Leo and Chris orbed into the attic. Wyatt glanced at Leo.

"What's up?" he queried, Leo winced slightly.

"Um, well, the good news is that this..." He glanced at Chris. "...has been settled. But, the bad news is…" he trailed off and gave Wyatt an apologetic look. Wyatt gave a disgusted sigh.

"Again?" he asked angrily. "What the Hell do they want?"

"I was half-way through talks with them when I got called away," Leo explained. Eryn winced.

"Sorry," she said. "It was me. I had to talk to him."

Chris took a deep breath. It was all well and good for his Dad to tell him to go easy on her, but she may have just caused Leo to lose his case - what ever it was - with the Elders. Elders weren't exactly known for their patience, and the interruption of Leo's argument may just have been enough for them to dismiss him for wahtever it was. Eryn looked at him, then gave an impatient sigh and stood up.

"Yes, I admit it, I screwed up," she snapped, scowling at him. "I've screwed him, you, Wyatt, and probably the whole world over. Happy?"

Chris stared at her, shocked. "I…" he began. He was lost for words. He hadn't thought she would blow up like this.

Eryn went on. "You don't like me? That's great, I don't like you either. We're square. We're even. Let's leave it at that, shall we?"

Chris glared at her. "You're really starting to get on my nerves, you know that?" he told her. She gave a harsh laugh.

"Only starting to? Wow, I must be losing my touch: usually I can make people hate me long before now. By now they're usually trying to blow me up."

"I never said I didn't hate you, I just said you were starting to get on my nerves," he snapped back.

Eryn walked over until she was two feet away from him. "Poor diddums," she said, a touch of mocking in her voice. Chris' hands clenched into fists. Eryn glanced down at them, then back up at his face.

"You may be two inches taller than me, but I betcha anything I can pack a better punch," she told him, her voice so low it was almost a whisper. For a second the two furious teens stared at each other, then Chris felt his body become super-light as it was transformed into orbs. A second later, he reformed about two metres away.

Four metres away from him, Eryn also reformed. She stared at him, looking a little shocked, then understanding flickered in her eyes and she turned to Leo, an annoyed look on her face.

"Goddamnit, Leo…" she started, but he held up a hand.

"No. The two of you are not gonna fight, no matter how satisfying it might be for you to pound my son into a pulp. And Chris, she could do it," he added as Chris opened his mouth to protest.

"What, are you nuts, Leo?" Eryn asked him. Leo shook his head.

"No, yes, yes, and no."

Eryn glared at him. "Could you wait until I actually ask the questions before answering?" she demanded

"What would be the fun in that?" Leo asked her. She glared at him.

"No fun. No fun. Point! Exactly! Yes! Thank you!" she yelled, exasperated.

Leo smirked at her. "Annoyed?"

"Yes!"

"Great. Now shut up. I need to talk to you and Chris."

"Not Wyatt?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Wyatt isn't the reason I'm here right now."

Eryn nodded. "I concede," she said, her voice rueful.

"Good. Now. I know the two of you…" he looked between Chris and Eryn, "…haven't really gotten along, and that is partly my fault. I didn't explain who Eryn was or what she was doing here. But now you know. She's here because she needs to be protected…"

"Protected? I don't think so! I can take care of myself, Leo, and you bloody-well know it." Eryn snapped, annoyed.

"Fine, you're here because your magic needs shielding from Ardariaen, happy?" Leo snapped back, looking pissed. Eryn thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "I can go on now?" Leo demanded. She nodded again. "Thank-you."

"Eryn needs a place to stay - safely - where she can figure out where she can go. She's not staying here for long. However…

"I want the three of you to stay here. No leaving under any circumstances, unless a certain demon…" He nodded at Eryn, "…comes calling. Otherwise, I don't care who calls and asks for help, or tells you that you have to leave the house, don't."

"Question," Eryn said, raising her hand. Leo arched an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Can I kill him?" she asked hopefully, nodding at Chris and cracking her knuckles. Leo shook his head.

"No," he replied calmly, as if his charges always asked to kill one of his sons.

"Can I maim him?"

"No."

"Dismember him?"

"No."

"Disembowel?"

"No."

"Behead?"

"No."

She sighed. "Jesus, Leo, you're taking all the fun out of this."

"He's my son, Eryn. You hurt him, you'll answer to me."

Eryn snorted. "And god knows I don't wanna do that, considering you're Mr I-can-shoot-lightning-from-my-hands-and-freaking-fry-people."

Leo shot her a look. "Just be good, okay? I don't care what you do but just…be good. Please?"

Eryn sighed and gave him a wry grin. "Always," she said softly with a faint nod. Leo looked at Chris.

"That goes for you, too," he told him grimly. "If Wyatt has to call me because you two are at each others throats, there will be Hell to pay."

"Fine." Chris said, his voice low. Leo looked at Eryn, who held up her hands.

"He won't get a peep outta me," she said seriously. Leo nodded.

"Dad, what if my charge calls?" Wyatt asked. Leo frowned slightly.

"Like I said, I don't want you leaving the Manor, but..." He slowly blew out a breath. "I'll talk to the Elders, ask them to assign her another Whitelighter, just for the next couple of days."

Wyatt nodded. "Okay." Leo shot him a grin, then looked at the each of them in turn.

"You're all okay?" He asked seriously. They all nodded slowly, and he smiled wryly. "Close enough." He took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm outta here." He gave them a small wave and orbed out.