Participants:
| Scene Title | Pizza and Plotting |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Helena manages to sneak into the Petrelli Mantion and touch base with Claire. She also gets free access to Claire's entire wardrobe. Score!! |
| Date | September 24th, 2008 |
Petrelli Mansion, Upper West Side
Helena has a clever plan. Step 1, get into slightly grungy but still clean clothes as a typical young adult slogging in the miserable workforce of the pizza delivery masses. For Helena this involves ripped jeans, sneakers, a baseball cap, a denim button up shirt, and Peter's jacket, which gives her the right amount of slouch and a somewhat vague impression of Silent Bob, if Silent Bob were turned into a petite female blonde. (It's entirely probable that Silent Bob would wish this on himself.) Step 2? Go buy a pizza. She'll even get it with Claire's favorite toppings. Oh, like she doesn't know what those are, how long as she lived with other girl? Step 3? March up to the Petrelli mansion announce that she has a delivery for Claire. There's more steps, but shhh, it's a surprise.
The "pizza delivery girl" is granted access to the house, but no one answers the front door. Instead, a window around the side of the house opens and the brunette sticks her head out. "What are you doing?!" Claire whispers loudly. "Are you crazy?"
Helena doesn't know if there are cameras, so she's not going to respond in necessary kind. She looks up at Claire with wide eyes and says, "I've got this pizza for a Claire. Are you her? If you are, could you please come downstairs and sign the receipt for delivery?" There's a subtle emphasis on sign the receipt.
"Oh, get over here, you big dummy. I'll let you in through the window." Apparently Claire assumes that there are no cameras, or she doesn't care about them. She waves Helena over frantically.
Helena smirks, and comes around the front. She has to pass in the pizza first, because hey, it's an actual pizza, but then clambers in herself. "I came to see if you wanted us to get you out or not." she informs Claire when she gets inside. That, before giving her a hug. "What were you thinking, giving yourself up to Parkman like that?"
"I was thinking about you guys," Claire informs her friend as she hugs her fiercely. The pizza is set aside on a night stand. This is Peter's old room, and it's kind of obvious. It just… feels like it belonged to him. "It was give myself up, or risk that he'd start arresting the rest of you guys. You would have done the same for me, and you know it."
"Yeah." Helena concedes. "Are you stuck here now, though? It doesn't seem like there's a lot of security keeping you prisoner. Though we're so fucked if I got caught on security cam."
PARIAH> Deputy Fife, Alexander homes.
"I won't let anything happen to you." Claire withdraws, but keeps her hands on Helena's shoulders. It's a touching, tender moment that only true friends can share. "…Is that my shirt?" And so is that. "And Peter's coat?" That one, too.
"Well, you weren't wearing it and he gave it to me." Helena's chin comes up stubbornly. "Seriously, Claire. Do you want to get the hell out of here or what?"
"Can't." Claire drops her arms to her sides and shakes her head. "I can't just… walk away from her again. I owe her better than that." She sits down on the bed and opens up the pizza box. "Hey. My favourite. Damn, Hel'. You're the best."
"What about us?" Helena asks. Relieved to be off the tender subject of Peter she adds, "West is completely freaking out. What do you want me to tell him? It's not like your grandma is going to let us over for playgroup and slumber parties."
"I didn't say I won't leave. But I won't just… break out. When I go, I don't want it to be as a runaway again." Regardless of the fact that Claire is now of legal age and wouldn't technically be a runaway. "How's the hunt for Sylar going?"
Helena holds out her hands haplessly. "It's not. Cameron's trying to chase down Peter, for all the luck he's having. And apparently Sylar can be anyone now. We're going to have to move HQ, since Sylar knows where it is. And we've got to come up with new ID protocols." She gives Claire a tenative look. "I've been in contact with the Ferrymen. I saw your dad."
"What do you mean, chase down Peter?" Claire's eyes get big, "Didn't he come home?" Sure, she knew Sylar had escaped Peter from echoes in the halls of Homeland Security, but she didn't know Peter had gone missing. At the mention of her father, her face grows tense, adding age to her. "I don't care if you saw the Queen of France."
"Yes, you do." Helena purses her lips and gives Claire a frank look. "He's the one who told me how to find you. And no," she says, the strain now coming to her face. "Since he and Sylar went poof, Peter hasn't shown up. Not at HQ, not in any of the safehouses, not even at his apartment. All I know is that he's not dead." Helena says with fierce conviction.
"Angela might know something," Claire responds numbly. She can't lose Peter again. She just can't. "I'll talk to her about it… Nobody was hurt, right?" She stares down at the floor, pizza deposited back in the box. She suddenly has no appetite.
"That blondie bitch with the electricity really worked Alexander over." Helena admits. "He'll be okay, but there's gonna be a scar on his body like woah." Helena admits. "And I think those prisoners who got out…some of them are really bad. Really, really bad. There was this woman — I thought I'd seen her before, black with funny eyes? Remember that mural in Peter's apartment at HQ? With the woman eating a guy? I think it was her." She shudders.
"Oh, crap." Claire blows out a heavy breath of air. "And Peter's gone. Fabulous. I hope you've told everyone to lay low." She looks up suddenly, very serious. "I didn't give Parkman anything. He tried. He tried really hard. But I didn't give anybody up, or any of our locations." But then her expression grows somewhat akin to that of a deer trapped in the headlights of an oncoming truck. "He registered me, Hel'."
"Registration's just data, Claire." Helena says gently. "And data can be changed. I can check with Wireless, we might be able to do something about affecting your information, or even getting you something fake. And then we can burn your shiny new one. More importantly…did the Company tag you?"
"No!" Claire shakes her head frantically. "It could be a trap. They don't know how we got our information, and they may be hoping Wireless will hack into my registration files. We can't risk her." She then rubs at her neck before shaking her head. "I don't remember being tagged. I think I'm okay on that front."
Helena suggests, "Check for the scar." Her tone turns sly, "I'm sure you've had occasion to see West's up close, so you should know what one looks like." Helena shakes her head. "You know the longer you stay here, the harder it will be for you to leave, right? Listen, we should work out a way for you to pass me messages. If you're going to stay on the inside, we may as well see what information you can gather."
"I know…" Claire runs her fingers through her hair. "I don't want to just run off again, but I will if she forces me to." Her grandmother must know that, surely. "And yeah, I know what I'm looking for. I haven't spotted it."
With Cameron and Peter gone, and you here, that means I'm kind of on my own with the group." Helena says, swallowing hard. "It's hard." It's the closest she'll come to confessing how frightening the prospect is to her. "What's the best way for you to pass messages, do you think?"
"I have some windchimes." Claire shrugs, "West will know what to do with those. There's always the flashlight and pie tin, too. I'm not sure."
Helena frowns a little bit, looking out the window. "Does she let you outside? You can leave the chimes for West, but if there's a spot maybe in the garden somewhere you can hide info…" she trails off, shrugs.
Claire shakes her head, "I don't know, yet. I haven't been here long enough to know where I can get away with things." She frowns, "But when I figure it out, I'll leave the windchimes." She glances out the window. "Do you think you can roll some fog in? Homeland's got a car outside the house, watching for Sylar. If they thought you were him, they'd have grabbed you by now. And I think they're smart enough to know I wouldn't let Sylar in through the window. Front door with a pizza, maybe. But not through the window." She reaches out and turns Helena's hat sideways. "That reminds me, make sure you're always wearing something borrowed from my wardrobe when dealing with me. If I ever see you wearing nothing that's mine? I'm going to stab you because I'll think you're Sylar." It's just a fact, okay?
Helena grins. "I can't believe you just validating my borrowing your wardrobe for now until the end of time." she says, giving Claire another hug. "Done deal. Though he might be able to shape shift clothes, too. I'll roll a fog in and amscray. And we'll have folks keep an eye out for chimes. You look for the best way to create an easy drop for information. West or Daniel or I can probably pick up as needed when we see the chimes up. But think of something soon okay? We're that much weaker without you."
"Helena." Claire raises her brows and grins at the girl, "Sylar doesn't know you borrow my clothes. He doesn't know what's in my wardrobe. So, I'd say it's a pretty sound system." The smile falls and she taps Helena's neck twice. "My mother's necklace." Meredith Gordon, that is. "If things are ever really, really dire? Wear that." She gives the girl another hug and then peers out the window. "I'll be in touch. I'll be back before you know it. I promise."
"Okay." Helena grows still for a moment, and a few moments later, a fog starts to roll in, first light, then a bit thick and carrying a sprinkle of rain. "That's my cue. And… please, if you hear anything about Peter? Let me know as soon as you can." With that, she heads for the window, and after being satisfied that she's got enough cover, climbs out the window and heads onto the street.
 September 24th: One is the Loneliest Number |
Previously in this storyline… Next in this storyline… |
 September 24th: House of Cards |