Hello everybody, this is my first ever total drama story featuring Heather and Cody. Coming back from the most recent TDROI episode, Cody decides to give Heather a piece of his mind. Things don't turn out as he thought they would however and his perspective may be changed forever. Rated T for language and a little tension. Bold=emphasis, "dialogue", Italics=thoughts.

"You're a terrible person you know that?" Heather looked over from the juice bar at Casa de Losers where she and the old and eliminated cast members were currently waiting to see Cody standing behind her. The resort was empty for that day, the majority of the cast having headed into town for the day. She had gotten back from her cameo appearance in TDR and had been sitting at the table, just waiting for the heckling to start. For Cody to be the one to throw down the gauntlet was...amusing. "Interesting question, you'd like to provide some evidence for that claim?"

Cody blinked at this, it wasn't the reaction he had been expecting from the girl. If anything he figured she would tell him to shut up at the very least.

"We'll where to begin, should I start with the things you've done to people, how you took pleasure in their pain. Or perhaps I should show how you took Lindsay who trusted you and how you threw her under the bus? Or maybe, just maybe the way you destroyed Gwen and Trent's relationship for a stinking advantage?" This last comment made Heather start laughing, something that got Cody's ire up. "I fail to see what's so funny about that?"

Heather got her laughter under control, wiping a tear from her eye. "Oh Cody you good natured fool, you really think that I destroyed their relationship? Between Gwen's self-serving sense of right and wrong and Trent's mental breakdown, that thing was doomed from the start. I just greased the wheels a little." Cody crossed his arms, a frown apparent on his face. "And Lindsay?"

"Lindsay is a dumb bimbo with big tits who has trouble remembering her boyfriend's name. If it wasn't for her looks she wouldn't even be on this show. I saw her for the pawn she is and used her, if I hadn't someone else simply would have."

Cody snorted at this, sitting in the stool next to the queen bee. "You know, not everybody is like you Heather." Heather looked away and closed her eyes, putting the drink to her lips. "Your right, the majority of them are much worse than I am." It was Cody's turn to laugh this time, Heather looking at the small geek with an upraised eyebrow.

"Don't believe me huh, we'll I have a little challenge for you. Pick a contestant from our group, any contestant except DJ and yourself and I'll can almost guarantee that they'll be as bad as me. You win I'll give you a kiss, I win and...we'll I win."

Cody leaned back in his chair, thinking hard for a minute. He felt like this might be a trick, some other ploy by the raven haired girl. Looking at her simply amused face though he had to conclude there was nothing happening that could benefit her from this.

"Alright...explain to me...Beth. Why do you hate her?" Heather sat back, eyes closed as the gears in her head turned.

"Because she pretends to be this nice down to earth person when really she's just a parasite who latches onto others. Her particular obsession with becoming popular and accepted sickens me." Cody looked at her askance, unable to believe what she was saying. "You insulted Leshawna when you brought up her not being popular, how can you judge her for wanting it as much as you do?"

"Simple, because I had to kick and claw my way to the top like any other girl before me, with makeup and the right clothes and the attitude to go with it. Others can hate me for that, but I earned my spot at the top of the pecking order. But Beth, Beth didn't have the drive or ability to get where I am, so she did what insecure girls like her always try to do. They cling onto somebody who is tough enough and tries to ride with them to the top. Beth only stopped being my lackey when she realized I had no intention of bringing her with me. She a parasite, and that's all. Next person."

Cody wanted to argue with her, wanted to prove her wrong. But the more he thought about it the more he remembered how Beth had clung to Heather, and how after she was eliminated she did the same to Lindsay. As well as when she took Lindsay's DNA and betrayed her for Courtney. Feeling shaken by this new image of his friend he looked at Heather, hands clasped together nervously.

"I don't exactly agree with you, but I can't argue with you at the moment. What about Geoff?" Heather scoffed at this one, looking at him incredulously.

"I thought you might bring up party animal, this will be too easy. During most of season one he acted like the nice guy, he honestly had me fooled for a while. But during that episode he was helping Duncan and the others torture Harold we got a glimpse of his true side. It only got stronger as he became the host of the aftermath show. Dropped anvils, bombs, wrecking balls, an electric chair, he was willing to put us into dangerous situations, all for a laugh."

"So would you." Cody said, scratching the back of his head. "Perhaps, but only if it was for gain or revenge, needless cruelty is wasted energy. You may see my actions as damnable, but my actions always had a reason to them, however selfish they may be. Geoff did it just to get his rocks off, and nobody really seemed to care" Cody frowned at this, trying to think of an argument. Suddenly one hit him, causing him to look up triumphantly.

"But it wasn't like with you who does these things on your own. Duncan prompted Geoff to pick on Harold, hell he even got DJ to do it. And Chris-" Heather cut him off, irritation in her eyes.

"Two things, first DJ is a nice guy but is an absolute coward and wimp, a three year old could order him around if they had enough willpower. Second, you can't create or cultivate cruelty in a person, you can only give it a push in the right direction. It was Hitler who helped push the German people to commit the holocaust, does that excuse the actions of those who carried out his will? That they were simply following orders?"

Cody didn't answer, knowing there was no argument he could make. The image he had of the fun loving Geoff was being pushed out by the cruel one he had seen on the show. He came out of it as Heather continued.

"We're all responsible for our actions, I understand the path I follow will alienate people from me, but that is why Geoff is so despicable to me. He acts so kind one moment, only to be cruel to those who nobody will speak up for. And yet he feels like he can sit on that show and judge others for their flaws. He's crueler than I am, for the simple fact I don't deny my actions or guilt."

Cody didn't say anything, as he had placed his hands on the counter to try and get them to stop shaking. Part of him wanted to run from this, to leave so he couldn't hear her venomous words. And yet he couldn't pull away, even as he felt something shifting in him, something he knew if he allowed it could never go back. His internal conflict was stopped when he felt Heathers hand on his shoulder, her eyes the same cruel black they always were, and yet they seemed less harsh, less icy.

"This is...hard for you Cody, and not because these people are your so called friends. But because you want to see the good in everybody, even people like Duncan and Chris, even me. But this attempt to see the angel on one shoulder blinds you from the devil on the other. If you wish to be free you have to open your eyes to both." N-No this can't be right...this can't be the way things are!

"I-I still have one more person to put forth." Heather removed her hand from his shoulder, her eyes reverting back to their usual hard edge. "Indeed you do, so who will it be? Trent the future mental patient? Leshawna the violent scheming ghetto wannabe? Or do you want to give Alejandro a shot?" Heather said this with a confident grin, leaning back in her stool with a relaxed manner

Cody's mind was racing as he struggled to think of someone, anyone that was free from some despicable act. It was hard though, every time someone popped in his head he saw them doing something terrible. Bridgette cheating with Alejandro, Ezekiel and his sexist comments, Courtney...Cody shuddered, remembering the look of rage on the girls face when she had chased Harold down the lamp post.

Wait that's it! Harold is perfect for this, he's nice, he stood up to Duncan and he's loyal to his friends. She can't possibly hate him. He looked at her with a confident smile on his face, knowing with Harold he couldn't lose.

"Gwen." The moment the name came out of his mouth two things happened. The first was his face shifted into an expression of horror, while her face shifted into a predatory grin at the sight of his face. Wait, why did I say that, I meant to say Harold!

"I can tell you didn't mean to bring up Weird Goth Girl, but I'm sorry, no take backs. Now I could bring up a lot of things, her relationships with Trent and Duncan being the most prominent but that would be too easy. So to give you a fighting chance I'll ask you, do you think Gwen deserves your friendship?"

"O-Of course she does, Gwen has been good to me." Heather's grin shifted into a sympathetic smile, her eyes, heathers eyes actually showing sympathy. She stood up, towering over the smaller boy. "Really, after all the times she's hit you, all the times she told you to go away and ignored you? How she never even considered giving you a chance, but was willing to go out with a gutter punk like Duncan?"

"I...n-no y-you're just stretching things, making things larger th-than they are." Heather chuckled in a sad way at this, closing the distance between the two. He tried to scoot himself back but that was a mistake as his stool began teetering back, causing him to start falling back. Her hands however grasped the chair, leaving him perched in a precarious position, feeling as if he was going to fall. Whether that was off the stool or something else entirely he couldn't tell, as his vision was blocked by the sight of Heathers hair, the scent of her perfume pervading his smell, strong yet bittersweet. He could sense her lips close to his ear, her breath wafting by him. When she spoke it was in a low tone, almost a whisper that he had to strain to hear.

"You can lie to me Cody, he'll you can lie to the world till your face turns blue, but you can't lie to yourself. Now tell me, does Gwen deserve to have your friendship, your admiration, your love?" Cody's mind was racing, he felt a million things moving through him but he couldn't comprehend them. It was simply too much, her words, her smell, her presence, all the painful truths about Geoff, about Beth all of them swirling together until even Gwen-

"No, she doesn't." With those two words all the different things that had been swirling in him came crashing down, the thoughts that had been secretly plaguing him for the past two seasons finally shutting up. He felt himself righted as Heather rebalanced him, pulling her head back far enough to look him in the eyes again. "And the truth will set you free."

Before the meaning of those could set in she pressed her lips against his, his eyes widening as large as dinner plates. For the few brief moments they were connected he forgot about the discussion they had, the terrible truths he finally recognized, all he could think of was how someone so cruel could have lips that were so soft. Eventually she pulled away and he felt himself torn, wanting to feel more but hating himself for it.

"Why?" It was a question, but in some ways it also wasn't. Heather shrugged, eyes boring into his. "Consolation prize. And now you can never say that I'm without mercy." She picked up the last of her drink, gulping it down and setting it down, the empty glass clunking with the counter.

"I suppose though you're not asking so much about the kiss but about this, why I simply didn't storm of or blow you off?" When Cody nodded she put her chin in her hand.

"Perhaps it's because I have some shred of sympathy for you, watching you try to be so good when almost no one else will. Perhaps I feel some sort of connection with you, watching as you struggle to get what you want. Or maybe I'm just doing this for my own pleasure, watching you squirm. The real question you should be asking is why did you listen?" Cody didn't say anything, knowing yet not acknowledging the dark truth that scratched away at him.

"Harold, DJ, Owen, Izzy, Noah and you. What is it that makes you similar to me but separates us from the others?" Cody thought about this but was drawing blanks. Shrugging Heather simply continued.

"We're true to our nature and we don't apologize or make excuses for it. We follow our own path, wherever that may lead us. Most people are just neutral, they aren't good or evil, they just go along with whatever benefits them the most at the time. That or they just don't have the balls to say they don't care. It's both hypocritical and cowardly, and I rightly despise them."

"So what am I suppose to do, manipulate people like you, be a smart ass like Noah? Or should I go insane like Izzy?" Heather looked at him, a true frown pointed at him for the first time since this conversation began.

"None of the above, it's your life and I won't tell you how to live it. But there are two things you should do for yourself. First be true to who you are, whether that means staying as you are, or changing to meet what you truly are." Coming out of Heather's mouth the line would have sounded corny at any other time, but not this one. "And the second?" He asked, feeling drained more than he had in a long time.

"That's simple, don't ever apologize for living your life that way. The opinions of the majority weak will not stop me from achieving what I want, and neither should it stop you." From outside they heard vehicles pulling up to the resort, tires skidding on the pavement.

"That'll be the loser brigade. It was...amusing to talk with you Cody but I don't feel like talking with the inferior right now." Pushing herself from the bar she walked away, turning the corner just as the group entered the resort. As they split up some of the group approached him, obviously wanting something from him.

"Hey string bean, have you seen that witch Heather around?" Leshawna asked, a snarky grin plastered on her face. An image passed through his mind of Leshawna tackling Heather after she tried to warn her about Alejandro. He responded back in a dead voice, something that seemed off to the group. "No, I haven't seen her today."

"Maybe she hasn't come back yet, I mean she did crash into the lake. Those mutated creatures might have gotten her" Bridgette said this, causing the group for the most part to chuckle. Surprising (or perhaps unsurprisingly Cody wasn't sure) Noah, Izzy and Harold were nowhere to be seen in the group and DJ and Owen looked uncomfortable at this. When Gwen said this next statement he was surprised to feel a sliver of anger worm it's way into him.

"I very much doubt we'd be that lucky, Heather always has a way of slithering her way back." When Duncan started laughing at this, putting his arm around her Cody had enough. He stood up from the bar, walking casually but quickly away from the group.

"What's his problem anyway?" Leshawna asked the others, who merely shrugged in reply. Unbeknownst to them however a certain raven haired girl had not walked as far away as Cody thought, eavesdropping from around the corner at the group. Watching Cody walk away a grin crept its way onto her face, pleased with herself today. Hearing all she needed to she turned and headed towards her room, a brisk step in her walk.

We'll I may have lost the money, but I think I accomplished something better today. They all think they're better than me, but I can see something they can't, the true value of someone. Gwen has no idea what she's given up, but she will, once I've crushed her and every other person who thinks to get in my way. Only then will I shatter the little fantasy world they live in, one person at a time.

Reaching the doorway to her room she opened it up just as Gwen and Duncan rounded the hallway. Spotting her they began moving towards her, no doubt to rub her loss in her face, when she simply smiled at them. Whatever plans they had, whatever self righteous things they were about to say all ended at the sight of that predatory smile. Before they could recover or shrug of the intensity of it she entered her room, shutting the door behind her.

I win...so I win.

First total drama story, hope you all liked it. By the way this isn't my personal view of most of the characters, but I imagine it would be Heathers. And she's not completely off track with it either. We'll I'll decide whether to continue this or not but it was fun writing it. Let me know what you thought and Happy Saint Patrick's day.