Of All the People…

By Teal Lover

Summary: Wyatt reflects on the events after Chris Crossed and decides to do something about it.

Disclaimer: Me dont own...just borrowing...get no money from this...you get the picture...

Rated: K+


Of all the people to betray me, the words echoed in his mind. He never thought he would utter those words aloud to his own brother. Oh, he knew that the boy disagreed with many—or should he say—most of the things he had done in his quest for power. But he had never once imagined that Chris would oppose him so completely. And he had never seen it coming.

From the start of his reign, Wyatt Halliwell had never trusted anyone save his little brother. Not even his right hand man, who he left the day-to-day menial tasks of ruling to. No, the only one ever in his confidence was the one born into it.

Ever since they were little, Wyatt had kept mainly to himself. Hiding in obscurity and the ever present feeling that he was different. But even in infancy, Chris had always seemed to sense this, drawing him out of his shell. Even though younger, he was always the only person that he could confide in. The only person who ever understood him. Or so he thought.

So it came as a total surprise to the Twice-Blessed-Witch when his famed Book of Shadows disappeared that night. It had been literally robbed from his hands as he thumbed through its crackling pages.

With the brotherly bond that they had always shared, he knew exactly to where it had gone. Or more precisely, to whom. It was the first indication that things had begun to fall apart. He stood there staring at his empty hands, numb and incapable of moving. If his second-in-command hadn't been present when it happened and ordered demons to the manor, he would have never caught on to his little brother's plot against him. Or his fiance's, he thought with a grimace.

She must have poisoned his mind against him. What other possible reason for this betrayal of family could there be? He almost laughed at her fate. If she only knew him as well as her fiancé did, she would never have risked her life for something so foolish. He had never intended to kill his younger brother. While it was true that he fully intended to release the energy ball at him, it was certainly nothing that would have killed him. Shock some sense into him, perhaps, but kill him? Never. Apparently, the feeling was mutual.

With all of the powers that existed in the two Halliwell brothers, either one of them could have destroyed the other ages ago. Even upon Bianca's accidental death, Chris's anger with him was enough to give him a burst of power, but not enough to make him want to kill his older brother. Wyatt had grown up with the young man and had witnessed the immense power that he wielded, and often withheld.

Despite being Twice-Blessed, had he wanted to, Chris could have killed the elder witch with a simple flick of his wrist. Yet he hadn't. Nor did he go back and seek retribution on his barely one year old self. The fact that he stood here now gazing out of the window pensively, was proof of that.

Anyone who knew him might have thought him to be brooding, but then, there were none around who knew him, were there?

At least, none recently. Admittedly, he himself despised seeing the city in ruins as it was now. But it was a necessary evil in firmly cementing his seat of power. His worthiness of being ruler. The destruction of a place that he had once held so dearly, showed the world that as a rule, he had no tolerance for disobedience. That there was no middle ground. Compliance was the only viable option for continued existence.

But there was still one who knew the truth. Who knew that particular rule was one that was flexible, if only for him. But if truth be told, he would always have a weakness. A weakness named Christopher Halliwell.

The younger boy had tried his patience on every occasion they had to meet over the last several years, and he would like nothing better than to get him back. If only to prove to the boy that he did indeed have dominion over everything and everyone. He didn't need him otherwise. Right?

He had already sent Bianca, and what a failure that had been. He couldn't go himself without risking his seat of power. And sending one of his minions was most definitely out of the question. Their hatred of the boy and what he represented guaranteed that he would not survive the trip home. He was after all, the only chink in their leader's otherwise impenetrable armor.

He wondered for the first time whether it was time to let it all go, and just let Christopher do as he pleased in the past. He laughed sardonically to himself, and 'Fix him' as if he were a toy to be glued back together after rough play.

But that would mean the end for him as he was. Was he really ready for that?

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Wyatt Halliwell stood up with a destination in mind. He straightened his clothes, murmuring out loud. "I suppose it's time to find out."

TBC—you decide…