Summary: Simone reflects in the afterlife.

Bitterness

2097

She was standing in a garden watching the image of her former husband informing Piper Tracy of her death, play out in the pond.

When it came to the Tracy's, Simone Giraudoux, AKA the former Destiny Angel of the Spectrum organisation, was very indifferent to them.

To her they were Paul's friends and only that, as far as she was concerned, while she would be civil to them when she was in a position where she had to talk to them, she was never going to go out of her way to make friends with them.

She was pretty sure Scott and Piper had picked up on this, and were pretty unsure of her and Paul's intentions when they got married, considering the fact she was the EX of another one of Paul's close friends, Conrad Lefkon, their whole relationship must have seemed like a walking red flag to them.

"It was," Scott's voice growled from behind her. "And it appears our hunch that the relationship between the two of you wasn't going to last was correct."

Simone turned to face Paul's childhood friend, "Of all the people I expected to chew me out over my treatment of Paul in the last few years," she commented. "You were not the person I was expecting."

"Let me guess, you were expecting, Darcy or Paul's parents," Scott replied dryly. "Darcy was reborn not long after she died, she was desperate to return to Paul's side, as for Paul's parents they have no desire to talk with you at this time."

"Reborn?" Simone asked.

"Some souls, who didn't find their mates or had their time cut off too soon, choose to be reborn not long after they die," Scott replied. "But the catch to that is, they become a whole new person, they will have no memories of their previous lives."

"So why haven't you, chosen to be reborn?" Simone replied darkly. "I'm sure you want to be with Piper."

"What's the point in that?" Scott replied. "I'm not ready to have a new beginning, and I won't be until my responsibilities, to my family have been fulfilled."

Simone snorted softly, that was Scott Tracy alright, always watching out for people he cared about like the over protective smother hen he was, "So what are you doing talking to little old me?" She snarked. "Don't you have your family members to look out for?"

"Are you seriously forgetting that Kallen is my nephew?" Scott snapped back. "Like it or not, Simone, from the moment Clara's soul called out to him you have been part of the family."

The image in the pond changed to the time she and Paul visited the Tracy's at Gran Rocha, when Jeff and Scott had offered Paul a job leading one of the IR Hatchling teams, when she was pregnant with Clara.

It was a job that Paul had to turn down, because of his Mysteron status, which was a shame and a relief, a shame because the job offered similar challenges and better pay, compared with Spectrum, with the added bonus of not getting shot at every other day, and it could have meant that Clara could of had a normal upbringing…

A relief, because a part of her already knew then, that her relationship with Paul was going to end badly…

But that was not what Scott was showing her, it was and image of a four-year-old Kallen following her around like a lost puppy, "For the record, Kallen following you around had nothing to do with you," Scott replied. "He was only responding to the call of Clara's soul," the image changed to when she first met Adult Kallen at Skybase, where Kallen had barely noticed her when she entered the room to talk to her daughter. "It's a bit of a family trait, a part of us always know when we met the one, no matter how old they are."

Simone frowned, while it was nice to know that wasn't just being an annoying brat the first time she had met him, it still didn't change the fact that she could barely stand her son-in-law.

And it wasn't as if Kallen hadn't done anything wrong to make her feel that way.

Rebecca and Serena were right, she had been acting like a jealous shrew, being passive aggressive with Kallen, for quite some time before her death, wanting the type of relationship he had with her daughter, the type of relationship that she had with Conrad, before…

"Is Conrad dead?" Simone asked, softly.

Scott frowned, "Unfortunately, for Conrad," he replied. "No, he is not, he will live for as long as the Mysteron that shares his body keeps him alive, something manages to kill him or he dies of old age, which could be more than hundred years from the time of your death considering what he has become."

Simone spun around to look at Scott, "How do you know that for certain?" She asked.

Scott shrugged, "Being dead, means we have the means to access the knowledge of everything that has happened before," he replied. "When Kallen was attacked, I wanted to know what had happened to him, hence, finding out about the Mysterons," he sighed. "Not that I can actually tell Kallen and Paul what I know, but if they aren't killed they're going to live for at least one hundred and fifty years, probably even longer, without trying.

Simone stared at Scott, "So, it was good fortune for Clara, that Kallen was Mysteronized," she replied dryly. "Not that the rest of the Tracy's would agree."

"There are times that I wish could slap my brother's stupid, when it comes to Kallen," Scott replied darkly. "Alan and John, especially, cutting off communication with Spectrum was a bad idea, and they are not just hurting Kallen by doing so," a flash of a very pregnant Sophia, flashed across the pond. "Things have escalated and they don't even realise how badly it has."

Simone brought back the image of Sophia, and then pulled up the image of Adam just as he learnt that he had a daughter from a previous relationship before he had joined Spectrum, "Well this is awkward," she commented after a moment. "Is there anything we can do?"

"Other than grabbing some popcorn and watching the car crash unfold?" Scott replied. "Nothing, that's the problem with being dead, we can only watch, we can't interfere."

Simone sighed, as she remembered a joke Elaine had cracked at her daughter's wedding about the week of impromptu leave Daniel had taken with Sophia a couple of months before, it now seems like it was more of a prediction than a joke and Adam and Serena were going to become grandparents before Paul did.

She shook her head, when Spectrum and International Rescue finally buried the hatchet, things would be explosive, she was sure of that.

She sighed and changed the image in the pond back to a current one of Paul talking with Charles Grey in person, "Contrary to what you might think, I still care about him," Simone told Scott. "And I don't regret Clara, but we should have never been married, we were only meant to be friends, it's a shame I didn't realise that sooner, and let him go," she looked back at Scott. "I know I acted like a royal bitch, to him and any woman I thought was going to steal him away from me, but I was never truly his was I?"

Scott put a hand on her shoulder, "No, your soulmate's current form is Conrad Lefkon," he answered. "Darcy Silver, was the woman that was meant to be with Paul."

Simone snorted, "I figured as much," she commented, as a thought occurred to her. "You said Darcy reincarnated?"

"I did."

"Where is she now?"

Scott stared at Simone, as her turned his attention to the pond, "You know," he replied. "I never asked that quest…" he trialed off as an image of a red-haired, blue-eyed woman appeared on the surface.

Simone burst out laughing hysterically, she recognised this woman, and she knew full and bloody well Scott did too.

Suddenly she realised why she felt so threatened by this particular Angel pilot even though she hadn't done anything to her, "You were talking about grabbing some popcorn?" She asked him.

Scott groaned as he facepalmed, "Of all the people she could have been," he muttered. "I wasn't expecting it to be her."

Simone looked back the image of the woman as she talked to Adam's daughter, "Well, Darcy," Simone spoke to the image. "Or should I say Dianne, you're about to find your man again…"

"I hope you're ready for the ride…"