One More Time - Chapter 7

by shjohnso.

Summary: Future Chris risked his life to save his brother from a fate worse than death—evil. But did it work? Or will he have to do it all over again? This is my take on the events that followed his birth.

Rated PG

Disclaimer—I don't own charmed, or any of the characters from the show, so don't sue me because I get no money from this.

Chris saw Paige's hair flip up at about the same time that the rest of the family did. He raised his hands slowly, "Paige--DUCK!"

Paige dipped out of the way just as she felt something swipe the air above her where her head had just been. She rolled toward her sisters as they all scrambled backward to confront the demon.

Piper raised her hands to blow it up, "Leo, get behind us and try to get out to get to the boys…"

Leo nodded as his eyes darted around cautiously before slipping out.

Piper started randomly blowing up things in the attic where she thought it may have been lying in wait.

Phoebe screamed as something ripped across her back and dug into her shoulder. She turned quickly to try and kick at the spot behind her where she was attacked but was thrown to the floor.

Piper was standing back trying to freeze or blow up whatever was swiping and clawing her younger sister while the empath kicked out and shielded her face from the blows.

Paige called for a knife and repetitively stabbed in the general direction that she saw Phoebe avoiding, but hit nothing but air each time. She was still trying when she felt herself suddenly flying through the air to crash into one of the potion tables after she was backhanded by the invisible creature.

Phoebe was panicking now as the blood poured from her newly shredded arms into her eyes, "Piper! Blow it up!"

Piper and Chris were aiming in the general direction of where they thought it was. Chris tried to move it telekinetically but found himself moving nothing but air.

"I'm trying Phoebe! Chris, torch it!"

Chris was frustratingly trying to get a lock on the creature attacking his Aunt, "I can't torch it unless I can see it!" He gave up and orbed in next to his Aunt to get her out of the situation. He leaned in and grabbed a hold of her kicking legs and orbed her downstairs, narrowly missing being clawed himself by the creature.

No sooner had he left Phoebe on the couch, he hurried back to the attic to help his Mom and other Aunt. His eyes frantically searched the room to assess the situation. He noted that Paige was still sprawled unconscious in the midst of the now broken potions table. His mom on the other hand, was backed into the corner receiving much the same type of blows as Phoebe had just gotten.

He shouted in a panic as he raced over to help her, "MOM!"

Piper was frantically flicking her wrists and kicking anything in her path even as her hands and arms were clawed vicious. She panted breathlessly, "Chris, stay back!"

As the scene unfolded in the attic, Leo raced down to the floor below to reach the nursery. He quickly swooped up his seven month old son in one arm and went to grab for Wyatt with the other.

Wyatt had managed to fall asleep just before the attack, and now awoke with widely curious eyes. He stared at his father with the baby in his arms motioning for him to go with him somewhere. He cocked his head in the direction of the ceiling when he heard things crashing and people screaming from the attic.

Leo stared into his son's eyes and seemed to understand what the child was thinking. His eyes grew wide with worry as he shook his head and reached out for him, "No--Wyatt! No you don't!" He cursed under his breath as his son slipped out of his grasp and most likely orbed to the source of his curiosity.

As soon as Wyatt reached the attic, the creature roared and turned it's attention away from Piper and Chris and charged at the boy.

Chris saw his mom lower her arms and realized that the demon had found another target. He turned to look at his brother, "WYATT, NO! DANGER---GET OUT OF HERE!"

Wyatt recognized the familiar command and raised his shield, but did not deem it necessary to obey the familiar stranger's other command to leave. He saw the creature barreling towards him and sighed a bit unnaturally for such a youngster, wishing that the others could see what he could see.

The boy expected the creature to bounce of his shield has it had done earlier, but was surprised as it crashed right through and tackled him before he blacked out.

To Chris and Piper, it looked as if Wyatt had disappeared the instant his shield was breached. They both screamed the toddlers name at the same time, waking Paige from her unplanned slumber.

Paige looked up to where they were yelling and realized that the creature must have gotten to Wyatt. She did the only thing that she could think of and silently prayed that her aim would not harm the child. She called for the athame that dropped on the floor earlier and hurled the dagger in the direction of what she hoped was the creature.

She knew she hit it when a few drops of blood dripped and it howled in rage. As a result of her assault on it, the air around the creature flickered briefly, showing the limp figure of the child dangling in its arms, as if he too was cloaked in some type of invisible shield.

Piper immediately tried to freeze the creature but her efforts were futile; while Chris focused on trying to combust the creature from the inside out. Unfortunately, the glimpse he received was not enough to cause it any damage, only surmise that it's form was apparently human-like. "Don't let it get away with my son!"

Chris held his hands up, "Mom--we do a double freeze--it always used to work. You and I freeze it at the same time. Maybe that will slow him down--on the count of three. One. Two--", he didn't finish as he was knocked to the ground and trampled over before either mother or son could unleash their freezes.

Everyone in the room scrambled to run after the creature spiriting the child away, but they couldn't see where it went.

"Did it come past you?" Chris asked her hurriedly.

Rushing downstairs, they found Phoebe lying on floor by a window trying to get up. She nodded politely as Chris reached down and helped her. "Yeah. I tried to stop it, but Piper said earlier that we should wait until we have a plan--so I let it go."

Piper was frantic, "That was before it kidnapped my son Phoebe! That thing has Wyatt!"

Chris backed away from everyone to distance himself from the emotional fluctuations in the room, as it always tended to hinder his progress in searching for someone. He tried to sense for his brother, "DAMN IT! I can't find him. Paige?"

Paige shook her head, "No. But that can't mean that he's--can it?"

Piper glared at her angrily, "No. He is not. We will get him back safe and alive if it's the last thing I do."

Leo came rushing downstairs after he had tucked away the infant in the cushioned baby carrier strapped across his chest. "Wyatt got away from me--did you see him?" He looked at all of their crestfallen faces, he knew immediately what had happened. "Where is he?"

Chris stood at the bottom of the landing and glanced up at his father, "I don't know Dad, but we'll find him. He's gonna' be ok, I promise. I didn't come all this way to loose him now…"

Leo's shoulders slumped as he gripped the snuggling infant tighter, "That sounds eerily familiar."

Phoebe limped over to him, "How so?"

Leo's eyes glazed over with a haunted look, "I heard that last time I lost a son."

TBC...