Hello everyone. I am…sort of new to the Charmed fandom. I wrote a couple fics when I was very young and very inexperienced. Since then I have spread out to other fandoms and (I hope) improved. Haha. I have started watching Charmed in the mornings on TNT before I go to class and it's gotten me back in the mood to write again. The last time I wrote a Charmed fic season six was still airing. Lol. But anyway, I hope you enjoy it. I absolutely love Chris' story line and I didn't get enough awkward Chris and Leo moments so this is my way of making it up for it. Lol.

As far as this fic goes it is set after Spin City but Piper did not move to magic school. That is really the only big change in the timeline so far, and it will be pretty AU from here on out. Also, you might think that people are being a little harsh with each other (I hope you don't, however). But just in case you do it is because I didn't like the way that after Chris' identity was revealed things got a little mushy. I am not a mushy person. Lol. I promise there will be a few really lovely moments in this fic but there will also be a lot of snarkiness. One of the things I loved the most about Chris was his snarkiness. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Please review!

Disclaimer:I do not own Charmed.

Summary: After Spin City Leo goes on a quest to find out more about the son that hates him. Meanwhile, Chris starts a completely unexpected adventure of his own when he meets a girl named Marianne

So Long, Marianne

Chapter One

He was a slob. But now Leo was delving into information that he already knew. His purpose in coming here – breaking in here if he was honest with himself – was to learn something he didn't know about the son who hated him so much. He certainly wasn't offering up the information himself. Leo comforted himself with the fact that this probably wasn't the first time Chris had been subject to his father going through his things. He knew Chris well enough to know that at least.

This is where Chris' tendencies actually became useful. The kid probably hadn't thrown a single thing away in weeks. He knew right away that he had less than a stellar diet, as evidenced by the copious amounts of fast food bags and wrappers thrown around the room. But Leo wasn't here to find out what kind of food Chris was eating. Aside from some mild parental concern about the future of his son's cholesterol levels he didn't really care about the McDonalds.

In truth he didn't really know what he was looking for in particular. Anything that would give him some kind of understanding about what his son was really like would be fine. On a more personal level he was fairly confident in thinking that Chris didn't spend every waking hour of his day obsessing over Wyatt. After all there was only so much the human mind could handle before it became completely unhinged. Chris was a bit neurotic but he wasn't what Leo would classify as insane.

Rummaging through the piles of wadded up papers and clothes strewn on the floor, he was able to find a few of what he assumed to be Chris' possessions. A half full pack of Lucky Strikes (that find he wasn't particularly thrilled about), a silver Zippo lighter, and five CDs - Who's Next, Abbey Road, In Utero, Highway 61 Revisited, and Leonard Cohen Live in London. It was typical of Chris not to take any chances bringing any modern albums with him. That being said….he couldn't complain about the kid's taste in music. He was certainly Paige's nephew.

Next to the small pile of CDs he found a tattered copy of Baudelaire's The Flowers of Evil stuffed with tiny notes and pictures. He didn't have time to go through them so he slipped the small book of poems into his pocket, choosing not to feel as guilty as he should. If Chris would only talk to him he wouldn't have to do this.

Lastly, he found a wad of money folded neatly into a tarnished and silver and gold money clip. The silver was so old that it was beginning to look as yellow as the gold around its edges, but somehow he could still make out the name 'Christopher' engraved along the top. His heart stopped beating for a moment and he slowly, as if afraid to move too quickly, brought his hand to his pocket and reached inside to take out the few bills that he had folded in his own money clip. He placed the clips together side by side – the same clips. One marked by twenty-two more years of wear, but the same none the less. Christopher's money clip – his father's – his son's. It was the one thing Leo had less of his family. He had stolen it from his father's estate sale in 1957 after he had spent the day stalking what was left of his family in the shadows, trying desperately not to be seen.

It suddenly hit him then in a wave of realization far more powerful than what he felt in the kitchen upon hearing the face for the first time – Chris was his son, his father's grandson, his legacy, his progeny, the continuation of a gene pool that was supposed to have died out in 1942. Chris was the person who carried along the legacy of Christopher Wyatt with nothing more than a name and a money clip, and Chris' children would carry along his much in the same way.

He suddenly felt so….odd. He wasn't exactly sure how to describe what he as feeling. He was…confused?

The door to the backroom spontaneously opened and much to his extreme relief Piper appeared on the other side. She looked at him with a coked eyebrow before noticing his hands still holding two folds of money. Once she got over the shock of seeing him standing there instead of her son, she crossed her arms over the top of her bulging stomach.

"Are you stealing money from your broke twenty-two year old son?" she asked.

Leo jumped with a sudden realization of what the situation he found himself in might look like. Although he also knew that Piper wasn't being entirely serious…at least he hoped she wasn't.

"What? No….I was just…." Leo didn't quite know how to tell her what she was doing without ending up sounding like crazy person.

"Well whatever you were doing can you stop? Because I need some help with some boxes out here and since Chris is gone you will do just fine." Piper turned around and walked toward the bar where a shipment of Budweiser had just been dropped off.

Leo watched her go before looking down once more at the two billfolds in his hands. That strange indescribable feeling bubbled up again and he decided to slip a single twenty dollar bill out of his wallet and place is inconspicuously in between the four one dollar bills which were all that Chris had at the moment. Then he set the money clip back where he had found it.

When he walked out to the bar Piper was writing something on a pad of paper. Her eyes looked slightly sunken and her hair was a bit unkempt.

"You look tired," Leo stated. Piper gave him a sardonic look.

"Well you try being well….first of all…mortal, pregnant, running a business and taking care of three children all on your own."

A flash of confusion passed over Leo's face. "Three children?"

"Wyatt, Phoebe, and Paige," she answered with a smirk. Leo let out a short breath of laughter.

"Oh…" he said, picking up one of the heavy boxes of beer on the floor. "What about Chris?" he asked, braving the mention of his newly found son. Piper didn't even look up from whatever it was she was doing.

"Chris doesn't need anyone to take care of him but himself," looking up for a moment to judge the look on his face. Leo wasn't looking at her but rather absentmindedly playing with the edge of the box he had just placed on the bar. "I thought you would have realized that by now…"

"I…I don't really know what to think of him anymore…" Leo admitted.

"Well he's still the same person he was five months ago."

"I….I didn't really like him five months ago."

"Well….I'm not too terribly fond of Phoebe at the moment but I still love her."

Leo nodded. He wasn't quite sure what to do with his feelings about Chris at the moment. He felt guilty….guilty that he didn't really like his own son? Guilty that perhaps he was too quick to dislike him? He wasn't sure. He hadn't been this emotionally confused since he had left to become an Elder.

He was still playing with the edge of the red cardboard box when finally Piper walked over to him with a pair of scissors. She sliced through the package and began pulling beers out, placing them on the counter to later be put in the fridge in the hopes of getting cold before the bar opened for the night.

"I just…." Leo said as he ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know what I should do…."

"Leo…I…"

They were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a door slamming and heavy footsteps pounding down the stairs. As they turned to look toward the noise they saw Chris coming down wearing sweatpants and a pair of headphones, looking at them suspiciously. As the three of them stared at each other Chris began to slow his decent down the stairs and popped one ear bud out of his ear. Once Piper returned to her work Chris picked up his normal pace and walked toward the bar, past Leo.

"Hi!" Leo said with just a little too much cheery enthusiasm. He had put so much effort into not sounding awkward that he had made the atmosphere too awkward for words. Piper bit down on her lip trying desperately not to laugh at him and Chris looked as if he had grown a second head.

"Hi!" Chris replied in a mocking tone before turning back around and grabbing one of the newly shipped bottles of beer. He placed the ear bud back in his ear and walked to his door.

"Are you going to pay for that?" Piper yelled behind him. The only answer she received was a slamming door. "BRAT!"

"Piper…" Leo said, upset that his wife was still being mean to the boy they had just found out was theirs. "He's our son…." He reminded.

"Exactly," Piper said. "So I have no issue calling him a SPOILED BRAT if I want to."

"Piper…"

"Leo," Piper said pleadingly. "Please don't fall into the trap of treating him like an egg just because you feel like you need to make up for something….it will just piss him off more. Trust me."

The door opened to Chris' room once more and he stepped out with a distasteful look on his face. "This beer is warm…"

Piper rolled her eyes. "Can you please come over here so I can smack you across the face? Don't you have work to do? Shouldn't you be researching and trying to save your brother instead of jogging around and drinking at one o'clock in the afternoon?"

"One warm bottle of piss-water constitutes drinking at one in the afternoon? And jogging clears my head. I have a lot to think about…."

"Speaking of things to think about… Phoebe wants to talk to you about something. She says it's important."

"I'm not entirely sure how those are related but I give you points for trying to stay on topic."

"That's all I can do," Piper said, shrugging. Chris orbed out to see Phoebe, leaving Piper and Leo alone once more.

"Did he even notice I was still here?" Leo asked. Piper smiled and squeezed his arm, offering whatever small comfort she could. She knew how he felt and she wouldn't want to go back to the time where Chris treated her as a non-person for anything.

"Just give it time," she said.

The Bay Mirror was as busy as it usually was. Chris never seemed to walk into this place without colliding with some terrified intern carrying a stack of papers. He didn't understand how she could work in a place where the phone never stopped ringing.

"Hi! Can I help you?"

Chris jumped back at the receptionist's saccharine tone. She smiled widely at him and Chris got the impression that she was the kind of girl who didn't like Bob Dylan because he was 'just so gloomy all the time.'

"Hi…" he said. "I'm here to see Phoebe Halliwell."

"Super! Is she expecting you?"

"She should be…"

"Are you her nephew?" Chris groaned. Leave it to Phoebe to toss all sense of discretion out the window.

"Yes," he admitted with a sigh.

"Alrighty, well you go right on in!"

"Thanks…" Chris said before leaving the front desk and walking toward his aunt's office. When he opened the door Phoebe looked up and smiled.

"Chris!" she said. "Good. You're here. I have a certain favor to ask of you…"

Chris took a deep breath as he was suddenly filled with anxiety. A favor for Phoebe was never good.

"You see…Elise has been on my case lately with all the time I've well….you know…missed. And she was talking about her niece being in town and her having nothing to do and no one her age to talk to and I thought…."

"No."

"Hey….you know what? I happen to know a young attractive guy…"

"No."

"…who could take her out. Show her around... "

"No."

"And well…Elise seemed to be just thrilled about the idea…"

"Phoebe. No!"

Phoebe spread her arms out over her desk and bowed her head in a pleading gesture. "Please Chris," she begged. "I can't be fired. Elise hates me right now. I need you to do this for me. It's only one night!"

"Phoebe….even if I wanted to go out on a blind date with the niece of your bitchy boss, I don't have time. I'm kinds busy…um… saving Wyatt from turning evil!"

"First of all Elise may be little hard around the edges but she is a great person. You just don't know her as well as I do. And Chris…I promise if you do this one thing for me I will spend all night following your leads. Tell me a demon to kill! I'll kill it! Just please! Pleeeaaaseee!"

"Phoebe. I. Don't. Have. Time."

"Okay!" Phoebe said, sitting up in her desk once more. "I didn't want to use this card. But you owe me."

"I owe you!" Chris asked. "What could I possibly owe you for?"

"I helped you when you thought you weren't going to be conceived!"

"What!" Chris yelled. "Are you insane? You didn't do anything!"

"Well, you're here aren't you?" Phoebe asked, gesturing to him standing in front of her.

"From no help from you!"

"Alright! Alright! Fine! You don't owe me," Phoebe admitted. "But please, Chris. I will do anything."

"Phoebe…"

"I'll pay you!"

This actually caught Chris' attention as he thought back to his rapidly thinning wallet. He was very quickly running out of money, and the only reason he had lasted this long was because his grandfather had slipped him some before he left when he visited a few weeks earlier. He had no way of attaining a legal income due to the fact that he didn't technically exist. And the thought of asking either one of his parents for money was completely out of the question.

"How much?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"A hundred bucks," Phoebe offered.

"Three hundred."

"What!" Phoebe asked, shocked. "Who the hell taught you to haggle? You can't just triple the original offer!"

"Look…that's the price. If you don't want to pay it, that's not my problem."

"Fine," Phoebe said through clenched teeth. "Three hundred."

Chris cocked his head to the side. "You know….now I'm thinking that's not going to do it for me."

Phoebe glared at her nephew for a moment with an unquenchable desire to smack that self-satisfied smirk off his face. She loved him, and she understood that he had come from a world where he had to be a crafty little shit to survive but sometimes she just hated him for being such an ass.

"Three hundred plus the cost of the date," Phoebe said finally. "But don't go thinking that you can get away with taking her to any five star restaurants. And you'd better be nice!"

Chris smirked. "When am I not nice?"

"And you'd better look nice too!" Phoebe yelled as he began to orb away. "Get a haircut! … Butthead."

"Did you get a haircut? And….shave?" Piper asked as she walked into the attic with Wyatt on her hip. Chris was standing in front of the book (as always) and looking very nice for some reason. His hair was shorter than she had ever seen it. It made him look older, cleaner….dare she say….more handsome? More handsome than she had ever noticed him being before certainly. His long hair had always made him look so….boyish.

Chris reached up to move a hand through his much shorter hair. It was still taking him some getting used to. "Phoebe is paying me to take out Elise's niece. I was told I needed to look nice and get a haircut to get paid."

Piper let out an involuntary and unattractive scoff. As handsome as she was now beginning to see her youngest son was, he was certainly not very charming.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Chris asked, looking at his mother with a critical gaze.

"Nothing…" she said. "You just don't seem like the dating type is all."

"First of all…" Chris began. "This isn't a date. It's a business arrangement. And second of all…I'll have you know that I was pretty successful in that area."

"Oh. I know. I met your…" Piper trailed off at her son's piercing look. "Person….who I promised never to mention again. Sorry."

"And I'll also have you know that this isn't exactly how I wanted to be spending my evening but I need money so…"

"Well you could always ask me if you need money…"

"No," Chris said definitively. "I came from a decrepit hell hole governed by evil I can handle one night with junior miss stick up her ass." He tore a piece of paper out of a notebook and handed it to her. "Tell Phoebe these are all the demons I need her to vanquish while I'm gone."

"She's paying you and going demon hunting?"

Chris shrugged. "I drive a hard bargain," he said.

"I'll remember that," Chris started to make his way downstairs and Piper followed him.

"Are you sure that this is the best idea? I mean…what if something happens between you and this girl? Wouldn't that kind of screw up the cosmic order of things?" Chris turned around and shook his head.

"Mom, this is Elise's niece," Chris said. "Trust me, nothing is going to happen between us. In a week she won't even remember my name."

"You don't know that….you could end up liking her," Piper said as they made their way into the kitchen. She set Wyatt down in his highchair as Chris popped open the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of beer. Chris turned to face his mother and shook his head as he twisted off the cap and took a sip.

"Trust me. I've met Elise. I don't see myself falling for any relative of hers. And, also, I'm still kind of mourning the death of my finance and I don't see myself getting over that any time soon. All that's going to happen tonight is me getting three hundred dollars richer."

"Three hundred dollars. You weren't kidding about driving a hard bargain," Piper said with wide eyes. Chris shrugged as a swirl of orbs appeared in between them in the kitchen. Chris rolled his eyes as Leo appeared and suddenly made what was a normal moment between him and his mother another awkward silence.

"Hey…" Leo said, looking back and forth between his wife and son. Piper smiled at him.

"Hi," she said.

"What are you two up to tonight?" Leo asked awkwardly. Chris rolled his eyes again.

"Chris has a date," Piper said. Leo cocked and eyebrow at his son who was staring at his mother with a less than pleased look on his face.

"Business arrangement," he clarified. This seemed to only heighten Leo's confusion.

"Phoebe bribed Chris to take out Elise's niece in what I assume is a desperate attempt to smooth over tensions at the workplace."

"And you agreed?" Leo asked. For the first time that day Chris actually acknowledged his father.

"It was a hefty bribe," he explained. Leo nodded.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Couldn't there be consequences…"

"Yeah, we've already had this conversation," Chris said. "Trust me. There's nothing to worry about."

"Uh oh…" Paige said as she walked into the kitchen where the three of them were standing. "Did I just hear someone say 'There's nothing to worry about?' Because that usually means there is something to worry about in this family."

Piper smirked. "It's fine. We were just talking about Chris' date tonight."

"Business arrangement!" Chris emphasized once more.

Paige lit up and crossed her arms over her chest. "Date?" She asked, shooting Chris an oh-so-amused look. "Is it that new blonde bartender that won't stop staring at you?"

"What?" Piper asked, completely caught off guard about the fact that apparently her bar staff was ogling her son. Chris glared at Paige.

"No," he said. "Phoebe is paying me to take out Elise's niece for the night."

Paige cringed. "Oh…" she said, scrunching her nose. "I'm sorry."

Chris nodded. "Speaking of Phoebe..." Chris said, looking around. "Where the hell is she? I am supposed to use her car tonight."

"I'm here! I'm here!" Phoebe yelled as she ran excitedly into the room waving her car keys in the air. She handed them to Chris along with a giant wad of cash that caused a huge smile to grace his face. "She should be here any minute. Elise was going to drop her off."

"Great," Chris said, not even bothering to fake real enthusiasm.

"Thank you soooo much Chris. You're the best!" She said. Chris just nodded as he pulled out the money clip in his wallet. He slipped it off the few dollar bills he had in order to place the new ones inside when he suddenly noticed something he didn't realize was there.

"Hey…I just found twenty bucks I didn't know I had…" he said as he placed the billfold back in his pocket. "Sweet." Leo looked down at the floor and Piper turned to look at him questioningly. But before anyone could say anything else the doorbell rang.

"That's her!" Phoebe exclaimed as she ran to the door. Chris followed her reluctantly along with the rest of his family and stopped in the dining room where they could get a good look at the door.

"Hello!" Phoebe greeted as she opened the door. "You must be Marianne. I'm Phoebe. It's so nice to meet you!"

"Hullo…" They heard a very sweet and very British voice announce behind the door. Chris now understood why she might be so desperate to have someone to do something with. She was probably staying with her aunt for an extended period of time and all of her friends were halfway around the world.

Paige gave him a little shove and he walked forward reluctantly to meet her. As Phoebe brought her around the door and she finally turned to face Chris.

It was unlike anything he had ever experienced before – a complete and total cliché, really. But when she turned around to face him it was as if she moved in slow motion. Her soft red curls bounced ever so slightly and a smile lit up her face, making her green eyes absolutely sparkle. She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and reached her perfectly manicured hand out to Chris.

"Hi, I'm Marianne. You must be Chris."

She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in real life.

TBC….

I hope you liked it. Please review. It would mean a lot to me and encourage me to keep going.