"Aww…do we have to?" Chloe whined. "Can't we just have ice cream like the last time?" Chloe asked Jasmine hopefully. Jasmine rolled her eyes and smirked. That seems to run in the family Chloe thought. Jasmine put her finger to her lips and pointed to Valentina's door.

"Sorry, no can do. Mom's in her office." she whispered. Chloe pouted then sighed in defeat.
"Fine…can I use your bathroom first?" Chloe asked.

"Down the hall, 3rd door on the right." she replied. "Oh and if you decide to climb out the window to avoid practice, don't bother. There's no window."

"Thanks!" Chloe said as she started down the hall. Just as she got to the 3rd door, she heard faint voices behind the 2nd door.

"I don't want you to distract her. What if you were to get hurt and she decides to save you?" said a stern voice who Chloe assumed to be Valentina.

Who are they talking about? She? Chloe wondered.

"I don't want her risking another one of her lives to save yours. Her lives are too valuable." Valentina continued.

They're talking about me? Chloe thought, shocked.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I do not think of Chloe as anything more than the Uniter. Someone I'm supposed to protect. Maybe even a friend, but that's it. Just a friend. Nothing more." stated the other person. That unmistakable accent…

Chloe backed away from the door slowly, tears beginning to form. He doesn't care about me…I'm just a job to him… a tear trickled down her cheek and she roughly wiped it with her sleeve. Running out of the hallway, she snatched her bag from the couch and ran out the front door before Jasmine even had a chance to register what she was doing.

"Chloe! Where are you going?" Jasmine demanded urgently. Chloe was already three flights of stairs down. Waiting for the elevator would've taken too long and she needed to get out of there. Immediately.

By the time Jasmine had gone after Chloe, Valentina and Alek had stepped out of her office.

"You don't think…" started Alek.

"No…we would've heard her…" interrupted Valentina worriedly.

"I'll go after her." Alek said, hurrying out the door. Chloe, please don't do anything stupid, he silently pleaded.

Chloe ran down the last flight of stairs and sprinted out the front door past dozens of astonished bystanders in the lobby. She increased her speed and ran past cars swerving to avoid her. She jumped onto a dumpster, using it as a step to propel herself onto the roof. Chloe ran as hard as she ever had and soon got to her house.

"Hey Chloe, what's the hurry?" her mom asked, seeing her daughter panting and red-faced.

"It's nothing, I'm kind of tired and I kind of want to go to bed." She said. "Oh and if anyone knocks on the door asking to see me, tell them I'm not here." she states, going upstairs.

"Okay?" Meredith said, slightly puzzled at her behavior.

Chloe locked her door, her window, and she closed the curtains, not wanting to talk to anyone, human and Mai alike. Then she sat down in the corner, finally letting her tears fall freely.

At some point, Chloe had fallen asleep but multiple vibrations from her cell phone finally woke her up. She sighed, wiped her face, and hesitated before pressing open.

Jasmine: Chloe what's wrong? Where are you?

Alek: Hey, where are you?

Paul: Where are you? Alek and Jasmine are looking for you?

Amy: YOU BETTER CALL ME…don't make me worry…

Alek: We need to know that you're safe.

Jasmine: We went to your house but your mom said you weren't home.

Alek: We'll leave you alone when we know you're safe. Come on; just tell me where you are.

Chloe sighed and turned off her phone. Am I over-reacting? She thought to herself. No, I'm just a burden to them, just a job, just a helpless little girl. Well, I'm not going to stand for this. I'll show them.

Originally wanted this to be a one-shot but it got too long and I didn't know how to continue it so I split it into two parts. Any suggestions on how Chloe will show them that she's not helpless? Please review!