Tutus Locus Chapter Four
Claire woke up with her head on Sylar’s chest and one of her hands intertwined with Elle’s. It was dark outside already which surprised her because it couldn’t have been later than eight in the morning before they finally fell asleep. It was the first time that she had woken up feeling completely safe in a long time. She knew that she should be feeling guilty, but she didn’t. And, she didn’t want to try and analyze why she didn’t feel guilty. She couldn’t deny that she had wanted both of them. In the few short days that they had been together, they had become her lifeline. She needed them. And, that was all she knew.
She wished that they could just stay in the bed all day-wished that they didn’t still have the threat of Danko looming over the heads. She wished that they didn’t have to get to Haiti because she knew when they got there she would have to justify why she wanted to be with Sylar and Elle, and she didn’t want to explain that to anyone. She just wanted to stay lost in the simplicity that they had found. With a soft sigh she reached up to kiss Sylar, hoping it would be all she needed to do to wake him up.
It was.
“Hey.” He said lightly and returned her kiss. “What time is it?”
“After dark.” She said. “Elle and I saw this little restaurant down the road. I was thinking that we could go. Rebel did say that we could stay the night before we had to get back on the road.”
“Yeah.” He contemplated. “We can do that. I want to try to make some arrangements to get us into Haiti anyways.” She smiled. “How are you feeling?”
“Physically or emotionally?” she returned.
“Both, I guess.”
“Sore. But, if you’re asking me if I regret what happened, I don’t.” The smile that lit his face was beautiful, she decided, and leaned up to kiss him.
“Good.”
“What are you two talking about?” Elle asked as she opened her eyes.
“Sylar’s going to take us to that restaurant we talked about.” Claire replied and Elle’s head shot up.
“Really?” she asked like a child on Christmas.
“Yep. We should go get ready.”
“Okay.” Claire laughed at how excited she was before getting silenced by Elle’s kiss first to her, and then to Sylar.
“I guess she’s happy about that.” He said and pulled Claire in for another kiss as Elle closed the bathroom door.
Elle and Claire had wanted to shop before they went to the restaurant and even though Sylar didn’t like to use Bob Bishop’s ability more than he had to, he couldn’t deny his two blondes when they were as excited as they were. They had drug him from store to store looking for traditional Mexican clothes since this might be the only time we get to be in Mexico. They obviously didn’t realize he had already been to Mexico under very different circumstances. He didn’t see the need to fill them on that tidbit of information though. When they finally made it to the restaurant, both of his girls had changed into white boho dresses and sandals. The only difference between them was the jewelry he had bought them. Elle wore turquoise stones while Claire preferred plain silver. They had cost him a small fortune in less than two hours, but more and more he was finding it hard to tell them no.
At the restaurant, he had managed to find a man who secured them passage on a cargo boat leaving Merida in five days. Luckily, it would only take them four to get to Merida. He wasn’t entirely sure if going to Haiti to this so called safe house was the best idea. He was positive that they would meet opposition in their relationship from Peter and the others. He honestly didn’t want to deal with it. He may like spoiling his girls, but he didn’t want to deal with Peter’s hero complex.
“Sylar?” they both asked and he wondered what they had been planning while he was zoned out.
“Dance with us?” Elle asked with a pout. He shook his head. That was one thing that he could still say no to.
“Please?” Claire added.
“No. I don’t dance.”
“But,” they both tried.
“No.” he was not going to give in on that subject. Dancing was not something he did. Not as Gabriel and surely not as Sylar. “You two go. I need to take care of something anyways.”
“Is everything okay?” Claire asked, her expression going from happy to worried in a split second.
“It’s fine. I just need to get some information from the man who got us on the boat.”
“Oh. Are you sure you don’t want to dance with us?” Elle asked again.
“I’m sure. You two have fun.” He said with a kiss to both of their foreheads before going off in search of the bar. Disaster averted.
It only took them four days to get to Merida, which gave them a day of solitude locked away in their motel room before they had to get on the boat. It was the kind of day that Claire had been hoping for since their first time together in Cananea. They had spent all day in bed committing each and every part of their bodies to memory. They learned and re-learned every inch, every freckle, and every scar. They made love and fell asleep in each others arms and then woke to soft caresses on their skin. It was as if they had forgotten about everything and all that existed in their world was the three of them in that moment. Claire, for her part, couldn’t have been happier.
But, the illusion couldn’t last forever and the morning the boat was supposed to leave, they were up early. They were only able to take one bag and so Sylar packed the necessary items like their toiletries and sensible outfits. They each had two pairs of pants, two shirts, and only one pair of shoes. Elle and Claire had insisted though that they get to keep their dresses and jewelry from their night in Cananea, and after much debate, he had caved.
The boat ride took two days. Two days of waves and roughness, and Claire decided right then that she didn’t like the open sea, even if she couldn’t technically get sick. Elle, however, didn’t have the luxury of having Claire’s ability and therefore did get sick. Claire comforted her as much as she could, but there was only so much you could do for someone who was constantly throwing up. Needless to say, they were extremely happy when they got to Port-au-Prince.
Claire carried their bag off the boat since Sylar had to carry a sleeping Elle. It wasn’t until they were off the boat that Claire realized they didn’t know where they were supposed to go from their. Rebel had only told them to get to Haiti, not where to go once they got there. But, that problem was easily rectified when she spotted her uncle.
“Peter?” she called and Sylar followed her line of sight until he saw the paramedic.
“Hey.” He said as Claire hugged him tightly. “How are you?”
“I’m good. Safe.” She said and motioned to Sylar.
“Sylar.” Peter greeted somewhat stoically.
“Peter.” He replied and Claire rolled her eyes.
“Look you two we’re on the same side.” Better to avert disaster before it could happen, she figured.
Sylar sighed. “Fine. For you, I’ll be nice.” He said and she smiled brightly. Sylar didn’t mention how he knew it was going to piss Peter off when he realized that Claire was sleeping with him.
“What’s wrong with her?” Peter asked, choosing to ignore Sylar’s comment and instead focus on Elle.
“She got seasick.”
“Oh. Come on, we’ve got some medicine back at the house.”
Peter and Sylar were studiously ignoring one another in the car and Claire didn’t like the silence. “So, what exactly is this safe house?” she asked.
“Renee set it up. There’s about twenty of us there. We’re trying to get strong enough to take out Building 26.” He replied.
“Who’s all there?” Sylar questioned.
“Matt Parkman and his girlfriend Daphne, Mohinder and Molly, Tracy Strauss, Hiro and Ando, and Micah Sanders. Well, you’d know him by Rebel.”
“Wait. Micah? The little boy from Kirby Plaza?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“He’s Rebel?”
“Yep. He can control machines. Pretty cool ability. Useful too. It’s how we’re getting information.”
“Wonders never cease.” Sylar muttered as they pulled into the driveway of a fairly large two story building. Once again, Claire carried their bag as Sylar carried the still sleeping Elle. “She’s exhausted.” He said to Claire who brushed some of Elle’s hair out of her face. She was sweating, too.
“I know. Hopefully they’ll have a bed where we can lay her down until she feels better.” She said with a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you for being nice to Peter.”
“Like I said, I’ll do it for you.”
“Thanks.” She reiterated with a big smile before being ushered inside by Peter.
Claire wasn’t sure what time it was, but it must have been around lunch because there was a large group of people seated around an even larger table while Tracy and Daphne passed out food.
“Hey guys.” Peter called and they all turned to look at him. “I guess we can do introductions since I don’t think everyone knows everyone. This is Claire, Sylar, and Elle.” He motioned to each of them in turn and Sylar didn’t miss the looks of hatred he was getting from some of the crowd who were more than a little familiar with him. He smirked. “I guess you can introduce yourselves. It’s easier that way.”
By the time introductions were done, Claire had counted only eight, ten including Peter and Renee that she knew. There were eleven that she didn’t know, and she was already having a hard time remembering their names. “Pleasure.” She said when it was obvious Sylar wasn’t going to say anything. “Peter, did you say that you had something for Elle?” she asked and the paramedic left the room for a moment before returning with a first aid kit and pulling out an antacid. “Um, how do the sleeping arrangements work?” she asked somewhat shyly.
“We have rooms on the second floor.” Renee said before Peter could answer. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
“Thanks.” She muttered as they followed the Haitian out of the dining room. He pointed to each room as they walked by and told them whose it was.
He, Peter, Micah, and the teenage boy that could fly were in the first room. Matt, Daphne, Mohinder, and Molly were in the second; Hiro, Ando, Tracy, and a woman with the ability to become invisible were in the third; she zoned out as he told her who were in the rest of the rooms since she didn’t know them anyways and just followed along until they got to the last room, which was theirs.
“Thanks Renee.” She said to him as he turned to leave.
“So, what do you think?” Sylar asked while he laid Elle down on one of the beds.
“We haven’t been interrogated yet. So I guess that’s a good thing.” She said nonchalantly. “They aren’t going to like us being together.”
“Of course they aren’t. I’m the villain, remember?” he teased as he pulled her to him.
“Of course you are.” She replied with a kiss and then watched as he used his telekinesis to move three of the beds together against the back wall causing Elle to moan and try to sit up.
“Hey sleepy head.” Claire said and crawled up beside her. “Feeling better?” she asked.
“A little. Where are we?”
“We’re in Haiti. This is our room.” She said.
“Oh. Good.” She said with a yawn.
“I’m going to go find you some soup or something.” She said with a kiss to her girlfriends cheek and then another to Sylar. “I’ll be right back.”
Downstairs, she found them all still at the table and Peter looked up with a smile as she came in. “Claire.” He said.
“Hey. Do you have any soup? Elle just woke up and she needs to eat something.”
“Um, yeah. Come on.” He led her to the kitchen. “Claire, you don’t have to share a room with them, you know. We can find you another place to sleep.”
“Why would you do that?” she asked as he showed her the soup collection.
“Well, you’re here now. You’re safe. You don’t have to keep spending time with them.”
“Peter, I’ve been safe since the moment I got in the car with them.”
“It’s okay Claire. I’ll protect you.” He wasn’t listening to her.
“Peter. Stop. I don’t need you to protect me. I’m a big girl. And, even if I did need to be protected, Sylar has it covered.” She said as he turned to her.
“You say that like you want him to take care of you.” He spat.
“I do!” She screamed and didn’t notice that the others had gathered around the doorway between the two rooms. “I’ve been with them for two weeks and whether you like it or not Peter, I want to be with them. They’ve done nothing but be nice to me and even let me fight my own damned battles for once instead of making me play victim.” She continued.
“Claire, are, are you sleeping with him?” he asked in disgust.
“I’m sleeping with both of them.” She returned.
“I knew we shouldn’t have let you go with them. He’s done something to you!” Claire’s anger had reached boiling point and it flashed clearly in her eyes.
“He hasn’t done anything to me! I really hoped that you weren’t going to be like this.”
“He’s a monster Claire! He tried to kill you!”
“I know that Peter. But that’s in the past and I’ve seen the other side of him. I’m not backing down from this Peter. So you can either accept it or we’ll leave.”
“No. You aren’t leaving with him.” Her mouth dropped open in surprise before she took a threatening step towards him.
“Let’s get one thing straight Peter Petrelli. You may be my uncle but you do not get to tell me what to do. I am an adult.” She said. “I will be with whoever I want and if you don’t like it then we’ll leave. But, I will not listen to you tell me who I can and can’t leave with.”
“Peter.” She heard Matt Parkman say. “She’s serious. She wants to be with them and it’s not because he did something to her.” She flashed a grateful smile at the man.
“I’m sorry Peter. But, I’m not changing my mind.” She finished and grabbed a can of chicken noodle soup and a spoon before rushing back up to her room.
End Chapter Four.