One of God&#39;s children

After a ~~handwavy~~ dance session in the dorm gym and a cigarette on the walk over over from the dorms, Kate appeared in the doorway, leaning a shoulder against the frame.

"Hey."

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"Hey."

Mitchell looked up leisurely. "You're here about the coffee, then."

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"Mmhmm," Kate agreed, nodding. "'Coffee' is the magic word that makes me turn up at places."

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"You can try the local brew," Mitchell started, gesturing at his machine. "...or we can go to the Perk."

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"The Perk," Kate replied quickly, needing no time to make this particular decision. "I'd have to go into town today anyway, to see whether Geoffrey's finally put the cast list up."

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"The Perk it is."

Mitchell was trying to gloss over some of his subdued mood now, thank you.

"Lead on, MacKate."

[[ put up a pooost? ]]

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It had taken Chloe some thinking and stressing before she decided that coming to talk to Mitchell would probably be the best idea she could have. The things she needed to talk about were best done not in a crowded classroom and not where the wrong people could find out about it.

And really, having someone else that knew her secret and knew why she was getting a little concerned or upset in class couldn't hurt.

Right?

She made it to his door before she drew a deep breath and then knocked lightly on the door.

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Mitchell blinked once. It was a fairly sluggish reaction altogether.

Not that he hadn't heard her coming.

"Door's open."

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Chloe came in and even though she felt comfortable with him in class, she was feeling a bit shy now.

"Mr. Mitchell? Do you have a few minutes?"

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"Well, that's why I'm here," he pointed out, making an attempt at a reassuring smile that didn't completely reach his eyes. "Just don't call me 'mister'."

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She smiled faintly. "Sorry, it's habit. I um..." Oh how to start this? "I wanted to talk to you about why I was so upset during last week's class... and why yesterday's class had me in deep thinking mode."

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Kate snorted. "I think calling me that might give me bad luck. Let’s go.”

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"Sit down, then." This attempt was slightly more succesful. Especially now that he had the option of gesturing towards the seat at the desk. "We can ward off the squirrels if you'd like. Little bas-- little rodents keep poking about the building."

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"I hope they're not hanging out here right now." Chloe nodded and sat down. Talking about this was going to be hard enough as it was without worrying that the squirrels were going to out her as a freak.

"It's just that... Dr. Frankenstein." She puffed out a breath. "I'm worried that I may be a monster like he was. See... I do that. Just not with electricity and not exactly on purpose."

Way to clear things up there, Chloe. Maybe you can vague it up even more?

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Mitchell took a moment to wave a hand at the window behind him, sending some squirrels skittering away. "Bloody things," he muttered, shook his head, and paid attention.

"You can bring the dead to life?"

He didn't sound judgemental. Just curious.

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Chloe nodded, giving him a sad smile. "I don't mean to do it and I don't exactly have control over it yet. I just discovered that I had that ability recently, shortly before I was sent here."

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"The hard way, it sounds like," he said, quirking his eyebrows up in sympathy. "You know having some kind of... thing doesn't immediately make you a monster."

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Chloe chewed on her lip. "But what I do... they don't have the choice to come back or not, Mitchell," she said quietly, letting some of her worry spill out. "I had one... creature... attack me because I brought his spirit back into his decomposing body." She looked at him. "I didn't mean to. I was asleep and dreaming when it happened. I didn't mean to do that to him."

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Ow.

For a moment, he was seeing Lauren again as she had been, just before he left. He shoved the image away.

"Matters of life and death aren't as simple as we like to think they are, Chloe," he said, after a moment. "Especially not when we're just starting off with trying to figure out what we are. What your powers will make you. You can only endure and try to master it."

He leaned forward. "If you had had the choice, would you have? Or would you have left well enough alone?"

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"I would never have done that to anyone if I could have helped it," she said with determination. "Had I known that would happen I would have told my friends that we needed to hide out somewhere else for the night when I felt the body in the warehouse with us."

Oops. She hadn't meant to say that part.

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"Your friends were there when you woke this thing up?"

What? It had to be said.

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She let out a breath and then nodded. "We were hiding for the night in the warehouse after we ran away. I fell asleep and it was Derek who woke me up when he realized what was happening. It was trying to attack me because of what I did by accident. I managed to lay the body back to rest, but the spirit was angry and tried to attack me."

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Mitchell nodded slowly. "So what did you do with the spirit?"

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"I can't control spirits," Chloe said softly. "I can see them all of the time and I can communicate with them, but apparently that's all I can do unless I've brought them into a body. At least, from the two times that I've raised bodies, that's what it's seemed like." She frowned. "We were in danger and we ran. I think the spirit chased us for a little while, but he didn't follow us far from where his body was. We later called anonymously to let the police know there was a body in the warehouse."

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