Participants:
| Scene Title | Bonding with Bullets |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Molly receives her first lesson in how to properly use a firearm as well as a promise for further opportunities to refine this new skill. |
| Date | October 4, 2010 |
Battery Park City - Department of Homeland Security Facility
This government facility was opened by the Department of Homeland Security in the fall of 2009. As a thirty-story building it rises high over the landscape of Battery Park City, a monochromatic monolith of gray and black set admist manicured trees and a concrete plaza where several flagpoles rise and a granite slab sign displays the building number 663 in serif font face.
Inside, this facility houses department executive offices, holding facilities, interrogation rooms and an armory to supply a standing security force with the necessary firepower to defend the building against terrorist threats on home soil. The lobby of the building features a large seal of the Department of Homeland Security at the center of the ground floor in plain view of balcony tiers of the second and third floor, accessible by stairs flanking the glass facade entrance and security checkpoint.
There are more than cells and interrogation rooms in the basement of a Homeland Security office. There’s also a gun range, as fully equipped with the latest safety measures as any other professional set up. Six lanes are cordoned off by concrete barriers with a waist-height shelf that runs across them all to give shooters a place to set ammo and the like. The range is quiet today, not for lack of agents wanting to hone their skills, but because Matt Parkman has arranged for it to be so.
Despite his fatherly ideals that Molly should stay young and innocent forever, a small, proud smile has broken out of his gloomy expression as he leads her in. The smile spills out a little more as he greets Garth, the lane supervisor, and fits Molly with a pair of headphones.
“What’ll it be?” Garth asks, looking from Parkman to Molly with nothing short of amusement.
“.38 special,” Parkman says, nodding toward the wall of pistols that sit gleaming behind the man’s desk. “But not the snub-nosed.” Most people train with their sidearms, but Garth keeps an assorted range of other weaponry in his secured little office. Sometimes an agent going undercover needs to test out a caliber, or shoot something new just to blow off steam. But that’s only one of the reasons why Garth is here.
He nods and reaches for a dark gray revolver, opening the cylinder to show that the gun is empty before he puts it in the transfer box, followed by a small box of bullets. It groans as he pushes it through to Parkman, who retrieves it graciously before continuing on into the range proper to set Molly up in a cubicle toward the middle of the line.
She followed her dad with visible excitement. Holy hell, she’s about to fire a freaking gun! Molly’s eyes are wide as she enters the place with her father and looks up towards Garth. Her hair, which is getting longer and longer is tied into a high ponytail, a strand out of place.
She decided to look a little more.. ‘grown up’. She thought as she dressed herself and so there she is wearing a pair of dark grey slacks and a deep red sweater that Angela had bought for her. For when they have dinner guests. Her blue eyes study the range as she is placed into a cubicle by her father. “So.. when you shoot someone.. should you aim for the head.. or heart? Because I’ve been reading and it should be harder for a amateur to hit the head than a body shot to the heart right?”
She says this in all innocence which should make it scary. Molly is thinking about killing people? What the hell? Well.. not killing people. But what if she doesn’t have a choice?
Matt is here on his lunch hour, so for once, Molly sees him in his full regalia - his tie isn’t loose, and every bit of him looks the competent professional of Capitol Hill. Her questions pull a nervous laugh from his chest, and he shakes his head.
“It…really depends on what you’re trying to do,” he answers carefully as he pulls a target from a drawer and clips it to the wire that runs from the cubicle to the back of the range. It’s at least shaped like a person - or the silhouette of one. “If you hit someone in the chest, they’re probably going to go down, even with armor on. Headshots are harder, but, well.” There’s no getting up from a shot to the head, and the idea of Molly becoming a cold-blooded killer, even in self-defense, isn’t something Matt wants to dwell on.
He flicks the switch to activate the motor and send the target halfway down the range - they’ll start smallish today. “Alright,” he says with a steadying sigh as he picks the revolver up from the small shelf. “Put your feet shoulder-width apart, but don’t lock your knees.” Holding the gun out, he makes her watch as he opens the cylinder and loads it. The gun safety that he goes over is basic, and all to do with the specific gun in his hands. When he finally hands the pistol to Molly, it’s with a tense sort of smile.
“Aim first,” he says, taking a step back and pulling on his own ear protection. “Then pull back the hammer and squeeze.”
Whoa.. she’s about to fire a gun..
THIS IS SO FREAKING COOL!
With a little bit of a nod, Molly does as her father instructs and she looks at the target… taking a few deep breaths. She holds the gun steady, no fear in her eyes. It’s not like it’s a real person in front of her. Just paper, but she thinks about what she has in her hand. This thing can kill and hurt people. Innocent people if not in the right hands.
Molly won’t be someone that hurts people.. that are innocent. She then takes aim at the center of the target and fires. Knocking her back just a little bit, she wasn’t really ready for the noise and the force behind it. Her eyes widen and then she looks back at Matt with a open mouth shaped in a O, then returning her gaze to the target.. and see that she hit the target in the shoulder.. not where she wanted, but hey. It’s her first time.
“Oh yeah! Whose bad? I’m bad!” she says and blows at the tip of the gun and then she’s hopping up and down and swinging her hips before she realizes what she’s doing/
“Heh.. sorry dad.” she smiles sheepishly.
“Getcherfingeroffthetrigger!” Matt hisses at Molly’s dance even as he shies away into the hall. Had Molly failed to listen to the entirey of Matt’s safety lecture? He narrows his eyes at her, tilting his head slightly. “Point it down-range,” he commands, waiting until she’s done so before he steps closer behind her.
“It’s worthless if you shoot yourself or an ally,” Matt admonishes, obviously more than a little upset at her behavior. “Now it kicks - I didn’t tell you that before for a reason. I wanted you to feel it. But now you know, so you can be ready for it. Now go ahead and empty it, but don’t forget to aim between each shot. Make them count.”
“Ah.. sorry.” Molly says with a light smile and a bowing of her head. The teen listens to what her father tells her, nodding her head the whole time. Her eyes studying her father as he speaks. When he gives her the instruction to finish the rest of the bullets she nods her head and takes up the position she had before.
With a slight tilt of her head, the clairvoyant then focuses on the target and opens fire.
One, for Dad.
Two, for Mom.
Three, for Hokuto.
Four, for the life I should have led.
Five, for Sylar.. I wish I could have killed you myself.
Each bullet comes with a thought, though she doesn’t really try to project it to Matt, she can’t help it. Happens when emotions break your control over the barrier you can put between your mind and a telepath.
As she finished the rest and let’s her hand hang with the empty gun, tears flow from her eyes as she stares at the target. Two in the arm.. two in the chest.. and one finally in the head. The teen doesn’t look back towards her father, she continues to look at the target. At her old life.
Matt doesn’t say a thing as he flicks the switch to bring the target closer again. He unclips it and hangs another, a small, somber sort of smile curing into one corner of his mouth. “You did good, kid,” he says, the pride evident in his voice despite the plain words.
He lets her load the revolver this time, showing her once again how to release the cylinder, but knowing from his own earliest experiences that doing it yourself is the best way to learn. When she’s ready again, he flicks the switch to send the target back further than where it was before. “We’ll make it a little harder this time,” he says with a gleam in his eye, looking over his shoulder at the girl. “And if you can get all six in the chest, I’ll take you to Gordon Biersch for dinner.”
“Thanks.”
She says without a smile and then she’s listening again to her father speak. “Mmm, I would kill for a burger right now.” Then she blinks and shakes her head, looking up towards her dad, “You know what I mean.” she snickers softly and then lifts the gun again, having checked to make sure she loaded the gun right. She closes it and swings. Smiling as it goes round and round.
With a nod of her head, she squints her eyes and fires off a shot. Then another.. and another. A few second pause in between each shot. The first three hit the target in the chest. With a soft grin, Molly is getting slightly used to the recoil of the revolver. But it still makes a bit of a noticeable movement in her body, The fourth shot hits the target in the chest and she nods to herself. One.. more.
With a final look back towards her father she smiles faintly and then prepares to shoot again, taking her time with this one. But knowing she’s got it in the bag. When she pulls the trigger, she closes her eyes after.. waiting five seconds to see if she’s made it.
Nope.. this one hit the shoulder. “Ah poop..” she says with a sigh.
Matt lets out a low whistle when Molly’s last shot errs, and he shakes his head. That smile has turned into a grin though - one that makes his dark eyes sparkle. “Too bad,” he says with a shake of his head. “Looks like it’s pizza tonight.” And no, you can’t put hamburger on it. Because that’s cheating on top of just gross.
While the motor that brings the target back hums, Matt looks down at his adopted daughter, marveling at her talent as much as her growth. She is a young woman now, despite what misgivings he may still harbor. “You want to do one more? Try to win back that burger?” He unclips the second target, but he doesn’t immediately put up a third. “You know, we can get you a membership at a private range, so you can shoot whenever you want.” To practice. To blow off steam. “But you’ve got to take whatever safety course they offer.”
The teen shakes her head and looks back up at her father. “I think I’m done for today.” She feels like it’s been enough. So she hands the gun back to her father, the butt facing him. She smiles softly, “Ew, dad only you would think of something like that.” In regards to the pizza with hamburger meat, ABOMINATION.
Molly grins up at her dad but throws in, “But we have to bake fresh cookies.” She takes her hair out of the pony tail, letting it swing free and she lifts a bit of it up. “Ah.. time for a trim soon. These ends are totally.. split.” From her favorite movie.. The Hot Chick of course. Then she’s nodding towards her father. “I’d love that actually dad, to be able to practice when I want.” The young teen smiles again at her father. Today has been a really good day for the two. No arguing at all, just like old times.
Matt’s smile becomes proud in two ways then - proud of Molly for her accomplishment today, and pride in himself for being able to make it happen. “Good,” he says with a nod, taking the gun and the rest of the bullets. “You can make all the cookies you want, so long as you put chocolate chips in them.” The gun and remaining ammunition is passed back through to Garth, who nods politely and even offers a few congratulatory comments to Molly upon seeing her targets while they return their headphones.
On their way out, Matt wraps an arm around the girl’s shoulder, giving it a rough sort of rub with his large hand before he bends to kiss the side of her head. “You did good today, kid,” he repeats.
“I’m proud of you.”