Then There Were Three
Wyatt dove out of the way nearly colliding with the ancient grandfather clock that had only recently been repaired for the umpteenth time. The energy ball soared passed his shoulder and the resulting explosion from the collision with the far wall washed over the group, spraying debris into the air. In the confusion Wyatt lost track of the demon and hoped that he pale faced beast had lost him. The air cleared ever so slightly and Wyatt spotted movement to his right. The blond haired male witch rolled out from behind the remnants of the couch. With an almost flippant gesture Wyatt used his power of molecular combustion. A deafening scream reverberated through the eighteen-year-old's ears causing him to cover them in mild pain. The grimlock somewhat recovered from the loss of his limb chucked another energy ball at the eldest heir to the Charmed Ones using the split second of distraction to shimmer out still dripped green ooze from its stump of an arm.
"Everyone alright?" Wyatt called out rising to his feet.
He brushed off the dust and surveyed the sea of destruction surrounding him. The better part of first floor of the Halliwell Manor was a mixture of debris, scorch marks, and slowly dying flames. He leaned against the grandfather clock which for once had not met its end during one of the demonic attacks and caught his breath. With a gentle wave of his hand he moved enough of the debris out of his way so that he could see around the corner. The scene of the entrance hall and the stairs mimicked that of the sun room and living room. His heart skipped a beat when his eyes reached the wall that bordered the stairs. The family portraits and candid pictures that once hung on the wall were no longer there. Instead there was a mixture of demon guts and scorch marks, the flames had obviously burned up the photographs. Looking at the wall sent him stumbling back memory lane to two years ago when the attacks had started all over again.
At the age of eighteen Wyatt Mathews Halliwell had been to more funerals for close family members than most people had family members. After the aftermath of the battle between Christy, Billie, and the Charmed Ones there had been ten years of peace in the magical world. But it had only been a lull in the storm while the demons regrouped around another powerful figure. Then on Wyatt's youngest sister's tenth birthday the battle started up all over again.
They luckily decided to have the birthday at the Manor instead of at P6, the restaurant that Piper had converted P3 into after the before of her fourth and final child. Also breaking from tradition it was a family-only get together. With Phoebe now living in New York running her own publishing company and Paige living in Austin, Texas, the family hardly got together besides for Christmas. Prudence had decided that she wanted it to be a birthday with just her family and that she and her friends would go to the mall the following day to spend all her birthday money. But the following day never came for Prue.
Just as Piper with magical help from Wyatt and Chris got all the food onto the extended dinning room table, five darklighters orbed in and caused havoc. The darklighters were only a distraction and before anyone really knew what was happening four other upper level demons shimmered in. One of them a rather attractive brunette turned into a gorgon like creature as she murdered Henry. Wyatt and Chris were able to vanquish another before he was able to reach Anakin, their younger brother. But no one could reach Prue in time and the blond haired assassin demon turned her into dust with a massive fire ball. A stray darklighter's arrow struck Henry Jr. in the heart and he died before Wyatt or Paige could heal him.
Then barely a month later Phoebe's family was attacked in New York. Wyatt, Chris, and Piper arrived just in time to watch the slaughter of Phoebe's three girls. They battled the demons and with tremendous effort were able to get the demons to retreat. No sooner had that happened than Chris received a distress call from Billie. Leaving their mom back to comfort their aunt and bottling up their own grief the two brothers answered Billie's call. They orbed into her apartment in Los Angeles. Wyatt brought up his powerful blue shield vanquishing four changeling demons with their own energy balls. Chris vanquished another two changeling demons by crushing their hearts with his telekinetic grip. But as they vanquish the small dwarf pitch white demons more shimmered in by the dozens. Whoever was in charge wanted Billie dead. The overwhelming numbers forced the brothers to retreat with Billie to the Manor.
But a battle was raging there as well. Anakin barely coming into his own Charmed powers was battling off a swarm of Drone demons, dumb humanoid brutes that had no real power asides for their ability to duplicate after being vanquished. Leo no longer possessing any powers of his own had resorted to using Excalibur to bat away energy balls. Emotions boiling close to the edge Wyatt erupted and with a massive wall of energy vanquished every single demon in the Manor. But the cost was great and Wyatt collapsed to unconsciousness. He was told later that it was then that the changeling demons found them and killed Billie before Anakin and Chris were able to vanquish them with a spell out of the Book of Shadows.
After the funerals and recovering from their grief the Charmed Ones did what they did best and went on a killing spree. They marched in to the Underworld and vanquished demons left right and center. The decimation in the Underworld must have been severe because it drew the new Source out of his hiding. A temporary cease fire was struck for both sides to nurse their wounds. Soon after that the three brothers Wyatt, Chris, Anakin, barely nine, took on the mantle and responsibility of the Charmed Ones. After a couple of months and no new attacks were made on the family the Halliwell family relaxed ever so slightly and allowed themselves to think that maybe the war was over. But it was not even close and on the anniversary of their children's murders Phoebe and Coop were killed by two powerful Harpy demons.
Paige's two and only daughters were the next to die this time not from demons but in a car accident. No longer able to take all the grief Paige moved as far away from San Francisco and cut all ties with the family. Even that did not save her however and word got back to Piper that Paige had met her end against a resurrected Balthazar. The once powerful Halliwell family had been reduced to Piper, Leo, and their remaining children.
Wyatt tore his eyes off the wall and turned around. "Mom?" Wyatt called out yet again. Still no one had stirred. "Dad? Chris? Annie?" Wyatt got more and more worried with each name. He closed his eyes trying to sense them but his whitelighter sensing had been sporadic at best of late, something to do with all the unresolved emotions boiling inside of himself. Finally a voice reached his ears and he looked over toward the sound.
"Owww!" Annie moaned, the first indication of life, "I think that wretched thing broke my leg."
Anakin Victor Halliwell was a younger version of Wyatt. He had the blond curly hair and the innocent face of the Twice Blessed One and their father. But he had Piper's hazel eyes and her powers. Anakin sat up and repositioned himself so that he could lean against the remainder of the table the sat at the bottom of the stairs. Anakin looked over toward Wyatt and gave a subtle smile. Wyatt seeing that his younger brother was not seriously hurt moved in the opposite direction searching for his mother. He had seen his mom take a nasty blow from an athame toward the end of the battle.
"Mom?" He cried out and his knees nearly buckled when he saw her. Lying sprawled at the opposite end of the living room was the unmoving body of the Piper Halliwell. Wyatt not wasting anymore time bent down and carefully rolled Piper over and saw the almost black pool of blood. Wyatt's heart stopped and he struggled to draw in a single breath. Forcing himself to keep working he blinked blinding tears out of his eyes and slowly pulled out the emerald handled athame. Chucking the dagger aside Wyatt raised his hands over his mother's wound. His palms started to glow and the glow intensified as Wyatt struggled to keep his hands steady. Slowly the wound started to heal and after another few minutes Piper took a gasping breath. Wyatt dropped his hand and wrapped his arms tightly around Piper. Piper returned the hug but eventually moved on to more pressing matters.
"What about…" Piper started but stopped when she saw the destruction that used to be her living room. "Wyatt where are you brothers?"
Wyatt looked at his mother and blinked trying to process the question. He had completely forgotten about the rest of his family in that brief instant of absolute horror. "Annie has a broken leg and Chris and Dad still have not moved."
Piper started to push herself up but Wyatt pressed a gentle hand against her shoulder. "You lost a lot of blood, Mom." He stood up and blasted his way toward the last place he had seen Chris.
"Chris?" Chris's body lay on a fairly empty part of the sun room's floor. The sole brown haired Charmed One stirred and groaned. "You alright?" Wyatt asked and blasted the last bit of debris out of his way.
Chris slowly rolled over to reveal a deep cut in his upper thigh. "I'll live – I think."
Wyatt looked at the wound and started to move toward his brother. "You need to be healed," he stated in concern.
"No," Chris said evenly reinforcing the command with a shake of his head. He placed a firm hand on the wound and grimaced as he applied pressure. "Go check the others first. I'll be fine."
Wyatt seeing no point in arguing and loosing precious time walked back into the living room and waded toward the kitchen. He smiled reassuringly at Annie on his way and Annie shot him a quick grin in return but the grin quickly became distorted by a grimace of pain. Wyatt ignoring his instinct to go help his baby brother turned back to the kitchen. Anakin's wound was not life threatening but Dad's could be, he reminded himself. He made it into the kitchen to see Leo lying in a large pool of blood. Again ignoring his own anguish Wyatt started to try and heal his father, kneeling in the blood The glowing came but the deep claw wounds across the man's back simply would not heal.
"No!" Wyatt hissed but his voice nonetheless trembled with grief.
"You can't leave us!" Wyatt blinked back tears and shook his hand as if the motion would help. "You can't…" His voice got caught in his throat as he dissolved into silent sobs.
"Wy?" He heard his mother's worried call.
He broke off his crying and once again focused his attention on his father. He raised his hands determinedly over the wounds and willed the wounds to heal. He placed every ounce of love he had for the man behind the spell but it would not work. Gasping for breath he tried again this time placing his hand directly on the wounds. His eyes glowed unnaturally and he felt his skin cells on his palm bubble and burst and the surge of energy. Eventually he had to relent or risk unconsciousness. He slammed his bloodied fists onto his father's back in frustration and sorrow.
"Dad – no – please God no." Wyatt said choking back tears.
"There is no god to help you, Wyatt."
Wyatt looked up at a man with dark green eyes and pitch black hair. "Who the hell are you?" He stated angrily.
"I am one of the Angels of Death," the man stated apathetically. "I am here for," the man turned his green eyes to Leo's body, "your father's soul."
"You can't have HIM!" screamed Wyatt and flexing his fingers.
The man remained standing with a calm expression on his face as the attack went straight through him and the kitchen counter behind him exploded. "You cannot stop the inevitable, Wyatt." Death said looking pitifully at the teenage boy. Death snapped his finger and Leo's ghost rose out of the dead body and looked around the room. "Anymore than you can turn back time."
Wyatt ignored Death and focused his red eyes on his father's ghost.
"Dad," Wyatt cried. "Fight it Dad!"
"Wy," Leo's clam voice broke through the silence. "I cannot do that. You know I cannot. It is my time."
"Please!" Wyatt yelled breaking down. "What about Mom...what about us?"
"She will understand eventually, you all will." Leo said sadly. "Tell her I love her. And I love you too, my son. But there is nothing more you can do for me."
Death focused his emotionless orb on Wyatt. "Grieve for your father. And then move on. Don't," Death threatened, "and risk loosing more than just you own life." The room turned black and white for an instant and Death along with Leo's ghost were gone.
"Wyatt?" Piper's concerned voice came from the entrance of the kitchen. Wyatt turned around slowly and in doing so showed the full picture of the situation to Piper.
"Oh my God! Leo…" Her voice broke.
"Mom?" Anakin's worried voice carried into the kitchen.
Piper's face grew more ashen at the sound of Anakin's soft voice. She started to turn around; he did not need to see his father like this. But she heard the tell-tale sounds of someone orbing. She looked back over her should to see Leo's bloodied body lying on the kitchen floor, alone. Trusting Wyatt of being capable of handling the situation she turned her attention to Leo. With a quiet sob she collapsed to her knees just inside the kitchen, not able to make it all the way to Leo.
Outside by the stair case Wyatt orbed back in impeading Anakin's difficult progress to the kitchen. Anakin took one look and the swollen eyes of his usually impervious older brother and swallowed a lump in his own throat.
Cautiously he voiced his concern. "What's going on, Wy? What's wrong with Dad?"
Wyatt tears once again welling up, placed a comforting hand on Anakin's should and looked the youngest Halliwell dead in the eyes. In barely more than a whisper Wyatt confirmed Anakin's worst fears. "He's dead, Annie."
"What!" Anakin's face paled and his strength left him. He would have collapsed had Wyatt not pulled him into a tight comforting hug. "But…" His voiced disappeared and was replaced with uncontrollable sobs.
Wyatt knowing he had to be strong for his brother steeled his own emotions and held Anakin close to his chest.
Still in a soft whisper Wyatt continued, "I saw Death take him away there is nothing more we can do." This took all the energy out of the older blond Halliwell.
The two brothers slid to the floor and cried in hollow silence. A couple of minutes passed and sounds of movement reached Wyatt's ears. At first he tensed up believing it to be the grimlock come to finish them off but then he remembered that Chris was still in the Manor. He struggled to his feet and after ruffling up Anakin's hair in brotherly comfort he headed for the sun room. He reached the sun room to see Chris leaning against the wall struggling to stay up right with his wounded thigh.
"Dad?" Chris asked struggling to control his voice. "We've lost Dad as well."
Wyatt nodded and silently moved over to Chris. The blond offered his shoulder as a support which Chris accepted gratefully. Once Wyatt was sure Chris was fairly stable he released his hold on the brown haired witch to heal the thigh wound. After a second of holding his glowing hand over the wound it was mended. Chris let go of Wyatt and gingerly tested his healed leg. Slowly the two made their way back to Anakin who was still sitting in the exact same position Wyatt had left him. Wyatt sat down heavily next to Anakin and wrapped his arm around the shaking young boy.
Chris ran his hand through his brown hair and shakily let out a long sigh. "But how?" Chris finally asked. "He got out of their way. Why go after him?"
Wyatt, thankful for the chance to get his mind at least partially off the fact that his father was dead, frowned. "When do these damn attacks ever make sense?"
Chris nodded and sunk to the floor. "But they usually have had a purpose. He posed no threat to them. He was a mortal!"
"But he is our father," Anakin said sorrow still ever present in his voice. "That is enough to make him a target."
"Make us lose focus," Wyatt stated leaning his head against his knees trying desperately not to throw up.
Chris shuffled his feet and sniffed. "Still it seems like such a petty thing to take someone's life for."
Piper appeared in the door way with swollen red eyes and bloodied hands. "Lets get this all cleaned up." She said shakily. "Someone might have phoned the police and we do not need another tragedy today."
All three boys looked up at their mother in confusion. They had just lost their father and she wanted them to clean up? Wyatt not precisely caring to argue or about the rules that came with magic waved his hand flippantly over his head. The entire placed glowed a faint blue as billions of tiny blue orbs replaced the destruction that was the house. The orbs moved at lightning speed and slowly died away to reveal a perfectly clear and reconstructed Manor. The only thing remaining of the battle was Leo's body which still lay on the cold kitchen floor minus the pool of blood.
"Wyatt," Piper started to admonish but she simply was too emotionally drained to care enough about personal gain.
"What about Dad?" Anakin asked.
He got up and limped over to his mother who enveloped him in a hug. The young teen got a glimpse of his dad and the emotions welled up inside of him once again. The pain was there and the sorrow but they were now joined but the need for revenge and it was on this new emotion that he concentrated on.
"How do we explain his death?" Anakin asked more firmly.
"Don't worry about that, sweetie," Piper said softly her maternal instincts overcoming her own grief. "I'll deal with that. All I need you and your brothers to do is…"
The doorbell interrupted Piper. All four heads turned to the front door were a silhouette of a person could be seen through the stained glass. The door bell rung once again and the muffled voice of the police officer reached their ears. Piper let go of Anakin and looked at her three sons. "Why don't you three go up stairs? I'll deal with this."
Wyatt and Chris were about to protest but a stern look from Piper stopped them in their tracks. Taking Anakin's hand the three boys orbs out. Once Piper heard their footsteps up stairs she started toward the door. She brushed away her tears and opened the door.
"Ma'am one of your neighbors," the young uniformed officer paused at the sight of Piper. "Ma'am, are you alright?"
Piper nodded and shakily answered. "There was an accident officer. My – my – my husband…"
"Ma'am," the officer stated obviously unsure on how to handle the situation, "can you show me the – err – crime scene?"
Piper nodded and opened the door wide enough for the officer to step through. She closed the door and led the way to the kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen she waved her hand slightly and Leo's body glowed for all of a second. Suddenly the claw marks from the harpy that had obviously killed Leo were no longer present. Instead Leo was laying face up with a knife in the chest. The kitchen counters became cluttered with all the pieces necessary to cook a decent meal. Hating herself for it Piper turned to face the officer.
"Why did no one phone 9-1-1?" The officer questioned after glancing over the scene.
Piper hesitated. "9-1-1?"
The officer nodded stepping out of the kitchen and radioing in the crime scene. "Yes, usually most people call in their emergency – especially one like this."
Piper let out a deep sigh and she blinked back tears. She hated this three way deception they had to play. "Well it all happened so fast and then I was too worried about my kids seeing their father like this and…"
The officer held up his hand. "Ok, ma'am. Now can you tell exactly what happened? Your neighbors complained of a lot of loud crashes and screams."
Piper shrugged. "No idea why." She forced her emotions down as the thought of Leo being dead came charging back at her. "My husband is rather clumsy in the kitchen so that could explain the noises."
"You do not seem all that upset by the departure of your husband ma'am."
"Oh," Piper said while letting out a heavily sigh, "I guess I'm in shock. I've been with Leo for almost twenty-one years. The fact that he is gone hasn't quite hit me yet. I've lost a lot of family in the recent passed," she sniffed her emotions really starting to get the better of her. "It is just – too much…" She broke down.
"Mom?" Anakin asked from the stairs.
Piper turned around, "Annie? I thought…"
"I know," Anakin came all the way down the stairs, "but…" His eyes focused on the police officer and he felt the overpowering sensation of a premonition.
He saw himself falling down the stairs and his mother rushing to his aid. Then an energy ball crashed into his chest and he saw no more.
Anakin came back to reality to the weightless sensation of falling before his head collided painfully with the stair case. He rolled the rest of the way suffering more injuries but the scene of the premonition over took any sense of throbbing he was feeling. Then his tumbling came to an abrupt stop at the bottom of the stairs. He raised his hand and Piper was running toward him. And behind her the uniformed man rose slowly to his feet. Without thinking, without even breathing Anakin closed his eyes and heard the sound of crashing. He opened up his blue orbs to see his mother now hovering over him.
"Mom!" Anakin yelled despite the pain. But it was too late and a second later the energy ball intended for him hit the matriarch of the Halliwell family square in the back.
Piper dropped to the floor her brown eyes glazing over. Anakin yelled and flexed his fingers there were screams and then nothing, complete utter silence. Anakin did not hear anything else but his own sobbing. He felt himself being pulled away from Piper's lifeless body and then being embraced in the strong arms of Chris. And he knew that the Halliwell line had officially lost their battle against good.