"The way those reporters were hounding her, as if she was responsible for the circumstances of her birth? It looked like she was on the verge of tears, before Daddy stepped in to answer the questions for her." Chloe scoffed, gesticulating angrily with her sandwich and nearly throwing it at the window. A piece of turkey fell out and landed on the desk with a splat. Dismissively, Chloe wiped it off the edge to fall in front of Bee-atrice, who pounced on it immediately. "Ugh, it was utterly ridiculous!"

Henri hummed sympathetically, munching a few chips. "The way they were treating the poor girl the other day really was shameful," he agreed, shaking his head. "Of course, the surprise daughter – complete with tragic story and papers for authentication – is the story of the election at the moment," he pointed out. "I would have been surprised if they didn't latch onto the girl the first chance they got."

Chloe sighed, nodding in concession. "I know… But still. They didn't have to grill her like that." She pursed her lips. "She doesn't have the same experience with it that you or I have."

"Give it time; I'm sure she will get the necessary experience," he advised her. He let out a breath. "Unfortunately. Although," he mused, lifting his eyes and gazing out across the otherwise unoccupied Liberté headquarters, "I was actually… somewhat impressed by the way your dad handled that press conference. Stepping in and deflecting the questions away from Zoe when it looked like she was about to implode. That might have been the most 'mayoral' thing I've seen him do lately – though, admittedly I haven't been paying too much attention. I… didn't think he actually had it in him."

"It wasn't really him," Chloe confided, frowning. "Jean-Claude gave him the script to use if that ever came up; Daddy was literally repeating him word-for-word."

Henri waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, of course he wasn't coming up with it on the spot. But he did deliver the lines surprisingly well."

Chloe quirked an eyebrow at him. "I'll be sure to let him know that you approve," she told him wryly.

He chuckled, taking a sip of his soda. Chloe looked past him out the tall windows overlooking Lyon. Following the madness in Athens yesterday, she and Zoe had immediately returned to Paris – Chloe had borrowed dry clothes for them from the Mansion since they had both been soaked through. Zoe had been out of sorts the rest of the day; they had ended up watching television in the penthouse until dinner. Then, after breakfast this morning, Chloe had just had to get out of the hotel. There wasn't another campaign rally scheduled until tomorrow, and today her parents were taking Zoe to get some more new clothes and other necessities, along with filling out the final paperwork to become her legal guardians – another publicity stunt of Jean-Claude's. Rather than stay in Paris, Chloe had hopped through the portal to Lyon for lunch; Henri had ordered from the small café down the street. "This place is really good."

"A hazard of living so close is that I eat there at least three times a week!" he replied.

"I would," Chloe told him. "If we didn't have a hotel kitchen to feed us."

"You know," he mused, "I suppose we could have actually gone out for lunch today. If we had, I could have showed you a little more of my city. There really is more to Lyon than the rail stations."

She raised an eyebrow knowingly. "Of course, if we did that, then there would be other people around," she pointed out. He winced, blood rushing to his ears. She chuckled. "But even more than that, you know that if people saw the two of us out getting lunch together here, there's no way someone wouldn't recognize you. Whereas this way you can stay 'anonymous' and 'mysterious' for a little longer."

"Fair point." He laughed. "I have enjoyed following the speculation," he acknowledged.

Chloe smirked. "I've actually been thinking about adding some fuel to the speculation…"

"Oh?"

"They've been asking questions almost every time I've been in public since the wedding," she explained. "I could… drop a hint that we met 'through work.' Let them try to figure out if you're someone I saved, another hero, maybe a barista at my favorite coffeeshop."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

Chloe shrugged, smiling enigmatically. "That, and this could be a way to get some of the attention off of my sister."

Leaning back in his chair, Henri raised an eyebrow at Chloe. "That's true. But at the same time, I do think that at least some of those questions need to be asked – albeit, not the way that they've been asking them thus far."

"What do you mean?" Chloe furrowed her brows, eyeing him in confusion that suddenly turned to understanding. Her eyes widened and quickly narrowed. "No… You're not suggesting…"

He shrugged, giving her a concerned look. "Are you saying you're not the tiniest bit suspicious of the timing of it? Zoe appears at an election rally, weeks before the election, papers in hand? She reveals a secret that could tank his political career entirely? All when your father had just started to stabilize in the polls?"

Chloe's stomach churned. "You think Zoe is being manipulated, that she's working for Loubet?" She swallowed. How much had Zoe seen yesterday?

Henri shook his head firmly. "Absolutely not – at least on the second part," he amended. "And if she is, wouldn't your la Paonne and Impératrice Pourpre be able to tell?"

Chloe frowned, looking down at the lunch spread out between them. Pollen glanced up from her fruit cup with wide eyes. "Maybe," Chloe allowed. "But it's not quite as precise as that – they're not 'lie detectors' or anything. But she's met Impératrice Pourpre; all she said was that Zoe seemed scared and overwhelmed by events around her. But her emotions are genuine." Chloe met Henri's gaze. "I can tell when someone's bullshitting me," she told him. "And Zoe isn't."

He nodded, placing his hand on the desk between them. "I'm sure that she's completely genuine," he assured her. "And that she really is your half-sister. No; my question is more about how… tidy it all seems. You said that her apartment was destroyed, killing her mother, right?"

Chloe nodded, some of the tightness in her chest easing. "Zoe had been living on the streets since the Tarasque. She'd barely gotten new clothing or regular meals in that time. Why?"

He raised an eyebrow meaningfully. "Then how did she have the documentation – DNA test, signed letter from her mother, financial records, all of it – to prove who she was?"

Chloe sighed. "She said that her mother had kept a safety deposit box at the bank. The bank survived the Chaos – or at least the safety deposit box did; the looters weren't able to get into the vault. She didn't have a key, but the bank manager helped her get into the box and retrieve the documents. After that…" Her voice trailed off and she looked out over Lyon through the tall windows behind the desk. "I can't believe it took her so long to actually come forward – especially when she was living on the streets so much of that time."

Henri hummed sympathetically. "For her sake, I'm glad she came forward. And that your family accepted her."

Chloe quirked an eyebrow at him. "Father didn't have much choice in the matter; once the press found out, she couldn't exactly disappear. Not that Father would have done that; he's taken all of this fairly well – guilt, probably," she muttered under her breath. "Mother, on the other hand…"

He grimaced. "I still don't understand your mother…"

"You're not the only one," Chloe informed him curtly. "I spent most of my life trying to live up to her standards, only to realize that her standard was impossible, because she expected a clone of herself." She frowned. "A… friend told me that I need to give Zoe what I've gotten from my friends. I've been trying to do that; mainly by keeping her away from Mother!"

Henri nodded, taking another bite of his sandwich. "I have to say, I'm glad I haven't had the pleasure. Yet."

They ate in silence for a little while longer. At Chloe's feet, Bee-atrice had long since finished the turkey and returned to gnawing on her bone. Finally, Chloe sighed, shaking her head. "I actually brought Zoe with me on the last visit I made," she confessed. "We were in Greece yesterday, meeting with the Olympiad."

Henri's eyes widened in surprise. "Why do they get to meet your sister before I do?" he teased. The humor vanished almost instantly, however, replaced with concern. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Chloe's mouth twisted around. "There was an emergency down by the harbor. I was trying to help them sort it out, and Zoe got in the way of a massive tidal wave – twice. She could have been pulled out to sea or drowned." She let out a breath. "If she'd gotten hurt…"

He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "In that case, it's a good thing you were there to protect her. But why bring her with you if that was a possibility?"

"I didn't know at the time…" Quirking an eyebrow at him, Chloe shrugged. "Besides, I couldn't exactly leave her in Paris with our parents, could I?" she answered. "She looked so uncomfortable there, sitting by herself while Mother and Father fought. Or at the last rally, while the paparazzi were grilling her. That's the thing. Jean-Claude sees her as a tool to be used – he's grateful any time Zoe and I are seen together in public, since maybe that will rehabilitate Daddy's public image. For his part, Daddy is just relieved to see things starting to return to some semblance of normalcy. And Mother… well, she's only 'happy' when Zoe is out of her sight. And me."

"And what about you?"

"I don't know," Chloe admitted, looking down at Bee-atrice. "But I really don't like the idea of leaving her behind when I'm taking every possible opportunity to get out of the hotel. Hence, bringing her with me when I visit our allies around the world."

"Visits that just happen to coincide with your father's campaign events."

Chloe suppressed a giggle. "I can't help those 'scheduling conflicts'!"

He let out a bark of laughter before sighing. Nodding in understanding, he met her gaze. "Damn." She shrugged noncommittally. "Well, I'm glad you feel comfortable here," he told her, smiling sympathetically. He chuckled. "Of course, I'm a little disappointed to hear that you're visiting all the allies around the world," he told her jokingly. She cocked her head to the side, inviting him to continue. He smirked. "And here, I thought I was special."

She smirked. "Well, you are the only one I've visited twice."

He nodded, placing his hand on the table. She glanced down at it without making any move to take it. He hummed, turning his hand over and looking at it. "While I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy your visits, I do wonder if you will visit so often after the election is over."

She shrugged, giving him a teasing smile. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see."