"My patience is running out, Elizabeth." Wyatt stated as he approached the phoenix menacingly. "I have given you more than enough time to bring Bianca to our side, but it appears that you have done nothing."

Elizabeth drew a nervous breath and tried to avoid the eyes of her master. "She has set blocking charms on her apartment…I have been unable to breach them. I have tried to convince her to join my side for many years, but she will not. Perhaps it would be better if we spend time training other young phoenixes- we have many eager for proper training."

"You are in no position to make suggestions." Wyatt said, his temper beginning to rise. "I want Bianca- I will accept no substitute. I suggest you try harder…I do not tolerate failure."

"Yes, Lord Wyatt."

He gave her a forced smile. "Good. You may leave now…but I expect you to return with Bianca at your side by the end of the week."

With a slight bow, the woman shimmered out of the underground lair.

Wyatt gave a loud sigh as he returned to the comfort of his favourite chair. Over the past few weeks he had been so occupied with his plans for continental domination, that the issue of Bianca's turning had been pushed down on his to do list. But, after his rather unfortunate encounter with his brother at the manor, Wyatt had realized that getting Bianca, and as a result Chris, on his side was a matter of much importance.

The fact of the matter was that Chris remained his only weakness.

Even though the boy stubbornly fought against him, he could not suppress his desire to protect his baby brother. His mother had always told him that, as the more powerful of the two, that was his job…and he wasn't prepared to disappoint her just yet.

Chris simply needed to learn that 'good' and 'evil' were only meaningless words. Dividing the world that way was much too simple…too naive. Wyatt was not 'evil', he just happened to see things differently than most witches.

He had known at a very young age that both sides had their flaws- and you could never trust that people were on the side that they claimed to be on.

An elder could be just as cruel as a demon…

The battle that had waged in the magical world for centuries was pointless…no one would ever win it.

But many could die for it.

Die in vain.

Just as his mother had.

Power was the only thing that could be trusted. It was absolute. Measurable. One could not question power they way they could question the vague concepts of morality. Wyatt had always had lots of power, and he was just beginning to put it to good use. He was extraordinary.

Unique.

And so was Chris…there was no telling how far they could go if only they could work together….

He was willing to do whatever it took to get his bother at his side.

"You'll understand soon, Christopher." Wyatt muttered to himself as he watched the shadows of a candles flame dance on the cave wall.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Okay, um, thanks for coming everyone. I guess we should get started." Chris said nervously as he surveyed the small classroom at the magic school which now contained about twenty five witches. "Has every one written down their name and powers?" he asked, glancing down at the clip board that had been passed around the room.

There was a general grumble of confirmation.

"Great." Chris stated, trying to sound enthusiastic and confidant; even though he was everything but.

It had been four days since he had first met with his father to discuss the plan for rescuing the witches Wyatt had taken, and he was now meeting with the group that he was expected to guide on the quest. Chris had never considered himself a leader, and he found it terribly nerve wracking to be standing at the front of the room, entrusted with the lives of all of these people.

"I…I guess I should begin by introducing myself." He stuttered, trying to avoid eye contact with every one in the room. He could feel their penetrating gazes on him…and he could sense their apprehension. "My name is Chris Halliwell. I'm part whitelighter, part witch…my mother was the oldest charmed one. I was trained at magic school until I decided to transfer to a mortal high school when I was fifteen, and I have taken on whitelighter duties for the past couple of years."

Chris stopped talking and took a nervous glance around the room. Most present did not seem impressed and many looked even more hesitant than they had when they first came in.

"So…We're being led into battle by a pacifist who also happens to be the brother of the guy we're fighting?" A middle aged man at the back of the room asked, his tone clearly showing that he was not pleased.

Chris hesitated and drew a deep breath. He had been worried that they would not be willing to take orders from him…and what the man said made sense.

Wyatt was his brother.

He was primarily a whitelighter

Why should they have any confidence in him?

He was finding it hard to have any confidence in himself…

"Firstly, I want to assure you all that I am nothing like my brother." He stated his voice firm. "I have been on the side of good my entire life, and I always will be. I am willing to do whatever it takes to stop Wyatt. He is a threat to everything I stand for."

A slight hum filled the room.

"Secondly, I may be half whitelighter, but I am also half witch; from a family that is known for all of its successful vanquishes. Sure, I'd much rather be healing witches then hunting demons, but right now, eliminating the threat is what's necessary and I am fully capable of doing it."

A boy about Chris' age gave a loud scoff and folded his arms across his chest. "You expect us to believe that crap, Halliwell?" he asked, his blue eyes steely. "You'll probably be sitting on your angelic little ass in the safety of magic school while the rest of us risk our lives in the underworld."

Forcing himself not to loose his temper, Chris turned to the young witch. There seemed to be something familiar about him…but he couldn't quite figure out what it was. "I will be down there with you the entire time." Chris replied "This is as much a risk to me as it is to you. Maybe if you gave me a chance to explain the strategy, you'd understand that."

The boy did not respond and the rest of the room remained silent. "Excellent." Chris began, hardly able to suppress his smirk. "Our basic plan is to attack the prison while

Wyatt and most of the upper level demons are occupied with the opening of the Manor Museum on New Years Eve. We have divided you into two groups- this one is obviously being led by me, and the other is being led by a witch named Katie. We are group A, and that means that we are the ones beginning the attack. The location of the prison has been clearly marked on this map-" he gestured to the roughly drawn map of the underworld he had posted on the wall. "And Leo will orb us down to this passage at precisely 11:59pm. Those of you with the best offensive powers will make up our front line and everyone will be equipped potions and spells that can be used against the demons."

He paused and glanced up at the witches. It appeared that at some point during his speech their apprehension had began to fade.

Chris drew a deep breath before continuing even more confidently. "We're expecting mostly lower level demons, and they really should be no match for us, especially if we catch them by surprise. We have also received word that Wyatt has placed many darklighters on guard at the prison so this afternoon we are going to be putting darklighter poison into a number of the potions. Leo and I will be unable to help with this for obvious reasons, so I would appreciate one or two volunteers to assist Katie. The next time we meet I will be giving you some handouts with vanquishing spells for the most common types of lower level demons and it is imperative that you lean them all. We will also be discussing our specific manoeuvres and our strategy once we mange to reach the inner prison."

He paused.

"Any questions?"

There was no response for several seconds, and Chris was about to give a sigh of relief when the troublesome young man who had spoken earlier decided to complain once again.

"Yeah, I have a question." He began, his voice held more than a hint of arrogance. "Why do you get to be the one who tells us what to do? Is it because your daddy is the guy in charge? Quite frankly, that's a really stupid reason."

Chris resisted the urge to orb the witch to Antarctica, and mentally calmed himself before giving a response. "Look," he said with annoyance. "I realize that you're scared to go on this mission- every one is- and that's okay. But we do not have time to debate over who's in charge. If you want to leave, that's fine. Go." He glanced down at his clip board that held the list of all present. "What's your name? I'll cross you off the list."

The other boy smirked and remained firmly rooted in his spot. "My name is Robert Cadwell. But I'm not leaving, and I am most certainly not afraid."

Chris' heart rate suddenly increased. He remembered that name…no wonder the boy looked so familiar...

Robert Cadwell had made his life a living hell during his years at magic school.

They had been in the same year.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to recognise me." Robert drawled, a smirk still plastered on his round face. "What a happy little reunion this is turning out to be…don't you agree, Dead Boy?"

Chris cringed at the use of the name that other kids had teased him with in primary school. He had thought that that terrible chapter of his life was far behind him. "Yes, wonderful to see you again." He said sarcastically, glaring at the young man.

After several seconds he realized that their private conversation must have been causing much confusion among the rest of the witches. This really wasn't the best time to drudge up childhood rivalries.

"Right, well, I think that's pretty much it for today." He said, turning his attention back to everyone else. "I'll see you back here on Christmas eve, and then again on boxing day. Before we get further into this, I would like to offer any of you the opportunity to back out." He chanced a small glance back at Robert. "I do not want any of you to feel that you are being forced to participate…"

After almost a minute of silence- during which no one moved- Chris gave a satisfied nod. "Good. I'll see you all back here later."

The noise of many conversations filled the room as the witches began to slowly filter out. Overall, Chris was feeling pretty good about the situation. It seemed that many were beginning to trust his authority and he had reason to hope that- by the time they went to battle- they would not hesitate to follow his directions.

Well, most of them anyway…

"You haven't changed." Robert stated coolly as the room emptied. He had not moved with the others and it was evident that he was not willing to leave Chris alone just yet. "You're just as cocky as I remember…you think that just because you have more powers than most people, you have the right to boss us around. That's always been the problem with your kind."

Chris rolled his eyes and turned to face the young man. "As much as I'd like to show you how wrong you are, I really don't have time to argue right now. What don't you do everyone a favour and not show up to the next meeting? It's evident that you hate listening to what I say."

Without leaving him enough time to respond, Chris orbed out of the classroom.

Robert glared at the spot where his childhood foe had just stood. "Stupid arrogant whitelighter." He muttered to himself as he turned and stormed out.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elizabeth sat alone in her dark house, listening to the sound of blown branches hitting her window.

She couldn't sleep…and she knew that she wouldn't have any peace until she found a solution to her problem. Lord Wyatt wanted Bianca captured and brought to him…and if Elizabeth failed it was safe to say that her own life was on the line.

She had to find a way of breaching the blocking spells Bianca had placed on her apartment.

Soon….

The old grandfather clock struck midnight, painfully reminding her of the little time that she had left.

As the seconds ticked away, so did her chances for survival.

What she still did not understand is why Lord Wyatt was so set on getting Bianca. Sure, she had once been good at what she did, but it had been many years since she had shown any desire to kill. There were many other young phoenixes that would gladly serve Wyatt…but it seemed that no one but Bianca would please him.

Perhaps he desired to keep her as a mistress…maybe even a wife. There was no doubt that a child of their combined blood lines would be excessively powerful.

The perfect heir.

This idea excited her greatly.

Even though She and Bianca were not on good terms, it would still be such an honour to seen her niece bear the child of the man who would one day rule the planet.

Elizabeth was suddenly filled with a new enthusiasm; if that was indeed why he wanted her then the sooner she could deliver her niece the better. She didn't want him to change his mind.

She would start work immediately, and with any luck she would find a way in by Christmas day.

Lord Wyatt would soon get what he wanted.

XXXXXXXXX

It was nearly three in the morning, and all but one occupant of the magic school were fast asleep.

A man paced anxiously across his small room.

Thinking.

Seething.

The meeting that day had shown him one thing….

He had been rooting for the wrong side.

It was time to correct his mistake.

Silently, he made his way across the room and opened his spell book. Reciting the necessary incantation, he disappeared in a whirl of white and reappeared seconds later in the underworld.

"I am here to speak with Lord Wyatt." He said calmly to the demon that stood watch outside the door to Wyatt's main chambers. "I have some information that I think he will find very useful…"

XXXXXXXXXXX

A/N I haven't decided if I like this chapter or not. Tell me what you think. Sorry about the wait, I got stuck for awhile. I know where this is going, but this build up part is proving to be a bit tricky to write. Sorry if the Robert thing was kind of random, I should have mentioned him earlier…you'll have to wait and see where that story line is going, muahahaha.

Patricia L. Bryans- Your review was so nice! Thanks so much, I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying it so far. Yep, my general purpose was to expand on hints mentioned in the show…in the end we should get to some of the scenes in chris- crossed. It means so much to me to hear that I am successfully portraying emotion. I've been trying, but as a first time writer I've been worried. Thanks again!

Quillsandbolts- thanks for another review. Interesting in a good way I hope;)

charmedchick4eva- Thank you for the compliments. I actually missed half of season six (grrrr) so I didn't see the whole Leo becoming and elder part…but lets assume that he eventually became one in both realities, in the unchanged time line it was just a bit later (after Chris was conceived).

lemu91-thanks for the review, and thanks for adding me to your favourites. My name is Leigh (if you haven't noticed it at the top of the page) and if I write any non- Charmed stories that will most likely be Smallville stories.

ilovedrew88- Yeah, I wanted to tie in the whitelighter thing at some point because I thought it was funny and I think it may become important later…not to sure yet. Thanks for another great review!

AnimeAlexis- Like I said to Lemu91, in my version (and in may I have read) Leo becomes an elder eventually in both time lines. The way I see it, it's the logical reason why Chris hates Leo so much. Sorry the update took so long, thanks for reviewing!