Participants:
| Scene Title | Shoot Me |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Claire has Magnes shoot her to prove to him that she doesn't need saving and to teach him to trust her. |
| Date | November 04, 2009 |
In the Woods Somewhere.
Normally it's Magnes that has the brilliant ideas on what to do together, but Claire sensing that his mood has been off for awhile, wanted to actually do something for him. So… she had gone out bought some sub sandwiches, packed them, some chips and various other things in a pack. She then asked him to fly them to a quiet clearing in the mountains. It was chilly, but the warmth of the sun beating down on them would keep them warm.
"I'd have much rather have cooked… I'm not horrible at it." Claire murmurs, looking a touch embarrassed, "But I don't have too many options for cooking where I'm at currently." Items are set out on the blanket she spread out. Nothing fancy, just a simple picnic in the woods. "Hope it's okay tho…"
"You know it's alright, Claire. As long as we're spending time together even with everything that's going on, y'know?" Magnes smiles, seemingly in a better mood with the change of scenary, crossing his legs on the blanket. He's wearing a plain white t-shirt for once, with his black denim jacket over it, some blue jeans, and a pair of black sneakers. She's likely noticed that he got his hair pretty nicely cut, and he hasn't been wearing gel anymore. "Oh, I talked to those FRONTLINE guys, they're gonna put in a good word for me."
"Did you?" Claire asks a smile touching her lips. Dressed for the cooler weather in a nice knit turtleneck, a nice pair of jeans and of course comfortable white shoes. "Well that's good… maybe you'll be able to get in… though I imagine you'll probably have to learn to be a military man, huh?" Sitting on her knees across the food from him, Claire studies the young man thoughtfully.
"Magnes, what's wrong?" Claire asks the question rather suddenly. "Something is really bothering you. We've been going out long enough that I can tell." There is a touch of worry as she asks. "Is it me? Is it something I did?"
"I hope you like military men. But don't worry, I'll try not to get too ripped." Magnes snickers, though he quickly shakes his head and reaches over to gently touch her shoulder. "No, Claire, never, you're great. It's just… Elisabeth told me you died, under the ferris wheel. I could have saved you… what if you weren't a regenerator? God, you wouldn't be sitting here right now…"
Something passes over Claire's face that is unreadable, her tone is a touch flat. "But I am a regenerator… if you had tried to save me, you'd have been crushed too." Her head tilts slightly as she watches him, "You can't think about the what if's, Magnes. I've died twice since I've started dating you.. countless times before that. It is what I do.. I was burned to a crisp on Staten… it saved Cardinal's life." She presses a hand to her chest, leaning towards him some as she states firmly. "I die so that others can live. You need to understand that."
"It's hard to not think of the what ifs, especially when it's you dying." Magnes stares at her hand, then meets her eyes with his usual look of concern. "I mean, I never thought about it much before Elisabeth put it a certain way, but… what if somehow it just didn't work? What if you get hurt in a way where you can't come back? Can you blame me for worrying? I've barely dated before, let alone a girl who dies, it just… takes adjusting, I guess."
Claire is quiet for a moment before she suddenly declares. "You need to see it happen to understand." There is a sudden look of determination on her face as she climbs to her feet. Holding out her hands to him, she looks deadly serious about this. "You need to see what happens. If you see that I will come back, they you won't hesitate next time.. or get yourself killed trying to help. There is barely any way to kill me for good… Simply getting shot or burned to a crisp doesn't do it." She gives her hands a small shake urging him to take them. "And if you want to fight the good fight along side me, you need to learn to trust me and my ability."
Magnes takes her hands, lowering his gravity to easily pull himself up. Staring down at her, his look goes from concerned to nervous. "What are you gonna do? Are you gonna… kill yourself?" he asks as a feeling of dread rises in the pit of his stomach, evident in his words.
Pulling him away from the blanket, the food forgotten for the moment in Claire's determination, she doesn't say anything. Once she's feels they are far enough away from the blanket, she reaches down and pulls her turtleneck over her head and tosses it aside - - hey she likes that turtleneck - - leaving her in her heart covered bra. She then reaches behind her to pull out the handgun she had tucked away at the small of her back, of course, he would have felt it there. She looks it over, cocks the slide and takes a deep breath.
Claire grabs and lifts one of Magnes' hands, flips the gun, around and pressed it in the palm of his hand. Her fingers curl round his hand forcing him to grip the handle of the gun and presses the barrel against her breast bone. "Your going to do it." The words are whispered, but full of a hardness he doesn't get to see much of. This is the Claire that fights by the sides of her friends. "You need to learn that if the situation calls for it you can in a way sacrifice me so that the job can get done. You need to learn to trust me. Me and my ability."
At first Magnes' eyes go a bit wide when she removes her shirt, but then the gun comes, and his hand is wrapped around it, and he finds himself pointing a gun at her chest. He does not want to shoot his girlfriend in the boob. "Claire, how can I… shoot you? I mean, I know you feel it. How can you expect me to hurt you?" He doesn't lower the gun, he keeps it there, waiting for her to answer.
"It doesn't hurt all that much. I mean… it hurts… it's hard to explain." Claire looks a bit frustrated as she tries to explain the pain issue. "When my ability was gone, everything hurt really bad." She glances down at the gun and moves to rest over her heart, then she looks up at him and gives him a small smile. Her hands are still holding his, she doesn't look nervous or anything. "I've learned that the pain is different for me. I've thrown myself in front of trains, I've fallen to my death countless times…. You can trust my ability to bring me back."
Slowly, Claire's hands let go of his and she spreads her hands out to her sides. "Shoot me." The words are soft and encouraging.
"Claire… right before I shoot you probably shouldn't be the first time I say this, but…" But Magnes tries to say the words, and they're stuck in his throat just as he pulls the trigger, immediately dropping the gun once the bullet pierces her heart. "Claire!"
As soon as he shoots her, Claire crumples to the ground like a rag doll, in a light spray of blood. Laying somewhat on her side, he can see blood ooze out of the wound slowly, sliding down her stomach to pool on the ground. There is a long drawn out moment, but he can see the wound slowly close and Claire's eyes suddenly open. Sitting up, she makes a bit of a face and gives a few hard coughs with her hand held up to catch the bullet she hacks out.
Glancing up, she gives him a soft smile and offers what is left of the bullet to him . "Lodged in my spine I think."
Magnes takes the bullet, staring at it and then her in amazement. "People are always telling me that things aren't like they are in comics, and a lot of times, well, that scares me. I was trying not to think of it like that, which I guess is why I thought you could get hurt, but seriously…" He nods to the bullet, then her healed wound. "This is like, some serious Wolverine stuff, and he can take a nuclear explosion…"
"So can I." Claire points out, offering her hand up for him to take so that she can climb to her feet. "Once… We have this guy show up at our home. His name was Ted.. something.. I can't remember his last name." She glancing down at her bloody self and wipes at some with her fingers. "I think he's where Peter got that ability to blow up maybe… I don't know. Anyhow, his was nuclear… tried to blow us all up.. I had to go in there and sedate him. I was burned really badly, but healed. " Closing hiss hand on the bullet she continues softly, "That same situation, my dad had to let them shoot to protect my family. You also need to learn to trust me and realize I know what I'm doing." Her tone is touch amused.
"I'm sorry I doubted you, Claire." Magnes slides the bullet into his pocket, then peels his shirt off to wrap his arms around her. he's wearing white, and blows at laundry! He stares down at her when the shirt hits the floor, briefly looking beyond her head and at the blood on the fingers behind her back. "I feel a little better, I mean, I shouldn't complain, not every guy has a girl he doesn't have to worry about every moment of the day."
Relaxing somewhat, Claire closes her eyes and sighs softly, a smile spreading across her lips. When her eyes open again she studies him. "No more trying to rescue me when there are squishier people to get out of harms way?" She lifts an unbloodied hand to brush fingers along his jaw. "I should have shown you before, I didn't really think about the fact that you may have read the comics, but you haven't actually seen it with both eyes. There is no substitute for the real thing."
"But y'know, as far as doing things as a boyfriend goes, I didn't think I'd be putting 'Shot my girlfriend' on my resume." Magnes reaches his own unbloodied hand, gently raising her chin to lean down and gently press his lips against her's. "I promise, I'll trust you and your ability from now on. Now let's go eat before I start wondering if you're gonna turn into a short hairy Canadian."