Shimmering was less comfortable than orbing, Piper noticed. Or maybe it was down to the state of the half-demon clinging to her leg. Matt was sprawled out on the floor but he was already carefully pulling himself up to his feet, wincing but not seriously harmed.
Cole shimmered in after them, holding a seething Kat, who was struggling and snarling against his hold. He released her immediately only so that she could go to Paige, who had arrived seconds before.
"Guys!" PJ called, worriedly.
Piper turned around and gasped. Mel, Henry and Wyatt surrounded Chris who didn't appear to be moving. Tears streamed down Mel's face as she tried to shake Chris awake. "Is he…?" Piper couldn't finish.
PJ shook her head. "Not yet, but we're almost out of time."
Paige shrugged off Kat's hands and handed the antidote to Henry who, with fumbling fingers, opened it, and poured it down Chris's throat carefully.
Mel wiped at the skin where Henry had spilled the liquid and watched with bated breath for any sign of recovery. In her head, she knew that the poison had been running through his veins for too long. He wouldn't fully recover unless they fully cured him. It would take time for this cure to work, he wouldn't get worse, but he wouldn't get better. But her heart wanted more. She wanted Chris to wake up and smile at her, talk to her, give out to her for letting her guard down with the demon. She just wanted him to be okay.
"What happened?" Paige asked, noticing the puddle of blood that Ryake had left.
Mel sniffed. "Ryake attacked the house. Chris saved me."
"He was in the Underworld too," PJ said. "Just before he left. He must have come straight here."
Mel nodded. "He said that he killed you guys," she recounted, glancing at her mother, Cole and Matt, who was still bleeding.
Henry squeezed her shoulder in comfort. "I think we should move Chris downstairs. He'll be more comfortable there."
Mel grabbed Chris' hand and orbed down back down to Piper's bedroom, settling her brother on the bed.
Piper scooped Wyatt up from Henry's arms to let him rise to his feet. "What happened in the Underworld?" He asked, looking between Paige and Matt's injuries and Kat's shaking fury.
Cole shook his head, rolling his shoulders and stretching out his tired muscles. "There were a lot more demons than expected. And then Ryake attacked. It was close."
Kat let out a quiet stream of curses in response to that as she healed first her mother and then her friend. "I'll kill him," she promised.
"He's probably down an arm at this point so I think you've a good shot," Henry pointed out, nodding to the blood stain.
Kat growled again and stormed off, walking off rather than orbing away this time.
Henry sighed sadly. "I should go after her."
"No, let me," said PJ. "I think she needs to blow off some steam, she can't do that with you." She nodded at Cole and followed after her cousin, charging him with coming up with the next phase of their plan.
For a long moment, Cole silently floundered so Piper took charge. "Alright, so we're assuming that this cure thing works for now. What's next?"
Cole shrugged. "This bought us some time. We can come up with a plan."
"Yeah, but what is the plan?" Paige asked pointedly.
Henry watched his mother, bemused by the experience. His mom still had a bit of temper in his time, and she could still give anyone a tongue-lashing, but the years had definitely softened her towards Cole. It was weird to see how at-odds they had been once.
"How about everyone just takes a few minutes to calm down?" Phoebe suggested, exactly as PJ or Parker would have. "We're all a little… stressed."
Wyatt made an unhappy whine of agreement with the sentiment and Piper bounced him up and down to try calm him. "I need to go put him down," she announced. "Paige, you go through the Book again, Phoebe, you deal with that," she pointed to the demon blood stain. "I'll call Leo once I'm done with Wyatt," she ordered. "And Cole…"
"I'll go after Kat," Cole offered, smirking. It had taken a long time before anyone was comfortable leaving him alone with either of Piper's sisters, or the kids. It was nice to see that they were back to that again.
"I could go find Leo," Matt suggested. "He could be in the Underworld at this point. I can get in and out without any problem."
Piper nodded. "Alright," she agreed. "Let's move people." The attic emptied out of everyone but Henry and Matt.
"I'll come," Henry offered.
Matt shot him a look. "You don't have to do that. I'm not going to go see him. It'd be too dangerous. For everyone. I know better."
"You're supposed to know better," Henry corrected. "But if I had the same chance I know that there would be nothing that could stop me."
Matt shook his head. "I can't see my dad. It's too dangerous for everyone. Ryake loves to track people. I don't need to mess up my future anymore than we already have. I can't risk him like that. I won't."
"Leo on the other hand?" Henry teased.
Matt rolled his eyes. "That's different. Leo can shoot lightning from his hands. My dad's best attempt at that was when he cut the power of the whole street," he joked. He found it was easiest to remember his dad as a bit of a bumbling dad, rather than the soldier that they all been forced to mold themselves into. Maybe, as a mortal, he could have gotten on with his life, but not with a son who was only half-mortal.
The man who had managed to burn water kept his mouth shut under torture to protect his son. Matt couldn't do anything that would jeopardize that man. He couldn't take that father away from him, not when he was who he was because of him.
Henry nodded in understanding, he squeezed Matt's arm and pulled away just as Matt shimmered, leaving him alone in the attic of the house that had once been home.
He hadn't lived here full-time, but this was where he had spent every day before and after school. It was where he saw the best and worst of the world. It was a place of pure magic that never made him feel lesser for not having any of his own. It was the home of the Halliwells. Henry might not be a Halliwell, but this place was his home. He was willing to die to protect what it stood for.
He glanced around the attic with a sigh. Eyes lingering on the chalk drawing of the time travel portal that had never been fully cleaned. They would succeed. They would save Wyatt. There was no other option.
~Poisoned~
The problem with chasing a witchlighter, PJ mused, was that they were very good at escaping tales. She released a huff as Kat spotted her over her shoulder and orbed to another room.
"Kat!" PJ exploded, which was a serious outburst for her but was about as alarming as a mortal toddler being in a huff. She threw her hands out in frustration and made a flower vase jiggle, which was about the limit of what she managed to achieve in her 'rage'. Still, the family knew when PJ was seriously annoyed.
Kat orbed back in range with folded arms and a scowl but she did have the grace to look mildly sheepish. "What, PJ? Don't try tell me to calm down!"
PJ shook her head. "No, Kat. Emotions are meant to be felt. They can't actually hurt you, but repressing them can. But, you can't let them overcome you, Kat. You can't be overcome by anger and grief or you'll put yourself and everyone else at risk. I know that you don't want that."
Kat scowled even deeper. "You have no clue what I want. I want my sister to be alive."
PJ sighed. "Kat." She reached out a hand to grab her cousin's wrist, to pull her into a hug or just to offer tactile comfort - the best kind, in her opinion - when she felt it. She gasped and dropped Kat's hand like it had burned her. "Kat," she said, shocked and serious.
Kat narrowed her eyes. "I'm sorry, PJ," she growled. She flung out her hand. "Vase."
PJ didn't have time to duck or jump out of the way before the vase crashed against her head - her, thankfully, strong head - and she collapsed in the waiting arms of her cousin. Kat pressed her lips to PJ's head apologetically. "Sorry, PJ," she murmured again, far more genuine this time. "But I can't let you stop me. I'm doing this for all of us."
PJ couldn't respond. The last thing that she was fully aware of was the waves of unending rage and desire to kill from her sweet, fiery cousin focused toward her dangerous but innocent baby cousin.
Her last thoughts were a mix of sympathy and fear. Fear for Wyatt. Sympathy for the monstrous actions that grief had pushed Kat to undertake. And fear for Kat too, when Chris or Mel discovered what she was planning to do their brother.