"It wouldn't be the strangest thing to happen," Paige said.
"Because it didn't," he said. "My eyes have always been blue."
"That's a lie," Phoebe told him, feeling Paige`s surge of anger at his continuous dishonesty as well as her own. "They were brown at the store."
"Then we have a mystery on our hands I suppose." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Can I go now?"
"No," the sisters told him simultaneously. Phoebe reached forward and grabbed his arm to guide him into the house, when she was hit by a vision.
Chris was sitting in a chair with his arms chained to the armrests. She couldn't see his face, and he was shadowed, but she felt fear rolling off him like sweat. A big man holding a shotgun posed to shoot approached him slowly from behind.
"What are you boy?" the man spat, kicking the chair. Chris was shaken and his dark hair flopped around, but didn't say a word. The man lifted the gun and pointed it in his face. "I said," he spat, "what the hell are you?"
"I'm an angel," Chris whispered.
"Oh my God," Phoebe gasped, coming back to the present. She let go of Chris' arm and staggered, and would have fallen had Chris not caught her.
"Are you ok?" he asked kindly as he and Paige half-dragged her to the living room. She sank down on the couch with shaking arms on her lap.
"Did you have a vision?" Paige asked. Phoebe nodded, then looked pointedly at Chris. Paige got the point she was trying to get across. "Can you go make some tea?"
Chris looked like he wanted to argue, but walked into the kitchen instead. Phoebe waited until she heard running water before divulging the details of her vision.
"He's going to reveal magic?" Paige gasped. Phoebe nodded grimly. "We have to stop
him.""Here's your tea," Chris announced as he reentered the room carrying a steaming mug. "Can I go now?"
"No!" Paige yelped. "I mean...stay a while, watch some TV. Let's hang out."
Chris didn't say anything in return, just looked at her. Phoebe was about to help Paige when she felt a tickle attack her nose again. Curiously, she wondered why , as there was nothing heavily scented or overly fragrant in the living room. Then she noticed Chris rubbing his nose out of her peripheral vision, and it immediately clicked.
"You made me sneeze," she accused, surprising Chris out of his self-imposed Zen.
"Wha-? He began to ask, but the sneezes he had been trying to suppress took advantage of his moment of abandon to force themselves out. He buried his face in the crook of his elbow. "Hetchoo! Atchoo! Etschhh! KaHetchh!"
"Bless you," Phoebe offered. She waited a minute, while he dug some crumpled Kleenex out of his pocket and blew his nose. When he was in control again, Phoebe brought back up her previous point. "You were in the pharmaceuticals aisle earlier, right? He nodded his consent. "I was right by it when I sneezed out of the blue and got a splitting headache. You did that to me."
"I did not," he argued. "I didn't do anything to you."
"Not directly. It was the empath thing," Phoebe told him. "You had to sneeze, I sneezed. You had a headache, I had a grand-maul collapse in the grocery store."
"Oh?" Chris hadn't known about that. "Sorry."
"Not your fault," Phoebe told him. "Does your wrist hurt?"
Chris looked confused for a moment, then looked down and realized he had been rubbing his left wrist subconsciously. It tingled uncomfortably, but didn't hurt exactly. "No, it's
fine.""Then why are you rubbing it?" she pressed.
"I don't know," Chris lied. There was no way he could tell her why, even though he knew it was a weak lie.
"That's a weak lie," Paige told him, her eyes narrowed. "Why can't you just tell us the truth for once?"
"Because I don...don't...HeEchhh! Hatchoo! Hetchuhh!" When he was done sneezing, Phoebe felt worry that she knew wasn't her own and doubted was Paige's. She opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong, but he shook his head and orbed away.
"That's bad," Phoebe said.
"What's bad?" It was Piper, home from her afternoon with Wyatt hours early.
"You're home early," Phoebe noticed.
"There's supposed to be a big storm and they opted to let us all leave so we didn't have to drive through it," Piper told her. "But you're avoiding." She put Wyatt on the ground so he could go play and put her hands on her hips, in classic big sister mode. "What's bad?"
"I had a premonition that Chris reveals he's a whitelighter," Phoebe told her. "So we tried to get him to stay here, but he orbed away."
"Why would he do something that stupid?" Piper asked.
"He was blue," Paige offered.
"I don't care about his emotions," Piper said. "I care about his condemning us."
"No," Paige argued, "I mean he was blue. Like, his skin."
"I didn't notice that," Phoebe piped up.
Paige shrugged. "I only got a glimpse. His arm got bluer every time he sneezed, but then he orbed away."
"That's why he was worried," Phoebe realized.
"He was worried?" piper repeated. "Does that mean he doesn't know why it's happening?"
"Or maybe he's worried because he does," Paige suggested.
"There's only one way to settle this," Phoebe announced.
"What's that?" Paige asked.
Phoebe turned her face to the ceiling. "CHRIS!!"
Across town, Chris doubled over in pain and groaned, grabbing his head as Phoebe's voice entered his head. The sorcerer who's shop he was in gave him a curious look. "You are fine?" he asked.
"I am fine," he confirmed, "just having a whitelighter moment." He straightened up and shook his head to clear it. "I need a potion."
"What kind of potion?" the old man asked.
"An empath-blocking potion."
The sorcerer looked confused. "You already had that."
"Stopped working." Chris shrugged. "Though if it can be arranged, I'd rather not go on another dangerous egg-hunting adventure."
"You are in luck," the sorcerer told him, drawing out a small blue vial from beneath the desk. "There was enough from the egg you brought last time to make one more." He handed it to Chris, who pulled the top off and downed it in one gulp.
"What do I owe you in return?" he asked, mentally hitting himself for not having asked before.
"Nothing." The old man shook his head. "I feel badly that my potion stopped working. Consider this a `free refill'."
"Thank you," Chris said. The sorcerer nodded his head in return, then asked "are you not very warm in that shirt?"
Chris looked down at his sweatshirt. "Not really."
Chris left the old store, enchanted to look like an office. Only a few seconds after he was back in the glaring sunlight, his name rang in his head again, Phoebe's voice grating and loud in his already throbbing head. "CHRIS!?"
He ducked behind the nearest building still clutching his aching head and, after checking to make sure he was alone, orbed back to the manor.
"What do you want?" he snapped as he materialized in the living room in front of the waiting witches.
"A normal life where my son grows up safe and happy and my life isn't constantly in danger from demons and anyone who figures out my secret," Piper answered. "But I' settle for a simple explanation from you."
"What do you want to know?" he asked, rubbing his temples.
"Why are you blue?"
"I'm not blue," he said. Phoebe pulled off his glove and revealed his bright blue hand. "Oh, that kind of blue. Yes, I'm slightly blue."
"Why?" Piper repeated.
"I really don't want to talk about it," he answered, continuing to rub his temples.
"Does your head hurt?" Paige asked.
"Huh?" Realizing what he was doing, he sheepishly lowered his hands. "Oh. Yeah, a
bit.""Why?"
"Could have something to do with the fact Phoebe's been screaming in my head."
"That's never bothered you before," Paige pointed out.
"Well it did today," he said, clearly annoyed. "Which brings me to my first question. What do you want?"
"I had a vision," Phoebe explained. "In it, you, well you.."
"You revealed magic," Piper finished. "Presumably ruining all our lives."
Chris nodded slowly, trying to absorb the information he had just received. "I'm glad you told me," he said. "Now I can keep it from happening."
"No, now we can keep it from happening," Paige said. "You do realize we want you to stay here, right?"
"I'm not staying here," he told them. "I'm going back to my bench."
"Your bench?"
"I'm from the future," he reminded them. "I have no ID, no credit, no way of getting a job that pays over minimum wage.. Where am I supposed to get money to afford an apartment?"
"So you sleep in park?"
Chris nodded. "I sleep in a park. I work at a drug store. If you cared at all, you'd have asked about that before. So what makes you think I'll believe you care now?"
"We don't care about you," Piper said. "We care about us."
"And I'm telling you I won't reveal magic," Chris promised. "Now I'm leaving. Please don't call me again." He began walking to the door.
"Chris!" Paige exclaimed. "You can't go anywhere. We need you to stay here."
Chris answered by sneezing again. "Heh...ehh...Etchhuhh!" This time, Phoebe hadn't known he was going to sneeze, and she realized she hadn't known about his headache either. Apparently, her rare ability to read Chris was over.
He reached for the door handle and pulled it open, but Piper grabbed his arm to keep him from leaving. He just glared at her and orbed away.
Part 3
Rain beat down on the ground and thunder clapped overhead. Chris huddled under the hood of his sweatshirt on the park bench he'd been sleeping on and shivered. He vaguely wished he had warmer clothes than a sweatshirt and jeans as his clothes were already soaked and not keeping him warm at all.
"Hetchoo! Ka-cuchh! HaKetshhh!" He groaned and rubbed his sore eyes. As soon as he had felt the cold coming on, he'd tried to stop it head on with overpriced chicken soup from the corner restaurant and inhumane amounts of orange soup. It didn't work, probably due to the fact that he slept in the park, and he had been feeling crappier and crappier with every hour that passed.
"Hachoo! Achoo!" At least he didn't orb when he sneezed, as he had been reminded every time he was sick as a kid. The story of Paige Halliwell, a famous charmed one, sneezing herself into an alternate reality had been a favorite with his mother.
In an attempt to warm up a bit, Chris ducked into the nearest public bathroom. He pulled off his soaked shirt and tried to squeeze the liquid out over a sink. In the mirror, he looked at his reflection with disgust. His face was pale and there were dark circles under his eyes. Of course, if he was lucky all of him would be the same shade of chalky white, but it wasn't. the bright blue had spread from his hands and arms up his chest and to the base of his neck, and glowed to the point it was almost glow in the dark. He didn't want to take off his waterlogged jeans, because he knew they'd be too much of a hassle to get back on, but he knew from the familiar tingling sensation if he did his legs would be the same color.
As he was studying himself and drying to dry off his shirt, basking in the heat of the bathroom, another tickle attacked his nose. Knowing sneezing would be really bad, especially considering what Phoebe had seen, he tried to fight it off. It proved to be too much, and he snapped forward with another "HeEtchoo! Hatshhh!", narrowly avoiding hitting his head on the faucet.
When he lifted his head again, he saw a change in the image reflected in the mirror. He wasn't the only one in it. There was a slightly overweight man wearing a yellow rain slicker and staring at him like he had two heads. That was when Chris remembered with a sinking feeling that his glowing arms were fully visible, and realized it had spread up his neck.
He hurried back into his sweatshirt and turned around to look at the man. "Hi," he said awkwardly, wincing at the pain it caused his sore throat.
The man just stared at him for a minute. Then, in an awed voice, he whispered "What are you?"
Chris shrugged his shoulders. "I'm a person," he said. "Why do you ask?" He pretended to look confused, then had an epiphany. "Oh, do you mean this?" he pulled up his damp sleeve, revealing a bit of blue. "It's a rash." He pulled his sleeve back down and leaned forward like he was about to reveal a big secret. The man obliged and leaned in expectantly. "Never try that tanning booth down at the corner of MacArthur Boulevard and 73 Avenue," he whispered.
"It did this to you?" the man asked. Chris nodded, and the man gasped. "You have to do something about that."
Chris felt a tickle rise in his nose, and knew he had to get away from this man before he sneezed. "That's a guh-guh-good idea," he said shakily. "I'll go do that." he put is hand over his nose and hurried out of the men's room. Away from prying eyes of anyone who could endanger the magical community, he let out the sneezes "KaAtschh! Heteshh!", and felt release down to his toes. Feeling the tingling rise farther up his neck and spilling onto his chin, he knew who he needed and, after pulling on his ski mask and hood, orbed over there while he still could.
"He's going to reveal magic and all we can do is sit here," Paige sighed, leaning back on the couch. "this officially sucks."
"We all know that you can't make Chris do anything he doesn't want to do," Phoebe said reasonably.
"I know," Paige replied, "but I still don't like it."
"OK," Piper said quietly as she entered the living room, nursing a steaming cup of coffee. "Wyatt finally got to sleep, and as long no one makes any loud noises, he'll stay down." She sat down beside Paige on the couch and raised her drink to her mouth, but the doorbell rang before she could take a sip.
Wyatt's cries filled the manor and Piper sighed, rising from her seat to go attend to her son. Phoebe walked over to the door to see who it was. "Who is it?" she called through the glass.
"Chris."
Paige jumped up from the couch and ran over as Phoebe pulled open the door. Chris had his face and hands covered, putting Phoebe immediately on guard. She pulled him in the house and shut the door behind him. The sisters led Chris into the living room, where he sat down on Piper's vacated cushion. Looking around to make sure they were alone, he pulled off his ski mask and hood. Paige gasped. The glowing blue tinge they'd noticed on his arm had spread, engulfing his entire face and touching his hairline. His bright blue eyes looked tired, and he coughed deeply into a fist once his face was free, a noise Phoebe really didn't like.
"I came really close to getting caught," he rasped, holding his chest.
"What did you do?" Phoebe asked.
"Nothing! He just got a glimpse of my skin. I convinced him it was some sort of weird rash, but I need some way to hide it, or I'm in a lot of trouble."
"Yeah, speaking of which, why does your skin look like that?" Paige asked.
"You know how you orb when you sneeze?" he asked.
"When I'm sick," she amended. "Are you sick?"
He nodded. "Yeah. And I'm kind of orbing. Like, every time I sneeze, I turn...orby."
"Orby?" Paige repeated.
"You don't recognize the color?"
Phoebe and Paige studied his skin more closely. Sure enough, it was the exact same color as orbs."
"I don't get it," Phoebe announced. "You're orbing, but you're not orbing?"
"Yeah. It's kind of hard to explain. I'm in orb form, but I'm not orbing. I could orb, but now that I'm all blue, I can't anymore. Theoretically, I shouldn't have anyway because it makes it go faster."
"Why are you blue?" Piper asked as she reentered the living room.
Chris opened his mouth to answer, but ended up entering another sneezing fit. Phoebe took pity on him and retold the story.
"Now you really can't leave," Piper told him. "There's no way you can go out in public like that."
"I know."
Piper turned to Phoebe. "Can you tell if he's feeling overly evil at the moment?"
Phoebe shook her head. "Nope."
Piper sighed. "Fine. But if I catch you doing anything, anything, to hurt my son, I will vanquish your ass now and in the future."
"Fair enough. Hetchoo!"
"You know, you're kind of lucky," Paige told him.
"Because I can't sneeze myself into another dimension?"
"How do you know about that?" Paige asked.
"My mom used to tell me when I was sick as a kid."
"Your mom knew us?" Piper asked.
"Everyone knew you," he told her. "You're the charmed ones."
"That must be it," Piper agreed.
"Hetschoo! Etschuu!"
"Why don't you get some rest," Paige suggested as Chris rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.
"Strip first," Piper ordered.
"Excuse me?"
"You're clothes are soaked through. You can't sleep in them."
"So you want me in your house naked?" he asked.
"No. I want you in my house alive. And in your underwear."
Chris shed his heavy jeans and sweatshirt, and stood shivering in his T-shirt and boxers. Phoebe wrapped a thick quilt around his shoulders. We'll have Leo leave you some clothes next time he checks in."
Chris snuggled into his quilt and drifted off to sleep on the couch. The sisters watched him. "This is too weird," Paige said.
"I agree," Phoebe added.
"Ditto," Piper put in. They looked at each other for a minute, then at the sleeping form on the couch. "We'll have some serious talking to do in the morning," Piper said. "But for now we'll just let him sleep. Looks like he could really use it." She resisted the urge to run her fingers through his hair.
"Told ja he was blue," Paige said as they all headed off to their respective rooms.
Part 4
"How are you feeling?" Piper asked not unkindly the next morning.
"A lot better, thanks," Chris replied, struggling to sit up.
Piper noticed his problem and rolled her eyes. "How are you really feeling?"
"Like a mantacore had me for dinner and then threw me up."
Piper nodded. "That makes a lot more sense, seeing as that's how you look." Chris glared at her. "Well you do."
"I'm fine," Chris said, rubbing his nose roughly with the back of his wrist to stave off the sneezes he already felt coming just after waking up. "I know I shouldn't have come running back to you last night, but I didn't know where else to go." He looked so pathetic and sick at that moment, Piper felt her anger melting away, even more so when he continued. "I promise I'll be out of your hair as soon as I can sit up straight." He attempted to get up again, but started coughing from the effort.
"That may be awhile," Piper told him, placing a hand on his forehead. He was very warm; not burning up, but definitely feverish enough to be uncomfortable. He flinched a bit at her touch, as though afraid she'd hit him.
"Do I have a fever?" he asked curiously.
"Not bad, but it's there. I don't see why you're so Paige what the hell are you doing!" Paige had orbed onto the couch in the middle of Piper's answer, scaring both her older sister and former whitelighter. She grinned sheepishly and lifted up the book she was holding as a peace offering.
"I brought the book of shadows," she explained unnecessarily.
"You shouldn't have bothered," Chris told her. "There's nothing in there that'll help
me.""But have you ever looked specifically for something to fix this?
"Yes."
"Really?" Paige looked up confused from the giant tome she was flipping through.
"When?""Doesn't matter." He shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Could you get off my foot?"
Paige scooted over a bit. "What about a vanishing spell?"
"You want to vanquish my skin?"
Piper chuckled. "That'd be a sight. And as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted," she shot Paige a mean look, "you do have a fever, but it's not enough to make you this
weak.""Could not eating for three days do it?" he asked.
"You haven't eaten in three days?" she repeated loudly. He nodded. "I'm going to make you some soup."
She got up from the chair she had previously placed by the couch and headed for the kitchen, but was stopped by Chris' voice. "No thanks."
He turned around with her eyebrows raised. "You haven't eaten in days and you don't want food."
He shrugged, or at least she thought he did; the blanket by his shoulders moved anyway. "I'm not really that hungry. Plus, I'm allergic."
"Allergic to food?"
Chris shook his head. "Your soup."
Paige looked up from her book. "When have you ever had her soup?"
Chris blushed. "At some point." Piper and Paige glared at him, making it clear this wouldn't be enough information. "I was friends with your kids," he confessed, head bowed.
"You were friends with Wyatt?" Piper asked incredulously.
Chris shook his head frantically. "No. I was friends with...Phoebe's daughter."
The sisters were silent for a minute, absorbing this new bit of information. Obviously, they'd have to tell Phoebe when she got home from work. Then, Piper continued to walk to the kitchen. "I'm going to go make your soup."
Chris tried again to sit up, calling to Piper "I told you I can't eat that."
Piper stuck her head out of the door. "You lie a lot."
"She has a point," Paige pointed out.
"Yah yeah yeah..."
"So do you really know Phoebe's daughter?"
Chris nodded. "Yeah."
"She your age?"
"A few years younger."
"Okay," Paige squirmed a bit, trying to work up the courage to ask what she really wanted to ask. "Do I have any kids."
"The titans kill you," he reminded her. "I told you that already."
Paige blushed. "Oh yeah." There was silence for a few minutes, Paige flipping through the book of shadows and Chris attempting to fall back asleep before Piper got back. Then Paige spoke again. "Does Piper have any other kids?"
Chris groaned into the pillow, before struggling to face the half-witch again. "I can't tell you that."
"Why not?"
"Future consequences," he reminded her.
"I hate that phrase," Page snapped. "Who taught you that anyway?"
"My aunt."
"Do I know her?"
"I can't tell you."
"Can't tell her what?" Piper asked as she reentered the room carrying a steaming bowl.
"If she knows my family in the future," Chris told her, "and I can't eat that."
She handed him the bowl. "Of course you can't, your hands are shaking." He looked down at his hands, which had been trembling slightly without him noticing. "That's why I didn't give you a spoon."
"I can't drink the soup either."
"Sucks for you," Piper said. "Cause you're going to."
"Piper-"
"Do it!"
Chris took the bowl and brought it to his mouth, taking big gulps of the sweet liquid. It had been a very long time since he'd had any of Piper's home cooking, and the memories it brought up were almost sufficient to make him forget why he was so reluctant. Almost, but not quite.
His nose began itching ferociously at his first sip, but when he tried to put it down Piper glared at him. He finished quickly, placing the empty bowl shakily on the ground. He could feel an allergic reaction welling up inside of him, and knew there was nothing he could do but wait it out.
"Hetchoo! Etchoo! Haatcho! HeKetchh!"
"Oh dear," Piper gasped. "You really are allergic."
"Told yuh...yuh...Hatchoo! KaEtchh!"
Paige closed the book. "You were right about the book of shadows too. There's no spell in here."
"KaAatchoo! Hetchhh!"
"Why is Chris sneezing again?" Phoebe asked s she walked into the living room after work. "I thought he got over that last night."
"Piper practically force-fed him some soup he was allergic too," Paige told her.
Piper glared at her. "It was an accident. I didn't know."
"I told you," Chris piped in, done sneezing for the moment. He knew there were more coming , but intended to take full advantage of the momentary cease. "But you didn't believe
me.""Well you do lie a lot," Piper said defensively.
"And you hate that. And you hate me. I told you your son turns evil, and I've been completely dishonest with you the whole time I've been here. Why are you being so nice to
me?""Because you're kind of too-"
"Hetchoo! Hatchoo! Etchuu!"
"Pathetic," Piper finished. She studied Chris for a minute, taking in his tired eyes and twitching nose, and feeling a surge of protectiveness similar to when Wyatt was sick. "Want some tissues?"
Chris nodded frantically, and Piper plucked some tissues out of the box on the little table by the side of the couch and pressed them into his hand. He quickly made good use of them, sneezing a few times then blowing his nose loudly.
"I really am sorry," Piper said.
Chris nodded. "I know."
"well now that we're all square and stuff," Paige commented. "I have some good
news.""What's that?" Phoebe asked.
"Chris' eyes are red."
"Because they itch," he complained. "That's good news?"
"They're not blue."
"Hey!" Piper exclaimed. "She's right. Your face looks a little pinker too."
"Great," he sighed happily. "I can get out of here soon."
"Thanks," Phoebe said dryly.
"I have a question," Piper spoke up, wearing a contemplative expression. "You knew you were allergic to my soup. But I don't have the recipe written down. There's no way anyone could have made it for you in the future, except for..."
"You?" He nodded. "You made it for me. Just once though."
"Why would I make you soup?"
"I was sick."
"But why would I make you soup?"
Chris blushed. "I don't know?"
"Yes you do," Piper argued. "Just tell me."
"I can't," he stressed. "Future consequences, remember?"
Phoebe grimaced. "Who taught you that annoying phrase?"
"You did," he said without thinking. A second later he realized what he had said and found the energy to sit up straight. "Crap."
Part 5
"You said your aunt taught you about future consequences. Then you said Phoebe taught you..." Paige pieced it all together out loud.
"I lied," he said desperately.
"No you didn't," Piper told him. "It makes perfect sense. This is why I make you soup as a kid. This is why you're half witch-half whitelighter. This is why I have a weird urge to run my fingers through your hair."
"You have a what?"
She shook her head. "Not important."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Phoebe sounded offended, which Chris knew from experience was bad. Very bad. "Did you think we didn't deserve to know? Or maybe we're just so stupid we couldn't handle it." Chris cringed. "Yes, that must be it. We're stupid."
"Phoebe, stop it," Piper said, exasperated. "I'm sure Chris had a perfectly good reason for not telling us, right Chris?"
"Future consequences," he mumbled.
Paige glared at Phoebe. "And apparently we'll have you to thank for the lovely
phrase.""Sorry, I guess I won't know any better."
"HeAtchoo! HaAtschh!"
Paige looked at Chris sympathetically. "You're still sneezing?" The answer was pretty obvious, so he didn't answer. "I going to make you some soup." She headed off too the kitchen ignoring Chris' horrified expression.
"Let's get back to the important subject here," Phoebe said, "me."
Chris rolled his eyes and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. "That's gross," Piper commented. "Don't do that. In fact, blow your nose. It'll probably help." She tossed him the tissue box, but Chris made no move to heed her suggestion, and she quickly stepped into her new mothering role. "Do it!" she ordered.
Chris snatched some tissues out of the box and blew his nose, embarrassed under his Piper's intense stare. The vibration tickled his nose annoyingly, and he kept his nose buried in the tissues as the sneezes built strength. "haa...haahh...hatchhh! Hatchoo! Hetchuu!"
"Bless you," Paige said brightly as she carried a bowl of soup and a spoon into the living room. Chris eyed it warily. "You'll be fine to eat this," Paige assured him. "I remember last year Phoebe got sick and Piper made her some soup. Well Leo tried some of it and sneezed for hours. It must have been one of the herbs. Anyway, if you're Leo's son, which you are, right?" Chris nodded. "Thought so. So if you're Leo's son, you could be allergic to the same
herb.""What herb is it?"
"I have no idea," Paige said honestly. "Piper won't tell anyone what's in the soup, so I don't even know what herbs there are."
"Then how did you know which not to add?" he asked, sniffling again. Piper glanced at him, but her purposely avoided her gaze.
"I made Campbell's." Paige started singing the Campbell's theme song, and everyone
groaned."So tell me," Phoebe prodded, "what am I like in the future? Do I have any
kids?"Chris debated telling her, but figured the cat was out of the proverbial bag anyway. "Yeah you do," he confirmed.
"Boy or girl? Or both? Ooh, do I have twins?"
Chris chuckled at Phoebe's enthusiasm, but quickly regretted it when the action made him cough again. Piper sat down on the couch beside him and rubbed her hand up and down his back until it passed.
"Ugh, remind me not to do that again," he groaned. "And you have a girl."
"What do I name her?" Phoebe asked.
Chris smirked. "What do you name her Phoebe?"
Phoebe didn't hesitate a second before answering. "Prue."
Chris nodded. "Prue Melinda Halliwell. Sweet girl. Bad temper."
"Just like her mommy," Paige cooed, pinching Phoebe's cheek.
"Hetchoo! Atchoo!"
They stopped bantering. "You sound like you're getting worse again," Paige noticed.
"I'm fine."
"Chris," Piper began exasperatedly, "do you not realize what just happened. "You just admitted something really really really big. Are you really going to lie again?"
"I'm kind of tired," he admitted.
"Then go back to sleep." Piper helped him lie back down against the pillows and Phoebe covered him with the quilt.
"How are you feeling beside tired?" Paige questioned.
"Kind of blue," he said seriously, then grinned.
"He definitely got Leo's sense of humor," Piper sighed.
"Well speak of the devil," Phoebe said as blue orbs appeared in the living room.
Leo smiled at them as he materialized completely. Then he noticed Chris sleeping on the couch. And the fact that he was bright blue. He turned back to the sisters with a confused look on his face. "Did I miss something?"
I disclaim charmed. Yet again. Leo and the sisters never really trusted Chris. When he let a demon in Wyatt's room, that was the last straw. Piper kicked him out of P3, told him to stay away from her family, and no one has seen him since. Until now. The recipe is for Hoisin chicken in lettuce leaves. I'm not sure if it's good, because I'm a vegetarian, but it certainly sounds prestigious.