Reality Bites

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from the plot and Meg

Quick A/N – Thanks for the reviews, follows and the favourite guys. I'm really glad you want me to carry on with the story! So without further ado, here's the second chapter!

Chapter Two – Who am I

"My name is Chris" he said and Meg's jaw once again hit the floor. "Chris Perry. Now are you going to tell me what's going on here, or am I going to have to work it out of you?"

"Am I dreaming?"

Meg's bemused whisper carried across the room to her unexplained (but not unwanted) visitor. The man calling himself Chris Perry narrowed his eyes at her, his suspicion fading slightly in the face of her shock.

"This is not a dream. You're as awake as I am."

Meg shook her head in wonder as she stared at him. He certainly looked like Chris Halliwell. And he definitely acted like Chris Halliwell. Unless he really was Drew Fuller and someone was playing an insane joke on her.

She ran her eyes over him, taking in his youthful appearance, and swallowed. Drew had been born in 1980, which would make him 33-years-old. This boy was most definitely not 33-years-old. If he was lucky, he may have been able to pass for mid-twenties, but no older. He looked the age he portrayed in the show, which was a full ten years younger then Drew would look today. Which meant…

Holy fuck.

"But I must be dreaming. I must be! How else could you be here?! You're you! You're Christopher Halliwell!"

With that single croaked out sentence, Chris's distrust came back triple fold. He shot across the room and grabbed Meg by the arm. Hard.

"How do you know that?! How do you know my real name?!" he hissed into her face. Meg's mouth fell open and she felt her own anger start to bubble up.

"Let go of me!" she growled, jerking her arm back desperately.

"Answer my question! How do you know who I am?!"

"I'll answer you as soon as you stop assaulting me!" she yelled. When all he did was growl himself, Meg twisted her arm in a complicated move that somehow put her captor on his back, on the floor.

Chris blinked up at the red-head in shock, not used to someone else getting the upper hand. Meg crouched down and kneeled lightly on his chest.

"Look buster, I have no more idea what's going on than you do! This is a completely confusing situation we've both been thrown in, but that doesn't mean you can try and use your strength against me! That's something I'm just not going to allow. Do you understand me?"

Chris frowned. "I need some answers."

"So do I!" Meg cried as she rubbed her forehead in frustration. "You appear out of nowhere, scaring the shit out of me, and then don't let me get a word in edgewise! You're not the only one who's in the dark here you know!"

His frown deepened and he folded his lips. "Let me up."

"Are you going to behave yourself?"

He grimaced and then slowly nodded. Meg stared down into his annoyed green eyes, ignoring the way her heart was pounding at being so close to him. If she let him up, would he get physical again? Well at least he hadn't used his powers, so that was something. Wait. Did he still even have any powers?

She sighed and slowly rose from her crouch, lifting her knee of Chris's chest at the same time. Chris warily got to his feet as well, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Okay, now why don't we go sit down and discuss this like full-grown adults instead of you trying to intimidate me with your height and strength?" Meg suggested.

"How do I know you won't attack me as soon as my back is turned?" Chris asked carefully.

Meg frowned. "You don't I guess. I know this will be hard for you, but you'll just have to trust me. I'm not going to attack you. That would be pointless anyway, as it would probably be over almost immediately."

"You sure got me on the ground quick enough" Chris muttered and Meg had to hide a smirk. Living in New York and working in a pub, even a quiet one like Aibhlinn's, meant that in her opinion, smart people – woman especially – should always be able to defend themselves. She hadn't always felt that way, and it had taken a bar patron who had turned out to be a mugger to change her mind. A week later she'd sighed up for self-defence classes, and had kept up with them ever since.

She waved her hand towards the sofa and Chris hesitated for a moment before heading towards it. Meg sat down beside him and they watched each other silently.

"So you really are Chris Halliwell" Meg said suddenly, and saw her guest tense.

"No one knows that, so how do you?" he asked with narrowed eyes, giving Meg a clue at what part of the season he'd been transported out of. She shook her head at her own thoughts. This was crazy!

"I know everything about you" she said on a sigh. "I know that Perry is in fact your second name, though you like people to think it's your last. I know your parents are Piper Halliwell and Leo Wyatt. And I know that you are half witch and half whitelighter."

Chris stared at her in shock. "Who the hell are you?"

Meg held out her hand. "My name is Meg O'Connor. And I'm a normal person who just got a very large dose of something that should have been impossible."

~0~

Chris stared at her hand suspiciously for a moment, before he slowly reached out and grasped it, as if afraid her skin would be burning to the touch. Meg drew in a sharp intake of breath as their palms met. His hand was warm and rough, not at all pampered like most of the metrosexuals the Big Apple produced. The second they touched a heavy shock of something that felt a lot like electricity shot up her arm, down through her chest and settled to pool low in her belly. Her eyes widened as her body temperature skyrocketed, and she quickly let go of his hand.

Christ almighty, her reaction to Chris Halliwell had been bad enough while he was on a TV screen! But now… now it was twice as worse! He was physically here, very much in the flesh, and it took everything she had to hide the fact that she wanted to jump his bones.

Desperately.

She took a deep breath, rubbing her palm on her pyjama pants, trying to stop in from tingling. Get over yourself Meg! she thought. It's never going to happen! Not only are you strangers, and he clearly doesn't trust you, but you're also almost ten years older than him! He'd never be interested in you!

She pushed her completely inappropriate physical reaction to the back of her mind and looked at Chris once more, jumping slightly when she found him looking back at her. His eyes were shuttered.

"You really are a normal person? A mortal? You're not a witch or a…"

"Demon? No, I'm not. I'm totally, completely, 100% mortal."

"Then how did I get here?" Chris asked in frustration. "The only way it could have happened was through a spell-"

"It was a spell" Meg said. "And don't ask me how it worked, because I have no idea."

"If you're a mortal, how could it have worked in the first place?!"

Meg grimaced. It shouldn't have worked at all. The spell was made up by a fanfiction writer, and completely false. The whole concept of Charmed was false!

This thought reminded her that she had something very important she needed to tell him. If he was going to be around for a while, he couldn't not know. She ignored the way her blood heated at the thought that he'd be hanging around and cleared her throat.

"Ah, Chris? There's something you should know."

Her heart pounded as he frowned at her. She knew she needed to tell him, but she had no idea how. She had no idea what to say.

Figuring that the saying 'actions speak louder than words' was more then true, she got up and picked up a DVD case off her coffee table. She handed it to him silently.

Chris's eyes widened as he took in the picture on the case. It was the case of season six, and it showed all three Charmed Ones, Paige, Phoebe and Piper respectively. Above the photo were the words, 'Charmed: The Complete Sixth Season'.

"What the hell is this?" Chris demanded as he turned the case over and read the back. "'Season six catapults the sisters into action when they, disguised as Valkyries, must save Leo from an island of gorgeous warrior maidens.'"

He dropped the case and glared at Meg. "What bullshit are you trying to sell me?"

"It's the reason why all this should have been even more impossible then it is already" Meg said quietly. "When I read the spell, or what would have been a spell in your world, it must have pulled you across realities."

"Across realities? How do you even know about crossing realities if you aren't a witch? Stop beating around the bush and tell me what the hell is going on!" Chris growled as he surged to his feet. Meg grimaced.

"Chris… in my reality, you don't exist. Well you do, just not as you are now."

"Try and make some sense you'd you?" Chris snarled as he began to pace.

She watched him for a moment, decided to jump right in when she sensed the panic that was just starting to show. She sighed.

"In my reality, you, Christopher Perry Halliwell, are a character in a TV show called Charmed. You are played by an actor named Drew Fuller, and the sister are played by the actresses Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano and Rose McGowan."

She waved her hand, indicating the DVD case.

"The show is very popular, enough that it lasted eight seasons and even continued on in comic books, but that's all it is. A TV show, with characters that don't exist outside of a 40-minute timeframe."

Chris stared at her mutely.

"You're lying" he stated calmly.

Meg sighed and shook her head. "I'm not. If you look out the window, you'll see you're not even in San Francisco. You're in New York. The year is 2013 and magic doesn't exist."

"No. You are lying. You have to be. And I'll prove it."

Without another word, he did something that completely threw Meg for a loop. He proved that magic did exist and orbed, leaving her sitting alone in her living room, with her mouth on the floor.

~0~

Meg paced. Where the hell was he? Why wasn't he coming back? Didn't he realise that if anyone saw him, he'd be mobbed? Drew Fuller was a popular actor, especially with woman. He'll get recognised instantly!

At least it answers the question of whether he has any powers in this reality she thought as she paced. But him suddenly disappearing on her, giving her absolutely no indication of where he was going or when he'd be back did other things as well, the main one being terrifying her back to the stone age. If he told anyone who he was… well mixed with his face, he'd be under psychiatric evaluation in a heartbeat, and on the six o'clock news straight after. Drew Fuller believing he was one of his past characters? Yeah, the reporters really wouldn't be interested in that. Not!

She ran her hand through her hair in frustration. She was going to kill him when he got back! If he got back! She was dead on her feet, and instead of being buried under her blankets where she should have been, she was pacing her living room, praying that a should-be-fictional character orbed back to her! Not to mention if anyone saw him orbing!

Oh, I am screwed. I am so screwed she thought. Why did this have to happen to her? Her life had just settled down, and then sexy-as-hell Chris Halliwell comes into the picture. Now if he would only just orb back…

She stopped mid-pace as a thought occurred to her. No. That wouldn't work. Would it?

Deciding that trying wouldn't kill anyone – she hoped – she lifted her eyes to the ceiling.

"CHRIS!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "CHRISTOPHER PERRY HALLIWELL, GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!"

She looked around expectantly, only to be disappointed. Nothing. So it doesn't work. She sighed. Oh, if only real life was more like the sho-

She spun round as a tinkling rang through the room, a tinkling sound she instantly recognized. Her eyes widened when she saw Chris forming in front of her.

"It worked" she stated dumbly before she glared at him.

"Where the freaking hell have you been?" she shrieked. Chris scowled.

"I was trying to prove you wrong" he said. "You didn't have to shout so loud. I was on my way back anyway."

"And you didn't think that I might be worried?" she hissed, advancing on him as if stalking prey.

Surprise flickered in Chris's eyes for an instant before it was gone. He took a wary step back.

"Honestly, no it didn't. But why would you be worried anyway? You don't even know me!"

"Yes I do" Meg said as she sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly. "I have all eight seasons on DVD Chris. I know you like the back of my hand. And even if I didn't, I would still be worried. Any decent human being would be!"

He muttered something that sounded a lot like "not everyone" but she wasn't sure. She frowned.

"Don't do it again" she warned, pointing a finger at him. Her frown deepening when Chris's mouth turned up into a lopsided smile.

"What?"

"You just reminded me of my Mom. She used to say that to me all the time when I was a kid."

Disappointment surged through her and she swallowed hard. Reminded him of his Mom. Jesus, what a boot to the ego. She didn't think she was that old!

Pushing her surprising strong regret aside, she folded her arms and glared at him again.

"You still haven't told me where you went."

Chris's mouth twisted broodingly. "1329 Prescott Street" he said.

Meg raised her eyebrows in surprise. "The Manor?"

"Yes. The Manor. But it wan't the Manor at all!"

It was Chris's turn to pace. Meg watched him stride from one end of the room to the other in the exact same route she'd walked not ten minutes before.

"For a start off, it wasn't even in San Francisco! When I arrived, I wasn't even in San Francisco! I was in Los Angeles! I was at 1329 Carroll Ave, Los Angeles!"

"That's where the house is that's used for the exterior shots in the show" Meg said quietly, her eyes still on his moving form.

"So I figured I'd try inside. Only to find it was totally different! The sisters didn't even live there!"

"The inside is a mocked-up studio set" Meg whispered. She could feel the confusion and frustration pumping off him, heavily overlaid with panic. She sighed, reached for his hand and pulled him to a stop.

"Chris, I'm sorry. But you're going to have to accept it. The Halliwell Manor only exists inside the world of Charmed."

His hands tightened around hers, and heat stormed through Meg's veins as she stared up into his tormented eyes. She once again ignored it.

"I have to get back ho- back to the Manor, Meg" Chris said in a soft voice, and Meg's heart jolted at the unexpected vulnerability in his voice and eyes. She gave his hands a shake.

"And you will. A spell bought you here; we should be able to find one that gets you home."

They continued to look into each other's eyes for a long moment before Chris nodded and stepped back. Meg glowered to herself as she once again rubbed her hand on her pants. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Her heart was aching slightly at the thought of him going home. Man, she was an idiot! He didn't even see her as a healthy, red-blooded female! He'd compared her to his mother! God, she was going to kick her own ass if this lead to her falling for him! Lusting after a fictional character was one thing, but loving one… Well, that was just not allowed.