Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed. No infringement is intended and no profit is made from this story. This is a work of my own imagination, but I was inspired to write this after reading so many amazing Chris revelation stories over the years. So a huge thank you to Emma15 for writing When Family Calls, DisneyRBD for writing In His Soul, and NextGeneration for writing Dead Promises!

Author's Note: Before we get started, I just wanted to take a moment to sincerely apologize for the delay. I am so, so, so sorry for making you guys wait this long. Even though I started writing this chapter shortly after I posted the eighth one, things in my life got crazy busy and finishing this chapter up unfortunately got pushed aside. But rest assured, I'm back for good now! So, without further ado, I present to you (my faithful and loyal readers): Chapter Nine!

Chapter Nine:

Rumor Has It

"The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy. A man does what he must–in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures–and that is the basis of all human morality."

– John F. Kennedy, Profiles in Courage

The Resistance Headquarters; 2026

Melinda was five years old when she went out on her first mother-daughter excursion to the outlet mall right in the heart of downtown San Francisco. They'd gone looking for the perfect first-day-of-kindergarten outfit. The two of them spent hours going from store to store, trying on clothes. Once they had their hands full of shopping bags, Piper surprised Melinda by taking her to have her ears pierced. Piper treated her to a gigantic ice cream sundae afterward, to celebrate her becoming a "big girl."

That day was one of Melinda's favorite memories of spending time with her mom.

It was also the day that marked the beginning of her love affair with clothes.

Little Melinda was every inch a mini-fashionista, excitedly picking out her own outfits each night before bed.

Now, as Melinda took a seat on the wooden bench closest to the door in the mess hall of the Resistance's headquarters and placed the tray containing her ration for breakfast–a small bowl of trail mix and two hard boiled eggs–onto the table before her, that seemed like another life to her now. Dressed in an assortment of Chris and Lauren's hand-me-down sweats and her long brown hair tied out of the way in a messy bun at the top of her head, she didn't give a rat's ass about what she looked like or what she was wearing. She had other, more pressing priorities, such as survival. Keeping what little was left of her family together. Trying to protect as many innocents as possible. Trying to save both of her big brothers–Wyatt from evil, Chris from his own self-destructive tendencies.

So, yeah, the days of her caring about matters as trivial as clothes really seemed like another life. Another life and another person. The breezy, vivacious Melinda of old was gone before she had the chance to blossom into teenagehood.

"Melinda!" A familiar voice, which was clearly going through the usual changes of puberty, bellowed. "Just the girl I was looking for!"

Melinda looked up and immediately saw a gangly thirteen-year-old boy with copper colored hair and bright green eyes bounding over to her. Asher. Crap.

Melinda winced and instantly felt guilty for it. Asher was perfectly fine and nice, but…a tad on the annoying side. He was basically the Resistance's Colin Creevey. Minus the camera.

"Is it true? The rumors about Emily have been spreading around like wildfire. Are they true? Are they? Are they?" Asher asked as he sat down in the empty seat next to her, all in one breath.

Melinda frowned at the mention of Emily, wondering what Lauren was up to. How would prematurely letting the cat out of the bag help her cause? If anything, doing so would just cause panic and tensions to rise amongst those living in the Resistance Headquarters. Much like Melinda, most of the people here despised Emily. She was public enemy number two.

"Unfortunately they are true," Melinda replied after brief moment of hesitation, deciding that honesty was the best policy. "Don't worry about it, though. I have no idea what that conniving, lying, snake-in-the-grass said or did to get Lauren on her side, but I'm going to make sure that she's not let in here."

"No, no, not that."

Melinda's frown deepened. "Then what?"

"The rumor about the highly confidential information that Emily passed on to Lauren to prove that she really has switched sides." Asher clarified.

Who had started this rumor? What highly confidential information was there? And why was this the first time she was hearing about this?

Asher carefully studied Melinda's face. "You really have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

Melinda shook her head.

"Wow," he said after a long silence. "I figured you'd be the first to know since it concerns Chris."

Melinda's entire demeanor shifted subtly, but it was enough that Asher felt the need to apologize. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. The rumors could be wrong."

"Talk," Melinda said the one-word command in a tone that left no room for argument. "Now."

"Apparently, Wyatt sent one of his goons to go get Chris. Even after the whole Bianca fiasco he was still determined to get him back. Only this time he planned on locking him up since turning him obviously wasn't going to work. But when the goon arrived in 2004, Chris was nowhere to be found. The Manor was completely empty. He waited a full day before coming back and reporting his findings, or lack of findings, to Wyatt. This, of course, caused Wyatt to launch a quiet investigation. He somehow was able to find out that the Charmed Ones and Leo used a spell to see Chris' memories without his permission. From what he was able to piece together, Chris only just recently told them about Wyatt turning evil. He is to them what Emily is to us. Okay, maybe not to that extreme, but you get my point. They don't trust him and they certainly don't like him. Oh, and they have no clue that Chris is a Halliwell, let alone Piper and Leo's son." Asher explained, not missing a single detail of the rumors that had been going around since late last night.

"That's ridiculous," Melinda replied with a laugh, "Chris would never…"

She caught herself right before saying that Chris would never do something like that. Because that…that was a lie.

Chris, with his self-destructive tendencies and I-can-carry-the-weight-of-the-world-on-my-shoulders complex, would be stupid enough to do something like that.

As Melinda processed what that meant, as the very real possibility that Chris could be going through something worse than hell right now fully sunk in, her heart stopped.

Her body went cold and rigid. Her lungs constricted as if she was drowning and they were being filled with water.

All the while, images of happier times flashed through her mind.

So this is what it's like to die, Melinda thought to herself.

Just as her vision was going black, Asher grabbed hold of her shoulders and shook her back into consciousness.

"I think that you need to lie down for a bit." Asher suggested, clearly concerned.

"I don't understand why he would do that. It makes no sense. He was happy that he was going to get the chance to see mom again. He couldn't wait to hear her call him peanut again. He was going to hug her and tell her how sorry he was, even though I told him time after time that he had absolutely nothing to be sorry about…mom's death wasn't his fault and neither was Wyatt's turning evil." Melinda said, completely ignoring Asher's suggestion.

"Maybe he changed his mind at the last minute."

"This wasn't a last minute decision," Melinda said, quickly shooting that idea down. "Chris went over every single detail of this mission with us. He was neurotic about it. There's no way he would have risked it all on a whim. Too much was at stake for him to even consider doing that."

"Definitely not a last minute decision then. Got it." Asher replied, wisely going along with whatever she said. He didn't want to do or say anything that would further upset her.

"What was it that got to him, though? And when? If I had known that he was planning to pull this…hell, if anybody had known that he was planning to pull this…I mean it's practically masochistic. We would have all done everything within our power to talk him out of it. Well, all of us except for…" She trailed off, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Except for who?" Asher asked, genuinely curious.

"Leo." Melinda growled, so mad that her bowl of trail mix exploded. Asher jumped at the sudden explosion, clearly not having expected it. All eyes turned to her as the trail mix went falling in every direction–onto the tray, onto the table, and onto the floor.

"Mel…" Asher started to say in an attempt to calm her down.

Unfortunately, however, it was too late for that.

"LEO!"

"I feel like I'm going to be sick," Paige announced once they appeared in another memory. She doubled over, clutching her midsection. Her eyes squeezed shut and her lips pressed white as she concentrated everything she had on fighting the violent sickness that threatened to rise up.

"Do you need to sit down for a moment?"

Paige opened her eyes to find Piper and Phoebe hovering over her, concern etched on their faces.

"No, I–" She took a deep, steadying breath and put on a brave face. "I'm fine." As if to prove it, she straightened herself up.

"Really?" Piper asked incredulously.

"Really."

"Your body's really not handling all of this jumping around well, huh?" Phoebe commented observationally, assuming that it was jumping from memory to memory that had made her baby sister sick. "Make sure to take some Advil or Tylenol when we get back."

The assumption wasn't completely off base. All of the jumping around had given Paige a headache. But it hadn't been what made her sick. Not this time, at least.

It was the bloodcurdling screams from the last memory that had made Paige sick–sick to her stomach with anguish, worry, and overwhelming sadness. For the life of her, she couldn't explain why she'd been so affected by those screams. She briefly remembered the girl, Sophia, being in one of the previous memories. Sophia had been the one who had healed Memory Chris after his Underworld excursions. She was young, but sassy and whip-smart.

Paige liked the girl. Hell, she liked nearly all of the people from Chris' memories. Something told her, however, that she wouldn't have had this strong of a reaction if it had been any of the other people from the memories screaming.

There was something about it being Sophia screaming…

Maybe she was reading too much into this. Maybe the reason why she reacted so strongly was simply because the girl was young, too young to be in that much pain. That had to be it. That was the only explanation that came close to making any sense.

"I think I'm going to need something stronger than Advil or Tylenol," Paige muttered to herself. She shook her head, trying to get rid of the echoes of those bloodcurdling screams that were still bouncing within the recesses of her mind.

Cole, who was standing next to Paige, watched his ex-sister-in-law hide the tide of emotions to the best of her ability. He didn't hate her as much as he once had. In the years following his reappearance, they had gotten to a place where they were okay with each other. She had stopped sneering at him, albeit reluctantly, and his barbs had lost their sting. Their constant bickering had eventually become a comfortable habit: something reliable, easy, familiar, and friendly. Then the takeover happened and their dynamic changed once again. He had lost Phoebe, she had lost Henry, and suddenly they found themselves having to co-parent eight children together, though that quickly dropped to seven when Cara joined Wyatt's regime and then to six when Lacey was killed. Working with her to make sure the kids were as okay as they could be, all things considered, had helped him gain a respect for her that he hadn't had before. Yes, she could be hardheaded and stubborn at times, and her penchant for sticking her nose where it didn't belong could be annoying, but she always meant well.

Feeling the need to say something to the woman who would become his sister-in-law again, he leaned in and whispered so that only she could hear, "I wish I could tell you that it gets better," he said, "but it doesn't. Things go from very bad to much worse."

Paige was floored that Cole, of all people, was trying to comfort her. Her initial reaction was to not believe him. As she looked around their new surroundings for the first time, however, she knew that he was telling the truth.

"Chris, please tell me that this is a war zone in some distant country," Piper pleaded even though she already knew that wasn't the case. They were clearly still in San Francisco.

The pained, regretful look on the half-whitelighter's face confirmed her fears.

Piper had tears in her eyes all over again. The city she had grown up in, the city she had loved her whole life, was in a state of complete and utter destruction. A dense cloud of smoke shrouded the entire sky. Rubble, shards of broken glass, and spot fires littered the streets. Piles upon piles of wrecked cars were strewn everywhere. The storefronts were either boarded up or completely trashed. Several of the buildings looked like they were on the verge of collapsing.

"How could the Elders have allowed things to get this bad?" Leo asked, the disbelief evident both in his eyes and in his voice.

"Well, your lot," Cole began answering, "conveniently decided that saving themselves was for the greater good. They sealed themselves off from the world below. The only link they left behind was you. That's why Chris, Lauren, Jake, Ally, and Junior set up the Resistance. No one else was stepping up to the plate."

"I don't understand," Leo said, his lips turning down in a frown. What Cole was implying was not only offensive, it was preposterous. The Elders would never show such blatant disregard for the wellbeing of the magical community. Contrary to what seemed to be popular belief, Leo didn't blindly follow the Elders. He had moments, too, where he disagreed with some of the things they did or didn't do. But they were on the side of good. Leo's belief in that was the crux of what kept him going as an Elder and being away from his family for extended periods of time.

"Newsflash, Leo, the Elders are just a bunch of assholes on a power trip." Cole said bluntly, causing Leo's face to redden with anger.

"Enough, both of you!" Phoebe exclaimed, once again taking it upon herself to break up the bickering ex-brother-in-laws. "Fighting and name calling isn't going to solve anything. Now that we know that Chris was telling the truth all along, we need to pay close attention to these memories, no matter how painful they may be because this is the future that awaits us if we fail Wyatt a second time around. I don't think either of you wants that, do you?"

Cole and Leo had the decency to look ashamed of themselves.

"Of course not," Cole answered quickly.

"Good," Phoebe said, relieved by the answer.

She and the rest of the onlookers turned their attention to the memory, forcing themselves to take in the sight of their beloved city in ruins.

Their timing couldn't be any more perfect. In a matter of seconds, Memory Chris orbed out of one of the abandoned buildings and into the middle of the gloomy street. The sisters and Leo had no real point of reference for how much time had passed from the last memory to this one, but they had gotten pretty good at guesstimating. Based on looks alone, at least a year had to have passed. Memory Chris was slowly but surely starting to morph into the man that they knew.

"Uhm, Chris, who does that baby belong to?" Paige asked awkwardly upon noticing that Memory Chris was holding a bundle close to his chest: a tiny baby, swathed in a baby blue blanket.

"That would be Lorenzo," Chris answered, unable to stop the smile that lit up his face as soon as he watched himself cradle the baby. "He's sort of like my godson. Once the Resistance was up and running, we made it a point to go out and check the city for survivors to take in. During one of those outings I came across Lorenzo's mom. She had been dumped in an alleyway and was bleeding profusely, going in and out of coconsciousness. By some miracle, she was able to get enough words out to tell me where to find her son. 'Protect him.' Those were her last words, her last wish. From what I was able to piece together later on, she had gone out in search of food and was attacked by a group of rogue demons. She was a mortal, an innocent."

Hearing the story of how Chris had come into possession of the baby boy, Piper felt herself pale. She couldn't imagine the terror Lorenzo's mom must have gone through in those last few seconds, knowing she was about to die and knowing that she was leaving her son behind in a world bloody with war…by Wyatt's doing.

Piper was going to ask about the boy's father, but before she could open her mouth to get the words out, the booming blast of an explosion sounded. The building Memory Chris had just orbed out of had collapsed to the ground.

"And suddenly I see why your sister was so worried about you," Paige said, easily slipping back into her sarcastic nature.

Chris shrugged, as if to say, What can you do? It wasn't like he went looking for trouble. Trouble just usually found him.

It was only a matter of seconds before another loud sound filled the memory. This time, however, it was not an explosion. Little Lorenzo was crying in a way that only a baby could.

"It's okay, Lorenzo. I've got you." Memory Chris said in a cooing voice, not wanting to attract unwanted attention. He adjusted the baby in his arms and rocked him gently.

"I'm hurt, Chris, truly," a deep male voice said from the shadows. A tall, broad-shouldered man moved away from a side street wall and into view. He had slightly long, wavy blonde hair and cold hazel eyes. He was dressed head to toe in black clothing.

"Wyatt," Piper and Leo gasped at the exact same moment.

This time, at least, Chris was prepared for it. Piper and Leo only seemed to be blind where he was concerned.

Phoebe and Paige's jaws dropped down in shock at the sight of their nephew all grown up. It was one thing to hear about Wyatt turning evil, but actually seeing him like this was something else entirely.

"You procreated with your precious Cat and didn't have the decency to inform me? Of all people?"

The Charmed Ones and Leo were slightly confused by what Wyatt meant by the "of all people," bit. Rather than look into it, however, they simply brushed it off as it just being because the two were once close friends.

Cole and Chris understood exactly what Wyatt had meant by that.

Ally and Chris having a child together would have had a direct impact on Wyatt. The child would be Wyatt's nephew. Wyatt would be an uncle.

"Nice to see your deduction skills haven't improved a bit. Bringing an innocent child into this world is the last thing we would do considering all hell has broken loose. Thanks for that, by the way," Memory Chris said. He was probably the only one who could get away with speaking to Wyatt like that. "And it's Ally to you."

"Nice to see your sarcastic nature hasn't changed a bit," Wyatt quipped back. "And it doesn't have to be this way. I don't know what Ally has been whispering into your ear, but the only reason it seems like all hell has broken loose is because you're on the wrong side."

"Evil is never the right side. I don't need Ally, or anybody for that matter, to tell me that." Memory Chris replied, his hold on Lorenzo tightening. Even though he didn't think that Wyatt would do anything to a baby, he had no way of knowing for sure. This was a Wyatt he didn't know. This was a Wyatt he wasn't familiar with.

"Evil? Who said anything about evil? That's the problem, Chris, you're so stuck on the old good versus evil morass. It's not about good. It's not about evil. It's all about power and those too weak to seek it." Wyatt said, unknowingly revealing to the onlookers just how far gone he actually was.

"What happened to you, Wy?" Memory Chris asked, his voice cracking with the use of the old nickname for his big brother. He was struggling to keep a lid on his warring emotions. There was a part of him that hated Wyatt. For ruining everything their mom had worked so hard for. For fracturing what was left of their family. For all the atrocities that had occurred either directly or indirectly because of him. At the same time, however, there was still a large part of him that loved Wyatt. A part of him that would always love Wyatt.

"I've simply evolved." Wyatt replied in an evasive manner. "Unfortunately I can't stick around–"

"Your legion of minions can't be trusted alone for too long, huh?" Memory Chris asked, once more his sarcastic self.

Wyatt rolled his eyes. Chris always did have a way of getting under his skin. "Just remember that you were meant to rule by my side. We would be unstoppable. The two of us together would be the strongest force the world has ever seen."

And with that, Wyatt disappeared in a swirl of black orbs.

Lorenzo suddenly burst into tears again, causing Memory Chris to gently rock him back and forth again. "It's okay. The big, scary man is gone now." Memory Chris said in what he hoped was a soothing voice. It seemed to have worked because the baby started to quiet down . "Come on, let's get you back to the Resistance. I have a feeling you're going to be quite the popular one over there."

Author's Note: As I'm sure you noticed, Melinda played a bigger role in this chapter. That's something that you guys can continue to look forward to in the chapters to come. Also, in the next chapter you'll get to see the Resistance that Chris, Lauren, Jake, Ally, and Junior set up. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please review!