Chapter Seventeen

Wyatt struggled to put on his jacket as he hurried through the living room and to the front door. It was a lot harder to do both things at once than he thought it would be, especially since he had to navigate through the couches and tables. However, he managed to finally pull the jacket on, and he shrugged, satisfied, to settle it down over his shoulders. He didn't notice the picture frame he'd knocked over, which had luckily survived the fall to the ground after getting struck by a flailing sleeve. All that was important was that he was ready... but someone else wasn't.

Frustrated, Wyatt sighed as he looked up the stairs. His brother was up there, gathering up the potion vials by hand instead of doing it by magic, like Wyatt usually would.

Ever since Chris had completely recovered from his experience with the Source of All Evil, he'd become a great deal more eager to participate in Wyatt's usual demon hunts, as long as they didn't interfere with his schoolwork. In fact, he sometimes appeared to even relish using magic to defeat the evil creatures, although he still refused to use it for the most simple of things.

Wyatt wasn't complaining too much, though. He was extremely glad that Chris had finally stopped rejecting everything that had to do with them being witches and had accepted their birthright. Also, it was a great relief that his brother would no longer try to do everything by himself, but accept the help of his older sibling. Wyatt had to admit, that although the experience they'd been through had been awful and terrifying, something good had come out of it.

"Chris!" Wyatt called loudly, up the stairs. "If you don't come downstairs right now I'm leaving without you," he threatened, unaware of how much he sounded like his mother at that moment.

As soon as he finished his call, a loud thump was heard, and then Chris appeared, holding several potions in his hand. He ran down the steps, his feet loudly alerting everyone in the house that he was in a big hurry. Stumbling slightly, but managing to keep himself upright, he arrived at the bottom floor, smiling sheepishly up at his older brother.

Wyatt just shook his head as he took the vials from his brother's hands and tucked them into his jacket pockets. "You know, Chris, you could have saved yourself five minutes and a lot of sweat if you'd just orbed, like I usually do."

In response, Chris grinned wryly. "Maybe, but at least I'm working off Mom's cooking. If you keep orbing so much, you're not going to be as fast or energetic as I am soon." Laughing slightly, he poked the older Halliwell in the ribs. "In fact, I think you're starting to reach that stage now."

Wyatt's eyes narrowed as he looked at his little brother. "I may not be as fast as before, but at least I can still do this!" Without warning, he reached out and grabbed Chris around the neck. Chris struggled mightily against his brother's greater strength, but was unable to prevent knuckles being rubbed against his skull. "I think I'm still stronger than you are, little bro!" Wyatt laughed as he easily resisted Chris's futile attempts to free himself.

"Stop it, Wy!" Chris protested, starting to feel more like normal again, instead of the Charmed son who'd come back from the future to save his brother.

As they struggled, a small figure came into the room, holding a book in her young hands. Melinda looked up from her reading to see her older siblings apparently wrestling by the door. Slightly confused by the way they were acting, since it was something that they hadn't done in a long time, she watched them for a moment. They'd been doing this sort of thing a lot more frequently ever since Chris had nearly died. It was strange, and although Melinda had been very angry after finding out that she'd been left out of the whole thing, she was grateful that now her brothers got along so much better.

After a while, she saw that they weren't stopping, and that they'd apparently forgotten what they'd been doing earlier, and she inquired, "Weren't you going to go on a demon hunt or something?"

Hearing his little sister's voice, Wyatt finally released Chris, whose hands instantly went to his hair, which was wildly sticking out in all directions. He groaned as he tried to smooth his brown locks down. "Great, thanks, Wyatt. I have class after this!"

Melinda just smiled, and quietly told her brother, "It's not so bad, actually." She went up to him and quickly patted down his hair, effortlessly managing to make it look a lot better.

Chris grinned at his little sister in thanks, as Wyatt opened the front door of the house. "We should get going," he was saying. "You don't want to be late to class, so let's hurry and vanquish this demon." Chris began to head outside, before Wyatt followed, saying something that he knew would frustrate his brother even more, "And I'm driving."

Melinda laughed as Chris began to complain, but his voice was cut off abruptly as the door closed behind the young men. Still holding her book, the teen peeked out of the window to spy on her brothers, who were getting into the car, apparently continuing to tease each other. Wyatt had won the argument, so after a minute, the sound of squealing tires was heard, and Melinda smiled as she quietly walked over to one of the couches and sat down, opening her book once more. The brothers were working together as they always should have been, as a team. Everything was as it should be.

-)-(-

The Seer stared into her mirror, watching as Wyatt and Chris dashed off in their car, smiling and joking as they drove through the busy streets. The Source had failed to end both of their lives, like he was supposed to do, and instead, had gotten killed himself.

With a loud shriek of anger, she threw the mirror across her room of treasures, and it bounced against a chair that restored energy instantly. Falling to the floor, it shattered into a million pieces.

The Source had been vital to her plan to kill the Twice-Blessed, but now that he was dead, the Seer was vulnerable again. Screaming once more, the woman proceeded to blast several chests that held unimaginable horrors, only managing to scorch the sides, before finally quieting.

Eerily calm, she walked over to her mirror, and, cooing, she knelt down to retrieve it. As soon as it was in her hand, the glass became whole once more, and it reflected her face before swiftly showing the brown-haired Charmed Son, his expression serious. "If you want something done right you have to do it yourself," the Seer muttered, unconsciously echoing the Source, before stroking the face in her mirror. "I'll see you soon," she said quietly, her breath fogging up the glass. It was time for her to act, instead of letting others do the dirty work.

Leaving her mirror on a nearby table, the Seer left her quarters. Her mirror kept showing Chris, unmoving, unchanging. It was a reminder of the one she had to kill to get to the Twice-Blessed. That boy was going to die.

(A/N) Ta da! And this is the end, or is it? How was that for a surprise? Yes, there will be a sequel to this story, and it should be posted sometime the next month! This has been an amazing ride, everybody, and I've enjoyed it as much as you have, I'm sure. Every time I saw a new review, or that someone had Faved or Alerted, it made me even more excited to post the next chapter! And now, this story is finished, but the sequel shall be up very very soon!

I feel so proud of this story, and of everyone who gave it a chance! You guys have made it a pleasure to write for you! Now, I want to thank the people who Alerted, Faved, and reviewed the past chapter: PhoenixRain26, Hadies baby girl, Nosside, Patry (didja like the surprise?), FirePony16, CharmedOne24, and Funnie! You guys are so awesome! Especially those people who made sure to review each and every chapter after they began reading this story! Your beautiful reviews gave me confidence to keep posting, knowing that people appreciated it!

And now, without further ado, I pronounce this story COMPLETE! and will continue this in the sequel, which I've named Collected Memories. I hope to see all of you guys in that story, and know that I am eternally grateful for your support.