Half An Ocean Away: In The Aftermath

[x-firestar.livejournal.com]

When all is said and done, Chloe and Angel finally finish the conversation they started five months earlier. London time: 10:00 p.m.



It was over.

With Fin and his goons out of the way, finding Chloe had been a more or less simple task. The girl had been a bit beaten and was more than a little shaken, but she hadn't been with the Shadow Dwellers long enough for them to do any real damage. Once they'd gotten her out of the sewers, Angel and Scott had taken her to the hospital. Blaine had met them there, and after vehemently promising him that she wouldn't leave the country, Angel had gone with Scott to meet with the rest of the X-Men. They were gone now, Scott included, back to the states. Angel had stayed behind to take care of a few things.

And now she was standing in front of Chloe's apartment door. She knew, thanks to a text from Blaine, that everyone else had finally cleared out, which was great because Angel really didn't feel like facing them. She really didn't feel like doing this period, actually. But they needed to have this conversation.

Angel knocked on the door.

Chloe looked up from where she had curled up on the couch after everyone had left in exasperation, It wasn't that she didn't appreciate everyone's good intentions but she had felt like they were smothering her, all she wanted was to be left alone. Pushing herself off the couch she made her way over to the door, peering through the lens in the door, her eyes widening as she saw the girl on the other side. Her hand slipped down towards the handle, before it stalled uncertainly. taking a deep breath she pulled the door open. "Angel."

Angel. Not Angelica. Well it was certainly a start. Still, Angel's brain sputtered out when she saw Chloe, and for a long moment all she could was stare as she tried to figure out what to say. "Um....hey," she finally managed to get out. "How are you?" Not even a moment's pause, and Angel was already kicking herself. "Wow, stupid question alert. Jesus. Yeah. Let's add that to the list reasons why you're allowed to slap me upside the head, shall we?" Well this was going swimmingly. At least the door hadn't been slammed shut in her face. Yet.

Chloe shrugged, "I'm alive she said softy," for the days she had been a prisoner she had been sure she was going to die. Fin had never failed to remind her of that. The girl shuddered at the memory before dragging herself back to the present, and realizing she had kept Angel waiting on her doorstep. Not that a part of her didn't want to leave the redhead there, but she had saved her life. "Would you like to come in?" she asked hesitantly.

Angel had seen the shudder, and had to physically restrain herself from reaching out to try and comfort Chloe. It was a struggle. "I...sure." She stepped hesitantly into the apartment, rocking backwards on her heels. The apartment hadn't changed much in the five months that had passed since she'd last walked through that the door. Same ratty old couch, same coffee table, same photos on the wall. "I'm sorry," Angel said finally, focusing entirely on Chloe's slightly bruised face. She couldn't quite say what she was sorry for - the list was as long as she was tall at this point. She was sorry she had kept her mutation a secret, sorry things had gone the way they did, sorry Chloe had gotten mixed up in this mess - on some level sorry she had ever even come to England in the first place. She couldn't put any of that into words, though.

"Why?" Chloe asked, "You didn't get me kidnapped, you were the one who came down and got me out despite everthing...." the girls voice trailed of as she remembered how she had treated Angel. Chloe had kicked the other girl out without even giving her a chance and Angel had still come all the way back to England to rescue her without any proof that something was wrong. Suddenly Chloe felt an overpowering sense of guilt as she looked down at the floor?" Would, would you like a drink? she asked making her way over to the kitchenette, busy work that's what she needed; something to keep her hands busy and to stop her having to look at Angel.

To say Angel hadn't been expecting that would be a bit of an understatement. She watched Chloe wander over to the kitchenette, shifting uncertainly. "Um...water, sure." She wasn't actually thirsty - and after her last encounter with water, she was content to staying away for a bit. But Chloe needed something to do, that much was clear. "As for coming to get you...it's...it's what I do." It's what friends do, but Angel didn't think saying that would help much.

"What do you do?" Chloe asked as she put a glass of water down in front of angel before turning back to make herself a cup of tea. "They were tough but you and your friends just tore through them. That's not normal, and your friends, who are they? How did they just appear when I...you needed them?" She looked up at Angel tears in her eyes. "Who are you Angel? Don't lie to me this time, I want the truth."

Angel ducked her head for a moment, tangling her fingers in her hair. "The truth..." What could she say? How was she supposed to explain this? Deep breath. And finally Angel looked up again, meeting Chloe's tear-filled eyes. "The truth is, it's not my secret to tell. I wish it was, I wish I could be totally one-hundred percent honest with you, but the truth is, you're just better off not knowing." She paused, sucking in another deep breath and ignoring the sting of tears in the very back of her eyes as she spoke again. "The truth is, I'm just a crazy person who ran to England when she heard someone she cared about was missing. And if that's not a good enough explanation then believe me, I understand. And I'll walk out now, and I promise you won't hear from me again."

Chloe fell silent as she took her tea back to her spot on the couch, wrapping her hands around the cup before she looked up at Angel. "So what can you tell me?" she asked hestitantly. "You don't have to tell me everything Angel but tell me something. Please? Just help me understand. Why'd this happen? Why me, what did I do?"

That Angel could answer. Chloe deserved an answer. Angel kept her distance, leaning against the counter as she spoke. "You know how some people really don't like mutants?" She asked quietly. "Well...some people really don't like it when they see mutants being mistreated. Or they think they see mutants being mistreated." Stop being a coward, a voice in the back of Angel's head scolded her. For the love of god, be honest with her. She deserves that. Angel squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before looking down, unable - as cowardly as it was - to look Chloe in the eye as she spoke again. "Me. It was because of me. Because of what happened, back in March, with that kid, and you screaming at me...first impressions can just be really bad and really wrong sometimes."

"So everything happened because I freaked out that day?" Chloe asked in disbelief. "How did he know? He wasn't there was he?" Chloe jerked upright her eyes flitting towards the door, she knew that Fin had been caught, but a part of her expected him to come through the door as if she was still in the sewers. "All this happened because you didn't tell me you wer a mutant when we first met, or even when we first moved in together?"

And this was why Angel was still at the counter. Blame she could (and would) take, but if Chloe decided to throw something (like the cup of tea in her hands), a chance to dodge would be nice. "Yeah," she said without looking up from the floor. The voice in her head was singing coward, coward, coward. "He was there. Bad coincidence, I guess." She rubbed her eyes. Tired. When was the last time she'd slept? "And yes." Deep breath, stop shaking. Angel forced herself to look up, meeting Chloe's accusing case. "Yes, this happened because of me. Because I couldn't bring myself to tell you the truth. Because I was stupid, and I lied, and I'm an idiot who dragged you into a mess without meaning to and I'm sorry, I didn't know. I'm sorry." Her voice had started to shake; she reigned it in. Breakdowns could wait until she was alone.

Chloe slumped down the fight seemingly draining out of her, "I didn't want any of this," she sobbed, "everything was so perfect. And then...and then." she looked up at Angel. "Why didn't you tell me? Did I do something wrong? Was I a bad friend or make it seem like I wouldn't have accepted you?"

Oh hell. Maybe Chloe deserved to throw that tea at her, Angel decided as made her way over to the couch, sitting down at the other end - just in case Chloe decided she didn't want her there. "Would you believe it's not you it's me?" She asked, her own voice taking on a very weird tone that she couldn't identify. "Coming here...it was the first time I've really branched out and done something on my own, outside of my family and the school. And I handled it...badly. I didn't know how to handle it. You were...a terrific friend, and I couldn't believe how lucky I was to find you, like, my first day here-" Angel's hands, resting on her knees, clenched into tight fists, "and the more time went on the more I knew I should tell you, I kept telling myself it was stupid to keep a secret, we were friends...I wanted to tell you. I just never knew how to start the conversation."

"Are you ashamed of being a mutant?" Chloe asked scrubbing her hand across her face. "You could have just said, 'Hi I'm Angel and I'm a mutant.' If it works for AA meeting then it seems like as good a place to start as any."

It was utterly ridiculous that Angel wanted to laugh. A small smirk pulled at her lips while Chloe wasn't looking, but she schooled her expression back quickly. "Not ashamed, no," she said quietly, shaking her head. She could understand why Chloe would think that, of course. "It's just...I don't know. I really don't know what I was thinking. I was scared. Being a mutant is...tricky." She was thinking of Genosha now, and a slight chill ran through her. "You're right, though. I should have been straight from the beginning. I was an idiot." A very small spark of humor entered her eyes. "Hi, I'm Angel and I'm a moron."

A weak smile pulled at Chloe's lips as she turned to face Angel and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Chloe and I'm not an anti mutant bigot, I swear."

"Oh good. 'Cause I'm a mutant, too."

A small smile was pulling at Angel's lips as she took Chloe's hand, and they shook.