Restless hearts and minds

[Prophet]

Parthenon - Cameron's Penthouse

Nicolas looks as he gets his drink from Cam, tossing half of it back immediately. He sighs as he starts to finally talk.

"Cam. You are so transformed from before. Everyone sees it and I am glad for you. That is why I did not kill you when you went for Aunt D.

Cameron laughed loudly. It was strange. With Nicolas & Dominique's relationship being what it was, Cameron sometimes would forget that they were related until he was reminded of it...usually by Nicolas.

[sarcastically with a smile] "Why thank you for that!"

Nicolas winks and relaxes, not betraying how much of a joke that last joke was.

"But Haleigh? She is the same Haleigh, man. The same one. That means that she leads with her emotions, often in a way that is hedonisic, almost always without consideration of the people it would affect."

"Now look at you. You meet her late at night...I can faintly smell the great alcohol and...Cuban is it? Yep...you had Cubans. Why even wear underwear in that situation?"

"Nicolas fully laughs, realizing that Cam was not in a great mood, he subsides."

"Well...I'm sorry Nick...that just isn't a good enough of an excuse anymore. She's not a dog in heat. She is a woman who runs one of the most successful INTELLIGENCE agencies in the world...and think about what you just said...Do you think Morgan would take that kind of excuse from you if you went off and kissed some woman? No...because you are an adult...and no matter how good they look, or how good they smell...you made a committment...one you've had to work to keep and defend...just like Haleigh has with Zach..."

Sorry- Look Cam, you are a smart guy. You can read people even without using telepathy. But you have to realize who people are and control what you can control - YOURSELF- instead of expecting people to be as transformed as you are. Surely you did not REALLY think you would just chat Haleigh and you into some new safer place? Or that some lecture from you about her lack of growth would spur the growth you want to see?

Cameron took a sip of his latte as he eyed Nicolas up and down for a moment. He knew that Haleigh and him were close and he knew that he was trying to defend her.

"I know I can control myself...but to be honest Nicolas...I wasn't expecting MUCH from her, other than for her to able to maintain a conversation with somebody she used to consider her best friend without cheapening it or negating it all together. I'm not trying to change her...I'm not trying to MAKE her she's something she's not...I wasn't even TRYING to go ANY deeper than to say 'I'm sorry for the things that have happened...let's try and move forward in a better direction for the sake of all parties involved'. That's it...there was no lecture and there was no conversation about her growth...but again like I said...nobody is asking the world from her...they are asking her to be an adult..."

"Talking is fine with me. I would prefer if we could find a way forward that did not make me feel like I have to start refereeing."

Nicolas paused, a new evil gleam coming across his face.

"But if you like, we can go to the DR. I would love to introduce you to Jotunheim. No Zachs, but definitely a lot of things to kill. WE can chat this out further while you get some stress relief. Grab a coat and we can be off..."

"You won't have to referee with ME...I won't allow myself to get in another entanglement like with Zach...or Haleigh. The door is open for Haleigh...as for Zach...I will continue to tolerate him as an ally of The Six and a partner to Haleigh. Outside of that...my hands are washed from the situation...I'm only even MENTIONING anything now because it just happened...rest assured...I will never let Zach OR Haleigh get the best of my emotions again..."

Cameron downed the rest of his latte, opened the fridge and grabbed two large bottles of water.

"And yeah..I'm definitely going to need to kill some things before work...otherwise nobody's gonna happy. Let's go..."

He tossed Nicolas a bottle of water as he went for his coat closet and grabbed a red hoodie, putting it on and zipping it up.

"And thanks for the talk...."

 

[Rampage]

"You won't have to referee with ME...I won't allow myself to get in another entanglement like with Zach...or Haleigh. The door is open for Haleigh...as for Zach...I will continue to tolerate him as an ally of The Six and a partner to Haleigh. Outside of that...my hands are washed from the situation...I'm only even MENTIONING anything now because it just happened...rest assured...I will never let Zach OR Haleigh get the best of my emotions again..."

Cameron downed the rest of his latte, opened the fridge and grabbed two large bottles of water.

"And yeah..I'm definitely going to need to kill some things before work...otherwise nobody's gonna happy. Let's go..."

He tossed Nicolas a bottle of water as he went for his coat closet and grabbed a red hoodie, putting it on and zipping it up.

"And thanks for the talk...."

No problem CK.

Nicolas teleported them to the DR.

Computer, load Jotunheim. High level difficulty, moderate safeguards, increased numbers of NPCs.

Acknowledged.

The temperature dropped to -2 degrees Celcius, and the foreboding mythical landscape manifested itself. They were in a leafless deciduous forest, the trees perpetually in dormancy and only a smattering of evergreens mixed in to provide any cover. A patrol of Jotuns spot them standing in the middle of the path, and Cameron can already see Nicolas' skin darken and his runes show, glowing a red to match the psionic energy from his eyes as it began to slowly leak. He smiled at Cam and then turned back to face the angry and increasingly advancing squadron, his axe tilted down and away from his body. He whispered a final sentence...

You can thank me later.

 

[Black Widow]

Parthenon: Alycia's suite

Alycia: Why is it so hard to believe that people DO change and PROGRESS as they LEARN and GROW?

It was Haleigh's turn to laugh, and she did, clapping her hands together once.

"How naive of you. People don't change. Only Perspectives change. You're still the same old Alycia, the hard-ass, ball-busting attorney, only now you aren't an attorney, you're an Amazon. Your perspective on life changed after you became an Amazon, so you approach things with a new outlook, but you're just a quick to judge and condemn as you were back then."

She smirked nastily at the Amazon.

"And underneath that shiny new happy face Cameron is wearing to please you and everyone else, that facade he's put up to garner the approval and acceptance he's craving.... is the same old Cameron, angry and arrogant and he answers his problems with violence, JUST LIKE BEFORE, he's only gotten better at hiding it.... his perspective changed TOO..... He has different priorities now. He thinks if he sits pretty, everyone will like him and that's true.... But if you push his buttons, and I mean really get to him, see what happens.... see if he doesn't go right back to his roots."

"ME? I am what I am. I've never pretended to be anything else. I'm not a good person, I've never been a good person. You guys assign these nice qualities to me, you start expecting me to be nice and compliant and when I'm NOT-- because I'm NOT-- you get all mad about it. Well I'm not going to apologize for WHO I AM.... because that's fucking gross. And if you don't like me, frankly, I really don't give a single fuck."

Alycia: I EXPECTED YOU to revert to impulse driven fuckery--

"And you weren't disappointed. And now you aren't even mad about it. See, that worked out well."

Alycia: and deep down...Cameron did too.

"Oh, Bullshit, honey. You should've seen him freak out. Obviously he expected.... I dunno, I guess he expected that all the problems between us would magically go away, that the attraction would just disappear. He expected that he could put his arm around me and that it would mean nothing, but it's never meant nothing. And I'm not going to pretend that I don't feel anything ANYMORE, because my perspective has changed TOO. And I No longer THINK that bottling it all up or turning it all off is the best way to deal. And if that means I have to GET SHIT NASTY in order to make it neat again, then that's what I'll do."

Alycia: . We're not gods and goddesses, none of us has the power to do WHATEVER we want.

"Don't be so sure about that. We can do a whole hell of a lot of we just TRY. All she wanted was for us to fucking TRY. And that's ALL I was doing. But YOU came up in MY home uninvited, broke my shit and tried to tell us off for it. So THAT is why I reacted the way I did towards you. And THAT is why we can't be friends, which is WHAT I TOLD YOU at the time."

Alycia: However, You've ALSO just confirmed what I said to Cameron. VERY LITTLE that you do, FOR ANYONE, is driven by a pure motive. EVERYTHING about you is greed, avarice, narcissism and sociapathic. ONLY YOU could take pride in doing a genuinely GOOD DEED for an equally, PURELY SELFISH and TWISTED motive and think that as long as it benefits YOU, that makes your motives ok.

(Scoffing) "my motives don't have to be 'okay'. That's a notion YOU are a victim to. My motives are simply my motives. They don't really matter. It's not who we are inside, but what we DO that counts. It doesn't matter WHY I served my country, only that I DID."

Alycia : But that's just YOU to a tee. NOTHING good and DECENT would EVER abide in that neutron waste dump you call a "HEART".

"Of course not. I have nothing left. Everything that was ever good and decent about me was stolen a long time ago."

Alycia: there's more to life than battle or espionage or sitting on obscene amounts of money and "intell" as you play spy games around the world.

Haleigh put her hand under her chin and tilted her head in a sarcastic 'I wonder' gesture.

"There IS? Because those are all the best parts of MY LIFE."

Alycia: There are people, with feelings, minds and HEARTS, EXPECTATIONS ...and part of being a REAL FRIEND is recognizing and rising to MEET those expectations. But that's NOT YOU, is it? It NEVER has been.

"Now you're getting the idea. Don't expect to much from me, and you'll never be let down."

Alycia: "tethers"...is that what they are to you? essentially another means to an end? it's THEIR responsibility to "anchor" you?

"They are the only people in this world that I care about. If I lose THEM.... future alternate Haleigh makes her appearance. And it's not their responsibility.... it's just the reality of the situation."

Alycia: you're weak as HELL. I can't believe I didn't see this before!

Alycia tore into Haleigh some more, but honestly at this point Haleigh was on the way out. She was done with this conversation, but Alycia always liked to beat a dead horse.

Alycia: Yes, You go to Malice and the Hellfire club. Perhaps THEN you'll finally understand what it is to be USED by someone the way you USE and throw away just about EVERYONE in your life and then be met with NOTHING but indifference when you wonder WHY you're nothing more than her PAWN and PLAYTHING, to be tossed away when you've out lived your usefullness.

(Laughing) "I think I know Malice better than YOU do. I've certainly dealt with her more. And I don't mean to scare or threaten you, but we're more alike than you might think."

Alycia: Malice is quite a convenient scapegoat for you, isn't she? But unlike you, SHE never PRETENDS or PLAYS at being anybody's FRIEND or someone to have any trust or expectation in. Having HER come crashing through the door would be REFRESHING, considering she's not a self loathing, life draining BITCH with the personality of a viper!

(Laughing incredulously) "oh I hope you eat those words, bitch. I hope I open this fucking door and she's standing on the other side. (Looking up) Diana, don't let me down."

She opens to door to an empty hallway, and makes a show out of sighing heavily.

"Oh WELL, maybe next time. How about I call her and tell her you'd like to speak with her? Live in fear, motherfucker....."

She turned to go, shaking her head. She didn't care if Alycia had anything else to say, she could feel her anger boiling and needed to leave before she flipped out and started an actual FIGHT.

Alycia: Haleigh...WAIT A MINUTE.

"WHAT? You have MORE character assassination planned? Well you need to write that shit down and save it for later, because I'm about three seconds away from COMMITTING MURDER."

Alycia: I have gone too far.

"GEE, YA FUCKIN' THINK?"

Alycia: Yes, you're wrong...but SO AM I. There is no honor, no justification in tearing someone down in a moment of weakness. Especially if there's no interest in helping the person to rebuild BETTER than before.

(Confused) "okay......?"

She said, slowly turning around to face Alycia, half expecting to see the barrel of a Desert Eagle pointed at her.

Alycia: I'm SORRY for verbally assaulting you the way I did.

>> DOES NOT COMPUTE.

"Seriously.... You guys are fucking with my head. WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT. FROM. ME?"

 

[Artemis]

The Parthenon- Alycia's suite

:: Alycia sighed , refusing to give in to her impulse attack Haleigh verbally or physically.::

Athena, guide my hand, put wisdom in my mouth...

All I want, is to alter the tone of this conversation.


I gave you too much credit, and in that, I learned the error. I accept that and I move forward. However, you should know that the reason Cameron wanted to see you was because HE TOO gave you that same kind of credit. He championed you to me, even as I presented to him how disappointing my first encounter with you was and warned him that he shouldn't expect much better. Don't be mad at me for basically telling him what YOU just confirmed to me about yourself! "Don't have any expectations". But what YOU don't get, is that THAT'S NOT how REAL friends deal with one another. It's not how REAL, HEALTHY relationships work.

NOBODY here is "fucking with you." You only see it that way because that's what YOU do. You only think that I have a selfish driven motive because that's how YOU are and because it's easier for you to write me off as the "ball busting bitch of an Amazon" so that you have an excuse not to listen to anything I say that you dont like.

That's fine. You don't have to like me, but that doesnt change the fact that I have every right to comment on you and what you do because it not only affects Cameron, but it effects ME and it effects this team. You don't have to regard me as a "full fledged member of the Six" either. Doesn't change the fact that I AM. I was asked to join the front line by Morgan, Blaze and Nicolas and I accepted because there was a need.



:: Haleigh tested the patience and tolerance of ANYONE she delt with, from earthbound individuals to Ororo to even Athena. HALEIGH might have thought that was something to be proud of, but really it wasn't::

I'm trying to tell you, for your sake, that you need to stop and think about why you bombed out with Cameron tonight and why you're going to find that with the exception of very few people in this group, your interactions will not be much more productive than the one you had tonight if you continue on this path.

He HAS grown and he HAS changed. He is NOT "laying in wait" like you, NOR is he a heartbeat from reverting to type. He has LEARNED and he ACTIVELY applies those lessons learned to his daily choices, his behavior.

While you've been gone, everybody has moved on, Haleigh. They say that absence will make the heart grow fonder. I guess I was guilty of that about you, as was Cameron. But you sobered us up out of THAT. It's only YOUR reality that certain people here "tether" you to your humanity. It's every INDIVIDUAL'S responsibility to find their humanity inside themselves and HOLD ON TO IT. Relying on EXTERNAL forces is both foolish and irresponsible. If MORGAN did that, we'd be experiencing the INFERNO II right now after what happened during the Blue Moon.

You can't just expect to slide back into what WAS because that's not the way things are anymore. And citing your "service of the country"? you think that absolves you of bearing the responsibility of the DISSERVICE you do to those you a duty and responsibility to? 100 "good deeds" will not attone for a nasty attitude or an uncaring, selfish, one-track mind.

I suggest you look inside yourself and take stock. Change your ways, before you find yourself losing the people you do care about because everyone has their limits, including Zach and Ava. You were surprised that Cameron confronted you with HIS new found limits to tolerating your behavior and you didn't like it...you dont know what to do with it and you're willing to write him off for it. He didn't want that for the relationship you two had. But you fail to understand that certain components of that relationship are no longer relevant...or even appropriate.

If you choose to write him off or dismiss him, That's your choice, but if that's how you're going to be....writing everyone off who just doesnt allow you to run wild and cater to your impulses....you're going to find yourself ALONE. And if you DO choose the cowardly, WEAK route of going to Malice for some perverse sense of acceptance, that's your choice too.

:: with regards to Haleigh's silly attempt to strike fear into Alycia's heart about Malice::

But rest assured...we don't cower in fear of Malice...or ANY spectre of an "altnerate" coming to do us harm. We stand ready to face them...and we put them DOWN.

:: She said matter of factly. Haleigh may underestimate Alycia's skill and power as an Amazon, but that was okay. An Amazon knew THAT was one of the greatest means to a foe's undoing. Alycia didn't fear Malice, Haleigh or ANYONE ELSE. It wasn't like before, when she was merely "the ball busting attorney"....there was a battle honed, tested, warrior woman's spirit that guided her now.::

:: She shakes her head. Shutting her eyes for a moment. Dealing with Haleigh was such a disappointment more often than not and even though she and Cameron had had a HEALTHY debate on her earlier in the day, the thing that they BOTH missed was that they BOTH had looked for HALEIGH to have grown and changed, just like THEY each had. But sadly, on both counts, they were disappointed. HALEIGH didn't see why that mattered. A most unfortunate thing.::

I thought, if nothing else, we would have at least progressed past the point of being so adversarial with each other. I felt that ever since our first visit to Arklay mansion together. But apparently I as mistaken.

:: By now, Alycia was standing at the double doors of her suite, holding one open for Haleigh, to show her out::

I can, and will deal with you in an equitable, professional manner, as is expected for team mates to do. But I won't tolerate your abuse or disrespect and I sincerely hope you'll find a way to accept the reality of the way things are NOW.

Good night.

:: Alycia said in a calm tone as she gestured for Haleigh to leave.::

 

[Seer]

And so it goes

<< The more some things change...>>

<< Split screen view of Alycia watching, with a dissappointed face, the departing form of Haleigh; Cameron enjoying a physical diversion with Nicolas in the Danger room.>>

<< The more some things stay the same.>>

<< A stone faced Haleigh, having failed to see the wisdom and help in Alycia's words, returns to her suite, closing the door behind her, much like she closes her mind to reason and her heart to rational feelings.>>

<< There are those who find their way...>>

<< Images of Cassandra smiling and laughing with Blaze, feeling more alive than she has in a long time, finally finding her stride with the Six.>>

<< Vivica, slumbering in her posh loft under the moonlight, with her cat curled up beside her. She sleeps soundly, knowing that her life has found new purpose and structure and that "tommorow" is even more exciting now that she's reconnected to Cameron and the Six>>

<< And others, who lose theirs>>

<< Delilah's suite in the parthenon. Clothes scattered about. Empty whiskey bottles here and there and she herself, engaged in wanton pleasures of the flesh with Andrew Murphy. She seeks comfort in indulgence and excess...any form she can find that suits her whim. But nothing takes away the pain of that terrible loss and growing void in her heart, her MIND. Her orbit in the Six is becoming wider, more distant, but she doesnt care.>>

<< This was a time of discovery and vision>>

<< Ava signing contracts with Cameron, beginning her lucrative business partnership between Cassadine Industries and Zenith Group. Ava meeting Simon Pratt...images of them dancing, talking, laughing, making passionate love.>>

<< Blaze and Sally Spectra meeting with Cameron and the birth of "Fire La Vedette".>>

<< And a time for reflection and consideration of the future>>

<< Images of Dominique Deveraux playing the piano in her penthouse apartment. Several flashing images of her singing at Blaze's party. Images of her talking with Nicolas on the VIP club balcony and a lingering look at her WORRIED facial expression. A look RARELY seen on the regal chanteuse.>>

<< But at the heart of it all, this was a time of loving and strengthening the ties that bind>>

<< Images of Karen Victoria hugging her DAUGHTER, Blaze Victory as The Six, their friends and allies stand around them, smiling and clapping>>

<< For all that was lost during the Blue Moon, there was now the warm feeling of HOPE for the future.>>

<< Firebird was here today and changes were underway. Some are in danger of being left behind, while others willfully go astray. In both instances, there will be consequences, but what those are, we'll see another day.>>

<< And so we watch...>>