A/N: 9 Dec 2005: This chapter is the last of the Bohemian Edits, as I have come to call them. Do I really need a disclaimer this time? Well, I do for the other song used at the end of the chapter... Superman (It's Not Easy) by Five For Fighting.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

"Get up!" the male Girene ordered Wyatt. He rose. It had only looked like he was sleeping- really, he had spent most of the night hunched over in pain as good and evil fought within him. Finally, it was over.

"We're giving you another shot at your family," the female Girene explained. She magically removed the cage from around Wyatt.

He smirked. "When can we start?"

They shimmered out.

Nothing really matters

Anyone can see

Nothing really matters

Nothing really matters to me…

………………………………………

"No…" Leo said as he sat at the kitchen table. He looked like he'd just been shot. "No! That can't be happening!"

"We're just telling you what we saw," Phoebe said.

"I refuse to believe that. I have put all of my efforts over the past fifteen years into protecting Wyatt. So did Piper! It can't all be for nothing, it just can't!" Leo fumed angrily.

"Maybe he was under some kind of mind control," Paige suggested. "Or maybe it was a shapeshifter." She tried to bring hope back into her brother-in-law's eyes. But in reality, she could recognize the expressions on his face. It had indeed been the real Wyatt.

"I could somewhat sense his emotions," Phoebe stated, "and he seemed to be… struggling. Perhaps it was his Aura I was sensing. From what I could feel, he's still good deep down, but there's evil there too that's putting up quite a fight. It almost felt like it did when I was pregnant with the Source's heir."

At least those comments managed to put a tiny hint of hope back in Leo's expression.

Pam and Chris listened to the conversation from the dining room table. Pam couldn't believe that all of this was going. When she first became a witch, she was well aware of the risks, but never had they been so up-close and personal. Everything seemed to be falling apart around her. She wondered fearfully what was next. Chris sat with his head down. He was obviously depressed.

"Do you wanna talk?" Pam offered. "About… anything?"

"No," Chris answered irritably. "I'm not a girl. I don't 'talk.'"

Pam knew she should've just left it alone, but there was enough sadness in the house already. She wanted to find out how she could help to raise her cousin's spirits. So, she read his mind.

The thoughts were extremely powerful. They made Pam feel like she was Chris for a minute. Above all, the one thing she could sense from him was failure. He had been told so many times growing up about how he came back from the future to stop Wyatt from turning evil, to stop the Titans, and to save the lives of Piper and Paige. He was like Superman; fearless, heroic, and brave. In the end he had even given his own life to protect good. He was Chris the Great, even if he wasn't going to have to go back this time around. Now he was Chris the failure. It seemed he had only succeeded in one thing, extending Paige's lifespan. And for all anyone knew, that was just a cover story to get the past Charmed Ones to trust him. He had sacrificed his life for nothing. None of it mattered. He hadn't changed a single thing. Even though he, only being fourteen years old, hadn't personally experienced the time-traveling, he felt like he had. Chris was like the kid everyone picked last on a sports team; useless, forgotten, and mostly invisible in the presence of a superior being.

Pam was about to blurt out something comforting, to make Chris feel better about himself, but she knew that he would never forgive her for prying like that. It was the ultimate invasion of privacy. Pam didn't want to fight with him for the rest of her life. So naturally, she acted as though she knew nothing.

Suddenly, Wyatt and two demons orbed into the dining room area. They looked sinisterly at Chris and Pam, who froze on the spot and felt like bait. Wyatt stared straight at Pam, who stared back. With that understanding exchange, she read his last good thought.

"I'm sorry," it said in a struggling and almost painful voice. "I tried to control-"

"What are you waiting for? I thought we went over this!" the male Girene commanded. The thought cut off, but just before Pam lost contact with Wyatt's conscience, she felt a chilling presence, like something inside it was changing… or taking over. Wyatt hurled an energy ball directly at Chris, this time not missing. Pam screamed and Chris orbed out of the way. Pam dashed as fast as she could into the kitchen.

"Wyatt's here! He just tried to kill Chris!" she announced.

"What?" Leo asked warily. Chris orbed in by the fridge, to show everyone that he was safe.

Phoebe, Paige, and Leo ran through the kitchen doorway to face Wyatt and his… "entourage." Phoebe and Paige held potions being their backs. They wanted more than anything to not have to use them. As for Leo, he couldn't be killed unless there was a darklighter present. (Which there wasn't.)

"Hello, dad," Wyatt sneered. "Aunt Paige, Aunt Phoebe."

"Wyatt, please don't do this," Leo begged.

"Sorry, but the evil inside me has already won. You can't change me back now. This is who I've always been meant to be," Wyatt said.

"That's not true, Wyatt, and you know it!" Paige yelled.

"What is this, another scold?" Wyatt chuckled. "Then I'll say it again… 'You're not my mother.'" Knowing that the comment would sadden everyone, Wyatt immediately hurled an energy ball at them after finishing his sentence. Everyone dove to the ground, and began to chuck potions over the table like grenades.

"Let's go," the female Girene ordered as potions exploded all around them, coming dangerously close to the three. They shimmered out.

Phoebe, Paige, and Leo peered over the table through the smoke.

"Did… did we get them?" Paige asked. She didn't want to let evil escape, but she wasn't so keen on killing her nephew, either.

"Well, Wyatt's still alive at least. I can sense him," Leo informed.

"So all we managed to destroy was the grandfather clock… for the four hundred and fifty millionth time," Phoebe sighed in exasperation.

Leo let his body sag against the table. "I'm his father," he muttered. "I'm supposed to protect him. I'm supposed to teach him to make good decisions. Guess future Chris was right about me being a dead-beat."

"No, Leo," Paige said. "You are a great father. And you're gonna turn Wyatt back, we know you will. You did it before."

"Yeah, when he came from a future where everyone was alive and happy," Leo growled.

"Okay, so there are some things that've happened that we weren't expecting, or that we wanted to happen. But they did. Some of them we can't change, and some of them we can. The important thing is to separate the two," Phoebe advised.

The three of them got to their feet and surveyed the room for damage.

"I have an unsettling feeling that he'll be back," Paige said warily.

"Of course he will. He wants to kill us now," Phoebe said. "All of our lives are at serious risk. I suggest we move in here as soon as possible."

"How soon is that?" Paige asked.

"Like… tonight?" Phoebe hoped.

"What?" Leo asked, incredulous. "We'll never fit, and your houses aren't even on the market."

"We've got bigger things to worry about, Leo," Phoebe said. "I'm scared. I want us all to live. If we have to sleep in the attic, or in the basement, or in the closet, we'll do it. You're the only one that can heal us, and I don't want to take a chance somewhere else."

"Fine, whatever, get your stuff," Leo agreed. Phoebe dashed off to the kitchen to get Pam. "Talk about Superman," Leo muttered to himself. He was beginning to realize how much everyone else in this family relied on him.

Up, up, and away

Away from me

Well it's alright

You can all sleep sound tonight

I'm not crazy

Or anything

I can't stand to fly

I'm not that naïve

Men weren't meant to ride

With clouds between their knees

I'm only a man

In a silly red sheet

Diggin' for kryptonite on this one-way street

Only a man

In a funny red sheet

And it's not easy

It's not easy to be me