a/n: I know…you all probably thought I abandoned this again didn't you? I apologize, got extremely busy during the holidays and then well my computer decided to die on me and well updates prob won't come so very often now. Sorry but here's the latest!

Chapter 8

Future

Wyatt stared intently at the girl tossing and turning about in her sleep. He didn't know exactly what she dreamed of, but it was fairly easy to guess. Whenever he had wished to see his cousin, she was often brought to him badly wounded and unconscious, a fact he didn't much like but had come to accept as more or less her own fault. Of all the Halliwell cousins Isabelle was one of the more spirited, a trait that had come from her mother no doubt but one that was likely amplified by the power she had also inherited from her father. He had already healed any wounds she had suffered physically from her pointless attempt at resistance, now he simply waited for her to wake.

As he watched her, he couldn't help but wonder who it was she dreamed of this time. Most likely a family member they had lost long ago or else one that she had considered lost to her…every now and then she would…"Wyatt!" she said as she started…wake screaming that.

"You called?" he replied. Breathing heavily in attempts to establish she had been merely dreaming again she looked over at him and then her eyes swept around the room. It registered that she had been moved from her last prison cell. Recalling the moments leading up to it she wasn't very surprised. For months whenever Wyatt wished to speak with her she was brought to him…but Isabelle never made it easy for Wyatt's buddies to take her. Sighing she merely asked, "What?"

"Come now Iz…we haven't talked in what 2, 3 weeks and that's all you have to say to me? No…how have you been? Any closer to finding Kit or Patty or even little Alan?"

"Fine, we'll play it your way, kill any innocents lately? Or better yet have you suddenly seen the error of your ways?"

Wyatt laughed, "Nothing ever changes with you. A better question would be when will you realize the truth? You could have limitless potential, three of the four crystals are yours if you'd only ask."

"Those crystals belong to the families of Sammy, Mike and Karen, not me and certainly not you."

"I didn't bring you here to argue this again."

"Which brings me back to my first question, what do you want?"

"Tell me, where's Chris?"

"How should I know, it's been what seven, eight months since I've truly seen daylight thanks to you."

"Ah that's right…he left after you were brought home."

"You call this home?" she replied laughing. "Call me crazy but my home you destroyed and now stands as some twisted monument to mom and the others where complete strangers come to gawk at our family heirlooms."

"CHRIS," he replied raising his voice to indicate that subject was closed, "is gone, stuck in the past most likely destroying our lives now."

"What?" Isabelle recalled her last conversation with Chris not believing he actually did it.

"Iz…come on you can't be serious! You know what they want you to do?" he asked.

"Chris…we may not have a choice…the crystals…"

"Could you really do that to him? He's your cousin! You know Kit won't be happy unless he's…"

"What if there's no other way? Chris, he killed dad remember?"

"What if there is though? We could go back."

"What are you saying?"

"There's a spell in the book, a one way door back in time, we could fix all of this. Save mom, dad, and everyone else."

"You can't be serious, Chris you'd be stuck there."

"They'd be alive, and they could send me back after I fixed it all."

"But how would you know? Chris this is insanity."

Wyatt interrupted her memories, "That's right, Chris stole the book and used it to go back in time and destroy our present. Yours, his, everyone else's very existence possibly gone but with your help I can bring him back before too much damage has been done."

She remained quiet for several seconds, Wyatt didn't NEED her help. He was more powerful than her on any given day, he could easily write a spell….what if he already had? "You don't need my help to write a spell. You could bring him back yourself easily…but you've already tried haven't you? What did Chris get the best of you again?" She laughed as she leaned back, "Gotta hand it to him, he always knows how to get around you."

"ENOUGH!" he shouted. "You will help me bring him home using the crystals."

"Wrong, I won't help you do anything. In case you've forgotten I don't work for you nor will I ever help you hurt an innocent especially if its Chris. Besides I can't do anything without Kit and her crystal."

"But you can find Kit and unless you wish to see Patty or Henry," here he motioned to a television screen that suddenly turned on with Isabelle's youngest sister and another of her cousins trapped in a room, "get hurt all because you refused. I don't think you'd want that on your conscience especially after your father."

Isabelle knew all too well what kind of demons Wyatt had at his disposal and she knew neither of them stood a fighting chance on their own against those demons either. "You wouldn't."

"Care to try me?" Isabelle stared at him unbelievingly.

*****

Present

Chris and Kit rematerialized in what Kit could only guess was a baby's nursery. "Why is he always here?" Chris wondered aloud looking up at the ceiling.

"What? Where are we now?" she asked looking at him.

Chris glanced at her, "At my…family's house, this is my brother's room. I was hoping my dad would be gone by now."

"And…he isn't?"

"Look, Kit my mom and my aunts…you can trust them ok. They're gonna help us keep you safe. Come on." Still holding her hand he led them up to the attic.