𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 || 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥

Chapter 2 - Hello, I'll Be Your Babysitter

"Paige..." I breathed, my expression mirroring that of the middle Halliwell sister - shock, confusion, and panic.

"Don't worry, she's alright," the guy piped up then, effectively ripping my gaze away from the statue in front of me.

It was only then that I really got a good look at him. His hair was a tousled mane of chestnut-brown locks, a piercing jade-green gaze, and he wore an expression between guarded bad boy meets pouty teenager that could only be touted as a smolder.

"Seriously? What of this-" I made a vague sweeping gesture towards the now-statuesque version of Paige, "-is 'alright' to you?"

"Well, I mean, she's not completely alright, obviously, but she's not dead," he pointed out, arching his eyebrows briefly for emphasis.

"Wow, so glad we've got that sorted out then. Now we don't have to worry," I shot back sarcastically, earning a glare from the mystery guy.

"Are you sure she's not?" Phoebe asked him, eyeing her sister worriedly.

"Frankly, you see this a lot. Museums, universities, town centers... Most of those statues? Not really statues. They're people like your sister here who have been, uh, turned into stone,"

"Who are you?"

"Chris. Chris Perry," he told us, hesitating a second before continuing, "I'm...from the future."

A gasp sounded from the doorway then and we all turned to see Piper stride in, shock emanating from her as well, "Tell me that's just a really good likeness of Paige!"

"Oh, it's Paige," Phoebe shot her sister a sheepish smile.

"Titan turned her to stone," Chris volunteered.

Piper shot him a wary look, her brown eyes guarded as she eyed the boy, "Uh, who-who are you?"

"That's Chris," Phoebe smiled in response, "He's from the future,"

"Yeah, but just like twenty years or so,"

I rolled my eyes at him. This guy was starting to get on my nerves.

"Uh-huh. Friend or foe?" Piper asked the two of us and I shrugged in response.

Phoebe stepped over to join her, "Not so sure yet,"

Chris looked indignant though, like his pride had been hurt at the assumption, "What do you mean? I saved Paige, didn't I?"

I waved a hand at statue Paige then, "Oh, you call that saving, do you?"

"Hey, I'm the one that put my life on the line here. I didn't have to drop everything I was doing just to orb in and save her from-"

"You-you orb? You're a Whitelighter?" Piper arched her eyebrows in surprise.

Chris's voice softened then as he went on, "Look, where I come from, history shows Paige didn't get turned into stone on this day... she died. And with her death the power of three died too, allowing Titans to rule and create a world you don't wanna see, trust me. I'm hear to alter history. To help you save the future,"

"WAIT!" I piped up then as a thought suddenly occurred to me, making his gaze snap to mine, "Is the future more like A Clockwork Orange kind of thing or Back to the Future? 'Cause let me tell you - I would not look good in those weird white outfits..."

I trailed off then in thought while Chris tried to fight a smirk for some reason, "Hm, you know, I think I could probably rock a bowler hat, though-"

"Mattie!" Piper admonished, making me fall silent as Phoebe giggled behind me to which I slapped her on the arm.

"Who sent you?" I questioned him and he gazed back at me with a guarded expression.

"I can't answer that..."

"Why not?"

"Because anything I tell you could risk changing the future in ways we don't want,"

"Who's we?" Piper asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Chris shrugged, "All I gotta say is, is that if I hadn't got here when I did, Paige would have been the third Whitelighter victim,"

"Wait, third? I thought only one was missing?" Phoebe pointed out.

"Not anymore."

Suddenly, she called out for Leo and he quickly arrived in a swirl of blue and white orbs. I glanced over at Chris then as she told him of what had transpired, taking notice of the way he seemed way too comfortable in the manor despite the fact that he'd only just met us.

"Uh, two. That's what the Elders just called me for," Leo was telling Piper.

Chris arched an eyebrow at the eldest sister, "Believe me now?"

Before anyone had the chance to reply, a crash sounded from downstairs. All heads whipped around as Phoebe asked, "What was that?!"

I cringed, "Yeah...you might wanna go check that out. You have a few, uh, visitors downstairs."

The three of them turned for the door then with me quickly trailing after before Phoebe put a hand up.

"Not you. I want you to keep an eye on that one," she said, pointing towards Chris who stood with arms crossed, watching our exchange with a guarded expression, "Make sure he doesn't get into anything he shouldn't."

I thought about arguing that point but dejectedly, I nodded as I pushed back ebony tresses from my neck. Why, oh, why was I always the babysitter? First baby Wyatt and now Chris.

As she left the room, I glanced back then only to find the Whitelighter half-way across the room, poking around at things. A sigh did escape my mouth then as I shook my head.

I always got stuck with the worst jobs.