A/N; I should mention that this story takes place after the 'Courtship of Wyatt's father' episode, but certain episodes like 'Sword and the City' and 'Chris-Crossed' haven't happened and will (maybe) come up later. Also, don't expect the updates to be so frequent; I'm thinking once every month - unless I hit a slump.

I hope you enjoy this one!

"What do you mean 'did Wyatt send me'?" She questioned, slightly pulling back from his mind to give him a chance to answer. Chris did a quick job of recollecting himself, standing straighter and pinning her with a hard glare. Melinda almost rolled her eyes, but refrained; he was too quick to assume he had the upper hand, but she decided to let him. "

What do you mean 'I work for Leo'?" he shot back. "

Where would Wyatt send me?" she asked again, pressingly. She saw Chris' jaw line tensing.

"Why would I work with Leo? What for?"

Melinda bit on the inside of her cheek to keep from groaning. Well, this was getting them nowhere. Her eyes darted around the spacious hall and her jaw all but hit the floor when it clicked; she was at the Manor. But it didn't feel like the Manor; everything was so light. Melinda looked back at Chris, slowly inching away from him.

"Who are you? And, when are we?" she asked, her back coming flash against the wall behind her. She had fallen through a portal and she 'd landed inside the Manor, somewhen before the war... this was bad. Involuntarily, both her arms came around her abdomen, holding tightly on the material of her sweater.

Upon seeing her cower against the wall, Chris straightened to his full height. She saw his hands slipping inside the front pockets of his jeans, only the thumbs sticking out, to drum against his belt loops. A controlled mask of authority took over his face, but there was something else, shinning behind his eyes, something Melinda couldn't quite decipher. "

You seem to know exactly who I am," he said, his voice masterfully impassive. He completely ignored the second part of her question. "Me, on the other hand, I've never seen you before in my life."

"Chris-" she started, but quickly stopped when he took a step towards her. He was trying to intimidate her and if she decided to antagonize him at this point, it wouldn't end well.

"So, give me a very good reason why I shouldn't vanquish you and go on with my day," he went on as if she hadn't spoken. "And I do have a pretty busy day."

Because you can't vanquish a good witch! Because you're my family! Because you are Chris and I'm me and I am scared...

"Because I need your help," she said, carefully, choosing to play to his weakness and hoping it would work. For a second, Chris looked taken aback. Melinda knew it was crucial to look as less threatening as she could, so she shrunk a bit more into herself, her eyes never leaving his face. She wasn't sure whether trusting him was a good idea or not, but for all she knew he could be the only ally she had in this house. She had to make him understand she was not a threat to him, at least not for now. "Who are you?" Chris asked once more. "I w-will t-tell you everything," she suttered, not completely faking it. Chris opened his mouth to say something, just as voices reached them from around the corner of the hallway.

"Because I need your help." Chris gave pause for a second. He hadn't anticipated the change of tactic, which only served to reaffirm his suspicion about this girl; she was definitely bad news. Still, Chris had to give it to her; she was really good at tying to appear small and innocent. But after spending the bigger part of the last decade on a battlefield, he'd learnt how to read people and she was definitely not as powerless as she wanted him to believe.

It would be so much easier to just get rid of her...

Why don't you, then? His voice, ever present, whispered, almost innocently. C'mon, Christopher, I know you know how to deal with threats! I've taught you so; eliminate her!

Chris bit on his tongue, he could not afford his thoughts to be contaminated by his influence. He studied the girl opposite him, noting how she'd curled into herself. Her eyes were once again pleading, silently. Something tugged at his attention, a faint feeling of recognition and familiarity washed over him as he took in her face. But Chris would swear he'd never seen her before.

"Who are you?" he asked again, this time way more intrigued. He saw her biting her lip, a flash of something, quickly passing through her eyes.

"I w-will t-tell you everything," she stuttered, surprising him more. She sounded genuinely distressed and honest. Chris was about to say something when he heard the voices rounding the corner.

Shit!

He only got a glimpse of the girl's eyes widening, impossibly huge and then she was gone in a swirl of blue orbs.

Shit!

She could orb? Chis blinked at the now empty space, his mind racing. What the hell was going on? He drew in a breath, concentrating; he could feel two more Whitelighters inside the house. One of them had to be Wyatt and the other one was Paige, certainly. This girl was somehow manipulating her teleportation power to make it look like orbing...

"Chris, honey, are you still here?" Piper's voice reached his ears, snapping him out of his thoughts. She stopped a couple of feet away from him, Phoebe trailing close behind.

"Is Paige in the house?" he asked instead of giving her an answer, his eyes flickering between the two of them. Piper looked at him quizzically, one of her hands resting on her abdomen, a barely visible bump peaking underneath it. His eyes followed the motion and Chris felt his stomach tightening in response.

"Ugh, not that I know of," Phoebe said, absentmindedly playing with the hair on the nape of her neck. Chris quickly tore his gaze away from Piper, internally swearing. "What's the matter, did you want something with her?" Phoebe asked, picking at the change of his mood.

"Chris, what's wrong?" Piper asked, her voice getting serious.

Chris schooled his features. "Everything is fine. I just wanted to run something by you," he lied, easily.

"Since when do you run anything by us?" Phoebe joked, adding in a little snort. Piper glared at her, receiving only a small shrug as an answer. Chris ignored both of them.

"It can wait, until she's back," he said, hoping he sounded reassuring enough. He made a move to leave, but Piper's hand on his arm stopped him. His skin burned, underneath all the layers of clothing he had on. Unintentionally he flinched, his arm jerking away from her touch. He didn't need to look up to know there was a hurt expression drawn on her face.

Shit!

"I know we're not always on the same page," Phoebe started, probably sensing the charged tension between them. "But you don't have to do everything on your own, sweetie" she continued and Chris felt himself nodding, automatically. "Not anymore."

Usually, Chris had an overabundance of self-control, when it came to holding his tongue, but that last comment? Yeah, that one did it. A scoff escaped his mouth and Chris's eyes narrowed as he looked at the youngest of the two witches. She was smiling at him warmly, and Chris felt the vitriolic comments slithering up this throat. As if she hadn't just mocked him a second ago!

"Thanks, good to know that you plan to, finally, stop dragging your feet, when I tell you we have to vanquish a potential threat. It really means a lot," he said, his words dripping with sarcasm. He didn't feel proud when a jolt of satisfaction rushed through him upon seeing Phoebe's wounded expression.

"Chris-"

"I got somewhere to be," he said and before they had a chance to stop him again, he orbed out.

Following the girl's fading magical trail he reappeared in Paige's bedroom, by the large window next to her dresser. The door was ajar and the intruder was hiding behind it, her face ashen white. Her lips were parted and one of her hands was pressing against her chest. With a soft wave of his index he shut the door slowly and soundlessly. She jumped then, only just realizing she wasn't alone in the room anymore. As she whirled towards him, Chris brought a finger up to his lips; they had to be quiet and if their encounter up to this point had proven him anything this girl had a habit of screaming when she got startled. She nodded, tucking a long strand of hair behind her ear. She still looked too pale and there was an expression on her face that he couldn't read.

"I think we have a lot to talk about," Chris said, his voice low and even, "Don't you?"

"Yeah," she agreed, wringling her hands; "I guess we have."