It's still Halloween here, so Happy Halloween. Let's hope this is more of a treat than a trick...

Breakfast

"Hi, Mom," Chloe said as she reached the kitchen.

"Hey, Kiddo," was Meredith's automatic reply, not even looking up from her paper. It took a few seconds for everything that had happened recently to register, and she put per paper down.

"How's your head," she asked before she realized what Chloe was doing.

"It's fine. No pain, even the ugly is gone."

"Come here, let me see." Meredith motioned for her daughter approach the table where she sat with her newspaper and coffee.

Chloe put the spatula down and walked to her mother. She leaned in to let her mother closely examine the area of her head that had been injured.

"It is gone," Meredith said, sounding a little unsure as she ran her fingers over the area that was bruised the night before. "How? It doesn't look like makeup."

"It's not," Chloe said. "I just heal fast."

"Does it still hurt? Did it keep you awake?"

"No," the Mai girl answered, shaking her head. "Whatever Kassandra put on it for pain yesterday worked all night, and she gave me something to make sure I would sleep. I slept fine."

"No damage at all left?" Meredith asked, still running her fingers on Chloe's head.

"No, no damage left on or in my head."

Meredith let her daughter pull her head away, then, with a slight smirk, asked, "Then why are you cooking yourself breakfast?"

Chloe backed away with a snort. "It's not like my mom makes breakfast for me – unless she has a new boyfriend or something." The Uniter went back to her eggs.

Meredith watched her daughter for a few more seconds before saying, "You're not rushing out to see Paul or Amy before school?" When no answer came, she said "Chloe?"

Chloe didn't turn around, but did answer. "I just don't know what's out there. I have no idea what arrangements Valentina made overnight, but…" She turned to face her mother, saying, "I just don't know what to expect."

Meredith could see that, even if Chloe felt no more pain, her daughter still felt stress. "Do you want me to drive you to school?" The question was gentle, as was the expression on Meredith's face.

Chloe nodded. "Could you? I don't really want to go alone – not that I would be by myself, but…"

"Of course," Meredith said when Chloe let her voice trail off.

"Maybe you'll get another 'assistant'," Chloe said as she returned to her cooking.

"Maybe," Meredith responded, "though I doubt it. I'm not really the target in all of this." She immediately wished she hadn't said 'target', but Chloe didn't seem to react to it.

Chloe took a deep breath as she moved the eggs from the pan to her plate, wondering exactly how many Mai would be around her now. She hadn't looked outside or listened to see if more Mai had arrived, but she was nervous about what she and her mother would find when they left the house.

"Let them do what they need to for you," Meredith advised as the Mai teen carried her plate and sat at the table, across from the human.

"I will," Chloe promised. It was a promise she planned to keep, even if she really wasn't looking forward to whatever they had in store for her.

Space

Brian watched as Chloe left her mother's car and walked towards the school. He told himself he was respecting her wishes, he was giving her space, but that didn't mean he couldn't watch her from a distance.

As soon as Chloe left the car, the other girl - the girl that had been with him when she told him to give her space - was there. As the two girls walked towards the school he was sure his father was right, for some reason the other girl was there to protect her. He didn't see Alek, but did see several others that seemed to close in around Chloe, then match her pace as they entered the school building.

He wondered if it was his imagination, but after what his father said, after what Chloe said, he was probably seeing things as they were. What he didn't know was how to find out what was happening, but he resolved to find a way to figure it out.

Lucky

Chloe tried not to look at the people around her as she walked in the halls. She knew most of the people she saw, but there were a few faces that were new. At least, if they were Mai, they were giving her some space. Janelle seemed to be glued to her shoulder, but she had expected that, she was even a little relieved by it. Still, as she walked through the halls of the school, Chloe expected to hear the speakers blare something like, "Please welcome our hundred temporary visitors. They are here to keep an eye on Chloe King. Let them do whatever they need to, but, whatever happens, don't kiss them…"

"He's still here!" Chloe heard Amy's excited whisper from next to her on the side opposite Janelle.

When Chloe looked at her friend with a confused look, Amy whispered, "The hottie. You said he would be gone, but he's still here."

Chloe had to remind herself that Amy would not know what had happened the night before. "Lucky you."

"I know," Amy responded, then noticed Chloe's expression. "She's still here too," Amy added, nodding towards to Janelle. "Did the classroom Mai not arrive yet?"

"I don't know," Chloe said as she opened her locker, grabbed the needed book, then started moving to her first class.

As Amy walked with Chloe for a few steps, she noticed that Janelle stayed right next to Chloe the entire time Then she realized who was not nearby. "Chloe, where's Alek? Did something happen?"

The Uniter stopped and had to take a breath as she nodded. "Zane happened. Alek's hurt, but should be back soon."

Amy looked speechless for once. Before Amy said anything, Chloe said, "I promise, I'll tell you everything, but I need to get to class now."

"'Kay," was all Amy was able to get out before watching Chloe walk away with Janelle. It took the bell to snap her out of her trance enough for her to go to her own class.

Interest

"Brian?"

He recognized her voice, and looked up from his work to see Simone standing near him.

"The girl you were with at the night of the event," Simone began, "the night we first met. Chloe, was it?"

Brian looked at her confused, but nodded. "I was with Chloe that night."

"Have you seen her recently?"

He looked even more confused and only managed to say "What?"

"It's just I haven't seen her with you recently," Simone said quickly. "She seemed like a nice girl and I wonder if she's all right."

"She's fine," Brian said. He was still confused, but Simone was his supervisor, and it seemed nice of her to take an interest in him. "I saw her this morning, she's fine."

"I'm glad. So you still see her?"

"Yeah, I saw her this morning," Brian repeated.

"Okay," Simone said as she turned and left. "Just wondering."

As soon as she was back in her own office, Simone pulled her phone out. She was about to call, but thought better of it. She knew Zane had planned to move against the Mai Uniter the previous night. If Chloe was still alive, he must have failed.

Still, she had been careful. Even if the Mai took Zane's phone, they would find no trace of her or the Order there.

There was a plan in place. She couldn't keep herself from asking Brian about Chloe, couldn't help trying to find out if Zane had been successful, but perhaps he had pulled the plug on his attack for some reason.

She briefly considered going to where Zane was staying, but quickly discarded that idea. If the Mai had found it, she could not been seen there.

She decided she had no choice but to wait for the meeting she had planned with Zane that evening. She was, however, getting a sick feeling that they had failed to take out Chloe. Again.

Relief

"You're not going home?" Janelle asked Chloe. They had just left Chloe's work, but instead of the usual route to her house, Chloe was headed in a different direction.

"Not tonight. I need to meet my mom."

Janelle walked beside the Uniter in silence for awhile before asking, "Where are we going?"

"To meet my mom," Chloe repeated.

"You're not going to tell me," Janelle observed.

"You'll know soon enough," Chloe said.

Another brief silence followed, before Janelle asked, "Would Alek approve of where we're going?"

This caught Chloe off guard. She stopped and turned to face the other Mai girl. "Alek?"
The Uniter had expected a question about Valentina's approval, but not Alek's.

"I've heard enough about you," Janelle began. "and I've seen enough to know that you do not care what Valentina thinks about what you do. But you do care what Alek thinks."

Chloe turned from Janelle and resumed her walking, without responding. She had been worried about Alek all day, had wanted to call him to see how he was, but had not worked up the nerve.

"He'll be back tomorrow," Janelle said as they walked. "Back in school with you."

"So he's okay?"

"He is. Him and me - we're both fine now, Chloe."

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief, but only nodded as she walked.

"We'll both do anything we can for you," Janelle continued, "but don't you think we should know what to expect? Shouldn't I know where you're taking me?"

"My mom and I have a meeting, all you will need to do is wait for me," Chloe said, hoping it would prove to be true.

Glares

"Anne, this is Chloe," Meredith introduced. "Chloe, my new 'assistant'."

"Another?" Chloe asked. "From today?"

Meredith shook her head. "From Monday. No one new today."

Chloe nodded and asked "This is it – where we're meeting him?" They were in front of a nice restaurant.

When Meredith nodded, Chloe asked "Am I dressed OK for this?"

"Whitley assured me there would be no problem with that," Meredith said. "Let's go in."

They entered and were immediately seen by Whitley. He approached just as they were being approached by someone from the restaurant.

"They're with me, Bernard" Whitley said as he reached them. Bernard nodded and backed away.

When Whitley saw the two Mai with Chloe and her mother, he said, "It was supposed to be just you two."

"You were supposed to be alone," Meredith said, pointing at the table Whitley had come from – a table still occupied by six other men.

"They are clients, not henchmen," Whitley said. "Are yours?"

"They won't go in with us," Chloe said. "And you know they won't do anything in public like this."

Whitley nodded. He really had come alone, and he had expected Chloe to have other Mai with her. It was the reason he had suggested such a public place for their meeting – a public place filled with people who knew him.

Janelle was glaring at Chloe now. "Whitley Rezza?" At least she was speaking softly.

"Yes," the Untier said firmly. "And Valentina doesn't need to know – not yet."

"Doesn't she?" Janelle challenged, her face just as hard as Chloe's.

"She doesn't. This meeting is not about her." Then Chloe turned to Whitley. "Mr. Rezza, where will we be meeting?"

Whitley pointed to a closed door. Chloe nodded towards it and said to Janelle, "Can you check that out before we go in?" Then she spoke to Whitley again. "They'll need a table nearby."

Janelle looked indignant, but she motioned to Anne, who followed her through the door.

"Bernard," Whitley said, "we'll need a table for two – that one, if possible." He pointed to the table, then turned to Meredith and said, "I need to excuse myself from my table." He went to his original table and spoke to the men there. Chloe listened to him briefly, but when she realized he was doing what he said he would, she faced her mother.

"Are we ready for this?" the Uniter asked Meredith.

"We?" Meredith asked, her face serious. "This is your meeting. This is what you wanted."

"It's fine." Janelle said as she and Anne emerged from the small banquet room they had just investigated. "Chloe…"

"Thank you," Chloe interrupted. "We'll leave the door open enough for you to hear us."

Janelle's glare softened slightly as she and Anne sat at the table that had been prepared for them.

"Shall we?" Whitley said from behind Chloe. Chloe glanced at Janelle, but instead of the hoped for support, she saw only a mixture of glare and unease. As Whitley led Chloe and her mother into the small banquet room, the Uniter wondered, again, if Valentina was right about her being reckless.