CHAPTER 10

It's a very, very, very, very messed up world.

Wyatt stared in shock at his brother as the spirit of a woman explained the story of their one night stand back in the past. He couldn't believe this. As a Halliwell, a lot of strange things had happened in their family, but his brother having a kid the same age as him was just too much to take in. Chris was his little brother; he wasn't supposed to be a father yet, and definitely not to someone only a year younger than him. He felt like sinking onto the ground and just staying there for the rest of his life, blinking numbly and thinking about how messed up this situation was.

As Anne held a now teary Alex in her arms, telling him the truth regarding the Halliwells and how Nyru had been using his confusion against him, Chris reluctantly turned away from them toward his brother. Noticing how pale his sibling was, the spirit grinned. "Wyatt Matthew Halliwell speechless. Who would have thought it possible?"

Wyatt raised his eyes slowly to meet the jade pair of his brother. He felt horrible. He had almost killed his own nephew! God, that sounded weird. Still, he didn't know why he should be surprised. The unbelievable always seemed to occur in their family. Like his younger brother going to the past to save his life as an infant. That in itself is something not a lot of people would experience. For Wyatt, it was almost normal. Almost. There was something about it that nagged him. Made him think it wasn't normal, that something major had happened besides Alex's conception. Wyatt knew in his heart what it was. "Why did you really go to the past, Chris?"

"We don't have time for this, Wyatt. I need you to do something for me."

The older brother stared into his sibling's eyes and saw something different in them. Something foreign. Even the tone of his voice was strange. Chris never had spoken to him so sharply before, with such authority. It was no secret that his kid brother had always been slightly intimidated by him, but now, no fear was shown. Was it because he was dead, or because of something else... "No. Make time. I want to know why you went to protect someone who is stronger than you. Even as a baby I had more power than you, Chris. It doesn't make sense. Your story just doesn't make sense. You're hiding something. I want to know what."

Chris closed his eyes. His voice was small when he spoke, so soft Wyatt had to strain to hear the words. "I saved you from turning evil."

"I see." Wyatt nodded his head, accepting what he had feared was the truth. He had dreams sometimes...horrible dreams filled with death, the smell of blood. There was one in which his brother and he were fighting. It was the worst of them all. He tried to kill his sibling. The thought made him ill during the waking hours, but at night, his mind thrived on it, forcing him to watch it happen over and over again. So, when Chris spoke those words, no elaboration was needed. It was the truth. He had been evil. He wasn't now, though, and that was all that mattered.

"I'm sorry you had to find out. I hoped you never would."

Wyatt frowned, as he pieced together the other thing that was bothering him. "You aren't my brother. I mean you are...the one I tried to kill before. The one who did the saving and the impregnating and the...the dying..."

"Dying. How did you-?"

The man shrugged. "I felt it. Besides it explains a lot. Why you act so differently than my Chris, why everyone was so protective of him, and most of all why I never heard about my brother the savior. It wasn't because I was evil, and mom and dad were worried about hurting my feelings. It was because you died. They couldn't stand thinking about it. That's why Alex thought his father was dead too. Anne told him that because in a way you were."

The younger brother was about to reply when he felt a pair of eyes boring into his skull. He turned to see Alex staring at him. "Alex, I wish I could tell you everything I want to, but we don't have time. You got to see your mom, and I hope that is enough because the elders are going to realize we're down here, and all heaven will break loose."

Alex shook his head. "It's not enough. I went without a father for so long, Chris. Now, I find out the truth and I don't know whether to be overjoyed or really pissed off. I have a father, but he's only a year older than me. It's like giving me a Christmas present, but telling me I can't open it."

"I'm sorry, Alex. This is my fault. I know that. I should never have been so reckless, so selfish. I hope that one day you can forgive me." Chris grinned slightly. "I mean, you did get to kill me, so I figure that makes up for some of it."

A tear slid down the young man's face. "That's not funny. I killed my own father and the only friend I've ever had because I was stupid enough to be manipulated." Alex's eyes suddenly grew wide as he realized something he had forgotten. "Oh, god. I slept with Bianca. I'm not suffering from an Oepidus complex. I am Oepidus."

"You won't be when this is over. Hopefully you'll get the life you deserve."

"What do you need me to do, Chris?" Wyatt asked, ignoring the look Alex was shooting him.

"He's my father. I should do it." The youngest Halliwell snapped.

Chris and Anne exchanged looks as they felt the tug to return to the clouds. The young father turned to Alex, unsure what to say to comfort him. "You should stay here, Alex. It's not safe to time travel, and Wyatt has more experience."

"Time travel?"

Nodding, "Yeah. It's the only way to undo all of this."

"Am I going to cease to exist if he does this?" Alex asked, white terror in his eyes at the thought of eternal nothingness.

Anne moved to her son's side, wrapping her arms around him again. "You'll be fine. I promise. Everything is going to be okay." She turned to Chris as she felt a stronger pull upward. Facing her son, she cupped his face with her hands. "You're going to get the life you should have had. Know that I love you, and don't worry, your uncle won't let anything bad happen to you."

Wyatt pulled a face at the word 'uncle'.

"Wyatt, draw the triquetra, then say this spell: hear these words, hear this rhyme, head the hope within my mind, send me back to where I'll find what I seek through space and time." Chris looked upwards, knowing that their time was up. He only hoped Wyatt could remember the spell. "Do you got it?"

"Chris, what am I supposed to do? Where do I go? I'm not like you. Strategies are not my thing." Wyatt noticed the former lovers exchange a look of dread right before they started to dematerialize. The Elders had caught them. "CHRIS!"

"You'll know what to do Wy." The voice of his brother, best friend, and savior called down to him as he left Wyatt for the second time that day.

Alex noticed things starting to get blurry. "Wyatt? I still feel kinda..."

"Kinda what?" Wyatt snapped turning in time to see the teenager tumble to the ground. He sighed. "Oh." Kneeling down next to his nephew, the Twice Blessed Witch raised his hands over the boy healing his injuries. When familiar jade green eyes looked up at him Wyatt wasn't sure whether to smile or be ill. This was just wrong. "Feel better?"

"What'd you do?" Alex glanced down, examining himself. "It's like you never attacked me. How is that possible?"

"It's called healing. I'm part whitelighter. It's what we do." Wyatt rolled his eyes impatiently as Alex just blinked at him. "Just accept it and let's move on, okay? We have lives to save."

The younger Halliwell frowned. "Don't you still want me dead? I killed your brother and those women. I'm the evil your family fights to stop."

Wyatt paused in his own thoughts at those words. Turning to face the young man, he saw true pain and guilt in those eyes so similar to the brother now lost. Alex was all he had of Chris right now. Alex was Chris' son, regardless of the strange circumstances. As his mother always said, 'family trumps all else.' He put a hand on the younger man's shoulder, his face softening for the first time since they met. "You are family."

"So that just fixes everything?"

"No, but I can. When I go back in time, I'll change everything so that those witches are still alive and so that Chris is too. You'll have your mom alive and well, and hopefully I can convince her to trust us this time. Everything is going to work out perfectly."

Alex smiled shyly. "Thanks."

Wyatt offered him a smile in return. "I should go. Get things rolling, you know? I will see ya when I get back, I guess." He then started to orb out to the manor.

The Twice Blessed Witch appeared in the Halliwell's attic moments later. Grabbing a piece of chalk from the table, he moved quickly to the wall and started drawing the family symbol. When he was finished he took a step back to examine his artwork. He was no Leonardo, but he figured it would work. "Hear these words, here this rhyme, head the hope within my mind. Send me back to where I'll find what I seek through space and time."

A blue portal snapped into position where the triquetra had been. Wyatt took a deep breath then stepped through. Little did he know that someone had followed him.

000

At a towering book shelf, Chris Halliwell was glancing at the titles of the books in front of him. He stops and pulls out a book, frowns at it and turns to Gideon, who is working with Paige at a nearby table, writing a spell. "You should really update the time travel section. I could find more information googling."

Gideon has no idea, and frowns confused. "Googling...?"

"Never mind." Chris turned his attention to his aunt. "How's that spell coming?"

About to answer that it was going the same as it was when he asked five minutes ago, Paige's mouth froze open in surprise, not a syllable coming out. She just blinked in shock at what she saw. After Chris asked her what was wrong, she raised a hand and pointed to the object of her shock. "Uh, they friends of yours?"

Chris climbed down the ladder he was on and peered over to where Paige was pointing. When he saw what it was she was staring at his heart nearly stopped. "Wyatt."

"Oh, crap." Wyatt stared into the face of his older, younger brother and knew that he had messed up somehow. He had planned on ending up at the time when Anne was pregnant not when future Chris was still in the past. This was not good.

"Wyatt, is that Chris?"

The Twice Blessed Witch closed his eyes in frustration. "Alex, what the hell are you doing here?" He opened his eyes to pointedly glare at this nephew. "I told you I would handle this."

"I'm going to save my father and there is nothing you can do to stop me, Wyatt."

Wyatt turned on him. "We can't! That's not how it goes. We are here to save you. Actually I'm here to save you. Go home. I don't need you here." He paused in his ranting long enough to realize what must have happened to cause the mix up in time. "You were pushing your desire and thoughts about saving him on me. I must have picked up on it telepathically and that was what was on my mind when I said the spell. Damn it, Alex!"

Paige frowned as she watched the two men argue. Addressing Chris, she asked, "Is that Wyatt? And who is the other kid?"

"Yeah that's Wyatt. As for the other witch...I have no idea." Chris moved forward toward the two younger men. "What's going on? Wyatt, what are you doing here? Who is this?"

Wyatt reached out to stop Alex from saying anything, but the younger witch orbed out and behind Chris, as though the younger brother would be able to protect him from the Twice Blessed Witch's wrath. "We're here to fix the future. To make sure that no one dies. Including my mom and dad."

"Dies? From what?" Chris asked looking for answers from his brother.

Glaring at his nephew Wyatt rushed forward trying to cover his mouth, Alex was faster and moved away just as Wyatt grabbed air. The eldest son of Piper Halliwell let out a frustrated breath. "Alex. Future. Changing as we speak. Shut. Up."

"A demon kills my mom. I don't know what killed my dad. I'm going to find out though, so don't worry."

Chris' hand went through his hair as he tried to make sense of any of this. Who was this kid? Why was he with Wyatt? It seemed clear to Chris that his older brother wasn't very fond of the young man, so why put up with him? Why let him get close enough to mess up a mission like this? Whatever mission it was that Wyatt was on that is. Chris turned to Paige. "Do you understand what they're going on about?"

"Chris, we came to save you." Alex started as Wyatt finally grabbed hold of him, clamping his hand firmly over the other boy's mouth. He screamed and struggled against the older man's grip, but it didn't work. Wyatt wasn't letting go.

"Don't mind us, Chris. We are going to be getting out of here, as soon as possible and going to the time I actually meant to go to in the first place. Right after I drop him off back home, that is."

Chris folded his arms over his chest. "Wyatt, what's going on? You obviously aren't evil, which is refreshing, but you're still as confusing as ever, which is getting old real fast."

It was at that moment Alex chose to bite down hard on his uncle's hand, causing it to release his mouth. "You're my father and someone is going to kill you!"

tbc...