Summary: In a changed future the Halliwell family has to deal with the repercussions of a past that was changed. As the effects and memories rush forward to greet them how will Wyatt, Chris and Sara cope with not only that but a new and powerful evil? A sequel to 'Once Charmed'.
Disclaimer: I, Jules, state for the record that I do not own Charmed or any of the characters. Just the plot, Sara and her cousins!
A/N: I really just have no idea where to go with this. Nothing seems right or satisfying enough. I'm going to try.
Chapter Five
Wyatt Mathew Halliwell stood in the darkening shadows of his sister's room. Neither Sara nor Chris had awoken and dusk had fallen over San Francisco, Wyatt wondered if as the daylight faded so did his beloved siblings. Both were pale and still, not even their eyelids fluttered. To Wyatt it looked as if they were dead. They had that look about them.
They couldn't be evil!
Wyatt had yet to leave their side. All other family members had spent time near the two, talking to them and letting them know they were there. Wyatt had stayed quiet, alternating his gaze from lost siblings to the street below. The day had pasted slowly as he kept his silent vigil while the others had hurried to the attic to form a plan for the 'worst-case' scenario. Wyatt, usually the head of such gatherings, had stayed by Sara and Chris' side. He knew that the best were already on the case. Past versions of himself and Sara and Chris were working alongside the Charmed Ones and Leo. If anything could be done they would find it.
They couldn't be evil!
In the fading light Wyatt's tired gaze rested on a framed photo of Chris, Sara, and himself. It had been taken only a few months before in front of the manor. Picking up the photo, he was surprised to find such happy and carefree faces smiling back at him. It seemed a lifetime ago. Sara stood in the middle, her arms held around him and Chris. Wyatt was sure there was an old picture with his mom, aunt Phoebe and aunt Prue that held many similarities. Setting the framed photo back down, Wyatt sighed and glanced back over at his brother and sister. Nothing had changed.
So much had happened to them in the last few days. It was supposed to be a happy time. They had planned a fun weekend just the three of them and their significant others, well Sara and Chris' significant others anyway, starting with Chris' party. A party that had been brought to a screeching halt when Sara had been plagued by an illness from a different time, Past versions of all three of them had arrived along with memories of a tortured life before and now Chris and Sara fought for their sanity and against evil. So much for a normal weekend, he thought. Wyatt himself had even gone on a vanquishing spree to assure Chris' birthday would go off with a hitch. Yet, he hadn't counted on something he would be so helpless to stop. All because he had been evil in another timeline and Chris and Sara had refused to believe that he was destined to be that way.
Wyatt sat down on the window seat, a defeated feeling creeping in to his conscience. Though he tried to push the feeling away, he knew that Chris and Sara were no longer the same. He felt a new energy pulsing in the air. He had felt something evil was coming and if the past version of Chris was anything like his, things were only going to go downhill from here. Wyatt wanted nothing else but to believe that at his siblings were just sleeping and that they were going to be the same brother and sister that he loved so much when they awoke. He felt otherwise, though.
Chris and Sara were not only his siblings but his best friends as well. They spent more time together than with anyone else. Chris was his partner in crime, the one that kept him real. Sara was his closest confidant, the one that knew him inside and out. Wyatt felt the need to break something, scream and shout obscenities to the powers that be. Why did their lives have to be so difficult with all they did for the greater good? Each of them had sacrificed so much and this is what they had been given in return. So much for karma.
Movement from the bed brought him out of his silent reverie. Chris was shifting and it was the most movement Wyatt had observed in his time by their side. Sending out a silent call to his father Wyatt stood and moved closer to the bed. Chris was definitely coming out of his emotional slumber. Wyatt's heart was pounding a fast rhythm that he could hear echoing in his ears. Chris' eyes opened the moment their father orbed into the room.
Chris sat straight up in the bed, his hooded eyes taking in his brother and father and finally coming to a rest on Sara. Reaching out a hand, Wyatt watched, as Chris smoothed back the wisps of hair that had fallen into her face. After a moment of gazing at Sara, Chris rose from the bed at met their gazes. Wyatt gasped startled. Chris' usual vibrant jade eyes were replaced by cold icy gray. There was no smile, no claiming he was fine, and no loving greeting. Just a cold hard stare; a stare that turned back to Sara when she began to move about, obviously attempting to join Chris in the world of the waking.
Wyatt prayed silently as Sara began to awake. Please, let her be the same! His prayers went unanswered though, as she too opened her eyes. They held the same icy cool glare. Not good.
"Chris?" Leo asked moving toward his son. Leo stopped short when Chris just sent him an icy glare and offered Sara his hand to pull her from bed.
"Chris, we just want to help!" Wyatt offered pleadingly. "I can help you."
"Help me?" Chris asked, his voice deeper that Wyatt remembered. "I think you've already helped enough, dear brother."
Wyatt was frightened suddenly. These were not his siblings and as he took in the sight of them standing before him, Wyatt felt the sudden weight of hopelessness take hold of him. He was caught unaware when Sara spoke next.
"Isn't this what you've always wanted Wyatt?" Her voice was low and husky. With a pang Wyatt realized what their voices reminded him of. They had a demonic edge. "Your siblings at your side."
"I'm not evil." Wyatt whispered as the past versions of himself and Chris hurried into the room. Chris and Sara kept their eyes trained on Wyatt, never even glancing at the new comers.
"What?" Chris taunted. "I thought it was all about power? You know, one should move past the whole good verses evil morals."
Out of the corner of his eye, Wyatt saw his past version lower his head while Chris's other self paled and looked shaken.
"No." Wyatt breathed meeting their cruel gazes. "It's not like that."
"Isn't though." Sara asked icily. "I mean you tortured us enough for it. It's all about power. Mom, Dad, Elaina and Prue, the aunts. They died all in the name of power."
"Seems a shame to just throw away all that hard work." Chris mused. "Though I see we may have to start form scratch." Wyatt turned sharply to the door where the rest of the family was gathering.
Piper stood in the doorway, Sara's other self to her right and Paige and Phoebe to her left. Elaina, Prue, and Cole took up the rear. Piper had a shocked look upon her face and Wyatt suddenly realized she never expected them to wake up corrupted and dark. In her mind Chris and Sara were always remain the untouchable ones. Untainted, Wyatt realized. They were pure in her mind, while he was tainted. Her love for him was no less, but she held Chris and Sara in a different light.
"Hello, Mother." Sara stated, her gray eyes blazing. "I didn't realize you made it past forty-one." When Piper couldn't find her voice to respond, Sara continued. "All of these memories can be a bit confusing. No matter, I know the perfect remedy."
Before anyone in the room could comment, Sara had formed a fireball and sent it soaring directly at her mother's chest. Wyatt watched in slow motion as Piper stood still in shock and his past self jump into the line of fire taking what was meant for his mother to the chest.
"Damn." Sara growled as the once evil past version of Wyatt Halliwell was thrown to the floor, bloodied and unmoving.
"Good shot though." Chris murmured wickedly as his past version fell to his knees next to his fallen brother. "We'll be in touch." With that Chris and Sara Halliwell disappeared in what looked to be a cross between a shimmer and black orbs. The only sound in their wake was past Chris' calls to his fallen brother.
Wyatt turned to the grisly sight. It was strange to see a version of himself lying there, with a horror stricken Chris and sobbing Sara at his side. Even before the body of his past self disappeared, Wyatt knew he was gone. Sara had tried to heal what her other self had done but to no avail. He watched as the two troubled siblings clung to one another as his other self disappeared. Piper had moved to them but they had shrugged her away. Leo stood rooted to the spot, his face white, while tears gleamed in his green eyes. Cole and Phoebe had ushered their twins from the room and Paige could do nothing more than lean on the doorframe, tears streaming down her cheeks as she took in the seemingly familiar sight before her.
With a howl of grief, Wyatt orbed away from the reality that he had lost his siblings. He had never witnessed such mad fury and twisted evil. In all his years fighting the demons that attacked his family on a regular basis, Wyatt knew that this was going to be his greatest challenge. Though it was soul shattering, Wyatt also knew deep inside that it could come down to brother against brother. Brother against sister. He was going to have to fight the ones he loved. The ones he held closest.
When Wyatt reappeared in the attic, he began cussing profusely as he searched through the Book of Shadows, looking for anything that could help reverse what had just happen. It was still baffling to think of Chris and Sara as his enemies. He was so far gone in his ranting and searching that he didn't notice two saddened green gazes staring at him from the attic door.
"For fuck's sake!" Wyatt hollered as he slammed the book shut. Three centuries of Warren witches and none of them in all their greatness had encountered this before. He was angrily wiping at frustrated tears when he felt a soft touch from behind.
Turning, his eyes red, he found his sister gazing sadly up at him. While this was just her past version, Wyatt felt a small amount of peace touch him, just from gazing into her warm green eyes. Not cold and icy gray, but warm and full of compassion. He glanced up to find past Chris incline his head as Sara pulled him into a warm hug.
Wyatt realized that she was hugging him close not only to ease his distress but hers as well. He choked when he realized this Chris and Sara had lost their brother, lost him. Wherever they went back to when all this was over, they would never have their Wyatt again. He had died protecting his mother the only way he thought possible.
"I'm sorry," Wyatt whispered to them. "I should have done something else."
"It's ok." Past Chris acknowledged. "I think in saving Piper, our mother like that, he found redemption.
When Wyatt only gazed at them confused, Sara continued. "Our Wyatt took the final plunge into darkness by killing our mother. Energy ball to the chest; she had been baking cookies at the time. He was just shy of seventeen. It was one of the few things that Chris and myself couldn't console him on after our future was changed. Knowing that he had taken the lives of the ones held most dear sickened him."
"So my Sara and Chris? Could they? Would they really?" Wyatt was unable to form his sentences from pure fear. This was something even the twice blessed couldn't make right.
"They are twisted, their morality opposite and yes they will remove anything that is threatening their goals. Whatever they may be." Chris warned. "Do not underestimate them. You'll find that costly and painful. Whatever you do, make no mistake. They will kill you and all those you hold dear."
"All in the name of power?" Wyatt asked stunned. "Wait when you said 'Whatever you do' what did you mean? Wouldn't you be here to help? I can't do this without you, them."
With a sigh Sara lifted her head and smiled weakly at him. "As the emotions and memories settle, there will be no need for us. We will in a sense become one. The rift will have been mended. There isn't much time left."
"Wait!" Chris suddenly shouted startling Sara and Wyatt. "When we merge with them, it should influence their minds and thoughts. There would be an opening to save them. Turn them back around to the side of good."
"A spell and potion, plus the power of three." Sara muttered as she began to Pace alongside Chris. "This is going to be tricky, very tricky.
"They'll be expecting something." Chris added.
Wyatt felt hope begin to drift back to him. The sight of this version of Chris and Sara gave him a sense of familiarity. Quickly he jumped in and began to help them formulate a plan. If it was the last thing he ever did, he would save his siblings. And if he couldn't save them, Wyatt vowed in the confines of his soul. He would stop them.
A/N: Please review. It took a lot of patience and determination not to just leave this story where it was. I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think.