( That first question, that offer, puts a frustrated, defensive little furrow into her brow. She doesn't have to say it; it reads I know how to shoot. She did, after all, put one of the six bullets that gun holds into the head of a man that wasn't her father. An adamantium bullet, specifically, into the soulless husk of a clone that would ultimately kill him. But she did it from only ten feet away. This is different than the distance he spun his plate.

The furrow only grows deeper at his questions — this was supposed to be simple. A gun, for free, so that the kidnapper will die. Why do adults make things so much more complicated than they have to be? )

Because you had good aim. You can do it from further away. This is smarter. And because you are the only one to try since the very first party.

( If she could get within ten feet of the lawspeaker with her weapons out, she would not need a gun at all. She could do far better and far more thorough a job with the claws. Those are her specialty. Guns are too unwieldy, and yes, sometimes the bigger ones have too much kick-back. She's not so smooth with them.

She could give it to Erik, but Erik doesn't need it. He could shoot the bullets with his mind. Anything could be a bullet. John, she thinks, is probably not trained in how to use a gun. And he would rather use fire anyway. If anyone else has attacked the Lawspeaker, she did not see them; Clint's the first to make the move, so Clint is offered the gun.

As for the second question... )

Do you know any true stories that are happy?

( Because she's begun to think there's no such thing. )