A/N: Thank you SO much to all of the people who have reviewed so loyally. Special thanks go out to Altaira, JadeAlmasy and tima, who have all reviewed almost every chapter and given me tons of help and feedback. I appreciate it more than you know.
This will be the last chapter of Time Loop, but I do have a few ideas already for the next installment, tentatively titled "Destiny Unleashed". I should have a chapter of that up hopefully by early next week. Thanks so much for all your love!
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Wyatt and Chris arrived in the Underworld with little fanfare, having taken the potion that changed their blue orbs to black ones to help them fit in better. Dressed in total black complete with black leather pants, both of them looked dangerously sexy. Each of them had a potion bottle securely hidden, and were ready to kick some major demon ass. It had been a really bad couple of days.
"Future Chris said that Lernou normally chilled in this bar called Hijinx down here." Chris said quietly to Wyatt. "I say we crash the party."
"Chris, don't go off half cocked here. You can't just start vanquishing; we have to make sure we get Lernou. He's the most important right now. I don't want my babies- or yours for that matter- growing up in an evil manor."
"I know, I know… We're going to kill him til he dies right?" Wyatt groaned at Chris' corny humor. The entire family had turned Phoebe's favorite movie title into a demon vanquishing joke. "Alright, let's go do this. Paisley will kill us if we're not back in time for her to get to that dance." Chris started to walk towards the bar.
"Yeah, Chris. About that dance…I don't think we can let her go. I've got a bad feeling about it. But I guess we deal with that after." Wyatt started to walk next to his brother.
Chris pulled open the door of the demon bar, allowing Wyatt to enter first. Boisterous noise and the smell of unwashed bodies filtered out the door in a noxious combination. The voices died down rapidly, as Wyatt's presence registered amongst the demonic patrons.
"Your eminence. Please, forgive us for making merriment before carrying out your orders." One skinny demon knelt at Wyatt's feet, begging for something that neither Chris nor Wyatt completely understood. Wyatt glanced at Chris furtively.
"Explain yourself, demon. And you'd better make it good." He said in a hard voice, demanding information.
"The Charmed Ones and their loved ones, sire. They holed them up in Magic School, and we could not gain entrance. We have carried out part of your orders however; innocents throughout the city have been killed. We are trying to draw out the Charmed Ones."
"They think you are EW, Wyatt. They don't know we've captured him. Use it!" Chris urged telepathically. (A/N: tima, now that you mention it, the EW is pretty funny!)
"LIAR!" Wyatt cried out, telekinetically throwing the quivering demon through the nearest table. The demon instantly erupted into flames. "Well...what are you all waiting for? My orders are to be followed, or you will all die! Take this as an example." Together Chris and Wyatt formed a huge energy ball and hurled it into the center knot of demons, instantly half of the demon bar was vanquished.
Wyatt grabbed a chunky scabber demon telekinetically before he could flame out. "Take us to Lernou. We have business to attend with him."
"Y…ye…yes, your eminence. He just left before you came in. But he lives in a cave on the west bank of the Inferno River. Just after the left curve in the river, you can't m…miss it." The demon stammered out, terrified of dying like so many of his fellow demons had. The Underworld had just found out that the Halliwells weren't to be taken lightly, whether good or evil.
Wyatt and Chris immediately black orbed to the river, without saying anything to the demon.
"The cave looks like its right over there, Wy." Chris said in a low voice. Wyatt nodded and they made their way into the cave.
"To what do I owe this pleasure? Two Halliwell brats? How nice of you to come to be, so that I don't have to go out of my way to kill you." Lernou said rising off his perch on a chair shaped rock. He left his hand out palm out, trying to read their insecurities.
Chris laughed. "Ah, but Lernou, you've got untouched far too long. I think we'll be the ones killing you." He threw his potion bottle, hitting Lernou with the perfect aim gained over years of vanquishes. Lernou stared at the wet spot on his shirt, and took a step forward, brushing his shirt off.
"Damn… Wy, didn't work, the potion didn't work. Quick grab him!" Chris yelled. He'd fully expected the potion to be enough. Wyatt grabbed the demon telekinetically. Once he had a firm grasp on him, Chris froze him with a wave of his hands. "The spell, Chris, we need to do the spell!" Wyatt urged quickly.
"You can not have them, they are ours to keep.
Insecurities and dreams both run way too deep
Be gone from here, in this time and place,
So the future years are calm and safe.
Let good prevail, where evil fails.
Send this demon back to whence he hails."
Chris and Wyatt chanted in unison, as Wyatt threw his potion bottle. The potion sizzled and hissed as it hit Lernou this time, and he unfroze as he shriveled and his body spun in whirling vortex that sunk deep into the earth. Chris reached over and pulled his brother into a quick hug. "Thanks, bro. Let's go home and make sure you say this way forever, hmm?"
"Sounds good, baby brother. Sounds good." Wyatt playfully chucked the back of Chris' head as they orbed back to the manor.
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Piper watched anxiously as Future Chris kept talking to Evil Wyatt inside the cage. Even though one of them was evil, the love between them was apparent in every action Future Chris made towards his brother. She really hadn't failed them this time. The backbone of love and support had even given Future Chris the strength to fight for his brother's morality a second time. She glanced at her watch nervously. Her versions of Chris and Wyatt should have been back by now. She absolutely hated letting them go on vanquishes alone. It didn't matter that they were both adults, and extremely powerful witches, probably even more so that she and her sisters. They were still her babies, and always would be.
"Wy!" Future Chris' exclamation brought her out of her musing. Before their eyes Evil Wyatt's hair turned blond and short again, almost military style. His clothes changed as well. Where black leather and a black wife-beater shirt had been, a baby-blue polo shirt with the word "Yummies" inscribed on the sleeve and tan chinos appeared. Future Wyatt sat hard on the floor of the cage.
Piper ran to the cage quickly. "Paige! Move one of these crystals! He's not evil anymore. They did it." Paige orbed a crystal away quickly, allowing Piper to enter the cage.
"My baby…" she murmured softly, running her hands through his short hair. "My precious little boy."
"Mom… mom, I'm so sorry! I never meant. I mean… I didn't want to…" Future Wyatt gasped, as he remembered all of his actions while he had been evil.
"No, baby, you just stop. We've all been evil in this family before. It's not the first time, and it probably won't be the last. But sweetie, you didn't do any permanent damage. Its okay, honey. You're ok." She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Future Wyatt returned the hug tightly. Future Chris looked on with a smile on his face. Paige walked up to him.
"So you did it again, huh? Wyatt's good again. I'm so proud of you." She hugged him, and put a quick kiss on his cheek.
Future Chris started to answer but was distracted by the sound of two sets of entering orbs. Wyatt blurted out before his orbs ended, "Am I good again?"
"Yes, son. You're good again. You guys did it. Any problems?" Leo immediately came to his sons sides.
They looked at each other a bit guiltily, remembering the destroyed demon bar, and the dud of a potion. "No, Dad. It was a breeze." Chris finally answered.
Future Chris and Future Wyatt both snorted simultaneously. Instantly their memories had been changed so that they knew what had gone on as easily as Present Chris & Wyatt. The two sets of brothers shared a knowledge filled look. Instantly, without words, they decided that they wouldn't ever let their family know about the destruction in the bar or the higher than expected powers of Lernou.
"Wy, we've got to get back. Phy's going to be coming searching for us anytime now." Future Chris said, breaking the silence.
"Phy? What you do mean? She's too young to come searching for someone!" Chris burst out, incredulous.
"She's thirty-three years old now, Chris. And still constantly badgering us. She insists that we need her help- always! And my Chris is right. We have to go, or she will come looking for us." Future Wyatt paused and looked closely at Chris. "Thank you. I appreciate everything you've done for me, for us, more than you know." He looked at Wyatt then. "And I'm sorry for everything I did to you. I guess you really are stronger than I am." He grinned crookedly "Or, at least, you're smarter than I am."
"Shut up, Wyatt" Chris snapped at his future brother. "Big deal, you were evil. Woooo…It's no worse than when Aunt Phoebe found out she was evil in her past life, or when I got turned into a spider demon, or when mom was a Valkyrie. It's no different. You're still a Halliwell, and you're still my brother."
"Oh, oh... Chris… you forgot the blue moon that turned mom and Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Piper into those gruesome slaughter machines." Phyra added with relish.
Future Wyatt gave up. "Alright, alright, I get it. I'm still family even if I was evil. At least I didn't kill any of you." His voice took a darker turn, thinking about it. This time no one mentioned it.
"Well, I guess we should get to work on getting home, huh Wy?" Future Chris clapped him on the back.
"I'll start the triquetra." Chris said, grabbing the familiar hunk of chalk that was always in the attic. Future Chris and Future Wyatt shared a look of amusement. "What?" Chris asked, seeing the look.
"Nothing, Chris. It's just strange to see you draw a triquetra for time travel. You've tweaked your time travel methods in the past 23 years, that's all." Future Wyatt explained. "Carry on."
Future Wyatt and Future Chris made their rounds amongst their family, hugging and talking to each one, saying good bye. Future Wyatt stopped at Phyra and hugged her at the same time as he whispered something in her ear that no one heard. She giggled and nodded "I will."
Future Chris stopped in front of Paisley. "You'll have the first Charmed granddaughter, you know. Take care of her. She's a special young woman."
Paisley gasped, and her hand went to her abdomen. "I thought you couldn't tell me anything, because of future consequences."
Future Chris grinned. "It doesn't matter. You're going to have a premonition of in a few hours anyway." He hugged her, and moved on.
Both Future Wyatt and Future Chris ended up at the last person at the same time- Piper. As natural as breathing, she reached up and hugged them both at the same time. "I love you two. You guys are the light of my life. You make me happy. You make me proud. And I'm sure you always will." Future Wyatt started to tear up a little. "I love you, mom." He stared at his brother. "Please, be careful okay. On Chris' next birthday… be very, very careful." He whispered the warning in her ear, future consequences be damned. He wanted to keep his mother around.
Future Chris hit him, lighter than normal. "I love you, mom. You always were the best…I guess some things never will change."
They released their mother, and walked together to the triquetra that Chris had drawn.
"Send them back from whence they came,
To the love and homes they claim."
The triquetra glowed a neon blue, and with one last look back, and a mouthed 'thanks' Future Wyatt and Future Chris entered the triquetra and stepped back into their future.
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"So, we saved you from being evil. We killed off a few extra demons, and stopped a future 'big bad'. Not bad for two days' work, eh, Wy?" Chris asked over dinner. They had treated the entire family to dinner at Yummies. Paisley and Ryan were the only ones absent, choosing instead to go to their dance.
"Not bad. Something bugs me though. If Evil Wyatt wasn't the original timeline's Evil Wyatt, how did he have his memories?" Wyatt wondered aloud.
"Because, sometime in the future, you cast a spell, Wy. It gives you the power to see into Chris' mind. He's always going to be cryptic and mystical about his trips to the past, so you get impatient and cast a spell to see into his mind. It tells you more than you ever wanted to see in the first place." Phyra answered.
The entire family stopped eating to stare at her. She took a forkful of her shrimp cocktail. "What? Future Wyatt told me right before he left. I don't know why he told me instead of you guys. But he said that if you ever asked, to tell you. So that you'd be more prepared for what you'd find out about yourself when you cast the spell."
Piper fumed and turned to Wyatt. "You and I are going to sit down and have a long talk about the term 'future consequences'. Do you have any idea how you could have changed the future by telling all these little tidbits?"
"Hey, mom. It wasn't me… talk to me in 23 years if you want to lecture me for it. Hasn't happened yet. Hopefully, it never will, because now I won't be evil this time." Wyatt said seriously.
"Don't worry, Wy. If you're ever evil again, I'll fix it." Chris joked.
"Yeah, little brother, well, ditto, I guess." Wyatt answered back with a smile that only the two brothers understood.
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Finished!