[IC] Fateful Convergence

[Vocalia]

Looking at her empty plate and back at Isaac, Hayley mulled over her options briefly before replying, "I'm gonna go around town to see if I can scout things out. Y'know, look for info and all that jazz. I need to keep my head in the loop with things in this city or we might find ourselves ambushed again and I really, really don't want that to happen again. Once is enough and twice is already pushing it."

[Daxam]

Isaac nods and says, "I'll come with you, then. Who knows, you might get ambushed while keeping an eye out for signs of one." He then takes Hayley's empty plate and puts it in the sink before sitting back down and wrapping his arm around her waist. "When'd you wanna start that training thing of yours?" he asks.

[Vocalia]

"Right now," Hayley promptly replied and timidly held onto one of his hands. "I can't postpone this any longer, so I'm gonna lock myself in my room for a while. Until then, just do whatever you want to keep yourself entertained. Looks like it's going to be quite a while..." Smiling as she turned to look at him, she gave him a gentle pat on the head before breaking away from his warm embrace and locking herself in her room. For the next few hours or so, a dark, almost suffocating aura could be felt seeping from the gaps between the door and the floor.

[Daxam]

While Hayley had locked herself in her room, Isaac left for the diner. Hours later, after being caught in a conversation with Irene's husband, Andrew, Isaac walks back into Hayley's apartment and nearly jumps out of his skin as a cheerful voice calls, "Hello!" Sitting in the kitchen was none other than Sean, the man Hayley had sworn to kill for spying on her private life. "What the hell are you doing here?!" Isaac demands in a low voice, not wanting to disturb Hayley. Sean, apparently not sharing the same sentiment, for his voice was loud enough to drown out a vuvuzela, says, "What, I can't visit my friend from time to time?"

[Vocalia]

Without warning, the door blasted open, tearing the poor wooden structure from its hinges and slamming it against the adjacent wall. Black mist literally poured from Hayley's bedroom as she made her exit, her eyes fixated into a glare on Sean. While she was busy trying to explore her own powers in relative peace, she had believed that it was Isaac who had returned home, so to see Sean sitting in the kitchen instantly poured pure fuel over her dimming fire of anger and she instantly lost what small control she had over her powers, if the black mist pouring out of her mouth was any indication. "You...! You dare walk up to my place unannounced and still has the gall to not hide yourself?! You really don't cherish that big, fat hide of yours, do you?!" she glowered, already feeling her 'other self' preparing her termination protocol.

[Daxam]

Upon Hayley's furious entrance, Isaac instinctively jumped back, Vincent yelping in surprise, as she descends on Sean. The man looks at Hayley, completely unperturbed by her appearance, and says, "And hello to you, too, Hayley. You look as lovely as ever." He then pats his flat stomach and adds, "As for having a 'big, fat hide,' I'm not sure if you can tell, but that's slander on my person. I could sue you, you know."

[Vocalia]

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT BULLSHIT!!" Hayley yelled, her body slowly being coated by black sludge creeping up from the mist that soon covered the floor around her. "You can sue me for slander, but I'll sue you for breaking and entering, so you'd better get out of my house. Now." Hayley was preparing to completely disregard her own life entirely for a chance at retaliation and her 'other self' was just one move away from complete takeover before things went south. She was also perfectly willing to ignore Isaac in favor of getting her hands on Sean. "I hope someone like you don't have anyone to go home to, you bastard!" she hissed, already on the verge of attacking her unwelcome visitor.

[Daxam]

While Hayley was yelling at him, Sean was casually tapping his finger on the counter, as if biding his time until Hayley was finished, as if she were a child having a tantrum. However, once she said she hoped he didn't have anyone to go home to, a flood of memories suddenly burst into his head, all of which were bittersweet. He didn't even notice when his finger went clean through the countertop as if it were wet paper. He then rises to his feet and, electricity crackling all over his body, he says in a deadly quiet voice, "I'd take that back if I were you, Summerland. Or else I'll be paying for your home's repairs." Isaac immediately appears behind Hayley and rests his hands on her shoulder, whispering, "Hayley, calm down. Even with your other self, I don't think you stand a chance against him."

[Vocalia]

Now Hayley understood the source of Sean's bravado and confidence against her, but she refused to be intimidated, even with her 'other self', Isaac and Sean himself all warning her that she was out of his league. A tiny part of her felt something akin to a sympathy towards Sean after knowing that Isaac might had been the only person he could turn to, if his reaction was any indication. However, that sympathetic part of her was subdued when she remembered that he had broken and entered her home without her permission to see him. Had he arranged a different location for their meeting and had he been less dismissive of her anger and the reasons behind it, she most likely wouldn't have been so vindictive towards him.

"Touched a nerve, didn't I?" she retorted in the similar quite tone in return, taking in Isaac's advice, but refusing to back down. The blonde closed the gap between her and Sean, steely blue eyes glaring at him with all the tranquil fury she had bottled up since their first meeting. Her tone took a more nonchalant, but utterly mocking tone as the stark contrasts of their lives were laid out as clear as day. "Why bother worrying? This place is a trash bin compared to your palace! Destroying it would cost you close to nothing with all your money and it wouldn't mean the end of the world for me. I've lived on the streets like a stray mutt while you swam in your pool of cash. I can sleep on two blocks of asphalt pavement and have no problem calling it a home. I have no family that would miss me. I have nobody but Isaac that would cry at my corpse and even I highly doubt he would openly cry anyway, so go ahead. Kill me if you want, wouldn't make much of a difference, you damn bourgeois!"

[Daxam]

Sean glares at Hayley for a few long moments, the electricity arcing off of his body gradually turning a deep shade of red, matching his fury. Then, in a low voice, he says, "That's what you think? That my life is easy because I happen to be rich? I figured you of all people would understand, but I guess not." Leaning forward, his nose within inches of Hayley's, still in that quiet voice, he continues, "Do you have any idea what I've done, the people I've killed, everything and everyone I've lost, just to be able to live up until now? I have no family, none. My mother, father, brothers and sisters were all taken from me." Then, his voice gradually rising, he adds, "My fiancee, the love of my life, died in my arms and, for all the power I have now, I couldn't do a fucking thing to save her! I. Have. No one. You have Isaac, but I'm completely alone. No one to turn to when I need to talk, no one to tell me it's going to be alright." One moment he was shouting, but now, his voice was almost a whisper, "I might be rich, but when it comes down to it, I don't have a single, fucking thing..."

[Vocalia]

Although her mind was filled with rage and the gradually overpowering desire to simply tango with Sean on the spot, Hayley remained silent as he finally vented off the content of his mind, the thoughts he had on his situation and that of hers. "The last time I saw my mother, she was busy drowning lifelessly in her own blood and the last time I saw my dad, he left me some nice memories before I finally had enough, so I can understand your oh so fucking sad story. Besides, do you think my hands are clean from blood? That I am an overconfident, naive girl who has never taken a life before? Guess again," she growled, a dark aura now pooling around her, much like Sean's raging red electricity arching around her body.

A moment of silence later and she closed her eyes, the dark aura beginning to disappear, along with the black sludge that had all but covered much of her skin. In a surprising turn of event, it seemed that Hayley had managed to calm herself down through ways she didn't think were possible given the situation at hand. Opening her eyes for a moment later, Hayley shot the furious man a gaze of both scorn and pity, but she didn't say a word to him. Instead, she turned to Isaac and said to him, gesturing at Sean when it's necessary, "I'm heading out. Alone. I suggest you stay here and help this rich brat with his tantrum." While her previous words were laced with her usual brash vindictiveness, what followed next showed that she was never an evil person at heart, never a woman who thrived in the misery of others no matter how much she disliked the other party. "I'm never going to be 'the bestest buddies' with this guy and I'm not going to apologize for what I've said, but something tells me that you both could use one another for support. The least you could do is listen to each other. Don't do it because I ask you to, but do it because the two of you could find some common ground."

As she walked out of the room, ignoring the unhinged door smashed against the wall, she glanced at Sean, still rather angrily, but much less so and bit her lip before leaving him with some parting words.

"You can listen to your pride or use what chance you have now. Your call."

[Daxam]

It took a few moments for the electricity around Sean's body to disappear, although the occasional spark could be seen from time to time. Sighing, Sean slides down a wall, props an elbow on one of his knees, and rests his head on his fist. "Dammit..." he whispers. "I came here to apologize for what I did, but this happened." With a dry, humorless chuckle, he then adds, "Talk about royally fucking up, huh, Isaac?"

Instead of answering, Isaac slides to the ground next to Sean. After a few minutes, he tentatively asks, "Your fiancee...her name was...Anna, wasn't it?"

Sean looks at Isaac in surprise for a moment before he chuckles and says, "Yeah, that's right. She was gonna be Mrs. Anna Anderson just a couple of weeks before she..." As Sean looks down, Isaac notices tears in the corner of his eye, but, as quickly as they were there, they vanished. "She and Sarah," he goes on, "were pretty good friends, you know. That's actually how I met Anna, was through you and Sarah. I wonder what she's doing, nowadays..." Sean then looks at Isaac and says, "Sarah was your girlfriend before everything happened. I wonder what she would do if she found out about you and Hayley..."

Isaac, his brow furrowed, asks, "Wait, this Sarah girl...she and I were together?"

Sean nods and says, "Yeah, you two were the happiest couple I've seen since me and Anna. It's a shame things had to happen the way they did, or else you two would be on your way to making a whole bunch of little versions of you."

As Sean chuckles at the thought, Isaac suddenly finds himself wanting to know more about Sarah, wanting to see if they could still be a couple. Stop right there, Vincent says, surprisingly the voice of reason this time around. You're with Hayley, aren't you? What do you think would happen if the three of you suddenly came together? The best thing you can do is forget about her and move on with your life.

[Vocalia]

Outside of the apartment complex and away from Sean's general vicinity, Hayley wandered along the street with her hoodie on to cover much of her face. The walk had helped her loose off a bit of her anger, but she still felt miffed about the entire encounter. "Here I thought that things would have been less violent, but of course he has to saunter in like a fucking celebrity," she murmured and shook her head. Wish I hadn't lost my temper so easily.

"Your observation and course of actions are illogical. There is no conclusive evidence to support your decision. Why did you choose to leave Sean Anderson with Isaac Ryder and not remove him from your territory?" She cringed when her 'other self' started to talk, before recalling her methodical and robotic point of view. "I guess you could say I followed my gut feeling on this one and a small part of me wanted him to be less angsty. Hopefully the bastard took the chance to vent off some steam with Isaac. The two of them seem to get along and they did have a history, from what I've seen."

"A decision without any conclusive evidence is subject to bias. Your observation is being corrupted and you are not keeping a high-risk individual in check, Hayley Summerland. This conflicts with my existing protocol to decisively remove all threats once preliminary risk assessment has been established." Chuckling softly, the blonde continued walking with a reply that would silence the mechanical other personality for a while.

"That's what I get for having feelings, I guess."

[Daxam]

After agreeing with Vincent, something he never thought he'd do in a million years, Isaac asks Sean, "So...what now?"

Sean shrugs and says, "Beats me. Although, I'll have to tell you right now to watch your back. You and I worked for some pretty big assholes and, if they hear you're alive, they're gonna come after you and Hayley, no matter what."

"Why Hayley?" Isaac asks. "What did she do? And what do you mean, 'if they hear I'm alive'?"

Sean sighs and says, "You had me wipe your memory so we could fake your death. I gotta tell you, that was probably the best fake death I've ever seen, by the way. Anyway, technically, you're not supposed to exist, since they destroyed all documents related to you so you could work in complete secrecy. If they hear that you're still running around, being alive and everything, they'll hunt you and everyone who's met you down, including Sarah and Hayley, as well as that old couple who own the deli."

"They can't do that!" Isaac exclaims. "What about the police? Surely, if so many people suddenly died, they'd do an investigation."

However, before he even finished his sentence, Sean was already shaking his head, saying, "They own the police. Literally. Something happens, they'll just blame somebody else, even if they're innocent. I tell ya, these guys have everything covered. They're untouchable."

[Vocalia]

While Hayley was out and about, she looked around her surroundings in what could be best described as paranoia. Given what had just happened to her, she had a reason to be suspicious of everyone around her. Any one of them could be a superhuman and any of them could rat her out to her enemies. She felt uneasy and alert, almost restlessly so. She wondered if she was ever going to see a friendly face that would neither intrude on her privacy nor aim for her head.

[Daxam]

After a few minutes, Sean stands up and says, "I'm gonna get going. For what it's worth, tell Hayley I'm sorry and I hope we can get past this at some point." Isaac nods and watches as the man leaves. Then, his mind still trying to process all of the information he was given, he rises to his feet and walks over to Hayley's busted door. After looking at it for a few minutes, he uses his power to turn the hinges into liquid metal, which floats in the space around him. Then, pulling carbon out of the air, he creates a door and remakes the hinges to fit the door into place. "At least I can do that for her," he mutters before walking into his room. Keeping his door open, he sits down on his bed and sighs, hoping Hayley was able to blow off some steam while she was gone.

Meanwhile, a young woman with silver hair and dark blue eyes was walking down the street. She had just gotten off of work and was heading home, as was her usual routine ever since her boyfriend had died several months before, an event she still hasn't completely gotten over. In fact, she was thinking about him now, how he would always wait for her to get off of work so the two of them could spend the rest of the day together. She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the blonde woman walking in the opposite direction until she bumped into her. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention!" she exclaims, turning to face the woman.

[Vocalia]

"Nah, it's okay. My fault for not watching where I was going," Hayley replied with a light wince as she looked at the young woman she had bumped into. Her silver hair seemed to remind her of someone she knew, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it and decided not to fuss about it. "Are you okay? I hope I didn't hit you too hard..." she said with a sheepish smile. She could tell that the woman's mind might be elsewhere. Still, she knew better than to point that out in this sort of situation.

[Daxam]

The woman shakes her head and manages a smile, although her eyes still held quite a bit of sadness in them, appearing to make her at least unconsciously avert her gaze from the blonde, saying, "No, I'm fine...I'm just...thinking about a lot of things, right now..." After a few moments of silence, she manages to meet the blonde's eyes and asks, "Um, if I may, could I ask what your name is?" This is good, thought the woman. If I could at least try to make new friends, I might be able to start feeling better.

[Vocalia]

Hayley raised a brow and tilted her head slightly, certainly not expecting the woman to suddenly ask her name out of the blue. She seemed friendly, but she couldn't tell for sure from their current conversation. Nonetheless, she decided to take a leap of faith and replied, "Hayley. Hayley Summerland. What's yours?" she asked, hoping to know her name, at the very least, now that she had given hers away.

[Daxam]

The woman's smile widens slightly, seeing that things seem to be going pretty well, at least so far. Holding her hand out, a faint English accent in her voice, she says, "I'm Sarah. Sarah Howland." She had given her last name freely, having had no way that the woman in front of her had already had a less-than-pleasant encounter with the man who shares the same name.