The Inevitable

The Uniter felt much better when she woke up.

She knew it was Sunday, though she had no idea what time. The sun was shining brightly, but she lay still in her bed, concentrating on how she felt. Really, the pain was gone, though she still felt a little sore where she had been shot.

She was able to stretch while lying in bed without hurting. She breathed a sigh of relief and sat up before gasping as she glanced to the mirror. Someone was in her room with her.

When she realized who it was, she had to close her eyes and take a couple of calming breaths. Her mother was sitting, watching her.

"Sorry," Meredith said. "I let you sleep in, but I wanted to be here when you woke up. We need to talk."

Chloe nodded - it was expected. Actually, she expected it the previous night when Paul and Amy left, but for some reason her mother had given her a pass, just telling her to go to bed. She expected to have trouble sleeping with the pain she felt and with all else happening around her, but she was quickly asleep, barely having had time to wonder why her mother wasn't questioning her before she was dreaming, then waking up to the bright sunlight

Whatever the reason for the night-long pass, it was over.

"Can I…?" Chloe asked, nodding towards the bathroom.

Meredith nodded. "Of course." Meredith hadn't slept much the night before. Alek's appeal for her to let Chloe rest had calmed her, helped her understand that Chloe needed the rest. She was no longer so upset, but she still had questions.

Chloe was in the bathroom longer than she needed to be, longer than she should have been. It was hard to force herself to leave. She always knew this day would come, she had almost told her mother about her transition before, but had held back. Her biggest concern was that, no matter what else happened, her mother would know that her daughter had been lying to her. Chloe feared losing her mother's trust more than anything.

Meredith was sitting on the bed when Chloe returned. There was a box next to her on one side, Chloe sat next to her mother on the other side.

Chloe was a little surprised to see the concern on her mother's face rather than the expected anger or frustration.

"How are you feeling," Meredith asked.

"Much better," Chloe said, though she looked down, unable to hold keep eye contact.

"I don't understand," Meredith began. "There were people outside our house, Alek said they were there to protect you."

Chloe was still looking down, but she concentrated just then, trying to hear outside as her mother paused. Then she nodded, "They're still there."

"You know that without looking?"

The Uniter nodded. "They don't make much noise, but I can hear them."

"Chloe," the mother whispered. When she didn't continue, Chloe finally met her eyes. Then Meredith pulled something up from her lap and gave it to her daughter. "You've probably never seen this." It was an old, yellowed newspaper article.

Chloe's eyes widened at the headline – "Child Lone Survivor of Ukrainian Massacre." The she saw the name of the writer. "Dad," the Uniter whispered.

"Yeah," Meredith whispered as Chloe's eyes scanned the article. Meredith watched her daughter's expression change from surprise to grief as Chloe read the article.

"I should have told you," the Uniter's mother said as Chloe gave her mother the article and turned to hug her. "I couldn't bear to tell you that the only reason you are with me is because of such violence."

Chloe nodded as she was hugged, trying to control herself. "I'd hoped to meet them," she whispered. She had always had hope that her birth parents were alive, that she would one day know them. Then she said what she suddenly realized. "Alek's not the only one."

"Alek?" Meredith asked, pulling away as her daughter released her.

Chloe nodded. "His parents died when he was three. Valentina said they were killed in a 'slaughter'."

Meredith released a breath, not sure whether she should comment on Alek's losses or ask about Valentina, a name she had never heard before.

She chose neither, instead saying "When Alek told me there were people here to protect you, it made me think of this. It made me wonder if whatever happened last night could be related to this…to what happened when you were so young."

Chloe just looked at her mother, unable to say anything, though she knew she had to now

"That's my last secret, kiddo," Meredith said gently. "Now I think there's some things you need to tell me."

Chloe bit her lip. "What did Alek tell you?"

"What I already knew – that you were hurt and afraid, and that you needed rest. And he said something about you being different recently, but not because of drugs or sex or … um, gangs. I'm hoping that's true."

"It is," Chloe said quietly.

Meredith waited for more, but Chloe couldn't bring herself to say any more.

"I know how hard it is to say something like this, but Chloe, if someone's trying to hurt you, I need to know about it."

The Uniter looked into her mom's eyes and finally said, "They can't really do anything to me – not right now, anyway. But you…they can hurt you. And I'm really afraid that they will…that they will hurt you to try to get to me."

And This is What Mom Gets Out of the "Talk"?

Chloe had told her mother everything she could think of, with one exception. She couldn't bring herself to mention Xavier – how she had kissed him and how he had then died.

She did mention that kissing, or more, with humans could cause the human to die. A day earlier she would have said 'will' kill the human. She was no longer so sure of that.

She had said everything she could think of, her mother had asked her some questions. Now they were just sitting in her bedroom, looking at each other. Chloe had nothing else to say. She could tell her mother was torn, unsure of how to react.

"This is…" Meredith began, "hard to…"

"Believe?" Chloe offered.

"Accept." Meredith finally said. "If only there was something you could show me…"

Chloe hesitated, then said "Do you remember when you were almost hit by a car and I picked you up and moved you out of the way?"

Meredith nodded, then said, "So you're strong?"

"Stronger than I was before," Chloe sighed. "Faster too, and I can hear things from far away, can see clearly in the dark."

Chloe watched her mom slowly nod as she took all of this in, then her mom asked "anything else?"

Chloe flashed her claws which made her mother gasp. Then the Uniter said. "this and the nine lives I mentioned. Well, seven now."

"Chloe," Meredith said, after recovering from the shock of seeing claws on her daughter's hand. "I don't know whether to be afraid, or relieved, or concerned…"

Another unfinished sentence. "Welcome to the club." Chloe said after waiting to see if her mother would finish.

"Mai." Meredith said, then laughed quietly to herself. "Mai Mai!. Mai oh mai."

"Mom!" the Uniter interrupted. "Please."

If Meredith had a sheepish grin, Chloe was seeing it now.

Chloe spoke softer now. "And please, Mom," she implored. "No one can know."

"You said Amy and Paul know."

"And they're in danger because of it. Paul was kidnapped by someone trying to kill me. I don't want anyone else in danger because of me." Chloe sighed. "I tried really hard to keep you out of this, but … I can't anymore."

Meredith nodded. "OK. But I'd like to meet the Mai, the people who have been protecting you. I'd like to thank them, and…I don't know. Just meet them."

Chloe's reaction showed the horror she felt at the idea. Her mom and Valentina? She found herself shaking her head, but then saying, "I need to check on Jasmine."

Meredith rose and spoke as she left the room. "Then it's a perfect time. I'll take you there, you can check on her and I can meet these people who are helping you. We'll leave as soon as Brian delivers my car."

Chloe was about to object when her mom, who had already gone through the door into the hall, turned suddenly back to look at Chloe. "You said Alek is Mai, but is Brian Mai?"

Chloe shook her head. "Alek yes, Brian no."

Meredith suddenly understood some of the turmoil in Chloe's life. "But you're in love with Brian."

Chloe shrugged. "Maybe, I'm not sure. But it doesn't matter."

Meredith gave a compassionate look to her daughter. "The ultimate forbidden love. Kind of romantic."

The Uniter couldn't believe what her mother was saying. "Thanks so much. This is really helping."

"But Alek's safe for you to…"

"Mom!" Chloe interrupted. "I need to get ready before Brian comes." Then she flipped her hand in a motion to shoo her mother away.

As her mother left, Chloe quickly said "Oh, and Mom, I don't think Brian knows any of this stuff. Please, don't tell him anything he doesn't already know."

Meredith turned back, nodded and smiled a little. "So romantic. You want to prote…"

Chloe had to try really hard to not slam her bedroom door as she closed it, cutting off her mother's words.

The Car and the Question

Brian was talking to Meredith, sitting at the kitchen table, when Chloe came down. The girl was nervous as she descended the stairs, having no idea how she would be received.

"You're Ok," Brian said, though he was a little confused at the glare Chloe was shooting at her mother, who had a little smirk on her face.

"Yeah," Chloe said as she approached and gave Brian a small smile. "Thanks for…uh…" It took the Uniter a few seconds to figure out how to finish the sentence, "bringing my mom's car. Are you OK?"

"Yeah," Brian said, rising from the table he and Meredith had been sitting at. He glanced back at Chloe's Mom before turning back to Chloe and softly asking "can we talk for a minute?"

Chloe said "Sure" and pointed towards the living room. As Brian passed her, she glared at her mother, whose smirk got a little bigger. Chloe pointed an index finger with claw extended at Meredith. "Watch it, lady," she whispered before turning to follow Brian.

Both Chloe and Brian hesitated as they sat next to each other on the couch. Chloe was close to saying something, though she did not know what, when Brian spoke.

"Sorry about last night…what I did."

Chloe nodded. "I'll ask you to respect my wishes in the future."

"I was just so relieved," he said, so softly she though it might have been said to himself.

"Even so…" Chloe said, but stopped, not wanting to say anymore.

"And my dad agrees with you."

"Your dad?" Chloe asked, giving him a quizzical look.

Brian looked like he wished he hadn't said anything. "It came up. I told him that you really didn't want me to do that, and he said I shouldn't ever do it again."

That made her Chloe pause. "And he cares because…?"

Brian shrugged. "I don't know. But he asked me to ask you something." He hesitated, then said "I'm sorry, it's a little weird."

"What is it?"

"He asked me to ask you if your mother knows about you."

Chloe froze but tried to keep her face blank. Suddenly she was a little worried. Suddenly she thought it wasn't such a bad idea to see Valentina.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Brian "Does his question mean anything to you?"

Chloe shook her head, but decided to respond anyway. She had to force herself to remember who she was talking to and that she cared about him. She tried to keep her voice calm. "No, but you can tell him that my mom does know about me." Chloe could feel an icy stare coming through, but didn't try to control it. "She knows everything about me."

Chloe turned around and took a calming breath before she said, "My mom and I need to leave. I'll see you later."

Brian followed her as she rose and left the room, obviously confused, until Chloe went up the stairs without looking back at him.

The Relief

Chloe had just entered her mother's car, which Brian had left on the driveway, when she saw him. "Mom, I need to talk to Alek for a minute before we go."

Meredith looked to where her daughter was facing, but couldn't see the Mai boy. Still, Chloe was out of the car before she could say anything. She did see finally him as she watched Chloe walk towards him. She watched her daughter tentatively approach the guy who Meredith knew had helped and protected the daughter she loved so much, and she suddenly felt guilty about teasing Chloe about her love life earlier.

"Hi," Chloe started. She wanted so badly to hug him again, to feel his arms around her tightly. He had hugged her that way before, when he wasn't afraid he might hurt her. The hug last night had been so gentle, and she wanted more, but she was too unsure to make the move just now. She had no idea if she had managed to repair the damage done to their relationship yesterday. "Are you OK?"

"Fine," he said. "Going somewhere?"

Chloe nodded, trying to send some kind of nonverbal 'please understand me' message as she looked into his eyes. " We're going to your place. I want to check on Jasmine and I need to talk to Valentina."

"And you're bringing your mother." Alek said. Like the night before, Chloe couldn't read his mood from his expression or his words.

"She insists. She knows just about everything now and wants to meet…all of you."

When Alek only nodded, Chloe added. "You could come with. I mean, you're probably here to watch over me, and you could do it from right next to me. If you want."

"That is why I'm here," he responded, then his face visibly softened. "I'd like that."

She breathed as sigh of relief as he let her take his hand to lead him to the car.