Warning: You may not like me after this chapter...
CHAPTER NINE
Mia wiped a tear as she watched Wyatt in his crib, sleeping peacefully. In her hand, she held a locket, and a silver wedding ring.
She opened the locket and smiled lightly at the pictures inside. On one side was a picture of Chris holding Mikey, shortly before Chris had initially left for the past. Her heart ached when she thought of Mikey.
On the other side was a picture from her wedding day.
She couldn't believe that it had been three years since she had gotten married. She had only been nineteen years old, but they were crazily in love. Oh, how she had missed those days. She tried to imagine where it all went wrong.
Suddenly, she tensed. She slipped on her wedding ring without thinking, sticking the locket in her pocket.
"Wyatt, shield up," she whispered to the sleeping baby, and his shield materialized.
"Chris!" she called. There was desperation in her voice and Chris appeared immediately.
"Mia, what's wrong?" he asked.
"Someone's here," she told him quietly, leading him to the attic. "But Chris… if what I'm feeling is right… it can't be… it just can't." Chris gave her a confused look, but she gave no more information, her lips tight.
Mia waited at the top of the stairs as Chris went to retrieve the sisters and Leo. Out of nervous habit, she twisted her wedding ring around her finger.
"What's going on?" Leo asked, but Chris shushed him.
They slowly entered the attic, on alert. Then Mia stopped in her tracks.
"Chris…" Mia said, her jaw slacked in shock. "It's Wyatt."
The tall blonde man stood in front of them with a smile on his face. His hair was cropped short and he wore a light blue sweater and khaki pants. A far cry from the last time Chris had seen his brother.
"Mia," Wyatt said warmly as he moved towards her. Chris quickly stepped in between them, causing Wyatt to stop mid-step.
"How do we know this is really Wyatt?" Chris asked, not taking his eyes off his supposed brother. The sisters and Leo stayed back, silent, shocked at seeing future Wyatt and knowing this was not something they should step into.
"I'm hurt, Chris," Wyatt teased.
"Can't you just read his mind?" Paige asked Mia.
"I can't," Mia said softly, "But it's him. I should know better than anyone." The sisters shared confused glances at this. "It's Wy."
"You don't look like the Wyatt I left last," Chris said evenly.
"Because I'm not the same Wyatt you left," he explained. He broke out into a full-fledged grin. "Don't you get it? You did it. You saved me. You won, Chris."
A smile broke out onto Mia's face, but Chris remained firmly in front of her.
"Prove it," Chris said.
Wyatt paused. "Mikey," he said abruptly. "I have Mikey now. He misses you, Mia. I miss you."
Chris didn't have to turn around to look at Mia to know that she was falling for every single word.
"Who's Mikey?" Phoebe asked.
"My son," Mia answered shakily.
"Our son actually," Wyatt corrected cheekily.
"You have a son… with my son?!" Piper exclaimed, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Don't worry, Mom," Wyatt reassured her. "She's my wife."
"You're his what?!" Piper nearly shrieked. Leo placed a hand on her shoulder in effort to calm her down.
"You're married?" Phoebe asked incredulously.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't tell you," she apologized looking at the ground, unable to look Piper in the eye, who continued to stare at her wide-eyed.
"How does that prove that Chris won?" Leo asked calmly.
"Because in the world I left, Wyatt had never met Mikey," Mia answered in a distant voice. "He didn't even know if we had a son or daughter."
"Okay, this is going to require a bit of a story time," Paige piped up.
"Wyatt was… is my husband. We've known each other our whole lives. I told you I grew up right across the street. We were married three years ago today, when I was nineteen, and he was twenty-one." Mia started, avoiding Wyatt's gaze. "It wasn't easy to accept the fact that he had turned against everything we had believed in. I turned a blind eye to everything Chris was trying to tell me. That Wyatt had changed. That he was evil. I wouldn't believe that about my husband. I couldn't." A tear slid down her face. "But when I found out I was pregnant, I started noticing the changes. Wyatt was happy, but it wasn't the joy you see in a new father. It was… satisfaction. Like he was pleased that he had an heir to his line of power. The Halliwell name would continue on and continue to strike fear into the world."
"I hadn't seen Mia in weeks because of our fights over Wyatt. But Mia managed to arrange a meeting with me to tell me she was pregnant," Chris continued. "She always loved Wyatt, but we were always best friends, partners in crime, soul mates even. She told me her worries and suspicions, and after a few hours and a lot of tears, I was able to finally convince her of the truth."
"So I left him. I never went back to him. Right then and there, I left my husband. I was four months pregnant," Mia continued. "I fled to the Sanctuary. Chris made sure I was highly protected. Wyatt was heartbroken and furious. He tore the city apart. I finished out my pregnancy in secret, and gave birth to my beautiful baby boy. Michael Leo Halliwell." Mia smiled softly, and Leo couldn't stop from smiling as well. "Chris helped me raise him. My beautiful blue eyed angel."
"How could I have known anything about him if what I'm saying isn't true? Believe me, Mia," Wyatt finally spoke up. "We can finally be a family."
"Chris, it has to be true…" Mia said.
"Wyatt's resourceful. He could have found a way. The Resistance isn't as strong with the both of us gone," Chris told her.
"Why can you not believe that you succeeded, Chris?"
"Because it's never that easy," Chris said. "Something doesn't seem right with you, Wyatt." He quickly mumbled something under his breath, and in a swirl of orbs, Wyatt changed before their very eyes. His hair grew out into unruly curls and facial hair appeared. His friendly countenance was replaced by one of annoyance, and his clothing changed into a pair of jeans and a tight, black shirt.
"Now that's the evil warlord I remember leaving behind," Chris commented wryly.
"Chris, what did you do?!" Mia asked angrily, tears in her eyes.
"I just removed his glamour," he explained. "It was a spell. An illusion to look different so he could trick us." Mia's face fell.
"Maybe that's true," Wyatt admitted. He turned to Mia. "But Mia, I meant what I said. I miss you. I'm sure our son misses his mother. I would love to finally meet him. Come back with me. To our family. We will be powerful, and respected. But most importantly, we'll be together. That's all I want; to be a family again. Don't you want that Mia?"
Chris kept his eyes trained on his brother, but he could feel Mia's defenses falling with every word. All Mia ever wanted was her family back together.
"I promise I won't hurt Chris. I won't send any more assassins after him," he continued. "I just need you, Mia. I've always been a better man with you by my side. You know that's true. You make me happier, stronger; you make me better. You're my better half."
Mia was crying openly now, unsure of what to do. She slowly stepped out from behind Chris. She gave him a small smile to let him know she was okay. She made her way to stand in front of Wyatt, a foot shorter than him. She raised a shaky hand to his face, and he leaned into it, closing his eyes, and kissed her palm. They quickly embraced. Leo made a move, but Chris stopped him. They watched as Wyatt took Mia's face in his hands and kissed her gently.
"Wyatt, I can't," she cried softly as she pulled away. "This isn't right. What you're doing to the world. To our family. I can't let you keep doing this."
All of a sudden, the room started to fill with an almost palpable tension as Wyatt's anger grew. "Dammit, Mia!" he boomed, causing everyone to jump. Mia instantly stepped back, Chris quickly pushing her behind him again. "Why are you doing this to me? To our family? You left me. Your husband. We made a vow, Mia. Through the good and the bad. And just because a little bad came, you abandon me? And you take our son away from me. He's my child too, Mia. What kind of a mother takes a child away from his father? What kind of a wife abandons her husband? What kind of a woman are you? Take a look at yourself. You think me a monster, but what have you become?!"
With every accusation, Mia's sobs grew louder. Chris had to turn away from Wyatt to hold her and keep her from falling onto her knees.
"Wyatt stop!" Chris yelled in a commanding voice, shocking everyone. "Stop it and look at what you're doing to her." There was silence for a moment and Mia's sobs echoed loudly in the attic. Wyatt's face softened just a bit.
"I know that the power has gone to your head and made you evil," Chris continued as he continued to rub circles on Mia's back. "But I know that somewhere deep down there is still the Wyatt Halliwell that knew he loved Mia when he was only fifteen, even though she was thirteen. You're still the Wyatt who would blab on and on to me about how perfect she was for you, asking me to find out how she felt about you. Somewhere in there you're still that idiot of a guy who agonized for months about the perfect proposal, and then messed it up anyway because you were too excited to pop the question. The guy who was so nervous on the day of his wedding that you sweated through your tux and had to use magic to hide it. You may be the ruler of all-evil in the future, but I know you're still the Wyatt Halliwell that loves Mia with all his heart. So just take a second and look at what you're doing to her right now. You're hurting her. Amelia. Little Mia from across the street. Mia, the love of your life, the mother of your son."
Mia's sobs subsided and Wyatt, along with the sisters and Leo, was stunned into silence.
"I… I'm sorry," Wyatt finally said softly, brows furrowed. Mia looked up and met his gaze. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Mia." He took a step back away from Chris and Mia. With a wave of his hand, the triquetra on the wall glowed a bright blue. "I love you. Forever."
"I love you too," Mia replied, "Til the end of time." Without another word, Wyatt disappeared.
As soon as the triquetra stopped glowing, everyone in the room seemed to let out a sigh of relief.
"Well that was the most intense thing I've seen, or felt, in a long time," Phoebe remarked.
"How did you know that was going to work, Chris? How did you know he wasn't going to blow up the entire attic?" Paige asked.
"Because what I said was true," Chris said as he continued to rub Mia's back comfortingly. "Wyatt and Mia's love is strong and true. It was meant to be. Written in the stars and all that cheesy stuff. They say it's a love that rivals Piper and Leo's. So I figured if anything was going to work, it would be his love for Mia. Besides, I hate seeing my best friend cry." Mia smiled softly. "Just like Mia's weakness is Wyatt, I knew Wyatt's weakness is Mia. It always was, and it always will be."
"That… is just a lot to handle," Piper said, shock evident on her face.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you," Mia apologized, starting to reach for the older witch, but stopping herself. "If you knew how close I was to Wyatt, to all of you, in the future, it would have compromised our mission. You have no idea how hard it was to be around you guys and be able to me."
"It's just going to take some time to process that not only are you married to my son, but that I have a grandson," Piper said, stunned. "I'm going to go gray early because of you."
"Not to completely change the subject, but are we safe from Wyatt? The one from the future that is," Paige asked. "Especially if now he knows how to come back and forth between time with no problems."
"I think so," Mia replied slowly. "I know I may be biased, but I think Wyatt meant it that he wouldn't come back again." She paused. "I know he still loves me. I don't think he would do anything to put me in any kind of danger."
"I agree," Phoebe added. "That whole confrontation gave me one hell of an emotional ride, but it's true. As soon as Wyatt realized how he was hurting Mia, all his anger disappeared and he felt guilt, he felt pain."
"He won't be back," Chris confirmed. "He won't risk hurting Mia again."
"So you seemed to know Wyatt and Mia pretty well in your time," Leo started. "Do you care to elaborate on your relationship with my son?"
Mia looked to Chris and gave him a smile of encouragement.
"Wyatt was my best friend too," Chris said softly. "The three of us were inseparable, the three musketeers." He smiled fondly at the memory.
"Chris was the best man at our wedding," Mia added.
"That's why Wyatt took it so personally that I was the one to turn against him and form the Resistance," Chris continued. "Why he was so pissed when Mia ran back to me, when she realized the truth. To Wyatt, it was the ultimate betrayal. The two people he cared about most in the world had left him."
There was a silence as the group took in this new information.
"Even though he's changed, nobody in the world cares more about Wyatt than me and Chris," Mia said. "That's why we're the ones who came back. Because we have the most at stake here. I want my husband back."
"There's that 'h' word again," Piper muttered. Leo chuckled.
"I think Mia and I should head back to P3, let this whole revelation thing sink in," Chris said, taking Mia's hand.
"Wait," Piper said softly. "Your ring." Mia looked down at her ring finger, smiling lightly. "It's…"
"It's yours," Mia nodded. "You gave it to Wyatt when you realized how serious he was about me. You were a little upset at first. I was only fourteen, Wyatt was sixteen, but he was adamant that I was the one. You only gave it to him because he promised he wouldn't use it until I was eighteen. He proposed as a birthday present."
"You still wear it, after everything," Piper said.
"I still love him," Mia said simply. "He's still my husband. It doesn't matter what he's done, it doesn't change our love." She smiled lightly. "Besides, we're going to save him."
Piper said nothing more, so Chris took Mia's hand again.
"Stay here," Piper blurted, just as they were about to disappear. "Mia… You can't stay at P3. You're family. You belong here."
"Really?" Mia asked, her eyes hopeful.
"I… Yes," Piper said, stunned at her own offer. "I don't know why, but I believe you. I trust you. Even though it's hard to swallow that you're my baby's wife… You're still family."
Mia turned to Chris and squeezed his hand. "I stay with Chris," she said firmly.
Piper pursed her lips, but recognized the determination in Mia's eyes. "Then Chris can stay too."
Gah, I hope you guys don't hate me. Believe it or not, I've had this chapter written since like, chapter two. I tried dropping hints here and there that Wyatt and Mia had a thing, especially since according to your reviews a lot of you ship Mia and Chris. If you really want, let me know, and I can point out the little hints here and there...
Anyways, whether you ship Mia with Chris or Wyatt, I hope you keep on reading and reviewing! It's finals week, so my writing has slowed and it will definitely be a bit before I can update again, but I've fully been overcome with Charmed feels, so it's only a matter of time.
Please review!
And of course, I own nothing of Charmed. If I did, there'd be a Charmed sequel about Chris and Wyatt on TV right now.
