"Didn't Aunt Phoebe help Aunt Paige when Jr was kidnapped?"
"Maybe if she thought he was kidnapped she would have. She claims he just ran away. That he'll turn out just like his birth father."
"That doesn't sound like Aunt Phoebe."
Chris shrugged, "For some reason Aunt Phoebe never cared for or really tried to get close to Henry Jr, or to me either: Like Leo, it was all about you. With Henry Jr, I can only assume, it was the way he was adopted or that there would now be two mortals in the family. I can't say. She kept her feelings on the matter a secret. I was always close to Aunt Paige, plus she tried to love and care about us both equally. I think her death was one of the things that encouraged me to start breaking away little by little."
"How did she die? He didn't kill her did he?" He was happy to know that his other self hadn't killed Aunt Phoebe but was worried he had Aunt Paige. Since Chris had said that had been a breaking point, he was worried that would add even more problems to building his relationship with Chris.
Instead of answering Chris said, "It wouldn't be till much later that I learned the real reason for Aunt Paige's death."
"Yeah you said she was scared and hiding out, only offering a little assistance. How did she upset him?" Wyatt asked.
"She was alive." Chris responded simply.
"That's it?" Wyatt asked, shocked. Her existence was enough to set the other him off?
"Her being alive, even in hiding and not calling the shots, still inspired others to fight back. Wyatt apparently learned this after a leprechaun had managed to get past security and was too close for Wyatt's liking. The leprechaun said that Aunt Paige may be alone but as long as one Charmed One lived there was hope." Chris explained.
"So he killed her? What about Uncle Henry and the girls?" Wyatt asked, still appalled by the idea.
"We went back to one of Wyatt's seer's. I saw when he sent Henry Jr and I thought I'd see at least a couple of demons with them. I was surprised that there was only one, but more shocked to see P.J. there." Chris started. He knows that Wyatt needs to know what they're up against, but talking about Paige's death was always hard for him. She and he had been close, and this was one of the worst memories from his timeline.
"It had only been a month since P.J.'s mother's death, and I didn't expect to see her with Henry Jr. They called for Aunt Paige, and since both her son and niece were calling of course she came." Chris shrugged, a small smile showing how proud he was of his aunt. She was there for her family no matter what.
"She was understandably nervous when she arrived to see the kids and a demon there. She tried talking to them, but P.J. just shouted that her mother was dead because of her cowardice. Henry Jr then started saying that his birth mother would still be alive if Aunt Paige had tried to save her. Aunt Paige was obviously shocked by this. She never tried or attempted to hide the fact that he was adopted and when he got old enough to understand she had told him what had happened. She tried to talk to him and get close even after he pulled out his gun." Chris continued. He remembered thinking that this couldn't be happening. That Henry Jr. would overthrow the compulsion or that P.J. would come to her senses.
"Wyatt had been disappointed when Henry Jr. didn't just fire, instead allowing Aunt Paige to get close enough to hug him. She pushed his hands down and as she did he dropped the gun. Wyatt was super pissed but I was so relieved. But then I was shocked to see P.J. picking up the gun, she was crying and shaking but she shot Aunt Paige. Henry Jr was stunned and started yelling at P.J. and started to attack her." Chris finished.
"I...I can't believe it. Did... did she kill her and what about Jr?" Wyatt asked, not able to picture his P.J. like that. The idea that she would be so angry and willing to kill one of the sisters was just unimaginable.
"After she fired she dropped the gun and he picked it up but he couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. Then they heard a noise and they turned to see Wyatt's demon preparing to attack Henry Jr. Paige was still breathing, apparently, because she managed to stand, putting herself between Henry Jr. and the knife the demon had thrown. Paige was hurt and bleeding and had just been attacked by her own family, but even that didn't stop her from protecting the ones she loved." Chris answered, voice going toneless as he tried to pull away from the memory.
"P.J. was shocked and picked up the gun again and fired. I honestly couldn't tell if she had even bothered aiming or if she just got lucky when she hit her target."
"She killed the demon right?" Wyatt asked, voice a whisper, echoing the fear he felt at the answer.
Chris didn't answer, only turning away to look at the statue. Tears started flowing down Wyatt's cheeks realizing that by not answering Chris was saying P.J. had killed Jr. The one thing he was surprised at was that Chris wasn't crying. In fact he didn't seem to be showing any form of emotion. He didn't understand, "Why aren't you upset?"
Chris looked at him, "What?"
Wyatt realized he'd accidentally spoken his question out loud, but now that Chris had heard Wyatt realized that he needed an answer to the question, "You just said that you were close to Aunt Paige, but you don't seem to care."
"When you have lived in my world, a world where showing emotions are a liability that can actually get you killed, then you can judge me." Chris retorted, eyes cold. The implication that he didn't care was insane. Chris had been close to Paige, and his emotional expression, or lack thereof, had nothing to do with that.
"When I saw what was happening I felt dead inside watching more family members die. I knew even then that if I had even attempted to act on what I was feeling I would have been killed on the spot. It was at that moment I realized that the only way to survive is to toughen up and bury all of your emotions. You know NOTHING! When you were that age you probably went to school, the mall, and hung out with friends and family." Chris shouted.
Wyatt winced, only realizing too late the differences they had experienced growing up.
"I lost all that when Mom died! I lost my family, I lost my friends, and I certainly didn't get to go to the mall and hang out!" Chris exploded, unable to contain the emotions that he's had to keep buried for so long.
Taking a deep breath, Chris continued angrily, "In my world you have to hide to avoid detection. There were probes and spies everywhere and if you showed the least bit of emotion that seemed suspicious you were brought before a council of warlocks and evil mortals. If you know anything about the history of the witch trials then you should know how that went. You were tortured till you broke and confessed. A probe was then brought in to determine if you were telling the truth. If you were a witch you would then be brought in to face Wyatt. You were given the option to join him. You could refuse but then he'd send you to the experiment room where they'd work on trying to determine your power. If you were lucky, you were found to have a power worth extracting. If you were less lucky, they might feel you could be useful and attempt to brainwash you. If all else failed then the demons got to use them as practice. Although if you were found to be mortal then there was usually a bidding war."
"Bidding war?" Wyatt asked, eyes wide in horror at the prospect.
"Yeah. Demons and evil beings could offer powers or objects to win, and the winner gets to do what they please with the mortal in question. I was disgusted with the whole thing so I never bothered to look into it more than necessary." Chris said, closing his eyes and rubbing a tired hand over his face. "I tried to protest but Wyatt just blew it off, saying that the demons needed to blow off steam somehow and to let them be. What do you think I should have done?" Chris challenged.
Chris didn't think that this Wyatt would have stood a chance in his world. Chris had to make hard choices; he had to compromise and make sacrifices. He had to take down Lord Wyatt, and hope that someone else was working on saving innocents where they could.
Wyatt looked away, he wasn't sure what to say. He finally said, "I...I don't know." He couldn't imagine having to ignore both family and innocents in trouble, but from what Chris was saying it seems like there was no choice in the matter. Deciding to go back to his earlier question and not upset Chris anymore than he had already, he said, "What happened to Uncle Henry and the girls and Aunt Phoebe's girls?"
"After what happened to Henry Jr and Aunt Paige, and knowing P.J. was responsible, I feared what might happen to her sisters. I didn't want them to become killers or worse. I managed to get my hands on a power-stealing athame, and found a demon willing to find the location of the girls for me in exchange." Chris explained.
"But you said you weren't part of the rescue?" Wyatt asked.
"I wasn't. I feared Wyatt too much at the time to even attempt to betray him by helping with the rescue. I did everything I could but I wasn't willing to completely betray Wyatt...Not yet anyway." Chris said, eyes distant as he considered all of the choices he'd made, or not made, and how those choices had impacted his family.
Chris pulled himself back to the present, eyes meeting Wyatt's as he continued, "After getting the location I was able to use a spell to catch a fairy. I had her deliver the location to Coop. A day or two later Wyatt came around yelling about the fact that Parker and Peyton had been taken from the safe house. He wanted to know who betrayed him. He never suspected me. He never found the demon responsible for giving me the location either."
"You said Uncle Coop had been injured - how?" Wyatt asked. It was weird for him to hear about his family like this. He knows these people but at the same time he doesn't.
"Wyatt told me that the mortal woman guarding the girls had been injured trying to prevent them from being taken, and reported that a man fitting Uncle Coop's description, including his ability to beam in and out, was injured by both the mortal and the demon on duty. I have no idea if Uncle Coop went alone or had backup - I wasn't told. I just know he was injured and got away with the girls." Chris explained calmly.
"As for Uncle Henry, when Henry Jr was kidnapped Aunt Paige feared for her girls and wanted to take them to magic school, but Uncle Henry protested that he could protect them, which was just stupid mortal logic. Sure bullets would have worked if he could have caught Wyatt with his shield down or without his demon bodyguards, but that wasn't likely to happen. Besides if Wyatt had wanted Kat and Tamora at the time he'd have gotten them himself like he did Henry Jr. Or he'd have sent me to get them. If Uncle Henry got in the way Wyatt would have had no problems killing him or if he sent me one of Wyatt's demons would have gone with me to take care of Uncle Henry. He chose to go with me to get Phoebe's girls. I have to assume he was planning to recruit one or all of them. Otherwise why would he go with me or just send a couple of his demons to collect them? I only know because after learning that Peyton had a power similar to mom's and Kat's he wanted her and Tamora who had the rare power of fire." Chris finished.