Hope everyone had a happy holiday. I sure did. Getting Charmed: The Complete Sixth Season box set will really help in writing this story. Now, I'm disappointed in the lack of feedback I received for the last chapter, but whatever. I'll keep writing nonetheless for the ones who did review and just because I love this story. Happy reading.

I own absolutely nothing from "Charmed" other than this plot, my characters, and any other unfamiliarity's that are woven into it. Those ownership rights go to Brad Kern.


"Bloodline"

----------Chapter Eight: Assessments----------

By marissa-christina


Peyton plopped down on the ground with a loud huff, all the while glaring at the cavern wall. "Stupid spell," she grumbled irritably as she crossed her arms over her chest. Her back was killing her, her ass hurt, her cheek throbbed, and her ego was bruised. Basically, she ached everywhere. Not to mention she was still seething over her earlier conversation with her eldest brother after he'd knocked her unconscious and held her hostage in a certified demon dump. And as far as Peyton was concerned, this day was not turning out to be a good one for the littlest Halliwell. In all honesty, it downright sucked.

"Why do these things always happen to me?" she moaned as she slammed her head into the rock wall behind her. 'Okay, I need to get the hell out of here…think, think, think, think…'

For the last five hours Peyton had been making an attempt to escape her prison to no avail. Whatever spell or wards Wyatt had placed around the cavern was certainly doing its job and Peyton was becoming more and more frustrated with each passing minute.

Rapping her knuckles on the bridge of her nose, Peyton bit down onto her lip. "Okay, orbing doesn't work, countering the spell doesn't work," she muttered to herself. "Aha!" Snapping her fingers, Peyton got to her feet and hurried over towards the middle of the cavern, nearly tripping in her haste to act out her newest stroke of inspiration. Squaring her shoulders, Peyton took in a deep breath through her nose. Raising her hands, she flicked her wrists.

Nada. She'd forgotten about her lack of powers. "Well, there goes that idea…" she growled as she slapped herself on the forehead. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

Deciding it would be better to just lay low for the time being, Peyton raked her fingers through her hair in a blatant effort to calm herself. Her nerves were beginning to unravel and it was getting harder for her to concentrate without breaking out into some sort of mild panic attack. The one thing keeping her sane about this whole deal was Chris' presence in her head, his familiar aura entwining with her sub-conscious and soothing her in a way only her big brother could. It was comforting to know, but the distance between them had stretched their bond to its last legs and the connection she had with him was very faint. If Wyatt strengthened his wards at any point then she might not be able to sense Chris at all and that prospect worried her. A lot. "Stupid barriers."

Peyton sneezed and groaned again as she rubbed her nose. Making a face, she kicked at the dirt and grime that littered the ground. "Damn, I could go for a nice, hot shower right about now," she murmured as she picked at her equally grimy shirt with her fingers. The black material was covered in blood and mud stains and it took all of her will not to rip the damn thing off and light it aflame. The same could be said for the sorry state of her hole-ridden jeans. She could only imagine what the back of them must look like, with all the landing on her ass she did over the past couple of hours.

To pass the time and perhaps come up with a possible plan, Peyton began to pace around the length of the cavern, making visible tracks in the sandy floor as she went. By the fiftieth lap or so, her boots were as dirty the rest of her attire, she was out of ideas, and she was extremely hungry. The persistent rumbling of her stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten anything since a quick dinner the night before. Wincing, she gave her belly a light pat, as if that would placate the hunger pangs she was starting to get.

"Hmm…a shower and a carton of sesame chicken…with a side of steamed dumplings and white rice. Yeah, that sounds good. An eggroll, too." She could almost taste the greasy goodness of her favorite take-out meal. Letting out a low whine, not unlike a sound a dog would emit after getting smacked with a rolled up newspaper, Peyton resisted the urge to run her head into a rock wall as her mind taunted her with the promise of good ol' Asian cuisine that she knew she just wouldn't get down in the Underworld. By the looks of the number of chewed pieces of bones half-buried in the dirt, Peyton didn't think that the former tenants of her 'holding cell' had been noodle people. In fact, she didn't doubt for a minute that they probably hadn't been in any relation to the term 'people', either…

"Damn it all."


When Paige orbed back home, her arms full with their new stock up of herbs, she noticed two things.

One, there was a really nasty smelling odor coming from the kitchen.

Two, it was quiet. Way too quiet.

Eyes narrowing as she carefully set the paper bag onto the table next to the door, Paige crept through the foyer and made her way to the kitchen. She had to resist the strong urge to gag as she approached the doorway, smashing a hand over her mouth just before she crossed over the threshold. She sighed in relief when she saw her sister behind the counter.

Piper glanced up from her stirring and offered Paige a brief nod in acknowledgement. "You get everything?" she asked distractedly as she added in a few pinches of garlic to the smoking pot in front of her.

"Yeah," Paige replied as she wrinkled her nose. "Although…I can only imagine what additional ingrediants will do to that concoction. How can you stand the smell?"

"I'm not concentrating on the smell," Piper said, picking up her spoon and dipping it into the pot. She looked at her sister as she opened her mouth to speak again, but closed it as a questioning expression sprang to her features. "Where's the---?"

Paige's eyes widened. "Oh, right. Herbs," she commanded, the brown bag appearing in her outstretched arms. She handed it to Piper, who wasted no time in pulling out the needed items and setting them aside. Paige went to the cabinet and opened it before reaching up and snagging a couple of vials from the middle shelf, which she placed alongside with the herbs. "Okay, well…now all we need is the blood."

Piper's shoulders slumped and she shuffled over to the table and slowly lowered herself down into a chair. "Easier said than done."

"Well, we'll all add our own to it, then we just need Peyton's and Wyatt's," Paige added confidently as she took a seat next to her sister. Piper raised both of her eyebrows. "Erm…which will be kind of hard, yeah…" the youngest Charmed One finished lamely with a grimace.

"I don't know how we'll accomplish that," Piper muttered, running her fingers through her hair. Paige grasped her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"It'll be fine, Piper. We'll come up with something. We always do."

The two women jumped when Chris and Leo both orbed in unrepentantly. Piper immediately got to her feet. "Anything?"

"Gideon said he'd look after Wyatt while we work on the potion," Leo informed. "He also mentioned that he would look up some information on blocking spells and contact us if he found anything." Piper groaned softly and kneaded her temples with slightly shaking fingers.

"That doesn't really help us. We still have to make the damn potion and we're missing the vital ingredient," she ground out. Chris cleared his throat, causing her to gaze up at him.

"Actually…we have part of that," he said. At Piper and Paige's inquiring stares, Chris dug through his pants pocket and pulled out a tiny bottle, holding it up to their scrutiny. Piper saw a small amount of red liquid congealing on the bottom of it.

"Is that what I think it is?" Piper asked, turning in Leo's direction, an unreadable emotion springing to eyes.

"Chris figured that since little Wyatt will eventually become his older self, we'd be able to use his blood as a substitute instead of going after older Wyatt directly. It'd be safer that way," Leo said neutrally. Piper's jaw tightened. At her growing outraged expression, Leo hurried to explain. "We didn't take a knife to him, Piper. He's fine. It was all an accident, really. He tripped and got a cut on his knee. He hardly even cried."

Piper still wasn't keen on the idea of her baby boy having to contribute his blood for anything, much less a potion. The thought of Wyatt hurt and bleeding and crying was hard for her to bear, no matter how miniscule the injury was. But, she understood Leo and Chris' intentions behind it all, and she gave a tight nod. "Okay, so we have Wyatt's blood…now all we need is Peyton's."

"Where are we going to get that?" Paige wondered aloud, a frown marring her lips. With a thoughtful 'hmph' sound, Chris walked out of the kitchen. Piper exchanged a quick look between Paige and Leo before they hurried after him.

Once upstairs, Chris immediately headed for Aunt Pearl's old couch, which, in his honest opinion, was starting to look a little worse for wear. Ignoring Phoebe's inquiring gaze, he made his way behind the sofa. Crouching down, he started shifting through the lingering debris from the earlier attack, his movements calculated and purposeful. He allowed himself a slight smile when he found what he'd been searching for. "Got it," he murmured.

"You got what?" Phoebe asked, picking up her pad and pen as she stepped away from the book's podium. Chris tore a strip of cloth from the hem of his shirt and set it onto the floorboards for a second before picking it back up. He turned and faced his aunt, presenting her with the bloodstained gray material.

"The final ingredient to the potion," he said grimly as his parents and Paige came through the attic door.


Wyatt knew what Chris and his family was doing and he wouldn't have expected anything less. Although, he had to admit, he was impressed with his little brother's unfaltering determination. It was a family trait. You couldn't be a true Halliwell without it.

It was something that annoyed the hell out of him.

Wyatt crossed his arms and leaned against one of the orange support beams as he gazed down at the oblivious street below. He couldn't linger at the Bridge long, as Chris had a habit of orbing there randomly. It wasn't likely, though, that his brother would spontaneously show up. Not with Peyton missing.

Peyton.

Wyatt's hands curled into fists as the image of her flashed through his head.

She was infuriating. Sure, she was stubborn and had her moments of rebellion like any other teenager, but going against him like she had was taking it way too far. Choosing Chris' side instead of his was as close to a travesty as they'd ever get. As if a Resistance could stop him. The idea was laughable to say the least. She was only setting herself up for failure, when she could be capable of doing so much more, instead.

Still, he couldn't deny that he felt a sense of satisfaction. Peyton was at his mercy and while he would never intentionally harm his sister, he could very well mess with her head. There was time to convert her.

'Bastard.'

Wyatt straightened, his body reflexively going to defensive mode as he took a long, hard look at his surroundings. He found nothing but fog.

'You'll never win…'

Cursing, he twisted wildly around, a part of him mindful of where he stepped incase he accidentally took an involuntary swan-dive off of the edge.

That voice…

He narrowed his eyes. He knew that voice.

He orbed off the Bridge.


Peyton awoke hours later with a headache and a pair of angry cobalt blue eyes staring at her. Startled, she let out a surprised yell and stumbled back, scooting her body towards the cavern wall. "You ass!" she exclaimed, hanging onto the wall for support as she pushed herself up to her feet. Wyatt said nothing. He didn't need to.

'Pfft.'

Peyton's eyes widened in alarm and she looked at her brother, her absolute shock evident on her whitened face. "Damn you!"

'There's no need for that. If I recall correctly, you were the one who started this.' Wyatt's features never changed, but Peyton saw a hint of smugness begin to creep into his gaze. Unwilling to submit to his newly established telepathic connection, Peyton tried to close off the link. Wyatt wasn't having it, and the force of which he used to keep her from cutting herself off from him made Peyton gasp and clutch her head with a pronounced cringe.

"Stop it," she half-growled, half-groaned.

"You're not as impenetrable as you think. Peyton," he retorted.

"And you're just as delusional as ever, so don't talk to me about my flaws, especially while you're screwing with my brain."

"I don't think using our bond is 'screwing with your brain'."

"Not our bond," she snapped, her voice gaining strength. He no longer had the right to include himself in something so precious, something so rare. He severed those ties a long time ago and Peyton despised him for it.

"Of course it is---"

Peyton glared at him, her eyes darkening. "No, Wyatt, it isn't. The bond between me and Chris has nothing to do with you." She began to feel his presence ebb away.

"As long as we share blood, we share that. Nothing can ever change it," Wyatt said slowly. Peyton vigorously shook her head.

"You changed that. The minute you took the life of the first innocent. The minute you let yourself become what you are. There are no ties that bind anymore, Wyatt. And it's all your fault." She didn't bother to sugar-coat it. Her statement was final, leaving no room for argument, and Peyton was glad for it. Because, at this moment, she just didn't care. She was damn sick and tired of having to repeat the same words over and over again, to waste her breath talking about something that Wyatt just wasn't getting. Engaging in another battle of wills was not an option. It wasn't worth the energy.

Turning heel, Peyton stalked over towards her chosen corner, blatantly ignoring the scathing look her brother aimed at her. She didn't have to see that he was pissed. She felt it before she had the chance to, anyway.

Dropping to her knees, her hands wildly clawed at her throat. Strangled gasps escaping from between her lips, her green eyes went wide as she tried to alleviate the sudden pressure that was crushing her windpipe, effectively cutting off her oxygen supply.

Wyatt walked around her and squatted down, his hand poised up with his fingers curled into a fist as he regarded her with unreadable cobalt colored hues. Peyton fought for control, struggling madly against the invisible vice-grip he had her in, an act that only seemed to make him squeeze harder. "You will always be connected to me, little sister," he sneered cruelly as he clasped her chin with his free hand. Peyton's chest heaved as her thrashing died down, her body going limp as the last strands of her consciousness began to slip away. "Always."

Roughly releasing her from his hold, Wyatt rose and took a few steps forward, watching silently as his sister writhed on the floor of the cavern, her hands rubbing her neck as she inhaled large amounts of much-needed air. Emitting quiet moans Peyton curled up and hugged her knees to her chest as she tried to regulate her breathing, her eyes clenched shut. Wyatt could see the beginnings of bruises forming around her throat. He also discerned something else.

Something that he hadn't noticed before.

Wyatt held out his arm and wordlessly beckoned for the item he sought. In a small bundle of azure lights the thin silver chain appeared in his open palm and Wyatt picked it up between his fingers and raised it to eyelevel. He couldn't hide his surprise.

The ring that the chain twined into was simple, with a miniscule emerald diamond set in prongs on the band.

An engagement ring. His sister possessed an engagement ring.

His sights flickered over to Peyton's stilled form. She was in a panic, her fingers feeling frantically around her neck for the stolen piece of jewelry. Gazing over at him, her mouth hung open as she saw what he now held and if it was possible, her skin went even whiter. 'Shit…'

The horrified look in her eyes told him all that he needed to know. And Wyatt slowly smiled.

"Looks like we have more to discuss than I thought."


So sorry I left another cliffhanger, but I needed to cut this short. I have midterms this week and I need to extra time for studying and such, so I'll try to update again before the month is over. And I'll say this again, if you want to give me your input and ideas regarding this story, please do so on my Charmed forum, which can be found on my profile. Until next time!