Blaze didn't fight back. Maybe she was shocked at Haleigh's level of anger... Haleigh'd never lashed out so violently before... but Blaze had crossed the line, and after all this time of tension building up, Haleigh finally snapped. Luckily for Blaze... Karen was quick to react. Haleigh knew Blaze kept sneaking looks at her, and Haleigh glared at her once for good measure, getting a square look at her own handiwork. She'd gotten all of Blaze on that one.. and she didn't regret doing it... for it had garnered exactly the effect she'd wanted... Blaze backed down... and then passed out. Even better... now I don't have to listen to her whiny ass. She thought callously, as Nicolas began to speak. She eyed him.... he seemed to be trying to intimidate her with his axe... she wasn't afraid. He was angry, she could tell, but she was stubborn and with Blaze out, Delilah at least NOT against her, and nothing else to lose, she figured it wouldn't hurt to give them a look into her reasoning.
With tightly measured patience, she begins: "STOP... please.... STOP calling...... that man..... MY FAMILY.... his is NOT.... my family. Yes.... I remember saying that, and i AM used to being watched. What I'm NOT used to is fishing around for your POINT.... did you forget to put one in there? Oh, is that so? The consequences are so much worse now? I really dont SEE that... because YOU are only seeing things from YOUR point of view... and in RETROSPECT, you can SAY you would've been better about hearing it before, but would you REALLY?? How can you know that?? Let me TELL you what I was 'sitting on'. I KNEW Stavros Cassadine had a contract with Mystech to provide them with WEAPONRY, including small and large arms, incendiary and explosive devices, tanks, the like. The SAME stuff I deal with every day. I did NOT know he was behind Master Mold until the NIGHT BEFORE LAST... because I shut HIM AND MY SISTER out of my life. I didn't want to know how deep in the game he was and by the time I KNEW he was a threat, it was TOO late... because he wasn't a threat ANYMORE. You don't GET it, do you? Mystech was in DISARRAY... Malice was the ONLY one left at the helm whan Master Mold was released. Mystech was a dying breed and MM was a LAST DITCH EFFORT to wipe us out. Stavros was only ever in it FOR THE MONEY and he didnt give a damn about Mystech or WHAT they were going to use his weapons for... but he's no fool, and I know him well enough to know that when Mystech began to crumble, Stavros would get the hell outta dodge... and why would Malice stop him?? She ALREADY had an armoury collected from years of dealing with him... she had no NEED for him. And if you look at the records, what I guessed turned out to be true. Cassadine and Mystech amicably parted ways and were no longer business partners BEFORE MM was released. HOW do you think Cassadine avoided being publicly fingered for being in business with the now OUTED Mystech Corporation? So just put it together here... Cassadine isn't even a THREAT to us anymore. He's going to go look for someone ELSE to sell his weapons to, and Mystech is just a satisfied customer to him. The ONLY reason it's an issue is because Alycia is pursuing him for being behind MM. OTHERWISE... this never would have come to the surface... because it would be IRRELEVANT."
Finally, Morgan and Persephone returned, and Haleigh had only a split second to BEAT the others to explaining... a luxury she hadn't had TIME for
when it came to Alycia and Karen. She jumped at the chance.
"Morgan... I.... have something to tell you... and you're not going to like it. Alycia is headed to Greece... to go after the man responsible for designing Master Mold... my... FORMER stepfather. Alycia's very upset... and I'm afraid I made her that way when I insisted she left my SISTER out of her plans. Its... a very long, complicated story... that I JUST got done explaining to THEM... So if it wouldn't be too much to ask... can you just... do what hardly ANYONE here seems to want to do... TRUST me for a while? Alycia needs our help... and so does my little sister... I can explain everything LATER."
It was the closest Haleigh had ever come to pleading, and she almost sounded apologetic and in this moment, she'd just done what everyone SAID she should have done in the first place... and how Morgan would react to this would be telling indeed. Would she truly be receptive... or would she react as Haleigh had predicted?
