Castouts (Accepting new characters)

*Anthony releases Chris, so he can steady his aim on a closer target, Xander and Rika are far easier targets that he knows he can hit in his newly sober state. Kyle had ducked behind a corner grabbing Madision by reflex and pulling her with him out of the line of sight of gun fire. Steven's powers kicks in just as the first bullet strikes him and bounces to the ground, holding one hand out to keep Kat behind him as he moves forward with his gun raised at Anthony, still no clear shot for to take at him, he pulls Kat with him till he reaches Kyle's position making sure Kat takes cover.* I Have no shot I may hit Chris if I shoot him now. What do you want me to do? *Anthony pulls the trigger on his gun once more and tries to shoot Xander but his gun mis-fires, he takes his eyes off of him for a second to clear the chamber. (This is Chris's chance)
 
The sugar in the ketchup perfectly neutralized the salt of the fries. Aleka had been worried that the salt would bite her tongue, and though she didn't particularly enjoy the ketchup, it did a good enough job at making eating them less painful. At the very least, talking with Julian offered a decent distraction while she ate.


"They're afraid of you," She told him, pointing a fry in his direction. "Just like they're afraid of every other person that looks like they might walk up to them and start asking for change." Aleka paused to take a bite out of her french fry, her leg bouncing up and down rapidly as her eyes swept around the diner. There was 'the swivel' again.


She shrugged and took a sip of her coffee, allowing the warmth to soak into her throat and stomach. "They just don't want to notice us. If you put them on edge, then they won't care enough about you to look twice."
 
(um Macal...we posted on the wrong thread...)


(Macal)


*Kyle walked away and joined Rika and Xander while Kat talked to Steven, giving them some privacy. Steven can't quite bring himself to look at Kat, he just stares at his hand that was shaking slightly.* I'll try to pull myself together but I'm not sure what used I'll be to you or anyone right now, your brother is right you were so much better off before you met me. *Steven doesn't get long to dwell on his own self pity. Anthony had grown inpatient and goes to grab Chris by the hair and drag her to the door, he no longer cares on keeping a low profile dragging her to the top of the stairs.* YOU BRATS LOOKING FOR ME! COME AND GET ME! *He's holding a gun in one hand and fires it in the direction of Kat and Steven. Steven's reflexes kick in and he moves directly in front of Kat as the bullet hits him in the chest, Steven stumbles back a bit when Anthony fires 3 more times those miss completely. Steven looks back at Kat over his shoulder, finally the fight starting to show itself in them again.* Are you alright! *Reaching for the gun tucked in his belt, he raises it towards Anthony but catches sight of Chris so he doesn't fire.*


(me)


"No, no we weren't...you've helped us," Katarina starts to say to Steven, reaching out and lightly touching his wrist, her eyes trying to catch and hold his. "You did...Steven, you saved us a few times, and you...you've been here for us. Just because...because a few times-"


As Anthony throws open the door, Katarina, Rikarah, and Xander's heads snap up, and Katarina gasps, seeing Chris, her eyes wide. Xander starts forward, calling Chris's name, his eyes on her alone as any attempt at the plan Rikarah outlined was abandoned at the sight of his sister and the fright splayed painfully across her features.


"Chris! You b******, if you hurt her I'll-"


As Anthony takes aim, shooting and hitting Steven, Madison throws herself to the ground, startled and more than a little indignant at this turn of events. Didn't Alicia tell this guy who she was and how important she was to them, how they wouldn't have gotten Alice or Chris at all without her help?! What the hell was his problem?! She wanted to scream this out at him, but with the others present, she could not.


Rikarah too ducked, simultaneously attacking Anthony's thoughts and attempting to hack into his brain as forcefully as she was able, even as she kept herself low to the ground, one hand over her head. Sharply and urgently she instructed him to put the gun down, to shoot himself if he must shoot, even as she attempted to try further into his brain, wanting more information about who he was.


"Stay down," she called aloud to everyone. "Everyone, do not get up!"


But from the doorway Alice has heard the gunshot wounds and is screaming, fighting against Alicia's attempt to restrain her, and managing to enact her shield around herself so that the woman cannot touch her at all. Running to the doorway with Alicia on her heels, Alice skids to a stop, screaming out her siblings' names in wild joy as all of them look up at her, weak with relief to see her too.


As Alice distracts them, however, Anthony's gun is aimed at Xander, and only Chris, who was not surprised or startled by Alice's presence, was not distracted enough by her not to notice. She could not see the gun, of course, but she could feel the motion and knew that Anthony was going to shoot. With a soft cry, she twisted herself so she was in between, even while still being gripped by him, preventing him from being able to get good aim at Xander.


Allowing Kyle to pull her down, Madison ducks as far from range of the violence threatening to break out, wrapping her arms around him deliberately and allowing her body to tremble close to his. Putting her mouth against his ear, she whispers breathlessly, allowing her voice to shake, "They're going to kill them, look at him, he's completely crazy!"


It still pisses her off that Alicia isn't acknowledging her, but then, maybe she just doesn't want to blow Madison's cover for the future.


Staying behind Steven as he blocks her off from any shots, Katarina hardly blinks, already in a state of shock as she tries to form names on her lips that will not seem to emerge. Her ears are ringing, and she can move only in delayed response or when prodded. Across from her she can see Alice, seemingly entrapped in what seemed a clear bubble of some kind, curled into a ball with her hands over her ears. Xander is starting forward, fingers outstretched as bolts of electricity build up at their tips, his eyes narrowed as he heads straight for Anthony. But Anthony is raising the gun, and Chris, pulling away from him, cries out as she darts in front of Xander.


"No!"


To the side Rikarah is keeping out of range of the physical battle, behind Katarina, her eyes narrowed as she focuses in hard on Anthony, trying to influence his thoughts, to get him to put down the gun. In his head she screams over and over, with great intensity, put down the gun you do not want to harm us put down the gun, stop, stop...


Even as she does this, she begins to penetrate this thoughts, seeing through the first layer, pushing, pushing with all she has...and then she sees just enough to understand.


As the realization of the DeSanto's true relationship to Anthony and Alicia hits her, she feels her eyes widen, and she pushes in harder- only to then feel a sharp pain spiking through her skull, enough to make her scream and clasp both hands over her head, reeling backward and then falling to the ground, beginning to bleed from the mouth and nose heavily. Several feet away, Alicia grins.


"Do you REALLY think you can win a battle of minds, little girl?" 
Afraid of him...even when Aleka repeats herself, and somewhat explains, Julian can barely believe it. Granted, he wasn't quite as clean as he could be, he was likely emotional and desperate looking, his eyes too large for his head, his clothes not the best fit and certainly not in style. No one would mistake him for an average teenager, and he certainly wasn't one. But being enough to invoke fear in people, when he himself was so afraid, was a very odd thought.


Put them on edge...Aleka had no problem doing that, and it did seem to work for her. But could Julian really do that knowingly? To attract attention to himself to be ignored seemed...well, wrong.


"How...how would I d-do that?"
 
It seemed that Aleka had at least a little bit of his attention. Whether or not Julian was judging her or trying to figure out just how crazy she might be was a different story. The salt settling on her tongue had begun to smart, taste receptors flooded with the flavor. It was time for a break from that. Sliding the plate of fries over, Aleka pulled the pie in front of her and stabbed a small piece at the very tip.


"It's easier if you already know you make them uncomfortable," She said in answer to Julian's question. "It's, uhm... it's a little easier for me, I think. I tend to be a little more than okay at reading people... picking up small things and stuff."


It had nothing to do with her senses, and everything to do with the fact that, if she wanted to survive her household, she had to be able to pick up on the physical cues of those around her. Though Aleka didn't necessarily have the education or ability at all to explicitly say it, it's almost like she's been bred to do this. Like everything she had to learn back at home was just priming her for life out here, wherever 'here' happened to be at the time.


"Mmm, there's nutmeg in this." She says, more to herself than Julian and glances down at the pie. "Anyway, mostly, it's just like... okay, they're uncomfortable, now just be as outrageous or in their face as I can. You kind of just have to throw your personality out the window, you know? They expect you to be wild, or cooky, so... be wild and cooky." Aleka pauses, then adds, "But you have to commit to it. You can't just half-ass it, you gotta go all in."
 
Shira turned as someone in a wheelchair came toward her. She tilted her head in confusion. He didn't look like he was that much older than her but he had the same white coats as everyone else. If he got one, does that mean that she could get one too? She really wanted one. They looked cool. The boy was now asking her something, not that she was paying attention to his words. She was more preoccupied with why he was in a wheelchair like Cas.


After a moment of silence, Shira brought up her hand and pointed at his lower body. "You can't walk," she said in a matter of fact sort of way. "Shira!" Cas shouted. "You can't go around saying things like that."


Meanwhile, Max was doing his best to stifle his laughter in the corner. Soon enough though, he managed to regain most of his composure and approached Axel and the others. "Sorry about that but I was the one who brought them here." Placing a hand on Shira's shoulder, he urged her to step forward. "I believe Shira here would be an wonderful asset to this particular project."
 
Reading people...that was something Julian had always been at a loss to know how to do. How could people know how people felt or thought, what sort of person they were, without them telling him so? How did he know whether they were honest if they did? He had always sucked at his judgment with this, and his ties with Madison were proof.


Of course, it could help if he could look them in the eye for more than a few seconds, if he could manage to concentrate enough to really look at them at all. But this, Julian knew, was highly unlikely to be anything he could comfortably do, ever.


He pushed her fries further away from him, trying not to watch her eat her pie as she continues to explain to him. Aleka seems to understand very well how she can do these things, but to Julian they seem impossible. Throw himself out there? He doesn't have a personality worth throwing, nor would he have the nerve.


"I-I d-don't think I can," he muttered, taking a sip of his drink. "I j-just...I'm d-different."
 
"Everybody's different," Aleka told him, shrugging one shoulder as she brought her coffee cup to her lips and took another drink. "You just have to find what works for you, I guess."


She's tempted to try the fries again, and eyes them carefully. Her tongue still feels as though it's been rubbed raw with all of the salt, and the idea of possibly exacerbating that sensation isn't one that Aleka is incredibly eager for. Instead, she eats another forkful of pie and crosses her legs underneath her in the booth, the latter action earning her a few sharp looks from the men behind the counter.


Bristling ever so slightly, she forced herself to brush it off and ate another bite of pie. "So what do you do? I mean... how long have you been out here?"
 
*Anthony doesn't pause, or have a tiny bit of a second thought before he pulled the trigger the air fills with the crack of his weapon as he fires, the 45 hollowpoint punctures Chris through the back grazing a bone and begins to tumble into her heart and finally lodges itself in her rib cage. Committed now he fires 4 more times trying to hit Xander and Rika through Chris's body that has become limp now and falls forward towards her brother.* STUPID BITCH STAY OUT OF MY WAY! *Kyle watches in horror his body starts to heat up and flames start to cover his entire body as he launches himself forward. Screaming as flames launch from his hands shooting pass Xander's head. Nailing Anthony dead on engulfing his entire body in flames, he struggles and tries to put out the flames but loses his balance and falls over the rail down 20 feet to the ground and slams hard, there's a loud cracking sound when his head hits first and his neck snaps on impact. *Steven had reached for Kat and pulled her face into his chest so she couldn't see everything that has happened especially to Chris.* Don't look Kat, just don't look!
 
What does he do? It was a decent question, Julian had to acknowledge, one he didn't have an answer for.


In the past, he had played his guitar and sang, when he could gather the nerve, for money. He had occasionally stolen, if he could find an easy way that wouldn't make him feel too bad or guilty over it, and he had dumpster dived. With Jillian, he had actually had the possibility of getting a real job that would really pay money, a job he would have legally that would make him one step closer to a semi normal life. Now...he had left his guitar, and Julian had no spirit for music to be able to even want to retrieve it. He had no money, absolutely nothing on him at all, and he didn't know what it was he would do to get by.


"I d-don't do anything," he said to Aleka finally, tapping his fingers nervously against his glass but not drinking from it. "I...I've b-been out there...a f-few months. How...h-how about you?"


**


Chris is falling. Chris is falling, there are shots, shots at Chris, and Chris is falling. Red on her chest, and Chris is falling. Chris is falling, her eyes are open, and she's not moving, she's not getting up. Chris is down...Chris is...


Katarina cannot bear to let herself think the word, even as its concept hazily flits through her thoughts. Dead. Chris is dead. Chris is dead, and Katarina cannot seem to understand what this means at all.


She can't move, can barely breathe as stares down at her sister on the ground, at Anthony's snapped neck lolling at an unnatural angle to the side below them. She can smell his hair and skin burning and her stomach roils, threatening to make her physically sick. When Steven puts his arms around her, pulling her to him, Katarina realizes then that she can hear her own heartbeat roaring in her ears and little else around her.


She doesn't speak, but within her shield Alice is screaming, eyes bulging, the sound partially blocked within the shield's space. On the floor, Madison is covering her head partly in actual concern for her safety, but she is looking up, eyes darting between Anthony and Chris's corpses with wide eyes that look frightened, but are actually glinting with fascination. She is mentally recording all of this to enjoy in the privacy of her bedroom later. Rikarah, on the ground, one hand pressed against her nose to try to stem the bloodflow, tries to brace herself enough to stand, but Alicia towers over her, mentally striking out at her again with enough force to cause Rikarah to cry out with pain.


Turning back to the others, she smiles, eyes shining. "Thank you, Kyle, that was actually a big favor you did me here, I've regretted my sham of a marriage since the day I said I do. Now...be a good son and-"


"I WILL F******** KILL YOU!" Xander screamed, finally shaken out of his shock enough to launch himself at her, electricity shooting out the tips of his fingers, arms outstretched, hair already standing on end wildly. But he had barely stepped forward before he too reeled backward, convulsing, as Alicia smiled, having simply found and easily reverted back to him a degree of his own electricity.


"Would anyone else like to try their hand against me? Or are you all willing now to do what I tell you?"
 
*Both Steven and Kyle redirect their eyes towards Alicia, but suddenly a chill goes down Steven's spine when he hears.* YOU BITCH, YOU ALREADY WRITING ME OFF AFTER SUCH A WEAK ATTACK, AND CELEBRATING MY DEATH TOO, I THINK I'LL KILL YOU AFTER I'M DONE WITH THEM!. *Anthony pulling himself to his feet, his bones crunching and cracking as they move back into place, in a matter of seconds he's back on his feet and staring down Steven and Kat, pulling a large knife out moving towards them.* What the hell? *is all Steven can manage to say spinning around putting himself clearly in front of Kat, and raising his gun and fires 3 times hitting Anthony in the chest, Anthony pauses and laughs as the bullets slowly are pushed out of his body and fall to the ground.* Pathetic is that all you got boy? *Confused Steven fires again and again..This man has his powers..No his powers are different, Steven's powers merely block damage it doesn't heal it but this man clearly broke his damn neck and should be dead but he's up and fighting again....Kyle watching from just above Steven and Kat, spins around and jumps down to the ground, and fires more fire at Anthony's back, a black smoke pours off of him but there is no real damage his body slowly healing even the most severe damage to him. * WHAT ARE YOU! *Kyle shouts at him shooting more fire at him* I'm your father..Not! I could never be the father of you pathetic weaklings and I would never be willingly married to a cow like her! Don't you get it you stupid brats...We aren't your parents they're dead..we killed them you're nothing but a bunch of lab rats playing house..The only ones that are actual blood is the stupid twins..And now I'm gonna kill you all cause I'm tired of all this bullshit! I'll deal with the price I have to pay for killing you later!


*He charges at Steven with the knife aimed at his heart, Steven's training and instincts kick in and he blocks the blade and counters Anthony first with a punch to the jaw and ribs and follows it with a spinning back kick which pushes him back but Anthony just shakes it all off and laughs* You're not bad for a kid, you even got some military training I see. But none of that won't help you, I eat Navy Seals for breakfast and Rangers for lunch.
 
Madison hastily pulls herself up off the ground and scrambles out of the way, not keen on joining in on the fray or getting caught in the midst of it. Both Anthony and Alicia seem to be fully ignoring her and she intends to keep it that way. The better to observe from a safe distance and thoroughly enjoy herself with...this was better than any television show she could imagine, anything she had ever seen before, and she watched every moment, enthralled.


Rikarah, still trying to regain some semblance of energy and control, is nevertheless weak and badly shaking from Alicia's mental attack, her arms trembling too badly to allow her to pull herself up from the ground. She folds herself into a ball and covers her temples with both hands, trying to provide a meager shield against attack...but it is Alice's small hands that reach out to both her and Katarina, yanking them close to her and including them instinctively into her protective shield. Alice is still crying hard as she grips both Katarina's and Rikarah's arms, but they are now within the confines of her protection and cannot be harmed by Alicia or Anthony. Still breathless, in pain, Rikarah tries to clear her thoughts enough to be able to try again against Alicia from within Alice's protection, even as she knows her chances of impacting her are low.


Katarina cannot register what Anthony has said about her relationship, or lack of one, to him and her mother, to Kyle and to Alice and Chris. Clutching Alice's arm, she nearly hyperventilates as her eyes shift rapidly between everyone, trying to follow it all.


Alicia, distracted when Anthony rose again, let Xander off the hook, turning to face him as she cursed. "Well if you're going to be alive after all, make yourself useful already, get these damn kids back in the apartment and in control!"


As she speaks Xander regains some strength, enough to send another stream of electricity shooting out, but his aim is off and splits between her and Anthony rather than hitting only her.


(I am confused. How and why can Anthony regenerate? I thought his power was like Alicia's.)
 
Aleka's question had clearly been somewhat of a sore spot for Julian. She worried at her lip briefly, eyebrows furrowing a little at the stab of guilt she felt for having ever asked it. She didn't exactly do a lot, either, and wasn't even sure how to answer the question herself. How was she supposed to expect someone else to? The nutmeg in her pie had slowly become as difficult to tolerate as the salt had on her fries. Instead of just pushing it away, though, she pushed the tines of her fork into the crust absently and managed a nod at his answer.


A few months. He certainly didn't look it, at least... well, not really in comparison to her. It wasn't that she was filthy, really, she'd managed to keep herself clean in diner bathrooms and even sometimes the showers at the public pool, but he looked far better taken care of than Aleka herself felt.


"A few months for me, too." She answered finally and choked back the last of her room temperature coffee. "I mostly just... I mean, you saw how I got the money for food. That's about it."
 
For the first time since he has met her, Julian felt a stir of interest towards Aleka and who she was, what she may have gone through before coming across him. So she had been out for a few months too, just like him. What had brought her to the point that living in public would be preferable to whatever she had come from? Had she chosen to leave herself, or had she been kicked out? She looked dirtier than he was, and she was clearly hungrier, at least now. Did she have a hard time taking care of herself? She seemed savvier than him in some ways and more reckless in others- how did that affect her survival?





He is quiet for a few more moments, trying to decide whether he dares to ask her, and finally he gathers his nerve. What more could it hurt? What worse could happen to him at this point by having a conversation?





“H-how did you…g-get here? Like this?”
 
Shit.


There aren't many questions that Aleka perceives as taboo. Really, Julian could have asked her just about anything else and she would have happily answered him. First sexual experience? No problem. Did she have a criminal record? That's an easy one. What was her favorite food, or color, or book? Has she ever killed anybody?


All reasonable questions. But asking why she is where she is? That's... well, almost non-negotiable. She doesn't even know where to start, or how much to divulge, or how much she can even trust this person. When a waitress walks by, Aleka flags her down and asks for a refill on her coffee, her mouth suddenly dry.


"I..." don't even know where to start, OR talk about this at all, she thinks. Suddenly realizing that the boy isn't a mind reader, she forces a small, shaky smile and shrugs, nearly flinching when the waitress comes out of nowhere and pours more coffee into her mug. Distantly, Aleka can almost feel the way the counter had felt as she was shoved onto it, pinned by the back of the neck and desperately trying to numb all of her senses at once.


The mug in her hand, she takes a long swallow of coffee and sets it down, eyes following the drop of coffee that had slipped over the lip of the mug and met the tabletop. "Home just..." Finally, Aleka looks up to meet Julian's gaze and shrugs. "It wasn't the greatest of places, so I left."
 
Aleka has said no more than the bare minimum of what could be considered saying anything at all to answer Julian’s question, and yet somehow it is enough. He could all too well identify with the statement himself.


It wasn’t that Julian had come from a “bad” home, exactly. Definitely not; he had never been abused growing up in any way, and in fact his parents, though far from perfect, had loved him and been kind to him for most of his life. It was he who had felt bad and different growing up, and for good reason; even before he knew he was gay, he had first known the secrets of what he did with Madison and the other children, what she made him do, and he had understood to his core that no other adult would be able to understand or forgive him for it. No one would believe that he didn’t want to do as he had, that he felt dirty each time he was near Madison, that he felt tainted and ugly from the inside out.





“She’s younger and smaller than you,” they would no doubt have said in disbelief. “She’s a girl…how can a little sweet girl like that make you do something so horrible if you didn’t want to?”





No, no one would understand, even before the fiasco of his brother finding the magazine under his mattress. If they couldn’t understand and accept him for being gay, how could they understand him as a murderer of a child?





He nods slightly, eyes on her coffee instead of Aleka as he responds. “I-I g-get that.”
 
It's a relief when Julian doesn't press her for further details. Not that Aleka would give him, she'd rather throw a twenty onto the table and walk out, because this is not something that's up for discussion. But then, she sees him nod and allows herself to relax a little.


As much as she doesn't want to press the boy with the same question, she'd be lying if she didn't admit that she was curious about him. Something about the caution and fear in his wide eyes made her wonder what exactly made him that way. It's a touchy subject though, and Aleka probably knows that better than most. But she really does want to know the boy, or at least, what got him to this point, even if it might be as vague as her own answer.


She doesn't want the rest of the coffee, not really anyway. Her stomach's gone sour, but there's something about the warmth in the cup, that way it settles in her stomach and spreads through the rest of her limbs, that makes her continue drinking it. Glancing up at the boy, finger tapping against the mug, she draws in a breath and runs her fingers through her hair.


"What about you?"
 
What about him...it was a difficult question for Julian to answer even to himself, let alone to Aleka, whom he barely knew. And what answer was she looking for, what answer would she accept? Would she want the truth from him? Did she care what the answer was at all, or was she asking because it was expected of her to reciprocate? How much could she accept of the truth before it was too much for her, leaving him alone again?


Julian didn't quite understand how or when this had happened, but somehow within the past few minutes of this painfully slow conversation with Aleka, he had begun to care what she thought of him, whether or not she remained with him. He had spent far too much time alone, and though he didn't and couldn't trust Aleka, he wanted to. He was so tired of being alone.


"I did s-some b-bad things," was his only response. "I-I...I h-had to leave."
 
Bad things? What kind of bad things? As much as Julian had Aleka's interest, she knew that it wasn't going to be right to ask, since he clearly didn't want to talk to it. But... what had he done? Was he dangerous? Could he hurt her? He seemed relatively harmless, and almost like he was afraid of HER, so... well, she could always keep her distance and her guard up. It wasn't like he was going to be around for long anyway, no one ever was. They usually died, were arrested, or just got sick of her.


The question seemed to find their way up Aleka's throat before she could bother to stop it, "Are you dangerous, Julian?"


Of course, because someone who's dangerous would, without any hesitation at all, answer that question honestly. It was too late to back down now, too late to take it back because now it was out there. Nervously, her face cracked into a smile and Aleka returned her focus to the table, making circles onto it with her coffee mug.


"Stupid question." She muttered and sucked in another breath, "How old are you?"
 
(Ok going to redo my original post from the point Kyle attacked)


*Kyle enraged at the sight of seeing Chris go limp and die at Anthony's feet, Anthony totally ignores the fact that she's dead at his feet and shoves her to the side with his foot so he can get to Xander and Rika, Kyle reels back his fist and thrust it forward blasting a pillar of fire at Anthony, the fire engulfs Anthony and jumps around waving his arms in a panic, he leaps over the rail to the ground and rolls around on the ground. But then he stands up the flames seem to be getting sucked into his hands until they're all gone he looks at the closest people to him Steven and Kat and starts to walk towards them smirking* Kid has gotten stronger but not quite strong enough, What about you Kitten you gotten any powers yet or are you still the same old useless little bitch! *He aims his fist at Steven and Kat and fires the same fire at them that Kyle shot at him, Steven turns so that the flames strike his broad back his powers kick in and protect them both.* Oh I see Kitten you still don't have any powers so you spread your legs and this guy comes running to save you..Nothing has change you always needs to be saved. Well to bad cause I'm gonna snapped your neck and end all of that today.
 
(just as a note, Macal, it seems clear that if you put “b*itch) it’s replaced by “awesome person” so try to remember to put astericks? Haha. Also, Primal things. From now on, if you still want her, feel free to post for Alice. And because you redid your post, Macal, I’m reusing most of my previous one with some stuff added in to go off yours)





Madison hastily pulls herself up off the ground and scrambles out of the way, not keen on joining in on the fray or getting caught in the midst of it. Both Anthony and Alicia seem to be fully ignoring her and she intends to keep it that way. The better to observe from a safe distance and thoroughly enjoy herself with...this was better than any television show she could imagine, anything she had ever seen before, and she watched every moment, enthralled.


Rikarah, still trying to regain some semblance of energy and control, is nevertheless weak and badly shaking from Alicia's mental attack, her arms trembling too badly to allow her to pull herself up from the ground. She folds herself into a ball and covers her temples with both hands, trying to provide a meager shield against attack. When Anthony comes towards her, she knows that it is not possible for her to defend herself...but it is Alice's small hands that reach out to both her and Katarina, yanking them close to her and including them instinctively into her protective shield. Alice is still crying hard as she grips both Katarina's and Rikarah's arms, but they are now within the confines of her protection and cannot be harmed by Alicia or Anthony. Still breathless, in pain, Rikarah tries to clear her thoughts enough to be able to try again against Alicia from within Alice's protection, even as she knows her chances of impacting her are low.


Katarina cannot register what Anthony has said about her relationship, or lack of one, to him and her mother, to Kyle and to Alice and Chris. Clutching Alice's arm, she nearly hyperventilates as her eyes shift rapidly between everyone, trying to follow it all. She hears what Anthony says to her, calling her kitten, calling her weak and useless, a b*tch, but none of it can entirely make sense. She holds Alice, her eyes darting from her “parents” to the other kids to Chris’s body to Alice and Rikarah near her, and tries just to breathe.


Alicia, distracted when Anthony rose again, let Xander off the hook, turning to face him as she cursed. "Well if you're going to be alive after all, make yourself useful already, get these damn kids back in the apartment and in control!"


As she speaks Xander regains some strength, enough to send another stream of electricity shooting out, but his aim is off and splits between her and Anthony rather than hitting only her. Still Alicia convulses, in pain, before she straightens, pointing at him as she attempts to regain control.





“Come here, Xander. Now. Come here, take this gun, and point it at your brother. Now.”





**


“Are you dangerous, Julian?”





It was a reasonable question, one that Julian’s words and actions had clearly lead up to her asking. For most people, it would have been easy to answer. For Julian, not so much.





He was dangerous, strictly speaking. He had killed a child. An aggressive, violent little girl was obsessed with making him suffer and possibly had killed his boyfriend. His boyfriend had died due to his being involved in his life.





But Julian himself had no desire to hurt people. He couldn’t imagine doing so, even if they were hurting him. He hated what he had done in the past and what he was now, and would rather kill himself now than ever let it happen again.





Did that make him dangerous, or safe? Or somewhere in between?





“I…I d-don’t know,” he said finally, truthfully. The second question was easier to answer. “I’m…I’m fifteen. You?”
 
There was so much noise. Even the safety of the bubble Alice had managed to put up around herself, Katarina and Rikarah, it did nothing to block out the sound from it all. When her sister pulled her flush against her body, Alice nearly lost her grip on Rikarah's hand and let out a soft, watery cry before clamping her fingers down more tightly on the other girl's hand, while at the same time trying to almost hide beneath Kat's arm.


She didn't want to see this, didn't want to see any of it, because it felt like this was it. Even knowing that she was safe, there was still something in her, some little creature made out of fear nipping at her thoughts. Alicia and Anthony are still there, and as long as they're there, nobody is safe.


((sorry, it's kind of eh, but I should have her figured out more in a couple posts, still trying to get caught up on all of the other stuff that's been going on with everything that's been going on, since a lot of stuff happened before I came aboard))


--------


How could someone not know if they were dangerous? Course, it also begged the question of how could she expect someone to answer that with a straight and honest yes or no anyway? Aleka had given up entirely on her coffee, and wondered vaguely if maybe they should leave... but where else would they go? It would be fairly easy to turn and truck it back to Times Square, but that still felt like way too many people to be around just then.


She was jumpy, Julian was obviously jumpy... being around crowds that large might not be the greatest idea. And he was fifteen? Aleka, for whatever reason, had thought he might be younger. On some level, though, she was happier that he wasn't. At least he wasn't, like, twelve or something, but he certainly didn't look fifteen.


"Sixteen," She answered when he shot the question back at her. "Barely, but I'm sixteen. Also super dangerous for your finances if your wallet is easy to grab."
 
Sixteen. That had been about what Julian was guessing. She looked and acted like she was a little older than him, or at least how he felt, but not by much. It wasn't that Aleka seemed more mature, exactly...just...older. Like she knew or understood more about life. And this was probably very true. Julian felt that he understood very little, and was certain of far less.


Dangerous for wallets...meaning, he guessed, that she stole. That wasn't surprising to Julian. He had stolen himself before, though generally he was too frightened to try.


"I...I d-don't have a wallet," he said, trying to smile. "S-so I guess I'm okay."


Playing with his napkin, slowly shredding it, he looked up at Aleka, asking after several moments of trying to plan the words exactly, "W-where are you going n-next?"


It wasn't that he wanted her to ask him to go with her, exactly. But if she did, he might not say no.


**


She can feel her sister shaking. Alice is shaking, trying to duck beneath Katarina's arm, and automatically Katarina tightens her grasp on her, wanting to thrust her behind her, out of harm's way. She always had before. Alice was the youngest, and it was Katarina's responsibility to get in between her and their parents when they were threatening her.


But now it's Alice protecting her, keeping her and Rikarah out of danger, and Katarina feels like something of a failure because of it. Rikarah too is trembling beside her, her eyes tightly closed, and her lips are moving slightly; she seems to be putting out enormous effort mentally, towards Xander? Towards Alicia? Katarina doesn't know, until she catches her whisper.


"Put the gun down no Xander no put the gun down don't listen to her put the gun down..."


Her face is very white and she is breathing in erratic gasps, seeming on the verge of losing consciousness, but she grimly struggles on. Katarina slowly tightens an arm around her waist, praying that she will be able to hold on, or that if she can't, that she can support her weight if she faints...or that Alice's protective circle will contain her falling form. She can't be sure of any of this.


Behind Alice's shield Madison is still crouched to the ground, behind it, effectively shielded as well. She watches with glowing eyes as everyone effectively ignores her, giving her the perfect view of the scene from relative safety.


Xander's hand shakes, and as he steps forward, taking the gun from Alicia, he swings it slowly towards Kyle. But the move is reluctant, and his eyes shift towards Rikarah.
 
Julian's attempt at humor is actually a little endearing to Aleka and she smiles weakly at his wallet joke and asks the waitress for the check as she walks by. Where WAS she going after this? There's always the option of going back to Times Square for a while and see if she could snag some more money and maybe find somewhere to crash tonight. It seemed as though the temperature was dropping gradually and she doesn't necessarily want to sleep outside if she doesn't have to.


"I really don't know," Aleka answers finally. "I usually hang around Times Square 'cause there are better marks there... tourists, you know? But..." she shrugs. "Might try to find a shelter or something to stay at for the night, try to stay out of the cold best I can, I guess."


It suddenly occurs to her that she might not mind Julian being around. He's shy and almost too scared to speak to her, but he seems sweet enough, and she hasn't had company in a while. Even if it's just for a few hours or a day, or whatever, it'd be nice to have someone around for a while. "Why? Wanna come with?"


--------


As badly as she wants to hide and not look at what's happening, Alice follows Katarina's gaze over to Xander, gun leveled at Kyle. Eyes wide, she calls out Xander's name, trying to get his attention, to make him put the stupid gun down and stop listening to Alicia.


She hears Rikarah saying something, recognizing her brother's name on the older girl's lips and glances over to her, one hand reaching up to tug on the ends of her hair the way she always did when things got out of control. The hand gripping at Katarina's shirt tightens, and she wants to yell for Xander again, but what would happen if she scared him and pulled the trigger? Then it would be HER fault that Kyle is dead.


"Kat..." Her voice is much smaller than she remembered, and her mind is going so fast that it takes work to keep their shield up. Alice's wide eyes looked up at her sister's again, breathing rapid and desperate for something to just calm it all down, but Alicia and Steven are too strong. They've always been too strong for them, just like they were back home but now it's gotten even worse. She'd been planning to say something to her, but already she's forgotten what it was that she was planning to say and so she just looked up at her, tears finally spilling past her eyes and sliding down her cheeks.


Finally, the words come, though they weren't what she'd been wanting to say, it seems to work now more than ever. "No one's gonna help us, are they?"
 
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Times Square. Julian usually avoided the place specifically for that reason. It was true that Central Park was often crowded with tourists, but it seemed different to him, somehow. It was a more open space, with trees and more remote areas he could escape to if he started to feel anxious or afraid, and he wasn't constantly reminded there of his lack of money, as he would be simply strolling down Times Square and seeing all the places he could not afford to eat or buy from. The first time he had ever seen Times square, he had become so overstimulated he had nearly had a panic attack. He had ended up doubled over, hyperventilating, and only the continued stream of people passing him, completely ignoring him, had ironically comforted him that he was in fact practically invisible to them.


He almost didn't hear Aleka's offer to him, and when it did finally register, he had to stop and think about it. The idea was a terrible one, really. He barely knew Aleka, and she was a girl. He had just lost Jillian, how could he even think of trying again? He would be hurt by Aleka, or worse, she would come to a bad end just for being associated with him. Julian knew this.


But he was so tired of being alone and frightened...and with Aleka, he felt less so. Somehow it didn't seem to him as though Madison, if she encountered Aleka, would be able to influence her. Aleka seemed beyond that.


"I g-guess," he decided after a few moments, his voice very soft at first, but then, after another deep breath, he nodded, saying more certainly, "Yes. I...I do."


**


This was the most exciting thing Madison had witnessed in quite some time.


She had thought it was interesting to toy with Alice in the park, to make her think that she was her friend and protector, all the while knowing she would eventually draw her to Alicia. She had thought it awesome to watch Alicia finally take her and to know that Alice at least partly understood that Madison had betrayed her. But this...seeing Anthony practically die and then come back to life? Seeing all these people in danger, all these people on the potential verge of death? Just watching them made a thrill that was almost sexual stir through Madison, and her heart throbbed heavily with her enjoyment. It was all she could do to keep from smiling.


Katarina was not able to identify with this. She held onto Rikarah as tightly as she could as the girl listed further to the side, her eyes barely open now as she continued to whisper, still determinedly looking straight at Xander, trying to exert influence on him. Katarina could feel herself beginning to sweat even as she shuddered with her fear, the arm around Alice tightening as well. Her teeth were chattering as she spoke to Alice, and she couldn't look down at her; she couldn't look away from Xander and his gun.


"Alice...Xander, d-don't..."


"Shoot him," Alicia stated, her words very clear, her eyes boring into his. She came around to stand very close to him, nearly whispering in his ear, and it seemed to Katarina that she would simply take the gun away and shoot him herself if he refused. "Shoot him, Alexander DeSanto...he is not your brother. He never was and never will be. He blinded Christina, he destroyed your family. Shoot him...shoot him now."


And Katarina saw his hand shaking, his finger twitch on the trigger, as though he very badly wanted to, even as sweat beaded on his forehead as he desperately continued to resist. Alicia spoke again.


"Do it."


Macal Cord (come on, lots of actionnnnn lol)
 
*Kyle looked hurt at first seeing the gun pointed at him, but then he looked at his brother and smiled* It's ok Xander, I know whatever happens you don't want to hurt me, no matter what they say you're my big brother..We're a family. We didn't need them all this time to be a family so who cares what they say. *He looks at Alica as flames start to build up around his hands.* Mom...No you're not my mom, you've never been my mom, you didn't do anything that a mom does, you never tried to protect us or comfort us..you never loved us. So if you're telling the truth that you're not my real mom...Then good I'm happy now knowing you're nothing to us. *Anthony pretends to cry mocking Kyle, even being as bold to turn away from Steven and Kat to watch the showdown.* Oh for god sakes woman if you're gonna push him to shoot then do it already! Stop playing stupid games! *That pissed Steven off and he rushes forward at Anthony's back planning on delivering a devastating blow to his lower back but Anthony senses it coming and steps to the side, catching Steven by the wrist and with ease he twist it lifting Steven off his feet, over his head and slams him down onto his back, with enough force to cause the floor to cave in a little. Anthony then using Steven's own arm as leverage places his foot on his neck.* I don't know who you are to these brats but I bet if I break your neck no one will miss you! *Steven struggles against Anthony but can't get free all he can do is look at Kat and Alice and think he's failing them...Kyle looks down at Anthony and Steven, now his eyes are fully glowing with fire.* NO! YOU DON'T DARE HURT HIM OR I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU!


*Steven can't stand to hear Kyle speak like that the whole point of him coming was to make sure Kyle didn't kill anyone but he's pinned down the only thing he can do now is try to get through to Xander. He struggles more to get into a position so he can speak.* XANDER STOP..YOUR BROTHER NEEDS YOU! ARE YOU REALLY GONNA KILL HIM OR LET HIM KILL SOMEONE!...AREN'T YOU SUPPOSE TO BE HIS BIG BROTHER AND PROTECT HIM? WELL WAKE THE HELL UP AND DO IT! PROTECT YOUR BROTHER!
 
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