A/N- I am sorry for the delay between chapters, stuff just kept on happening. Any way in the future if you are ever curious about when a new chapter will be posted you can always check out my profile which is a list of my current stories and info about where I am at with the next chapter.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy.


The Future

Everyone assembled in the room- Bianca, Darryl, Stephen and the resistance guard, Rachel- looked expectantly atAdric waiting for him to justify his grand statement declaring he knew where the three time travellers were. Adric ignored their expectant looks, trying to piece together his theory before he attempted to share it with the group.

"Well?" Prompted Bianca after almost two minutes of waiting. "Where are they Adric?" She demand more fiercely- an unusual hint of emotion entering her voice as her desire to protect Chris overruled her usually strong emotional barrier. Adric's eyes flashed up at her, and they were no longer filled with their usual boyish confidence.

"It doesn't matter." He stated hollowly. "There's nothing we can do for them right now, and if I am correct then we are going to have a whole host of problems of our own to deal with very soon." The resistance members exchanged nervous glances.

"What are you talking about?" Asked Darryl, a cold fear filling his body at the sight of this powerful witch looking suddenly so lost. "Where are they? What's going on?" Adric's eyes remained fixed at a distant point he was apparently staring at through Bianca's head as he attempted to process his realisation into a brief but acceptable explanation.

"February-ish, 2001." He stated, not blinking as his eyes remained fixed on the spot. "My entire family was murdered brutally and silently by an unknown and powerful force." He spoke as if he were describing an everyday occurrence rather than describing a horrific and presumably traumatising personal experience. "I can't tell you the exact date because their deaths were shielded from me- I only discovered their bodies in March when I returned to celebrate St. David's day with them, and by that stage of decomposition in a well heated house it was difficult to get an exact time of death."

No one knew quite how to respond to this information. The witch didn't seem saddened by the memory- although he still couldn't meet anyone's eyes- so they felt certain he wasn't awaiting commiserations; however they also couldn't see how this tragic incident could so certainly be linked to Paige, Chris and Wyatt's location.

"My family were powerful- especially as a unit, and there were few beings at that time that could have so successfully eradicated them and even fewer who would have had the motive to do so." He continued, apparently taking no notice of the awkward tension in the room. "In fact at the time, the only people who I believe would have had the power to commit such an act and live to tell the tale were the Halliwells."

"What?" Exclaimed Darryl in disbelief. Adric held up his hand to silence him.

"Obviously, I presumed that the profited paragons of good probably weren't responsible for the meaningless destruction of my family; however I do not apply these same presumptions to the Halliwell that is, in this time, hunting down and destroying his own family." The resistance members could see the logic in this reasoning, but Bianca was quite clearly unimpressed.

"So what?" She questioned. "You really believe that the emperor of the world travelled back in time simply to wipe out your family? How self-involved can you get?" Adric finally tore his eyes away from the far distance and focused them once more on Bianca.

"Quick history lesson." He announced. "2001 was significant for other than my own personal reasons. Does anyone have a guess why?" His eyes flicked between the four other occupants in the room three of them starred back blankly but Darryl bowed his head slightly.

"That was the year Prue died." He stated hollowly. Adric, unaware of his past self's connection with Prue grinned at the Resistance leader's memory before continuing.

"Right. She died right in the middle of the long fought battle between the Charmed Ones and the Source." He explained. "As Wyatt was summoned to the past, we must assume that the summoners were powerful witches and given Wyatt's many protective enchantments, I feel only the Charmed Ones would have had this power. Similarly, assuming the summonses was accidental- which knowing the Charmed One's history is fair to assume- there are only a few occasions when summoning spells the Charmed Ones cast could possibly have the unforeseen consequence of summoning their future son- who, coincidentally possesses the Sources powers.

Darryl nodded- the Witch's clearly well thought out explanation making complete sense to him, although one thing was still missing. "I get that that makes the most sense in relation to the Halliwells, but why would he have killed your family? What would his motive be?"

"And that, Mr Morris, is the reason for my earlier statement relating to the imminent host of problems we are facing." He stated. Once more the resistance members exchanged nervous glances, but before they could ask more questions Adric launched into a quick explanation of Merlin's ring and his guess for Wyatt's plan- thanks to his close workings with the Emperor over the last few years his guess was very close to the truth. When he was finished a stunned silence descended on the group as everyone processed this new information.

"So you see;" He stated at the end of his explanation. "There really are only two outcomes of Wyatt and Merlin clashing. A- He wins, the world in it's entirely falls under his thumb and with all the new power he gains he can dismantle the protection of this base and eradicate the resistance- his final obstacle to total domination. Or 2- he loses and is either killed or has his powers stripped and so loses control of his demons. Then then start killing innocents by the thousands. So like I say, either way we have a whole host of problems coming our way." He glanced up, an element of his old showmanship remerging as he looked around the room. "So, any ideas?"


The Present

"NO!" Screamed Piper. She tried to run to Chris' body, but found herself suddenly rooted to the spot. Her sisters and Adric too tried to move, but all their attempts were futile. Wyatt smiled triumphantly as the ground began to shake.

"STOP THIS!" Screamed Phoebe, unable to look at her nephew's body

"Oh, but My Dear Aunt." Sneered Wyatt, who appeared entirely unperturbed by the minor earthquake occurring around him. "Isn't this exactly what you wanted? Didn't you come all this way for this very moment? I'm just trying to help you achieve you goals."

"What? By killing your own brother?" Yelled Paige, unable to take her eyes off of Chris' unmoving body. Wyatt shrugged.

"He betrayed me and sided with you. He was dead to me the moment he made that decision. All I have done is made it official." Paige shook her head in disgust at her nephew's words. She tried to get angry- if her anger could override the fear she felt for herself and her past self- who was still steadily bleeding out just outside the ring of stones- then maybe she would be able to break free of the power that was rooting her to the spot.

"You're a monster!" Screamed Piper, who had apparently had the same idea- although Piper was clearly torn between anger at the loss of Chris and discovery of who Wyatt had become, and the fear of what would happen to Leo if they tried anything.

Wyatt's gloating expression flickered slightly at his mother's words, but by the time he turned to face her, his face had returned to its stony sneer.

"Am I, Mother?" He challenged, striding over to her and bending down so their faces were level. He lowered his voice to a dangerous whisper and leaned in close to Piper's ear. "Aren't you wondering how I became who I am? What terrible mistake you must have made…" Piper reached up to slap the man, but Wyatt's reactions were too quick. He seized her wrist just before she could strike him, tutting menacingly as he forced her hand down. "What sort of mother would strike her own son?"

"Leave her alone!" Ordered Prue, who seemed to be fighting every instinct in her body to keep any sign of fear from her face. Wyatt now turned to her, leaving Piper still shaking, with tears running down her face.

"Ahh; the famous bravery of Aunt Prue." He sighed. "Oh the stories I heard about you." Prue met his gaze with a fierce glare, determined not to be the one to blink first. Wyatt, seemingly done with games, however blinked freely as he returned to his position in the centre of the circle. "Paige has been trying to live up to you every day of her life for over twenty years now, but she couldn't even keep her sister's alive." All three of the Charmed Ones turned to Paige, but she kept her eyes fixed on Wyatt.

"Go to Hell." She spat

The ground was shaking dangerously now, and everyone could feel the power of the spell. Any minute now Merlin would be summoned to the surface but rather than facing the Charmed Ones, he would be confronted by Wyatt and Excalibur.

Wyatt opened his mouth to gloat once more, but before he could say anything, he stumbled backwards, doubling over in sudden pain.

"Remarkable isn't it;" came a new voice outside of the circle; "the bond between our past and present selves." Everyone turned to see the new arrival and was startled to see Cole and he was holding Baby Wyatt in his arms. Apparently the toddler now trusted the demon because he hadn't raised his shield even though they could guess that the demon was hurting the baby in some way because the adult Wyatt was struggling to stand up.

"What did you do?" Wyatt demanded.

When Wyatt had kidnapped Leo and Victor and his younger self had disappeared, he had presumed the baby had simply orbed to the manor or even the heavens. He would never have predicted his younger self would orb to a demon- particularly one that was going to cause the family so much grief in the near future. Coal shrugged.

"It's a simple infection." He explains. "Only affects demon powers so this little guy is fine." He assured Piper. "It won't last long, but right now your powers are poisoning you."

Wyatt stumbled forwards, his arms out stretched towards the demon, but nothing happened. Cole just stood there smirking, still clutching the six month year old.

At same time as Wyatt stumbled, Phoebe's eye was caught by another movement, closer to the ground.

"Chris?" She ran forward to his side- her hope overriding the fear that had been rooting her to the spot and indeed Chris opened his eyes, sitting up very suddenly when he realised where he was and turning his head in every direction to try and understand what was going on. It was then Piper's turn to run forward, embracing her youngest son in both arms before helping him to his feet.

"You couldn't kill him, could you?" She said to Wyatt, a small glimmer of hope re-emerging in her eyes. Wyatt, who even now seemed to be recovering from the infection didn't respond. Instead he turned to the demons that were still holding Leo, Victor, Darryl and the present day Paige.

"Hurt them." He ordered. The demons grinned at the order although they never got the chance to carry it through. Cole sent an energy ball into the chest of the demons holding Leo and victor while Prue, with a swipe of one hand took care of the demon with an Athame to Adric's side, and with the other she freed Darryl. Paige orbed the athame out of her past self's chest and straight into the demon that had previously been clutching it, before scrambling over to her past self to heal the wound. At the same time, Phoebe and Piper grabbed Chris by his arms and helped him out of the circle of stones as well so the witches, white-lighters, humans and demon could form one united stance against Wyatt, who was now almost fully recovered from Cole's virus.

"It's over Wyatt." Declared Paige, but somehow Wyatt still looked confident.

"Is it?" He queried with a smirk. The sisters had hoped that simply leaving the ring of stones would be enough for the spell to be broken, but apparently the enchantment had gained enough power and could continue by itself. "Merlin's still coming, and there is still nothing any of you can do to stop me." He held out his hands and, accompanied by a bright flash of light, Excalibur appeared in his hands. "I am about to become the most powerful being in the world!"

No one knew what to do. It was clear to everyone that Wyatt's obsession with power and the promise of being about to receive everything he wanted had driven him to the edge of insanity. There could be no reasoning with a witch this far gone, but they knew they had to do something.

"You guys have got a plan right?" Clarified Darryl. "I mean there are five charmed ones here- that's got to count for something!" The sisters exchanged looks- all apart from present day Paige who had backed away from the group- not understanding anything that was going on. Prue, Piper, Paige and Phoebe looked hopeful that their combined efforts would be enough but Adric shook his head.

"For as long as he's in there then nothing can reach him- the whole ring is protected to keep the Guardians safe from whatever threat they are facing. You can get out just fine, but only a true Guardian can get back in. Even with all out combined powers there's nothing we can do."

"Yes there is." Said Chris- speaking for the first time since Wyatt had put him into the deathlike trance. He turned anxiously to Cole. "Attack me."

"What?" Questioned the demon, accompanied by objections from most of the rest of the group.

"I'm serious." Insisted Chris. "Wy still believes I am working with him- that's why he didn't kill me. If you accuse me of betraying the sisters- putting them into this mess in the first place- then attack me, he might come out of the ring to protect me." Cole still looked cautious and Piper was making her feelings about this plan known in no uncertain terms.

"Or maybe he'll just kill me from inside the ring." Cole pointed out.

"You're holding his past self." Argued Chris. "He's not going to risk it."

"Wyatt wouldn't believe we would let that happen though." Pointed out Leo. Chris rolled his eyes at his father's words- thinking of all the things Leo had let happen during his life, but the others seemed to agree with his sentiment- all apart from Paige; who had, after all these years, learned to trust even her nephew's craziest plans.

"Why would we stop it?" She stated, stepping forward towards Chris- pushing him out of Piper's arms so Chris now had his back directly to Wyatt. "It is his entire fault. If he hadn't have warned Wyatt of our plans then none of this would be happening." With a wave of her hand she absorbed Chris in a cloud of orbs and sent him flying towards the ring- leaving him sprawled on the floor perhaps a metre from the stone circles.

Piper, Phoebe and Leo took a step towards Paige in Chris' defence, but Prue and Adric blocked their path, apparently they were choosing to trust that the time travellers knew what they were doing.

"Cole, blast him." Ordered Paige. Cole looked to Phoebe for advice who shook her head adamantly, but Adric wasn't about to let the man who killed his family get everything he wanted just to save one kid from a bit of pain.

"Do it. Or I will make it look like you did far worse and then take that baby out of your arms so Wyatt has no reason not to kill you." He threatened. Piper was now trying to blast Adric who was forcibly restraining her from reaching Chris. Fortunately, she still hadn't mastered her new power, so all she was doing was freezing him- which had no effect on the witch. Cole sighed, but followed Paige's lead.

"They're right." He yelled at Chris- raising his voice even louder to make sure Wyatt heard him over the rush of swirling wind that was now accompanying the earthquake- they didn't have long. "This is all your fault kid." With one arm he clutched baby Wyatt to his chest- making sure his vital organs were protected, and with the other he began to send a volley of low powered energy balls at the young witch-lighter, who dodged most of them by orbing to the other side of the stones. One did find its target though- hitting him directly in his chest so he fell to the ground, looking up through the force field imploringly at his brother.

Before Wyatt had a chance to react, Paige waved his arms once more, orbing Chris right to Cole's feet before stepping forward to glare once more at Wyatt.

"We may not be able to reach you." She stated. "But I've been hunting your brother for just as long as I've been fighting you. You took my sister away from me, so maybe it's time I return the favour."

"You wouldn't kill your own family." Replied Wyatt, but Paige wondered if she saw a flicker of concern in his usually emotionless eyes. "Besides, you don't want to lose your allies nor, more importantly, your precious sister's love." Paige shrugged.

"I never said I'd kill him, but I can certainly make him scream." She argued- hating every poisons word she was saying. "And any way, I lost my sisters along time a go and it will be much easier to leave this time if they hate me." To prove her point she orbed the athame that had been in her past self's chest straight into Chris' leg- making him scream in Pain.

Wyatt was seething. He was merely moments away from ultimate power, but now his Aunt was making him look like a fool- powerless to protect his own brother. He sent out a volley of energy balls of his own, but they never reached their target as his past self raised his shield- expanding it to protect every individual outside of the stones.

Paige grinned and with a motion of her hand she orbed the athame out of Chris's leg and then sent it straight into his shoulder, making him let out another scream of agony.

Everything paused for a moment- even Piper had stopped struggling- everyone seemed to hold their breaths, waiting for Wyatt's response. They didn't have to wait long. With a yell, he raised Excalibur over his head, running out of the circle- allowing his own shield to once more merge with his past self's so he was in the circle too, swinging the sword directly a Paige's head.

The blow never landed however, as, just as Wyatt left the protection of the rocks the ground gave one final shake- sending everyone flying a few feet further from Stone hedge and crashing them into the ground. Then there was a bright, blinding light and in the centre appeared a lone shadow.

Merlin had arrived.