This is the next fic that popped up into my currently Charmed riddled mind. To let you know Wyatt is eighteen and Chris is sixteen. I think that Phoebe is supposed to have a little girl called Melinda, right? I missed the middle of the sixth season, but caught the beginning and end. I missed all the ones where they figured out who Chris actually was, though I did get to see the one where Leo found out. Back to the point, from what I've seen around the place she will be called Melinda and I'm placing her at about two years younger than Chris. Thank you's to reviewers of my other charmed fic are at the end of the chapter.
I do not own Charmed and never will.
The Square Root of Trouble
Chris sat with his shoulders hunched tightly on the mahogany table. He kept his eyes down, focusing on the table. His fingers grazed across the scratches on the wood, his nails digging in along the unnatural grooves. A combination of smoke and dirt filtered into his nostrils, causing a grimace to cross his face.
A glass slammed down in front of him, snapping his attention away from the smell and onto what the amber coloured liquid swimming around inside of it was. "Take your eyes off the table; you look more suspicious than if you were gazing around with your mouth wide open."
Chris rolled his eyes, taking a hold of the glass in front of him. "Remind me why we're here?"
"Chris, if you want to help the family and I know you do, you insisted on knowing and coming with me, then this is the best place to be."
He snorted. "That's an overstatement."
"You know what I mean." Chris sniffed the liquid, his nose scrunching up at the strong smell. Repulsed he placed it back down. "Wyatt! Is this whiskey?"
"Uh-huh, I can hardly bring us to a known demon hangout, and order us two glasses of mineral water. We stick out as it is, at least with you looking so shifty." He took a gulp of his own glass, a wince appearing on his face as he swallowed the fiery liquid and felt it slide all the way down to his belly.
"It's a demon bar, everyone looks shifty, and everyone is shifty!"
Wyatt didn't reply, instead he perused his surroundings, with a quick look taking in each occupant around them. Not making eye contact with his brother he said, "The bar keep said that the guy we're looking for should be here in the next hour."
"An hour? Wyatt!"
"Keep your voice down," Wyatt glanced at the tables nearest to them, thankfully, raised voices were a common occurrence, and not much notice was taken to the pair. In a quieter voice, he hissed at Chris. "Do you want to drag everyone's attention to us?"
Chris frowned. "Sorry."
"It's okay, just simmer down." Chris raised an eyebrow at the use of their Dad's rebuke when either one of them was being overly loud.
Wyatt sniffed in reply. "He's right to use it on you." Chris turned his head, being careful not to look directly at any face's that were probably glued to the two. To his surprise no one was paying attention to the pair of teenagers, human at that, they were all carrying on their own private conversations. He turned back to his brother, the older boy taking another swig of whiskey.
"How often do you come here?" Wyatt gulped down the liquid, the question taking him by surprise, he had hoped, but not expected that Chris would not ask questions at all. He mumbled an answer that Chris did not quite catch. "What?"
"A few times."
Innocently Chris asked, "How many?"
"I don't count, Chris." Wyatt's temper began to rise, but Chris knew that he could push him just a little further.
"It's just," Again, he glanced around at the inhabitants of the bar all locked in their own little worlds, "No one is paying us any attention," He made his voice quieter, just in case. "being who we are and all. You seem pretty relaxed." Wyatt felt his eyebrows rise; though he may have looked it on the outside, he was far from relaxed, his senses were tingling at the slightest scrape of a chair, his head snapping at the smallest movement from the corner of his eye. It was always bad enough when he came here by himself, let alone when he had to watch out for his baby brother at the same time. Chris carried on oblivious, "drinking whiskey and all like its milk." Wyatt screwed his face up at that one. "…And how come you were even served? I mean, no offence, but you don't look twenty one and I certainly don't."
Wyatt butted in, interrupting his brother's tirade. "Stop right there. This. Is. A. Demon. Bar. Do you really think that the bar owner cares who or what type he serves in here?" Chris' face dropped, he hadn't thought of that. "As long as that guy gets his money and hopefully goes home intact at night, I don't think he cares." he relaxed, leaning back into his chair. "You can ask him yourself if you like?" He pointed behind his brother's back.
Chris turned around, the bar keep walking towards them but stopping at the table behind. A hand picked up two empty glasses, normal looking except for the two spikes sticking out at his wrist. At the feeling of being watched the man turned around and growled at the boy. "Want another?" A gruff voice questioned, the voice rough as though he was unused to speaking. Chris slowly shook his head, his voice suddenly lost inside his stomach. Wyatt waved a hand. "Still got the first." The man nodded walking away with the empty glasses.
Chris turned back to Wyatt, his original track of thoughts coming back into play. "You seem to be really used to this."
"Okay." He raised his hands in defeat. "I've been coming here for about five months."
Chris' eyes widened, Wyatt held his hand up to remind him of his volume. In a much quieter tone, Chris asked, "Five months?" Wyatt nodded in response, it did sound like a long time, but it was not as if he came every day, just when he needed information that no other source he knew could provide it. "Mom'll go spare."
"She won't find out. What she doesn't know, won't and can't hurt her." Wyatt tightened his hand around his glass, almost to the point of breaking, if his Mom ever found out, especially since as he had now brought Chris here with him too.
Chris sighed, understanding why Wyatt was so tense, but still worrying. "Won't hurt her, but could harm you."
Wyatt laughed. "Who's the eldest here? Or are you playing Daddy?"
Chris sighed, and staring at this brother in disdain. "He'd be mad too."
Wyatt sighed in defeat, running his finger along the rim of his glass. "I know okay, I'm always careful though."
Chris nodded his head, he knew that Wyatt was careful, he had to be, but he could not help worrying. "Does anyone, has anyone figured out who you are?"
Wyatt shook his head. "Not yet, I keep a pretty low profile, so far there's been no trouble. Plus demons don't tend to ask too many questions."
Chris snorted. "As long as they get something in return."
Wyatt's jaw tensed and he did not reply. He knew full well how demons, warlocks and the like worked.
"I swear she is so much trouble, and she's only in her early teens."
Piper scoffed. "Trust me Pheeb's, there's worse to come. You'd be surprised how much trouble they seem to land themselves in."
Phoebe's head landed in her palms and she groaned. Piper finished pouring milk into their much-needed coffees and joined her sister at the kitchen table. At the movement of her sister, Phoebe's head popped up. "I mean the hatred that comes off of her."
Piper laughed, "Believe me, you don't need empathy to sense that." A jingling sound announced Leo orbing into the room, at the sound of her husband Piper's head turned. "Leo can testify to that."
At the mention of his name, Leo's ears pricked up. "Testify to what?"
Phoebe groaned, "That you don't need my power to sense how much our kids hate us."
Leo laughed at the sentence, "Is it the shouting screams, or just the glares."
"Everything, I swear I can do no right." Her head collapsed back into her hands.
"Gram's was right, Karma really will turn around and bite you in the ass."
At her sister's comment, Phoebe's head rose. "I was not that bad." Piper gave Phoebe an amusing look, she had been just a little older herself when Phoebe had gone through her rebellious, teenage stage, she had seen firsthand just how much trouble her sister had caused their Grandmother. Catching the look, Phoebe gave in, "Okay, but compared to Melinda," She placed her hand on her chest. "I was an angel."
"Hmm, an angel whose halo hit her on the head a few too many times."
Phoebe grinned patiently at her sister. Sweetly she turned towards her brother in law, "So Leo, did you find out what Paige wanted?"
Grim fully, Leo nodded. "Trouble I'm afraid."
Taking a sip of her coffee, Piper sarcastically remarked, "When is there not trouble in this family?"
Phoebe raised her hand. "I second you on that one."
The girls quietened and Leo continued, his hands slipping into his jeans pockets. "Apparently one of the students has the power of premonition, similar to you Phoebe, only she sees things in dreams."
Piper cut in, "And this affects us, how?"
Leo carried on, "Well last night she had a dream about Wyatt." Piper's eyebrows rose.
Phoebe shocked, said, "Leo, I don't think we want to know… that." She awkwardly gestured with her hands.
Leo's face screwed up. "No, Phoebe, no." He shook his head, as if to get rid of any mental images.
Phoebe gasped, "Oh, of course." She flicked her wrist for Leo to carry on; hoping that the heat she could feel in her face was not showing.
Satisfied that both sisters were clear on what he was trying to say Leo carried on. "She claims that she had a vision of Wyatt being attacked."
"By who?"
"She doesn't see in the way that Phoebe does, she feels the different emotions of the people that are involved."
Piper looked confused, "So how can she be sure that it was Wyatt?"
Leo shrugged. "I'm guessing that if she knows the person she can sense who they are. Maybe she recognises their aura?"
Phoebe nodded, "I've had ones similar, it's hard to explain Piper, you just know."
At the admission of her sister, Piper relented. "Well we need to tell him then." Leo grimaced and Piper immediately felt uneasy "What?"
"That's part of the problem."
"How?" Phoebe questioned, confused.
"Well Paige said that he already knows he took off to sort it out himself."
"Ah, the stubborn streak, he gets that from you." Phoebe commented, glancing at her sister.
Piper blew out a breath, "This is the trouble I was talking about, and Prue was always more stubborn." She raised a finger at her sister to stop the coming protest. Her attention turned to Leo. "Can you sense him?"
Leo paused to search for his son, sensing him he nodded. "He's safe."
"Not when he gets back here he's not. Wyatt!"
"That woman's staring at me." Chris had been trying to ignore it for the last few minutes, but he was sure he could feel her eyes boring into his shoulder blades.
Wyatt gave an aggravated sigh. "Chris, we've been here for about half an hour, and with every minute that passes you are getting more and more paranoid." Guiltily Chris stared down at his empty glass, he knew he was being a pain but he couldn't help but he nervous. So far, there had been no sign of whatever contact Wyatt was waiting for, he couldn't help but scream 'trap' in his mind. Sensing his brother's uneasiness Wyatt tried to change the conversation. "That jerk Michael was showing off again today." Chris' eyes left the glass, Wyatt smiled, success. "I swear I could just blast his ass onto the floor."
Chris laughed, imagining the picture. "Personal gain, though I would love to see it."
"Most people would." Wyatt's hands itched in anticipation, the scene playing out in front of him.
A shadow was cast over the table and for a split second both teenagers forgot were they where. Chris felt himself tense up and panic begin to creep in before he caught the warning look in Wyatt's eyes. Wyatt would take control of the situation. The demon pulled up a chair and sat down. "Have you got it?" He asked abruptly.
Wyatt nodded and pulled out a rectangle shaped package. The demon stretched out his hand to grab at it, but at the last second Wyatt pulled it back, just out of his reach. "Ah, information first." Chris marvelled at how calm and in control his brother was.
The demon's hands backed off and he nervously glanced first at Wyatt, to Chris and back to Wyatt. "Okay, the demon you're after is an assassin; his name is Klork, pretty nasty business." He sneered and stared at Chris. "He'll go after anything he can get his hands on, if," his eyes traced back to Wyatt, "You know what I mean." Wyatt's stare remained hard and he gave no reaction to the demons words.
The demon leant back on his chair; he turned back to Chris and reached out with his arm. Wyatt's eyes widened in alarm, but to his surprise, Chris remained outwardly calm. The demon snatched a hold of Chris' glass and signalled towards the bar for a drink.
Enraged, Wyatt grabbed a hold of the demon's other arm, his hand gripping a little tighter than was necessary. The demon turned back towards Wyatt, his smile replaced by a look of pain. "Anything else?" Wyatt questioned a hint of steel behind his words.
"Rumour is he's planning to attack in the next few days, he's fast, lightning fast." Wyatt nodded and stood up from his seat, Chris quickly followed. "Payment?" Wyatt thrust the package onto the table and the demon greedily reached out for it.
Satisfied that the demon's attention was fixed upon anything than him or his brother Wyatt pointed Chris towards the exit. Once they made it out the door they could orb safely home and Chris would never come back here again.
Chris nodded at his brother and turned around, his body crashing straight into the woman who he thought had been staring before. There was a crash as her drink fell to the floor. She growled under her breath and Chris felt a lump form in his throat. "Sorry." He mumbled - staring as her nails seemed to grow into sharp claws. There was a tug on his arm and Chris felt his brother hauling him out of the confrontation, through the bar and to the fresh air outside.
"Wyatt!"
Wyatt paused, listening to something that his brother could not hear. "Mom's shouting, she sounds mad."
Chris cringed, hoping that his Mother's wrath did not fall upon him too. "Orb?" Wyatt looked around, seeing that no one was watching they nodded. Before the boys could even think of where they wanted to be the door to the bar swung open and the woman stepped out, her eyes searching for the two teens.
She snarled at Chris. "You owe me a drink." Chris looked to Wyatt for help, again seeing the sharp claws playfully tap against her palms.
"How much?" Wyatt asked, hoping he could avoid being exposed or getting into a fight.
Her eyes flicked to Wyatt. "Five dollars." Wyatt began to rummage in his pocket for the money. Chris meanwhile stared at the demon. She was what his Aunt Phoebe would call 'overly doing it' Brown tanned skin, dark chocolate hair, and if he was seeing correctly red eyes. She was wearing leather, which was typical for a demon. He and his brother always joked that they didn't like wearing normal clothes, or maybe it was that shops didn't serve their kind.
"Five?" Wyatt questioned, having found just enough to get them out of trouble.
"Wyatt, you get your ass here right now!" I'm coming, he thought.
He took a step towards the demon, but she opened her mouth and clicked in disapproval. "He brings it me."
Wyatt glared at her and was about to say no when he felt the dollars snatched out of his hand by Chris. He walked calmly up to the demon, her left hand opening up to receive the change. Chris almost hesitated as he stared closely at her palm, the sharp claws waiting dangerously, and the scene reminding him of a Venus flytrap, with his hand imitating the defenceless fly. With this in mind, he dropped the change into her palm.
In a smooth voice she said, "You're the charmed one's offspring." Wyatt tensed.
"Wyatt Matthew Halliwell!"
Chris gasped and turned towards Wyatt. The demon smiled. "I knew it." Her right hand swiped out and caught Chris along his left arm, the claws tearing through his shirt and raking deep into his skin. He fell back onto the floor, crying out in pain and clutching at his arm.
The demon grinned. "You two will fetch a pretty price on the market."
Wyatt ran forward, an energy ball forming in his palm, he threw it at her head, but she ducked and it sailed towards the wall, disintegrating and leaving a black mark. She glanced back towards it, "Impressive, but not fast enough." With a quick turn, she lashed out again and connected with Wyatt's chest, her claws ripping through the material of his top and digging deep into his skin.
"I mean it… WYATT!"
Wyatt could almost laugh at his mother's timing. The demon lay on top of him, her claws reaching up to caress his cheek. With what sounded like an 'oof' sound, the demon was thrown back, her body connecting with the door and slumping to the ground. Wyatt breathed a sigh of grateful relief. Chris stood above him, his hand stretching out to help him up. Wyatt nodded, thanking him for the help and getting rid of the demon.
"Do you think we should…?" Chris voiced, staring back at the unconscious form.
"WYATT! NOW!"
Wyatt shook his head, "Mom." He placed a hand on his brother's shoulder and orbed them both back to the manor.
"WY- ATT, oh." A jingling sound announced the arrival of her eldest son and to her surprise her youngest as well. Piper placed her hands on her hips, "Well it's about time, what were you-" Her eyes fell to both boys, Wyatt had blood dripping down his chest and his shirt was torn. His hair looked a little worse for wear too. She turned to look at Chris, his face pale and clutching his arm, a wince of pain crossing his lips as he held it just a little too tight.
"What happened?" Leo asked, worry plainly evident in his tone.
Chris remained silent, unsure as to what he should say. Wyatt spoke up, "We were attacked by a demon."
Piper scoffed, "Well either that or you were dragged through a lawnmower." She walked up and pulled up Wyatt's torn top, hearing him wince as she ran her fingers along the cuts. "Leo."
Leo nodded walking up to Chris and prying his hand off his arm. "Three deep cuts." He voiced, placing his hands over them, a golden glow forming and knitting the skin back into place. The pain vanished and Chris smiled warmly at his Dad. Leo patted him on the shoulder and turned to heal Wyatt.
"Same here. So is this the demon that's after you?" Wyatt's mouth dropped open in shock. "Yes, we know. What were you thinking?" She walked up to Chris, checking that he had no other injuries.
"Sorry, it's just-" Wyatt, voiced.
Piper sniffed. She could smell cigarettes, grabbing a hand of Chris' shirt she sniffed again. "Have you two been smoking?"
Chris looked bewildered. "No, I promise Mom."
Piper glared at Chris, "Drinking!" Leo looked shocked, staring up at Wyatt who had yet to voice yes, or no.
"I can smell it on your breath Chris. Well?" Piper waited, her arms crossing over her chest. Phoebe winced, keeping out of the trouble, but sensing Piper's anger.
Chris opened his mouth to speak; he thought better of it and bit his lip instead. There was really no way that he could talk his way out of this one, without putting the blame sorely on his brother. In defeat, he turned his eyes towards the floor.
Leo looked at Wyatt, his chest nicely heeled, but worry evident in his eyes. "Wyatt, have you something to say."
"I'm waiting." Piper announced angrily.
Wyatt's face remained stony and Chris made no reply.
To be continued…
The end of chapter one. I am having so much fun writing these, they just seem to write themselves, whilst I was doing this I had another two ideas for new fics. I just can't type fast enough.
Lastly, I should have the next part up fairly soon, considering the way I'm writing these. I have a new oneshot idea buzzing around as well, but that's when they're younger. So many fics! Please review.