Chapter Ten : Back
She wakes up bright and early the next morning; at the crack of dawn. She finds herself in a room and a shirt that weren't her own, but ones she'd found herself in frequently since she'd moved into the mansion. She beams when she realises where she is.
Her hand reaches to the pillow beside her and brings it closer to her, inhales the scent that can only be described as intoxicating. Her eyes seek the picture on the nightstand and when she spots it, her heart feels full; his dark eyes are intently focused on hers, no matter what angle she looks at it from. She knows it's just an optical illusion, but she can't help but feel like he's really piercing through her. Her finger traces his features until they rest on his lips, his beautiful luscious lips. He's the most beautiful thing she's ever seen.
She showers and dresses in a hurry, excited for her rendezvous with the text sender, her life finally having purpose again.
She heads downstairs to leave but stops in her tracks when she reaches the living room and hears noises coming from the kitchen. She quickly arms herself with a fireplace poker to attack the intruder. She approaches. His back is turned, making it hard for her to see his face. She tiptoes closer to him, stands right behind him, and lifts the poker high up, ready to bludgeon his head. But then he turns around and her mouth reacts faster than her mind and they both end up screaming in terror.
Claire couldn't believe her eyes. "Nathan?!"
Nathan's heart almost stopped. "Jeez, Claire!" He steadies himself and balances his weight on the closest thing to him. "What the hell are you doing with that thing? You scared me half to death"
Claire:"Well, I –"
He lifts his eyebrows, inquiringly.
Claire: "Well, what are you ?– I thought"
Nathan realises what she must have been thinking. "Where you going to hit me over the head?" he asks, amused, crossing his arms..
Claire:"I – well you – Never mind" she stutters embarrassed, putting the poker down.
Nathan puts up his hands in front of him, surrenderingly. "All right now, nice and easy Claire, step away from the weapon" he teases.
She rolls her eyes but can't help cracking a smile at the comment.
Nathan:"What are you doing up so early anyway?"
Claire:"I'm meeting a friend"
Nathan:"Yeah? Anyone I know?"
In the midst of the confusion , it hadn't occurred to her until now that Nathan being up was not an ordinary occurrence. She puts a stop to his questioning and counters with one of her own. "Wait a minute...what are you
doing up?" her head shifts sideways and she starts to notice the change in Nathan, and her mouth opens in awe, lifting her hand to his clean-shaven chin.
Claire: "Well, look at you" she commends him. "I was starting to forget there was a face under all that facial hair" she dusts off his shoulder. He had even gotten out of his pyjamas and worn a clean pair of clothes, almost looking like his old self.
Nathan: "What, you didn't like the beard? I thought it gave me character" he muses.
Claire: "You looked like a porn-star" she retorts.
He chuckles.
Claire: "You look good" she says seriously.
Nathan:"It was time."
She smiles a proud, genuine smile, nodding.
She diverts her attention to the island behind him and notices two plates of bacon and eggs, a bowl of oranges, juice, tea, coffee, cereal and bagels.
Claire: "What is all this?" she walks around him and sits on one of the stools.
Nathan: "This -- This is breakfast" he replies, taking a seat beside her. "I wasn't sure what your favourite was so I got a little bit of everything. Dig in."
She's touched by the gesture. She pours herself some orange juice and puts some cream cheese on a bagel before munching it down.
Claire:"You didn't have to do all this Nathan."
He puts down the fork he was about to eat a bite out of and a semblance of shame washes over him.
Nathan:"Yes, I did." He looks remorseful. "I haven't been a good father to you. What I said yesterday – I was out of line. I never should've said that."
Claire:"Nathan, it's ok –"
Nathan:"No - It's not. Please, let me say this." He puts his hand forward, gesturing for her to let him continue. He looks down momentarily. "You were right. For the past few months, I've done nothing but feel sorry for myself and alienate everyone that's close to me. And last night I – I hit a new low". He leans across and places his hand on top of her left one. "Claire, I can't tell you how much I regret saying what I did last night. I know it wasn't easy for you, coming here. I'm sorry."
Claire's eyes begin to water as the mention of her arrival in New York unintentionally makes her relive the dreadful events leading up to it, in racing flashes.
Flashbacks of two Months Ago
Noah: "What are you wearing?"
Claire: "My uniform. I have a pep rally today."
Noah: Well, maybe I didn't make myself clear. We're leaving Costa Verde today.
Claire: You made yourself plenty clear. I'm not leaving.
Noah's temper starts to rise. "Go change out of that outfit or I will—"
Claire: "Or you'll what? She asks defiantly.
Noah sighs and tries to calm himself. "All I want is for you to have a safe and normal life."
Claire: "This isn't about me! This is all about you and the things you've done." She turns to leave.
Noah: "Do not walk out of that door!"
Claire turns to look at him. "What are you going to do? Tie me up?"
Noah "If I have to." He grabs the tape off the table and heads for her.
Sandra: "Enough! Noah, put down the tape. Claire, go to school, say good-bye to your friends, then come right home. We are leaving tonight. You got it?"
Claire glares at Noah. "I hate you."
At her high school...
Coach Randolph: "Claire Butler! Bring it on in!"
Claire runs over to her.
Coach Randolph: "Hey, we missed you this morning. Is everything okay?"
Claire: "Yeah, everything's great."
Coach Randolph: "Good. Come here. This is Mr. Bishop from the state Board of Education. He needs to talk to you about the Debbie incident."
Bob: "Please ... call me Bob."
Claire: "Am I in trouble?"
Bob: "No, no, no. Just want to ask you a couple questions. May we walk?"
Claire: "Yeah, sure." They start walking.
Bob: "We take underage drinking very seriously."
Claire: "Of course."
Bob: "You haven't seen any other incidents of drinking, hazing?"
Claire: "No, sir, none."
Bob: "You wouldn't lie to me, would you?"
Claire: "No, sir."
Bob: "Because an incident like this can ruin a girl's life. You wouldn't want to do that, would you, Miss Bennett?"
Claire stops in her tracks at being called by her real last name.
Claire: What did you just call me?
Later at the Bennett House...
Noah: "Sandra! Claire!" He turns and finds Sandra tied to a chair with her mouth taped. She stomps her bound feet on the floor. Noah rushes over to untie her.
Sandra:" Ugh! He took Claire. Your old boss Bob. What the hell is going on?"
Noah: "It's okay. We're going to get her back."
Sandra: "How, Noah?"
Noah: "I've got collateral."
Sandra: "What do you mean, collateral?"
West walks in, carrying Elle over his shoulders.
Later At the Beach...
Noah: "Now once we get Claire, you fly her out immediately. No matter what else happens. You understand me?"
West: "Yes, sir."
Bob, Mohinder and Claire are a distance in front of them.
Bob: "It doesn't have to be this way, Noah!" he shouts as he cuts Claire's hands loose and Claire starts walking towards her dad.
Noah releases Elle and she starts walking towards Bob, passing Claire.
Claire hugs her dad when she reaches him and he kisses the top of her head, then turns and pushes Claire towards West, who grabs her. Noah nods, signaling West, who flies away with Claire.
Elle burns the tape around her wrists and twists them free. She turns and sends an electrical ball at West and Claire up in the sky, hitting them.
West is hurt, is knocked out and him and Claire start falling as Noah watches in horror.
Noah: "Claire!"
Claire holds West above her and braces herself for impact. She hits the ground.
Elle's hands are charged up, ready to send more electricity Claire's way.
Noah notices, turns and shoots Elle in her right upper arm.
Bob "Elle!"
Bob runs to her and kneels next to her.
Noah walks towards them.
Noah: "No matter what I do ..." he starts.
Claire sits up, the bones in her back cricking. West has the breath knocked out of him, but he appears to be all right.
Noah: "we'll always be running. But if you die, Bob, the Company dies with you." He finishes as he points his gun at Bob.
Mohinder: "Please, don't do this." He pleads.
Claire is still on the ground, watching, as her bones heal.
Noah cocks the gun and aims to shoot and a shot is shortly fired. Only it was from Mohinder's gun.
The bullet hits Noah in the left eye, making him fall backwards. Claire is horrified and starts to scream her lungs out, running towards him. But West gets up and chases after Claire. He holds her back as Noah lays on the ground, lifeless and he flies them away as her sobs and screams grow louder.
End of Flashback
The tears were now free-falling down her cheeks. A final one escapes as she puts her hand on top of Nathan's, squeezing it as he repeats how sorry he is.
He pulls her into his arms and it feels comforting; the first real-father daughter hug they've shared in a long time.
Claire:"Thanks" she starts, as they part from their hug. He forms a sympathetic frown and it quickly transforms into a smile when she adds "I'm glad you're back, Nathan."
She sits on the park bench waiting, sitting forward and shaking her feet anxiously. She looks around, searching for the person she's there to meet but doesn't see him. Ahead of her, she hears a little girl crying in the distance. A man comes running to the little girl's aid, asking her what's wrong. In between sobs, she tells him 'daddy, I dropped my ice cream. He sweeps the little girl in his arms and kisses her forehead, and buys the girl another ice cream. This saddens Claire, the scene stirring nostalgic feelings about her own father, wishing that she'd get the chance to hear him call her 'Claire-Bear' one more time.
She's taken out of her thoughts by the sudden presence she feels beside her on the bench. She looks up and is startled for the second time that day.
Claire:"West, I've been waiting for you"
West:"Hey, sorry I'm late" he apologizes as he slips his hands in his pockets.
Claire:"It's fine. I'm early... I'm really anxious about this, West"
West:"Are you having second thoughts?" he asks kindly.
Claire:"No. I just – they've taken so much away from us... They're sick. They need to pay."
West: "Claire, it's understandable if you need more time to think about this. What we're about to do is--"
Claire:"Is a long time coming... " she says, putting his doubts about her to rest. "I just keep thinking about my dad, and my mom and Lyle..." she shrugs her thoughts off. West knows not to push the subject. All he can offer is a press on her shoulder.
Claire:"So how'd you do it? How'd you get the codes?"
West:"I knew some people who share our goal. They were in a position to help, so they give them to me" he answers vaguely, not wanting her to know what he had to do.
Claire:"What did they want in return?" she asks with reservation.
West:"Don't worry about it. It's taken care of. What about you? Do you have the book?"
Claire:"Yeah, I have it. It's in a safe place"
West sighs a sigh of relief. "Good." He takes out a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolds it. It appears to be some kind of map with blueprints, and he shows it to Claire. "I've pinpointed one of the Company's base sites, located 40 minutes outside of the city, on the lower East Side." Claire pays close attention, and tries to memorise every inch of the map.
"We'll get in through the roof" he continued. "From there, we'll make our way inside and..." Claire took in every word he uttered, wanting to get everything right.
When West finishes debriefing her, they stand and he asks "tonight then?", giving her one last opportunity to rethink this.
Claire wasn't having any of it. She straightens her posture with confidence, nods her head and confirms "tonight", brushing off any doubts West may have had. She'd waited much too long for this, spend too much time and energy to give up at this point. She was more driven then ever. Nothing could stop her now...
Especially not fear.
Meanwhile at the Prima-Tech Base ...
Bob: "We've given him sedatives. He was more worked up then usual when he woke up today. Make sure he doesn't try anything when he comes to."
Elle:"He's getting stronger, Daddy. You've given him enough sedatives to put out a horse but it's not having any effect on him."
Bob:"We're working on a new drug protocol. It should keep him grounded."
Elle scoffs. "Daddy, I don't think that's such a good idea—"
Bob:"Why don't you let me worry about this and do what I've asked. Let the big boys handle this, hm?
Elle relunctantly backs off. "Yes, Daddy."
Bob exits the room, leaving Elle alone with who she's come to think of as her personal toy. She smiles sadistically as she electrocutes him, jolting him awake in pain.
He stares at her, confused and incredulous.
Elle:"Hello, Peter. Missed me?"