He did it for me
Chapter 20
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
AN: There's a lot of interrogations going on in this chapter. So somebody's gonna' get to the bottom of something:)
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Earlier…
Sheila was crouched down behind a shelf, her eyes darting nervously between the only exit and the double doors that held her friends inside. She bounced her head up as they emerged, her words running together anxiously, "How-did-it-go-did-you-find-out-anything?"
Leo was still seething as he thought of the Elder, his name rolling off his tongue as though poison, "Matthias." Seeing she did not recognize the name, he elaborated, "Head of the Elders Council. The one who's been trying to get me to leave my family for years. We're going to have a little talk with him."
"Then let's go," Sheila answered eagerly.
Piper spoke up, "I think you should sit this one out. He's a very powerful Elder, and if cornered, possibly very dangerous."
Sheila refused to back down, "Not compared to one of the worlds most powerful witches and an Elder—who also happen to be the parents of a murdered child. I think I'll be safe with you guys."
Leo nodded his head in acquiescence, but Piper held her ground. "I don't think its a good idea and we really don't have time to argue about it."
She jutted her chin out defiantly, "Fine. Then lets go and stop arguing. Look, you're going to interrogate him right?"
"Yes, but—" Piper drawled out reluctantly.
Sheila smiled as if she had already won, "But nothing. See, I knew I came along for a reason. Piper, I'm a trial attorney. He's liable to be very cagey. Maybe I can get at him a little more tactfully, because if the two of you charge in there as angry parents ready to fight, he may clam up. So let me at least try, please?"
Piper rolled her eyes and looked to Leo, who only shook his head seeming to think it was a good idea. She knew when she was beat. Her friend was just as stubborn as she was. Instead of responding verbally she extended her hand gesturing for the woman to lead the way.
Sheila smiled happily, finally getting the opportunity to really help her godchildren. She spun around suddenly realizing that she didn't know where she was going. "Uh, Leo?"
"Right," he said before sensing for the head Elder and taking the lead. Finding him, the three orbed just outside of his office and decided to surprise him, mutually agreeing not to tip their hand until they were sure he would be of no further use.
"Hello Matthias," Leo said masking his anger with a forced smile.
The Elder glanced up in surprise from a journal he was writing in. "Leo—what are you doing here? I thought you would be home planning services for Christopher? You know, you are welcome to take as much time off as you need…"
He clenched his fists trying to reign in his temper. He felt that if he were to respond, he would reach across the desk and drag the older man across it. Turning to his wife, he noted that she was fairing no better. Perhaps it was a good idea to bring Sheila, he thought, as she maneuvered her way past them and offered a handshake and introduction.
Matthias took the proffered hand, momentarily taken aback by her presence. Quickly schooling his features, he questioned the couple about it.
Sheila smiled back warmly in an attempt to lull him into a false sense of security. "Matthias, may I call you that? You see, the family is having a difficult time coming to terms with the situation, and well—they're just trying to find some meaning to it. And I thought maybe if you could use some of your power and influence, you know, to find out why this had to happen to such a wonderful young man, they would be able to accept it better and move on. It's what any parent that has lost a child wants. Peace of mind. As it is now, they're beside themselves with grief and turmoil. And speaking as an objective onlooker, I don't see how they could possibly continue their jobs effectively without some type of closure."
"I don't see what I could possibly give them that would be of any use."
She clasped her hands together and pleaded, "As you can tell from their expressions, Piper and Leo were reluctant to ask for your help—especially in light of your earlier refusal. But they're not asking you to bring Christopher back. Maybe this was meant to be."
He searched their eyes for any sign of deception, while Sheila watched a flicker of doubt cross his face before relaxing in the relief that he was still unsuspected. She decided to push harder. "But I convinced them that in order to grieve, they would have to understand. Please! They need this. If you know anything—anything at all—even if you think it may be unimportant, or just even a smidgen of information as to why. It may be enough to help them understand so that they can come to terms and accept it."
"What is it you're looking for?" Matthias asked confidently.
"A prophecy maybe? Something you may have heard—hearsay even. Just anything…" she asked sounding hopeful.
He decided to give them a small portion of the truth, not enough to clue them into his duplicity, but enough to hopefully make them go away. "Leo, Piper," he began, "Please don't be angry with me because I only found this out just this morning—through an ancient scroll. I was going to tell you, but I thought it best to wait until you had some time to grieve. Anyway, Christopher's name was not only mentioned, but it also described his time traveling exploits. Bear in mind, that this was written centuries ago by several different prophetic sources. And it seems as if they all concurred that young Christopher, though extremely important to the future of the world, was always destined to die at a specific age. His destiny was and always has been to time travel and save the world in doing so. His time was to be short-lived, and the nineteen years you have known him—was in fact an indirect result of the necessity to be born. Had the Christopher that came from the future ceased to exist before he had accomplished his destiny, all would have been lost. Please, you mustn't blame yourselves—unfortunately, his future was set; there was nothing you could have done to prevent it—the age of nineteen was always to be Christopher Perry Halliwell's time."
Piper glared at the man, "Well then that scroll is a lie. Chris from the future was twenty-three when he died, almost twenty-four. That means he managed to live a good five years longer than predicted—so it wasn't set in stone. Try again."
"Not according to the scroll…How do you that he was twenty-three?"
"He told us," the dark-haired witch answered.
The Elder allowed a bit of smirk to creep into his features, trying to hold back his natural urge to gloat. "But as I understand it, there were a lot of things that he said that weren't quite true?"
Leo had had enough of the man practically boasting his involvement, and then thinking that they were naïve enough not to see through his lies. He got the feeling that there may have been some truth to the man's words, but how much, he wasn't sure. He looked to his wife, and finally to her friend before silently reaching an agreement to take their questioning to the next level. He allowed a smirk of his own to grace his lips as both women took a few steps back. Now he could finally enjoy their little talk…
A short time later; location unknown...
A bit disoriented from the shimmering, Patty wasn't sure where she was when they landed. Swinging her fists, kicking her feet, biting even—any method of defense she had, she used against the brute demon refusing to relinquish his hold on the teen. "LET HIM GO!"
Despite her fierce struggles, the brute demon didn't even flinch after each hit. However, he was beginning to get annoyed. Holding Christopher with one hand, he reached out and flung her to the ground with the other.
Infuriated and ready to charge him again, she hissed through clenched teeth, "Leave him alone!"
The booming voice growled back at her as several whitelighters again restrained her, "Or what?"
Her retort was abruptly cut off by the sounds of orbing. Patty twisted around as best she could to see who had arrived. "Why are you doing this?" she demanded angrily.
The female Elder responded simply, "Because we must." Addressing the demon, she nodded her assent, "You may go, Arel. The others whereabouts must be ascertained—at any cost. Interrogate him as you see fit."
Patty heard this and struggled harder, "NO! You leave him alone!"
Christopher inhaled sharply. The Elder's icy words alone would have been enough to strike fear into his heart, but it was the malicious grin sported by the brute demon that nearly drove him to panic. Furiously, he tried to fight his way free and ignored the stabs of pain that crept up his arm. His heart leapt quickly as his wild struggles gained him a bit of leverage and he began to pull free.
The brute demon quickly squashed Christopher's hopes of freedom with a forceful punch into the boys spine, flooring him instantly. He decided to end any further attempts, and deftly wrapped his large hands around the slender neck.
Christopher had to fight his own mind to remember that he was already dead, but it certainly didn't feel that way as the air was cut off from his lungs. He felt himself teetering on the edges of unconsciousness, and he thought that he must have been at least close to the delightful bliss. But as fate would have it, it seemed that he was far from it.
As if he had read his mind, Arel loosened his grip and grabbed the back of his shirt to pull him up off the floor. "You can't get away that easily, boy. Your body's not quite alive any more. Not quite dead either. Which means you can't pass out. Which also means we've got a lot of time on our hands. Eventually, you will tell me what I want to know…" he said venomously before shimmering them both to another location.
"He's just a boy," Patty pleaded with the Elder as she stared at the spot where her grandson had been standing.
"He is anything but, Ms. Halliwell. You may have the answer I desire. If you wish to tell me where the other is, I can call Arel back and stop the questioning right now. Otherwise…" she left the threat for the woman to ponder.
The mother of the Charmed Ones glared angrily, "You're barbaric!"
"No. I'm not. Arel, however—IS, which is why I chose him for this task." She pushed the woman aside, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have things I must attend to." With a flick of her arm, the brown-haired witch could be heard cursing the Elder loudly as she was sent to an unknown location.
One of the whitelighters that had remained fidgeted a bit before asking nervously, "Is this really necessary, Raina? He's a child."
She looked surprised before her face was washed with a fleeting look of guilt, "By our standards, yes, I suppose so. And it is unfortunate. But our very survival depends on complying with his demands. You know what is at stake here. Why do you question the necessary means?"
"You're right. I'm sorry. I will continue the search," he agreed reluctantly before orbing away.
Raina shook her head in disapproval after the Whitelighter left. She only hoped that none of the others got cold feet as well. They couldn't afford to have anything else go wrong.
Tbc…
AN: Thank you sooooo much for the reviews. I'm glad that you guys seemed to be interested in it. I finally finished with the homework—for now. So I decided to write until my heart was content;) I hope you like it. BTW, I'm trying to decide if I should let you on to who is really behind all of this in the next chapter or 2. We'll see:)
