Application for Claire Bennet (Heroes)

[ms-miracle-grow.livejournal.com]

((Done with permission from the Heroes-muns. Spoilers for the whole first season.))



The door to the Sorting Room opened slowly, and a pretty blonde girl, about sixteen, poked her head around it. "Hello?"

Hitching her bag over her shoulder, Claire Bennet made her way inside, eyes wide as she took in the stone walls and suits of armor. "Wow. This is so just like the set to a movie." A kind of half-smile was on her face as she headed towards the table in the middle of the room. Setting her bag down, she sat, crossing her legs and glancing down at the application.

She'd come all the way to Scotland for a purpose. After the explosion, after Nathan (her bio dad, which was a concept she still couldn't wrap her brain around completely) and Peter (Uncle Peter? That just sounded weird) had disappeared - had died, probably - all Claire could think of was that she had to do something with the power she'd been given. Peter had saved her, then had died saving the world. He'd lived so brightly, so completely focused on his destiny, on what he'd been meant to do, and Claire wanted his death to mean something. She wanted her dad - her real dad, the man who had raised her - to not have taken a bullet for her for nothing. She wanted to help people.

Hey, even Nathan had come around in the end. The future wasn't set in stone. There was always hope.

Unfortunately, being a cheerleader in Odessa, TX, wasn't exactly the best background for a super hero. Unless saving people required a handstand or a human pyramid, she was going to need some help. Hopefully, she'd be able to get it here. Claire just had to remember that she was posing as a totally normal girl. Hey, she could keep cover. Not like she didn't have any experience in that.

"Um, hi," she said, not really sure what else to do. "I'm Claire Bennet. I'd like to apply for your school? Please?"

The quill jumped to life and Claire started back. At first she looked wildly around the room, heart pounding. She hadn't exactly had the best experiences with objects moving seemingly on their own. But when she didn't see anyone, Claire relaxed, looking down at the quill with a smile.

"Cool."

1. What is your favorite cheese? Why is it your favorite?

Wrinkling her nose at the question, Claire looked around the room. "This is kind of an...unusual question, don't you think? I mean, for a school application. Sounds like a question that would be on some internet quiz or something." She flashed a tiny smile, then shrugged and laughed a little. "Um, I feel like I should say brie or something, so I sound mature and sophisticated." Again she laughed, looking ruefully at the application. "But I guess the truth would be the nachos that they have at football games at my school? Even though I so shouldn't eat them. Or toasted cheese sandwiches with a glass of orange juice. I don't know, I guess I'm kinda simple."

2. Who would you kill first, Barney or Carrottop?

The smile on Claire's face faded slightly, and she looked up quickly. What kind of application was this? "Well, Barney has that annoying song," she forced a laugh, one shoulder rising and falling in a slight shrug.

But behind the friendly, if slightly bland, expression, Claire's mind was racing. Could they know? Or were they just trying to make her slip up? Or maybe this was just one of those personality things, like 'If you could only save one person from a burning building, who would it be?'. (Of course, Claire's answer to that would, in reality, be a lot different than most people's. Having the ability to heal yourself would do that.) In any case, Claire suddenly was a lot more wary of the application, and she proceeded with caution, smile frozen on her face, eyes darting around the room from time to time.

She had to be careful.


3. What time is it where you are?

Compared to the last question, this one was refreshingly normal. Taking a look at her watch, Claire said, "Well, I'm still set to Texas time. And..." she laughed. "God, I'm so bad at math. My watch says six oh-five. So whatever it would be to get it onto Scottish time."

4. If you were Albus Dumbledore returned from the dead, which member of the Order of the Phoenix would you sexually harass? How would you harass them? If you are Albus Dumbledore, please answer as if you were Sirius Black.

A look of repulsion crossed her face. "You can't force yourself on people. That's just wrong, no matter who you are. And you shouldn't encourage it, either. People who think they're above all that, they need to be stopped. You should be able to feel safe around people, especially people you think you could care about. Harassing them, forcing yourself on them, that's disgusting."

5. If you are pushing to be in:

A. Slytherin - please state the clever, witty name of the bar in which you bartend, in the dark.

"Um..." She paused, thinking. Then one corner of her mouth lifted in a sad little smile. "'Between a Rock and a Sponge'. It's...a play on the name of...of this guy I knew. He...he was a hero." Her smile was forced larger and Claire stuck out her chin, definitely not crying. "And hey, heroes get things named after them, right? I mean, a fictional bar isn't exactly a statue, but I think he'd laugh."

B. Gryffindor – Debate whether Harry should ultimately end up married to Fred or George. Use examples from a variety of world mythologies to bolster your argument.

Holding up both of her hands, Claire laughed and shook her head, eyes going wide. "Oh, no. I kinda think I'm the last person you should ask about all that. I've got, like, no experience, and the little I do have kind of...ended bad." But she considered the question for a minute, a smile playing out on her mouth. "But I guess, if I had to, I'd just say it should be whoever he loved. I mean, really loved. Like, the person he trusted and wanted to spend time with and made him feel safe. And butterflies and all that. If you're going to do the whole 'til death do you part' thing, it should be with your best friend, right?"

C. Ravenclaw – You guys are supposed to be smart. Explain why my desk is inundated with paperwork at all times, even though I’m constantly disposing of it.

"Um, I'm not exactly smart." Claire gave a self-deprecating laugh, rolling her eyes. "I mean, I totally barely passed Bio. But maybe you should just get a secretary or something? Or switch jobs? I guess I don't see paper as a huge problem. That's kind of what my dad does for a living." Claire paused, biting her lower lip, then smiled again. "He's the manager of a paper company." So far as anyone else in the world needed to know, that is.

D. Hufflepuff – Prove you are not useless.

"Me? I'm...just a cheerleader. I mean, I don't think anyone is worthless, but I'm not exactly anything special." Sticking her hands in her pockets, Claire stared down at the paper for a minute, not really seeing anything. Or, rather, seeing something very different than a rough, wooden desk and a large piece of parchment. "I've known some really extraordinary people, though," she continued quietly. "I mean, really, really amazing. There was this one guy, he saved my life. Even though he didn't even know me. He died saving the world. And there were other people, they gave up everything... I think that's special." Raising her head again, Claire blinked, then smiled softly. "I'm just a girl."

6. Offer a bribe to the members of this community so that they will not squib you. Items used in bribery do not necessarily have to belong to the person offering the bribe. Do not threaten us rather than offering a bribe. A threat indicates you either don't really want to be here, or don't have enough sense to answer the question properly. The hat will automatically squib you, regardless of other votes, if you do.

Oh. Um. Digging in her bag, Claire brought out a bag of gummy worms, a few pens (pink, glittery ones), a disposable camera, and a few paperbacks she'd bought at the airport. "Sorry, that's pretty much all I have." Glancing around, she tucked a strand of hair behind her hear, eyes questioning. "So - did I pass?"

Comments

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

(Sorry, it cut out about half of my reply.)

Pink, glittery stuff? Mel is so there.

'The application's the weirdest thing on the planet. Much like the school,' Mel says, smiling in a friendly way. 'Hey, I'm Mel. It's nice to meet you!' Because Hogwarts can always do with MORE perky, superpowered teenagers!

Running her eyes down the application again, though, Mel's eyes snag on the Hufflepuff question. Nobody is ever 'just' anything. That is something the angel knows. However, she holds back a little, trying not to wade in too soon.

[ms-miracle-grow.livejournal.com]

Clare gave Mel a grin. "I don't know about on the planet," she laughed. After all, an exploding man was pretty weird. As was a girl who could grow back fingers. Or a woman who could hold fire in her hand. "Have you ever seen a duck-billed platypus? Those things are kind of weird looking all by themselves."

She held out her hand. "You too. I'm Claire. Are you a student here?"

[bantersucks.livejournal.com]

((Will be GLACIALLY slow because I'm doing this during D&D breaks, but OH MY GOD CLAIRE! Can't resist. Permissions post (http://reachoutblue.livejournal.com/620.html) is here but I'd prefer he not really notice anything.))

Okay, she was nothing like most of the blonde cheerleaders Jaime knew. A lot less shallow. He read over the app, hesitating on the Hufflepuff answer thoughtfully before he spoke. Okay, she'd been through something bad. Probably didn't want to talk about it.

"I think the questions are there to gauge your weirdness tolerance," he said, with a friendly smile. "And there's nothing wrong with nachos."

[ms-miracle-grow.livejournal.com]

((XD I'm cool with him not noticing a thing. So is Claire, the sneaky ninja. :p))

"Well, then I know I passed," Clare returned with a grin. "I can do weird. And nachos are bad for you if you're trying not to look like an elephant and/or you have to be the flyer for lifts at halftime!" Duh!

Oh, yeah, manners. "Sorry," she gave him a slightly embarrassed smile and held out her hand. "I'm Claire. And I swear, I usually don't go into nacho rants with strangers."

[soopernathan.livejournal.com]

Oh, Jesus, of all the freaking people.

"Claire?"

He hadn't seen her, in weeks, not since... God. And now she was here? Exactly who else was going to show up? This was nearly the entire family of Bennets, apparently. There was Hiro. There was Sylar. Who next? Heidi? Meredith? ...Niki? "You... what..." It was the most awkward Nathan had felt around somebody. His own flesh and blood, and he didn't know a damn thing about her. "What are you..."

This couldn't end well. Nathan cleared his throat, adjusting the unbuttoned collar of his shirt and fixing Claire with a half a smile, one that probably didn't quite reach his eyes. "I didn't expect to see you here."

[ms-miracle-grow.livejournal.com]

((*blush* Aww, I love the soul crushing. \o/*))

Claire's eyes went wide and she froze, just utterly motionless.

Dad. Nathan. Bio-dad. Jerk-face who had been willing to let New York explode. Guy who had shown up at the last minute and done the right thing. Um, yeah, she was kind of at a loss as to what to call him.

Whatever his title, Claire had been sure he had been dead. It was a little like seeing a ghost. Making some strangled sound of disbelief, she started forward, only to stop again.

"You're alive."

Yeah, that was a good way to start.

[waste-lock.livejournal.com]

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[ms-miracle-grow.livejournal.com]

Blink.

"Um, not a fan, I take it?" she offered with a slightly disturbed smile. Seriously, what?

[wh0-kill3d-m3.livejournal.com]

Laura let out a high-pitched little squeeee.

"Gummy worms! I haven't had any of those in ages!"

[ms-miracle-grow.livejournal.com]

Beaming at Laura, Claire handed her the package. "Far be it for me to deny a woman her gummy fix. I already ate some on the plane. You can have the rest."

[mmm-brainz.livejournal.com]

Oh. ...Oh.

This was priceless. This was... She made things too easy. This was just so, so much simplicity, it was almost laughable. The alleged cheerleader. That one girl, with that delectable power. The one he'd always wanted. Claire. Sweet, innocent, little Claire, with the hair pooling over her shoulders like a damned waterfall and God he just really wondered sometimes, what she would look like with crimson, spilling over so pretty to mix in with all that gold.

He could have loomed behind her for a while without her noticing. Even with two wounds - both bandaged, both fixed up by certain husbandly oncologists - it wasn't exactly difficult for him to sneak around. Lurk in the shadows, really. He'd spent half of his life doing it, unwillingly - Gabriel had been invisible for all of elementary school , middle school, high school - how much harder was it really to do now?

Waiting. For just such opportunistic moment. For something like this to just... come straight to him. "I don't know," he mused aloud, finally, leaning up against the wall behind Claire, head cocked to the side. "I would say you're fairly... special. Claire."

[ms-miracle-grow.livejournal.com]

She knew who he was. Even never having heard his voice, even if the only times she'd seen him he had been busy being stabbed or chasing her through hallways (or tearing the skull of her friend, oh, God, Jackie), she knew him. Sylar. Claire turned around slowly, jaw setting and chin thrusting out. Defiant. Unbowed.

"You're dead," she whispered, as if by saying so it would make it true. "Peter fought you. Hiro killed you. I saw it."

She was not afraid. She was angry. All the people he'd hurt, he'd murdered. He was nothing more than a little monster lurking in the shadows. And Claire wasn't afraid of him.

[keygirl-dawn.livejournal.com]

The new girl couldn't have reminded Dawn more of Buffy if she'd tried, and Dawn had the feeling Claire was hiding just as much under that All-American Girl exterior.

In short, Dawn liked her.

"The application weirds everybody out," said Dawn. "I'm Dawn. Nice to meet you, Claire. I know a couple of people who've saved the world, too."

[ms-miracle-grow.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Dawn." Claire's smile lit up her face, the simple pleasure of being able to talk about this one area of her life freely. "Yeah, my people are... Well, heroes," she laughed a little at her lack of articulateness. "Like, they're my heroes. That's why I'm here. I want to be more like them. Destiny and all that."

[peachykeendeath.livejournal.com]

((OOC: Since Claire's spent time dead, she can either recognize Death or not. Your call. Death, naturally, knows her.))

Another wouldn't-stay-dead person. There were certainly plenty here. Death shrugged and held out a hand to Claire, her usual happy-go-lucky grin on her face.

"Hiya, Claire! How's tricks?"

[ms-miracle-grow.livejournal.com]

((Pssh, as if I'd pass up a chance for Claire to talk to death. :p))

It was purely an instilled sense of manners that had Claire returning Death's handshake. Her jaw was too busy dropping to make it a cognitive effort. "I know you," she murmured, face a study in slightly alarmed concentration. It wasn't the fearful knowledge she'd had about Sylar's identity. This was deeper, somehow. Something more primal. "Don't I?"

[mrs-bennet.livejournal.com]

"Claire? Baby, is that..." Sandra walked towards her daughter lightly, almost afraid Claire would disappear right before her eyes. So many nights spent wondering, and here she was? All bright eyed and offering pink glitter pens?

"Are you-" Sandra paused, letting a single, joyful sob escape. Oh God, thank you, she was really here. Giving a watery smile, she reached out, cupping Claire's face with her hands. "Are you hungry? You look skinny."

[ms-miracle-grow.livejournal.com]

"Mom?" Voice shaky, Claire's face then broke into a huge grin. "Mom!" Launching herself at Sandra, Claire buried her face into her mother's neck and heaved a huge sob. "I never thought I'd see you again. I had to leave, but I didn't want to, and I tried to get back but Peter was going to explode and they kept trying to send me to Paris and I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! But I had to try and help!"

The words were a huge jumble, just pouring out as Claire clung to her mother, tears leaking down her face. Then she choked out a laugh. "I am not skinny. But I missed your cooking."

[racheltherunner.livejournal.com]

Huh. The references to rocks and sponges and heroes kind of led me to wonder if this girl and I had a mutual acquaintance. "Hey," I smiled, holding out my hand. "I'm Rachel. Um, you wouldn't happen to know a Peter Petrelli, would you?"

[ms-miracle-grow.livejournal.com]

For a second, Claire just looked at the woman. Nice hair, if a bit frizzy, but leather pants and a red halter top? Seriously? Still, she said she knew Peter, so Claire shook her hand with a smile. "I'm Claire. And yeah, I know him. He's my uncle." She tilted her head to the side, studying Rachel. She...well, she wasn't the type of person Claire would normally picture Peter with. "How do you know him?"

[familyman-hrg.livejournal.com]

((YAY! Also, sorry if I'm slow for a while--I can barely sit up right now.))

"Claire?" To say that Noah was surprised at his daughter's sudden appearance would be an understatement. She was supposed to be back in New York, safe. And this place, he had decided, might be useful but was definitely not safe. For one thing, the man who had tried to kill her, broken into their house, and assaulted Sandra when Claire hadn't been home was here, just wandering around like he owned the damn place. For another, there seemed to be no screening of the students and so just anyone could show up, with any sort of intention.

Seized with the sudden onset of surprise and worry, he didn't move for a few heartbeats. But it passed, and he was moving quickly towards her, arms open for a hug. "Claire-bear, what are you doing here?"

[ms-miracle-grow.livejournal.com]

((*snugs you so hard*))

"Dad?" Even though she'd known that her dad was here, even though she'd just seen Sandra, it didn't matter. Absolute relieved joy spread across Claire's face and she launched herself to him, arms wrapping around his neck.

There really weren't words. Not for a few minutes. It was more clinging and maybe some tears and a daughter being incredibly thankful that her father - her real father - was there.

"Dad, Sylar is here." Claire's brain clicked over from little girl to the young woman who had taken his gun and held it up to shoot Peter. Big eyes were raised to his face, a flash of fear overcome in her resolve. "I'm okay," she assured him. "He can't hurt me. But he's here. And so are Nathan and Peter. I thought they were dead. All of them." No need to say that Sylar could just as well have stayed dead.

Then she was hugging him again. "I'm glad you're here. I thought I was going to be alone."

[ugly-old-hat.livejournal.com]

Saving the world, learning magic, blah blah, the Hat had heard it all so many times before. There was one thing here that the Hat could NEVER see enough of, though.

GLITTER PENS.

"Eeeeee! I haven't seen pens like that since Morfin went to the land of the buttered and salted!" The Hat was beside itself with glee. "What colors do you have? Are they new or are they running out of ink? Do they have gel ink? Spill, girlfriend!"

[ms-miracle-grow.livejournal.com]

...

It was probably a good thing that her dad had warned her about the Hat. Even though she'd thought it was ninja code for something else; at least when a talking Hat started squeeing about glitter pens Claire didn't have a heart attack.

"Um..." Claire gave the Hat a quick smile and dug out the package from her bag. "I've got a fresh pack (http://www.foilplay.co.uk/i/060503125610%20sakura1.jpg) left from when I was making Pep Rally signs. They're gel ink, of course." Her smile grew. "Is there any other kind?"

Weirdest. Moment. Ever.

Hufflepuff!

[ugly-old-hat.livejournal.com]

Your bribe has been accepted!

Welcome to Hufflepuff! As the holder of the Morfin Gaunt Jones Memorial Scholarship, your duty will be to ensure that the Hufflepuff prefects always make available a copious amount of glitter pens! You should make sure to report to Toki Wartooth's food libraries ASAP!