Author's Notes: Hi all! Chapter 12 here. As I'm sure you will see, this is a SHORT, short chapter. It wasn't intentional, really, but this scene would have only fit at the end of the last chapter, and I kind of wanted to leave it on a dramatic note, so I didn't include this. And since the next scene wouldn't do well with this attached, it gets its own chapter. I'm sorry about that, but you'll understand when you read next week's chapter, too. :D

I'm a little behind in writing, so I need to work on that this week, whenever I get the chance. Midterms and lots of reading are abound, so my free time is disappearing more and more each and every day. But I'm halfway through the next chapter, so as long as I can finish it and get it posted by Sunday, I'll have plenty of time to write more!

Destatikai: Yeah, Lilith in this story just wouldn't work. And that I think was before we knew a whole lot about her, if I remember right, so we were just like *makes up demons lolz!* and it worked for us. Loto was a character we sort of shifted back and forth in doing (though we never named him; I did for the story), which amuses me, because he's got a bit of both of our writing styles in him. I'm glad you can't wait to see :D But unfortunately, you're going to have to. At least another week, to say the least. ;D As for Dean, we mostly have Zane to thank for that, because he's got him down to a T, pretty much. I only modify a little bit what he wrote for Dean, so that it fits into what I change for the story.

Politics and Prose: Thank you! I was a little worried with the demon, since he's sort of nonexistent now that we know who actually held the contract, but! :D

Angelkat2502: Thanks so much!! Did you really read them all in a row? My goodness. That makes me feel so proud :D I'm glad you enjoyed them so much.

Again, sorry this chapter is so short in comparison to the others! Should be a quick read, though. Enjoy!!

Wyatt huffed. "Dean's year isn't up. If he took him, then that's a good thing. That means we're on the right track."

Chris stared at his brother, the words going in one ear and right out the other.

He was still in shock from what had happened. The stupid demon had been right there, and somehow, he had still managed to away. Chris felt like a failure, and that feeling burned deep inside of him.

"We'll figure it out," Wyatt went on to say, looking from his brother to Sam. "This is just a snag in the road, is all. Come on, guys."

The words obviously were intended to boost their morale, but Chris didn't think it would do the trick. He was more pissed off than anything else—and Wyatt should have known that it was near impossible to get him out of those moods when they hit. Disappointment was the furthest thing from his mind, really.

He turned toward the bed that lay upside down on the hotel room floor. He righted it with a wave of his hand. Then he sighed.

"We'll find him," he said, noticing the way Sam was staring blankly forward, his eyes distant.

"Someone will definitely have heard something from in here," Wyatt murmured. He cleared his throat. "We should grab your stuff and the car and make like trees, Sam. Come on."

Wyatt moved over to the open duffle bag on the floor, out of which spilled several shirts and other garments of clothing. The bag suddenly dematerialized, as did the clothes, reappearing nearby on top of the bed, fully prepared and ready to go. The older witch turned to his brother, who wore a focused expression.

"Fuck personal gain," Chris muttered.

At this point, he couldn't care less whether or not personal gain did something to him. Dean was already taken, and although they knew the demon in question, that didn't make things even. Though Loto could by no means kill Dean, he could beat him within an inch of his life, and likely would. Just the thought of that upset Chris, who stiffened his jaw.

Sam spoke for the first time since the incident.

"Dean's keys." In two strides he was at the kitchenette table. He picked up his brother's keys and pocketed them. He turned to Wyatt and Chris. "Come on, let's go."

Wyatt, Chris and Sam abandoned the room post-haste. Sam hopped into the driver's seat and nearly screamed out of the parking lot, leaving fresh tire tracks along the way.

The thought briefly crossed Chris's mind that the patrons in the hotel would see them leave. But, he figured they would deal with that if the situation arose. For now, he had other things to think about.

It was a short trip back to the manor thanks to Sam's driving. As they pulled up Prescott Street, the young witch groaned.

Of all the days for this to happen, he thought.

"Mom and Dad's car is here…"

Wyatt leaned forward, resting his hands on the back of the front seat. He, too, groaned. They had done such a good job at keeping things quiet that Chris was sure his brother was thinking just the same thing he was: this was a problem—a very big problem.

To his surprise, what Wyatt said counteracted that, as did his tone. "They were bound to find out eventually…"

Sam sounded confused, but somewhat eager. "Maybe they can help us. I mean, your mom and aunts are the Charmed Ones, right? The most powerful witches ever? Maybe they can find out some way for us to get to Dean?"

"No," Chris said almost immediately, and when he did, Sam's expression grew somewhat angry. "No…what I mean is, we just—we can do this ourselves. We have Dean's things. We'll scry for him. And if we can't find him then it means he's in the Underworld somewhere. And even if that's the case, then we'll find some way to get ourselves to him, or him to us. We have those incantations to summon the demon. We'll modify them. We can do this."

Sam stayed quiet, for which Chris was thankful. But Wyatt sighed beside him.

"All right, Chris. We'll try to do it ourselves. But, if something starts going wrong, I'm telling Mom and Dad."

The car came to a stop alongside the curb, and all three climbed out. Chris stalked up the pathway toward the front door. Just as he was about to grab the handle, the door swung open. Mel, headphones in her ears and her attention elsewhere, bumped right into him, letting out a spooked yelp. Chris eyed her.

"God, Chris. Thanks for spooking me." Mel pulled out her headphones and looked from Chris to Wyatt and Sam. "What're you guys doing home?" she asked, perplexed. "I thought you had things to do today."

"Mel, hey." Wyatt furrowed his brow. "Some things have, uh…come up. You busy?"

Chris wondered if bringing Mel into the situation was the best thing to do. In a way, she would be better than their mother and aunts, but at the same time, she was young, and this was very, very complicated.

"I was gonna go to the mall and hang out with Patty and Penny, but…" Mel shifted her gaze to Chris, whose face was tight with worry. "What's wrong?"

The two older witches shared a look before Wyatt guided Mel completely out of the house, shutting the door behind her. As Chris and Sam watched, he proceeded to brief her on what had just happened. By the end of it, Chris figured that yes, it probably was better that she know, and that she get in on it sooner than later. If it was going to take the Power of Three…

"So," Wyatt finished with a sigh, "we might need you. We don't even know where Dean is right now. We're gonna try and find him."

It never ceased to amaze Chris how serious his sister could become when the moment called for it. In a move reminiscent of their mother, Mel brushed her hair over her shoulder and nodded. "Just let me know. I'll help however I can. I'll be at Aunt Phoebe's later."

"Thanks," Chris and Sam said at the same time. They looked at each other.

Wyatt rubbed his hands together. "Come on, guys, let's go up to my room. We need to figure out what to do next."

As they parted ways with Mel, Chris waited for a moment and watched her make her way down the steps. He really hoped it wouldn't have to come down to needing her….

The three of them walked into the house with Chris soon leading the way. If necessary, he was fully prepared to distract his parents and keep them from questioning what was going on. Thankfully, they didn't have to worry about that. Wherever Piper and Leo were, they weren't anywhere on the ground floor, which gave Wyatt, Chris and Sam the green light to go straight upstairs and into the bedroom the two witches shared.

"All right, I just—I need that spell." Chris pat himself down. He blanched, realizing something. "Shit."

"What?" Sam asked.

"We left the books downstairs!"

"I'm on it."

Wyatt waved his hands upward, and in a split second the large collection of books from downstairs appeared on his bed, stacked neatly into three petite piles.

Focusing on the book with the summoning spell—whose name escaped him currently—Chris held his hands out, palms up. "Book." The required book orbed into his hands, with the page staring him right in the face. Without a second thought to it he took it over to his desk so that he could rewrite the summoning spell.

"What can I do?" Sam asked. His movements were tense, indicating just how ill at ease he felt.

Wyatt pressed his lips together. "You guys know wards, don't you? You had them when we first saw you. Do you know any for demons?"

"Off of the top of my head, just the basics," Sam replied. "I mean, the salt barriers and traps, stuff like that." The tone of his voice gave away more of his discomfort. After a few moments he suddenly asked, "How's the spell coming?"

Chris felt strangely confident about his rewrite. He didn't know for sure if it would work, but he hoped to high heaven that it would.

"I'm done."

He walked over to the two and gripped Wyatt's arm, then gestured for his brother to take hold of Sam's. Once they were all grasping hold of one another, he began to chant:

"Demon of tricks, demon of lies, no longer shall you hide behind your disguise. With this power we reveal all, and so shall appear beside you with our call."

Chris expected to be lifted away and carried to Loto's lair, but he didn't feel himself going anywhere. When nothing happened at all, he grew quickly frustrated. Was the wording wrong? Was it something else?

"What the hell!"

Wyatt sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Son of a bitch."

"Why didn't it work?" Sam inquired, somewhere between mildly frantic and exasperated.

"He's probably got wards up, just like I thought before, and forgot." Chris was so angry with himself for having done something so stupid. He should have thought it through…he should have considered all angles, as he always did.

Maybe Wyatt was right. Maybe this issue with Dean was clouding his better judgment. These were elementary mistakes he was making, and it was killing him.

"Come on," he announced. "We're gonna scry for him."

With a groan, Wyatt said in complaint, "If he's got wards up, it's gonna make scrying a bitch. He could be anywhere, and even with the both of us looking, it'll take forever." He stared at Sam momentarily. But, he relented. Giving another sigh, he went to the smaller of the two bookshelves in his room, tugging down a couple of maps. He placed them on Chris's bed.

"Let's start with the U.S. map first and narrow it down from there," Chris suggested. "Once we figure out where they are, we'll have to find a way in. Who knows what he's got protecting the place."

Loto the demon power breaker was going to regret messing with them, he thought angrily. Of Piper's three children, Chris was by far the most resilient and focused.

They would find this demon…and when they did, he was going to pay. Oh, he was going to pay.

Chris called for a scrying crystal, looking around for a moment before also summoning one of Dean's shirts from the bag Wyatt had brought in. With it balled up in his hand along with the chain for the crystal, he began swirling it in large arcs over the map. Wyatt followed suit, taking the map of California and swirling his crystal around it with Dean's cell phone in his hand.

This continued for at least a few minutes; the silence had grown to a thick miasma that hung heavily in the air. The scrying seemed to come to no avail. Wyatt looked up at Sam, disappointment stricken into his features.

Sam reached out to grip hold of Wyatt's wrist. "Here, try it now."

Chris looked up. He supposed that was a smart move, since there seemed to be nothing nearer and dearer to Dean's heart than his brother. For a while nothing different happened. But, soon the crystal's arcs tightened, which excited the older witch. However just as soon as the crystal seemed to react it stopped, leaving them right back where they started.

"Damn it," Wyatt muttered. "Almost…." He blinked, glancing up at his brother with an idea glinting in his eyes. "Hey. Chris. You and Sam might be able to get a better link."

Chris didn't stop the crystal's broad swoops across the map as he extended his free hand for Sam to take. The younger hunter's hand was much larger than his, and warmer, too, but he ignored that fact as he focused harder on Dean's face, his laugh, and his smile. Anything to keep his image vividly fresh in his mind.

"If this doesn't work…" he trailed off.

Wyatt stopped scrying to lend his power to Chris; he gripped his brother's shoulder and stared down at the map of the United States intently. Chris felt like his own stare would burn a hole through it, so focused as he was. He could feel the crystal's gentle jerks this way and that, but he paid them no mind until the crystal suddenly began spinning, changing direction mid-arc. It quickened its pace and had seemed to hone in on something, but as soon as Chris's spirits rose, the crystal shifted, swinging freely once more.

The young witch felt like something inside him might snap then. It was hard for him to deal with this, especially now since the crystal had no idea where it was going. The wards Loto had up were far too powerful for them to even try piercing through.

After a few moments Chris finally just gave up, loosening his grip on the crystal and Dean's shirt. Both fell onto his bed.

"I don't think we're gonna break through," he murmured, trying not to sound as defeated and frustrated as he felt. "I hate saying it, but we might just have to…wait."

He expected Sam to yell at him, or even to sneer, growl—something to signify his frustration.

Sam's response was the complete opposite. The younger hunter gave a solemn nod, running his hand over his face. "You're right. We're all just exhausted and totally unfocused right now."

"We need to get some rest and come at this when we've had time for the shock to wear off," Wyatt said, sounding pained as he said it. He felt horrible, and Chris could tell. Wyatt never liked waiting if he didn't have to. "Sam, Stay here with us, all right? You need to rest just as much as Chris and me. Dean isn't going anywhere right now, and we'll not be a damn bit of good to him if we can't get our spells and everything focused."

Sam sounded disappointed. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

Chris sure as hell hoped they were.