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In retrospect, it had to be him. Justin thought of how fitting it was that his sister had sought out a hero in the one man she could always have blind faith in. After all, who do we turn to in a time of trouble, but family?

Standing in the shadows of the street, quickly separating his son and daughter, was Jerry Russo.

Jerry Russo was confused somewhere in his mind. A year or two ago, his baby girl appeared on his doorstep begging him for help. She was so defeated. He knew he had to help.

Theresa was overjoyed to see her again. After the wizard competition the parents had lost touch with both of their children. How Max was gone, Justin was back, and Alex was missing, but generally sighted here and there, was beyond them. What they did know was that with a little work, they could be a family again.

And a family they were. As time passed, though, it became more and more obvious that Justin was headed down a dark path. They had seen the signs, but had been reluctant to step in. That was when Alex made a choice to become a rebel. She convinced Professor Crumbs to hand over the powers stripped from her friend T.J. Jerry had been a brilliant wizard back in the day, and today he had to fight his son.

Of course, they had to find a way to get him alone. The watches connected Justin to his creatures, so they had Zeke sabotage them. They could not convince Zeke, who was bothered by Justin, but ultimately too afraid to do anything, until they gave the nerd a good reason to help out: Harper. Alex had always known the two of them would be great together.

Love: that was what defeated Justin. It was so stupid and contrived it actually worked. That was the power Alex had over Justin, after everything that had happened, all the crap they had put on each other, and she loved him. As a brother, as a human, as a deluded being, even as her lover.

So she loved him. Love beat him. Justin and Jerry battled each other with a vengeance. It was fitting; in the previous generation, Jerry was in justin's place. He had beaten his sister, and his younger brother. In many ways, they were equals. To an outside observer, no one could tell who was winning. They were both brilliant. And both were out of practice. Justin obstained from fighting wizards so as not to incur the wrath of the Wizard Council. Jerry had not possessed magic in years. But the were both brilliant. Intricate spells weaved against one another. It was like poetry that warped space/time.

The universe collapsed, expanded, shrunk, grew, turned into orange soda. They broke the rules of physics and sewed them back up.

Alex went to the back of the van and locked the doors. Originally, her plan had been to take on everyone with Mason, but things had not worked out the way she had planned.

Alex started to run away. Let the two men exhaust one another. Justin's empire would crumble, his reign would end. Someone would get him for exposing magic, and that would be the end of it.

Then she saw something that made her blood run cold. Something horrifying, her worst nightmare coming true. Something far, far worse than having Justin rape her again.

"Alex run!"

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Justin was winning. Jerry was out of juice. He blasted his old man over and over. He heard his sister scream. He turned to find Alex's big secret.

Alexander Maximillian Russo stood ignorantly staring up at the man who his mother was obsessed with. She put on a pretense around her son, kept him at his grandparents, but he was a smart boy, and looked to Justin as a father-figure.

Alex's hand reached out.

Justin froze, unable to move. He saw the eyes, those impossibly expressive eyes, and saw all the pieces fall into place; Alex had disappeared for two years, the change in her mentality, why she was willing to play defense when she was by nature offensive. Why it was that Justin's family was willing to cast him aside: Alex was starting her own. What had given Alex the strength to move on: she was a mother now, she had a duty to protect her child from the most powerful threat she knew.

Even with the accelerated time span his son had grown quickly. After all that time in limbo with unprotected sex, the last round or two must have impregnated her. Once released the baby would come to term at a rapid rate. It must have been excruciating.

It somewhat surprised him. Obviously he thought she would have tried to kill his spawn. Maybe he didn't know his sister that well. And regret formed deep within. Impossible, he thought to himself.

A flash of magic hit him. He was not too concerned; his father did not have the juice to kill him, and his son…

It was then that a third presence made itself known. A presence summoned by the magic.

"If you had half the honor you thought you did Justin," Alex said coldly, "You would kill yourself."
Justin's conscience wrapped her arms around him as Alex strode forward, grabbed the knife out of his breast pocket, and stabbed him in the chest.

(Justin's conscience is now played by Demi Lovato) The women stood over the bleeding wizard. The knife was magic: the wound could not be closed by itself. To keep her father from trying to heal her brother, or try, Alex dropped Justin's journal. The wizard entered it, gasping blood.

"You realize," The conscience said while the magical strain of being separated from its host appeared, "That you just doomed him to dying forever."

Alex nodded, "You should go. I have seen my brother without a conscience."

The other woman nodded and disappeared inside. Jerry, panting, came over, "Okay, Alex, time to go home."

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Jerry made Alex the family wizard. It was his right as the head of the family. She left her son at her parents for the last time and dropped by Mason's home. He lived in a small apartment, and currently occupied an even smaller bedroom.

His shoulders hung low in defeat.

Alex placed her hand on his shoulder encouragingly, "Thank you. And Mason, I love you."

She pushed her scarred boyfriend down on his back. He had already taken off his shirt and pants. She straddled him.

"Alex, how can you-" She cut him off by putting her fingers to his lips.

Alex stripped herself of all her clothing, and for the first time in a while, felt a bit bashful. This was not Justin, no one was forcing her. This was her choice. Mason was confused, but ready.

They made love.

It was a new experience for her. Dean had been a teenager, and Justin a psychopath. It was hard to stay in the moment, to remember she was with the man she loved, not her brother forcing something in her.

Mason collapsed from the stress. Years of being broken took their toll on his psyche. He was so glad to have her near. She kissed him good-bye and went to the bathroom. The image in the mirror was a rough one.

It had been a long night. Unbelievably rough, and now it was ending. Justin was stuck in his zone, and for the first time in a long while, Alexandra Margarita Russo looked at her naked body with an honest eye. The wizard turned, very slowly, looking at her body. There was intense beauty, and a disturbing lack of scars.

She did not like what she saw. But it was enough. There was just one thing still bothering her, one problem that kept popping into her mind, "Why did you have sex with Mason hours after Justin raped you?" She tried to explain it away, make it not so. But the truth was, she was afraid she would get pregnant again. At least this way, she could pretend Mason was the father.

She broke down as her memories brutalized her. She felt Justin's fingers going down the bare skin of her back, alone her spine. It started above her shoulder-blades, went down the small of her back. Her buttocks clenched as the sensation rested between her legs. It was there for a reason; Justin had broken her. Had taken her and twisted her terribly. She felt intense shame: she blamed her for her time in the journal, for ignoring her child during her one-woman revolution, for letting Justin inside her again, for coming when he commanded, for seducing Mason. It must have been all her fault. She got into the shower.

Justin's voice came again, "One more time for the road, baby sister?" It had to hurt this time. Sex with Mason had been... good, but this had to hurt because that is what Alex's body now craved. Her fingers, so delicate with her lover, turned now to vicious claws which forced themselves into her. She cried at the pain, but continued. Her body began to fill with scratches as she continued to please the presenec in her mind.

Finally, she came. It was obvious now that she would never, ever, ever be free of him. Alex lay on the ground for awhile, then crawled out of the shower. She took her wand and brought her conscience out. (Alex's conscience will be played by Miley Cyrus. No, really.)

"Don't do this, Alex," Her conscience begged. The knife plunged in effortlessly. Seconds later and her conscience was back inside. Alex shuddered uncomfortably. At least now she would no longer have to look at herself in the mirror honestly.

The wizard was drawn to her lair.

The drawer in her lair opened ominously. A single book popped out. It glowed threateningly at her. Justin's journal was calling her. She grasped it.

Then put it back. They were done. She was done with him.

A.N. Well, that's it, just a drabble from here on out. Typically, I say, "I hope you enjoyed the story." But honestly, this time I hope you did not.

Her father never knew the part about Justin. That much she just could not tell him. Her mother knew. That day had been horrible. They had spent it in her childhood room, Alex sobbing her eyes out screaming incoherently into her mother. Their bond had grown, but they agreed never to speak of it. Life was easier with Jerry. They could both pretend that Justin was not Alexander's father (Now called Lex). And that somewhere, in his own world, Justin's conscience was not ensuring that he was tortured to death, forever.

And that is the story. Justin's conscience came back because everyone has a conscience. Some get burned, or warped, or changed or exaggerated, but there is simply no way around having one.

And ignoring it will lead to suffering.

fin.