Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed
Future Mistakes
Wyatt laid his little brother on the bed as he arrived in the penthouse suite that he had made his home after taking over the world. Outside, San Francisco looked much the same as it always did, the various spires of the city rising proudly, the benefit of being the capital of his empire. But as usual, the infernal resistance had blown holes in a few more, and smoke was rising from the streets, indicating another brawl from the so called resistance and his loyal demons. Wyatt moved out to stand on his balcony, the wind cooling him as he smiled.
He finally had back his little brother. Chris was finally in his grasp again, and this time he wasn't going to let him go. Wyatt turned to see his prone brother on his bed. It had been a while since he had had a decent competition from a magic user. The last one to truly offer a challenge had been Neena, the first witch, and Chris' intervention had prevented that fight from coming to a satisfactory conclusion. His mother and aunts were clearly at their best back in the time Chris had gone to.
Wyatt approached his unconscious little brother. He just wished his brother would see he had done all this to protect him. After their mother's death, Chris had been totally destroyed, and there and then Wyatt had vowed that no one would ever hurt him in such a way again. He had killed Phoebe and Leo, both to show his brother that he valued him above all else, that anyone taking advantage of or preying on his baby brother would not be tolerated, but Chris didn't seem to understand that, no matter what he did. Wyatt had unified the world, taken over the underworld and the heavens to stop both sides attacking Chris. Demons wouldn't attack Chris, he wouldn't be forced to live the life their mother had, fighting off a demon attack every week. And Chris also wouldn't be subjected to the manipulations of the Elders as Wyatt had taken them out too. And then, Wyatt had taken over the mortal world, making himself Emperor, so that Chris would never want for anything, protecting him from those mortal fools that decided to try and destroy his magical subjects as they thought they were better than them, and would be safe from any of the three main forces.
He frowned as he studied his little brother, stroking Chris' hair gently. He had come home to find Phoebe, Paige and Chris one afternoon, and found that they had trapped him in a crystal cage. He remembered sadly the despairing look on his brother's face. Their grandfather hadn't long died, they had lost their mother the year before, and the entire world was going straight to hell as the Elders fell and the humans hunted magic users. And then his aunts had convinced him that his brother had turned. Wyatt had been furious, demanding to know why Chris had taken their side over his when it was him who had put Chris back together, vowed to look after him and protect him. Chris had been even more upset by this, and had been looking between the two factions, trying to decide, with Phoebe and Paige both criticising him for what he had done, for betraying his little brother. Wyatt had then turned on Phoebe, furious at her attitude, after all, before their mother had died she hadn't given a damn about Chris. As such, the argument had gotten worse, and seeing just how powerful he had become, the sisters tried to stop him. But he was much too powerful by that stage and had blasted Phoebe with an energy ball, horrifying Chris and Paige. Seeing her sister murdered by her own nephew, she had fled with Chris, and ever since then, Wyatt and Chris had been engaged in an endless game of cat and mouse.
It wasn't that he hadn't been able to find Chris when he really wanted to. Chris had convinced himself that Wyatt was going to kill Paige, and so he had promised not to kill her if he came back to him, and Chris had done so. However, once he had come back to him, Paige had started pleading with Chris, telling him his brother was evil, that he couldn't join him or he would become evil too. Wyatt had quickly lost his temper. Chris, stubborn and dedicated and loyal though he was, would never be considered evil. True he would also never be considered powerful, but the idea of his sweet little brother becoming evil was just ridiculous. Paige had tried desperately to turn Chris against him, and Chris, scared, confused and uncertain, had started to waver. And so, left with no other alternative but to try to preserve his brother's peace of mind, Wyatt had killed Paige.
That however, had proved to be a mistake, and Chris, hurt and betrayed, had fled. Wyatt supposed he should have known. Chris had never gotten over when he had taken the credit for making his mother breakfast in bed on Mother's Day (though he suspected Piper knew full well Wyatt had only made the coffee), and therefore he wasn't surprised when Chris ran off, scared, confused and alone. But, in his loneliness and despair, Chris actually proved himself rather useful.
Dedicating himself to 'saving' his big brother, Chris had begun to assemble the devastated remnants of any forms of resistance that there were. He had gathered up Whitelighters, Elders and witches who had been forced into hiding. He took in demons who were opposed to having the Twice Blessed as a Source. He recruited hunters who had made numerous stands against Wyatt and had simply lost. Slayers had joined in, the few that were left after their headquarters were bombed. Purposeless angels were reluctantly allowed in. Former members of the government who had been displaced when Wyatt had taken over rallied to his cause. Federal agents, running from the destruction of their headquarters buildings and the institutions they served joined the rallying cries against their new emperor. Military officers also lent their hands to the resistance, as did doctors and nurses, now redundant due to Wyatt forcing the whitelighters he held captive to heal all and sundry (he couldn't understand why they were so opposed to no one dying from injuries or disease). Various aspects of the magical community gathered to aid Chris, perversely unified by Wyatt's extinction of the vampires after one had very nearly turned Chris. Virtually anyone with a grudge against Wyatt's regime had rallied to Chris' cause, spreading across the world like a plague of locusts to try and undermine his new world order.
Wyatt had found it amusing at first, it was like playing chess with his brother again. However, once he began to remember that Chris had always beaten him at chess, he didn't quite appreciate their game anymore. However, he still liked to play, and he convinced himself it was like Risk instead, which he had always enjoyed more. And over the years, the resistance had dwindled, outnumbered and outgunned by their more numerically and skilfully advanced foe. And he did enjoy these games, but really, six years of playing the game against his brother was getting old.
And so, Wyatt had begun to try and find a way to get Chris, to force him to end their little game. He had messed with Chris' powers, to make sure that he would always know where Chris was if he was dying, so he could go and save his little brother. However, Chris saw this as a problem rather than a benefit, his aunts having poisoned him into thinking that Wyatt wanted to kill his little brother. Wyatt was the first to admit he could lose his temper with his little brother, would threaten to kill him, would even come close to killing him, but he would never actually murder his little brother. The other deaths in the family that he had caused were different. Their father was a swine, and had deserved death for how he treated Chris. Phoebe was much the same, her effort to be an aunt to Chris thoroughly redundant after all she had done to him over the years. The only death he did regret was Paige, he shouldn't have lost his temper with her, and if he hadn't, he might have had Chris with him, ruling the world side by side as he intended.
But, he still had fun playing this game of theirs, and after all, it helped destroy some of his more ambitious lieutenants which was always useful. And so their little war had continued, Wyatt's powers much eclipsing his stubborn brother's. Resistance cells across the world rebelled against Wyatt's policies, trying to destroy all that he had built. They also objected strongly to the banning of religion and the destruction of Israel, and to the mass murders orchestrated by his lieutenants in Africa, in Germany and in Mexico. And so, all these years later, their fight still continued, the resistance that Chris had created still exasperating him, still denying him full control of the world that he had created. And instead of scaring the people into submission, the sinking of New Zealand had only caused more people to flock to the resistance's banner, much to Wyatt's chagrin. But despite that, their game was rather fun, and it also helped Wyatt in a most useful way. Chris brought together all of his enemies, and then Wyatt could destroy them all in leaps and bounds. And that was the way their war had gone for years, until Wyatt had gotten his hands on Chris once more, after his brother had fallen for a spy he sent to protect Chris, Bianca. After that, he had put his brother under a sort of loose house arrest, letting him come and go as he pleased, provided he returned to the penthouse where he wanted them both to live, and Chris had continued to pass instructions to the resistance, while having fun with Bianca. Wyatt smiled as he remembered how happy his brother had been at the time, despite the fact that he thought his world sucked, and Wyatt knew most of his problem was that he was missing their mother as always and that his aunts had twisted him into thinking his brother was evil.
So, Chris had gone on openly defying him, passing instructions to his deputy, who was nearly as good at the game as Chris was. It also made the game more entertaining, because Wyatt had to guess their identity, and Chris was annoyingly close lipped about it. And so it had continued.
Until Chris had changed the rules of the game halfway through it. And Wyatt did admit, that he was touched that his baby brother was willing to go to such lengths to save him (not that he needed saving mind you). And he had remained amused and proud of his brother in his own way, as his brother threw himself into the past, abandoning his brother's generosity to try and fix him. Yeah he was going by Charmed Ones logic rather than Blessed Ones logic, but it was still sweet. But then, Chris began vanquishing his demons in the past, wiping out many of his lieutenants, and giving his own mysterious deputy a much needed morale boost, which allow them to start causing genuine havoc. As a result of his messing around in the past, Wyatt had lost a lot more rounds than he was used to, demons being vanquished, Whitelighters being freed, rude comments about his sexual prowess, even Alaska having the gall to declare itself independent, and a mass of refugees were smuggled out by the resistance before Wyatt's forces had crushed them. Furious with Chris' cheating, he had made an admittedly dirty move, convincing Bianca he would kill Chris (as if he could) if she didn't return him to the future. She had done so, but in their squabble, she had been killed, and his upset little brother had escaped.
And so, Wyatt had let him go, figuring he wouldn't be Chris' favourite person for a while, and even allowing him to win a few more rounds by wiping out more demons. And he had intended to continue that way until he had heard Chris scream for him from the past.
Resolving to go and bring his brother home for his own good, Wyatt had designed a spell that would send him back, so he could get Chris back with him, end their game, and rule his empire together like they were always meant to.
Because tried though he did not to, he really did miss Chris. His little brother, who he had done everything for, was willing to do anything for, who had been turned against him by the inane prattle of the Elders and the Charmed Ones, and he still missed him like crazy, even though Chris insisted he wanted nothing to do with him, didn't love him. He knew he did, and he knew Chris hated that he loved him, hated that he loved someone he perceived as a monster. And now, he had Chris back.
But there was another reason that he needed Chris back. Recently, the deputy in charge of the resistance had been causing even more havoc. And as a result, the rank and file were getting ideas far above their station, which he couldn't condone. He needed Chris back with him, not just as his brother, but also his accomplice.
Wyatt looked sadly at his little brother. He just wished Chris would see things his way. He wasn't a monster, he was just like Chris, he just wanted to protect his little brother, he wanted him to be with him, happy and safe. When he had first set out to free the world from the endless duality of good and evil, he had done it to protect Chris to make sure no one could hurt his little brother, to make sure no one could cause him as much pain as the demon that killed their mother did. Only, due to his aunts twisting his brother, Chris despised Wyatt and all he stood for. Wyatt shook his head. They had at least deserved death for that, for trying to keep his brother from him.
And now he had his brother with him. He had the chance to finally make things right, and this time, no one could stop him. The deputy wouldn't know, Neena wouldn't risk another confrontation, and the Charmed Ones were in the past.
Wyatt looked at his unconscious brother sadly, once more stroking his hair lovingly.
"You called for me and I came little brother. I know you don't like some of the things I've done, and I'm ok with that. I just wish you got why I'm doing this little brother. And I'm sorry I have to do this to you, I know it'll hurt you. But trust me, it will be better in the long run." He said, and with a thrill of savage pleasure, he placed his hands above Chris' head and sent energy coursing into his brain.
XX
"Dad, please, listen to me!" Chris pleaded, looking around the manor nervously.
"I don't have time for this right now Chris, maybe later." Leo said, brushing past the adult version of his son and orbing out.
Chris looked at where his father had disappeared. What had happened to the Leo of the last few weeks? The one that actually cared about Chris, the one who talked to him and helped him, rather than blowing him off? Chris frowned. Maybe his father was just having an off day, that would be it.
"Aunt Phoebe!" Chris called, and Phoebe turned to face him.
"Chris, I don't have time for a demon hunt right now, I've got to organise Wyatt's birthday party!" she scolded, and he looked at her in exasperation.
"I don't want you to go on a demon hunt I want you to listen to me, just for five minutes. I think something is wrong, it isn't right." Chris said, and Phoebe rolled her eyes.
"Really Chris, this is Wyatt's only first birthday and you want to get in the way of that? Do you hate your brother that much?" she asked, and he shook his head.
"What, no of course I don't. I just want you to listen to me for a second. I get that you want to plan Wyatt's birthday, but don't you think future Wyatt might be kind of more important?" he asked in exasperation.
Phoebe glowered at him.
"You mean don't I think you're more important? Frankly Chris, the answer is no." She said haughtily and walked out the front door.
Chris looked after her, very confused. What had suddenly changed in his dad and aunt? His dad had been struggling to be a model father to his son, and Phoebe had been working hard to try and help him identify who was after Wyatt. What was more, both of them had been a hell of a lot nicer than they had been in his childhood and all of a sudden they had suddenly done a one eighty.
Chris looked around the manor. Something wasn't quite right about the place, it was like the brightness being slightly too high on the tv, they were just a little off, not enough so as you'd notice but still there.
"Mom?" Chris called worriedly, and he sighed in relief as he saw his mother coming down the stairs.
"Alright, I'm going to meet Dan." She told him, and Chris looked at her in alarm.
"What, Dan? After he nearly killed me?" he demanded and Piper shot him a bored expression.
"Chris, I don't know what your issues are with him, but this making up stories has got to stop. God, no wonder Wyatt's evil in the future with a paranoid neurotic freak for a brother." She said tartly, picked up her keys and left the house.
Chris looked at the door as it slammed shut, feeling hurt. Since when was Piper on the Chris-bashing train? Fair enough, before she found out who he was, she had been the one driving the damn thing, but now she was a model mom again. But all of a sudden she too was against him for something or other, and worse, she was seeing Dan, who was meant to be in the asylum, and more importantly, had tried to kill her son. Chris looked around, holding himself. Something definitely wasn't right here. The last thing he remembered was going to bed, how could they all have changed their tunes so drastically in the space of about twelve hours?
Sniffing slightly, he headed up the stairs to check the book. Something wasn't right here and he intended to find out what it was.
XX
Wyatt frowned as he read all the things that were in his brother's mind, seeing the memories of how they had all treated him upon his arrival in the past. The kid drops everything and everyone he loves in the future and goes back to help 'save' him, and they treat him like that? He narrowed his eyes dangerously. True he expected nothing better of his good for nothing father, or of his aunt Phoebe, she had always played favourites with him, but the cold indifference their mother had treated him with...Wyatt knew how much that had to have hurt Chris. He had always been a mommy's boy, and seeing him treated the way he had been made Wyatt's blood boil. What was the point in trying to protect him if he couldn't protect him from his own family?
Wyatt delved deeper into Chris' mind, seeing significant events ever since his brother had arrived in the past: Leo trying to kill him, the girls not listening to him, his mother blasting him across the room with her powers, Phoebe treating him with cold disdain, Piper treating him with indifference, Phoebe being the only one to look remotely sorry when he reported the death of his fiancé while the others looked on in anger because he had kept something from them, Dan bullying him, Jenny kissing him (he certainly credited his brother with better taste than that mewling brat), Gregg trying to purge him of evil, Piper and Phoebe ganging up on him to throw him out saying hurtful things in the process, Dan trying to kill him, Gregg trying to kill him...what the hell had been going on in the past? How could they have allowed his brother to be treated this way? Hadn't his mother always said that family was the most important thing? True, from the looks of things Chris had done some questionable things, but that didn't justify how they'd been treating him.
Wyatt snarled. They had hurt his little brother. He had seen images of him trying hard not to cry himself to sleep, trying hard not to give up. Things had taken a definite upturn recently since they had found out who he really was, but even Wyatt, his heart hardened by his brother's constant rejection, winced as he saw the horrible scene where his mother and Phoebe had forced him out of his own home.
He comes from the future, tells them he wants to save his big brother, and is treated like dirt. Even after he had proved himself to be on their side, to be trustworthy, they still treated him like dirt, blaming him for every little thing that went wrong. Wyatt was furious. They had no right treating his brother like that. Phoebe and Leo he expected it from, his mother and Paige however, he did not. Wyatt snarled. He wouldn't allow them to hurt Chris anymore. He might have forgiven them, had he not seen his mother throw Chris out a second time to suit Jenny. How could a mother throw out her own son twice?
He smiled grimly. His family had unintentionally given him everything he needed to finally secure Chris' loyalties and turn him to his side. At long last, he could make his brother see sense and join him. By showing him how much his family truly cared for him.
He looked down at his brother, a tender expression on his face. Chris had done so much, endured so much to try and save him. It was only fair now that he save his little brother. Wyatt then turned his face to a mask of fury. His family had betrayed him, turned Chris against him. And Chris had risked everything to go to the past, to try and save them, and they had betrayed him too, treating him like he was evil. Yes his brother would do what was necessary, but he wasn't what they would call evil. His family had turned Chris against him here, and in the past they had turned on him in turn, hurt him, forced him away and then tried to make up for it. Too little too late in his opinion. Besides, he now finally had his brother by his side, and he had the essential element he needed to turn Chris to his side.
His family had given him the keys to Chris' undoing. Chris, hurt and angry, would finally join him willingly. They would never be allowed to hurt Chris again, he would kill them all before they could. True, he couldn't kill his mother or he wouldn't get Chris, but he could quite easily kill the rest of them.
Chris would be his. His family would learn of their folly, learn just what it meant to hurt his little brother, how dangerous it was. Chris would join him, the resistance would be crushed, and they could rule the world side by side, both halves of the Ultimate Power, the two Blessed Ones controlling the world as it was meant to be.
Feeling a slight pang of regret and pity for what he was going to have to do to his brother to turn him, he gently stroked Chris' cheek, and got to work.
XX
Chris frowned as he read the book. Nothing could explain what was going on. He remembered a story when the three of them had been replaced by demons, but that wouldn't work with Leo or Paige, they wouldn't be able to orb.
So why had their personalities suddenly changed?
"Are you still here?" Piper asked irritably as she entered the attic looking annoyed.
"I thought you had a date with Dan." Chris said, not looking at his mother as his mind worked overtime.
"I did, but he said that until I do something about my unwanted houseguest we shouldn't see each other anymore." She said angrily, and he looked at her curiously.
"We have rats?" he asked in surprise, after all they'd had one when they were kids, and after waiting patiently for their cat to catch it for about two months, his mother had gotten fed up and lured the damn thing out so she could blow it up herself. The cat had watched the entire show and had proceeded to go back to sleep as usual.
"I didn't mean rats, I meant the whitelighter who destroyed my marriage." She said savagely and Chris flinched at the harsh tone of her voice.
"Mom, what's wrong?" he asked, wondering what he had done to make her act this way, and she looked at him curiously.
"How do we even know for sure that you are my son? After all, you've lied about everything else, how do we know this isn't just a ploy to try and get closer to us?" she asked, and he looked at her in hurt surprise.
"How can you even ask that? You know I'm your son." He said softly, and she looked at him disdainfully.
"Really? Can't have done that good a job with you then, after all you're a crap whiteligher, you broke Leo and I apart, you're nearly powerless, and you're a neurotic little freak." Piper said nastily, and Chris flinched away from her.
"Mom, what did I do, why're you being like this?" Chris asked, as Phoebe entered with Paige.
"I thought you said you were getting rid of him?" Phoebe asked irritably as she looked at Chris as though he was something disgusting on the bottom of her shoe.
"I'm trying, he doesn't seem to quite grasp that he isn't wanted anymore." Piper responded, crossing her arms.
Chris looked at the three of them, trying to ignore the tears that were clogging up the back of his throat.
"What is wrong with you guys? Who got to you? You aren't usually like this." He said, and Paige gave a bark of laughter.
"Wait, you think the way we've been acting is how we really feel? We were only doing that so we could get stuff from you about the future. We got what we wanted, so why keep up the deception?" she asked coldly, and Chris shook his head defiantly.
"No, you three aren't like this, neither is dad anymore. A demon must have gotten to you or something, because this sure as hell isn't you." He said, though his voice wavered slightly as he threw the accusation at them.
"Really? You sure about that? Why would we care about you when we have Wyatt?" Phoebe asked coldly.
"Because you've been helping me to save Wyatt, you know he's in danger!" Chris protested, and Piper narrowed her eyes.
"Yeah, from you." She said, and he looked at his mother pleadingly.
"Mom, this isn't you, you're not like this, you..." Chris began, but feeling the tears rising in his eyes his voice cut off.
"Love you? Hardly. I can't wait to be rid of you, the sooner you go back to the future the better." She said harshly, and Chris shook his head stubbornly.
"No, you don't mean that." He said, and he knew he sounded childish and pathetic but by this point he was past caring.
Leo then orbed into the room, and sent him the look of loathing he remembered so well from his youth.
"Are you still here? They told you, they don't want you around anymore, so leave!" he said angrily, and Chris narrowed his eyes at his father.
"Alright, I figure a demon got to them, but why are you being like this? I thought you were going to be a decent father to me this time round?" he asked, voice quivering, and Leo gave a bark of harsh laughter.
"Firstly, I'm not entirely sure you're my son, and even if you are, you could never compare to Wyatt, why would I want you?" he asked derisively, and Chris took a step back from the book, feeling the hostile glares the four of them were sending him.
"What's going on, why are you being like this?" he asked tearfully.
"Because we're sick of you. It would have made all of our lives easier if Dan actually had killed you." Paige said hatefully, and Chris flinched away from her, shaking his head.
"You don't mean that." He insisted, but the looks on their faces were telling him otherwise.
"Ever since you got here, it's been one thing after another. And we're sick of it, and sick of you. What do we care if your future sucks? We won't be in it." Phoebe said with an indifferent shrug of her shoulder.
"But you're the Charmed Ones, and it's Wyatt who..." Chris said, and Piper raised her hand dangerously, making Chris retreat, he knew what her hands could do.
"No. Not another word. Wyatt is the epitome of good magic, you're the evil one. And if I ever hear you saying he turns evil again, I'm going to blast you, it's no more than you deserve." She growled, and Chris looked at her pleadingly.
"Mom, please...you..." Chris said, but as he thought about it, he began to consider how much he had told them about the future since they had found out who he really was.
He had told them far too much, like things they would do in the future, things that they would hence be able to work other things out from. He had told them of their deaths, so now they could avoid it. They had told him what Wyatt did, everything he did. He had even let slip to his mother who her sisters married, at least their names. What if that was true, what if they really did only want information about the future?
"Mom...you believed me. I'm your son." He said pleadingly, and Piper snorted.
"Somehow I doubt it. I would never have given birth to a little monster like you. Now, I want you out of my house, and out of my life. We got what we needed. And that means we don't need you anymore." She said coldly, and Chris looked at her pleadingly.
"Mom..." he begged.
"Stop calling me that! If I am your mother, I sure as hell don't want to be! In fact, if I do happen to get pregnant, I'll do what my future self should have done...and get an abortion." She said, and Chris looked at her, breath hitching in his throat.
His mother wanted him gone. She wanted him gone from her home, gone from her life, gone from existence. He felt tears running down his cheeks as an idea struck him.
"For those who want the truth revealed
Opened hearts and secrets unsealed
From now until its now again
After which the memory ends
Those who are now in this house
Will hear the truth from other's mouths."
That would break through the spell, whatever had been done to them, they would tell him and then he could fix them.
"What happened, who cast a spell on you guys?" he asked, tears still running down his cheeks.
"No one." Phoebe said simply, and Chris shook his head.
"No, it can't be, you wouldn't be saying this if..."
Paige sniggered horribly, making him shiver as he heard the cold tone she had taken on.
"Yeah we would. And we'll forget the fact that you cast the truth spell on us. Go on, ask us how we feel about you." She challenged, and hands shaking, heart breaking, he knew he didn't want to.
"No." He said miserably, and Leo shrugged.
"Well, we'll tell you anyway. I hate you. You're insignificant, manipulative, whining and pathetic. If you are my son, I hope you're never born, I never want to have a kid like you." He spat, and Chris was seriously considering placing his hands over his ears to block out what was sure to come.
"I don't think you could ever compare to Wyatt, you're the parasite that must ruin his life. You get all of us killed, you're evil. How could we ever love you?" Phoebe sneered, and Chris took another step back, not believing what he was hearing.
"You've been the bad thing in our lives ever since you first arrived, and you've been trying to ruin everything, and we've had enough. We don't need you here, we don't want you here. And by that, I mean we don't want you here, ever." Paige added.
"Mom..." Chris said tearfully, but she looked at him in contempt.
"You're the worst thing I ever do, having you. I sure as hell wish I hadn't. I died because of you? You aren't even worthy for me to break a nail on. You leave your brother alone. It's quite clear who the evil one is in this family, and it's you. So, get out. I never want to see you. Ever. You aren't my son. If I have my way, you never will be. Wyatt is my son, the only one I want and the only I need. The day I give birth to a little monster like you is a sad day indeed. I want you gone. Go back to the future, and do the decent thing and die. It's the most you can do for this world. Go. Because I don't want you." Piper said hatefully.
Chris looked at the hateful faces of his family. They didn't want him. Everything recently had been a lie, and he'd been stupid enough to fall for it, give them information about the future. And now they revealed their true caring about him. Only a few days before, they were promising to help protect him from Wyatt, and now they were telling him that they never wanted him. Chris couldn't believe they had played him so easily. He didn't want to believe it, but under the truth spell, they still illustrated their contempt of him. A demon hadn't gotten to them, this was what they truly thought. They despised him, hated him, thought he was evil. And he'd been stupid enough to be led on, to believe they cared, to believe that anyone cared about him anymore.
"I'm not evil. Wyatt..." Chris said, and Piper flicked her hands.
Chris screamed as he was blown backwards across the room, chest burning as her attack blasted against it. Thudding to the ground, feeling the searing sensation in his chest, clutching it with his hand to try and stem the blood flow, Chris looked up at his mother, glaring down at him.
"I did warn you. Now get the hell out of my house, my life and my time. Go away. I don't love you, never will. So just go." She said with a snarl and Chris finally let the tears fall, the pain and the truth getting to him.
His family detested him. They didn't want him or believe him. They didn't care what happened to Wyatt. They just wanted him gone.
All his life, he had never been good enough. Because he wasn't good enough, he'd lost his mother, who he thought had loved him, but she had just tried to kill him. Phoebe had always thought he was inferior, Leo had always treated him as a non person. Now even Paige was showing him just how much she loathed him. Chris shuddered tearfully, ignoring the hateful looks they were giving him as he tried to pull himself to his feet. Because of his actions, he would never be born. The walls, the thing that separated past family members from present ones had fallen. They were the same now. He wondered vaguely if his mother had always detested him, only showing him false affection so as not to confuse Wyatt. It was always about Wyatt, he knew that. He'd been stupid thinking otherwise, that anyone cared about him.
Now he came to think of it, now that he remembered, he could remember the lacklustre attempts by his mother to make him feel loved, but it was clear now that she had always preferred Wyatt. Always smiling disbelievingly, all the while focusing on Wyatt, all the while caring more about him. Was he really that horrible a person? That he turned everyone against him? His own family hated him.
"Go." Piper reiterated darkly, and gasping in pain, his chest still bleeding, he pulled himself to his feet, feeling the truth shine through in his memories.
Piper avoiding doing anything with him at all costs, Leo ignoring him, Paige treating him like he was a weak, talentless burden who only got in the way of his superior big brother, Phoebe always showing him how he was holding Wyatt back, his grandfather only taking him along because he had no other choice, because Wyatt always insisted...
All his life, they had been treating him with disdain, contempt, and now their feelings all made sense. They'd finally told him exactly what they thought of him, and to top matters off, the one he had always loved the most other than his brother, his mom, had just blasted him with her powers such was her contempt and hatred of him. The thing she had never wanted, the mistake, the accident, the thing that had prevented Leo from ever reuniting with her, everything was his fault. He just destroyed everything he touched, he was poison. Chris sniffed as he hobbled to the book, to find the spell to take him home.
All this time he thought he had been doing something good, something positive. He thought he had been doing the right thing. He thought he had been helping his brother, saving him, doing what his mother and aunts would have wanted him to do. And it turned out that they didn't care, they never had. He felt sick with himself. He'd done so much to try and save his brother, to try and save his family...only to find that his family didn't want him, never wanted him and didn't care what happened to him. Or the world, or anything else.
Chris wondered sadly if anyone had ever loved him. His brother had seemed to, but he had burned that bridge himself. Mind you, even if Wyatt had loved him, resisting him was sure to have turned him against him. Wyatt wouldn't care about him anymore, just like no one else did.
"I only wanted to help my brother. I'm sorry." Chris said, and recited the spell to take him back to the future.
"You should be." Leo said coldly and Chris winced as he made his way to the portal that had opened in the wall. He would go home, and take his chances with Wyatt. He only made matters worse, his coming back here had further messed up the timeline. By trying to save his brother, he had just doomed him to being evil. At least in the future he had a chance of being able to do something good before he faded from existence.
Chris felt the tears falling down his face. His entire life had been a lie. He had only wanted to save his family, to make it better, to save the future for them. And he had failed. Third time was the charm he guessed. This was now the third time he had been thrown out, and this time he wasn't coming back. His family thought he was the evil. Maybe that was where he had gone wrong. He'd spent all this time looking for a demon or something that turned Wyatt. Maybe it was his birth that had turned Wyatt. Maybe everything going wrong had been all his fault, it certainly seemed that way. He'd been the one who had destroyed his family simply by existing. Maybe if he didn't exist, Wyatt would never turn.
Chris had come back to save Wyatt. He had always wondered if he would have to die to do it. Ironic really, dying was the thing that would save him. Dying would make sure Wyatt never turned. He just wished he had done it before, his family would be happy and safe, Wyatt wouldn't be what he was.
He suppressed a snort. If Wyatt was even that bad.
Chris, still panting heavily, his chest burning, moved slowly towards the portal, the pain increasing as he did so, building to intolerable levels. He was afraid he would pass out, then his mother would destroy him when he wouldn't have a chance of defending himself.
"I'm sorry." He whispered sadly, and fighting through the pain and the tears, he entered the portal.
Chris then let out a sob as the portal closed behind him. He had wanted to save his brother, only to make it worse. And he had finally discovered that he was the reason the future was messed up in the first place. It all made sense now. He had destroyed his family, he had destroyed Wyatt, it was all because of him. The pain was becoming unbearable as he arrived in the future, seeing the darkened state of the manor come museum. Chris gave a scream, and the full effect of what he had discovered fell upon him, making him howl in pain and loss and heartache.
His family loathed him. He had no one left. It was his fault his brother was what he was. And it was his fault that the world was screwed up.
He was poison, and he was dying. It served him right. His mother had done what she had said, had basically aborted him. And now he was going to die, because of his mother's attack, just like he deserved.
"I'm sorry Wyatt..." Chris whispered before sinking to his knees and keeling to the floor.
XX
Wyatt looked down at his bleeding brother, hating himself for what he had done. He knew it was a low blow convincing his brother that his family didn't love him, and Wyatt didn't relish the thought of a confrontation with his mother if she ever found out what he had done. Wyatt looked sadly at his little brother, wondering what he should do now. He had only meant for his avatars of his family to force Chris out, to make him want to come home to his brother. Them having made it so easy with their previous actions was just a bonus. However, Chris had started to blame himself for everything, he had been meant to want to go to Wyatt, to go to the only one who did love him. He had been meant to feel that his family despised him, enough to send him home to his brother. But, his brother, being his brother, had blamed himself for everything that had went wrong. And now, he just wanted to die, and due to the nature of the injury, of the nightmare attacking him, he was on his way to that.
Wyatt frowned. It had taken a lot out of him to twist Chris' memories, to give him the basis for his belief that his loved ones secretly hated him. Everyone but him anyway. And it had worked, and Chris was now convinced that everyone did indeed hate him, only the flaming idiot thought he deserved it, and thought his brother would hate him too. Wyatt shook his head.
"I'm sorry it came to this Chris. I hope if you ever find out, you forgive me." He whispered to his brother.
He looked at his ailing brother, the wound inflicted by the dream state getting steadily worse. He'd wanted to convince Chris that he was the only one who did love him. But, he was nothing if not adaptable. He considered the thought. Chris was bleeding, wounded, and believed that his family hated him, and that he was the reason why Wyatt had apparently turned. Wyatt smiled softly as he considered how he could use this to advantage. A way to turn Chris to his side permanently, ensure his family if they followed him could never win Chris back, and ensure Chris gave up the resistance and join him as he always should have.
He scooped his unconscious little brother up in his arms, orbing him to the manor attic and gently lowering him to the floor beside the portal.
This was it. After all these years, by turning his family against him he had finally broke the ties that bind, breaking Chris' link to his family. And with a couple of well placed fibs from him, he would finally break all ties to Chris' old life, and after a while, Chris would be his loyal deputy, his right hand man again. At last, he would have the silent and deadly force of his little brother beside him as he ruled the world.
"Chris, come on little brother, wake up." Wyatt whispered urgently and Chris groaned as he stirred.
"No, no, get away..." Chris whispered quietly, and Wyatt shook his head.
"Chris, you're home." Wyatt intoned, but his brother stubbornly shook his head and rolled onto his back, revealing the damage the vision had done to him once more and he looked up at his brother in fear.
"I don't want to be home...get away from me..." Chris tried to growl, flicking at Wyatt but Wyatt barely swayed his brother's powers were so weak.
"Chris, I'm trying to help you." Wyatt said, making his voice sound irritated.
"No you're not, you want to capture me. Kill me." Chris whispered, his eyes pained, and Wyatt shook his head.
"Look, you're half delirious with pain, just let me heal you, then if you want to run you can ok?" he asked, as if granting a concession, and he winced as his brother let out a scream after failing to orb properly.
"Thought so." Wyatt said, and extended his hands over his brother's marred chest, and the bare chest was once more healed, and Chris, catlike, quickly rolled away from his brother, crouching in the corner of the room.
"Chris..." Wyatt said, rolling his eyes in exasperation as he saw the pain that was in Chris' eyes.
"I didn't want to call you." Chris said miserably, and Wyatt already took it as encouraging that he wasn't already escaping.
"But you did. You said you were worry, what were you sorry for?" Wyatt asked curiously, rising slowly and advancing carefully towards his little brother.
Chris looked away from him, tears in his eyes, his hand wavering, and Wyatt gave a small smile.
"What's the matter little brother?" he asked in a mocking, taunting voice, and Chris looked at the wall as if to try and block his brother out.
"Chris?" Wyatt asked again, this time going for a gentler tone of voice, and Chris looked down and lowered his hand.
"It's all my fault." He whispered, and Wyatt, amazed that he had gotten so close to his brother already, crouched down beside him.
"What is?" he asked, and Chris still looked determinedly at the wall.
"Everything." He responded simply, still not looking at Wyatt.
Wyatt snorted in amusement.
"Really? What happened to something in the past being responsible for everything, something that changed me? Wasn't that what you went back to stop? Someone getting to me?" he asked dismissively, and Chris shrugged.
"I thought so. Turns out a demon didn't get to you." Chris said, his voice sad.
Wyatt smiled smugly.
"Really? So, you abandon me, you betray me, and now you come back half dead and tell me you were wrong all along?" he asked, and Chris nodded, and Wyatt began to fear he had gone too far.
"I thought something had gotten to you. It wasn't a demon though. It was, it was me. I made you into this." He whispered, and Wyatt cocked his head as he looked at Chris.
"Chris, back up a minute. You come back from the past, where you went to try and find out what apparently turned me. When you come back, you're bleeding half to death, you tell me you don't want healed, you didn't want to call me, yet you're here exchanging pleasantries when we both know you're terrified of me. And then you tell me everything was your fault. What was?" Wyatt asked, and Chris got to his feet, suddenly angry, and Wyatt smiled smugly as he saw the fire that truly belonged in his little brother.
"Everything! Me being born is what messed you up! If it weren't for me, you would be normal, mom and the others would have been happy, and they wouldn't be dead! I'm what messed you up, and all this time I've been in the past, being with mom and the others, I've been trying to find out what it was that changed you, and now I find out that it was me all along! I destroyed you. I made you evil. I made you a killer! Everyone is dead, and it's all my fault!" Chris yelled and raised his hand, blasting apart the contents of the attic, and Wyatt smiled in victory.
His brother's angry fire wasn't snuffed out yet, he still had a chance to get to his brother, if he played it right.
"Chris, this is crazy talk. What makes you say that?" he asked, and Chris glowered at him, green eyes narrowed dangerously.
"All my life, I've thought at least some of you thought I was worth something, but it turns out mom and the others all detested me all along! They hated me! I spent all this time trying to fix everything, why should I care? They hate me, they blame me, and they're right! You would have been fine if it weren't for me!" he yelled, and Wyatt slowly got back to his feet.
"Chris, calm down." He said, and Chris glared at him suddenly, looking at him suspiciously.
"And why are you suddenly so caring about me? You've spent the last six years making my life a living hell, and now you suddenly want to be friends again?" he demanded, and flicked his brother across the room, and considering he wasn't dying this time, it actually worked.
"Chris, you're still my brother." Wyatt said in patient exasperation, and Chris looked at him uncertainly, and Wyatt suppressed a grin of triumph.
Chris was shaken to his very core. With everyone in his memories blaming him for how he had turned out, and also telling him that they hated him, his main reason for trying to save Wyatt in the first place, to fix his family, was on very thin ice. He was feeling lonely, abandoned and hurt, devastated by his mother turning on him the way she had, and Wyatt knew there was a fundamental part of Chris, the part that just wanted to be loved.
"Not after everything." He said uncertainly, and Wyatt shrugged.
"Chris, I'll be the first to admit you screwed me over, but I'll also admit I didn't really help things. I shouldn't have killed Paige, I do regret that. She was trying to keep you from me, and it was getting to you, messing you up, I had to do something. But killing her probably was the wrong thing to do. But think about it baby brother. For once, really think about it. Look where the endless fight between good and evil has got us. We're all that's left, our family is all gone, their lives wasted because they were so fixed on their notion of good vs evil. I did things a little differently, so I had to be evil. I should have taken you with me, that was a crappy move. Phoebe and Paige turned you against me, filled your head with the good vs evil drivel, and it messed you up. By the time I came back, they'd twisted you against me. And because they did such a good job on you, and I admittedly made a bad move killing Paige, it turned you against me even more, and made you think you had to fight to stop me." Wyatt said, and Chris shook his head.
"You've killed loads of innocents, we're meant to protect them." Chris said, and Wyatt smiled, as he could feel Chris' resistance fading.
"Why should we? You know what happened when aunt Prue died." He said, and Chris started a little, but shook his head.
"They just don't trust us..." he began, but Wyatt cut him off.
"Chris, remember what it was like when I took over? I was saving them from the corruption and the evil of their governments, and they turned on us. When Zankou exposed mom and the others, they wanted to arrest them and dissect them. Even ones who had been protected by mom and the others turned on them when Shax attacked them. Why the hell should we protect those filthy little savages?"
Chris glared at him.
"Because it's our job!" he shouted, and Wyatt shook his head.
"No Chris, it isn't! Why should we protect them? Circle of life and all that crap, if they're preyed on by things more powerful than them, tough luck! We don't have to protect humans, and now that I'm in charge, we don't need to! Humans, angels, demons, now they're all equal. Admittedly some have powers and the rest don't, but this duality crap is what sent you away from me! We don't have to protect the innocents, yeah we'll vanquish demons when they get out of line, and stop 'good' guys when they do the same thing, but we don't have to actively seek trouble out anymore." Wyatt explained, and he could see that for the first time Chris was actually listening to his arguments, his faith shaken.
"I'm the reason it became like this." He said sadly, sitting down on a chair, and Wyatt shook his head.
"Chris, everything that happened wasn't your fault." He assured him, and Chris glared into nothing.
"If I hadn't been born, no one would have cared. I ruined mom's life, the other's lives, ruined yours...it was me all along. I thought a demon got to you, but because I was born everything went to hell." He said angrily, and Wyatt crouched in front of his brother, and Chris was struck by the rather kind expression in his brother's eyes.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, and Chris glowered.
"Mom, dad, Phoebe, Paige...all of them. They didn't care about me, it was all about you, and because I just got in the way, they couldn't focus on you like they should have. I was the reason you turned. I was the reason your life sucked. Everything that happened was because I was born." He said bitterly, and Wyatt slowly raised his hand to stroke his brother's cheek, and counted it as a victory when he didn't flinch or orb away.
"Chris, that's nonsense. My life didn't suck, it wasn't your fault everything changed after mom died." He assured his brother, but Chris, stubborn to the end, shook his head.
"If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't have died, she could have saved herself. I'm good for nothing except destroying things." He said, his tone dark.
"Wait, where's all this coming from?" Wyatt asked.
"Mom and the others. They finally made me realise what turns you. It's me, the bitter, horrible thing they brought to life. I'm the thing that went wrong Wyatt. I messed you up. And I'm so sorry...why did you heal me?" he asked tearfully, and Wyatt shook his head.
"Chris, whatever the hell they told you, you didn't mess me up. I'm not messed up for a start. Listen to me. Mom and the others never understood you. You were a sweet little kid who is the brother of the Twice Blessed. And I never liked how they excluded you. But no matter what you think you didn't destroy me. If anything you made me better. My life would have been pretty sucky without you." He said kindly to his brother and Chris looked at his feet.
"I'd be better off if I didn't exist. Mom doesn't want me, I'll fade away soon." He explained, and Wyatt narrowed his eyes.
"I'll make sure she has you." He said, but Chris shook his head.
"Why bother? All I do is destroy things. You wouldn't be in danger if it weren't for me." He said, and Wyatt smiled a little at his brother.
"Chris, why do you think you're still alive?" he asked, and Chris harrumphed.
"Because you healed me for some reason or other." He said, and Wyatt nodded.
"Yeah. But even with everything that's happened these six years, I've never tried to kill you. And I just healed you, and you've thrown me around and I didn't even defend myself."
Chris looked at him, not trusting his brother.
"What's your point?" he asked nervously.
"Chris, why do you keep putting yourself through things like this?" he asked, and Chris looked at him miserably.
"It was to try and save you. I didn't want to believe you were wrong from the start. I didn't believe it. Then I found out it was me who was wrong from the start." He lamented, and Wyatt shook his head.
"Chris, that's what you never got. Phoebe and Paige twisted you all the wrong ways baby brother. You weren't born wrong, they made you wrong, and that was only because I stopped listening to them. I never should have left you alone with them, if I'd known how much they were going to mess you up I would have stopped them. Yeah, they made you wrong, but you weren't born wrong. Mom would have done the same thing they did if she hadn't died. And I've told you a thousand times that that wasn't your fault. You aren't to blame for what happened. They were. You told them you thought something was wrong with me, you were wrong yeah, but they were the ones who didn't listen. They became arrogant, consumed with power, and because they only cared about power, they stopped caring about you. I never did. Yeah, we fought all these years, but I've never wanted to kill you, I've wanted to here with me, where you belong." He said, and Chris frowned.
"You tried to kill me last time, and you killed Bianca." Chris said, and Wyatt nodded grimly.
"I know I did, I really didn't mean to do that Chris, that was an accident. I didn't want to hurt you anymore than I already had, because you got hurt because I didn't take good enough care of you. But I've been trying to fix that. You just haven't let me. You put yourself through so much pain, when the one you wanted to 'save' was right here all along. You belong beside me Chris, the two Blessed Ones, the Ultimate Power. But because they took you from me, you kept doing what they would have wanted you to do, and it messed you up. You aren't the reason things changed Chris. They are. You aren't the one in the wrong, they were. None of this is your fault you know." He said earnestly, and Chris looked at him, the suspicion falling from his eyes.
He was getting to him he knew it. With his feelings towards his loved ones changing, with his belief that he was the one who changed Wyatt, and with the feelings of neglect, loneliness and abandonment, he was close to winning him over. He should have done this years ago.
"Mom blasted me." Chris said softly, and Wyatt gently stroked his cheek, wiping away the tears.
"That's because she knew we were different. She knew eventually you would see the truth, that their way, the endless battle, was the wrong way. That's why she threw you out, that's why she tried to kill you. It's because she realised you and I are the future, and she didn't like it. Yeah she would act like she loved you, to try and make you loyal to her, she knew how close we were. And she used it against us little brother. What do you owe her? All your life she lied to you, and then she turns on you. And despite you forming the resistance against me, I've never given up on you Chris. She lied to you to make you loyal to her, they all did, they knew that if anyone could stop me it would be you. That's why they brainwashed you, to turn you against me, because they knew we would eclipse them, and knew that if you joined me, they wouldn't be able to stop us. She used you and manipulated you, trying to get you to do their dirty work for them, and I could never convince you otherwise. I just wish you weren't so stubborn, you would have seen the truth so much earlier, and you wouldn't have gotten hurt." He said sadly, and he could see the trust that was forming in his brother's eyes, a trust that he hadn't seen for years.
"She really played me didn't she?" he asked miserably, and Wyatt nodded.
"Yeah. I'm just sorry I didn't figure it out sooner. I could have saved you earlier. I'm sorry you got so hurt Chris. I only wanted to protect you, but they turned you against me, and by then it was too late. And so you kept carrying out what they would have wanted you to do, using you while they laughed at you. And I admit I wasn't the best of brothers. You formed the resistance and I never guessed until later that it was because they had warped you. But you're back now Chris. We can be brothers again. You don't owe them anything little brother." He insisted, and Chris looked down at his shoes.
"I thought...I thought they actually did love me. But now I think back, I see they only ever wanted us to be kept apart. They didn't trust me, they figured you would turn against them if you had me. They only wanted to exploit me, to make me a little soldier, and like an idiot I fell for it. Huh. Fancy thinking my own mother loved me." Chris said, angry and derisive, and Wyatt shook his head sadly.
"You're not an idiot Chris. They were good at manipulating you. And when she saw you couldn't be controlled anymore, she tried to kill you. And then she sent you back here as a message to me, telling me that they'll try to do everything to keep us apart, keep us from realising what he really are to each other, the other halves of the whole. We're brothers, and we're stronger, better and cleverer than the sisters ever were. They wanted a solider, and they treated you so badly because of it because they knew one day you would see the truth." Wyatt said softly, willing his brother to make the final leap to his side.
Chris looked at his brother, thinking back on his life. His family hated him, had used him to try and prevent Wyatt from doing what he had done. And like an idiot he had fallen for it, been exploited and manipulated by the three of them, used against his big brother from day one, using him as a control against Wyatt. They had wanted him to destroy his brother, had brainwashed him and turned him against Wyatt. His mother was the worst. Chris felt awful just thinking about it. His own mother had tried to kill him, his mother detested him, hated him for messing up her plans that much, that she wanted him dead. She had never loved him, none of them had, and like an idiot he had kept on doing what they had wanted, not realising how much they would have glorified in what he was doing.
They were evil, vicious, manipulative witches. They didn't care about him, why should he care about them? Why should he care about their legacy when they were more interested in themselves? All his time in the past had shown him that. They only cared about themselves, about what they wanted, they were as corrupt as the Elders, and just as stupid too. His mother had played him, how wrong was that? His own mother had used a child's unflinching love for his mother, had spat on it, and had used it against the one he loved the most, his big brother.
"Wyatt..." Chris said softly, and Wyatt smiled, sensing victory.
He then saw the angry fury in his brother's eyes and knew at last, after all these years, all his plans and efforts, he had finally won his brother over.
"I don't care about them anymore. I'm done playing their games. They didn't care about me, love me. So why the hell should I bother with them? They can all burn in hell like they deserve. They only cared about themselves, their way, not about us or anything that freed us." He spat angrily, and Wyatt nodded.
"I've been trying to tell you that for years little brother. Glad to see you're finally listening to me." He said with a grin, and Chris glowered at where the holographic book was.
"Screw them. I hate them." Chris spat, and Wyatt ruffled his brother's long hair.
"Attaboy." He said proudly, and then Chris looked at him uncertainly.
"Wyatt?" he asked nervously, and he looked at his brother curiously.
"Yeah?"
"I'm so sorry, can you ever forgive me?" he asked weakly, and Wyatt smiled.
"Of course I do, it wasn't your fault, the only ones to blame are the Charmed Ones, not you. You were too young, and I was too arrogant to see what they were doing to you. But we're together now, and we can start to make things right, together, like we were meant to be." He said, extending his hand to his brother.
Chris looked at his brother's hand.
"Do you...?" Chris asked softly, and Wyatt nodded.
"More than anything little guy." He said, and his insides started screeching with triumph as his brother put his hand in his.
Chris glowered at the holographic book. They had used him, manipulated him, abandoned him and betrayed him. And now, with them gone, everyone else was going to pay.
"Thanks Wyatt." He said, and Wyatt got up and sat on the seat beside him, and pulled his little brother into a protective embrace, smiling as his brother snuggled into him, eyes blazing, a thirst for revenge developing.
At long last, he had his brother. He'd turned him to his side at last, broken him free from the old ways. And now, his brother would be his right hand, a weapon he could use against his enemies. And very soon, there wouldn't be very many of them left either, thanks to Chris.
"I'm glad you're back little brother." Wyatt said, quite enjoying the experience as Chris cuddled into him, holding onto his brother, the only one who loved him.
"Me too. Wy?" he asked, and Wyatt smiled as he heard the childhood given nickname.
"Yeah?" he asked, and Chris grinned up at him.
"It won't be any fun if I just give you the resistance will it?" he asked teasingly, and Wyatt smiled.
"No it won't. But I'm sure we can find some way that we can both have fun." He said, and he and Chris grinned as they thought of the fun they would have tomorrow.
XX
"There is nothing in here!" Piper snapped, slamming the book shut.
"Piper, losing it isn't going to help." Leo reminded her, and she glared at her husband.
"Yeah, well, I feel like losing it. My son has been captured by his tyrant of an older brother, and has been taken to the future, where god knows what will happen to him, we got trounced by our own kid, and now he's probably screwing the future up even more while torturing Chris." She said irritably, and Paige looked at them, her own worry clouding her features.
"You guys said you three went to the future before you met me, can't you do that spell again?" she asked, and Phoebe shook her head.
"No we can't, it was a one use spell, and the Elders helped anyway." She said, and then her eyes widened as she turned to Leo.
"I can't Phoebe." He said, and that was the wrong answer as an incredibly anxious and scared Piper vented by blasting him apart.
"Piper!" Phoebe scolded as Leo came back together, looking grumpy.
"I did not care for that." He said irritably, and she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Leo, our son is in serious trouble, Wyatt has his hands on him, and we don't have the faintest idea of how to go about saving him! If you can use your Elder magic to send us to the future, you should!" she shouted, as Victor entered, as he had been summoned after Wyatt had taken Chris.
"Calm down honey or you'll wake the baby. Leo, can't you send them to the future?" he asked, and Leo frowned.
"It doesn't work like that Victor. The future is the future for a reason, we aren't meant to see it, and considering we know for a fact it isn't all sunshine and roses, I think we should be careful about how we go about this." He said patiently, and Piper raised her hands dangerously.
"Are you saying you don't want to help save Chris?" she asked in a deadly voice, and Leo shook his head adamantly.
"Of course I'm not Piper, I want to save him too, but I don't think barging into the future is the best idea." He said, and she narrowed her eyes.
"Leo, we've tried everything else, and considering how powerful our sweet son was, I'd rather not leave Chris in his clutches a moment longer than we have to. Please." She begged, and Leo could see the terror she was dealing with, the same terror they all had, the fear of the monster version of their oldest son, the one who had tossed around the four of them like ragdolls, the one who now had his hands on Piper's little boy.
Leo frowned. While he was adamant in his desire to protect Chris and get him away from Wyatt before Wyatt did something to hurt him, he was also worried about what going to the future might do. Given that much knowledge of the future might be very dangerous for the four of them, and there was also the fact that Wyatt didn't particularly seem to mind fighting them, and considering what had happened to Phoebe and Paige in the future, he also didn't seem that bothered about killing them. Which meant that he was now torn, between protecting his son, and protecting the girls who would be in an unknown world, and all of them would be too focused on Chris and Wyatt to care about themselves. But as Leo looked at the three sisters, frowning in thought, he realised Chris, who had been unconscious when Wyatt had taken him, was in even greater danger than they were.
"Alright, but we'll need to change the spell, otherwise the three of you will be dead and then we won't be able to help Chris at all. And we'll need a date." He explained, and Phoebe nodded and headed to get the things, while Paige looked at him curiously.
"Can't we just let us inhabit our future powers?" she asked, and he looked at her in confusion.
"What good will that do?" he asked, and she looked at him in disbelief.
"In case you missed it Leo, future Wyatt flattened us. And I reckon we might need to face him if we want Chris back, which means we need to up our game." She said, and he pondered this as Phoebe and Piper begun the ritual, remembering what they needed from last time.
"What do I do?" Victor asked irritably, just as concerned about Chris as they were.
Piper looked up at him sadly.
"Look after Wyatt until we get back, in fact, take him to yours, he'll be safer there." She said, and Phoebe looked up at her father worriedly.
"Dad, if we're not back within a week..." she began, but he shook his head stubbornly.
"Don't go there Phoebe. You're going to bring back Chris, and none of you are going to die. Got it?" he asked sharply, and she gave him a small smile.
"Yes dad, we've got it." She assured him, and he nodded to himself, looking at them worriedly.
"Be careful." He said, and Leo wrote down the spell.
"Wait, are you coming too?" Paige asked in surprise as he sat down beside Piper.
"Obviously. He's my son too Paige." He said, and Piper looked at him worriedly.
"It might not be safe for you there, if Wyatt killed you as well..." Phoebe said, and he gave her a sceptical glance.
"It might not be safe for you and Paige either. And besides, if the future's as hellish as Chris has said, you might need me to heal you. I'm going." He said firmly, and after giving him a worried glance, the four of them joined hands and read the spell.
"Hear the words, hear the rhyme,
We send to you this burning sign
Then our future powers we'll find
In another place and time."
Victor watched worriedly as the four of them were suddenly surrounded in swirling golden orbs, and a second later, they were gone. Looking at where the four of them had disappeared worriedly, he looked to the sky nervously.
"Let them come home. Let Chris come back too." He said nervously, and headed to make himself a strong cup of coffee and settle in to wait.
XX
Orbs swirled onto the street, and the four of them came to a stop, and immediately took a look around and Piper made a noise of terror as she saw what she was looking at.
They had arrived at P3. However, unlike the P3 back in their time, which was a thriving establishment, this P3 was nowhere near habitable.
A massive blast had torn away the left hand side of the club, leaving a charred crater filled with rubble in its place. Piper looked on in shock as she saw what had become of her livelihood, but soon stopped when she saw what looked to be human hand sticking out from beneath the wreckage.
"It's been totalled." Paige said weakly, standing close to her sister nervously.
"Our little boy did this Leo, or is at least responsible for it." Piper whispered, and Leo rubbed her back.
"We'll make sure he doesn't become like this Piper." He said, disgust filling him as he saw what had become of P3, the place where Piper had agreed to marry him.
"We can't stay here." Phoebe whispered, shaking as she saw what had become of the club.
It was a much different scenario than the last time they had used this spell. Last time, the future had been mostly intact, albeit with witch trials and burning at the stake. But this was completely different. As they progressed through the city streets, they saw just how bad things were. Buildings with windows blown out, glass littering the streets. Small probes zoomed by through the air. Parts of buildings had been blasted away in explosions, some even looked as though they had been melted. The Golden Gate Bridge was twisted and warped, smoke was rising high into the air, and they could hear distant screams as they progressed through the city. There were massive craters blown into the streets, and dead bodies littered several areas, some bleeding strange colours of blood, others clearly human victims. Darklighter arrows were lying around, abandoned by their owners. The sky was a blood red colour, rubble was lying throughout the streets, cars were burnt out and smoking, lights flickering on and off despite being early evening. Piper studied the skyline, to try and see the Transamerica pyramid, but saw no sign of the massive building, only a ragged building a quarter of its side marking the skyline, as though it had been snapped into pieces. Large viewscreens showed various places around the world, flickering to the crater that had once been the Vatican, the blank space that was once the FBI headquarters, reports of another massacre in Germany, the final death toll from the sinking of New Zealand, and a black expanse of land that was meant to be Alaska. They looked on in horrified shock as they progressed nervously through the city streets, the screens showing just how much of a monster their eldest son had become. Baby Wyatt grew up to do this to the world.
And then an image of Wyatt appeared on the screens, eyes narrowed angrily.
"To the brave people of Sri Lanka, while I appreciate your bravery, my tolerance is reaching it's end. Either stand down your arms and surrender the rebels within your country to me, or otherwise, I will destroy you all. You know what I did to Alaska, and to New Zealand, I will have no qualms about doing this to you. You have twenty four hours to respond to my merciful offer.
However, I feel I must commend the loyal peoples of Madagascar, who remembered what is due to their Emperor, and repelled the attempt by the resistance to spread their poison into their land, and even better, killed one of the resistance's leading members, former Agent Murphy. Let their example serve as an ideal to the rest of you. The resistance must be crushed, and with the help of brave people like those in Madagascar, we are much closer to ending the cancerous resistance once and for all. Soon the resistance will be crushed, its time is running out. Those who wish to remain in my protective circle should make other such demonstrations of their loyalty, before I start questioning them." He snarled before the image changed to an advert for machine guns.
"My god." Phoebe breathed as she saw just what her nephew was capable of.
"And to think we never listened to Chris when he told us how bad the future was." Piper said in disbelief, heart breaking as she saw what it was her son became in the future and hating it.
"How did it become so wrong Leo?" she asked tearfully, seeing the tyrant her son was and looking up at the screen in disgust, failure condemning him, he held his wife to him gently, bowing his head to hers.
"We won't let him become like that I promise." He vowed, as the fear of failure, of the future, of their son growing into the monster they had seen, and the fear of how much danger Chris was in now overcame them.
Phoebe watched the two of them, her eyes still on the screen, which were now encouraging people to rat on their neighbours if they were doing anything illegal. Chris had grown up in this world, and, abandoned by his family, it must have seemed a hell of a lot worse. He had literally been raised in hell, and with all of them dead, even worse was the fact that he'd had to do it himself. He'd been forced to rely on himself, staying one step ahead of his tyrannical big brother, not trusting anyone, all the while trying to resist his brother while never giving up hope that his brother, the brother he was meant to be, was still in there somewhere and would come back to him. Chris had no reason to believe Wyatt was good, no reason to believe something had changed him, yet he had come back to try and save his brother anyway, to try and save them all and to try and prevent this apocalyptic version of the future coming true.
"That poor kid...all those times we treated him like crap, told him we didn't want him around, we didn't want to hear it, we didn't believe him, got angry because we thought he was making our lives worse...none of that compares to this." She whispered, and Paige nodded grimly beside her.
"Yeah. Am i the only one who wants to smother the poor little kid in kisses as soon as we get him back?" Paige asked, and Piper gave her a wan smile.
"Get in the queue, mother's privilege." She said, then squinted down an alley, towards a large shopping precinct.
And then confirmed her suspicions when she saw an energy ball fly up the street.
Beckoning to the others, they edged down the alleyway, to find the street was a battle zone.
Cars were either being used as barricades or were belching out flames, the victims of energy balls. Craters had been gouged into the street, burn marks had scorched the walls, and cries and screams were filling the air as a large crowd of demons pushed further down the street, crying out in surprise as a car flew up the street towards them, smashing several into a burnt out shop. Bodies were littering the ground, scorch marks marking demon vanquishes, pools of blood showing the deaths of others. Smoke was rising from several shops, billboards had crashed onto the street, a water hydrant was pouring water everywhere, a wall had been blown away exposing screaming families to the battle, and a massive fire escape had toppled to the ground.
Piper looked down the street to see people with guns firing at the demons from behind the cars that were being used as walls. There were also fireballs coming from that end, along with small flurries of Whitelighter orbs, and a couple of demons that had advanced into their line were thrown back along the street. She winced as several demons were suddenly blown apart, whoever was behind the car at the front had some serious firepower.
"Fall back!" a male voice cried from the good guys' end, swearing as a lamppost exploded above him, showering him in glass.
"Retreat!" a Whitelighter yelled, and gagged as a Darklighter arrow plunged through his neck, the victim of a grinning fiend squatting on the roof of a building.
Another car flew up the street, scattering the demons, and Piper turned to her sisters. They didn't have much time before the demons spotted them anyway as they were advancing steadily along the street.
"Shall we join in?" she asked, and Phoebe and Paige grinned.
"Yeah, let's test these future powers." Paige said, and Piper leapt out from the alleyway and flicked her hands as always.
Six demons suddenly screamed in pain as she vanquished them all at once.
"Nice!" she said, impressed by her future powers.
Phoebe leapt out of the alleyway, shooting up into the air, and as several demons fired energy balls at her, she cocked her head, and the balls reversed and vanquished their owners.
Paige orbed into the middle of the demon horde, and raised her hands, and smiled as a blue bubble expanded outwards from her in an explosion, disintegrating a ring of demons.
Leo then also joined the battle, firing lightning from his hands, killing the Darklighter and running the lightning through the demon crowds. Between the four of them, they quickly vanquished the small demon army, and aside from the panicked cries from inside the apartment and the crackling of the fires, the street was quiet.
"Ma'am?" a young sounding voice asked.
"It's safe, you can come out." Piper called, and she heard a sharp intake of breath.
And then a woman, dressed in black vest and leather jacket, with piercing green eyes and long black hair, stood up from behind the car, and looked at the four of them, mouth opened in surprise.
"It can't be..." she said in shock, looking at the four visitors from the past.
Piper, Phoebe and Leo were all looking at her in equal shock.
"Impossible." Leo said huskily.
"What the hell?" Phoebe demanded as she looked at the person staring at them.
"But, how?" Piper asked breathlessly.
Paige, very confused, looked at the others, then looked at the one they were staring at, then back again.
"Huh?" she asked in confusion.
"Piper?" the woman asked in shock, and Piper, equally shocked, not to mention confused, gave the other a hesitant smile and whispered in surprise.
"Prue."
Well who was expecting that?
First of all, I'm sorry for the delay, this should have been up days ago, but then my dad had a diy kick on Wednesday and Thursday and always wants to involve me for reasons best known to himself, then I had the dentist yesterday and had to tour the city getting bird seed for my nanna, and on top of that I wasnt happy with the first section, and it took me a while to get it right, so apologies!
However, here we are with the second chapter!
I am mean to Chris arent I? Basically, Wyatt has corrupted all of his memories, and with the last vision (akin to what the Source did to Piper in Brain Drain) he finally managed to convince Chris that he was the only one that does love him. And in his own way he does. And if any of you think Wyatt is awfully touchy feely, there is a reason for that which I might go into later. I know Chris turning seemed a little sudden, but you must appreciate, he's lived in hell for years, his life in the past hasnt exactly been a basket of roses even with them finding out who he was, and because of all they did to him in the past, Wyatt found it horribly easy to turn Chris against them all. Im not quite sure I managed to convey that effectively, I hope I did.
But now things are hotting up! Wyatt has Chris on his side at long last, and it seems as though the four Charmed Ones are together in the future! Next time we get some answers, see some old friends (including a character who I am very fond of despite her small appearance in the comics), and see just how bad things truly are in the future (speaking of which, apologies if I upset anyone with what Wyatt's done to the future, what with the massacres and the destruction, I dont mean any offence)
So, how is Prue there? Who else is there to be found in the future? And now that the two brothers are on the same page, just what does that mean for the world?
Hopefully my next update will be a lot quicker than this one was!
Anyway, until next time, as always please read and review review review!