Chapter 12

Weeks later, Henry allowed his children to help him with groceries, but he knew the reason why they were so helpful. They thought if they were good they could go and watch the new Disney movie. It wasn't going to happen, but that didn't stop Henry from letting his kids help unload the brown bags.

When all the groceries were in their proper places in the kitchen, the kids ran off in every direction of the house. Henry went over the phone and dialed.

"Hello Uncle Henry!" said the receiving line.

"Hey, there champ," said Henry. "How are you?"

"Good, Grandpa is going to take me out golfing later today. I don't know why though. I thought I was grounded for a month."

"Well, Chris, maybe you were grounded from just hanging out with friends and their parties," said Henry. "Not from family activities."

Henry heard a sigh. "Yeah, probably. Oh well, it'll be nice getting out of the house."

"Glad you're thinking positive," said Henry. "How many more hours of community service?"

"Mortal or magical?"

"Mortal, the one you have to do for underage drinking."

"All done. I managed to finish my last hours yesterday working at the homeless shelter."

"That's good," said Henry. "So, I have to ask, how was the whole situation with you and your dad?"

"You ask this every other day, you know? But, I haven't seen him since that night."

"Really?" said Henry, surprised. "I thought you said you were going to handle the situation and talk to him?"

"I was, but when Wyatt found out, he left and went up to the Heavens."

"So you made him handle the situation?"

"No. I didn't. I told him I didn't want him to do that, but he said he didn't want me to do it. I don't know. Either way, I haven't seen him."

Henry shook his head. "Chris, did you ever think of calling him down?"

"Yes."

"Then why don't you?"

"Because a part of me doesn't want to see him."

"Chris…"

"I know Uncle Henry. I know. You don't need to nag me."

"Apparently I have to," said Henry. "It's been three weeks, Chris. You should of handle the situation in the first week."

"I know, but it kind of was…"

"Wyatt's intervention doesn't count," said Henry. "Now, tomorrow, I'm going to call and see if you have talked to him. Okay?"

Henry could hear Chris groan. "Alright, alright, I will. I promise."

"Good," said Henry and then he heard the doorbell ring. "Chris, I gotta go, but talk to your dad."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye." Henry hung up and walked over to the front door.

He opened the door to see a brown suited UPS man standing in front of him. He couldn't be more than forty years old and the brown cap he was wearing smashed his mousy hair down. In one arm he was holding a clipboard and in the other, he was holding a box. He was chewing gum and when he saw Henry standing before him, he handed him the clipboard.

"Sign here please."

Henry took the clipboard and signed his signature on the dotted line. The UPS man then handed him the box. "Have a nice day, sir."

"You too," said Henry and he closed the door.

Henry heard footsteps running down the stairs and he looked up to see his twin girls.

"Daddy what is it?" asked Hannah and Hailey stared curiously at the package.

Henry flipped the package over and looked for the return address. There wasn't one, but it was addressed to him. "It's probably something from work," said Henry. "No toys." Hannah and Hailey groaned.

"Ah man," said Hailey and the two girls ran back upstairs.

Henry shook the package and whatever was inside banged around. Henry opened the package and he pulled out a blank DVD.

"What the?" he said and he looked inside the box, but didn't find a note or anything else. Wondering what the DVD was, Henry went to the television set and insert the DVD to the player. He set it to the correct input.

Henry waited and, then, the television flickered. Henry knew the scene. It was the inside the police station. There were two people in the screen and Henry's face paled. It was himself and Chris. The night when Chris got drunk. But, that was impossible. If magic was exposed, then the Cleaners would have done something, right?

Henry watch as Chris raised his hands the light fixture flew off and crashed several feet away. He then saw Chris sparkling and realized that he was witnessing Chris orbing.

Henry shut the television off. He pulled the DVD out of the player. This was a serious matter.

"Coop!"

Suddenly, a pink glow appeared in the family room. Coop appeared and he was rubbing his hands. "Hey Henry," he said. "What's up?"

Henry held up the DVD. "We have a serious problem."

BREAK

Wyatt was home alone. Chris and Grandpa were gone. They went out golfing and Wyatt said he was too busy to go golfing. In fact, he was lying. He did have the time, but he didn't think golfing would be useful for him.

While he was home, the UPS guy arrived and delivered him a package. Inside was a DVD. Wyatt put it in and watched with fury and alarmed. Whoever delivered the DVD knew who Chris was.

Wyatt turned the TV off. He thought Chris said no one saw anything except for Uncle Henry. A lie. Someone obviously saw the whole thing and recorded it. Wyatt needed to do something fast before something happened to Chris. After all, Wyatt was his brother's whitelighter and it was his job to protect him.

Then the doorbell rang. Wyatt, annoyed walked over and opened the door to see an older man. He had brown blonde hair. He also looked very posh, well kept, and acted very confidently.

"Hello?" said Wyatt.

"Hello, I'm Nathaniel Pratt the DA here in San Francisco," he said. "Is Victor Bennett home?"

"No."

"Is any adult home here?"

"Yes."

Nathanial Pratt smiled. "May I speak them?"

"You are."

Nathaniel Pratt eyed Wyatt. "You?"

"I'm eighteen," said Wyatt. "That's an adult. So, what do you need to say?"

"May I come in?"

Wyatt opened the door wider and allowed the man to enter the Manor. The DA walked down the hallway and he looked at his surroundings. Then he saw the television and the opened package next to it.

"I see you got my present," he said turning to Wyatt.

Wyatt glanced at the empty package and then back at Nathaniel Pratt. "You sent that to us?"

"Yes, Wyatt. To you and to your Uncle Henry," he said, a smile on his face and Wyatt stared at him questionably. How did the man know his name?

"What did you think of the graphics? Interesting huh?" said Nathaniel Pratt. "I thought they were, but the funny thing is that I took it right off the security footage from the station, so there aren't any graphics used."

Wyatt's eyes sparked. There was only one thing why that man came knocking on their door and delivered a package of Chris using magic. He wanted something. "Get on with it," he said. "What do you want?"

"I want to borrow Christopher for a little bit," he said. "The elections are coming up and I would really like to be, oh let's say, mayor?"

"That's all you want?" Wyatt was furious. An election race? He wanted to use his brother to cheat the system and win.

"No," said Nathaniel Pratt, a cocky smile playing on his lips. "I want to become governor, then senator, and then President of the United States. And your brother will be a great help in making all of those things come to play."

Wyatt clenched his fist, electricity bursting inside his fist. "I won't allow that."

"Sorry to hear that, son," said Nathaniel Pratt. "I guess I'll just have to drop my extra copy of the DVD into the envelope mailed to the nearest newspaper business."

Wyatt's blue eyes turned to ice. "It won't work. I will stop you."

"Are you threatening me?" asked Nathaniel Pratt, slightly amused. "You, a kid?"

"I won't let you use my brother," said Wyatt, dangerously as he felt a power surge in his body.

Nathaniel made a small 'oh' with his mouth. "I see," he said. "Playing the protective older brother. Well, if you really want to protect him, I suggest that you help me because if you don't…"

A sinister smile twitched on his lips. "Well, let's say I have the power to eliminate certain, uncontrolled, unnatural things such as your little brother. If I find them threatening or dangerous, which I'm sure the public would find your brother very dangerous."

Nathaniel Pratt noticed Wyatt's face turning darker and his eyes blazing with rage. "Just think about it Wyatt," he said. "You have two options: Allow me to use Chris or expose him to the world with the chance of him being killed."

Nathaniel Pratt opened the door. "Have a nice day!" he said with a jolly, cocky smile.

Nathaniel Pratt closed the door behind him and walked away from the Manor, leaving Wyatt to blow up the grandfather clock with the energy ball he created in his hands. He couldn't let Chris be used. He had to protect him. That was his job. Both as an older brother and as a whitelighter. It was his job to take care and protect his brother. With that, Wyatt orbed out of the Manor.

BREAK

"Now, hold the club like this," said Victor, demonstrating to his grandson on how to hold a golf club. There were on hole 5 and Victor decided he needed to show his grandson how to hit a ball properly before going on with the rest of the holes.

Chris grabbed his club and held it the same way that his grandfather was showing him. "Like this?"

Victor looked up and nodded his head. "Yes, just like that."

Chris swung the club a little bit and Victor smiled. "You got it, Chris," said Victor. "Now, let's try it with a ball and aim."

Victor set the ball up and Chris went up to hit it. He used the same proper way and he swung. He heard the golf club hit the ball and both he and Victor watched the ball fly and drop on the green. Victor smiled.

"You see," he said, patting his grandson's back. "I knew you had it in you."

Chris blushed slightly at the compliment. "Thanks grandpa."

Then Victor's cell phone started to ring. "Hold up," he said and he pulled out his cell phone. "Hello?"

"Victor?"

"Yes," he said to the phone and Chris watched with curiosity. "Who's this?"

"It's Henry," said the receiver. "I need to talk to you quick. Both Coop and I need to talk to you. We tried calling the Manor, no one picked up. Do you have the time to swing by?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, staring at Chris. "I'm at the golf course with Chris."

"Good," said Henry. "Bring Chris too. Don't orb though. Drive."

"Okay," said Henry. "See you soon." Henry hung up.

Victor closed his phone and pocketed it. He stared up Chris, his forehead lined with worries. "That was your Uncle Henry."

Chris lowered the club. "What's wrong?"

"He didn't say," said Victor. "But it sounded serious. We should get going. He's waiting for us to come to his house."

Chris put his gold club away. "Okay, should we orb there?"

Victor shook his head. "Henry said to drive. No orbing."

Chris looked surprised, but didn't bother Victor with any more questions. The two ended their gold trip and went back to the car. Chris loaded the clubs in the trunk and Victor took the driver's seat. They drove out of the parking lot and headed straight to Henry's house.

When they arrived, Chris and Victor rang the doorbell. Henry answered the door and hurried them inside. "We have a serious problem," he said, leading the two to the family room where Coop was sitting on the couch.

Chris could hear his cousins laughing upstairs, probably unaware of the tension downstairs. Henry turned to Chris. "You might want to sit down Chris."

Chris lowered himself next to Coop. He glanced at both his uncles. "What's going on?"

Henry and Coop sighed and then Henry turned to Victor. "You will need to sit down too."

Victor sat down in the chair, worried about what Henry and Coop were about to tell him and Chris. Chris glanced at his grandfather, but they both had puzzled facial expressions. Henry sighed and then clicked the play button on the remote and the TV's dark screen flickered to a black and white scene of the SF police station. There, sitting at one of the desks was Chris and Henry. Chris recognize, well, figured, it was the night when Chris was arrested. Then he saw what his uncle had informed him. The light fixture flew several feet away and he tried to orb. Victor had a frown on his face, clearly unhappy what he was seeing, while Chris tried to hide his face. It was definitely an embarrassing moment in his life.

Then Uncle Henry turned if off. Victor and Chris were quiet. He didn't really understand why they were watching it. He waited for either Coop or Henry to speak, but they were both egging each other to speak. Finally, Henry spoke.

"Chris, don't tell the kids of what you just watched," he said. "I don't want them to worry."

Chris nodded his head. "Okay, but I thought they already knew about this."

"The whole arrest, yes," said Henry. "But not the DVD."

"What's going on Henry," said Victor. "What's happening?"

Henry sighed and stared over at Chris. "I got this DVD in the mail. With no return address." Chris and Victor turned pale and turned to look at one another before turning back to Henry.

"What?" gasped Victor.

Henry took a deep breath. "Someone knows about Chris. They know he's a witch. This is blackmail."

Victor shook his head. "No, no, this cannot be happening!" he said. "Henry I thought you made sure no one was around? I though you said you took care of it?"

"I did," said Henry. "I went back to the security room and took the tape for that day, but someone must have switched the tapes."

"Didn't you even look at the tape?"

Henry shook his head. "I just took it and burned it," he said. "But, we need to focus on finding a way to stop this person."

"You mean kill them?"

"No, Victor," said Coop. "Henry meant to stop them from blackmailing us. To stop them from exposing the magical world."

Victor understood, his face posed, thinking. "There was no letter or anything?"

Henry shook his head. "No, so we might be expecting either a phone call or even a personal visit."

Chris listened and his body felt so cold. He was in trouble. Big trouble. Not with his family members, but with the rest of the magical world. He had exposed them. He wished Wyatt were with him. He would feel a little better if Wyatt was here.

"I think we should call Leo," said Henry and everyone in the room turned to look at him.

Chris shook his head. "No, no, we can't."

"Chris we need help," said Henry.

"Then let's call Wyatt," said Chris, his voice confident. "He would know what to do."

"I know Wyatt is all powerful, but we need help from someone with higher power," said Coop. "You can call Wyatt here if you like, but I believe Henry is right. We need Leo's help."

Chris stood up. "I don't need him," said Chris. "Wyatt and I can solve this problem."

"Chris—"

Chris looked at his relatives. They all had the same look on their faces: confused and worried. He knew he was going to be out ruled, so he sat back down on the couch. Henry and Coop turned to Victor. "Should we call him?"

Victor raised his hands up. "I never liked him, but he's the only chance we got to fix this, so," he turned to Chris who looked like he was in agony before turning to Henry and Coop. He sighed. "Go ahead."

Henry nodded his head, while Coop turned to Chris. "Okay, Chris," he said and Chris looked up. "You want to call him. He is your dad. He'll hear you better."

Chris sighed. He didn't want to, but he knew that it was true. Even though he didn't want to be connected to his father, he couldn't cut the bond that their blood created.

"Fine," said Chris and he closed his eyes, dropping his head down in defeat for calling the one person he thought he would never have to call. "Leo! We need some help."

Nothing happened, but Henry and Coop persisted him to call again.

"Leo! Leo!" shouted Chris, but still nothing happened. "DAD!"

Leo didn't come. There was no jingle or bulb lights in the family room. He didn't come. Chris looked up at Henry. "I told you," he said, nonchalantly. "He's too busy up there to care about what's happening to me."

Henry didn't want to believe that, but from what he was seeing, he was beginning to think it was true. Henry turned to Coop. "Coop, do you want to go up there?"

Coop beamed away. Chris stood up and paced back in forth. "I told you Uncle Henry," he said. "Leo doesn't give a fuck about me."

"Stop saying that, okay?" said Henry. "There might be something else that caused him not to hear you."

Chris doubted it and he kept pacing back in forth stopping next to Victor when Coop beamed and another person orbed in next to him. They both formed to show Coop returning with Leo at his side.

"What's happening?" asked Leo, looking at everyone's face, stopping at Chris'. "Chris?"

"Hello Leo," said Chris, his voice not happy. "Having trouble hearing?"

Leo looked confused. "What?"

"Drop it Chris," warned Coop. "He's here now, so that can count for something."

"He only came because you took him."

"What's going on?" repeated Leo. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about when I called for you!" said Chris. "But it's okay. I wasn't expecting you to come when I called, anyways."

Leo wrinkled his eyebrows. "You called? I didn't hear you." Leo pondered, but then his face relaxed as he shook his head, muttering. "Wyatt."

"Wyatt?" said Henry, confused as to why Wyatt was involved in the miscommunication.

"Never mind," said Leo. "It's nothing. I'll talk to Chris about it later, but right now Coop said there was an emergency."

Henry nodded his head. "Yeah, there still is." Henry replayed the scene of Chris' drunken magic use on the television for Leo.

Leo watched intensely, his face hard to read. It changed to surprised, alarmed, and worried. When the video was over, Leo didn't say anything. He was contemplating on what to do. He glanced over at Chris.

"When did this happen?"

"A few weeks ago," answered Chris.

"When you were drunk."

"How did you know about that?"

"I'm your father, Chris," replied Leo and he didn't say anything else.

Chris wrinkled his nose at Leo and Victor patted Chris on the back. Chris looked down at his grandfather. Victor gave him a small smile and it made Chris feel a little better, though he would feel a whole lot better if Leo left.

"I'll have to talk to the Elders," said Leo, straightening up. "They might know what is going on, but in the mean time…"

Leo walked over to Chris, stopping just in front of him. "I think you should stay up in the Heavens," he said, "Just until this is all settled."

Chris backed away from Leo. "No, no I can't," he said looking from Leo to Henry to Coop, then to Victor. "I got school! I got things to do! What about Wy? I can't just leave him!"

"Calm down, Chris," said Leo, trying to ease his son's anxiety. "You're not going to stay up there forever. Only until this whole thing is taken care of."

"I don't want to go!"

"Chris, maybe you should listen to Leo," said Henry. "Whoever delivered this will try to either kidnap and use you or kill you."

Chris gulped. Nothing good of course. Story of my life, he thought. "So what, I'm just supposed to leave and let you guys get in trouble, or possibly hurt. I can't do that!"

"Chris," said Henry. "We'll be okay. It's you that we are worried about."

"And like Leo said," spoke up Coop. "You have to go up there. For protection. You won't have to stay there too long, Chris. We will try to make sure this is sorted out really soon."

Leo was glad that Henry and Coop were on his side. Though, upset that he couldn't convince Chris, he was happy enough to have two people on his side. "Chris, you have to understand," said Leo. "You're no good dead to any of us. It's best you stay up there where it is safe while the rest of us try to solve this whole thing."

"You shouldn't have to," said Chris. "I caused this. I need to solve it. Mom always told Wyatt and I that we have to deal with the consequences from our actions. It's my job to solve this, not you guys."

"Chris, we understand that you don't want us to deal with your problems," said Coop. "But, we're a family. A family member's problem is all our problem."

Chris shook his head. "No, it's my fault. I can't let you guys suffer."

Henry and Coop argued with Chris. They kept going back and forth while Leo and Victor watched it all. Leo rested his blue eyes on Victor. He needed Victor to agree wit him. If Victor told Chris to go, then Chris would. That was how much Chris loved Victor. Chris might be upset, but he would let Leo take him to the Heavens.

Victor shifted his weight as he noticed Leo looking at him. He knew Leo wanted Victor to tell Chris to go, but he also understood his grandson. Chris didn't want others to pick up his mess. He didn't want them to get involved in his trouble. He didn't want them to get hurt.

Yet, he couldn't let Chris get hurt. Not by some lowlife person who wanted to hurt him or use him. He wanted to protect his grandson and being a mortal, he couldn't. He had to do the best thing for him and that was to let Leo take him to the Heavens.

"Chris," spoke Victor, but Henry, Coop, and Chris arguing drowned his voice out.

"Chris?" Victor spoke up, but no affect. "CHRIS!"

The three died into silence. They all turned to Victor as the old man stood up. He turned to Chris, putting his hands on his young grandson's shoulders. "Chris, go with Leo."

Chris' face dropped as he shook his head. "Gramps, no," said Chris.

Victor shook his head. "No, Chris, go with Leo."

"But Grandpa," said Chris. "Please…"

"Chris," said Victor, his voice dripped with heaviness and sadness. "I know you don't want to go, but, please, for me, Chris. Go."

Chris' face fell. "Why?"

Victor brushed Chris' hair back, so that he could see his green eyes. The same eye color as his daughter, Prue. "Because I can't let you get hurt Chris," he said. "I won't let you get hurt when there's a chance to keep you safe."

Chris' green eyes sparkled with water. It didn't shed, but he turned away from his grandfather and held his hand towards Leo.

Leo looked up at Victor and silently thanked him with his eyes. Victor didn't respond. He just looked exhausted and sad. Leo understood. It's not easy to let someone go. But it was for the right thing.

Leo reached over to grabbed Chris' hand, when Chris was suddenly orbed away. Leo tried to snatch his orbs, but he couldn't grab hold. Henry and Coop were surprised and Victor just shook his head. Chris had fled.

"You shouldn't be here."

Everyone in the family room looked over to who said that. Standing in the hallway, they all saw Wyatt. His arms were crossed in front of his chest as he walked in the room, his eyes wild and staring directly at Leo.

Leo knew then that Chris didn't flee. Wyatt orbed him away. "Wyatt, where did you take Chris?"

"He's not your concern," scowled Wyatt as he threw his hand out at Leo and Leo flew past Henry and crashed into the cabinets as multiple CDs fell on top of him.

"Wyatt!" shouted Henry. "Stop!"

Wyatt raised his hands again, but Coop and Henry blocked his path towards Leo. "Wyatt, stop," said Coop. "Don't attack your father."

"I warned him," growled Wyatt. "I warned him that if he ever came near Chris…"

"He's here for Chris," explained Henry as Leo stood up. "Wyatt, there's a big problem. Leo is here to help. He was going to take Chris to the Heavens."

"Then it's a good thing I came and sent Chris away," said Wyatt and both Henry and Coop looked at him. "I won't let Dad take Chris back to the Heavens. They will only torture him again."

"Torture? Again?" repeated Henry and Coop.

"Daddy?"

Everyone turned towards the staircase and saw Penelope standing behind them all. She looked frightened and her skinny legs were trembling. Her eyes were wide. "Daddy is everything alright? We heard a crash."

Coop walked past Wyatt and to his daughter. "Yeah, everything's alright," he said. "Don't worry about a thing. Why don't you go back upstairs and stay there okay? Tell everyone else it was nothing. Just stay up there until we call you back down, okay pumpkin?"

Penelope nodded her head and looked over her father's shoulders. She smiled. "Wyatt!" she cried. "I'm so glad you're here! We haven't seen you since forever."

Wyatt grinned and walked over to his younger cousin. He gave her a loving hug and she hugged him back. "Yeah, I know, been busy trying to keep you guys all safe. Plus, I got a charge in Los Angeles to keep me away from you."

"That's not fair," she said and then she brushed her hair back. "You gonna stay and play with us?" she asked, but Wyatt shook his head.

"Nah, not today," he said. "Maybe Chris and I can come over another time. Okay?"

Penelope nodded her head. "Yeah, okay." Coop then told her to go upstairs again and she scampered up, glancing back at them before disappearing. Coop turned looked up the staircase and signaled that they the kids weren't eavesdropping. Coop walked back into the family room, going over towards Leo to help him, while Wyatt walked just a bit in, stopping not too far from Victor.

"Wyatt," said Leo, climbing out of the wreckage with Coop's help. "It's not like that," he said. "Chris has been exposed and someone is…"

"After him," finished Wyatt and all four men looked at Wyatt. "I know. I got the DVD too, but you don't need to get involved. I'm handling it. "

"Wyatt," said Victor and Wyatt glanced at his grandfather. "You should have come to us about the DVD. You don't need to do this alone."

"Don't worry," said Wyatt, confidently. "I have a plan. After all, I'm Chris' whitelighter. It's my job to do this."

"It's a family matter, Wyatt," said Coop.

"It's a brothers matter," corrected Wyatt.

"Where's Chris?" asked Leo, annoyed that Wyatt snatched Chris away from them all. From him. He wanted Chris back.

"Somewhere you can't find him," said Wyatt, his voice lined with steel. "Don't worry, he's safe, " he added for Victor, Henry and Coop who appeared worried.

Leo stepped closer to his son, making sure that he had plenty of room to dodge an attack. "So, it was you who blocked the transmission. You were the reason I couldn't hear Chris call my name."

Wyatt shrugged. "It was only to protect him from you."

"He was calling for me, Wyatt!" shouted Leo as he walked closer. "He needed help!"

"If he needed any help," said Wyatt, his voice bitter and shaking. "He would have called me because I wouldn't abandoned him." Wyatt's hands started sparking again.

Henry and Coop stopped Leo from approaching Wyatt and Victor rested his hand on Wyatt's to stop him from creating an energy ball. The electricity ceased.

"Enough," said Henry. "Honestly! Wyatt," Henry looked at his nephew. "Return Christopher here. Let Leo take him up there for a little bit. Then we can all solve this together."

Wyatt shook his head. "Sorry, Uncle Henry," he said. "I can't do that." Wyatt started to orb out, but Leo raised his hand and Wyatt came falling back down.

"You idiot!" shouted Wyatt. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Stopping my son from kidnapping my other son," said Leo as he lowered his arm back down. "Bring Chris back here, Wyatt. Right now."

Wyatt smirked. "You think you have control over me? Sorry to inform you, but you don't."

"Wyatt."

The voice was steady and calm. Wyatt turned to follow the voice and saw his grandfather. Victor's face seemed to have gotten older and more wrinkles had grown on his face in the past few minutes since he has been here. Wyatt eyed his grandfather, but he wasn't going to deny his grandfather to speak to him.

"Yes?"

"Do as your father says," he said.

"Why?" demanded Wyatt.

"Because, it will make us all feel better if Chris was somewhere we all knew and with people we can trust to protect him."

"Chris doesn't trust any of the Elders," said Wyatt. "And neither do I. I wouldn't trust them after what they did."

"Wyatt, we've been through this already," said Leo, but Wyatt glared at him.

"I'm not talking to you!"

"Don't raise your voice, Wyatt," said Victor and Wyatt frowned, but he didn't speak, "Please, just return Chris wherever you orbed him to."

Wyatt stared at his grandfather, making Victor feel uneasy, but then orbs sparkled next to Victor and Chris appeared, distressed.

"What happened?" asked Chris, shaking and looking around, but when he saw Wyatt, he calmed down. "Wy!"

"Hello Chris," said Wyatt, but he then eyed Leo. "Now, what are you going to do? Steal him away to Elder land?"

Chris remembered that was where he was about to go and he became sad. He didn't want to leave Wyatt and everyone behind. He didn't want to go to a place where there would only be Elders and Leo.

"It's for his protection, Wyatt," said Leo.

Wyatt scoffed, but then he turned to Chris. "If they hurt you or do anything else," said Wyatt, his fingers pointing at Leo when he said 'they', "You call me. Okay? I'll be there in less than a heartbeat to get you out."

Chris nodded his head as Leo walked and stopped beside him. "Okay," said Leo. "I'll take Chris and talk to the Elders."

Wyatt watched his father and his younger brother orb away. Wyatt closed his eyes, sensing for his brother. When he sensed him up in the Heavens, he frowned. "He was perfectly safe where I put him."

"We don't know that Wyatt," said Coop. "And you shouldn't have done that. Kidnapping Chris and attacking your father. What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing," said Wyatt. "I'm just doing what I thought was best for my brother. He shouldn't be with those Elders. I was just trying to protect him."

"Well, you can't protect him from everything," said Henry, but Wyatt's eyes slid to slits.

"Yes I can," snapped Wyatt. "I'm the Twice Blessed! I can protect Chris and all of you from everything!"

The three men were shocked. They never witnessed Wyatt so angry before. It was, frightening. They could feel the intense power radiating off of him.

"Wyatt, there are just some things magic can't protect," said Coop. "Like a broken heart for instance."

"I expected that answer from you Uncle Coop," said Wyatt. "But isn't it your job to heal those?" Coop grimaced and shifted his feet.

"That's not the point I was making, Wyatt," he said. "I was trying to show you that there will be times you can't protect us. For instances…"

"Death."

Everyone looked at Victor. He had a sagging smile on his face, but he looked tired. Very tired and old. "Wyatt, Coop and Henry are right. You can't protect your family from everything. Look at me for example. I cannot escape death. You cannot protect me from death. I will die in these coming years and there will be nothing you can do to prevent it. Chris and other will be in mourning. You cannot protect them from that pain. You just can't."

"However, you can help them heal," he said. "There's a difference between healing and protecting. For those that you cannot protect, you can heal."

Wyatt shook his head. "Not if I protect them first," said Wyatt, "Which is what I will do. I will protect my family."

Wyatt then orbed away from them. Henry sighed. Coop scratched his head. Victor closed his eyes and sat down. Henry looked back at his destroyed CD cabinet. "Goodbye to another furniture item."

Coop sat down on the couch and Henry sat down as well. "Something's different about that kid," said Coop.

Henry agreed. "He's really…angry."

"He's just upset," said Victor. "After these past few years, he's been very protective of his brother. Ever since Piper died, Chris had lots of close encounter with death. Plus, that whole event 'up there', it really put him over the edge."

"Yeah, what did Wyatt mean about the Elders and not trusting them?" asked Henry. "Chris said something about the Elders doing something too."

Victor shrugged. "I don't know. They didn't say, but whatever it was, it got Wyatt angry, Chris hurt, and it broke the father-son relationship even more."

Coop rested his head in his hand. "Well, someone should try to help that kid from going off the edge."

"He won't be pulled away unless he knows Chris is safe," said Victor. "All of his emotions are tied to Chris. As you witnessed, Chris didn't have to call Wyatt for him to come. Wyatt felt Chris' emotions and came orbing in to protect his brother. He sent Chris away and attacked the person he thought was the cause of it all. Leo."

Coop shook his head. "Well, I know Leo hasn't been a terrific father lately," They all nodded in agreement, "But, Wyatt still shouldn't have thrown Leo."

"Anger is a violent drug in the Halliwell line," said Victor. "It can make them do the unthinkable."