Basketball Bullies

Even the Charmed boys are bullied sometimes...

Dedicated to Miss Anonymous hp

"Whoa!" Wyatt exclaimed as he watched his brother make a three-pointer seemingly without any difficulty. "Are you sure you didn't use magic for that one?" he asked, nudging his eight-year-old brother in the side as he walked past him to claim the ball that was bouncing under the net.

"Wyatt!" Chris hissed at the blond. His anxious green eyes peered around him, trying to see if anybody had noticed his brother's words.

The two boys were at the neighborhood park, enjoying some much-needed time off of school and chores. The summer had finally rolled around, and the two boys had taken advantage of it by going to the park every chance they had. The park served a dual purpose in allowing them some time outside to play and hang out, and to hide them from their mother's watchful gaze. Piper had become even more worried about magic lately, and had decided that her sons were finally old enough to start learning more about self-defense. That meant they needed potions classes, and lots of them. So far, only Chris had demonstrated a knack for brewing, while Wyatt just preferred to close his eyes and make everything happen that way. Wyatt's way was frustrating both for Piper, who felt her methods were being challenged, and Chris, who knew he could never do anything like that. So going to the park was much of a relief for everyone.

At that moment, both Wyatt and Chris were hanging out on the basketball field, tossing their ball back and forth and occasionally scoring points. Not too many people were at the park, so Chris's worries that anybody might have overheard them were unfounded.

"Don't worry so much, little bro!" Wyatt said, ruffling his brother's hair. He'd recently started shortening his words more and more to sound 'cool'. "Nobody's around to hear." He bounced the ball a few times, before catching it and standing where Chris had been previously.

Chris shook his head, both to settle the strands of hair back into position and to mark what he felt about Wyatt's statement. "You still shouldn't be talking like that outside," he muttered.

Wyatt gave a comically loud sigh. "A'ight, Chris. I'll stop talking about that." He then grinned at his brother. "Now, watch me make the same point you did," he said.

Chris couldn't help but smile back at his older brother. "Fine," he said, and then lowered his voice, "but no magic."

Wyatt pouted. "Aw! Come on! You really think I need any help making that point? Trust me; this will be a piece of cake." Wyatt winked at Chris before looking at the basket before him. The more he looked at it, the farther away it seemed to be. Bending his knees, Wyatt mentally calculated how much strength he'd need to get the ball into the net, and then, like a coiled spring, he released. The ball left his hands and flew in a perfect arc above the basket altogether and further into the park.

The younger boy snorted in laughter. "Yep, a piece of cake," Chris echoed his brother's words back at him, a broad grin on his face.

"You shut up," Wyatt muttered as he shoved his younger brother playfully. "That was just a practice shot."

Chris nodded, trying to school his happy features into a more serious look. "Oh, of course! How silly of me! I thought you had completely blown it by accident and not on purpose!"

"If you don't stop talking I swear I'll orb you to the moon!" Wyatt threatened reaching to grab his brother.

"I'd like to see you try!" Chris retorted, skipping back to avoid Wyatt's arm. "Especially since Mom would totally ground you for eternity."

Wyatt grimaced. That part was true. "OK, fine. Maybe I won't orb you to the moon. I still deserve another chance, though." He held his hands out, as if to receive something. "Ba-" he began.

Chris slapped his hand over his brother's mouth. "Nope, no magic at the park. Plus, if you managed to throw it into the other side without any help, you should get it that way too."

Wyatt groaned. "But I didn't even see where it landed!" he complained.

Chris shrugged. "That's not my problem, that's yours."

Mumbling under his breath the entire time, Wyatt walked away from the basketball court in search of the ball he'd so spectacularly thrown far away. He thought it had landed in some bushes near the playground, so he figured he better start there. There were no other kids on the swings, so Wyatt was unable to ask anybody if they'd seen his ball. However, under a bush Wyatt managed to spot a little orange. "Gotcha," he said, kneeling and reaching under the bush to get the ball. His fingers could barely graze it, so well was it buried in the bushes. "Darn," he cursed, instinctively looking around himself as sometimes it almost felt as if his mother's ears were supersonic. Pulling his arm back, Wyatt winced as one of the bushes savagely scratched him. Nursing his war wound, Wyatt considered what to do next. The ball was well submerged into the bushes, and Wyatt didn't dare trying to reach for it again. Glancing around him once more, Wyatt called the ball to him. It appeared in his open arms, and he smiled. Chris wouldn't have to know.

Skipping back to the basketball court, Wyatt suddenly heard some scuffling going on. He frowned and hurried, not liking what he'd heard.

"Let go of me!" a young voice was saying. Wyatt's eyes widened as he recognized Chris's voice, and as he reached the bleachers, he saw a horrible scene.

Two boys, older and taller than Chris, had joined the Halliwell on the court. One of them was holding Chris's arms behind his back while the other seemed content to have his fists balled up, obviously a threat to release a punch at any moment. Hidden in the bleachers by the court, Wyatt glared at the two boys. He would make them wish they'd never come to bother his little brother.

"Naw, don't think we will," the oldest boy was saying. "See, me and my friend Adam came here to shoot some hoop, and we ain't gonna let some little kid stop us."

"We got here first," Chris protested, struggling under Adam's grip. "You have to wait your turn. It's in the rules."

"We?" the oldest boy asked. "What, you and your imaginary friend?"

"My brother," Chris said. "Me and my big brother are playing. You can have the court when we're done, but you'd better leave before he comes back, though."

Adam laughed. "Aw, is your big bwother gonna beat us up?" he mocked. "Rob, check it out! Sounds like the squirt's big brother is a big scary guy!"

Rob laughed too. "How's this: as soon as your big brother comes back, we can beat you both up and then you never come back? Does that sound good?"

Wyatt's face grew red in rage. He had no doubt that the two boys could easily pound both of them, since they seemed to be in their teens already, but they hadn't counted upon the fact that both Wyatt and Chris had magic. And who cared about personal gain in this situation anyway? Wyatt tried to think about the easiest way he could get the boys to leave without revealing too much magic.

Chris, however, had paled. "No, don't do that," he said. "Just lemme go, OK? I promise I won't tell."

"Poor wittle boy!" Adam mocked again. "You scared?"

Chris's face set in an expression that Wyatt knew well: it was the one his little brother usually wore when he managed to outsmart him. "I'll make a deal with you guys," he said.

"What makes you think we'll make a deal with you?" Rob asked. "Looks like everything is going well for us, right, Adam?"

Chris turned his piercing green eyes on Rob, his face dead-serious. "Because if you don't let me go I'm going to scream as loud as I can and when my brother comes he'll scream too. There might not be any people here by the court, but there's tons in the park and I'm sure at least one of them will come, and they will wonder just why two big boys are ganging up on a little one."

Wyatt, who had been wondering whether he could cause the basketball hoops to land on both of the older boys with a spell, turned towards Chris as his little brother spoke. Rarely had he heard that tone in his little brother's voice.

"Fine," Rob said. "Adam, let him go. Let's hear his stupid deal."

Adam released Chris, and Chris rubbed his arms, trying to get feeling back into them. "How's this. If I manage to get three three-pointers in a row, you guys leave me alone. But if I don't, I'll find my brother and we'll go home."

Wyatt had to smile at the intelligence of Chris's plan. It was definitely a lot more subtle than what Wyatt had been thinking about, anyway.

Adam smirked. "As if you could do that. You're just a kid."

Chris shrugged. "Then you have nothing to worry about."

"Fine, go ahead." Rob grabbed his ball from the edge of the court and lobbed it at Chris's chest.

The eight-year-old's breath whooshed out of him from the force of the toss, but he caught the ball. He then walked to the line and stared at the basket. With a carefully practiced toss, the ball flew out of his hands and into the net.

The two older boys wore identical looks of surprise. Rob quickly disguised his and tossed the ball back at Chris. "That's one, kid. You have two more to go."

Chris nodded. He looked at the net again and released. Another perfect shot.

Rob looked a little angrier this time. "You know, we should make this harder for you." He grinned meanly. "How about this time Adam and I add a little pressure?" He started towards Chris. "Go ahead, kid. Last one."

Wyatt watched nervously as the two older boys began to try and take the ball from Chris. Chris avoided them, his face pale, and then shot the basket just as Adam illegally tackled him to the ground. Wyatt's eyes followed the ball's trajectory, and he groaned inwardly. The ball wasn't going to make it! Suddenly, it changed direction, only slightly, and went in perfectly through the hoop. Surprised, Wyatt turned to look at Chris. The younger boy was smiling, satisfied. Wyatt was shocked: his little brother had used magic! In public!

Rob frowned. "Alright, kid, now get out of here."

Chris looked confused as he stood up, nursing a scrape on his knee from being knocked down. "But, we made a deal! The court is mine now. You said-"

Adam brushed his pants off and said, "Yeah, but that doesn't count. We're bigger. Now leave."

"No." Wyatt almost groaned at the look on Chris's face. There would be no getting him off the court now.

"I was kinda hoping you'd say that." Adam grinned, slapping his fist into his open hand. "This should be fun."

Chris opened his mouth to scream and got out a startled yell before Rob got to him. He covered the youngest boy's mouth with one hand, and pinned the young arms down with the other. Adam raised his fist.

Wyatt panicked and closed his eyes. He conjured up an image of a tired policeman, making his regular rounds in the park, and projected him near the court.

The two boys had been about to hit Chris, but the witch boy had suddenly seen something. The older boys looked up and noticed the policeman, who apparently hadn't seen them yet. "Don't say a word and we'll leave," Rob hissed into Chris's ear. Chris nodded and the boy released him before the bullies hurried away.

Wyatt grinned, seeing the two boys disappear. With a blink from his eyes, the policeman vanished before the gaze of the startled eight-year-old. Chris looked around him and saw Wyatt as the blond came out from under the bleachers. Chris smiled. "I should have known it was you," he said.

Wyatt smiled back at him. "Of course it was me. Who else would it be?" He looked at his brother carefully. "They didn't hurt you, did they?" he asked.

"Nope," Chris replied. "I'm OK, I promise."

Wyatt sighed in relief. "Good." He handed the ball to Chris. "Hey, I'll be right back, OK? I have something to take care of." His eyes narrowed. The bullies were definitely going to regret it…

(A/N) Hey guys! Aren't you excited? I got an update up just one week after the last one! Anyway, this one has a dedication since I got a suggestion from Miss Anonymous hp to write it, and I just got inspired. I do take suggestions for new little oneshots, the more the merrier, and hopefully you guys enjoyed this one.

As always, super special thanks to all my lovely reviewers, who I have to thank for sticking around for so long! You guys are the reason I publish my stories: SchwuppDiDupsi, Crystalzap, makoto20, and Fanycharmed! You guys are the absolute best!

Now, I have to apologize in advance. I'm traveling next week, so there will be no Friday oneshot, but hopefully there will be one the week after that, and possibly a new story up really really soon. I promise I'm working on them! As hard and as fast as I can! Well, as fast as I can while writing something that's even halfway decent, that is. Anyway, please leave me a review! I love reviews! I thrive on them! Live off of them! Feed me, please! You wouldn't want me to starve for lack of reviews, right? ;) See you soon! And thanks for sticking around!