Claire's Apartment (Join with Permission, Mature)

She didn't hear her, not completely, and instead began to slump against the wall, her phone clinking out of her pocket and to the floor. A few minutes later, it began to buzz repeatedly as Tony's face flashed across the screen; she didn't notice.

Claire crawled over to her, picking up her phone and offering it to her. She sat beside her, trying to hold in the tears. "T-Tony's calling."

Her eyes still wouldn't focus, her ears unable to hear a words that were spoken. She didn't shift her position in any way, didn't respond, still sorting through her thoughts.

Claire watched her for a moment before roughly grabbing her by the front of the shirt and smacking her across the face. "God dammit Jazz, I NEED YOU!" She fell back, letting go of Jasmine, tears starting to flow down her cheeks. "I-I'm scared... I'm scared, a-and I don't want t-to be alone. Please don't leave me alone again..."

She stiffened instantly, a flash of terror streaking across her eyes. Jasmine curled instantly, tears springing to her eyes and gliding down her cheeks as the phantoms of her nightmares returned.

Claire paled instantly, eyes shooting wide. Her own terror vanished, and she settled beside Jazz, wrapping the girl in a hug and rocking gently back and forth, cooing softly in hopes of calming her down.

The revolver stiffened first before slowly relaxing. It took several minutes for the tears to wholly stop, but when they did, she grabbed her phone, calling Tony back and slamming her finger on speaker. He picked up almost instantly.

"Jazzy? Yo, ya there?" She didn't respond. "Jazz? Is Claire alright? Are you? Hell?"

Claire held her in silences until she calmed, pulling a bit away. She waited a few moments before answering for her, her voice cracking a bit on the first word. "Y-Yeah... We're here... B-But I don't think either of us are 'alright'."

"What's wrong?" his voice sounded frantic, and they could both hear him shuffling around and running out to the parking lot while he talked. Jasmine didn't move.

Claire looked to Jazz, and then to the phone, taking it from her. "Just get here. The door's unlocked." He turned the phone off, setting it on the ground near the test. She wrapped her arms back around Jazz, pulling her close. She reached over, gently cupping her cheek and making their eyes meet. "I swear, I will never raise my hand against you ever again."

Her vision blurred as she looked at her, body trembling just slightly. "I needed.... my meds." She said, reaching into her pocket and handing it to her. "For my.... PTSD....."

Claire took the bottle, a horrible sort of comprehension dawning on her. She looked up at Jazz, cupping her cheek again. "W-Why... Why do you have PTSD meds?"

"Orphan. Foster care." She shrugged, looking down, "I was abused and neglected growing up. Once I first transformed, I became a charge of the DWMA." Her words were plain and whispered.

Claire nodded, rubbing her shoulder as she silently waited for Tony. Quite suddenly, she heaved, rolling away from her and retching into the toilet.

Jasmine jolted, the gears in her mind back-pedaling and readjusting themselves, reforcusing. She looked over at her, and a shiver ran down her spine as she moved to pull back her hair. "How long?"

Claire sat back after a few moments, wiping bile from her mouth with her hand. "I-I've been... feeling weird for the last couple days... A-Akira said... I looked like his sister when she was pregnant... He got me the tests this morning." She jolted, leaning forward and dry heaving.

A hiss slid through her teeth as she quickly tied the girl's hair back and began to pat and rub her back. "How could.... what did they do to you, Claire?"

Claire turned around slowly, pulling up her shirt so that her stomach was showing. A long, thin scar stretched across from left to right, along with a few other scars. "This is what they did to me. T-They cut me open... A-And I think they made me pregnant." Her eyes teared up again, and she bit hard on her bottom lip to distract herself with pain.

"No, no, no," she said, leaning forward to kiss her lips. "That won't help you any." She nuzzled her cheek, still rubbing her back tenderly. "We can... we'll figure this out." The door suddenly swung open and Antonio ran arond the house for a while before finally finding them. His silver hair was wild and disheveled, and his piercing eyes seemed wild and crazy.

"What happened?"

Claire leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Jazz, needing to be held. When Tony arrived, she looked up at him through teary eyes, then gave only a shake of her head, closing her eyes again.

Jasmine maneuvered herself to kick the test over, and Tony seemed to jolt away from it, staring with his eyes wide; he'd had his own scare of this before, and it frankly terrified him to remember. "You're... what.... how?"

Claire shook her head again, still holding Jazz close. "When they took me..." That was all he was going to get out of her, as she squeezed Jazz as tightly as she could, her tears starting to fall again.

Antonio froze completely, realization striking him like a bag of hammers. He dry swallowed, staring at her with wide, panicked eyes. Jasmine was shaking in her arms, completely unaware of what was wrong with Tony.

Claire shuddered in Jazz's arms, sobbing softly. Her eyes suddenly jolted open, and she turned back to the toilet, heaving for a few moments before stopping, as she had nothing left to purge.

Tony backed out of the room, running into the kitchen and searching for something to put in her stomach --- crackers, bread, anything.

Jasmine looked up at her and whimpered, "We should get you to a doctor, Angel..."