AN: Here's the first chapter, aka Parts 1 and 2 of this story. I don't know if I'll be able to update again until a week or two, but I'm working on it. I hope that you guys like the way this is going. Let me know what you think…….

Part 1-

"Piper!" the exasperated young woman shouted. "You have to get down here! We're going to be late!" Phoebe Halliwell screamed up the stairs impatiently. She was fully dressed and ready for work. Her sister, Piper Halliwell, was late. They needed to go meet Phoebe's husband, Jason Dean. They had been married for three years and had yet to go on their honeymoon. Phoebe tapped her stylish boots impatiently as she looked at her watch.

"Coming!" Piper responded, as she brushed her hair. Piper was the sister that was alone in the world. Even Paige had a boyfriend and her beautiful daughter named Prudence, after the sister that she never knew. Piper's husband—not that he was around ever-- Leo, used to be their whitelighter until he got promoted to Elder status. Piper and Leo's son had been kidnapped the month after Leo left by a vengeful demon named Rekrad, a demon of revenge. Who he had been evoked by, the sisters didn't know for sure, but one thing that they did know was that they had an uncountable number of enemies. Piper's motherly urges to protect her son had never left her, and she felt her heart squeeze in pain when she looked back and thought of what her life could have been.

Piper came down the stairs, still teasing her shiny brown hair into a perfect ponytail. She reached the door where Phoebe was waiting and sighed. "Oh, Phoebe. I don't know if I can do this. Another whitelighter coming down... It's just too much." Piper confessed.

Phoebe took her sisters hands in her own and gave her a supportive smile. "Piper, I know that we can do this. Paige said that she was really nice, and the Elders wouldn't send her if they didn't think that she could help us in our search for Wyatt." Phoebe reminded her sister. "Paige and Chris are there right now talking to her. It'll be ok."

"It's about time they sent someone else to help us. You would think that after all we had done for them they would be more grateful," Piper replied bitterly. The only reason that any of the Charmed Ones had consented to work with the Elders again was if she could get either Leo or Wyatt back. The day that they were taken away from her for good was a day that Piper wanted to never have to experience again, yet she could still see that day, fresh in her mind and her nightmares as if it were yesterday.

15 years ago…

"No! It can't be!" Phoebe screamed in horror. They had come home to the most terrifying scene that could ever be imagined. The house was on fire and was slowly but surely burning to the ground.

A cry of absolute terror tore from Piper's throat. One thing echoed throughout her conscious mind. 'wyatt wyatt wyatt! My son is in that house! Wyatt!' Without stopping to think, she darted clumsily up the dark stone steps, her footsteps magnified with her fear. She could feel her heart thudding against her chest as she reached the door. Grasping the doorknob, she opened the door that she had loved since she was little. This place was safe, wasn't it?

"Wyatt! Chris!" she coughed.

The three sisters had gone out that night. They had felt a demonic presence across town and had rushed there hurriedly after Phoebe got home from work. In their hurry to get out the door Piper had entrusted the safety of her son to the quiet young man. He had nodded at her and she could see the worry shining in his eyes.

The darkness swamped her and it took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the abrupt change in lighting. She ran panic-stricken through the house, tearing down doors as if they were made of paper. She didn't even notice the tears streaming down her face until she came face to face with her son's bedroom.

She knew from looking at the door that there was no way that her baby was safe. There's no way that this was an accident. The door was completely destroyed. It looked as though it had been torn off its hinges and thrown aside. Whoever had been there had to be one of the strongest demons (a human could never perform this terrible act!) she had ever come across.

Shaking from shock and sorrow, she fell into the room, only to trip over a large dark shape on the floor in front of her. As the shape groaned she realized with a jolt that the shape was Chris. Trying her best to get off him without further injuring him, she helped him up as much she could. The tears continued to flow down her face. Had she cared more she would have been horrified by what she looked like now, but she didn't care.

"Chris," she asked, panting, "what happened? Is Wyatt ok? Are YOU ok?" She brushed the dark hair out of the youth's face and winced. His whole face was bloody and broken. She doubted that he would last much longer in this condition.

The whitelighter coughed painfully and tried to hide the blood that was escaping along with the cough. He slowly attempted to sit up but Piper quickly dissuaded him. "Piper", he whispered, "Wyatt…"

As he dissolved hacking again Piper waited anxiously. She wasn't as patient as usual due to the unique circumstances. Finally, Chris was ready to speak again. "They took Wyatt."

"Where?" Piper whimpered. And icy cold hand was gripping her heart. She didn't think that she could bear to live much longer if she didn't find out that her son was ok.

"There was… a demon…" he sputtered, still hacking up flem and blood. "He did some kind… of ritual………stripping Wyatt of his powers……knocked me out and tied me up…. It was impossible to escape…he did something to me… " Suddenly he started shaking uncontrollably.

"Chris!" the brown-haired witch screamed. She held him in a tight embrace so that he wouldn't hurt himself in his seizures of pain.

"They took Wyatt somewhere……said that they were going to get someone else to raise him 'right'…" In the middle of his sentence Chris fainted. The loss of blood and the extreme pain had obviously not done him any good.

Looking up and attempting to wipe her eyes of the forever ebbing tears, Piper finally noticed her sisters, who were kneeling anxiously at her elbow. Quickly, Paige reached over and began to clean Chris' wounds. She glanced worriedly at Phoebe. The sadness in all three sisters' was a unwelcome ache, as if they themselves had been involved in the battle.

Unable to take it anymore, Piper curled up on the floor and hugged her belly. Her baby boy should be with her now. Her treasure, her little angel. She was determined to get him back.

Present Day, Present Time

Later they found out what the monstrous demon had done. Rekrad had taken away Wyatt and put him somewhere so that he would grow up without magic. He put a curse on Wyatt, that he would never know his true potential. But curses could be broken. As long as there was hope that Wyatt was still alive, and she had no reason to think that he wasn't, she would search forever for him.

"OK... let's get this over with." Piper said, trying to inject resolve into her voice.

"That's my girl," Phoebe said cheerfully. "Let's go meet Chris, Paige, Jason and our new friend."

The two sisters hugged. "Thanks, sis," Piper murmured. Phoebe just smiled sadly and opened the door for the older woman to walk through. As they left Piper glanced one last time at the small window of the room her son used to occupy. A look of determination passed over her face as she stepped into the car and turned on the gas.

Part 2-

The sounds of the city filled the teen's ears as he walked along the city street. The smells of cooking food filled the air, and Wyatt took a deep sniff. He had almost forgotten what it was like to have to rely on yourself. He needed food, and soon. The blonde haired boy frowned as his stomach grumbled hungrily. Glancing around at the surrounding food stands, he spotted a busy vender selling fruits and vegetables along the side of the road. While the man was occupied yelling at his assistant who had dropped a crate of tomatoes, Wyatt deftly and unobtrusively snatched a bag of apples from the stand. Calmly walking away, he bit into an apple and relished its savory taste.

To get away from the unsuspecting street vendor, Wyatt took a left at the next street. Just too easy , he thought confidently. People should really be more careful in a big city like this… .

As he trekked the streets of San Francisco, he thought about what he should do now. Where could he go? He had no where to sleep tonight. Wyatt seriously doubted that any San Franciscan would take him in. They knew better than that, at least he hoped they did. He swung his bag of apples from his arm and glanced around looking for a comfortable place to rest for the night. In the distance stood a tall development that looked like it was privately owned. That won't work…. Where to go, where to go he sighed, thinking.

The cars rushed by on the busy streets beside him as Wyatt trudged along the dirty road. His grey eyes shifted from side to side in an attempt to find a place that would take him in. He knew this city well, if he couldn't find anywhere else he knew a place that he could go. That would be his last resort. Crunching on another apple, Wyatt searched for an unobtrusive place.

When the sky turned to a strange mixture of orange, red, and purple, he could put it off no longer. It would start to get cold. He had no other choice. The Teen Center it was then. He knew that it was only a few blocks away, and he could reach it in less than ten minutes. Pushing his way past busy pedestrians he made his way to the old building that housed teens in need of shelter from abusive parents, harsh home lives, and (in Wyatt's case) living on the streets. He hated the pity that came with going to a place like that, but they had beds when he needed one. With the apples under his arm, Wyatt shoved his hands roughly into his pockets and stomped up the concrete steps and shoved the creaky wooden door aside as he shuffled indoors.

A blast of warm air hit him as soon as he left the street, but anyone watching Wyatt wouldn't have known. His outward appearance portrayed nothing about what had happened in his life or why he was there. His baggy pants and large sweatshirt simply made him seem like any other teen.

As soon as Wyatt entered the Teen Center, a squeal reached his ears. Trying not to flinch, he turned his head towards the source of the noise. It had come from a desk where a wiry woman in her twenties with short black hair beamed at him. Her brown eyes twinkled behind her glasses as she greeted him.

"WYATT! Long time, no see!" she stood up to give him a one armed hug that was not so enthusiastically returned. She gave him an appraising look up and down before glancing down at the many sheets of paper that were scattered all over her desk. Shuffling through them, she continued talking animatedly to a teen, who simply raised his eyes to the heavens at her actions.

"Well, let's see, I have…. No, that's not right… ah HA! Here it is!" she clutched a piece of paper in her hand triumphantly. Glancing over it, she frowned. "Well, if you want to stay here tonight you're gonna hafta stay in the green room, what d'ya say?" she glanced up at him in question.

Wyatt wrinkled his nose. Oh, well, it could be worse. The green room was right above the boiler room, which meant that it could sometimes become a little noisy in the night. The boiler wasn't exactly new and it made a clanking sound, reminiscent of a train rolling slowly down the tracks. Shrugging his shoulders at the chirpy woman he resigned himself to a long night.

"Great!" she said, as she marked down something on one of her pieces of paper. "You know how to get there, yeah?"

He waved his hand at her, already walking away. "Yep… thanks Tanya. I owe ya one!"

Thud, the door slammed open once again, causing every occupant in the room to groan. Wyatt attempted to muffle the noise by cover his head with a pillow, but it wasn't working as well as he'd hoped. More and more people were piling in. If this keeps up I'm NEVER gonna get any sleep, Wyatt sighed into his pillow. Rolling over, he sat up to see how many people were now occupying the overcrowded space. TOO MANY! Gaaaaaa…..

Tanya was still rushing around, trying to make sure that everyone was where they should be. The place was a panic, too many loud noises and bodies in too small a space. This is how it was in the shelters. These kinds of places filled up quickly, especially on colder nights.

In the midst of all of this chaos, two figures walked unobtrusively into the room. The first, the shorter of the two, was blonde and looked very much like one would expect of your stereotypical California girl. She looked over at her companion and raised her eyebrows in askance. The other, a taller girl with flaming red hair, ignored her as she fingered her necklace thoughtfully. She scanned the room with her bright eyes, clearly looking for something, or perhaps someone. She nudged her friend as her eyes lit upon a girl sulking in the corner. The young teen's green streaked hair draped over her eyes, and she determinedly ignored everyone else in the room. Curling her knees up to her chest, she let out a sigh.

Jess rolled her eyes as the two young women made their way through the crowd towards her corner. Clicking her tongue piercing against the roof of her mouth in annoyance she huffed and turned away. Why did they keep coming after her? Couldn't they take a hint? She didn't trust them and she wouldn't go with them to their stupid school. What kind of a person did they think she was? She hadn't been that gullible since she was five years old, before her mother had died.

But still, they came. What had they said that their names were again? Something really silly, wasn't it? Fluffy? No, it was Buffy. That was it. Buffy and Willow. What a bunch of hippies their parents must have been. The blonde – Buffy – sauntered over to Jess' side and knelt down so that the two women were on the same level.

"Hey, Jessica," Buffy softly whispered, her voice attempting to make their conversation private from the rest of the room. The fact that the room was filled with people did nothing to help her good intentions. "C'mon, girl. I know that you don't want to live like this. You can come and stay with us at the school and you'll never have to worry about where you're going to sleep ever again." Seeing the younger girl's hesitation she tried a different tactic. "We're only worried about you. Will and I just don't want to see you in anymore danger…"

She trailed off, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. She didn't even flinch as Jess gave her a patronizing look. Shrugging her shoulders, she made to get up and leave. As she was conversing with her flame-haired friend, Jess's blue eyes lit upon a person that she hadn't seen in the longest time.

Had Buffy and Willow been paying close attention at that moment, they would have seen a smile that they had never witnessed before cross the normally cross girl's face. She sat up straighter as said person quickly crossed the room and enveloped her in a warm hug.

"Wy!" she squealed. "What the hell are you doing here? I haven't seen you in years!"

Buffy and Willow exchanged furtive glances, then looked at the couple before them, clearly attempting to figure out what to make of the young man before them. Wyatt's clear blue eyes gave him an innocent look, but Willow was still hesitant to trust this young man. Something was different about him. There was something… off.

Wyatt acknowledged their presence for the first time, giving the two young women a look of undisguised contempt. His gaze lingered on Buffy's stylishly fancy boots and Willow's expensive-looking handbag. These were not people who knew what poverty was like. They would never understand Jess.

"Jessica," Willow interrupted hesitantly, "who's your friend?"

Jess gave her a glowering look. "This is Wyatt," she said shortly. "We've known each other for a very long time."

Willow smiled nervously at the taller boy, for he seemed more intimidating up close. There was nothing that strange about him, unlike some of the rooms inhabitants who's faces were more like pin cushions for piercings, but there was something in the way that he held himself that made her wish that those penetrating eyes would look somewhere else. Automatically, she erected a mental shield around herself to push harmful energies away.

What she didn't expect was for Wyatt's look of disgust to change to one of surprise. He instinctively pulled Jessica closer, and the green-haired teen glanced questioningly up at him. He wasn't looking at Jess though; his focus was entirely on Willow, as hers was on him.

Who are you? Willow wondered. This boy, he seemed to sense her shields and had responded to them in a very defensive way. How did he sense her? What kind of powers did he have? Not any that Willow knew of or she would have sensed it immediately.

Buffy looked back and forth between the two, who were oblivious of anyone but each other. Not quite sure what was going on, she cleared her throat loudly, making both parties jump in surprise. She smiled sunnily at them, and turned back to a very confused Jessica.

"Well, why don't you and your friend, er, Wyatt, come and check out the school. If you don't want to stay then we won't force you, but it would be a really good opportunity for you. Um….. there's a mall like five minutes away?" Buffy ended lamely, and looked to her companion for support. Willow rolled her eyes, but nodded in agreement.

Jess still hesitated. She looked at Wyatt, who shrugged at her. Turning back to the expectant women, she reluctantly spoke up. "I guess if Wy can come along, then I'll go look at it", she said, "but I'm not promising anything."

"Great!" chirped Buffy cheerily. "Whadaya say to staying a night and seeing what you think? Is that ok?" She stood up and brushed imaginary dust off her pants, clearly not really caring what the response was. Good thing too, because she didn't get one. Willow followed her shorter friend, dragging a reluctant duo along with her. As they trudged out the door, Tanya hollered a surprised but energetic goodbye.

"…. And this is the room you'll be staying in," Buffy ended. Wyatt was surprised that she was this cheerful at nine o'clock at night. He'd hate to be near here when she was actually tired. Who knew what she'd do.

The room that they ended up in was small, but cozy. The school had a dorm-like situation, and floors were separated by gender. Jessie was in the same building as him, but she was on the floor below, and Willow was helping her settle in. From what he could tell from the quick tour of the school they'd had that evening, it was a training school for some type of martial arts. The gym was most definitely the biggest he'd ever seen, and when they entered there had been many girls still working out or sparring against each other.

Well, it's defensive against the dark, he thought morosely. That's better than nothing. Jess and I will be safe here. He'd have to find his friend later to try and convince her that she should stay here for now. She'd be much better off than if she was on the streets. Here they had warm food and a soft bed. Granted, they had to go to classes, but that was a small price to pay for protection the school granted.

He was still suspicious of Willow, though. What was her agenda with him? He'd never met another person who could sense energies before, and he didn't quite know how to deal with it. Sure, she seemed nice, but Wyatt knew enough never to make that assumption. He'd have to be cautious of her until he knew her better. No problem.