Participants:
Scene Title | There Is Only One Of You |
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Synopsis | Magnes calls Claire over to talk about what Peter said. She drops another big secret on him. (Warning: Can get a little sappy. Hmm.. maybe I should put this on all their logs. ;) ) |
Date | August 31, 2009 |
Magnes' Room
It's a little after eight, Magnes has taken another shower, and he's wearing a white 9th Wonders t-shirt with a motivational poster of Claire from the comic in her cheerleader outfit that says 'Claire: Fuck Yeah', figuring she'll get a kick out of it. He didn't sound particularly alarmed on the phone, and he just seems to be lounging in his baggy blue jeans, legs crossed, no shoes on, flipping through channels. He's had roughly an hour to process everything he learned from Peter, and the only person in the world he's gonna trust with it is Claire… and maybe Cardinal, maybe.
The door softly clicks behind her, the lock shortly following. He's see Claire standing there, leaning back against the door, her head tilted to the side a bit as she eyes his shirt. "You've got to be kidding me." She sounds more amused then anything. "Hey, you called?" her bros lift a bit, "What did you want to talk about?"
"Ordered it online. You do have a bit of a fanbase, y'know. Thought you'd get a kick out of it, I won't wear it outside though." Magnes slides off the bed and walks over, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I just wanted to see you, Claire. I met Peter Petrelli, and I don't know, after the things he told me, everything just seemed so small and I wanted to hold you. I know it's stupid and lame, but…"
Her face pales a bit as he mentions her uncle, her eyes widening a bit. "You met Peter?" She asks, a bit awed. Her arms slide around him slowly in return, as she asks, "What happened?" She looks a touch nervous as she asks. "Did you accuse him of the bombing? Did… he… mention anything important?" About me?.
"I may have freaked out a bit, but, it ended well, I think. He told me his mother, his brother, you know, the President, and Daniel Linderman orchestrated everything that led up to him exploding. He told me everything." Magnes says this as if he's not saying everything Peter told him, holding her tight as he slowly walks back in the direction of the bed. "We can't tell anyone, this information could get people killed, that's what he told me… that there's nothing we can do."
"He… Told you all about all that?" Claire asks with a look of surprise, as she allows him to guide her to his bed. She bites her lower lip and brushes her hair behind her ears. How much should she tell him? She hates that she has to be so careful with him just yet. "Are… you going to do anything with this information?" She asks an edge of caution in her voice.
Magnes sits on the bed, sliding back and crossing his legs, then carefully pulls her down into his lap. "Well, I've been considering my options. Telling Tracy would be too dangerous, she could get herself killed, or tell the wrong person and at minimum possibly destroy her career. I considered telling Cardinal, but despite all the good he does, I just don't know what his motives are. The same with Eileen, I trust her, she's my friend, but I don't know her motives. There's Helena and Cat, but I get the feeling that Peter doesn't have the highest opinion of them, considering something he said, so who knows if they should know or not, if they don't already." He sighs, pulling her back against his chest, then burries his face into her neck for a moment. "I'm not even sure if I should be telling you, but I don't wanna keep secrets from you."
Settling into his lap, Claire looks a bit disturbed at his words. "I — I think this one you should just sit on," she says the words slowly and with purpose. She turns sideways on his lap so that her legs drape over one of his, so that she can look him in the eyes. "Just keep it to yourself for now. I think it's too big to be waving around." Not to mention there might be people out there willing to kill to keep it secret.
"If that's what you think I should do, Claire. Peter's kind of crazy…" Magnes' grip tightens around her waist, looking her in the eyes as if seeking forgiveness. "I freaked out, I was thinking about killing him, all I could think about was the fact that he killed all those people. It was just like when I met Gabriel for the second time, but it was so much worse, I wasn't calm at all, I pulled a gun out the second he introduced himself. I just, I wasn't thinking at all…"
"But I'm going to guess you didn't." There is some relief to those words, as Claire studies his face. "You know he didn't do it on purpose. Blowing up like that. He — didn't have control. Did you know that?" Resting a hand on his chest, presses her lips together for a moment before saying, "I'm glad that you didn't shoot him. Peter means a lot to me."
"I know that now, no one ever really made it clear to me. But the way Peter talked about it, I just sort of figured he didn't choose to blow up." Magnes leans in, placing a gentle kiss on her lips before pulling back and looking into her eyes again. "You know I'm not someone who could easily kill someone, right, Claire? I guess Peter knew that too, since he put the gun to his own head, but, you know doing something like that wouldn't be easy, right? I don't want you to think something horrible about me. And I figured he meant a lot to you, since he saved you from Gabriel, but, I wasn't thinking about that…"
He takes a breath, then asks, "I'm not saying Peter is evil, but imagine if you thought that? What would you do if you saw Bin Laden?"
"Don't compare him to Bin Laden," Claire says deadly serious, but then she sighs. "But I see what your getting at," she admits softly. "And I know you wouldn't, but it can happen. And Peter hasn't been himself lately. He's different somehow. " Trailing off, Claire goes silent for a moment looking at her lap. You want to know why Peter means so much? It goes beyond him saving me from Sylar."
"Sorry, was the only way I knew how to explain what I was feeling." Magnes averts his eyes at her question, then when he turns back to her, he has a somewhat calm look that says 'Do I really wanna know'? "Is… is he the reason you didn't wanna tell me about your last boyfriends?"
There is a blink at what he asks in return, but realization quickly dawns on the former cheerleader and she wrinkles her nose. "Oh god.. ew.. No." Seriously, Ew. Her hand moves to make him look at her. "This is a secret… but since your not hiding things from me, I won't hide this from you. I can't express though, how much this has to stay between us." Her expression serious, she's giving him something very big. "Can I count on you not to tell anyone?" There are others that know, but they haven't been spreading it around either.
"You know you can, Claire. I mean it's not like someone can hold a gun to your head and tell me to say it or they'll shoot you…" Really, Magnes has the best possible superhero girlfriend. He nods, hands gently resting on her hips. "I'll never tell anyone, I haven't even told anyone your last name."
Claire seems assured enough that she nods slowly, "Alright." She takes a deep breath and just says it. "I was adopted by the Bennets, but…. Peter…. is my uncle." She sits quietly, her expression uncertain as to whether she should have said something or not, waiting for it to sink in.
"Peter is your uncle?" Magnes scratches his head as if there's something he should be getting. "I'm trying to process the implications here…" Processing… processing… "I'm dating the President's daughter?!"
A hand comes up to cover his mouth as he starts to say those words out loud, Claire winces visibly. "My biological father is Nathan Petrelli… Yes… But we're not exactly on father/daughter terms. Last I saw of him was before Peter blew up," she explains softly as if she fears someone would hear it. "I've only seen him a handful of times. I'm just a political liability to him really. Since I am a terrorist in the governments eyes." There is a touch of sadness to her smile. "You see why it's such a huge secret and why no one should know."
"I think I wanna punch him even more now, I mean seriously, Nathan's reaching a ridiculous level of supervillainy here…" Magnes slides a hand up to reassuringly stroke her cheek. "Don't worry, you still have the father who raised you, and that's what matters. I won't tell anyone, and um, if Nathan's your biological father, who's your biological mother?"
"I hold nothing against him really, Magnes." Claire shrugs her shoulders, leaning into his hand a bit. "And I know. My dad, was a good father…. for the most part." Her tone is bland at the mention of her adopted father. "Except for when he put work before us." Her eyes look down, but then flick back up to his. "My biological mother? No one you'd really know, Meredith. He met her before he met his current wife." She gives a little sigh, "Anyhow, now you know probably one of my biggest secrets."
"And it's gonna stay that way, a secret. And as much as you may dislike what the man who raised you did, you should at least remember that most working fathers, at least the business man suit wearing types, often put work before their families, thinking it's for their own good." Magnes slowly pulls her down on the bed with him, laying with her next to him and an arm around her waist. "I'm not sure if I have any big secrets, but there is something I did recently that I feel bad about. I promised a woman I wouldn't tell anyone her name, but I told Cardinal. I told him for a very good reason, I never had any intention of keeping that promise, but I still broke a promise, it's the first time I ever have… protecting her or not, I feel bad about it, really bad."
Turning on her side so that she can curl along his side, Claire drapes an arm across his stomach. "Thank you for understanding at least." She rests her head on his shoulder and sighs softly. Then a thought occurs to her. "How badly did you get in trouble the other night?" Her head comes up to give him a concerned look.
"Let's just say if it was a cartoon, steam would have come from my partner's ears. She didn't report me, she's giving me another chance. But seriously, Claire, I know why you didn't tell me, but, next time, please warn me? At least then I can prepare just in case we come across eachother." Magnes doesn't sound angry about it, just wanting her to do that one thing. "I'm your boyfriend, do you really think I'd let you get arrested? Even if I had to put cuffs on you, I could make it look like you flew away and just say you were Evolved."
"Truth be told I didn't think you'd be the one to answer the call." And it's true she didn't. "I mean it's a really really big city." Claire says with a touch of amusement. "Well, I'm glad I didn't loose you your job. I was really worried." she moves so she can prop herself on her elbow and look at him, "Just being involved with me puts your job in danger, Magnes." There is something behind those words, a worry she can't hide.
"And like Batman, I'm prepared. I know the risks of dating you, and I'm not letting it stop me. You're the best thing that ever happened to me, and this screwed up world isn't gonna ruin that. If I lose my job, I have pizza, if pizza falls through, I can join that girl's band, if that falls through, make clothes with Delilah, failing that, well, I have friends." Magnes rolls over on top of her again, leaning down for a kiss, but stopping just before making any contact. "You're worth it, Claire, a job is a job, but there's only one of you."