He did it for me

Chapter 5

By: teal-lover

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Being twice blessed, Wyatt thought that nothing could ever hurt him. It's devastating to find out how wrong you can be. Takes place in the future that Chris changed.

Chris just turned 19, and Wyatt is three months shy of his 21st birthday.

Disclaimer in chapter 1

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Leo arrived just outside of the Elder's Council carrying the dead weight of his youngest child's body. The boy was heavy and awkward at over six feet, but Leo didn't notice it. In fact, he didn't notice much of anything. It was as if his entire body felt numb inside, so he took careful steps to make sure that he didn't drop his precious cargo.

Through all of the hundreds of times he had made this trip, he had never once been hesitant about their responses inside. No matter what he had come to request of them in the past, he never feared their reactions. Being with the sisters for so long, he knew that whatever the Elders response was, they would always find a way around it anyway. But today was different. He knew the Elder's combined had the power to bring back the dead and was no small feat. The problem was that no single Elder possessed the power to do so. He had guessed that it was a system of checks and balances to ensure that none among them became too powerful. It also served to insure that the Council had all of the power.

He paused before entering, mentally rehearsing what he would say to the other Elders. They hadn't been able to keep him from dating, and finally marrying the woman of his dreams. A powerful witch no less, and a Charmed One at that. They hadn't been able to stop him from producing even more powerful children and raising them together with his wife. In fact, they hadn't really been able to prevent him from doing anything since he became the official Whitelighter to the Charmed Ones. For the first time, the Council had true power over him. While he held his son in his arms, they held his life in their hands.

He took a deep breath as his heart pounded for fear of their reactions and decisions. He mentally prepared to do anything they asked of him if they would only restore his son's life. He would get down on his hands and knees, begging and pleading if he had to. He would do what they, up until this very day, continually harassed him about—leaving his family to become a full time Elder. He was even considering the threat of violence if they refused. After all, "desperate times call for desperate measures" as Piper's grandmother always used to say. Well he was certainly a desperate man at the moment.

Shaking himself out of his reverie, he kicked the door open with his foot as he barged inside and began yelling for their attention.

"What is the meaning of this, Leo? We have not called for you," one of the Elders exclaimed haughtily.

"I need your help," he said holding his son up to their attention, "My son needs your help."

William, one of the younger Elder's that had befriended Leo, spoke up sadly as he gazed down at the young man in his arms. "He is beyond our help, my friend."

Leo wasn't ready to take no for an answer, "Please? This wasn't supposed to happen. He's already suffered enough after Gideon."

The head of the Elder's Council spoke, "There is nothing we can do, Leo." Matthias continued, "However, I am deeply sorry for your loss, brother." Looking around the table to the others for support, "As we all are."

Leo closed his eyes worriedly as he prepared to plead his case. He laid his son on the floor gently so that he could face his peers.

Openly weeping, he rushed to the head of the Council and dropped to his knees painfully. He grabbed onto the flowing robes as he begged them again, "Please, help him. He's done too much good in this world to give up on him now, and he can do so much more. None of us would even be here if it weren't for him. The world would be in utter chaos."

Matthias had heard enough and fumed harshly, "Only because of YOUR OTHER SON!"

Leo fired back getting angry as well, "That wouldn't have happened if a "so called good-being" hadn't taken it upon himself to try and murder him! Wyatt would have been like he is now—a powerful force and ally of good magic—fighting on our side, alongside his brother. Please, Chris doesn't deserve this. It wasn't meant to be—"

"No! HE wasn't meant TO BE!" Matthias pointed downward to the pale form lying at this feet. Hearing the murmurs of discord from the surrounding Council members combined with Leo's shocked expression made him soften his tone. "I'm sorry to be so harsh, Leo. But it is the truth. Do not get me wrong—I am in no way condoning what Gideon did to your offspring many years ago, but in some ways, he was indeed correct. A whitelighter—let alone an Elder, was never meant to have a family for this very reason. You have become too emotional. Family has made you weak. These children of yours have removed your objectivity to see the bigger picture."

Leo shook his head adamantly, "There is no bigger picture than my family!"

Matthias walked around Leo and pulled him up. Admonishing him firmly, "An Elder should NEVER be reduced to crawling around like an animal. You have lost your edge, Leo. These children should never have been born."

Growing suspicious, Leo snarled at him, "You're responsible for this, aren't you?"

All of the Elders were quick to deny the accusation, including Matthias. "ABSOLUTELY NOT! We do not murder children and teenagers! You should have been removed from the company of the Charmed Ones a long time ago. Their rebellious nature has obviously corrupted your sensibilities. Christopher was young, yes, but death is a natural part of life."

Leo's voice raised another notch, "HE WAS MURDERED BY A DEMON! That is not natural!"

Matthias grew impatient and replied condescendingly as if he were explaining to a child, "IT IS in the life of a witch."

Leo shook the Elder off as he accused, "And that's perfectly fine with all of you, isn't it? You sit up here all "high and mighty" on your fat asses while every single witch on earth is down there fighting your battles and dying for them!"

"It is the way of the world, brother. We exist only to keep the balance of good and evil, and to protect the witches as we can. But not to reverse what happens naturally. Your in-laws are witches. Your wife is a witch, and therefore your sons are witches. Eventually, they will all die Leo. On the other hand, the life span of a Whitelighter or Elder can be exceedingly long. Unfortunately, that is not the case with witches. You have chosen a life that can lead to nothing but heartbreak and lonely solitude. We tried to make you aware of those facts and tried to dissuade you from marrying her. It is why we persistently try to coax you into breaking your ties with them. It is for your own good."

Throughout Matthias' speech, Leo only heard their refusal for aid. He needed to hear it, confirm it in a clear and concise way. He asked despondently, "Then you won't help me?"

All of the Council shook their heads collectively, while awaiting their Leader to voice the response. Matthias placed his hand on Leo's shoulder in an attempt at a comforting gesture. "I am truly sorry, Leo. But this is beyond---"

Leo shook the Elder off once again and ignored any further comments by the Council. He had his answer from them, and knew that they would not be persuaded by any means. Any further words were meaningless dribble to him.

He again dropped to the floor beside his son as he reached down and scooped him up. Before he turned to walk, he steeled his gaze at the Council and hissed at them, "I'll find another way. Without you! And if any of you so much as lift a finger to try and stop me—you will pay with your lives."

Kicking open the door, he again found himself walking down the long hall away from the Council Chambers to a spot where he could orb home to. Before he left, he heard footsteps rapidly approaching from behind.

"LEO WAIT!"

"What do you want, William? Are you going to help me bring my son back?"

William sighed, "You know I can't do that, Leo. I haven't been an Elder that long, and if I were to go against the Council's decision—they would have my soul recycled faster than I could blink two times."

"Then why are you here?"

William looked down at the boy in his friend's arms, "Because he was a good kid. And he was good for our side." His head darted around to make certain that they were alone and leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, "And because I think that there may be something bigger here that is going on."

"What do you mean?" Leo asked suspiciously.

"I don't know if they specifically have something to do with it, but I do think they know more than they're letting on. I mean, think about it. There are normally two whitelighters in your house with healing capabilities—you and Wyatt. The way I heard it, Chris died instantly, with no chance for healing. That's kind of strange, don't you think? And where were you when your son was killed?"

Leo's blood suddenly ran cold as he considered the implications, "I was issuing new whitelighter assignments."

William nodded, "Right. And so that YOUR current assignments don't get passed on to them, that means that you have to temporarily break the connection—"

Leo finished, "to my current charges. Including my son."

"I think you're starting to see it now. Look, when I found out that Chris was dead, I looked in on what happened. And I wasn't the only one, either. They knew before you even walked in the door."

"So why did they pretend like they didn't know?"

William shook his head in confusion, "I don't know. That's why they have me wondering…If you weren't distracted, you would have been able to sense his agitation that Wyatt hadn't shown up yet, and possibly been there to stop what happened. In fact, I bet if you were to ask your family, they would all have experienced similar occurrences." He started to back away, "Listen, I'd better get back in there before they start to get suspicious. I just told them that I would come out and try to calm you down. But I thought you should know."

Leo smiled at his friend appreciatively, "Thanks, my friend. I hope it helps…"

William bowed slightly, "And I hope you find a way. Good luck, Leo."

Tbc…

AN: Thank you SOOOOOOOOO much for the reviews! Yeah! I was so ecstatic to see them in my inbox. You guys really cheered me up during these rough finals week—because I've been seriously stressed. But, I'm nearly done, so then I can concentrate on finishing my stories & doing some sequels. Hehe. I'm excited, can you tell?