Finally! I know it's been a while, but it's here at last, assuming of course anyone even still remembers this fic...Ah well, I don't have much time, for brooding or otherwise, so I can't bother with the usual over-sized AN that goes here. A huge thank you to History Buff 1990 for beta reading this, and resisting the powerful temptation to correct my grave American misspellings.

Disclaimer: See the previous 13 chapters...I haven't become horrendously wealthy since then.

Reunion

Ryan blinked at the frenzied movements around him. He and Paige were standing in a large room made from marble and stone. Bookshelves lined the walls, and tables laden with papers were scattered around the room. The room was buzzing with kids and the occasional adult clad in black robes.

Several kids waved at or called out to Paige as they hurried by. She responded in such a perky fashion that Ryan was slightly unnerved, before turning on him. "This is the library but it's kind of in the middle of the building so everyone comes through here...Anyway, ready to start the tour?"

Before she could drag him off again an attractive girl with expensive looking designer clothes and long blond hair approached them.

"Professor Matthews!" she exclaimed loudly, "I haven't seen you in a while! I haven't seen Wy either!" She said this with a dreamy look, which only intensified when she finally noticed Ryan standing next to Paige.

"And I definitely haven't seen him before!" she whispered as she leaned close to Paige, "He's cute! He's got nothing on Wyatt though! And why is he so red...is he sick or something?"

Paige rolled her eyes. "Well Carmen, I'd say it's because your idea of whispering is audible from at least five feet away...and he's standing right next to us." She sighed. It was bad luck running into Carmen right at the start, Paige figured it would be hard enough already to convince this kid to come here willingly once he saw how bizarre everyone was.

Ryan was blushing and staring hard at the floor, and Carmen was now giggling as she realized that the boy would be fun to mess with. Paige decided to intervene...Carmen kind of creeped her out anyway.

"Look...Carmen, Wyatt is...away, and you know very well that even if he wasn't your not allowed to come within shouting distance of him without supervision. And don't say he's yours, there's more than one Halliwell who would be angered by that." She couldn't help but smile in amusement at the thought of what Piper would say to the remark.

Carmen pouted, but relented. "Fine. You don't have to be so rude about it." Then her face brightened. "Before you go, could you give me Wyatt's number? He must have made a mistake when he wrote it down for me, every time I try it this angry Asian man answers the phone..."

Paige sighed again as she waved her hand toward the girl, saying "Wherever your supposed to be," in an annoyed tone. Carmen instantly vanished in a frenzy of blue light.

Paige turned her attention back her newest housemate. "It's safe to look up now Ryan, it's gone." She said with a wry smile. "That was Wyatt's wannabe girlfriend and full-time stalker. Which is unfortunate because she has the power of verbal hypnosis...so, I advise you to ignore her, everyone does anyway. Now, come on, I'll show you my office."

Ryan mutely followed the bizarre woman, afraid to wonder who or what they'd run into next. He noticed he was attracting a few stares, which didn't seem that odd: In a close-knit and secret community such as this one, strangers were bound to be obvious, even in a crowd. Especially when they gawk at everything around them. He was trying not to but he was overwhelmed. He'd been by himself ever since his mother died, and had no idea that there were so many people like him who had powers.

Ryan couldn't help but envy Chris a little at that moment: He had a nice family, a good school, non-evil powers, and every aspect of his life was magic, so he didn't have to hide anything. If these people were serious about letting him stay with them, then maybe he could have some of that life. Then again, he'd learned the hard way that being too hopeful only led to disappointment.

He realized Paige was leaving him behind and picked up his pace.

Wyatt barely contained an audible gasp when he sensed his brother drawing closer to him. His evil self was distracted with ranting at his minions, so he hadn't noticed yet, but was sure to soon. Wyatt's grip tightened around the bars of his cell. What the hell was Chris thinking? There was no denying Chris' prowess at matters of stealth, but coming here alone was stupid, and Chris knew it.

After a few suspenseful minutes of waiting, Wyatt heaved a sigh of relief as the Source and his underlings disappeared in a cloud of dark orbs. Chris was very close by now, it was truly a miracle that he hadn't been noticed. It would be an even greater one if Wyatt could keep himself (or their mother) from killing Chris for coming down here.

Chris had just managed to avoid running straight into a kazi when all of a sudden he felt Wyatt's presence vanish from his mind. He was hiding in a side room and the stupid demon had stopped to chat with another of its kind. Just his luck.

After a moment's hesitation and no contemplation of the risks involved, Chris jumped from the room, pulling an athame from his coat and shot both hands forward. One stabbed the first demon, vanquishing him almost instantly, and the other knocked the remaining demon a safer distance away. Chris regained his balance just as the demon readied an energy ball. They launched their respective weapons at the same time, but Chris' aim proved to be the better: The demon was hit square in the chest, and Chris was left with a wound over his shoulder (which was still far too close to the heart for comfort).

Wincing and silently cursing both his luck and demons, he rushed on clutching his shoulder, hoping it wasn't too late to figure out what had happened ahead. Wyatt had been so close, he couldn't quit now!

Cursing through clenched teeth and moving as quickly as his need of secrecy would allow, he ran past an opening and did a double take. After making his way back, he saw a very worn down looking Wyatt standing in a large metal cage. Both brothers froze for a moment, each looking at the other with wide eyes, before Chris broke the silence.

"Wyatt!" he shouted, not caring who heard him, rushing forward to his brother. He was almost within reach of the cage when he felt a familiar, and dreaded, tingling sensation envelop him.

Wyatt watched, helpless, a terrible sinking feeling washing over him as he saw Chris disappear in a spiral of white lights.

"Send me back!" Chris roared before the spell had even finished depositing him in the attic. The spell gave his voice an echoing quality, and Piper and Phoebe were looking at him with surprise evident on their faces.

"Excuse me? Who-" Piper began, the beginnings of a spectacular lecture already starting to form.

"Send me back! I found Wyatt! I could almost touch him!" Chris interrupted with a pained look on his face.

This elevated the looks of surprise to shock. Piper was the first to recover, "Not a chance. You shouldn't have been down there in the first place. Phoebe, come up with a spell to send me where he just came from." Phoebe was already scribbling on a note pad.

"That's weird," Chris said, "I can't orb there."

Piper whacked him on the head, "What the hell are you trying to orb there for! Do you listen to anything!?"

"I should still be able to get close though," Chris muttered, and he almost got away before his mother snatched him out of the air.

"Try that again and so help me I'll bind your powers!" She growled. Chris scowled.

"Done." said Phoebe.

"Go fill your Aunt Paige in," Piper said, "and you'd better hope I don't find you down there. Was anyone with him?" Chris shook his head.

"Then we can't afford to wait on Paige, let's go Phoebe". She walked over to her sister and they read the spell out loud before vanishing with the same lights that had ripped Chris away from his brother.

The young Halliwell was torn. At first he'd had no intentions of obeying his mother at all, but now that he thought about it, Paige might be needed. He finally made up his mind, and closed his eyes. Summoning a mental image of his aunt, he orbed out.

"Mom!"

Piper whirled around in an instant. "Wyatt!" She had found her son!

At first a look of joy was shared between the two, but Piper noticed Wyatt's quickly turn to an expression of terror. "Behind you!"

Phoebe screamed. Piper again whirled around, and her heart stopped. "You..." Blackness encroached upon her vision, the screams of her sister and her son accompanying the darkness as it worked its way into her mind.

Carmen stomped down the halls of Magic School, headed for the Advanced Spellwork classroom. Professor Matthews was about to receive a piece of Carmen's mind. Orbing her away like that! How dare she! The only reason Carmen was ever nice to that woman was because she's Wyatt's aunt. Maybe if she commanded the hag to orb herself off a cliff she'd be more polite with her powers. She was just about to reach out and knock on the door to the witch's office when she heard a familiar voice issuing from within.

"...We have to hurry, I found Wyatt! No there's no time to tell you, just say the damned spell!"

Paige was reciting the spell Chris had hastily told her when the door burst open and Carmen flew into the room.

As she finished she took both Ryan's and Chris' hands in her own, thankful the spell was carrying them away before Carmen could interfere. She felt the soft white light envelop her, and then they were gone.

Carmen dove to the floor and just managed to grab one of Ryan's tennis shoes before the spell launched. For a moment, everything turned white, and then she crashed hard onto cold stone.

She looked up to see a scary looking man in all black holding an energy ball. Behind him she could see Wyatt in a cage, and two women on the floor in front of him.

"I-It can't be," Paige stammered, and Chris barely shoved her out of the way in time to avoid the energy ball. While they both fell to the floor, Ryan raised an arm and loosed a stream of fire toward their attacker, who dissolved into dark orbs. Wyatt yelped and jumped to the side as flames rushed through the bars of his prison.

Chris had recovered, and as soon as the man reformed, Chris sent him flying with a blast of telekinesis. To his surprise, the man vanished and reappeared behind him in an instant, chopping him on the back of the neck with a smirk. As Chris crumpled to the floor a large cloud of orbs condensed in midair into a rock flying straight for the man's face, missing only by inches as he sidestepped. He had an energy ball primed and thrown before the rock had even hit the ground.

Paige cried out in pain as the attack collided with her and knocked her into a wall. Ryan attempted another pyrokinetic strike, but the man easily avoided it and within seconds held Ryan's throat within his grasp. He was just about to crush the life out of the boy when something stopped him.

"Let go of him!" said an eerie voice, it's commanding tone imbued with a supernatural echo. Carmen was on her feet now, and her blue eyes had taken on an icy quality.

The darklighter instantly obeyed. "Now, orb yourself somewhere far away and forget how you did it." He disappeared in a haze of darkness and she sighed with relief.

"Someone get Wyatt out before that guy comes back," Chris said, holding on to the wall behind him and looking unsteady.

"How?" Carmen asked as she helped Paige to her feet, her voice back to normal.

"Ugh, Carmen how did you even get here?" Paige asked.

"I could try melting the bars," Ryan offered.

For answer Wyatt tried to shrink into a corner of the cell.

"Okay, here goes," Ryan said, holding both arms forward and concentrating the surge of fire at the bars in front of him.

Meanwhile, Chris was kneeling by his mother. "Aunt Paige, they need healing,"

"Yeah, well so do I," she groused as she walked over to join Chris, the front of her shirt still smoking. It only took a minute before the golden light had Piper and Phoebe back to normal. When she finished she noticed Chris' shoulder for the first time, and healed that too.

"How long will he do what you told him?" Ryan asked, looking at Carmen as he worked.

"I dunno, it doesn't last long, especially once he's away from me," She answered as she walked up to the side of the cage.

"It's okay Wyatt sweetie, I saved you and I didn't even know you were in trouble!" She reached her arms through the bars to try and hug him. He looked as if he might risk the flames to avoid her. Carmen squealed as she was tugged backwards by an invisible force. Chris stuck his tongue out at her.

Finally, Ryan lowered his arms and the flames faded. "That should be enough, knock them out with something," He said, panting slightly.

Chris waved an arm lazily and the red hot bars crumbled easily. Wyatt delicately stepped over them and right into Piper and Chris who simultaneously crushed him in a hug.

"No fair! They all get hugs!" Carmen pouted as the rest of the Charmed Ones joined in.

Chris broke away first. "Since we can't orb from here, we need to get away fast. There's a room at the end of this hall we can get out from, it's where I came in."

So the seven hurried down the dim passageway. It didn't take long for their luck to run out as they met a pack of demons. Two of them immediately took aim at Wyatt, who tried to orb out of the way, but nothing happened, only a few faint lights swirled around him. Just as he was about to be hit he felt a hand on his shoulder and then he felt as if he was twisting through the air. When he landed he saw dark orbs scatter from his form. The power felt foreign and nearly made him sick. Ryan rushed past him and dispatched one of the demons in a second just as another exploded in front of Piper.

Carmen hid behind Chris as three demons assaulted them. "Can't you tell them to off their selves?" Chris growled as he redirected an energy ball with a flick of his wrist.

"No I can't make anybody hurt themselves, I dunno why," she replied as one demon was vanquished by his own attack.

"What about each other?" Chris asked as he barely stopped an energy ball from smashing into his face.

"Too hard, watch out!" Came the breathless reply from Carmen.Phoebe appeared from nowhere and landed a kick so strongly on one demon's head that they heard his neck snap. Piper and Ryan fished off the last ones and soon they were on their way again, Chris constantly trying to orb, but to no avail.

"Man Wy that guy went through a lot to keep you from getting away, I still can't orb."

Wyatt said nothing.

The Source paced back and forth furiously. He couldn't remember how to get back! It was if a cloud had settled around his mind, concealing from him an ability he knew he'd been using since infancy. That girl's power had potential. He'd have to make sure to rob her of it before she was killed. He fumed and tried to remember whatever precious knowledge she had hidden from him for a few more minutes before a thought struck him.

"Rancor!" He bellowed. All the shadows of the cavern he was in seemed to fly to the center of the room, where they rose into the air and condensed into a black demon with two wickedly curved horns and menacing claws. Rancor was one of the three archdemons, incredibly powerful beings who answered only to Lord Wyatt.

"Take me back to the war room. Now!" the darklighter very nearly screamed with rage. The demon made a stiff bow and without question they both vanished in a wisp of blackness within seconds.

"Find Wrath and Rot and have them search the area for intruders," The Source ordered as soon as they arrived in his war room. He saw the empty prison before him and with a howl of rage decimated it with an energy ball, before flying from the room at top speed, determined to stop his foes from escaping.

He had severely misjudged their power. He had thought this world's version of himself to pose the only real threat (hence the need to kidnap him), but that girl with them had a very potent ability. And the apparent firestarter had potential. This Chris didn't seem much different from the one he knew in terms of fighting ability, maybe weaker due to inexperience, so he wasn't really concerned about him. He wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating them twice.

Suddenly a thought struck him. Their little procession was surely nearing the boundaries of hi anti-orbing magic. Wait...something was off about that sentence...orbing?

The veil of confusion that insolent girl had settled around his mind was rapidly dissipating. Comprehension soon dawned on him, and a malicious smile spread across his face.

"Mom go on, we'll hold them off!" Wyatt shouted as he threw an energy ball above him, causing rocks to rain down on the advancing demons. He silently gave thanks that his malfunctioning powers hadn't failed completely, maybe starving himself had helped a little after all. Chris was at his side, trying to keep the demons from getting too close. Piper was distraught because they were immune to her powers, Paige was hurt, and she felt responsible for Carmen, who was too drained from using her power earlier on such a strong opponent to help. Paige's leg was badly damaged from a fireball she hadn't been able to counter, and she was limping between Piper and Phoebe. They still couldn't orb, and the boys were becoming overwhelmed by the demons.

Suddenly, an explosion shook the room, and plumes of smoke surged forward to engulf the witches. When some of it cleared away, they saw a large red demon with spikes protruding from his shoulders holding a Source-class fireball in his hand. With a smirk he tossed it at the group. Chris and Wyatt both tried to force it away with telekinesis, but it was too strong. They leapt to either side as it streaked by, both brothers realizing belatedly that it was going straight for the Charmed Ones. Ryan appeared in front of the sisters in an instant, grabbed the nearest one (Phoebe), and orbed them out of harm's way.

Unfortunately, he still hadn't mastered this power, so they reformed three feet in the air somewhat upside down. This caused shock all around the room.

"Y-You can orb!" Chris said, stunned.

Ryan blinked, standing up with a wince. "I never thought to try since you couldn't...I'm sorry,"

"Don't be, just get us out of here!" Wyatt said as he swung with all his might, catching all five assaulting demons in a surge of telekinetic energy and slamming them into a wall. The red demon was barely down for a few seconds.

"Hurry!" Wyatt shouted as everyone huddled around Ryan. He closed his eyes and tried to picture the attic of the Halliwell Manor. At first, he felt the sensation of lifting away, but then he was abruptly brought crashing back down to the ground. The black clothed man from earlier was standing over them. The red demon and two others, a black one with long, curved horns, and a green one with a glittering black sting on his arm, were standing behind him. The Source sneered at the battered party of witches before him. He raised an arm high over his head and was preparing to cast a massive fireball down on them all when a bolt of electricity collided with him and sent him flying. Chris was standing over family and friends (mostly), smoke rising from his outstretched arm. He panted with the effort, and was a little dizzy, but at least it didn't knock him out this time.

"Ryan...hurry," he wheezed.

Ryan nodded and quickly resumed his efforts. Soon, they had dissolved into a cloud of shadowy particles and departed hostile company. Or so they thought.

"Wrath, Rot, after them!" Lord Wyatt commanded, blood splashing the ground in front of him as he heaved out his orders. The crimson and emerald demons vanished in an instant, and the remaining one helped his master to his feet.

Leo was ambling about that Manor, rapidly becoming increasingly concerned that he couldn't sense anyone, when he heard a loud thud from above.

When he orbed into the attic, he was greeted with a bunch of groaning and injured (in varying degrees) witches. At first he was relieved, absolutely elated when he saw Wyatt among them, but was alarmed to see that they had been followed. "Rot, kill the Elder, I'll get the rest," said a red demon with a wicked grin.

The other demon smiled in kind and lunged forward at Leo, a large black blade on his arm aimed at the stunned Elder. Leo scarcely evaded the attack, and a large portion of the wall it hit dissolved instantaneously.

Leo's eyes narrowed and he fired a round of lightning into the green demon, who howled in pain but somehow managed to avoid being vanquished. With one foe incapacitated, if not defeated, Leo turned his attention to the other, who was dodging Ryan's flames and Wyatt's Excalibur. Chris was trying to calm a sobbing girl who had acquired a nasty gash running down her side and Piper was helping Paige stand.

"Leo! Heal!" Phoebe cried frantically gesturing around. There were plenty of wounds to be healed.

He set to work, immediately heading for the girl Chris was with because her injury looked serious.

Wyatt, Ryan, and eventually Chris were gaining ground on the red demon, who had lost the better part of a hand to Excalibur and was now sporting several scorch marks. They heard a roar and saw Rot rushing at them. Without hesitation, Chris pooled all the anger (justified or not) into a burst of lightning that nailed the attacking beast, who again hurtled backward and collapsed on the spot.

This time it really was too much, and Chris briefly blacked out. He felt himself falling but then he stopped. He opened his eyes to find that Wyatt had caught him, and Ryan was standing in front of them, holding the red demon at bay while trying to see if Chris was ok.

Finally the demon realized that he was fighting a losing battle, and he teleported over to his fallen comrade, and swiftly departed with him, leaving the very weary forces of good to rest at last.

After everyone had been healed and some of the excitement had died down, Paige took Carmen home (much to her chagrin, and everyone else's relief), and the adults (after smothering Wyatt in not entirely unwanted affection) retired for the night. Things were finally starting to calm down. Chris had just returned with Ryan, having been to retrieve some of his furniture. It was difficult, but they somehow managed to fit an extra bed and chest of drawers into Chris' room. Ryan had gone straight to bed, but Chris had stayed up a while.

He lounged comfortably in a recliner in the living room, while Wyatt was lying on the couch, and they talked.

Chris wouldn't admit that he'd been terrified over Wyatt, and Wyatt was angry with him for sneaking into the Underworld alone. In the end, Chris called Wyatt overprotective and annoying, and orbed off to bed. But there was no heat in his words, and Wyatt knew Chris was as glad to see his brother again as Wyatt was to see him.

Chris sighed and sat down heavily on his bed. Ryan was snoring lightly across the room. Odd, he didn't seem like a snorer. What the hell is a snorer? And how do you seem like one? Chris wondered. I really need some sleep...

As he reached down to pull off his shoes, he noticed his notebook on the floor. Odd. Even stranger was the fact that it was open to a page containing a spell labeled "To Reveal One's True Nature".

As Chris' eyes moved from the notebook to the boy sleeping in front of him, and back again, he felt a twinge of suspicion. But that was quickly overpowered by curiosity, and he was soon on his feet again.

I know this has way more OCs than I originally stated it would, but the changed future didn't show up in the series so I really have no choice here...Anyway, I hope it was at least semi-decent.