He did it for me
Chapter 41
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.
Christopher just turned 19, Chris was already 19, and Wyatt is three months shy of his 21st birthday.
Disclaimer in chapter 1
AN: This is the last chapter before the epilog. I think I promise this time :D
When I'm done, I'll condense it into about 4-5 chapters & repost.
I hope you like it and thank you all so much for being a part of my story:)
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Wyatt stepped through the portal, immediately sensing the danger and orbing to the spot where his father had pointed out. He had hoped to intercept his brother before it was too late and raise his shield in front of the teen to protect him from Gideon's cursed blade.
But he wasn't quite fast enough. Their timing had only been off by mere milliseconds, but just long enough for the blade to tear through the young man's flesh.
Gideon twisted the athame to subdue his victim, dropping him to his knees before he wrenched the steel from his body. 'Not the intended target', he thought grimly, 'but it will do for a distraction'. He backed up quickly and reached into the playpen, grabbing the wide-eyed child.
Chris called out for his father weakly. He was in shock as he held his older brother in his arms. He couldn't believe his own eyes--Wyatt had come from the future, and deliberately kept him out of harms way. He had saved his life at the risk of his own. This wasn't the brother he had known, certainly not the one who had tried to kill him the last time they had met. Yet as the older man began to tremble from the shock of blood loss, his intentions were clear. Wyatt had taken a potentially fatal wound meant for him. He called out for his father again, his voice growing louder in desperation. "DAD!"
Leo orbed in a panic, desperate to answer the distressed voice. He arrived just in time to watch Gideon orb away with his two-year old son and muttering his apologies.
As he neared his two sons, he recognized his oldest child immediately. Blinded by Barbas' earlier deception, he tried to get Chris to let go of him. "Chris, get away from him! He's evil!"
Wyatt shook his head and responded weakly, "No, Dad." He opened his hand to reveal the crumpled and torn piece of paper he had been holding since his trip through the portal.
Chris saw the action and took it from him. Holding it up to his face, he immediately recognized his own handwriting. He had only just given the letter to his Godmother two days ago. He stared at his brother in surprise. "I wrote this. Just in case. I gave this to Aunt Sheila for safekeeping a couple of days ago. Since it had the time travel spell on it, it was only for emergencies. And only if you turned out ok. What are you doing here?"
Wyatt tried to joke, "She gave it to me in an emergency. You keep dying, I have to keep saving you."
The younger man smiled even though he didn't understand the reference as he held on tighter, sitting his brother up and leaning him against his chest. His eyes, glistening with tears, shot up and sought his father's. "He's good, Dad. We did it. She wouldn't have given this to him otherwise. Heal him—please?"
Leo trusted his son's judgment and wasted no time holding his hands over Wyatt's back. He looked up in a panic, "He's not healing…"
"It's not going to, Dad. Gideon's magic is preventing it. There's nothing you can do except go after my baby self now."
"No! Wyatt, I am not leaving you like this. You're here now—so that means the baby will be ok. We still have time to find something to heal you."
"Not if you don't do what you're supposed to do. You have to go after my baby self and kill Gideon. It's the only way to stop him from trying again," Wyatt reasoned.
"I'll bring him back to heal you. When the other Elder's find out what he tried to do, they'll take care of punishing him."
Wyatt didn't have the strength to argue with his father any longer. He was dying and he knew it. But he also knew that his father had made a conscious decision to kill the Elder in his timeline. So why now was he trying to avoid doing it now? A thought suddenly popped into his head as he cursed under his breath. The first time around, his father had been angry enough to kill his mentor—only after—the murder of his youngest son. He didn't know what damage leaving the Elder alive would do the timeline. Or worse, would he try again and succeed?
An idea soon formed in Wyatt's mind. He thought about what his father had been through once before and how he had broken down in the attic, and immediately regretted his decision. But it was the only way he could see at the moment. He only hoped that his father would be able to forgive him.
He looked into his brother's eyes, hoping that he would understand and do as he asked. "Chris? No matter what happens, promise me you'll stay with me for at least an hour. I came all this way to meet you—this isn't how I planned for things to go. Please?"
If the dark-haired teen thought it was a strange request, he didn't have time to dwell on it. His heart skipped a beat as Wyatt's head fell forward, his body going limp in his arms. His voice edged with fear, he shook the blonde gently, "Wyatt? Wyatt-no.no.no.NO! Please don't do this to me! Not now!"
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Astral projecting down into his mother's room, Wyatt dropped to the bed weakly. He hadn't done that in a long time, and even then, it took much effort. His mother had forced him to stop astral projecting years ago when one such incident had nearly landed him in the city morgue. As the Twice-Blessed Witch, he tended to always have Wiccan powers to the extreme.
For him, astral projection was not immune to the condition. His body unfortunately decided to take the projection literally and pause his bodily functions entirely until his consciousness returned to it. His blood stopped flowing. His heart stopped beating. His lungs stopped breathing. To the average observer who wasn't aware of his unique powers, he would appear dead.
His father didn't know of those powers yet.
He looked up to the ceiling, feeling the weight of guilt as he heard the commotion upstairs from his father's rampage. The apparent death of a child was the only thing that would send his normally pacifist father off the deep end. But it was unfortunately a necessary evil. It was the only way for things to remain on course and ensure that Gideon would be dealt with swiftly by his father's hands.
Wyatt could only hope that his death wouldn't be a permanent situation for him. With his body fatally injured and rapidly growing weaker, he wasn't sure if he could even project back into his body. And if the body was injured, his soul would continue to grow weaker as time passed. He would definitely need his brother's help before the hour was up.
A quick spell he had invented as a teenager would allow the witch to transfer his consciousness back where it belonged. The only problem was that it required two powerful witches, and if his brother went on the hunt for Gideon with his father, he would be one witch short of that equation.
He leaned back on the bed, severely tempted to lie down after the trauma of being stabbed. Even his astral self felt the pull of much needed rest. But he stood up, knowing that if he lay down, it would probably be for the last time. Instead, he focused his attention toward the attic and sensed for his father. As soon as he felt the man orb out of the manor hastily, he projected himself into the attic.
Wyatt padded over to his brother who seemed unaware of his presence. He watched for a moment as Chris sobbed into his shoulder all the while murmuring apologies. He bent down and touched his hair to get his attention. "It's ok, Chris."
Chris looked up to find what he thought was his brother's ghost. He shook his head apologetically, "I'm so sorry, Wyatt. I never meant for this to happen. I was only trying to save you, not get you killed."
"I'm not dead yet, Chris. Not if you help me. I'm just astral projecting right now. And you did save me."
Chris shifted his gaze from the figure standing next to him to the limp body in his arms. Even though he could no longer feel any signs of life from his brother, he began to think back. The confusion gradually lifted as he heard Wyatt speak again.
"Didn't your Wyatt ever astral project? His body probably shut down the same as mine does."
Chris nodded slightly, "He only did it once. He said that it made him too vulnerable."
"Well I don't feel like that anymore—you saved me from that fate. I'm sorry I upset you and dad just now, but I had to fake my death so he would go after Gideon like he was supposed to. And now I need your help to get back in there," he said pointing to his body.
Chris began to panic again as he looked at the blood covering his arms, "But your body is still dying."
Wyatt ran his hands through his unruly hair as he admitted shyly, "I know. I was kind of hoping you would come up with something since you're the one with all the ideas. But after I get back in my body. It's too weak right now to recall my consciousness by itself. I need you to recite a spell with me—it requires two powerful witches to do it."
The two young men muddled through the spell and Wyatt soon returned to his body, albeit very painfully. He inhaled sharply, the pain of the wound that refused to heal nearly causing him to pass out in the process.
Chris pressed his hand to the wound to staunch the blood flow, wincing as Wyatt hissed through clenched teeth. "You still didn't answer my question. Why did you come back?"
Wyatt gritted his teeth and answered, trying to take his mind off the pain. "He was going to kill you. I couldn't let that happen. It wasn't supposed to happen. Then again, neither was this…I'm sorry, Chris. But it's not your fault, and I don't blame you—you know that, right?"
Chris started to protest before determination set in his eyes. "I can't help myself--guilt seems to be part of my DNA. But I can help you. I'm not going to let you die, Wyatt. I'll be damned if I came all this way to fix things, you turn out good, only to end up dying in my arms? To hell with that. I've got a plan."
Wyatt's lips curled up slightly, but he looked on proudly. "at-a-boy, kid. I knew you could do it."
"You said Gideon's magic is preventing you from being healed?"
"…y..eesss" he drawled out lethargically.
"Then Gideon's going to heal you."
"Won't do it. Too late. Dad…"
"I never said the Gideon from this time…" Chris remarked sardonically. He flicked his wrist toward the potions shelf and tore down the cabinet to reveal the triquetra he had spent weeks carving.
Chris threw his brother's arm around his shoulder and helped him to his feet before he led him to the portal. "Come on, Wyatt. We're going on a trip. Before Gideon ever even heard of the Charmed Ones. So he'll never even consider you a threat because you won't even be a twinkle in your parent's eyes."
Wyatt grinned weakly as he was practically dragged back in time again. "How far back?"
"Before mom was even born. Just to be on the safe side. No nasty little premonitions or prophesies about your birth to get his twisted little mind working."
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Arriving on the other side of the portal, Chris immediately orbed into magic school and sensed for the duplicitous Elder. He found him in one of the libraries re-shelving some books.
He drew in a deep breath to calm himself from the rage that had settled within. Seeing the elder that had just tried, and very nearly succeeded, in murdering his older brother, infuriated him to no end. With his back turned, it would be so easy to simply rid them all of their problem right then and there, and Gideon would never again be a threat to their family.
Chris warned his older brother to play along, more out of the need to hear and reinforce it for himself than for Wyatt's sake. He quickly put on a false smile as he helped his brother into a chair. "Master Gideon, we need your help."
Gideon spun around and looked up startled. He strode over to them suspiciously, his black robe trailing behind him. "Do I know you? How did you get in here?"
Chris schooled his best innocent look as he gesture to his brother, "It's a long story, sir. My friend and I need your help. We're whitelighters."
"Yes lads, how can I be of service?"
"He needs healing. Please just help him, and I'll explain everything."
Gideon nodded gracefully and bent down to heal the young blonde man. He frowned in consternation. "This is very strong magic. It's resistant to healing."
Chris played on the Elder's sense of false pride, "But you can do it right? I've always known that you were one of the most powerful Elders. You have to be able to do it."
Gideon balked slightly, but didn't attempt to deny Chris's words. "Of course I can. I was merely making a statement." He pointed out even as the wound closed itself and Wyatt again began to feel renewed.
With his thick, Brogue accent, Gideon snapped out curtly, "I shall take that explanation now."
Chris was more relieved than he had ever been in his life as Wyatt sat up and stretched, apparently, none the worse for wear. His lie rolled off his tongue easily, "We're students of yours. From the future. But we accidentally got sent to the past. Now we've already come up with a potion to get us home, but we ran into some demons on the way. And my friend was hurt. When we found out what time we were in, I remembered that you mentioned working here, so we came here in the hopes that you could help."
"Yes. That seems logical. What are your names, by the way?"
Chris smiled innocently. He knew that his family hated when he always refused to tell them information under the guise of future consequences. It irritated them immensely. So the fact that he could now turn around and use it on someone he hated, made him gloat happily. "We can't tell you that Master Gideon. In fact, it was you who has always told us that telling anyone about future events could change it too much. You're not supposed to meet us for a very long time. In fact, we should probably wipe your memory of us being here so that things go back to the way they're supposed to be."
Gideon looked at them a bit strangely before agreeing somewhat reluctantly. "Alright then. I suppose I can't argue with my own advice, now can I?"
Wyatt turned to his brother and offered a tight-lipped grin. He was going to be fine. They both were. And the only thing they needed to do now was erase Gideon's memory and return them to the future. He couldn't believe what he was about to do, but he didn't want to risk any unnecessary changes to the timeline. He gritted out roughly, "Thank you so much for your help, Master Gideon. Now we really must be going. We don't want to stay in this time too long and risk altering it. Do you happen to have any memory dust?"
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As he stood there and watched the portal close, Gideon had the strangest sensation that there was something he should be remembering. "Oh that's right!" he muttered out loud. He grabbed the ends of his robe and hurried down the hall, "I have a potions class to teach…"
Tbc…
AN: The epilog is up next. Wyatt and Chris are on their way back…to see how it ends, you'll just have to stay tuned one more time. Thank you so much for being here this long:)
