Chapter Two
Chris was spell-bound with shock. He couldn't move. He couldn't breath. Whatever words he'd begun to utter had been caught in his tight throat. All his sapped energy allowed him to do was stare at the pitifully hallow corpse that hung on the wall. The corpse of his once vibrant, fiery cousin. His crushed heart couldn't take it. Eventually, he found the strength to orb, and he promptly collapsed to the attic floor. He just knelt there, not quite sure what to do.
Damn Wyatt. Damn him to hell!
Chris had always thought Ruby was safe. Ruby had been one of Wyatts favourites- he loved her passion and strength and wanted her as one of his own, the way you'd greedily eye the most prestigious pedigree pup. Wyatt had always left a space open for Ruby space open, and Chris had been glad of it, as it ensured her immunity. But now... Wyatt must really want Chris' plans foiled. For he'd murdered his favourite cousin and left her broken body as a message- that she wasn't to be the last. Seeing her like that, so cruelly discarded...
As bile born of disgust began to rise in Chris' throat, he fought to choke it back. He'd barely heard the jingles of the orbs as his family appeared behind him. Piper rushed to embrace him, motherly instincts taking over.
"You alright?" Leo started, only to be glared down by Chris. Again. Do I look alright to you? Chris thought, regarding his father with loathing.
"Chris..." Phoebe stuttered, regaining her composure slowly, "did you know her? Who was she?"
Phoebe's words seemed to inflict physical pain on Chris, as he winced and crumbled smaller.
Talking his mothers hand to gently lead her away, Chris stood.
"No more secrets, remember?" Leo started, trying to keep his voice steady.
"Phoebe... I-I'm so sorry..." Chris' own voise failed him.
"You're- sorry?" Phoebe stuttered, frowning.
"That was Ruby. She was your- your daughter. Your only..." Chris couldn't finish his sentence.
Phoebe took a swift intake of breath. Her soft skin, already pale from the shock of the body paled further to a sickly grey. Seeing her legs begin to fail, Paige lead her to the small sofa in the corner of the attic, placing her down as if she were a fragile doll.
"My- my daughter?" Phoebe managed to utter. "And... and Wyatt did that?"
Chris narrowed his deep green eyes as he stated: "Yes. But believe me, it's not as unusual as you'd expect."
As she held Phoebe's shaking hand, Paige's face steeled, "Prat."
Piper found it hard to take offence from that remark, but it seemed justified, considering.
"I said I'd protect her. That I'd never let anything happen to her. I..." Chris' sentence was lost in the air, but continued to torture his mind.
Phoebe smiled sadly, her tears redirecting on their gradual paths down her flushed face. "Chris, it's alright. All of this is going to change anyway, isn't it? We haven't lost anyone, really."
Chris shrugged and stood up, his shoulders still shaking slightly. "It's good logic. Doesn't feel like it though." He walked over to stand behind the Book. Not for any reason in particular. He just felt more at ease there. More ready for action; as if nothing in the world could touch him. "Okay, well. That just happened. Now, what are we going to do about it?"
Xx
In another time and place (an abandoned supermarket in 2025, to be precise), Bastina Halliwell (who'd been named by an imaginative 5 year old. Literally. But more on that later.) diligently scried over a giant map of the world. Her eyes were fixed, unwavering, on the crystal and the places it hovered over, unable to decide, flickering over continents and countries. Suddenly, she jumped. A drop of blood slammed onto the map where her eyes had been lingering. She brought a hand to her forehead. It was wet. Damn. The blood was seeping from a cut there. She dropped the crystal, growling in frustration, and pulled an already blood-sodden rag from her pocket, bringing it up to press against her forehead. She sighed and gazed around the shop in which she'd taken refuge. The shelves had, of course, been ravaged long ago by the starving people of the city, and now all that was left was a hallow shell, with equally hallow wrappers and cans littering the floor, colliding with leaves, twigs and blood.
Ah, blood. That was all she ever seemed to notice these days. The blood spilled, who's it was, and how much of the unlovely stuff had been lost this time.
What lovely thoughts I have, she thought wryly, picking up the crystal again.
Suddenly, the shimmer of orbs could be heard, and two figures solidified into the room. One was Darryl, who was looking more than a little flustered, his untamed beard even more dishevelled than usual, with nervous hands constantly aggravating it. The second was her very own auntie Prue, who, taking her hand away from Darryl's after they'd orbed fully, blinked in surprize upon seeing Bastina.
"Bas!" Prue instantly ran towards her niece, relief flooding through her. "I can't believe it! You're supposed to be dead!"
"What!" Bas instantly recoiled. "Since when!"
"Are you kidding?" Darryl chipped in, his voice uncharacteristically high. "Since eight flipping months ago, when you were assumed to be in the fire that brought down our Stronghold and killed hundreds of the General Resistance, not to mention the main! Where the hell have you been!"
Bas frowned, clearly confused. Then, realisation dawned on her face, and she looked slightly sheepish.
"I- I'm sorry. I was looking for Chris, to help him. I used the new time-jumping spell. I thought I'd only been gone a few days. Guess it kinda back-fired."
"Kinda back-fired!" Daryl screamed, his face going red. "Girl, you've given us all some serious heart-ache thinking you were dead! Do you even know what we've been going through without you! Your mother- bless her soul- would God-damn give you an earful if she knew the pain you'd caused. If I were Paige, I'd God-damn..."
"Jeez! C'mon Darryl, give the girl a break." Prue quiped, and Darryl pushed his lips together tight. Turning her head away from the obviously over-stressed Darryl, Prue smiled at Bas, tears brewing in her deep, green eyes. "I've missed you." Prue regarded Darryl again. "And, evidently, so has he!"
Bas smiled back. Darryl nodded, and looked to the floor to hide the tears that had begun to spring in his eyes, too.
"Did you find Chris?" Prue asked, her voice hopeful.
Bas' gaze fled to the floor. "No. That spell sucked. I just ended up flitting back and forth between pointless events in history." She shrugged. " I'm pretty sure I'll be in a history book or two if you ever had time to scan an old library. The whole journey was kinda educational. For example, you can be sure that Henry the Eight was a disgusting, dirty old man." Bas giggled slightly at the memory, then mentally chided herself. She wasn't sure why, but no-one ever seemed to be able to giggle and not instantly feel guilty about it. Bas wondered if it had always been this way.
Prue sighed. Bas hand't found him. And after all that. It wasn't that she didn't trust Chris. To the contrary, Prue would rather set herself on fire ten times over than put the fate of the world in any-one else's hands. But she just worried about her nephew. It'd be nice to know he was doing alright. Coping alright.
"We'll just have to keep waiting. If we needed to be updated on anything, Chris would make sure that we were. Everything is probably fine- going the way we planned. If we just wait a little longer, he'll come through for us."
"Of course. I, for one, have no doubt of that. Until then," Darryl began, stepping forward to Bas, "we need you to come back as acting Leader. The Resistance is kinda falling apart at the seams with disorganisation. Ever since..."
"Ever since Ruby went missing, right?" Bas interupted. "Yeh, I heard. I was just scrying for her."
"And?" Prue inquired, flicking back an unruly slither of silky black hair in annoyance.
"Nothing." Bas sighed in frustration. "What'dyou suppose that means?"
"Honestly?" Prue started, her eyes suddenly faraway "I don't like to think about it."
In silence, Prue thrust her arm foreward, knowing that both Darryl and Bas would take it instinctively. They were all awash in orb lights for an instant until they were gone.
Xx
"Piper, you alright?" Phoebe asked, concerned as she spotted her sister claw at her forehead, looking as if she were in pain.
"Oh, sure." Piper brushed off. Then, she looked up, and her face was guilty. "Actually, no. Not exactly."
The faces gathered in the living room all turned to look at her. Chris and Paige's faces echoed Phoebes concern, but Leo looked rather sheepish.
"Umm, y'know, I think I might be, erm... Well, I don't know if this is the best time to bring it up, but..." Piper pursed her lips.
"Oh!" Chris cried triumphantly as realisation came to him. Then he recoiled as he was struck with another realisation. That this was completely weird. "You're pregnant. Of course." He shuffled uneasily.
Phoebe and Paige were startled, even though, realistically, it shouldn't have been all that shocking. Phoebe shot a look at Leo.
"And you knew?" She said, glaring.
"Well, of course I did! How do you think we- we could've... I mean..." Leo trailed off.
"Hey, woah, woah, waoh!" Chris jumped from his seat, waving his arms about frantically. "I'd like to keep hold of the little sanity I have left, thank you very much! Jeez!"
Piper tossed him a wry grin, while Leo stood awkwardly and cleared his throat.
"Okay enough of the distractions, back to the original plan. Chris? You coming?" Leo tossed his head, gesturing for his son to come.
"Where?" Paige asked.
Chris stood and walked to his father with obvious reluctance. He winced as he got close. "We're going to get advise from Gideon. Y'know, since he always knows everything, being an Elder and all." Leo turned to Chris as he said this, looking slightly wounded. "No offence, Dad. I know you're an Elder too, but, lets face it, you're not exactly the most well informed."
Leo looked set to argue, but clearly gave up. How could he get annoyed at Chris when he'd so easily called him Dad? Chris was now stood, obviously realising what he'd said, and obviously regretting it, but Leo couldn't be happier. He'd come to notice over the past week and a half that Chris was far from Leo's biggest fan; he'd been openly cold and distant from him, having no reason now to hide his contempt. And Leo was hurt. Could he have been a bad Dad in some way? Not there for his son? Did he maybe do something unforgivable? Whatever the reason, Chris had shown every-one else some form of love or appreciation but Leo. Leo was, therefore, determined to get to know his son more, and break through the barrier that he'd thrown up.
"Whatever." Chris brushed off awkwardly. "C'mon, lets go. The sooner we can get this whole Evil Wyatt thing figured out, the sooner we can get back to what really matters. This Wyatt. The cute, baby one." Chris stepped closer to Leo. "Who, by the way, I much prefer. Mum, rest up. We'll be back asap."
Casting his mother one final, reassuring smile, Chris orbed away, and Leo quickly followed.
Seconds later, when the orb chimed had faded, Paige stood up and clapped her hands pointedly. "Alrightly, where shall we start. Potions for protection? Or a protection spell on the whole house? Not to mention the, ahem, cleaning up we have to do..." Paige's voice strayed, but she instantly got off of the disturbing topic of the 'mess' on the wall under the stairs, which still hadn't been cleared. She managed to shrug it off. "Looks like we've got our work cut out for us, girls. Jump to it!"
"Speak for yourselves!" Piper grinned as Phoebe jumped up at Paige's command. "You heard the kid. I gotta rest up. But, by all means, you two get working. Don't let me rain on your parade."
Paige and Phoebe shot their sister- who was usually against being held back by the minor annoyance that was pregnancy- a look, as she spread herself over the couch, reaching for the remote control.
"Oh, TV! How long it has been..." Piper sighed.
Phoebe and Paige strutted away to begin their work as Piper sat and pretended to be interested in a re-run of 'How I Met Your Mother'. Really, her mind was faraway. Thinking about her sons; predominantly her eldest. Thinking about the savaged body that was hanging on their wall, and the little, perfect blonde baby who would- one day- cause it to be put there.