Future Mistakes

by lordtrayus

Chris has made a grave, if unintentional, error. And now, the thing he fears the most, his brother, future Wyatt, is coming after him, determined to take his brother home. As Wyatt moves against Chris, a desperate resistance in the future hatches a daring, last ditch plan. And the sisters and Leo, determined to save Chris, head to the future their son destroyed, before its too late

4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed (or either Wes Ramsey or Drew Fuller sadly)

Future Mistakes

Zankou looked at the city that was holding the leadership of the resistance. Prue, Cole and Neena were the threats now, Billie and whoever had taken over from Murphy weren't up to the challenge of commanding the worldwide resistance. They would at last strike a killing blow to the rebels, crushing their resistance, and with the benefits of being the demon who commanded the end of the resistance, his future was looking very bright indeed.

"My lord, our dragons are ready to begin their attack runs, and our forces are able to enter the city." The Tall Man reported, and Zankou nodded.

"Good. Begin the attack. But leave the Charmed Ones to me." He said, and Sykes brought his hand down, and with a war cry, the demons charged towards the city, the dragons gave roars and headed inwards, and Zankou gave a small smile as he watched as the end of the resistance unfolded before his eyes.

XX

The resistance was suddenly thrown into a massive battle, as the demons stormed through into every entrance to the city, and dragons streaked overhead, firing jets of flame down at their positions. Groups of defenders opened fire with everything they had, bullets, energy balls, various magical powers, potions as the demons swarmed over their positions. However, there were far too many of them, and all too soon Weaver had to signal a retreat, bringing all the fighting forces to the foot of Arthur's Seat while locals quivered in their homes or fled from the streets, out of the way of the attacking horde. There were some advantages to a battle here for the defenders however. The tram project, still not finished all these years later, had caused massive roadworks and as such the demons were slowed down in their advance. The large number of roads also made it difficult for the relatively mindless lower level demons to stay together as they all broke off, and as a result, they would stumble into each other's paths and lose a lot of troops through friendly fire. However, a lot more were making their way to the centre of the city, clambering past the abandoned cars and multitude of buses as they fought their way to where the resistance was going to make its last stand.

The dragons however had no such restrictions. However, Edinburgh did have an airport, and combined with that it had a harbour, so very soon all of the resistance planes and choppers were in the air, combined with beings that could fly, including teams of fairy saboteurs all attacking the dragons. Witches with the power of flight soared up into the air, shooting in between the attacking planes as the large dragons descended on the city en masse, fire erupting in the Parliament building and setting fire to the university. However, their forces were giving as good as they were getting, and two dragons had already been brought down, and artillery fire from the ground was also helping distract the dragons.

But at the foot of Arthur's Seat, the fighting was at its most fierce. The demons, having flooded in from the direction of Straiton and Niddrie, were now mounting up, and the leaders of the resistance were locked in a gruelling battle for their lives.

Prue was at the forefront, her telekinesis and her blasting power decimating the front of the demon ranks. Piper, right beside her, and also frustrated by all they had discovered since coming to the future was using her own boosted blasting power, decimating entire squads with her attacks. Fireballs and energy balls flew through the air, sending people with screams to the ground, however, Leo, alternating between blasting demons with his electrokinesis and healing the fallen, was able to negate some of their losses. Bullets, mortar rounds and grenades flew through the air towards the oncoming demonic onslaught, stopping several attacks in their paths. Weaver, commanding from the top of a tank, was sniping down demons with specially designed bullets. Girls with great fighting moves had joined forces with Phoebe and a group of ninjas that had appeared from nowhere, and were battling several demons hand to hand, forcing them back. The two young men, leading the attack of the hunters, were blasting demons apart left right and centre, while Whitelighters fired orbs of pure energy into the demonic ranks. And most dangerous of all was Neena, floating above the battle, using all the powers at her disposal, utilising all the elements of earth, water, fire and air to decimate the enemy attackers.

The city was in flames as the resistance and the demons fought in the centre of town, snipers raining fire down on the demons as they moved along Princes Street. At the end of the road, Sandra, the other remaining Elder, was bolstering Tyler's forces, her lightning repelling dozens of demons at a time as Tyler used his firestarter powers to incinerate several enemies at once. Leprechauns were casting the enemy with bad luck, which led to a good many being crushed by falling masonry. Poole, the former police inspector, was leading a group to attack the demons pouring in via Meadowbank, wielding a machine gun with lethal efficiency as the battle raged throughout the city. Buses were used as weapons, smashing into dozens of demons at a time before they were blown up. Soldiers using bazookas were blasting large holes in the enemy offensive, but even that couldn't stall the masses of demons now surging through the city towards the sisters position.

Phoebe and several other empaths were reflecting the attacks of the demons along with their brawling, but they knew they would soon be overwhelmed. Paige was orbing cars through the air, allowing Cole to turn them into blazing artillery pieces and crashing them into the ranks of the demons. It was clear to anyone with a brain however that they would soon lose this battle, there were simply too many demons, and even the four sisters united weren't enough to delay their attacks for long.

Paige sent another flaming car into the throng of demons, watching as their vampires leapt from the shadows and slaughtered another group. This was what the future became. This was what their sweet baby nephew grew up to do to the world. And this was what her other nephew had grown up dealing with every day. Another crowd of demons shimmered in behind her, but she was saved by the intervention of Riley, who opened fire on the group that had been trying to kill her. Nodding in thanks, she entered the battle once more, wincing as the body count on their side mounted.

Neena sent a stream of flame at one dragon while firing a jet of water at the other, and that was while she was causing a minor earthquake to disrupt the demons that were pressing against the front of their lines where Prue was battling fiercely, backed up by her sister. Rona was down battling alongside Phoebe, using her crossbow to kill as many demons as she could reach. Riley was leading his forces on an attack on the demons on the right flank, while Paige supported him orbing bombs and cars into the throng of demons. Poole was keeping up a good defence, along with Wesley, who was using his sharpshooting skills to bring down as many demons as possible. Up in the air, the battle still raged, though most of the flying witches had now been killed, and they had lost nearly a squad of their planes. However, the dragons had taken severe losses, and there were only a few left flying, and one of them was plummeting towards the ocean, having taken a direct hit from a tank round. But either way, even with the losses they had inflicted upon the enemy, there were still far too many of them.

"We need to come together, fighting in this disjointed fashion means we can't protect ourselves." Neena said as she landed beside Prue, who swore as an energy ball singed her hair as it passed too close.

"She's right...and not to be too self involved Prue, but if we die here, there's no telling what will happen, well I know one thing, Chris won't be born and I dread to think of how much that'll screw up the timeline." Piper said, freezing another crowd of demons and allowing Neena to incinerate them.

"She's right, if nothing else, if we do die here, we need to at least get your sisters and Leo back to their own time." She said, and Prue gave her a small smile.

"That could work. But I know my sister, and I know she isn't going anywhere unless she's got Chris with her." She said, and Piper shrugged a little, freezing another fireball.

"What can I say, I'm a warrior mom." She said, blasting apart another crowd of demons.

Neena frowned.

"Part of the problem is that we can't actually inflict serious damage on them. All we're doing is taking out the lower level demons, and while some people might be impressed if we all die, it's hardly the stuff to unite the masses." She said, as Cole vanquished a demon coming up behind her with an energy ball.

"They're like gnats!" he exclaimed as Weaver trundled down towards them, his face grim.

"We're taking losses, but because communication is blocked we're finding it hard to know how severe, we can't keep this up, we need to come together and make an individual stand. Please tell me one of you ladies has a plan." He said grimly, and Neena shook her head.

"Sorry Dan. It wouldn't be so bad if we could take out the last of the dragons, but we've lost a fair bit of our air forces and with the last battle the rest need to refuel, where they're being pinned down as they do it, we've only got a few more planes and choppers in the air and the dragons are toying with them." She said grimly, and Piper looked at her sister.

"If we survive this, please tell me how my darling son got his hands on a dragon airforce." She said irritably, and Prue smiled a little.

"Gladly, but surviving is becoming less and less likely." She said grimly.

Prue hissed as another dragon soared overhead, and she saw that her air forces were indeed taking a beating.

"You'd think seeing a show all four of you are here, we could come up with something." Cole said in exasperation, and Piper's eyes widened in realisation.

"Cole, I never thought I would say this, especially seeing as you're meant to be dead, but you're a genius!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands, before turning and irritably blowing up another crowd of demons that were charging them.

Prue then flicked several more demons away from them as they once more made another resurgence and she looked at her sister questioningly.

"How is he?" she asked, and she looked at her sister in excitement.

"Prue, we have all four Charmed Ones here. Surely we can deal with this lot of lower level demons at least? Combine our powers, the power of four!" she said in excitement, and Prue's eyes widened as she considered what her sister was suggesting.

"That might actually work. Alright, before we attempt this, we need to find out exactly what's going on. Weaver get me a status report, Cole round up Phoebe and Paige, we need them. Let's go people!"

A few minutes later, she had her status report, and it was a lot more encouraging than she had thought it would be. Though they had taken heavy losses, they had also caused a lot of damage to the attacking demons, and several of the fronts were running very low on demons to throw at them. However, while the ground battle had gone mostly their way, with every site aside from their one battled to a stalemate, their air battle had staggered to a halt and not in a good way. With only Prue's cells forces fully fuelled, as Neena had used them to take Edinburgh before their arrival, they had quickly been forced back when Neena's had been low on fuel, and now they were held to siege by another group of dragons while the others tried to take down the remaining flying witches, not that there were many of them left. And their artillery had taken a pounding too, however, while damaged, most of it was salvageable, and as the navy wasn't under attack that was still intact, however, it was of no use to anyone trapped as it was down in the harbour, and even the smaller boats couldn't get upriver to lend a hand to any other forces as the river was too low.

But most worrisome of all was the fact that Zankou was now summoning all his forces to push against the forcers defending Arthur's Seat. Which meant that the other avenues of attack were closing, but the demons, able to shimmer, could move a lot quicker across town than their own forces could, and as a result, Prue was beginning to panic as the demon army attacking the base of the hill increased tenfold, and they suddenly had to deal with the thousands of demons and their dragon air support all attacking at once. And, even if their plan worked and they took out a swath of the lower level demons, the upper level demons, all of whom were members of the Brotherhood or of Demonatrix, then they would be in even more trouble, as there wouldn't be a quick fix to deal with that. So far, the only ones of the upper level demons they had seen had been from a distance or as commanders, and once their troops were in position they had fled to a safer distance.

"Call all our forces here, we need to fend them off!" she barked, and Weaver nodded, gesturing to Riley, Poole, Tyler, Sam, Dean and Sandra, and all of the leaders ran towards them, as their own forces took up positions.

"Right, we have a plan that might work, if Neena can use her projection power to amplify the girls collective powers, and we hope we can use the power of four to act as a sort of a-bomb. But, that means our own demons are going to have to get out of here, so will the vampires to be on the safe side. I'll lead them in an attack on the back of their lines, while the sisters deal with the front. Let's go people!" Cole said, and he, the demons and the vampires disappeared as the lower level demons started running at them, and they were immediately caught by a storm of bullets fired by numerous Darklighters.

"All artillery, fire at will! Soldiers to the front, others behind, wave attack formation, pattern Alpha, go now!" Riley yelled, and they began to come together, and Prue looked at Phoebe desperately.

"Alright Pheebs, you were always best at spells, we need something that will work as a power of four spell, like the power of three will set us free, but for four!" she said, wincing as rockets flew through the air, smashing into the demonic ranks.

Piper looked at the battle, and she saw as Cole began his attack on the rear of the enemy army, distracting the upper level demons and forcing them forward. Meanwhile, Sandra and Leo were doing their best to keep up a massive shield against their forces, but with the constant bombardment of arrows, energy balls and fire from the dragons, their strength was waning quickly, even when reinforced by leprechaun luck. And it looked as though the upper level demons were beginning to be forced towards their rank and file, so now was really the time to strike, or otherwise, with their forces divided, they were soon going to lose this battle.

Wincing as a tank fired another round, she turned to Phoebe.

"Phoebe now!" she urged, and Phoebe shot her a dirty look.

"I don't work well under pressure, stop harassing me, let me think, got it!" she said, clicking her fingers.

She told her sisters the chant, and they nodded to Neena, who raised her hand and the four sisters felt a massive power surge through them, as if it were coming from the ground itself, making them feel vibrant, powerful alive. The sisters joined hands, and Piper nodded, and they began to chant.

"The power of four we implore, protect us forever more!

The power of four we implore, protect us forever more!

The power of four we implore, protect us forever more!

The power of four we implore, protect us forever more!"

They continued their chant, and Neena grinned as she felt the power of four rising for the first time. Struck by a curious thought, which she intended to follow up on if they survived, she watched as a quadquetra formed, an arm for each sister, a shining blue light emerging from each of them to form the symbol, and with her power boosting it, the symbol began to spin, getting larger as it did so.

Just then the shield collapsed, and Riley and Weaver nodded to each other.

"Give them everything we've got!" Weaver yelled as everyone who could opened fire.

"Cole, get your men out of there!" Sam yelled and smiled as the massive blue symbol exploded outwards, the blue light cutting through all of their troops and leaving them unharmed.

And then the spell the sisters had cast hit the lower level demons, and Weaver gave a brilliant smile as he watched hundreds of demons being vanquished at once. The shockwaves continued to spread from the sisters, getting stronger with each recitation, and as they passed through the demonic rank, hundreds of fireballs went up as the lower level demons were vanquished.

Zankou watched in alarm as the sisters continued to spread their powers, stopping the demons in their tracks, binding them still with their powers and continuing the chant, rooting them to the spot so the beams of pure magic could obliterate them. He swore furiously as the sisters, walking slowly together, their powers boosted by the Alpha, advanced ever closer to his elite lines, and he didn't fancy their chances if they got to the elite demons.

"Stop the Charmed Ones!" he yelled angrily, and the demons all turned their attention to the four sisters as they advanced, throwing fireballs and energy balls at them as they did so.

However, as the balls reached the sisters they bounced off the shockwaves, crashing back into their owners. The dragons gave roars of fury and swooped down on them, firing flames at them, but they too bounced off, crashing into the dragons' chests. As the sisters continued their offensive, Zankou realised just how much trouble he was in. With the Charmed Ones now leading the charge, his line was in danger of giving and the resistance was surging forward, rushing into the gaps caused by the mass vanquishing of the lower demons.

"Stop them!" he yelled, but it was too late.

The last of the dragons fell to the earth, crushing his forward lines, and with that, the resistance broke through, rushing through his lines as yet more shockwaves spread out from the sisters, who were grinning smugly.

"That's it people, take them down!" Sandra yelled with a smile, as she and Leo opened up with lightning, ripping apart fleeing Darklighters as the situation devolved into deep chaos.

"I'd say we've caused enough damage together. First one to one hundred wins." Paige said, winking at Prue and the four sisters then split off as the demonic army broke apart.

"Get me some order down there!" Zankou bellowed to Sykes, as Cole and his demons returned with greater force, energy balls flying through the panicking ranks and adding more chaos to the mix.

But it was already too late. With over three quarters of the lower level demons now vanquished, the entire situation was on the verge of implosion anyway, and the line totally broke as hunters, slayers and witches attacked the lines, vanquishing even more demons. And in the centre were the tanks led by Weaver, the troops led by Riley, and the four Charmed Ones, Prue knocking hundreds of demons down as she progressed allowing them to be defeated with ease by her forces, Piper blowing apart entire squads, Phoebe joining with Rona and either brawling with the demons or using her empathy to reflect their attacks, and Paige was orbing demonic attacks back to their owners or orbing demons away from the fight into the way of other attacks. Neena continued her attacks, once more using the four elements and even sending birds from the local sanctuary out against the demons, sending many of them into a nervous panic as the demons all broke off into separate groups, allowing them to be easily vanquished as other groups, sent the long way round earlier in the battle, appeared behind the demons and started vanquishing them from behind, and it was then that Zankou noticed just how much trouble they were actually in.

Most of his army, which was by and large comprised of lower level demons, was now gone, and the remnants were breaking off and fleeing or else becoming trapped by the resistance forces, allowing them to be easily vanquished. And he realised that the upper level demons were becoming encircled very rapidly by their forces, and unless he did something soon, they were all going to die.

Piper narrowed her eyes as she advanced upon the trashily dressed Demonatrix, the women throwing their ninja stars everywhere, but with Prue and Paige with them, and Neena adding her own powers to the mix, more and more were being vanquished as their shots were rebounded. Dean had a large, interested grin on his face, and Sam rolled his eyes as he kept an eye on his brother. Rona stabbed each one she came into contact with, and several more were blown apart by rounds from Riley, and Tyler incinerated several more. Piper then flicked her hands, freezing a large cluster of them and as the resistance gleefully ripped into them, she started blasting apart more and more of them, vanquishing them with ease, even though they were upper level demons.

Zankou cursed as the resistance continued to thrash the Brotherhood and the Demonatrix, it was time to get out of here.

"Sykes, Tall Man, hold them off, I've got to report!" he yelled, and flamed out, leaving the others to their fates.

The Tall Man advanced towards Phoebe, but was suddenly blasted from behind, and he turned to see a furious Piper advancing towards him, continually blasting him.

"I've had it," she said, blasting him hard enough to draw blood, "with demons," she continued, advancing further and the dimensional being staggered backwards, "messing up my family!" she roared and blasted him once more and with a pained scream he was vanquished, earning her an impressed look with Neena.

"Well done Piper, I remember last time I encountered him all I could do was hold him off, so I trumped up charges against him to make the Source imprison him, and you vanquished him with your normal powers." She said in approval, and Piper smiled.

With the Demonatrix becoming vastly depleted, the Brotherhood was now open to attacks from all sides as the resistance made the final push. Prue vanquished Sykes with a blast of her own, and with a sister leading each prong of the attack, the Demonatrix and the Brotherhood were quickly losing ground, and more and more were shimmering out as the resistance finally overwhelmed them.

Klea, the highest ranking member of the army left, looked around and saw that the remaining groups were also surrounded and on the verge of destruction. With the power of four, the Charmed Ones had decimated their army, totally turning the tide and what should have been their final victory had turned into their first major defeat, the resistance had never managed to cause so much damage to them before. Always before this there had been guerrilla battles or proxy wars, never before had they fought a battle like this with the resistance, usually their encounters were righting retreats. Until now. Now, they had faced the resistance in their first major battle, and it was their side that had come out of it the worst off.

It was time to admit defeat.

"Full retreat!" she yelled angrily, and the demons, remaining Darklighters, and the few warlocks that were left either shimmered, orbed or blinked out to cries of victory and delight, as the army of the emperor suffered its first major defeat.

The emperor was not going to be happy.

"They're retreating! We've won!" Tyler yelled happily, and cheers went up throughout the army as Klea gave them a last look of loathing and vanished.

Everyone was jumping up and down, screaming in delight as the enemy retreated, people were whistling and laughing, throwing themselves at friends in delight as they hugged or kissed loved ones. Civilians came out from their homes, shaking hands with the fighters, hugging them in ecstasy, as for the first time, they celebrated a major victory over the forces of the emperor, and for the first time in many years, the world finally seemed like a brighter place. Neena sighed in relief as she landed, hugging Tyler who was jumping up and down enthusiastically as Weaver began to clap and cheer, Riley whistling in appreciation, Dean hugged Sam, Rona nodded proudly to her slayers, clapping them all on the shoulder, Cole shook hands with everyone he could reach and Prue ran for her sisters, hugging the three of them to her as she screamed in delight. And then, to her great surprise, Leo, who had just hugged a grinning Sandra, pulled Piper away from her sisters, tilted her face to meet his and locked her in a deep kiss which led to even more cheers, yells, whistles and cat calls as Piper kissed him back fiercely.

XX

Wyatt wasn't in the penthouse, he was in the attic of the manor, where he had had another throne made for him to hold court there too, something in him appreciating the irony that the seat of what the sisters would deem evil would be in the home that was the central location for fighting good.

However, while he found it ironic, he did not find it amusing. In fact he was in a foul mood as Zankou reported his failure to him.

"We had no choice but to retreat my lord." He said, looking nervously up at the Source, backed as always by his dark clad little brother and his pet assassin Shax, and in the background the Seer was lurking somewhere.

The room, filled with the leadership of the empire, was the old attic, with the throne placed right above where the Nexus had used to be, and both the Book of Shadows and the Grimoire where sitting on a stand beside Chris. The room was still quite empty. The leading general of the empire was Zankou, and it was he who was bowed before his master. To the left of him were the ones in charge of the navy and the airforce, the water demon who controlled the navy (who had rather morbidly killed the Source's grandmother) and the horned demon that no one knew the real name of. Behind them were the three mortal heads of the army, navy and airforce. Only a few other demons were present, Barbas, Dantalian and the Source's elite bodyguard, and all of them had formed a circle around Zankou while he reported his failure to his master.

"No choice? How could it be Zankou that my best general was beaten by a small bunch of mindless, underpowered, underarmed rabble?" Wyatt spat furiously, eyes going black in fury.

"With respect my lord, we were ill prepared for the Charmed Ones!" he said, and Wyatt hesitated a little, his eyes going back to a steely blue as Chris reacted behind him.

"Even so Zankou, the three witches should have posed little threat to you." He said, nervously keeping an eye on Chris as he stirred restlessly.

"But my lord, the three of them have the powers they ought to have now rather than the ones from the past where they came from." He explained, and Wyatt frowned, then shrugged.

"Surely not a matter to concern my best general, it might have led to greater losses but not to the defeat of my army, even with the three of them as powerful as they would be now, you should still have been able to deal with them." Wyatt said contemptuously.

"My lord, all four of them were present." Zankou said, and Wyatt suddenly looked at him, eyes wide with anger.

"What did you say?" he demanded, his teeth gritted.

"All four Charmed Ones were present sire. Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Paige." Zankou explained, looking at his master nervously.

Wyatt suddenly stood, his face furious.

"Leave us." He hissed, and the demons all gave Chris a worried look and shimmered out, leaving Wyatt and Chris in the attic together.

Wyatt then grabbed Chris by the neck and as his brother gasped in choking surprise, Wyatt threw him furiously across the room, slamming him into the wall in rage.

"You never told me Prue was the leader of the resistance!" Wyatt roared, kicking his whimpering brother in the stomach.

But, having got in the first couple of attacks unopposed, Chris, going into survival mode, flicked his hand and sent Wyatt flipping across the room, slamming into the bookstands. He pulled himself up, determined to run, but Wyatt flamed right in front of him and slammed his brother into the wall, making Chris cry out in pain, and he then seized Chris' neck and raised him off the ground, Chris gagging and pulling at his hand to try and free himself, looking at Wyatt imploringly.

Wyatt glared at his reddening brother, squeezing his brother's neck tighter. He continued choking his brother for a minute or so, and then, when his brother's eyes started to flutter and rolled, he then sneered and threw Chris over the room where he crashed into one of the displays and thudded to the floor, and to Wyatt's surprise he didn't orb out, or attack, he just curled in on himself shaking, wrapping himself into a ball and turning away from Wyatt, taking deep breaths as he did so.

Wyatt then looked down at his brother, hearing his cries and sighed sadly. He shouldn't have lost his temper with him. And he shouldn't have attacked him either. Slowly, hesitantly, for fear of making his shivering brother flee, he edged towards Chris and sat down on the floor beside him and started gently stroking his hair.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." He said, hating how Chris flinched from his touch.

"You hate me now too don't you?" Chris asked bitterly, and Wyatt sighed, rubbing his brother's back.

"No I don't." He said softly, and Chris then sat up, still holding himself in pain and glared, and then squinted, and Wyatt tumbled along the floor. Should have seen that one coming.

Chris pulled himself towards the wall, leaning against it as he glared, hurt and angry with his brother.

"Chris...look, I won't hurt you ok?" he said, putting his hands out in a placating gesture.

Chris glowered at him, keeping his hand splayed, and he knew that if he didn't watch his step he would be zapped by lightning, and he had to admit, that bloody hurt.

"You said I wouldn't get hurt anymore." He snarled, and Wyatt hung his head.

"Yeah, I did, and I'm sorry I lost my temper. I shouldn't have hurt you ok short stuff?" he asked, using his childhood nickname that he had given him in the hopes it would appease his brother.

All he got for his trouble was Chris lowering his hand a tiny amount, but he would take it. He advanced slowly, sitting down beside Chris, who still kept his hand pointing at Wyatt, looking at him untrustingly.

"I'm sorry." Wyatt said, hesitantly raising his hand, and he took it as a sign of progress when Chris allowed him to stroke his cheek, but he still flinched slightly.

"Yeah, you're always sorry." He said dismissively, and Wyatt looked at his brother sadly.

"Chris, I was mad, and I vented on you. I didn't mean to hurt you." He said, and Chris scoffed angrily.

"Yeah, no one means to hurt me, it just happens anyway. Whoops, Chris got hurt again, ah well, it's collateral damage, as long as I'm happy." He said sourly, and Wyatt wondered if he hadn't done too good a job at convincing him that the rest of his family didn't care about him.

"Chris...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hurt you, I lost my temper. I was mad. You know I don't like to lose." He said, and Chris glowered.

"Diddums." He said snarkily, and Wyatt winced.

"Look Chris..."

"You said that you loved me. Mom would tell me she loved me. You're all liars." He said angrily, and Wyatt shook his head urgently, kneeling in front of his brother.

"No little brother. Look, mom and the others didn't mean it. They used you and lied to you and manipulated you. I don't, I actually do love you." He assured him, but Chris just glowered.

"Sure you do." He said, and Wyatt looked at him desperately.

"Chris please, I do love you. Why do you think I tried so hard to get you back? Because I love you. Please baby brother, I made a mistake, I didn't mean to hurt you." He wheedled, and Chris looked at him in disbelief.

"So you throw me around, strangle me and then throw me round some more? Yeah that's a real good way you prove you don't want to hurt me." He said, and Wyatt winced as lightning crackled at Chris' fingertips.

"Chris..." Wyatt pleaded, and Chris lowered his hand and hugged his knees to his chest, looking miserable.

"Why does everyone I love wind up hating me?" he asked, his voice wavering, not meeting Wyatt's eyes as he glowered, and Wyatt looked at his brother sadly.

"I don't hate you baby. I love you. I just lost my temper, and I shouldn't have. I don't hate you Chris, I could never hate you." He assured and Chris looked at him angrily.

"It's not as if I wouldn't have told you Prue was the leader if you had told me her sisters were here!" he shouted at him, and Wyatt nodded.

"I know. I should have told you it was them that you sensed rather than telling you it was probably an Avatar. That was a jerk move. I just didn't want you to get upset." He said, and Chris snorted derisively.

"Good job." He snapped, but his defences seemed to be lowering again, and Wyatt sidled up beside him and then pulled Chris to him gently, resting his brother's head on his shoulder.

"I am sorry Chris. I know you would have told me who it was if you thought she would join with her sister, that was my fault. Do you hate me?" he asked in a baby voice, and Chris gave a small smile.

"I always hate you." He said in a bratty voice, and Wyatt smiled and kissed his brother's forehead.

"I know. I shouldn't have lost my temper, or taken it out on you. Have to admire their ingenuity though. But now, we're in trouble." He said worriedly and Chris looked up at him, his eyes, still hurt and slightly angry, looked at him curiously.

"How?" he asked, and Wyatt scowled.

"We just lost a major battle. What's more, all four Charmed Ones will now be after us, trying to take away our power...trying to take you away from me, they know full well that we're too powerful for them together. They'll want to take you from me. Add their presence to the fact that they just won and wiped out two sector armies worth of demons and also took down the majority of the Brotherhood and the Demonatrix, then my reign has never looked so weak. And because I got you back recently, people are thinking that I'm losing my touch, becoming weak." He said, and Chris suddenly sat up away from him.

"Great, I get blamed for everything here too." He said angrily and Wyatt sighed.

"No, that isn't your fault. That's just the way demons minds work." He said, stroking Chris' cheek, and smiled as his brother closed his eyes to enjoy the touch.

"So, we've lost a major battle, and added to the other battles I've been losing recently as well people are going to start to talk. All four Charmed Ones are now here, and the demons know that they're going to try and topple my reign, or worse take you away from me. They'll also think that because I didn't know Prue was the leader of the resistance," he said, wincing as his brother's face fell, he had definitely done too good a job on him, "that my control is slipping. Added to that is the fact that I've finally got you back, which is making them think I'm going soft. And besides, it's been many years since they had life this good, being able to live overground like this, and some demons have been getting shall we say, overambitious. They've been held in place for too long, and as all of the major enemies are now dead, other than Prue, they've found themselves relatively bored and with little opportunity for advancement. They think my reign is stagnant and they're plotting to undermine me. All of these things, coupled with frustrations that they can't advance further themselves, make them wish to covet my throne. And besides, some of them will also be resentful that you are suddenly my right hand man after opposing me for all these years, after all that position was meant to go to Zankou before I got you back. Basically, my empire is becoming the victim of its own success and now forces seek to supplant me." He explained, and Chris frowned.

"Has the Seer said anything about this?" he asked, and Wyatt shook his head.

"No, nothing, why?" he asked, and Chris smiled a little.

"The Seer, who you use to see the future, misses the fact that forces are plotting against you and are trying to topple you? Either she's negligent, at best, or a traitor at worst." He said, and Wyatt paused as she considered what his brother was implying.

In fact, now he came to think of it, the Seer had been rather lax in her duties later. He had resurrected her to fill the void of not having any premonitions, one of the few powers that he didn't have, and neither did Chris, which Wyatt mused meant Piper ought to have had another kid, but never mind. And for years, she had served faithfully, scuppering many of Chris' plans for many years, much to his brother's great disgust. And while he had learned to adapt to her abilities, more often than not she scuppered plans of the other resistances, and as a result had led to the capture of the last Grimm, ending their line. But recently, she hadn't had any visions of their enemies movements at all. In fact, she hadn't foreseen the resistance taking Edinburgh, and he was now hearing that the Canary Islands had fallen, and she also hadn't predicted the rebellion of Sri Lanka. So, was she just getting old? Were her visions no longer reliable? Had she simply been blocked? But no, if she had been blocked by the resistance, there would be no reason that she couldn't have predicted Wyatt getting Chris back, he would have no need to block her visions in the past as the Seer back there had been vanquished two years before his arrival. Wyatt frowned, as Chris grinned.

"See? Let me deal with this." Chris said, flexing his hand.

"You?" Wyatt asked in disbelief.

Chris rolled his eyes.

"Look Wy, if they see you coming they won't say anything, you'll get nothing out of them. You're their emperor, and their Source. But me, I'm much more of an unknown, which means they'll let me get closer to them, and that means I can find things out about them that they might not want me to know. I've gotten good at getting information out of people." He said, and Wyatt looked at him.

"You want to do this? If they figure out you're on to them, they might try to hurt you." He said, his voice slightly worried, and Chris nodded.

"I can do this. Trust me." He wheedled, looking at his brother with his beautiful, pleading eyes, and Wyatt nodded reluctantly.

"Fine. But be careful. Why you so keen to do this anyway?" he asked, and Chris shrugged.

"You took me back in, the least I can do is help you keep your throne. And prove to you that I'm not useless and that I can help." He said, the events of earlier playing on his mind, and Wyatt sighed before wrapping his brother in a hug.

"I know you're not useless. Remember, I like having you around, unlike mom and the others." He said, leaning his forehead against Chris', and his little brother nodded dolefully.

"I know. Let me do this, I know I can." He wheedled, and he smiled.

"I know you can baby brother. Alright, go save my throne." He said, kissing Chris' forehead, and his brother orbed out, his orbs a strange colour of purple.

Wyatt smiled. This would actually be good for Chris, give him his confidence back. And besides, the thought of his pissed off baby brother ripping his way through treacherous demons was a pleasant one.

But the thought that the Seer could be betraying him was a worrying one. As was the fact that the resistance had just won a major battle, meaning Sri Lanka would most likely be further emboldened as would other locations, which didn't suit his ends at all. But, at least the resistance was now flushed out into the open. It wouldn't be long until he had them all in his grasp, and then he could obliterate them all. But, he had to do it quickly otherwise the forces plotting against them, and he knew there would be many more as of the defeat, would move against him first. And any move against him would include a move against Chris, and he couldn't allow that to happen.

No, he needed to set an example of the resistance. Killing Prue or destroying Edinburgh would do the trick, but that would take a lot of effort, and now that his throne was precarious there were no guarantees that his forces would stay loyal, and the Blessed Ones couldn't hold off an entire army. He frowned. Chris was fine for the moment, and if he found out who the ringleaders of the coup attempt were, then that would at least be one problem out of the way. But still...there was so much about the resistance that he didn't know. And while he did like keeping his brother where he could see him, and liked their little game as Chris could reasonably guess what the resistance's next moves would be, he needed to secure his throne, and he wasn't sure Chris' investigations would be enough. Perhaps he needed to delve into his brother's mind again when he returned.

But then, a thought occurred to him. What if his brother one day decided to move against him and try to take the throne from him? That wasn't a pleasant thought. Wyatt frowned as he considered what he might do in that situation. He knew there was no immediate danger, after all, as it stood due to his rather overzealous reiterating of Chris' memories, Chris was dependent on Wyatt for the moment, which was how he liked it. He liked his brother needing him, he liked his brother being here, desperate for his brother's approval. He loved seeing the look of cautious love and adoration, the look of trust in his brother's eyes again, it had been so long since he'd had it. But that wasn't to say Chris wouldn't one day try to supplant him, and provided he behaved himself and acted as powerfully and ruthlessly as his brother did, one day the demons might help facilitate a change in leadership, which he didn't want to happen.

He pondered. If Chris tried to topple him, what would he do? Would he protect his throne, or his brother? Wyatt stroked his small beard, wondering if one day in the future he might have to kill his little brother. Which was a most unsettling thought.

Uneasy, Wyatt headed back to the penthouse, trying to force the thought of his rebelling brother out of his mind.

And as he did so, Barbas smiled and vanished too.

XX

"Good morning sunshine." Prue said cheerfully as Piper entered the cafe she and her sisters had picked for breakfast, and passed her a cup of coffee.

"Someone has total afterglow." Paige teased and Piper rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, is nothing sacred in the future? Everyone knows more about our love lives than we do." She said in exasperation, sitting down after she ordered herself some breakfast.

Leo then entered the cafe, ignoring Phoebe's grin as he sat down beside Piper.

"Are we to take it then that our nephew is on the way to being conceived?" Paige asked excitedly, and Leo looked at his wife.

"After we get Chris back, can we leave them here?" he asked hopefully, and Piper smiled slightly.

"Tempting. But to do that, we need to get Chris back." She said, looking at Prue, who frowned worriedly.

"You know, we've been receiving reports that the demons were marshalling against Wyatt for a while, and now since we've won such a significant victory, his grip on the throne is going to become more tenuous." She said, and Phoebe looked at her sceptically.

"But like Leo said, isn't a coup against Wyatt a good thing?" she asked, but Prue shook her head.

"Not really. For a kick off we could wind up with someone like Barbas or Zankou in charge up here and we can do without that. And, now that Wyatt's got his hands on Chris, any coup against Wyatt will be bound to target the only place they know full well he can be hurt, by hurting Chris. Whatever his failings and despite all he's done, his one redeeming feature is that in his own twisted way he does love Chris." She said grimly, and Piper frowned.

"But how do we get him away from Wyatt? And how do we know Wyatt hasn't done something to him, turned him?" she asked and Phoebe looked into her coffee cup.

"We don't. And that's the problem. It's driving me crazy thinking we might have given Wyatt the thing he needed to turn Chris." She said sadly, and Paige looked at Prue desperate for any information her big sister could give her.

"Do you have any way of finding out if he's alright?" she asked, and Prue sucked her cheek thoughtfully.

"I could try to send Cole, being what he is, something between life and death he might be able to sneak into the city and do some sniffing. All we've heard since you guys got here is that the coup seems to be more likely by the hour, which I might add we don't know who's leading, and on top of that the demon in charge of San Francisco was vanquished, but we don't know if Wyatt or Chris did it, and even if we did, it might not be a good thing if Chris vanquished him anyway." She said worriedly.

"How not? When I was Mrs Source, me vanquishing demons in hormonal fits nearly got me and Cole killed." Phoebe said, and Prue was spared answering by the appearance of her ex-husband.

"Yes but that's because you were still acting like a Charmed One, and my reign was new, and you wanted to go and play house with your sisters. Chris on the other hand was captured and turned, Wyatt is much more powerful than either of us were, Wyatt has been the Source for years and Chris is a lot more morally ambiguous than you guys were, and before you decide to use that against him, he was forced to become that by everything that happened." He said darkly, and Piper waved her hand impatiently.

"And it might not be good because the demon he vanquished failed, which means Wyatt would have killed him anyway, so he might have just done it for Wyatt." Prue said worriedly.

"Great. Oh, and we survived, so do you want to tell me how Wyatt got his hands on a load of dragons or did he just conjure them?" Piper asked.

"No. He opened a door to Purgatory and let out a hell of a lot of nasties, we took our worst losses in that year once he set free all the monsters that were in there. Some he sent back, but other ones he kept around to use to enforce his will across the world, like the dragons." Cole explained.

Paige frowned.

"So he has all the nasties we fight on a daily basis, monsters, and what else does he have serving him?" she asked, and Prue sniffed.

"Everything possible. The militaries of the world, those that weren't wiped out, all serve him now too. And even though what he calls mortal combat isn't his forte, his entire fleet is still a hell of a lot bigger than ours. We're outnumbered ten to one, and it's getting worse, and now we know all our bases are compromised, which means we're soon going to be on the run everywhere, which is just what Wyatt wants. Even though his power is slipping, if he wipes us out nothing will ever challenge him, and now he's got Chris, he's going to be the world's unchallenged master." She explained darkly.

"He's destroyed so much..." Leo said in horror, and Cole nodded.

"Yeah, and it's only going to get worse. We've just replaced all of our losses with new volunteers from all over Scotland, and they aren't the only ones who are volunteering. The English have toppled their proxy government and Neena's on her way down there to take command of the situation. Wales is currently fighting towards Cardiff to take their capital and set themselves up as their own independent government, and there are loads more rebellions springing up all over the world against the empire. Problem is, they're all too spread out, some of the cells aren't part of our resistance and we don't have any way of getting to them all. And our new recruits are going to take a while to train, and we've lost a lot of commanders recently. And seeing as we just took down two sector armies, Wyatt is going to be pissed, and retaliate, big time." Cole said, and Piper frowned.

"How big?" she asked, and Cole shrugged.

"He sank New Zealand because they kept protesting and striking and undermining him, he'll probably obliterate Britain, then break it up and then sink it for good measure." He said worriedly, and Paige was about to ask how the hell he had done all those things before Phoebe interjected.

"And now Chris might be on his side." She added, and Cole went pale.

"Meaning he can do it without leaving the comfort of his own living room." He finished darkly and Leo held Piper to him as they wondered just how they were going to stop Wyatt from destroying them all.

XX

"Please my lord!" the Seer wailed as Chris used his powers to boil her blood to intolerable levels.

"Tell me Seer, are you stupid, a traitor, or a conspirator?" Chris asked, his voice bored as he tortured her.

"None my lord!" she screamed, writhing on the floor in pain.

"Really? Then how does it come about that you haven't had a vision of anything recently, including my return, or the Battle of Edinburgh?" he asked, and he stopped torturing her so the Seer, her skin flushed, sweat pouring down her body, her eyes bloodshot, her breath weak, could look up at him in panic.

"I don't know my lord, please, spare me, you have influence with your brother, you can convince him..." she begged, and he looked down at her in contempt.

"This isn't about my brother, he gave me leave to do anything I need to do to protect him. Which includes killing traitors like you Seer. Now, Cole and the Half Faced Source might have tolerated your antics, but I won't, and neither will Wyatt. He is after all, the emperor, and I'm his Executor. We can't afford mistakes, especially with our family plotting against us, and here we are, finding you and your friends plotting against us too. Aren't you Seer?" he snarled, and she looked down.

"I'm sorry my lord, I had no choice, they came to me, told me not to tell them, threatened me..." she wailed, and Chris pulled her up by her hair.

"And instead of telling Wyatt so he could move against them, you kept it quiet, obviously intending to share in the spoils. Now, you are going to die, you betrayed your emperor, endangered his throne and endangered me." He snarled, and then his face softened.

"But, I was always rather fond of you despite you being a demon, and I don't want to cause you any unnecessary pain, and now that I have the truth, there'll be no need for torture unless you force me. So, tell me who the ringleaders are and I'll vanquish you nicely. If not, you're in for a long, drawn out process." He promised, and she bowed her head.

"Please my lord..." she begged.

"I might also consider sparing your life, depending on how much you tell me." He said, and she looked up at him with hope in her eyes.

"You are truly merciful my lord. Barbas was the one who came to me." She said, and Chris rolled his eyes, figures he would be a part of this.

"But there were others, he knew full well he wouldn't be able to topple your brother without help. He'd already won over Zankou, and Zankou was replacing your brother's bodyguard with his own and preparing an elite squad of troops. He planned to move against him once the resistance was destroyed, but obviously that isn't an option anymore, so he will be moving soon. His old supporters, Benzor, Daleek, both support him, as does Dane." She said, and Chris nodded, thinking.

"What about the commanders? The water demon and the horned demon? Shax? Rennek?" he asked, and she shook her head.

"No my lord, none of them. Zankou intended just to usurp the throne, not fight for it, too many demons and he would be betrayed. Please my lord, I did wrong, I know, but my information has been helpful has it not?" she asked, and he gave her a kind smile, and nodded.

"Yes it has, thank you." He said, and he helped her to her feet.

"I can go?" she asked in disbelief, and he nodded.

"Yes you can go." He said, and she phased out, and Chris smiled, beginning to track her.

After all, fond of her though he was, he knew full well she was a demon, and now that she had been discovered, she would run to her friends. And once she did, he would have them all.

XX

"You sold us out?" Barbas demanded angrily, and she looked at him frantically.

"I had no choice Barbas, but we must move now! He will run to his brother, and then all our lives will be forfeit! We must act now, otherwise the end will come, and we'll be back in the underworld, and none of us want that! Or worse!" she cried, and he grabbed her by the arms and shook her roughly.

"We need to know what you've seen! Do we succeed? And if not, what happens? Do the resistance win, or do they lose?" he demanded and before she could answer, he heard the shimmer of orbs and went pale.

Chris had orbed into the room, as Daleek, Benzor and Dane had all arrived, along with several of their bodyguards. Chris just looked at them contemptuously, and glared at Barbas.

"You know Barbas, I don't know what's worse, the fact that you've betrayed me and Wyatt, or the fact that you think the resistance has a chance of winning. Because they don't, even with the Charmed Ones all here." He said, and the demon of fear shook his head as Zankou approached, and he flamed out, to collect the rest of their forces.

They had to move now, it was the only way they could stop Wyatt before his affection for his brother destroyed them all. They had to topple him, he was losing ground far too fast and it would rip apart the empire, and they couldn't allow that. Evil had made such gains, and they had to keep that, and they couldn't allow the last lingering remnants of humanity in the Source, however twisted they might be, to destroy all that they had gained.

But now, the boy had discovered them, and they had to move quickly lest they all be destroyed, and the coup fail. Zankou had departed to prepare the attack, they couldn't allow this boy to interfere. Besides, between five upper level demons and ten bodyguards, they could kill the boy, and the Source would feel it, and without his little brother he would fall so much more easily.

"You know, I can read your fears, you fear you won't be able to stop us, you fear your big brother doesn't love you, aww isn't that sweet? You just want to be loved." Barbas taunted and the others laughed, while the Seer tried to edge away from Chris, fearing the possible future she was seeing.

"Don't toy with him, finish him, now!" she urged, and Dane waved away her concerns.

"What can he do to us? Zankou is about to launch the attack, and he can't do anything to stop us." He scoffed, and then Chris gave a small grin.

"Really?" he asked, and abruptly, it clicked why Chris seemed unconcerned.

He had reunited with his brother. Which meant Wyatt would have taken off the inhibitions on his powers, and Chris, now dark, would now be able to access virtually all of his powers, the only constraint may be trauma, and as Wyatt had made him think his loved ones didn't love him, even that would no longer affect him. Chris, the other Blessed One and now the second most powerful being in existence, had access to all of his powers, and would be more than able to destroy them all.

And what was more, considering how Wyatt had twisted the boy, their sibling bond would be open once more, making them once more two parts of the same whole, and Chris would have alerted Wyatt to the oncoming coup.

It was over. They were all dead, they just didn't know it yet.

"You fear that your brother doesn't love you, that he, like your mother, secretly despises you, that nothing you can do..." Barbas purred, and Chris suddenly moved, twirling into battle, throwing them all off their feet with his telekinesis.

The demons all thudded to the ground, and Chris turned and fired a jet of lethal lightning into several of the bodyguards, vanquishing three of them.

"Stop him!" the Seer yelled.

Barbas fired an energy ball, but Chris simply gave him a smug smile and orbed the attack into Daleek. As the demon burned, the bodyguards rushed him, but Chris, smirking in anticipation, swirled his telekinesis around his electrokinesis and threw the ball into two of the oncoming guards, and they screamed as they were blown backwards, shuddering in pain before disappearing in a ball of flame. Dane gave a roar and grasped at Chris' throat, but Chris simply forced him off, shoving his face with his hand, and Dane screamed as his face was immolated. Barbas looked at the Seer, desperate for an explanation.

"His brother has corrupted him, and he has Whitelighter blood! Obviously he will inherit Darklighter powers!" she screamed, trying to escape, but she found she couldn't, and went pale.

Chris smirked and conjured a massive ball of lightning, which he threw with delight into the remaining bodyguards, destroying them and leaving only Benzor, Barbas and the Seer. Chris casually extended his hand, and Benzor gasped in pain as his heart and brain were crushed and with a final scream he too was vanquished, and that left Chris to prowl towards the remaining two demons.

"Your fears, why aren't they working?" Barbas demanded in a panic, and Chris looked at him as though he bored him.

"Because idiot, I've already lost everyone who I thought cared about me. Which means the only person I need to care about other than myself is Wyatt. And since as soon as I arrived I tipped him off, I know full well he'll be alright until I get there, and as nothing can defeat us, then he'll be safe. So Barbas, your little parlour trick is useless. And without being able to scare the shit out of someone, you're really pretty useless." Chris snarled, and Barbas conjured an energy ball, but Chris simply orbed it into the Seer, who screamed as she was vanquished.

Chris advanced on the terrified looking Barbas, and Barbas realised just how much more dangerous the boy had become. Wyatt had changed something fundamental in the boy, and now, he was as much of a threat as his brother.

"You're an idiot Barbas, working against us. And what's more, you were always a thorn in my family's side, and even though I couldn't care less about them, your constant little interruptions did bother me somewhat. Wyatt should never have trusted you."

Barbas smiled slightly.

"And thanks to me son, he won't trust you either." He assured him, and Chris glowered at him, and Barbas looked at him curiously.

"Don't you want to know what I mean?" he demanded, and Chris shrugged.

"I couldn't care less. Because no matter what Barbas, you're not going to be around to see whatever it is you've done." He said, and Barbas shook his head.

"Now don't do something silly, remember, I can help you." He said, and then Chris blasted him into the wall with his telekinesis.

"I don't need your help. I don't need anyone anymore." He snarled, pushing harder and with a scream, Barbas was vanquished.

Chris smirked. Now that he had finally accepted who he was, what he was, instead of running scared like his aunts had taught him, he finally knew the true meaning of power. His brother had freed him, liberated him. Before, he had been a mewling, scared little brat. Now he was the second most powerful being in the world, the commander of Wyatt's empire, and once Zankou was gone, he and his brother would be able to crush the resistance, and then nothing would stop them.

He had finally learned the true measure of power, all thanks to Wyatt.

Smiling, he orbed off to go and help Wyatt with Zankou's coup.

And once he did that...an appointment with his family was long overdue.

XX

Wyatt was sitting in looking out at the parking lot below his apartment, watching as Zankou flamed in with over one hundred powerful demons, and all of them looked up at where he was standing, glaring up at him.

"You'll pay for this Zankou." Wyatt warned, and Zankou gave him a smug smile.

"I'm afraid not, my lord. You see, myself and many others feel you've rather lost your touch. The recent string of losses against the resistance have been bad enough, but now we find out that they've toppled several locations and you failed to respond adequately. And then your woeful defeat at Edinburgh, people are questioning your strength and leadership." He purred, and Wyatt narrowed his eyes.

"I seem to recall Zankou that as my former leading general, it was your job to deal with the resistance, especially at Edinburgh, where you failed." He said, and Zankou hesitated then continued.

"And what is more, not knowing your own aunt was the leader of the resistance, it has somewhat weakened your credibility. And of course there is the fact that you inhabiting the position you do, you've upsetting the natural order of things my lord. We felt it was time to correct that oversight, put evil back on the winning track before you get us all killed by the resistance." Zankou said, and Wyatt looked at him dismissively.

"Really? If it weren't for me you worthless little bottom feeding leech, you would only be able to dream about being up here. Thanks to me, we rule the world, the demons can move aboveground and the underworld is virtually empty. All thanks to me. I unified you little cretins, brought you all together, gave you the world you would never be able to get without my help, and because I've lost a couple of rounds I ought to be replaced?" he hissed angrily, having been warned that they were coming by Chris.

"That isn't all, but that is the essence of it. It is clear that your control is slipping, and frankly, having a witch on the throne is just asking for trouble. The demons are restless, your failures are mounting, and now you have spent all your time turning your brother who led the resistance against us, and well it seems that you are more dependent on him than you ought to be. He wields an enormous influence over you, and we're afraid it is making you weak. And the empire cannot have a weak leader. Which is where I come in." Zankou said, grinning, and Wyatt snorted in disdain.

"You didn't come off very well the last time you fought the Source." Wyatt taunted, his eyes flashing black.

"This time will be different." Zankou said, preparing an energy ball as Wyatt flamed to life in front of him.

"Somehow I don't think so." Wyatt sneered, tensing for battle.

Zankou smiled, gesturing to his forces.

"Here's my army, where is yours?" he asked mildly, and black orbs appeared beside Wyatt, revealing a grinning Chris, and Zankou took a shocked stagger backwards. There was no way the boy could have vanquished all of those demons. He wasn't that powerful, everyone knew the deaths of his loved ones had traumatised him to the point that his powers didn't work properly anymore. But then, the rumour going around was that Wyatt had convinced him that the rest of his family didn't love him, that he was the only one who did. Which meant, the trauma wouldn't affect him anymore. And as Wyatt had freed the lock he had placed on the bys powers, what was originally going to be an easy assassination of a grieving brother was now going to turn into a full fledged battled with the Blessed Ones.

"Tell me Zankou, did you actually think that those idiots would stop me?" Chris asked mildly as he stood beside his brother, who was grinning in anticipation.

"Obviously I underestimated you." He said, moving towards the ranks of his troops, prepared to escape at any opportunity.

"So Zankou...you thought you could assemble a group of demons who were meant to be loyal to me, muster a strike force and then waltz in and take over the throne without breaking a sweat? I made you all what you are and this is how you repay me. I freed you from the wasteland, made you my general and all I asked in return was loyalty, and I received none. And now, your 'weak' emperor and his executor, his hand if you will, are about to illustrate what happens to traitors in my empire." Wyatt growled, and Zankou could feel the power of both Halliwell brothers rising, and knowing just what that entailed, he realised what he should have known all along.

The coup was over before it began.

Together they were able to match each other perfectly, and amplify each others powers to massive degrees. They didn't stand a chance.

"You are all convicted of treason. The punishment for that is death. As of now." Wyatt snarled, and he sent a disintegration wave hurtling at them, while Chris opened up with his electrokinesis.

Zankou threw himself to the ground, wincing as the advanced lines were vanquished with ease. The first attack having not gone their way, the group he had assembled of demons loyal to him all surged forward, throwing energy balls, fire balls and anything else they could at the two masters of the empire. However, it was a futile effort, as Chris used his telekinesis to throw the attacks back at their owners, and any he missed his brother's shield easily repelled. Zankou watched in horror as the forces he had so carefully assembled were vanquished with ease, watching as more and more demons were sent to their deaths. He had to get out of here. There was no way he could match the two of them, not now they were reunited, not now they were once more the ultimate power. Chris concentrated as Wyatt sent out another wave and the wave doubled in size, strength and ferocity, vanquishing nearly a quarter of his remaining demons all at once. Chris then conjured a massive ball, a mixture of his telekinesis and electrokinesis, and it doubled in size as Chris threw it, Wyatt boosting his brother's powers, and another load of demons screamed as they were vanquished.

Watching as the two brothers toyed with his best demons, Zankou struggled to his feet, only to be knocked off them by Chris as he orbed in front of him, blasting the demon with electrokinesis, the lightning blasting through the demon's body.

Zankou screamed in pain as Chris advanced, sending burst after burst into Zankou's body, and the demon mused on just how much more powerful the boy had become since his brother had brought him back. Their last encounter hadn't been nearly so one sided, well it had but it had favoured the opposite side, and he had only been repelled when Bianca had ambushed him.

"You thought you could topple us. Topple him." Chris snarled, sending another blast into Zankou.

"I..." Zankou began, before he was cut off by another blast from Chris, his green eyes narrowed.

"You tried to take him from me, take the throne from him. And you expected to succeed?" he asked, blasting Zankou again.

"Stupid little demon. And you failed at Edinburgh, meaning now we have to clean up your mess." Chris snarled, once more blasting the demon.

Zankou looked at Chris, grinning despite the pain.

"Your brother turns on everyone in the end, even you. He'll turn on you too. He'll stop loving you eventually, all he loves is power. And then he will kill you." Zankou taunted, and Chris sneered angrily, and brought his hands down to finish the demon when Wyatt knocked a demon towards Chris by accident. Chris turned to vanquish the demon, and that gave Zankou the time he needed to roll to his feet, sound the retreat and flee the site of his failed coup.

XX

"That was amazing!" Chris said happily as they went back into the penthouse, Wyatt's throne secure for now.

"It was. See, I always told you that you were powerful, more powerful than you ever thought. You see now why I had to get you away from them? They were holding you back, making you scared of who you are! That isn't you. You're my powerful," he said, pulling Chris towards him, "clever," he continued, tilting Chris' head up to look at him, "little brother." He whispered, and then he clamped his hands around Chris' neck.

Chris looked at him in surprise as Wyatt began to strangle him, the hands crushing his windpipe as his big brother strangled him. Chris looked desperately at his big brother, wondering why his brother, who loved him, was suddenly trying to kill him. Wyatt forced Chris onto the couch, pinning him down, watching as Chris gagged and desperately tried to pull his brother's hands away from his neck, his legs kicking beneath Wyatt. Wyatt squeezed harder, and Chris began to thrash, tried to bring his powers to bear against his brother, but he once more found them blocked, Wyatt had prevented him from using them for some reason.

"Wyatt, please...stop..." Chris begged, pulling in a futile attempt at his brother's wrists.

"You know where they went wrong baby brother?" he asked, watching his brother's eyes bulge in panic as his brother tried to kill him, and he smiled when Chris nodded.

"They...they betrayed...you..." Chris gasped, and Wyatt nodded.

"Yes they did. And they all died. Now, you're the most powerful person in the world aside from me." He purred, enjoying the feeling as his brother tried to bring his powers to bear, enjoying how weak and submissive Chris was becoming, liking how Chris' life was in his hands.

"Wy..." Chris gasped, pulling at Wyatt's hands, his face going red, his eyes bulging.

"So...this is a little demonstration. This is what will happen if you ever use that power to try and usurp me." Wyatt hissed, and Chris shook his head, gagging as he did so.

"Never..." Chris said in his constricted voice.

"If you ever try to betray me, you will die little brother, no matter how much I love you. Now, you're about to pass out. All I would need to do is hold on for another minute after that, and you will be dead. So baby brother, remember this. Remember what will happen if you ever betray me. I will kill you before I let you take my throne. Understand?" Wyatt asked, and his brother managed to nod, just as his eyes started to roll back in his head, and Wyatt grinned happily.

"Good boy." He said, kissing Chris' forehead and letting go of Chris' neck, just as Chris was about to pass out. Chris took a deep breath of air as Wyatt got up, watching in concern as Chris gulped air into his body, and then slowly sat up, his breathing heavy, and he looked at Wyatt with sorrowful eyes.

"I would never betray you." He said, his voice shaking, cowering slightly in fear.

"I know. That was just a warning. A pre-emptive strike." He assured his brother, but Chris shook his head, looking at his brother reproachfully.

"But I would never betray you Wyatt! You're my big brother!" he protested, and Wyatt looked down at his brother sadly, feeling bad that he had had to do what he had done to his brother, hating the upset, reproachful look in his brother's eyes.

And then his brother's eyes flashed with furious recognition.

"Barbas, that's what he meant! Him and Zankou both said that you wouldn't trust me, that you would turn on me, this is what they meant! Barbas influenced you into threatening me!" he snarled, his reproach vanishing in place of white hot anger.

An anger that could never match his brothers, who gave a furious sonic scream, making Chris grin in sadistic delight as every glass surface in the room shattered, and Wyatt looked down at Chris furiously.

"He influenced me? Is he dead?" he demanded, and Chris nodded, making Wyatt pout.

"Pity, I'd have liked to have killed him myself for trying to turn me against you. I'm sorry I fell for it." He said, smiling as Chris sat against his legs, looking up at him, a small smile on his face.

"It's ok. But Zankou's still out there, seeing as you messed up my kill." He scolded and Wyatt sat on the table, letting Chris use his knees as a backrest.

"Yeah, sorry. And now I know he had Barbas try to turn me against you, he needs to die very quickly." He snarled angrily.

Chris gave him a wide smile as he leaned back on his brother's knees, which he lowered for Chris' comfort.

"I know where he's going." He said in a sing song voice, and Wyatt grinned.

"You do?" he asked, brushing Chris' hair with his fingers.

"Yep. And best of all, no one else will either. Mom and the others haven't fought him yet, so they won't know, and Prue was dead at the time and would be more interested in her sisters, meaning we have a clear path right to the filthy traitor, and once he's gone, then we can wipe them all out. And then big brother, we can have some fun." He said excitedly, and Wyatt smiled.

"That we can baby brother. So where is he?" he asked, and Chris shook his head.

"Not telling you, it's a surprise." He teased, and Wyatt gave a mock frown and poked his brother's head.

"Not fair, I'm the emperor." He whined, and Chris shrugged.

"Yeah, but I'm your little brother. Besides, you just strangled me for basically no reason. This way we're even." He said, and Wyatt rolled his eyes.

"Fine, be that way. Do I get a clue?" he asked, and Chris considered it, then nodded.

"It's sandy." He said, and Wyatt groaned.

"I hate sand!" he wailed, and Chris grinned.

"Tough luck, I used to have to endure snow every time you got mom to take us skiing, now it's your turn." He said, climbing to his feet, massaging his neck.

Wyatt then got to his feet, and pulled Chris to him, and his brother looked at him in alarm, but relaxed when Wyatt healed the marks on his neck.

"Alright, have your fun. I'm sorry I attacked you." He said, and Chris shrugged.

"It's ok." He said, and then he looked at Wyatt uncertainly.

"Wy?"

"Yeah?"

"Did I do good?" he asked, hopefully, and this was the brother he remembered, the one desperate for approval, and he smiled.

"Yes little guy, you did. You found out who the leadership was, warned me and vanquished the majority of them all by yourself. I'm proud of you." He assured his brother, who seemed to glow with praise, his eyes delighted.

"Now what do you say we deal with the last few traitors?" he asked, and Wyatt grinned, allowing Chris to take his hand and orbing them towards Zankou.

XX

"We got this from a spy recon." Dean said, activating the screen, and the sisters, the resistance leadership and the last two Elders looked on in shock as Wyatt and Chris single handedly wiped out the better part of one hundred demons without so much as a scratch.

"Is it wrong that I'm slightly proud of them for that?" Piper asked, and Prue snorted.

"Well before you recommend them for a Nobel prize, I think this must mean that Chris is fully on Wyatt's side, which isn't good." Tyler said worriedly, and Weaver nodded.

"The boy's right. Even if Chris is playing Wyatt, Wyatt is still going to be getting his claws into him, and that's bound to mess with his head. We can't assume he's on any side, but we have to assume he isn't on ours." He said grimly, and Prue frowned at the screen.

"What happened to Zankou?" she asked, and Cole looked at her curiously.

"He vanished with about twelve of his remaining goons while the boys picked off the rest." He said, wondering where she was going with this.

"How do we help Chris?" Phoebe asked as her oldest sister pondered their situation.

"We need to know what Wyatt did to him before we can. And that means getting close enough to him to actually find out, and considering he's now showing off some nasty looking powers, that might be dangerous if he has turned and decides to shoot first and ask questions later." Sandra, the haggard looking other Elder pointed out.

"True." Neena granted.

"Cole, if you were Zankou and your coup had just failed, where would you go?" she asked, and he thought about it.

"Not the underworld, with so many demons up here it would be all too easy for him to be found, he'll scarper somewhere where he doesn't think the boys will be able to get to him. Why?" he asked.

"Well...his coup attempt has failed, which means any other potential resistance in the empire is now going to dry up, which means by default all their loyalty will go back to Wyatt." She explained, and Leo caught on to where she was going with this.

"But for the time being, they will remember Zankou's reasons for launching the coup, and until Chris is fully integrated, it'll keep playing over in their minds." He continued.

"Which means that if Zankou isn't vanquished," Paige followed on, clicking her fingers, "then the demons working for Wyatt will keep wondering about their boss." She said, but Weaver shook his head.

"Believe me, there's no way he won't be vanquished." He said, and Neena smiled slightly.

"There will be if we save him." She said, and Riley looked at her in alarm.

"Wait, you want to bring the former lead general of the empire here?" he demanded incredulously.

"You can't be serious! He just led the attack here!" Weaver yelled, and Prue waved her hand to quieten them.

"I don't like it either. And I know who he is. But we need to find out if Chris has turned, people are beginning to talk, beginning to wonder if Chris has gone dark. And, I'm hoping that if we save his ass, he might be willing to lend us a hand, as far as possible, to try and stop Wyatt. I know it's a long shot, I get that. But think of how much information he could give us." She reasoned, and Sandra shook her head.

"He would never sacrifice an advantage willingly." She said darkly, and Piper smiled a little.

"She didn't say he had to be willing." She pointed out, and Phoebe grinned.

"So, we're going for the old enemy of my enemy is my friend thing?" she asked, and Prue nodded.

"Seems like doesn't it? Any idea where he might be?" Prue asked, and Cole frowned.

"Well, it could be that he's bolted to the same place as last time. After all, you were dead and they haven't met the Avatars yet, so by all rights he thinks he should be safe. If I'm right, he'll be in Egypt, hiding under the pyramids." He said, and Piper looked at Prue nervously.

"This guy is going to be a pain in the ass when we meet him isn't he?" she asked, and Sandra nodded.

"Yes. A big pain in the ass to be frank." She said apologetically and the three sisters groaned, while Prue and the rest of the commanders smirked.

"So, if you're actually doing this, you better hurry." Cole advised, and Paige looked at him nervously.

"Why?"

"Because the Source is in transit away from San Francisco, and if I were a betting man, I'd say he was going to Egypt." He said darkly.

"But how? Wyatt's a baby, he won't remember what was happening!" Phoebe protested, but Leo looked at her sadly.

"Chris. He told me once he loved studying everything about you girls. He was apparently the one who wrote a thesis on your love life." He said, and the resistance members grinned.

"And what did he say in this thesis?" she demanded irritably, and Piper, remembering what her son had said, hastily brushed over it.

"So you reckon he's told Wyatt where to find Zankou?" she asked, and Cole nodded.

"Yeah, most likely. And that still doesn't tell us which side he's on, because if he was on ours it would suit his ends to wipe out Zankou too." He pointed out, and Paige nodded.

"Alright, we have a demon to save. Shall we go?" she asked, taking Phoebe's hand, while Prue took Piper's, and after rolling his eyes, Leo took Cole's.

"Good luck." Neena said, and they orbed off.

"Does anyone else have a bad feeling about this?" Sam asked, and Dean nodded.

"Yeah Sammy. We all do." He said grimly as Poole entered looking harassed.

"People are beginning to guess that Chris might not be with us anymore, and a riot is breaking out down by the Tron church. What do I tell them?" he asked worriedly, and Weaver sighed.

"Tell them we'll know for sure soon...one way or the other." He said grimly, and the entire room was quiet as they considered that their best weapon may indeed now be their greatest enemy.

XX

"Careful planning, preparing for months...and all because he gets that emotionally blunted little prat back, my entire plan goes up in smoke!" Zankou stormed in the basement of a pyramid.

"My lord, there are still twelve of us, we might be able to..." one of his demons said, but Zankou shook his head.

"No. We're doomed my friend, all that remains is where we make the final stand, and I'd rather not die here in the cesspit of a pyramid. Prepare to move out. The Source is coming for us. We're going to make sure he rues the day he foiled my plans. Get everything we need. We leave in five minutes." He said, and the demon shimmered away.

"What's the matter Zankou? Chicken?" a voice came from the doorway, and to his great surprise revealed Piper as the one who had talked, her eyes narrowed and her hands raised, and to his greater surprise she was soon flanked by her three sisters, her Elder and her sister's ex demon husband.

"Ladies, gents." He said in greeting, wondering if they were here simply to deny the Source the pleasure himself.

"We have a proposition for you." Prue said, and just as he gave a smile, and the sisters rolled their eyes as they realised where they were going, the sound of orbing echoed in the distance, and Zankou turned to see Chris dark orb into the room, while his brother flamed into existence beside him.

"Sorry, but that's our traitor." He snarled, as Chris raised his hand and Wyatt gave an excited grin as he beheld the Charmed Ones.

"Chris..." Piper gasped in shock, relief as she saw her son was unharmed. At least physically.

"Wyatt." Leo ground out, glaring at the man his son had become.

"Daddy. Mommy. And aunties too. It's a real family reunion." Wyatt said in an arrogant, excited way.

"You're not family." Phoebe said, and Chris tensed beside Wyatt, and Phoebe recoiled slightly as she felt the emotions rolling off her nephew.

Hatred. Anger. Betrayal. Sorrow. Bitterness. And love...for Wyatt. Wyatt had destroyed her nephew, made him as twisted as he was, turned him against them.

"Uh oh..." she whispered, and her sisters looked at her in worry, as Wyatt and Chris prepared to attack.

And it was then that Zankou realised how much trouble he was in. The Charmed Ones, an Elder and a demon on one side. The Source and his next to all powerful little brother on the other.

And he was smack bang in the middle.

"Not good." He said, as the Charmed Ones and Blessed Ones prepared for a showdown.

So, a showdown is about to begin!

Well, at least a confrontation, the true showdown comes later, and I'm currently considering making this longer than the usual five chapters, I'll see how it goes.

So, we won the Battle of Edinburgh, and its strongly implied that Chris has now been conceived. Hmm, a bit of a paradox isnt it? Born in his own time after he was born in his own time, but before he was born in his mother's time. Confusing eh?

And the demons who were plotting against Wyatt have been discovered and dealt with, all bar Zankou. At least Shax is still on the boys side, I am rather fond of him in his own way despite what he did. Pity the Seer and Barbas had to go, I quite like them too. And now, both boys are showing just how powerful they truly are, the Twice Blessed and his little brother, meant to be the next generation in the fight against evil, and more powerful than the Charmed Ones...only Wyatt is evil and has corrupted Chris.

Speaking of, he is getting darker isnt he? And more powerful now the blocks on his powers are gone. But yet, despite how Wyatt sometimes treats him he is still hopelessly devoted to him, willing to do anything for him and overlook his flaws, and as a result of what Wyatt did to him, he's even more messed up than usual, as we saw when Wyatt beat him, how reliant he is on his big brother.

And as to Wyatt himself, he isnt the nicest of people is he? He knows Chris loves him, and still treats him like crap, abusing him, manipulating him, using him, and then nearly killing him just to remind his brother of his power. But, he also loves Chris too. He's quite a difficult one to portray actually, his love for Chris but also his love for power, his desire to have everything under his control, hence his relationship with Chris.

Oh, and while some of you have seen that we have characters from Buffy (Rona, Riley and Willow), Charmed itself obviously and Supernatural (Sam, Dean and Garth), we still have people from elsewhere. Angel wasnt actually my intention when I mentioned Wesley the one from Star Trek went through my head when I gave him the name, I know it isnt him though. But Weaver and Poole have been mentioned too, so what are they from? And there's also a couple more shout outs, considering the entire world is against Wyatt and there may be more as we go on, especially with what happens next chapter! Oh, and you win extra brownie points if you guess what Poole came from, I think he might be the toughest.

Anyway, possibly next chapter is the next chapter but I dont think so. All I know is the Charmed Ones and the Blessed Ones are about to confront one another...and Piper is not going to be a happy mommy when she finds out what Wyatt did to his brother. And what will become of Zankou? And what could possibly be about to happen that could lead to yet more shout outs?

Hopefully you'll find out soon. So as always, please read and review!