Shot Glasses In A Row

Participants:

ash_icon.gif claire_icon.gif

Scene Title Shot Glasses In A Row
Synopsis Claire and Ash do some team bonding over shot glasses.
Date April 12, 2010

A small apartment above a pawnshop in the The Rookery


"So…" Starts the dark haired woman as she sets out shot glasses on a rickety table in the place Messiah is stashing Ash, six are set down in the middle. Whiskey is splashed into each one, a couple other bottles beside that. "I figured, since we're suppose to be on the same team, we might as well get to know each other." Eyes lift from the glasses, to give him a small smirk. "And since I just hit twenty-one, I figured drinking was in order."

The small woman, is dwarfed by the bigger man, her darkened hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. "Hope your okay with that." She offers up. "I figure you might have questions and all. Plus, I'd like to know who I'm trusting my back too."

Only a short time ago, Claire had kicked at the door with the toe of her boot and announced her arrival, she was feeling really out of place in the Garden, not liking being under the watch of daddy's people. No doubt they were reporting back what he was doing, people she talked too. Jsut the thought is enough for her to down three shots one after the other before refilling them.

"So… ask away if you'd like."

Ash is in a little apartment above a pawn shop. Not a bad place to be considering how things are out in the city. The pawnshop is in the Rookery right where Kris said it was going to be. He answered the door with a small amount of surprise at seeing the previously shot gun wielding super heroine. He watches as she moves to the table, putting down shot glasses, interest sparked in his eyes. He closes the door, shutting and locking it, though what a lock will do is anyone's guess given thier enemies. His footsteps carry him towards the table, looking down at those glasses. "You're a fugitive, and you're following the drinking laws?" He smirks, amusement dancing across the big man's features. "Happy Birthday is in order then I suppose, though I guess the happy part has to be pretty hard."

He pulls out a chair, and deposits himself into it with a dexterity that surprises most, well, most normals that is. "I'm never one to turn down good liquor, nor company. Both are hard to come by." He reaches out, fingers picking up the three shots. He lifts them up toward shis face, using his fingers to tilt each shot back and toss the liquor into his mouth, one after the other. Then all three glasses are put back down on the table, the man licking his lips when he's done. "Met KNox earlier, got to know him a bit…" he reaches down, pulling a red scarf from his pants pocket. He lifts it up and puts it down on the table. "He gave me this. So yeah, I'd like to get to know you too. He said we're going to be pulling a raid on a vaccine truck. Something I was already planning to do, but with Rebel's and the groups support it'll be a hell of alot easier."

"Old habits. Having a bartender as a friend and having her drill into my head how I'm not old enough to drink…"Claire actually grins, whit teeth flashing in the dimly lit room, "It sticks with you, but no… never was a stickler for the rule out of the public eye." Another shot is down, a bit of a grimace but another follows. "And trust me, I found myself not actually caring." There is a small humorless chuckle as she serves up more. "What is funny is that before all this crap went down recently, overseas and all that, I couldn't wait for the day to walk into Old Lucy's and tell Abigail to get me a drink, I'm twenty-one."

The bottles thumps on the table and she lifts on of the shots eyeing him and that scarf. There is no really emotion as she studies that scarf. Though underneath is a bit of regret. "PARIAH use to wear those. // Fortis et Liber// — 'Strong and Free'. We use to say… at least they changed that part." Her words actually sound bland as she downs her shots again.

Clearing her throat from the burn, she watches him as she picks up the bottle again. Claire plans to do some serious drinking tonight.

Soft laughter touches the air from Ash as he reache sout for his refilled glasses. One is lifted up, rolled between thumb and forefinger slowly as he listens to the young woman. "Old Lucy's… met a bartender there the other night. Saved her from a… rather unpleasant time at the hands of a mugger who wanted more than her money. Lucille was her name. I used to know the owner of the place, the old owner I guess. Isabelle, but no one seems to be able to tell me where she is." He knocks the shot back, swallowing, letting the burn rip down his throat before he puts the shot glass back on the table and lifts a second. "Well, considering I was trying to revive Pariah before I had to skip down for a bit it suits doesn't it?" He arches a brow at her, then lifts his shot glass up to knock back the liquid. "Fortis Est Veritas is what Knox told me Messiah's is. Truth is Power." He knocks back the second, then clacks the glass down and lfits the third, kicking it back right after the second, that one is then set down as well. He pulls in a slow breath, grunting at the building burn in his throat and stomach. "Met some rather interesting folks when I made it known what I wanted to do."

Ash shake shis head slowly, and then leans back, waiting for her to refill the shot glasses. "For someone who's never drank before you can hammer it back awful fucking hard.. Claire wasn't it?"

"Yeah Claire… Claire Bennet. Anyhow, Isabelle…" Claire grimaces as she refills drinks, liquid slopping over the edge of one of the glasses. Her face falls some. "I knew her too… She's dead." The regenerator says softly, "Found in the river." There is a moment, before she gives a shake of her head and picks up her next shot. "And don't worry about my being able to hold my liqueur. I'm pretty damn sure I can drink you under the table." then the shots are down defiantly, with a slightly cocky smirk. Though it slides away once she's refilling glasses again.

"It's good you didn't. PARIAH made a lot of mistakes. Mistakes that hopefully Messiah will learn from ." This was one thing that made End Game hesitate from all out joining them. "A lot of innocent people died cause of PARIAH's rebellion. We bombed things we shouldn't have, we… were not smart about all that. Though the school bombing was never us, we were set up on that one."

Ash blinks a few times, his eyes going saddened, and then angry before they settle into resignation. He lifts a shot, and knocks the liquid back hard. "I knew her from Moab…" he mutters heavily, his voice filled with rage, but he's keeping it under control. "She was the first escapee I met after I got the fuck out of there." He doesn't reply to the challenge right away, the man lost in his own thoughts of fury and pain, pain at having lost a friend and not even known he had lost her, wrath at whoever did it. He lifts a hand, rubbing his hand across his face before he looks over to her. "Drink me under the table?" He cocks an eyebrow up at her, leaning forwards to rest his arms on teh rickety table, which tilts dangerously, causing him to pull back off of it.

"Pariah made mistakes yeah. But they got shit done. That's what I wanted. I didn't want to bring back Pariah, but I wanted to do the same thing. Bring a group together to get shit done. I had a few interests. Cardinal, Sylar, a few others, but nothing panned otu before I had to skip town for a bit." He works his lower jaw, his eyes on the two shots in front of him. "We?" His head jerks back up, his eyes narrowing before he grunts. "Fuck me. Wouldn't have taken you for the terrorist type. YOu just don't look the fucking part. THough, you did seem to know how to handle that shotgun you had." He lifts up both shots, knocking back one, then the other. The liquor is hitting his blood stream now, she can see it in the slightly slowed motions of his hands, not a lot, but still, slower.

There is a bit of a buzz for the cheerleader, but it's gone too quickly to even really be noticed, so while Ash is getting sloshed, Claire continues to knock them back and pour more with a steady hand. Her head shakes slowly. "There is a lot you don't know about my Ash." A small smile on her lips for a brief moment. "Though, you seriously don't know what it's like to be a freedom fighter or soldier until your in the middle of an actual war. Getting shot at, captured… all that." It sounds like the voice of experience even if she doesn't look all that old.

"I've been a part of the terrorist fight for absolutely years." There is a small shake of her head, sending her pony tail swinging as she leans forward on the table, it tilts slightly, but not like it did for Ash. "Pretty much the only thing I know anymore."

"And yes…" A shot glass is held up in salute to him, you'll be face down on the table before I ever will." There is that cocky smirk from the regenerator again. Tonight, he'll learn the heard way about her ability.

Ash holds off on more shots for the moment, his head tilting to either side, spin popping as he considers how much liquor he's had and how quickly he's had it. "And you don't know a thing about me either Claire. YOu have no idea what I have and haven't been a part of. I've been shot, stabbed, clawed, threatened, body swapped, all manner of shit. I may not have been a part of PARIAH and shit, but I was a bit too fucking busy being locked up to be a part of that shit. But I've done stuff since I got out. Some of it misguided, some of it unnecessary." He smirks some and shakes his head. "The battle between the Triad and the police? When they first deployed FRONTLINE in the city? I was there for that.. was fucking chaos in a bottle."

He lifts another shot glass, knocking it back before his eyes narrow at Claire. "Somehow, I have a feeling your challenge was seriously fucking loaded…" He chuckles, offering a soft sigh. "Stamina? Body control? Healing? I had a friend who healed fast, not as fast as … fucking Adam, but pretty fucking fast. She could drink alot too, and Adam could drink alot as well." He eyes her curuiously then. "I'm guess stamina though, most women can't handle a shotgun like that, most, not all. Stamina would let you…" He lifts another shot glass and knocks it back before he blinks and shakes his head. He presses his lisp together, then plays with them a bit as the feeling in them starts to fade. His words are a bit slurred when he next speaks. "You… looked like you knew what yah were doin out there though, when you guys… came to rescue me."

"Cause I know what I was doing." Claire says with a shrugs, shifting the chair to one side, so she can continue to pour drinks, he lifts her booted feet to rest on the table. "Shot gun and rifle. Know a little bit about explosives too, though not a ton."

"What I'm about to tell you, doesn't go past here, ever year of the coup in Madagascar end of last year, beginning of this one?" Claire's eyes are on the glasses and the amber liquid in them. "I was there. In the middle of it. The government scooped up a whole bunch of us evolved and non-evolved and sent us to various places in the world."

"My group had some really… amazing people. Hard core fighters. From day one we spent our days shooting and being shot out. Hell… our airplane was shot down and we had to parachute out of it. Gun battles ever step of the way… on foot, on the river." Claire's voice is distant, as she recants the tale. "Eventually caught up with the resistance in Madagascar, where we were ambushed. Me and one other were captured as prisoners of war. Experimented on, made to fight in pit battles for the leader's pleasure. I was the favorite toy of his pet scientist I've been told.

"Pregnancy farms… Evolved babies killed… Had a marine broiled alive while I tried to save him." Glancing across the table to Ash, Claire's hands dip into her shirt and pull out a set of tags, warped from heat. "I — still haven't returned them to his family. I need too, but — I lost a lot of memories of all that happened there, doesn't sound like it, but I did… this is a reminder of all that and the sacrifices made. I find myself hanging on, too." There is a soft sigh as she pulls them off her from around her head and sets them very gently on the table, they clink and clatter softly. Picking up a shot, her eyes on those tags, her expression haunted. “I saw a glimpse of what could be our future over there.”

Ash takes one last shot of whiskey before he puts the shot glass down and pushes the tohers away. At this poitn he's wobbling in his chair, not in any danger of falling yet, but wobbling none the less. His shoulders and head waaver a bit as he leans forwards to rest his elbnows on the table, causing it to tilt, but not enough to disturb the liquor on top of it.

His eyes move to Claire as she speaks, his head nodding in acknowledgment of her demand that he not speak to anyone outside of this room. The mention of Madagascar? Gets little reaction out of him. He purses his lips in thought before he shrugs them slowly. "Can't say that I remember anything specific… a quick blurb on the news about something going on there that's about… it."

He goes silent now, his eyes resting on her face, watching, listening, but not speaking. When she's done he reaches out to grab up a shot of whiskey, and he knocks it back before nodding his head. "Sounds like a fuckload of trouble." he rolls the empty glass in his fingers before he sighs softly. "I raided Pinehearst with some allies at one point… we had… experiments released on us. Humans who's body's had rejected Evolved enhancements, or who were test subjects for Evolved aimed viruses. They wanted to make sure they wouldn't hurt humans. Some of them might have been actual evolved. These people were…" He closes his eyes and shakes his head a bit. "MIndless… like zombies, they came at us in waves, the screaming… the …" He closes his eyes again and just goes quiet for a handful of seconds. "I've seen things. Maybe not what you've seen, but I know what I'm fighting for and why Claire."

"Yeah… I… " Claire takes a moment down more shots and refill them. "I know the man that ran Pinehearst. He stripped me of my ability for a time." Fingers slowly turn one of the shot glasses on the table. "I wanted to help in the take down, but I was down and out cause what Arthur did too me." The shot is picked up, hefted between fingers.

Eyes move from the glass to the man across from her. "But I heard about what happened from Richard Cardinal." The wobbling is noticed, a small smile on her lips. "Looking a little tipsy there Ash." Comes the tease, brows lifting a bit. The regenerator looks just fine, not even tipsy.

"You want to know what my ability is?" She asks softly, leaning forward to pull up the hem of her jeans, where he feet are propped up on the table. The handle of a knife sticks out of her boot. The thing is slowly pulled out, the blade dull, it's not even metal. A gift from a EndGame team mate.

Ash blinks a few times, the man's eyes having a hard time focusing on what's before him now. He shakes his head, trying to clear the feeling, but it only serves in making it worse, his body wobbling from the dizzyness before he settles back into it and suffices with staring in Claire's direction, not concentrating on her face anymore. "We were there to kill Arthur, though it didn't happen. I was helping Adam Monroe take down the founders of the Company, helped him kill several of them. Needless to say… I'm not well loved by those people." He barks a solid laugh before shaking his head and pushin hi sthree shot glasses away from him.

"Cardinal huh?" Seeing as how that's one of the two names he mentioned earlier it definitley catches his interest. "Ummm… it would be useful so I know what you're capable of when shit hits the fan. Normally I wouldn't give a shit, but since I'm going to end up trusting my life to you, yeah… it'd be good to know." He watches her taking the knife out, and his alchohol slowed brain takes a good few moments before he ahhhs softly. "I guessed wrong then huh?" He asks, his arms settling on the arms of his chair, his head tilting bac k for a second, eyes closing. soon enough tough his head tilts back and he lets his eyes rest on her.

"Not Stamina… but…" The knife is hefted in her hand, "You mentioned a man named Adam." Her other hand is lifted up and palm turned towards him. "I've heard of Adam… and yeah…" The knife is drawn across her palm laying it open as deep as it will go, blood wells up and starts a dark ling down her arm soaking into sleeve of the black hoodie.

The wound starts closing immediately, until she wipe the heel of her other hand, knife still held in it, the wound gone. "I am a regenerator. The reason I can't remember portions of Madagascar, is cause the general there put a shot gun to my head. Unfortunately… the memories don't come back." Leaning forward again she shoves the knife back into the boot.

"How you feeling there, Ash?" A grin flashing on her lips, before she picks up another shot.

Ash doesn't freak out or anything as she draws the knife across her palm, not that he would normally, but his mind is incredibly dulled at the moment. "Yeah, just like Adam. Angel was a friend of mine… inmate at Moab when I was there, was let out at the same time and shit. She could regen. Not that quickly, but she could. So… I've actually got good experience with you people." YOu people being regenerators. He closes his eyes for a moment, then shakes his head before he pushes to his feet. The big man wobbles heavily before gaining his footing and making his way to the sink. A cup is grabbed and filled with water, then chugged down, then another follows that one. "Gonna have one hell of a fucking hangover." He mutters, though the water will help alleviate that. He moves backj to the table and settles into his seat before grabbing up one of his shot glasses and knocking it back and swallowing. "Feeling pretty fucking good so far." He smirks and sets his glass down. "Watched Adam walk through a fucking inferno once, and came out without a mark on him. Naked, but not a mark on him. Judging by how fast you just healed? It'd be about the same for you… That would be one hell of an ability to have, though I quite like mine."

"Sounds about right." Claire reaches over to curls fingers around the dog tags, picking them up slowly. "The marine I told you about, I was trying to pulling him out of the furnace before it went off… It was too slow. We were both burned, except he… didn't make it." The tags are replaced over her head and slipped back into her shirt again.

"There use to be a time I thought my ability was pretty lame. Compared to my uncle who use to be a jack of all abilities. He use to gather abilities." Claire chuckles a little, "I learned otherwise on that trip."

Ash taps his chin slowly at the statement from Claire, about the marine being lost. "Adam… once used his blood, infused it into someone I'd killed. It healed her, though the damage I did to her brain erased the memories of what had happened, and thus our faces, but… could your blood do the same thing? It stands to reason that if one person's blood can that another's could doesn't it?" He lifts up a shot and knocks it back, then puts the glass down, slowly. He's slowing down quite a bit now, his eyes unfocused, his lips curved up in an almost constant smile.

"Your unckle? A … never heard of someone gathering abilities like that, didn't know it was possible. Makes sense that it is buty…" He huhs softly and shake shis head, a hand lifting up, his fingers running back through his hair slowly. "I don't think your ability is lame. It took you becoming a fighter to realize it's potential. Me? That would be a sweet fucking ability to me, though I like mine plenty. But, the idea of not being able to be killed… sounds pretty nice. Could get a lot of shit done with that."

"As it stands no." Claire answers the blood question, "For one, I left Madagascar with hitchhikers." There is a touch of amusement in her voice. "I have a super bug kind of Malaria. Incurable. My ability mutated it and keeps it from tearing me apart. Anyone that gets it has to be on drugs the rest of their life."

"It did take becoming a soldier in a civil war. Especially when I stood at the bottom of a set of stairs." Claire glances to where her feet are on the table, using a shot glass swung about to emphasize the point. "Firing round after round at the guys coming down the stairs while my team worked on escaping." Her head turns back to him and she gives him a bit of a smile. "So yeah, it's pretty nice."

Her boots slide off the table and she moves to scoot forward on her chair. "So what did you do to get tossed into Moab."

Ash blinks a few times before a heavy grunt escapes him. "Fuck me…" he mutters under his breath, eyeing the whiskey, the debate on whether he should have more or not is prretty clear on his face. He zones out, staring like that, his focus pulling completely out of the present, or maybe just out of htis room, hard to tell. He wobbles some in his chair, the man's large frame causing the chair to tip with his wobbling.

When she starts talking again his head turns and his eyes clear, somewhat, a big smile offered to the woman as more and more of the liquor hits his blood stream. "Yeah… shit like that will turn you into a fucking soldier really fast. My moment of horror was those zombie like experiments. Cutting down innocent fucking people… they were tryingg to kill us, so it had to be done. But… dozens of them… we killed dozens and " He stops and just swears, rather profusely for a good handful of seconds, then stops and blinks a bit, "Moab…." He pulls in a long, slow breath, the man's chest swelling out before relaxing back. "I didn't do a fucking thing. I was a streetfighter. Underground shit here in teh city before the bomb. I was in a fight when my fucking power manifested. Killed the guy on accident. I got thrown in Eastern Pen for Manslaughter. I was in there when the fucking Bomb went off. Saw the mushroom cloud from the yard, had Ash raining down on us all fucking day. Then… one day, the came for me. They grabbed me up, and threw me in Moab. I rotted there until my escape attempt. Killed two gaurds before they threw me in thier max security sections."

There is a slow shake of Claire's head as she settles back in her chair. "Some of my friends ended up in there as well" Watching for a moment after that, she smiles a bit. "Well, you'll get your chance to get even, just gotta weather the storm and wait for the right chance."

The bottle is pushed over to Ash, before the regenerator climbs to her feet. Claire doesn't wobble or tilt, totally unaffected by all that drinking. A lop sided smirk is given the larger man, "I should get back to where I am staying. They will start wondering if the wild dogs on the island got me."

Ash shakes his ehad, slowly. "Yeah, KNox was there, I remembered him, and that other guy. I think that's where I remember his face from too. Alot of us here in the city…" Then hsi mind goes back to Isabelle, whom Claire has only just told him is dead, and he closes his eyes, his face going saddened. "I don't want revenge. I want retribution Claire. That's what I need. Revenge wont' do anything but make /me/ feel better. We can do so much more than revenge. You know, those fuckers hate us? ANd they're the ones turning us into the creatures they make us out to be." He nods his head lightly, the mans anger getting built up until it all goes out of him in a sudden rush. "Yeah… take care of yourself Claire. We'll be working on hitting a vaccine truck soon, Rebel's putting you and I, and some guy Knox called tin man on it."

Brows lift and Claire nods slowly, as she grabs up her coat off the back of the chair."Yeah…." The regenerator looks sad… her father is signing all the papers. "Anyhow, I'll probably be getting information from rebel on it soon. You'll like the tin man, though." The jacket is zipped up and she turns towards the door. "He's a good man." Hand on the door she gives Ash as sloppy salute. "Don't get passing out drunk and I'll talk to you again soon I'm sure."


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