I in no way own the Charmed characters, plots, and powers, although I wish I did. They belong to Spelling Co, Brad Kern, the WB Network, and their affiliates. Sorry if I somehow broke a copyright law and I didn't know it. Please, don't sue me.
Thanks to buffspike, Riku and Sora Forever, Aldrea7, GageLuisSodabemine, and X3 for reviewing! Heh. I bet you all hate me for that cliffhanger. Hehe.
And all of a sudden, my confidence in this story has dropped to zero. I guess because it's my first full fic, I'm worried people won't like it. So… if you don't like it… Sorry? Ummm… I guess I'll keep updating but… yeah. I'll go hide in my little corner now.
Chapter 11
Wyatt looked surprised at what he had done. Leo knelt to heal Chris, but Wyatt roughly pushed his father away. Wyatt gently telekinetically removed the spears and began to heal his brother. Phoebe looked at her future nephew and saw something she didn't expect: regret.
Chris sat up, rubbing his head, the wound healed. He noticed Wyatt standing above him and gritted his teeth.
"You okay?" Wyatt asked, reaching out to help Chris up. Knowing that was as close as Wyatt would get to an apology, he took his brother's outstretched hand and stood up.
"I didn't want to hurt you, Christopher," Wyatt murmured. "But you know that when we're together, we can have anything we want."
"Not when you're evil, we can't," Chris retaliated, backing toward Piper.
Wyatt appeared genuinely hurt. "Chris… I can change… I can be good… we can restore order to the future…"
Chris snorted. "Don't use your powers to try to woe me into going with you. I'm beyond your childish games. And don't try to feed me that crap that me joining you now and making the world beautiful again will somehow make it okay that you killed all those innocents, for no reason!"
Wyatt glared at Chris, who was red in the face.
"Why did you turn, Wyatt? Why did you betray three hundred years of Halliwell Legacy? Mom and Dad gave practically everything for you, and you throw it back in their faces!" Chris' voice rose with every sentence. He charged madly at Wyatt, yelling and carrying a fireball on the way.
Wyatt's eyes widened, but with the flick of a finger, Chris was hanging harmlessly in the air. Chris growled and orbed himself down, fireball still in hand.
"You betrayed the family, Wyatt," Chris snarled, his tone deathly low. "You betrayed the world, the force of good, Great-Grams P, Grandma P, Aunt Phoebe, Aunt Paige, Mom, Dad… and me. Why, Wyatt?"
Piper and Leo were holding baby Wyatt between them, both sobbing. Phoebe and Paige had both teared up.
"I… I never meant to betray you, Chris," Wyatt said slowly. "I-"
"Then why did you!?" Chris yelled.
"Let him explain, Chris," Paige said quietly. Wyatt nodded to her.
"I never wanted it to be this way," Wyatt said slowly, choosing his words carefully. "They forced me. They made me do bad things. I never wanted to. And after I had regained control of myself, and my whole family was dead, and you hated me… my only friends were demons. So… I sank back into evil. And with no Charmed Ones to stop evil, it took over the city. They forced me to control the city… in exchange for your well-being, Chris. I kept trying to get you to join me, because I knew that if we were back together, Charmed blood and brotherly bond intact, we could rid of the evil and restore order. I'm so sorry, Chris." Wyatt fell to his knees in tears, his body trembling with sobs.
The Charmed Ones, unsure of whether to comfort Wyatt or not, in case of an illusion, turned to Chris, who immediately scampered over to his older brother, knowing Wyatt's emotions were no illusion. Chris threw his arms around Wyatt, and the sobbing brothers embraced.
A black shadow eased itself out of Wyatt. A blue portal appeared on the ceiling, and the shadow was sucked in. The portal disappeared as Wyatt and Chris released each other.
"Wyatt… you're okay," Chris grinned, his cheeks glistening with tears. He helped his brother up, and Wyatt shakily sat on the couch, Chris next to him. Wyatt wiped his brow.
"Okay, time for an explanation," Piper said, easing herself onto the sofa across the coffee table from the boys. Leo sat down next to her, baby Wyatt in his arms. Phoebe and Paige pulled up chairs next to Piper and Leo, facing Chris and Wyatt.
[A/N: I rewrote this following part six times and I'm STILL not happy with it! Grr!]
"Okay… well… the evil is gone. The shadow was the evil in me." Wyatt breathed. "It possessed me. Made me do evil things. Took me over." He shuddered at the memories. "It left me… because Chris showed me that he can still care about me, even though I ruined his life. He showed me love again."
"Your power comes from your emotions," Chris recited the famous phrase. "With such a brotherly bond, along with good energy, the evil was flushed out." He patted Wyatt on the shoulder.
Big Wyatt looked at his little self. "But we're not out of the red yet. Little me will still be turned unless we change the present to alter the future."
The Charmed Ones nodded in agreement. "Wyatt, you said a 'They' forced you to do evil. Who is 'They'?"
Wyatt sighed. "You'd never believe me."
"Tell us anyway, so we can help," Piper said. Wyatt nodded obediently.
"Gideon and his demon followers," Wyatt murmured in a barely audible whisper. Jaws dropped all around.
"Gideon!?" Leo echoed in shock. "But… he always wanted to help me! He was my mentor!"
"I know, err… Dad," Wyatt tested the word. "Let me explain. He thought it was unsafe that I was born. One little being with so much power could possibly tip the scale toward evil. So, he kidnapped me and prepared to kill me with the help of his demon minions. But, his evil followers turned on him when he had his back turned, and planted a seed of evil in me, having foreseen a rise of evil power. You all saved me, and you were unaware of the evil ever so slowly growing inside of me. That's how I turned."
"So… if we get rid of the cause before the effect…" Phoebe started.
"Then the effect will never happen!" Paige finished.
"Wait, so you're wanting to kill my old mentor?" Leo exclaimed. Phoebe and Paige nodded. "First off, he's an Elder. You can't just go around killing Elders. Second, he was my mentor! He means a lot to me."
"Leo, he's going to try to kill your son!" Piper exclaimed. "It will kill all of us in the end. And make little Chris' life miserable." She gently took Leo's hand and placed it on her stomach, where little Chris promptly kicked. Realization hit Leo, and he nodded.
"Let's go, then," he said, sad but certain of his decision.
"Wait," Chris said. "As soon as the timeline is changed, Wyatt's and my memories will change. I don't know if I want to forget." He looked to Wyatt.
He thought for a moment. "I want to remember everything. Like, have two sets of memories."
Chris nodded. "Me too." He smiled. "Let old and new, bond like glue. Old memories set in stone, never to be gone." Wyatt and Chris both breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly.
"I think it worked," Wyatt said.
"Only one way to find out," Paige winked. The family swirled upwards as a sea of orbs.