Part Twenty-Four
Moments Later…
May 9, 2004
While waiting for Chris, Phoebe looked up and announced, "Wyatt hasn't seen the recording of the crystal so he won't be biased in any way."
"Are you serious?" Gideon snorted. "The child doesn't have ten words to his entire vocabulary. How do you expect him to tell us what happened?"
"I would like to know as well," Adair commented.
"Gideon's right," Phoebe sighed, "Wyatt is still a baby and doesn't have a vocabulary of any significance, particularly for an event of this magnitude, so I'm sure he had no idea what the two adults were saying in front of him. But, Wyatt did hear them and he does understand basic concepts of good and evil. It's instinctive to him and has been from the very first time he used his protective shield when he was just a few weeks old."
"I fail to see how a mere babe can provide the testimony you seek," Crill said dismissively. "I motion to have this case thrown out before you find yourself subject to another ruling."
"I'm willing to hear out the witch," Thrask considered. "The prophecy for the boy has been enough to warn away a number of upper level demons. The child's reputation is only growing and I, for one, wish to see if it has any merit."
Chris entered, carrying his sleeping baby brother. 'Older brother,' he thought wryly for the umpteenth time. As soon as he saw Gideon standing next to Leo, he immediately shifted Wyatt to his other shoulder in order that Wyatt wouldn't become upset. Phoebe had told him about Wyatt's reaction to Gideon and reliving the attack was going to be hard enough on Wyatt. Instead of continuing straight to Phoebe, Chris paused a moment by Piper.
Piper's kiss stirred Wyatt and he lifted his head from Chris's shoulder and smiled drowsily at his mother. As she brushed his hair from his eyes, he rubbed them with his fists. Then he noticed Phoebe. "Phe?"
Phoebe smiled and crooked her index finger in a happy greeting to him before she spoke, "As far as my sister knew, Wyatt was safe at the school with Paige." She nodded to Piper and requested, "Tell everyone how we found out about Cole."
Uncomfortable, and feeling very much put on the spot, Piper gazed at her sons. Chris glared back with something of an air of superiority as if he blamed her once again for failing him as a mother. And Wyatt's innocent eyes glazed over with sleep and, as his eyelids drooped and closed, his thumb found its way into his mouth. If it hadn't been such a serious moment, she'd've asked Leo to orb back for her camera. Instead, she sighed and recalled aloud, "We were in Phoebe's bedroom and, all of a sudden, Wyatt orbed in. I wasn't sure whether to be amused or horrified that he did it on his own and didn't have time to consider the consequences because he was so upset. He was clinging to me as if he'd never see me again."
"No need for melodrama. State only the facts as you know them," Crill demanded.
"My baby was terrified!" Piper snapped. "And it only got worse when Phoebe mentioned Cole's name. Wyatt flew into her arms and wouldn't stop screaming. And when she mentioned Gideon, Wyatt practically pulled a tantrum on us before he orbed us to the Underworld."
"That child orbed himself and two adults to the Underworld?" Thrask asked in disbelief.
"He's only a mere babe, after all," Paige sneered.
Piper shushed her sister and concluded, "We found Gideon there with Cole's clothing and, when we returned to the school, he told us how he had tracked Cole to the Underworld. Gideon said he'd found Cole using a wand to steal Wyatt's powers and that, if Cole would've had a few more minutes, Wyatt would've died from it."
Phoebe locked eyes with Gideon, "My husband confronted Gideon with the truth. As I stated earlier, Wyatt may not've understood the words Cole and Gideon used but he did hear them. The Circle of Truth will reveal his memory for everyone to see and hear and then no one will be able to dispute the truth. The truth of an innocent baby."
Gideon nervously shook his head, "You have my deepest sympathy, Phoebe, for your loss at what should be a time of your greatest happiness. But surely you can't mean to worsen Wyatt's trauma by forcing him to remember the death of a loved one merely to suit your own need for understanding your loss."
"I will never understand what you did," Phoebe swore. "You betray--"
"Place him in the Circle," Adair interrupted.
Chris stepped forward and gently shook Wyatt, "C'mon, buddy, you gotta wake up now." Wyatt stirred so he continued to encourage his brother. He carefully knelt in front of the Circle and set Wyatt down. Wyatt tried to climb back into his arms but he gently nudged Wyatt away. "No, buddy, you gotta sit there for a minute."
Clearly unhappy with the arrangement, Wyatt's face scrunched up, turned red, and he let out a wail.
Piper rushed forward and awkwardly knelt before her baby. She pulled Wyatt into her arms and calmed him enough so she could set him back within the Circle. "I'll be right here, sweetie," she promised.
Phoebe approached her nephew and playfully pinched his nose as she uncomfortably settled herself on the floor in front of him.
"Off the floor," Piper chided, "it's not good for you."
"I'm fine, Piper," Phoebe argued before she turned back to Wyatt. She lightly gripped his fingers and swung them gently, "Munchkin, can you think abou--"
"She's influencing the child!" Crill interrupted.
Phoebe looked up and smiled sweetly, "How can I do that when you know I no longer have my powers?"
"Phe?"
"Right here, munchkin," she grinned at her nephew. In a cheery voice, she asked Wyatt, "Can you show me what happened to Uncle Cole?"
"Co?"
"That's right," Phoebe nodded with a smile, "Uncle Cole. Can you think about Uncle Cole for me?"
Wyatt looked to his mother and watched in wonder as a large hologram filled the air over his head. He stretched out his hands to the image in the air.
"Cole," Phoebe whispered as she watched her husband's image grow.
"What is this?" Crill exclaimed in annoyance.
"This is the truth," Phoebe declared.
Piper saw her brother-in-law in her basement using powers to keep Wyatt aloft in the air. "He knows I hate when he does that to Wyatt," she grumbled to her sister.
"That's why he does it," Phoebe responded in a choked voice when she suddenly heard her husband speak.
Cole glanced up at the floating Wyatt and encouraged, "That's it, buddy, reach for the unicorn." His arm was outstretched and the stuffed animal was suspended in mid-air just out of the child's reach.
Wyatt flexed his hand several times and pointed at the toy. "Ni!" he exclaimed unhappily when the unicorn didn't come to him.
"Use your powers," Cole instructed. "You can do it, I know you can." He glanced around and, spotting a small hammer, waved his hand, and transformed it into another stuffed toy, a small, smiling, red devil. "Look, Wyatt," he announced as he also levitated the new toy, "a nasty demon. And he wants your unicorn." The unicorn bounced up and down in place. "You can't let the demon have it. Save the unicorn, buddy."
Wyatt reached out, flexing his hand again. But this time, the unicorn orbed into his hands. "Ni…" he uttered as he held the white plush animal tightly in his arms.
Cole grinned, "Good boy!" He then caused the small devil to spin around Wyatt. "Now, get the demon. Get the demon, Wyatt."
Wyatt watched carefully as the stuffed toy revolved around him and he looked back at Cole. He then scrunched his face, focused on the toy, and watched as it suddenly exploded in a puff of white stuffing.
"Good boy!" Cole whooped as he let Wyatt drop into his arms. He then hoisted the giggling Wyatt high in the air and grinned as the child babbled happily. "C'mon, I hear some chocolate ice cream calling." Cole held Wyatt close and, when Wyatt nuzzled his neck, he kissed Wyatt's cheek, and whispered, "Remember, this's our little secret. Your aunt would kill me if she knew I was the one giving away her ice cream."
"I knew it," Phoebe softly exclaimed when the hologram faded away. "Low level-ice cream eating-demon, my ass."
"He was training my son?!" Piper exploded.
"What?" Phoebe uttered as she wiped away a stray tear and suddenly focused on her sister.
Piper awkwardly got to her feet and raged, "He was sneaking off with my son and --"
"He was babysitting!" Phoebe interrupted as she tilted her head to see Piper pace.
"He was training my son to fight demons!" Piper ranted. "Who the hell does he think he is? He had no right!"
"Wyatt's okay," Paige calmly intervened, "he was never in danger. They were in our basement with some stuffed animals."
"And that makes it okay?" Piper shouted.
"He was only trying to help," Phoebe muttered as she gingerly rubbed her lower back. She indicated her need for help to Chris and she gripped his hands tightly while he pulled her to her feet. "All we seem to do is tell Wyatt not to use his powers or else we send him up there with Leo the minute there's any trouble."
"That's not so bad, is it? Wyatt's a baby and we want him to be safe," Paige suggested.
"Of course we do," Phoebe agreed, "but maybe Cole has a point in wanting to start trai--"
Piper stalked towards Phoebe, "Cole is not Wyatt's father and he was way outta line!"
Paige quickly slipped in between her sisters. "We need to calm down and discuss this." She glanced from each sister to Wyatt and said, "But this isn't the time or the place."
Phoebe cleared her throat, "Doesn't matter, though, does it, seeing as how Cole is gone now."
"Co?" Wyatt looked up at his aunt.
"Touching scene but completely useless." Crill's impatience clearly showed in the look he gave Phoebe. "Either show us hard evidence of your claim or prepare for our ruling."
"Interesting, however," Thrask noted, "that the child has already been receiving lessons from the one once known as Belthazor. Perhaps the demon does still exist in some form, rather, did exist."
Paige glanced at Gideon who seemed relieved by Thrask's comment. She was growing tired of doubting her opinion every other minute. She needed to decide once and for all what she believed to be true. Who she believed. And there was just something about Gideon that set her instincts on edge.
"Cole wasn't acting as a demon!" Phoebe angrily insisted. "He was teaching Wyatt to defend himself!"
Piper's eyes widened, "Are you saying you knew about this?"
"Of course not," Phoebe retorted. "But that doesn't mean Cole was evil. Just that he was an idiot for keeping something from me."
"This isn't a joke!" Piper nearly screamed.
"Do you see me laughing?" Phoebe quietly said before she turned away. She clenched her mouth tightly and did her best to keep herself from crying.
Leo watched his sister-in-law and, for the moment, felt helpless to ease her pain. "Perhaps a recess," he suggested.
Gideon used the sisters' silence to speak up, "The Circle of Truth is not a mind-reading tool. Telling Wyatt to think of Cole will only bring more of these innocuous memories."
At the sound of Gideon's voice, Wyatt angrily waved his small hand. "Gi!"
"Don't look at Gideon," Phoebe quickly told him as she spun around. She wanted to hug him but couldn't trust herself to move. Her legs felt like jelly and she gratefully leaned against Chris who quickly stepped behind her.
"Look at me, sweetie," Piper also encouraged as she bent forward and held Wyatt's hands. "Can you do what Aunt Phoebe wants? Can you think about Cole again?" Wyatt babbled a few words so she continued, "Sweetie, remember when you came home before? You came to me and Aunt Phoebe in Aunt Phoebe's room? Can you think about what happened to Uncle Cole?"
"Gi!" Wyatt sharply announced.
"Was Gideon with Uncle Cole?" Phoebe questioned. "Can you show me Uncle Cole?"
"Gi!" Wyatt angrily repeated before a new hologram formed above his head.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
