Leanne Johnson straightened her white halter top and khaki pants as she walked up the steps to the Haliwell home. She fingered the small silver cross that dangled from around her neck, and then glanced up towards the sky. 'I hope you're right about this, sir.' She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"I'll get it!" Chris called out when he heard the knocking. He ran down the stairs and walked to the door. He opened it and his eyebrow rose slightly underneath his brown bangs at the beautiful blonde-haired woman standing in front of him. "Um, can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm looking for the Haliwell sisters?" Leanne said slowly and carefully, looking up into the young man's deep brown eyes. "I was told I could find them here."

Chris looked at her for a while, surveying her before he moved out of the way. "Sure, come on in, and I go get them for you." She gave him a pretty smile as she stepped into the house and stood, waiting for him to return with the sisters. Chris stomped up the stairs to Piper's room, where the sisters were fussing over baby Wyatt. "Hey, someone's here to see you guys."

"Who?" Piper asked, looking up at him as she picked Wyatt up and bounced him up and down on her knee.

"I don't know," he replied, shrugging. "She didn't give me her name. C'mon down and take a look though." Reluctantly, the women went downstairs to the waiting other woman. Piper looked at her, still holding Wyatt. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, yeah," Leanne said giving her a small smile. She held out her hand to Phoebe. "My name's Leanne Johnson. I was sent to help you out a bit with your son." She turned to Paige, then Piper, who shook her hand slowly.

"Sent to help us," Piper said hesitantly. "Who exactly sent you? And why?"

"Um, it's kind of a long story," Leanne replied. Phoebe gestured to the couch and chairs in the next room. "Let's go sit down, you can tell us everything." They all trouped to the next room and sat down.

Leanne folded her hands in her lap, just like she'd been taught. "Okay, well first of all," she started, sighing a bit. "I'm a Guardian; a being with powers of a witch and Whitelighter, although not as powerful as the two combined." She looked around at the women who were sitting down, then up at the man, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed. "My job is to protect those I am assigned to, and to lead them in the right direction."

"Okay, that explains who and what you are," Paige said, "but why are you here?" Everyone gave her an expecting look.

"I was sent by the Elders to assist in the protection of young Wyatt, as well as the rest of you," she explained. "They've deemed this situation fragile enough to require their help, but they themselves couldn't send anyone of their own other than your friend Leo Wyatt. Which is," she finished, "I'm here." As she was talking, the young man slipped off somewhere, and she noticed the sisters seemed a bit more relaxed as they looked at each other.

"Why couldn't they come and help?" Phoebe asked her, crossing her arms.

Leanne shrugged. "I don't know, they never told me. All I know was that I have to come here and do my job. If anything happens that's not supposed to, I'll be gone."

"Well, sounds good enough for me," Piper said, standing up with a little strain. She looked the girl in the eyes for a moment; she found it hard to trust anyone these days. "But I'll let you know, if anything happens to Wyatt, you'll have to answer to me." With that she walked out of the room and up the stairs.

"Don't mind Piper," Paige said as she stood up and walked over towards Leanne. "She's a little caught up with her motherhood instincts. She's nervous, that's all." She stuck her hands in her pockets, before she added "We all are, a little bit."

Leanne stood as well, giving them a small smile. "I can understand that. It's probably not the best time to show up, either, with what's been going on." She clasped her hands behind her back. "But I promise you, things can't get any worse. If they do, then I'm not doing my job."

"Okay, well," Phoebe said, clapping her hands together once. "I assume since you're going to be here protecting us, you'll need a spot to sleep here, right?"

"Um, yes, I mean," Leanne seemed a little flustered. "I don't want to intrude on you at all. Especially since you didn't know about me coming."

"Oh, no," Phoebe assured. "You're not intruding. Coincidentally, I'd like to get a little more sleep at night knowing we're not that vulnerable. It's just where to put you…"

"I could just stay here on the couch," Leanne suggested. "It'd probably be better for me."

"Um, okay," Paige said nodding, then waved her hand. "Blankets." They appeared in her arms, and then she handed them to Leanne. "Now you just make yourself at home, and we'll be down in a few minutes, okay?" Leanne nodded as she went to work making her bed.

The two sisters turned around and silently walked up the stairs all the way to the attic. They opened the door and, seeing everyone else, walked in and leaned up against something. "What do you guys think?" Paige asked.

Piper shrugged and looked over at Chris, who was flipping through The Book. "She seems clear," he said slowly and reluctantly. "Guardians are like me, except not as strong." He smiled a little bit. "I'd be able to take her if we had any problems."

"Well, she doesn't seem like the kind of person to cause any," Phoebe said. "She's staying down on the couch for the time being. I'd like," she added, "to poof up a room for her, though. I feel bad about making her stay on the couch."

"It'll be fine," Chris said, shutting the book with a snap. "I'll keep an eye on her, though. Why didn't Leo tell us anything about her?" With that, Leo orbed into the room a few feet from Chris. "Speak of the devil," he mumbled as he sauntered over towards the door way, leaning against it.

"Is she here already?" He asked, looking a little flustered and tired. Everyone nodded.

"Yeah, she is," Chris said, crossing his arms. "Why didn't you tell us anything about it, Leo?"

"Hey, I'm sorry guys," he started, holding his hands up. "I just found out about it, too. They fought it better not to tell me. But," he added, crossing his arms over his chest, "this might not be such a bad thing you know."

"Leo's right," Paige agreed. "With her around, that's one more person keeping an eye on things. We'll be actually able to relax a bit more and take on whatever's on our backs."

"I agree with that," Phoebe nodded.

"But what if it's some sort of trick?" Chris threw in.

"The Elders told me they'd set it up," Leo said calmly. "Just wished they would've at least talked to us first."

"Do you know for sure why they sent her?" Piper asked, just wanting to confirm Leanne's story with one right from the source. Her sisters raised an eyebrow at her, but looked to Leo, also wanting to confirm it.

"They sent her to watch over Wyatt, as well as us," he said with a sigh. "The Elders think we're getting in a little too far over our heads, and we need a little help. Basically," he ended, "she's here to watch our backs while we get rid of the demons."

Satisfied, Piper nodded. "Okay, just wanted to be sure."

"So we're just gonna let her in here without any background checks?" Chris said, obviously trying to get rid of this one wrinkle in his plan. "What if she's not really on our side? What if she's with those demons?"

"Elders made sure she was clear before they sent her," Leo said. "She's from a special group of Guardians, who are pretty much raised away from everything so they remain loyal to the good side."

"Why are you trying to knock her down so much, Chris?" Paige asked slowly, looking at him over his shoulder.

His face turned a little red. "No reason, I just want you guys to be absolutely sure about her. We don't need any more trouble, you know?" He sighed. "I'm gonna head out for a bit. I'll see you guys later." With that, he orbed out of the room in a flash of blue.

"Well, he's a little jumpy these days," Phoebe mumbled loudly. "Anyways, I think we should give her a chance."

"I just want to know if she's really a Guardian," Piper said quietly. "She seems too pretty to be one."

"Let's just trust her for now," Leo said. "If something happens, we'll get rid of her."

"Agreed," Paige said, nodding. "But we should probably go back downstairs. I left her down there to make up her bed."

"Let's go," Phoebe agreed, and the group trouped downstairs to go talk to Leanne.