Leo waited around for over half an hour before he was allowed to see Darryl. But as promised, Leo kept Darryl's wellbeing in the forefront of his mind to make sure nothing was wrong with him as he waited. He had confidence that Piper and Chris could come up with a good plan together for getting Sheridan.

He finally got in to see Darryl, and Darryl looked almost happy to see him. He said, "Hey Darryl, how are you holding up?"

Darryl went over to the bars so they could talk quietly and said, "Not so good Leo. Please tell me you have some good news for me."

"The good news is that the girls 'fixed' the tape so it will show what originally happened without showing the magic. So now the evidence against you is gone."

Darryl nodded and said, "That is good news, and if it works, they'll probably have forensics take a closer look at the crime scene and the man I shot. They should be able to find the bullet he shot at me, as well as powder residue on his hands from firing the shot."

Leo nodded. "And we haven't gotten to her yet, but we're working on Sheridan. We've figured out she was possessed by a phantasm. By the end of the day today, she will hopefully be back to her normal self, and I'm going to help her forget what she saw that night, so your eye witness will be gone too. I'm guessing you will be out of here in a day or two tops."

Darryl nodded wanting badly to believe that. He said, "Thanks man."

"Don't thank me yet, I haven't gotten to the bad news yet."

"Bad news? Maybe I don't want to hear it."

Leo sighed, "You're in danger. There's a demon named Barbas who is behind all of this, and he targeted you because you've helped out the sisters so often. He wanted to get back at them, but he knew he would loose if he attacked them directly."

"But I don't understand…. Is he the thing that possessed Sheridan?"

"No, but he is working with the phantasm. Barbas is a fear demon. He can see anyone's greatest fear, and then use that against them. He can literally scare people to death."

Darryl looked around at his cell and said, "Well he can't get me in here."

"Actually he can. He can orb in anytime he wants."

"But that would expose magic…..unless he messed with the security system"

Leo sighed, "I wouldn't put it past him. And we think he's already put your worst fears into action. Getting put in prison for protecting magic, and having Sheila take the kids and leave…… It's all part of it. And if he wanted to kill you, he could show up here and make you see things that weren't really happening. He could show something like Sheila killing herself because she was so upset with you, and you would believe she was there dying in front of you."

Darryl shook his head not wanting to believe it. Leo said, "I've been monitoring you for the past hour or so, making sure that you're not overly upset."

"Why?"

"So that we can come rescue you if Barbas shows up and tries to kill you."

Darryl thought about it for a few seconds, and then started to shake his head. He said, "No."

"No what?"

"If this Barbas guy shows up, then I'll just have to deal with it on my own. I don't want you guys coming in here and having a magical showdown in my cell. Not only would that expose magic, but it would scare people."

"If he shows up, I could orb you to magic school where the sisters can protect you, or if you don't like that idea I could at least orb you to the manor to get you out of harms way."

Darryl looked upset and shook his head no. "Leo, you can't just come in here and orb me somewhere else. I'm a cop. I don't think you people understand what that means to me! I'm accused of murder. It will be detrimental to my case if I go missing, and they think I've escaped. I won't leave."

"But there won't be a case if you're dead."

Darryl looked Leo in the eyes and said, "I'd rather be dead then a criminal. I will not leave this cell until I'm cleared of the charges. If this is what I get for helping you guys and protecting magic over the years then so be it. I've always been uncomfortable with covering up what really happens with my cases, so maybe this is some kind of justice. But understand me here Leo, I'm not going anywhere with you no matter what."

Leo gave Darryl a short nod and said, "I'll respect your decision, but if Barbas comes in here to kill you, the sisters and I will most likely show up and vanquish him whether you want us to or not. We can't just sit by and let our friend die, especially a friend who has put himself on the line for us more then once."

Darryl gave him a nod as well. Leo said, "I've got to get back to Piper and Chris. I'm sure they're working on getting Sheridan. Do you have any tips for us on finding her?"

Darryl shook his head, "Sorry, I don't even know where she lives."

"Okay. I'll be monitoring you still, and one of us will let you know when we find her and get the phantasm out."

Darryl nodded and watched Leo walk away.

***************

Sheridan walked up to Chris and hissed, "What do you want now Shorb?"

Chris pretended to just notice her and smiled. He looked over to the female demons and said, "I want you to tell them who you're working for, and I want you to tell them what I did."

Sheridan growled, and said, "You called me all the way over here for this? Barbas and I are busy. He is keeping you in drinks, and since you can apparently drink your weight in alcohol every day, I'd say he's more then repaid you. So why don't you go pass out somewhere and stop bothering us."

Chris glared and shook his head while sloshing his drink a little. "That isn't the way it's gonna work if Barbas wants me to resurrect someone else for him."

Sheridan's eyes got red with anger and she grabbed his arm. She pulled him into the bathroom so that she could threaten him in private. He stumbled and dropped his drink on the floor, but that didn't slow Sheridan down. Once they were in the bathroom Sheridan let Chris go and said, "Listen up buddy. You need to learn your place. You are a lower class demon with a drinking problem. Barbas is NOT at your beck and call. If you keep this up, you're going wish for death."

Chris nodded and said in a more normal voice, "Good threat. Probably would have worked too."

He took the wand out of his pocket and held it up in front of Sheridan. She screamed as the phantasm was ripped from her body and sucked into the wand. It only took a few seconds, and when it was done Sheridan fell to the floor unconscious. Chris leaned down over her and checked her pulse. It was strong. He put the wand away, and then reached into his other pocket to get some of the white powder that Whitelighters used to help innocents forget upsetting magical things. Chris sprinkled the right amount over her forehead and held a hand over her head for a few seconds while he muttered a spell. Then he checked her pulse again. He was about to pick her up and orb her out of the underworld when he heard a voice behind him.

"Shorb certainly wasn't smart enough or sober enough to get rid of my phantasm, so why don't you show yourself. I always like to know who I'm killing."

Chris didn't even have to turn around to recognize Barbas' voice. As he turned he flung his arm out and used his telekinesis to toss Barbas against the far wall. As soon as Barbas made contact with a loud 'thump', Chris used his magic to pick Barbas up again and fling him head first into the corner of the metal stall door.

But Barbas recovered quickly, and he orbed before his head made contact. He showed up behind Chris. He held out his hand to see who Chris really was, and to get his greatest fear, but Chris was too fast for him. Barbas went flying towards the porcelain sink. He hit it stomach first, and his head made contact with the mirror that was above the sink before falling to the ground with shards of mirror falling with him. Before Barbas had time to recover, Chris used his magic to pick up all the sharp shards of glass and jam them into various parts of Barbas' body all at the same time.

Barbas screamed and orbed. Chris expected him to orb away, but Barbas surprised him by orbing right behind him again, but even closer this time. Barbas grabbed Chris' shoulder, pulled the largest shard of mirror out of his stomach, and jammed it into Chris' back on the right side. Chris screamed and went down to his knees. His appearance changed, and Barbas looked at him in his true form. He smiled and said, "Nice try witch."

Chris grit his teeth and pulled the shard out of his back with another scream. While he was doing that, Barbas held his hand up next to Chris' face. Barbas looked at his hand and said, "Your greatest fear…… was your reality."

Barbas took a closer look at Chris. Chris glared and tried to focus and gather his strength so he could fling Barbas again. Barbas gave him a nasty smile and said, "But not anymore."

Now Chris started to look a little worried. Barbas started pulling shards of the mirror out of himself as he was talking, and his wounds started scabbing up as soon as he pulled each shard out. Barbas said, "Now your greatest fear is failing in you mission and going back to that same reality. The reality where Mommy is dead, Daddy might as well be, and Brother Dearest only keeps you alive to torture you."

Barbas got control of Chris' mind, and soon Chris could see those things right in front of him. Piper was dead on the floor with a hole in her. His father was looking down at him from the sky with a bored look of indifference on his face. Wyatt was standing beside him smirking at the situation. Wyatt held up his hand and Chris started to choke. Wyatt said, "I can't believe you actually went back in time to try and change me little bother. You can't change history! Especially mine! You had to know you were going to fail before you even left. Not only did you not change things, but you ended up killing Bianca in the process. Nice work, by the way. I didn't tell you about that did I? I healed her and killed her again a few times. You know, just for fun."

Chris still couldn't breath, and he was starting to see stars. He almost welcomed death. The only reason he wanted to hold on was to smash the look of satisfaction off Wyatt's face, but he didn't get the chance.

*****************

Leo walked out of the police station and went to the side of the building. He looked around to make sure no one was there, and then orbed back to magic school. He found Piper in the library. She smiled at him and said, "How'd it go?"

"Okay I guess. Darryl says if his life is in danger he still doesn't want us to orb him out of there. He's really upset about the whole situation. I don't know how our relationship is going to work once he gets out, but I don't think it will be the same as it was before."

Piper was confused, "But… what about Sheridan? Where's Chris?"

Leo looked around the room and said, "He's with you."

"No, he was with you. You were supposed to see Sheridan and get the phantasm out of her."

Leo started to panic and concentrated on trying to sense Chris. He said, "I sent him back here as soon as we found out Sheridan was out sick. That was half an hour ago."

Piper's heart rate went up and she gave Leo a look of panic and worry. "You don't think he went after Barbas do you?"

Leo held out his hand to Piper and said urgently, "That's exactly what he did, and he's found him. Come on."

Piper put her hand in his, and they both orbed into a bathroom in the underworld. Barbas was standing over Chris. Chris had his hands on his throat, and his eyes rolled back in his head just as they arrived. Piper channeled all her rage at seeing Chris hurt, and flicked both her hands at Barbas. Barbas lost his control over Chris' mind as he felt pain shooting through him from the large gaping wound Piper had just put in his back. Barbas orbed away as quickly as possible, but Piper was able to give him one more wound on his upper right arm before he got away.

As soon as Barbas was out of the room, Chris collapsed on the floor and took some gasping breaths of air. Leo rushed over to Chris' side and knelt on the floor next to him. Chris looked up at Leo with confusion and said, "Dad?" before passing out.

Leo felt the word more then he heard it. His emotions were running high, as he held his hands above Chris' body to check for injuries. Piper kneeled down on the floor on the other side of Chris. Leo looked at Piper and said, "He's alive, but seriously wounded."

Piper heard someone at the door. The bartender opened the door and said, "If you and Shorb can't keep the noise down in……"

He stopped short when he saw what was going on, and called out to the demons in the other room, "Witches!"

Leo told Piper, "Touch Chris, and Sheridan too if you can."

Piper could see Sheridan lying on the floor about a foot away. She was just able to touch both Chris and Sheridan at the same time before Leo orbed the four of them back to magic school. The second they were gone, a fireball landed in the middle of the bathroom floor. Some of the demons growled in disappointment that the witches had gotten away.

As soon as Leo saw that all four of them had made it to magic school he held his hands over Chris to sense exactly where his injuries were. He said to Piper, "Check Sheridan."

Piper checked for a pulse and breathing. She said, "Her vitals seem normal, and she has some white powder on her forehead."

Leo nodded and said, "Chris has a stab wound in his back."

Chris had been lying on his back, and Leo turned him to his side. He held his hand over the wound, and some blue light came out of Leo's hand for the next few minutes while he healed Chris. Once it was fully healed Leo ran his hands over Chris a second time and said, "I can't sense any other injuries, but he's not waking up."

Piper kneeled down next to Chris and put a hand on his forehead. She said, "Chris honey, can you hear me?"

She got no response. She looked at Leo and said, "Maybe it's a residual effect from the fear? Maybe his body needs some time to sleep and recover?"

Leo said, "We'll give him a couple of hours, and if he's not awake by then, we'll have to try something else."

Piper realized they were already in her apartment at magic school and said, "The floor doesn't look very comfortable. Why don't you orb Chris into my bed, and Sheridan can go on the couch."

Leo waved his hand twice, to orb them both. Leo went to Sheridan and held a hand over her. He said, "The phantasm is out, and Chris has already made her forget what she saw. We shouldn't let her wake up here though. I'll orb her to a hospital a few towns away. When she wakes up she won't know how she got there, and she'll have lost a few days of memory."

Piper nodded and said, "I'll sit with Chris until you get back."

Chris opened his eyes and looked around the room confused. He thought, 'Where am I?…… Mom's bedroom at magic school? How did I get here?'

He sat up and looked around, trying to remember. Once he remembered, he reached around to find the wound in his back, but there was nothing there. Then he had a fleeting memory of Leo being there. Chris wondered how long he had been out, and where everyone was. Then he heard voices coming from the living room.

****************

Leo said, "She's awake now, and complaining loudly about being held overnight in the hospital for observation. She has a couple of cops taking her statement, but there's not much to take down, because she doesn't remember anything. Chris did a good job with the white powder. He's probably used it before, because it's difficult to know exactly how much to use."

Phoebe said, "So magic is protected, but what about Darryl?"

Leo said, "I called him from a pay phone and told him Sheridan didn't remember anything. He thinks the charges on him should be dropped in a day or two at the most."

Paige asked, "What about Barbas?"

Leo said, "I'm still monitoring Darryl to make sure he's calm. If he has any sudden attacks of fear, I'll know."

Piper said, "Do you think Barbas will go after Darryl?"

Leo said, "I'm not really sure."

They heard a knock on the door to Piper's apartment. Leo answered it and saw Gideon standing there with Wyatt in his arms. Gideon said, "It's lunch time at the daycare, and they told me Piper usually picks him up before then, so I thought I would check on you."

Leo took Wyatt from Gideon and said to Wyatt, "Hey buddy. Did you have a good time playing this morning?"

Wyatt gave him a smile. Leo looked over at Gideon and said, "Come on in. Thanks for bringing Wyatt home."

"Of course, any time."

Phoebe said, "Hey Gideon, did you hear about Barbas?"

Gideon came in and sat on the couch. He said, "Yes, Piper informed me of the situation this morning. What has happened since we last talked?"

Piper said, "Sheridan is back to normal with some slight memory loss. All the evidence the police had on Darryl has been eliminated. Barbas is injured, and he knows that we know he's back. The three of us will make a vanquish for him tonight, and we'll all carry some of it with us until we know he's gone. The vanquish won't actually send him back to hell unless the three of us are there to do a spell on him at the same time, but it should hurt him and make him stop whatever he's doing at the time."

Gideon nodded and said, "Good. I think that's the best you can do."

Phoebe asked, "Do you think Barbas will still try to get to Darryl?"

Gideon thought about it for a few seconds. Then he shook his head and said, "I doubt it. Now that he's injured and he knows you are aware of his presence, he'll stay hidden for a while. He doesn't want to go back to hell, and he knows if he goes up against you three he'll end up back there. I doubt you'll hear from him again for quite some time."

Chris spoke up from the doorway of Piper's bedroom, "We should go after him now, while he's still weak and vanquish his ass. We can't give him time to build his powers back up and make new alliances in the underworld."

Everyone had turned to see Chris as soon as he started talking. Leo was the first to react. He set Wyatt down, walked over to Chris, and pulled him into a hug. Wyatt walked over to Phoebe and sat in her lap. Chris was a little uncomfortable with Leo's hug since everyone was staring at them. He didn't hug back, but he didn't try to get away either. A few seconds later Leo held his hands over Chris' chest, and checked for injuries again. Chris saw what he was doing and said, "I'm fine Leo. Thanks for healing me earlier."

Leo's eyes snapped up to meet Chris' eyes. Chris took a small step back at the amount of anger in that look. Piper had gotten up and was now beside Leo. She put her hands on her hips and said, "What were you thinking going after Barbas alone young man?!"

Chris took another small step back and said, "Well…. I….. Um……"

Leo turned back to the rest of the room and said, "If you could all excuse us, I think Piper and I would like to speak with Chris in private."

Chris' eyes got a little wider at that pronouncement. He felt like orbing away, but he knew there was no where he could go that Leo couldn't follow. He also knew that Leo would take his orbing away again if it came down to that.

Phoebe didn't need her empathy or her premonitions to know that the impending confrontation was going to be unpleasant. She said, "I should really head back to the office, since I was late to work in the first place."

Paige made a show of looking at the time and said, "Has it been half an hour already? Yeah, I have to get back too."

Phoebe said, "I'm glad you're not hurt Chris. See you tonight."

Paige gave him a sympathetic look and said, "Same goes for me."

Phoebe gave Wyatt a kiss on the head, put him down, and held out her hand for Paige, and Paige orbed them both away. Gideon stood and said, "Yes… well… I suppose I should get back to work too."

Leo said, "Thanks for bringing Wyatt back Gideon, and as always your opinions are both welcome and respected."

Gideon gave him a little nod and made a hasty retreat. Wyatt toddled over to Piper and put his arms up to be picked up. Piper picked him up and then glared at Chris. "You'd better start explaining mister. I want to know what you did from the time you left your dad at the police station until we showed up just in time to keep Barbas from killing you."

Chris decided he needed to get his parents to see his side of things pretty quickly since they both seemed a bit angrier then he had been expecting. He looked back and forth between them and said, "Leo suggested that I come back here and tell you what was going on, but I already knew the best way to find Sheridan and Barbas, so I……"

Leo interrupted, "What do you mean I suggested you go back? I told you to go back and you agreed."

Chris shook his head, "No you said I should go back and tell mom, and I agreed with you that I should."

Leo shook his head, "You know very well that it wasn't a suggestion Chris."

Chris lied, "I thought it was."

Leo grabbed Chris' arm and turned him to the side. He gave him four hard swats and said, "Don't lie, you're in enough trouble already."

Chris didn't like where this was headed. He pulled his arm away from Leo, and Leo let him. Chris said, "Okay fine Leo, you're right I knew what you meant, but last time I checked, I was an adult and working on my own as a whitelighter, which means I don't have to follow any orders you might give me."

Leo crossed his arms. "Okay Chris, if you want to look at it that way, then I'm an Elder which makes me your boss, and you do have to follow my orders. And if you don't follow my directions, I can take you up to the council of Elders, and we can see if they think you should have your wings clipped permanently."

Chris was shaking his head no. Leo said, "So now you don't want to look at it that way anymore?"

Chris looked away. "No."

"Then we'll look at it as a family. Like it or not, I am your father, and I'm always going to have your best interest in mind when I tell you to do something. I also have more experience in fighting demons then you. I've been helping witches fight demons for over sixty years now, so I know my demons pretty well. I told you Barbas was dangerous, and I told you not to go after him. You claimed to understand me at the time, so what happened between then and now?"

"I didn't technically go after Barbas, I was looking for Sheridan."

"But you knew Barbas would be close by."

Chris couldn't deny that. Instead he said, "I've been up against Barbas before. One time when I pissed Wyatt off, he sent Barbas after me to teach me a lesson. But when Barbas looked at my worst fears he saw that I was already living them, and there was nothing else he could show me. He tried beating me up physically because no one wants to fail in a mission Wyatt gives, but I send him home to Wyatt half broken. I probably could have killed him, but Shorb would have just resurrected him. So I truly believed that Barbas couldn't hurt me."

Leo shook his head. "It doesn't matter if you thought Barbas could hurt you, because I told you he could."

Chris tried not to sound whiny as he said, "But I wasn't after Barbas."

Piper could see that argument wasn't going anywhere and said, "Okay so you weren't after Barbas, you were after Sheridan. How did you find her?"

"As soon as I left the police station, I went home and did a spell to make myself look like Shorb. Then I went to the underworld, went to the same places he would go, and made a scene while making disparaging remarks about Barbas. I knew Barbas would be having Shorb watched, so I knew this would attract his attention, but probably wouldn't be enough to send him running himself. He would send one of his flunkies. And sure enough a little while later Sheridan showed up. I got her alone in the bathroom and took the phantasm out. I put the white powder on her, did the spell, and I was about to orb her back here when Barbas just showed up."

Leo said, "But if he hadn't shown up, you wouldn't have gone after him by yourself?"

Chris shook his head no. Chris told himself it wasn't really a lie, but he couldn't keep eye contact as he shook his head. He wouldn't have gone after Barbas right then, because he had to take care of Sheridan. He didn't think Leo needed to know that he had planned to go after Barbas later that night when everyone was asleep.

Leo shook his head not believing Chris. He asked, "Barbas showed you something that scared you. What was it?"

Chris muttered to the floor, "Going back to the same future I left. Failing to keep Wyatt from turning evil."

Piper took the couple of steps that separated them and pulled Chris into a one armed hug with Wyatt still in her other arm. She said, "It's already changed Chris, some bad things may still happen in your future, but it won't be exactly the same. It can't be now that we all know about Wyatt and are going to try and stop it."

Wyatt squirmed a little and pushed on both Chris and Piper. He said, "Eee, eee."

Piper let go of Chris and said to Wyatt, "I know you're hungry sweetie. We'll go get something to eat in just a few seconds."

Leo sighed, turned to Piper, and said, "Go ahead and get Wyatt some lunch down at the cafeteria, and if you could bring some back for me and Chris when you're done, that would be nice. I'm afraid I'm going to have to spank Chris."

Piper gave him a sad look but nodded in agreement.

Chris took a big step back and his voice was slightly higher then usual when he said, "What?! No! Look L… Dad, I know that you're not very happy with me right now, but I don't think this calls for a…. for that. I didn't lie, and I didn't manipulate anyone. I didn't steal anything. I didn't intentionally put anyone in danger. You're over reacting. Why don't we all go down and have some lunch together, and you can have some time to think about it."

Leo was a little surprised at the 'Dad' but knew it was more manipulation then anything else. He shook his head no. "I'm sorry Chris, but both your mother and I told you not to go after Barbas alone."

Leo saw Chris start to protest, and he held up a hand to stop him. "I know, you already told me you weren't going after him, but you knew there was a strong possibility you would run into him by going after Sheridan. You'd be dead if we had shown up a few minutes later, so don't tell me you didn't intentionally put yourself in danger. I'm not going to change my mind about this."

Chris crossed his arms and said with a sneer and false bravery, "So basically you're going to punish me for saving Darryl and Sheridan, protecting magic, and hurting one of our worst enemies. I took some calculated risks with my life, but in the end they paid off. I'm an adult Dad, and you need to back off. This whole father act you've been doing to try and make up for the mistakes you're going to make in the future is getting old."

Leo looked over at Piper and Wyatt. Piper understood the look, and started walking towards the front door. She said, "We'll bring you both back some lunch."

Chris yelled after her, "Fine! Take his side. Like you've never put yourself in danger to protect others!"

Piper paused with her hand on the door. She turned around to face him and said, "You're right Chris, I have put myself in danger before, but not when there were other options available, and certainly not behind my family's back."

She went out and closed the door behind her and Wyatt. Once they were gone Leo reached for Chris' arm, but Chris orbed. Leo stood there for a second, too surprised to react. Leo didn't understand what Chris thought he was doing. He sensed him on top of the Golden Gate Bridge, and he orbed after him.

Chris had panicked, and orbed before really thinking much about it. Leo showed up on the bridge a second later and said with irritation, "What are you doing?"

Chris shook his head not knowing and orbed to the manor. Leo took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down before following Chris this time. Four minutes later he followed Chris home and found him pacing around the kitchen. Leo could have easily taken Chris' orbing away, but he didn't. He could tell that the time he had taken to calm himself down had given Chris a chance to think about what he was doing, and to realize how futile it was.

Leo stayed where he was and asked, "Are you afraid of me Chris?"

A few emotions flickered across his face, and then Chris looked Leo in the eyes and said, "No."

"Then stop running from me. You know I can follow you, and you know I can take your orbing away. You're just delaying the inevitable."

Leo walked over to the kitchen table and pulled one of the chairs away from it. He put it in the middle of the kitchen floor and sat down. He looked over at a wide-eyed Chris and said, "I'm done chasing you, come here."

Chris shook his head no. Leo leaned forward, put his elbows on his knees, and laced his fingers together. He said, "Since the first day I found out I was your father, I've seen you differently. I don't see you as a fellow Whitelighter, I don't see you as the person responsible for advising and helping the sisters, and I don't see you as a young adult who's finding his way in the world. I only can see you as my son. My son Chris. I love you, and I can't just turn that off. Maybe you're right, maybe I can't see you as an adult, because in my time you're not even born yet. Maybe I am being ridiculously overprotective. Maybe after hearing about all the things that happen to you in the future I'm overcompensating. But I can't stop, and frankly I don't even want to."

"I want you to feel like you're loved, because you are. I want you to feel like you're a part of the family, because you are. I want to make up for all the times I wasn't there for you, by being around more then you need me to be. I could write you a hundred letters telling you I loved you, I could give you a hundred lectures telling you to stay out of dangerous situations, but I doubt that would teach you even half of what this spanking is going to. This is going to be an immediate, up close and personal lesson about not putting yourself in danger simply because I told you not to, and because I love you too much to sit back and do nothing about it when you don't listen to me."

As Chris listened to Leo's speech he found himself closer and closer to tears, and before it was over, tears had spilled down his face. He couldn't say which emotion had caused them. Joy at hearing his father cared and loved him. Relief upon hearing that his father saw he was being overprotective, and a strange kind of trepidation mixed with relief upon hearing that he wasn't going to stop being that way. Acceptance that his place in the family was even more secure in this time then it was in his own. And finally shame at having gone behind his father's back to get to Sheridan and Barbas.

Leo saw the tears and said quietly, "So come here."

Chris found himself moving towards Leo even while his head was shaking no. Once Chris was at his side, Leo said, "Good. Thank you. Now drop your pants."

Chris wiped at his face with the back of his hand, and sniffed loudly before reaching down and unbuttoning and unzipping his khaki pants. They fell to the floor as soon as he let go. Leo reached up and took Chris' hand and helped guide him over his lap. Chris held himself up with both hands on the floor on one side, and his feet touched the floor on the other. There was no getting comfortable in this position, so he just stayed where he was, ridged, tense, anxious, and wishing he were somewhere else.

Leo was pleased with the attitude change, and hoped they had had some kind of breakthrough in their relationship. He knew Chris hated every second of this, and didn't want to draw it out any longer then necessary. He put his arm around Chris' waist, pulled him up tight against his stomach, and brought his hand down in the center of Chris' butt on top of his boxers. Chris let out a little grunt at the first swat, but then tried to stay quiet.

Leo was spanking with deliberately slow and heavy swats, and Chris could feel his whole body jarring with each one. He wasn't able to take very many without squirming. By the time Leo got to twenty, little noises of pain were escaping from Chris' throat. Leo stopped to pull the boxers down.

As soon as Chris felt Leo's fingers in the waistband of his boxers he decided he had had enough. "No Dad! I'm sorry, okay?"

Leo thought that was a much more sincere 'Dad', which made him happy, even though the situation was unpleasant. But it didn't stop him from pulling the boxers all the way down to Chris' knees and saying, "Sorry for what?"

Chris hung his head and said, "I'm sorry I went behind your back to get Sheridan."

Leo made a non committal sound in his throat and started spanking again. He put a little less force behind the swats, but went at a much faster pace. Chris yelled out a loud, "Nooooooo!" and started struggling to get up.

For the next few seconds Leo had to work on keeping Chris in place while also keeping up the rapid-fire swats. Chris was amazed at the immediate intensity of the pain. He had started out struggling in protest of the spanking continuing, but soon his struggles were less deliberate and more in reaction to the pain. Scattered thoughts ran through Chris' mind. 'I can't believe I walked over to him for this! Damn it hurts. He has to be done soon, it fucking hurts! If he doesn't stop soon I'm gonna….. Shit, I'm gonna cry.'

Chris yelled out, "I said I was sorry! What more do you want?!"

Leo couldn't get rid of the image of Chris laying on the bathroom floor close to death with Barbas standing over him. He kept spanking and said, "I want to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"It won't! I swear it won't Dad! Leo, please! Please stop!"

Chris knew he couldn't take anymore without crying, and his squirming and kicking wasn't getting him away from the pain, so he put his hand back to cover as much of his butt as he could reach. Leo used his right hand to keep spanking, but moved the swats to Chris' upper thighs. Then at the same time he used his left hand to capture Chris' wrist, and pulled the hand away that was coving Chris' butt. Once the hand was out of the way, Leo went back to spanking Chris on his butt, which was a deep and painful looking red.

When Chris felt the smacks on his thighs his whole body jerked and the tears started, and then when the swats went back to his rear, he gave up on trying to hold the tears back. Chris' struggles all but stopped as all of his energy was put into crying. Leo both heard and saw that Chris was crying, and gave him a few more swats before stopping all together.

Once it was done, Leo let go of Chris' wrist, and rubbed his back for a second to let Chris catch his breath. Chris kept one hand on the floor and used the other to cover his face while he cried. Leo leaned over and pulled Chris' boxers back up. After they were in place, Leo put a hand on Chris' arm and pulled on him to stand up. Chris got up immediately, and once he was on his feet, he bent down to grab his pants from around his ankles and put them back on.

Leo stood as well, and put the chair away. He went back to Chris, who was wiping at his face with his hands and trying to stop crying, and pulled him into a crushing hug. Leo said, "When I came back from the police station and realized you were gone….. I knew what you had done before I even tried to sense you, and I was scared. Scared that you'd be dead before we could get to you, and we almost didn't get to you in time."

Leo put his hands on Chris' shoulders and pushed him away slightly so he could look into his eyes. He said, "The next time I tell you not to do something because it's too dangerous, you'd better listen to me. Do you hear me?"

Chris almost had his crying under control before Leo started talking, but now he felt fresh tears sliding down his face. He nodded that he understood and was able to get out, "I'm sorry."

Leo pulled him back into a hug and said, "I know, and I forgive you."

After a few more seconds Leo said, "It's gonna be okay Chris. I know you were trying to do the right thing, but you went about it the wrong way. We could have carried out the exact same plan together. I could have gone with you to get Sheridan while staying out of sight like usual. Then I could have been down there with you when Barbas attacked, and he wouldn't have been able to get to your mind with both of us working against him."

Leo kept on holding Chris, and once his crying was a little more under control Chris said, "But I didn't think you would let me do it, so I had to try it myself."

Leo let him go again and put a hand on the side of his face. "No you didn't. If I had said no, then we would have come up with a different plan. You have to learn to work as part of a team. You're not on your own anymore."

Chris thought about that for a few seconds, and the words 'Not on your own anymore.' circled around his head. Chris gave Leo a little nod to show that had heard him. Leo said, "We need to get back to Piper's apartment. She should be back with some lunch for us any minute."

Chris and Leo orbed together. Once there, Leo said, "Why don't you go clean up Chris."

Chris walked into the bathroom and washed his face. He looked at himself in the mirror and asked, "Do you even know how to not be alone?"

Chris could remember having his whole family together, but even then he was somewhat of an outsider, because he was the only one who had known Wyatt was evil. He remembered being with his grandfather from age fourteen until eighteen, and that was the closest thing he could come to. He shook his head and said, "Probably about as well as you know how to stay out of trouble with your parents."

Chris dried off his face and hands, and then rubbed at his butt for a few long minutes before going out. The sharp sting was starting to dissipate, but he was left with a sore burning sensation, that was awful.

He walked out of the bathroom and found that Piper had just arrived. She had a sleeping Wyatt in one arm, and a sack filled with their lunch in the other. Leo and Chris both rushed to unburden her. Leo took Wyatt and put him down in his crib for a nap, and Chris got the sack of food and started to put things out on the coffee table. As he was doing that Piper put a hand on his shoulder. She said, "Chris?"

He made eye contact for a second and looked away embarrassed and said, "Yeah Mom?"

"How are you doing?"

Chris shrugged. He didn't want to get emotional again, so he kept getting stuff out of the bag and said, "I'll live."

Piper had seen his red rimmed eyes, and knew he had been crying. She put a hand on his arm to stop his movements. Once he stopped she hugged him and said, "I'm glad to hear it, because that was kind of the point of the whole thing now wasn't it."

Chris hugged back, but also rolled his eyes. "I know. I get it, and I'm sorry okay?"

Piper let go and gave him a look. She said, "You don't sound very sorry."

Chris looked down at the table and said, "I am, but….."

Piper rubbed his arm to let him know she was listening. "But what?"

"But the whole situation frustrates me too. It hurt, and it's really hard to feel like an adult when you guys keep busting my ass for doing my job, just because I don't do it the way you think it should be done. I did save Sheridan from the phantasm. I did protect magic by making her forget. I did help Darryl get clear of the charges. But all you guys can see is that I got hurt doing it."

Piper nodded in sympathy and said, "You're right Chris, it's really hard for both me and Leo to see past you getting hurt. And you're right that in a lot of ways you saved the day with Darryl and Sheridan. But maybe if you'd put a little more effort into finding ways to work with us instead of behind us or around us, you would find that we would all be less frustrated."

He gave her a nod while thinking about what she said. Leo came out and said, "What's for lunch?"

Chris said, "Sandwiches and chips."

Leo looked at Piper and said, "Thanks for bringing us lunch."

"Any time. Can I sit with you guys?"

Chris said, "Go ahead, I'll sit down here." and got down on his knees in front of the coffee table leaving a spot for Piper to sit on the couch.

Both Piper and Leo pretended not to remember that all three of them had fit on the couch plenty of times before. Chris pulled the last of the stuff out of the bag and as he handed a napkin to Leo he said, "Here Dad."

Leo stared at Chris for a few seconds not sure if he had heard him correctly or not, because it had seemed so casual. Leo looked over at Piper who was smiling at him with love and happiness. Chris hadn't really thought about it before saying it, but once he saw Leo's reaction he realized what he had said. He waited a few seconds and then said with impatience, "Well do you want it or not?"

Leo took the napkin and said, "Thanks son." hoping that Chris understood the underlying message.

Chris did, but didn't want to admit it, so instead he said, "So when are we all going to go after Barbas? Now that he's hurt is the best time you know."

Piper shook her head, and said, "Can we please give it a rest during lunch?"

Chris nodded and started eating.

The rest of the afternoon Chris helped Piper make a vanquish for Barbas at the manor, that would be completed once Paige and Phoebe came home to help do the spell over it. But Chris was worn out, and fell asleep on the couch before either one of his aunts came home from work. Leo orbed Chris to bed and spent most of his night playing with Wyatt while Piper told her sisters an abbreviated version of what had happened.

*************

The next morning at breakfast, things were fairly quiet. Both Paige and Phoebe congratulated Chris on getting Sheridan to safety, and it made him feel a little better, even though he wasn't sitting comfortably. When they were almost done eating there was a knock on the door. Chris jumped out of his seat and said, "I'll get it."

Phoebe snickered and muttered, 'Yeah, I'll bet."

Chris glared at her for laughing at him and said, "Why don't you just tell us who it is Aunt Phoebe. How about a premonition?"

She lost her smile and glared at him. Leo sighed and said, "It's too early for this guys, give it a rest."

Leo got up and got the door. It was Darryl. Leo smiled and gave Darryl a hug as he said, "I take it I'm looking at a free man."

Darryl didn't smile as Leo let him go. He gave him a nod and said, "I have a message for you. All of you."

Paige and Phoebe had come over to the door along with Chris. Darryl said, "I won't help you anymore."

Phoebe said, "Darryl…."

Darryl shook his head. "No Phoebe. This has been a wake up call for me. From this day on it's by the book. I've promised Sheila, and myself. I know that you are good people, and I know that you are trying to do what's right, and that's why I came in person to tell you. The next time I find out one of you has done something less then legal, I won't just look the other way. The next time you call me for help…. Well just don't. I have to focus on my life right now. I'm already under investigation for the things that have happened over the past few years, and I'm not going to make it worse."

He looked at each of them and said, "You have fair warning."

Darryl turned to leave and Leo called after him, "Darryl."

But Darryl didn't turn around. Leo closed the door and looked at everyone. He said, "That's not good."

Leo and Chris went to magic school to tell Piper the news about Darryl as soon as breakfast was over. They found her talking to Gideon about her favorite subject Wyatt and how smart and powerful he was. Once they had told her, she didn't really feel like talking anymore, and took Wyatt with her to her room where she planned to call Sheila to try and repair the damage.

Once Piper was gone, Chris brought up Barbas again to Gideon. He said, "Please tell my dad that you agree with me Gideon. We should go after Barbas now while he's hurt, and before he has time to make alliances in the underworld."

Gideon shook his head. "Sorry Chris, but I don't agree. He's not a threat right now, and there's no reason to go putting yourselves in danger by going after him."

Leo gave Chris a look and Chris sighed and said, "Okay, fine."

Leo nodded once and said, "Come on Chris, let's go find someone else to go after today."

Leo and Chris orbed home to the manor. As soon as Gideon was alone Barbas showed up behind him. Gideon looked startled and said, "What are you doing here? This is a sacred place of good magic."

Barbas held up his hand to Gideon's face and then looked at his palm. He said, "I was wondering why you were defending me, but I see it now. Don't worry. I won't tell them you're the one who's really after Wyatt and turns him evil. I agree with you in fact. Make him evil or kill the little monster, just get him out of everyone's way. Let me know if you need help. I have a debt to repay."

Barbas orbed away, and Gideon sighed with relief.