And here we are. . .at the end!

Thank you all so, so much for all the support and love for this story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. I am touched by all the alerts and reviews and messages. I am sorry I could not respond to all of them personally. . .as you can tell by the lengthy time between updates. . .I had a busy, often unpredictable schedule. But believe me I read each message and review and was touched by many of them.

Also, congrats to those of you who managed to get the show into development as a TV movie. If I ever need to launch an Internet campaign for anything - I want you on my side! :)

Thanks again for reading!

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REDEMPTION - CONCLUSION

Dying always felt weird.

This was the third time for her and Chloe didn't think she'd ever get used to it. One minute there was searing pain and an empty, dark void and then the next, there was nothingness.

And then she was suddenly back in Alek's arms, the world just as she had remembered. It was like she had disappeared, only to return moments later. Disappeared where she didn't know, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Alek, however, looked distinctly more distraught than she had remembered. His eyes were closed, his face contorted with pain and anguish.

"Alek. . ." she murmured. She paused to shift slightly and realized that she felt stronger than ever. No pain, no weakness. It really was like she had been reborn. His eyes shot open and a myriad of emotions danced across his face. Relief. Guilt. Worry. She tried to sit up but Alek resisted her movements. "Alek. . ."

"Chloe you shouldn't. . ."

"I am fine," she insisted, moving his hand from her shoulder and sitting up. "Really." She touched the trail of blood on his forehead. "What about you?"

He shrugged off her concern. "You. . .died," he rasped, a haunted look in his eyes.

"I'm fine," she insisted, getting to her feet.

"I'm sorry, I. . ."

She held up a hand, silencing him. "Hold that thought because believe me, I want to hear that apology but first things first." Chloe closed her eyes, focusing her energy as she had been taught. Then she quickly filtered out all the sounds, zeroing in on a single voice. When she located it, she swiveled her head in the direction it was coming from, homing in on it until she managed to pinpoint it. She opened her eyes, letting her vision sharpen but he was simply too far away for her to see. The crowds of people also didn't help.

"Miss, are you okay. . ." A man came up to ask her.

"I'm fine!" Chloe shot back, tired of the question already. She turned to Alek. "Come on!"

Not giving him a chance to respond, she took off. She used both her speed and agility to weave through the throngs of people, drawn to the disaster like moths to a flame. As she cleared the crowd, it became much easier to move and to catch up to her prey. In a few minutes, she spotted him and increased her speed. He spotted her just as she was closing in and began to run in an evasive way, down alleys and into crowded streets.

But Chloe was determined and never lost sight of him. She closed in on him more and more until he made an error in judgment, turning into a dead-end alley. He stopped short at the sight of the tall wall and emitted a curse. Then he slowly turned and faced Chloe. They stared at each other for a beat before the man wordlessly reached into his pocket.

This time it was a gun. But this time, Chloe was prepared. She sprinted for the wall, using it like a springboard to launch herself up. She did a somersault and landed behind the man before he could even fire off a shot, much less turn around. Just as he sensed that she was behind him, she kicked him, hard, right between the shoulder blades, sending him flying down the alley. He crashed into a pile of cardboard boxes left out for recycling and the gun flew out of his hand, clattering down the alley.

Before he could get up, Chloe pounced on him, her knee on his solar plexus, pinning him to the ground. Her claws extending, she gripped his neck, as one long talon pressed up against his jugular.

"Who's an itty bitty girl now?" she hissed, feeling a surge of anger as she recalled what had happened just moments ago. And as her anger increased, so too did her desire to just sink her claws into his neck.

"Chloe!"

"Alek, I've got this."

"Don't hurt him."

She swiveled her head to look at Alek, keeping her grip firmly on the man's neck. "What? He tried to kill you! He killed Brian."

"Brian's fine." Alek made a face. "Well, he will be. He's on his way to the hospital."

"W-what?"

"One of your guards fished him out of the water. He has a concussion and is a little waterlogged but nothing that a stay in the hospital couldn't fix." Alek shrugged. "Sucks for him he doesn't have super healing abilities."

"Doesn't change what he did," Chloe said, turning her attention back to the man, who was lying perfectly still since he was well aware of how close her claw was to slicing open his jugular.

"You don't want to hurt him," said Alek. "That's not you."

"That was the old me," she shot back. "That one died."

"Chloe."

"I'm sick of these people harming innocents and doing whatever they want. And for what? Some stupid war?" Chloe stood up, dragging the man to his feet as she did so. "A war that neither of us has anything to do with? Nor did Brian, or my Dad. Or your parents! It's stupid!" At her last words, she threw the man against a wall, full force. His body smashed into the bricks with a heavy thud before he crumpled into the ground, unconscious.

"That's one way to get him under control," Alek noted.

"And you. . ." Chloe turned on him.

Alek held up his hands. "Whoa, easy. . ."

"What the hell was that back there?"

"What?"

"The whole irrational jealous boyfriend act."

"It wasn't an act."

"That's the problem."

"Well, what did you expect? I fly halfway around the world and I find you with your idiot human again. . ."

"He's not my human." She shot him an irritated look. "I hate that phrase by the way. "My human" makes it sound like he's my pet or something." Alek opened his mouth to say something but she held up a hand to silence him. "A smartass remark is not going to help you here."

Alek clamped his mouth closed. "Nothing to say then."

"Oh you have something to say, it starts with "I'm" and the next word rhymes with "starry"."

"Why don't you tell me what you were doing with him anyway?"

"I already told you,' she shot back. "We ran into each other."

"That's convenient, in a city of 800,000 people, you and your hu-. . .that guy just happen to run into each other? And then we're all suddenly attacked?"

"Yeah, that is convenient," mumbled Chloe, as her mind raced. "What are the odds of that?"

Alek had picked up on the fact that she was focused on something else. "What?"

"How'd he find us?" Chloe asked with a nod at the unconscious man. "I mean how'd he know that I'd be there? I was wandering around today, doing shopping at a lot of different places and I know I wasn't followed."

"Maybe not you."

"Brian?" Chloe shook her head. "He was never a part of this. . .besides, he could have died."

"I'm not saying he's in on it but they probably followed him just in case he decided to make contact with you." Alek shrugged. "He always was a little stalkerish."

"And that would make you what?" Chloe shot back teasingly.

"A dutiful Mai following orders," Alek returned smugly, not missing a beat.

"Oh, right," she said with a laugh. "You and your duties." She took a few steps toward him, causing him to back up slightly. "What?"

"Your claws are still. . ."

Chloe looked down and was surprised to see that her claws were still extended. She focused and the next instant they popped back in. "He really pissed me off. Dying really pissed me off." She leveled him with a steely gaze. "You really pissed me off."

"Can you blame me? I was. . ."

"Alek, I still haven't heard those two very important words and I'm still slightly pissed off."

They stared at each other for long moments before Alek sighed. He glanced at the man on the ground before he exhaled and said softly,

"I'm sorry. I acted like an irrational, jealous boyfriend."

In the next instant, Chloe launched herself into his arms, causing him to stagger backwards, falling against the wall of the alleyway. "Oof!" Alek grunted, but his arms held her tightly against him.

Chloe wrapped her arms tightly around Alek's shoulders and buried her face into his neck, relishing the feel of holding him again, something she had wanted to do from the moment she had laid eyes on him. "You came back," she whispered against his ear, pure giddy happiness washing over her.

"I told you I would."

"I really missed you."

"Me too."

Chloe smiled against his neck before she pulled back so that she could look into his eyes. "Say it again."

His brow furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"What you said before I. . .went away."

Alek looked like he was going to deflect her request but his face grew serious as he stared into her eyes. Then ever-so-slowly, he reached up and cupped her face tenderly, letting his thumb caress her cheek. "I love you."

Chloe sighed happily, closing her eyes and letting the words sink into her very being. It had been a very long, very difficult, often very painful road to get to this point with Aleck and she wanted to savor it. It wasn't a triumph for her, she didn't feel like she had won her battle with Alek. Rather, she felt like she had redeemed a part of herself, that having Alek tell her he loved her meant that she was finally becoming who she was supposed to be, someone that she had been fighting all these months.

"I love you too," she whispered, meeting his eyes.

"I know."

She laughed. "You are never not going to be cocky and arrogant and overbearing are you?"

"And you are never not going to be impetuous and impulsive and a bit reckless are you?"

"Nope," she said with a big smile.

"Me neither," returned Alek with an equally big grin.

They shared a laugh before their lips, as if on their own accord, drew together. The kiss was sweet and passionate at the same time. Chloe savored every moment of it, every sensation, every taste, every movement. Her brush with death, each one, reinforced for her just how precious and dear moments like this were, especially since she had come so close to losing Alek so recently. She may have 6 more lives but she was learning that there was no guarantee. . .except for what was happening right then and there. All anyone had was the here and now and she was starting to appreciate that the more lives she expended.

They finally broke the kiss because even the Mai needed some oxygen. Chloe leaned her head against Alek's, reluctant to break the physical contact between them. This moment was so idyllic, so near perfect that she hated to do anything to ruin it but she also needed to ask Alek something.

"Alek, do you trust me?"

Her question was met with silence, which made her nervous, until Alek said softly,

"With my life."

She angled her head so that she could look at his face, to gauge his expression. "Really?"

He nodded, his expression resolute, showing no doubt or hesitation. "I think I always trusted you in a way but the whole thing with your. . .that guy. . .it threw me and I had to pull back, protect myself."

She nodded. "I understand. I didn't exactly give you a lot of reasons to trust me."

"I am sorry about what happened before we were attacked but seeing you with him. . .it triggered some stuff."

Chloe smiled. "You think?"

Alek laughed wryly. "Maybe I do have some things in common with humans."

"They're not all bad. You like Amy and Paul right?"

"'Like' is a pretty strong word." Chloe slapped him on the shoulder. "Ow. Someone wasn't paying attention during all those control sessions with Angelo."

"I'm sorry." She leaned in and kissed his cheek softly. "Better?"

"That's not where you hit me, although the pain's kind of spreading around so. . ."

Chloe laughed. "First things first." She looked at the still unconscious man on the ground. "What do we do with him? What about what happened at the walkway?"

Alek looked impressed. "Valentina has contacts with the San Francisco PD as well as federal authorities. They'll write this up as a random attack by some mentally unhinged psychopath." Alek inclined his head toward the man on the ground. "As for him, we'll call your guards and they'll take him to Valentina. She'll have some questions for him."

"Efficient," said Chloe.

"We've had to learn how to adjust to meddling humans with too many questions." Alek said it seriously but Chloe could see that he wasn't entirely, as there was a teasing gleam in his eye. She knew his distrust for humans ran deep but that, like his initial reaction to her, that distrust also seemed to be thawing. Alek would never love humans or place himself firmly on "their side" but she also knew that he was starting to see that not all humans were the same, that there were some who could be good allies, even friends.

"When do you think they'll get here?" Chloe asked him, looking around for signs of her guards. She had moved some fast in her relentless tracking of the assailant that she was a little surprised that Alek had kept up, so she should give her guards some time to find them. Besides, they were probably busy with Brian. Chloe sighed.

"What?" Alek asked, picking up on the way her body tensed.

"Are you sure Brian's going to be okay?"

Alek's expression remained neutral but she could see that flare of jealousy in his eyes. But when he responded, it was calm, business-like. "He should be. He wasn't in the water long and he only had a slight concussion from the blast."

"His father's going to hate us even more."

"That's absurd," Alek shot back. "It was the Order that nearly killed him."

Chloe sighed. "That's not how he's going to see it. He's going to see it as me endangering his son once again."

"Stupid humans."

"I kind of understand. All that hate. . .all the anger. . .years of violence. . .no one's seeing anything straight anymore."

"We can't just give in to them," Alek protested, his voice taking on an edge.

"I didn't say we should. I just. . .this whole thing is stupid. This war, everything." She shook her head. "I hate it. I'll always hate it but I am also not going to back down. I'm not going to let them hurt anyone I love ever again so if they want a fight, that's what they'll get."

Alek smiled. "I'm glad you're on our side."

"I'll bet," Chloe replied. She pushed the negative thoughts related to the impending escalation of the war with the Order from her mind. There was plenty of time to worry about that later. "Are you really back for good?"

Alek nodded. "Angelo did mention something about me serving as a teaching assistant for the camp next summer but I'm not going anywhere until then."

"Does that mean you'll be going to school?"

"Someone has to keep an eye on you," he teased.

Chloe smiled. "I think you'd make a really good teacher at that camp."

Alek's expression lit up with pride. "Yeah?"

She nodded. "You were really good with me and I know I wasn't easy."

"Definitely not."

"Are you still going to train with me?"

"You'll have to promise not to kick me into any walls."

"Don't give me any reason to," she mock threatened him.

Alek grinned. "Oh, I am nothing but a gentleman, Chloe King."

"Right."

"You doubt me?" challenged Alek as he began pressing feathery light kisses along her jaw and then down her neck. Chloe shivered as the scratchy hair on his jaw brushed against the delicate sking of her neck. "I guess I'm just going to have to convince you."

Chloe angled her head and captured his lips for a searing kiss, holding the promise of more, much more. "Oh, but for what I have in mind, I don't think I'd want a gentleman."

Alek laughed. "Aren't you frisky?"

"I have really missed you." Chloe kissed him again. "Really."

Alek groaned as he looked around. "Where are those bloody guards?"

Chloe laughed. "Easy, there." She leaned her head against his shoulder as she felt him wrap his arms tighter around her. "You know it's going to be hard to explain to my mother about us. . .not to mention, we're gonna have to sneak around again. She's not big on co-ed sleepovers."

"We'll figure it out."

"I'll have to tell her eventually."

"I know," Alek said softly, his hand stroking her back comfortingly. "And when you're ready, I'll be there with you if you need me."

"Thank you," Chloe said before she closed her eyes, just relishing the feeling of being held by Alek. Sure there was an unconscious assassin steps away from them who was about to be taken into custody by her Mai guards for. . .who knows what? And the fight with the Order was just beginning which meant she'd have to worry about her friends' and mother's safety. And she still had to learn how to control the incredible power within in her, all while pretending to be a normal teenage girl.

And she and Alek. . .something told her they'd never settle into an easy-going relationship. They loved each other, trusted each other with their lives but they were still them so she knew there was going to be a lot of head-butting, arguments and outright fights in their future.

But that meant making up too.

The future wasn't perfect. There was a lot of uncertainty, a lot of dangers, but for once in her lives, Chloe wasn't scared to face it. For once she felt ready to tackle all the challenges. Somehow, things finally felt right. Right there in Alek's arms, everything finally felt right.

The End