Meld followed Nexus in relative silence, not hiding the fact that she was intently studying him. He was her enemy now, it was that simple, and even if she had vowed to be neutral for the remainder of this night, that neutrality would not last long and when the time came to make her move against him it would be important for her to know everything there was to know. No piece of information was too small or insignificant. While she had never played the role of assassin before, she knew that in order to play it successfully she would have to maintain the same kind of meticulous attention to detail as she maintained in all of her other dealings, both illegal and legal.

It was no great surprise when Nexus lead the three of them into a rather run-down area of town, the type of place that Meld knew few humans would care to venture into. Not only was there very little to attract them, but that sort of area also tended to attract some of the less savory aspects of the population. Not that any such individuals were a threat or a concern to Meld and had she been the one to choose where they should go to talk in private she would have chosen a similar area. Grudgingly she gained the tiniest amount of respect for Nexus and his decision, though couldn't help but wonder how someone who was apparently new to the city knew of such an area. It was a question filed away to be answered at a later date.

Meld positioned herself near the door of the place and waited for answers. This wasn't her discussion, this wasn't about her and she knew that the others were probably uncomfortable with her even being there for the discussion. And, in truth, if Nexus had not gotten himself so horribly on her bad side she wouldn't be here at all. As disturbing as it was that the woman had managed to manipulate her emotions so effectively, she was a mutant and had acted justifiably and was thus not an enemy. She could not, however, despite her not being wanted and despite her not really wanting to be here, leave. She needed information about Nexus, it was as simple as that. And so she remained silent, awaiting answers.

It had been Kealey’s idea for the three of them to leave the restaurant, but as they made their way through the always-crowded streets, the wisdom of that decision started to wane in the blonde’s mind. The woman had decided to follow too, and Kealey frowned at the back of her head. Cool, calculating, patient. This woman really was dangerous. Was it wise to trust her word when she said that she wouldn’t harm either of them? Was it wise to be walking off into the middle of New York with two strangers who’d already proven themselves to be at least mildly hostile? Probably not, Kealey mused as they walked further, but she seemed to have a serious talent for finding these exact situations. The only thing left to do was to see how it played out. Nexus wasn’t nervous, just driven. He had a place in mind, and sooner than later, they found it.

They were in front of a building now, and Kealey frowned as Nexus poked around, apparently looking for an entry point to the hovel. Kealey frowned and settled her hands on her hips as she watched, was anyone in New York really blind? She mused silently, frown deepening as the man moved to the gate and unwrapped the heavy chains that had been placed there. It was obvious that Nexus didn’t own this building, and what they were doing teetered on the wrong side of breaking and entering.

As the other two made their way into the courtyard of the building, Kealey held back, looking at the gate they’d just opened and walked through. There were other people on the street, and Kealey took a moment to pay attention, none of them were paying the strange trio any mind, even as they made their way around the building. If she was going to leave, this was definitely the time to do it, the frown returned. Through the gate she walked.

Apparently they were taking it even further though, Kealey noted as Nexus reached through the broken front door and turned the deadlock. Who was this man and exactly what did he do? It was unsettling to say the least, but Kealey wasn’t ready for what she saw when she walked into the building.

The place simply screamed of the old days in New York, and Kealey’s imagination almost immediately ran away with her. The fountain was long dry, but it barely took a stretch of the imagination to picture the tiers running over with clear water as people milled around the lobby in various stages of formal dinner attire. The tiling was falling from the walls, and there were obvious signs that squatters and worse had taken up residence in the building when no other shelter could be found. It was almost painful to see and Kealey forgot where she was and who she was with for just a moment. Off the crowded street, the emotions were muted, but still there and she actually jumped when Nexus spoke, having momentarily forgotten his presence.

Kealey turned, the toe of her shoe scooting broken tile through the dirt and rubble on the floor, and she regarded the man in front of her with serious eyes, still trying to read him. It seemed obvious that he was used to being listened to when he spoke, and his comment was definitely phrased as a demand for information as opposed to a request and Kealey bristled slightly.

”Kealey.” she said softly, turning her head slightly to observe the casual posture of the woman and her lack of words. ”Kealey Quinn.”

Nexus wanted to know how she fit into this whole mess of a situation and the blond actually smiled, a soft laugh issuing from her mouth as she shook her head and set her loose curls to bouncing around her head. ”You know what I’m doing here every bit as much as I do.” she said, then shrugged, ”When I see someone doing something wrong, I help where I can.”

This was the real crux of the whole issue for Kealey, and she realized with an almost audible mental sigh of relief that she had done the right thing back in the restaurant. ”What good is a gift like I have, if I refuse to use it to help someone who can’t help themselves? Even if I put myself in harm’s way to do it, isn’t it the least I can do? Sitting idle would be more than wrong.”

Kealey had answered, and she sincerely hoped that her answer was satisfactory to the other people in the room. She had questions of her own, though, and she tilted her head as she looked at Nexus, ”What about you, though? Obviously you thought the benefits outweighed the risks in this situation. Why?’

Jake coolly regarded the two extremely dangerous women beneath the filtered light of the shattered roof above them... light he would never see. Things were getting complicated. Meld, proving herself as dangerous as Jake knew her to be, focused on control and analysis. She was trying to learn more about him. Information that she would use hunt him. It was amazing really, the amount of control she could exert. With that level of ability, Meld could have been anything she wished to be. She could have been something...greater.

Jake listened calmly as the blonde introduced herself, and he could feel the weight behind the name Kealey. It was real; unlike 'Nexus' or 'Meld', which were obvious creations intended to protect their owners, this woman bared herself to those around him. To Jake, it was an act of profound truth to reveal that part of oneself. She was a Good Samaritan, he imagined, through and through.

“It's nice to meet you Kealey. I'm sorry it had to be under these circumstances.” Jake moved slowly back and settled onto the moss-covered edge of the old fountain. “As to my reasons, you've already stated them. 'What good is a gift if I refuse to use it help someone who can't help themselves?' You're right. A gift should be used to help those around you, and that's exactly what I was doing when you injected yourself into the situation. I was working to protect those people that Meld will harm, people who couldn't defend themselves against her and who would perish in the confrontation. I don't blame you, of course. I understand your actions perfectly... but I don't think you can perceive her quite as I can. Can you see the hate she's fostering within her? The sick joy creeping into her violence? She thinks of herself as a soldier, but she's becoming something more...malignant.”

Jake turned the cruel gleam of his mirror-shades towards the half-mechanized woman.

“I'm not sure how pervasive your powers are, Kealey, but hopefully you can see within one of us what I was trying to accomplish. My intention was to create an anchoring point within her mind, a constant reminder of how everything she does influences those around her, and how disgusted a person should be with violence and murder.

“The ironic part is that she even recognizes the monstrosity within her. She knows she is beginning to change into something wholly...other. When I met her, she was in a state of indecision. She was negotiating with that other half. I saw an opportunity to stem that transition, and I took it. You said yourself that sitting idle would be more than wrong. I'm quite willing to face the consequences for my actions, as you've already seen in the restaurant.” Jake smiled bemusedly and shrugged. “After all, it's the least I could do.”

Meld filed the name Kealey into her memory for future reference. One never knew when connections might prove to be of use, whether friends or enemies. And at present time she wasn't sure that the other women was either of those things, depending on how things went it really could go either way. Even so, she was sure to have connections of her own and names had a certain power to them. You say the right name to the right person and that could cause things to happen.

The more Kealey spoke the more Meld's respect for her increased. She felt much the same way about her own powers, using them to the benefit of others. Of course, she was fairly certain that Kealey wouldn't view things in exactly that manner. Meld helped mutants and the mutant cause, often to the detriment of humans, especially those humans that actively worked against the mutant cause. Meld helped her cause through blood and violence and she could tell that Kealey was no fighter and in her experience many who did not embrace battle also disagreed with its uses. Nevertheless, the fact that she was fighting for something, even if it was a different kind of fight and a different kind of cause, was something worthy of respect. Not everyone had the same gifts and not everyone had the same beliefs. The important thing was having something to believe in and fighting for those beliefs, not necessarily the particulars of what those beliefs were. She nodded her approval at the other woman's words, though her icy exterior did not melt.

Despite herself Meld found herself almost respecting Nexus' words as well and in different circumstances she perhaps would have succumbed to that respect wholly. In his own way he was fighting for his own cause and belief as well and had Meld not been the target and victim of his unique form of battle she would have supported the ideal if not the technique. She was well aware of the fact that even those that needed help did not always want that help. If only he hadn't tried to manipulate her mind they could, perhaps, have come to a sort of understanding. It was unfortunate, really, that Meld would still be forced to exact her revenge.

"You do not manipulate the minds of others without their permission." The words were cold and straight forward, heavy with conviction. She met Nexus' gaze squarely, her own eyes boring into where his eyes must be behind his shades. Very few people could meet her gaze without flinching. "If you had confronted me directly, if you had let known your desire to help, if you had done a dozen other things then perhaps our meeting might have gone differently. But you did none of those things. You violated my mind and began trying to insert things into it that were never meant to be there. No matter your motivations, no matter your good intentions, that is unforgivable. You are not a god to be deciding how others should act and think. You are a mutant, more than a human but no more than any other mutant. For all your self righteousness you are no better than I am, no better than Kealey is. Perhaps one day you will learn the truth of that, but I fear that the learning, for you, will be painful indeed."

OOC- Sorry about the delay guys...somehow I had it in my head that it was Nexus' turn....I finally figured it out, though.

Kealey tilted her head at Nexus as he spoke, nodding once when he said he wished they’d met under different circumstances. It might have been an interesting thing, that meeting. It’s what Kealey had intended in this case, only she’d realized what Nexus was doing to the woman that was now standing in the broken down shell of an apartment complex with them. The blond was still convinced she’d done the right thing. Nothing was going to change that, especially not Nexus’ reasoning. It was the same thing he’d said before, helping someone who couldn’t help themselves. He had it all wrong.

Meld reiterated what she’d said before, pointing out that Nexus wasn’t a god and that it was wrong on a pure and simple level to manipulate someone’s mind without their permission. Kealey flushed a little at this, she did it all the time, but her intentions were always pure. That made a difference, didn’t it, she never controlled someone like Nexus had.

”Life is about choice.” Kealey said, shaking her head slowly and looking at the two in front of her, ”Yes, this woman is full of conflict and strife, and she’s practically shrouded in violence…but we all have a choice. If God hadn’t intended us to have free will, he wouldn’t have given it. Who are we, or anyone, to completely take that away?”

Kealey paused a moment to let her words sink in and she shook her head slowly, ”We all made choices today.” she continued, turning to Nexus, ”You chose to make a choice for a person who may have come to that conclusion all on her own. Now, she’ll trust even less. Doing what you did probably pushed her even further from the right path.” Next, the blond turned to Meld ”You chose to react violently when you could have acted with grace and forgiveness, which probably would have taught your lesson far more effectively than the violence you swear to have chosen instead.” she looked at a mid-point between the two, trying to funnel out what she was feeling from the jumble of emotions between the three.

”I chose to leave work between shifts, and I chose to eat in that restaurant on the advice of someone I’d usually not solicit for a place to eat.” she shook her head again, ”It’s not fate…it’s not duty…it’s all free will.”

It was really all the blond had to say on the matter…what else was there, really? Meld was bound and determined to hurt Nexus, to take the payment for his misdeed out of his flesh. Kealey shuddered at the thought and wondered again if the woman could really be that dangerous.

”I wish you wouldn’t fight, though. People who didn’t do anything could get hurt.”

OOC: Sorry about the delay. I had a hard case of writer's block for this post.

Jake raised a finger in a gesture that could only be considered 'teacher-ly' towards the mechanized monstrosity in the corner. “Meld... don't talk to me about sanctity of the mind while your killing people. Evisceration is far more detrimental to a person's mental capacity then ANYTHING I am capable of. All I can do is nudge you in one direction. I can only show you the door! You still have to walk through it.” Jake's voice growled with frustration. It was aggravating being around this woman when she was focused upon him like this. It was like being under a magnifying glass, only it was hatred that rained down upon him in a focused beam. Without willing it, his voice spilled forth angrily.

“Oh, and just for the record, I am no better or worse then any other human. Yes, 'Human' Meld. Your one too. You might be a bit stronger then the average one, maybe a bit faster, but your not immortal or god-like in any way. You'll live, you'll die, and you will rot like everyone else. We all will, so don't go getting all Aryan Nation on the world. It's not doing anyone any good.”

As soon as he spoke the words, he regretted them. Would that be enough to spark a fight? He should have been more controlled about that. His best chance was to cloud the waters and keep Meld from focusing on that little outburst. Before anything else could happen, he turned to Kealey with a pained, but understanding smile.

“As for free will... Nothing is ever as simple as 'Free Will'.” Jake's voice was almost apologetic in weight, trying to get as far from the more offensive tone he had used on Meld a second or two before. “Your right that there were a billion small choices that ended up bringing us all to this point, but whatever those choices were are irrelevant now. Decisions can only be made in the moment.” Jake gestured towards where Meld loomed in one corner of the room. “Meld can't stop. She won't stop, unless someone does something to change her. I don't know what made her that way, but somewhere along the line she decided that violence is the only way she can survive. If it's not me she's after, it'll just be someone else and at least I know what I'm getting into.”

His words were a trap, of course, and he was curious how the pair of them would react. If Meld decided to defend herself against his accusation, she would just be playing into Jake's overall wishes and would have to control herself to prove him wrong. If she ignored his accusation, or even accepted it, she would be admitting she had no control over her reactions. Besides it's value in the current argument, the latter response would resonate with his earlier exposure of Meld to the Awe, forcing her to reflect on her actions and gain a greater measure of control. Maybe there was hope for this situation yet.

Meld addressed both Kealey and Nexus. She owed no explanation to Nexus and felt no need to justify her actions to him, but to Kealey she was beginning to develop a strong respect for. Or at least, in time she believed she could come to respect the woman quite highly, despite her differing views and strengths. She was moderate and understand and in her own way fought for what she believed in just as surely as Meld fought for her own beliefs, and for those reasons Meld desired to explain, at least a little, about why she was what she was and why she did what she did.

"Our people, and by that I mean mutants," she glared defiantly at Nexus, daring him to contradict her, "are constantly maligned and judged. They are constantly discriminated against, hated and feared, the results of which are horrible. You know the most obvious, those who are actively attacked and hurt but it is far more insidious than that for those who are ashamed and afraid of what they are when they should be able to embrace what they are. Our people need someone to fight for them, they need someone who is willing to stand up for them even when they don't even realize its necessary."

Meld took a deep breath as she came to the next part of her speech. It was the part where she had the most trouble, the part where she admitted her imperfections and she hated to admit her imperfections, but she felt she owed it to this woman to be honest and even if she wasn't she had reason to believe that one or both of the others would know of her dishonesty. "Violence is not always the answer but sometimes it is. Death is not always the answer but sometimes, and and most regrettably, it is. I sacrifice parts of myself, parts of my soul, for the betterment of my people because if I don't do it then who will? I wish it wasn't necessary but it is." Her voice was strong with conviction. "If I sometimes resort to violence too quickly then for that I am sorry. I am not perfect, I am, as has, I think, been agreed upon, no god. I am not infallible and I am still learning. We all make our choices and I must live with mine just as both of you must live with yours."

Meld took another deep breath, trying to fight down the emotions that had worked their way to the surface of her mind. She couldn't' help but fell the passion and the conflict when speaking of this; it was what she had dedicated her life to and what she believed in with the core of her being. Everything she did she did for her cause and the idea that she might have inadvertently done harm to that cause scarred her.

Emotions safely where they belonged, though perhaps a little more tenuously locked away than she would have liked, Meld turned her attention to Nexus exclusively. "I won't stop because what I do is desperately needed. You and the others may not like to admit as much, but I am right about this. I hope for nothing more than that one day these acts will not be necessary, that mutants will be able to live in peace, but until that day I will be there working towards it. People like Kealey and Ghost and Mettaliar," she didn't explain who these others were, "they fight in their own ways for their own causes and their contribution to the greater good is no more essential than mine, but the cause needs people like me as well. The cause needs people who are willing to clip the threads of those who no other solution will suffice in eliminating the threat. Its an unfortunate and painful truth but that makes it no less true."

Nexus was scared after he’d finished speaking, that much was obvious and it made a tense shudder of apprehension worm its way through Kealey. They were in a rather precarious position, weren’t they? In a building with a mutant who openly admitted to killing when killing was necessary. Necessary…when she decided it was necessary. That was the really scary part. Kealey shook her head, trying to physically shake off the emotions that were trying so hard to take hers over. Kealey knew she wasn’t that scared of the other woman, and then Nexus’ emotions changed. There was still concern there, but it was more calculating now. Kealey frowned and her eyes narrowed slightly, was it possible that Nexus was still trying to manipulate the situation somehow? Kealey didn’t know, but with what had already happened she was uncomfortable with the situation.

There was truth in his words, though, and Kealey wrapped her arms around her stomach as she tried to figure out exactly what it was she wanted to add to the conversation, ”He is right.” the blond said, running her hand through her hair again and frowning slightly.

”None of us has the right to judge. It’s not our place to decide who it is who lives, and who it is who dies. We should all be helping the greater good, not adding to the chaos.”

Nexus seemed set in his ways, especially as far as Meld was concerned. The man was convinced that there was no possible redemption for the woman. Kealey shook her head, if there was one thing she knew, it was that redemption was possible for anyone. They simply had to be given the right chance at the right time, ”I think you’re judging too harshly again. You’re taking away a living person’s choice in the matter.” She turned to Meld and walked closer, ”The way to teach someone who thinks violence is the answer is not to perpetuate more violence on them.” she said, reaching out tentatively to place a hand on the woman’s shoulder, it was a slow move, and Meld would be able to shrug away if she chose. Kealey wouldn’t force the matter. Meld was full of conviction and dedication, and she really was convinced that her way was the only way.

”Violence is the only option sometimes.” she said softly, looking at the other woman with complete understanding as she thought about a time in the woods when she’d practically brained a man with a canteen. ”Only as a last resort, though. Life is precious, and no life, human, mutant, or otherwise, is worth more than another.”

Kealey realized her speech was idealistic, and would probably be regarded with some skepticism…at least at this point. It didn’t matter, though, the point was the put the idea in to Meld’s head that there was another way.
”It’s okay.” Kealey said, ”You’ve lived in a world where violence was a necessity. It’s hard to be another way after a while. Don’t ever forget that there might be another way, though. That’s what makes a person a monster. Not who they are, or how they look.” That said, Kealey turned and walked away, back to a place that was between the two others. Her words hadn't just been for Meld. Nexus may not have been killing people, but manipulating them was wrong too...he needed the lesson every bit as much as Meld did.