Wish upon a Siege Perilous

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Haleigh: "Zach's great. Horny, home, hopefully still naked. But what's this about Hades? You're masking your 'I'm incredibly uncomfortable' face with your glass of wine and it's starting to worry me."

Ava raised her brows and stopped fiddling with her wine glass. Letting out a small laugh, she rolled her eyes.

"And you're over analyzing per usual. Morgan and Nicolas were going to come across Cerberus in the underworld eventually. I just took it upon myself to let out some old pent up aggression and kill the devil dog myself. It's not that big of a deal."

She could tell Haleigh wasn't buying it. Or at least questioning the validity of her story.

"Seriously! I'm fine!"

She stated with a smile before finishing off her glass of wine.

"Now can we get back to your naked and horny fiance? Why the hell are you still here when you have that fine piece of ass waiting for you at home? You've already found out everything there is to know about what happened to Delilah....we finished off a delicious dessert....I think we can call this a successful night. Don't get me wrong, I still need to catch you up on some amazing things that are happening courtesy of Cameron. But we can do that tomorrow over lunch maybe? Or even a war room training session? I haven't done one of those in months."

Masterfully dodging a giant bullet named Haleigh's suspicions, Ava casually brushed everything to the side. It wasn't that she didn't WANT to tell Haleigh everything that happened to her....it was more of, verbalizing it made it real. And the reality of the situation was still very raw and painful. Ava was determined to get through this by herself, and not have her family and team see her as a broken and weak woman. Or even worse: a VICTIM.
 
Ava: "And you're over analyzing per usual. Morgan and Nicolas were going to come across Cerberus in the underworld eventually. I just took it upon myself to let out some old pent up aggression and kill the devil dog myself. It's not that big of a deal."

Haleigh raised her eyebrows as if to say 'seriously?', which Ava followed directly with an assurance that she was fine, even while her voice climbed an octave higher. Haleigh knew better than to badger her sister, but was reluctant to let it drop.

"Look, last time you pretended to be fine, you cracked and murdered Mike. Now I love you, and I won't judge you, so when you feel like talking about it, you know how to reach me."

Ava: "Now can we get back to your naked and horny fiance? Why the hell are you still here when you have that fine piece of ass waiting for you at home?"

(Smirking) "You mean ex-fiance. We never really talked about it again after that whole Sharon thing. We kid of just fell back together into a familiar rhythm. I wonder what he did with the ring after I have it back to him. Anyway, I like to let the anticipation build. It's like pre-foreplay."

Ava: "You've already found out everything there is to know about what happened to Delilah....we finished off a delicious dessert....I think we can call this a successful night. Don't get me wrong, I still need to catch you up on some amazing things that are happening courtesy of Cameron. But we can do that tomorrow over lunch maybe? Or even a war room training session? I haven't done one of those in months."

Haleigh slightly tensed at hearing Cameron's name, and drained her glass to play it off. It has been months since they had spoken, and even longer since they'd spoken kindly to each other. Their relationship was a minefield of unrequited love/ pseudo-friendship fraught with sexual tension, abandonment issues, and an undercurrent of jealousy. Nobody knew what to do about it, least of all Haleigh and cameron. Karen didn't even want to get her psycho-analysis anywhere near it.

"A training session sounds good. I'll text you. And if I don't, it's because Alison and I killed each other in a fight to the death. Just kidding, I'm not going to fight her, but I AM going to tell her about herself. And TRY to talk to her about this whole Delilah thing."

She gave her sister a parting hug and a kiss on the cheek before she stood up and disappeared completely.
 
Haleigh: "Look, last time you pretended to be fine, you cracked and murdered Mike."

"Yes, I'm quite aware of my fractured psyche."

Ava snapped unintentionally before inhaling a deep breath and exhaling slowly. Finally, Haleigh relented and let the issue pass.

Haleigh: "Now I love you, and I won't judge you, so when you feel like talking about it, you know how to reach me."

"There's nothing to talk about. But thank you."

Feeling slightly deflated, Ava couldn't help but feel guilty for straight up lying to Haleigh and snapping at her. She just wanted her to go already. She needed a long hot bath and to regroup--it felt like she was slowly coming undone.

Haleigh: "A training session sounds good. I'll text you. And if I don't, it's because Alison and I killed each other in a fight to the death. Just kidding, I'm not going to fight her, but I AM going to tell her about herself. And TRY to talk to her about this whole Delilah thing."

Rolling her eyes with a small smile.

"Take it easy on her, okay? She's having a hard time with this too."

Hugging Haleigh goodbye, soon her sister disappeared as quickly and unexpectedly as she did when she first showed up. Ava stood there for a moment, looking straight ahead where Haleigh had been standing. Her heart was racing and her eyes filled with tears.

"I can't do this."

She whispered, almost as if she was talking to someone--KNOWING they could hear her. But she quickly backtracked, shaking her head disagreeing with what she just said. No. NO. They [the six] had NOTHING to do with what happened. They don't need know. They are dealing with too much as it is.

"It will get better with time. I've only been back for a few weeks. I just need a few more, that's all."

Tilting her head back to keep the tears from falling, Ava licked her lips and walked over to the wet bar needing something far stronger than wine. Grabbing a crystal canter with Jack Daniels in it, she poured herself some in a short glass tumbler. Taking the shot of liquid immediately, she poured herself another--this time a double--before corking the canter and taking the drink with her and disappearing into her bedroom.
 
Firebird, this is your life!

Minerva's mansion, a towering, ancient Greek castle, built in an age of decadence and architectural beauty. Beneath the facade, it was as technologically advanced as Illustra, courtesy of a consultation with Haleigh's company, Clandestine. There were several security measures, and those not covered by state of the art technology were warded by magical enchantments. Haleigh knew this and didn't try to 'teleport' insider with molecular displacement. She appeared, instead, on the front walk, then continued up the stairs between the massive columns.

She placed her hand on one of the stones bordering the door. It looked like any other stone, but hid a fingerprint scanner. A polite, disembodied female voice responded:

>> Access denied. Entity not authorized for entry.

"Bullshit. Administrative code 1154523666. Retry scan."

>> Administrator acknowledged. Scanning. Access denied. Entity not authorized for entry.

"What. The. Fuck!?"

>>Command not recognized. Please say again.

"Ugh, standby!"

>> Wilco, standby.

"Dumb bitch."

She griped, as she turned her back on the door and put her hand to her ear again, calling Mike, who was listed as head of security. She could override the system, but not the magical spells. It would be easier to get the error corrected. She waited as the phone rang, then spoke.

"Hey Mike, it's Haleigh. Congrats on head of security at Minerva's. Can you guess why I'm calling?"
 
She griped, as she turned her back on the door and put her hand to her ear again, calling Mike, who was listed as head of security. She could override the system, but not the magical spells. It would be easier to get the error corrected. She waited as the phone rang, then spoke.

"Hey Mike, it's Haleigh. Congrats on head of security at Minerva's. Can you guess why I'm calling?"
Click to expand...

DAMN. He knew this call was coming. But you never get ready to disappoint close friends.

Yes I can. By the way, congrats on saving NYC. Your friends in SHIELD have given some of my old friends some nice jobs with sweet toys. I will have to borrow some of that stuff soon.

Mike was stalling...BADLY. But that time was at an end.

Hales...Ali 'saw' your conversation with Delilah with her precognition and saw you coming to confront her. She has taken the step, in spite of my recommendations, of removing you from the authorized list. Look, cool off and let me get this fixed and we can all sit and talk this out. Right now tensions are high as shit. Haleigh?!

The line was dead. He KNEW what was happening. KNEW it in his bones even as it was going on, and knew he could not stop it. No WAY a technologically-based security system could stop an Omega-Level Technopath from getting in, even with mystical augmentation. He sent out a call to the security staff.

I know that there is a breach. STAND DOWN. I repeat, do NOT engage. All staff, security or otherwise, IGNORE the intruder unless asked a question. If asked, answer truthfully and withdraw. I am en route.

This looked like the shit would be hitting the fan pretty quickly. He walked past the suite and peered in.

Doc, Haleigh is here and I am guessing that she will be a bit...upset with Alison. I'll be back soon.
 
Minerva's Mansion

Mike: "Yes I can. By the way, congrats on saving NYC. Your friends in SHIELD have given some of my old friends some nice jobs with sweet toys. I will have to borrow some of that stuff soon."

"I'll hook you up..... now how about you just say whatever it is you're trying to avoid saying."

Mike: "Hales...Ali 'saw' your conversation with Delilah with her precognition and saw you coming to confront her. She has taken the step, in spite of my recommendations, of removing you from the authorized list. Look, cool off and let me get this fixed and we can all sit and talk this out. Right now tensions are high as shit. Haleigh?!"

Haleigh closed her left hand into a fist, cutting off communication in frustration. Her jaw clenched tight, she threw her fist into the stone that masked the fingerprint scanner, turning it into gravel that fell to the ground. It looked like it had been hit by a sledgehammer. All of Haleigh's knuckles were bleeding. She didn't care, didn't notice.

>> fingerprint scanner damaged. Please look into retina scanner.

Now this, Haleigh could smoothly fool. She blinked, and her eyes changed from green to purple. Her eyes, projecting Morgan's retina. The only way to get past the magical enchantment were to become someone approved for entry.

>> Welcome, Miss Victoria.

The door popped open, and Haleigh pushed her way in. A guard and his partner turned, then reacted. The one within range tried to use force to subdue her, but as he reached, Haleigh caught his hand and squeezed it until he knelt down, making a grunt of pain. The other guard pulled his weapon and took aim. Haleigh's laugh rang out in response to him telling her to let his partner go.

"Do you know who I am?"
 
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