Participants:
| Scene Title | Can't Be A Terrorist Forever |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Claire and Liz do some singing and then the detective tries to make Claire think about what she wants with her life. |
| Date | July 24, 2009 |
Studio A is spacious and bright, with dramatic views to the north and east along Lafayette and 4th streets. The abundance of natural light provides our clients with a relaxing environment in which to work. This tracking and mixing room features a 72 input SSL 9000J series console and a ProTools HD 3 Accell system.
Studio B is a perfect vocal tracking, overdub and production facility. This wing features a comfortable control room with a Yamaha DM 2000 console and Protools HD 3 Accell system as well as an intimate live room, ideal for both vocals and instrumentals. In keeping with the atmosphere throughout our facility, both our B control and live rooms have plenty of natural light with views of east Manhattan. A separate lounge adjacent to the studio rooms provides a place to relax while maintaining our clients' complete privacy from the rest of the studio.
Studio C is a production and writing room.
Sal's return this morning moved the laser burn Elisabeth suffered to her log up to her ribcage and side, under the same arm that now has a wrist containing the severely mangled muscles that used to be a shredded voicebox. So though Elisabeth is still in some pretty severe pain — told her boss that she fell and sprained her wrist in the hopes that a healer might be available in the next day or so to get her back on the job by Monday morning — she's at least mobile and her pain is all centered on one side of her body. There are any number of things she could be doing at this moment, but in truth? She's not entirely sure what to do, and so while she has a drug in her system as well as time on her hands, she's meandered into Cat's music studio. She can't play the piano, but she has her voice back, and so she's got a few things in her head. A particular piece of music that has been playing in the back of her head for a few days. And now she's playing it in the studio and singing softly with it.
"My life has had it's share of troubles
And now I found a place to go
I've said goodbye to all my troubles
'cause now I've find my place to go
What I'm gonna live for
What I'm gonna die for
Who you gonna fight for
I can't answer that"
It's clearly near the end of the song, as the refrain continues again and the instrumentals are going. She didn't close the door tightly, though, so the strains of music and her voice are carrying a bit into the main apartment.
Making her way into the safe house, Claire looks less then happy. She has gone searching for her uncle… and as always she can't even pick up a trail. Blonde hair sticks out from under the hood of her sweater jacket, she really needs to dye it. The knees of her jeans are dirty and there is even a tear in one leg. There is a ratty backpack over one shoulder, it pretty much holds her whole world, minus one very loved shotgun.
Reaching in for the keys to get up into the safe house, she pauses as she hears something. Singing? She moves in the direction of the sounds and finds herself at the door of the studio. A glance inside reveals Liz so quietly Claire slips in so as not to disturb the cop. She lowers herself into one of the chairs so she can hopefully be able to observe for a time without being seen.
As the refrain trails off and the instrumentals softly begin their tie-up, the blond cop sitting stiffly on the stool looks pensive, her eyes on the far wall as she listens. If she heard Claire's entrance, she doesn't indicate it immediately. Instead, she reaches out and searches the computerized database of music for something different, and strains of a different sort of music drift out. Sarah McLachlan's "Possession" drift through, and Elisabeth sings along with that for a stanza and a refrain, then she reaches out to turn it down to a lower setting and swivels the stool she's sitting on the face the younger woman. "Welcome back," she offers quietly. "You holding up okay?"
When finally spotted, Claire slips off her chair and approaches the detective with a small smile. "Actually, I'm holding up better then I thought I would be." She carefully gives Liz a hip bump so that she can search through the database herself. "Snuck up near Pinehearst to see if I could find any clue of Peter." The tone of her words reflects her concentration on the list.
"Seriously.. Need some livelier music." She glances over at her fellow blonde and punches a key, making Green Day's 'Basket Case' pours through the speakers. She straightens up and starts moving to the music her hips swaying back and forth. She doesn't do it often anymore, but there is no doubt as she moves that the girl can dance. It's good to be an ex-cheerleader sometimes.
Grinning at at the woman she starts to sing, she doesn't have older woman's amazing voice, but she's good.
Do you have the time
To listen to me whine
About nothing and everything
All at once
I am one of those/
Melodramatic fools
Neurotic to the bone
No doubt about it..
When the song slowly comes to a close, she moves to turn the song off, with a chuckle and shakes her head. "Sorry. Things have been so stressful. I don't know about you, but sometimes just singing to some good music makes be feel better. Though…" She gives the detective a searching look. "I don't normally sing in front of people." She looks thoughtful, "West drug me to Karaoke a couple of times."
Elisabeth laughs and lets the young woman nudge her aside, rolling her own eyes at the choice of music. But she listens to Claire sing with an interested expression. A grin quirks her lips as she assess the other blonde's voice and nods slightly at a couple of points. When the song ends, she tilts her head. "You're good," she says mildly. "If I'd had you in my classroom, I would have pulled you for some after school lessons. Little more breath support to the note to level it out, and you'd be performance caliber in a chorus, I think." She smiles fondly. "Madame Saugnier would have thoroughly enjoyed hearing you, I think. I used to teach music at Washington Irving," she explains. "And you're right…. there's something about music that's a balm to soul. Especially when a particular set of lyrics speak to you."
Dropping down on a stool and kicking her heel against the floor, makes her seat turn lazily on it's ball bearings. AS she comes around to face the woman she stops her movement with a heel to the floor again. "Good? Thanks I guess. I mean, I've heard people say that. I don't know. I'm just a cheerleader… Well former." There is a small smile. Like any person there are parts of their younger lives that they miss. Her it's when she was a cheerleader. "So, you… your fantastic and it sounds like you were schooled? Wow." She sounds genuinely impressed. "So… what made you become a cop?" Her brows lift giving the woman a curious look.
Elisabeth considers her answer and says, "I was a cop before I was music teacher. Music was… a passtime. Something I do for my own enjoyment. I always wanted to be a cop. Just after 9/11, when I realized I had an ability, I tried to aim my career someplace I could use it. That worked out pretty well until Midtown." A flash remembered pain still raw. "My mom died there, and I was kind of a basket case for a while. Between that and the sudden publicity about Evos, I pretty much turtled. Hid in my shell and did something else for a while. But the day the Vanguard blew up Washington Irving and blamed it on PARIAH…. was the day I put my foot down with a friend. I'd know Sergei was into some things. And I made him bring me in."
Elisabeth grins a little. "Coincidentally enough, it was also the same week that I was approached by the captain of SCOUT. So I went back to the force at the same time."
Swinging the stool back and forth she listen to Elisabeth, truly interested in what she has to stay. The mention of Midtown, makes Claire suddenly look uneasy, eyes dropping away as the guilt hits her, twisting her stomach. "Sorry about your mom." She offers softly with a sideways glance. "I've been pretty lucky, even with everything that's happened to me. I still have all the family that means most to me." Of course some of the, she wants nothing to do with. "And my life at times… was the stuff of comic books or horror novels. Of course a lot of what these groups do, see like that."
There's a gentle shrug and Elisabeth says quietly, "Thanks. And you have been pretty lucky in a lot of ways … but I wouldn't accuse you of having it easy, that's for sure." The older woman tips her head sideways to study the girl — and she really is just a girl, little more than half Liz's age, barely older than her former students at the high school — and says quietly, "What do you want out of life, Claire Bennet? Because I gotta tell you… if you don't do something other than running about saving the world, you're going to end up like most of the kids in Phoenix right now — without a life to go back to. There's more to living than what you're doing right now."
The question is a surprising one and totally unexpected, Claire has never thought about that. She turns away from the woman and starts playing with the computer music selection feigning interest in the screen. The young woman is quiet for a long moment, her mind trying to struggle with the thought of doing anything else. "I — don't know," she murmurs softly. "Ever since the night Sylar showed up at my high school in Odessa — I haven't had a chance to really think about anything beyond surviving." Blue eyes finally glance at the older woman, a sad smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. "When I lived in Costa Verde I toyed with the idea of going to college.. but then all that stuff started happening in New York.. so I came here and haven't really thought about any 'other' thing in my life. "
There's a slow nod and Elisabeth keeps her eyes on Claire while she talks. "It's time to start thinking about it. Far more seriously than you have been. There's a big, bad world out there, Claire. But you've got to have *something* outside of this," she says quietly. "You have a whole life ahead of you, and although things may come along to disrupt your day-to-day life — hell, it does it to me all the time. Do you know how hard it is to be a cop and do this too?" She grins a bit. "But seriously. Take a lesson… look into college around here. Start having a life outside of the crises."
Claire wrinkles her nose at the suggestion, last thing she expected when she came in was to be lectured about her lack of a direction in life. "I know.. Just. I still can't figure out what. This… " She waves her hand around nonchalantly, "..life has been everything. I mean. Seems like every time I turn around Something is up and someone needs me." A frown touches at the corner of her lips. "I literally can't think of anything else. It's been my whole existence for what.. five years?"
Elisabeth grins a bit. "It's something to think about, at least," she tells Claire. "Because take it from me…. I've only been doing this a year, and I find it to be the hardest thing in the world to go from 'oh my fucking God, we gotta take down Arthur' to 'okay…. what the fuck do we do next?' And sometimes there's just MONTHS between the things we can actually do to try to help make things better." She shrugs. "Just… stick it in the back of your mind. Try to make some time just to be … you. Whoever that is. Whoever you want it to be." Her tone is gentle, she's not trying to lecture. But she does worry about the members of Phoenix who are so focused on JUST Phoenix things that they haven't got a life to live anymore really.
"I'm a registered evolve and a known terrorist… at least to Homeland." Claire gives Liz a knowing look all thanks to Parkman of course. "What am I going to do? You really think the university will let a known terrorist go there?" She gives a little shake of her head, "I don't think so." Letting her head drop back she makes the stool seat twist around again watching the ceiling. "I dunno… I'll think about it."
Elisabeth smiles faintly. "I believe I may have at least one way to help you out … if you ever want to take it. Someone I know can forge documents with the right tools… and someone we all know can forge a new identity online for you." She shrugs. "There are ways. Like I said, no pressure." She pauses and eyes Claire. "And while I'm not going to underestimate the danger you're in as a 'known terrorist'… bear in mind that they have my name too, and they haven't come knocking yet." She shrugs. "It's your life, Claire. Just make it be what you want it to be - all I'm saying is don't get so caught up in this that it's all you have, okay?"
Her head tilts to the side so that she can see Liz as she rolls around, foot continues to kick her on her travel. She looks thoughtful and she slowly comes to a stop again, head straightening. "I'll think about it." She really is clueless about what she'd do. "At this point I think that is all I can promise," giving the detective a small smile. It would be nice to be able to actually afford to life instead of mooching off of others. She sighs a bit and shrugs. "Wish I could give you more."
Elisabeth shrugs mildly. "Why? You don't owe me anything. Think about it, don't think about it, kiddo. I'm not anyone to you," she says with a smile. "It's all good."
Claire can't help but chuckles, shaking a finger at the woman. "Good point. But I imagine you mean a lot to the few friends I have. So that makes you somebody." There is a knowing look that goes along with that as she hops of her stool. "I'm going up, raid the fridge and flop on a spare bed. Glad to see your voice is better at least."
There's a wink at the young woman. "Go get some sleep," Elisabeth says quietly. "I have a feeling we're going to be getting far too little of it for a day or two." She shoos Claire on out. "I should be right at rain by tomorrow, I hope."