mad_muses april prompt set 1.4.2 [tainted]
[co-written with
heroslayer mun, the use of Nathan and Bennet are not aimed at a specific muse]
Claire was surprised that neither one of her dads had shown up yet, spitting fire and demanding answers as to why she would run around with Sylar of all people. She had seen Nathan when Danko first brought her in, had seen the firm line of his jaw and the fury behind his eyes. After all, she had taken his free pass and threw it right into his face. She had helped Sylar to kill and yes, she had done it to escape but they wouldn't look at it that way.
She figured he was pissed because he didn't get to play the big hero in her eyes, she had chosen the villain over him.
She sat quietly on the hard, narrow bed in the cell they had given to her. She wondered if they locked her up with the rest that they thought were dangerous, their own version of Level 5. She had no idea where she was but she was hoping that Sylar would find her soon. She was still thinking about it when she heard the door open, drawing her attention upwards as she looked to see who was paying her a visit.
And as if some higher power had heard her thoughts, not one but both of Claire's fathers were pushing into the room. Neither of them looked happy, though Bennet seemed less obvious about it as if his glasses were some kind of armor that obscured emotion, though neither started spitting fire as Claire had imagined, just yet. Instead, Nathan simply looked her over for a moment, frowning, before casting a glance over his shoulder at the man in the horn-rimmed glasses.
"Shut the door."
Bennet nodded once, sharply, as if he knew the order of things and didn't particularly appreciate being ordered around, and then he was closing the door behind him. Nathan moved a second later to disconnect the camera feed from the wall, and then he was turning, to lean against it so that he could watch his daughter, trying to find a place to start.
When it seemed he couldn't, Bennet stepped up to the plate. "Hello, Claire." Nice and neat, just like that, and if the crispness in his tone wasn't worrysome enough, the fact that he hadn't called her by her pet name was perhaps moreso.
Claire was glad that Sylar wasn't there, he would hear the way that her heart jumped into her throat at the sight of both men walking into her tiny cell and suddenly the room seems much smaller than it is. She didn't shrink back though, instead her shoulders squared a bit even as she relaxed back against the wall while looking to both men in turn. Nathan looked distant as always and her father was guarded; no doubt this would be the hardest on him. He was probably asking himself where he went wrong to lose her in such a way.
As Nathan ordered Bennet to close the door, she arched a brow at the sight of him moving to unplug the camera and then she gave a small snort as she could imagine Danko wouldn't like that. She was sure he was watching, or he had been till Nathan cut off his view.
As the greeting, she looked back at her dad and tilted her head at the rather cool greeting. "Hello, daddy." She couldn't help it, she knew it would be a little stab at him. Worst than calling him by his given names. "So? Come to play twenty questions with me?" After all, she hadn't seen either of them for near five years. Not to mention the ties that she had to their big whale.
"Actually, Claire," Nathan started, folding his arms over his chest, "your father and I really only have one."
"Are you insane?"
Claire noticed the way that Nathan distanced himself yet again, calling Bennet her father. It was true of course, she didn't view the politician in that role but still. At the question, she blinked ever so slightly as though she had no idea what they were talking about. "Not the last time I checked."
"You want to tell us why Danko's got enough footage to make a sitcom with you and Sylar on it, then?" the politician asked, frowning. Bennet didn't bother putting his two cents in this time, though--rather he looked as if he was waiting for something. Some kind of explaination as to what he percieved as madness.
"Because he's a creepy voyeur?" She offered while wrinkling her nose up just a bit while tapping her fingers against her knees. Her eyes flickered to her dad who still hadn't said anything and then she looked to Nathan once more while lifting her chin just a bit. "Did he tell you what kind of sitcom?"
The look on Nathan's face seemed to suggest that he agreed with Claire's assessment of his Hunter, but he said nothing to that effect. Instead, he reached up to scub a hand over his face, sighing, before recrossing his arms. "Looked like a romantic comedy to me," he answered, dryly. "So, again: you want to tell us why?"
That got him a weird look even if she was worried for a moment. Were there more cameras than either her or Sylar had realized? It wasn't like they had acted like a couple whenever they were out in public and so she couldn't think of anything that would tip them off. "Then you have a funny idea of romantic comedy." She mused, considering the kind of scenes that they had left in the last few days.
"I guess he got lonely?"
"Funny has never been Sylar's strong point," Bennet pointed out. "He's dangerous, Claire." Not that this wasn't common knowledge for all parties currently in the room, but he sounded vaguely hopeful, somehow. As if he was sure that whatever Danko had told them was wrong, and that Claire had just been the victim in this, as their footage of the last few days seemed to suggest.
Nathan ignored him. "So, what? A guy who's tried to kill you more than once decides he's lonely and drops by to relive old times? Then gets bored and leaves you to the wolves?" Yes, the politician was aware that that made him one of the wolves, but he held no illusions as to what he was doing. Not anymore.
"Guess you'd be surprised." She moved her shoulders in a shrugging motion as her dad finally decided to speak up and then she scoffed, "Like you needed to remind me?" No, she wasn't delusional. She was one person who knew who dangerous Sylar could be, she survived what he had done to her and she had changed because of it. But she knew there was more to him too, not that she would tell them that.
Her eyes flickered to Nathan, "I've seen him off and on over the last five years. He found me in Vegas, decided to take me along." That hadn't been her idea and that much was clear because it was true. But things had changed along the way. "Well, you act like you know him. You know what he does, and I slow him down."
"Really." Nathan affected a mock-surprised look, before gesturing for Bennet. The older man frowned at Nathan, briefly, before reaching into his suitcoat to withdrawl a file folder that had been tucked under it. Wordlessly, he handed it to Nathan, stepping back, and calmly, the politician thumbed through it before coming up with what he'd been looking for. "That's kind of odd, considering that, according to the records Danko's kept, he hasn't taken a new ability in, what, five years? So why would he start again, now?"
It appeared as though Bennet had his own ideas on why now, but he kept his mouth shut. That conversation would be held in private, rather around his daughter, when this was about her, not Sylar's profile.
Claire's eyes narrowed a little bit as her mind drifted back to the last time that Sylar had taken a power, before Doyle. Obviously they didn't know about that but Sylar had been careful as well. No need to reveal themselves and what they were doing. They needed Nathan, Danko and his men to think Sylar was a killing machine for his own pleasures and that he had no intentions at the moment. "Why are you asking me?" She finally asked Nathan, ignoring the look that she got from Bennet.
"It's not like we were sharing a lot while he dragged me around the country." Her tone was cold, "I can't tell you how Sylar works or why. All I know is he left, you have me and I'm in a cell. Sorry I can't give you some deep insight into him." She crossed her arms, her eyes sparkling with a bit of annoyance.
Nathan looked decidedly unimpressed, but he didn't press, instead snapping the file shut so that he could consider her for a minute. "Alright, you don't want to talk about him. I get it. That's fine." Whether or not what he thought he understood was what Claire had said--that she'd been a prisoner and that she didn't particularly want to discuss it--or what he'd been told by Danko, however, was anyone's guess. And she didn't have time to try, as he was changing the subject. "So, let's talk about you. You realize the pass I gave you is pretty much expired, right?"
She was surprised that Nathan dropped the topic of Sylar but she had an idea that her dad wouldn't, just from the way he was watching her still. Then Nathan was letting her know that the free pass was pretty much done and she found herself lifting her chin just a bit, "Yeah, I figured. So what now? Going to let Danko put a bullet in the back of my head?"
"I'm trying to talk him out of it." From the look that passed over his face that was a fact, too. "He wants your head on a plate, Claire, and I need to give him something."
"You think even if I could give you anything, you'll be able to stop him." She looked at Nathan quietly now, "He's going to make me pay one way or another, Nathan. He's wanted to ever since the plane crash."
Nathan raised his eyebrows and then lowered them in rapid succession. "It might be a start at least."
"Sure, I give him somethng and he puts a bullet in my head. Good trade all around." Her tone is dry as she pauses for a second, "What does he want?"
"He won't," Bennet put in, scowling. Oh, maybe Danko would think about it, but he sure as hell wouldn't let Nathan's Hunter touch his daughter--regardless of whether or not she'd failed to discuss the particulars of her relationship with Sylar.
"He won't," Nathan echoed, agreeing. A pause, and then, "Information, probably--he's been looking to bag Sylar for years." A pause, and then, "You have any ideas where he might've gone, after the two of you split up? Maybe he talked about what he was going to do, and you just didn't realize he planned on turning you over, first?"
Claire gave her father a look like she wished that she could believe him; or believe the fact that he would be able to protect her from Danko. It seemed highly unlikely though.
"Sylar didn't tell me anything about what he was doing or where he was going." Which was partially true, they had just decided to hand her over and then that he would find her. She didn't know exactly what he was planning and it was better that way.
Nathan didn't look particularly happy about this. "Nothing at all? Even if it seems meaningless?"
Claire paused a bit, pursing her lips before shrugging a little bit, "He was heading west?" She bit back the cheeky smile.
"Right." The politician nodded a bit, and then shifted, as if he were trying and failing at coming up with another handful of questions to pepper her with. He never got that far, however, as there was a knock at the door, followed by a young man--presumablly one of Nathan's agents--pushing open the door to poke his head in.
"Mister Petrelli?"
"I thought I told you I didn't want to be disturbed," he said around a frown, shooting the kid a pointed look.
"I know, but we have a problem."
If Nathan was frowning before, he was all-out scowling now, and he pushed away from his place at the wall and past Bennet to step out of the room for a moment. The man in the horn-rimmed glasses took this as his chance to speak candidly to his daughter. Crossing the room, he stopped just short of her bed, looking down at her, the cracks in his practiced stoicism starting to show through.
"If you can tell us anything, Claire, please." This was probably as close to begging as Noah Bennet would ever allow himself to get. "Nathan wasn't lying when he said we need a bone to throw Danko."
Claire stiffened as the knock on the door came because she worried for a minute that it would be Danko coming to deal with her. Maybe he would just put a bullet in her head and be done with it. If that happened, she worried it would take longer for Sylar to find her but at least he promised to get the bullet out if that were the case.
But it wasn't Danko, it was one of the agents. She watched as Nathan hurried out and that left her alone with her dad. She turned back to him, wishing she could feel the ache that she used to feel whenever they were apart for a long time. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold on but she didn't, she remained where she was sitting as he started to talk.
"I don't know where he is." She shook her head, quite honest.
He put a hand to her shoulder, equal parts reassuring and pleading. "Do you know why he left, at least?" That would be something he could give to Danko--a start--and hopefully, it would be enough.
"He's tired of this." She shrugged a little bit, not really clarifying as she lowered her gaze then. "I slow him down. Let's face it, besides the healing, I'm kind of useless." She hated to say it but on some levels, it was true.
Bennet pressed his lips together in an unhappy line, but like Nathan before him, he was interrupted by the opening of the door. This time, however, it was Nathan standing behind it, rather than a nameless face, and he looked nothing short of upset, his jaw steeled. "Come on, Bennet."
"Five minutes," the man in the horn-rimmed glasses shot back.
"Martin's missing from his cell. You sure you want to be giving me the 'five more minutes, ma,' routine?"
He cast a glance at Nathan, surprising showing on his face, briefly, before he returned his attentions to Claire. "I'll be back," he assured her, though it was a promise--he'd find a way to spare her Danko's wrath--then a threat. He squeezed her shoulder lightly, to affirm this, and then he was pushing past Nathan to head out. Claire's real father chanced her one more look, almost apologetic, and then he was following suit, the door slamming behind him, loudly.
Claire looked up as Nathan interrupted them again, urging Bennet away from her as they had to deal with some man named Martin. She arched a brow curiously as she wondered who Martin was and how he got out. This didn't seem to be the place that someone could get out of easily.
She looked at her dad then as he assured her he would be back and she managed a small nod as he squeezed her shoulder. She ignored the look she got from Nathan because it wasn’t like she couldn't take stock in those sorts of looks from him. Instead she looked away at the smooth wall to her right, shifting her weight as she sighed a little bit.
She wasn't sure that they would come back or if one of them would come back alone. She saw it now, she wasn't the same in their eyes and honestly, she wasn't the same in her own. She wasn't the young girl they had known at one time, now she was a monster or maybe they simply saw her as the "toy" of the monster. They were sure that she knew where he was and they expected her to hand him over but she didn't. She played dumb, like she had no idea where he was and in truth, she didn't.
But she had a feeling he was nearby and that made her smirk.
heroslayer mun, the use of Nathan and Bennet are not aimed at a specific muse]
Claire was surprised that neither one of her dads had shown up yet, spitting fire and demanding answers as to why she would run around with Sylar of all people. She had seen Nathan when Danko first brought her in, had seen the firm line of his jaw and the fury behind his eyes. After all, she had taken his free pass and threw it right into his face. She had helped Sylar to kill and yes, she had done it to escape but they wouldn't look at it that way.
She figured he was pissed because he didn't get to play the big hero in her eyes, she had chosen the villain over him.
She sat quietly on the hard, narrow bed in the cell they had given to her. She wondered if they locked her up with the rest that they thought were dangerous, their own version of Level 5. She had no idea where she was but she was hoping that Sylar would find her soon. She was still thinking about it when she heard the door open, drawing her attention upwards as she looked to see who was paying her a visit.
And as if some higher power had heard her thoughts, not one but both of Claire's fathers were pushing into the room. Neither of them looked happy, though Bennet seemed less obvious about it as if his glasses were some kind of armor that obscured emotion, though neither started spitting fire as Claire had imagined, just yet. Instead, Nathan simply looked her over for a moment, frowning, before casting a glance over his shoulder at the man in the horn-rimmed glasses.
"Shut the door."
Bennet nodded once, sharply, as if he knew the order of things and didn't particularly appreciate being ordered around, and then he was closing the door behind him. Nathan moved a second later to disconnect the camera feed from the wall, and then he was turning, to lean against it so that he could watch his daughter, trying to find a place to start.
When it seemed he couldn't, Bennet stepped up to the plate. "Hello, Claire." Nice and neat, just like that, and if the crispness in his tone wasn't worrysome enough, the fact that he hadn't called her by her pet name was perhaps moreso.
Claire was glad that Sylar wasn't there, he would hear the way that her heart jumped into her throat at the sight of both men walking into her tiny cell and suddenly the room seems much smaller than it is. She didn't shrink back though, instead her shoulders squared a bit even as she relaxed back against the wall while looking to both men in turn. Nathan looked distant as always and her father was guarded; no doubt this would be the hardest on him. He was probably asking himself where he went wrong to lose her in such a way.
As Nathan ordered Bennet to close the door, she arched a brow at the sight of him moving to unplug the camera and then she gave a small snort as she could imagine Danko wouldn't like that. She was sure he was watching, or he had been till Nathan cut off his view.
As the greeting, she looked back at her dad and tilted her head at the rather cool greeting. "Hello, daddy." She couldn't help it, she knew it would be a little stab at him. Worst than calling him by his given names. "So? Come to play twenty questions with me?" After all, she hadn't seen either of them for near five years. Not to mention the ties that she had to their big whale.
"Actually, Claire," Nathan started, folding his arms over his chest, "your father and I really only have one."
"Are you insane?"
Claire noticed the way that Nathan distanced himself yet again, calling Bennet her father. It was true of course, she didn't view the politician in that role but still. At the question, she blinked ever so slightly as though she had no idea what they were talking about. "Not the last time I checked."
"You want to tell us why Danko's got enough footage to make a sitcom with you and Sylar on it, then?" the politician asked, frowning. Bennet didn't bother putting his two cents in this time, though--rather he looked as if he was waiting for something. Some kind of explaination as to what he percieved as madness.
"Because he's a creepy voyeur?" She offered while wrinkling her nose up just a bit while tapping her fingers against her knees. Her eyes flickered to her dad who still hadn't said anything and then she looked to Nathan once more while lifting her chin just a bit. "Did he tell you what kind of sitcom?"
The look on Nathan's face seemed to suggest that he agreed with Claire's assessment of his Hunter, but he said nothing to that effect. Instead, he reached up to scub a hand over his face, sighing, before recrossing his arms. "Looked like a romantic comedy to me," he answered, dryly. "So, again: you want to tell us why?"
That got him a weird look even if she was worried for a moment. Were there more cameras than either her or Sylar had realized? It wasn't like they had acted like a couple whenever they were out in public and so she couldn't think of anything that would tip them off. "Then you have a funny idea of romantic comedy." She mused, considering the kind of scenes that they had left in the last few days.
"I guess he got lonely?"
"Funny has never been Sylar's strong point," Bennet pointed out. "He's dangerous, Claire." Not that this wasn't common knowledge for all parties currently in the room, but he sounded vaguely hopeful, somehow. As if he was sure that whatever Danko had told them was wrong, and that Claire had just been the victim in this, as their footage of the last few days seemed to suggest.
Nathan ignored him. "So, what? A guy who's tried to kill you more than once decides he's lonely and drops by to relive old times? Then gets bored and leaves you to the wolves?" Yes, the politician was aware that that made him one of the wolves, but he held no illusions as to what he was doing. Not anymore.
"Guess you'd be surprised." She moved her shoulders in a shrugging motion as her dad finally decided to speak up and then she scoffed, "Like you needed to remind me?" No, she wasn't delusional. She was one person who knew who dangerous Sylar could be, she survived what he had done to her and she had changed because of it. But she knew there was more to him too, not that she would tell them that.
Her eyes flickered to Nathan, "I've seen him off and on over the last five years. He found me in Vegas, decided to take me along." That hadn't been her idea and that much was clear because it was true. But things had changed along the way. "Well, you act like you know him. You know what he does, and I slow him down."
"Really." Nathan affected a mock-surprised look, before gesturing for Bennet. The older man frowned at Nathan, briefly, before reaching into his suitcoat to withdrawl a file folder that had been tucked under it. Wordlessly, he handed it to Nathan, stepping back, and calmly, the politician thumbed through it before coming up with what he'd been looking for. "That's kind of odd, considering that, according to the records Danko's kept, he hasn't taken a new ability in, what, five years? So why would he start again, now?"
It appeared as though Bennet had his own ideas on why now, but he kept his mouth shut. That conversation would be held in private, rather around his daughter, when this was about her, not Sylar's profile.
Claire's eyes narrowed a little bit as her mind drifted back to the last time that Sylar had taken a power, before Doyle. Obviously they didn't know about that but Sylar had been careful as well. No need to reveal themselves and what they were doing. They needed Nathan, Danko and his men to think Sylar was a killing machine for his own pleasures and that he had no intentions at the moment. "Why are you asking me?" She finally asked Nathan, ignoring the look that she got from Bennet.
"It's not like we were sharing a lot while he dragged me around the country." Her tone was cold, "I can't tell you how Sylar works or why. All I know is he left, you have me and I'm in a cell. Sorry I can't give you some deep insight into him." She crossed her arms, her eyes sparkling with a bit of annoyance.
Nathan looked decidedly unimpressed, but he didn't press, instead snapping the file shut so that he could consider her for a minute. "Alright, you don't want to talk about him. I get it. That's fine." Whether or not what he thought he understood was what Claire had said--that she'd been a prisoner and that she didn't particularly want to discuss it--or what he'd been told by Danko, however, was anyone's guess. And she didn't have time to try, as he was changing the subject. "So, let's talk about you. You realize the pass I gave you is pretty much expired, right?"
She was surprised that Nathan dropped the topic of Sylar but she had an idea that her dad wouldn't, just from the way he was watching her still. Then Nathan was letting her know that the free pass was pretty much done and she found herself lifting her chin just a bit, "Yeah, I figured. So what now? Going to let Danko put a bullet in the back of my head?"
"I'm trying to talk him out of it." From the look that passed over his face that was a fact, too. "He wants your head on a plate, Claire, and I need to give him something."
"You think even if I could give you anything, you'll be able to stop him." She looked at Nathan quietly now, "He's going to make me pay one way or another, Nathan. He's wanted to ever since the plane crash."
Nathan raised his eyebrows and then lowered them in rapid succession. "It might be a start at least."
"Sure, I give him somethng and he puts a bullet in my head. Good trade all around." Her tone is dry as she pauses for a second, "What does he want?"
"He won't," Bennet put in, scowling. Oh, maybe Danko would think about it, but he sure as hell wouldn't let Nathan's Hunter touch his daughter--regardless of whether or not she'd failed to discuss the particulars of her relationship with Sylar.
"He won't," Nathan echoed, agreeing. A pause, and then, "Information, probably--he's been looking to bag Sylar for years." A pause, and then, "You have any ideas where he might've gone, after the two of you split up? Maybe he talked about what he was going to do, and you just didn't realize he planned on turning you over, first?"
Claire gave her father a look like she wished that she could believe him; or believe the fact that he would be able to protect her from Danko. It seemed highly unlikely though.
"Sylar didn't tell me anything about what he was doing or where he was going." Which was partially true, they had just decided to hand her over and then that he would find her. She didn't know exactly what he was planning and it was better that way.
Nathan didn't look particularly happy about this. "Nothing at all? Even if it seems meaningless?"
Claire paused a bit, pursing her lips before shrugging a little bit, "He was heading west?" She bit back the cheeky smile.
"Right." The politician nodded a bit, and then shifted, as if he were trying and failing at coming up with another handful of questions to pepper her with. He never got that far, however, as there was a knock at the door, followed by a young man--presumablly one of Nathan's agents--pushing open the door to poke his head in.
"Mister Petrelli?"
"I thought I told you I didn't want to be disturbed," he said around a frown, shooting the kid a pointed look.
"I know, but we have a problem."
If Nathan was frowning before, he was all-out scowling now, and he pushed away from his place at the wall and past Bennet to step out of the room for a moment. The man in the horn-rimmed glasses took this as his chance to speak candidly to his daughter. Crossing the room, he stopped just short of her bed, looking down at her, the cracks in his practiced stoicism starting to show through.
"If you can tell us anything, Claire, please." This was probably as close to begging as Noah Bennet would ever allow himself to get. "Nathan wasn't lying when he said we need a bone to throw Danko."
Claire stiffened as the knock on the door came because she worried for a minute that it would be Danko coming to deal with her. Maybe he would just put a bullet in her head and be done with it. If that happened, she worried it would take longer for Sylar to find her but at least he promised to get the bullet out if that were the case.
But it wasn't Danko, it was one of the agents. She watched as Nathan hurried out and that left her alone with her dad. She turned back to him, wishing she could feel the ache that she used to feel whenever they were apart for a long time. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold on but she didn't, she remained where she was sitting as he started to talk.
"I don't know where he is." She shook her head, quite honest.
He put a hand to her shoulder, equal parts reassuring and pleading. "Do you know why he left, at least?" That would be something he could give to Danko--a start--and hopefully, it would be enough.
"He's tired of this." She shrugged a little bit, not really clarifying as she lowered her gaze then. "I slow him down. Let's face it, besides the healing, I'm kind of useless." She hated to say it but on some levels, it was true.
Bennet pressed his lips together in an unhappy line, but like Nathan before him, he was interrupted by the opening of the door. This time, however, it was Nathan standing behind it, rather than a nameless face, and he looked nothing short of upset, his jaw steeled. "Come on, Bennet."
"Five minutes," the man in the horn-rimmed glasses shot back.
"Martin's missing from his cell. You sure you want to be giving me the 'five more minutes, ma,' routine?"
He cast a glance at Nathan, surprising showing on his face, briefly, before he returned his attentions to Claire. "I'll be back," he assured her, though it was a promise--he'd find a way to spare her Danko's wrath--then a threat. He squeezed her shoulder lightly, to affirm this, and then he was pushing past Nathan to head out. Claire's real father chanced her one more look, almost apologetic, and then he was following suit, the door slamming behind him, loudly.
Claire looked up as Nathan interrupted them again, urging Bennet away from her as they had to deal with some man named Martin. She arched a brow curiously as she wondered who Martin was and how he got out. This didn't seem to be the place that someone could get out of easily.
She looked at her dad then as he assured her he would be back and she managed a small nod as he squeezed her shoulder. She ignored the look she got from Nathan because it wasn’t like she couldn't take stock in those sorts of looks from him. Instead she looked away at the smooth wall to her right, shifting her weight as she sighed a little bit.
She wasn't sure that they would come back or if one of them would come back alone. She saw it now, she wasn't the same in their eyes and honestly, she wasn't the same in her own. She wasn't the young girl they had known at one time, now she was a monster or maybe they simply saw her as the "toy" of the monster. They were sure that she knew where he was and they expected her to hand him over but she didn't. She played dumb, like she had no idea where he was and in truth, she didn't.
But she had a feeling he was nearby and that made her smirk.