A/N: Hey everyone! Well – I recently got back into my Charmed phase, and I decided to come back to this fic. Yay! So, I was re-reading since I didn't remember a thing I had written, and realized that it sucked. So, I edited. A lot. And now, I'm re-posting. Woo hoo! This is the first chapter – more an introduction than anything else, but the actual plot will kick in soon. But first, let me catch you up to date.

This fic takes place in the changed future. Chris went back to save Wyatt and succeeded, dying in the process. When he turned 22, the age he was when he went back in time, he got all the memories back from his previous life, because the two people caught up with each other. If that doesn't make sense, I'm horribly sorry, but this timeline crap confuses the Hell out of me, and that's how I think it would work. Wyatt doesn't remember anything, because evil him never existed, because Chris, the alternate timeline Chris that merged with the changed Chris, saved him. Piper, Paige, Phoebe, and Leo remember him coming back to save Wyatt, so really, Wyatt and his younger sister Pru are the only ones who don't know what might have happened.

Ok, confused now? You'll make it, I promise! Happy reading! Oh, and please, please review!

Chris slid through the magical defenses shielding the demon's lair, holding his breath as to not be heard. Wyatt stood just behind him, knowing that his little brother needed to do this on his own. This whole escapade was his idea, not Wyatt's. But just in case, Wyatt was there, ready to defend his brother. Just like always – even if Chris didn't want his help anymore.

Ever since Chris's last birthday – his twenty second – he had been acting… strange. No, that word was too kind. Chris had been acting like a dick, but just to Wyatt. Everyone else in his family was safe from his hurtful words and the cold shoulder he threw at Wyatt all the time.

Wyatt was used to the fear, the avoidance and the defensive words that came from everyone else. His mother and aunts were the only ones besides Chris that could bare to be in a room with him for any period of time without freaking out. And even the Charmed Ones and their ex white-lighter could barely suppress the shiver of fear, the feeling of being lesser than the twice blessed being standing in front of them. But Chris… it never bothered him. He was Wyatt's rock, his salvation and shrink, through those times.

But now, Chris hated him, for no apparent reason, and Wyatt could feel his control slipping. Every time someone looked at him with fear in their eyes, every time someone physically flinched away from his touch… it was another chink in his armor. But he still loved Chris, and tried relentlessly to talk to him. Wyatt thought if he could just find out what had happened, what he had done wrong, he could fix it. He was supposed to be the strongest freakin' source of good magic in the universe, damn it! But what good would it do if he couldn't even fix his relationship with his brother?

The Red Eye demon registered Chris's presence just in time to see it's demise flying toward it in the shape of a vanquishing potion. It combusted on the spot, goo flying every which way. One of his flunkies shimmered and reappeared behind Chris; Wyatt tensed, ready to fly into action to defend his brother.

It wasn't needed, however. Chris orbed out of the demon's reach, reappeared in a flurry of lights slightly to the right, and squinted at a conveniently pointy rock. The rock shot into the air and into the demon's chest, piercing it through the heart. The lower level Red Eye went up in flames, and was vanquished.

"Nice one, man!" Wyatt congratulated his brother with a forced smile. He would be nice to his brother if it killed him – who knew? Maybe that was all it would take to bring back the Chris he knew.

Chris turned his face, just enough so Wyatt could see his eyes roll. He orbed out immediately after, presumably returning to the Halliwell manor.

Wyatt began to follow his brother, but something registered in his vast sensory powers. "You will stay away from my brother," his empowered voice rumbled through the cavern, "or you will join the Red Eyes. Take your pick." He hated that he had to back up Chris's work, especially in a way he could find out about it later. But Wyatt didn't want his brother to die before he had a chance to make amends… or ever, actually… so, he did what he had to do to keep the demons away so he wouldn't have to show Chris up. He didn't need any inferiority issues.

No voices called out to challenge him, so Wyatt orbed home, trying to keep his mind on positive things. His aunts and mother could still be around him; the only way he knew about their reticence was from his telepathic abilities. The abilities he hated. They were the ones that were hardest too block off – probably, he wouldn't even know about most of his family's fears regarding him. Which would be amazing. Too bad he couldn't figure out how to turn it off.

"How did it go?" Their mother, Piper, greeted them. She was cooking, as always. An ex-chef, Piper Halliwell was always in the kitchen, something the boys didn't mind at all. Demon fighting made them hungry, but really – they were guys. They were always hungry. Currently, she was baking cookies – peanut butter, Wyatt's favorite.

Piper knew very well how Wyatt was feeling. Her oldest baby was totally alone, now that his brother had started ignoring him. That trip to the past was really wearing on Chris – not that Piper wasn't happy he made the trip… but now that he had all of his memories had resurfaced, Piper did wish that there had been some way to keep the memories from the alternate timeline from catching up with him. Wyatt wasn't and had never been evil, and he did not deserve to be treated like Chris was treating him now – especially when no one else would even talk to him. Her boys had always been so close – it was killing her to see them now.

"Chris took care of it." Wyatt said carefully, trying not to antagonize his brother further by making it seem that he was deliberately assigning credit to baby him. Chris didn't even acknowledge his presence.

"Did you figure out who they were working for? Your sister is still too young to deal with this, we can't have them coming back."

"Hey!" Thirteen year old Prudence Halliwell ran into the room, the frown on her face showing how angry she was. The demons had come after her, and Piper had freaked out. Her baby girl had just developed her powers, and now demons were attacking right and left. This one had gotten the closest. Pru's arm was still bleeding, courtesy of a fireball.

"It was a Red Eye," Chris said. "He was some lousy low level. It was pathetic. Can I have one of those?" He grabbed at a cookie, but Piper smacked his hand away, grinning good-naturedly.

"No! Those are for dessert tonight, so keep your paws off!"

"I am not too young to fight demons! I am the same age Chris was when he started fighting demons! Thirteen isn't young!" Pru brought the conversation back to herself. However, when she gestured with her left arm, a grunt of pain took over her tirade.

"Heal this, would you? It kinda hurts." She was clearly talking to Chris, Wyatt noticed. She didn't even make eye contact with him. Wyatt bit the inside of his cheek, hard, to keep any of his pain to spill over into words… or worse, magic. Pru would be fine, Chris would make sure of that. Why should it matter who healed her?

"Sure thing, kid. Come over here." She moved over to his side so he could hold his hands over the wound. A soft yellow light bathed the rift in the skin, sewing it together easily. Chris wisely avoided the demon vanquishing subject, not wanting to piss either his sister or mother off.

Pru's face regained color quickly, and she stepped away from her favorite brother to stretch out her arm, testing its dexterity. "Thanks, Chris!" She said enthusiastically, bouncing up to hug him. A beam of sunlight shined in the window onto her face, giving her an angelic glow.

To Wyatt, it made perfect sense that Pru would want to fight demons. Both of her brothers, and her parents, cousins, and aunts, fought demons. Well, most of them, anyway. But it really wasn't the best idea just yet. When Pru had been conceived, Leo had been mortal, rather than white-lighter or Elder like he had been when Chris and Wyatt had been conceived. Pru was still one of the most powerful witches in existence – with a catch. She was a weather-witch. Weather control powers took years longer to manifest than standard powers, the hope being that the more mature the recipient was mentally, the easier it would be to control the powers.

However, Pru had never had the best control over her emotions, and was having an extremely hard time learning self control as a result. Piper refused to let her come into any contact with any demons until she learned, and Wyatt understood that sentiment completely.

"Mo-om, are you sure I can't –"

"Prudence Alivia, you will not be fighting demons until you can control your powers. We have had this conversation a million times before. After you get through magic school, we will talk, but until then…" she left the sentence hang threateningly, and left the room.

"Hey, buck up, kid." Chris ordered, chucking his younger sister under the chin. "You'll get there… and you know the best part of being a Halliwell?"

"What?" Pru stared up at Chris with open admiration.

Chris gave a roguish grin. "The demons come to us."

The two chuckled in camaraderie, and Wyatt was done.

He stormed out of the room. He was angry at himself, and at his brother, and Hell, Pru too. She always went to Chris. Wyatt barely existed in her little world, and she liked it that way. Why couldn't she see that he would never hurt her? Why couldn't she see that she was his family, and he loved her? And Chris – he needed to get over himself. Wyatt didn't even know what he did to alienate him – for God's sake, none of it made sense!

"Piper! Where are you? We have a situation." Phoebe Halliwell's voice penetrated the quiet of the house, and all of the Halliwell's in residence ran out to greet her – nervous excitement penetrating all of them.

"Phoebe? What's going on?" Piper's voice rang out from the sunroom, a little breathless as she ran into the foyer. Wyatt made it there first, as he was already on the stairs, headed up to his room. Pru ran in shortly after, Chris on her heels. They all heard the panic in their Aunt's voice.

"All of you out." Piper said calmly, turning to her children. "Let your aunt and I talk, and we'll fill you in later."

Pru started to protest, but Wyatt clasped a hand on her shoulder and began hauling her out of the room as Chris followed behind. Pru wrenched her shoulder away from him, walking a little faster to escape his presence. Wyatt's stomach tightened, but he kept moving like he hadn't been bothered.

"Not you, Wyatt. Stay." Phoebe's voice called from behind them. Wyatt felt Chris tense behind him, and Pru whirled around to glare.

Wyatt closed his eyes against the condemnation he could feel coming from them with his empathic powers, and turned to face his aunt.

Piper smiled pityingly, and gestured him over. "Let's go in the sitting room, shall we?" She took his hand and led him in.

"Paige! Get your butt over here!" Phoebe called into the air, summoning the final Halliwell sister.

Blue and white sparkling lights announced Paige's arrival. "What? I was teaching the girls how to orb."

Seven year old twin girls, Cara and Cecilia, stood behind their mother, peeking out around her legs. They were very shy, and treated Wyatt like a pariah.

Piper knelt down beside them and said, "Why don' t you two go into the playroom with Pru and Chris? Maybe he'll help you with orbing." The girls grinned and ran to find Chris, who they loved.

Wyatt ground his teeth, wishing that, just once, some one would rather spend time with him, and not his brother. Wishing that, once, someone wouldn't fear him, and would hold his hand.

"You know Terra, right?" Phoebe began the conversation. The other's nodded, wondering where this was headed.

"She died this morning, I was there. When she was dying, she told me something, and now I feel like it's my responsibility to do something about it." She stopped and took a deep breath.

Piper took the opportunity to interject herself into the conversation. "Terra died? Oh, that's terrible! Her poor daughter! She's what, nineteen, twenty? I know she's around Chris's age..."

Phoebe shot at look at her older sister. "Yeah. Anyway, she's the Acquirer." The sisters' mouths dropped open, and Wyatt cocked his head in confusion.

He couldn't help but ask, "What?" He had been in the underworld almost daily for a week, listening for rumors of new demons. Could this Acquirer be one? By his family's reactions, she was a powerful one. Would she be a match for even Wyatt's might?

Piper explained. "The Acquirer. She is said to be one of the most powerful beings in existence. All she has to do is see a power used, and she can do it too." At Wyatt's gasp of surprise, she looked at him.

"The power can go either way, though. Good or evil. If she turns evil, we'll all die." Phoebe cut in. "And Terra knew that. She asked me, us, to take the girl in."

As her announcement rang through the room, Wyatt sensed his brother and sister leaning against the door, and the twins listening too. He decided not to say anything-- maybe that would earn him points.

"What does that have to do with me?" Wyatt asked suspiciously, looking from one timeless face to the next. He wasn't going to play evil to convince this girl to be good. He had enough people thinking he was evil.

"The girl just got her powers, and she's scared. See, Terra was the Acquirer before, and the powers are passed down through the generations. And since you know what she's going through…" Wyatt stopped listening.

Oh, yeah, he knew what she was going through. The instinctive shudder whenever he walked by, the little flinch a person gave when he touched them, the fear everyone felt when he walked into a room.

No one should have to go through it alone. He would help the girl however he could.

"I'll help." He said finally. "Where will she be living?"

"Here," Piper said. "If she's going to need your help, it'll be the easiest way." The unspoken finish to that sentence rang in Wyatt's mind. And that way, you'll have someone to talk to. You won't have to be alone… she'll understand exactly what you're going through.

Wyatt ignored his mother's pointed thoughts and turned away from her. "Ok. That's easy enough."

"So, that's it?" Paige asked. "'Cause if it is, the girls and I really gotta go. I told Henry we'd be back," she checked her wristwatch, "An hour ago."

Piper and Phoebe nodded, and Wyatt and Paige both stood to leave.

"Hey, Wyatt? Can I talk to you?" Paige requested hesitantly. "It won't take long." At his nod, she gave a sigh of relief and began to walk into the kitchen.

The twins, at that moment, orbed into the room. "Hi mommy!" They squealed excitedly. "Look! Chris showed us how to move farther!"

"Did you thank him?" Paige asked sternly, after congratulating her daughters and embracing both of them.

Cecilia's eyes widened. "No – come on, Cara!" They orbed out of the room again, presumably to find Chris. Wyatt ground his teeth, but managed to keep his mouth shut.

Paige stared after them, bemused. "Come on, Wy." She led him into the kitchen, sensing that she wouldn't want to have this conversation in front of his mother.

Auntie Paige put a hand on Wyatt's arm, her warm eyes looking up at him apologetically. "I'm really sorry about the way the girls treat you. You're just…" She trailed off, wondering what would be appropriate to say in this context.

"Terrifying?" He intoned bitterly. He knew it was the truth, but that didn't stop the revelation from breaking his heart.

Paige looked at her brightly colored heels, ashamed. "To them, you're the big scary guy who kills demons in their room. They don't understand that you were just protecting them, or that you care about them. They just know they saw you kill someone."

And they couldn't possibly have got that idea from their father, could they have? Wyatt's jaw clenched. He had never thought that saving them would scare them more – but Henry had, when he came bursting into the bedroom just as the Tracking demons went up in flames.

"It's not just them, Aunt Paige!" Wyatt exclaimed exasperatedly. "If it was, I think I could understand because of Uncle Henry's feelings on the matter. But it's everyone! Chris hates me, Pru resents me, and even you and Aunt Phoebe are afraid – not that it stops you from being around me or touching me, but seriously!" Wyatt held up a hand against Paige's argument. "Aunt Paige, I'm empathic, remember? And telepathic. I can tell. Don't worry, I don't hold it against you… you ignore it. But Uncle Henry won't even come here unless I'm gone, Uncle Coop cowers in a corner when he does, and all of your children are terrified to even talk to me! They don't have a problem with Chris, even though he's as freakin' twice blessed as I am, and --"

Paige hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry." She said softly. "Everything will work out, you just have to be-"

"Patient, I know. I keep telling myself that, and before Chris decided I was some horrible monster, he did too. I keep thinking that if I show them I'm not scary, or a showoff, that they'll warm up, but I've been doing that for such a long time that I'm sure it's not working!" Wyatt shook his head, as if to clear it.

"I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from. Give my best to Henry." Even though he won't believe it. He added to himself as he strode from the room.

"Addy will be here tomorrow, Wyatt. Get some sleep. You'll need it." Phoebe's voice floated up the stairs after him.

Addy. He repeated the name to himself. It was a nice name, obviously short for something. He wondered what.

He fell onto his bed, staring up at the swirling designs on the ceiling. He, Chris, and Leo had painted the room together, back before things had started going wrong. He didn't realize he had fallen asleep until he began to dream.

He ran through the Underworld, searching. Where could she be? Fireballs flew this way and that, hitting him occasionally. He felt no pain; he had to find her, and for that, he couldn't be weak.

Out of nowhere, he heard a scream. Her scream. He ran towards it, praying that she was alright. He fell into a hole, it seemed like he fell forever. When he hit the ground, all of the air was knocked out of him with a loud WHOOSH!

"Wyatt!" Her voice screamed his name, panic coming from every angle.

He rolled himself over just in time to dodge a dark lighter arrow. He rolled to his feet, and began to throw power at the dark-lighter. It kicked the power back; it was much to strong to be simply a dark-lighter. Then, out of nowhere, an arrow hit him. All he saw as he fell was her face, devoid of hope.