A/N: Wow, what an awesome response on the last chapter. Thank you very much for all of your reviews, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

Disclaimer: Refer to first chapter.

Bound By Blood

By: Ada C. Eliana

Chapter 14: Reunion

"The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost." - G.K. Chesterton

"Family quarrels are bitter things. They don't go by any rules. They're not like aches or wounds; they're more like splits in the skin that won't heal because there's not enough material." - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Piper stood frozen to her spot on the floor, staring at her son; her son. The curly blonde hair, cold blue eyes, and intimidating demeanor – to think her Wyatt would grow up to be this man was unbelievable.

"Well Mom I think it's time we got to know each other a bit," Wyatt smiled, but there was no warmth in it. Paige and Phoebe were as helpless as she was, bodies trapped to the floor as they watched from across the room. He gestured his hand to shimmer just as someone came bursting into the room.

"WYATT!" Lena screamed, having recovered sufficiently to charge at him, her head throbbing and Cole helping to guide her actions.

Both acted simultaneously, as if the years of acting and deception had never occurred. In that moment they both were who they really were.

Wyatt fired an energy ball while Lena sent a fireball. The magical energies met in the middle and exploded, pushing Lena backward. Not willing to give up, she used her paternal powers and shot pure flame from her hands at her oldest cousin. Wyatt countered with a telekinetic wave. The two powers shot against each other. Lena's face was screwed up with effort, but slowly and surely Wyatt began to overpower her. Flames shot off from the impact point, setting the room ablaze. Wyatt looked like he was barely trying. He added more energy to the TK and had the fire and Lena flying. The flames caught hold of the walls, lighting everything into a blazing inferno.

"Wyatt, stop! You can't do this!" Lena shouted all pretence flying out the window at this threat to her family from the past.

"Then why don't you stop me? Come on, I'll give you a free shot," Wyatt announced holding his arms out and standing in place, the dancing flames casting a lurid glow on him, making his features seem demonic and holding even more malcontent.

Lena curled the fingers of her right hand, and then swept her left hand through the air around them. Everyone felt the temperature drop and the air stir, just waiting for her to make her move. Wyatt crinkled his forehead, unaccustomed to this particular attack and wondering just what his little cousin had in mind. Her eyes turned to a hard blue, and a second later she shot her power out at Wyatt. Air and water swirled around them and then combined and solidified, icing the entire room, putting out the fire, and freezing Wyatt.

Lena seemed apprehensive, and prepared an energy ball – just in case. A moment later, an explosion began with Wyatt at the epicenter. It knocked her backward, slamming her into the wall, her head smashing a window. Her vision swam, and darkness crowded into her vision. She was barely aware of a voice she knew quite well shouting "No!" before everything went black.

Chris dashed into the room as Lena's body fell face-first and still to the ground. Memories pounded through his mind; memories of bodies and death.

His mother on the floor of the Conservatory, her spirit hovering above her body as she told him she loved him one last time.

Aunt Phoebe's body within the coffin at her wake, layers of painstakingly applied make-up doing nothing to hide the look of terror and resolve that graced her once beautiful features.

Walking into the cavern and finding the bodies of his Aunt Paige, Prue, and Nel frozen forever in stone with identical expressions of horror on their faces.

Alec mouthing his last words to Lena as he crumpled to the ground, the Elders watching approvingly.

Lena crying as she told him of Tyler's body fading away.

The countless friends and companions he had in the Resistance slain by Wyatt's forces while acting on Chris' orders.

Bianca, impaled as blood spilled from her.

And now Lena, lying so still, her hair strewn about around her head.

"NO!" he screamed, sending a shaft of telekinetic energy at his brother. Wyatt seemed startled, and almost was hit. He steadied himself and grabbed his brother by the neck with TK, slamming his already abused body into the doorway and then releasing him to fall head-first to lie beside Lena.

"Chris! Lena!" Phoebe and Paige cried. Now the three Charmed Ones from the past were alone with Wyatt.

"Those two never could compete with me," Wyatt shrugged, turning his attention back to Piper. "Now I have something very special planned for you, mother," Wyatt smiled. A moment later he and Piper had shimmered from the room and Paige and Phoebe were free to move about again.

They immediately went to the two young people sprawled in the corner.

They were in Lena's living room, unable to enter the Vault as it only responded to her touch. Chris sat upright on the couch, the first of the future Halliwells to wake up, and he held Lena close to him, afraid for her safety because of the danger he and the Halliwells from the past had pulled her in to. He had always wanted to protect her, even if it meant hurting her – like it did when he agreed that she should remain with Wyatt before she truly understood what it meant.

"Where would he take Piper?" Paige asked for about the millionth time. As usual, she did not receive an answer. Everyone felt weighed down with guilt, and none knew exactly what to do.

"Why did you come here?" Chris asked finally, pushing a stray lock of raven hair from Lena's forehead.

"To save you," Phoebe sighed. "We couldn't just leave you here."

"But apparently we should have planned better, because it all blew up in our faces," Paige admitted.

"It could have been a lot worse if Lena didn't find you," Chris informed them. At least this way they hadn't been vanquished when they appeared in the Manor.

"You're looking much better," Phoebe observed. He had changed into some spare clothes of his that Lena kept in the house, and before he did, Phoebe checked his wounds, which were nearly completely healed.

"The Kalos healing salve stuff, it works wonders," Chris smiled. "I just wish we had one to awaken the unconscious," he added, nodding at his cousin. "Once she's up we can try some Power of Four stuff to locate mom."

"You don't think he'd hurt her, do you?" Phoebe asked, suddenly afraid.

"No, Wyatt loves mom. But I do wish I knew what he wanted. Why would he only take her, and yet leave you two and me here? It doesn't make any sense."

They sat in silence for another moment as Chris felt Lena breathing, that simple act reassuring him. "You really care about her, don't you?" Paige asked, catching the look of familial love he cast on her.

"Well growing up with the Charmed Ones as your example of family… She's been a great friend for years, and I know she can take care of herself, but when I saw her crash to the floor like that – I just don't think I could handle losing her too."

"So why did she join Wyatt and not you?" Phoebe asked, wondering if the same idea of self-sacrifice in her that had once made a deal with the Source ended up in her daughter as well. She remembered Lena saying that she was evil and felt a cold shiver run up and down her spine. She knew what that overwhelming power and malice felt like all too well. Lena had told them a clearly abridged version of what happened, but she wanted to hear it from Chris, wanted to know for sure what exactly happened.

"Well it's a long story… I'll give you the short version. She originally made a deal with Wyatt, that if she joined him, he wouldn't hurt me, Tyler, or her father. Once he broke that promise she left, but after her father's murder he coerced her into joining again. Before I got away from Wyatt, we decided that she should stay in his organization. We were both worried that if she tried to stand in his way, he would kill her. We thought her joining would keep her safe – stupid, really stupid. We always trusted Wyatt too much," Chris scowled.

Phoebe studied her daughter's unconscious form, and then noticed the amulet that hung around her neck. Circular and embedded with a scarlet stone, it caught the light from the illusion windows and sent a prism of refracted beauty onto the wall.

"What's that?" Phoebe asked, reaching for it.

"Oh, that was Tyler's amulet, a witch gave it to him – a protection amulet. It redirects attacks on loved ones to the person wearing it," Chris responded vaguely.

"Who's Tyler again?" Paige asked quickly, realizing that Chris was suddenly answering all of their questions rather than deflecting them with his 'future consequences' mantra.

"Her whitelighter/boyfriend," Chris answered, her tone showing his disapproval.

"She's dating her Whitelighter?!" Paige demanded.

Chris paused. "Was. He's dead." Tyler had been a great friend to him for so long, and even convinced the Resistance that a Halliwell was worth saving from Wyatt. To remember that he had been murdered… just one more person on an ever-growing list.

"Oh my God, Wyatt killed him," Phoebe gasped, remembering Lena yelling about how Wyatt had killed her boyfriend.

"Yeah, let me just explain."

2023

Wyatt had thoroughly solidified his power, killed the Elders, and built his castle. He was now seeking to disseminate his supporters from enemies, and two people kept coming to mind – his only remaining relatives – Chris and Lena. Chris staunchly refused Wyatt's requests that he join, blabbering on about good and evil and how much their mother would disapprove of his actions. Even when he had held him in the skyscraper for almost a year he had never broken down and assisted Wyatt. Lena on the other hand never left him after her father's death, and she stood by his side. Her demonic powers had grown immensely, even though Wyatt could not see how she had made it happen. After her act of betrayal in assisting Chris in his escape, he began to wonder if she really were loyal, or if she were hoping to take him down from the inside.

Paranoid? Maybe.

But he knew the perfect way to test her loyalty to him. The Charmed Ones had always done everything they could to protect those around them, but he would force his little cousin to stand idly by and watch.

Lena's Whitelighter, Tyler, had become an increasingly annoying problem. He was against Wyatt's empire and had been trying to spread dissent among the magical community. That would not be tolerated. Wyatt also knew that Tyler was involved in a romantic relationship with Lena, and that he helped Chris escape. He need to be made an example of.

Knowing that his henchman were in place, Wyatt magically summoned Tyler to him, watching the blue lights coalesce into the form of an angel trapped forever in a twenty-one year old body. He had dark brown hair, cropped short and spiked, a bristle of facial hair on his chin, he was moderately handsome, and looked apprehensive about being dragged by Wyatt.

"What do you want, Wyatt?" he asked, cursing his stupidity for leaving the cloaked Resistance Headquarters to recruit more witches.

"I'm concerned about your relationship with my cousin," Wyatt began, placing a hand on Tyler's shoulder as if speaking to his best friend. Tyler stiffened and pulled away.

"This is about Lena?" he asked in disbelief.

"Why, Ty, what did you think it was about?" Wyatt laughed, Tyler watching him with suspicious eyes. "You see, Lena is much too fragile right now. And the last thing she needs is you trying to turn her against her family."

"Family? What, you? Lena's true to her mother, her aunts, her other cousin," Tyler protested with spite. Wyatt only chuckled.

"Oh Ty, you have quite a mouth on you. But I don't see that as being much of a problem anymore."

"Why?" Tyler questioned, eyes darting to and fro. Deciding he did not like Wyatt's tone nor the gleeful look in his eyes, he began to orb out. He made it as far as the ceiling before he hit a magical barrier and crashed back to the floor as he reformed.

"You think I would let you go that easily? Amusing, very amusing," Wyatt stated. "Well, I would love to chat some more, but I have an Empire to build." He stared at the defiant Whitelighter, and then commanded his hidden goons, "Fire!"

Eight Darklighter arrows soared through the air of Wyatt's Great Room, each hitting their intended target. Tyler's eyes bulged in surprise, and he dropped to his knees, gasping and sweating. Blood poured from each wound, spreading crimson stains onto the marble floor. Wyatt stepped back when it seemed that the blood might touch him.

"Lena! Oooooh, Lena!" Wyatt called, tapping into their Charmed Ones bind to get her attention. A moment later he sensed the sizzle of her magical aura as she shimmered in beside him.

"Yeah, Wya—?" she stopped abruptly as she saw Tyler sprawled dying on the white floor. "Tyler!" she shouted, jumping forward towards him.

"Stop!" Wyatt ordered, and she obeyed instinctively, her arm still outstretched towards her friend.

"But Wyatt, he's—"

"He's my enemy, and therefore yours as well. He is being killed for his efforts to destroy me, and I thought you should be here to watch."

She turned tear and rage filled eyes at Wyatt, and for a moment he thought she would show her true colors and refuse to just stand by and watch as his life slipped away. "Have I done something?" she questioned, her voice barely above a whisper.

"This isn't a punishment for you," Wyatt answered, his voice uncharacteristically soft. He knew how hard it could be to watch someone he cared about die, but it had been so long since he had cared that much about anyone other than family… "This is a test, a test of your loyalty. You have to choose Lena, it's his side or mine. Which will it be?"

Her jaw tight and a lump in her throat, Lena responded in action rather than words. Her mind flew with what she should do, and Chris' voice returned to full strength in her mind. 'I think that… Being at his side – that's the safest you can be. The one of us who defies him… he's going to do every terrible thing he can think of to break us, and… I can't let that happen to you. I think that joining him… it's the best thing for you Lena.' She swallowed hard, her shoulders slumping in defeat as she stepped back from Tyler.

('I'm sorry,') Lena sent her thoughts to Tyler through telepathy on a band only he could listen in on.

('It's okay… you have to, don't worry about it,') Tyler responded back, even his mental voice sounding strained and weak as he fought off the poison invading his system.

('I don't want you to die!')

('I knew I would, Lena, it's not your fault, woulda happened anyway.)

('Stay safe,') he added as his hazel eyes closed and his body went limp.

It took every bit of strength Lena possessed to not react; to not scream, or run to him, or tell him how much she loved him; to just stand there and wait for him to die.

Wyatt placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and Lena wondered how he could even do such a thing, when she wanted nothing more than to set him on fire and watch him burn to death.

Tears spilled silently down her cheeks and she stared at Tyler as his body slowly faded away, disappearing forever. The amulet Tyler always wore remained, hitting the ground with a thunk once his body was gone.

"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Wyatt whispered into her ear, feeling triumphant that she had passed his test, and at least one of the two Halliwells had chosen him over the ridiculous Resistance.

Wyatt walked forward and picked up the amulet, holding it up to the light and staring at the inscription. He walked up to Lena, who appeared frozen to her spot on the floor, and stepped behind her. Placing the amulet on her neck, he tied the cord in the back. "Something to remember him by," he explained, letting it fall onto her skin. She stared down at it, mentally cursing herself for what she just let happen.

"So she just watched him die?" Paige asked, she looked both horrified and deeply offended. "Why didn't she do anything? How could she just—"

"It's hard for you to understand, you weren't here for all that went on, but… I don't know how she did it; I don't know how she kept it together. Len's always had an awful temper, especially when someone she cares about is threatened." He sent a pointed look at Phoebe, remembering her destroying every demon she could find during the Witch Wars confrontation, taunting the demons to come and get her. "It makes me wonder what might've happened before then… I don't know," his voice trailed off. "I never should have left her behind…"

"So why are you suddenly answering all of our questions, future-consequences-boy?" Paige asked, wishing that every conversation they had in this time did not have to end sadly, and knowing it would be futile to tell Chris that he didn't have a choice, that none of this was his fault.

"Well you're here now, and there are things you need to know to be able to understand what's going on," he shrugged. "Besides, this is all stuff that shouldn't have happened, it was supposed to have changed…" he whispered thinking of Lena's anger and accusations.

He felt Lena shift in his arms and knew she was coming to. Phoebe kneeled in front of them immediately, smoothing Lena's hair and asking her to wake up. "Come on, sweetie, it's time to get up," she said gently.

"Ten more minutes…" Lena muttered sleepily. "I'll have… Chris orb me to school… he owes me," she added, pushing Phoebe's hand away.

"Hey brat, wake up," Chris urged, playfully tickling her stomach. A sudden blast of air sent his hand flying backward, and Lena opened her eyes angrily.

It took her a moment to register where she was and what was going on. "Brat?" she asked Chris, sitting up and putting a hand to her aching head. "As if! I was always an angel."

"Too bad you don't have the orbing power to prove it," Chris laughed.

"Oh shut up. Okay, apparently I've been unconscious. So what happened? Where's Wyatt? And… oh no, where's Aunt Piper?!"

They filled her in on what happened after she was knocked out, and began brainstorming what they could do to save Piper.

"I hope that Leo's doing okay with Wyatt. They could both be in danger right now," Paige added as Lena leaned back, thinking of what Wyatt would have done with Piper. "Gideon will probably help out if it gets to be too much."

"Who's Gideon?" Lena questioned, looking between the three faces in the room. It seemed her brief stint in unconsciousness had made her much more rational.

"Leo's mentor, he's an Elder. He created and runs Magic School," Paige explained with a little pride.

"What? Chris, you went to Magic School too, do you remember a Gideon?" Lena asked her forehead creased. As a telepath she had near photographic memory, and nowhere did she remember a man named Gideon.

Chris frowned for a moment as he thought back. "Now that you mention it… no, I don't."

"But he's an Elder, it's not like he would just disappear. And why would he leave Magic School…" Lena questioned.

"Oh my God!" Phoebe shouted, connections finally flying in her mind. They all looked at her in apprehension. "Remember how I was looking into allies attacking Wyatt during that whole Witch Wars thing?" Chris and Paige nodded. "Well Gideon was pretty adamant about that being a waste of time – but why should he care if it could protect good magic, right?" The others began to catch on. "And if he's not even in the future, isn't it just slightly possible that he's the one after Wyatt? Maybe he tries to kill him and just manages to traumatize him into turning or something."

Chris' eyes widened as what she said sunk in. "You're right! How could I have not noticed that?! Dammit, how are we going to warn Dad?"

"Clearly we need to get you back to the past as soon as possible," Lena said. "But we're going to need Aunt Piper."

"She's right, the sooner we rescue Piper, the sooner we save Wyatt," Paige declared.

"She has to be at the Castle. Wyatt would want to keep a close eye on her, and keep us from getting to her," Lena explained.

"The Castle? Where's that?"

"Alcatraz Island," Lena responded, rolling her eyes. "But he must have some reason for keeping her there." They all thought for another moment, before Lena stared hard at Chris. "You don't think…?"

"What?" Chris asked.

"Well, Piper's seven months pregnant… with you. Do you think Wyatt wants to do something to, you know, little you?"

"Oh my God," Phoebe breathed.

"But he wouldn't, would he?" Paige protested. "I mean, you're his brother."

"Mind-link spell?" Chris suggested, ignoring his aunts. "He reinitiated the bond, so it'll be his own fault."

"Yeah. I'll get the book."

"Book? What book? The Book of Shadows?" Paige sputtered, feeling as if from the moment Chris woke up the first time Phoebe and her had been pushed aside, forced to watch the happenings inside the little world Chris and Lena lived in without actually being there.

"Not even close. We liked to call it "The Book of Personal Gain," when we were kids. We wrote all kinds of spells and used them on ourselves and each other. It had a magic seal on it so only the three of us could read it. Lena started writing down other types of spells after a while, useful stuff from the Book of Shadows. Lena also has her father's family's book, but it's kind of weird."

"Got it!" Lena announced, holding a leather bound journal open and walking over to her cousin. "Here we go."

They sat side-by-side reading aloud together.

"Life to life and mind to mind,

Our spirits now will intertwine,

We meld our souls and journey to,

The one whose thoughts we wish we knew"

"Do you think this will actually work?" Phoebe whispered to Paige.

"We can only hope."

Chris and Lena had their eyes closed as their minds sought connection to Wyatt's. The spell itself was risky, because it not only let them into his mind, but opened their minds to him as well. But when it came to Piper, especially the one from the past, they would make the sacrifice.

("I wondered when you two would show up,") Wyatt announced as their minds linked.

("Where are you Wyatt? What are you doing with Mom?") Chris asked, trying to remain calm, trying to prevent Wyatt from taking advantage of the spell they had initiated.

("Oh okay Chris, since you asked why don't I just tell you?!") Wyatt said sarcastically. ("Do you really think I'm that stupid?")

("Come on Wyatt, this is Mom. Mom from the past! You can't do anything to her that'll screw up our futures any worse than they have been.")

("I'm sorry, but who invited her here in the first place? I believe it's your fault that she's here. And as for changing the future, you began that trend as well.")

("So what, you're holding her hostage? If that's what it is, then fine, I'll go with you, whatever.")

("I don't trust you Chris, so your word means absolutely nothing to me.") Wyatt paused, suddenly realizing that one member of their party had been silent. ("Lena? Why are you so quiet?")

He was too late, she had used her superior telepathic skill to bypass the barriers in his mind and see into his thoughts. Wyatt sensed her reading his plans straight out of his head, and forced the pair from him.

The connection broke abruptly and left Chris and Lena with pounding headaches. "What happened? What did you see?"

All eyes turned to Lena. "He's not going to hurt her," she said tentatively. "He's planning on holding her in the castle until she has the baby…" she trailed off uncertainly as she reviewed what she had gleaned from his mind. "Then he plans to have one of his demons 'turn' the baby."

"I thought he didn't believe in good and evil?" Chris snorted, trying not to seem edgy at the prospect of his baby self being turned evil.

"Either way, we have to get her out of there," Phoebe sighed. "Any ideas?"

"We'll need some potions to get past the demon guards. We won't be able to use our powers since Wyatt has the whole place blocked so only evil magic will work—" he stopped when he felt Lena's eyes boring into him.

"Okay, why don't you and Paige work on those? I'll take mom to the seer pool; try and get some premonitions," Lena suggested, rising before anyone agreed to it. Phoebe followed Lena out of the room, casting a nervous glance back at Chris and Paige as she did so.

A/N: Aw, poor Tyler. I always liked him. I'm actually thinking of putting all of these flashbacks together in order and fleshing out the missing pieces as a different story, sort of just a history of that time period.

But anyway - finally Phoebe realizes that Gideon might not be the helpful Elder they all believed him to be. But now with Piper in Wyatt's hands, it's going to be that much harder to get them home.

Please review!

'Till next time,

Ada