We Might Not Be Heroes: That's the Truth

(JESSICA and SHANNON are standing with their bags at the airport.)

JESSICA:  So I’ll pick you up on Thursday.

SHANNON:  Right.  Unless they keep me there.

JESSICA:  They said even if they choose you, you get sent home first to see your loved ones.

SHANNON:  You just buy everything they’re saying, I—

JESSICA:  Shannon, please.  I don’t want to fight.

SHANNON:  Then stop siding with the government over your own sister.

JESSICA:  I’m not siding with—Why would they lie about something like that?

SHANNON:  Why does anybody lie about anything?

(A beat.)

JESSICA:  Are they lying?

(A beat.)

SHANNON:  No.  They’re not.  Not about that.

JESSICA:  Okay.  (A beat.)  Are they lying about…anything else?

SHANNON:  It’s hard to tell.

JESSICA:  But isn’t that, like—your thing?

SHANNON:  It’s not like I can tell if the government as a whole is lying.  I can only go from person-to-person.  Some of the people on tv representing the government are lying and some aren’t.

JESSICA:  But aren’t they all saying the same thing?

SHANNON:  Yes, but that just means some of them believe they’re telling the truth.

JESSICA:  So if someone believes they’re telling the truth, you can’t tell that they’re lying?

SHANNON:  No, because at that point, they’re not lying.  At least, they don’t know they’re lying.  And some of the people who are lying might just think that they’re lying when they’re not really lying at all.

JESSICA:  So they could think that they’re telling the truth and really be lying, in which case, you wouldn’t know that they’re lying, or they could think they’re lying, but they’re actually telling the truth, in which case, you would think they’re lying but you’d be wrong?

SHANNON:  Exactly.

JESSICA:  Your power is worthless.

SHANNON:  Jessica!

JESSICA:  Anybody can do what you do.  They have people at the FBI and the CIA who can tell when somebody’s lying.

SHANNON:  But they’ve trained to do that.  I never trained—and I’m always right.  I was right about—

JESSICA:  Mitchell.  I know.

SHANNON:  And he talked to people from the FBI, and they said he was fine.  And then—

JESSICA:  I still don’t see how this is going to help with fighting aliens.

SHANNON:  They didn’t say only register if you want to fight aliens.  They said anyone with enhanced abilities.

JESSICA:  So what are you going to tell them?  I knew my brother was a terrorist.  That’s my superpower.  I figured it out when nobody else did.

SHANNON:  He wasn’t a terrorist.

JESSICA:  Shannon—

SHANNON:  He was confused.  He was brainwashed.

JESSICA:  He was plotting to blow up—

SHANNON:  (On ‘plotting.’)  Oh my God, ‘plotting.’  Listen to you.

JESSICA:  --A school for godsakes!

(A beat.)

JESSICA:  And yes, if not for you, he probably would have done it.  So yes, you deserve some—whatever, for that.  Something.

SHANNON:  I don’t want anything.  I just want to register then come home.

JESSICA:  You know, nobody’s forcing you to do this.  If you don’t trust the government, that’s fine, but you’re the one volunteering.

SHANNON:  Because otherwise I’d be lying.

JESSICA:  You wouldn’t be lying.  You just wouldn’t be offering up the truth.

SHANNON:  That’s lying.

JESSICA:  No, it’s not.

SHANNON:  Well, I can see how you would think that.

(A beat.)

JESSICA:  What the hell is that supposed to mean?

SHANNON:  Nothing.  You don’t want to fight.

JESSICA:  Because I didn’t tell anybody about Mitchell?

SHANNON:  Jess—

JESSICA:  I didn’t know.

SHANNON:  You say that, but—

JESSICA:  I didn’t know what he was doing.  (A beat.)  What?  You think I’m lying?

SHANNON:  First of all, it wouldn’t be me thinking that.  It would be me knowing that.

JESSICA:  Okay, so was I lying back then?

SHANNON:  You didn’t think you were lying.

JESSICA:   That sounds so passive aggressive.

SHANNON:  I’m sorry, but passive aggressive happens to be my resting tone.

JESSICA:  Just tell me something—all bullshit and nobility aside—are you doing this because of Mitch?

SHANNON:  Maybe.  A little.  I don’t know.  I honestly don’t.

JESSICA:  You know, we don’t talk about it, but…You had to have known for awhile.  I mean, if you really can do what you say you can do, that means you had to have known for awhile before you…

SHANNON:  Before I turned him in?

JESSICA:  Yes.

SHANNON:  I went to him.  I asked him to stop.  To get help.

JESSICA:  You never told me that.

SHANNON:  Well, it’s a good thing not ‘offering up the truth’ isn’t the same as lying then.

JESSICA:  What did he say?

SHANNON:  He said he would.  He said he was just going through a lot of stuff, but that he’d never hurt anybody.  That he was just lost.  I understood that.  We hugged.  I waited.  Two months later I found the e-mails on his computer.  I asked him if he was ever really going to change.  He said ‘Yes.’  I knew he was lying.  I called the police.

JESSICA:  We could have helped him.

SHANNON:  How?

JESSICA:  We could have gotten him to the right people.

SHANNON :  That’s what I did!

JESSICA:  You don’t even trust the government!

SHANNON:  So who else was I going to give him to?  Doctors?  You think he wouldn’t have fooled doctors?  Hell, Mom’s a doctor.

JESSICA:  She’s not a psychologist.

SHANNON:  What difference does it make?  When the FBI showed up, even they believed him at first.  Then they saw what was on his computer.  I did the right thing.

JESSICA:  It shouldn’t have just been your decision.

SHANNON:  I was the only one who was going to make the right decision.

JESSICA:  You don’t know that.

SHANNON:  Please, I saw you and Mom sticking your heads in the sand.  And Dad going golfing everyday just so he could pretend his son wasn’t turning into a crazy person.  While all of you were trying not to do something, I was watching my brother morph into this supervillain.

JESSICA:  He wasn’t a supervillain.  He was just a confused kid.

SHANNON:  You think it would have mattered to the people he hurt?  Or killed?

(A beat.)

JESSICA:  If they’re lying about letting you come back, then I could be losing you now too.

SHANNON:  That’s…a possibility.

JESSICA:  And for what?

SHANNON:  (Shrugs.)  The Greater Good?

JESSICA:  Am I bad a person for not caring about the Greater Good?  Am I bad for caring about my sister and my brother more than I care about other people’s sisters and brothers?  It’s all well and good to talk about doing the right thing until you’re actually faced with the sacrifice of it.  Then everything gets so…tribal.  You realize you can only protect so many people in this world.  Maybe only a few.  And if you happen to love more than a few, well…

SHANNON:  Dad forgave me before I left.

JESSICA:  He did?

SHANNON:  Yeah.  He said ‘I forgive you.’  He gave me a hug.  Then he threw his clubs in the backseat of his car and drove away.

JESSICA:  That sounds about right.

SHANNON:  Mom’s never going to forgive me.

JESSICA:  She might.

SHANNON:  I doubt it.  (A beat.)  Do you forgive me?

JESSICA:  I…Yes.

SHANNON:  You’re lying.

JESSICA:  I—I can’t.  I just—I want to, but I can’t.

SHANNON:  Oh.

JESSICA:  And if it’s any consolation, I can’t forgive myself either.

SHANNON:  Well…that’s the truth.

                (Lights.)