Chapter Twenty Six

flashback

"He's almost there? Are you sure?...No. No, we're still at home...Okay. Okay. We'll be right there," Matt said as he closed his cell phone and sighed as he looked at his watch.

"Prue! Hurry up! We're gonna be late!" he yelled as he looked up the stairs.

"Was that Porter?" asked a voice from behind him.

The boy with dark hazel eyes and dark hair turned around to help the other boy carry the packages. "Yeah. He says Chris and him are almost to P3. We need to get this stuff over there. Now."

Brett's eyebrows scrunched up in concern and his eyes traveled to the staircase. "Is Prue the last one? Where are the others?"

Matt rolled his eyes in the direction upstairs. "Yeah. Everyone else's in position, but Prue seems to be having trouble."

Brett sighed as he put his stuff down on the table. "Okay, why don't you take the cake and presents ahead and we'll meet you there?"

"I can't. I'm gonna need help setting up everything, plus it's gonna take a while to get the rest of this stuff inside P3 without being seen. Besides, a friend of mine's coming in from out of town. I was going to take them to the party. You see, we kind of have this deal—" Matt said as he waved his arms towards the dinning room table.

"Then just orb it in," Brett said as he started towards the living room. "And just use a spell to decorate the club so you can pick your friend up afterwards."

Matt's eyes widened slightly in disbelief. "Do you think that that's such a good idea. You know. Considering..." he trailed off as he made a vague eye motion towards the ceiling.

Brett stiffened as he paused tearing the couch apart. "If they cared, they'd do something about it," he said as he started moving cushions again, resentment tingeing his voice. "And...why would you even care, anyway? God knows they screwed us over more than once."

Matt's eyes narrowed slightly in concern, his voice soft. "I was just saying—"

"Look," Brett said as he stood to look at Matt's eyes. "I get why you care. I do. I just...I don't get why you care."

Matt closed his eyes. "I just meant—"

"All I'm saying is, if they cared they would have helped us earlier," Brett said as he turned back to the couch.

"Brett..." Matt said in a breathy voice, almost sighing, as he his face softened. "I was talking about the party..."

Brett just started shoving the pillows more roughly. "I know. Okay? I know. It's just..., look, there are a lot of things going on and—have you seen the damn car keys!?"

Matt stepped forward, his voice still soft. "Brett..."

Brett just sighed and his shoulders slacked as he turned to face Brett. "I know. Believe me, I know. It's just...today is supposed to be perfect, right? Do you have any idea how long it's been since we could actually have something even remotely like this to take all our minds off our problems? Meaning no demons, no drama, no—anything, so can we please just try and have that? Please? I mean...you do realize that this is one of the few moments that Chris actually takes a break for?"

Matt just looked at him, not knowing how to respond. "Brett..."

Brett sighed. "Look, I forgot that I had to do something," Brett said as he covered his eyes with his hand, "so could you please just help me out here?"

Matt's eyes shifted uneasily, but he still raised his right hand. "Keys."

Brett sighed again as he walked over to Matt and took the keys from his hand.

"Just...go. I'm sure Prue can find a way to the club herself. Just go," Brett sighed as he looked at Matt's brown eyes.

Matt nodded slowly, but his eyes shone of concern and disbelief. "Okay...I'll just...I'll see you at the party, okay?"

Brett sighed. "Yeah. Yeah. Of course. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Okay," Matt said slowly as he stepped back to move into the dinning room. "I'll see you later," he said as he and the presents and cake disappeared in a shower of bright lights.

Brett sighed loudly and slumped into one of the couches as he put his head in his hands. He paused to breathe for a while, just sitting there in silence, before standing back up and making his way into the sun room and out of the sight of the staircase.

"I can practically smell the sleeze. Show yourself now, you bastard," Brett hissed into the air.

Laughter seemed to fill up the room as a body walked out of the flame that appeared just six feet in front of the other boy.

"What? No kiss 'hello?'" Wyatt teased.

Brett eyes hardened. "We had a deal."

Wyatt chuckled again. "You see that's the thing about deals with devils...we have a tendency to change the rules."

Brett's lips thinned and his eyebrows furrowed, voice a dark whisper. "It was just supposed to be that one time—"

Wyatt's eyebrows furrowed and his attention was drawn to the clock, effectively shutting Brett up and pissing him off at the same time. "I'm sorry, you see we're running out of time—"

"You're running out of time," Brett corrected, as Wyatt curled his hands together and as he brought them up to his mouth to breathe through them, a gesture not unlike a parent trying to explain something to a slow child.

"Let me put it this way..." Wyatt said in a serious, nonchalant voice. "You could either, well, come with me...or I'll have all your friends killed."

Brett's eyes shown their usual fiery defiance, but, now, even through the silence and the thickest air of tension either had ever seen, Wyatt could see understanding worm its way into them.

He smiled.

Brett winced and he looked away. "Let's just do this."

Wyatt smiled again as he took Brett's outstretched hand with his left one and wound his right one across Brett's waist, making him the other boy shudder in disgust, as they flamed out.

"No need to be nervous, my dear," he whispered with mock concern. "The demons loved you."

"Harder!" Brett yelled as he blocked a kick that would have left him headless.

Matt ducked again as Brett sent a punch in his direction, grabbing onto Porter's forearm to swing himself back and propel Porter forward.

Brett ducked and rolled out of the way as Porter's fist missed his left shoulder by centimeters. Matt crossed the distance between them easily and began sparring with Brett to isolate his attention so Porter could catch him off guard.

Brett fell down by a sweep kick from Matt and Porter had jumped and was coming back down to punch his face, but Brett rolled out of the way and was across the cold floor of the attic before either of the other two could catch him.

All three stayed still on either side of the room, panting and staring closely as to not be caught unawares. Suddenly, Brett flipped forward, separating into three as he landed and charged the other two again.

"Faster! Stronger! Harder!" the one that was attacking Matt yelled. He brought punches and kicks that Matt was only scarcely able to avoid.

"You're kicks aren't high enough!" another one yelled at Porter as the other man tried to attack it, always only nearly hitting.

The third one jumped between the two groups and made a mid-air split, causing both Porter and Matt sprawling to opposite sides of the room. The two remaining Brett(s) disappeared and only the third one was standing in between them, panting, eyebrows furrowed, and eyes furious.

"Let's go!" he yelled as the two began to pick themselves up from the floor. He split into three people again and started attacking.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Your powers are best used for defense, not offence so just stand the hell still!" the one attacking Porter yelled.

"You're half-whitelighter, for crying out loud! Use your damn powers to just sense for the right one!" the one attacking Matt yelled. Matt avoided the punch to the chest that would have left him unconscious before pausing and brought his hand to Brett's stomach and walked right through it as punched into thin air.

Suddenly, it seemed like Matt was just picked off the floor and sent crashing through the Brett avoiding Porter's hits, and straight into the larger boy's body.

"You can do better than that!" Brett yelled as his illusions cleared and he materialized in front of them. "Focus!"

Porter shoved Matt off him and began attacking Brett on his own. Brett ducked the punch Porter sent his way, caught Porter in his stomach, and flipped backward, almost catching Porter with a kick to the face had Porter not phased through it.

"I said 'focus!'" yelled Brett again as he landed. By now Matt had gotten off the floor and was standing next to Porter as both boys went forward to attack him simultaneously.

Brett leaped to the side to avoid the kick to his stomach and drew his hand to stop the punch towards his head. He flipped backward to land and execute a sweep kick that was blocked by Porter's preternaturally strong forearm as Matt used Porter's hunched over form and his own levitation power to jump into the air and pulling his fist back to punch Brett square in the face.

Brett rolled out of the way mere milliseconds before the hit could connect and, before Matt could realize it, he was already being sent halfway across the room by a kick that landed just on his left flank.

"Faster! Stronger! Harder!" Brett yelled. Porter helped Matt get up and they attacked Brett again as Porter flung Matt towards Brett, hoping to land a kick on him, but both were surprised when Brett jumped up, too, and kicked Matt's leg, stopping his kick, and sending himself tumbling towards the floor as well as Matt, had it not been for his levitation. Brett jumped up though and caught Matt with a kick while he was still disoriented and sent him hurtling towards the floor and rolling to one of the attic walls. Breathing heavily, Brett snorted at Porter, a signal for him to come on.

"Faster. Stronger. Harder. Better," Brett breathed as he got back in fighting stance. Porter drew back his hand and they were off, Brett avoiding Porter's super-strengthened hits, and Porter phasing through Brett's pivotal ones.

"You can't keep using your powers, Porter," Brett hissed between hard breaths. "It's gonna get you killed. Focus!"

By now, Brett could see that Matt had gotten up, but for some reason he didn't join the fight. That should have been his first clue.

"Do you want to die?!" Brett yelled. "Is that it?! Because there's no way you could take the Source on with the way you've been fighting!"

Brett could see Porter's lips tighten and for a second he hesitated.

"Do you want to end up like the others?! Huh?!" Brett yelled while avoiding a kick aimed for his head. "Is that it?! We're dropping like flies here, Porter, so I need you to focus!"

Brett could have sworn he saw something in Porter's eyes snap before he heard the primal scream.

"Shut up! Just shut the HELL up!!!" Porter yelled as his eyes flared and he drew his arm back for a deep punch that caught Brett on the shoulder, sending the other boy clear across the room, through a wall, and bouncing off the wall of the stairs that led up into the attic. Brett let out a scream so loud that, had it not been for the silence spell they had placed around the house, he was certain that the neighbors, if not all of San Francisco, could have heard it.

For a second there, everything turned black and then he remembered feeling something really painful on his left shoulder until something warm seemed to fall over it and suddenly it didn't hurt anymore. When he opened his eyes, he saw Matt kneeling over him, and when Matt met his eyes, Brett couldn't decide if Matt was concerned or angry.

"You know what today was," Matt said, struggling for impassive.

Brett knew.

Brett could feel his gaze hardened a bit. "I know."

Matt nearly lost it. "Then tell what the hell that was?! You know how much she meant to him! To all of us!"

Brett's eyes fumed. "I was trying to teach you guys not to get yourselves killed!"

"By how?! By reminding him of how powerless he was when she fell?! How powerless we all were?!" Matt yelled.

"No. By giving him something to fight for. A goal. Something to achieve!" Brett yelled back. "The only reason she's not with us today is because none of you ever really took these lessons seriously! You have no idea how to really get by without even the slightest bit of magic."

Letting out a frustrated groan, Matt punched the wall of the attic and cursed as he found out how much it hurt, breathing short breaths through his teeth.

For a moment there, both boys just paused there, trapped in a silence that gave them only the comfort of their own thoughts.

"Okay. First? Ow. Remind me never to do that again," Matt said back in his normal voice, albeit shaky as he was still controlling a fraction of his emotions, as he slid down the wall where Brett had propped himself up against. "Second...I get it, okay?"

Brett blinked and his eyebrows furrowed. Huh?

"Huh?"

Matt rolled his eyes affectionately, but still didn't look at Brett. "Look, I'm not saying I agree with...you know, but...I do know why you did...that. I do," he said as he made a vague gesture towards the attic. "But...look, we're not going anywhere, man. As long as we all stick together...we're unstoppable. All the demons know that. There's no way they could, like, stop us if they wanted to. We're unbeatable together," he said softly as he cast kind brown eyes and a sad smile towards Brett. Eyes and a smile that Brett couldn't find in him to give back.

"Besides...even if we did get into a bind...it's not like you won't be here, right?" Matt said, still smiling, as he pulled Brett into a warm hug.

Brett didn't say anything.

Brett eyes steeled. "I won't do it."

Wyatt scowled. "It's not like you have a choice."

Brett seethed. "You're going too far, Wyatt. I swear to God, I'll trap you in your own God damn nightmares for the rest of your God damn life if you so much as lift a finger—"

Wyatt hissed. "I'm afraid that this is beyond you to comprehend, my dear. You just don't seem to get it. Any sign of weakness, such as my First Consort still sleeping with my brother, and the whole of demondom will rise against us and your precious family—"

"I am not your consort!"

"Tell that to over three hundred million demons who think you are!"

Brett nearly choked back a sob, but whether it was because of exasperation or utter hopelessness he couldn't tell. "I—I can't. Not today," he said, shaking his head in a "no" motion. "I can't believe this. I can't believe this! No. No way. I'm not doing it! And, even if I was, I sure as hell wouldn't be telling him today of all days!"

Wyatt scowled in resentment. "I fail to see why you're so unwelcoming of this. You were aware this was coming."

Brett turned furious eyes to him. "You're asking me to throw away everything I have ever loved and fought so hard for so long to keep together just so you could keep your fucking seat as the king of Hell! So, excuse me, Wyatt, if I seem a little testy!"

Wyatt turned murderous eyes to him. "I suggest you keep your voice down."

Brett laughed. "Or what? You'll kill me?" he said and Wyatt began to feel uneasy. "Because, let me tell you right now. That would be the best thing you would have ever done for me!"

Wyatt stared in cold silence.

"Now, if you'll excuse me..." Brett said coolly as turned wet eyes towards the kitchen door. "I have an anniversary party to get to."

Wyatt voice was low, soft, and dangerous. "If you don't make an appearance with me tonight, you'll give Chieron the proof he needed to tear down our entire campaign," he hissed as his eyes left the floor tile he had been staring at and slowly met Brett's red ones. "I do not wish to lose over three billion potential soldiers just because of your inane regard for a moral code!"

Brett eyes fumed. "He is the only constant I have ever had. I've lost too much to give him up now! I refuse to sacrifice—"

"That's just it!" Wyatt yelled over Brett's tirade. "You are in way too deep, now, my love! Something has got to give. Something has got to be sacrificed or else we both lose," he said as he looked Brett straight in the eye. "You have exactly two choices: either relinquish your boyfriend and the keep possibility of having him as your best friend or...risk losing everything you have so claimed to protect."

The silence that followed was full and intense as two pairs of eyes were locked in a battle over will, wit, and passion.

Suddenly, Wyatt cocked his head then looked directly into Brett's eyes. "You have exactly...five...four...three...two..."

There was a sudden pause, but then Brett was cupping Wyatt's jaw in his hands, standing on his tip toes, roughly crushing his lips against Wyatt's in a way he had never done with Chris as he closed his eyes and tried desperately to will tears away.

The sound of the kitchen door could be heard opening and an excited and familiar voice barged in before it paused and trailed off, and it was all Brett could do not to let out a sob.

"Brett? You'll never believe what I just did! I booked us..."

Shout outs: Californiachick and Drew's baby...i love you guys.

Don't necessarily need, but wants beta...anyone? Anyone at all?

Also...i'm well aware of how much this chapter sucked, please don't tell me. The next one will be better, I promise.

Well, thank you for reading. Bye.

Devil's Archangel.