Claire and Darlow

"You know, sometimes, the bad guy wins. I don't know why, but that's just the how it is! What's the point in fighting it?" She screamed. She raised her fingertips to her temples, his back was still towards her. His hands were fiercely grabbing the table; his knuckles rapidly loosing color.

"Tell me!" Exasperated, she tossed her hands into the air. "You know, that was Superman's problem. He could catch a bad guy, but there's still one on the loose. There's still one more to catch. So what does it matter if we catch this one?" She was pleading at the end of her speech.

"You know why," his voice was gruff. It caught Claire off guard, but she refused to let him see that.

"Why? Because of Fate? Or is it Kellen this time? You do remember him, don't you?"

The table Darlow had been grasping colapsed to the floor in a loud clatter. Furiously, Darlow marched over to Claire, she backed up until she felt her back bump into a concrete wall. He kept coming until she was sandwiched between him and the wall.

"Listen, I know what you're thinking, but I'm thinking if you were a man, I would hit you. I have half a mind to do it anyway."

"Fate's dead! She's dead! And catching her killer isn't going to bring her back!"

"I know."

"Then..."

"I know! I know she's dead. I don't need you reminding me of that! This isn't for her!" Darlow backed up half a step and found a spot on the wall to stare at.

"Then who?" Claire's voice was barely a whisper. His eyes rejoined hers.

"This is for the next victim's fiancee. This is for the next little sister. This is for the next best friend. This is so that they---- never---- have ---- to deal---- with this---- pain!" Darlow had backed up completely and hit the wall between his words.

Claire stayed exactly where she was, and watched as Darlow threw the table and hit the wall. Carefully, she walked over to him. Her left hand moved her hair behind her ear as her right gently touched his wrists. He dropped his arms, and his eyes. Claire didn't know why, but she just kissed him.

"Just because she's dead, doesn't mean that you have to be." She started to walk out of the room, he stood there. Just before she reached the door, she turned around. "You coming, there are dirt bags out there we need to catch."