Waking the Dead (and Then Some)

"How many?" Wyatt asked, his voice deep, dark, and cruel. "And don't lie to me... I'll know."

"Oh no..." Chris uttered softly. "Wyatt, what've you done?"

"It's funny that you should be the one to ask." Wyatt scornfully replied. "Since you're the one who's known all along."

"Wyatt?" Lee raced into the room next to Chris.

"Lee come back here!" Shane called after him.

"Lee, get out of here." Chris urged, putting his arm out of in front to shield his brother. "You shouldn't be here."

"Yes Lee." Wyatt hissed. "We wouldn't anyone telling you the truth now, would we Chris?"

Lee looked to Chris, his face filled with confusion. "I don't understand. What's happening to him?"

"Lee, I don't have time to explain right now." Chris quickly replied. "Now get out."

"But..."

"I said GET OUT!" Chris yelled, sending a tremor down Lee's spine. He hated to do it, but there was no time for politeness.

"Lee, Sweetheart?" Piper called from the doorway. "Come over here with us. Your brothers can take care of it."

For a moment, it appeared as though Wyatt had turned back into his true self. "Listen to them, Lee." he said sincerely, fighting to turn his rage into sadness. "Get out before I say or do something I don't mean."

"I don't underst-"

"Lee!" Piper called again. "Now!"

Lee started to gradually back away, but slowed as he saw Wyatt's face contort and then straighten again. "Is this all the curse?" he asked.

The question triggered a dark change in Wyatt. "Oh there's more than just a curse in here." he said, his voice crackling. "Much, much more."

This was more than Chris had expected to hear. "And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"How many, Chris?" Wyatt demanded, ignoring all else. "How many have there been?"

"How many wh-..."

"Lives, dammit!" Wyatt shouted. "Don't play games with me! Don't you dare play (censored)ing games with me!"

Chris recoiled, stunned by Wyatt's outburst.

Wyatt slowly collected himself again. "I'm so sorry..." he muttered. He began to whimper and sob. "These memories... Every second a new one comes and... I can't tell..."

Chris began to cautiously kneel next to his brother. "What memories?"

"They burn... Oh God, they burn." Wyatt wept, wrapping his arms around his own waist. "I shouldn't have to carry them... They can't all be mine..."

"Wyatt, listen to me." Chris quietly urged. "You know this is what the curse does: It makes even the innocent feel like murderers."

Wyatt cackled through his tears. "Innocent?" he cried, then hissed accusingly. "Nice try."

Chris carefully placed his hand on Wyatt's shoulder. "Wyatt..." Though his every instinct urged him to run, Chris fought to remain calm. "Why don't we see if we can wake Rory up and put everything back the way it was." When Wyatt didn't react, Chris continued. "Rory's carried it for a long time; he'll know what to do."

Wyatt gazed with sorrowful eyes at Rory, resting peacefully on their parents' bed. Dylan and Jared stood over him, waiting to carry him from the bed out of the room. The idea of Rory's suffering the weight of the burden that he had only carried for several minutes filled Wyatt with unbridled rage. "No!" he screamed, causing Chris to jump back.

"O...kay." Chris mumbled, inching further and further away from Wyatt.

"I'm sorry." Wyatt blubbered. "They keep coming... and coming... and coming." He wept into his own hands. "When?"

Chris hesitated for a moment, wondering which would be more dangerous: answering or not answering. "You were eleven." he finally answered. "It wasn't your fault. You didn't know what..."

"And the camps?" Wyatt sobbed.

Chris couldn't believe his ears. "What did you say?" he asked, scarcely above a whisper. This was not a memory Rory had ever spoken of. He could understand how adopting the curse would bring back the memory of Rowan's death, but could it also create new ones? And if so, whose were they?

Wyatt kept on, making a list of what he believed to be his own crimes. "Starving them. Burning them. Making them watch. Taking their children and making..."

"Wyatt, no matter what the curse is telling you..." Lee said. "You're not a killer."

"That's where you're wrong, Lee." Wyatt growled, his eyes tensing with resentment. "I am a killer... and you are a thief!"

"What?" Lee asked astonished. "What did I do?"

"You've stolen flesh and bone and you didn't even know it." said Wyatt. "I wonder if you'd even be here now if he were still alive?"

"If who were still alive?" Lee asked, both hurt and confused.

Lee felt a hand grab him by the shoulder from behind. "Okay Lee, that's it." said Piper. "Party's over. We're leaving!" Within seconds, she tugged him out of the room, down the hall, and into the next bedroom over. She called back to Leo and Paige, who were still watching everything from the hallway: "We'll be in here if you need us." she casually remarked, shutting the bedroom door behind her.

Back in Piper and Leo's room...

"Okay, I've had enough of this..." said Shane, stepping in to take over. "Jared, you and Dylan get Rory the Hell outta here!"

Both Dylan and Jared nodded in hurried agreement. Being the larger and stronger of the two, Jared pulled Rory up out of the bed and wrapped his sleeping brother's arm around his neck. Dylan quickly did the same with the other arm, and the two proceeded quickly out of the room, carrying Rory swiftly down the hall and into the bedroom where Piper had just taken Lee. Paige followed behind them, leaving Steve, Tristan, and Leo standing attentively outside Piper and Leo's bedroom.

"You were there, weren't you Shane?" Wyatt taunted cruelly. "I'll bet you could tell everyone the tragic story of my first murder. You did see the whole thing."

"Wyatt, listen to me. This is not you..." Shane wasn't sure if he believed his own words. "You have to believe us."

"You were pulling on my shoulders. Beating on my back. Trying to pull me off of him." Wyatt's words were designed to wound and make Shane feel ashamed of himself for failing to save their dead brother. "Remember how scared you were, screaming and crying like a helpless little girl?"

"Shane," Chris said urgently, "He's just trying to bate you. Just..."

"Oh yeah?" Shane snarled angrily back at Wyatt. "You wanna hear someone scream like a little girl, Wyatt?" Shane lifted his hand in front of himself. A force field instantly appeared around Wyatt, large at first, but then it began to shrink, forcing Wyatt to curl up into a ball against the bedroom wall.

"That's it Shane!" Wyatt taunted. "You've waited your entire life for this..."

"Chris, get out!" Shane demanded.

"What about you?" Chris asked.

"I'll manage." Shane snapped. When he noticed that Chris had yet to move an inch: "Get out!" he commanded. "I'll be fine."

"Don't worry Chris." Wyatt's voice practically slithered from his throat. "I'll take good care of him."

"Shane, I'm not leaving you alone with..." Chris' words were cut short by a threatening glare from Shane's overly determined eyes. "Okay fine." he relented. "I just hope you know what you're doing."

As he left the room, Chris took one last look at his two brothers, staring each other down with venomous eyes. With Leo's encouragement, Chris finally managed to step out of the room, over the ashes that had once been a door, and down the hallway to join the others.

Once everyone but Shane and Wyatt was outside, Steve removed the glowing blue doorframe with a wave of his hand. Finally, Tristan pointed at the ashes on the ground and, within seconds, the door had reformed, exactly as it been before.

Back inside the room, Wyatt looked villainously up into Shane's eyes. "And the rest... is silence."

Over in the next room, Dylan and Jared placed Rory gently down on the large double bed as Piper pulled back the covers. She sat down next to Rory up at the top of the bed as Jared, Dylan, Lee, and Paige found places to sit as well.

Eventually everyone made it safely into the bedroom. The others who sat on the bed cleared a spot for Chris next to where Rory was lying. As the others sat with Rory, Leo and Paige put their ears against the bedroom wall, hoping to hear what was happening on the other side.

"Dad, Aunt Paige," Jared said, "The rooms are soundproof; you won't be able to hear them."

"Soundproof?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," Dylan said. "I cast the spell to make the house what it is in our time. In the future, with so many people living under one roof, you and Mom soundproofed all the rooms so that people could have some privacy."

"It's actually a really good idea." Paige remarked. "It just sucks at the moment."

"No kidding." Leo agreed. "You guys, how long can Shane last alone with Wyatt?"

Steve answered: "There's a positive correlation between how well Shane fights and how pissed off he is. I'd say his chances are pretty good."

"He'll manage." Chris added. "One way or another, he always does."

Piper wasn't comforted nearly enough by Chris' words. "What, are we just supposed to let them duke it out until one of them is no longer standing?"

"I can't believe Wyatt said those things." said Lee. "He really thinks he killed someone?"

"We'll get Wyatt back, Lee, don't worry." Chris said. "The best thing for all of us is to wake Rory if we can. He is the specialist as far as the curse goes."

"I thought he was just sleeping." Paige said. "Taking the curse didn't hurt him, did it?"

"I don't think so." Chris answered, though he sounded less than convincing. Rather than wasting more time, he took Rory by the hand and did his best to awaken him. "Rory, can you hear me?" he pleaded. "Rory, it's Chris. We reeeeally need you right now."

Nothing happened.

"Rory?" Chris repeated. Suddenly, he had an idea. "Mom, why don't you try?"

"What?" asked Piper in surprise. "He's never even met me... Well, not this me... I mean... Oh, you know what I mean!"

"Yeah, but even so," said Leo, "yours is the first voice he ever heard, even before he was born."

"Dad's right, Mom." Chris added. "If anybody can, you can."

"Okay, enough with the pressure!" Piper snapped. Okay Piper, you can do this. "Okay, here goes..."

All within the room stared intently at the young mother as she prepared herself to try and wake their dreaming brother.

"Oh, one last thing." Chris cautioned. "When you look into his eyes... don't be afraid."

"And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?" demanded Piper.

Chris' face tried to smile, though his eyes remained sorrowful. "You'll see."

Piper rolled her eyes, annoyed by the vague answer. "Rory?" she called, rubbing her son's hand. "Rory, Sweetie, Can you hear me?" There was no response. "What now?" Piper asked impatiently, looking around the room with an I-told-you-so gleam in her eye.

"Keep trying." Chris sounded like he was giving her an order. "You didn't even give it a chance."

"All riiiight!" Piper replied, then mumbled to herself. "Pushy as ever."

"What did you say?" quipped Chris.

"I said you're very clever." Piper awkwardly answered. "Do ya mind? I'm trying to wake the formerly dead here?"

"Uh huh." Chris said halfheartedly. "That's what I thought you said."

Piper ignored her son's comment, or at least she pretended to. "Rory, Sweetheart, it's Mom. Can you hear me?"

After a few moments of heavy hopelessness passed by, Rory gradually stretched his eyelids apart. It seemed to those who watched as though his spirit was being summoned to his body bit by bit. He looked weakly up into Piper's eyes. "Good morning." he whispered.

At first Piper felt dizzy, almost as if she were being drowned in Rory's deep, soulful brown eyes. Then she felt naked, vulnerable, and a bit nervous. "What did you just do?" Piper asked anxiously. "Did you just... You know what color underwear I'm wearing don't you!"

Rory's eyes widened, being taken aback by the comment. Looking up at his father, he said: "Is that the opening line she used to win your heart, Dad?" he asked. Leo smiled, more because Rory was finally awake and, apparently, unharmed, though he appreciated the comment.

"No seriously..." Piper said. "What did you just do?"

"I didn't do anything." Rory answered innocently. "Really, I didn't."

Piper looked over at the other young men in the room, who were snickering and chuckling to themselves. "Okay you jokers, what just happened?"

Dodging his mother's question, Jared moved to sit on the bed close to Rory. "Hey there, 'Dreamweaver'." he said softly. "How do you feel?"

"Well," Rory began, sounding half-awake. "I feel like I was struck by lightening." He smiled at Jared who grinned in response. "Thank you." Rory said quietly, grasping his younger brother's hand. "I owe you."

"Hey," Jared returned, "I'm sure that I'm still the one in debt here."

"Nah." Rory answered in his characteristically modest manner. He began to look around the room at his other brothers. "Hey fellas!" he said lightly. "What's new?"

"You died." Steve said with a curious smile. "Was there a big light and everything?"

Rory chuckled a bit, though it seemed to hurt his chest. "I don't remember a big light." he answered. "But I do have a message for Dylan: John Lennon wants his haircut back."

Dylan smirked, "You don't say!" He took a pillow from the foot of bed and tossed it at Rory's face.

"Hey!" Rory playfully protested. "I'm just the messenger here. Oh, and Elvis is in fact dead... and a very poor chess player I might add."

"Seriously though." Chris said through gentle laughter, "Really, how do you feel?"

Rory sighed almost blissfully. "He took it didn't he?" he asked. "I can tell because..." Rory was about to declare that he felt better than he had in years, but figured no good could come of it. "Never mind." he said finally. "It doesn't matter."

Chris felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. "I'm so sorry, Rory." he said regretfully. "I'm so, so sorry."

All eyes in the room gazed questioningly in Rory's direction, waiting for him to speak. Rory closed his eyes wearily, allowing himself a moment to breathe in the reality. He had forgotten how it felt to not be in constant emotional pain, to not have to do battle with his own mind just to survive. Finally opening his eyes, he said: "Where is he?" and sat up to get out of the bed. "I have to get it back before..."

"Not so fast!" Chris insisted.

"Chris, I have to." Rory sorrowfully replied. "God knows what it's doing to him."

Suddenly, Shane's body came crashing through the bedroom wall and flew clear across the room, slamming his back against the other. "Oomph!" he grunted as he hit the ground heavily. "Think you're pretty bad with that sword, huh 'Blessed Boy'?"

Before Shane could go back through the hole his own crash had just created, Tristan waved his hand in the direction of the opening, returning all of the scattered debris to its original place, sealing up the wall as though nothing had happened.

"Hey!" Shane protested. "What's the big idea?"

Dylan scoffed at such a ridiculous question. "I knew I shoulda brought my English-to-Dumbass dictionary." he remarked. "Just what were you planning to use against Excalibur?"

"I woulda figured somethin' out." Shane retorted.

"Yeah." Tristan said. "Right before we figured out what color flowers to have at your funeral."

"I'll take care of it." Rory declared, attempting once again to get out of bed.

Shane hadn't noticed that Rory's eyes were finally open. "Hey there, Van Winkle!" Shane said.

Rory smiled. "Hey, 'Meathead." he kindly greeted.

"That looked like it hurt." Paige said to Shane.

"Nah." Shane casually answered. "I gotta say though, after goin' a few rounds with the 'golden boy', I do feel better."

"What now?" Piper asked nervously. "He's not gonna come in here is he?"

"I doubt it." Rory said. "Either way, I'll handle it."

"You're too weak." Chris asserted. "There's no way you can go up against him like this."

"That's just it." Rory said. "The only way I can get it back from him is to not fight back and hope that I can close enough to him."

"Oh no!" Piper retorted. "No no no. There has got to be another way."

"I wish there were, Mom, but I'm afraid this is the only way." Rory lamented. "We're losing time though. Every minute that passes is gonna make this that much harder for me."

"If you're not fighting back, what the hell are you gonna do?" Chris demanded. "You can't just walk up to him and ask for it back."

"Well, I'll just have to reach him some other way."

"Like hell you will! He'll kill you!" Chris shouted. "No way, Rory. If one of us does this, we all do it."

"Chris, I don't have time for this." said Rory sincerely, "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I'm not gonna risk the possibility that the twins might still inherit it from you, time travel or not. I'm not about to let that happen to them or to you."

"What about us, Rory?" Jared said, like a soldier volunteering to fight a losing battle. "You've done this long enough on your own."

"Jared's right." Dylan added. "You don't have to do this alone."

Rory managed a slight smile. "I'm not alone."

"You know what we mean, Rory." Shane said firmly. "It'll be easier if we share the load."

"Yeah," Tristan added. "It's only fair. There's no reason why we shouldn't help."

Steve concluded: "Plus you're bein' pretty selfish with it, don't ya think? Keepin' it all to yourself like that."

Though Rory knew his brothers were sincere in offering to share the burden of the curse, he could see the terror that each of them was trying to mask lurking just behind their eyes.

"No way." Rory casually replied, standing up and walking over to the bedroom door. "I want at least three nieces or nephews from each of you and I'm not giving them a curse to inherit." Rory looked at Steve, who was still wearing Leo's extremely tightly fitting clothes that he put on earlier that day. "And if you're gonna have three kids, you really need to find some better fitting jeans." Rory chided. "Looks like you're jeopardizing your swimmers' chances there."

"Rory, come on..." Steve pleaded, unable to find humor in the moment, a rare state of mind for him indeed.

"The answer is, no." Rory stated determinedly. He looked over at Chris. "Now how much does he remember?"

"More than he should." Chris replied in a cautioning tone. "More than either of us do."

"What do you mean?"

Chris looked gravely into Rory's eyes, hoping his expression would tell him all he needed to know.

"You don't mean he's..."

"No." Chris answered. "I don't think so. He's still our Wyatt. He's just... Well, you'll see."

"So he hasn't sprouted a bad perm and scruffy facial hair?"

"Hey!" Shane protested. "What's wrong with..."

"You guys," Rory interrupted, looking nervously around the room. "Where's Lee?"