Minerva's Mansion- Executive Study
:: Harbinger's face was partially enshrouded in shadow. Her colbalt blue eyes had a haunting glow to them as she glared at Haleigh with a level of contempt not seen since
the earliest days of the Six, when the first gathered together::
Well, Haleigh...that's really too bad for you, isn't it? Because you DIDN'T come back. You were too busy playing STARSHIP TROOPERS with the same government that not so long ago tried to KILL US ALL!
:: It was no secret that Alison held little regard for the U.S. gov't. It was one of the reasons why she was never in a rush to return to the States UNLESS it was of dire importance::
YOU don't get it?
:: Alison scoffs with a laugh of disbelief::
I don't CARE!
:: she bellows::
Let me tell you something, Haleigh Davidoff. You are ONLY ALIVE and WHOLE at this point because of MICHAEL AND KAREN. But THEY aren't IN THIS ROOM, are they?
:: she asks with a grim glare firmly fixed on Haleigh as she sits there, her hands under her chin, fingers clasped together, but upon closer view, one can see that her hands are TREMBLING...with RAGE::
:: It might occurr to Haleigh now that the reason Alison relented in the Great Room was NOT because of Haleigh herself, but because she wanted to ensure their PRIVACY in case she decided to attack her after all!::
You forced your way into my aerie, after talking to that self centered, backstabbing, twisted, suicidal TRAMP, thinking you were going to confront ME!? You MOCK me and INSULT ME!? just like SHE did!?
:: Alison BOLTS upright from her chair, which flies back against the wall behin her and falls on it's side::
You thought you were going to come here...after being GONE for an INORDINATE amount of time...and QUESTION ME...as if I ANSWER to YOU?
:: she lifts her hand up and darkly glowing blue/black orbs explode into view as her TIME STAFF once again manifests itself in her waiting grip::
CLEARLY you have missed and FORGOTTEN much while you've been away, INCLUDING the fact that I don't SUFFER this kind of treatment lightly from ANYONE
I TOLERATED it from Delilah because of the tragic circumstances. Circumstances I did my BEST to MITIGATE and I STILL paid the price for it. But That was then...this is NOW and I will NOT tolerate it from you!
If you doubt that, for even a MOMENT...TEST ME...and FIND OUT!
:: What Haleigh didnt know, but Ava had touched on, was that Alison had INDEED had an emotional breakdown that night in the aftermath of the Blue Moon. It was WEEKS before she would even SPEAK again. Ava and Karen had cared for her and brought her back and most recently, CAMERON had helped her get a better grip too, but it was STILL a recent recovery, one that Haleigh was unintentionally jeopardizing by coming to the Mansion the way she did and for her expressed purpose::
How DARE you come here! Trying to stir things up again!
:: a marble statue nearby CRACKS in it's form and begins to break apart, pieces of it crashing to the floor, a sign of Alison's growing rage manifesting through her telekinesis!::
You came here not as my teammate or even as my FRIEND. you came here as HER self appointed emissary and you were an IDIOT for doing so.
I don't owe you an explanation. I don't owe you ANYTHING!
:: she moves out from behind her desk, the garnett jewel in the crown of her time staff is now humming and glowing::
YOU weren't HERE, so what do you think is going to change now that you ARE? When you could have made a DIFFERENCE, you were ABSENT and LESS than inconsequential. NOW you want to open up a wound that has BARELY begun to close?
I ALLOWED that petty, ungrateful bitch to heap her abuse upon me. YOU do not get that pass and if you TRY...you will REGRET IT, do you understand me!?
:: She abruptly stops...as she paces around the room, FUMING! She finally turns to face the double doors. Her shoulders draw up for a moment before she SHUDDERS, the RAGE is washed over by GRIEF to form some unholy emotional "mixture". Black tears begin to fall from her eyes.::
You came here to try to SHAME me. I won't let you.
:: Without turning her back, She knows Halegh's coming toward her::
KEEP AWAY FROM ME! DON'T YOU TOUCH ME!
:: she SCREAMS. A rushing, chiming sound is heard as Haleigh SLIDES back and is FORCED to sit down in her chair::
I don't want you anywhere NEAR me.
This team needed you and for the first time since the night I "SAW" Morgan and Sharon dying at the hands of Master Mold...I WAVERED. Inspite of not being able to "SEE" ANY OTHER OPTIONS...I WAVERED. I allowed myself to...LEAN on the words of a MORTAL even as I walked toward my own damnation and then OVER that cliff into the abyss!
NOW you come here and all you'll do is cause more harm than good!
:: She finally turns around to face Haleigh, with her now black tear streaked face and her eyes flashing with rage AND grief::
I should...I should THROW YOU OUT! RIGHT NOW!
:: She COULD do just that. She could MURDER Haleigh in this room before Karen and Michael even got there but was that what she REALLY wanted? Yes she was VERY upset right now and she was lashing out in rage AND grief, but she didn't want to hurt or kill Haleigh. If she did THAT, then what? She would have made a liar out of herself when she promised Karen, Ava and Cameron that she was BETTER, she would untintentionally give CREDENCE to the terrible things Delilah said about her and she would end up doing the one thing she never wanted to do, REGRESS to an earlier time and way of being. She'd come so far, even with the tragedy and of the Blue Moon, she would not completely lose herself, even now.::
:: Instead, she realized the fastest way to be RID of Haleigh was just to simply tell her what happened and THEN, if Haleigh pressed too much or went too far, Alison would be MORE than within her right to cast Haleigh out. But right now, it was best to just get it out. Get it out of her system for what she would be SURE was the LAST TIME...AND to make sure Haleigh understood exactly what happened in DETAIL. Whether or not Haleigh agreed or even approved was less than of no concern to Alison since Alison felt Haleigh had VOIDED her access to regard some time ago::
You just sit there and you LISTEN. This is the LAST time I'm talking about this...TO ANYONE.
:: Alison exhaled loudly, trying to center herself for a few moments, before finally speaking again::
:: Haleigh had seen the growth and progression of Alison through the years, but even being gone for the length of time that she had couldnt prepare her for what she was seeing NOW. It was not unlike what she displayed to Cameron the previous day. But for Haleigh, this ALSO evoked images of the Alison she saw in that timeline where Morgan had died a VIOLENT death at the hands of Nicolas, who in turn had been murdered by Karen after Alycia was unable to get him convicted for murder. In that timeline, the trauma of Nicolas' inexplicable rape and murder of Morgan Victoria left Alison Marble::
::FLASH!::
MAINSTREAM Black Widow said:
She's borderlining clinical depression.... with endorphin levels so low, it's a medical miracle she's still capable of behaving normally. She probably to distract by trying to act normal to use her precognition on any kind of regular basis. Her nasolacrimal ducts are showing signs of recent-- [stopping herself and glancing at the others, seemingly realizing that half of her comrades don't know what she's saying] I mean.... she's been crying.
:: Haleigh realized that Alison was in a bad way over all of this and that she'd more than likely been MASKING the depth of her grief and GUILT over Delilah from the others. She HADN'T been lying to Cameron, Karen and Ava...but she was still at a loss!::
A month ago, I was in my master suite...having a vision. a
NIGHTMARE. When I awoke with a start...PERSEPHONE was in my bedroom. She came to warn me. She'd been completely cut off from communicating with or even sensing Demeter, Athena or Hecate. She then confirmed what I saw in my nightmare. CIRCE was coming back for us and the curse of the Blue Moon was about to manifest itself.
The Blue Moon was the ultimate in an equal and opposite reaction to the Red Moon. The Red Moon HEIGHTENED everything, including vices and emotions. The Blue Moon WEAKENED everything, including...and ESPECIALLY, magick. All magick on Earth ebbed and flowed to the UNDERWORLD, where CIRCE was. She'd taken residence on the Isle of the Dead and the Blue Moon would be her last chance to try to fullfill Hecate's original curse/prophecy, as SHE saw it.
The Blue Moon's effect caused my precognition to be hampered, it made myself, Shadodw Weaver, Spellbinder, and even Isis, not to mention all other magick users of any skill level very weak and physically SICK.
But there was something else. In my nightmare, I saw Delilah travailing in painful labor and DYING as she gave birth to a baby. She'd be dead by the time Circe destroyed this mansion, this ISLAND an ALL that were on it.
I told Ava this and I also told her that the one mitigating factor in my vision about Delilah was Bishop. He's the baby's father and he played a pivotal role in the outcome of Delilah. As much as I loathed it, Ava agreed with me that He HAD to be told and so as we prepared to go warn the Six, I sent Alycia to find Bishop, inform him and bring him back here.
Delilah was going to have to be brought here...no mortal hospital would be equiped to help her and if she were to have given birth in a mortal hospital, the circumstances of that labor, her death and that baby, which was obviously going to be a mutant, would have created a whole OTHER layer of problems for The Six .
Her BEST chances of survival would be HERE at the Mansion's infirmary.
I contacted Rampage. Persephone contacted Spellbinder. Rampage reached out to Isis, who was also in the vision, asking her for her aid and she agreed. When Rampage overheard Spellbinder and Firebird discussing their distaste of having to contact Bishop, HE quietly contacted Bishop, alerting him that Delilah was in danger.
Spellbinder, as team leader, decided that because Delilah was ALREADY having an increasingly difficult pregnancy, she should not be told about Circe. Silver Swan, her midwife, who by now had been alerted by Arsenal and Shadow Weaver, backed Spellbinder's descision. Spellbinder was the only one who VOCALLY agreed with me that Delilah should not be told about my vision involving HER either. The reason being that because of Delilah's recent history of behavior, she would not have acted rationally. She would have interferred or even stonewalled any possible attempts at decisive courses of action even if they would save her life.
For goddess' sakes the woman DROWNED herself over a man. How could ANYONE trust someone's judgement when they'd do something like THAT? Not to mention turning down an offer to FREE herself from a curse that followed her from one life time to the next!
:: Alison said with scathing contempt as she paused for a moment and then resumed.::
The Blue Moon was almost at hand. Karen, myself, Morgan and Dominique were getting worse by the minute. Persephone asked Dominique for her help in trying to contact her mother, Demeter and, in keeping with the truce between the Sisterhood and Six that is still active, Isis agreed, using her magick to get around the viel blocking Persephone from Demeter and the other goddesses. THIS allowed Persephone to receive vital insight and information from the goddesses on what it would take to defeat Circe and survive the Blue Moon.
Shortly after that, Dominique, Karen and Myself passed out and were brought here to the Infirmary. Spellbinder stayed behind at Melrose Place just as the Blue Moon began to dawn. She found Bishop in Delilah's apartmenet and Delilah herself had collapsed. Alycia arrived and at that point, Spellbinder teleported them all here.
Demeter revived the witches and gave us a temporary boost of energy to allow us to stand our ground while Spellbinder and Rampage first went to Limbo so she could draw her soul sword and regain MORE of her magickal power and THEN they went to the Underworld to fight Circe...and Medusa.
Spellbinder told Bishop what was happening, the danger that Delilah was in. Circe began to attack the Mansion.
We ALL had our parts to play. Silver Swan, Delilah's midwife, lead the emergegency medical team as they prepped to deliver the baby. Even then, the death glow was starting to flicker around her but there was no time to waste. Shadow Weaver, Isis and Myself would mount a magickal defense against Circe's mystical assaults while Charope (Alycia), Prophet, Firebird and Arsenal blocked and defended US and the mansion from Circe's physical based assaults. Spellbinder and Rampage, of course, went to the underworld where Morgan would face Circe and Nicolas, as ordained by Athena, was to be her protector.
:: Black Widow witnesses all these events as they occurred, with Alison narrating. Only her voice manages to be heard above the uncensored sounds of the chaos and terror under the Blue Moon from the Observatory of the Mansion down to the Infirmary::
But BETWEEN the time I joined the others and lead them to the Observatory and the when Spellbinder and Rampage journeyed to the underworld to confront Circe, Bishop sought my audience and counsel regarding Delilah. By now, he'd already been told by Spellbinder what was to happen to Delilah and the death glow was starting to flicker around her in the infirmary even as Sharon Kelly lead the emergency medical team in prepping for the delivery of the baby.
::FLASH!::
Oracle said:
<< Minerva's Mansion, under the spectral light of the Blue Moon. Out in the main hallway.>>
Bishop said:
He saw Alison, Morgan’s mother Karen Victoria and another woman talking close by, before the unknown woman left and Karen went into Delilah’s room, leaving Alison alone and giving him an opportunity.
“Alison – wait.”
He stands.
“Morgan told me what you saw…that vision thing…about Delilah. Do you know what’s making her sick?”
Alison would see that his concern was genuine.
And so, in this very room,
Bishop and I...talked. We argued...the old wounds and resentment remained...but somehow...we were able to get passed that and
to the point.
He understood from what I told him, from reading my journals, that what I saw coming for Delilah was REAL. Just as REAL as when I saw HIM coming back from the dead and moving across time threads in an entirely different body, but not knowing at that moment that it was HIM!
We reached the conclusion of our discussion. He had all the information I could provide him and he understood that HE would be what determined the outcome of Delilah's fate. He had a
choice to make.
:: The all encompassing visual and audio sensory input from the visions of these events is abruptly HALTED as Alison's cold, bitter face BLASTS through the visuals before Haleigh, SHATTERING them and startling her::
Do you want to know WHY I...WE didn't tell Delilah? Because I knew...because we ALL knew what she would do and if YOU had been here, YOU'D have known it too. You SAW what she did to herself RIGHT HERE at this very place out in the waters of the Aegean sea. You SAW what she did the night Hecate explained to her what her problem REALLY was and gave her a chance to solve it once and for all!
As team leader, Spellbinder instructed The Six not to tell Delilah anything. She COULD have taken another course of action, despite my objections, but she was in agreement with me because she KNOWS Delilah.
NOT ONLY would she have tried to INVOLVE herself in the battle against Circe, but she would have INSISTED against ALL LOGIC and REASON that she keep this baby! Even though it would have....and DID result in the baby being WITHOUT her mother.
:: Haleigh wanted to know why, Well Alison told her, just now::
EVERYBODY knew it. Most didn't agree with some aspects of what Spellbinder and I had done, but they understood the NECESSITY of it.
NOBODY was willing to trust HER judgement. It's BEEN that way ever since BISHOP first blighted our paths.
The ONE person who would have actively and vocally objected to what I would end up doing, was Cameron. I KNEW this and I BLOCKED his access to me via our psychic rapport because of it.
I'm not sure what YOU think was supposed to happen, but YOU weren't even HERE so your opinion on the matter isnt even revelvant.
:: She says this with bitterness in her tone. Still offended to her core that Haleigh of all people would question her, as if she had done this capriciously::
:: She pulls back and waves her hand, the scrying pool's magick ignites once more...::
Circe attacked the mansion in earnest with the most powerful and deadly spell she could ignite. Shadow Weaver, Isis, myself and the remaining members of the Six were battling for the mansion and our very lives and Spellbinder and Rampage were in the unerworld fighting Medusa and Circe, Sharon Kelly was in the infirmary with Bishop and Ruby, the Six's newest member. She was trying to help Delilah. She successfully delievered the baby...
but Delilah died. So did three members of my medical staff.
Speaking of my brother, It was ONLY Prophet who was able to register Delilah's passing. Spellbinder was in the Underworld, Shadow Weaver and myself were locked in a deadly stand off against Circe's assault.
We had no idea. But, Athena and Hecate, in an attempt to balance the scales with Delilah over the wild debacle of Bishop's return as MAXIM, called her soul to the Parthenon and told her what had happened to her. They filled in all the blanks we had left. They counseled her, restored her body to top form, pre-pregnancy condition and revived her. But before they sent her BACK to this place, Athena
offered her a CHOICE.
She once again,
made HER choice and, after being warned by both the goddesses that they could guarantee NOTHING after they sent her back, they returned her. She revived in the Infirmary.
Bishop attempted to introduce her to their baby girl, Alexia Morganna.
It was a short, deadly meeting.
Sharon was able to revive Delilah, but only because she
acted on a theory she had based on tests she'd ran on the baby. But now she knew...BISHOP knew for certain that what I had "seen" was true.
Thanks to
Spellbinder severing Circe's link to Minerva's Mansion, and
Barbara Minerva's astral echo in the mansion reviving ME WE finally managed to
BREAK Circe's assault on the mansion. Spellbinder and Rampage, with
a surprise assist from Persephone, defeated Circe. The curse of the Blue Moon was broken and magick was restored to earth....and, most of all, we STILL had Delilah with us. Her baby as alive and healthy, and SO WAS SHE.
:: Once again, the all encompassing view/playback halts and fades::
But the one person who seemed to LACK any kind of appreciation or GRATTITUDE for the FAVOR and HELP given to Delilah, was Delilah HERSELF. She seemed to IMMEDIATELY forget what the goddesses had said to her.
:: Once again, the scrying pool's magick ignites and Haleigh is watching...::
In the immediate aftermath of the Blue Moon, the mansion was badly damaged. The island itself had been violated by Circe's heavy handed use of dark magick and the remains of soldiers, both Barbara's and Alycia's, had been REANIMATED into zombies and were now laying about the island, dead again. There were casualties inside the mansion and several members of the Six sustained injuries. Isis, Shadow Weaver and Myself were nearly in comas from utter exhaustion but were thankfully revived as magick was restored to earth.
The threat of Circe and the Blue Moon may have been dealt with, but the worst was yet to come.
The others were gathered in a conference room, everyone had been stabliized and/or recovered from the bulk of their injuries and were waiting on word of Delilah.
I was in this room we're in now. Watching them. Looking at Delilah, Alexia..."LOOKING AHEAD" Hoping now that the Blue Moon had been broken, there might be something I had missed and I could now "SEE IT" with my restored precognition!
Bishop once more came to my executive study. In an ironic moment, he was more certain than I was...even though he was not a precog or anything else other than..."only human." He understood from Sharon, who's tests and evidence underscored my vision, what had to be done and he informed me that he'd
made his choice. The important thing was that he came to that conclusion ON HIS OWN, without ANY pressure from ME, Sharon or anyone else. Not even SHARON knew what he was considering.
With that, I knew that anything else I was trying to do at that moment was an exercise in futility. He had more resolution than I did and if he could muster it, then I certainly needed to MATCH him if nothing else. What he wanted, more than anything was to see Delilah ALIVE, to give Alexia a CHANCE to see her mother...if not now...then at least ONE DAY. It was...HARDLY the "best possible" outcome, but it was LIGHTYEARS beyond the immediate alternative.
::FLASH!::
Together we went to the Nursery of the Infirmary. I closed myself off from all contact, even from my baby brother and I ALTERED the temporal fields around the nursery so that no one could detect any changes in the environment there in. It was just myself, Bishop and little Alexia.
I gave him one last chance to reconsider. I knew what was coming as a direct result of this. I told him exactly what would happen.
He remained steadfast and resolute. He seemed more...certain and convinced than even *I* was. In all the times I had made hard...heart rendering choices to alter outcomes...never had I felt such...trepidation. ME, a PRECOG, being afflicted by such feelings!? But this wasn't LIKE anything else I'd done before. NOT EVEN when I dispatched Victor Klein! This was DELILAH and her baby! A baby that she could NOT be around because the baby, through no fault of her own, would KILL her and there was NOTHING we could do to stop that.
I...actually CARED. I FELT SORROW!
:: Alison said with a mix of astonishment and DISGUST at herself for as it turned out, her willingness to do what few others could or WOULD earned her nothing but scorn, abuse and now JUDGEMENT. Haleigh might not EVER understand just how DEEP this ran for Alison...but to watch the precog now...it was definitely an emotionally wrenching thing for her to recount::
::FLASH!::
:: The visual playback continues::
He gathered the baby in his arms and prepared her as I watched, with a heavy heart. My... "marble hard heart"...which all but FAILED ME through this part of the Blue Moon Caper. It nearly CRACKED with...SYMPATHY and...GRIEF...
:: She spat with contempt::
But I couldn't...I couldn't let the baby go like this...not even to Ororo, without giving her SOMETHING to help her...to carry her through until we figured out a way around this deadly problem. And so, as Bishop held her in his arms towar my Time Staff,
I cast a spell on her.
::FLASH!::
Harbinger said:
As you touch this garnet jewel on my time staff…my magicks now have touched you like the dew touches a flower in the morning. You will REMEMBER your father AND your mother.
:: Referring to the interactions both Bishop and Delilah have had with Alexia since she was born and stabilized::
Time may be “in the way” for you now, little one…but ALL things and people must live and move through time. You WILL see your mother and your father…when the time is RIGHT. But now with this gift, the touch of my time staff and my magick, you will forever be comforted by the memories of your mother and father, their gentle touch…their expressions of love for you.
Nothing changes now…you will still sleep the sleep of the innocent…but as you grow…you will NOT suffer the cruelty of not knowing who you are…and who you came from.
As I say it…let it now be so.
::The sound signature associated with Harbinger’s magicks is heard as the garnet jewel emits a soft, sparkling red ray of light that gently washes over Alexia, who YAWNS contentedly before settling once more::
She’ll remember you, Bishop…and Delilah. The few precious moments you’ve shared with her. Your words to her. They will comfort her in dreams as her mind forms and will help lead her BACK to you both when the time is right.
:: lowering her time staff, she lets go of it and as it begins to fall, it stops and soon corrects itself, now hovering beside Alison…the garnet jewel once again humming softly and glowing with an intermittent pulse. Bishop slowly, gingerly hands the baby to Alison, who carefully gathers her into her arms, cradling her and covering her a bit more with the blanket Bishop wrapped around her. She looks up at Bishop, with a look of sadness in her colbalt blue eyes that she doesn’t try to hide now…but that sadness is tempered a bit by knowing she’s given the baby a gift FEW others could imagine, let alone bestow.::
She'll REMEMBER her mother AND her father, even from her earliest, brief moments with them both. She'll SEE them in her dreams and she'll KNOW them. That, combined with Ororo's teachings...
:: Harbinger paused for a moment and aborted that thought.::
Bishop said his goodbye, I carried Alexia away to Ororo and when I returned, I walked with Bishop to face the others, to face DELILAH. I removed the block in contact I'd put up between myself and Cameron and restored the temporal fields in the nursery to normal. But for Cameron and Nicolas, even THAT was an indication that something had happened. The OTHERS perceived that I had only been gone for MINUTES but Cameron and Nicolas were able to discern that I had been gone for over an HOUR and had left this WORLD during that time.
:: the visual playback continues::
By now, Delilah had been tearing into the Six for not telling her about Circe. Morgan tried to shield them and take full responsibility as team leader. Karen tried to appeal to Delilah's understanding...nothing worked. Morgan may have been the leader, she may have been the one to order them not to tell Delilah, but I knew this would fall on me.
When we joined them, Delilah asked for Alexia.
Bishop and I then told her what happened, what we'd done...and why.
I dont expect you to understand...or even give Bishop credit. He will NEVER be a FRIEND or TRUSTED "ALLY" to the SIx or ANYONE that is a mutant/ meta human...BUT in this instance, he was someone who needed help. HE came to me inspite of his own views and opinions about magick or super powers, he came to me for HELP and in doing so, he helped ME to avert the outcome of my vision regarding Delilah
He displayed COURAGE in facing Delilah and telling her, himself, what he'd done and why. Without being a precog, he KNEW what was coming and he faced it, HEAD ON. I will NEVER LIKE the man, but in this ordeal...i had sympathy and RESPECT for him doing what he knew had to be done. He made a choice no man, no PARENT should have to make!
He safeguarded Delilah's life and ensured that she and Alexia will be together again, ONE DAY. He expressed, probably to his regret now, his wish to be a FAMILY with Delilah and Alexia. Inspite of my CONTEMPT for him and all the pain he caused US...I couldn't help but feel...in that moment...such sympathy for him...for HER.
What an FOOL I was. Letting my own HEART effect me in this moment!
:: the visuals abruptly end once again! As Alison's emotions RISE with anger and her heartrate begins to speed up as if she's expecting ANOTHER confrontation with Delilah::
YOU weren't here. YOUR opinion doesn't count. IT DOESNT MATTER and what you think of ME doesn't matter EITHER. You LOST that level of regard from me when you decided that playing GI JANE for the government was more important than US...
::gesturing violently around the room as if ALL of the Six were there::
... THIS TEAM and what WE do, which sometimes, ISN'T VERY NICE but it's NECESSARY.
She cast Bishop out. Seemingly forever. I'm sure YOU would have enjoyed that. But where were you again?
YOU WERENT HERE as MORGAN tried her best to protect US from Delilah's SELFISH and PETTY, NASTY verbal assaults, only to end up being degraded by Delilah MORE than any of the others.
She didn't care about anything else. She didn't REMEMBER or CARE about all the times we'd SCRAMBLED to save her BEFORE when she thought nothing of throwing her life away.
She said she'd rather be DEAD than be here with US. She looked upon the help, the CHANCES at LIFE she'd been given by the goddesses as if it were NOTHING. She REFUSED to see the LOGIC and REASON of WHY she could not be physically near Alexia. It didnt MATTER to her that Alexia would end up being an ORPHAN if she'd had it her way. Bishop HIMSELF confessed to me HE was not equipped to raise a mutant child and what of Alexia? She would have grown up with the same psychological SCAR that Nicolas bares with regard to his mother, KNOWING that SHE caused her mother's death.
::FLASH!::
Delilah said:
"
You know, you all should really like Bishop. You should be BFFs with each other. He should be 'one of the gang' already. Because you ALL act the SAME! You all think you can make decisions FOR me and RUN MY LIFE!”
Harbinger said:
I took NO pleasure in this, Delilah. But you MUST know that I will ALWAYS do what must be done...not only to safe guard this world...but to protect YOU.
She shook her head.
"Oh you LOVE it and you know it. Lording it all over the rest of us. [in a high-pitched mocking voice] ‘Oh, I’m Alison! My powers are so terrible! I see everything before it happens but I don’t do anything about it!’ Yeah, you do what needs to done. IN YOUR OPINION. Funny how no one makes you do anything YOU don’t ALREADY want to do! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST DO WHATEVER YOU SEE FIT TO AND RUIN PEOPLE’S LIVES! My daughter is an orphan now BECAUSE OF YOU!”
Delilah wanted to put her hands around Alison’s throat. The ONE thing that should have been sacred to her – to them all – she had completely disregarded. Doing THIS without even talking to her about it…that was a new low even for “do-whatever-she-damn-well-pleases” Alison. She just could not even wrap her head around the fact that someone who was SUPPOSED to be her friend would even THINK about doing this to her, let alone ACTUALLY doing it. And WITH someone she SAID she hated and who she wanted DEAD.
“You give me back my daughter, Alison. NOW.”
She said we...specifically Morgan and myself RUINED HER LIFE!
:: The walls...the study...began to QUAKE as Alison's voice trembled with grief and RAGE::
She NEVER knew us...Not really! SHE NEVER TRUSTED US! She ALWAYS resented us ever since BISHOP came along, probably BEFORE THAT!
:: Pictures began to CRACK and FALL. Objects began to shatter and hurl themselves around the room. Alison places her hand to her forehead. Shutting her eyes TIGHTLY and struggling to reign herself in AGAIN. She grits her teeth and after a few seconds, she seems to settle enough to carry on.::
:: the play back resumes once again::
She poured her venom on me , Morgan and the Six with such wild abandon and an almost sadistic GLEE. But I stood there...and I TOOK IT. WE ALL did. I even STOPPED Morgan from BERATING her, since by now, MORGAN had snapped. We KNEW we were coming up short in this and there was nothing more that could be said.
Even though I'd done what had to be done, I STILL FAILED.
Finally, when I refused to bring Alexia back,
she attacked me.
I...merely kept her at bay, holding my Time Staff up between her and me. Karen and Blaze took hold of me, fearing what I might do, but I did nothing. I wasn't going to. I would not hurt her...anymore than I already HAD. If i could have done something....ANYTHING ELSE
:: Alison bows her head as more black tears fall from her eyes::
I WOULD HAVE! BUT I COULDN'T NO ONE COULD.
:: She gasps as she tries to pull back her emotions...the effort causes the shaking and quaking to substantially weaken::
Cameron pulled her away and out into the hall and
Morgan teleported the three of them away, dropping Delilah with Cameron off at the Parthenon in NYC, before teleporting HERSELF to Limbo, where she has remained EVER SINCE.
I...reflexively broadcast a "distress call" across the astral plane without even realizing it. As it turns out, I was having a nervous breakdown then and there and I collapsed into Ava's arms. She and Karen stayed here and took care of me for several weeks, which was how long it took before I even spoke a single word again.
:: Alison seemed to be more collected now, her tone lower, more cold and once again bitter::
Cameron returned Delilah to Melrose Place when she was well enough and obviously you're aware of that, since that's where you've been as of 24 hours ago. Morgan has not been heard from since she exiled hersel in Limbo. The destruction of her friendship with Delilah has obviously had a significant impact on her and Blaze has fallen into a depression, stemming in large part from this situation, since it evokes memories of what happened in HER timeline...Morgan/Alison/Delilah (& Haleigh) falling out before Mystech attacked Illustra and began their seige that WE fell into and Nicolas and Cameron have had to find her and STOP her from using the Siege Perilous in a way she may regret.
Despite what you were told, there was no "conspiracy" or "plot". The team has NOT shrugged it off. EVERYBODY has been staggered by it and NO BODY knows what to do because that ill tempered BITCH rebuffs all attempts at help, just like she always does. Nothing ANYBODY ever did was good enough for her and now that nobody is doing anything, THAT'S a problem. She doesnt believe Morgan or I were her friends and that we some how took some perverse pleasure in this.
Well...I'm through with it. HER. ALL of it!
And now that you've heard what you wanted to hear, it's time for you to leave.
:: She said coldly but quietly.::
