Thanks so much everyone for the response to this story. I'm so surprised by all the alerts/favorites/reviews/etc. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Here's the next installment. . .

REDEMPTION - Ch. 2

Chloe calculated the options in her head. She could run, but she didn't know this place and the odds that Alek would catch her were high. He had always been much faster than her. Assuming he would give chase and given the mutinous expression on his face, that seemed unlikely and she'd look even more ridiculous. She could play this off as coincidence but Alek wasn't an idiot. So that left her with her final option, the truth which was ever-so-painful in that moment.

"I, uh. . ." the words got stuck in her throat and felt like they were strangling her.

"Does Valentina know that you're here?" Alek's voice was no less harsh, and his expression was the one he usually reserved for people he wanted to rip to shreds. She had never thought she would be one of those people, although she couldn't exactly say she hadn't earned it.

She managed to nod. Just as she was reconsidering the run like hell option, she was saved from that embarrassment by a mellifluous voice, thick with a Spanish accent, behind her.

"Ahh, senorita King."

Chloe turned to find a tall, broad shouldered man with shoulder length gray hair and the palest blue eyes she had ever seen. Staring into his eyes, she could truly believe that the Mai were descendants of a God with cat DNA.

"I am Angelo," the man smiled warmly at her and then bowed slightly. "Bienvenida."

"H-Hi," Chloe managed to squeak out, still feeling Alek's eyes boring into her from behind.

"It is an honor to be able to train the Uniter." The man gave her a teasing smile. "Please do not think we will go easy on you, however." Angelo looked over her head. "Ahhh, I see you have reunited with your protector."

Chloe cringed. She resolutely stayed focused on Angelo, not wanting to turn around to see how Alek was reacting to Angelo's statement.

"What is she doing here?" Alek asked, his voice still containing an edge, but the tone respectful.

"Valentina said that Senorita King wished to undergo training here."

"You asked to come here?" Alek directed at her.

Chloe closed her eyes, wishing desperately that one of her powers was the power to disappear. Or teleport. Fly. Something that would allow her to make a quick getaway from here. She'd even settle for invisibility. If she could have imagined the worst way to see Alek again, she still couldn't have come up with everything that had happened so far. If life had a fast-forward button, she would have her finger firmly pressed on it about five minutes ago.

"I, uh. . ."

"I trust you had a pleasant journey?" Angelo once again saved her from having to try and choke out a response to Alek. She had wanted so desperately in the last month to talk to him and now that she finally had her chance, she literally couldn't speak.

"It was fine," Chloe managed.

"You must be tired." Angelo looked over to Alek. "Alek, you wouldn't mind showing Senorita King around would you?"

"He doesn't. . ." Chloe protested.

"It's not a problem," Alek said, his voice sounding strained.

Angelo nodded then laid his hand on Chloe's shoulder. "I am truly honored by your presence, Senorita King." He gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Please get some rest. Training begins early tomorrow."

Angelo said something in Spanish and a large man appeared by his side. The two began conversing in Spanish as they disappeared down the hall, leaving Chloe alone with Alek, something that would have thrilled her just an hour ago but now filled her with a sense of dread.

Knowing that she had little choice, she inhaled deeply and turned to face him again. His expression was less murderous, more distant now. The two of them stared at each other wordlessly for long moments before Alek finally cleared his throat.

"Guess I'm back on Uniter duty."

"You don't have to. . ."

She seemed to be getting interrupted a lot lately because the pretty girl who Alek had kissed came out into the hall. Upon closer inspection, Chloe could see that she was older, about college age, and very, very pretty. Her eyes were hazel and indeed looked like cat eyes, as they were oblong shaped and stunning.

The girl offered the same friendly smile to Chloe before she turned to Alek. "Did I just see Angelo?"

Alek smiled, but it wasn't the same easy, flirtatious smile he shared with her earlier. "Yeah and there's a slight change of plans. Why don't you go ahead and grab some dinner and I'll catch up? Angelo wanted me to do something." The girl looked questioningly at him before her eyes shifted over to Chloe. A pregnant pause ensued before Alek sighed. "This is Chloe. . .the Uniter. She just arrived and Angelo wanted me to show her around."

The girl's eyes lit up before she grabbed Chloe's hands. "You're the Uniter? Oh my God, I've heard so much about you."

The girl had the slightest twang to her voice, which Chloe guessed meant she lived somewhere in the southern U.S. "Hi," Chloe offered with a smile. The girl was so effervescent, so friendly that it was hard not to respond in kind.

"I'm Lana, from the Texas pride."

So that would explain the soft twang. Chloe smiled politely. "It's nice to meet you."

Lana beamed at her before she glanced at Alek. "Obviously you know Alek." Chloe shifted uncomfortably, wondering if she really couldn't just take off running.

"Angelo asked me to give her a tour of the place," said Alek. "It won't take long. I'll meet you in the dining hall."

Lana nodded. "Take your time." She turned to Chloe. "Come join us for dinner after Alek gives you the tour."

"I, um. . ." Chloe began but Lana had already dropped a kiss on Alek's cheek and was halfway down the hall. Damn those Mai and their super speed.

"Let's go," Alek said and not giving her any time to respond, he turned and walked down the opposite end of the hall. The next fifteen minutes were excruciating, as Alek led her through the maze-like compound, pointing things out in a monotonous, disaffected voice. His expression stayed exactly the same throughout the whole thing. . .one that a statute or robot might sport. On second thought, a statute or robot might actually be able to look friendly or welcoming. Alek looked like neither of those things. He looked like he enjoyed giving her a tour as much as she enjoyed going on it.

At least we have misery in common, Chloe thought as Alex led her up to a large stone, counter. Behind it sat a bank of monitors mounted to the wall, displaying various shots of security cameras, both inside and outside. A quick scan told her that the cameras were only present in the common areas as she didn't see any dorm rooms in any of the views. Two men, in that same black ensemble everyone was wearing except her and Angelo, who had been in khakis and a loose, white button down shirt, sat behind the large counter, working on computers.

"This is the main communications center. Everything within the center is monitored here."

"Everything?" she asked, again wondering if the dorm rooms were being monitored.

"Everything except the dorm and bathrooms," said Alek. "The dorms are also soundproofed." He indicated his ear. "All that super hearing makes things a little awkward otherwise."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to know."

"Anyway, that's it." Alek looked around. "I'll walk you back to your dorm room before I head to dinner." If she had any doubts that he didn't want her to join him and Lana, that had just effectively killed any lingering doubts. "What number are you?"

She stared at him blankly. God she hated how she had looked like nothing but a tongue-tied idiot since he had seen her here. "I. . .uh. . .I don't know."

Alek sighed before he walked up to the counter and talked to one of the men. A few minutes later, he rejoined her. "You're in W32. That means you're in the west wing. The dorms are either on the west or east wings of the compound. The common rooms and training areas are in the middle and everything overlooks the grounds out back."

"What room are you in?"

Alek ignored her, starting down a hall and giving her no choice but to follow. Somehow, because there was no way she had been able to figure the layout of this place in those fifteen minutes that Alek had basically walked them past everything as quickly as possible, they found themselves back in front of the room she had been in less than half an hour ago, but in the wake of everything, had felt like a lifetime ago.

She noted that the rest of her luggage had been brought in and was standing by her door. She turned to Alek who was looking at her with an unreadable expression, his eyes narrowed. "Thanks," she said softly. There was so much she wanted to say to him that it all flooded her mind at once, making everything hopelessly jumbled. "Alek, I. . ."

"I'll see you." Not waiting for a response, he turned and walked away.

Chloe stared at his retreating form until he was well out of sight. ". . .missed you," she whispered to the air.

"Oh my God, I don't know why I did this. He hates me."

"He does not hate you."

Chloe blinked through her tears, making the somewhat grainy image of her best friend, Amy blur momentarily. She wiped at the tears with the back of her hand.

"You did not see him." She sniffled, feeling a new wave of tears behind her eyes. "He hates me."

"He's just. . .he's angry and you did really, really surprise him." Amy smiled. "It's like you jumped on top of his car. Just give him time."

"For what?" She grabbed a T-shirt from the pile that she had been in the process of putting away until Amy had popped up on Skype and dabbed at her face with it. "It doesn't matter anyway. He already has a girlfriend. A really pretty, incredibly nice girlfriend."

Amy made a face. "Oh, yeah, her." Her friend looked at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Chloe."

She nodded, as new tears rolled down her cheeks. "Yeah. What'd I expect anyway? It's Alek. Girls have always flocked to him. He never did anything because they were human but here. . ." She drew in a shuddering breath. "I shouldn't be so surprised."

"But you are," Amy offered gently.

That was why they were best friends. Amy knew things that she didn't even have to articulate. "I. . ." She shook her head. "I know it's stupid and unfair but I. . ."

"You wanted him to miss you as much as you had missed him."

"It's stupid right?"

"Not so much," Amy said softly.

She managed a smile through her tears. "I miss you guys already."

"I miss you too," said Amy. They lapsed into silence before Amy asked gently, "What are you going to do?"

She shrugged. "There's not much I can do. I'm here for a month." She chuckled but there was no humor in it. "I guess this is karma huh? Alek spent all those months watching me with Brian so now I get to watch him with Lana."

"Why don't you just come home?"

She had considered this. Within five seconds after Alek had left her to head to dinner. But she had abandoned the idea just as quickly. The development with Brian she knew had caused some doubts to circulate within the Mai community. There were whispers that she was a traitor, and not really the Uniter. After all, would the Uniter fall for the son of the man who was head of the West Coast branch of the murderous Order? She had given new meaning to the phrase "cavorting with the enemy."

Although technically, Brian wasn't the enemy. He had seemed just as surprised to learn about his father as Chloe had been. And technically, Chloe hadn't really cavorted with him, and upon learning the truth, had ended things. But that was a lot of "technically" especially for a new girl who hadn't quite proven herself yet. If Jasmine, Valentina and Alek had doubts about her, she didn't want to know what the rest of the Mai were thinking.

Valentina hadn't said anything to her but Mai super-hearing had allowed her to pick up the idle gossiping of the guards. She knew that Valentina was already in a precarious position, already physically weak so it was a huge risk for her to continue to stand by Chloe. So Chloe couldn't just quit. She had to see this training through, to show that her loyalties were with the Mai and that she was serious about her role as the Uniter.

"I can't, Amy," she said softly. She tried to smile and knew she failed. "It'll be fine. A month's not that long. I'll finish my training here and then head back to San Francisco."

"What about Alek?"

She shook her head slightly, feeling her eyes welling up again. "I don't know."

Chloe had tossed and turned for hours and had finally dozed off when a loud, siren-like noise made her bolt up in bed. She looked outside the window and noted that the sun had not risen yet. She grabbed her watch and noted that it was barely six in the morning.

"What the hell?"

She grabbed a sweater, throwing it on before she opened her door. Outside, the hall was alive with activities as half a dozen Mai, all about her age and slightly older, were dressed in workout clothes and talking as they headed down the hall.

"Hey," Chloe called after a girl passing her. The girl turned and looked at her expectantly. "What's going on?"

"Morning exercise," the girl answered. She looked at Chloe's PJ bottom and tank. "You better hurry and get dressed. You need to be out on the field in 10 minutes."

"This is insane," Chloe muttered as she hurriedly threw on a pair of sweatpants and sports bra. She grabbed a hoodie and dashed out the door. It wasn't until she was out in the hallway that she realized that she had no clue on how to get outside to the field. "They need to give people a map to this place!"

Just as she was about to start running aimlessly down a hall, she caught sight of another small group of Mai and quickly caught up to them. She stayed a little behind the group, close enough to follow them but not so close as to intrude. Making an effort to actually memorize the route this time, she soon found herself out on the track field, along with about two dozen other young Mai like herself.

One of the burly guards that had been in the guard post yesterday was dressed in a dark blue warm up suit and standing near the inner oval of the track. She quickly joined the others and formed a line in front of the man. Chloe scanned the group and saw that Alek wasn't among them. She wondered if she was in the wrong group or place, as no one had bothered to give her a schedule or anything since she had arrived.

"Miss King, welcome," said the burly guard. "I'm Kellis. It's good to have you with us." He turned to address the rest of the group. "Everyone, this is Chloe King. She's going to be with us for the next few weeks. I trust we'll make her feel welcome."

There was a buzz of voices offering their greetings to her and a few people turned to look at her briefly. No doubt that every Mai was by now well aware of who she was and that she was going to stand out a bit because of that. But had she known how things would go today, she would have been grateful to have just stood out for that reason alone. As it turns out, she managed to distinguish herself in a much more embarrassing way.

When she had guessed that the training here was hardcore, she hadn't been wrong. In fact, if there was some word to describe the most hardcore part of a hardcore program, that was what the training here was like. The morning routine consisted of stretches, a ten mile "jog," weight training and then a run through an obstacle course that had to have been designed by a sadistic freak.

She had barely made it through the run, coming in dead last, so dead last that everyone was already well into their weight routine by the time she had stumbled across the line. Her body was on fire. Everything burned. . .legs, lungs, feet, eyes. She had used all her Mai abilities and still she was lagging behind. She was acutely aware of the eyes on her as she had limped to the weights and had struggled, mightily, through the exercises.

The obstacle course kicked her ass. Literally. She couldn't finish it. After one high wall too many, she had simply been unable to propel herself over it. She had tried climbing it, but since she only had cat-like abilities, walking on walls was not in her repertoire. She had to quit halfway through, because she managed to bang up her knee when she had tried a running leap and instead, in her exhaustion, had ended up taking a running leap. . .right into the wall.

"Go to medical and they'll fix that right up." Kellis had told her as they had watched her knee swell up like it was a balloon.

Defeated and more than a little embarrassed, she had limped inside and wanted to scream when she realized again she had no idea where "medical" was. So she had stood in the hall, like a doofus, trying to remember where that communications center was that Alek had shown her. Unable to recall, she had limped back to her room where she had soaked her knee in some cold water before taking a long, hot shower.

That seemed to have helped since her knee looked vastly improved by the time she had gotten dressed. There was a lot to be said for quick healing abilities. Now starved and fearing she had missed breakfast, she took off trying to find the dining hall. Out of sheer luck, she managed to find it and saw that it was still partly full of people eating.

She got a tray and then loaded it up with some food. Surveying the room, she felt like she was back in middle school, when she had been assigned to a different lunch hour than Paul and Amy and had to spend a semester figuring out where to sit. Spying an empty table, she quickly made her way over and then focused on eating. She tuned out all the chatter and noise in the room, turning down her hearing like she had been taught.

"Can I join you?"

Chloe looked up to find Lana smiling at her. "Um. . .sure."

Lana's smile widened as she placed her tray on the table and then slide onto the bench next to Chloe. "How's it going?"

"Uh. . .it's. . .fine."

"I hate morning exercise." Lana made a face. "It's bad enough that they want us to wake up before the crack of dawn, but then they actually want us to break a sweat?" Lana leaned toward Chloe. "I am so not a morning person. My idea of a busy morning is getting up early on Sunday to make toast. And by early I mean after eight."

Chloe couldn't help smiling. Lana just had this way about her that drew people in. She could certainly understand her appeal to Alex besides the obvious physical ones. "I didn't see you this morning."

Lana had just placed a big spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth so it took her a few seconds to respond. "I'm in the east wing. The two wings tend to be on different exercise schedules." She inclined her head. "Don't worry, they match us up every week for hand-to-hand exercises and survival "games"" Lana did an air quote around the last word. "And we have the same meal times and free periods."

Chloe nodded, feeling a little worse. Alex must be in the east wing since she hadn't seen him with her group that morning. On the plus side, she didn't have to spend every day watching him and Lana together. On the minus side, she apparently wasn't going to see much of him at all so her plan. . .when she came up with one. . .was going to have to figure in this new fact.

A part of her didn't want to engage Lana, thinking this was more than a little weird since Lana apparently had no idea about her history with Alek beyond the fact that he had been in the same pride as the Uniter. But another part of her, the larger, more dominant part, was desperate and since she hadn't exactly been swarmed with people wanting to be her friend, Lana was her best and only option.

"Um. . .can I ask you something that might sound a little. . .dumb?"

Lana gave her a bemused look. "Shoot."

"How do you know where to go?" Chloe looked around the dining hall. "I mean everyone seems to know exactly where to go and when and I. . .don't."

Lana's expression was curious as she stared at Chloe for a beat before she said, "It's in your room."

"What's in my room?"

"Your daily schedule."

Chloe racked her brain to see if she had overlooked a piece of paper, a Post-it, anything and she was pretty sure that she hadn't. Except for fresh linen and her suitcases, nothing else had been left in her room last night.

"Every morning, you get a schedule telling you where they want you to go." Chloe shook her head. She was pretty sure no one had been in her room that morning before she had been awoken by that siren. "On the screen?"

"I don't have a T.V. in my room."

Lana smiled. "No, not a TV. There's a little screen mounted to the wall, usually over your desk. Just tap it and it'll contain mostly everything you need to know." Lana angled her head. "Didn't Alek tell you all of this last night when he gave you the tour?"

Chloe looked away, feeling that familiar knot in her stomach whenever she thought of Alek. "He sort of skipped over that part."

Chloe felt like an idiot but a very relieved idiot knowing that she wasn't going to have to spend the rest of the day wandering around trying to figure out where to go. Following groups of Mai trainees only went so far and now that she knew there were two separate groups with different schedules, the odds that she would have followed the wrong group and embarrassed herself even more than she already had this morning were very high.

She did recall seeing a little console by her desk but figured that was an alarm or security device of some sort and afraid that she might set off something, she had steered clear of it. Now she couldn't wait to get back to her room to see what it held for her.

She and Lana sat together until Lana finished her breakfast. Chloe's initial assessment of Lana had been right. The girl really was so genuinely sweet and friendly that it was hard not to be charmed by her. Still, she maintained a distance between them, knowing that befriending Alek's current girlfriend was asking for trouble and that was the last thing she needed. So Chloe was polite and friendly but not overly so and when she could leave without seeming rude, she had made her excuses.

Once back in her room, she made a beeline for the small monitor. Tapping the screen, she was amazed to see it buzz to life before a computerized voice said,

"Greetings, Chloe King."

A few seconds later, several icons popped up on the screen. She scanned them quickly and then pressed the one that looked like a datebook with the word "Schedule" under it. A form materialized, listing her schedule for the day, just as Lana had told her.

She scanned it and was surprised by how much physical training existed. In about half an hour, she was headed to weapons training, and her mind flashed to that awful vision of Alek with Lana and Lana's bruised arm. If her performance this morning on the obstacle course was any indication, she was going to come away with a lot more than a bruised arm.

And no one to kiss it better, her mind taunted her.

"Shut up," Chloe muttered before she sighed. "Great. Now I'm talking to myself."

She focused her attention back to the screen, looking over the other options and she was delighted to find a map of the compound on it. She looked around, wondering if there was a way to print up the map but she didn't see a printer anywhere, so Chloe took about fifteen minutes, going back and forth between her schedule and the map until she had a good idea of where she needed to go and how to get there for the rest of the day.

The rest of the day wasn't as bad as the morning exercise. Weapons training had turned out to be with wooden staffs, which she was familiar with, having trained with them with Alek. The other Mai weren't significantly better than her and since stamina wasn't necessarily the most critical skill, she didn't embarrass herself too badly.

After weapons training, she had about an hour of free time so she went back to her room to see if she could reach Paul or Amy on Skype. Neither were available so she sent them both e-mails and then sent one to her mother as well. She considered contacting her father, but nixed the idea, under her newly formulated plan to not get into trouble or cause trouble or be anywhere near trouble for the next four weeks.

There was a martial arts training session after her free period. She loved the Aikido master, known simply as "Sensei," who taught the class. He was a lean, tall, man of Japanese descent and also a Mai. He spoke in an even tone that was just barely above a whisper and had the most calming presence Chloe had ever encountered. But once he started to demonstrate the moves, he had turned quick and deadly, his movement fast, accurate and powerful. Chloe had been impressed and hoped that she would have many more classes with him.

After martial arts, there was Cardio on the track field which was ninety minutes of pure torture. Another ten mile run followed by calisthenics that left her gasping for air. She was at least heartened to see that she hadn't come in dead last on the run this time. She managed to beat another girl but it looked like the girl had rolled her ankle in the last lap and had limped the rest of the way but Chloe's ego needed the victory so she was going to take it.

After Cardio, there was a brief free period before dinner. Chloe had hoped she would see Alek at dinner but he was nowhere to be found. Lana wasn't there either so Chloe had spent her dinner sitting at a table alone, trying to eat as fast as possible so she could retreat to her room.

There was a final training session after dinner. . .one of the hand-to-hand combat match-ups between the two wings that Lana had told her about. It was at this session that Chloe finally saw Alek for the first time that day. He looked incredible, leaning against the wall and talking to a small group of boys when she walked in.

Their eyes made brief contact as she made her way over to a free spot on the mat to warm up. His eyes raked over her quickly and then he went back to his friends, as if the moment hadn't happened at all. She drew in a deep breath, telling herself to concentrate, because if she lost focus, she was gonna get hurt.

In a few minutes, a woman with short blonde hair walked into the room. She was of average height, but there was no denying how fit and strong she was underneath her uniform. Calling the group to order, the woman introduced herself as Athena and then scanned the group until her eyes stopped on Chloe.

"Chloe King?" she queried. Chloe groaned inwardly before she nodded. This whole Uniter thing was really a pain in the ass sometimes. "Welcome." The woman smiled. "I'm excited to see how the Uniter fares in these match-ups."

Oh, crap, thought Chloe. Her eyes instinctively went to Alek and she felt a flash of anger to see a smirk on his face.

The woman indicated the mat. "What do you say? Up for a challenge?"

Since there was really no way to say "no," Chloe stepped forward. "Chloe and. . ." The woman scanned room before she said, ". . .and let's see. . .Alek? Let's see how San Francisco is handling its training."

Chloe cast her eyes heavenward, wondering if she focused hard enough whether she could actually see the universe mocking her in that moment. She watched as Alek slowly stepped forward. He gave her a look before he resumed a fighting stance. Chloe hesitated, wondering how she should handle this. She had been able to best Alek in a fight before but did she want to now? She didn't need him to be even more pissed at her by showing him up in front of everyone but if she let him win, he might be pissed at her throwing a fight.

So basically her options were to piss Alek off more, or to piss him off more. It's good to have options, she thought as she took up her fighting stance. Athena counted them down from three and then they were at each other.

Alek came at her hard and fast, not holding anything back so Chloe didn't either. She let her instincts take over and for a while, they gave a good show but when Alek flipped over her to suddenly land in front of her, when she whirled to face him, her mind suddenly flashed back to when "Scarface" had surprised her in the tower. When Alek thrust his hand out to land a blow, it looked and felt so much like Scarface pushing her to her death that Chloe involuntarily thrust her hand up into her face and let out a terrified shriek.

Alek's hand made contact with her shoulder, knocking her backwards and she fell on her back with a loud thud. Instantly, her mind flashed to her death and an overwhelming sensation of fear and panic gripped her. She clutched her neck as she began to hyperventilate, fighting with her own body to breathe. Her eyes lost focus and a darkness enveloped her.

"Chloe!"

His voice felt very far away and she forced herself to fight through the terror, to focus on it. In a few minutes, Alek's face came into focus, his expression concerned, an expression that was so familiar to her, one that she missed so dearly that to see it again, it had the effect of abating her fear enough for her to regain some control.

"Are you alright?" Alek reached out, touching her arm gently.

For an instant, it was like all the horrible things that had happened in the last few weeks hadn't, that it was just the two of them again. But as she regained control of her senses, she became acutely aware of where she was, and what had happened.

Bolting upright, she ran a shaky hand through her hair. "I-I'm f-fine."

"Chloe?" Athena came forward, her face mirroring Alek's look of concern. "What happened? Are you okay?"

She looked around the room, at everyone staring at her with expressions of concern and confusion and then her eyes went back to Alek. He still looked worried, but now there was confusion in there too. He looked like everyone else in the room, probably wondering if she had lost her mind.

Unable to take anymore, and still feeling the effects of her panic attack, Chloe turned to Athena, "I'm sorry, could you excuse. . ." Not bothering to finish the sentence, Chloe did what she had wanted to do since she had first seen Alek again.

She ran.