Chris sat anxiously on a kitchen stool, watching his father read the letter he had had to bring home explaining he had been suspended. He drummed his fingers nervously on the kitchen counter, unaware that the fruit in the fruit-bowl beside him was bouncing up and down in time to the tapping of his fingers.

As he waited for his father to finish reading the letter that Wyatt had obviously gotten to first (if he hadn't known before-hand, the red and black pen marks showing through the paper would have been a dead giveaway), he thought about the girl, Eryn. The Whitelighter.

She seemed far too young to be a Whitelighter - she had looked to be about the same age as him - but the way she had dealt with the Seekers showed she'd been at it for a while. But that in and of itself raised some questions: was she actually a Whitelighter? Whitelighters were pacifists: they didn't actually engage in demonic/witch battles, except to help guide witches. Their only powers were orbing and biokinesis: the ability to heal. The obvious exception to this was, of course, Leo, who had for some reason developed the power to create Orb Bolts (which Chris had inherited from him) and Sterokinesis, the ability to throw lightning from his hands (which Chris had not).

She had orbed, though, he reasoned. That had to mean she was a Whitelighter. He knew that after Wyatt, and then he, himself, had been born, The Elders had put a ban on Witch/Whitelighter matches. Some weird bureaucratic shit about how risky it was and timelines getting screwed and stuff. He had never really got it. His parents and aunts, however, had got it, and had always been angry about it. He remembered when he was little, sitting beside Wyatt at the dinner table, listening to Leo and some Elder arguing about it in the foyer.

But the rest of the Elders had remained firm. Liaisons between witches and Whitelighters after February the 29th, 2004, had been strictly forbidden. So she had to be a Whitelighter. But if she was his age…

Chris was so deep in thought he didn't realize his Dad had stopped reading until Leo said, "Uh, Chris?" He jumped.

"Um, yeah?" he asked sheepishly. Leo pointed to his right, an amused expression on his face. Chris glanced to his left, and did a double-take. An apple, two oranges, and a banana were hovering half a foot above the fruit bowl, six kiwi fruits and a nectarine were levitating three inches above the bowl, and the rest of the fruit (three more bananas, two more nectarines, a grapefruit and seven passionfruits) were hovering unstably at various heights within the bowl. He glanced down at his left hand. He had been drumming his fingers, and the different levels of fruit were corresponding to the different positions his fingers.

He gave a disgusted sigh and flicked his hand impatiently at the fruit. They all fell into the fruit bowl with a little more force than Chris had intended, and he winced. "Sorry, Dad," he muttered, looking intently at a spot on the counter. Leo sighed.

"Wyatt's already had a crack at this, as you might've guessed," he began. Chris snorted. Leo's lips quirked, and he went on. "And he seems to have put everything together for me. I could've guessed what had happened, though, especially after that little display…" Leo nodded at the fruit bowl. He shot Chris a look. "I'm not going to contest the consequences. So that means you've got two weeks to try and get yourself under control. Okay?" Chris nodded, then glanced up at Leo.

"You're not angry?" he asked. Leo arched an eyebrow.

"Define angry." Then he gave a faint sigh. "No. I'm not. It wasn't your fault. You didn't even realize anything was wrong, and when you did, you left so you wouldn't hurt anyone. I'm proud of you." Chris gave him a wry grin. "However…what's this about fighting?" Chris growled something unintelligible under his breath. "What?" Chris sighed.

"It was one of those stupid jerk-jocks that used hang around Wyatt when he was still there. I passed them in the corridor as I was leaving school. They said something to piss me off, and I hadn't gotten complete control of my powers yet…anyway, I turned to one of them and slammed his head into a locker."

"Right. Um…right. I'm assuming you used TK to do that?"

"Mm-hmm," he replied, burying his head in hands.

"What exactly did he say?" Leo asked.

Chris swallowed. "Stuff…" he said slowly. Leo arched an eyebrow.

"About…?"

"Mom. Aunt Paige, and Aunt Phoebe. Y'know, just stuff. The usual. But I just…"

Leo swallowed hard. Chris had not dealt well with Piper's death. He'd gotten into fights before her death, but afterwards he had become more volatile, easier to provoke, and some of the tougher guys at his school had found that out, often to their detriment. Chris was strong enough without TK, but when he added that unconsciously to his swing, most guys flew across the corridor. The fact that Phoebe had decided to teach him martial arts had, instead of teaching him restraint, made him all the more dangerous.

"Alright. I'll tell those idiots at your school to get the facts straight before bothering me again. But you still get to stay off school for the fortnight. I don't want you running around getting double suspensions."

"Thanks Dad." Chris said, raising his head and giving his father a small smile. He fell silent for a moment, then asked, "How long is she gonna be staying, Dad?"

"Eryn?" At Chris' nod he raised his eyebrows slightly. "I don't know. Could be a while, Chris, or maybe not. It's hard to say." Chris nodded slowly, then looked at his father as the usual bells-and-heavenly-chorus sound chimed in his hearing. Leo closed his eyes for a second, and when he opened them, he looked annoyed. "Damnit," he grumbled.

"Let me guess. You've gotta go Up There, don't you?" Chris asked, a faint note of bitterness in his voice. Leo heard it.

"They need to talk to me about something…something they seem to think is important. If I didn't have to go…"

"…you wouldn't, I know. I know." Chris said with a shrug. He blew out a breath and shot his dad a look. "Just seems like you're hardly ever here anymore."

Leo sighed. "I'm sorry about that. Things have been a bit hectic lately…"

"I've noticed."

"Look. Once I've talked to them, I'll be straight back here, okay?" Chris nodded and shot him a wry grin. Leo reached out and ruffled his hair.

"Ugh, Dad!" Chris complained, ducking away. Leo grinned.

"Come on, I want to say good-bye to Wyatt before I leave."

Eryn followed Wyatt through the house on what he had playfully called the "Fifty Bucks Special Tour". She'd actually studied the Manor at Magic School - along with the Charmed Ones and the name Halliwell - but when Leo had told her he lived at "the Manor", she hadn't connected the place she had been in awe of at School and the place she assumed her Whitelighter lived while on earth as being the one and the same.

"It's a bit smaller than I expected, to tell you the truth," she said to Wyatt as he collapsed on the sofa in the attic, the tour complete. He shot her a grin.

"Yeah, I know. When you hear the name 'The Manor', you automatically assume five stories and white marble," he replied, his voice a drawl.

"That's not what I meant...wow, you can see to the Bridge," she murmured, admiring the view out of the small stained glass window behind the Book of Shadows. He frowned slightly.

"What did you mean?" he queried. She gave a faint shrug.

"I mean…I was expecting more rooms. I mean, three of the most powerful witches in the world lived here once, and they never got around to putting in Nook Rooms?" Wyatt arched an eyebrow, and leant back, considering it for a minute, then shrugged.

"To tell you the truth, I guess Mom and Phoebe and Paige never got round to it. As you said, they were the most powerful witches in the world. There was always some demon or warlock or something trying to take them - and their families - out. They just…didn't have the time."

Eryn nodded. "I know the feeling," she said softly. Wyatt snorted.

"You're, what, seventeen? How could you possibly know what being out of time feels like?" he asked. She turned and gave him a crooked smile.

"You have no idea."

Wyatt leant forward slightly. "Try me," he said. She turned to look at him, studying him. For a moment, she looked like she was going to tell him, then she shook her head regretfully.

"Sorry. Maybe another time. If I get it."

Wyatt nodded. Sometimes, there were things that were better left unsaid until the time was right. Once you'd gone and said something, it's pretty hard to take back.

He leaned back and narrowed his eyes at her slightly. Should he ask, or should he not? He decided he would, but indirectly.

"How old are you?" he queried casually. Eryn looked at him, surprised and amused.

"How old do I look?" she asked in turn, a grin playing on her lips. Wyatt frowned thoughtfully.

"Well, you look to be about seventeen, but then, if you were, say, a Whitelighter, you could be much older."

"If I was a Whitelighter, I probably would be older than seventeen."

"So you're not?" Wyatt asked. She arched an eyebrow.

"Not what?"

"A Whitelighter."

"No," she said, laughing. Wyatt frowned.

"But…"

"But what?"

"You orbed," he told her. She cocked her head slightly.

"Yeah…"

"But you're not a Whitelighter?"

"No. Hell, no. And as for the orbing...so do you." Wyatt grinned at her and inclined his head.

"I see. Well, that makes things a little clearer."

"You're welcome," she replied as Leo and Chris orbed into the attic. Wyatt caught the expression on Chris' face and rolled his eyes. Leo gave him a half apologetic, half grim look

"Well, that was quick," Wyatt said shortly. "For how long?"

"I don't know: they didn't say," Leo replied, "but they did say it was urgent."

"Elders?" Eryn asked. Leo nodded. She snorted. "Have fun."

"Oh, I'm sure I will," he said sarcastically. He looked at the three of them in turn. "Are you lot going to be alright?" he asked, a hint of worry in his voice. Chris grinned.

"Dad, you worry too much," he said, speaking for the first time since Eryn had spoken to him downstairs. Leo narrowed his eyes at his younger son.

"And why do you think I do, huh? Didn't someone almost get their hand bitten off by a Seeker this morning?"

"Off?" Eryn asked, shocked. "Bitten…Off?"

"No…not really…" Chris responded, looking directly at her. He gave her a crooked grin. "It was just severely - "

"Mangled."

"Shut UP, Wyatt!" Chris yelled.

"We'll be fine, Dad," Wyatt said over the top of him. "In fact, I think we'll have a crack at that Stoli demon that Eryn told us about, and his Seekers, too." Leo nodded.

"Okay. But listen to Eryn on this one. She's been at this for a while. She knows what she's doing." Wyatt nodded.

"So do we, Dad," Chris reminded him. Leo shrugged.

"I know. But she knew about Stolis working in pairs. Even I didn't know that. Okay?"

Chris nodded slowly. "Okay."

That's it, he thought. She's a Whitelighter.

Leo frowned as the jingling bells sounded again. "Ugh, I gotta go. Be safe, okay, and I'll see you when I get back." He sighed, then orbed out.

Eryn glanced at Chris and Wyatt. "So," she said, giving them both a wry smile, "who wants to bag a Stoli?"