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Tweak says, "'Ere, 'e says 'e's not dead!"

claire winchester is not your typical superhero (goallbuffyonus) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2010-09-21 23:32:00

Entry tags:

!@event, !closed, angela petrelli, claire winchester

WHO: Claire Bennet and Angela Petrelli
WHAT: Claire decides to pay her grandmother a visit.
WHEN: Mid-afternoon
WHERE: Apartment #101A
RATING: TBD
STATUS: In Progress

Claire had heard the whispered rumors that there was some sort of bout of uncontrollable honesty making its way through Colligo. She had experienced it a bit while in class, having found it impossible to lie when the professor asked if she understood the lesson they were covering. She hadn't, not really, but had planned on assuring him that she did. She hadn't been able to, though, and had been forced to spend nearly fifteen minutes after class talking to the man about the lesson at hand and just why she hadn't understood it.

Needless to say, by the time Claire managed to excuse herself, she not only understood the lesson but also had come to the realization that this was an opportunity too good to pass up. Considering she had family who told lies as easily as other people changed their clothes, it really was an once in a lifetime chance and she wasn't about to miss it. Yes, both Angela and her dad had made a point of being honest as of late. Yes, Claire had come to forgive them for their lies in the year and a half that they'd all been in Colligo. However there was always the chance that they were still lying about things, that they would continue to lie about things if they thought they could get away with it, and Claire saw no reason not to check once and for all that they weren't still lying about things that were of major importance. To her, at least.

So after finally excusing herself from her class, the blonde made her way back to the apartments with a pretty simplistic goal in mind. She would pay her dad a visit later she decided as she walked. For now she would stop by and pay a visit to the only other person she knew who could lie better than Noah Bennet... and who was far less likely to fess up if confronted about certain things as he might be persuaded to do.

Pausing in front of apartment 101A, Claire absently smoothed down her hair then tugged the front of her shit back into place. Hiking her backpack a bit further up her shoulder and biting absently on her lower lip, she glanced around absentmindedly then, with a look of determination shining in her green eyes, knocked on the door and waited for her grandmother to answer.

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reapwhatwesow
2010-09-22 04:05 am UTC (link)

Angela had noticed the rumors of excessive honesty bantering about the place, and while her initial reaction had been to pretend like she wasn't home, she knew that an act like that would only last so long since as soon as they got wind of it, her family would be clambering to get to her, to potentially get straight answers about all of the situations that had transpired the last few years. The knock on the door had been expected, so as Angela crossed the living room and pulled open the door, she just smiled at Claire.

"And here I figured Peter would be the first one to leap on this opportunity," Angela said, stepping back to allow her granddaughter into the apartment. "Though, I suppose you would have just as much that you want to know."

Or more, perhaps, depending upon just how far Claire decided to go back.

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goallbuffyonus
2010-09-22 04:35 am UTC (link)

Once upon a time, Claire would have tried to claim she wasn't there solely for the purpose of information gathering. She would have made some lame excuse about wanting to talk to Angela in person about something-or-other and then would have bumbled around for a bit until finally just getting to the real reason for her visit. However, somewhere between finding herself in the strange city that was Colligo and deciding that she was perfectly content with this being (and in many ways hoped it was) her new home, Claire had done a bit of growing up. She had put things into perspective - the insanity of her surroundings helping a great deal in that regard - and had come to the decision that lying simply for the sake of saving face really wasn't the way to ensure a healthy relationships with those in her life.

So she didn't bother denying why she was there. She didn't even look ashamed. She simply gave Angela a smile and stepped inside, gaze sweeping across the foyer and beyond before landing on the woman she'd come to see. Letting her bag slide off her shoulder, she set it by the front door with a soft 'thud' and brushed a few stray locks of hair out of her face.

"I think Peter's working a late shift at the clinic," she explained with a small, knowing grin. Angela was right, after all. Claire had a hard time picturing her uncle not jumping on the opportunity just like she was. As soon as his schedule permitted, of course.

"How are you?"

Her first question was innocent but sincere. She didn't spend as much time with Angela as she'd like to; mentally she made a note to change that.

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reapwhatwesow
2010-09-22 05:17 am UTC (link)

"Tired and rather bored," Angela said, an honest answer tripping off of her lips rather than the 'Fine' that had been at the forefront of her mind. And if she wasn't able to beat something as simple as that, she truly was in for quite a bit of struggle when the serious questions were raised. "Rather relieved that I managed to avoid becoming a victim of the last incident," Angela said, offering Claire a tight smile as she closed the door behind her granddaughter and headed towards the kitchen. "Even if I'm not going to be quite as lucky with this one."

And she had meant to think that, not say it. This really was going to be a rather horrible train wreck of a conversation, wasn't it?

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goallbuffyonus
2010-09-22 05:56 am UTC (link)

Claire's eyebrows raised a bit as she followed Angela into the kitchen. Any doubt she had as to whether or not her grandmother was being affected by the bout of truth-telling was put to rest the moment the woman didn't answer her question with a simple 'Fine'. She felt a slight rush at the realization that, finally, she was going to be able to learn the truth about things that she quite likely never would have learned about otherwise. She also, however, felt a small touch of guilt at taking advantage of such a situation, not to mention some frustration that it had to come to this just to get the answers she sought.

"You can't blame me," she said softly as she followed after Angela. "You can't blame any of us, really. It's not like you or my dad are exactly volunteering stuff." Glancing around, she moved toward the table and pulled out a chair. Once she was seated, she looked back to Angela. Opening her mouth, she was all set to ask something. Anything. Unfortunately, now that the moment had arrived, Claire wasn't sure what to ask.

With a soft sigh, she shut her mouth and frowned slightly. "This was easier in my head," she admitted after a second. A chagrined expression flickered briefly across her features as she tried to think of the many, varied questions she'd been considering on the way over. When she came up empty, she sighed once more and slumped a bit in her chair. Her expression was bordering on an actual pout.

"I don't suppose you have any ideas where I should start?" she asked as she turned her attention to her grandmother. She doubted Angela would, but it didn't hurt to ask. Especially now.

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reapwhatwesow
2010-09-22 07:01 am UTC (link)

"I would think that perhaps you would want to start at the beginning," Angela said as she turned towards the cabinets to get down teabags and some cups to make the two of them some tea. If they were going to do this, they likely were going to be talking about this for quite awhile. "Meredith was a distraction for your father. I am sure of it," Angela said, grumbling to herself. "Maybe he loved her. He said it more than enough, but I am still positive that she started out as a pretty blond distract just like all of the other hussies that he had the tendency to sleep with did," She said as she sat the cups and teabags down on the counter and looked back over at Claire. "I never liked her."

And there it was, an insane amount of honesty, and Angela had never had any issue when it came to speaking ill of the dead. So she didn't even feel the need to apologize at the moment. Even though she knew that her words would likely end up upsetting Claire...at least, in a way.

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goallbuffyonus
2010-09-22 07:14 am UTC (link)

She had told herself not to get upset. No matter what was said, no matter what she found out, Claire had promised herself that she wouldn't get angry. She wouldn't shout or scream. She wouldn't storm off in a huff. She wouldn't do any of the things that she might have done a few years earlier when hearing something she didn't like. She would just sit there, listen to what Angela had to say, and take it for what it was worth.

Which was quite an easy plan, in theory. In reality, however, it wasn't nearly that simplistic. Sitting there, listening to the way that Angela spoke of Meredith, was hard. Claire wanted to cut her off. She wanted to tell her grandmother not to call her bio-mom names, at the very least. However she pressed her lips together so keep her comments to herself and pointedly didn't say a word.

Then Angela stopped speaking and Claire knew it was time for her to break her own silence. Even though, she didn't do so right away. She simply continued to sit there, her gaze on the other woman and as neutral of an expression as she could manage on her face. Which meant it wasn't very neutral at all, but at least she wasn't yelling. That was a definite plus.

"Why didn't you like her?" she finally questioned in a surprisingly calm and even tone.

It seemed the next logical question to ask. Granted the obvious answer of 'she wasn't good enough' was what Claire expected to get in return. After all, Nathan and Meredith were from two completely different walks of life. It made sense that her 'trailer trash' mother wouldn't have measured up to the sort of woman Angela would have wanted to see her son with. However Claire was curious if there was more to it than that. With Angela, you just never knew.

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reapwhatwesow
2010-09-22 07:21 am UTC (link)

"She wanted money," Angela said, a vague halt in her voice as she looked over at Claire. She knew she shouldn't be saying some of these things, shouldn't be allowing herself to let it out, but she had to be honest, and she was certainly being honest about what she thought. "She had gold-digging whore written all over her. She knew how wealthy Nathan's family was. Nathan was nothing if not upfront about who he was and what sort of situation he came from, and that blond harpy was more than determined to use everything that she had at her disposal to get his talons into her."

Heaving a heavy sigh, Angela poured hot water over the two teabags that she set out in the cups and looked over at Claire with a thoughtful and pointed look, "Everything."

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goallbuffyonus
2010-09-22 07:33 am UTC (link)

The hesitation, however minor, was enough to take some of the sting out of Angela's words. The fact that they were just her opinions - albeit truthful ones - helped. Nowhere was it written in stone that Meredith was a gold-digger. Nowhere was it stated explicitly that she was only with Nathan for his money and influence. Yes, it was true Angela thought those things, but that didn't make them absolute, undeniable facts. Merely truthful opinions.

Still, it did hurt. Knowing that her grandmother had so openly despised her mother, knowing that there really would never have been any chance of her parents being together and happy, it all stung. But Claire had walked into this knowing it wouldn't be easy and she wasn't going to back out just because she'd been right in that regard. So she stayed quiet and simply met Angela's gaze with an unflinching look despite the pain that shone in her eyes. With a soft exhale, she shifted a little in her seat.

"If she was so horrible, why didn't you have me taken away from her sooner?" she asked finally.

She wasn't trying to be smart nor was she bitter. If anything, Claire really was curious. If Angela had hated Meredith that much, why wait so long to act? Why not swoop in the second she'd been born and deal with the situation before it got so close to out of control as it had almost become? It didn't make sense to her and she had a feeling this was the only time she'd be able to find out the real reason she hadn't just been taken from her bio-mom at birth or soon thereafter.

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reapwhatwesow
2010-09-22 08:15 am UTC (link)

"Oh, sweetheart, we were never trying to take you away," Angela said, looking up at Claire for a long moment. Did she truly think that that had been the ultimate goal? That was hardly what had been planned, but with situations like that, things often didn't go according to plan. "We had sent Claude and Noah to recover both you and Meredith. Arthur and I knew what she was capable of, and despite our distaste, we were hardly going to let another potential agent slip through our fingers," She said, dipping her teabag with a sigh. "Unfortunately, Claude startled her, and she exploded as a defensive reaction. Noah was lucky enough to get you out of there before the apartment went up in flames. And when we weren't able to find her in the rubble, we could only assume that she'd been consumed by them."

Taking a long sip of her tea, Angela sighed as she looked over at Claire, "Your father... Nathan was hardly mature enough to raise a child on his own," Angela said as she shook her head slowly. "I'm still surprised sometimes that he managed to graduate at all, the way that he used to behave. But we needed you someplace safe, and after what happened with Elle...." Angela said, trailing off quietly. "I wasn't going to allow you to be raised inside the Company."

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goallbuffyonus
2010-10-09 09:10 pm UTC (link)

Well. That... actually, that kind of sucked. At least before Claire could pretend that the entire move had somehow been to get her away from Meredith. Some sort of petty move that had simply turned tragic. To learn it was nothing more than a way to recruit another agent stung in a way that Claire hadn't been expecting.

"She offered me money, when we first met."

The statement hadn't been intentional. The fact that she'd regressed back to talking about Meredith instead of focusing on the current topic of how Claire had been raised, really had little to do with it. She simply had the thought and had said it. Now that she had, though, she felt she should at least elaborate.

"Meredith contacted Nathan and I... I don't know if he offered the money or she asked, but she offered me some too." Her brow furrowed a little as she dropped her gaze to her own cup of tea. "I love my parents, Angela. They raised me knowing I wasn't theirs and loved me anyway." She blinked, eyes watery as she once more looked to her grandmother.

"But I'm angry that I wasn't even given the option of knowing who my biological family was. That you all decided that it would just be better if I didn't know."

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