Meeting of the minds

[Prophet]

As he lay on the bed, trying to calm his mind, he began to think of what everyone must be going through, and that's when his mind went to Delilah. He had made a pact that he would defend her and watch her back, and he felt all this stuff with Haleigh and The Sisterhood, he had somewhat been lacking on his part.

Cameron...I can't stay here...contact me if anything happens with Haleigh. Please. And watch over the others.

He frowned. She was going through so much, attempting to protect the others from Malice while going through her own personal turmoil, and the sad thing was that she couldn't really talk to anyone about it. Bishop was such a harsh and touchy subject for everyone. Well. She could talk to someone. Him

Casting out with his mind's eye over the city, he began to "track" her and soon enough he found her, near the East Village, 11th street to be exact, at some kind of... living space, which he assumed belonged to Bishop. Isis had told him to stay put until he was summoned, and physically he would keep up his end of the bargain. Once he was sure of her location, he closed his eyes as Delilah would see a faint glow in front of her for but a moment before his astral form fully materialized. He extended a hand out to the CLEARLY distraught Delilah.

"Delilah.. come on dear. Let me help you up."

He had never really "seen" Delilah this upset, but he clearly saw that if something didn't change, that if she kept on this path of unworthiness, helplessness, that it would lead to her undoing, and he felt it necessary to at least TRY and support his new friend.

"You can't keep doing this to yourself.."

 

[MorningStar]

Delilah knelt in the rain and cried. Then suddenly she felt someone behind her.

"Delilah…come on dear. Let me help you up. You can't keep doing this to yourself…"

She looked, dazed, face tear-stained, at the graves in front of her.

“They’re all dead…I let them all die…”

Delilah felt Cameron’s hand on her arm, helping her stand. She shrugged out of his grip.

“You don’t understand! You weren’t there when we saw our alternates, saw what I became when Morgan and Alison turned their backs on me! Sharon and Alycia are RIGHT – I couldn’t keep the bad things from happening to them. What if…what if Sharon DOES join the Hellfire Club? What if Morgan blames me for that? What will they say if I have to kill Haleigh? I’m already a murderer!”

She was breathing heavily, but after a second regained her composure. Their surroundings morphed into the beach on Aerie at sunset. Delilah sank down into the sand. She spoke quietly now, staring out at the empty sea, the sadness overtaking her.

“I didn’t have to kill him, Cameron. I gave in to my anger. And I can’t ever forgive myself.”

 

[Prophet]

Delilah's dreamworld.

Cameron felt himself shifting as he was unwillingly pulled into Delilah's dream, her distress causing him to enter her dream environment. He was there in the garden with her, next to the gravestones with many familiar names upon them. She took his hand and stood up. It was raining fairly hard.

[pushing him away]

Delilah: "They're all dead...I let them all die... You don't understand! You weren't there when we saw our alternates, saw what I became when Morgan and Alison turned their backs on me! Sharon and Alycia are RIGHT - I couldn't keep the bad things from happening to them. What if...what if Sharon DOES join the Hellfire Club? What if Morgan blames me for that? What will they say if I have to kill Haleigh? I'm already a murderer!"

From that moment, they were taken from the depressing garden scene to a much more tranquil beach setting on what he discerned was Aerie. The sun was setting. Once again, Delilah slumped to the ground, lost in her sadness.

Delilah:"I didn't have to kill him, Cameron. I gave into my anger. And I can't ever forgive myself."

He felt himself a little overcome with emotion. He wasn't used to seeing Delilah in such a state. He spoke with baited breath, fighting back his own feeling as he sat down on the sand beside her, wrapping her in his arms.

"Delilah, sweetie.. I had no idea.."

She felt herself a murderer, and he couldn't blame her. Taking a life was never easy for anyone. Delilah wasn't like the others. For the most part, she had a normal upbringing, she had a strong moral character, she was a COP because she believed in the things they stood for. Justice. Balance. Ethics.

"I know how you feel, honey. I know you think that THAT Delilah Trelaven was you, but it wasn't, Delilah.. it wasn't. Do you know how many alternate timelines there are? I mean, there could be a timeline out there where we ALL kill each other? Do you really need to carry the burden of a woman who has had a completely different life experience than you did? Completely different circumstances? You are NOT a murderer Delilah..you're.. [exasperated] you're one of the best women i've ever KNOWN... here..."

Taking hold of Delilah's dreamscape, they were now suddenly back on the streets of Los Angeles. Delilah would see a woman walking down the street holding a bag of groceries. She was an extremely ordinary woman, nothing spectacular about her. Just a woman with her groceries walking home with her children.

"This is Joanna Killinger..."

[a young boy of about 15 can be seen slowly creeping behind Joanna as she walked, a boy with a KNIFE.]

"She was a good woman. She worked the night shift at a diner so that she could take her kids to school in the morning and pick them up. She had two children. A daughter, named Katherine and a son named Daniel..."

The young boy could be seeing moving faster and faster, making great strides towards the woman in front of him. The setting was intense, but Delilah was now merely viewing the experience from an objective perspective, she wasn't feeling it.

"Never did a bad thing in her life... and..."

The boy makes his way to Joanna, putting her into a headlock before SLAMMING the knife into her stomach. Blood poured out of Joanna as a jolted boy now revealed to be a young CAMERON KING fled the scene with a look of total and absolute FEAR on his face.

"... I killed her. I didn't have the cause that you did to take a life. I didn't have reason. I didn't have a GREATER good, Delilah. I killed for the foolish thought that I would have a place to belong in that big city, so many YEARS ago. YOU were a HERO. You did what you had to do in order to protect those around you. I AM A MURDERER..."

They returned back to the beach at Aerie.

"I am a MURDERER, and you still are one of the only people to have my back. YOU are a NOBLE and caring woman, but what you HAVE to understand, Delilah... is that YOU can't control fate and the decisions of others. If Sharon leaves to Hellfire, it is HER choice. Morgan will know that Sharon could not be "tamed"... and the only person who blames you for the death of an alternate Nicolas, is Nicolas. The OTHERS see the CLEAR differences between YOU and HER [Justicer]. You may have shared the same name, basic upbringing and friends, but you are as different from her as water is to FIRE.

[standing and facing the ocean]

"People DIE. A fact nobody likes, but you can't very well hold yourself RESPONSIBLE for every single one of them. It will KILL you inside. Nobody can take on that kind of personal accountability. And NOBODY expects you to save them. They just expect that you do all you can, and you HAVE, Delilah. More than you give yourself credit for. Don't you SEE that?"

 

[Seer]

simultaneously

<< and so, in the dark, secure lab within the hellfire catacombs, Malice conducts an involved "telepathic operation" of sorts. One that requires all of her power as a telepath as well as her SKILL and knowledge of the human mind and emotions. Even as she reaches deep into Haleigh's mind and emotions, the fact of the opportunity to gather all of Haleigh's strategies and secrets with regards to the Six and then to ELIMINATE a deadly foe here and now was not lost on Malice, still there was a bigger picture here and killing Haleigh now would not gain her the victory she NEEDED. It wouldnt even serve her well. She could do it just the same, but she didnt. That was a testimony to something more than her self serving motives, it was a testimony to her RESTRAINT but of course no one was present to see it. >>

<< the process took HOURS and that gave the rest of the sisterhood and the six time to rest, gather their thoughts and prepare for the next nauseating round of communication between them. >>

<< During this deep, delicate process, the White Queen gained a rather interesting insight into the thought processes of Haleigh Davidoff, a sort of "value system" as it were.>>

<< flashing view points of Haleigh laying on the exam table, with Malice sitting almost vigil over her at the head of the table with her hands positioned at either side of Haleigh's head. there was an odd sound of psychic energy filling the cool air, playing against the whir and hum of power that flowed through this fortified underground labyrinth. finally we see an overhead view of the two women and an astral overlay of Malice's face fills the area and can be heard speaking, almost as if she were recording a "session" with a patient.>>

Haleigh's compassion extends only to those who she's determined are not expendable. As opposed to Delilah's devoted reverence for innocent life, Haleigh is skewed more toward apathy, especially in regards to humans or strangers. She's not quite as completely indifferent as Malice is, but she has NO problem losing a few lives in the process of saving the important ones, she will even accept losing one of her own for the greater good, if the circumstances are right, despite the pain it will cause her later.

<< it was probably BETTER that the Six not be here for this. there would be no denying that there was more startling SIMILARITY between the hybrid and white queen than ANYONE would be comfortable with knowing. Indeed, Diana herself had often pondered the possibility of a "WHITE PRINCESS" on her court, and from what she was "discovering" now, Haleigh would make a prime candidate.>>

Also as far as humans, she's definitely guilty of seeing them as 'only' human. She'll save a super over a few mere humans any day, with a few exceptions...noticeably: Sharon Kelly, Alycia Barnett and Mike Armstrong, humans who could help and should be protected. Of course now that Sharon is a mutate and Alycia has the training and attributes of an Amazon and Mike is suitably suped up with his technological "Arsenal", she's even LESS likely to give the average human the time of day.

<< and here now was the CONFIRMATION of what Malice had brazenly revealed 24 hours ago.>>

As Haleigh marches slowly closer and closwer to her "viral state", she is beginning to see, view, FEEL Humans as PREY rather than people. Haleigh has always been aware of the fact that theoretically among all the creatures created by Mystech, she is higher up on the 'food chain' than any other predator, including humans, especially the defenseless ones like Alycia used to be.

<<FLASH>>

<< would Delilah or even AVA be CAPABLE of doing what had to be done if it came to that? Or would Malice honor her secret promise to Haleigh, which unbeknownst to Haleigh, was the same promise Cameron had begged of Malice telepathically hours earlier. In the end, as with so many OTHER things past and present, that was only known to MALICE herself though now, with all that was happening, it was becoming harder and harder for the White Queen to remain stone...or rather DIAMOND faced about all that was going on. Jessica Marcus was a DEEP source of personal trouble for her but why?>>

meanwhile

<< elsewhere in the catacombs but also on the astral plane, somewhere between dreamstate and reality. Delilah has taken on such a BURDEN in trying to protect the Six from The Sisterhood's taunts and abuse, standing in the gap for them even at the expense of herself and though she did a valiant job, Malice's verbal punishment had its effect. Behind closed doors is where the costumes come off, the defenses come down and the TRUTH, the PAIN remains! She is reeling from the unexplainable LOSS of friendship between herself and Sharon, the cold rejection of Alycia, the absence of her best friends Morgan and Alison and the "in your face" reunion with their most deadly and hated enemies, the Sisterhood. Cameron reaches out to Delilah in a show of his own growth and maturity as he offers support, comfort and strength...and even goes so far as to reveal a dark secret from his own past that not many of the current Six roster would know of. He knows that as strong and brave as she is, she has her limits...he FEELS that she is reaching those limits and in a manner than would make his sister proud, he is being proactive, reaching out and taking a concerned, protective stance for Delilah....but will even THAT be enough?>>

<< the meeting of the minds was very necessary for them all, for soon, all of their minds and bodies will be tested as more of the past comes back to reassert itself with a new, twisted angle, with the poision that only a VIPER can give.>>

<< and so we watch.>>