Charmed: Heritage - 104 - Chris Perry's Favorite..

[StoryGirl83]

Charmed: Heritage
Episode 1X04 - Chris Perry’s Favorite Relative

Chapter One - A Special Visitor

It was early evening in mid January that found Wyatt Halliwell, well known for his messy habits, busy picking up stuff off the floor and putting them into drawers and onto shelves. Despite having worked on his room since he had gotten off work from his job at the Museum of Natural History earlier that evening, his bed was still unmade and there were still clothes all over the place. A room as messy as Wyatt’s didn’t get cleaned in one afternoon.

The sound of the front door of the apartment he shared with his younger brother, Chris, opening, did not cause Wyatt to so much as pause. The sound of his brother’s voice did.

“Wyatt are you home?” Christopher Halliwell called into the apartment after glancing into the living room, a room which contained exactly two couches, one chair, a bookcase, and a TV.

In his bedroom across the small hall from the living room, Wyatt stopped and glanced toward his closed door. “In here, Chris.” Wyatt returned to picking up his stuff.

After a moment the door opened and Chris walked in. His face changed instantly from one of disinterest to one of surprise. “Are you cleaning?”

Wyatt didn’t even look up to answer. “Looks that way.”

“While I’m glad,” Chris informed him, looking around a little confused, “mind telling me why?”

“Didn’t I tell you?” Wyatt asked, this time looking up.

Chris shook his head. “Nothing. What’s up?”

“No point telling you now,” Wyatt said smiling slightly. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Something’s going on,” Chris stated, as if trying to be sure he heard Wyatt correctly, “but you won’t tell me.”

Wyatt looked up at a clock in the wall. It said five minutes until six. “Wait about five minutes and you’ll . . .”

The sound of a knock on the door stopped Wyatt mid-sentence. He grinned at Chris and said, “Why don’t you get that?”

Chris game him a speculative look and walked out of the room into the hall. He turned right and crossed the dozen or so feet between the door of Wyatt’s bedroom and the front door of their apartment. He opened the door, stopping short and staring at the sight of his grandpa, Victor Bennett. After the surprise sunk in Chris threw his arms around Victor and drew him into a hug. “Grandpa!”

With a smile on his face Victor hugged his grandson right back.

Credits Roll

---

If you haven't read the previous episode, click here and enjoy.

[StoryGirl83]

Chapter Two – Optimist, Not Delusional

A little while later Chris was in the apartment living room, sitting on the couch opposite the entrance to the kitchen. Victor was sitting next to him.

“So Wyatt didn’t tell you I was coming?” Victor asked now that they were settled down.

“No,” Chris shook his head, “and I’d be mad at him except I’m so glad to see you. How are you? You look great.”

“Better than in the other time line?” Victor queried, recalling a conversation many years before. When Chris looked at him surprised, Victor added, “Your mom told me.”

“Oh,” Chris said with a nod of his head. “Well, then, yeah. Not as stressed and you’re not coughing.”

Neither of them noticed Wyatt walk into the room from the hall.

“I took your advice,” Victor informed him, putting his arm on the back of the couch behind his grandson. “Must be that.”

“That would explain the lack of coughing,” Chris admitted. “The stress . . . well . . . I guess not having to raise me and the circumstances around that would have changed that.”

“Grandpa raised you?” Wyatt asked, alerting them to his presence.

Chris looked up surprised. “Done already?”

Wyatt shook his head, a wry smile on his face. “No, not yet. Just taking a break. Why’d Grandpa raise you?”

“I told you before that in the other time line, Mom died,” Chris reminded him.

“Right,” Wyatt agreed, remembering. “But there still was Dad.”

“No,” Chris informed him with a small shake of his head. “Not really. Dad was different; he ignored me. He was never there and he was never mortal, again. I was fourteen and most of the time Dad wasn’t around, so Grandpa offered to take me. You stayed with us too, but sometimes you didn’t . . . you were very different and every day away from Mom’s death made you even more different until you snapped.”

Wyatt looked at him a bit startled. While, he had heard a little bit about the other time line, this was new. “Oh.”

There was silence for a moment as Wyatt digested that. “So you were stressful, too, or just the circumstances?”

Chris gave him a look and telekinetically threw a cushion across the room at Wyatt.

Wyatt saw the cushion at the last second and ducked. The cushion hit Chris. “Serves you right. I take it you were stressful.”

Chris shrugged. “I don’t recall.”

Victor looked at his grandsons confused. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t you remember?”

“Mom didn’t tell you?” Chris asked in surprise. He figured Piper would have explained things to Victor.

“Tell me what?” Victor asked, looking between his two grandsons.

Chris’s shoulders slumped and he sighed. “My memory is kind of gapped. I have memories of two lifetimes in my head and can remember neither with great detail.”

Victor frowned. “You seemed to remember a minute ago.”

Chris nodded. “Sometimes I do. Sometimes a memory comes to me. Usually they stick when they do, but not always.”

Victor nodded, confusion still in his eyes. “Do you remember the conversation we had . . . well, before you were born?”

“That’s the oddest part,” Chris told him with a smile on face. “My trip to the past is the only part of my memory that is complete.” It wasn’t exactly complete, but it was more complete than anything else and without knowledge of the missing events it seemed complete. “It’s almost as if my memory saw that I only had one set of memories during that time and didn’t have to worry about which one to let me keep so I kept all of them. On the other hand I have no memories of when I was the same age during this lifetime. It’s very strange.”

“So we’re still cool?” Victor asked cautiously.”

Chris burst out laughing. “We were always cool.”

“And you’re glad you took me advice?” Victor added.

Chris nodded. “Yes, Grandpa. You were right. I changed the future in more ways then I planned, good ways. And I’m glad I spent time with Mom even though I didn’t know that she would survive. I needed that.”

Wyatt looked between the two of them. As usually happened when someone was talking about the past, Wyatt was feeling unneeded. “I feel left out here.”

“Be glad,” Chris told him. “You don’t want me memories of the other time line.” He didn’t have to have all of those memories to know that.

Wyatt looked at him for a moment and then nodded. “On that happy note, I think I’ll get back to my room. Do you mind making dinner tonight since Grandpa’s here? I know it’s my turn, but I think he’d prefer your cooking to take out of my attempts.”

Chris shook his head, smiling. “You really are something, Wy. I bet you planned this.”

Wyatt wasn’t ashamed to admit it. “You’d better believe it. You think I want to eat my food either?”

Chris smiled at Wyatt and then turned to Victor. “So which do you want to do, Grandpa? Do you want to help me with dinner or help Wyatt clean his room?”

Victor looked at his two grandsons. After a few seconds he turned to Chris. “I’m sure you know that your mom and you didn’t get your ability to cook from me, but I think I’d rather that over trying help Wyatt wade through his room. He didn’t get that from me either.

Chris smiled as Wyatt looked at both of them annoyed.

“I’m not that bad,” Wyatt protested.

Chris just kept smiling as he said, “Wy, you are infamous for that room. Kali called yesterday and she wanted to know how I was coping with living in such a small area with all your stuff. Kali’s not even related to us.” Of course she had grown up across the street, but that wasn’t the point.

“Kali doesn’t count as a qualified critic,” Wyatt protested. “She’s a neat freak.”

“Not the point, Wy,” Chris replied, trying not to laugh. “She knows you better than most non relatives.”

“Fine,” Wyatt gave in, “I’m going to my room. Call me when dinner’s ready.”

“Should I wait until your room is clean?” Chris asked teasingly.

Wyatt gave him a look. “I’m an optimist, Chris, not delusional.” Wyatt walked out of the room as Chris laughed.

[StoryGirl83]

Chapter Three – A Strange Demon

and Archemneme

Down in the underworld, the warlock that had been for the last couple of weeks been slowly going after Wyatt and Chris was in his lair. He was talking to a strange looking demon.

The demon, Archemneme, had green hair that looked like it was made of wires and green question marks in place of irises. He wore a long black trench coat.

“What brings you here?” The warlock asked with only mild interest.

“Word in the underworld is you’re after the sons of a Charmed One,” Archemneme stated. “If you’re serious about this, I want to help.”

This took the warlock by surprise. No one had volunteered to help him. It was actually rather suspicious. “What can you do?”

“I can control memories,” Archemneme informed him, “delete them.”

Delete memories? Who’s he kidding? That’s not what I need. I need their powers gone, not their minds. The warlock gave Archemneme an arched looked. “How will that help?”

“Are you kidding?” Archemneme looked at him. His eyes admitted that it was a familiar question, but they also expressed disappointment that this warlock didn’t get it. “A witch who can’t remember being a witch, who doesn’t know who his allies are. He’s a blank slate, easily molded, if you can get to him first. If you can have enough time with him, I can rewrite his memories to suit out purposes.” Archemneme slanted a green brow at the warlock. “Still think I can’t help?”

The warlock looked at Archemneme with a little bit of respect. “All right, you have my attention. What do you want in exchange for your help?”

Archemneme shrugged. “Just the chance to help take down a huge thorn in the side of the underworld.”

The warlock looked at him with complete surprise. Nothing? He wants nothing? “Nothing else?”

“Nothing else,” Archemneme assured him. “The way I see it, there is still a high probability I won’t survive even if I am successful.” He was one demon who not only didn’t underestimate the Halliwells, but was willing to make that sacrifice if it helped his side. A strange trait in a demon, to be sure.

The Warlock’s spirits fell. Disappointment clear he asked, “You think you will fail?”

“No,” Archemneme replied, the one word full of confidence. “I think I will succeed. I just think the Charmed Ones and their families will strike back. I trust you will use what I do to eventually defeat this family.”

“And if you survive?” the Warlock asked, feeling slightly better about this plan.

Archemneme shrugged. He was sure he wouldn’t. “Then, perhaps we can discuss this if that happens. Fow now, do you want my help?”

“Yes,” the warlock replied with a slight nod, “I believe I would like your help. I like the way you think.”

[StoryGirl83]

Chapter Four – The Calm Before the Storm

Back at Wyatt and Chris’ apartment, Chris was putting food on the table in the small dining room. He looked up as Victor walked in, followed by Wyatt. “How is your room coming, Wy?”

Wyatt and Victor sat down at the table. As Chris grabbed a platter off the counter and put it down on the table, Wyatt replied. “It’s improving.”

Chris sat down at the table and waited for Victor’s version.

He didn’t have to wait long. “It looks like a war zone.”

“It’s not a war zone,” Wyatt informed him, slightly offended.

“I said it looked like one,” Victor reminded him. He turned to Chris and asked, “If that’s an improvement, what did it look like before?”

“Like a twister went through it,” Chris replied in a monotone. He took a small bite of his food.

“I know where everything is,” Wyatt protested.

“He does,” Chris acknowledged. “It’s scary.”

“Let’s talk about something else,” Wyatt said, slumping into his chair, fed up with defending his room.

Victor easily changed the topic as he told them that, “I visited your Aunt Phoebe earlier this week.”

“Oh,” Chris said looking up from his food. “How is she?”

“Exasperated,” Victor admitted. “Cilly has a new power,” he added, referring to Phoebe’s middle daughter, Pricilla Venus Halliwell.

Wyatt stopped his fork just before it entered his mouth. “Uh oh.”

Chris looked at his brother, confused. “What did I miss?”

“What do you remember about Uncle Coop?” Wyatt asked softly.

Chris shrugged. “Just that he’s married to Aunt Phoebe and he’s a cupid.”

“Was he in the other time line?” Wyatt asked, trying to see if his brother knew anything more at all.

“Probably,” Chris replied, shrugging, again, “but not in connection to our family.” He frowned, a memory tugging at him. Nothing materialized so he added. “At least I don’t think so.”

“Okay,” Wyatt accepted. Over the past couple of weeks he had gotten used to the fact that there was a lot his brother didn’t remember, about either time line. “Do you remember much about Cilly?”

Chris shook his head, thinking. “Just that she likes to get what she wants.”

“A family trait to be sure,” Wyatt said with a smirk, knowing that he had the same trait.

Chris smiled. “True enough. So why’s a new power trouble?”

“She takes after her dad,” Wyatt informed him, “and she’s good at it. Cost me two girlfriends in high school and one after.” Not that any of them had ended up mattering. The one that had mattered had just vanished on her own about six months previous. Six months, three weeks, and two days . . . but who was counting?

Chris laughed. “So she’s a cupid, too? What about her sisters?” He knew she had sisters, but he couldn’t remember them either and it made him feel really bad.

“Ladybug has cupid powers,” Wyatt admitted, “but Cilly’s the one that uses them.”

“Ladybug?” Chris asked looking at his brother in disbelief. “We call our cousin Ladybug?”

Wyatt shrugged. To him it was just old news. “Most of us. Aunt Phoebe started it and it just stuck.”

“What’s her name?” Chris asked, hoping it was something a lot better than Ladybug. He just wished he could remember. He couldn’t recall what her younger sister’s name was either, though the name Hope seemed to come to mind.

“You don’t remember?” Wyatt asked. He hadn’t realized until just then, how bad his brother’s missing memories were. When Chris shook his head Wyatt provided the an answer. “Prudence. Prudence Brianna Halliwell. Cilly’s is Pricilla Venus Halliwell. Hope’s the youngest.”

At the mention of Hope, Chris breathed a sigh of relief that he was at least able to get one cousins’ name.

“Her name is Pearl Hope Halliwell,” Wyatt continued. “She doesn’t have any powers that I know of.” Wyatt turned to Victor. “Does she, Grandpa?”

Victor shook his head. “No, Hope has no powers. Prudence was found floating over her bed when all the magic came back, so her power of levitation is not considered new. Cilly only started showing signs of empathy two days ago though.”

“Cilly’s an empath?” Wyatt asked with a groan. As if she needs more help paring couples up.

Chris laughed at his brother’s reaction.

“It’s not funny,” Wyatt snapped. “She’s never found a match for a relative, but she’s broken up a lot of them.”

Chris shrugged. “Must not have been the right match. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

Wyatt scowled at him, but didn’t say anything. What could he say? Chris was right. All three of his relationships Cilly had broken up, had been ones that wouldn’t have worked.

“When I was over there Cilly was going crazy,” Victor informed them. “Coop, Prudence, and Hope had taken empathy blocking potions, even though Phoebe’s empathy wasn’t working, just in case. Phoebe never has, since up until now she’s been the only empath in the family.”

“Poor Cilly,” Wyatt admitted.

“Poor Phoebe,” Victor corrected, “this on top of Phoebe’s premonitions being off since she got them back.”

Chris smiled at his grandpa. “You seem a lot more magic savvy, Grandpa. You have your orbing wings yet?”

As Victor nodded, realization came to Chris’ face.

Wyatt was watching them with a curious look on his face. Aunt Phoebe’s powers are acting up? Like Mom’s?

“What wrong with Aunt Phoebe’s powers?” Chris asked before Wyatt could say anything.

“Not powers,” Victor corrected. “According to Phoebe it’s only her premonitions that are acting strange. She can call for one at will and she has better memory of what happens in them.”

Chris looked at Wyatt.

Wyatt still had a curious look on his face. His eyes were on Victor. “Last week Mom discovered that her ability to freeze objects and people was considerably increased. Now, you say Aunt Phoebe’s premonitions are in the same state. I wonder if something has happened to Aunt Paige’s powers as well.”

“What could happen to them?” Chris asked, thinking. “Aunt Paige’s powers are orbing, telekinetic orbing, and other whitelighter powers. How do you increase those?”

“I don’t know,” Wyatt admitted. “Do you want to call her and find out?”

Chris shook his head. “Not today. Today’s for Grandpa. No magical quests.”

Wyatt looked at him, eyebrows raised.

Victor chuckled.

“Did I just hear you say that?” Wyatt asked, just to be sure. “The guy who’d rather fight demons than work at a legitimate, albeit boring job. You’re saying no magic.”

“Just for tonight,” Chris told him, laughing a little. “Grandpa’s here.”

Wyatt nodded. “Works for me.” He took a bite of food, enjoying the flavor and the fact that he didn’t have to make it.

Chris turned to Victor. “So who’s idea was it for you to come tonight, Grandpa.”

“I thought you were glad to see me,” Victor replied, a little hurt.”

“I am,” Chris was quick to assure him. “Just curious. Wy can be quite creative when it comes to not making dinner.”

“Like what?” Victor asked, curious.

Chris thought for a moment.

Wyatt watched as he chewed on a piece of meat.

“How about I show you?” Chris replied finally. “I’ve got a list in my room.” Standing, Chris added, “I’ll be back in a minute.” Chris exited the room and walked into the hallway.

---

Unknown to Chris, an unwelcome visitor had just shimmered into his dark room. Archemneme waited just inside the room as the door nod began to turn.

[StoryGirl83]

Chapter Five – Painful Remembrances

and Archemnene
Flashback

Flashback

Outside the room, Chris pushed open the door and flicked on the light before stepping inside. Chris saw Archemneme only a second before Archemneme grabbed hold of the sides of Chris’ head. Chris tried to break free of Archemneme’s grip on his head, but the more he tried to the more his face pinched in pain. Finally the pain was so great Chris screamed and collapsed on the floor, momentarily out of Archemneme’s grasp.

---

At the sound of his brother’s scream, Wyatt was instantly on his feet, his chair pushed back against the wall.

Victor was pushing his chair against the wall, pushing himself into a standing position.

Not able to deal with helping his brother and protecting his grandfather from whatever was after his brother, Wyatt put out his hand in a stop gesture. “Stay here, Grandpa. I’ll be back.” Hoping that leaving his grandfather there was the right decision, Wyatt ran out of the room into the hallway. He ran across the small hall and entered Chris room.

As Wyatt entered the room, he waved his hand and threw Archemneme across the room, away from Chris.

Chris moaned and gritted his teeth as he opened his eyes.

Wyatt didn’t notice. All his attention was on the demon trying to hurt his brother. “Leave my brother alone!”

Archemneme tried to get to Chris, but Wyatt threw him across the room again with another wave of his hand.

Chris grimaced as he pushed himself up against the wall. He started to shake and breathing heavily.

Archemneme tried once again to reach Chris, but was again stopped at Wyatt telekinetically threw him away. Archemneme looked at the two brothers, realizing he won’t get anywhere near Chris and shimmered away.

Wyatt dropped to his knees next to Chris, finally allowing himself to assess the damage done to his brother. “Are you okay? Where does it hurt? I’ll heal you.”

Chris gritted his teeth and shook his head. “You can’t. Just . . . just go.”

Wyatt looked at Chris confused. His brother was hurt and refusing his help. “Chris?”

“Go away, Wyatt. Just go away,” Chris begged. He couldn’t deal with Wyatt right then.

“What did he do to you?” Wyatt needed to know.”

“Please,” Chris repeating, begging more. “Leave.”

“What if he comes back?” Wyatt asked, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do, hurt by his brother’s words.

“Why come back?” Chris asked with a dry laugh. “I remember everything and you don’t know how much I wish I didn’t.”

---

Chris pushed passed Grandpa as he ran into the backyard. “Wyatt!” he screamed.

His fifteen-year-old brother orbed in next to him. His eyes widening as he saw what had Chris so horrified. He ran the length of the yard and fell to his mother’s side at the same time Chris did. He put his hands over her and held them there. Nothing happened. He tried, again and still nothing happened.

By this time Victor had reached them. He knelt at Phoebe’s side feeling for a pulse. Feeling one, he turned to his grandsons. “Phoebe’s alive.”

Wyatt looked up. With a sad look at his mother he stood and hurried to his aunt’s side. He put his hands over her and the warm gold glow that came from his hands made tears come to his eyes, even as it healed his aunt. “Dad,” he called, his voice pained and desperate.

Still at Piper’s side, Chris tried holding his hands over Piper. Even knowing he had never managed to heal anyone, that he most likely didn’t have that power, he still tried. As nothing happened he pounded the dirt below him and scrunched up in a ball sobbing.

Phoebe’s eyes fluttered open and she looked up at her nephew. “Piper,” she whispered.

Wyatt shook his head, his tears flowing free. “Mom’s dead.”

“Leo?” Phoebe questioned looking around.

Wyatt shook his head. “He won’t come. I called him.”

Phoebe shook her head. “No, we already called him. Where is he?”

Wyatt gulped and rose to his feet. “I don’t know.” He looked around the yard, looking for some indication that his father was here, or that he had been. Seeing a pair of shoes sticking out from the corning of the Manor, he ran over through the yard. He reached his father’s side and dropped to his knees. Very little could kill a whitelighter, seeing as they were already dead, but the black arrow sticking out of his father terrified him. His father hadn’t ignored him. He had been unable to come.

Wyatt looked at the arrow and blinked. Instantly the arrow was out of his father and lying on the ground a few feet away. He dropped to his knees next to his father, hoping he wasn’t about to lose two parents in one day. When the warm golden glow emanated from his hands, he sighed with relief.

---

It was the last time Wyatt had healed anyone. Over the next half a dozen years or so, Wyatt had spiraled out of control.

Piper’s death had pushed him over the edge. Looking back, Chris had realized that Wyatt hadn’t been all good even before then, but from then on Wyatt became obsessed with power. At first he said, that if he had only had enough power, he could have saved their mom, even though she had been dead when they reached her, but eventually Piper got left out of the equation.

Piper’s death had changed both brothers. For Wyatt it was a need for power, spurred on by the desire to never be that weak again, never to be unable to save someone he wanted to save. For Chris it was the desire to have his brother back. It would have been so easy for Chris to just join his brother, but something in Chris kept him from doing that.

Whatever should have kept Wyatt from turning evil had malfunctioned. In Chris, however, it had kept him from going over the edge, at least fully. He had done things that horrified, even killed a magical innocent, a thought that horrified him. Now, that all his memories were back from both time lines, he realized that he had been missing memories from the time in the past. And those missing memories made him shiver. He didn’t want to be that man. Yes, he had done some good, much good, but he had also done much bad, much harm.

Chris shivered as he hugged his knees closed to him and rocked back and forth. For all that he wanted to know what he forgot, now that he knew, he didn’t want it. He didn’t want it at all.

---

It was the only time Chris had seen his then older brother show remorse, when Aunt Phoebe had lain dead on the ground at Wyatt’s feet, her blood pooling around her head and the rest of her body. With her had died, not the Power of Three, for that had died long before with Aunt Paige, but with her had died the last of the former Charmed Ones, the last of hope. Aunt Prue had been the first of the Charmed Ones to die, killed by the Source’s assassin, Shax, long before even Wyatt was born. Aunt Paige’s death, not long after Meta had turned her to stone only two years later, had forever ended the Power of Three. Almost sixteen years later, on Chris’ fourteenth birthday, demons had attacked and only one Charmed One had survived, Aunt Phoebe. It had been almost seven years later, only weeks before Chris had begun his trip to the past, when Wyatt had killed Aunt Phoebe.

Chris and Victor were only a few feet away. Victor stared down at the dead body of his youngest girl, his old body shaking as tears racked him. Chris did not looked at Aunt Phoebe. It was at Wyatt he looked. Until that moment he had believed that Wyatt still held some tenuous grasp on good. As strange as it was, the horror in Wyatt’s eyes convinced Chris that he was right. That was still good in Wyatt, but it wasn’t in control.

Wyatt looked up from Aunt Phoebe’s body and in a chilling voice he said, “Leave.”

Chris met his older brother’s eyes. He both saw and heard the terror.

Victor looked up at his younger grandson. Though tears still filled his eyes and streamed down his face, it was no longer the tears that made him shake.

“I don’t want to kill you tonight.”

“Tonight?” Chris asked in the steadiest voice he could muster, which at the moment wasn’t very steady.

“Go!” The word was a command, with anger tightly bound by the remnants of lingering love. That was the only reason he wanted them out, away from him. He still loved them. Evil could not love, proving once more than good still existed, but its strength was small, not enough to save them for long, but enough to save them for now. “Now!”

Chris looked down at the body at their feet. He looked up at Wyatt and nodded. I’ll save you, Wyatt. Chris grabbed Victor into a hug and orbed them out of there.

As soon as they reappeared outside Victor’s house, Chris waved his hand, turning the lock and opening the door. He pulled Victor inside and shut the door behind them. He manually locked the door and closed his eyes with a sigh. Chris looked at his grandpa. “I won’t let this happen, Grandpa.”

[StoryGirl83]

Chapter Six – It Wasn’t Me

Chris watched as Wyatt returned to the room with Victor. Victor helped Chris stand and supported him as he walked over to his bed. Victor sat down next to him and put his arm around him. For several minutes they all remained silent as Chris just shivered on his bed, trying not to remember.

Chris stared across the room at Wyatt who was leaning against the wall. “Why don’t you leave?”

“I can’t leave you,” Wyatt told him, his voice concerned. “You’re my brother.”

“Grandpa’s here,” Chris reminded him.

The hurt in Wyatt’s eyes was impossible to hide. “I’m not him, Chris,” Wyatt whispered. No one would really tell him what he had done in the other time line, but he knew it hurt his brother. It hurt all of his family who knew anything about it. “I don’t know what he did, but . . .”

“And you don’t want to,” Chris assured him. “Go.”

“How is leaving going to help anything?” Wyatt wanted to know.

Not knowing how else to get his brother to leave, Chris kept pleading with him. “Please, Wy. I know you’re not the same, but with Grandpa I don’t have to remind myself. Please.”

Wyatt looked Chris in the eye. “It wasn’t me.”

“Too bad you can’t say the same for me,” Chris told him. Except wasn’t it the same. Wasn’t he a different person than that. Just having the memories did not make him the same. It did not make him the one who had killed that innocent. It gave him power, the power to not make the same mistakes.

“It wasn’t me,” Wyatt repeated. “Part of you knows that.”

“All of me knows that,” Chris corrected.

“Then, let me stay,” Wyatt requested.

Chris shook his head. “I promised Dad I wouldn’t burden you with the other time line.”

“I’m sure he only meant not to hold me responsible for what happened there,” Wyatt told him reasonably.

Chris heaved in a deep breath.

Wyatt sighed. “If you ask me, again, I’ll leave. Is that what you want, really want?”

Chris stared at his brother, breathing hard, but no longer shaking. As he watched Wyatt his breath slowed to normal. His lips twitched. “Stay then. The worst thing you . . . he did to me I already remembered. If I could reconcile that, I can reconcile everything else. It’s just a lot to take in at once. I have to keep in mind that it no longer happened. It means something still, but the people hurt or killed may easily still be alive and well.” Chris shivered.

Wyatt took a step toward his little brother before catching himself. “Chris?”

“I’m fine,” Chris told him, sounding anything other than convincing.

“No, you’re not.”

“No, I’m not,” Chris agreed, “but I’ll survive. I always do.”

“We are going to get you past that stage,” Wyatt informed him firmly.

“Stage?” Chris asked confused.

Wyatt nodded. “We are going to get you from surviving to thriving.

Chris’ lips twitched.

“I saw that,” Wyatt informed him.

Chris’ lips twitched a little more, almost smiling.

“It’s okay to remember, Chris,” Wyatt assured him. “And it’s okay to tell me about it. I admit I’d rather if you thought of this evil me as an entirely different person, but I want you to talk to me. You need to tell me about it.”

Chris glanced over at Victor as if drawing strength from his grandfather. Then, he looked back across the room at Wyatt. He smiled. It was a tentative smile, but a smile all the same. Finally he spoke. “You know it’s not only the other time line I remember. I remember this one, too. I remember that in this time line you are a great older brother, a brother I can depend on to have my back. You’re good. I can depend on that.”

Wyatt smiled at his brothers words. “Thank you.”

Chris stood up. “Let’s go to the manor and see if we can find anything in the Book of Shadows on the demon that attacked me.

Victor stood up and looked at his grandsons. “Are we orbing over there?”

Wyatt looked at Chris.

Chris smiled, again, laughing just a little. He shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”

“Why not?” Victor asked in surprise. “What’s up?”

Wyatt moved away from the wall. “Mom didn’t tell you?” It was beginning to dawn on him that as much as they had tried to hide stuff from their mom, she wasn’t doing much better at telling her dad. Maybe she had an excuse because he probably hadn’t asked, not those particular questions.

“Tell me what?” Victor asked, looking between his two grandsons.

“We can’t orb,” Chris replied simply.

Victor looked at Chris, then Wyatt, than back at Chris. “You can’t orb? How is that possible?”

“We don’t know yet,” Chris admitted. “It was some sort of gel.”

“We can’t orb,” Wyatt repeated Chris words, “so we are going to have to drive. Do you want to come with us, Grandpa?”

Victor looked at his two grandsons.

Wyatt walked toward Chris.

Chris flinched and Victor’s mind was made up. “I’ll come with you.”

Wyatt had seen his brother flinch, too. “Do we drive together or would you rather have your own car?”

“I’ll be okay,” Chris assured him.

“Chris, would you call the manor and see if our parents are there?”

Chris nodded and walked out of the room.

Wyatt watched him leave. Misery was written on his face.

Victor watched Wyatt. “Are you okay, Wyatt?”

Wyatt looked up at Victor, shaking his head. “I hurt him. It may not have been me exactly, but somehow with other set of circumstances, I hurt him. And now he has to live with that memory. How do you make up for that? How do you make up for something an alternate version of you did?”

Victor put his arm around his around his oldest grandson. “You don’t. You just make living okay despite it.”

[StoryGirl83]

Chapter Seven – The Scrying Bowl

and Archemneme

Back in the underworld the Warlock was working in his lair. The table near him was set up with various objects. Among them was a jar of some dark liquid and a clear bowl. The warlock was looking through an old book.

Archemneme walked into the room. He looked annoyed.

The warlock looked up. “How did it go?”

“I got the younger witch,” Archemneme admitted. “Unfortunately his brother arrived before I could finish and then prevented me from taking the witch with me.”

“So you failed?” the warlock asked bitterly.

“I’m not sure,” Archemneme admitted. “I got him. He in such intense pain that he passed out, but what I do doesn’t usually cause pain . . . just confusion.”

The warlock sighed. No point throwing in the towel yet. “Since this is your plan, what do you suggest?”

“They will come after me soon,” Archemneme informed him unnecessarily. “It’s how they do things. I say we prepare to counter.”

“In that case,” the warlock informed him, indicating the bowl, “this should come in hand.

Archemneme looked down at the bowl. “A bowl?”

The warlock actually smiled this time. “You will see.” He picked up the bottle and poured it slowly into the bowl. As he poured he chanted, “Give me sight through the darkest bile. Show me the faces I revile.”

An image formed in the bowl of an older style, blue, six seat Mustang driving down the street toward the Halliwell manor.

The warlock looked up at Archemneme. “They are going for back up.”

[StoryGirl83]

Chapter Eight – Know Thy Enemy

Flashback

Wyatt’s blue Mustang pulled up to the manor and parked. Wyatt got out of the driver seat and started for the manor.

Chris and Victor climbed out of the back seat.

As they approached the door, it opened and Piper stepped out. “Chris, are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” Chris hedged.

“But are you now?” Piper pushed.

Chris sighed. He nodded slightly, “Just a little overwhelmed.”

“What did the demon do to you exactly?” Piper asked looking at the weary faces of her two sons and the concerned one of her father.

Wyatt looked at Chris, surprised. “You didn’t tell her?”

Chris looked at Wyatt. He visibly shrank back just a little. “I’d rather not waste the time. Once we are looking in the Book of Shadows, I’ll explain.”

“How are you doing, Piper?” Victor asked, trying to cut the tension. “The boys said you had a power boost, too.”

“Too?” Piper asked confused.

Leo appeared at the door, behind Piper.

Victor nodded. “Phoebe’s premonitions are stronger and more controllable.

“Are they coming in or not?” Leo asked from behind his wife.

Piper moved out of the way. “Yes, of course.”

Wyatt, Chris, and Victor entered the manor.

---

Sometime later Chris was sitting on the couch between Leo and Piper.

Victor was sitting in an arm chair near the entry to the hall.

Wyatt was sitting on a second arm chair looking through the Book of Shadows.

Chris had just finished telling what happened to his memory.

The look on Piper’s face was one full of motherly concern. “You remember everything?”

“Unfortunately,” Chris admitted. “A lot of it is stuff I wish I didn’t recall and I don’t need to know since that time line no longer exists, but I also now have more memories from this time line. It gave me an awful head ache at first and it incapacitated me and yet somehow I don’t think that’s what he wanted.”

Wyatt looked up from the Book of Shadows. “It wasn’t.”

Chris looked at Wyatt. “You found him?”

Wyatt nodded.

“What does it say about him?” Leo asked.

“He’s called Archemneme,” Wyatt said as he looked at the entry. “He controls memories. Generally he causes amnesia in his victims. Then, he convinces his victim to come with him some place where he has time to give them a completely new set of memories.”

“Could that have happened here?” Victor asked looking at his grandson, concerned.

“Dad!” Piper exclaimed shocked.

“I don’t think so, but . . .” Wyatt trailed off and looked at Chris. “Who was my first girlfriend in high school? How and why did we break up?”

Chris rolled his eyes.

---

Chris rounded the corner and saw Wyatt, his girlfriend, Aimee Knighton, and a boy he recognized as Gage Lillard. He stopped as he realized Aimee was leaning into Gage as she gave Wyatt a pitying look.

“I’m sorry, Wyatt,” Aimee told him. “We didn’t mean for it. Really we didn’t. It just sort of happened. I wasn’t trying to hurt you.” Aimee turned around and walked off with Gage.

Wyatt turned around and looked at Chris. “I see you, little brother.”

Chris cocked his eyebrows and looked off in the direction Aimee and Gage had left.

Wyatt sighed. “Cilly.”

Chris grimaced. “I’ll spare you the ‘You’re better off speech then’. You alright?”

Wyatt nodded. “I really liked her, but Cilly is annoyingly never wrong.”

Chris laughed. “Too true.”

“She did warn me before she did anything, at least.”

---

Chris smiled at the memory. It was really nice to have memory to draw from. “Aimee Knighton. Cilly found out that she was more interested in Gage Lillard. She checked into it and learned the feeling was mutual and she helped them realize it, but not before she warned you. Any more stupid questions?” He also remembered that Aimee had married Gage right out of high school and they had two small children.

Wyatt turned to Victor. His look was something between a glare and a look that only a protective older brother could achieve. “His memories are legitimate. No reason to keep a memory like that if you are replacing memories.”

Piper gave her father and son wry looks as she stated dryly. “Now, that we have established that Chris is still Chris, how do we vanquished the demon who hurt him?”

Wyatt looked down at the entry in the book. After reading it through twice he looked up. “It doesn’t say,” Wyatt told them disappointed. “I guess they never vanquished him. Makes sense seeing as he’s still around to plague us.”

Falling back on her first line of defense, Piper said, “Then, I’ll make a potion to . . .”

Wyatt shook his head. “No potions, Mom. He doesn’t even notice them.”

“A spell then,” Chris said a grin growing on his face. “And I think I have just the right one to use.

[StoryGirl83]

Chapter Nine – The Demons' Guide to Fighting Halliwells

and Archemneme

Back in the underworld the warlock and Archemneme were preparing. The warlock dropped pills into vials filled with steaming, clear liquid.

“Are you going to tell me what that is?” Archemneme asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“Water.”

The question marks in Archemneme’s eyes started turning. “Water?”

“Boiling water,” the warlock confirmed. “The pills keep the temperature hot.”

Archemneme wasn’t sure he heard correctly. “You want me to throw potion bottles at them filled with boiling water. It will never work.”

“Then, use it as a distraction,” the warlock replied uncaring. “If it breaks it’s still just water. The pills are still effective and it still burns if they touch it.”

“How long?” Archemneme asked, deciding to give the idea a chance.

“Twenty-four hours or until mixed with colder water,” the warlock told him. “Any other substance doesn’t alter the temperature, but when mixed with water they blend instantly and get the medium temperature. After that it reacts like normal water.”

“Interesting idea,” Archemneme admitted.

The warlock walked over to a desk and pulled open a drawer. He pulled out a belt with pouches for vials in it. He tossed it at Archemneme, who caught it easily. “Use this for vials.”

“You seem prepared,” Archemneme commented. “Why haven’t you attacked?”

“Like you, I don’t think that they are weak enough to destroy,” the warlock admitted. “For now we aim to maim, to weaken, not to kill. Obviously if we have the chance, we will kill them, but one step at a time.”

“That sounds like good advice,” Archemneme stared at the warlock. It was surprising to hear one so young think things through so thoroughly. The warlock couldn’t have been much more than thirty. “You really have thought this through.”

“A friend of mine made me promise before he attempted to take them on that I would avenge him if he lost.” The warlock paused, remembering. “He lost. I’ve had time to think.” The warlock began rummaging through another drawer.

“Do you have any more advice?” Archemneme asked, surprising himself.

The warlock’s head popped up. “To start with they can’t orb. Use this to your advantage. Also attack from behind. It may be the cowards way, but if we want to win we can’t afford to play by the rules.”

Archemneme scoffed. “When have demons ever played by the rules?”

The warlock chuckled. “True, but you never know. Make sure you don’t get cocky or waste time explaining yourself. Braggers lose precious time and sometimes the battle as well.” The warlock dropped down to look in the drawer, again. This time he found what he was looking for rather quickly. He straightened up and held out an amulet on a chain. “Wear this.”

“What is it?” Archemneme asked, looking at it suspiciously.

“You ask that a lot,” the warlock commented. “It’s an anti-freeze amulet. The boys’ mother has the ability to freeze objects. She lives in the family manor, which is where we saw them in the scrying bowl. That means you will have at least three of them verses one of you and they will have the power to freeze on their side. You will need a way to avoid being frozen and you will need help. I suggest you find someone to help you, even the numbers out. Find someone who won’t freeze and find them fast.”

Archemneme took the amulet from the warlock. “Thank you.”

“Just don’t let me down,” the warlock told him, evil in his eyes. “Do some damage.

[StoryGirl83]

Chapter Ten – The Other Me

and Archemneme
Flashback

Back at the manor, Chris was sitting at the table with a pad of paper and a pencil in hand. Victor was sitting at one side of Chris with Piper on the other. Wyatt was sitting on the opposite side of the table directly across from Chris. Leo was next to him.

Piper looked at her younger son, confusion written on her face. “Explain, again where this spell came from.”

Chris looked up. “The other me defeated this demon when I was seventeen with help from Aunt Phoebe. There was no power of three and Wyatt wasn’t about to help at that point, so no twice blessed powers either.” The memory caused Chris to shiver, again, any control over his emotions rather gone for the present time.

Seeing Chris shiver, Piper hugged her son tight.

Chris gave her a smile and forged on. “That means he doesn’t require either.”

“I’m on your side now, Chris,” Wyatt assured him. “I will never be that person.”

Chris looked at Wyatt. “I know. A lot is different. It’s hard to sort through it, but I will.” Chris smiled. “I’ve got a good thing this time around; a brother who’s good, a dad who spends time with me, and a mom who’s alive. To top it off the only place that looks like a war zone is Wyatt’s room.” Chris breathed in deeply.

“Are you sure you want to deal with this demon, Chris?” Leo asked concerned. “You can tell us what you know and we’ll deal with him.”

Chris grinned at the offer. “Thanks for the offer, Dad, especially seeing as you have no powers, but he’s coming after me. He attacked me. I have to face him.”

Wyatt looked across the table at Victor. “How about you, Grandpa? Do you want to get somewhere out of the way when we take on this demon?”

Victor exhaled and looked his grandson in the eye. He shook his head, his expression fixed. “I will not let it be said that a whitelighter, even a former whitelighter, was braver than me.”

“Grandpa,” Chris protested, “there is nothing you or Dad can do. Potions won’t work and you can’t say spells. I don’t want you hurt.”

“I don’t want you hurt either, Chris,” Victor said looking at his younger grandson. Turning to Wyatt he repeated, “Or you.” He turned to his daughter and again repeated his words, “Or you.” Victor looked at Leo.

When Victor said nothing Piper reached over Chris and slapped her father playfully. Chris started laughing. Wyatt and Piper joined him. Then, Victor started laughing, and finally Leo laughed.

When they stopped laughing Chris ripped the top paper off the pad and handed it across the table to Wyatt. He started writing on a second piece of paper. As he wrote on the second paper he spoke. “Don’t let him touch you. He messes up and gave me this head ache, but next time he might erase someone’s memory instead. I don’t recall any way of reversing that including defeating him. Believe me, we tried.”

The other four nodded in agreement as Chris handed Piper a copy of the spell.

“Do we wait for him,” Wyatt asked, “or do we try summoning him?”

Chris frowned. “He knows we’ll go after him. He’s smart. Perhaps we should prepare a backup plan.”

Wyatt looked at his brother, incredulously. “How do we prepare a back up plan for someone who doesn’t notice potions?”

Chris’ shoulders slumped and her sighed. “I don’t know.” Chris frowned as his thought went to another time and place.

---

“Just throw it, Chris,” Phoebe yelled from across the room.

Chris looked at the strange demon, his green wiry hair falling around his face, the question marks he had for irises twirling.

“Chris!”

Chris nodded as he grabbed a potion off the table and threw it at the demon. Only the tiniest flinch gave way the fact that he felt anything, but it was there. With such a small reaction, potions were never going to be enough. Chris threw another potion as his aunt worked on yet another spell.

---

Coming back to the present moment Chris smiled slightly. “I think he does notice potions. I think he’s just good at pretending.”

“Obviously if he’s still around,” Piper commented looking down at the spell, “the potions didn’t defeat him.”

Chris frowned as he scribbled down the spell on the paper in front of him, just in case. He looked up at his mom. “Maybe they weren’t strong enough.”

Without warning Wyatt raised his shield just as Archemneme shimmered in with three manticores. All four demons had vials on belt.

[StoryGirl83]

Chapter Eleven – Bad to Worse

Archemneme, and three manticores

Wyatt glances quickly at the manticores as Piper tried to freeze Archemneme. The amulet shimmered as it stopped the freezing power.

“The power to freeze an entire city,” Piper mumbled, annoyed, “and I can’t even freeze one little demon.”

One of the manticores tried to reach past the shield and jumped back.

Wyatt looked across the table at his mother. “Mom, I think we need a few potions, now.”

Piper pushed her chair back. “On it.”

“Bring Dad and Grandpa,” Chris suggested.

“I can’t hold this forever,” Wyatt added.

Piper, Leo, and Victor got out of their chairs. As they headed toward the stairs, Wyatt dropped his shield and Chris flung the first manticore backward into the other the three like bowling pins.

“So do we get rid of the ringleader now,” Chris asked, “or wait for Mom.”

The four demons began to rise. Wyatt glared at Archemneme. “I say now.”

The second manticore threw one of the vials at Chris.

“Whoa!” Chris exclaimed as he ducked.

The vial shattered as it hit the cabinet and steam began to rise.

Chris’ eyes widened. “Watch out for the vials, Wy!”

The first manticore threw a vial.

Wyatt jumped out of the way. The vial shattered and steaming water spilled to the floor. Wyatt frowned. “Well, it’s not acidic.”

The first manticore pulled out another vial and, along with the third manticore, threw a vial at Wyatt.Behind them Archemneme slipped out of the room. Wyatt ducked to avoid the vial of steaming water.

The second manticore seemed to be focusing his attack on Chris. He threw a vial at Chris.

Chris sent the vial back at the demon using his telekinesis.

The vial hit the demon, producing a scream and the manticore’s flesh began to scald. He dropped to the floor screaming.

The other two manticores both threw a vial at one of the brothers. Wyatt flung one back telekinetically at the demons, barely missing them as they jumped out of the way. Chris moved out of the way of the other one. Both vials hit walls.

Behind them, Archemneme sneaked in the other door and behind Chris. He held up his hands to the sides of Chris’ head.

Chris screamed as the demon began to again attempt his task. The pain in his mind tangible as the demon tried to take his memories.

Wyatt whirled around, throwing Archemneme out of the room with a wave of his hand.

Seeing Wyatt’s back turned, the third manticore throws a vial at him. Neither brother sees it until it hits Wyatt.

[StoryGirl83]

Chapter Twelve – Feats of Love

and Archemneme

Wyatt screamed in pain as the vial broke and the boiling water burned him. The pain ran through him as the water dripped down his back, burning everything in it’s path.

Archemneme got up and made his way back toward the room.

Seeing his brother in pain, Chris forced himself the ignore the pain in his mind. He made his way to the sink and turned on the faucet. Using his telekinesis, he sent a stream of constant, cold water at Wyatt’s back. Some of the water spilled onto the floor, landing in the steaming puddles, instantly cooling them. Chris saw a vial head his way and jumped out of the way, stopping the flow of water to his brother.

Archemneme backed Chris into a corner and reached out his hands to again attempt to delete Chris’ memories.

Menacing green hands grabbing at him, Chris’ subconscious reaction was to orb. Not surprisingly, it didn’t work.

Wyatt looked up from where he was lying on the floor in pain. Seeing what was happening to his brother, he ignored his pain. Using his telekinesis, he threw Archemneme away from Chris, once again. “Leave my brother alone!”

Piper ran into the room with a vial in each hand. Behind her Leo and Victor had more vials. Piper threw a vial at the nearest manticore, the third one to take action. The manticore blew up on contact with the potion in the now broken vial. Piper transferred the other vial to her right hand and threw it at the other standing manticore, the one who had attacked first. He blew up instantly. Seeing the other manticore still writhing on the floor she ignored it.

Wyatt and Chris looked at her. Chris kept a wary eye on Archemneme while Wyatt tried to ignore the pain of the burns on his back. “Took you long enough,” Wyatt retorted.

“Watch it, young man,” Piper warned.

Wyatt grinned slightly. “Sure.”

From her pocket Piper pulled out the sheet of notebook paper on which Chris had written the spell. “Ready to use this spell of yours, Chris?”

Chris nodded, still watching Archemneme. His mind no longer pained him, the throbbing in his head down to a dull roar.

With great difficulty, Wyatt continued to ignore his pain and pulled out his copy.

Since Chris already knew the spell he didn’t bother getting the spell. Fixing his gaze on Archemneme he began to chant alone, “Powers of . . .”

Seeing that Chris had already started, both Wyatt and Piper joined in, “. . . the ancients bring, let this meddler feel out sting. Stolen memories now return, make this demon forever burn.”

Archemneme looked at Chris, a sneer on his face as he exploded into oblivion.

As soon as he saw the demon vanquished, Chris ran out of the room, knowing that his brother needed something at once.

Behind him, Wyatt collapsed on the floor. Since he no longer needed to hold back the pain, he no longer tried.

[StoryGirl83]

Chapter Thirteen – Whitelighters Need Not Apply

Chris had run into the hallway and started up the stairs before the sound of his father’s voice made him pause. “Where are you going?”

Chris down at his dad and then continued up the stairs, answering as he ran. “Wyatt was burned.”

---

Leo and Victor ran into the kitchen. Leo saw the remaining manticore and threw the vial at him. The manticore exploded and the family focused on Wyatt’s injuries.

---

Upstairs, Chris ran down the hall and pushed open the door to the bathroom. Once through the door, Chris made his way to the medicine cabinet. He looked at several containers before grabbing a bottle of burn gel. Chris shoved the cupboard shut and ran out of the room.

---

Downstairs Victor was looking at the puddles left behind by the various vials. Some were still steaming. Others had been cooled by the water that had leaked out of the stream of cold water Chris had redirected at Wyatt.

“Is Chris all right?” Wyatt asked looking around.

Piper nodded.

“The demon didn’t hurt him?” Wyatt persisted.

Piper sighed. “He didn’t stay long enough for us to know.”

“Chris said you’re burned,” Leo told his son, concern in his eyes. “What happened?”

“I’m not really sure,” Wyatt admitted. “It appears that the demons had vials of boiling water.”

Victor pointed at one of the boiling puddles. “Why is it still boiling?”

“Throw water on it,” Wyatt directed. “That’s what Chris did to my back.” Wyatt winced as he moved. The pain was started tom get worse. The burning hadn’t stopped, only slowed.

Chris walked into the room, pouring burned gel into his hand. “Wy, take off your shirt.”

Wyatt reached back and slowly pealed his shirt off, wincing as his burnt skin protested.

With the empty hand, Chris put the bottle onto the table.

Behind him, Victor got a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with water. He poured the water on one of the boiling puddles, instantly cooling it. He walked back to the sink and repeated the process, taking on the puddles one by one.

Once Wyatt’s shirt was off, Chris rubbed the gel onto his brother’s back.

Wincing, Wyatt complained at his brother, “That stings.”

“Be quite, you big baby,” Chris teased. “It’s better than just letting it burn.”

“Why don’t you just heal him?” Victor wanted to know.

Chris stopped and looked at Victor with regret. “I can’t heal. And though Wyatt can, he can’t heal himself. That’s not how it works.” Chris looked over at his mom. “Do you think you can come up with some sort of healing potion or gel or something?”

Piper paused in thought and then nodded. “I think I can make something up for burns.” Piper started looking through the cupboards.

Chris sighed. “Thanks, Mom.” Turning his attention back to his brother, he asked, “Can you stand?”

Just to prove he could, Wyatt stood. “My legs are just fine. Thank you.” Wyatt winced.

“I don’t get it,” Victor commented confused. “If you can’t heal him, Chris, then why not find someone who can?”

“We don’t need them,” Wyatt stated firmly.

“Dealing with other whitelighters means dealing with elders,” Chris told him. Except it didn’t exactly. He bet he could get a whitelighter there without going through the elders. He knew the names of two, but Wyatt had said no, and it was Wyatt’s back.

“Besides,” Wyatt added, “a witch can only call a whitelighter. We neither have nor need one.”

On that, Chris agreed. They didn’t need to call a whitelighter. Wyatt was going to be fine.

Leo looked at his two sons and nodded. “I’m going to get some gauze for Wyatt’s wound, so that the wound is covered while Piper works on a potion.”

Wyatt turned a grin at his dad. “Thanks, Dad.”

Leo left in search of the gauze.

Wyatt turned his gaze to Chris. “And thank you, little bro.” With concern in his voice he asked, “How are you doing?”

Chris froze. He was very still for several seconds before he looked at Wyatt. “I’ve been better. My head doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Wyatt heard the hesitation in his brother’s voice. “And?”

Chris sighed. “Wy, when my memory was limited there were things I didn’t want to tell you. That goes about quadruple now.”

Wyatt winced, but this time not from the physical pain. “That bad?”

Chris nodded, reluctantly. “It’s my problem thought, not yours.”

Wyatt shook his head and walked over to Chris. “No, Chris. You’re wrong. This involves all of us. We are your family. What hurts you, even alternate versions of ourselves, it hurts us, too.”

Victor walked over to Chris and gave him a hug. When Victor let go there was a smile on Chris’ face. “Thanks. Both of you.”

[StoryGirl83]

Chapter Fourteen – Unbalanced Blame

The sun had long since gone down. Piper was in the kitchen stirring a pot with a blue gel in it. Leo had stockpiled various gauzes, gels, creams, and ace bandages on the table.

Chris was sitting at the table looking through the Book of Shadows. Wyatt was still topless, but there were bandages wrapped around his wounds. He was standing behind Chris, looking over his shoulder.

Victor was sitting next to Chris, looking quite lost. Chris looked over at Victor. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to kick you out, but you don’t have to stay if this makes you uncomfortable.”

Victor looked at his grandson, his face serious as he spoke. “Young man, listen well. Magic may make me uncomfortable; it may confuse me and astound me, but it will never make me leave my family, again, not even for a night. I will leave when both of my grandsons are doing better. Not before.”

Chris smiled. One constant between the two time lines was his grandfather’s love and attention. It was very assuring to have right at that moment when everything else was such a mess, so confusing. When a thought came to mind he was usually able to figure out where it came from. Some memories simply had a feeling of distance to him, something that told him they were from the other time line.

Piper came over, carrying a bowl with blue gel. She put the gel on the table. “Ready, Wyatt?”

“Your lab rat is ready,” Wyatt informed her, only half joking.

Chris rolled his eyes.

“Now, I don’t expect a full recovery,” Piper warned, “but this should make those burns heal a lot faster.”

Wyatt gave Piper an appreciative smile.

Piper detaches the ace bandage covering Wyatt’s burns and unrolls it off his body revealing bad burns and in some places scabs forming. She placed the bandages on the table and removed the gauze, putting it on the table as well. Piper picked up a glob of gel. “This is a bit cold.” Piper put the gel on Wyatt’s back and began rubbing it in.

As the gel touched Wyatt’s back a look of surprise crossed his face, but he stayed quiet. He knew better than to complain about something that that would help him.

“You know I don’t think I like this change,” Piper commented as she rubbed on the gel.

“What do you mean?” Chris asked, looking over at his mom.

“I don’t like demons going after you,” she informed him.

Wyatt looked at Chris. “We’ll be okay.”

Piper looked at her two sons and shook her head. “You aren’t okay, now. Neither of you are.”

“Perhaps,” Wyatt admitted, “but the demon that did this is no more, and we will recover.”

Piper stopped spreading the gel and brought the bowl back to the counter. She put it down and went over to the cupboard in search of something better to store the rest of the gel.

Chris watched silently, something obviously bothering him. His brow was furrowed and his lips formed a small frown.

Leo placed some of the clean gauze on Wyatt’s back and began wrapping a new, clean, ace bandage around Wyatt. He was careful not to touch the burns with his hands.

Wyatt lifted his arms so that they were out of his father’s way. He winced, the action causing skin to rub on his back.

Piper put the gel into an air tight container that she had found in one of the cabinets.

“That was not a tactic I expected of him, Mom,” Chris said, breaking his silence.

Piper looked up from the counter. Her eyes settled on her younger son.

Leo finished with the bandages and clipped them on. He moved away allowing Wyatt some room. He looked at Chris, waiting.

Wyatt put down his arms, wincing once more at the pain caused by the friction of movement. He suspected he wasn’t going to get much sleep that night. Explaining at work in the morning was going to be an interesting feat. He too turned his gaze to his brother.

Seeing all eyes on him, Chris tried to explain. “The water I mean. And the manticores. The last time . . . in the other time line, I mean, he worked alone and had no such assists.”

Piper frowned, grasping for an explanation. “Perhaps an altered experience made him more cautious.”

“Perhaps,” Chris replied with a frown. “Something just doesn’t add up.” He sighed, not sure what to make of it.

“How are you doing now that you don’t have to worry about that demon attacking, again?” Leo asked, his voice filled with concern.

Chris chose his words carefully, not wanting to worry his family any more than they already were. Truthfulness, bread into him since birth, warred with the desire to protect those he loved. Finally, he said, “Trying not to think about it. I have gotten a headache every time I do thus far. When I have some free time, I’ll try sorting my memories out. Once I get around the headaches, I think I’ll be able to sort things out. The lives I have led are so very different.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Leo asked, looking at his son.

Chris looked at Leo. “Dad, you once told me not to hold Wyatt responsible for what his other version did, and I don’t.” He turned his head to look at Wyatt. “I never did.” He exhaled slowly as he turned to look at Leo, again. “What you never mentioned was you. I did hold you responsible for you actions, even the ones you hadn’t made yet. I now hold you responsible for the changes you made, both with the old me in the past and the new me in the present as I grew up.” Chris shook his head, smiling. “I’m confusing myself, now. Can we change the subject?”

Leo chuckled. “What to?”

Chris considered the question. A smile settled on his face as he came up with one. “Dinner. I left in the middle of dinner to get something to show Grandpa. We never finished.”

Food was something Piper could easily deal with. “Are you wanting to stay and eat something or do you need to get back to your apartment and the food there?”

“I put away the food after I called you,” Chris admitted, feeling slightly foolish that in all the pain he had been going through, he somehow thought of that.

“Your father and I already finished eating,” Piper told him, thinking aloud, “but I can fix you something to eat before you return home.”

“Want some help?” Wyatt offered.

“No,” Piper replied without hesitation.

“Wy!” Chris exclaimed in protest.

Wyatt grinned.

Victor chuckled.

Leo smiled. It was good to see his sons getting along, even if things were clearly going to be strained for a while as Chris sorted things out. “Give it up, Wyatt. Your reputation is sealed.”

“I cook at the apartment,” Wyatt protested.

“He has a quick dial finger,” Chris confided.

“Sometimes I actually cook,” Wyatt scowled at him.

Chris kept himself from laughing, barely. “Wyatt, you don’t even eat your cooking most of the time.”

“And yet, you keep insisting that I have my turn at preparing dinner,” Wyatt relayed, eyeing his brother suspiciously.

Chris shrugged it off. “So I have an occasional bout of optimism. Everyone is entitled to some sort of vice. I guess mine is believing that someday you will cook, but that day is not here yet.”

Wyatt mumbled something inaudible under his breath.

Piper eyed her older son. “What was that, Wyatt?”

Wyatt scowled. “I said, I’m not sure whether I should be glad or annoyed.”

Piper walked over to Wyatt and hugged his shoulder with one arm, careful of the bandages. “Just accept that your younger brother is a very determined young man and he will teach you to cook.”

There was silence as Wyatt looked at Chris for several seconds before he groaned. “I’m going to regret sharing an apartment with you aren’t I?”

Chris started laughing as he shook his head. Piper, Leo, and Victor joined Chris as Wyatt frowned and scowled at Chris.

[StoryGirl83]

Chapter Fifteen – Brotherly Banter

A couple hours later Wyatt and Chris arrived back at their apartment. They had left Victor at his car, waiting until he was out of site to go inside. The entered the building in silence. Wyatt entered the apartment first. He wore a clean shirt, provided by his father. He walked a few steps and turned right into the living room. He flipped on the light switch as he entered the living room, turned right, again, and sat down on the couch that sat across from the kitchen.

Chris entered the room a few steps behind him. He walked over to the bookcase to Wyatt’s right, against the outer corned of the apartment. He stood a couple feet from where Wyatt was sitting. “How does your back feel?” he asked finally.

“Pretty good, considering,” Wyatt informed him, telling his brother nothing. “How does your head feel?”

With a straight face, Chris repeated his brother’s words. “Pretty good considering.”

“Cute,” Wyatt replied sarcastically.

Chris scowled.

“I’m going to be fine, Chris,” Wyatt assured his brother. “Maybe a little scared, but overall fine. I’m not so sure about you. Talk to me.”

Chris walked away from the bookcase and sat down on the couch next to Wyatt. “I remember why we hid stuff around the house, why we started. I remember why I have the job I have and why I am taking the classes at school that I am. I remember the same attack happening on my fourteenth birthday in both time lines, but with different outcomes. I remember a Dad who loves me and a brother who is good . . . at everything, other than house work. Can’t clean. Can’t cook.”

“Can clean,” Wyatt informed him, “just don’t most of the time.”

Chris laughed.

“I’m comfortable,” Wyatt continued. “I can find stuff.”

“So can I,” Chris informed his older brother.

Wyatt looked at Chris and laughed. “I get enough sterile at the hospital when I volunteer. I don’t need my room like that. Besides, the rest of the apartment is clean. My room is lived in.”

“Yeah, lived in by the Tasmanian Devil,” Chris retorted with a snort.

Wyatt looked at him confused. “The who?”

Chris didn’t even bother. “Never mind.”

Wyatt, however persisted, “Seriously. Who?”

“Looney Toons,” Chris admitted, reluctantly. “It’s a cartoon. You know, Bugs Bunny.”

Wyatt nodded, uncertain. “And this had to do with a devil how?”

Chris looked at his brother and shook his head. “Never mind. Taz was something like a tornado going through. That’s what your room usually looks like. Maybe Pig Pen would have been a better example.”

Wyatt looked at Chris, offended. “My room may be a mess, but it’s not a pig pen.”

Chris chuckled at his brother’s words. “That got you riled? Besides, I was saying your room looks like it’s lived in by Pig Pen from Peanuts, not calling your room a pig pen.”

A light seemed to go on in Wyatt’s head. “Oh. That Pig Pen.” The obscure references from the twentieth century were rather lost on him.

Chris nodded, amused. “Yes, that Pig Pen.”

Changing the topic, Wyatt asked, “So are you going to tell me about the unaltered time line.”

“Who let you change the topic of conversation?” Chris complained.

Wyatt moved to the edge of the couch, so that his back wasn’t touching the back of the couch. “The guy with burns on his back.”

“Low blow,” Chris informed him, “playing the sympathy card.”

“Are you going to talk?” Wyatt asked, impatiently. “Or do I need to come up with another tactic?”

“You don’t play fair,” Chris complained.

Wyatt shrugged his shoulders. “I’m worried about you, little brother.”

“This from the guy who just got blasted in the back with a vial of boiling water.” Chris shifted uncomfortably on the couch.

Wyatt smiled a little. “And thanks to your quick thinking and Mom’s gel, I will be fine. I’m not so sure about you.”

“I don’t need coddling, Wy,” Chris protested. “I can take care of myself.”

“I know you can, Chris,” Wyatt admitted. “I also know you don’t have to. Do you know that?”

Chris sighed. “Fine. Ask your questions. I can’t promise that I will answer every one. I probably won’t, but I’ll try.”

Wyatt looked at Chris as a mischievous look crossed his face. “When I was ten, what did I give you for your birthday.”

Chris gave Wyatt a playful shove and stood. “Would you be serious? It was a red ball . . . in both time lines. You wanted to know about the other time line, not test whether or not I was real. I am fully, physically and mentally, your brother. I am the young man who almost caused myself to cease to exist because I went to the past and broke up our parents, so I could keep an eye on you and save you from some unknown evil that would change you. When I died doing that I was also born and I became the little brother you grew up with. Regardless of which time line I can totally kick your rear in a cooking or potions contest.

“Well, I’d win in an athletic competition,” Wyatt boasted.

“You’re forgetting the three legged competition back in junior high,” Chris teased referring to a time when Wyatt had teamed up with his best friend, Seth Silberman, and came in dead last because Seth managed to trip them both.

“Not my fault,” Wyatt protested. “He is totally uncoordinated.”

“Well, I still beat you,” Chris reiterated. It was the only time and he was rather proud of it.

Wyatt looked at Chris for several seconds. “I’m sorry.”

“Huh?” Chris looked at Wyatt confused.

Wyatt looked down. “Whatever I . . . he did, I’m sorry.”

“Wyatt, look at me,” Chris commanded.

Wyatt looked at him, wary.

“I came to the past to save you,” Chris reminded him. It was one of the few things Wyatt had managed to learn about it. “You don’t really need to know the details. You don’t really want to know the details.”

Chris is wrong on both accounts, Wyatt thought as he listened to his brother talk. He did need to know the details, because they were part of what was bothering Chris. He did want to know the details, because he didn’t know any other way to understand what his brother was going through.

Not knowing the thoughts in his brother’s head, Chris kept talking. “All you need to know is I could have tried to stop you, permanently, don’t know if I would have succeeded, but I could have tried. I didn’t, because I didn’t just want everyone else safe, I wanted you safe, too.” Chris eyes grew hard as he thought of things Wyatt had done in the other time line. “Don’t get me wrong. If I had failed I would have found a way to stop you somehow. Maybe I would have stripped your powers. I don’t think I could have killed you.”

“Thanks,” Wyatt replied sarcastically.

Chris didn’t really hear as he continued talking. “And I don’t think you could have killed me, not ultimately. Not when it came down to it. So I don’t really know how things would have turned out if I had failed.”

“Chris?” Wyatt called, trying to pull his brother out of his reverie.

Chris looked at Wyatt surprised. “Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Wyatt informed him. “I just wanted to make sure you remembered where you were.”

“Hard to forget,” Chris replied, his voice touched with irony. “Though I guess that was the point of today. Archemneme wanted me to forget. Instead I remembered. That must have thrown him for a loop.” He turned to look at Wyatt. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Wyatt asked confused.

“For getting the demon away from me,” Chris told him with a slight smile. “I panicked.”

“You’ll return the favor,” Wyatt confided. “Even if you don’t, you’re my little brother. That’s what big brothers do, look out for little brothers.”

“What?” Chris teased, standing. “Saving you from turning evil wasn’t enough?”

Wyatt looked at Chris. A smile formed on his lips and he started to laugh.

Chris watched him for a moment and then the little smile on his face grew.

Wyatt stood and hugged Chris. “Don’t ever change, little bro.” Wyatt let go of Chris, grinning. He walked toward the doorway to the hall. Once he got there he stopped and turned around. “I forgot to tell you, your psychology teacher called and said he’s flunking you out.” Wyatt gave Chris a Cheshire grin and ran out of the room into the hall.

Chris ran after him. “You little liar.” Chris ran out of the room into the hall just in time to see his brother’s door closing behind him.

“Admit it,” Wyatt told him through the door as he locked it from inside, “I had you for a moment.”

“Open the door,” Chris commanded, hitting the door with his open palm.

“Nope,” Wyatt said, laughing a bit.

“I hate not being able to orb,” Chris said with a scowl.”

Laughing harder, Wyatt admitted. “Right about now, I love it.”

Chris was silent for a moment and then he just turned around and walked back into the living room.

Wondering about the silence, Wyatt called from his locked room. “Chris?”

Chris picked up the phone off the wall. Instead of saying a name and letting the phone dial, he punched in numbers once the phone was one.

“Chris?” Wyatt called, again, from his room, wondering even more about his brother’s silence. “What are you doing?”

Holding the phone to his ear, a smile formed on Chris lips as he replied, “Calling my professor.” After all, one could never be too careful.

The End

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If you'd like to see what happens next just click here and enjoy.

[StoryGirl83]

CREDITS:

Created by:
Constance M Burge

Written by:
StoryGirl83

Edited by:
StoryGirl83

Main Cast:
Wes Ramsey as Wyatt Matthew Halliwell
Drew Fuller as Christopher "Chris" Perry Halliwell

Co-Starring:
Holly Marie Combs as Piper Melinda Halliwell
Brian Krause as Leo Wyatt
Callum Keith Rennie as Steven "Steve" Kessler (Warlock)

Special Guests:
James Read as Victor Bennett
Alyssa Milano as Phoebe Penelope Halliwell (flashback only)

Guest-Starring (alphabetical):
Alex McKenna as Aimee Knighton (flashback only)
Alex Pettyfer as Gage Lillard (flashback only)
TBD as Archemneme
TBD as Manticores (various)

“Charmed” is a trademark of Spelling Television Production
Charmed and all related elements © Spelling Television Inc, and
TheWB Television Network, in association with Paramount Pictures.

All rights reserved.

This is a non-profit fanfiction, and is in no way affiliated with
any of the copyright holders. No copyright infringement is
intended nor implied. The multimedia on these pages is provided
solely as an entertaining resource.

Story © CHARMED: Heritage 2006-2015