Part 12: All That Ends
The person-sized buddle of dark rags on the doorstep of the Halliwell Manor was visibly trembling. A pale arm hesitantly reached out and managed to reach the bell on the third attempt. As the chime rang out, the rags began to vibrate as if they were covering a pneumatic drill.
Then the door opened and the rags froze.
"Can I help you?" Phoebe Halliwell asked, staring at the visitor.
The first noise the rags emitted was a hoarse squeak. This was followed by the marginal improvement, "I-I-I…um um ummmm…"
"Do I know you?"
The rags sharply swung from side to side: no, no, no.
"Can I get someone for you?" Phoebe asked, frowning.
The rags nodded then. A feeble whisper answered, "Chr-Chr-Chris…"
"One moment." Phoebe turned from the door to yell into the house's interior, "Chris, there's a tramp at the door for you!"
She was gone then, and the rags seemed to relax in relief.
A slender young man arrived in the doorway, darkly shadowed eyes widening in surprise.
"Hychek, what the hell are you doing here?" The tone was both that of incredulous and accusatory, missing out hospitable welcoming.
"I needed to see you," the lower-level demon replied, pushing back the hood on his ragged disguise slightly, but still keeping his stubby horns covered.
"I'm touched, really I am," Chris mocked. "But I saw you only yesterday, so if you've started missing me already, you have some issues I really do not want to be part of."
"Ha ha, funny." Hychek scowled. Then the demon saw the wince cross the young man's face as he shifted to stretch out stiff muscles in his side, and Hychek remembered why he'd come. He went pale and scratched his neck, where the itchy collar of his ramshackle outfit was irritating it.
Chris's face fell, and he suddenly looked sickly exhausted. "What have you done?"
"I might have done something quite –"
Hychek's hesitant confession was cut off by Chris shoving him aside and leaping down onto the steps.
The demon spluttered, nearly falling over. He recovered his balance and turned, his jaw slackening to gape at the settling pile of ash on the driveway.
"Colubrine demon," Chris explained, breathing heavily as he came back up to the door. "Sorry, you were saying?"
"Oh, nothing. It doesn't matter anymore."
Chris frowned, but Hychek cut in before he could speak.
"What's of more interest is that I've found out something about the Nightmare demon." Hychek was sweating like a pig in the thick rags under the San Francisco early evening sun. "It seems the demon generally steers clear of young children, has less control over them or something."
A smile quirked Chris's lips. "What's this? Willing cooperation?"
"Uh, no… More like guilt, actually," Hychek admitted, quietly.
Chris's eyes flicked from Hychek to the pile of ash on the driveway and back again, with what the demon suspected was comprehension deep in his eyes.
The young man was silent for a moment. Pale and weak, he had certainly looked better, though he appeared calmer than when Hychek had seen him the previous evening.
"It doesn't matter about the Nightmare demon anymore," Chris finally told him. "He's gone."
"You vanquished him?" Hychek asked, surprised.
"He's been vanquished, yes."
"Woah, man," Hychek breathed in admiration. "When I saw you were in one piece, I took it you hadn't had round two yet."
"Geez, I'm glad you had so much confidence in me."
"No offence. Just from what I heard he was a tough cookie."
"Oh," Chris waved a dismissive hand, "it was like crumpets in the park."
"Uh, glad to hear it. Well, if I stay up here much longer I'm going to come out in hives…so…"
"See ya, Hychek. I'll be sure to call by soon." Chris grinned mockingly.
"Oh, great," the lower-level demon replied, sarcastic. "I'll look forward to that so much, thank you."
Disgruntled, Hychek shimmered back to the underworld.
Chris stepped back inside the manor and shut the front door. He headed into the sitting room, smothering a yawn.
Although Leo had healed all his injuries, he was still a little stiff and achy as though his body was finding it hard to believe the wounds were really gone. An hour or so of more sleep would help get rid of the lingering soreness and Chris settled into the couch with that idea in mind.
Earlier he had thought that his insomnia would have been worse after being trapped in the Nightmare demon's world, fear keeping him from letting go of the waking world. However, though his mind had been anxious, the deep weariness of his body had overridden his worries, sick as it was of having to suffer because his brain was making all the decisions. He had slept for a full ten hours, blissfully and dreamlessly.
All in all, it had been a pretty wise move, since it kept him away from the sisters' barrage of questions.
He'd ignored their exact questions and slurred something he hoped sounded like: "The Nightmare demon has been vanquished. The demon drew Wyatt into the dream world. No harm came to him. He'll be fine." How much had been coherent enough for them to understand, he wasn't sure. He had promptly faded into slumber.
By the time he'd opened his eyes again, they'd calmed down and were quite happy to forget the whole thing – Wyatt was safe, he was safe, they were all there to fight another day, so there was nothing worth mulling over.
Of course, Chris couldn't forget as easily as they could. But he was adept at pretending he already had.
In truth, when he closed his eyes, he could still see the fabricated Bianca's soulless face twisted with cruelty, and he was haunted by the phantom burning agony of a jewel-encrusted dagger being torn out of his belly. So many horrific images and memories of suffering would be accompanying him for some time, but he knew all of them would fade. The mind didn't take long to forget pain and even the worst of memories gradually diminished in clarity. However, Chris knew he had some natural, harmless nightmares to come before then. But those he wasn't unfamiliar with and he knew how to deal with them.
Chris smiled as he got his head comfortable on a cushion. Thesitting room was warm and homely. Piper was playing with Wyatt on the floor, Phoebe and Paige were watching a movie and Leo wasn't around.
His gaze settled on the little fair-haired boy. His brother had worried him for a bit, what with taking control of the dreamscape and then refusing to offer him any aid. However, ultimately, Wyatt had pulled through for him.
After Wyatt had gotten out of the last dreamscape, Chris had feared for a moment that he would die along with the nightmare world. There had been an unsettling feeling of everything disintegrating, slipping into nothingness, and he was caught up in it. His senses were giving him confused, fragmented information, and a glowing white light was searing through him. He really had thought it was the end.
But then he had found himself opening his eyes, and seeing a ceiling and four anxious faces.
Then came the pain.
There was nothing else for a while, just the pain.
Oh, and the coughing up blood, there had been a lot of that, too.
But then he'd felt magic healing him, taking away the horrible pain, making it easy to breath again. It wasn't until the magic was done that he was aware enough to realise where he was: Home.
That had been a good feeling.
Chris watched as Wyatt took the bright-red block Piper handed him and put it on top of a little stack they were building. His smile softly slipped away, as he reminded himself that it wasn't over yet. It no longer seemed likely that the Nightmare demon had been the one to turn Wyatt – it was clear he didn't have enough control over him as a child and Wyatt was turned by a demon when he was still an infant. That meant the threat was still out there.
Silently, Chris repeated his vow. He wouldn't let his brother be turned. He would save Wyatt. He would save the future from darkness.
Chris was Wyatt's protector.
His brother's protector.
The gentle smile returned to Chris's face, his eyelids growing heavy, as he watched Wyatt add a blue block to the little tower.
Chris wasn't truly home. But sometimes he could almost pretend he was.
Fin.
Author's Note: There we go: all's well that ends well - I've returned Chris (mostly) none the worse for wear. ;o)
I'm so very glad this story has worked out so well. Your feedback has been very encouraging and has given me a confidence boost for writing longer stories - thank you! Unfortunately, I doubt very much that I will have the time to devote to another one that is anywhere near a match to this one (at least not in the foreseeable future). But do expect to see some short fics from me - I have some ideas in mind!