A/N: I think maybe this update is a little quicker than usual...maybe? Or maybe not. I'm not really sure but I'd like to think it is! Anyway... as promised hopefully this chapter is a little more exciting than the last and Chris features prominantly. So here we go...
much love.
Chapter 19
"How long are you going to stay looking like that?" Chris questioned Prue, as they carefully made their way through the darkened passage in search of Darryl.
Prue shrugged, "Until I say the counter spe... ooops!"
"What?" Chris looked at his younger cousin speculatively.
Prue had stopped suddenly and slapped herself on the forehead. "Damn, I knew I was forgetting something! I didn't write a counter spell."
Chris rolled his eyes. "Somehow I'm not surprised," he muttered dryly, "Never mind, we can make one up later. Are you sure the guard said Darryl was down here?"
"Uh-huh" Prue nodded, "I think he was keeping you two separate, from everyone else and each other. It should be just here."
They had arrived at the end of the passage, where a small cell had been partitioned off by metal bars. As they neared the bars, they exchanged apprehensive glances then turned their gazes to the huddled shape lying on the floor.
"Darryl?" Chris asked tentatively, "Darryl, are you ok?"
The figure twitched, then slowly pulled himself up to face the teens, disbelief etched onto his bloody features, "Chris? Wyatt?" he rasped, "Wh-Wha-? I mean, How? I don't.." His eyes flickered between Chris and who he supposed was Wyatt.
"I'm not Wyatt." Prue explained, "It's me!"
"P-Prue?" Darryl was looking thoroughly confused now.
"What did he do to you?" Prue exclaimed indignantly in reply, her eyes focusing on Darryl's injuries.
Darryl appeared to gather some composure as he dragged himself to his feet, "It wasn't Wyatt," he told them grimly, "It was his demons when they captured me."
"Never mind that now," Chris interrupted hurriedly, "We have to get out of here, as quickly as possible. Prue, unlock the door."
Prue moved forward to comply, twisting the key in the lock and pulling the door open. Chris stepped inside and grasped Darryl's arm, "Can you walk?"
"I'll be fine." Darryl assured the teens, though his grimace as he took a tentative step gave him away.
"Come on," Chris told him, pulling Darryl's arm around his shoulder, "I'll help you."
Prue was scrunching her face up in heavy concentration as Chris helped Darryl exit the cell. "I can't teleport down here." she announced, "Can you orb?"
Chris shook his head and his eyes widened in sudden remembrance, "No, Wyatt put this anklet thingy on me so I can't use my magic." He pulled up his trouser leg to show the other two. "I can't get it off."
Prue looked worried, "I can't teleport anyone else! How are we going to get out of here?"
"Walk out the door?" Darryl suggested calmly.
"Won't they, oh I don't know, be watching the entrance?!" Chris suggested sardonically.
Darryl let out a brief laugh, "I'm not a cop for nothing, you know. Prue looks like Wyatt right now, so why can't she order the demons to go elsewhere, leaving the door unguarded? We'd only need a minute or so."
"Yeah!" exclaimed Prue, "And when we're outside, you two can hide for a moment while I teleport to sanctuary and get a whitelighter to come back for you."
"Sanctuary?" the two men asked simultaneously.
"It's where the remaining Elders and Whitelighters are hiding. There's not that many of them left now, but..."
"Sheila?" Darryl rasped hopefully, his eyes lighting up.
"Yeah, yeah she's there. Auntie Sheila's safe. But..." Prue trailed off.
"Dad." Chris said dully into the silence. "I know he's dead. Wyatt told me he killed him."
Darryl looked shocked but patted Chris on the shoulder comfortingly, "I'm so sorry, Chris."
There was another brief silence.
"Shall...Shall we get out of here now?" Prue asked nervously.
Chris frowned, "It sounds too easy." he muttered.
"What do we have to lose?" Darryl asked Chris gently, "If we get caught again, well, we were prisoners before, and Prue will teleport out if we get caught won't you?"
"I will?" Prue looked shocked, "No, no I won't leave you here."
"Yes you will." Chris backed up Darryl, "There's no point Wyatt having three of us if one of us can get away."
Prue looked indignant, "But- but you wouldn't leave if it was you!"
"Prudence Melinda Halliwell, we don't have time for arguments. If we get caught, teleport out. Understand?" Chris fixed his cousin with a steady gaze.
She nodded reluctantly. "Fine. Let's go."
They made their way as fast as they could through the passages back up to the entrance hall. There were a few close shaves with the demonic guards, but Prue, pretending to be Wyatt, managed to allay their suspicions and the three were allowed to pass.
Eventually they reached the door leading to the entrance hall, and they all paused apprehensively.
"Right, well," Prue announced, squaring her shoulders, "I guess I should go on ahead and make sure the coast is clear."
"Be careful." Chris warned, not looking particularly happy about sending Prue out there alone.
"You know me." Prue grinned, "Always the careful one."
Chris snorted, "Yeah, that's why I'm worried."
"Good luck," Darryl whispered, "Knock when it's all clear."
"Will do."
Prue tentatively reached for the handle, then with a burst of confidence pulled it open and strode through quickly. She didn't look up until she heard the door click behind her, and when she raised her head she found herself face-to-face with a very confused looking demon.
"Uh, excuse me!" Prue demanded haughtily.
The demon stepped aside quickly but sent a clearly befuddled glance at the other end of the lobby. "My- my Lord?" he stuttered, head swinging wildly from one side to the other.
Prue directed Wyatt's clear blue eyes to follow the demon's gaze and found herself staring straight at a pair of identical eyes. She felt her stomach drop down to her knees as the man strode over to her, a smug grin plastered on his face.
"Well, well, well." Wyatt sneered, "This must be my mysterious double."
---
Prue felt her head spinning, "Uh-" She felt like an idiot. Why hadn't they considered the possibility that they might come face-to-face with Wyatt himself?
Wyatt was now observing Prue with a predatory grin, "Now, I'm guessing you are none other than my favourite cousin. Am I right Prudence?"
Taking a wild chance Prue retorted, "What are you talking about, imposter? I don't know who the hell you are but I'm Wyatt Halliwell."
Wyatt snorted with laughter, "Let's stop playing games shall we? That's not even a very good impression of my voice, although I will admit that you were clever to bypass the protection spells I set up around myself."
He made a commanding gesture with his hand and immediately all the demons powered up energy balls. Stalking closer he continued, "I think I can make another guess here, that Chris and Darryl are hiding behind that door waiting for you to tell them to come out?"
Prue gulped. "No. They're not." she insisted, although she could hear how weak her lie sounded.
"Really? So if I, say, tell Kezlar here," Wyatt pointed to a heavyset brute demon, "to open the door, he won't find them? Do it." he added to Kezlar, the brute demon snarling in what was probably excitement.
Prue watched in dread as the door swung open, revealing the two men. Identical expressions of shock were quickly replaced by steely determination.
"Hello, brother." Wyatt sneered, "Looks like your escape plan's been foiled."
Chris stepped forward, eyes narrowed, "I'd say that if your security is lax enough to let us get this far, then we've still got a fighting chance."
Wyatt's nostrils flared in anger. "You think so? Well, let me just remove your ace then. Let me see." He turned to face Prue and though briefly, "How about:
The face she is wearing is not her own,
Her original looks give to the clone."
Prue felt her features returning as white orbs danced around her. She felt more than a little ridiculous as Wyatt' clothes were now way too large for her.
"There we go," Wyatt surveyed the results, satisfied with his work, "Hello, Prue. It's nice to see you."
"I wish I could say the same," she spat.
Rolling his eyes, Wyatt turned to his demons, "Return these two to their cells. I think I'll have a nice little chat to Prue about where all the Elders are hiding these days."
Chris took an angry step forward, ignoring the demons who closed in around him raising their energy balls threateningly. "Leave Prue alone." he demanded, sending her a glance that clearly told her to teleport out.
"And get out of my way." he snarled at the demon in front of him.
The demon growled in anger, bringing the rotating ball of energy close to Chris' face. Suddenly the energy ball left the demon's hand and flew straight back at him, vanquishing the demon in a puff of ash.
Chris looked up and met Prue's eye, her arm outstretched, having just used their shared power of telekinesis to move the energy ball.
Wyatt also spun round to glare at Prue. "How dare you." he hissed, advancing on the teen.
Recognising the danger signs, Chris dodged the demons surrounding him and leapt at Wyatt, bringing the two down in an untidy jumble of flailing limbs.
Using telekinesis Wyatt waved a hand to send Chris flying across the room, but not before the younger man had landed a solid punch to Wyatt's jaw.
All thoughts of Prue gone, Wyatt summoned Excalibur and advanced towards Chris who had scrambled to his feet. "Don't start a fight you couldn't possible win." he snarled.
Chris eyed the gleaming blade and sidestepped the blow. The sword cut cleanly through the air and Chris felt the rush of air as it passed. Finding himself within striking distance of Wyatt he straightened a leg and sent a roundhouse kick to Wyatt's stomach. The blonde stumbled but didn't fall.
Before Chris knew what was happening he felt the ice cold steel resting at his throat. Wyatt had moved almost inhumanly fast.
Chris could see barely restrained anger in his brother's face. But Wyatt removed Excalibur and directed his speech at Kezlar. "Teach him a lesson."
Kezlar grunted appreciatively and stepped forward hungrily as Wyatt turned away.
"Face me." Chris demanded to his brother's retreating back. "Face me yourself."
Wyatt had stopped walking so Chris continued, "Remove this damn ankle thing and face me in a fair fight. Unless you're afraid to lose, of course."
A maniacal laugh sounded from Wyatt's lips. "Afraid, my dear brother? Of you? I should think not." Wyatt made an abrupt hand gesture at Chris' leg and he felt the metallic band snap and fall to the floor.
'Finally! I can use my powers' Chris thought sending a telekinetic stream of power at Wyatt.
The blonde flew backwards hitting the floor and skidding backwards a few metres. He came back up spitting fire and swinging the historic blade in arcs that Chris was hard put to avoid. Suddenly, Excalibur flashed towards Chris's face. Too surprised to do anything else he flung his arm up in front of his face and hissed in pain as the slick blade sliced into his arm.
In the background Chris could hear Darryl's angry shout, and Prue's shocked gasp. Focusing on the battle he pushed his uninjured hand in front of him mentally blasted the area.
Wyatt swung Excalibur and the blade glowed for a moment as it reflected the blast. The resulting explosion flung Chris through the air, hitting the wall hard and collapsing to the floor. He groggily raised a hand to his aching head, and found it sticky with blood.
Through the haze, Chris could hear Prue's screaming and Wyatt's laughter echoing around the hall. Using the wall as support he pulled himself to his feet and took an unsteady step forward. Wyatt was approaching again and Chris' eyes widened as he saw Excalibur raised high.
He could hear the air whistling as the sword cut a wicked arc through it. A gasp of pain escaped his lips as the blade sank into his stomach, bright red blood spilling out. The sword was shockingly cold and an icy chill swept like poison through his body.
"Chris!" Prue and Darryl's frantic shouts washed over him as he sank back down to the floor, one hand clutching at his stomach. He felt the two run over to him and despite Wyatt's looming figure he felt a rush of comfort as they grasped his hand and shoulder.
Forcing his eyes open, Chris fancied he saw a shocked expression on his brother's face but at the same time a sudden realisation came to him.
"Prue." he rasped painfully, "Prue, think of Sanctuary."
"What?" his cousin chocked tearfully.
"Think..think of Sanctuary," he mumbled, "And hold on tight."
He felt Prue's and Darryl's grasps tighten and he used his last vestiges of strength to focus on dissolving the three of into a swarm of orbs.
The last thing he remembered before he blacked out was a sudden rush of warmth and a golden light shining through his eyelids.