Author's Note: Hurrays, I have returned and brought with my latest chapter in the story you all have been so kind enough to have kept following. I won't take up any more space with my ramble; just know that this story is almost complete (about three to four-at the most-chapters left). Thanks for being patient enough to wait for this chapter and for the following chapters. As always, please read (which I probably don't even have to tell you) and review. This chapter, as promised, is for a certain friend of mine whom I told was going to get a story or a chapter for Christmas. Yes, it's a little late, but it has two characters in it, which she grew rather fond of (so I hope you enjoy it). All right, time for me to go. Ja ne!

Chapter Thirty-Two: Truths Pt. 2

Daniel paced back and forth in the kitchen, Bryn sitting at the table watching while they waited. There was an argument going on up in the attic and the two knew when they weren't wanted. One following the other, they left and waited downstairs for the group of adults to finish whatever it was that they needed to.

"How long is this going to take?" Daniel asked, frustrated.

"A while," Bryn answered. "But they may move it from up to downstairs. Then we'll have to find a new place to wait."

There was silence for a moment, while the two listened to the echoes coming from upstairs. Phoebe and Paige were having a field day with Piper and Leo, due to their finding out about their nephews. Each sister couldn't believe that Piper had kept it a secret from them, and they were letting her know it. They took their turn with Leo as well, and even Victor, but it seemed that Piper took the blunt of the verbal attack.

"I still can't believe you lied to us!" Phoebe shouted.

Bryn winced as she felt her mother's rage pulse through her. Her own heart was breaking just like her mother's, but she could feel her Aunt Piper's grief sorrow in not telling anyone. The lights and the shadows were pulling Bryn apart and she placed clenched fists at her head as she screamed.

"You okay?"

Daniel's voice was calm, and sensing his cool Bryn's powers let go of the other emotions and relaxed. She nodded, her body slumping forward in the chair as she sighed. It should be over soon, she kept telling herself, and then it would be time to go after Barbas and to get her cousin back. Turning toward Daniel, Bryn looked him over while he paced, oblivious to his surroundings.

Any other day, Bryn could have seen him and would have just thought him to be an ordinary guy with an ordinary friend whom happened to be dreamy to boot. But now…? Now he was anything but, thanks to his being a half demon and his friend being the son of a Charmed One and her own cousin. Everything seemed to be happening so fast, and Bryn wished she had her aunt's power to throw out her hands and cause everything to stop, if only for a moment so she could think.

But it made sense. Chris and Daniel kept to themselves at school, were hardly seen anywhere else and there were some rumors of strange things happening around them. Not to mention Wyatt. He was a mystery as well. One day he shows up at school, is the strong silent type whom all the girls swooned over and every guy was jealous of and instantly he was this huge success. Add the three together and you have one combination that screamed weird enough to be looked into or. That or magical.

Bryn buried her face in her armed folded on the table. This was all too much. Her life had been perfect up until now, and she wasn't blaming everyone for ruining it, but couldn't the Powers That Be have picked a better time to throw everything her way? Demon activity was at an all time low, Sheridan hadn't come prodding her way into the lives of any of the Halliwells, Magic School was doing great, a boy at school liked Bryn…it couldn't get any better.

Then, out of nowhere comes the two brothers lost to the Halliwells and plenty of other crap thanks to their being enemies for who-knows how long. Toss in the fact that their parent's lied about their sons being found, a grandfather who was hiding one of them and the said boy from school who thought Bryn was cute being half demon…Life seemed to be over.

"What's the matter?" Daniel asked, interrupting Bryn's time to rant in her head as he sat next to her.

"Nothing and everything."

"Is it Chris? Wyatt or my being a demon?"

Bryn raised an eyebrow as she sat up. "How about all three?"

"Point taken," Daniel said, looking away. "You know, I didn't want you to find out this way. But if it makes you feel any better, I'm glad you know. It's been a hard secret to keep. But, I guess you know all about those, huh?"

Bryn let out a smile. "More than you know." Her face turned serious. "It's just that…everything was going great for us here. My family has spent years trying to hide who we are and to overcome the grief of losing those who were close to us. Now, everything is coming back to us. Not that it's your fault, because I know you didn't ask for this to happen…but…"

Suddenly, Bryn's stuttering words erupted into uncontrollable tears. Rubbing her eyes, she couldn't stop and didn't know why she felt so sad. Then, her tears vanished and she stood angrily from the table, pushing it back as her chair fell behind her.

"But that demon Barbas is going to pay for what he has done to this family!" she shouted. "I know it was him and even if my family has to come back from the dead to do it, we will. He deserves to punished for what he had done to all of us!"

Daniel slowly made his way from the table and stood by the island in the center of the kitchen. "Bryn, are you sure you are okay?"

The witch stared at him, her head cocked to the side. She blinked, caught sight of the table and could feel the stains on her sleeves from her tears. Taking a deep breath, Bryn backed up to a cabinet and sank to the floor. "Aunt Piper is going to kill me when she sees this mess."

Kneeling in front of her, Daniel placed a hand on Bryn's shoulder. "What got into you?"

"My powers," she answered. "Normally I can control them, but with everyone going to the extreme at the moment, it's a little harder than expected."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm an empath," Bryn answered. "I can feel other's emotions, that and tap into them. Makes it kinda hard to keep feelings hidden from me, that and secrets. And living in this house I can normally keep them all at bay and not let them interfere with me, but today everyone is expressing themselves to the max and that leaves me in a tight spot."

Extending his hand, Daniel helped Bryn to her feet. They stood in silence for a moment, before Bryn caught sight of the island and all of the potions and ingredients thrown about it. Walking over, Bryn examined each one, trying to figure out who made what. While Bryn was busy looking over roots and spices, Daniel found a scrap piece of paper on the floor and handed it over.

"It's Aunt Piper's handwriting," she said.

"What is it?"

"A vanquishing potion," Bryn answered blankly. "For Barbas."

Hearing footsteps, Bryn and Daniel both turned toward the foyer. They each could hear the voices of the others and knew that the argument had moved from the attic to the stairs and that it was heading straight for them. Hesitant, Bryn reached out and took a small vile from the counter, filled it with a green-colored liquid and grabbed onto Daniel's hand.

"Shimmer us upstairs," she commanded.

Daniel looked down at her. "What?"

"Do I have to repeat everything I say? Shimmer us upstairs while they come here to vent some more. I'll bust if I have to feel their emotions again."

With a sigh, Daniel concentrated on an upper level of the Manor and their bodies began to blur as they disappeared and reappeared. Letting go of Daniel's hand, Bryn felt woozy and nearly fell to the ground, had Daniel not caught her arm to balance her. Waiting silently in the hall, Bryn walked toward the stairs and could feel the emotions of her family getting weaker and weaker.

"It's okay now," she said. "They've probably moved into the kitchen. I can't feel them as strongly as I did before."

Not knowing what to do, Daniel paced back and forth down the hall. All along the walls were family photos, and it pained him to think that they were missing Chris and Wyatt among them. There were pictures of a young Bryn and who he guessed were either her younger sisters or cousins. At the end of the hallway there was a larger photo hanging. The man in the background was nothing more than a blur and there was a woman with long brown hair who was holding an infant, a slightly older, blond haired child in front.

"That's them," a voice said.

"Chris and Wyatt when they were still here."

Bryn nodded. "My aunt wanted that picture more than anything, and my uncle got a call and orbed out, thus being the blur that he is. The original picture was destroyed a long time ago, and my mom talked to my dad about getting another one made. Aunt Piper cried for days when she saw it, but it helped her and my Uncle Leo remember."

"I can only imagine how hard it must have been for them to lose their sons," Daniel said, his voice somber.

"Not as hard as being betrayed!" Bryn shouted.

Daniel turned and stared at Bryn. She stood tensely in the hall, clenched fists at her side, her mouth in a tight frown. "Bryn? What are you talking about?"

"Talking about? I am talking about how the one person I trusted betrayed me and left me! Nothing is worse than that. And all this time I trusted him, did what he wanted, let him train me and teach me things I thought were important. Lies. They were all lies! How could he do this to me? All my life I thought of him as a father, taking me in after my parents were killed…and yet now I learn that they weren't…"

"Bryn, snap out of it!" Daniel commanded, his hands on Bryn's shoulders as he tried to shake her out of whatever trance she was in.

"I'll show him, though. I know the truth and I will have my revenge on him and all who have deceived me. I shall never be lied to again!"

The slap echoed through the hall until there was nothing but silence. Bryn staggered back, holding her face as she stared up at Daniel in awe. Her back hitting a wall, she sunk to the floor. Daniel stood before her, his shadow looming over her.

"Feel better now?" he asked.

"I…I don't know what happened to me…I'm sorry…"

"It's not your fault."

Bryn slowly stood. "My god, I felt so angry. Confused and betrayed too. There were so many emotions going through me…" Her mind onto something, Bryn walked toward where she first had felt the hatred. There before her were the stairs that led up to the attic.

"What are you thinking?" Daniel asked.

"I'm thinking that I was tapping to Wyatt's feelings."

Daniel let out a little laugh. "Wyatt's?"

"What? Don't you think he could be just as hurt by all of this like we are?"

"Bryn, you don't know your cousin the way I do. He is a killing machine. He was raised in the Underworld by the Demon of Fear and wants nothing more than to see my best friend dead. You want me to believe that he could feel hurt by this? I don't even think Wyatt has a heart that could be broken."

Bryn frowned. "I think you underestimate him. Wyatt is human, just like half of you and me. Trust me, I felt whatever it was that he was feeling and I know that you may not believe me, but he is just as scared and confused as we all are. Think about it: the one person he thought was there for him lied about everything. Granted, I don't think Wyatt is going to change overnight, but I think that if you give him enough time and space he'll come to terms with the truth."

"Unfortunately, we don't have either the time or the space for that. Not until Chris is found."

"And that is why we are going to go up there and have a little chat with my older cousin," Bryn said with a smile.

Daniel nearly fell to the ground and began to twitch. "Excuse me?"

"I swear, if I have to repeat myself one more time…"

"I heard what you said," Daniel snapped, sarcastically. "I just didn't believe what you said. I mean, for a second there, I thought you said that we were going to go up there to have a chat with your cousin."

"I did."

"Are you crazy, or suicidal?" Daniel asked.

"Neither. It's the perfect thing to do."

"Um yeah, if you wanted to die young."

Bryn rolled her eyes. "Daniel, calm down. Neither one of us are going to die."

"Us? Who said that I was going up there with you? Unlike you, I don't have a death wish."

Standing before Daniel, Bryn looked him in the eye. "Do you want to find your friend and be finished with all of this?"

Daniel relaxes a bit, taken aback by what she had asked. "More than anything."

"Well then, we need to be going upstairs to talk with Wyatt."

"Why?"

"Because he is the one who is going to end it."

There was no time for protesting. Bryn was already gone and up the stairs by the time Daniel knew what was going on. Racing up after her, Daniel tried to stop her, but knew it was useless. He was going to leave her though, not wanting her to get hurt. Stopping at the closed attic door, Bryn turned to Daniel.

"If things start to get rough, grab my hand and shimmer us out."

"All right."

With that, Bryn opened the door. The attic was empty of people except for Wyatt who sat hunched over in the corner in his crystal cage. He looked up when he heard the door open, but didn't give the two a second thought as they walked in. There was an eerie tenseness in the room and Daniel didn't like it and knew that of all people, that Bryn could feel it. But it wasn't showing if she was. She stood confident and strong in front of the crystal cage and waited for Wyatt to speak.

"What do you want?" Wyatt asked, his tone low and angry.

"Just to talk," Bryn answered.

"And if I don't want to talk?" he snorted.

"Then I'll do all the talking, whether or not you listen."

"Go away," Wyatt said.

"I don't think so," Bryn replied. "We have to talk, even if it's me doing all of it. But, I'll start once you drop that front, okay?"

Wyatt glanced up and glared. "What front?"

"The whole, I've-been-raised-in-the-Underworld-by-demons-and-therefore-I-am-evil front," Bryn teased. "That, and the front where you don't believe what's going on around you."

Wyatt stood, outraged. "What are you talking about? Of course I don't believe what's going on around me! I've told all of you that I am not who you think or say I am. And I am evil, so if you would kindly leave this room before I get pissed off I would appreciate it."

Daniel stood silently in the background. "My god, Bryn is crazy."

Bryn rolled her eyes. "You don't believe what you said, though. Sure, in the beginning, you didn't believe a word of it and trusted everything that Barbas said. But now that you've heard it from others and seen your parents face to face…everything you ever believed in is crumbling, isn't it?"

Wyatt crossed his arms and turned away.

"It's true and you don't want to believe it."

"Shut up!"

"Look, it's hard and I understand that. What I don't get is why you aren't willing to change. The world isn't over, Wyatt. Yes, you were lied to and you were betrayed, but that doesn't mean that everyone out there is going to do the same thing to you. Here you would have a great life, one filled with love and yet you want nothing more than to throw it away. Why?"

"I said, stop it. Leave me alone."

"You're not evil, Wyatt," Bryn said. "Just because you were raised by a demon means nothing. That's not who you are and you know it."

"Look at my, Wyatt," Daniel said. "I'm half demon and I was raised by my mother's clan when I was younger. Even with being raised by my father later on and that the fact that I have demon blood in my veins means nothing. I had to discover who I was for myself."

"And what if this is who I am?" Wyatt asked. "Did either of you stop to think of that?"

"But it's not who you are and you know that," Bryn said, moving closer to the cage. "Deep down you've always known it. Even if you never showed that side of yourself to anyone, the life you lived wasn't for you. Yes, you crave power and taking the lives of innocents was nothing more than trivial fun for you, but it was empty. You got no real satisfaction in killing and keeping yourself locked away from the light of the real world."

Wyatt took a step back. It felt as if he had been hit by his energy ball again. His whole body ached and he wondered what it was that he was feeling. Clenching his fists, Wyatt glared up at Bryn.

"I'm an empath so there is no use in trying to hide your feelings," she said with a slight smile.

"It…it isn't true…" Wyatt stammered.

"Of course it isn't," Bryn said, walking over to the circular table in the middle of the attic. In her hand was the vile from the kitchen, and she placed it on the table in clear view. "And because it isn't, I'm going to leave this potion here."

Both Wyatt and Daniel stared at her.

"And," Bryn continued as she made her way to Wyatt's cage, "because it isn't the truth, I'm going to open your cage."

Kicking free one of the crystals, the cage broke down and had Wyatt wanted to, he could have run to freedom. Bryn, that smile on her face still there, walked to Daniel's side. Taking his hand, she gave it a squeeze. She could tell that he was just as confused as Wyatt was, not knowing what she was doing.

"I have faith in you Wyatt," Bryn said, looking him in the eye. "That's something I don't think anyone has ever had. Now is your chance to prove to us who you really are. If you return to the Underworld and kill my cousin than I know, I was wrong about you. But if you take that potion, you could go and vanquish the one person who is to blame for this and bring my cousin, your brother back to start a new life."

Wyatt cast his gaze to the floor.

"It's what you want," Bryn continued. "All your life you grew up with a man who was never really your father in your eyes, one who you knew you could never really trust. Come back to us and you can finally know what it is to have a mother and father's love. Come back to us and help us save the innocents that the world needs and that emptiness inside of you will go away. It will take time and it will hurt, but I will be there for you. So will all of your family. We've always been there for you and we always will."

A pain shot through Bryn's heart at that moment, a pain shared by Wyatt. Struggling not to cry, Bryn held on tight to Daniel's arm and he told him that it was time to leave. Feeling the sensation of dissolving, Bryn looked toward Wyatt one last time before she and Daniel were gone, her voice filling the attic as they left.

Wyatt heard the words as they left and slowly he left the remnants of the crystal cage. His feet took him toward the round table in the center of the room. Hesitantly, he reached out for the vile and held it in his hand. Something cold and wet fell onto his hand, and only then did Wyatt realize that he was crying. Turning, Wyatt faced the Book of Shadows and could hear Bryn's voice one more time.

"Please Wyatt, for Chris. Destroy Barbas and bring you and your brother home to us."