Of All the People

by teal-lover

Wyatt reflects on the events after Chris Crossed and decides to do something about it. Finished as of 1.23.06

4. Of All the People4

Of All the People

Chapter 4

By teal-lover

Summary: Wyatt reflects on the events after Chris Crossed and decides to do something about it.

Rating: PG13, T

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed, just borrowing, promise to give them back when done, don't get any money for this.

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Everyone stood in stunned silence, while Phoebe shook her head slowly, the first to comment on the similarities. She held up the small boy in her arms and kept darting her eyes between his small face, and the older man hovering over their soon-to-be ex-whitelighter. "No. It can't be…"

"Why not?" the man inside the force field took offence and asked her shortly. He was about to comment on the absurdity of the statement, especially in light of their knowledge that Chris was from the future. Even though they apparently weren't aware of his identity. He's getting very good at lying it seems…he grimaced inwardly.

He tore his eyes away from his family and watched his brother valiantly struggling to hold on. He allowed himself to be pulled down as the younger of the two tugged on his shirt to tell him something in his ear. It must have been important, he thought for him to be so insistent in what may be his final moments.

When the blonde grew close enough, Chris couldn't help himself and had to get, if possible, one last friendly dig at his sibling. "She can't believe such a cute baby could grow up so ugly."

Wyatt allowed a small smile at his brother's wry sense of humor before he told him firmly, "This is not the time for jokes, Christopher."

The younger man's response this time was slower, weaker. "Won't get 'nother."

Wyatt's face fell, knowing full well that this could be his brother's last few moments if he didn't get them to help him. If he lowered the force field too soon, his parent's itchy trigger fingers would surely finish off his baby brother before he had a chance to defend him. And he certainly couldn't do them any harm if there was ever going to be a possibility of getting them back together to conceive the younger witch. No. Reasoning with them would be the only way to ensure his survival. At least for the moment.

Gently, he laid Christopher down on the floor and stepped as close to them as the force field would permit, allowing his family to study his features. "We don't have time for this," he commented impatiently. "What is it going to take to prove to you who I am?" he asked his mother and father and indicated the barrier, "As if this handy little shield weren't enough. How about the fact that I look just like your father at this age, Dad. Perhaps I should conjure you a dragon? Or--" He suddenly looked up toward the ceiling, sensing for something he hadn't thought he needed to bring with him. Holding out his hand, he called for the familiar sword currently encased in the stone in the attic. "Excalibur!"

From his vantage point inside the force field, Wyatt glared at his family before offering a wicked grin, "Only the true heir to the throne may summon it."

He stood before his father, hoping to intimidate the shorter man with his full height and powerful presence. Had it not been for the magical barrier separating the two, his tactic may very well have worked as his father found himself being towered over by his eldest son. Instead, he spoke in the most impressive and dangerous voice he knew of that made everyone near obey immediately. "You feel the power radiating off of it; off of me. You know it to be true. A little fact that I'm sure you didn't let mom in on—you as an Elder are relegated to my service. And as rightful successor to King Arthur, I command you to heal him!" he said, pointing to the man on the floor.

Leo looked shaken, his face draining of all color when he finally realized who the blonde man was. All of the proof added up in his mind. The familiar force field, which had just knocked them all down just as his baby self had done a month ago. He was the spitting image of his long dead father, with even a hint of Piper's features if you looked closer. But it was Excalibur and the knowledge surrounding it that cinched it for him. He shook his head slightly, trying out the name hesitantly. "No. Wyatt. Technically, you're still a baby in this time, and I have to do what's best for you. He tried to kill you. He's evil."

"HE IS NOT EVIL! That is a concept that doesn't exist!" Wyatt fired back, startling his family back a few steps.

Having second thoughts about her actions, Paige started to shake as she placed her fingers to her mouth. She pointed out to the others, "He didn't burn up or explode when I—"

The Elder was unconvinced and said as much, "That doesn't mean anything, Paige. We already know he's not a demon, and that he's part witch/part whitelighter. It doesn't change his intentions. He was going to murder my son. We saw it with our own eyes."

"Did we?" Piper asked, her heart raced as she began to doubt their stance. "What if we were wrong?" She turned and directed her husband, "Leo, if we were wrong, and we let him die—then we'll have killed an innocent--intentionally." She looked into her adult son's eyes and saw the look of desperation in them despite the callous mask he tried to portray. Their had to be something good within their young whitelighter for him to care so much for him. If only for the moment, she was willing to find out what it was. "Leo, please? I swear, if he tries anything with Wyatt, I'll kill him myself—but we have to be sure."

"No," the Elder outright refused again.

"HE DOESN'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Wyatt shouted as he rushed over to him, hearing his brother's ragged breathing worsen with each passing second. The older witch panicked as he gathered him in his lap, pressing his hand to the wound to try and stop the blood from spilling any further. None of the tactics familiar to him in all of his rule were helping him right now. His eyes watered for the first time in years as his head shot up pleading with the man. "Dad?"

Leo turned away from the grizzly sight on the floor. The thickening pool of blood covering much of the floor from the dying witch nearly broke his resolve. The pacifist nature in him wanted to help the dark-haired man, to stop his suffering, but the father in him responsible for his family's lives demanded otherwise. He steeled his gaze and focused on the older man in the hopes that he would someday understand his decision. He began to wonder as to the relationship between the two that could spur such a deadly combination of obvious love and hate. His older son did seem awfully fond of the young witch/whitelighter. Well, he flushed with embarrassment. Times were changing.

He pushed his curious thoughts aside and did his best to answer in a fatherly 'I love you and I'll do what's best for you even if you don't like it' tone. "I'm sorry Wyatt. I'm sorry that you seem to care for him for whatever reason and have forgiven him for what he did. But I can't. He has done so much in the past few months to make us seriously doubt his loyalty to this family. He's a danger to us all, and I won't continue to abide by that. You're my responsibility at any age, and I can't allow him to live knowing that doing so would carry the risk of him accomplishing his sick and twisted goals. Whitelighter or not, he tried to kill my son."

His nostrils flared heatedly with his father's ridiculous speech. How dare he disobey me? He thought pompously. At least now he knew where his misguided little brother got his self-righteous behavior from. Wyatt yelled as loudly as he could, hoping they would finally be the words that would spur his father into action. "HE IS YOUR SON!"

Leo stumbled backward, the words slamming into him heavily. He barely heard the gasping and strangled sobs from the sisters. Instead, the Elder only heard the words '…YOUR SON…' resounding in his head like a jackhammer as he began to hyperventilate. That was simply one possible relationship he hadn't thought of…

The Twice-Blessed Witch had never felt so out of control in his entire life as he did now that Chris had closed his eyes quietly. With all of the immense power he now possessed, he had given up the one power that would solve this problem in exchange for some of his more demonic abilities. And for the first time, he wished he hadn't. He held on tighter, as if doing so would stop the inevitable. He cradled his little brother in his arms, his heart sinking dismally as he felt the body slacken within them.

He looked up to the sound of orbing near his head, only to look into his own eyes hopefully.

Not quite able to stand on his own yet, the toddler plopped down next to them, his tiny little fingers stretching but unable to reach the wound. Wyatt cursed himself again for not thinking of the solution earlier as he reached over to pick up the child, holding him over his brother. While he may not have been able to heal any longer, the child version of himself still possessed the ability and would for several more years to come. He let out an overwhelming sigh of relief as the golden glow finally came, but it was still not over. The younger man had yet to take a breath and he wondered if he had been too late.

For several long minutes, the atmosphere was strained while everyone anxiously awaited the results of the healing process.

Phoebe rubbed her younger sister's back, trying to console the woman whose only intentions had been to save her family, but now cried uncontrollably with guilt.

Piper hovered near the edges of the force field, the silent tears streaming down her face as she clasped her hands together and prayed that she would not loose him before she even got the chance to know him. If he was family, then that would explain so many of his more questionable actions. It would also explain the wounded expressions that flitted across his face after she or her husband again said something harsh to him. Unable to stop herself despite the general lack of interest her oldest son showed her, she asked him wistfully, "He's really my son?"

"You need only to look in the mirror to answer that question," Wyatt answered bluntly, turning his head away from her to avoid further questioning. His only concern was his younger brother, finally beginning to stir in his arms.

Chris opened his eyes, his vision still a bit clouded. He glanced around the room, trying to place his surroundings and recall how he ended up in his brother's arms. He thought about orbing away, but with him being so physically close to the elder witch, he knew he wouldn't get far. He wrinkled his brow in confusion. And why were they all looking at him with such desperation and longing. "What happened?" he questioned to no one in particular as his eyes danced around the room.

Even as he asked the question, all of the recent events came flooding back to him and he lowered his head disappointedly. "Oh."

He leaned back in exhaustion before staring deeply into those familiar bright blue eyes. He watched them flit from relief, to anger, to disappointment, to—he wasn't quite sure what the hell that was. Chris gave him his best innocent look, "Hey Wy. Would it help if I said I was sorry?"

"Just because you almost died, doesn't mean you're getting off the hook that easily," the older man answered him with a wry grin just before placing his hand on his chest and shimmering them both out.

TBC…

AN: MY REVIEW THANKS! While I still have a little bit of time before summer classes, I thought I would take the time to say thank you all personally for the wonderful reviews, and answer certain things that may have popped into your minds. You have no idea how much they mean to me & make me keep writing—and trying to do it better and better. and to update more frequently—hint hint:)

Alyssa Halliwell

you liked the shirt huh? I'm glad, cause I thought it would be kind of funny. Thank you so much for all of your support—I am so unbelievably grateful for your encouragement in all my stories. And I'm glad you liked ch. 3 on this one too—I only hope this one is just as good for you;)

Cassi

Thanks for the enthusiastic review. I hope this chapter answered your questions.

Cat Yuy

Thank you. And PSS. I didn't:) Shhh. Don't tell anyone…

Ceres217

Thanks for reviewing—and I hope your happy that Chris is alive now;)

charmedtomeetyou

Thank you. We will see Piper's reaction more in the next chapter. And the rest of the family too.

chattypandagurl

Wow, you flatter me. I'm blushing here…so thank you. I hope this update answered some of your questions.

cherrygirl1987

Thanks! I've updated now—what do you think--huh huh huh?

DrewFullerFanLife

Thanks for the compliment. Now there's more. So what next? I hope you like it…:)

ennui deMorte

I'm soooo sorry I made you cry—but it is kind of wrong of me to be glad at the same time:) I hate the way they treat Chris on the show as if he were just a nuisance--& maybe even adopted since they pretend like he doesn't have half the powers he should have. So I tried to do him some justice & be creative with his powers. Glad you liked it. Seriously, you must be psychic—because I wrote this on the 29th but couldn't update since the server went down. Then I decided to wait to post until I could thank you guys.

Fire Gazer

Short, but always so sweet—thank you so much for all of your supportive reviews!

IcantthinkofaFnick

They sure do think alike—cause we sure do. Maybe that's why we like the same kind of fics—all about yummy chris:) And the reviews—girl are you kidding me—I'm not even going to try and insult someone by trying to type in these names…I'd be guaranteed to screw someone's up. I'm so glad you like the story. I hope you'll continue to like it:)

JadeAlmasy

Thank you! I'm so happy you like the story---and you think my work is good? Wow, that makes me giggle like an idiot.

lemonade101

Are you kidding me? How could I not? It's so much more fun this way—I'm a whole lot more evil than Wyatt by the way. I just don't have any powers:) Thank you so much for reviewing.

Little Wing

Thanks! I decided to try something a bit different on this one & get more emotional than just the dialog. I wanted to give Wyatt a real personality, 'cause the cold-evil Wyatt and the super-sweet-as-sugar wyatt weren't doing it for me either. And I had wondered about those spells myself. The show kind of dropped the ball on that one—what a waste of an excellent storyline. Oh well, more fun for me…

Martina G

Yeah, I guess I am kind of evil, aint I? But really, I don't know how to end it any other way:) But if it makes you feel any better—I'm sorry I made you cry:) Thanks so much for reviewing.

MerlinHalliwell

Thank you! I hope this answered your questions…or did it pose more?

Mira

I'll try to update again soon. I'm kind of working on 3 stories right now & trying to be fair to all of them. The funny part is, I tried to post this on the 29th, but the server went down & then I decided to just wait. Blame it on FF.

Moonash90

Thank you so much for the great review. I hope you like this chapter too:)

Nathy1000000

Aw, thanks dear. Chris & Wy are a complicated pair—and I love writing their relationship. In fact, that's pretty much the only thing I like writing about, so I'm so happy that you like it.

Night-Owl123

Thank you! Aw, don't worry—even if I let him die—I would always find a way to bring him back. I kind of like this Wyatt too. A little more depth than on the show. They sure didn't do him justice.

Nikki14u

Really? You like it that much? I'm flattered—especially since I love your writing. Your review had me laughing. But hey girl—turn about is fair play:)

orcasnowleo

Thank you! And since you asked so nicely—here you go. OOOH, another teal lover—isn't it just the best color ever to exist? I've been hooked on it for about 10 years now & have shown no signs of changing. I even insisted that my first new car be of all things—a teal sebring! Yeah, I'm s till lovin' it. I'm glad that I'm not alone:)

phoebe turner

I'm so glad that you like my story. You've been so wonderful & kind to me in your reviews—thank you so much.

phoebe-x15

Glad you liked it. What can I say—Piper is like a lioness protecting her cubs. Too bad she didn't know she was protecting him from her other cub. But trust me, she'll have a lot to account for. And see—no worries, I didn't kill him yet. I mean at all… wink

ritagarcia45

Wow, I'm so happy you're reading this even though you're not completely into the season. Thanks so much for reviewing.

shadowhisper

Well I'm glad that you're hooked—cause I want to go fishing so more:) I hope that you liked this chapter & the ones to come too. But be warned, his decision is not complete yet:)

Shoequeeny

Wow, thanks so much for the glowing review. Don't worry, I won't keep you in suspense for too long since it's meant to be a fairly short story. Mainly about their angst & thoughts, etc. With a nice little bit of death & destruction thrown in for good measure…:)

Sparkling Cherries

Ok—hold out your hand, open wide, cause I'm going to give you a big surprise…That's my problem isn't it. Always a surprise. I was even born weeks early because I wanted to surprise my family before my due date. Sorry, guess I just never got over it.

But in my defense, I told you before, I tried the Cliffhangers Anonymous meetings, but then they asked me to stand up & introduce myself. I did, but then when I got to the really good parts, I stopped, so they threw me out:) Thanks for the sweet reviews.

Stony Angel

Really, dear—I definitely owe this story to you for pushing me. So thank you so much, and the reviews you leave are so encouraging. Funny thing is, the story doesn't fit the criteria of the contest so I wont post it there. But—I'm finishing the one I left unfinished….Should be done in the next couple of days….Interested? Oh, and I can totally believe it. We always seem to be on the same wave length. Cool, huh:)

Teri

You know, I've been accused of both, so take your pick:) But I can't help myself—it's an addition. I'm blushing over your review—so nice, thank you. You really like the others too?

Tigerdrake

Really? You love it? Thank you for taking the time to tell me:)

trina-k

Because it's so much fun! Some people have hobbies like fishing, golfing, baseball, movies—mine is killing Chris. He's like my version of Kenny from South Park:) I'm really glad you're enjoying the story and my evil but not so evil Wyatt. Thanks so much for taking the time to review.

Wwolf

I'm glad you like him. I have to confess, I like veryveryevil Wyatt sometimes, but I just don't have the heart to write it myself. But I think he deserves some depth! And Chris deserves some powers;) Thank you so much for you're wonderful reviews.