CHAPTER TWO


"It's alright." Martha Kent's smile was kind, understanding. "I know what you are."

Chris's eyes widened in surprise. "You do?"

She nodded. "I've met people who've been effected by the meteor rocks before. And it's okay."

Chris frowned in confusion. He had no clue what she was talking about.

Meteor rocks? he thought. Whatever they were, she thought they were responsible for how he'd saved her. Which, now that he thought about it, was perfect. It was easier than explaining he could orb because his father was whitelighter.

Chris wasn't a deceitful person by nature. But he could be stingy with the truth. Besides, the conclusions people jumped to sometimes worked better than any lie you could tell them.

"Your secret's safe with me," Mrs. Kent continued.

"Uh, thanks." With a shy smile, he pushed his hands into his pockets.

"And I'm so sorry about the way I reacted. You just…caught me by surprise."

"It's okay," Chris reassured her. "Anyone would've reacted the way you did." Besides, he hadn't been upset for the reasons she thought. Where he came from, people often looked at him that way, especially when they found out who his brother was. And being feared for things you hadn't done? Not fun.

"Halliwell," Mrs. Kent muttered thoughtfully. "That name sounds familiar. Maybe I know your family?"

"Um, I doubt it. I don't really know anyone around here. I'm just sort of passing through."

"Passing through?"

"Yeah. I've been, um…traveling around," Chris improvised. "You know, seeing what there is to see."

"You mean hitching?" The disapproval was clear in her voice.

"Uh, yeah. I guess." Chris tried not to squirm. At that moment, she reminded him a lot of his mother. "Smallville seemed like a nice place to take a break. Maybe get a job to earn some cash."

Mrs. Kent's disapproval turned into concern. "If you don't know anyone here in town, and you're low on cash, where are you staying? It takes money to stay at the Smallville Inn."

Chris winced. He'd never been good at lying off the top of his head, had he? "I'm sure I'll find …" And his stomach chose that moment to growl. Embarrassed beyond words, Chris blushed to the roots of his hair.

Mrs. Kent was putting out serious 'mother-vibes' now. "When's the last time you had something to eat?"

"It's been a while," Chris admitted.

There was a pause as she thought something over. Finally, she nodded. "Then let me fix you a late lunch. That way, you won't have to spend any of your money."

Eyes widening, Chris shook his head. "Uh, thanks for offering. Really. But…"

"No buts," she interrupted. "You saved my life. The least I can do is give you a hot meal."

Chris considered. He was hungry. The cash he had on him wouldn't last long. Plus, Mrs. Kent was only trying to be kind. If he turned her down, he might hurt her feelings or something.

"Okay," Chris said. "And thank you."

Chris followed Mrs. Kent to her truck. As he got in, he wondered if his luck was changing. Considering the situation he found himself in, he needed all the good luck he could get.

*****

Earlier


Chris orbed into the attic in a swirl of neon blue lights.

"Chris. Hi!"

Startled, Chris turned. A very pregnant Piper Halliwell was sitting in an old rocking chair. And there was a box of clothes beside her.

"Mom!" he said, heart sinking. He'd hoped to be in and out of the manor without her seeing him. "I didn't think anyone would be up here."

"Well, I'm just going through your brother's baby clothes. I gave most of Wyatt's things away, but I think there's some stuff still up here that will fit mini-you." And she cheerfully patted her stomach.

Chris sighed. First of all, the fact that his mother was pregnant with him was kinda weird. Secondly, the thought of his younger self wearing his brother's hand-me-downs brought up all kinds of issues. He reminded himself that hand-me-downs were a Halliwell family tradition. His mom wore them. Aunt Phoebe wore them. It was no big deal.

"So," Piper said, "why did you orb into the attic if you didn't think anyone would be up here?"

Feeling like a child who'd been caught doing something naughty, Chris shrugged. "Oh, I, uh, just wanted to look something up in the Book of Shadows." And he went to the podium where the family's book of magic rested.

Looking suspicious, Piper stood up with some effort. "And why are we looking things up?"

"Um, well, I kind of saw a demon at P3."

"There's a demon at my club!"

"Well, in the alley, yeah. It wasn't attacking anyone though. More like lurking in the shadows, waiting for dinner to walk by. I'm pretty sure I recognized it from the book, but I'm not sure how to vanquish it."

"Okay." Nodding, Piper walked towards her son. "We'll drop Wyatt off at Sheila's, then we'll…"

"No, Mom," Chris interrupted. "You're not going."

"Excuse me."

Trying to avoid The Look she gave him, Chris glanced down at the book. "In your condition, the last thing you need to be doing is fighting demons."

The silence lasted so long, Chris finally had to look up. He was relieved to see that she seemed to agree with him, if reluctantly.

"Okay, so I won't go. But Phoebe or Paige can…"

"There's no time." Chris turned to the entry he needed, and skimmed to the vanquishing instructions. Just as he thought. It was a really low-level demon. An easy vanquish. "There's no telling what that thing could do in the time it takes me to find one of them. It'll be faster if I do this on my own."

"No." Piper shook her head and put a protective hand over her stomach. Which upped the weird factor by a hundred. "What if you need the Power of Three to…"

"I won't," Chris interrupted. "One of those all-purpose potions Paige cooked up should do the trick. I just have to make a quick stop in the kitchen, and I'll be set."

But his mother still didn't look happy. In fact, she looked ready to argue some more.

Sighing, Chris bent down to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. Sort of an apology in advance. "Back in a minute." And, with that, he orbed.

In the kitchen, Chris took a vial of potion out of the cabinet.

"Chris Halliwell!" Piper's voice echoed through the manor. Chris could hear her hurrying—as much as she could, considering—down the stairs. "Don't you dare orb out of that kitchen before I get there!"

"Sorry mom," Chris muttered, feeling a twinge of guilt for upsetting her. Reminding himself he was too old to get grounded, he orbed out of the house.

He arrived in the night-darkened alley. The creature he was hunting had its back to him. In fact, it was gazing hungrily at its prospective dinner. Further up the alley, a group of teens were leaving the side entrance of a neighboring building. They were chatting and laughing, unaware of the danger they were in.

Chris made a sweeping motion with his hand. The demon was jerked off of its feet, and sent flying across the alley. With a grunt/growl, it crashed into the brick wall, and slid down until it was lying in an unconscious heap beside the Dumpster.

Chris smiled. Being able to freeze things like his mom would be cool. But inheriting Aunt Prue's telekinetic abilities wasn't a bad deal.

As the teens turned out of the alley, still unaware, Chris approached the demon. It really was one of your uglier variety. Hairless. Gray, leathery skin. Arms too long for its body. It looked strange dressed in human clothes. But the hat and trench coat probably let it move around San Francisco without getting much notice.

Chris frowned. He hadn't had time to read the entire entry about the demon this time, but he'd read it before. There was something about it he thought he should remember. He didn't know if it was important or not. But there was something…

Finally, Chris shrugged. It didn't really matter now, did it?

Chris threw the potion at the creature. As the glass vial shattered, the demon went up in flames. In less than a minute, there was nothing left of it but ashes.

As Chris tried to wave away the smell, he couldn't help feeling a bit smug. See how easy that was? His mom was worried for nothing.

As Chris started to orb, he felt a strange energy in the air. Something harsh and grating, like nails on a chalk board.

Orbing was supposed to be effortless. You thought of where you wanted to go, and you went. You felt light and free, like you were standing still but flying all at once.

But this orb was different. It felt like he was swimming through molasses, thick and heavy. The lights he traveled as were shot through with shadows, darkness, where there should be none. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't break out of the orb…

'Maybe I gloated too soon,' he thought as panic set in.

Abruptly, the orb ended. Drained of energy, Chris fell hard to the ground. Eyes closed, he gasped for breath.

Minutes passes before he was able to open his eyes and push up onto his knees.

"Uh oh," he mumbled as he looked around. This definitely wasn't the manor. In fact, he was outside, next to a road. And it was day, when it should have been night.

And that's when he remembered what was so special about that demon. They could release an energy that opened whatever tear in the fabric between dimensions happened to be nearby. It was a handy skill to have if they needed a quick escape. But they had no control over their destination. Every reality was dotted with these tears, each one leading to a different dimension. Jump through a tear they weren't familiar with, and the demon could end up on a world covered with lava.

"Oh, crap," Chris hissed as he stood up. It wasn't hard to guess what happened. "Well, there's no molten lava, which is good. But I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore."

Shaking his head, he turned. As he caught sight of the sign at the side of the road, his eyes widened. "Then again…"


(TO BE CONTINUED)