Participants:
| Scene Title | It's Time For Some Honesty |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Claire decides it's time her and Magnes had a talk. |
| Date | August 11, 2009 |
The Verb : Roof
This is a flat roof, the surface grey concrete, which covers a building with enough space for sixteen apartment units on each floor along with elevators, stairwells, and maintenance areas at the center. It can be reached by an elevator and/or staircase near the right edge, a large freight elevator just back of the center, and stairwells centered on front and back of the building. The back left corner holds the large machinery needed for climate control of the interior. Discreet cameras placed all around the edge monitor the roof.
Near the elevator and stairs from the penthouse below is a pair of picnic tables and a sophisticated grill for cooking outdoors and eating when the weather permits. It's covered by an open air tent of sorts for shelter when rain and snow come.
The right front corner, overlooking 4th Street, has a sturdy wooden structure ten feet back from the edge. Here there are outlets for plugging in amplifiers and other electrical devices should Cat choose to come up here and make music. It has a set of glass doors which can be folded aside to allow approaching the edge and closed to protect against weather.
The front left corner features four each of small apple and cherry trees with garden chairs here and there around them, a number of sunflowers, tomato plants, potatoes, carrots, onions, peas, and various other plants chosen for their appearance in pots or planters large enough to hold them. Someone with access to the roof likes to garden, and has been doing so at any chance.
After a call to Washington DC to give a message to her father, Claire sitting on the roof again legs dangling over, eyes her cellphone. She's still wearing the work clothes from the Lighthouse reconstruction, the old black tank top and blood stained clothing. The smears of blood are gone though, she took care of those at least.
She almost doesn't want to make the call, she almost doesn't want to know the truth. Flipping open the phone, Claire scrolls through numbers until she finds Magnes. The call is a short one. "Hey, can you come over? We need to talk." Her voice would sound tired and a bit well, down. Now she only needs him to fly on over. She tucks her cellphone away and touches a hand to her back, where a handgun is concealed at the small of her back, her pretty new shotgun would be too much. Casue even though she really doesn't believe he'd try to hurt her, she feels the need to protect herself. he is after all Company.
Arriving rather silently, not showing off or even alerting her to his presence, Magnes lands very lightly behind her, wearing his white Squirrel Girl shirt with the picture of her building a sand castle, some comfortable jeans, and his skates. He's not wearing his glasses though, instead opting for contacts tonight. "Hey, Claire." he greets, his own voice sounding rather down. "So, what did you wanna talk about?"
Claire doesn't look behind her when she shows up, she only motions to open space next to her on the roof. "Sit. It's time for some honesty. A little sooner then I wanted.." She looks up then, turns slightly so that she can look at him over her shoulder, "But on both our parts I think we need to do some coming clean. And I'm giving you a chance to talk to me, rather then just pushing you away. Cause I was tempted." Her words are soft in the darkness, "I was just very tempted to tell you to go away." She leans over and pats the ledge. "Come on. "
From her tone, every word she says, it's already obvious as Magnes slowly rolls over, then takes a seat on the ledge next to him. "I really hate Cardinal." he says under his breath, loud enough for her to hear. "I'm gonna be quiet until you've said everything you have to say, I won't jump to any conclusions, as tempting as it is, I'll hear you out." he assures, wanting to have a good idea of what she's thinking and feeling about whatever she knows.
"Actually, I think in this case… It's better that I found out now." Claire says giving him a small smile. "It'll make things hurt less, if this doesn't go well." She gives him a bit of a look. "He saved my life as well. I was a stranger to him. And he helped to save me. Even held me when I died from a simple cold." She glances at him out of the corner of her eye, see how that information sinks in as she is sitting here quite alive.
"He saved me, but, I've always had this sense of not being able to trust him. He's always sneaking around and I can never tell who's side he's on, because quite honestly, I barely know any of the sides." Magnes seems to have completely missed what she said, at least until it suddenly hits him. "Wait, what'd you say?"
"He even held me when I died in his arms. My lungs were shredded I literally drowned in my own blood." Claire says those words slowly, her head turning to look at him, her expression worried. "But… I got my ability back and.. well." She motions to herself and then her hands drop into her lap. "I didn't want you to judge me by what you read in a comic book. I also didn't want to shatter your illusions of what you thought I was now." She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "So… Why do you have no choice but to work for the Company?"
"I, wait, you're Claire Claire? Bennet Claire?" Magnes takes a moment to soak that in, staring at her for a very long moment. "This, well, it doesn't change much, except fulfilling my life's dream of dating someone from a comic, but other than that, I've already been through this. I'm friends with Hiro, I know no one's the same as they were back when the comics took place. Well, this is Badass Future Hiro who made a cameo in a comic, but I mean regular Hiro, he's nothing like that now."
He moves a hand to rest it on her shoulder, shaking his head. "You're more mature than you were back then, you seem like you have a better grasp on what you want in life, you're not just some cheerleader. Give me more credit than that, I mean, if you saw a vide of me four years ago, I'd think you'd give me a chance to have possibly changed. So…"
Suddenly moving on, he finally gets around to her question. "I'd say you can't tell this to anyone, but I won't put you in the position to have to be dishonest to me by agreeing, so if you must tell someone, at least have it be someone who can keep their mouth shut. Meaning, not Cardinal." he suggests, appearing very serious on his distrust of Cardinal, and anyone else he might not be able to trust. "I need the pardon, I can't risk them taking it away, then I'll probably have the Japanese government after me, homeland, possibly the Company itself. They already warned me that if I left, they'd make sure I was discredited, so no one would believe me, and my entire life would be screwed. Not to mention they're paying my way through college, even if it's just online classes, but yeah, I had no choice."
He removes his hand from her shoulder, slumping slightly, staring down at the street. "They were about to start showing me all over the news, they would have if Tracy didn't suppress the media, and I didn't wanna have to run for the rest of my life, I didn't wanna lose my friends, my job, all hope at some kind of normal life, then an agent came and gave me the offer. It was my only choice, I didn't know what else to do, I was desperate. I promised Abby I'd never let them compromise my ethics or make me do anything I don't want to, but so far I haven't seen anything overtly bad about them, other than this thing that happened recently, but it was no big deal, it was mostly just relevant to me personally."
Claire just lets him talk, sitting quietly and listening. Then she looks down, just going over the information in her head. "Now that you know who I am.. you know who my father is and who he worked for? And you know why you can't ever tell them about me. Especially my last name. They can't know you know me." Her words are firm and fierce, they can't know who she is.
Her own shoulders hunch forward a bit, "I should take Cardinal's warning about you and push you away. You might accidentally get us both in deep trouble," She doesn't look at him, just the world below then, her feet swinging a bit, "there are things I may have to do that I don't want you forced to choose between me and them. Seemed like my dad was always having to do that and he hurt me and my family when he chose them."
"I, uh, your father is the Horn Rimmed Glasses guy, uh, damn, I forgot his name. He's like freakin' Batman in a suit, scary to think that he's real." Magnes stares over at her, appearing genuinely curious. "You know, I'm not your father. I don't know what kind of person he is now, but I'm still not him. Why do people think the Company is so bad anyway? They said they just help people control their abilities more, and lock up dangerous people who use their abilities for bad things. What's so bad about that?"
"Why?!" Claire turns to stare at him for a long moment. "They take people off the streets. People with families.. kids.. people they care about. If they think they could be a risk they lock them away. Even people that might never done anything with their ability." She leans toward him her face intense, as she offers the next bit up. "I was given to my father to raise for the Company. Once my ability showed, he was suppose to bring me in and turn me over to them." Her eyes trail over his face trying to read his reaction to her little story. "You never got to the part where they told my dad I was to be turned over to them.. I was still a teenage cheerleader in high school. My dad risked his life to protect me from THEM." Her brows lift a little on her head as she gives him a matter of fact look. "He had his mind wiped and had himself shot so it looked like I escaped." She pulls away slowly and looks away. It hurt to think about the past, especially about her adoptive father. A part of her missed him still. Okay, a big part. "He was a loyal Company man and he won't even turn me into them. What does that say about them?"
"I…" Magnes doesn't seem to know how to respond for a while, staring at her with a mixture of shock and sympathy. He starts to raise a hand, possibly intending to comfort her, but he puts it back down, not sure if it's even appropriate. "I didn't know, they didn't say it like that, I just took their word for it. I thought they released people after the tagging thing, like they did with me. I…" His head turns down to the street, shaking it. "I'll try to get out, I don't know how, but I'll try. Maybe there's some sort of deal I can make so they don't completely ruin my life, but, I don't wanna be a part of that…"
"They won't let you go Magnes." Claire's voice sounds almost sad. "With everything you said, they won't risk letting you go. They will probably throw you in a room and toss away the key." she sounds almost certain of it. "I…." she sighs heavily and rolls her eyes to the sky as if it would have all the answers. Lights streak across the sky occasionally.. the meteor showers. She had forgotten they were mention on the news channel. Silent for a moment as she watches them, she finally admits, "I'm not sure what to do, Magnes."
"Just trust me, Claire, that's really all you can do. Though there is one other thing, I could use a telepath. I don't know if they're possible with real telepaths, but in comics, there are these things called telepathic blocks. I need a way to shield sensitive information in my head. So, if you wanna help, that's something you can try for me." Magnes smiles, suddenly floating in front of her with his hand held out. "You wanna take a closer look at the shower?"
Her gaze drops from the sky to his offered hand and for a moment Claire look uncertain. "I — " She looks past the hand to the man that owns it, studying his face for a moment. She then slowly reaches out to take the hand, feeling the world lighten with that contact. "I'll talk to some friends. See if there is anyone that can help." She offers softly with a small smile. Maybe Cat or Helena would have an idea how to help. She glances up again briefly before giving him a smile. "I'd like that." He had given her some things to seriously think about, but for now she wanted for now to enjoy the moment. Tomorrow could change it all.
"I'm sorry if I didn't turn out to be what you wanted." Magnes apologizes with a soft smile, suddenly flying up with her next to him, keeping a protective grip on her hand. "I'm still the same person, I've only been with them for a little over two months. Me being Company doesn't change a thing, except my distincty not-so-geeky ability to shoot guns and punch people."
"That's okay.. I've got those distinctly not-so-cheerleader abilities too." Claire gives him a small smile, before looking up so that she can watch all the falling stars. "I'm not a supermodel.. or anything so normal." She gives a soft amused sound. "Technically, we're on opposing teams. Does seem like some crazy tragic Shakespearian romance. " As a star starts it's journey across the sky, the conversation is put on hold and she leans into his side and points to it, "See it?" there is a touch of excitement.
"I know you're more than a comic character, you never have to worry about that. Though it is kind've cool." Magnes momentarily releases her hand, which luckily doesn't result in her falling as he wraps it around her waist and looks up to where she's pointing. He finally stops flying when they're well above the city, nodding. "I don't think I've ever seen a meteor shower before, I wonder where they're landing."
Not that she would die from the fall, but Claire has a moment of fear as he releases her hand and she molds herself to his side an arm move to rest behind his back as well. Course, his hand will probably brush against the butt of the gun at her back. "They don't ever land." Claire explains softly being up way up there, it seems wrong to talk too loud. "They just burn away into nothing." her head turns to look at him. "It is really weird knowing that my life was all in a comic book. You probably know things that I never thought anyone knew.. Like when I drove that car into the wall."
"Only a few people know they're real, and out of those people I seem to be the only one who actually has the comics other than maybe Hiro, since people are always saying they never read them. I thought about trying to get the rest, but now that I know Claire is, well, you, I think it's probably best if I don't read the rest. I mean, I might learn all kinds of stuff a guy doesn't wanna know about the girl he's dating." Magnes laughs at the though, seeming to take it all pretty well as he keeps his eyes on the shower. "Oh god, I said all that weird stuff about Claire, I mean, you, right in front of you… I used the word wholesome. I am so lame."
"Can… can I borrow them?" Claire seems hesitant to ask, comic book geeks tend to be overly protective of their prize possessions. "I've never really seen them. I'm —" She give a little lop-sided smile. She watches his silhouette, his head turned up to the stars. "I'm not exactly a comic geek. Never read one in my life. But if these have a snap shot of my life in them, I'd like to see how much is in them."
"Well, I'm pretty sure these comics are PG, so you shouldn't worry about anything too bad. And you have to share the spotlight with plenty of other people, so they don't have every miniscule detail of your life. But you can borrow them, sure. Just, uh, make sure you put them back into the plastic, and don't touch them with anything oily on your fingers. That work?" Magnes asks, trying not to seem too anal about the rules, but he figures those are at least reasonable. "That was pretty sneaky, asking me questions about comic you to figure out what I thought, but I don't blame you, I probably would've done the same. Did I uh, offend you at all? And whatever happened to Mr. Muggles anyway?"
Claire's other arm slides around his waist, hugging her against his side. She rests her head against his shoulder, turned so that she can still watch the meteor shower, "Yeah, I think I can remember those rules, " her voice colored with amusement. "Thanks, Magnes." Luckily in the darkness, he can't see her cheeks color when he mentions her sneakiness, "Yeah, well… I was curious I admit it. And no you didn't, I'm worried about some of the stuff your spreading about my family, but your doing what you think is right.." Her smile widens as she thinks about her adoptive mom and the dog. "I don't know what happened to him, I haven't talked to my mom in a really long time. Not since I left home to come live here and try to make a difference."
"But I never mention the Horn Rimmed Glasses guy to anyone, I don't even know what he's doing right now. And I never got up to the comics that said who your birth family are, so, if I'm saying anything about them, I really have no idea." Magnes says very apologetically with a slight frown. "I'd stop if I knew who they were."
Pulling away a bit, Claire shakes her head slowly, her look is apologetic "I — I can't tell you who they are, not with you in the Company. I can just tell you that they are evolved like us." Her hand slides from his waist to trail up on touch his jaw with her finger tips , her eyes searching what little of his features she can see in the darkness. "You got to understand I can't tell you a lot of thing. A lot of things in my life. It would endanger so many lives if anything gets out. Not while your a company man. I had to with my dad, too, when he was working for them." Not that she'd know now or not if he was working for them.
"I understand, Claire, you don't have to feel guilty about it. If it keeps you safe, then don't tell me. I, crap, I just remembered, they wanna do a background check on you. I'm against it, I keep saying that, but they don't know your last name, so, if I beat around the bush with your last name until we figure out a plan, we should be pretty safe." Magnes starts to descend when the meteor shower begins to die down, his expression more or less staying calm. "They wanna do background checks on everyone I associate with, I didn't know this until a few days ago, and I'm not sure what to do."
That gets an alarmed look from Claire, "That would be bad… really bad." Biting her lip, the ex-cheerleader looks really worried. "I'll ask a couple of my friends. See what they have to say and if they have any ideas. On how to help you. I — don't think we can get you away from them." she'd rather take that option if it was available, "but maybe we can help you protect whats in your head. No guarantees though." She glances down to watch the roof slowly rise to meet them. "I admit I'm scared, Magnes. I shouldn't be giving you the benefit of the doubt, but…. I am." When she looks up at him again, she doesn't hide the intense worry she's feeling. A look that says please don't let him hurt me.
Magnes raises a hand to touch her cheek, swallowing hard as he just stares at her, more specifically, her lips, obviously trying to work up a nerve. "If it comes down to it, and I've told even the people in the Company this, if it comes down to them or my friends, if I have to protect my friends, I'll fly away and leave them in a second, no matter what the consequences are…"
The touch on her cheek gets him a soft smile and Claire leans into his touch a little. "If it comes down to that, you call me and I'll do what I can to help you hide." There is a mischievous look in her eyes, she's done it before. She can do it again. She leans close, arms draped around his waist, "Just.. don't be afraid to come to me for help if you need it. I can't guarantee I can, but I'll do my best."
"You can come to me too, y'know. The higher ups in the group might not be the best people, from what you're saying, but there are genuinely good people in the Company. They're doing what they think is right, they can regret and feel guilty just like anyone else. The person who recruited me still seems to feel guilty about it, because I've gotten hurt." Magnes explains, not wanting some of his friends to be demonized, even if the organization itself may be bad. "But, it's hard to know who's really my friend, and who's trying to manipulate me. I was hitting my lowest low the moment I met you, I feel like you saved me from breaking." Then, finally, after taking a deep breath, he leans in to place a gentle kiss on her lips.
"I have met at least one that was a good person." Claire admits softly. "My dad wanted him to take my memories away, but this agent wouldn't do it. He even helped protect me at times. But sometimes the bad out weights the good, Magnes. Just… be careful." those last words are murmured as he leans in. Claire goes up on her tip toes to meet him part way for that kiss. Her hand moves to rest on his shoulder to keep her balance as she deepens the kiss for only a moment, before finally pulling away with a soft sigh. "Thank you for coming to talk to me. And for, I hope, being honest with me."
"I wouldn't lie to you, well, I really couldn't, I'm pretty bad at lying." Magnes licks his lips, cheeks flushed with that wide grin on his face. "I really wanna get to know you more, Claire. Maybe we can rent some movies and just hang out some time? Actually, maybe we could do that tonight."
"Won't they start worrying if your away too long?" Claire teases softly, her cheeks a bit flush as well, her own smile a bit shy. "I'd really like to hang out and do that.. I'm — not sure how to do that. I can't really to you to my place. I have a roommate for one and it's in a protected place." She goes up on her tip toes to give him a quick kiss. "Probably, not a good idea tonight anyhow. But we'll think of something."
"My therapist got me a longer leash because I hated being inside all the time. And anyway, i'm not just a trainee anymore." Magnes stares up at the sky for a moment after she kisses him, still in deep thought, though rather relaxed with the serene night setting. "Oh, I have a great idea, I could just get an apartment. I'm sort've making a ridiculous amount of money right now, but all I mostly do is save it."
"That is an idea." Claire muses a bit, watching him think. Her arms still resting loosely around his waist, leaning against him. With the talk of him getting his own place, she is suddenly very aware of well… him. Her cheeks color again and she pulls back a bit. "I — ah — You'll have to let me know when you find a place and we'll do a movie night."
"Oh, hey, the apartment above Panucci's, I lived there for years, it's perfect. And Mister Panucci could use the extra cash…" Magnes is suddenly pleased with the idea, moving his hand to briefly brush over her cheek. "So, I guess I'll get going. Things might get rough, but hey, dating has never been easy in comics either. I won't let anyone keep me from having some normal aspect of life, and you probably shouldn't either, I mean, not that I'm saying I'm some great guy to date…" he corrects, suddenly thinking he came off as egotistical. Awkward!
"Yeah… I should probably get back inside." Claire says a touch shyly, motioning over her shoulder with her thumb. "I — want to see if I can get a hold of a couple of my friends see if they available to talk sometime." She stands back and looks down at herself, "Well, after a shower and change of cloths." She murmurs under her breath. Looking up at Magnes again, that worried look returns. "Hopefully, we can do this. I think there is some really rough waters ahead. it will either work out or backfire badly."
"If all else fails, I'll steal a space pod and pull a Dr. Manhattan with you, I wouldn't even need fuel." Magnes jokingly says, one of those times he forgets that he just made a geek joke to a non-geek as he begins to slowly ascend. "Don't stress, Claire, I've got this under control, just try to do what I asked or whatever you can. And call me whenever, I'll be over as soon as possible."
Stepping back slowly as he starts to rise into the sky, Claire gives him an odd look at the joke. "Well, shouldn't come to that," she says sounding amused. "Take care, Magnes." she called, turning slowly to head of the roof. So much to do.