AN: Outtake from my full length story, 'Traveling Back'! Wyatt's reaction to orbing into the attic to see Chris fading away. Set around chapter 13 or 14 of my story.

I do not own Charmed!

Phoebe and Paige sat on the sofa in the attic. Their eyes went back and forth, following Chris as he paced across the attic floor. Paige rolled her eyes while Phoebe smiled sympathetically.

"Will you please calm down? It's going to be fine." Paige finally snapped when Chris' pacing had become too much for her. Phoebe glared at her to which Paige only shrugged.

Chris stopped in his tracks and turned to stare incredulously at his aunt. "Calm down? Are you kidding me? We don't even know where the hell they are and we're running out of time! You're not the one who has to worry about fading out of existence!" He snapped back.

Paige opened her mouth to retort but stopped when Phoebe jumped up from the couch.

"Both of you stop it! This isn't helping. We're all on edge and we're all worried, but the two of you biting each other's heads off is not going to help matters." Phoebe spoke calmly, but her tone left no room for argument.

Paige nodded reluctantly while Chris went back to wearing a hole in the attic floor. Phoebe sighed in relief.

Phoebe took a step forward and gently placed a hand on Chris' shoulder.

"It really is going to be fine, Chris." She spoke gently. "Piper knows and she wouldn't do anything to risk your life."

Chris nodded slowly and leaned against the wall. Phoebe smiled softly, glad that his pacing had stopped. The three of them fell silent while they waited.

Ten minutes or so went by without a sound from any of them and Chris was starting to feel a little…off. He glanced casually at both of his aunts but neither of them seemed to be experiencing the same uneasiness that he was.

Chris nearly passed it off as his own paranoia until he glanced at his hand. His slowly fading hand. Chris stumbled, and was it not for the wall; he would have been on the ground.

Paige turned her head to roll her eyes or say something sarcastic Chris was sure, but stopped when she noticed his hand. Her eyes widened and her face took on a horrified expression. Paige stood abruptly and rushed over to Chris. Phoebe, having noticed what was going on, did the same.

"Oh my God! What's happening?" Paige stupidly asked.

Chris didn't have it in him to give a sarcastic reply. "I'm fading. We're out of time."

Phoebe reached forward to grasp his arm. "No you're not. No we're not. There's still time. Paige check the Book of Shadows!"

"For what?" Paige asked hopelessly.

Phoebe shook her head. "I don't know. Something, anything. I don't care what it is!"

Paige nodded and hurried over to the podium to flip through the book. Phoebe shot Chris a worried look.

"Wy-"

Phoebe started to call but was cut off by Chris. "No. Don't call him."

Phoebe stared at Chris in surprise. "I'm not going to keep this from him Chris. He needs to be here. Maybe he can help."

Chris opened his mouth to object again but stopped when Phoebe turned an angry glare on him. He reluctantly kept quiet.

"Wyatt! Wyatt you need to get here now!"

Not a minute later, Wyatt appeared standing beside Phoebe. A scowl on his face at having been interrupted from whatever it was he was doing.

"What do you…?"

Wyatt trailed off, having noticed Paige's hurried search through the book and Phoebe's anxious face. Wyatt prepared himself and turned to face Chris.

"Fuck!" He swore.

Chris was fading, and he was fading fast. Wyatt reached out to grasp each of Chris's arms. Chris winced slightly at how tight Wyatt's hold was.

"When did it start happening? Why is it happening? Where are mom and dad?" Wyatt demanded.

Chris blinked at Wyatt's use of mom and dad. He hadn't heard him talk about or address either of them as anything but Piper and Leo in so long. It was a sign of just how freaked out Wyatt must be.

"Only a few minutes ago. I think it's pretty obvious. We don't know. And could you please take your hands off me." Chris answered.

Wyatt ignored his request to remove his hands, but he did loosen his grip. Chris rolled his eyes but he didn't protest again.

"What do you mean you don't know where they are? Find them! Call for Leo!" Wyatt shouted.

Chris glared. "Gee, why didn't I think of that? There on another plane, Wyatt!"

"Shit!" Wyatt cursed again. He removed one of his hands from Chris' arm to angrily brush his hair out of his face. Wyatt turned his attention away from Chris and on to Phoebe and Paige.

"What are you guys doing about it? Summon her or something!"

Paige glared from her spot by the book. "We've tried that. I'm looking for something now, but we can't really do anything unless we know where they are."

Wyatt cursed again and Phoebe stared at him sympathetically. Phoebe could feel the waves of fear and anxiety coming off of him. He was going to lose it. She wanted to go over and wrap her arms around him but she knew he wouldn't take that well.

"We have to believe that Piper will do something." She began quietly. "She knows the situation. She knows the timeline. She won't let Chris fade away."

Wyatt turned his glare on her. "You don't know that!" He snapped.

Phoebe didn't say anything; instead she joined Paige by the Book of Shadows. They could still try.

Chris watched the exchange between Wyatt and their aunts silently. Wyatt was losing it. Chris could feel the panic coming from him. It confused him. The force of Wyatt's fear.

"I don't get why you care so much." Chris mumbled to himself.

Wyatt heard him and for a second it was like his eyes had flashed black. "I. don't. want. you. to. fucking. die." Wyatt punctuated each word and Chris felt as though he could feel the power behind his brother's words. This time, he chose not to question it.

"You may not be able to stop it."

Wyatt's eyes returned to their natural colour, but with a sense of determination still firmly set. He didn't speak but grasped Chris' arms even tighter than he had before.

Wyatt was holding on to him so tight as if he believed that if he held on tight enough he could stop Chris from fading. Chris' eyes softened at the genuine fear, panic, and need to protect he felt from his brother.

Chris made no conscious decision to bring his hand up. But when he glanced down slightly he could see his own hand holding on to Wyatt's arm. He made no move to remove it. Chris felt the sudden urge to protect Wyatt. Something he hadn't felt in a long time.

"It's going to be okay, Wyatt."

Wyatt jumped slightly at the sudden voice in his mind.

"You don't know that. You can't know that."

"Maybe not, but I'd like to believe it."

Wyatt didn't respond and Chris blocked the connection. Not completely, but enough that Wyatt wouldn't sense his own fear.

Wyatt's eyes widened suddenly and if possible his grip got tighter. Chris looked to see more of his body beginning to vanish before his eyes. His odds weren't looking good.

"Stop that! Fight it. You have to hold on."

"Wyatt…I'm sorry for the way things turned out."

"Shut up, Chris! I don't want to hear you talking like that. This isn't the end. You're going to keep being a pain in my ass and trying to make me 'good' and I'm going to keep fighting you the entire way. So just shut up."

Chris smirked at Wyatt's way of wording their situation. His brother sure had an interesting way of looking at things. He talked like it was some kind of game between brothers or something. Chris rolled his eyes.

Chris prepared to open the connection to try and talk to Wyatt again but he stopped at the look in Wyatt's eyes. Hope? Relief? Chris glanced down. His body was…reappearing.

Wyatt stared at Chris in relief but didn't relinquish his hold until he was positive that Chris was okay. He finally let go when Paige and Phoebe came running over, yelling excitedly.

Wyatt breathed out a sigh. Chris was okay. Wyatt could still feel the panic and fear inside of him. He had nearly lost Chris many times through their lives, they were Halliwells, but it had never come this close. The emotion inside Wyatt was threatening to encompass him. He had to leave.

"Well now that we have this mess all sorted out, I have business to attend to." Wyatt spoke, his voice cold once again.

Chris rolled his eyes as Wyatt turned to orb out. His brother could pretend all he wanted but Chris knew him. He could hear the tremor in Wyatt's voice, no matter how he tried to mask it with cold indifference. Just as Wyatt was about to disappear, Chris opened the connection again.

"Thank you for not letting go."

He didn't expect a response. So he was taken by surprise when just as the last of Wyatt's orbs vanished, his voice echoed in Chris' head.

"Thank you for holding on."

Review and let me know what you thought please! : )