Participants:
Scene Title | Hurry Up and Wait |
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Synopsis | Abby discovers Claire has re-emerged and calls Helena over to help her regroup. |
Date | June 9, 2009 |
Village Renaissance Buiding - Abby's Apartment
An average middle class apartment, it's populated with decidedly not middle class furniture. A solitary red suede couch occupies the immediate living room, with a battered coffee table and side tables as its companion. A decent sized TV sits on a cupboard with a stereo, DVD player. The kitchen sports a relic from the 70's, with matching chairs that still seem to be in decent condition. The two bedrooms off the hall are distinguishable from the other, one bearing a gold cross nailed above the door, the other not.
In the corner of the living room is an ornate cage on a bird stand, a blue budgie within its depths. In another corner is a massive cat tree house, and often occupied by a black cat with a red suede collar. It looks barely lived in, like the owners are not yet investing their effort quite yet to move in.
It's maybe not a quiet night in the city of New York, but it has been relatively tranquil outside of Abigail Beauchamp's apartment as the twilight has dwindled to night. It's a little unseasonably cold tonight for those outside, but it makes for comfortable conditions indoors - perfect for leaving the windows open.
From the kitchen window, there's a quiet clanging sound. A few moments later, there's another. Finally, the source of the clanging becomes apparently when an empty tin soup can comes clattering inside the open window, followed by a muffled curse.
It's a tired, awoken from slumber, equally blonde head that pokes out from the window to peer at who's throwing trash into her place. A small black furry head does the same, Scarlett sticking her nose out the window to see who's disturbing her human slave. "Cook, if that's you, I'm gonna curse you to Beelzebub and back!"
"Abby?" That's definitely not Cook. "S- Sorry. I was just trying to— Can I come up?" Standing on the street below is a dark-haired woman, staring up at the window. Her arms are wrapped tightly around her body and dirt smears her tattered clothes and smudges on her cheeks. She's barely recognisable in the dark, looking so vulnerable, but there's no mistaking once Abby pieces it all together.
It's Claire.
"Claire? Uh, yeah, yes, just go in the front door, I'll buzz you in. Third floor," The southern blonde offers, already running through her mind what might be wrong with her. Hurt? Abby can't do much about that anymore. Place to hide? She can do that. While the buzzing in process and elevator ride are being done, Abby's already set coffee and hot water to boil/make in the kitchen and breaking out linens so that Claire can spend the night in Al's supposed to be room.
Claire nods quickly and dashes out of sight as she hurries to head inside of the building. She knocks quietly on Abby's door before opening it slowly, peeking inside. "Hey," she says shakily. She closes the door behind her and turns the deadbolt. She shivers, rubbing her hands over her bare arms. Her plain white tee shirt has seen better days. One sleeve is nearly torn off and there's a slash over the stomach, corresponding with a shallow scratch caked with dry blood here and there. The right back pocket of her jeans has been ripped off completely and there's a hole in the left knee as well as the hems being frayed beyond repair. "I didn't know where else to go," she tells the blonde. "I squatted in some of the old safe houses for a while, but…" She shakes her head. "Thanks for letting me inside."
"Lord in heaven Claire, what happened to you?!" Abigail coming from the kitchen, astonishment on her face. "Need me to call Helena?" She knew the two women were close. "Anyone specific that you need me to call? Want me to call? Lordy, uhm, I have some clothes that should fit you." Abigail was taller than the other woman but around the same size. "Shower, too and then I can see to your hurts." Neosporin them and bandage at least.
"Can I just sit down for a bit?" Claire takes off her shoes at the door before crossing to sit at the kitchen table. She rests her head in her hands, elbows propped up on the table. "My powers are gone, Abby." That much should have been obvious by the scratches and cuts and scrapes here and there, but Claire still feels the need to voice it. "Don't call anyone. N- Not yet. I- Nobody knows. I'm not ready to tell anyone else."
Shit. Tyler Case struck again. Coffee is poured, brought over, as well as some biscuits from out of the microwave and slid onto the table with some butter and a knife. "Phoenix is working on trying to find Tyler Case. I promise Claire. You'll get it back, they swear we'll get our gifts back." Abigail reaches over to lay a hand on the brunette's shoulder since she seems to need the physical contact.
Claire lifts her head when Abby touches her hand, listening to the explanation of Phoenix's plans. Her brows knit together in confusion. "Tyler Case? Who's that? What does he have to do with anything?" She blinks a couple times before reaching out to take a buttered biscuit with a murmured thanks.
"He's been running around taking Abilities. Switching them around. Or just taking them away. You didn't run into him? Red lightning, there's red lightning before he takes it." Abigail breaks a biscuit in half and butters it up for herself.
The brunette shakes her head. "No…" Claire looks faintly bewildered, as if trying to wrap her head around the idea of two people that can do what was done to her. "Arthur Petrelli — my grandfather," the words come out awkward, "— he did this to me. He took my ability and then locked me up. He did the same thing to Peter. H- Has anyone seen Peter? I couldn't find him anywhere." Much like her, Claire is willing to bet that her uncle didn't want to be found.
"Oh!" OH! "Oh lord! Pinehearst! Claire! Agent Parkman's daughter is there. Someone there kidnapped her and she's there. He was talking about getting a warrant for there?" Arthur Petrelli steals abilities. There's another Oh! look from the blonde. "Ms Strauss was asking after Pinehearst. Claire, what's going on over there? I'll make calls, see if anyone's seen Peter. When was the last time that you saw Peter?"
Gosh, Abby talks fast when she gets going. Claire actually missed it. "Yeah, Pinehearst," she confirms quietly. "Thanks. If anyone's seen Peter, I'd like to try and find him. Haven't seen him since last month sometime. The days all kind of… run together." Her mind's still processing the information dump Abby's just laid on her. Finally, she quirks a brow and asks, "Who's Miss Strauss?"
"Someone who works for President Petrelli," Abigail manages to inform her. "In charge of the communications or something. Listen, I'm gonna go call Helena and see if she's heard from Peter okay? I'll be right back Claire, I'll try and get you an answer right quick. Have something to drink, it's hot it'll help okay?" Blue eyes are worried, very worried as Abigail pushes away from the table to head to her room for her cell phone.
Claire nods once and sets about pouring herself a cup of coffee, if only to hold it in her hands. "I- I'd like to see her," she admits quietly. At first, Helena was the last person she wanted to see her like this, but now… Her nerves are frayed and she wants her best friend to tell her that things are going to be okay.
"I'll see if she wants to come over" Abigail calls from her bedroom, the words drifting through the apartment.
It was an hour after the phone call, Abby getting a hold of Helena and telling her about her houseguest and that said houseguest needed to talk to her. Not something that could wait in the least despite the curfew on the streets. How Helena was going to get here was not Abigail's worry. They did have a teleporter for emergency's after all.
But when Helena does come and is welcomed in, Abigail’s at least lent a pair of yoga pants and t-shirt, scooped out some pre-made cookie dough so there's fresh cookies and made more coffee and tea. She'll be dead asleep for class tomorrow, but it was a late morning one at least. Alexander's soon to be former room was fitted with new sheets over his deluxe cot and pillows.
Helena is wearing of all things, a wig. It's black and just past shoulder-length, and it makes her look like a possible candidate for a live action Snow White. But it's also now a requirement when she has to move around in public, even if it being nighttime helps. "Abby?" she smiles a touch wearily. "What is it? Sorry it took so long for me to get here, but uh…it's a bit of an effort. Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Figured but," Abigail looks towards the hall that would lead to the bathroom. All the apartments in this building are pretty much the same save for the individual decorating of occupants. "Someone threw a soup can at my window, and needed in. Hel, it's Claire. It's Claire and she.. she's been at Pinehearst. I dunno how safe it is for you to be here, but she said she had to see you and something about Peter having been there as well. She's pretty shook up. I sent her off for a long shower, she looked like she needed it."
Helena perks up like a meerkat. "Claire?" she says, looking surprised, then anxious, then relieved. "Oh my god, how did she even get away from them? Did they just let her go? Did she get followed? They might do that, she's smart enough - she's not messed up, is she? I mean, except for her power - " Helena is babbling a touch frantically, it's all she can do not to go burst into the bathroom in an unexpected and inappropriately suggestive fashion suited to seasonal television sweeps that would be entirely misconstrued, except by the shippers.
"She's still brunette?" Abigail offers not so helpfully. "Apparently Arthur Petrelli, her grandfather, took her gift away. She came here I guess because it was safe? She's pretty shook up Hel. I'd be too. The stuff I’ve heard about that place? They have Matthew Parkman's daughter, I guess, his father took her? Then what Liz told me, and what Richard has said. What the hell is going on?"
The door to the bathroom opens, spilling steam out. Shortly after, Claire pads out, wrapped in a bathrobe. "Hey, Abby, I hope you don't mind. I borrowed your—" Claire stops when she sees Helena. Stillness prevails for a moment before she finally just runs up to her friend, throwing her arms around the black-wigged woman. "Oh, Hel'!" She squeezes tightly for several long moments before she leans back to smile shakily. A bruise colours her cheek just under one eye. "It's so good to see you."
Helena almost weeps at the sight of Claire, and hugs her tightly, kissing her cheek. "God, I'm sorry, I knew Pinehearst had you, I knew what Arthur did, and I couldn't think of what to do - he said I could go see you, but he's so dangerous, I'm so sorry Claire…"
Reunion! Cameras of course shall pan to take in every sniffle and tear for maximum home viewer heart tugging effect. Abigail will just stick to the background and watch. Her part in this all, temporarily not necessary. Save that Claire's in her bathrobe.
"It's okay, Hel'," Claire assures quickly, not letting go of the other woman. "He let me go. He got what he wanted from me. I'm glad you didn't come. I wouldn't want him to do this to you, too." She rests her forehead against Helena's. "It's so awful. So awful. I feel sick all the time. Everything hurts." Blue-green eyes shut tightly. "I'm sorry. I'm fine. I'm just… not used to this." She turns to look over her shoulder and flash a grateful smile to Abby. "Thank you. For taking me in and for calling her."
Helena had a way to cure Claire, and Teo took it. For a moment, Helena's positively enraged, but she keeps it under wraps. "What do you need me to do?" she asks. "Abby said you're looking for Peter. You know he's working with his dad now, right? I mean…he has doubts, but not enough to keep him from seeing his dad as a good guy. I don't trust him a bit, but right now Arthur Petrelli thinks I'm at least willing to listen to him and for now I plan to keep it that way."
"It's what I do Claire. Not like I can fix you or anything. I'll go get the coffee and the cookies" Letting the two of them talk, even though she'll be nearby. Not like at this point she's not got half the story of everything, pieced together from various people.
"Speaking of what you do…" Helena pauses and peers at Abby. "Do you know of anyone else aside from Dr. Pepper and Daniel Linderman who can heal? Because the doctor is uh…how to put this. He didn't exactly inspire confidence."
"I just need to figure out where Peter is. I know he's… been taken in. I have to talk some sense into him. I'm worried about him." A soft sigh escapes Claire's lips. She finally disengages from Helena and heads toward the dining room so she can get some more coffee. "I don't know what to do." She sinks down into a chair, listening to the other two talk.
"I don't Hel. I.. If you're.. really desperate, you could find Flint at the lighthouse, but…" If he'd even heal. "Just those two. I don't think James Harvard's ability with work with how you need it to" Abigail settles at the table, taking up her own cup again.
Helena blinks. "Flint Deckard? Is that what happened, Tyler Case…" she trails off, not wanting to run her mouth about the details in front of Claire. At least not more than she already has. She turns to Claire instead. "He was staying with me for a while, but something happened. Tyler Case - he does things with powers. Peter has Gabriel's ability now, and I think he ran away to keep from hurting anyone."
Claire's eyes grow wide at Helena's last statement. "What? Peter has—" She knows that name. If it's who she thinks it is… No, it's who she knows it is. Claire stands up from the table quickly. "Where is he?" She's already off and moving toward the spare bedroom with the intent to put some clothes on.
"Flint, yeah" But then Claire's babbling and Abby looks alarmed. "Hey, Claire, there's a curfew. Maybe you should wait until it's over, maybe Helena can find out where he is. She has a better chance of doing it than you do. You can stay here long as you want cause I doubt Al's gonna be coming back anytime soon ever again if he hasn't stopped in by now."
"Sit down, Claire. It's going to take me a while to find him." Actually, Helena has some thoughts on where to find him, and she has his number on her cell, but she's used to Claire's habit of jumping the gun and has gotten a better idea of how to deal with it. "Going to Peter and yelling about how horrible his dad is isn't going to convince him. We need to think about things. I need to know what you know about Pinehearst."
Claire has always been good about dressing in record time. It comes with needing to be able to jump and run at a moment's notice. She's hurrying out of the bedroom with Abby's robe over one arm, draping it over the back of one of the dining room chairs when she rejoins the other women. "I'm not going to yell at him about Arthur. But he shouldn't be alone right now. I can't leave him alone right now. Curfew be damned."
"Clarie…" What is Claire's last name? Damned if Abigail knows. "They'll bring him here okay? You'll sit your darned rear down and take care of yourself first before you run off willy nilly and possibly further hurt yourself! Would Peter want you hurting yourself? I don't think so! There's only about 5 more hours till curfew is up, surely you can wait that long and give Helena that long, to get him to come!" She's using that voice that Flint hates so much. Chastisement, just the way her mother does it. "Now sit and tell Helena about Pinehearst so that she can make sure the others are able to helpPeter and the others who are being hurt by them!"
Damn, Southern girls are bad ass! Helena sort of stairs at Abby in amazement for a moment, and then turns back to Claire. "She's right. You need to give me some time to find him, and then when I do, we can both go, okay? Peter has a habit of trying to be the lone cowboy, and this is not out of his pattern in the slightest, you know that. Rushing out isn't going to solve anything, Claire - and this is a big city. Let's talk about what we actually can do something about instead of wasting the time we have right now on a wild goose chase."
If there's one thing Claire and Peter have in common, it's their tendency to jump and run at the slightest provocation. They always mean to take action, and it's usually drastic. This time, Claire takes in a deep breath and calms down. Well, sort of. She isn't really calm, but she isn't two seconds from running out the door anymore. "Fine. Five hours. I have to find him, though." She drops down into her chair again with an expression somewhere between a frown and a pout. "Sooner rather than later."
There's a satisfied Abigail. yes it is, Chest all proverbially puffed out like a peacock that someone listened to her. "Five hours, then i'll unlock the door, unmanacle you and turn you free. I'm confident that Helly and friends can find him in that time and kick his rear to where you can. SO, tell us about Pinehearst while I shove more cookies in your mouth and mother you" Abigail's arms are crossed, watching.
Helena lets out a breath. "What Abby said." She looks over to the aforementioned blonde. "Listen, Cat's trying to press the question about your current situation. I know you asked me not to talk about it and I haven't, but she gets curious and what's more, she gets offended when I withhold from her. I don't suppose you're willing to reconsider letting me talk to her? She is discreet."