FIC: The Road Not Taken, Ch 29
Chapter 29
Title: "The Road Not Taken"
Rating: PG-13 probably.
Pairings: Claire/Elle, Claire/Gretchen
Summary: When Claire goes back in time to save Elle, her relationship with Gretchen is threatened.
Disclaimer: I do not own the television show "Heroes."
Note: Takes place after "Brave New World." The past takes place after "The Butterfly Effect." Thank you Lied and She-Hulk from the BAM Board. This chapter wasn’t beta-ed due to the holidays. Sorry guys!
They parked a few miles away. They knew Sylar had superhearing at this point. He would be emotional and distracted because of Elle but he would not be blind. They needed to be close enough so Rene could block his powers at least for a little while. It was risky but it was a risk they needed to take for Elle. Rene and Claire had been walking along the beach for some time now, each lost in their respective thoughts.
She always knew there was an off switch for her power. It could be turned off with an eclipse or a power like Rene’s. Every power that could turn on could also turn off. Adam Monroe was the only other immortal Claire had ever heard of out of hundreds of years. Someone had to have been able to find their off switch over the course of time.
Claire just could not believe she had finally found hers. She had Godlike powers but never felt that way. She was owned by the power, not the other way around. Until now. She was unsure what the consequences of that concept could be.
She knew that Rene thought his powers were from God and therefore good. However after all she had known that he had seen that could not be all there was to it. "Do you know of anyone who thought their powers made them a God?" Claire finally asked before looking over at Rene.
He was deep in concentration and looked terrified at the interruption. Claire suddenly felt stupid. From what Claire heard Rene could barely contain her grandfather’s power. The thought of facing Sylar without Zach’s power sharing ability was probably terrifying to Rene. They could not risk keeping Zach around. The fewer amount of people running around in the wrong time the better. You could never tell who would get hurt. With that in mind Claire did not expect a productive answer in circumstances like those they were in.
Rene surprised her when he calmed down and straightened up a little. "Do you remember one day your father had perfect eyesight and then when he came back from his next business trip he needed glasses?"
Claire nodded as she thought back to that day. Everything was pigtails and innocence back then. She did not feel as though she fit into the world even then but when her dad came home he always brought a new teddy bear and spent time with her. That day he let her pick out his glasses.
"I remember I asked him if he was sad that he had to wear glasses all of a sudden. He said he was looking forward to it because then he could see me again. I thought he was the best dad ever. It was only a little later that day that he told me I was adopted," Claire remembered almost tearfully at the easier times. She blinked the emotion away as she refocused on Rene. "Why did you bring it up?"
"On that mission, we met a man who thought his powers were of God. He killed many people and knocked me unconscious. Your dad saved my life, his life and the lives of the Butler family that was being held hostage by that man and lost his perfect eyesight as a price. God is in all things but the misuse of power is a flaw of man that seems to affect certain members of our kind in a vicious way. Why did you ask me that just now?" Rene asked as he looked back at her.
Claire could not lie and say nothing. He just seemed to know what she was feeling. However, she did not know what she was feeling. The previous night did not even feel real. She knew the moon was in the sky and no one was around for miles but how could she know for sure that her dream came true?
"Something happened. I think I can control my power. I think I can turn it on and off," Claire admitted. It suddenly felt like a weight was lifted off her chest at that moment; one she did not realize she was carrying. However, her panic began anew as she waited for her friend’s response.
Rene was silent for a moment. "You think?"
"Well, the possibility that I’m having some kind of emotional breakdown is more likely than anything," Claire admitted. Rene nodded and Claire began to doubt herself.
Claire looked into long expanse of beach knowing she would not find answers anytime soon- "Ouch."
She quickly reached down and grabbed her hand which had been pricked with the end of Rene’s knife. She applied pressure to her small wound. "What is wrong with you? Are you racing me to see who blows this mission first? Because if so, I’m am so far beyond disappointed."
Rene shrugged and almost smiled before he remembered where they were and why they were there. They never stopped walking. "I was just pointing out your power didn’t start working."
"Obviously," Claire gritted petulantly. She liked the times when her power was not working and she could feel everything. It was why Rene was her favorite drinking buddy but stabbing her at a time like this was just in bad taste in Claire’s opinion.
"My point is that your power was off and so was mine," Rene replied.
"Oh," Claire said quietly to herself before the realization gloriously hit her. "Oh."
"Congratulations," Rene said despite his grimness of their situation. Claire nodded. It was enough for now. She still had more questions about everything but they would come in their own time.
"I am going to turn my power back on and focus all my energies on Sylar. I suggest you do the same," Rene commented as he kept his eyes straight forward.
Claire looked at her hand and concentrated with all she had in her. The cut closed instantly. She was healing again and it could not have happened at a better time.
The two specks appeared on the horizon. Claire let herself slow.
Of course, one of the specks was Sylar. This was not the reformed man of her time. This was not Elle’s Gabriel. This was the man who overpowered and defeated Claire with a knife in his chest and that was back when he could die. This was the man who just lost all hope of family and being good. He lost hope of love in favor of being broken.
The worst was what it had caused him to do. Claire knew she would not see it. No, she would not see the act that she never wanted to. She saw Gretchen die twice but she would never see Elle die. It would be too much especially after all that had happened in the previous days.
Claire knew that Elle had died almost immediately after Claire was whisked away with Hiro through time. He rescued her. As much as Claire felt for Elle she knew what might have happened had she been taken away by Sylar and Elle. Despite being disappointed at the sight of them together Arthur had almost killed Peter. He was only alive thanks to Gabriel and it was only a short time later that Gabriel became Sylar again. Claire probably would not have lived without Hiro but would Elle have made it?
It was time to find out. It was light out by the time Sylar decided to burn Elle up. Perhaps he wanted to see it. Perhaps he wanted to see her. Claire could not understand how he could stomach it.
The sight of Elle lying there on the beach, so prepared to be burned up like a piece of meat, it made Claire sick. She wanted to drop to her knees and lay on the ground to calm her nausea. It was exactly what she did because it was part of the plan- without the nausea.
They could not put the plan into action while Sylar’s back was turned. They could not let Sylar know there was a chance that Elle was alive. Absolving him of the crime might make him a different man or he might find a way to go through time to get her back again. They did have a relationship that spanned a few years after all. No, they had to let Sylar think she was dead and that they were after him, that he needed more power. It was the path he was already on and they had to make sure he stayed on it.
She stayed in her place on the ground, just watching everything happen and trying to hold her breath as long as possible. She did not want to make any noise.
Rene attempted to creep up behind Sylar as he was engrossed with his tasks. It was a race against time for Elle’s life but Rene’s life was also on the line if he did not get the one up on Sylar. Rene was fearless and unrelenting in his approach but Claire could not feel more scared. She never worried for her own life but where her loved ones were concerned Claire was terrified. After all she had seen and those who she had seen dead in just the last few days Claire was more on edge than usual. With every step that Rene took closer to Sylar, Claire could swear her own heartbeat was growing louder and faster. She just hoped she was the only one who could hear it.
Time seemed to move at an excruciatingly slow pace. Claire was not sure what she would do if the worst happened. She would not be surprised if the fabric of her world would just tear apart if things went wrong.
Then it happened. Claire did not hear a thing. She did not hear a damn thing but apparently Sylar did. Just as Sylar raised his hand to burn Elle to a crisp- maybe Rene made it happen to save Elle or maybe his clumsiness was caused by an angel in Elle’s corner, one that had abandoned her a long time ago- his foot hit the sand and Sylar heard it. He spun around.
Claire stayed in the sand. She was the contingency plan. If everything went wrong Claire had to be there to save Elle. If there was one last thing that Claire would do it would be saving Elle. So Claire stayed there and ran her hands through the sand and cursed its inconsistency. She needed something to hold on to. It felt like the world was upside down and she was going to fall off of it at any second.
Sylar waved his hand and nothing happened. He looked at it as Rene began to rush at him, prepared to knock him down. This was just after the eclipse happened. Sylar was as aware of his powerlessness as he could possibly be. He did not stand a chance against her dad and would not stand a chance against Rene. He looked at Elle’s lifeless body next to him. Claire knew in that moment he remembered just how alone he really was. He was alone and in the middle of nowhere and powerless. Claire knew the feeling. She remembered feeling that way and knowing she would not wish that on anyone.
She was not sure how she felt now. She just knew that everything was working.
His moment of loneliness past and his survival instinct kicked in. Claire imagined that sacrificing yourself when you did not think you would come back was a hard thing. Her dad had just slit his neck with a box cutter only a day before. They knew he would not be willing to die again so suddenly.
He turned and he ran as fast as he could and Rene chased him just the same. Rene would make no attempt to catch him. That would defeat their purpose but he chased him down the road. The road would lead him to some poor woman on her birthday who would find out she was not long for this world along with her friends. Saving a human lie detector and her coworkers could cost thousands of lives if changed. Claire had to take time to consciously remind herself of that or she could not let it stand.
As Claire rose and began running to Elle, she mentally said goodbye to some woman she would never meet who would die because Sylar wanted a new power after killing Elle. Mindful of that woman’s sacrifice she ran to save another life, in hopes it would right things even a little bit. Claire knew things would be right for her.
Once Claire reached Elle she did not waste any time. Elle would not stay that way any longer. Not on Claire’s watch. She produced the syringe from her pocket. It was already filled with her own blood to avoid wasting even a second. She plunged the syringe into Elle and waited for her blood to work its magic one final time on this mission.
Elle instantly shot upwards and began screaming and crying wildly. At first it was almost incoherent groans but as she came back everything came back. Claire instantly wrapped her arms around her and held her steady as the older girl fought her. Unlike her embrace with Gretchen after bringing her back from the dead Claire did not ignore the other girl’s emotions but remained strong.
"I thought... but he hurt- he killed me. I thought-" Elle cried, the terror keeping her going as her skull came back together.
"You’re safe now. I’ve got you," Claire said as she pulled back and stroked the newly healed skin.
Tears streamed down Elle’s face as she spoke. "I thought I had a second chance."
"You do. You’re safe now. I’ve got you," Claire said when a shadow appeared next to them on the sand. Claire knew who it was and turned to check on Rene who was walking back from the road. He nodded to Claire. Sylar went about his own way, continued on his path without coming back for Elle. The timeline was still in tact and they got their girl back in the process.
The mission was a success.
Rene put his arms around the girls and Hiro did the same on the other side.
With a friendly smile Hiro turned to Elle and said, "It is very nice to see you again. Sorry about all this."
Elle merely nodded, surprisingly not angry about how Hiro abandoned her there in the first place. Her eyes turned back to Claire and the Haitian. Claire smiled as big as she could hoping all the comfort and love she was trying to convey would come through. Somehow she was confident it did.
The surroundings changed. In a second they were home.
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