Chapter Nineteen

Monday 6:48 PM

"Oh, you can't be serious," muttered Piper in a tone, a snake perched and ready to strike as she strode over to where the two boys stood in front of each other now, lips thin, fists clenched, and eyes fuming. "He can't go back there, not yet!"

Only...the two boys just ignored her, the look of shock, anguish, and disbelief on Chris' face as Brett just watched, calculating, judging.

"You got to be kidding me!" yelled Piper at her son, but as she raised a hand to wave in front of his gaze, she caught a sweep of movement to her side and a flash of white.

"Wha..." she let out, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Chris didn't even blink in response to her. Suddenly she was picked up off the ground and thrown back into her sisters on the couch, and when she looked up she could see Brett's dark eyes boring into hers, challenging her, before he turned back to Chris.

"Wha...where did my mom go?" asked Chris, looking up. He didn't even notice they left the room.

"They stepped out a while ago," explained Brett nicely. "They said goodbye, remember?"

Chris' eyebrows furrowed again "I can't...I can't go back with you. I have to stay here."

Brett's eyes flashed from shock to disbelief to anger and then to amusement.

"Okay, that's funny, Chris, but we really do have to go," he chuckled as he grasped Chris' arm only to be surprised when Chris backed out of it.

Chris lips thinned, but his eyes shone a little, watering a bit. "I'm not...I'm not kidding. I can't go."

The humor in Brett's eyes evaporated and was quickly replaced with disbelief and anger. "You've got to be kidding me," he muttered. "After everything I just told you—"

"I'm sorry...I just...can't...I have to take care of—Wyatt."

Brett shook with rage.

"Oh, my Go—are you listening to yourself?!" Brett yelled, way past angry and working onto furious. "You want to stay here and protect that bastard even after everything he's done to you? To me? To you're entire family? Hell, even the world?!"

Chris eyes flashed a little of anger, too, with obvious disbelief and exasperation.

"If I save Wyatt here, I can save the world over—"

"That's just it, Chris, you can't!" Brett yelled. "God! Don't you think if you had any chance at saving him you would have done it by NOW? I mean, you've been here for almost two years, and still nothing's changed! The world is just as crappy and stupid as it always was before!"

"And how would you—"

"Matt's premonitions!" Brett yelled back viscously. "I can see everything you're ass of a brother had, is, and will do whenever I do and don't want! Do you want me to show you what he's doing to family of Neos he just found right now?! Huh?! Or how about the unicorn herd he just bled dry three hours ago?!"

Brett's hands clenched into fists and he had to step back before he gave in to the desire to punch Chris' face in.

"People are dying, the psychics and empaths are slowly being driven insane, and, there isn't anyone left who could even be remotely called innocent anymore, hell, even children have learned how to kill demons, witches, and whitelighters by now! The entire world has gone to hell and the only thing you can think about doing—the only thing you've done—is sit on your ass, "trying" to save the asshole who started this whole thing in the first place and spending precious time with your mommy!"

Chris paled.

"Get over it, Chris!" Brett yelled. "I know you loved her! I know you cared about her. I know you miss her, but she's dead! She's gone, and she's dead. And as much as seeing her alive again is a big deal for you, it's not going to bring her back! Hell, I'll even bet you don't spend any time with her, do you? You avoid her."

Chris' fists clenched and his eyebrows furrowed so deeply that it didn't seem like his anymore.

"I can change that! If I just save—"

"But you CAN'T!!!" yelled Brett. "GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULL! If you could, you would have done it by now! Wyatt is a danger now and always will be! And no matter how much you try, he'll still end up killing her anyway!"

A stony silence spread through the attic, and Chris thought he could faintly hear his someone calling him.

"I just...he's my brother."

Brett exploded.

"And she was your mother! Matt was your brother! Porter, Prue, and Megan were your cousins! I was your best friend! He's a killer!"

"And, you're a traitor!" yelled Chris back, and for a moment both of them stood there in shock.

Brett recovered first and his back straightened, stiffened, voice calm.

"Maybe. But you're grasping at straws, and that's beside the point."

Chris' face slackened and his frame fell.

"Can't you just...There's got to be some other...Roland—"

"Roland's dead," finished Brett, unmercifully.

"Wha..." Chris started in surprise. "I thought—"

Brett chuckled.

"I said New York was the first sub-base to fall," he said sardonically. "Why would Wyatt take care of problems all across the world without taking care of the biggest one in his own back yard?"

"What..."

"He breached the outer defenses easily, slid through them like a knife through butter. He's stronger, now. A lot stronger. He's killed so many demons and witches and Avatars of Power and God knows what else that he doesn't even need his own powers to be the next Source anymore. He's like Cole. He completely obliterated it. Head Quarters—is in ashes. The only thing left—is dust. No one who was there when he attacked is still alive. And Roland, like the dumbass he was, the one who thought you could actually make a difference back here, was just too damn stupid to listen when he still had a chance. Bianca tried—"

"Bianca? She talked to you?" Chris said a little too hopefully.

Brett's eyes flickered for a second, but he answered him in a petulant tone.

"She's the one who got me all the supplies I needed when I was making my potions. She needed help from someone closer to Wyatt in order to trick him, and when you're desperate..." Brett trailed off. "Besides, she needed my potion making skills. She thought that you might need help after a while. I haven't seen for months so..."

Chris face contorted and the disappointment in his eyes didn't escape Brett. "Wyatt killed her months ago...I was there but..."

Brett gaze softened...a little.

"I'm sorry, but that's still beside the point. We need you back there. I know that Roland was like a father to you, but, without him, the sub-bases will fall, too. They need someone who can kill Wyatt. Someone whose example they can follow. Someone they can trust."

Chris eyes, glazed, yet alert met his.

"Why don't you do it?"

"Because I'm not strong enough to take him. Wyatt has Dark powers and even with Matt's Light powers, as great defensively as they are, Wyatt is still the first born. I can't take him. Not alone."

Chris sighed dramatically.

"Give it up with the prophecy. It was probably a hoax anyway."

"Maybe. Either way, Wyatt is still the strongest of you three. Us three. I need your help to beat him. I can't do it on my own, I'm not strong enough," Brett ground out, teeth grinding.

"And what do you think I can do?" asked Chris anxiously. "Matt and Wyatt were the powerful ones."

Brett eyes bored into his and Chris realized for the first time that this Brett was so different from the one he met so long ago.

"That's what this is for," said Brett, pulling out a light blue potion out of his jeans.

"What is it?" asked Chris curiously.

"The thing you've always wanted," replied Brett vaguely. "It took over twice as long to make as the time potion."

"Is it..."

"It's you unbinding potion," Brett answered as Chris looked at the potion with such reverence. "The prophecy mentions a third power, besides Light and Dark, but even if it was a hoax, you're still the middle born. You should be more powerful than Matt was, or at least as strong."

Chris eyes looked heavy and world weary as he put the potion in his pocket.

"I can't...I just...I'm sorry."

Brett snorted and his slightly smaller frame seemed to tower over Chris now, quiet, deadly, and powerful, all righteous fury and dark revenge that it seemed to pour out of him in wisps of dark smoke.

"Fine," he said, voice completely devoid of emotion. "I'll just have to find another way."

Chris could only stand there in sadness and in shock as Brett started walking away.

"Don't follow me. Don't try to stop me. Anyone who gets in my way is going to straight to hell," he said, voice chilling the air as he walked away. "Wyatt is a dead man walking."

Chris eyes left the spot on the floor he'd been examining for so long now and stared at Brett's back.

"What happened to you?" he asked, breath barely above a whisper.

Brett didn't even pause on his way out the door, just slightly snorted.

"Wyatt. Life. You. Take your pick."

Chris had to bite his lip to keep his voice from cracking.

"I just...I want my brother back."

That made Brett pause and chuckle softly.

"You lost him a long time ago."

Chris tone was almost pleading.

"I wasn't talking about Wyatt."

Brett just continued walking, stong, confident, and unforgiving, disappearing completely after saying one last thing.

"Neither was I."

Thanks to Rin-Loy for sharing your thoughts. I hope this chapter doesn't get you down though. Just so you guys know, there's a little cuteness going to come your way but that might come a few chapters later.

Thanks though for reading and being patient with me. I hope you like this.

Devil's Archangel