BLINDED BY THE WHITELIGHTER BY ASHA DREAMWEAVER

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Summary: Gideon goes after the Halliwells. The Elders have decided that the Charmed One's progeny is too powerful to let live. Unfortunately he meets an unforeseen complication in the form of adult Wyatt, come back from the future to collect his wayward brother, Chris.

Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews guys! And some of you have said the summary confused so obviously my little warning in the author's notes of the last chapter wasn't clear enough. The first couple of chapters deal with Chris and Wyatt's relationship in the future, aka; why Wyatt turned, world takeover, Chris deciding to go against his brother, Wyatt's reactions, Chris gets an education in just what his brother is capable of and the grand escape to the past courtesy of Bianca. After that, we skip back to just after the 'Courtship of Wyatt's Father' where Gideon decides to eliminate the Halliwells, Leo finds out the big secret, future Wyatt shows up ready to drag his wayward little brother's butt home, demon attacks, trips to the future and mommy to the rescue.

Review responses:

Aduial - I know what you mean. I've been searching for fics like that myself and I really didn't find that many.

Aldrea7 - Wow, thanks for reviewing. By the way, your fic's really good.

Black Ice - Thanks. I think. Confusing how?

Buffspike - Don't worry, there will be plenty more Chris.

Cappuccino - Thanks! I'm honoured to be on you fave's list!

Chanty - Are you psychic? 'Cos you really got things dead on.

Dannyblue - Thanks so much! Glad to see it hooked you so quickly!

evendim - Wow! Thanks for the comments!

Jaspis - You really flattered me. Thanks!

Kata Malfoy - I'm sorry if the summary confused. I mean it is gonna happen but how and why both Chris went back and why Wyatt's gone after him is coming first. I thought it would be interesting.

LizaGirl - Glad to hear that you've decided to try out a new genre!

LunaMoon7 - Oh, don't worry. It will be. But I'm just adding in the background between Wyatt and Chris first, in preparation for the show-down in the past.

Maggi Lynn - I never said Gideon was demonic in nature. He disguised himself as a demon to protect his identity.

Melissa - A hurricane in San Francisco is entirely possible if you have magic.

NoAlias - blushes Thanks so much! But I'm not the only good Charmed writer out there. If you want names just e-mail me and I can send you a list.

Roswell26 - If things are interesting in the future, they're gonna be ten times more so in the past…

Snowy1909 - Thanks! It's always nice to know you're writing in character.

SpiritofÉowyn - Wow, I didn't realise I had made Wyatt so scary. And I really haven't even started yet.

Willows2 - Thanks for reviewing! I've read your fics! wow!

And major thanks to:

Alison Halliwell, Cat, classy girl, Denna5, deranged black kitten of doom, evilpiper, Faith, iwhsgirl, Lexi, MJ, Suzanne, Queen of the Elven City, trina-k, X3, Zelda.

CHAPTER TWO: MORALITY BITES

San Francisco. 2021.

"Hello, little brother, miss me?" Wyatt said from the porch. He was grinning at his little brother's shock, and to Chris's disgust, had grown another few inches so he was still taller than Chris. And not to mention it was the first time he'd seen him in about two years.

"Wyatt?" he said somewhat breathlessly, still trying to recover from the surprise of having the new de-facto leader of most of the world showing up on his doorstep.

"What's wrong Chris?" Wyatt teased, "Forgotten me already?"

"Chris?" his grandpa called from the living room, "Who's that at the door?" H e poked his head out into the hall and gasped in shock, "Wyatt?!"

"Is that all anyone can say?" Wyatt said with amusement, sidestepping Chris and entering the manor, "I mean, there's no 'hi, Wyatt' or 'how's it going Wyatt?'"

"What are you doing here?" Victor said. "We've both heard a lot of tales about you young man and I'm not stupid enough to think none of them are true."

"I'm here to collect Chris over here," he said without preamble.

"What?" his little brother exclaimed, "Listen Wyatt, you've been gone two years, off doing who knows what, you've exposed magic and if half the stories are true, you're either ruler of the underworld or witch gone mad. If you think I'm going anywhere without an explanation, you've got another thing coming."

Wyatt only laughed, "Nice to know that endearing neurotic personality of yours is still around." Looking serious, "And I know you both need to be filled in on what's going on but I'd rather do it one by one if you don't mind. I don't think Victor would like it if he got caught in the middle of us if we use our powers."

"Damn right," Victor muttered under his breath and then he cleared his throat, "I suppose the living room will do. Chris, close the door and kindly go wait in the attic while I chew out my eldest grandchild."

Chris slammed the door closed with his power, annoyed at being addressed like a child and made for the stairs. "This had better be good," he muttered as he passed his big brother.

As they moved into the living room, Victor raised an eyebrow at his changed grandson, "What on earth have you been up to?!" he exclaimed, "In case you haven't noticed, the world's gone to hell and everyone seems to think that would be because of you."

"They'd be right," Wyatt said calmly, "The world needed a change."

"Oh boy," Victor murmured, sinking back into the chair.

"Let's just say, that I run the show now. And now that things have finally settled down a bit, I've come back for Chris. He'll be coming to live with me. Your house is still standing and it's been warded so that'll you'll be perfectly safe, so you can move back in…"

"Whoa!" Victor said, "Just wait a minute. You just waltz in here, tell me you're the new world overlord like all the news channels used to say before they got destroyed, tell me you're gonna take Chris to what? Hang about with demons? And expect me to get up and leave just like that? Are you mad?"

Wyatt shook his head, "You wouldn't understand it if I tried to explain. It's a magic thing. And maybe one day you'll see what I'm doing is for the best. You don't have to worry about anything, I've put out the word that you're off limits so no one's going to go near you."

"You're serious," he said in disbelief, running a hand through his grey hair.

"Deadly serious," Wyatt said, "You know, things would go a lot easier on all fronts if you didn't kick up a fuss about this. Chris is so hard to deal with when he's sulking."

"Do you really think he's going to just let everything slide by? I mean, for god's sake, you're working with demons!"

"Actually they work for me." Wyatt said, "And Chris is a witch, like it or not grandfather, he's safer with me."

"I thought you said I had nothing to worry about."

Wyatt's smile was anything but friendly, "You're not a Halliwell. Let alone the son of a Charmed One. There's quite a lot of people that would like to use Chris against me. They're not gonna get the chance."

Victor studied his stone-faced grandchild, and remembered that this was the one of the most powerful magical beings alive and that if Wyatt wanted to do something, plain old mortal Victor Bennett wasn't going to able to stop him. "I don't have a choice but to agree, do I? Piper is probably rolling in her grave."

"Leave my mother out of this!" Wyatt snapped, "She was blinded by the notion of good versus evil and she ended up dieing for it. I'm over that. I'm glad that you see sense though. You'll have two weeks to leave the manor. I have another use for it."

With that he orbed out, leaving a worried and perplexed grandfather behind.

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Wyatt found his brother pacing the attic. Nearly jumping when Wyatt orbed in, Chris cautiously approached his long absent brother who drew him into a hug. "Hey baby brother, long time no see."

Chris hit him on the shoulder, "Stop calling me that! I'm sixteen years old, not sixteen months."

Wyatt smirked, "Really? I could have sworn it was fifteen months. Oh well…" he teased as Chris whacked him again. "Seriously though, how've you been doing?"

"Currently being annoyed at my brother who promised to visit but seemed to be too busy in his quest for world dominion."

"Okay, now, you're making me sound like something out of a bad comic book."

Chris just gave him a look, before crossing over to the Book of Shadows, "And the witch trials aren't?"

Wyatt winced inwardly, he could tell this was not going to be a cheerful explanation. "I swear to you Chris that I'll explain everything once we get to my place."

Chris's reply was wary, "I live here Wyatt."

"Well, not anymore. Grandpa's moving out and besides the manor's too obvious for anyone looking for us."

"It's our ancestral home. Hello? Remember the Nexus? The woogyman?" Chris said, waving his hands about for emphasis.

"It's not as if it's not going to be warded! Is this some sort of long wind-up to you refusing to come?"

"Gee, how'd you guess?" Chris said sarcastically, "Come on Wyatt, it's been two years! And not a peep! Not one word! And I've had more than my share of Whitelighters say you've turned! Forgive me for being reluctant!"

Wyatt went to stand near him, "What I did was stop the underworld from targeting witches. Yes, they take orders from me now but I've only done what I was always meant to do. Remember Excalibur? I made the world a helluva lot safer, I've made it so people like us don't have to hide what they are!"

"You never used to be like this Wyatt! You said you were going up to the Elders, but I know you never went up there at all! You lied to me! And you expect me to just blindly follow you!"

"Chris, I'm eighteen. You're sixteen. Legally, you listen to me now."

"That might have worked before some demons killed off the government." Chris snapped.

"All I'm asking is that you give me a chance. I'm your brother. Hear me out." He held out his hand to his agitated little brother. Chris stared at it for a few minutes, thinking furiously, and then slowly, placed his hand in Wyatt's.

With a smile of satisfaction, Wyatt orbed them to their new abode.

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The room they orbed into definitely wasn't lacking in wealth. Sumptuously decorated and outfitted, it only cemented Chris's opinion that Wyatt had most definitely changed since he had last seen him. But on the other hand, he was his big brother. The only one left besides Grandpa.

Floor to ceiling windows were the highlight of one wall, giving a spectacular view of San Francisco. Or at least in the old days it would have. Quite a bit of the city had been destroyed in the fighting and it showed in the destruction and rubble spread across the expanse.

It was just another reminder of what Wyatt wasn't telling him.

At Wyatt's urging he sat down on the sofa and waited for his brother to spill.

There was silence for several minutes, and Chris was almost tempted to try and get a premonition before Wyatt began to speak. As the tale unfolded, Chris was almost ready to believe that he'd been thrown into some parallel universe. His brother, a Halliwell, the source? But uniting good and evil? Hadn't that been proven as a very bad idea before? But then again, Wyatt was the Twice-Blessed child, the strongest out of everybody, the next King Arthur. As his father so often liked to point out, who was Chris to say anything?

When he was done, Wyatt sat back and waited for Chris to process everything. Finally the younger of the two spoke, "So what happens now?"

Wyatt stood up, "Now brother, we get you settled in and then we introduce you to the world."

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Outside in the hall, Chris spotted two demons heading towards them and instinct caused him to flick his hands and blow the demon up. Before he could do the same to the other demon, Wyatt grabbed his wrists, "They work for me Chris. Let's try not to blow up the help, okay?"

The other demon stared warily at the newcomer, "This is my brother Chris," Wyatt said casually, "I have already briefed you on his presence here."

"Of course my Lord," the demon said subserviently, causing Chris to glance sharply at Wyatt, my lord? Chris wondered. "I will spread the word that he is here." Dark eyes studied Chris, sizing him up and Chris glared stonily back. He'd killed too many demons to back down in front of one now.

Putting a hand on Chris's shoulder, Wyatt steered him towards a door down the hall from the room they had just exited. "There's a suite of rooms here for you," he said as the door opened. "Mine are just up the hall, where we orbed."

Chris looked around in shock, "This is probably bigger than the entire ground floor of the manor," he said. Wyatt had apparently commandeered one hell of a skyscraper for himself. "It's a bit excessive." he said tentatively.

"Yeah, well, it's expected when one rules something that they have someplace big," Wyatt said with only a hint of joking in his voice. "I'll have your stuff moved over here today. In the meantime you should try and settle in. Don't mind the demons, they know they'll die a quick death if they come near you. By now, most of them should have heard of you being rather quick when it comes to blowing them up."

"Mom taught me well," Chris said quietly.

Wyatt's face softened, "Yeah, she did. Relax, little bro, no one's going to come after us like that again. No one would dare. Together, they can't beat us." Wyatt seemed pleased but Chris remained silent.

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The invention of probes to track enemies was one of the major successes attributed to Wyatt's cunning. These probes, a combination of magic and electronics, would track down all those with magic, assessing them for potential trouble and relaying information back to a demonic base if necessary.

When they were tested and showed that they worked very well, Wyatt's mind whirled with ideas for their uses. One stood out though. One which he had had trouble thinking how to enforce. But with these….

With these, there wouldn't be anybody he couldn't track…

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Adjusting was hard. Living with a bunch of demons constantly present was unnerving for a witch who'd spent his whole life killing them.

Even more unnerving was watching their total subservience to 'Lord Wyatt'. And on top of that he was 'Lord Chris'. He almost longed for the days when they just snarled 'witch' and then tried to kill him. For one thing it was a helluva lot simpler.

Rahvin was Wyatt's top demon, and he reported to Wyatt regularly on things Chris never learned about. He never could get a read off him either which made him suspect that Wyatt had bespelled Rahvin to be immune to it.

Then there was Wyatt's personal demon bodyguards, which also extended to Chris as well, and the normal demon guards all over the building. It was nearly as bad as living in demon central.

They left him alone for the most part. He was second in power only to his brother and he was still too new a player for them to judge what he was capable of. And Wyatt… well he was Wyatt, acting more like the big brother that he knew rather than the front the demons saw.

But he knew he still wasn't getting the whole picture. There was something tingling, something he sensed but couldn't place and it was troubling him. Maybe it was the lack of freedom to wander wherever he pleased, or maybe the knowledge that Wyatt was hiding something big but it bothered him big time.

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Idly tapping the aged cover of the newly recovered Grimoire of the Source, Wyatt surveyed the group of demons assembled at his bidding. "The registration of witches and other magical beings will greatly reduce any resistance," he began, "The probes are to be launched immediately." There were approving nods around the table, the witches who still fought Wyatt were proving to be most troublesome and needed dealing with.

"The Elders are also becoming a nuisance my Lord," Rahvin said, "They seem to be plotting against you."

"They've been plotting against me since I've been born. It's nothing new but I will keep an eye on them. They will have to learn who's boss as well.

"My Lord," Rahvin said hesitantly, "Your father is one of their most vocal advocates."

That made him pause. Apparently dear ol' dad hadn't heeded his warning.

He hoped they did something stupid. At least then he'd have a perfectly valid excuse for killing them.

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"You turned our ancestral home into a museum!" Chris snarled as he stormed in.

Wyatt looked up from the TV he was watching. He'd been expecting this. "Yes, I did," he said, "To remind everyone the power from which I was born and that which I possess."

Chris shook his head, "What the hell happened to you Wyatt? You never used to be like this! How could you do it?! Is everything with you about power now?! Don't you care?!"

Mad, Wyatt got up, "What changed Chris? The world did! Or maybe it started when our family died! Take your pick! Don't you get it yet?! It's not about good versus evil anymore. It's only about power, those who have it and those who don't!"

"And what about everything our family stood for?" Chris shouted, "Everything they wanted, everything they died for!"

"Key word there Christopher, they died for it! And not one of those prissy little Elders cared! No, they were quite happy to let them die for their precious 'cause'! It began with Prue and unless we change something, it won't end 'til we're dead too!"

"The Elders wouldn't do that," he denied.

"Then why didn't anybody come when you called?" Wyatt said, "And you don't have room to talk little brother, remember a certain hurricane? Well, let me tell you this, the Elders were all willing to let our family's killer off the hook so I had to take care of it for them! They hate our guts Chris! They wish we'd never been born! They never cared about any Halliwell at all beyond what they could get out of them!"

Chris was silent, confused and Wyatt pressed his advantage to persuade his brother, "Trust me Chris, it'll all work out. When everything's settled down, the world will be a better place for it. The Elders' passiveness was killing their charges. This way, no one's gonna kill a witch without a damn good reason. We're only doing what we were meant to," he said convincingly, "We were born to change things and that's what I'm doing. C'mon little bro, you know me. Do you really think I'm evil? Forget the rubbish the Elders filled your head with and listen to your heart. You know I'm not evil, that I won't hurt you, don't you?"

Chris nodded slowly, having no reason to distrust his elder brother, and Wyatt grinned. "That's it. C'mon let's go get something to eat."

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And so Chris pushed aside every bit of his anxiety and apprehension. Wyatt was right. It was time for a change. He just wished he could feel better about it.

He knew his place was with his brother. Halliwell magic always worked like that, they were stronger together than apart. And he couldn't deny that Wyatt had made some very good points.

And he couldn't deny that he had missed his brother a lot when he'd been gone. Wyatt was very nearly the only family he had left and he didn't want to be on the outs with him.

Besides Wyatt probably had the right of things. He usually did. After all, he'd been doing this longer than Chris had and knew what he was getting into. Their parents had given Wyatt all that extra training, it had to count for something.

Wyatt had always been the important one. Chris had always been the afterthought. Wyatt was the only one who hadn't been absolutely positive that Chris's powers were going to be hugely inferior to his own. Not to mention that Wyatt had always stood up for him against Leo. Even if he didn't understand what Wyatt was doing, he knew he owed him the benefit of the doubt.

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"This can't go on! They're a liability! Their births should never have been condoned! Now he's out of control! He mustbe stopped! By any means possible!" a furious Elder roared across the council table, voicing the thoughts of the majority of Elders present.

"I agree," another said, "The Halliwell line must be destroyed!"

Before any of the others could respond to the two impassioned pleas, a figure orbed in. "Didn't anyone tell you it's not nice to talk about someone behind their backs?" Wyatt said with a smirk. The Elders stared horrified at the two dozen demons he'd orbed in with him.

"'Cos, really… plotting to kill me and not even having the courtesy to inform me…. That's just pure spite," Wyatt said quite cheerfully, "Guess your puppets snapped the strings, huh? Well, I'm not exactly sorry to say that you're proving to be quite the nuisance. And I've been told that I really can't afford to let you live, and I really have to agree." Some of the Elders tried to orb out but were prevented and forced back into physical form, "Ah, ah, ah, none of that now," Wyatt said shaking his finger at them. And then turning to his squad of demons, "Kill them."

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The next day every single media channel was running this message at Wyatt's orders: -

"The registration of witches is now mandatory. Any witch or magical being not registered will be tracked by probes and may face possible death. Any witch or magical being not registered or refusing to register will be considered as opposing Lord Wyatt's rule and will be annihilated…

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Wyatt was sleeping when the attack happened. Seven members of the resistance shimmered/materialised/orbed (depending on what they were) into the building, having managed to secure help past the wards.

Shooting him with a Darklighter arrow, they jerked Wyatt awake, planning on killing him there and then. With the arrow being so close to his heart, Wyatt knew he was in trouble but he still managed to kill two of his attackers before one hit him over the head with a vase.

In his room, Chris shot awake. Something was wrong with Wyatt. He could feel it. Slipping out of his room, he hurried over to Wyatt's bedroom and flung open the door to find a thrashed room, an injured brother and several parties responsible.

Chris didn't think, he just reacted. The quintet of attackers went flying into the wall. A flick of his wrist and they were incinerated with a gush of flames. Rushing to Wyatt's side, he checked on his injured brother, wishing he knew healing.

Using telekinesis to remove the Darklighter bolt, he orbed a healing potion to him and forced it down Wyatt's throat. It would have to do until he found a Whitelighter to heal him. Orbing his brother back into his bed, he stepped away and recited a spell, "Magic forces black and white, reaching out through space and light, be they far or be they near, bring me a Whitelighter here."

A dazed female Whitelighter appeared in front of him and Chris grabbed her, bringing her over to Wyatt, "Heal him!" he commanded.

The Whitelighter looked terrified, "That's Wyatt Halliwell!" she exclaimed.

"Well, duh," Chris said sarcastically, his worry for his brother escalating, "Now heal him!"

"No!" she said, "He forsook his right to a Whitelighter. I'm not allowed."

"I don't care about that! Heal him before I hurt you!" Chris said, levitating the Darklighter bolt. She squealed in fright but moved over to Wyatt, placing her hands over his wounds and healing him. "You can go," Chris said when she looked over at him, not used to people looking at him like they were scared of him. She didn't hesitate, orbing out immediately.

"Wyatt?" he asked with concern as his brother came round.

"Chris?" Wyatt mumbled before memory of that night's events returned and he bolted upright. "Where are they? They tried to kill me!" Absentmindedly he placed a hand over where he had been shot.

"They're dead," Chris assured him, "And I got a Whitelighter to heal you."

Wyatt looked at him with new eyes, "Little bro to the rescue, huh?"

"You quite literally woke me up," Chris said, relieved that his brother was out of danger, and he had to be if he was teasing him at this hour.

"Telepathy?" Wyatt asked.

"I think so. You were giving off some major vibes."

"So, you what? Killed them all, and got me healed, all on your own? You've grown up."

"I'd be more worried why your forcefield didn't go up," Chris said with some worry, "It should have protected you."

Wyatt grimaced, "I'm pretty sure that daddy dearest helped them out a bit at some point over the past couple of months. He's not exactly been pleased with me for the last couple of years."

"Why would he do this? He's our father."

Wyatt closed his eyes, "He's always been an Elder first, father last. I didn't want to tell you this before but now he wants us dead."

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Three months later, Chris was wondering if he'd really done the right thing. For the first time in his life he'd killed witches. And most people were pleased with him for doing it. Now, people were scared of him. The name Halliwell was no longer respected but feared. And he didn't like it.

He was changing. How he didn't see it before he didn't know but it was the truth. Being surrounded by evil was taking it's toll on him and even being with Wyatt couldn't make up for that.

He was beginning to realise that he got the censored version of all of his brother's doing but out there in the real world, the rumours became much darker, speaking of Wyatt as a blossoming tyrant, as a ruthless killer. He didn't want to believe such things about him but Chris wasn't blind to the fact that Wyatt was keeping lots of things for him.

There was only so much one could take of lies, and omissions of truth. Chris's dreams, somehow linked to his power of premonition, inherited from his aunt Phoebe, had turned into nightmares. And as each thing he saw at night was confirmed to have happened, his will to just stand by and do nothing was gradually being chipped away.

He couldn't condone Wyatt's actions. No matter how well his brother defended them. It went against everything they'd been brought up to be. Wyatt was right, their family had died for it but it was the demons who had killed them. Maybe even the same demons that were bowing and simpering for Wyatt.

He loved his brother, he'd followed him, he'd killed for him but he couldn't do it anymore.

He couldn't stand by and watch everything his family worked for, died for, go down the drain.

Which meant it was time to go solo and cut the ties with Wyatt 'til, no if, his brother came to his senses.

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Chris orbed Up There with the hopes of finding someway of blocking his presence from Wyatt's radar.

What he found was a slaughter.

Half-staggering from one golden-robed clad body to another, he barely missed the crossbow bolt that flew towards him. Flinging his hands up to freeze the area, he found that it was only a Whitelighter. Still though, they had shot at him so he only unfroze their head.

The unknown Whitelighter glared at him, "Unfreeze me!" he demanded.

"Not until I get some answers. Your finger's a bit too trigger happy for my tastes," Chris said, "What happened here?"

The Whitelighter's scowl deepened, "What happened!" he exclaimed, "'Lord Wyatt' happened, that's what!"

Chris's mind reeled at the very notion of what was being implied, "No, Wyatt wouldn't do this!" he denied, "He's half-Whitelighter himself!"

"All the better to orb his demons up here," the Whitelighter said bitterly, "They should have killed him when they had the chance."

Chris could tell he was telling the truth but he still wanted to believe it, "How are you alive then?"

"That oh so benevolent warlock only killed the Elders and any who were stupid enough to oppose him. All Whitelighters who refused to either follow Him, or 'peacefully help their registered charges'," he sneered at the very notion, "are either dead or on the run."

"But why?! Wyatt wouldn't do that!" Chris denied, fighting against the feelings of revulsion towards his brother's actions.

"Why wouldn't he?" the Whitelighter said wearily, "There's very little Wyatt Halliwell wouldn't do to get his way."

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Chris unceremoniously orbed into his brother' study. Not wanting to wait for the demon already in there to clear out, he blew him up. "When did you become a murderer Wyatt?" he said coldly.

Wyatt looked at his scorched chair where the demon had been and then at Chris, "What do you mean Chris? You're the one that just killed my assistant."

Chris forced himself not to fall for Wyatt's famous puppy-dog eyes, 'aren't-I-so-innocent' routine. "Don't lie to me again Wyatt," he snarled frostily, "Are you going to feed me some bull about the Elders deserving to die, brother? They're pacifists! What could they possibly do to you?!"

Wyatt's bemused smile changed to cold irritation, "I would love to know where you get your information from little brother. Anything else you want to accuse me of while you're at it?"

"Stop avoiding the issue. Did you do it?" Chris demanded, folding his arms across his chest and getting the same stubborn look Piper used to use with her sisters. Readying his telepathy and Whitelighter powers to make sure Wyatt wouldn't lie, he waited impatiently for an answer that had the power to shake his world to its very foundations.

Sighing, Wyatt nodded, "Yes, I did but I…"

"No!" Chris shouted, "Save it! Your own father Wyatt?! God knows I might not have liked him, but to kill him in cold blood?! How could you?! What have you become Wyatt?"

Wyatt got up and tried to get him to calm down so he could explain but Chris refused to be pacified and orbed out.

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Back in his study, Wyatt reached out with his senses, and found Chris within seconds. Angry, confused, scared, his little brother wasn't in a fit state to even think of blocking him.

He really didn't think that Chris would find out so fast, but his little bro was rapidly proving to be troublesome. Their mother used to say that Chris could pull trouble out of anywhere. So much for the 'turn Chris subtly' plan he'd been cultivating. He just had a knack for throwing a spanner in the works.

Orbing to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, Chris's favourite brooding spot, he had to quickly grab the swirling orbs that were his brother, forcibly preventing him from orbing out.

"Listen to me little brother!" he told the squirming and furiously glaring brunette, adding a bit of a telekinesis bind on him for good measure, "Your Good versus Evil beliefs are dead and gone. It's a new world now. The Elders may have pretended to be saints but they wanted us dead. Mostly me, but they weren't planning on leaving you out of their little killing spree." That got Chris's attention, and despite himself, he shot his brother a questioning look, "Yes, that's right. Daddy dearest was planning to destroy us."

"I don't even know you any more," Chris said quietly, refusing to look at him, "How can I even trust you're telling the truth?"

Unwilling to go into a long debates about ethics and responsibility that ended with Chris running away on him, Wyatt used another power Chris didn't know he had. The power to magically… persuade people to overlook what he wanted overlooked. It made them a little disorientated and malleable but he wasn't about to have Chris bail out on him.

Chris's eyes glazed over for a moment as his power went to work, and Wyatt released the binding on him, "Of course, forgive me. I was wrong to doubt you." he mumbled, seeming to have no recollection of his previous anger and disappointment. Wyatt heaved an inaudible sigh of relief, he'd been half-afraid it wouldn't work on blood relatives. But it did and everything was alright for the moment. There was still time for his plans to come to fruition.

There was still time he assured himself.

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Hours later, lying in his bed and staring at the ceiling, Chris pondered his options. Wyatt had crossed a line, he couldn't ignore it. And then there was the matter of him having done something to him. He didn't know what exactly but his memories were all fuzzy so he was guessing it was not a good thing.

He almost felt like crying. Wyatt was lost to him. That was everybody gone now. Oh, grandpa would want to help him out but what could he do? He wasn't magical. Which meant Chris was on his own.

And he wasn't about to stand by and watch his beloved brother turn into even more of a monster.

It was time to stop hoping for this all to have been a bad dream and face facts. Wyatt was gone and he wasn't coming back, at least not as he had been before.

Which meant Chris had to go.

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Briefly sticking his head into Wyatt's study to tell him he was going out for a while to hang out at P3, their mother's club, now run by Wyatt, or rather, one of Wyatt's many assistants, he orbed out and took a deep breath, shaky with the fear that even now Wyatt would figure out what he'd been up to the past few weeks.

He'd plotted, he's schemed, he'd squirreled away all sorts of potions and as many spells as he could copy out of the Book of Shadows.

After all, once he broke from Wyatt, he didn't think his brother would be big on sharing it anymore.

Grabbing the concealed bag of supplies from one of P3's storerooms, he swallowed a potion to conceal him from Wyatt's senses, at least he hoped it would or he was doomed before he began, and then orbed out to see what awaited him in this new life that he was making.

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A/N: So? What do you think? Please REVIEW! Pretty please with sugar on top?

Question for the readers: How low should Wyatt stoop to get Chris to join in his little world takeover plot? I mean, should he resort to physical violence and threats or be more crafty? 'Cos in Chris-crossed, Wyatt does try to kill Chris and I'm wondering if it's more a spur of the moment, normal sibling rivalry thing except with kick ass magical powers or something darker. I have some ideas of my own but some ideas from a fresh perspective would be nice.

Coming up next chapter: Wyatt goes ballistic. Chris joins the resistance. Betrayal, back-stabbing, Bianca. Wyatt goes to fetch a wayward Halliwell and see can he drum some sense into him. Chris is backed into a corner. now, doesn't that sound like fun?