Chapter 12

"Ok everyone link hands and make sure not to break the circle until the vision is complete" Piper commanded as she laid the last white candle down, completing the circle.

"I think we all know the rules by now mother so could me spare me the theatrics and just get on with it already" an irritated Wyatt spoke as he joined hands with his brother and their youngest aunt.

"Was that really necessary Wyatt?" asked future Leo who received an evil glare from the man in return.

Wyatt couldn't understand why his younger sibling wanted to go through all of this. Hadn't he gone through enough over the past few months? Why does he feel the need to rehash old memories that may end up doing him more harm then good? And if this so called "vision quest" hurt his brother in any way he knew just who to blame.

His mother and father were so wrapped up in trying to relieve themselves of their own guilt that they deemed it necessary to force his brother to relive the worst moments of his child hood. None of it made since to him but it was what Chris wanted and if he had faith in those monsters then there was nothing Wyatt could do about it but make sure to be there to comfort the boy once the awful truth was exposed.

Meanwhile Chris was a nervous wreck as he now found himself regretting his decision. Maybe his brother was right. Maybe he was better off not knowing what made his parents hurt him so badly, whether it was because of a spell or demons or the most painful thing of all, being made aware that they had chosen to inflict pain upon him all on their own. The boy cringed at his last thought. What if his parents really did hate him? If they did would they chose not to have him this time around knowing that they would just end up causing him great pain all over again.

The boy didn't have the chance to ponder any further as the sound of his mother's voice filled the air.

"A time for everything and to everything it's place

we asked to be shown what happened in a timeline to be erased

To be given the gift of sight into the pain of Chris's heart

So that he, his brother and his parents shall never grow apart"

Suddenly an image illuminated from the middle of the circle to reveal the answers that the Halliwell family so desperately sought.

Flashback/Forward

Two shadow like figures watched from the far corner of the dinning room of Halliwell manor as Piper and Leo set down shopping bags on the kitchen counter.

"This is going to be perfect" the female said to her male counter part.

"I know. I don't understand what took us so long to think of this. The pain of the Halliwell boy will give us all the power we need to survive for centuries to come" replied the man with an evil grin as he continued to watch the couple laughing.

"Chris is going to love this" Piper said holding up a toy she purchased just for her special little guy.

"I hope so" the man replied in a somber tone.

"Hey Leo, don't worry about it. I'm sure Chris will come around"

"I hope so Piper. I mean he's been acting really strange lately. It's almost as if he's scared of us. I just don't understand why"

"Maybe once you give him this he'll come around and open up to us" the woman said in a hopeful voice.

"Maybe" the father responded but before he could go any further the screams of their two children rang out.

A little brown haired boy ran down the stairs as a blond boy came running down behind him. "You'll never catch me Wy" the boy yelled happily as his big brother continued chasing him.

"Oh come on Chris I always get you and you know it" the boy replied as he crawled under the living room table after his younger sibling.

"Yeah, well you won't get me this time" the boy teased as he dodged his brother and made a v-line for the front door.

"Na-na-na-na you can't get me" he smiled wickedly before opening the door and running outside into the pouring rain.

Both parents peaked around the corner as they watched the boy's run out the front door. They both smiled, happy that the boys were so close and loved each other so much.

"So Dad, do you feel like playing in the rain" asked Piper with a smirk.

"I'd love to, are you coming with?"

"Yeah, just give me a minute" she smiled as she returned to the kitchen.

Both Piper and Leo remained completely unaware of their invisible guest as the two crept up behind their targets before merging with their bodies and taking over their beings.

"Umm" fake Leo said as he walked towards the door and opened it. "This is going to be fun"

Little Chris was having so much fun that he didn't notice his father until he ran dead smack into him before falling backwards.

Suddenly the boy was roughly pulled up by his collar and dragged inside the house as a shocked Wyatt followed. The second he entered the house he heard his little brother's scared and pain filled cries.

"I'm sorry Daddy, I'll never do it again" the boy pleaded as his father slapped him hard across the face.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO NOT DO STUPID THINGS CHRISTOPHER" Fake Leo yelled as his hand made contact with the boy's face again.

In the kitchen fake Piper heard the boy's screams and could feel an powerful wave of life and energy come over her as his cries grew more and more desperate.

"Well I can't let him have all the fun, now can I" Piper said walking into the living room in enough time to hear the other boy defend his brother. She knew she had to be careful as far as the other child was concerned. If he had the slightest suspicion that his parents were possessed, he would make them pay and she held no intentions of being sent to the waste land any time soon.

"It wasn't Chris's fault Dad, it was mine. We were playing tag and I made him chase me outside" a ten year old Wyatt spoke as the tears made their way down his face.

"Don't try to cover for him Wyatt. I know the truth. I know that you were just trying to make him come back inside" Leo said as he gave a sympathetic smile to his oldest son before turning back to the younger boy. "Why can't you be more like your brother Chris? Wyatt is perfect. He gets good grades, he's powerful and most of all he doesn't give us half the problems that you do" the man yelled as the young boy cried hysterically.

"What's going on in here" she questioned trying to mimic the boy's mother's gestures and voice the best way she could.

"Chris is being a pain in the ass again. He made Wyatt chase after him in the rain and look at his school clothes, their partially ruined" said fake Leo trying to pain the boy as much as possible.

"That's not true Dad, you've got to listen to me, it wasn't Chris's fault, it was mine" the boy said waving his arms around in frustration and anger, completely unaware of what was truly going on.

"Wyatt how many times do we have to tell you that you are not responsible for your brother's actions?" Piper spoke running a loving hand over her son's head. "Now go get washed up for dinner while your father and I talk to Chris.

"But Mom" the older boy protested.

"Now young man" she said smiled at him before turning to her second son with a scowl.

Walking up the stairs he could hear his mother's voice yelling at his little brother.

"Just look at these clothes Chris, your brother would never do such a thing. I don't understand why you have to give us so much trouble all the time. Wyatt would never do this""

Wyatt then slammed his bedroom door behind him and sobbed heavily as he heard his brother's small body hit the floor one more time.

When all was said and done the imposters sent the devastated boy up to his room so the rest of their plan would go off without a hitch.

Going back to their original positions the Phantoms left Piper's body (in the kitchen) and Leo's (back in the dinning room) and disappeared into the night.

"Ok Piper I'm going" Leo said not remembering a thing as he headed for the door. Once he opened it his heart skipped a beat when he noticed that his children were not outside.

"Piper!" the man said running towards the stairs in search of his children.

"What Leo, what is it" the woman questioned not liking the amount of panic in her husband's voice.

"The boys are missing" he shot back running up with the steps with his wife following close behind.

When they opened the door to their oldest son's room they found the boy's sitting side by side. The youngest one's face was buried in his older brother's shirt while Wyatt wore seemed to be staring into nothingness.

"Chris sweetie" Piper said holding the toy in her hand seeing as how she didn't have time to put it down before she ran up the stairs.

"Hey sport, what's the matter" the father asked as he tried to touch his son.

"He fell" Wyatt answered sarcastically before pulling his brother closer to him. But not knowing any different Piper and Leo accepted his answer.

"Did you heal him?" asked a concerned Piper.

"Yeah he's fine. You can leave now" Wyatt said. He couldn't believe his parents would have the nerve to act as if nothing happened.

"Excuse me?" the witch replied taken off guard by her son's rude and malice tone. Maybe he's angry with himself for allowing his little brother to get hurt, she thought. "You know Wyatt what happened to Chris wasn't your fault"

"I know that. It was yours. Now get out"

"Look son I know you're upset by what happened but that doesn't give you the right to talk to your mother like that" his father said in a slightly raised voice.

"No, Leo, it's ok" the mother spoke not wanting to rock the boat any further.

"Here sweetie this is to help you feel better" the woman said placing the toy in the lap of her youngest child and running a loving hand over his head before she and her husband left the room in shock over the events that had just occurred.

End of Flashback/Forward

When the vision ended no one knew what to say. Although they were delighted that it really wasn't Piper and Leo who had abused their son, the group was in shock that no one had caught on to what had truly occurred. But the person feeling the worst about the situation was the couples oldest son.

The man could not believe what he had just witnessed. It wasn't his parents that had hurt his brother after all, but Phantoms. How did he not know? How could he have been so stupid as to think that his parents would ever hurt Chris? But then again the abuse had started while the two of them were so young that the boy had no reason to believe any one else was responsible. He could feel tears forming in his eyes as he thought back to the day he killed his parents. His innocent parents that we're responsible for their actions, those very actions that were the driving force behind their murder and their son's need to protect his brother so fiercely that he would betray his family's heritage and become the source of all evil.

This was too much for him to bare. Wyatt Halliwell had made a terrible mistake and that was something he NEVER did. No he was an all around perfectionist and master mind who was incapable of making errors, but then again maybe he wasn't. All these years of pain, anger, hatred, slaughtering of innocents were all because of a lie that he wasn't smart enough to decipher. He wanted to orb away and hide his face in shame. He didn't deserve to live any more and taking his life somewhere, where his family could never find him was the perfect solution. That way he would die alone, like he deserved. He was about orb out without facing his family and being forced to look into their eyes, but fortunately for him his brother knew what he was about to do and stopped him.

"It's ok Wyatt. You did what you thought you had to, to keep me safe and no one blames you for doing that. You had no way of knowing that Phantoms were responsible for this. None of us knew" the boy said tightening his grip on his brother's hand.

Chris wanted to smile and dance around like a five year old on his birthday but the torn look on his brother's face stopped him. He knew that his brother was on the break of a melt down do to this revelation that turned out to be both a blessing and a cruse. Blessing for him as he was now aware that his parents truly did love him and a curse for his brother because the couple was killed based on a misconception at the hands of their oldest son. Looking at his brother's face Chris was now fully aware that the reason for his brother's turn had nothing everything to do with a lie that was made to look like the truth.

"You're brother's right Wyatt and I am so proud of you for taking such good care of him" his mother began as she wrapped her arms around as much of the man as her small frame would allow. "You did good baby, no matter what. You did good by your brother"

And that's when Chris saw it for the first time. His brother broke down and cried for the first time in his life, something that Chris thought would never be possible. Soon his father joined the embrace as his aunts and the future version of his father watched on with tear stained cheeks. It had been one hell of a night in the Halliwell manor. Little did they know that the six of them were in store for an even bigger heartbreak, one that would be felt for years to come.