UNWANTED – PART 2

When the piece of cloth was harshly yanked from Chris' head, he blinked a couple of times while his eyes adjusted to the sudden light. The soldiers, who'd dragged him out of the cell, had led him into a different location inside the fort and had tied him to a chair. His hands were once again bound together behind his back and his ankles were tied to each their chair leg. The position was extremely uncomfortable, and the strain on his shoulders made his joints ache painfully.

"Dismissed." Someone with a deep southern accent said.

Chris looked in the direction of the voice. His eyes fell upon a man who was seated behind a desk – he was casually leaning back in his chair, legs up on the desk, and his feet crossed by the ankles. Chris took in the man's appearance. He obviously shone with a different kind of authority than the other soldiers did. He was also dressed more formally. The man had a big bushy moustache with additional bushy eyebrows - and an even bigger nose that Chris couldn't help but stare at. Being the son of a former army medic, Chris easily recognized the rank on the shoulder patches of the man's uniform. He was clearly a captain. Regrettably, Chris didn't have his knowledge about the army from Leo. Everything he knew came from the research he'd done as a lonely kid trying to connect with his absent father.

The soldiers lifted their right hands in a salute to the captain before leaving the room. Only one of the men remained. Chris recognized him as the guard who'd been staring at him and Leo outside their cell. Chris shuddered a bit as the guard smiled at him menacingly. He suddenly wished his dad was there with him – which spoke volumes considering Chris wanted to throttle Leo half of the time he was in his presence. Admittedly, the other half of the time he basked in the moments he got to spend with the man, even though Leo didn't always treat him very kindly and Chris didn't want to seek his approval.

"So… You're here to spy on us." The captain ascertained. He rose from his seat and his black boots clumped when he walked across the hard floorboards and halted in front of Chris. The captain crossed his arms behind his back and studied Chris like an entomologist would study an insect. All he needed was a magnifying glass, Chris thought and fought the urge to laugh hysterically. "Working for the Union, hmm?"

"No, we -" Chris started but didn't get further than that. The punch came out of nowhere and Chris cried out when the solid fist connected with his jaw. His head rotated a bit to the side from the hard impact, leaving his jaw throbbing painfully.

"Let's try that again." The captain said. "Who sent you?"

Chris realized that the captain hadn't moved an inch. Instead, it was the creepy guard who'd thrown the punch to his face. Chris scowled at him. The guard reciprocated by punching Chris once more.

"Who sent you?" The captain repeated while Chris hissed and tried to breathe through the pain.

"No one." Chris answered and was once again rewarded with a strike to his face – followed up by a second punch that left his ears ringing.

Chris' head lolled a bit as he tried to stay conscious, his tousled bangs tickling his nose in the process. He managed to blink back the black spots that danced in front of his vision, and noticed the coppery taste that had filled his mouth. Chris turned his head a bit to the side, coughed and spit out blood. From the sting of it, he was pretty sure he had a split lip.

This wasn't his first rodeo in terms of being interrogated. Usually, it was demons who did the questioning – and Chris was typically able to use his powers against them. This time though, he couldn't orb out of the situation or use his powers to throw the men across the room. Leo was right; it was just too risky using magic - considering what the consequences could be if someone caught him using his powers.

Chris squared his jaw and stared at his captors with a defiant look. He had been caught by some of Wyatt's minions before. These people in front of him had got nothing on his big brother. Wyatt was a terrifying interrogator, and this situation was nothing compared to what Chris had previously been through in the hands of his brother. Wyatt would never go as far as to actually kill Chris, but he sure knew how to inflict as much pain as possible without crossing that fine line.

"You could make this so much easier on yourself if you stopped lying to me." The captain tsked but Chris was done playing along with this game.

"Go screw yourself." He mumbled.

"What did you say?"

Chris grunted when the man grabbed a fistful of his hair and roughly yanked his head up, forcing Chris to look at him.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with, kid. I could have you shot by dawn." The captain spat. He then backhanded Chris, making him grit his teeth against the added pain.

The captain sniffed theatrically - then scrunched up his nose as if he'd smelled something bad.

"I can practically smell the Yankee on you."

"Not surprised… with that nose." Chris retorted. He knew he'd hit a nerve when the captain's brows furrowed in anger.

The next thing Chris was aware of, was a throbbing pain in his nose and the warm liquid that dripped from it. He wasn't sure if the captain had clocked him one himself or if he'd handed over the task to the guard. Either way, blood was now streaming freely from Chris' aching nose – adding to what he was sure would become a colorful mass of bruises on his face.

The interrogation continued for a while after that. Chris kept up his defiant attitude, which made the captain angrier by the second. At one point, the chair was knocked over, which made Chris hit the floor hard as his bindings prevented him from breaking the fall. As the impact happened, he felt his right shoulder pop. Chris sucked in a sharp breath and groaned as the pain enveloped him. He then received some hard kicks to his abdomen that made it difficult for him to breathe properly.

The captain looked more than a little confused by the next thing that happened. While Chris was panting on the floor, the guard suddenly tripped over his own feet, knocked his head against a wall and slid to the ground in an unconscious heap.

"What on earth…" The captain mumbled as he stared dumbfounded at his motionless subordinate.

Chris was still tied up but, unbeknownst to the captain, he'd been able to move his fingers just enough to use his telekinesis on the creepy guard. Chris knew it was a risky move, but he was certain neither one of the men knew what had really happened. Besides, Chris had had enough of the torture. He needed to get back to Leo and then back to the portal, so he could continue his mission to save Wyatt and the entire future.

"I guess the interrogation is over." Chris commented and sent the captain a bloodied smirk.

The last thing Chris saw was the tip of the man's boot as it swung towards his face. Then it was light's out.

Chris.

Chris, can you hear me?

Chris!

Someone was calling his name.

Chris groaned as awareness slowly returned to him. He tried to roll onto his side but gasped as pain washed over him by the movement.

"Hey hey, take it easy. Don't move." Someone said. It was the same voice that had been calling his name, and Chris easily recognized it.

He slowly blinked his eyes open. A blurry figure hovered above him, and as he blinked a few more times, the figure gradually morphed into his father. Leo's forehead was furrowed. He seemed to be really concerned as he stared down at Chris.

"Da- Leo?" Chris mumbled, only just managing to correct himself before he revealed his biggest secret to his unknowing father.

Man, everything hurt.

Why hadn't Leo healed him yet? What was he waiting for?

"I'm sorry, Chris. I wish I could heal you, but we still can't risk it." Leo said in a hushed voice as if reading his mind. "There's a couple of guards watching us right now."

That's when Chris remembered where they were and why using magic wasn't an option. To Chris' surprise, Leo actually did seem sorry for not being able to heal him. Still, Chris closed his eyes and swallowed against the emotion that suddenly bubbled to the surface. If Leo had known that Chris was his son and not just some random whitelighter from the future, would he have tried to heal him – despite the risk of exposing magic? Or would he still not have cared enough to try anyway?

"Shit… What did they do to you?" Leo mumbled. Chris felt a featherlight touch on his cheek.

He opened his eyes and stared at the Elder with a puzzled look. Leo was obviously not Chris' biggest fan, so he guessed he had to be in a pretty bad shape for Leo to sound so worried about him. Leo caught Chris' stare and shook himself as if realizing how uncharacteristically caring he seemed to be. Chris felt a little disappointed by it, although he shouldn't have expected anything more from his dad.

"Let me guess, you said something sarcastic and then they beat the shit out of you?" Leo asked in a lighter tone.

"How did you know?" Chris smirked, then started coughing and groaned in pain as the movement jostled his aching ribs. He threw a protective arm over his chest and whimpered miserably as his shoulder also flared with pain.

"Easy." Leo soothed. Chris felt Leo's warm palm on his back while he waited for the pain to subside a bit. It was pretty reassuring, if he had to be honest.

"Chris, your shoulder - it's dislocated. I have to reset it." Leo then said. "I'm not gonna lie. It's going to hurt."

Chris stared wide-eyed at the Elder for a second, before he set his jaw in determination.

"Just get it over with." He said between clenched teeth.

The next thing that happened was a bit hazy to Chris. One moment, Leo had grabbed his arm – the next moment, Chris remembered screaming as he'd felt an excruciating pain in his shoulder. Then… nothing.

".. you with me? Chris?"

Chris knew he'd passed out as he was once again pulled back to the land of the living by his dad calling his name.

"'m wi't ya." Chris slurred as he fought to hold on to consciousness. Leo didn't seem convinced but he didn't comment on it either.

"Come on. Let's get you off the ground." He said instead.

It wasn't until that moment, Chris realized he was back in the cell. Some of the soldiers had probably dragged him back there while he'd been out cold.

Moving from the floor to the cot proved to be a real struggle. Chris could bare breathe without gasping in pain – he definitely had some broken ribs that got jostled with every little movement he made. Leo practically carried him the short distance to the cot, and Chris was a sweaty mess by the time he was finally sitting on it. He wanted to lay down, but Leo had other plans. He told Chris it would be easier for him to breathe if he remained in an upward position. Chris figured the man knew what he was talking about. He was a former army medic after all.

Leo moved on to assess Chris' injuries more thoroughly. He unbuttoned Chris' shirt and hissed in sympathy when he looked at his abdomen. Chris didn't doubt for a second that he was covered in a whole palette of colorful bruises.

"Geez, kid. They did a real number on you." Leo said and Chris detected a hint of anger in his voice. But why? Why would he even care what happened to Chris? A couple of hours ago, he'd had no problem leaving Chris behind to get eaten by a dinosaur if the chance had been there. So, what changed?

While Chris mused over the Elder's motives, Leo removed the blue sweater he'd been wearing on top of his t-shirt. He started ripping it into smaller pieces of fabric that he put aside on the cot. He then folded the rest of the shirt into a triangle which he slipped under Chris' arm and over his injured shoulder – then brought the other end over his other shoulder until Chris' arm was cradled against his chest in the makeshift sling.

Chris was impressed by Leo's first-aid skills. Usually, his dad only used his healing powers whenever someone needed medical help, so watching the emergency care was new to Chris. Leo retrieved the bucket with water, grabbed a strip of fabric and dipped one end of it into the water. Chris questioned the cleanliness of the water, but he once again had to trust that Leo knew what he was doing. Leo used the wet fabric to start dabbing at the blood on Chris' split lip. The younger man hissed and jerked his head away from the ministrations. Leo grabbed Chris' chin with two of his fingers and turned Chris' head back around to face him – then continued to dab at Chris' bloody lip once more. Leo was being very gentle – almost too gentle - as Chris had a hard time holding himself together. He was struggling between wanting to push his dad away and wanting to seek comfort in him.

"I think your nose is broken." Leo commented. Chris hadn't missed how his father had studied the bruises on his face while taking care of the split lip.

"Makes sense." Chris mumbled.

"Hold this. Keep pressure on your lip." Leo said and guided Chris' free hand to the piece of cloth.

When he seemed assured that Chris was following his instructions, Leo grabbed another piece of what used to be his shirt and wet it in the water. He moved on to wipe off the blood on Chris' face with it while Chris' awkwardly sat through Leo's ministrations. Chris felt like a little kid being aided by his father, and he didn't know what to do with that feeling.

Chris hissed when Leo suddenly pinched his nose with the cloth, and he once again tried to pull away.

"Sit still." Leo ordered.

"Easy for you to say." Chris retorted in a nasal voice. The corner of Leo's lip lifted in a small smile.

They stayed like that for a while, until Leo seemed confident the nosebleed had stopped. Leo then took a hold of Chris' jaw and gently probed the tender skin. Chris winced and swatted his hands away.

"We need to get out of here. Wyatt needs us. The sisters could probably need our help too." He reminded the Elder.

"We can't go anywhere until I've healed you." Leo said. "You can barely move."

"Then leave me here." Chris said after a few moments of thought. "Go back, find the portal. Someone needs to protect Wyatt. It's the only thing that matters."

"I'm not leaving you behind, Chris."

"Why not?"

"I just won't." Leo said. They stared at each other for a few seconds, both seemingly surprised by the words. Chris felt a tiny bit of hope flare inside his chest – a hope that his relationship with his dad wasn't completely irrevocable. Maybe Leo cared just a tiny bit about him after all?

"I thought you hated me." Chris blurted - then inwardly cursed himself for letting the words slip. Leo looked at him incredulously.

"I don't hate you, Chris. I just don't trust you. There's a difference."

"It doesn't always feel that way." Chris admitted, hating himself for sounding so vulnerable in the moment. He looked away from Leo's scrutinizing eyes.

"I'm sorry about that." Leo sighed as he sat down next to Chris on the cot. Chris eyes almost bulged out of his head from hearing the apology. "I know I'm not always being fair to you. But you don't always make it easy for me to trust you either."

"I know." Chris said in a soft voice. "I'm sorry about that too."

Leo nodded next to him. The movement made Chris realize how close they were sitting together as Leo's shoulder bumped against his own. Chris sighed and closed his eyes. It almost felt… nice, sitting this close to his father. He guessed he could enjoy that for a few moments.

Chris must have ended up dozing off because he woke up to Leo gently shaking him.

"Wha-" Chris began when Leo shushed him.

"Shh. I think the guards are asleep." Leo whispered.

That got Chris' full attention. He leaned forward a bit to peek at the guards, clenching his teeth hard as the effort jostled his broken ribs. True enough, the pair of guards seemed to be sound asleep in each their chair.

"Do you see any keys?" Chris whispered.

"The one on the right has a bundle of keys attached to his belt." Leo whispered back and Chris nodded.

He closed his eyes in concentration and, a moment later, the keys appeared in a bundle of blue orbs in his outstretched palm. Leo's eyebrows lifted.

"Prison break?" He asked.

"Prison break." Chris confirmed with a grin. Leo sent him a genuine smile in return.