Eryn orbed in on the top of the Golden Gate Bridge. She was shaking she was so angry, and she yelled at the top of her lungs "Leo!" She stalked along the girder, kicking angrily at the shallow hemisphere bolt-heads lining the edges. After a couple minutes pacing, she stopped in the middle of the beam and yelled again, "Leo!"

The familiar sound of orbs gathering and the sight of pale blue and white orbs tinged with gold collecting in front of her filled her with relief and she could feel herself calming down.

A little.

"I can't do this. I can not do this, Leo," she began, barely waiting for him to fully form.

"Eryn, what are you doing here? It's not safe," he said, his voice worried. Eryn just rolled her eyes.

"Safe, not safe, does it really matter? You and I both know that Ardariaen is close to finding me, so why should I bother to…"

"Because he does not know where you are! As long as you are in the Manor, with Chris and Wyatt, with their and the Nexus' magical power masking yours, he will keep missing you!"

"So take me somewhere else with lots of magick," she snapped, turning and walking along the steel girder. "You could take me to Magic School, or Faery, or…" she winced, then continued on,"…or even the Heavens." Leo stared at her in amazement.

"What?"

"Did I stutter?" she asked, cocking her head slightly, and for a second he was reminded heart-wrenchingly of Piper.

"Um, no. No, you didn't, it's just…you hate the Heavens."

"Uh, no, I don't…hate it exactly, it just gives me a migraine like you would not believe. All that good energy…" She shook her head. "But that's not the point. I'm desperate here. I'll go anywhere! Believe me, anything will surpass where I've just come from."

Leo frowned slightly. He had a sneaky suspicion he knew where this was going, but…

"Where exactly did you just come from?" he asked gingerly. Eryn gave him an odd look.

"The Manor," she replied simply. Leo sighed.

"All right. What the Hell is going on?"

"Oooh, are Elders allowed to swear?" she responded lightly, sidestepping the question. Leo frowned.

"I am. What the Hell is going on?"

Eryn held his gaze for a moment, then looked away with a sigh. "It's just…"

Leo arched his eyebrows. "It's just…what?" She sighed again.

"Has the term idiotic, self-centred little prick ever occurred to you in describing Chris?" she asked, facing him grimly. Now it was Leo's turn to sigh.

"Has he been giving you a hard time?" he asked. Eryn glared at him.

"Hard time does not even begin to cover what he has been giving me."

Leo swallowed. "Look, I know that he can be a little…well, a little hard to get along with…"

"Leo, he is going out of his way to make me leave! He hates me! Look, I just think it would be better if I went somewhere…else. Anywhere else." Eryn's voice cracked slightly and she turned away, her fists clenching.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked, his voice full of concern. Eryn took a deep breath in.

"Leo, he doesn't even know who I am. He doesn't even know what I am. And still, he hates me.

"He's like a stick of Acme dynamite. I unwittingly light the fuse, and then a moment later he blows up in my face, leaving me completely stunned and wondering what the Hell I did wrong…"

Leo sighed. Again.

"Knowing Chris, you probably haven't done anything wrong. You've just gone and reminded him of something he'd rather just…forget." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Look, Eryn, Chris doesn't hate you. In fact the only thing I think he hates is broccoli, jocks and Demons…"

"Point. Exactly," Eryn said softly. She shrugged out of his hold. "He's hating me for me, and he doesn't even know who I am."

Leo took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. This had been a very, very long day. The other Elders were again questioning him about his faith in Eryn: how could someone so hugely connected to evil remain good? How did he know that she might not give in and…No. It wasn't possible. It didn't even bear thinking about.

"Look. Let's just go back to the Manor, and I'll smooth things over with Chris." He held up a hand as she began to speak. "Just give him another chance, okay? I can't take you anywhere just now, and I think you should just stick it out at home. Chris, Wyatt, and the Nexus can block you far better than another realm could."

"If you say so," Eryn muttered.

"I do."

"Now why don't I believe you?" she grumbled, kicking at one of the bolt-heads on the girder. He shrugged.

"I have no idea."

Eryn glared at him. "Sometimes I wonder why I let you live," she informed him. Leo frowned at her and made a frantic 'shut up, now!' motion with his hands. She arched an eyebrow at him.

"They're listening!" he mouthed at her, pointing upwards. She rolled her eyes, then conjured up an energy ball in her left hand. She stared at it intently for a few moments, then the energy ball disappeared. Leo looked at her in askance, but she shot him a grim smile and looked upwards. After a few seconds, the voices of the Elders exploded in Leo's mind.

"She has gone too far, Leo..." "We cannot stand for this, Leo…" "Leo, control your charge!" were just some of the…statements…made by the furious Whitelighters currently in the Heavens.

"What the hell did you just do?" he asked Eryn angrily. His charge gave an innocent shrug. "Eryn…" he said warningly. She sighed.

"I just teleported an energy ball into the Heavens. They should know that listening in on private conversations is wrong." She explained this to him as if it was a perfectly sane and natural thing to do to heavenly eavesdroppers. Leo gave an exasperated sigh.

"Oh, come on, it's not like it hurt anyone!" she exclaimed in an aggravated tone. "It was only a little one! Not even very powerful! I made sure of it! It just…bounced around a bit and singed a few beards and heads, that's all, I swear!"

"You can't keep doing this, Eryn…" he said softly. He knew what was at stake, even if she didn't. She shot him an annoyed look.

"Okay, fine. I'll try," she said sulkily. Leo narrowed his eyes at her. She shrugged. "I'm not gonna make a promise I know I'm gonna break, Leo, so don't expect any from me."

"Okay. Fine. That's gonna have to do for now," he muttered. "Look, we'd better get going. Ardariaen has had more than enough time to get a bead on you…"

Eryn nodded. "You're right," she said sheepishly. "I should know better than this, I've been at this for eleven years, for chrissakes." Then she frowned. "Oh, yeah, and another thing," she added, an ironic look on her face, "If I were you I'd find out what Chris' problem is with Whitelighters."

"Chris' problem with…oh, no, not again!" Leo, exclaimed, annoyed. "I thought he and Wyatt had grown out of that!"

"Well, I think Wyatt has, but Chris certainly hasn't, whatever that is," she informed him. His frown deepened.

"Come on," Leo growled, furious.

I do not envy Chris right now, Eryn thought almost sympathetically as the two of them orbed out.