Chapter Nine

"So wait," Leo said, trying to wrap his head around what he'd just been told. "Someone is after Chris?"

"Yes," Piper patiently answered. She noticed Wyatt rolling his eyes at his father's aghast reaction, and she frowned slightly, before turning back to her husband.

"Ok," Leo said, still shocked. He put his head in his hands. "Ok," he said to himself, trying to take deep breaths and keep from freaking out.

The rest of the family watched him. Ever since Leo had lost his powers, he'd been more protective of his kids, especially Chris. He no longer was the calm whitelighter they'd had once. Now, he reacted completely like a father, which was why it was so difficult for him to assimilate what was going on without losing his mind. Everybody understood this, and was always patient as he tried to get a handle on his feelings. They knew he probably felt useless a lot of the time now, especially since he used to be so active in the Charmed Ones' magical lives before, but now, could only watch as a bystander.

After a couple of breathing techniques he'd used while being an elder, Leo looked up, definitely calm now. Then, he asked a question to which no one had the answer. "Do we know why demons are after him?"

"Does that even matter?" Wyatt's sentence burst out before he could stop it. "Someone is after Chris and you want to know why? Because we're witches, that's why!"

Piper glared at her oldest son as her sisters sat still, not knowing whether to intervene or not. This was Piper's business, but Wyatt was their nephew. However, seeing the look Piper had on her face, they decided they better stay out of this.

"Wyatt!" Piper said angrily. "Don't speak to your father in that tone."

Wyatt knew he was being unfair. His dad was just trying to help. But he was just so frustrated and worried. He didn't like anything that was going on. Chris was in danger, and no one knew how it had happened, which was part of the reason Wyatt had nearly blown up. Leo had asked precisely the question whose answer Wyatt feared the most. Why were the demons after Chris in the first place? Were they just trying to gain power? Was it because he was the son of a Charmed One? Or, worst of all, was it because he was Wyatt's brother?

Wyatt sighed at all the questions running through his head, and he rubbed his eyes with his hand.

"I'm sorry, Dad," he said to Leo quietly. "I'm just really stressed."

Leo smiled and nodded understandingly. He always understood, no matter what was going on. Even Phoebe admitted that he was sometimes better at reading people than she was, and she was an empath!

"So," Leo repeated carefully, lest his son grow angry again. "Why are demons after Chris?"

Piper sighed, as Paige voiced the answer to this fearsome question. "We don't know."

Leo looked down, worriedly. He'd had the feeling that this would be the answer, but he'd been hoping it wouldn't be so. This meant that everyone was in greater danger.

"The demon is an assassin," Paige said, trying to piece a couple of thoughts together. "So someone must have hired him."

"And it's probably someone pretty powerful, to be able to pay that guy," Phoebe added. "I mean, he's one of the best there is."

"And it's definitely someone not afraid to be vanquished-" Piper said, only to be interrupted by Wyatt.

"Oh, he will be," he muttered darkly, thinking about the evil that had dared to try and murder his little brother.

"-since he's coming after the Charmed family," Piper continued, ignoring her son's comment, even if she agreed wholeheartedly. No one could try and kill any member of her family and get away with it. She'd get that demon, if it was the last thing she did.

Leo nodded, and then asked, "So what's the plan? Set a trap?" He sounded almost eager as he voiced these questions.

"Scry for evil," Paige answered, with a glance at her oldest sister.

Leo's face fell slightly as he heard Paige speak. He knew that scrying was time-consuming, and it didn't work too well unless they had something that belonged to the creature they were looking for.

"Oh," he said simply, wondering how long it would take to track the demon down.

Paige noticed Leo's reluctance about their plan, and she agreed inwardly, but she knew better than to complain after what Piper had said.

Wyatt stood up. "Ok," he said. "Now that that's settled, I think we should start preparing."

The rest of the family followed suit.

"Paige, you and Phoebe go upstairs and start scrying," Piper ordered. "Leo, you come and help me make that potion. And Wyatt," she pointed up the stairs while looking at her son, "you go get your brother."

Wyatt expelled the air in his lungs roughly in frustration. He knew he was the best candidate to talk to his little brother, but he really didn't want to face Chris after all that had happened. He knew that he was sometimes over-protective of his sibling, but he'd never expected Chris to resent it so much. Now, he'd have some serious explaining to do.

With a little groan, Wyatt began to walk upstairs, nearly dragging his feet on the floor. He wished he could just orb upstairs and into Chris's room, but he knew his brother would not like that, so he had to take the normal way, walking.

Wyatt tried to put it off as much as possible, but, sooner than he wished, there he was, right in front of Chris's bedroom door.

He raised his hand, hesitated slightly, and then knocked twice before he lost his nerve. There was no reply from inside the room.

"Chris?" Wyatt called, knocking again. Still, it was silent.

"Aw, come on, Chris!" he said. "Stop sulking!"

When he didn't get an answer to that statement, Wyatt instantly grew worried. It wasn't like Chris to give the silent treatment, and especially to ignore his older brother.

Tentatively, Wyatt tried the doorknob, and found it unlocked. He let himself into the room, braced for what he might find in there.

Inside, it looked pretty much like it usually did. It was a rather neat room, with the bed only slightly wrinkled, and a couple of textbooks lying haphazardly on the desk. However, it was empty. Chris wasn't there.

Wyatt looked around, trying to figure out what might have happened. He then saw something unusual in the middle of the room. Chris's shirt, the one he'd been wearing earlier, was lying on the floor.

Wyatt grabbed the shirt as evidence and orbed downstairs into the kitchen.

"Mom," he gasped out, as soon as he arrived, surprising both his parents. "Chris is missing!"

-)-(-

Chris orbed into an empty passageway in the underworld. He'd been to a couple of them already, and had overheard a bunch of demons talking, but not about what he was searching for. This was definitely strange, since usually most demons would be buzzing about the attack on the Halliwells. But today, nobody seemed to know.

Deciding that this would be his last stop, Chris crouched by the wall and kept quiet. He didn't want to admit it, but he felt rather foolish now that he'd carried out his plan and hadn't discovered anything. And if he didn't overhear anything this time, there really was no point in hanging around. Besides, his family might come in to check on him, and they'd panic if they didn't find him where he was supposed to be.

Sighing, Chris began to settle into a more comfortable position. However, he stopped as he heard a couple of voices approaching.

"Will he be punished?" one of the demons, a rather scrawny fellow, was asking gleefully.

"Probably," his companion answered, looking pleased with the thought. "He's failed to kill the boy twice already."

This sounded promising. Chris snuck to a place slightly closer to the demons to be able to hear better.

"But why is the Source after the Charmed son?"

Hearing those words, Chris froze. The Source was after him?

Chris had come to the conclusion that probably a pretty powerful demon was behind all this quite a while ago, but not the Source! That demon was so powerful that even Wyatt had never taken one out all by himself, and he was the Twice-Blessed! Why would the Source be after him, and not Wyatt? It didn't really make any sense.

"I dunno," the demon answered, shrugging. "But that kid's gonna definitely die. I've never seen the Source so determined. It shouldn't be long."

"I sure hope not!" the scrawny demon said, and burst out laughing. "It's not like it's gonna be hard to kill that one anyway!"

The other demon nodded and laughed too, a guttural sound that sounded more like someone was strangling him rather than causing him amusement.

Chris fisted his hands as he imagined punching the demons with all his strength. They seemed to think he wasn't able to vanquish anybody. Well, he'd prove them wrong… he'd prove everyone wrong. He'd show everyone just how well he could vanquish a demon!

And with that, Chris orbed back home.

(A/N) So, the family has discovered that Chris is missing, and Chris has discovered that the Source is after him. A lot of discoveries, isn't it? Yup! And now will come the fun part! What do you guys think will happen next?

Oh, and I want to thank my wonderfully awesome reviewers who make it such a pleasure to upload each new chapter: Funnie, Mrs-Fanfiction, Drunk, Nosside, Black Eyed Kids, Patry, Bambi Eyes 14, and Veradjna. You guys rock!

Anyway, enjoy this chapter, please review if you can, and hope to see you next week with the next chapter! Trust me, the story's about to get even better!