Disclaimer: Charmed is like those great boots your best friend has, you don't own them but you want to borrow them. These are not my boots.
A/N:Supercreepy sociopath Wyatt shows up here, which was scary fun to write!
I've been trying to update once a week or so, but I'm about to hit the books for the last section of my ARE and will be studying for the next three weeks, so not sure how the updating will be, so sorry!
THANK YOU all again for the kind reviews!
Happy reading...
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"Dear freaking lord, Chris!" Wyatt thundered. "I have been searching for you everywh…" but he was cut short when Chris grabbed his arm, pulling him to the ground just in time to miss a fire ball being thrown directly at him. Wyatt looked quickly around as he army crawled for cover in some unknown region of the Underworld, his eyes widening when he realized his sister had accompanied his suicidal brother on this particular excursion. Wyatt thought he might completely big-brother out on his younger, and completely reckless siblings but Chris caught his expression and smiled, nodding his head in Melinda's direction, clearly indicating that Wyatt should shut up and watch. Wyatt kept his gaze on his sister, and watched in confused horror as Melinda pulled out what appeared to be a large white gun of some sort. She stepped out from their cover and proceeded to rapid fire the strange weapon until the last of the low-level demons in the cave were gone and she let loose an exhilarated cry of success.
Chris, excitement clearly evident in his face, moved to join her and a still-stupefied Wyatt followed behind. Melinda was laughing as she examined the weapon, "This thing is amazing!" she exclaimed, "absolutely amazing!"
"What the hell is that thing?" Wyatt demanded.
Chris looked nervously at his brother. This was exactly the sort of thing that Mr. Responsible would never do, exactly the sort of thing that would land Chris yet another stop-being-so-reckless-and-be-careful lecture from his dad, and quite possibly even attempts from his mom at blowing him up.
"It's an energy blaster Wy!" Melinda breathlessly explained. "Can you believe this? Chris came up with it and we found that old 3D printer and made the shell… it took some creative enchantments to make it strong enough, but- wow- why did no one ever think of this before?"
"Wait a second," Wyatt started. "You two created a gun that shoots energy balls?" He was completely dumbfounded, and albeit, a little in awe of his younger brother's genius. "You are so dead when mom finds out," he laughed. "But after she kills you, we need to get these babies into production."
Chris looked worried, "There's still a lot of testing to do with it Wy. I mean I don't know how long the charge on the crystals last or if it can overheat…" Chris trailed off, realizing how lame he sounded, and that he was giving his brother proof that he had indeed brought their little sister to the Underworld to use an untested weapon. Wyatt just raised his eyebrows at Chris. "Save the lecture, Wy."
Even after orbing into the Manor attic, the siblings were still going at it and didn't notice their parents and Aunt Paige walk in. It didn't take long for Piper to piece together the conversation and spot the much discussed weapon Wyatt had claimed.
"Hold up!" Piper yelled, all three of her grown children stopping abruptly and unconsciously standing straighter. Chris cringed when he realized he'd just been caught. He wasn't ready to explain the dreams he'd been having over the last few months. Reluctantly he had told Wyatt a little about them, but only because his brother had woken him up during a particularly bad one when he'd heard Chris thrashing about and yelling in his sleep. He'd tried to play them off to Wyatt as best he could and was careful not to reveal any of the disturbing details of the dreams, but Wyatt wasn't stupid; he knew something deeper was going on with Chris.
"Give it here." Piper said, putting her hand out as Wyatt handed the gun over to her. She examined it closely, with Paige and Leo looking over her shoulder. It was actually quite cleverly put together with a set of enchanted crystals that had been pre-charged held tightly in place where there should have been a magazine. She could see the mechanism by which the trigger moved the crystals into place, closing the loop and creating the surge of energy. She looked back up at her boys, as Paige greedily got her hands on the weapon.
"That's a pretty incredible little invention you kids have there," Piper said. Paige was letting out audible sounds of awe as she conducted her own examination behind Piper. "Anyone care to tell me just how you got your hands on it?"
Chris visibly deflated, setting his jaw and tilting his head to the side in annoyance, a gesture Piper hadn't seen in over two decades. She nearly gasped and she felt Leo tense next to her. She had tried to keep preoccupied the last few months with the hunt for magical relics, studying up on every god-myth imaginable, and training the next generation of Halliwells, but always there was that certain date on the calendar, looming in front of her. She could hear the seconds tick, tick, ticking away, getting closer and closer. There was nothing, absolutely nothing like this in recorded magical history. There were no books, no Elders, no Angels of Destiny with any answers- only theories and educated guesses. All she, Leo and her sisters could do was prepare for any and every eventuality. As Chris's birthday drew nearer though, and they uncovered more of Nomed's plans, it became painfully obvious just how big of a deal it really was.
She and Leo had spent countless hours arguing with the Elders, talking through a thousand scenarios and what-ifs, yet the fact remained that no one really knew. They did know that someway, somehow the rift in the timelines would heal itself. They guessed this natural healing process would weaken the boundaries of their world, and in some unknown way Nomed was planning to take advantage of the weakened protective walls. Piper wanted to throw all her energy into trying to stop time, trying to just completely erase the original timeline, but even she knew that was impossible. Instead, they focused on what they could stop: Nomed.
After the discovery several weeks ago at Magic School, the Halliwell clan began scouring the globe for any hint of the location of the remaining magical relics Nomed was hunting. They'd also spent countless hours theorizing just how Nomed would use the magical relics to open a portal and just who might be coming through said portal. After the fifth accident in a row resulting in blood loss while examining Jude's athame, it was Brody who finally observed the relic must in fact be cursed. And, after some digging, they believed the athame was actually an ancient dagger, forged by a long-forgotten race of dwarves. The dagger craved blood and whenever it was unsheathed it would not rest until it had drunk of fresh blood. Disturbingly, this led to more unsettling theories about just how the portal would be opened.
Bianca had only heard rumors of the cauldron and the spear, but could not verify if Nomed had actually gotten his hands on either, but instead of chasing after relics that could have very well already been found, the Halliwells chose to focus their main efforts on locating The Sword of Light. Wyatt and Chris had been through seventeen caves, fourteen underground grottoes and eleven mountaintop hideaways only to discover that none of those enchanted swords were the one they were searching for. Melinda had dubbed the last two weeks the Swordpocalypse, and the Manor basement now housed forty-two magical swords.
Piper was tired and frustrated. The weeks of detective work were wearing on her and she simply felt helpless to do much of anything. Those feelings didn't stop her, but they did make her a bit short-tempered. Chris thought everyone must have been working too hard, he'd noticed even in just the last week how nervous and fatigued both his parents seemed to be. He thought the lack of sleep was making him a bit paranoid too because he had the distinct impression his parents were hiding something from him. Just the day before he walked into their kitchen when they were in the midst of an anxious conversation, only for them to notice he was there and stop abruptly and awkwardly. Then add in the almost complete silence about his upcoming birthday, it was enough to make anyone paranoid. Usually his mom made a huge deal about birthdays, throwing over-the-top parties when he and Wy and Mel were young and now concocting huge extended-family dinners. He'd actually started to wonder if his mom had in fact lost her mind and was planning a surprise party in the midst of the current save-the-world-drama but quickly dismissed that idea as ridiculous.
"I'm waiting…" Piper said, tapping her foot on the attic floor and bringing everyone's focus back to the weapon. Mel looked nervously at her brother before taking a deep breath.
"We made it, Mom," Melinda started. Chris's head snapped around, glaring at his sister while Piper's eyebrows nearly shot up completely off her face. "Chris and I made it. He had the idea for it and…" Melinda was cut short though, as her brother decided to orb out of the room completely, much to his mother's chagrin.
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"Tell me where she is," Wyatt stared down at his younger brother. Chris simply shot him a malevolent glare and looked away.
"Okay Chris. Of course you're going to play it this way. Look, I know you have Kat and you've hidden her very well little brother." Wyatt paused, hoping he was getting a rise out of Chris. "If you aren't going to be reasonable, well you and I both know how that ends."
Chris swallowed hard as Wyatt turned his back to him. His wrists and legs were bound by energy lines that circled round them, stretching his arms upward toward the ceiling and keeping his feet firmly planted. The energy from the bindings was powerful enough to interfere with his magic too, he knew from experience, there was very little he could do but accept whatever pain Wyatt had in store for him and just wait it out.
Slowly Wyatt approached him pushing a small metal cart with a crisp linen cloth draped over the top. Once he was directly in front of Chris, the older brother smiled a cocky, half-grin, and pulled off the fabric revealing an assortment of shiny chrome tools. In any other time, in any other place, someone would have mistook the spread for a surgeon's toolkit, but not here. Chris knew exactly what they were, knew exactly how they felt cutting into his skin.
Wyatt gently picked up one of the objects, looking it over, feeling the metal in his hands with a sort of reverence. After considering the sharp edge for a few more moments, he turned quickly towards Chris, pressing the sharp edge against the soft of Chris's neck, and began whispering in his ear as he slowly pushed the tool into his brother's body.
"We've danced this dance so many times Chris. You defy me. I catch you. I try and try to help you learn, I try to keep you safe, to keep everyone safe. But you don't listen." As he spoke, he twisted the metal until he could feel his brother's body shudder involuntarily at the pain. Then he found another tender spot and let the sharp edge slip through Chris's skin again and again and again. Whispering again, he said, "I grow tired of this Chris. And since my lectures don't seem to be getting through to you… perhaps we'll try a different approach this time." Chris's breath quickened and he could see the enjoyment flash across Wyatt's face.
"So, little brother," Wyatt began again, smiling and letting his fingers slide over the top of the metal instruments on the tray. Chris could hear shuffling beyond, but it was too dark to make out what was happening. "There are rumors you know. I've been hearing things from little birds… they're chirping in my ear, saying Chrissy-boy's playing like he's in love…"
Chris froze in terror as Wyatt continued. "Oh yes, Chris. She's lovely, put up a hell of a fight actually." Chris could hear more shuffling and then two darklighters pushed forward a bound figure with head covered. Wyatt grabbed the figure, touching her body just to upset Chris more, then took one of the more sinister looking pieces from the tray and roughly pulled the head covering off. He pulled Bianca's hair down, forcing her head back and gently traced her face with his fingertips, before glancing back at Chris. "Now brother, let's see how well you can pay attention."
Chris awoke with Bianca's screams still echoing in his mind. It took him a few seconds to shake the images from his mind and force himself into reality. He looked around his room, letting out a long sigh, it was nearly 7 am. Too late to go back to sleep but much earlier than he'd hoped. He wasn't expecting this particular birthday to be great, but he might as well get up and face it.