Disclaimer: I do not owned Charmed or any of its characters.
Author's Note: This is set at the end of "Sword and the City." The dialogue between Piper and Leo is taken directly from the show.
It's just a quick, one-shot fic,exploringsome ofChris's thoughts. I always love exploring Chris's thoughts. hehe.
It is done then.
Wyatt has received Excalibur.
It is done.
I can't stop my gaze from straying to it, my eyes from narrowing, my fists from clenching…
Today the first piece has been laid. The first concrete piece that connects the beautiful, innocent baby Wyatt to the tyrannical, murdering monster he will become.
The urge interfere in this world, to tell the sisters to take that sword and put far from the innocent baby's reach, is so intense I have to clench my jaw against it, close my eyes from it.
The urge is almost overwhelming.
But I can't.
They would never believe me, never understand.
They'd never be able to comprehend their sweet darling as anything other than good.
I'd be the one they'd doubt, the one they'd accuse. There suspicions of me would sky-rocket, and in the end I'd be the one labeled "evil."
Leo already distrusts me enough as it is. Any hint that I'm here to do anything but save Wyatt and I'll be standing in front of a council of Elders. He's already trying to shove me out of the picture; using other charges as an excuse, trying to distract me, to distance me…
As if I could ever be distanced or distracted from this… from my mission.
To save Wyatt.
I hold back the bitter chuckled that builds up inside me; I'm here to save him – preferably.
In any case – I'm here to stop him.
The door opens suddenly, startling me from my thoughts. Piper walks in, holding Wyatt in her arms.
She doesn't see me as she walks to the center of the attic. Of course that is the point of a cloaking spell -- not to be seen.
Someday though, someday she'll sense me – no matter what.
Gently she set Wyatt down in the center of the attic and sat herself down across from him. For a moment she says nothing, just studies the small boy in front of her.
Her gaze flitting to Excalibur, then back to Wyatt.
"Listen…" she begins softly, her intense gaze trained on the young boy, "I want you to promise me that before we take that thing out of storage, that you're gonna play lots of football and baseball and have lots of normal toys…" she tells him steadily, her gaze burning with determination, "… maybe we'll even get a dog…" she continues, "What do you think?" Wyatt stands there, quietly drinking milk from his bottle. His entire attention riveted on his mother… even though he has no idea what she's talking about…
The door opens again, and suddenly Leo is here too.
He's here.
For them.
He'll always be here… for them…
I can't help myself – I tense.
Carefully, he settles himself down next to Piper; his gaze on Wyatt as well.
"How we doing?" he asks softly, reaching out and gently ruffling the boy's hair.
Piper sighs softly, "Uh… His Highness seems content." She replies wryly. But her gaze is worried…
… and it should be…
His Highness.
Yes, that is exactly what he will become. Ruler of the World. Possessor of Excalibur. Supreme Sovereign of Evil.
"What about you?" Leo asks, also seeing the worry in her gaze.
"I'm doing all right," she answers him softly, "At least I have my priorities straight now. I was so busy doing stuff and all I really wanted to do was hang out with him." She admitted more to herself than to him.
Leo nods slowly, "Well you should have more time for that now…" he responds cryptically, causing Piper to look at him questioningly.
"I fixed the washer." He admits.
A flicker of surprise crosses Piper's face, "You did?"
He nods, "And the sink… and the cable… and the toilet…" he lists slowly.
"Wow…" she says, smirking a little, "I forgot how handy you were to have around the house."
Their gazes meet and I know, I can see, that for a moment they're remembering. Remembering when everything had seemed almost perfect, when their future had stretched before them as something complete and whole and beautiful; instead of the tarnished, fragmented version they were trying to re-build.
The version I'd left them with.
"Pretty strange, huh?" Leo asks, breaking the moment as his gaze drifts, once again, to Wyatt.
"Kind of scary, actually." Piper corrects.
That bitter chuckled rises up in my throat.
Oh, you have no idea.
No idea how scary, indeed.
Leo laughs; if only I could show him how truly un-funny it is. If only I could make him see… if only could've made him see…
"Why?" he asks.
And I wish I could answer the question for him.
Surprisingly, Piper answers it rather well.
Her head tilts to one side as she studies her baby boy, "Well…" she begins hesitantly, "… we've seen what he can do without the sword. I can't begin to imagine what he could do with it."
Oh, Mom… and you don't want to.
My heart cries out to her suddenly, a lump rising in my throat. She doesn't know, but something… that mothers' intuition that serves her so well, is warning her.
But she won't listen.
None of them will.
Over the years they should've seen, should've noticed – there were signs – if only they'd listened to that tiny voice…
The voice that was speaking got her now, telling her how dangerous that sword truly was. Yes, it was Excalibur, a sword of justice, King Arthur's legacy… but King Arthur's story is riddled with tragedy. If only she would listen to that voice, to it's warning; if only she could see how deadly that sword can be. How it can destroy everything, even pure innocence.
"Well, whatever it is, it's meant to be." Leo tells her comfortingly.
And I want to scream; to make my presence known and rage against that simple sentence; against those worthless words.
Meant to be.
An empty promise, a hollow comfort when all your world is shattering around you.
But of course Leo would say that.
What else would he say? It would never occur to him that his eldest son could be anything but good.
Never occur to him that any of the boy's actions could be anything but meant to be.
In all his life, Leo Wyatt, would never be as wrong about anything as he was about his eldest son.
"Doesn't make it any less scary, though." Piper argued, "But that's tomorrow's problem. I'll worry about it then." She added quickly, a note of finality in her voice as she brushed the issue aside.
Tomorrow's Problem
I watch as she scoops Wyatt into her arms and gets up. Leo too stands joining her as they leave the attic.
Tomorrow's Problem…
"Okey-dokey…" she says as she shifts the baby in her arms. He settles against her, ready for a nap now that he's finished his bottle.
Leo smiles a little as he watched Wyatt snuggle into Piper's arms. Quietly they all exit the attic, leaving behind the sword that would one day change the lives of billions, that would one day alter the world.
I stand up and walk to it. Once again fighting the urge to remove it from my home, from the heart of my family.
The sword isn't evil, but then again it isn't purely good either. Nothing that sheds so much blood can be. Perhaps that's the key—it isn't evil or good, perhaps it's that neutrality that makes it so dangerous.
It sits there, innocuously glinting in the sun; an object of legend, of grandeur – of destruction.
Tomorrow's Problem.
And I'm Tomorrow's Child.
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