I don't like you (Adeline)

Adeline let out a breath.  Constantine talking about drinking blood was making her stomach twist.  Sure, she knew some Others here needed it to live, but there were better ways of getting it than taking innocent life.  "You think it matters whether they knew the danger or not?" she asked.  "They didn't do anything wrong.  They didn't deserve to die."  Her hands curled into fists.  "Killing someone isn't just some willy-nilly thing you do for shits and giggles.  You do it if you have to, if there's no other option, if someone you love is in danger."  She paused, realizing that her anger was flaring up.  She let out another breath before saying "I guess that's the one single thing you and I have in common.  We're both willing to kill for the people we care about."  Constantine wanted to kill her for Cruella.  Adeline had ripped Ariel's heart out and crushed it with her bare hands in order to protect Pitch.  They were both willing to take life for someone they loved.  The only difference was that Constantine seemed to enjoy it while Adeline did it as a last resort.

Adeline let out a sigh.  Constantine firmly believed that Adeline's actions were wasteful 'cause everyone was going to die eventually.  She knew that, of course.  She wasn't stupid.  And in the grand scheme of things, saving those teenagers didn't change the world or radically alter things.  But to them, it made all the difference.  "Have you ever heard the story of a little girl who's walking on the beach, where a bunch of starfish have been washed up?" she asked.  "She's putting each one she finds back into the water.  A man finds her and says that she can't possibly make a difference, that she can't save every single starfish.  She picks one up, puts it back in the water, and says 'It made a difference to that one.'"  She looked up at Constantine.  "Sure, any good deed I do probably won't matter in the grand scheme of things, and eventually, we're all gonna die.  But what I did made a difference to them.  Not everyone can be saved, but that doesn't mean we just sit by and do nothing."  Adeline crossed her arms over her chest.  "That's my philosophy on the matter.  If we're not going to change each other's minds about it, then what's the point in debating about it?"  It would just be wasting time at this point.  And Adeline wasn't here for playful banter.  At least Constantine seemed to agree that killing for love was one thing similar about them, as well as how much they cared about Pitch.  "You have a funny way of showing love," she commented.  If they both really cared about Pitch, they sure had different ways of showing it.

"Better to have a silver lining than no lining at all," Adeline replied.  "If I hadn't cared, I wouldn't be here right now.  Instead, I'd be by Thrax's side and the two of us would probably be decimating everything in our paths."  It was only because she'd fought the darkness inside her that she'd resisted joining Thrax.  He'd thought turning her part-demon would be enough to turn her over.  But here she was now, not letting her evil nature control her.  She knew that her demon side would always be a part of her.  She wasn't denying it.  She just wasn't going to let it run her life.  She was going to be the one calling the shots.  "I still don't see the difference between me saving some teenagers and you saving some kids," she said.  "Don't you get it?  You say any of those teenagers probably just walked back in and died.  What about the kids you save?  You protect them now, but what about later?  You might save them from a demon today, but then they get run over by a car next week.  Or maybe they get older and end up getting murdered by someone."  She looked at Constantine in the eye.  "Going by your own logic, your philosophy is just as flawed as mine."  Adeline wasn't sure if she could get Constantine to see how hypocritical he was being right now, but if she could, maybe they could reach an impasse and she could go free.  It didn't matter to her what kind of philosophy he had.  If he wanted to save just kids and nobody else, then whatever.  She wasn't going to be in charge of him.  But if he saw her desire to save people as a "poisonous cancer" and his desire perfectly fine, then she considered that hypocrisy at its finest.  And bringing Pitch into this just made her mad.  "You really think you know what's best for Pitch?" she asked in an icy tone.  "Cutting people out of someone's life so you can have them do what you want is the textbook definition of abuse.  Why don't you just go all the way and stick him in a bottle like a genie?  Keep him trapped forever so you can keep him exactly how you want?"  

Adeline snorted.  "If I became a villain, we'd both have to face Pitch's wrath eventually.  And trust me, he wouldn't let us walk away."  Adeline could at least be assured of that much.  Hell, she'd always hoped that if her demon side ever did get the better of her and killing her was the only way to stop her, then someone would do it.  If not Pitch, then someone else.  It was what she would want.  Constantine seemed to have a loophole around Adeline's criticisms though: he went a little further with protecting kids and casted some extra spells to make sure they stayed safe.  Adeline hadn't exactly thought of doing that back at the Mina, but in the heat of the moment, there hadn't been time.  She hadn't even been sure if she, or anyone else she wanted to save, could get out of there alive.  She'd considered it a miracle her plan had even worked in the first place.  "So that's how your philosophy goes?" she asked.  "You decide who gets to live and die?  No offense, but you don't exactly seem to be the best judge of character."  The guy was running around with Cruella, for God's sake!  Could someone like that really be in charge of who got to live or die in this city?  At least Pitch had more honor about him.  He saved people when they were trouble, and took down those who wanted to do horrible things.  The "genie in a bottle" comment finally cracked Constantine's laid-back attitude though, and he had a bow and arrow pointed at Adeline in less than a second.  "Well guess what pal?  That's exactly what you're doing," she spat.  "You got hurt that Pitch doesn't want to be your friend anymore, so you've decided to try and make him like the Boogeyman again.  Well guess what?  He didn't go through all that hardship and become a better person to be told what to do by the likes of you!"  Adeline could feel her magical energy crackle and pop around her, swirling around her arms like purple smoke.  She didn't know what would be faster, her magic or Constantine's arrow, but that wasn't her priority right now.  She just wanted to make sure that Constantine didn't try to hurt Pitch.  "So what if he's going against his nature?  It's what he wants.  And you're trying to take that freedom away from him.  That's exactly what a master would do to a slave.  And that's exactly what Thrax wanted to do to me.  And let me tell you, I am not going to let you change him into something he doesn't want to be."  She took a step forward, her eyes burning as she looked at Constantine.  "I don't care about your philosophy about saving children or whatever you want to do.  You can have whatever twisted morals you want.  But if you think that I'm going to let you walk away and try to hurt Pitch, then you're wrong."