Chapter 11

The first thing Chris saw when his eyes fluttered open were two white pills and a glass of water. The second thing he saw was his Uncle Henry slouching in the chair next to him.

Chris sat up, but then immediately fell back down. His head throbbed at every heartbeat and he struggled to keep his eyes open. Henry pushed the pills and the water forward.

"I suggest you take this," said Henry and Chris took the pills and swallowed them uneasily, even with the help of water. Henry leaned back in his chair. "Nice to be mortal huh?"

Chris took a few deep breaths, but the headache lingered in his mind. "Uncle Henry? Where am I?"

"At my house," said Uncle Henry. "I called the school for you. Said that you were sick."

Chris began to nod his head, but stopped when he felt pain erupt near his forehead. "Thanks," he mumbled, "God, my head hurts so bad. I must have been really soaked up."

Uncle Henry nodded. "Yeah you were," he said, "Do you remember anything about last night?"

Chris tried to concentrate, but he could only remember a few things like being at a party, drinking, bright lights, and... "Did I get arrested?"

Henry nodded his head. "Yeah, uh, you were drunk as a skunk," he said. "I never had to deal with a drunk magical being, but it was interesting to say the least."

"What did I do?"

"Well, besides showing off your special talents, not much from what a mortal would do," he said. "You talked a lot of nonsense and such."

"I didn't use my powers in the public did I?"

"Well, no Cleaners, or whoever does the magic clean-up, came by and try to erase you," said Henry. "So, it obviously wasn't that bad. The only thing you did was telekinetically throw a lamp fracture and you once tried to orb. You also said you wanted to 'call' Wyatt."

"Did I?"

Henry shook his head. "I told you that you couldn't," said Henry. "It would be hard to explain to my boss how your older brother got through without a visitor's pass and his name written down."

Chris nodded his head in agreement and was glad that Uncle Henry stopped him from doing something stupid. Plus, Chris didn't want Wyatt to see him drunk. He was afraid of Wyatt's disappointment in him.

Chris bent his head down lower. He was so stupid. "I'm sorry Uncle Henry."

"Sorry won't cut this with the law," said Uncle Henry. "You owe one thousand dollars as a fine and—this" Henry reached for something behind him. He turned around and dropped a square piece of paper on the table.

Chris bent over and saw that it was his mug shot. Chris picked it up and examined it. He wasn't smiling, but he faintly remembered the picture guy telling him to stop smiling. His hair was the same as always, long and unkempt.

"Maybe you should put it in a frame or something?" said Uncle Henry. "But, don't count on it being hung up in the hallway."

Chris dropped the photo onto the table. "I really messed it up, huh?"

Uncle Henry nodded. "Yeah, just a bit," His Uncle Henry watched for him for a bit, waiting, pausing. "So, do you want to tell me something?"

Chris shook his head. "Not really. Except that I'm really sorry."

"Anything else?"

Chris eyes his uncle. "Like what?"

"Oh I don't know," said Uncle Henry, scooting to the edge of his chair. "Like, let's say, Leo?" Chris stared, emotionless. "You kept mentioning him, Chris. I know I'm just a parole officer and not a detective, but I'm going to guess that this drinking business had to do something with your dad."

"Leo isn't my dad."

"Yes he is Chris," said Uncle Henry firmly. "You can't deny that he isn't you dad. You might be angry with him, you might even hate the man, but you can't just say he isn't your dad."

"Yeah I can," said Chris. "Because I don't care about him."

"Yes you do," said Uncle Henry and Chris strangely looked at him. "You do because if you didn't you wouldn't be in my house right now with a hangover and a terrible headache. This picture—" Henry picked the mug shot up and held it in front of Chris. "Wouldn't be taken."

Chris looked away from the photo and stared at his surroundings. He realized that he was in his Uncle Henry's house. On the side table next to the couch he slept on was a picture frame that had a picture of his relatives: Aunt Paige, Uncle Henry, the twins, Hannah and Hailey, and Henry Jr. all sitting on a grassy field in front of the Manor.

A happy family.

"Chris?"

Chris turned back to his uncle. Henry wasn't holding the photo anymore, but his face looked concerned.

"Chris, talk to me," he said. "What's on your mind? It's okay to express what you are feeling. It's healthy to be mad, upset, sad, and anything else."

Chris flicked his jade eyes at his Uncle Henry. "I'm mad, okay? I'm mad at Leo. I'm angry that he left us. I'm hurt that he left us. I'm mad that he allowed the Elders to torture me. I'm hurt that he didn't care enough about me to stop them. I'm mad that he keeps popping into my life and then disappearing, because it gets my hopes up every time he shows up. I think he'll stay, but then he goes off again. And it hurts! It really HURTS!"

The table in the middle flew across the room and smashed into the wall. Uncle Henry didn't even jerk at the sight. He was expecting it. Chris felt guilty. "I'm sorry, I'll pay for that."

"Nah don't worry about it," said Uncle Henry, staring at the chunks of wood. "It's just a ten dollar table that Paige and I got at a garage sale." Uncle Henry turned back to Chris. "This is what I am talking about Chris. You shouldn't keep everything bottled up. Your power feeds on your emotion and, as we have just witnessed, it explodes when you keep everything inside."

Chris rubbed his head, though the migraine was slowly diminishing. "I know. Mom always said that to me, but I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because it hurts," said Chris, simply. "It hurts too much. The memories that are tied to the pain. The people involved in the pain."

Uncle Henry understood. When he lost Paige, he didn't know if he could keep going. He didn't know if his children could live without their mother. With no magical guidance. But, there was always the rest of the family. Wyatt, Chris, Coop and his children. They were there. They're there for them if they need help or advice.

"Chris, when I lost Paige, I didn't know what to do," said Uncle Henry and Chris lowered his head and Uncle Henry could see guilt on his face. "Chris, I don't blame you for my wife's death. And I know Coop doesn't blame you for Phoebe's death either. We will never blame you."

Chris nodded and he knew that, but he still blamed himself. If he didn't interfere, maybe they would both be alive.

"Chris, I didn't know what to do when Paige died," continued Uncle Henry. "Paige was the magical one. Not me. I didn't know a thing about how to raise them nor did I know how to protect them. I'm a mortal! I don't know a thing, okay I might know a bit, but I don't know about how magic works. "

"But, you know what?" continued Henry and Chris stared quizzically at him. "Even though I didn't know all about it, I still had you guys to help. Coop has been great helping my kids use their powers and even giving me tips on what to do in certain situations and such. I also know that my children are well protected because they have powerful cousins to come to their rescue."

"What I'm trying to say, Chris, is that even though your mother and father are gone, it doesn't mean we have all left you," said Uncle Henry. "You still have us to go to if you need help. If you need anything. We're here for you. Victor, Coop, and myself."

"And Wyatt," added Chris.

"Him too, but I don't think you should make him be your father figure, Chris," said Henry. "Wyatt is still a kid too, even if he's eighteen years old and is considered an adult. He's too young to take those reins."

Chris agreed with his uncle. Wyatt was only two years older than him and eighteen is to young to be in charge of taking care of his younger brother.

"Yeah, I know," said Chris. "I know, but how is this going to stop Leo from interfering?"

Uncle Henry scratched his chin. "I don't think either Coop or I have the power to tell Leo to stop coming into your life. I mean, he's your father and he's an elder."

"Elder first," corrected Chris and Uncle Henry stared at him, puzzled. "Then father. That's what he said."

Uncle Henry shook his head. "He needs to switch that around, but Coop, Victor, and I could talk to him if you like. Tell him to slack off a little or just stay put?"

Chris shook his head. "Nah, that's okay," said Chris. "Thanks though."

"Chris."

"It's alright, honestly," said Chris. "I can take care of it."

"Are you sure?" The question referred more to how Chris was going to handle it rather if he could do it.

Chris nodded. "Yeah, I don't want you guys to get involve. It's between me and Leo. If he comes down again, I'll tell him or try to tell him."

Henry gave a sad smile. "Alright, but if you need help or anything, you can contact me. Okay?"

Chris nodded again. "Yeah, okay."

Uncle Henry stood up. "Time to take you home," said Henry, grabbing his car keys. Chris slowly stood up from the couch.

"Uncle Henry," he said. "You don't have to drive me home. I can orb there."

"I know," he said, grabbing his leather jacket. "You showed me last night you could, but I want to make sure you get there. Plus, I have to tell Victor that you owe them $1000 and thirty six hours of community service."

"Thirty six hours?" said Chris. "What? Don't I do enough community service fighting demons?"

Uncle Henry laughed, "Yeah, but they want you to do mortal community service. Now, come on," he said to Chris, waving his hand to the front door. "I gotta get you home, so that I have time to do errands and pick my kids up from school."

BREAK

Victor was upset when Henry and Chris showed up at the Manor. More upset with Chris though instead of Henry. He thanked Henry for taking care of Chris and then once Henry left, Victor turned to Chris.

How could Chris do this to him? Of all the grandchildren, Chris had to go get himself into trouble. He never realized how bad Chris was until he heard from Henry. Still, getting drunk was not the way to sort out problems.

Victor's face grew hot and he could tell that Chris was afraid and ashamed of what he did. However, Victor needed to punish him. He needed to know that there were consequences to those that did bad things.

"You're grounded," said Victor before turning away from the front door and walking down the hallway.

Break

Chris was in his room, relaxing, reading a book when his older brother orbed in.

"Great news Chris!" shouted Wyatt joyfully, jumping onto the bed with Chris.

Chris sat up, staring at his brother. Wyatt's joyful attitude changed the atmosphere of the house, but Wyatt didn't even notice the quiet. He was just smiling, his lips stretching up his face. Chris was happy that his brother was in such a good mood. It made Chris feel a bit better.

"What is it Wy?" asked Chris, eager to know why his brother was excited.

Wyatt stood up and faced his brother. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You, younger brother, are looking at your newest whitelighter."

Chris stared dumbfounded. "You? The Elders made you my whitelighter?"

Wyatt nodded happily. "Yeah, I know, they did something right for the first time."

"Yeah, it's definitely a first for them," agreed Chris.

"Yeah, so I thought that you and me should celebrate," said Wyatt, "You know like go to the movies or go to the arcade. Hey, I got it," Wyatt clapped his hands. "We can go orb to NYC? Visit Time Square."

Chris sighed. "That sounds great," said Chris and his whole body sort of went limp. "But I can't go."

Wyatt eyed him. "Why not? School? Who cares? I highly doubt math will be used in the line of fighting demons."

"It's not school, though I'm sure grandpa would consider it as a good reason," said Chris.

"Then what is it?" asked Wyatt. "Don't you want to hang out with me?"

"You know I would love to do those things with you, it's just…I'm grounded," said Chris, closing his book and placing it next to him on the bed. "I can't leave the house for anything except for important magical things and school."

Wyatt slipped into a chair. "Why are you grounded?"

Chris' cheeks turned slightly red. He didn't want to tell Wyatt, but he would find out another way. Victor or Uncle Henry would tell him soon enough.

"I got drunk and then got arrested," said Chris and Wyatt's mouth dropped.

"You," said Wyatt. "You got drunk?"

Chris nodded solemnly, but Wyatt burst out laughing. "Oh man, Chris," he said a smile playing on his lips. "I-I would never have guessed."

Chris frowned. "Yeah, laugh it up, Grandpa and Uncle Henry didn't find it so funny."

Wyatt laughed for a bit longer, but then he slowly started to wind down. "Do you remember anything?" asked Wyatt, laughter etched on his face still.

"A few things," said Chris, "But Uncle Henry told me the worst."

"What was that?"

"I used magic," said Chris. "I tried to orb and I telekinetically threw something."

Wyatt became serious and sat up more. His face alarmed. "Did anyone see you?"

Chris shook his head. "No, just Uncle Henry."

Wyatt nodded. "Good, don't want our world exposed."

Chris nodded, agreeing with his brother. "Yeah, that would be bad."

Wyatt leaned back in the chair, still eyeing his brother. "So, may I ask what the celebration was for?"

Chris glanced at his brother, pondering whether to tell Wyatt or not. He knew if he said anything Wyatt would get mad. He knew because he knew how protected his older brother was for him. However, though he disliked his father, he didn't want Wyatt to go berserk on him and the Elders. He didn't want Wyatt to get in trouble.

"Oh, nothing," said Chris. "Just freedom."

"You're lying," said Wyatt. "I can tell, now, tell me the truth."

Chris sighed and muttered. Wyatt perked up. "I couldn't hear that."

Chris combed his hair with his fingers. "Leo."

Chris waited for Wyatt to do something, but he didn't. Wyatt stared at his brother, his face losing that humorous expression into a much darker one.

"Leo? What do you mean Leo?" said Wyatt, his eyes burrowing. "Why? What did he do?"

"Nothing," said Chris. "He didn't do anything."

Wyatt stood up and towering over his younger brother. "Chris, what happened to you after I was forced to leave from the Heavens the other night?"

Chris shook his head, but Wyatt grabbed Chris' wrists. "Chris, please, tell me. What did they do to you?"

Chris bit his bottom lip. He looked up at his older brother's alarmed face. "They, Leo, decided to do a memory recall on me."

"Memory Recall?" said Wyatt, thinking, but then his eyes dropped into slits and burned blue. "They did that to you? Dad let them did that to you!"

"He suggested it," said Chris as he looked down, wincing. "Uh, Wyatt, could you let go of me?"

Wyatt had tightened his hold on Chris when he learned what his little brother had gone through. Wyatt let go. "Sorry," he muttered. "I still can't believe…Dad, he allowed them to do that to you?"

Chris nodded his head. "Yeah, but it proved I was innocent, so I was able to come home."

Wyatt still wasn't happy. His face was slightly red and he wore a scowl on his lips. His jaw was locked and his eyes, his sweet blue innocent eyes were burning. Then the objects on Chris' shelf burst into flames.

Chris leapt to his feet. He grabbed his pillow and ran over to the fire. He started whacking at the flames, sending his belongings everywhere. "Wyatt! Help!"

Wyatt blinked and the fire disappeared; yet the fire already caused destruction. Many of Chris' old childhood toys were melted into different colors, particularly black.

Wyatt rested his hand on Chris' shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said. "Didn't mean for that to happen."

"It's okay," said Chris. "I didn't like those toys anyways. Leo gave them to me for my birthdays. They don't mean much."

Chris glanced at his brother. "When did you get that power?"

"I never got it," Wyatt answered. "I've always had it."

Chris made a small 'oh' and turned right back to his torched shelf and its victims.

Wyatt paced a little, shaking his head. "I tried to go back for you Chris," he said dragging his fingers through his hair. "I tried to get back into the Heavens, but the Elders, they wouldn't let me. They blocked me."

Chris turned from the black scene and back to Wyatt. "I figured, but it's okay, Wy."

"No it's not!" shouted Wyatt and he stopped moving. "It's not okay. Not with me!" Wyatt growled. "I'm going to kill him!" Suddenly, Wyatt was consumed with tiny blue and white bulbs. Then, he was gone.

"Wyatt!" shouted Chris. "Wyatt!" Wyatt didn't come back and Chris sunk to the floor.

Break

Leo wasn't very busy. He just pretended to be. He kept flipping through a book, reading parts here and there, but mostly, his mind was thinking about Chris and what Chris said to him. But, Chris was right. He did walk away. Chris and Wyatt never left, only him.

But, maybe he could gain his kids' hearts again. He did persuade the other Elders to let Wyatt be his family's whitelighter. Maybe if they knew about that, it might bring Leo a step closer to his sons.

When Leo heard the sound of someone orbing in, he thought it was another Elder. Since Chris and Wyatt's visit and persuading the Elders to make Wyatt the Halliwell's new whitelighter, they have been coming and going to see if Leo was all right. Leo knew they didn't come to check up on him emotional. They were there to make sure he stayed with them. To make sure he was a committed Elder, not a committed family member.

Leo started to look up to see which Elder it was now, but he didn't get the chance. He was flung off his feet and his body collided with a bookcase. The books all toppled on him, banging on his head.

Leo pushed the books off him and stood up, his arms rose to fight the attacker, but then he lowered his arms when he saw Wyatt standing there.

"Wyatt?" said Leo. "What are you—"

Leo was thrown again, this time to the opposite wall and he landed hard on his back.. Moaning, Leo got up again and managed to block Wyatt's third attack on him. "What's gotten into you?"

Wyatt lowered his arms down and approached his father, but then stopped. "What's gotten into me? Let's not talk about me, Dad. Let's talk about you."

Leo was confused. "Wyatt…"

Wyatt flung his hands out, but Leo deflected the attack, barely.

"Wyatt!" cried Leo. "Stop! Fight it!"

"I'm not cursed!"

Leo narrowed his eyes in confusion. Then why was he attacking him? Leo, his arms still slightly up for defense, walked a little to the right, so that the desk could help block further attacks from his son. "Then why are you attacking me?"

"Because of what you did to Chris," snarled Wyatt. "What you and those other goddamn Elders did to him."

Leo tensed up. He expected Wyatt to find out. He trusted Chris to tell Wyatt of what happened. He figured Wyatt would demand to know when Chris returned to Earth. He was just wasn't expecting it to take this long.

"Wyatt, I can explain," said Leo. "It was the best option for Chris."

"The best option?' repeated Wyatt, his tone dangerously low. "Maybe for you and the Elders, but not for Chris."

"I was trying to help him, Wyatt," said Leo, calmly, but even his tone was slightly rising. "It was that or going on trial with the chance of his powers being stripped from him. The memory recall would easily declare him innocent."

"But not without pain," said Wyatt. "That's all you ever do to him! You just keep hurting him."

"No—"

"Yes!" Wyatt fingers were sparking. "You made him get the memory recall! You made him get drunk! You made him get arrested!"

Leo blinked. "Drunk? Arrested? Wyatt, what did Chris do?"

"You don't have to worry about Chris anymore," hissed Wyatt. "Chris is my concern now."

"Chris is my son," said Leo. "He will always be my concern. So will you."

Wyatt shook his head, a frown on his face and his eyes blazing. "I don't need you to worry about me, Dad. I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself."

"And Chris?"

"And Chris."

"Wyatt," said Leo, his voice tired, frustrated. "It's my job to take care of you both."

"And you're doing such a swell job," said Wyatt.

"Wy…"

"You don't get to call me that," snapped Wyatt. "Only Chris!"

Leo raised his arms. "Look, I just wanted to help you and Chris out. That's what I'm here for. I still watch over you guys and I come when you need me."

"We don't need you," said Wyatt, defiantly. "We never will."

"Wyatt—"

"Just stay away from us," said Wyatt. "Especially Chris!"

Leo sighed. "You know I can't do that."

"Then try!" shouted Wyatt. "And if you seem incapable of even doing, then I will make sure Chris is away from you!"

"I'm not a demon Wyatt!" said Leo.

"And you're not exactly an Angel either," snide Wyatt. "To Chris and I, you are just a little pest in our lives. A pest that we need to remove."

Leo frowned at his oldest son. He didn't like his son's tone or attitude. The way he said that last sentence frightened Leo. Wyatt wouldn't kill him, would he?

"Wyatt, you have a lot of anger in you," said Leo. "Maybe having too many charges is stressing you out. Maybe I should ask the Elders to revoke Chris and the family as your charge? Give them to someone else."

"You wouldn't," said Wyatt.

"I just might," said Leo. "For your own good."

Leo and Wyatt eyed each other, neither one of them looking away from each other. Neither one wanted to surrender. Neither one wanted the other to win.

Suddenly more orbs came into the office and Gideon appeared in the room. He looked from father and son, not saying a word at first. He didn't even know how to approach the two glaring family members.

"Uh, is everything alright?" he finally asked.

Neither Wyatt nor Leo looked in his direction. Gideon walked closer to the two of them.

"Uh, Leo?"

"Don't worry Gideon," said Leo still looking at his son. "Wyatt was about to leave."

With that statement, Wyatt started to orb away, but his glare warned Leo to stay away from the family. A warning Leo wouldn't listen to. He wasn't going to give up on his sons. Not Chris. Not Wyatt.

Wyatt. Something was troubling Leo about his eldest son. There was something different about Wyatt.

BREAK

Chris was sitting up, waiting for his older brother to return. He wanted to call Wyatt back down, but he knew it would be useless. Wyatt was already up there, dealing with Leo and the Elders.

That is what worried Chris. He was afraid Wyatt would do something regrettable. Something that would cause him to lose his all mighty powers. Chris didn't want to be the reason for it. He didn't want his brother to lose his powers all because he was trying to defend Chris.

Chris was burying his face in his arms when he heard the sound of someone orbing into his bedroom. Chris stood up and sighed when he saw Wyatt standing in the middle.

"Wyatt!" said Chris and he went to his brother. "What happened? Where did you go?"

Wyatt, his face still reeling from his anger towards Leo, stared back at Chris. "I was in the Heavens, but you already knew that."

Chris nodded. He did. "Wy," said Chris, his lips trembling. "What did you do?"

Wyatt stood stoic. "I just had a little chat with our father," Wyatt walked past Chris and went to the door. "You don't need to worry about him anymore Chris. I won't let him interfere with our lives."

"Wy!"

"What?"

Chris stood in front of his brother, his legs shaking a bit as he gulped. "You…you didn't hurt him, did you? I mean…you didn't—"

"I didn't kill him Chris," answered Wyatt firmly. "I wouldn't do that. He might be a lousy father, but he's still our father and he's a part of this family. What I said before was just an emotional statement. I wouldn't do that."

"Besides," said Wyatt. "I'm not the killing type, Chris."

"I know," said Chris. "I was just… I didn't want you to get into trouble."

Wyatt smiled. "Thanks, little brother, but I take care of you, not the other way around, okay? So, don't worry about me."

Chris nodded, but he was lying. He will always worry about his brother and his family. It was just who he was.

"But," said Wyatt. "If you see Leo, anywhere at all, you call for me okay? I won't let him bother you again. Got it? I wont let him hurt you again. I took care of the situation."

"You didn't have to do that Wy," said Chris. "I could have handled it."

"I didn't want you to," said Wyatt. "As your new whitelighter and your old brother. It's my job to take care of you. I wanted to do it for you."

Chris stared at his brother. Chris still wished that he handled the whole situation, but he was happy to know his brother cared about his well-being.

Wyatt opened the door "Good night," he said, walking out.

"Good night."

The door closed shut and Chris was alone in his room.

Chris hopped back into his bed and started thinking. Chris knew his brother wouldn't kill. It's just, his last statement felt so real as if he would have killed Leo. Chris shook his head. Wyatt wouldn't do that. He was created by two forces of good. That's what his parents had said. He was the Twice Blessed, the most powerful good magical being to ever walk the Earth.

Yeah, thought Chris. Wyatt wouldn't hurt a soul. Especially his family.