Author's note: Second part of Sanctuary! Yeah I know this took a long time to get out, blame it on slow writing. This part is edited by my new beta dontyousassmemister828. She's the twin that does everything, I swear. I'd be no where without her, so bow before her, you are not worthy! Actually, yes you are, you beautiful, beautiful people. I love your reviews, and just to show you how much I appreciate you I'm gonna thank each one of you individually and set up a contest! Yes, I know, I'm so generous. Oh, and also, thanks to Twisted Flame for the spell Wyatt uses. Also, if you haven't already, read Asylum before this, unless you enjoy being severely confused, and hey man, if you do, I wont judge you.
PrudencePiperHalliwell: Heh, thanks for the compliment, and my mission is to angst Chris into oblivion, so it had to be done.
shadowhisperThank you, hope you like it!
Stony Angel: And more you shall have!
teal-lover What's going to happen is more angst, heh that's kind of a spoiler isn't it? But hey, I'm the author, I can reveal all I want. It's not too much angst though, promise.
DrewFullerFanLife: Here ya go!
darcy101: Thanks for adding me to your favorites!
Wild Force Ranger: Yep, poor Chris, bad things tend to happen to him when I'm around.
Twin: Your review makes me smile every frickin time I read it. You're the bestest ever! Really, you are. So glad you like it.
chattypandagurl I love well thought out reviews, thanks! Dark is what I do best.
Okay, now you're probably all wondering about the contest I mentioned. Well there is a hidden quote from the TV show Angel in here. The first one to find it gets a cookie and a sneak preview of the next installment of Sanctuary, which has a brand spankin' new title. I think I'll save that for the contest winner too. Best of luck.
Disclaimer: Don't own Charmed, but that's probably pretty obvious, I'm a far superior writer than anyone on the Charmed staff. Just kidding ;)
ATTENTION:
If you have not already done so please read Asylum before this. This story will NOT be updated, so if you are interested in what happens after this story, please go read Revolution. Thank you
Wyatt was a man on a mission, driven by anger and grief. Zargos and Barbas had destroyed his family, and he would find them and make them pay. He knew it wasn't going to be an easy task; Zargos and Barbas were two of the most powerful being in the underworld, but Wyatt was the most powerful being on the planet. Still, he needed time and connections and more power. As he scoured the underworld and collected demonic powers the grief he held in for Chris' sake began to get to him, and the demonic powers were corrupting him.
Zargos and Barbas were eventually found, Wyatt showed them no mercy. He released two years worth of rage, frustration and grief, nothing alive will ever experience the pain the two demons felt.
Chris was worse than he had ever been after Zargos. He blamed himself every day for his family's death, and his brother's slow decline at the hands of magic. Two years and the pain had barely lessened. Wyatt had forced him to start seeing a psychiatrist, but since he refused to talk there was nothing anyone could do.
Wyatt was addicted to power, the rush of it all was intoxicating and he had to have more. Every magical being knew who he was, and a few demons had started hanging around the Manor, doing Wyatt's bidding. Even though the magical community cowered before him — he was known as the possibly insane son of a dead Charmed One — Wyatt wanted everyone in the city, or even world, to know his name and say it with awe.
The brothers hardly spoke anymore, but Wyatt was always there, the silent protector, and Chris was his shred of sanity. The younger of the two would often give Wyatt looks that made him wonder what he was doing, where had he gone wrong? When had he snapped? But his love of power always over rode his sadness.
Wyatt needed total control, and he wouldn't gain it through good magic, he needed to get the demons on his side. He carefully played his cards, and though they didn't trust him completely, upper level demons respected him, because they knew he had a plan that would work and a way to execute it.
Now, two years after Piper's death, Wyatt stood on the brink of exposing magic forever and taking over the city…
The images flipped past the screen at light speed and Jo grabbed the remote from her brother's hand. "Stop flipping so fast."
"But there's nothing on," the twelve year old whined.
"That's because you spend a millisecond on each channel," she said in a mocking tone. "The channels are moving so fast it's all a blur. I think I saw Carson with Porkey Pig's head." Her brother made a grab for the remote again but she smacked him with him.
"Ow!" he rubbed his head, "Mom!"
"Kids," their mother said warningly. Jo made a face at her brother and he blew a raspberry at her. An all out knock-down drag-out was starting on the couch when the lights flickered, causing brother and sister to pause. They heard a frustrated sigh from the kitchen and their mom mumbled, "Not again." The front door that had been enticing a non-existent summer breeze in slammed shut, and Jo's head twisted in its direction. "What did you two break now?" Their mother came in, drying her hands on a dish towel.
"We didn't do anything," said Jo, "It must have been the wind." As she said that the back door slammed as well, followed by every open window in the house.
"What the…?" their mother set down the dish towel and went over to a window, trying to pry it open, but it wouldn't budge. As she looked out she saw that everyone on the street was completely frozen. Before her eyes a dog wiggled its chain out of its masters frozen hand, darting after a cat that ran under a bush, the only hint that he had been seen was the owner's eyes frantically following it.
"Mom," asked Mark, "What's going on?" The TV that had been providing a steady background noise of Blue's Clues started playing static, the family's attention was momentarily dragged away from the outside.
Jo went to turn it off, but the button on the remote didn't work, so she got up and pressed the button on the set, turning it off. It almost immediately snapped back on, and Jo's attempts at switching it back off were unsuccessful. Suddenly the static was gone, replaced by a blonde man with shaggy hair reclining in a chair. He looked thoughtful for a few seconds, before lacing his fingers under his chin and leaning forward. When he spoke Jo felt a chill run down her spine.
"Hello everyone. I need you to listen. Now I know how no one ever stops for anything these days, so I've taken the liberty of doing it for you. Don't freak out, I'll let you go in a second. That is, if you listen. But hold on, I've got some old friends to take care of. I'll be with you in just a moment."
"Mom, what's going on?" Jo asked, echoing her brother's earlier question.
"Probably just some high school prank, he can't be more than 18," her mom said with a slight tremor in her voice. Jo nodded, but glanced warily at the still frozen people on the street.
The game between the San Jose Sharks and the Phoenix Coyotes was in full swing with the Coyotes leading the Sharks two to one. Or rather, it would have been in full swing if every player on the ice and every spectator in the stands hadn't been frozen. This had been the largest case of exposure to magic, so the Cleaners decided to start there and work their way down the list.
"We should have taken care of him when he was still a child," said one to the other.
"The witches wouldn't let us," said the other one.
"They're not here now—,"
"And he has posed an even greater threat than before."
"I say we—,"
"Eradicate the problem?" they both nodded.
"I really didn't like you guys when I was little, can you imagine what kind of fit I would throw now?" the blonde in question was leaning against a goal. "Really guys; planning to erase their entire existence is not the way one should treat friends." Before they could react he waved a hand and they froze just like everyone else. He waved his hand again and every player and spectator could move their heads. He gestured grandly, "You all have the opportunity to meet my friends personally. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the Cleaners!" There was no reaction from the crowd except that every head was turned in his direction.
He turned to the Cleaners and smiled a wide grin, "See, you guys caused me a lot of trouble. It took a lot of thinking to figure out how I could defeat you. But then it finally hit me! You guys prevent exposure, so why not expose you? And now all these people know that you exist. This is way too big for you guys to make tidy and neat. The whole city knows, and no matter what you do I'll still win. Read any good prophecies lately? There are quite a few that talk about me, and they all say that I'm the most powerful magical being to ever exist.
"So are you guys going to come peacefully?" He sighed when they glared at him with renewed intensity. "I thought not. Just had to ask you know, make my job a little easier." He pulled a vial out of the pocket of his jeans and tossed it almost casually at them, it broke at their feet in a puff of orange glittering smoke.
"Mystic Cleaners all in white,
you keep magic from mortals' sight.
But hear me now, hear my plea
and allow yourselves to be bound to me.
For you know that there can be no returning,
When the darkness your heart is yearning."
He looked almost sheepish for a second before crumpling the paper with the spell on it and tossing it away. "Chris is a better spell-writer, but I couldn't convince him to help with this little project…It doesn't matter, bad spells work just as well as good spells." A thick orange smoke swirled at their feet, working its way up the Cleaners' bodies. When it was clear their outfits were black and they were no longer glaring at Wyatt, to all appearances they now seemed evil.
When he had given them their commands he orbed back to the living room of the Manor. He got comfortable in the chair he had been in before and turned to face the crystal that was serving as a camera and satellite. "Now, where was I? You know, lets be blunt here, I'm far too busy to give a long speech. Magic is real, demons, witches, etc. are real. If you want proof look around you. For those of you stupid enough not to believe what is in right in front of your eyes you'll find out soon enough. For those of you that do believe, you have twenty-four hours to get out of the city. Any witches out there that think they can stick around and challenge me I look forward to meeting you." He glanced at his watch, "Your twenty-four hours starts…now." Wyatt reclined in his seat and let out a yawn, lazily waving his arm and muttering. The world outside was immediately reanimated and the noise seemed almost rude compared to the silence that had occupied the entire city.
"Quite a performance," Chris said dryly from the top of the stairs.
"Doesn't matter. I'm counting on them not listening. Where's the fun in ruling an abandoned city?"
"You wouldn't have considered any of this two years ago," said Chris, sitting down on the arm of the couch
"Things change," Wyatt said simply. "Sit right." Chris huffed and sat on a cushion. "To what do I owe this rare appearance of the great Chris Halliwell?" Chris usually stuck to the top two thirds of the house,and while he occasionally would orb to the kitchen, he tended to avoid the living room all-together.
"I thought that my brother claiming the city as his own personal play pen was something worthy enough for me," Chris' tone was filled with ice, but his look was anything but. It was the look that made Wyatt feel like Chris could see every one of his flaws and made him feel them, too. Wyatt orbed out under Chris' intense gaze, not being able to return it with his own glare. When he re-materialized in a quiet park, scattering a squirrel and a few birds, he cursed. The city was his and he couldn't handle his little brother? Chris needed to be taught a lesson, about how it wasn't okay to defy the leader. But another voice told Wyatt that he wasn't the leader, he was a brother. What he was doing was insanely stupid, and what would Piper say? At the memory of his mom he let out a guttural growl and a tree exploded, sending splinters everywhere. He raised his shield and they bounced harmlessly off of it. He had never been allowed to grieve properly for her or any one else. He had to keep it all inside, the lone pillar when Chris' world was crashing down around him. Even on the day of his family's funeral he had been busy protecting Chris.
Wyatt orbed into his room and changed his dirt covered clothes for a black suit. Today was the funeral and he was already late. He realized the house was completely silent and he was more late than he thought. When he had changed he quickly orbed into a bathroom at the funeral parlor. He opened the doors discreetly, met with the sight of about twenty people and four coffins. Chris was sitting up at the front, next to Victor looking around for him. When Wyatt sat down next to his brother he got an icy stare.
He watched in a numb daze as a pastor that had never known any of his family said words that were meant to comfort, but it somehow made him angrier. What was so special about this man that he thought he had a right to speak about something he knew nothing about? Even when family friends came up to talk he still felt bitter; they didn't know his family as well as he did. It should have only been he and Chris here, and maybe Victor and Sam. Chris had opted out of speaking, thinking that there was no way he could go through with it, and he was probably right because on Wyatt's way up to the podium Chris started crying silently on Victor's shoulder. He had worked on his speech for days and delivered it in under five minutes, not caring if what he was saying made sense or not.
Chris was silent through the whole thing, keeping his eyes trained on their mother's casket, deliberately not looking at Wyatt. The older of the two knew that under the surface Chris was seething, and it wasn't fair. He already had to deal with his grief, now he was mad at Wyatt for being late. Wyatt knew that he shouldn't have gone to the Under World today, but he had a lead that needed to be followed.
The long day had finally come to and end. There were no dramatic rain storms or women falling weeping into men's arms, just two brothers standing side by side, watching their family being laid to rest and realizing that all they had was each other. The door slammed behind Chris as he and Wyatt returned to the Manor and Wyatt braced himself for the explosion. He expected a "Wyatt, where the hell were you?" or anything but what happened. Chris kicked off his shoes and moved past Wyatt and up the stairs, not saying a word. After a few moments of silence he heard another door slam and knew that Chris had locked himself in for the night.
The sun was quickly setting below the trees and Wyatt realized he had been sitting in the park for a few hours. Wasted time, he told himself. He had things to do, demons to organize, people to intimidate- namely his brother- and had no where in his schedule for nostalgic down time in a park he didn't know the name of. He checked his watch, eighteen hours until his plan went into full effect. The anticipation turned his cool mask into a sly smile – he was getting a kick out of imagining the faces of the non-believers when they realized they were trapped. Trapped inside, outside, forwards, backwards – just stuck. Unless, of course, proper authority was given. His demons were practically foaming at the mouths because once what Chris had dubbed the Bubble was up they had free roam of the city.
It had begun to drizzle and Wyatt shivered, he checked if anyone was around out of habit, then remembered that it didn't matter and orbed out. He appeared in the attic and saw Chris going through a box. "What are you doing?"
Chris shrugged, letting the box's flaps close, "Just looking through some stuff. I was bored." He was about to grab another box but drew his hand back and reached for a different one, Wyatt noticed that the one Chris had avoided was labeled "Piper".
"You're going to have to be able to face it sometime," said Wyatt, sitting down on the seemingly indestructible couch. Chris said nothing, just kept going through the box. Before Chris would have gotten defensive at that type of comment, but nothing seemed to effect Chris anymore. His voice was always flat and his body language carefully unreadable. Wyatt would have suspected that his brother had been taken over by a robot if it weren't for his eyes; they were expressive and crackled with life and sadness. Wyatt's plan was all for Chris, he was exposing magic so Chris would be free to be himself in public, and no one would ever mess with Chris if they knew Wyatt was his brother. He wanted to bring some happiness back to his brother's eyes.
He sighed and said, "Just don't stay up too late." Chris said nothing and continued flipping through the book he had found.
Chris went to his room and closed the door, magically locking it, before closing the curtains as well. He arranged the five candles into a circle and sat on his bed with the Book of Shadows on his lap. He had decided to try to summon his mom's spirit.
"Hear these words, hear my cry
Spirit from the other side
Come to me, I summon the
Cross now the great divide"
As the lights swirled hope rose in Chris, even though Piper had told him about the time she had attempted to summon Prue. Standing in the circle of candles was a little girl in a white dress. "P-Prue?" Chris stuttered.
"Chris? What am I doing here?" Prue was Phoebe's daughter, she had died young because of a demon attack, and Phoebe was never quite the same after. "What am I doing here? Me and mommy were talking." She frowned, thinking hard. "I think she told me that I'd have to talk to you."
Chris was frustrated, but he wasn't going to lash out at his little cousin. "I wanted to talk to mom…"
Prue brightened, "That's what she told me! She said you'd be sad. Why are you sad Chris?" She stepped out of the circle of candles, becoming corporeal. She pressed a small hand to his cheek, "Aunt Piper doesn't want you to be sad. She's happy, but she misses you. So does Uncle Leo," she patted his cheek and smiled. All he could do was look into her shining eyes and try to fight back tears.
He squeezed his eyes shut when he felt her hand leave his face, and hot tears coursed down his cheeks. "It's not fair," he whispered, "Not fair." When he opened his eyes Prue was gone. Chris growled and threw the Book at the mirror, hoping to shatter it, but it just bounced to the floor. He gripped his hair with both of his hands and sighed. He had some major thinking to do.
Wyatt chewed his toast as he sat at the breakfast bar the next morning, sipping his orange juice- he had never been a fan of coffee- and just staring out the window when Chris orbed into his line of vision.
"Good morning," Chris said with a small smile and Wyatt paused mid-chew and raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"You seem in a good mood this morning," said Wyatt, swallowing and taking another drink of orange juice.
"What, is that crime in your city?" Chris asked, opening the fridge and looking through it.
"Cheeky too. It actually isn't my city for another four hours." He made a face of disgust as Chris drank the milk straight from the carton.
The brunette wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, "Speaking of which, why haven't the Elders thrown a fit yet? I know you took care of the Cleaners, but last I checked the Elders were still lounging around on their clouds being useless."
Wyatt waved a hand, "They've been taken care of."
Chris blanched, "You didn't kill them did you?"
"No, of course not. There's a sort of bubble already around the city. Like a no fly zone, only it's no orb. None of the Whitelighters in the city can get out, and Elders can't get in. Only you and me can get Up There."
Chris paused, taking another drink of milk, then putting the cap back on and sticking the carton in the fridge. "What about charges outside of the city that have Whitelighters here?"
"Hadn't thought about that…Oh well, the Elders will figure it out."
"Do you really think you can pull this off?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I?"
"Well it just seems like a lot could go wrong. And I'd hate to see what the Elders would do to you if it did."
Wyatt scoffed, "They can't touch me. Not only am I the most powerful being ever, I'm the most powerful source of Good."
"You sure about that?" Chris muttered.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing." Wyatt pursed his lips but let it go.
"You didn't tell me why you are so happy this morning." Wyatt noted that Chris looked a little embarrassed.
"Well after what you said last night, that I would have to face it eventually I tried talking to mom last night—,"
"Chris, we talked about—," Wyatt said sternly.
"I know, I know. Don't worry, I didn't talk to her," Chris' expression turned bitter for a second, then went blank. "I talked to Prue, she said that mom and dad were doing okay and that mom wanted me to know that she didn't blame me."
"Of course she doesn't Chris, it was an accident," Wyatt said.
"I-I know, it's just…" his happy mood seemed to have been shattered and Wyatt mentally berated himself for bringing it up. He should have just let it go, sleeping dogs and all that.
"Chris, it's been two years. She never blamed you, you have to forgive yourself. It was an accident."
"An 'accident' that got mom killed. No, got her murdered, and I did it."
"Chris it wasn't your fault. Just a minute ago you were happy because you talked to Prue. It took two million tries but somehow 'not your fault' finally sank in, but now you're throwing your own guilt parade. Again. I miss her too, but it's been two years and no one blames you. It was a demon's fault, our family knew the risks involved. You need to move on." Chris gave him a cold glare and orbed out. Wyatt sighed and rested his head on the counter, his breakfast ruined. The thought that he should just erase Chris' memory of what happened skated across his mind, but he knew that wasn't an option. He could never do that, and it wouldn't help Chris. Wyatt was no longer going to go easy on him, he had a city to run and an image to uphold, as much as it pained him to say it Chris now came second.
Chris knew that the deadline was approaching and Wyatt wanted him back at the Manor, but there was no way he was going back. Not yet at least. The constant jingling from Wyatt's calls was giving Chris a head ache so he tuned his brother out. Chris looked at the sky and squinted, it was a cloudless day, and the sun was rising higher in the sky. It was already uncomfortably warm and it only promised to get hotter. When Chris checked his watch again, it was about five minutes until the barrier went up, and Chris decided to orb to the outer edge of the city that Wyatt had warned him not to go near.
Chris sat on the roof of a near by building and waited. When it was about a minute to the deadline he noticed a green SUV packed with stuff about a mile down the road. The SUV seemed a little familiar to Chris, but he waved it off. These people were probably witches, or conspiracy theorist. As they got closer the clock continued to count down and Chris knew they weren't going to make it. When they were close enough that the glare from the sun shifted off the windows Chris saw that it was Adam's mom driving. They were just passing over the line when the barrier came up, right through the middle of the car. It came to an abrupt halt and he saw his friend's mom smack into the windshield. Chris quickly orbed to the street and was about to help the woman when the site in the back seat froze him. The Bubble came up in the back seat, where Adam was sitting and had split his friend in half. He looked melded to the shield and from the dead eyed stare he was giving the front seat, Chris knew he was dead.
Chris felt like something had slammed into his chest and he took a step back, and then another. He kept walking backwards until he fell into a ditch on the side of the road. From his vantage point he saw the front half of Adam's body slide away from the other, a perfect cross-section. Chris rolled over and threw up, and his stomach continued to heave long after it was empty. He had to get out there, now. He didn't even bother to check on Adam's mom, he couldn't bring himself any closer to the vehicle than he was now, and even that was close enough to make his skin crawl. He orbed without really thinking and ended up in the living room of the Manor.
Wyatt was pacing in the dining room. Demons were constantly appearing with status updates about the general state of the city, but he had no idea where Chris was. The plan was for Chris to stay in the Manor until the barrier came up, but then Chris had run off. Wyatt bit his lip as he thought about the fact that all the demons from the Underworld were now free to roam the city and Chris was out there alone. He could certainly handle himself, but he shouldn't have had to. His little brother was thick headed though, and disobeyed his orders.
He saw Chris finally appear in the living room, which was odd enough, and was about to tell him off when he saw the blank look in Chris' eyes. Dammit, Wyatt thought. "Chris, what happened?"
Chris' stare shifted sharply and he locked eyes with his brother. "Adam is dead…"
This was worst than anything Wyatt could have imagined, Adam was Chris' best friend and Adam had stuck by Chris through thick and thin, "What? How? Was it a demon?"
Chris twitched slightly, "Why would there be demons? It's day…" his eyes widened, "No…you didn't…..what did you do!"
"It was the only way, they needed to trust me. I needed a plan. I needed to give them something they wanted," Wyatt said.
"Why? So you could become the leader of the Underworld, for power?" he spat out the last word as if it tasted vile. "Didn't you think? They're demons, Wyatt! They kill people! They killed our family! And you sided with them!"
"It's only this city…" Wyatt said quietly, "That's what the barrier is for, so they can't spread."
"And that makes it better! There are still thousands of people in the city! The demons will go after all of them!"
"Chris calm down," Wyatt said slowly.
"No! Their deaths will be on your hands. Adam's already is!" With the thought of his friend Chris was about to go into hysterics.
Wyatt muttered a spell and Chris slumped towards the ground, Wyatt caught him before he could completely fall and saw that the spell had worked, his brother was now asleep. He cradled Chris in his arms and orbed him into his room and set him on the bed. As he closed the door behind him Wyatt wondered what was going to happen now. He had known the consequences, but he had done it anyway. Did that mean he was evil?
Two months passed and Chris and Wyatt barely saw each other at all, Chris seemed to have found some place besides the Manor to spend his days, and if he ever crossed his brother's path he sent a cold glare his way. After about a month and a half Chris had started talking to Wyatt again but it wasn't the light easy chat they had, mostly it was only when the situation absolutely called for it that Chris said anything. During that time Wyatt had tried to convince Chris that what he was doing was for good, but it was pretty hard since he didn't believe his own words.
As Chris' birthday neared Wyatt had no idea what he should do. He could just let the day pass, but that didn't seem right, and he knew Chris wouldn't want to celebrate with him. The problem was taken out of his hands when Chris disappeared for an entire week. He was surprised when two of his demons that acted as guards shimmered in holding Chris, who looked worse for the wear.
"What happened?" Wyatt said in a harsh tone.
The taller demon bowed a little and said, "We were able to locate him, but then he put up a fight, we were forced to subdue him." The demon flinched; he knew he would have to pay.
"You are not to touch him. Or did you miss that part when I was handing out instructions? Set him down." He watched as the demons laid Chris on a couch, then proceeded to vanquish them both. He sighed and looked at Chris, he seemed to be out cold. He went to a window and pushed back the curtain, he could see smoke columns rising into the sky, Chris had been right, the body count was higher than he could imagine. He would have to tell the demons to back off or he wouldn't have a city to run. He was letting the demons have their fun now, but things would eventually start to change. Wyatt would set up ways to keep the city running, and to make sure they all knew they were under his control.
Wyatt had a night of thinking and knew that there was no way he could let Chris run off again like he did. He called one of his better guards to him. She was a Phoenix, a race of elite assassins. He briefed her on the situation and got a curt nod in return. He forced Chris to orb to him and put an anti-orbing spell on the room so that once he was there he wouldn't be able to orb out, just within the room. Chris realized he was trapped and stood glaring at Wyatt.
Chris listened with disinterest as Wyatt introduced the brunette on his arm. She had an exotic look about her, and she was dressed in leather. He would have found her attractive if he hadn't known that she was a demon. When Wyatt started to explain, Chris effortlessly blocked him out. The only things that Chris caught was her name and the words "body guard."
"Body guard?" he echoed, "You mean a babysitter. No, absolutely not."
"After the stunt you pulled last night I have no choice," said Wyatt in a tone filled with finality, but Chris ignored it.
"If you didn't have your demons tailing me that wouldn't have happened," Chris shrugged, "Besides, she's a girl." Her left arm shot out faster than he could blink, and suddenly his feet were dangling as she held him by his throat. He orbed out and back in, rubbing his neck. "Feisty."
Wyatt laughed, "You two will get along just fine."
That night as Bianca stood outside Chris' door she heard him tossing within, groaning from a nightmare. Pathetic. The cries on the other side of the door grew more frantic, and she shifted her weight to her right foot, then back to her left, not knowing whether she should wake him up or not.
"Please…no, stop…don't touch me!" Chris' voice gripped at something in Bianca's heart and she opened the door swiftly, making her way to the disheveled bed. The seventeen-year old look pale and fragile in the moonlight. His face was contorted with some unknown fear. He was thrashing wildly now and looked like he might hurt himself. She pinned his shoulders down, but that did nothing to restrain his legs. She climbed on the bed and straddled his hips, then sat.
"Chris! Wake up!" she said loudly enough to wake him up, but not enough to draw attention to the room.
He calmed and a green eye opened sleepily, "Mom?"
Bianca's lips quirked into a small smirk. "Not quite."
Chris' eyes focused on her, then he blushed furiously as he realized the position they were in. Bianca's smirk morphed into a smile. She got up and stood by the bed, her arms crossed over her chest. "Don't get too excited, I just didn't want you to hurt yourself." In the silvery light filtering through the window she saw his cheeks stain a deeper pink.
"Um…" he began awkwardly, "Could you not tell Wyatt about this? He thinks the nightmares have stopped."
"He asked me to report everything to him," said Bianca.
"Yeah, well this time…don't."
"That's treason."
"I'll take the fall. Please, I don't want him on my case any more than he already is." He ran a hand through his hair, trying to get it to cooperate, but stopped at the strange look she gave him. "What?"
"You two have an odd relationship. He cares about you, or else he wouldn't have hired me. I'm a top assassin," she said without any pride in her voice. "You just seem really odd for brothers.
Chris smiled sadly, "We used to be a lot closer until—,"
"Until he got addicted to power and decided to take over the world?"
"Actually until my best friend got killed, but the power thing fits in there too," he smile ruefully then fell silent and a few minutes of uncomfortable silence passed between them.
Finally Bianca shattered the quiet, "I wont tell Wyatt if you'll tell me what the dream was about."
Chris paled, "Nevermind then, forget I ever said anything. Not like Wyatt can force me to go to the psychiatrist again," he muttered to himself, "didn't work before, wont work now."
She gave him a strange look, then snapped back into her serious attitude. "Go back to sleep, I'll be right outside of the door if you need anything." She swept out of the room, boots clicking on the floor and heard him mutter something about babysitters. Smirking she closed the door behind her.