Disclaimer: Nothing in the Charmed world belongs to me and no copyright infringement is intended.
A/N: Well the mystery of the anon reviewer from chapter 8 was solved. And I received another couple of anon reviews for chapter 9 and they were both filled with very kind words also. You know, I'm used to toasting marshmallows with anon reviews. But I'm really beginning to dig this. To my anon reviewers I'm loving you all. Thanks for the awesome words.
Chapter 10 Mommy's Little Peanut
"You shouldn't have done that, Chris," Wyatt growled angrily pressing his brother harder into alley wall.
"Stop this, Wyatt," Chris pleaded grasping his brother's arm trying to pull it away from his throat as fear gripped his insides. "Please stop!"
"What did you tell him?" Wyatt screamed in anger shoving even harder against Chris' throat.
"He didn't believe me. I swear," Chris gasped out feeling his windpipe closing on him as his hands shoved desperately against the strong forearm that pinned him in place.
Wyatt growled in frustration and then let his brother go as he stepped back and watched Chris fall to the ground clutching his throat in pain. "You're pathetic, Chris."
Chris glanced up at his older brother and wondered just how he could have let him become such a monster. It had been eating at him for years now. The older version of himself had betrayed Wyatt, left him to the demon and that was why his brother had become like this. He knew it as surely as anything else in the world. He knew that the boy he had met so many years before in the attic could never have turned into the pure evil that was before him. Not on his own at least. And Chris had let it happen. It was his fault. "I'm sorry, Wyatt," he whispered looking down again knowing he could never deny just how pathetic he really was.
Wyatt looked down at him in surprise. He had expected Chris to scream at him. To furiously deny his brother's words. But instead he just looked ashamed and for some unexplainable reason he found this to make him even angrier than when he found out that Chris had spoken to their father about him. "Can't you ever stand up for yourself?" he screamed swiping out with his hand and slamming him into the alley wall again then shimmered away leaving a broken and bloodied brother behind.
Chris rolled off the couch clutching his throat still locked in the nightmare's after affects unable to even scream out as he felt the air being cut off from his lungs.
"Hey it's okay. Dad will be back in a little while, I promise. He's just got a meeting with the other Elders. You're always happy when he plays with us," Wyatt said trying to cheer up his little brother. In the past few days the boy had become more and more attached to Leo and though Wyatt missed having his father's full attention he could tell that his little brother needed it more. Something was really beginning to spook him and Wyatt was unable to figure out just what.
The little boy just couldn't cope with all of the disturbing emotions he felt coming from his older self. It had been fun at first to be able to share everything with him. There were even times that he could see the things that Chris saw, but for the most part it was just their feelings that they shared. And the nightmares, those had always been there and at first he had recognized them as things that had happened to him when he was with the demons, but now they were different. In his dreams his brother and father were always mean to him. They said hateful things and Wyatt even hurt him. But he knew none of that had happened. Leo and Wyatt had been nothing but kind to him. With each and every new nightmare though he found himself gripped in fear at the end and nothing he imagined could make that fear go away.
Wyatt sat next to the child who was curled up into a ball on his own bed covered by several blankets as his small body shook in terror. Wyatt had been playing quietly as his brother napped but the boys screams of terror had brought him to his side immediately. Wyatt was too old for naps but he knew that his brother wasn't and he had taken to staying close to him as he slept, worried that another nightmare would find him. This one had been the worst yet and it worried him that the child wasn't letting him comfort him as he usually did. "Come on, kid, you're scarring me. You know I won't hurt you," he pleaded as he laid a hand on the child's shoulder and watched in surprise as he pulled away.
A small whimper escaped the boy's lips as he stared up at his brother with those large green eyes full of fear and pain and Wyatt couldn't stand it anymore. He quickly moved so he was on the floor and could look at the boy on his level as he leaned on the edge of the bed. "Listen, you are my little brother and I'm never gonna hurt you. I don't know what your nightmares are about but I'm not gonna give up on you ever. Please trust me."
The boy stared at Wyatt and he couldn't see any of the anger that he had seen in his nightmare and he didn't feel any of the hate he had sensed from the older version of Wyatt in his dream either. He reached one hand out from under the blankets and laid it hesitantly on his brother's arm as his mouth opened and two words came out stuttered by the fact that he hadn't used his voice for years. "I'm scared."
Wyatt blinked several times realizing that his brother had finally talked and his first reaction was to call his mom but then the boys words struck him and he couldn't call for her until he figured out how to help his little brother. "Come here," he said reaching out tugging on the boy's arm until he moved off the bed and sat next to him on the floor. He hadn't let go of the blanket he was wrapped up in but Wyatt didn't care as he wrapped one arm around his shoulders and hugged him to his side. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, so there is nothing to be scared of."
The small boy whimpered again and Wyatt looked down at him. "You can talk. You just did. Tell me what scared you."
He didn't want to tell him. How could he tell his brother that he was afraid of him? He couldn't and he just shook his head. He was ashamed that he didn't have as much faith in him as he knew Wyatt expected of him.
Wyatt sighed heavily. "Kid, I can't protect you from something unless I know what it is. Wait, if you can talk, do you remember your name now? I hate calling you Kid."
The boy bit his bottom lip. He did know his name. Chris had sort of explained it to him but he had also made him promise not to tell. But this was Wyatt. The real Wyatt, not the one from his nightmares. He could trust him couldn't he? So he leaned up and whispered into his brother's ear and then pulled back to see his reaction.
Wyatt heard the one word he had said and his little mind started turning making connections that the adults hadn't even bothered to examine. He looked at his brother with a question in his eyes.
"Please, you can't tell," the boy whispered. "I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone until he went back to where he came from."
Wyatt's eyes widened and he was positive that what he had been guessing at just a moment before had to be the truth. "Okay, I won't tell," he promised even though it worried him a little to do so. He felt that Mommy and Daddy should know something as important as this. But he knew that if he was ever gonna get his little brother to trust him he'd have to keep his secret just the same. "I won't say anything. You can tell them when you're ready to."
The small boy smiled and hugged his brother tight as the last affects of the nightmare slipped from his small mind and it felt so good to know that the nightmares couldn't be real. No, not his brother. Wyatt would never hurt him. He knew that for a fact. "Thanks, Wy."
"Hey, when I used to have nightmares Mom would let me have ice cream afterwards. You want to see if we can have some?" Wyatt suggested remembering the days when his nightmares had his mother wrapped around his little finger. "She even let me have it for breakfast a few times when the nightmares were really bad ones."
The child tilted his head to the side and smiled. "Sure," he answered but after a pause added, "What's ice cream?" He knew it had to be something really good if Wyatt was so excited about it.
Wyatt just shook his head and stood pulling his little brother up with him. "You'll see."
They both headed downstairs and were soon sitting at the kitchen table with large bowls of ice cream before them. When Wyatt had told Piper that his little brother had a nightmare and he thought some ice cream would probably cheer him up, she had immediately recognized the ploy but her youngest son's eyes were rimmed red as if he had been crying so she gave in and fixed the treat for them.
"What about the toppings mom?" Wyatt asked knowing his mother kept all kinds of goodies they could put on the sundaes.
Piper reached into the cabinet and pulled down several goodies they could add to their dishes. "Here, Wyatt. You help him decide while I start the laundry."
It wasn't long till she looked back and saw the boys throwing peanuts and chocolate chips at each other. Wyatt was doing a pretty good job of catching the toppings in his mouth and his little brother wasn't doing so bad either. Normally she would have put a stop to such messy behavior but the giggles she heard coming from her youngest son kept her quiet. She just walked over behind them and ruffled their hair. "You two get clean up duty, okay?"
Wyatt's eyes widened as he realized he was getting out of his normal lecture but he turned back to his ice cream and gave his brother a conspiratorial look. "Mom, can we have more peanuts. He loves them," he called out seeing his brother finishing off the last of the ones she had given them.
"Sure can," she answered placing a kiss on each of her son's heads and paused after her youngest thinking of something. "My little peanut. I think that's what I'll call you." He just smiled up at her liking the sound of that.
Then she moved over to the cabinet and searched for more of the treats for them. Then she heard a sound that made her freeze and turn back to her sons. Her youngest had just made a choking sound and was grasping his throat. "Oh god!" she screamed running back to him thinking he was choking on the nuts.
Wyatt's eyes had widened in fear as he started slapping his brother's back also thinking the child was choking.
After the nightmare Chris had sat silently on the floor next to the couch not even bothering to get up. This had been the worst so far, as he remembered just how much of a failure he really was. He also remembered the vow he had made that day to do everything in his power to change things. He had known that other versions of himself had tried and failed and he would follow in their footsteps and try just as they had. It had taken him seven years to reconstruct the spell that would take him back in time and to prepare himself for what he knew he'd have to face in the past. But he had done it all with one thing in mind. He would get his brother back. The brother he knew Wyatt could have been.
Then something happened. Fear gripped him as his throat started to constrict in on itself. "Oh, god, no!" he managed as he moved quickly towards the locker he had put most of his personal items in. He rummaged through the items until his hand rested on the item he needed and then he immediately orbed away to the Manor arriving in the kitchen just as Piper started to put the Heimlich Maneuver on her youngest son. He didn't waste any time as he reached out stopping her shaking his head but not able to speak anymore. Instead he sat his younger self on the table and jammed the Epi Pen into his thigh waiting for the injection to take affect.
"What are you doing, Chris?" Piper yelled in fear for her youngest.
Chris wasn't speaking though as he waited a few more seconds for his younger self to start breathing normally again. Once he felt the air sucking into his own lungs again he threw the pen down on the table and picked the small boy up. Tears had started to streak down his cheeks and he whimpered pitifully. "It's okay, you're fine now."
"Chris, what just happened to my son?" Piper yelled again pulling him around so he faced her.
"Piper, I know you are a chef but you're gonna have to forgo peanut products in your recipes from now on," he answered her hugging the boy tightly to his chest. "At least if you don't want your son to suffocate, that is."
Piper looked down to the table and the empty bowl of peanuts as it dawned on her what happened. "Allergic…" she said her eye roving over the Epi-pen Chris had used on her son. "Oh, god, baby Mommy's sorry. I didn't know," she said reaching up and stroking her youngest son's hair.
"Piper, call Leo. He's still gonna need to heal him. That pen is not a permanent fix. It just increases the oxygen in his lungs and besides the dosage is too much for him. We don't want to overdose him," Chris pointed out sitting down in the chair that his younger self had just been in before the reaction had nearly robbed him of his life.
"Leo," Piper called loudly gripped in the fear of not knowing whether her child was out of danger yet.
Wyatt was watching the two of them very closely and noticed that Chris' lips were slightly on the blue side just as his little brother's were. "Chris, how did you know what to do for him?"
Chris was a little uncomfortable with that question but he knew it would sound strange if he didn't answer it. "Well, did your Mom and Dad tell you that I know you all in the future?" he asked cautiously.
Wyatt shook his head no and looked to his mom who just nodded and called out again. "Leo, we need you now. Your son needs you!"
With those words bright blue and white orbs lit the room as Leo appeared before them. His eyes widened when he saw how ill his youngest son looked. "What happened?" he asked striding across the room and kneeling next to where Chris was holding the child.
Chris had started to feel the beginnings of the reaction take hold again and knew that this time was a really bad one. "Food allergy," he managed to say without his voice faltering but he knew that it would fail him again soon as his windpipe closed up.
Leo noticed the Epi-pen on the table and nodded as he held his hands out over his child's chest hoping and praying that his healing touch would work for this type of reaction. "Hey, little guy, come on stay with me," he whispered his voice breaking slightly as he watched how unresponsive his son was becoming due to the lack of oxygen. "Please work," he said in frustration, as it didn't seem to be working.
Chris was doing everything he could to keep himself upright and still hold his younger self, feeling the lethargy hitting him just as hard, as he prayed for the healing to work before the convulsions set in. It just couldn't end this way, not in an accident. He still had so much more to do.
But then the small boy took a deep breath and his eyes flew open seeing Leo right above him. He immediately reached up to him and Leo scooped him into his arms a large smile covering his face. "Oh, thank god," he said pulling his son as close as he could feeling his chest rise and fall in deep breaths. Once the boy had drawn in enough breath he pulled back and looked at his father and Leo checked him over not seeing any ill affects remaining. "Do you know, how much you scared Daddy?"
The boy didn't answer him but just hugged him even tighter hearing those words. Piper had circled around so she could also hug her son as the tears poured from her eyes. "I promise you, baby, Mommy will never give you anything that will hurt you like that again."
"What was his reaction to?" Leo asked in concern.
"Peanuts," she answered running her hand through the back of her son's hair wanting to feel him to be sure he would be alright.
Chris watched the entire scene as he regained his own ability to breath and even though he was healed right along with his younger counterpart he still felt like something was clenching his heart seeing the picture they made together. There hadn't been any happy joyous family moment when it was discovered that he was allergic to the food, but he couldn't begrudge his younger self the happiness he knew this family moment would bring him. Somehow he felt as if he was trespassing on the scene though and he quietly turned and picked up the Epi-pen meaning to sneak out of the kitchen and then orb back to P3.
Piper caught his movement out of the corner of her eye though and turned her tearstained face towards him. "Chris, where are you going?"
He flinched slightly realizing he had been caught trying to sneak away. "I just wanted to give you some time," he answered looking down in embarrassment.
"Chris, you just saved my son's life." Her voice sounded slightly surprised and Leo looked at her questioningly. "I thought he was choking but Chris stopped me and used that pen thing on him."
"Chris, you knew he was allergic to peanuts?" Leo asked in surprise.
"Yeah, but he wasn't supposed to have a reaction to them for a few more months, well at least he never did in any of the other timelines. In the last timeline he was at a birthday party and it was at a doctor's house. This sort of took me off guard," he explained nervously afraid that they'd be mad that he hadn't warned them.
"Where'd you get that pen thing that made him breath okay till Dad got here?" Wyatt asked wondering just how Chris would be able to explain that away.
Chris hadn't expected that question from Wyatt and wasn't sure how to get out of this one. His brother was certainly too smart for his own good. "It's mine, actually. I have food allergies too. That's why I was so worried. The dose is measured out for me, so it's too much for him."
"Chris, that was sort of dangerous," Leo said concerned that his son could have had a seriously adverse reaction to the larger dose.
"Leo, he wouldn't have made it till you got here. He wasn't breathing hardly at all when Chris showed up," Piper explained.
Leo's eyes widened in fear realizing just how close he was to losing his son. "Chris, I don't know how to thank you," he finally said as tears started misting his eyes. "You saved my son."
Chris just shook his head not wanting to accept the praise since all he had done was save himself. He knew that they couldn't know that though, so he'd have to accept their thanks but he would play it down as much as possible anyway. "It's nothing. I knew what to do, so I acted. I'm just glad he's okay."
Piper moved forward and grabbed Chris' hand. "It's more than nothing, Chris. I'll never be able to thank you enough for this."
Chris pulled his hand out of Pipers and moved back slightly. "It's really okay. Just forget about it. I need to go," he said nervously disappearing in a cloud of orbs.
"What was that about?" Piper asked in confusion but soon put it to the back of her mind as she turned again to check on her son.
Wyatt was very glad that his little brother would be okay, but somehow he hadn't been so worried when Chris had appeared. He just knew that Chris could fix it. But now he had even more reason to believe in the theory he had about his brother and Chris.
Chris stood on the very top of the Golden Gate Bridge and sighed in relief at being away from the Manor. That was just too close, and not only the allergic reaction but also the possibility that they'd figure out just who he was. He just couldn't handle that happening. Not ever.
A/N: Okay, so one person knows Chris' secret. Are we all surprised that I chose Wyatt as the first to figure it out? I just figured that with two young boys like that, eventually the urge to tell secrets would come out. And the little one had to figure out how to talk eventually. So hate it, love it. What do you think? Next chapter things don't go so well, so stay tuned.