Bonds Unbroken
Chris woke up in a pitch black room. He tried to move but found that it was a severe strain even to open his eyes. After a few seconds, he stopped trying and tried to remember what he'd been doing the night before.
He'd been trying to sneak into Wyatt's castle. It had been dark and cold outside, so the number of guards had been decreased. Wyatt's thinking was that no one would even attempt to break on in a night such as that one. Chris had gotten past the guards without alerting them when he'd blacked out suddenly.
Chris groaned. He'd probably been hit by a demon and dumped in a prison cell. Chris tried to move again, and this time he felt sharp pains shooting through the muscles of the right side of his body as he rolled onto his back. He lay there, panting.
This was unusual for Wyatt. Usually Wyatt was always there to gloat when his brother woke up. "I wonder what he's up too?" muttered Chris to himself.
Suddenly, the door to Chris's room flew open. An inhuman scream sounded through the room as en energy ball was thrown inside at the wall behind Chris. Just before it hit the wall, the inky blackness seemed to suck itself through a crack in the walls, illuminating the cell with the light of the moon – temporarily blinding Chris – and revealing stone walls and magically reinforced bars on the window.
A demon walked in muttering, "Damn reaper." The demon grabbed Chris and roughly dragged him out of the room. Chris pretended to be asleep through this whole ordeal.
As Chris was then unceremoniously thrown over the shoulder of yet another demon, he couldn't help but smile. 'So, Lord Wyatt has a reaper problem,' he thought to himself. 'Interesting.'
Chris knew from experience that reapers were normally just lost souls that had been transformed due to the immense amount of sadness and pain that they had gone through. Reapers were traditionally harmless, although they became incredibly dangerous when confronted with the object of their pain.
As Chris was moved to another room, he raised his hand to feel his head. There was no blood, meaning that the reaper had healed him, although the process had obviously not been completed as he still felt pain from the beating that he had obviously been given while unconscious.
The demons climbed the stairs and then entered the throne room. From what Chris could see, the décor hadn't changed much. He then felt the demon throw him to the floor – hard. Chris grunted as he hit the ground.
"Leave us," a voice commanded.
Chris had learnt from experience that playing dead was usually the less painful way to go. He heard footsteps approach as the door closed. Suddenly he was lifted off the ground and thrown against a wall where an invisible force kept him there.
Chris kept his gaze to the ground. Eventually he could see black shoes and pants step in front of him. A hand reached out under his chin and forced Chris's gaze upward.
"Hello Chris," greeted Wyatt. "I knew you would be back."
"I'm just trying to save you Wyatt," stated Chris. "Nothing more."
Faster than Chris had expected, Wyatt slapped him across the face. "I do not need to be saved Chris," he snarled. "How many times must I explain that to you?"
"You'll just have to keep saying it until I either succeed or die trying," responded Chris.
Wyatt chuckled a bit. "Chris, what happened to us?" he asked, half joking, half serious. "We used to be so in love. You would make things fun by trying to escape. What happened to that energy that I so came to love?"
"First off," spat Chris, "there was never an 'us'. Second, I would try to escape because I didn't want to get raped by my older brother. And third, we were never in love."
Wyatt stroked Chris's cheek gently, causing Chris to shiver. Unfortunately for him, he was unable to do anything else due to Wyatt's telekinetic hold. "There's that fire that I've missed," said Wyatt grinning. "I must admit that I admire that most about you. And, you can keep lying to yourself, but I know the love is, and was, there. You told me on several occasions in the past." He paused for a second to see if there was a reaction from Chris. When there was none, he continued, "No one even comes close to you anywhere –especially in bed."
"What?" asked Chris dumbly.
"Come now Chris," laughed Wyatt. "You didn't honestly think that I'd save myself for you." Wyatt moved some hair out of Chris's face, causing his younger brother to flinch. "I've made due with a few… select prisoners – and the occasional demon. But let me tell you, none of them are as good as you are."
"Who are the select prisoners?" asked Chris coolly. He did not like the sound of that, because he knew that he would most likely know who those select prisoners are.
"Oh, just our dear cousin," answered Wyatt with a smirk. "Junior is quite feisty at times."
Chris paled. "We thought he was dead," he managed to get out after the shock of it all. "He's been missing for a year."
"Yes, well, your resistance doesn't know as much as you think you do," stated Wyatt.
"Care to elaborate?" asked Chris acidly.
"Now now," mocked Wyatt, "I'll have to make sure that you're going to be here for a while before I divulge any secrets to you."
Chris glared at Wyatt. Wyatt had a nasty habit of using informational blackmail to keep him around.
"Would you like to see him?" asked Wyatt pleasantly.
This surprised Chris. Normally Wyatt wouldn't be so quick to attempt to please him. Obviously he was trying hard to win Chris over. Chris weighed his options. Although he desperately wanted to see his cousin and make sure that he was alright, he knew that Wyatt would want something in return.
In the end, his need of assurance that his cousin was relatively unharmed won out. "Yes," answered Chris, sounding slightly defeated. "Just so I know up front, what is it going to cost me?"
"It won't cost you anything at all," said Wyatt, grinning. "All I want is a little family dinner."
"Family dinner with who?" asked Chris. "The only family that's still alive is you, me, and Junior."
Wyatt did nothing but laugh. "You'll find out soon Chris," he said. Then he freed Chris of the telekinetic bonds, and wrapped his arms around his little brother. "Welcome home," whispered Wyatt.
At first, Chris did nothing but let Wyatt hug him. However, he eventually raised his arms and hugged Wyatt back. Wyatt hadn't always been like this. There was a time when the two of them had once truly been in love. Their bond as brothers was always stronger than most other brotherly bonds. However, after Wyatt exposed magic, things began to fall apart between the two of them, and Chris had left Wyatt. Chris would occasionally go on Resistance missions, hoping to save Wyatt from the evil that had turned him, but each mission left him more heartbroken and disappointed than the last. Eventually, Chris had hardened his heart, but every once in a while, Wyatt made his way through.
Wyatt flamed them outside a corridor in the castle. It was not the dungeons like he had expected, but right then, he was too concerned with his stomach to say anything. He clung on to Wyatt, trying to keep his balance as he reeled from the sensation of being flamed.
"I'm sorry," apologized Wyatt, "I forgot how much flaming didn't agree with you." He held his brother close to him, trying to comfort him as much as possible. Wyatt had come to accept over the past several months that he had been taking the wrong approach with Chris. Chris needed someone to be gentle with him – not rough like he had been. Chris needed someone to give him the world, starting with what he wanted most – his family.
Once Chris had steadied himself he prepared to enter the door that was in front of him, but Wyatt grabbed the doorknob and held up his hand in caution.
Wyatt slowly opened the door and immediately raised his force field, which was a good idea since a heavy glass ornament was thrown at him. The glass shattered against the force field and fell to the ground although it was immediately dispelled by a wave of Wyatt's hand. "Hello Junior," said Wyatt calmly. "I brought a visitor today."
"I don't care who the hell you brought," came the voice of an angry male in his late teens. "I'm sick and tired of being your fuck toy Wyatt. Just let me out of here."
Wyatt stared calmly at his cousin. "I think you might rethink that last statement after you see who I've brought," he said, turning and motioning for Chris to step forward.
As Chris did, Wyatt lowered the force field, allowing Junior to see Chris clearly. Junior gasped and then raced towards Chris, shoving past Wyatt, and pulled his cousin into a long hug.
Wyatt stepped back and said, "I'll leave you two alone for a little while." He stepped out of the room and closed the door. A white light spread through the door and then disappeared. Chris noticed this and looked at Junior questioningly.
"He locks the door so that I can't escape or kill his demons," explained Junior. He stepped back to survey is newly arrived cousin. "You're looking thinner than you were last time I saw you," he stated.
"And you look like you've been living in the lap of luxury," joked Chris. It was true. Junior was indeed looking better than he had been with the resistance. He had grown out his blond hair, and his body was sporting a tan that it hadn't had for years. However, his eyes held a haunted look of someone who had experienced a lot of pain in life. Although Junior was 19, he had the look of someone who was 17 at most. His cousin was 5'11 and thin, although the thinness came from working out and eating right rather than being starved.
They moved over to the bed. "So what has he done to you?" asked Chris, who was almost afraid of the answer.
Junior sighed and then crossed his legs. "For the most part he treats me really well – aside from being confined to a few rooms and having my powers bound," Junior began. "The only times he's ever violent are the nights when his other prisoners wont do the trick and he needs some sex – badly."
"How bad is it?" asked Chris in a whisper. He knew from experience that Wyatt could be rather violent during sex. The fact that he was into leather and bondage didn't help much.
"I've gotten used to it," answered Junior uncomfortably. "I don't know how you put up with it though. Every time you get captured, he spends every waking moment with you." Junior looked at Chris with wide, scared eyes. "I'm just scared that now that you're here, he'll put me back in the dungeons."
Chris pulled his younger cousin into a hug. "I won't let him do that to you," he promised. "The last thing I want to happen is for you to be stuck there with a Reaper on the loose."
Junior barked out a hollow laugh. "Are you kidding?" he asked incredulously. "The Reaper is awesome. It's the only thing here that fights Wyatt on a daily basis. The thing eats about 3 demons a day, and heals up his prisoners, which pisses Wyatt off immensely." He stopped and looked down, a solemn expression on his face. "It heals me too, if Wyatt forgets. He usually heals me whenever he's done with me so that I'll be tight and ready to go for the next round, but sometimes he just leaves, and the Reaper does it."
Chris grinned. "I might need to meet this Reaper," he said. "Has it talked to you?"
"No," responded Junior, shaking his head. "It never talks. I think it might have been one of his former prisoners, but I don't know. It knows me though, and probably you too."
Chris contemplated this. Wyatt had taken many prisoners over the years that had known them. There were actually a good number of family members that had resided inside the castle before Wyatt killed them off or brain washed them. Very little of his family was M.I.A. though now, mainly because their bodies had turned up, or their executions had been publicized. He had three cousins that had been brainwashed, and were currently ruling other continents, and then once upon a time, Wyatt had used another family member as a living weapon to destroy clans of Witches or Demons – whatever magical creature that had defied his rule.
Chris tried not to think about this too much. He had seen what Wyatt had done to that boy, and remembered the hollow eyes looking back at him, unable to control himself as he tried to kill Chris and other members of the resistance. Chris didn't know what had happened to him, but he knew that death would have been kinder than anything else.
"Wyatt wants to have a family dinner," stated Chris suddenly.
Junior glanced at him incredulously. "I hope you know that a family dinner here means that he plans on screwing you right after, right?" he asked.
Chris nodded. "I know, but who else do you know is still alive other than Prudence, Melinda, and Patricia?"
Junior looked down without saying another word. Obviously he knew something, and he knew it wouldn't please Chris.
Chris stared his cousin down until Junior finally spoke. "He's had Uncle Leo trapped in the dungeons for about 7 months now," he said. "He usually brings him out to show off to other demons. Your dad tries so hard to talk Wyatt out of what he's doing, but all it gets him is a one way ticket to being a sex toy for every demon in the mansion. Some of them screw him while others torture him. I had to watch once, and it wasn't pretty. Wyatt…" Junior couldn't complete the sentence. Obviously there were some painful memories that he didn't want to divulge, but Chris could guess what had happened.
"He made Dad fuck you, didn't he?" he asked, although he knew the answer to this. Wyatt had some sick fantasies that he would often play out by shape shifting demons to look like people that he knew and wanted to fuck, or see fucking. Chris drew his cousin in for a comforting hug as the tears welled up in Junior's eyes. He held the sobbing teen in his arms until he'd finished crying.
Once Junior had pulled away, he wiped his tears away. "I guess we'd better call Wyatt to come get us," he said. "Your orbing wont work in here. I suspect that he might have stripped your powers."
Chris shook his head. "No, I still have them," he said. "I think Wyatt's trying really hard to get me to stay."
"What was he like?" asked Junior. "Before he changed?" Junior knew the secret that very few other family members knew – that Chris and Wyatt had once been very much in love.
Chris sighed and looked up, rifling through the memories he had of his early days with Wyatt. "He was amazing," Chris started. "He was always very caring and loving. He listened to me, and to other people, and he wanted to make everyone happy. He was there when dad wasn't. When Mom died, he helped me get through it. He wiped away my tears, and made sure that I felt safe. Then he started hunting demons. And he changed." Chris's tone became harsher as he said these last few words. "He stopped being the kind and loving brother I knew, and became what he is today. When I tried to break it off with him, he started deluding himself by saying that I was just playing a game or something; that I just needed time to sort it all out."
Junior looked at him sadly. They'd all been affected by Wyatt's change, but Chris had lost the person who cared about him the most. Junior could understand some of what Chris was going through, as his mother and father had been killed, but he didn't know the true feelings of heartache accompanied by loss.
Chris sighed. "Are you ready for whatever dinner he has planned?" he asked Junior, waiting for an answer.
Junior thought about it for a few moments. "I guess," he responded. "I mean, we won't exactly have a choice in the matter, now will we?"
Five minutes later, Chris found himself sitting at a long table that was covered in delicious food. Chris was on Wyatt's right, and was finding it increasingly difficult to restrain himself from shoving his older brother's face into the bowl of mashed potatoes that was sitting not too far away. Wyatt would occasionally rub his leg up and down Chris's, and would laugh at the shocked expression on his face.
Gathered around the table were the remaining Halliwells. On Wyatt's left sat Prudence, Patricia, and Melinda. The three girls now looked more like each other than they ever had in the past. Prudence and Patricia were Phoebe's oldest daughters, and Melinda was Paige's only daughter. Each was a powerful witch in their own right.
Prudence took after her Aunt and has the powers of Telekinesis and Astral projection, although now she had many more powers. Patricia took after Piper in most of her powers, except that she could also control time in a certain area of space. She had dyed her brown hair black to match the other two girls. Chris had actually seen her rewind time so that the vanquishing potion a witch was attempting to use on her, was reversed in its trajectory and collided with the witch, vanquishing him instead. Melinda was now a Darklighter, although she had once been a whitelighter like her mother. She too had the powers of telekinesis, although now she preferred using more Darklighter – like powers.
Seated next to Chris was Junior, and at the other end of the table, chained to his chair, was Leo. The elder did not eat the food that was offered to him. Instead, he sat in stony silence, looking balefully at his oldest son, and his second son who was sitting next to him.
"Wyatt," Leo tried for the forth time of the night, "please let us go. This is getting you nowhere."
Wyatt glanced quickly at Patricia, who waved her hand in Leo's general direction. His mouth was frozen in time, although the rest of him was able to move.
"Neat trick, huh?" asked Patricia, who was looking at Chris with a dark smirk. "It helps a lot when I have to shut up a lowlife who's begging to be set free."
Chris didn't respond. Instead, he looked down at his plate, trying not to think of what might have happened afterwards to the prisoner.
After an hour of polite talk, the meal came to an end, and the three girls said their goodbyes to Wyatt, and smirked at Chris and Junior. Obviously they knew more than their male cousins did.
Wyatt waved a hand and Leo disappeared in black and blue orbs. "Now," he said, turning to Junior. "Since, Chris is here, we won't be able to have our usual round of fun, but I don't see any need to deprive you from the pleasure you should receive." His words hung like a dagger in the air.
A horrified look appeared on Junior's face. Wyatt was planning on letting a few of his demons take him for the night. Fortunately for Junior, Chris also realized this, and stepped in front of his cousin.
"Wyatt," begged Chris, "let him stay in another room. Or, we can go to another room. Just don't make him do that."
"Why Chris, whatever made you think that we were actually going to have sex tonight?" asked Wyatt innocently. "I have an important meeting that will unfortunately last all night and through most of tomorrow. You might get lucky then. I was simply implying that Junior might want to spend some quality time with someone else."
"Then he can spend it with me," stated Chris. "I don't want him to be some demon's fuck toy Wy. They're brutal, and you know that."
Junior nodded timidly from behind Chris.
Inside, Wyatt wrestled with his battling emotions. Although he wanted desperately to please Chris, the last thing he wanted was for Chris to think that he could do whatever he wanted around here. However, if he let Chris do what he wanted – within reason – it might get him back into Chris's heart.
"If it's what you want," said Wyatt slowly, "then certainly. The demons will just have to satisfy themselves with a few mortals."
A demon shimmered in. "He will take you back to your room," stated Wyatt. "Don't try anything, or I might just be less inclined to be nice." Then he dark orbed out of the room.
Chris and Junior followed the demon through the hallways of the castle, and into the room where they had been earlier.
As soon as the door shut, Junior hugged Chris and let the tears that had been threatening to fall go. As his cousin sobbed, Chris held him close, realizing how long it had probably been since someone had stood up for Junior, or done anything nice for him.
Chris leaned his head down and whispered, "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."