FIC: Past Lives (Charmed - Wyatt/Chris - FRAO - 1/1)
Title: Past Lives
Author: Sam-Tony
Fandom: Charmed
Pairing: Wyatt/Chris
Rating: FRAO - slash, incest, dub/non-con in memory, shmoopy angst
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Disclaimer: Not mine, no money made.
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Summary: When you're a son of the Charmed Ones, sometimes past lives linger.
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A/N: Comment Fic - Charmed, Wyatt/Chris, dark memories
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A/N 2: Technical underage fic as I see the boys about 15/17...
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Past Lives
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Wincing into the brilliant blue sky with its fluffy white clouds, Chris shook his head against the dichotomy brewing behind his eyes. Again.
Screams and blood and carnage and broken bodies. Broken buildings standing like sentinels in the smoke of an abandoned city; all but deserted except for the demons and the powerful despot they served.
His brother, Wyatt.
But that had been before. Before he had gone back through time and tried to change everything. Before he *had* changed everything, dying in the Manor while he urged their dad to finish what he had started.
Find Wyatt. Protect Wyatt. *Save* Wyatt.
And they had. They *had*. This was the future Chris had fought and sacrificed so much for, spread out beneath him where he perched on top of their high school building, surveying all the kids like he had grown up to be, laughing and milling around the grounds before the ringing of the bell. This time Chris Halliwell had only grown up to be a witch and white lighter; a warrior for Good, yeah, but not seeped in the blood and pain and betrayal of his past life. Not this time.
This time he got to forget the desperate scramble for survival, hiding wherever he didn’t think Wyatt might look for his wayward brother this time, learning what he could and praying that when time ran out this time, he could find or summon up the courage to kill him; to end the torment for the city and for himself.
He never could. Wyatt had been a tyrant and a terror and an evil sonofabitch despite believing otherwise, but he had still been Chris’ older brother; the only family he had had left.
His lover simply for the fact that Wyatt had wanted it and Chris hadn’t been able to refuse.
Oh he had - he had fought and cursed and pleaded for Wyatt not to do that one thing that would both bind them together and break them apart. In the end, though, he would always give in short of the point of true force, not wanting to risk that there might be some small part of Wyatt that might be fighting with him. Not wanting to force that some small part of the little boy he had grown up with to have to live with what the alternative that crossing that line would have caused.
And now none of that had happened; it was only the consequences of the spell he had cast that echoed in his head, reminding him of the terrible fate the world would have faced if had failed. But he hadn’t failed, the world was safe and now Wyatt was all smiles, able to grow up without that taint of evil. Able to grow up good, grow up normal...
…grow up to date the head cheerleader of the senior squad, blond haired, blue eyed Lizzie McClellan.
And Chris was left brooding on the roof of the high school unable to keep from remembering that a lifetime ago that smile had been directed at him. A little meaner, a lot darker, but his.
Chris sighed and turned away from the quad, dropping down onto the roof and ignoring the loose gravel that dug into his butt through his jeans. His back pressed against the concrete and brick wall, Chris hugged his legs against his chest and blinked away the tears the confusion always caused. He didn’t want evil Wyatt, he wanted *good* Wyatt - only good Wyatt didn’t want him…good Wyatt wanted the blond cheerleader with breasts that filled out her sweater and lips painted red that left lipstick on his cheek.
Expected. Normal. Just the way it was all supposed to be. Just the everything he had fought so hard for, had risked everything for…
Only everything he had fought for only wanted Lizzie McClellan, it didn’t want him.
He felt the air displace beside him and hastily wiped his tears before Wyatt appeared, orbing in to sit with his back to the wall like Chris.
He should be angry, he should resent the invasion of privacy and in a way he was and he did…
But this was his big brother and ever since they were kids Wyatt had always been able to find him. Much better this time around, actually, a fact which Chris still wasn’t sure if he was grateful for or not.
One sideways look and Wyatt ignored the tears, choosing to stare up into the bright blue sky instead.
“You skipping again?”
Chris laughed, a sharp huff of breath that rolled his head along the rim of the wall behind him. “Nah. No,” he shrugged. “Just, you know.”
“Brooding.”
“Thinking,” Chris glared over at his brother, only to see Wyatt grinning at him, scooting over that much more to bump his shoulder, leaving it to rest there as he went back to staring at the clouds.
“About me?”
“Not everything’s about you, you know.”
“With you, it is.” Wyatt shrugged again, not looking at him. “Always has been.”
“Yeah well…what can I say? You‘re high maintenance.”
But there was nothing more to say to that and so Chris didn’t say anything, just sat next his brother and soaked up the sun, sitting on the roof. Wyatt deserved a normal life; maybe they both did.
“I know what’s eating you up inside,” Wyatt told him suddenly.
Another sharp huff of a laugh as Chris rocked his head back further. “You have no idea.”
“Lizzie McClellan.”
And suddenly there was an anger in Chris that burned to the surface and had him snapping, wanting to *hurt*. “Why should I care who you screw?”
“Because she’s not you.”
And just like that Wyatt took his anger and dispersed it, leaving Chris lightheaded and off balance. Because there was no way he could know that.
“I know because I’ve been trying to make you jealous.”
Chris turned to him, eyes widen in disbelief. “I - you what?”
This time the smile was wry as Wyatt rocked his head to the side just enough to look at him out of the corner of his eye. “I’ve been trying to make you jealous. Because this time, the first move has to be yours.”
“This time?” Chris frowned, not liking where he thought this was going. “What do you mean this time the move has to be mine?”
“Last time around Chris, I didn’t give you a choice. This time…this time it’s up to you.”
“You - you can NOT know that!” Chris jumped up and backed away from the edge, keeping a wary eye on Wyatt who didn’t move except to angle his head up to look at him, hazel eyes made liquid and squinting in the sun.
“Not as well as you do, I guess,” he admitted. “But enough. I remember enough to figure out the rest. Chris, I want you in this universe…this universe where I’m good and would never hurt you, for any reason. In that other…” Wyatt bit his lip and looked away. “I - I can’t imagine not wanting you. Just like I can’t imagine I gave you much of a choice, or cared about what it was you wanted. Or didn’t want.”
Reacting to his pain, Chris took a step closer, finding his hand outstretched, wanting to touch. “Wyatt…”
“But I had to know, you know? I figured Lizzie was the best way…but I would never do anything, Chris - not anything, I swear…not unless you wanted it, too…”
“I do - I did - “
“How could you when I - “
“That’s why I gave in,” Chris admitted. “So it wouldn’t - “
“Chris…Chris sex under duress is still - “
“No. Not with you,” Chris told him firmly, dropping down to his knees in the loose rock and not caring that there would be bruises there in the morning. “Never that with you.”
This time Wyatt reached for him and Chris didn’t move away. “Chris - “
His eyes did flicker but they landed on Wyatt’s and Chris knew that, if anything in what they remembered could be the truth, this was.
“Wyatt, I - there is no universe where I wouldn’t want you. I just - I just do.”
It was like the sun came out all over again. Wyatt smiled, his eyes shining in happiness even as Chris found himself blushing, kinda wanting the ground to rise up and swallow him right now. Or the roof, or whatever. It was definitely different saying all this stuff in his head…
“You do?”
What the hell, he had lived through worse. Chris smiled, straddling his brother’s hips and feeling the large hands span to hold on to his. “Yeah, I do.”
Wyatt huffed out a laugh and admitted, “Oh thank god. I was beginning to think I was going to actually have to take Lizzie to the prom.”
Chris winced, making a face and knowing they were going to have to do something about that. “So what are you going to do about her?”
“Me?”
“Yes you. You led her on, you get to deal with the fallout,” Chris told him firmly. Raising an eyebrow he pointed out, “And it serves you right for parading her in front of me to make me jealous.”
Wyatt winced. “Ouch.”
“Personal gain,” Chris smirked, his superior attitude knocked down by the feel of Wyatt’s body under him as the older boy pulled him closer.
“As long as this is the gain, I think I can live with that.”
Chris smiled, feeling goofy for the wide, sappy grin that he just knew was spreading across his face, but he couldn’t help it. Didn’t try to stop it. He rolled his eyes, accusing, “You’re impossible, you know that?”
“High maintenance?”
“Definitely.”
“So we skipping again?”
Chris leaned in, catching Wyatt’s lips in the kiss he had been waiting for forever. “Yeah, looks that way.”
Wyatt groaned into the short kiss, following when Chris pulled away, arching into the hands running up and down his back, sliding inside the tshirt he wore. Feeling safe enough up on the roof to trade another few kisses, Chris settled in on Wyatt’s lap, laying his head on the broad shoulder and more than willing to skip History if it meant making the most out of the version he had now.
And this time when Wyatt’s arms came around him, solid and strong and safe, it felt good, natural. It felt like finally coming home.
Drowsing in the sun, one hand running through his hair, Wyatt pulled him in and cradled him against his body, warm breath puffing in his ear as he asked, “So, what are you doing for prom?”
End