Chapter One

Chris Perry Halliwell was making tea- Chris style. Upon the steady guidance of his hand, cups whooshed around the Halliwell Manor kitchen, clinking in the air. As they sat unsteadily down on the counter, tea bags shimmied out of their tins and fell lightly into the cups, and Chris poured the steaming hot liquid into them by hand. Meanwhile, a spoon transporting sugar on a tremulous path through the air wavered slightly, and part of it's load was sprinkled into Paige's hair as she nibbled on her toast.

"Damn it Chris!" Paige whined, shaking her hair with vigour.

From the opposite end of the table, where Piper was reading a paper, she spoke absent-mindedly, "No sugar for me, honey."

Chris grimaced guiltily at Paige, who was raking her fingers through her sugary hair, "Sorry. I wasn't looking."

She frowned, but a hint of a smile played on her cheek as she commented, "Chris, this must count as personal gain. And you know that when there's personal gain, magic plays up. So I'd stop this if I were you and let me have breakfast in peace!"

Chris scoweled through a smile.

"You're telling me that taking some slight short-cuts in making a few innocent cups of tea is personal gain, and will result in horrific consequences? Right. Sure, Paige." He scoffed.

Paige's lips and eyebrows both raised in a look that said, wait and see, you'll be sorry.

The fridge door opened of Chris' accord, from the other side of the kitchen, and the milk obediently rushed over to Chris' awaiting hand, and he poured. It was difficult to believe that it had been a mere week and a half since the Charmed Ones had discovered Chris' identity during that hazy event that had been a war between good and evil. Piper was surprized, especially, at how easily he had slipped into the family unit. He had gone from the strange intruder who's motives they questioned, to a part of the family. And, for the sisters, it'd been natural to accept, and even be uplifted, by his more frequent and comfortable presence.

Chris poured the milk and began to stir it into the tea."Wow. I'm terrified. What if this milk blows up!" Chris intoned, sarcasm dripping from every sillible. He was enjoying this new slot he'd found in the family. At least, more than he'd enjoyed being hidden away in the attic, flipping through the Book's dull pages monotonously.

Chris smiled to himself as Phoebe danced into the kitchen, laptop in hand, and sang out, "All my work is finished, and the problems of America's lovely citizens have been solved by moi! Take that Elise, you slave-driver!" She punched the air triumphantly, and then spotted the floating silver-wear. "Making tea? Chris, honey, could you make me one too?"

"Sure." Chris replied softly, and flicked his finger to summon another cup, a tea bag and another spoon of sugar. At that moment, however, the sugar spoon came to an abrupt halt, jilting in mid-air. Abandoning it's load, it immediately flew over to Chris, who was wide-eyed, and began to attack him, hitting his head sharply with the force of a bat.

"Aowch! Jesus Chr- Owch!"

Piper, Phoebe and Paige cracked up laughing as the man winced and yelled, backing away from the killer spoon, which followed with a vengeance as he ran from the kitchen.

"I told you so!" Paige called.

Then, all of a sudden, a crash could be heard from the living room, and the laughter ceased. An air of unease took it's place.

"Chris...?" Piper called, troubled.

More crashing. The sisters threw concerned looks. Instinct took over as the sisters each leapt from their places and took off, heading for the sound of the commotion.

Piper came to a surprized halt at the living room entrance. Two demons were stood in the mess that had been the living room, where orniments lay in pieces and wallpaper smouldered like kindling. One stood rigidly afar, and the other held Chris in a fatal headlock, in which he was trapped, choking and spluttering. Anger flared in Pipers eyes. She instantly raised her hands and pushed, and Chris' attacker erupted in deadly flames, his helpless scream dying with him. Chris fell to the floor in a wheezing, choking heap.

"Chris, look out!" Phoebe called as another demon aimed a dagger at Chris' back.

"Dagger!" Paige commanded, lurching foreward. In a washing of blue light, the dagger appeared in her hand. Unaware, the demon plunged his empty fist into Chris' side, and Chris threw a hand that sent the demon flying, and ultimately crashing into the cabinet behind him with a painful grunt. As glass and jagged wood enlodged itself into the demons body, he was consumed by deaths fire, screaming futily.

Phoebe ran to Chris to help him clamber unsteadily to his feet.

"What the hell did they want? I supose it wasn't to murder me for the tea..." Chris grumbled, wavering slightly on his feet.

"Chris..." Piper strated as she approached Chris, her face a mask of worry. "What is that on your neck?"

As Piper took her hand away from his neck where she had attentively placed it, she gasped to see it painted in sticky, thick blood. Blood which was streaking Chris' throat and face.

"Oh my God, Leo? Leo!"

A tense filled pause- then, with only a seconds delay, Leo orbed into the room and walked briskly towards where his son stood, stuttering.

"What's happened?" He asked seriously, eyes widening at the blood.

Everyone began to talk at once, recalling their dim knowledge on events and wearily eyeing the blood that was now trailing it's way into Chris' shirt. However as soon as he'd inhaled enough oxygen to regain focus, Chris yelled for attention.

"Guys! Hey, listen... Calm down, this isn't my blood! I'm fine." The sisters and Leo's heads whipped his way, their eyes demanding and explanation. Chris hastily obliged. "Didn't you see? The demons already had blood on their hands when they attacked. They were soaked in the stuff! But the blood wasn't mine."

"Wha..." Piper stepped back, bewildered. "Why were their hands blooded? And- and where'd the blood come from?"

No-one had noticed Paige's absence since she'd drifted from the group whilst they'd been talking. They realised now, as Paige called, her voice strained and broken, from the hallway. Wearily, the others trailed to find her. And gasped.

Paige was wimpering softly. Her water-brimmed eyes were locked ahead of her and her face had turned a deathly white. Gradually, she raised a shuddering, pale finger, and pointed. Scrawled on the wall beneath the stairs was a message written in blood; blood which dripped from the unskilfully traced words to the sodden carpet. It read: Give Up Brother, Or Loose Them All... But this, surprisingly, wasn't the sight that immediately captured all eyes attention, for all were instead glued to the mangled corpse that hung, knives pinning it in place, on the wall next to the words. Her eyes were hallow with death and some blood still seeped from random, raw rippings in her limp body. Chris' heart seemed to melt as he eventually placed the corpse. It was Ruby Halliwell.