sunday_reveries prompts for 5/17 - 5/23 [quote prompt #7]
7. "We accept the love we think we deserve." -Stephen Chbosky
Claire had never been in a cabin before and she had to admit that she kind of liked it. It was a change from all the motels, the truck stops and definitely a nice change from sleeping in the vehicle all the time. When Sylar had first suggested a cabin in the middle of nowhere, she hadn’t been so keen on the idea but now she was enjoying herself. They were in their own little world which made them both feel a bit safer. She knew it had to be hard at times for him since he wasn’t used to staying in one place for so long but he seemed to be enjoying himself somewhat as well. Maybe it was because they had an actual bed to sleep, and do other things in. Not that they always stuck to the bed either.
She liked having a small lake nearby too, often using it in the early morning when she wanted to swim for awhile. The cold bite of the water didn’t bother her nearly as much as it did him but he was kind of cute when he was complaining about it as she would have never guessed that her boyfriend could whine. She liked to tease him at times even if it got her the death glare at times.
The only times she hated it was when he went into town to get them supplies because it meant that she was left alone in the cabin for a few hours. He went because he could change his form and because they had both decided that anyone hunting them would definitely look for her. But she tried to find things to occupy herself with like painting her toe nails which was the task she was working at when she heard someone outside. Looking up, she smiled a little as she was surprised. She didn’t think about her attire which was a snug tank top and a pair of his boxers because she wasn’t expecting anyone but him. No one could find them here, right?
She pulled open the door with the idea of helping him if he was carrying groceries. “Hey, I didn’t expect you back so soon.” She stated with a smile. A smile that quickly died as she found it wasn’t Sylar that she was facing.
Instead, on the other side of the door Peter was waiting for her. He looked vaguely nervous, as though he had been half-expecting the killer to come barreling out--the door had opened before he'd knocked, after all--but when he found himself face to face with Claire, his expression shifted, slowly. Not that it was any more pleasant, just less anxious. "Hey."
Claire wished that she could hide her own anxious reaction as she shot a look over his shoulder but it would be hard to say if she was looking for anyone else who might have come with him or for Sylar just in case he caught Peter there. She could imagine that wouldn't go over well at all. "Peter." She turned her eyes back to him, swallowing a bit. "What are you doing here? How did you even find us?" Before she asked, she knew it had to be something to do with the little girl who could find people. Had Peter absorbed her power?
"Your dad asked Molly to track you and Sylar down." He made a face, apparently disapproving of Bennet's methods, but he said nothing to this effect; he didn't agree with how the man in the horn-rimmed glasses had gone about finding them, but he understood his desperation. He was worried about Claire--they all were, all things considered. "And I figured maybe I should come up here and see what was going on, before he told my brother where you were, and he came in with guns blazing."
Claire's jaw tightened as she looked around the cabin because she didn't want to leave the place, she liked it here. "So who all knows where we are?" She asked softly, almost disappointed. She turned back to him before arching a brow at him. "And what do you mean by coming up here to see what is going on?" Didn't he know?
"Just me and your dad." A pause, and then he amended, "And Molly, but she promised she wouldn't say anything." Mostly because if she bothered, they all knew that Nathan would have her locked up so fast it would make all of their heads spin, but he didn't say that. He didn't need to, nor did he particularly want to dwell on it or the things his brother was doing. It was still a sore spot for all of them--even him, considering that Nathan had revoked his amnesty from the hunt years ago for his meddling.
"And I know what's going on with you and Sylar--your dad sort of filled me in--but ... " He shrugged, pressing his mouth into a thin line before continuing. "I don't know. I guess I just wanted to get your take on it, instead of playing telephone forever, you know?"
Claire looked past him again, not sure how she felt about her dad knowing where she was. "Is he really intending to come up here with his guns blazing?" She asked dryly before waving a hand in dismissal, shaking her head. "Come in." She muttered, stepping back as she glanced over her shoulder to look at the clock while trying to gauge how long they had till Sylar showed up.
She wasn't sure what to think or feel about Peter knowing what was going on with her and Sylar. Anyone else, whatever. But with Peter, she felt a bit strange and she didn't know why. "What do you want to know?" She asked as she shut the door.
"He's your dad," Peter answered, popping his shoulders in another shrug. "He's worried about you. He does still care, even after doing some of the stuff he's done in the last couple've years."
A muttered thank you, and he was stepping inside, taking a look around the room before he turned to face her. "I guess I'm kinda curious as to why him. I mean, you guys haven't really been subtle, lately--before Nathan's guys caught you hanging around with Sylar, Bennet says they knew you two had this whole feud thing going on." He hesitated, looking away, briefly. "So, what changed your mind?"
Claire just pursed her lips a little bit as Peter pointed out that her dad still loved her. She knew that he did but they were pretty much estranged at this point. "And coming in guns blazing proves that." She rolled her eyes at that one as she could trust her dad to think that way.
She wasn't at all surprised by the question. "We haven't been subtle because we've been needing to defend ourselves." She pointed out while crossing her arms over her chest in a move to shield herself a little. "We started to understand each other." She wasn't going to say it was 'sex' that changed things a little too because that was personal. "Took a moment to stop fighting and actually talk, I guess." Because Sylar had pretty much forced it to happen by kidnapping her.
He raised his eyebrows, cocking his head to one side, curiously. "And, what, you just one-eightied because it turns out he can actually carry on a decent conversation?"
"It's more complicated than that." She scowled at him a little. "Am I really going to say anything that's going to make you okay with this?" She arched a brow at him.
Peter shook his head, though the action wasn't necessarily meant to confirm that she was right in thinking he couldn't be swayed. "I don't know. I just--he's hurt people, Claire. And yeah, I know you probably got the same speech from your dad, but it doesn't change facts. The guy tried to kill you. Me. Nathan." Not that the last one would have been much of a loss, really, and that shadow that passed over his face seemed to suggest that, but otherwise, he kept it to himself. "Pretty much everyone. He used Mohinder to get at that list of people like us he was keeping. He's done a lot of stuff, and I don't want to see you get hurt because of it. I just sort of ... want to make sure you know what you're getting into, and that this isn't some way of getting back at Nathan or trying to protect yourself from some of the crap he's been pulling."
"What is with people thinking I'm with him because of protection?" She asked, irritated, because Sylar had thought the exact same thing. She blew out a huff of air then as she moved to sit down, pushing her fingers through her hair before looking at him once more. "I'm aware of who he is, Peter. It's not like it's news to me after all." She looked over at him. "I have my reasons for being with him, Peter, but none of them are about protection or getting back at someone."
Wordlessly, he padded over to the couch with her, though he didn't sit. Instead, he simply considered her for a moment, before huffing out a sigh of his own, his eyes closing for an instant before reopening. "You're not gonna tell me what those reasons are, huh?"
She drew in a slow breath as she didn't look at him, keeping her gaze straight ahead as she contemplated his question about the reasons she was with Sylar. "Because, for all his flaws, he's never lied to me. We have a lot of things in common and I think I understand him now, and he understands me." She wanted to say better than anyone but she wasn't sure how Peter would take it, but the words were there in the air. "I do feel safe with him, too. Danko did catch me, Peter, but Sylar made sure to get me out." She wasn't going to say what happened to Danko because she was sure he knew.
"He also killed Danko." It didn't seem to be an accusation, though--simply a statement.
Another sigh, and Peter shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortablly, his brow furrowing as he turned everything she'd said over in his head. "I don't get it," he said after a moment. "I mean--I don't know. It doesn't make sense."
"Like that's actually something to be sad about." She scoffed a little bit, shrugging.
She looked over at him. "Maybe it's not supposed to make sense." She offered. "But it works, Peter. It's not like I planned for this, he was really about the last person I thought I'd ever end up with but here I am." A quick look around the cabin that had been their home for a couple weeks now.
He reached up to thread his fingers through his bangs, pushing them out of his eyes--a gesture that was ultimately futile, as the second he took his hand away, they were falling back into place. "Yeah," he replied, noncommittally, "but how can you just ... forgive him for the stuff he's done?" The man had been his 'brother' for a grand total of a few weeks, after all, and in that entire time, he never quite had.
"Because, I think he's forgiven me." After all, she had done a lot to him over the length of their feud but she knew that wasn't exactly what Peter meant. "You said I should understand why my dad would come up here because he loves me. Do you think I should forgive my dad?"
"I don't know." If he said yes, it would make him into a hypocrite, given that he hadn't forgiven Nathan despite the fact that he still loved him. If he said no, well, it gave Claire all the more fuel for her argument. He sighed, resisting the urge to drop down next to her on the couch. "But I don't see how Sylar forgiving you has anything to do with this. He was the one that terrorized you--not the other way around. You didn't do anything to him that needs forgiving."
Claire wasn't going to explain the feud, that felt like something that existed just between her and Sylar; it would be like telling Peter about their sexual exploits. After a moment or two, she looked at him. "What answer do you want?" She looked at him quite seriously. "You already told me there's nothing that I can really say, right? I'm not looking at what happened in the past with us, I'm looking at now and what's in the future." As far as she could with the two of them having to be on the run.
"I just want to understand, and like I said--I really don't get it." He skipped a beat, looking away from her as, suddenly, the floor was much more interesting. "Just tell me something, ok?"
Claire felt like they were running in circles but it wasn't like it was a very easy topic for the two of them to discuss. She bit back a small frown as she looked at him. "What is it?"
"Tell me you're actually happy with him," he answered. "If you can say that and mean it, I'll go back to your dad and make something up or whatever. I think he'd buy it if I told him you weren't here, and it's not like he can risk getting a message to Molly again."
He had no idea why he was promising Claire something like this--he should have just grabbed her and flown them both back to New York the second it had become apparent Sylar wasn't around--but the words were already out and he couldn't exactly take them back. Maybe it was because for as much as he didn't like Sylar, out of all the people Claire knew, he trusted her the most. Strange, given that in the last glimpse of the future he'd had before Arthur had stripped him of his abilities, his niece had been the one to kill him, but true nevertheless. Maybe it was because she didn't seem like that Claire, despite the company she was keeping and whatever the hell was going on here. Maybe, but it didn't want to dwell on it for too long, or else he'd probably end up coming to his senses in thinking that letting Claire make her own decisions was doing the right thing.
"But if you're not, just--just tell me. I'm not gonna hold it against you, either way, but I'd rather get you out of here, if you're suffering or he's hurting you. You're still my niece. I still care, even if everyone else is running around acting like idiots."
Claire looked at him quietly for a moment because it was the first time that someone had actually stopped to ask her that question. Everyone had just made assumptions anywhere from her being brainwashed to being scared into being with him. Sure, Peter still worried those were options but he was still taking the time to actually ask her if she was happy where she was. He was here, concerned, but still offering to help in his own way.
It almost broke her heart because she knew it was going to be hard for him to hear her answer which almost made it hard to tell him.
She worried for a moment that the words would get stuck in her throat but he asked and she needed to tell him. Not just because he would then cover for her and Sylar but because he deserved to hear the truth. Sylar also deserved it because it was the truth. “I’m happy.” She said it softly. “I’m happy with him.” She kept her eyes locked on his and it was there in her eyes that she wasn’t lying. She said that she was happy with Sylar and she clearly meant and believed it.
He nodded a bit, holding her eyes for a moment before looking away, feeling decidedly like a kicked puppy. He'd half been expecting that answer, true, but it still didn't sit right with him. "Ok," he managed finally. He had promised her, after all, and considering everything that happened in the last few years, he had realized on more than one occasion that he hated being made a liar. "I'll--I'll let your dad know I couldn't find you, then."
Claire felt guilty because she could see the reaction from him, like she had just kicked him in the gut. "Peter." She reached out to him to touch his arm as she studied him closely. "I'm sorry."
Shaking his head, he looked up at her, slowly. "It's not your fault, Claire. You can't--I guess you really can't choose who you care about. It just happens."
"It did." She nodded slowly as she pulled her hand back to her side. "I didn't mean for it to but there are things I understand now, especially about him and myself." There was a warm sort of emotion emanating from her as she thought about Sylar. There were a lot of other emotions mixed with it but it was mostly warm now.
"Mind if I ask what?" He tilted his head to one side, trying to fight back a frown. "Or did we cover that in the part I wasn't too clear on?"
"It's complicated." She considered it for a bit. "I can't talk about it, really." There were secrets between her and Sylar, things she was sure he wouldn't want her telling Peter. "But he does care for me, believe it or not."
"Because he came to bust you out, when Danko caught you?" Clearly, Bennet had filled him in on that much, too.
She frowned a bit. "Maybe." She looked at her hands once more as she tried to guess exactly how much her dad had told him.
And now it was Peter's turn to frown. "That was a set-up, wasn't it? I mean, your dad--" Both of them. "--told me that you and Sylar had some kind've fight, and that they got it on tape. I just ... I can't see him coming back, if that'd been real."
Claire looked over at him quietly as he figured it out and she wondered if he had or if her dad had put it together. "Why would we do a thing like that?" she questioned him calmly. "Sylar and I fight. Doesn't mean he'd want to see me in the hands of Danko and my dads."
"He showed up too quick," he answered, still frowning. "Even if he didn't want to see you with your dads or Nathan's guys, it would've taken him longer to get back. He would have gotten the hell away from DC, before he decided he wanted to come back, and it would've taken him time." A pause, and then, "I'm not stupid, Claire."
Claire sighed a little bit as she pushed to her feet and walked to a window to look outside. "Are you going to tell my dad?" She turned around to look at him.
Peter shook his head. "I think if I wanted to, I would've done it already."
"We just want it to be done." She sighed, sitting down in the chair across from him. "But Danko wouldn't have let it go." She was sure that would explain it enough without her actually confessing what they did.
"I'm not sure it's done now, though." He sighed, reaching up to run his fingers through his hair again, before stuffing his hand into his pocket. "You guys pissed a lot of people off--Nathan, for one--and he's not gonna just drop this."
"That's why we're up here." Though already she was figuring they would be gone by morning if not sooner.
Apparently, Peter had made the same assumption, and he looked away, the floor suddenly far more interesting. "Except for the part where I pretty much ruined that just by being here."
Claire sighed, looking weary as she turned her head to the side. "You know I can't come home now. Even if things were different ... like you said, people are pissed. Neither Nathan or my dad would be able to protect me." That wasn't the reason she was with Sylar though, something she continued to make clear. "After you leave, I don't know when I'll get to see you again."
"I could give you my phone number," he suggested, raising his eyes to her again, after a moment. "I'm not sure how much longer it's gonna be good--you guys aren't the only ones trying to keep off of the radar--but ... " He shrugged a bit helplessly, not sure how much more he could offer.
"I don't know if we should risk that." She hated to say it. "But maybe we could find another way to get messages to each other?"
"You have an idea?" Because he was sure as hell drawing a blank, and he didn't want to just let his niece go.
"Maybe ... " She drew a blank. "I'm sure they're tracing our cellphones or whatever."
"Yeah, that's why I said I didn't know how much longer mine's gonna work." He popped one shoulder in a shrug, the whole thing so old hat by now that it didn't really bother him anymore. "I've kinda been ditching them and getting a new one, every time I started getting paranoid that big brother was watching."
"I could do the same thing but we would need a way to get numbers to each other." Then she brightened a little bit. "My mom, she might transfer messages between us."
"You think so?" He didn't know Sandra all that well, to tell the truth, and he couldn't help but be vaguely suspicious that the woman would sell them out to Bennet. Maybe he was justified, or maybe he'd just gotten paranoid over the years.
"Yeah." Claire bit her bottom lip. "Mom doesn't agree with what they're doing and ... she's not with Dad anymore but he'd make sure she wasn't being watched." At least that was what she could hope. "Only other would be Rebel."
"And since, in five years, I still haven't figured out who Rebel is ... " Oh, he had an idea or two, but he didn't dare tell anyone, for fear of Rebel's capture. "... I guess your mom works."
Claire just nodded her head as she didn't say if she knew who Rebel was or not. "Or we'll figure something else out. Maybe meet somewhere in a month or two?"
He offered her a wry, lopsided smile. "Any ideas on that one?" Because honestly, they'd have to figure it out before he left, otherwise one if not both of them would be doing a lot of guess work in the near future.
"Not a one," she admitted with a faint laugh. "I'd say come back here but if my dad knows we're here, Sylar will want to leave." She looked disappointed with that idea.
"Sorry," he muttered, looking away again.
"We should meet on this side of the border." She brushed off his apology.
"Because it's not as easy for Nathan to get up here, yeah." Or, well, Nathan's men, anyway--it wasn't like the politician did any of his dirty work on his own.
"Keep your phone for as long as you can. As soon as we start to move, then I can give you a better idea of where we can meet." She gave a little smile. "Okay?"
He nodded, shifting a bit so that he could fish his cell phone out of his pocket. It was cheap and nearly ancient, given what most people had for phones these days, but it worked, and in his current situation he supposed that was all that mattered. Still, though, it didn't keep him from brushing his thumb over one of the dings in the casing with a frown, before he opened it to look up his number. He didn't have it memorized, considering how rarely he used it and how few people actually called him, and so he had to check. And once he had it, he looked up at her, slipping the phone back into his pocket.
"You have a piece of paper around?"
"Sure." She hurried over to the kitchen, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen before bringing them back to him. "Here you go."
"Thanks." Taking it from her, he set the paper on his lap, awkwardly scribbling down his number. Then with a small, crooked smile, he was offering it back to her, wordlessly.
She took the piece of paper from him, studying it for a moment before folding the paper to tuck it into the pocket of her shorts. "Thank you." She looked at him then, growing serious as she pressed her lips together.
Peter popped one shoulder in a shrug, before sobering, slowly. "No problem." He hesitated for a moment, looking up at her, and then he was getting to his feet, reluctantly. "I should get going. No offense, but I really don't wanna be here when Sylar gets back from where ever."
Claire could understand as that wouldn't be a very warm greeting for anyone. "Okay." She took a half step forward like she was going to hug him but she stopped awkwardly, not sure if he would welcome the hug from her.
Where she stopped, however, he was pulling her into his arms, head resting on top of hers as he tugged her into an embrace. "Just ... stay safe, ok? I know that's kind of a stupid thing for me to say, but still."
Claire was relieved as she sank against him while wrapping her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. "I will." She murmured. "You stay safe too, okay?" She tilted her head back. "And if you don't show up, I'll come looking for you."
"I'll be fine," he answered, running his fingers up and down her arm, affectionately. "I promise."
She looked at him and gave a little smile. "Good." She knew it had to be hard for him to leave her behind especially with Sylar but she had assured him that everything would be okay.
He pulled away after a moment, just as hesitantly as he had suggested he leave in the first place, and then he was nodding towards the door. "I'll, uh ... see you around, I guess?"
Claire followed him towards the door, nodding. "I guess so." She hated the feeling that this might be the last time.
Frowning, he shot a glance between her and the door, and then with a sigh, he was reaching to open it. And somehow, he managed to make his expression one-eighty, so that he could flash her a bit of a smile over his shoulder as he stepped out. "Later, Claire." And then he was marching off into the woods, to find a good place to take off.
Claire watched him leave as she stood in the doorway of the cabin, nibbling on her bottom lip as she felt a little pang in her chest. Out of everyone to face, he was the hardest and yet she had still sent him away. She still chose Sylar.
[co-written with
hadtobeahero ]
Claire had never been in a cabin before and she had to admit that she kind of liked it. It was a change from all the motels, the truck stops and definitely a nice change from sleeping in the vehicle all the time. When Sylar had first suggested a cabin in the middle of nowhere, she hadn’t been so keen on the idea but now she was enjoying herself. They were in their own little world which made them both feel a bit safer. She knew it had to be hard at times for him since he wasn’t used to staying in one place for so long but he seemed to be enjoying himself somewhat as well. Maybe it was because they had an actual bed to sleep, and do other things in. Not that they always stuck to the bed either.
She liked having a small lake nearby too, often using it in the early morning when she wanted to swim for awhile. The cold bite of the water didn’t bother her nearly as much as it did him but he was kind of cute when he was complaining about it as she would have never guessed that her boyfriend could whine. She liked to tease him at times even if it got her the death glare at times.
The only times she hated it was when he went into town to get them supplies because it meant that she was left alone in the cabin for a few hours. He went because he could change his form and because they had both decided that anyone hunting them would definitely look for her. But she tried to find things to occupy herself with like painting her toe nails which was the task she was working at when she heard someone outside. Looking up, she smiled a little as she was surprised. She didn’t think about her attire which was a snug tank top and a pair of his boxers because she wasn’t expecting anyone but him. No one could find them here, right?
She pulled open the door with the idea of helping him if he was carrying groceries. “Hey, I didn’t expect you back so soon.” She stated with a smile. A smile that quickly died as she found it wasn’t Sylar that she was facing.
Instead, on the other side of the door Peter was waiting for her. He looked vaguely nervous, as though he had been half-expecting the killer to come barreling out--the door had opened before he'd knocked, after all--but when he found himself face to face with Claire, his expression shifted, slowly. Not that it was any more pleasant, just less anxious. "Hey."
Claire wished that she could hide her own anxious reaction as she shot a look over his shoulder but it would be hard to say if she was looking for anyone else who might have come with him or for Sylar just in case he caught Peter there. She could imagine that wouldn't go over well at all. "Peter." She turned her eyes back to him, swallowing a bit. "What are you doing here? How did you even find us?" Before she asked, she knew it had to be something to do with the little girl who could find people. Had Peter absorbed her power?
"Your dad asked Molly to track you and Sylar down." He made a face, apparently disapproving of Bennet's methods, but he said nothing to this effect; he didn't agree with how the man in the horn-rimmed glasses had gone about finding them, but he understood his desperation. He was worried about Claire--they all were, all things considered. "And I figured maybe I should come up here and see what was going on, before he told my brother where you were, and he came in with guns blazing."
Claire's jaw tightened as she looked around the cabin because she didn't want to leave the place, she liked it here. "So who all knows where we are?" She asked softly, almost disappointed. She turned back to him before arching a brow at him. "And what do you mean by coming up here to see what is going on?" Didn't he know?
"Just me and your dad." A pause, and then he amended, "And Molly, but she promised she wouldn't say anything." Mostly because if she bothered, they all knew that Nathan would have her locked up so fast it would make all of their heads spin, but he didn't say that. He didn't need to, nor did he particularly want to dwell on it or the things his brother was doing. It was still a sore spot for all of them--even him, considering that Nathan had revoked his amnesty from the hunt years ago for his meddling.
"And I know what's going on with you and Sylar--your dad sort of filled me in--but ... " He shrugged, pressing his mouth into a thin line before continuing. "I don't know. I guess I just wanted to get your take on it, instead of playing telephone forever, you know?"
Claire looked past him again, not sure how she felt about her dad knowing where she was. "Is he really intending to come up here with his guns blazing?" She asked dryly before waving a hand in dismissal, shaking her head. "Come in." She muttered, stepping back as she glanced over her shoulder to look at the clock while trying to gauge how long they had till Sylar showed up.
She wasn't sure what to think or feel about Peter knowing what was going on with her and Sylar. Anyone else, whatever. But with Peter, she felt a bit strange and she didn't know why. "What do you want to know?" She asked as she shut the door.
"He's your dad," Peter answered, popping his shoulders in another shrug. "He's worried about you. He does still care, even after doing some of the stuff he's done in the last couple've years."
A muttered thank you, and he was stepping inside, taking a look around the room before he turned to face her. "I guess I'm kinda curious as to why him. I mean, you guys haven't really been subtle, lately--before Nathan's guys caught you hanging around with Sylar, Bennet says they knew you two had this whole feud thing going on." He hesitated, looking away, briefly. "So, what changed your mind?"
Claire just pursed her lips a little bit as Peter pointed out that her dad still loved her. She knew that he did but they were pretty much estranged at this point. "And coming in guns blazing proves that." She rolled her eyes at that one as she could trust her dad to think that way.
She wasn't at all surprised by the question. "We haven't been subtle because we've been needing to defend ourselves." She pointed out while crossing her arms over her chest in a move to shield herself a little. "We started to understand each other." She wasn't going to say it was 'sex' that changed things a little too because that was personal. "Took a moment to stop fighting and actually talk, I guess." Because Sylar had pretty much forced it to happen by kidnapping her.
He raised his eyebrows, cocking his head to one side, curiously. "And, what, you just one-eightied because it turns out he can actually carry on a decent conversation?"
"It's more complicated than that." She scowled at him a little. "Am I really going to say anything that's going to make you okay with this?" She arched a brow at him.
Peter shook his head, though the action wasn't necessarily meant to confirm that she was right in thinking he couldn't be swayed. "I don't know. I just--he's hurt people, Claire. And yeah, I know you probably got the same speech from your dad, but it doesn't change facts. The guy tried to kill you. Me. Nathan." Not that the last one would have been much of a loss, really, and that shadow that passed over his face seemed to suggest that, but otherwise, he kept it to himself. "Pretty much everyone. He used Mohinder to get at that list of people like us he was keeping. He's done a lot of stuff, and I don't want to see you get hurt because of it. I just sort of ... want to make sure you know what you're getting into, and that this isn't some way of getting back at Nathan or trying to protect yourself from some of the crap he's been pulling."
"What is with people thinking I'm with him because of protection?" She asked, irritated, because Sylar had thought the exact same thing. She blew out a huff of air then as she moved to sit down, pushing her fingers through her hair before looking at him once more. "I'm aware of who he is, Peter. It's not like it's news to me after all." She looked over at him. "I have my reasons for being with him, Peter, but none of them are about protection or getting back at someone."
Wordlessly, he padded over to the couch with her, though he didn't sit. Instead, he simply considered her for a moment, before huffing out a sigh of his own, his eyes closing for an instant before reopening. "You're not gonna tell me what those reasons are, huh?"
She drew in a slow breath as she didn't look at him, keeping her gaze straight ahead as she contemplated his question about the reasons she was with Sylar. "Because, for all his flaws, he's never lied to me. We have a lot of things in common and I think I understand him now, and he understands me." She wanted to say better than anyone but she wasn't sure how Peter would take it, but the words were there in the air. "I do feel safe with him, too. Danko did catch me, Peter, but Sylar made sure to get me out." She wasn't going to say what happened to Danko because she was sure he knew.
"He also killed Danko." It didn't seem to be an accusation, though--simply a statement.
Another sigh, and Peter shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortablly, his brow furrowing as he turned everything she'd said over in his head. "I don't get it," he said after a moment. "I mean--I don't know. It doesn't make sense."
"Like that's actually something to be sad about." She scoffed a little bit, shrugging.
She looked over at him. "Maybe it's not supposed to make sense." She offered. "But it works, Peter. It's not like I planned for this, he was really about the last person I thought I'd ever end up with but here I am." A quick look around the cabin that had been their home for a couple weeks now.
He reached up to thread his fingers through his bangs, pushing them out of his eyes--a gesture that was ultimately futile, as the second he took his hand away, they were falling back into place. "Yeah," he replied, noncommittally, "but how can you just ... forgive him for the stuff he's done?" The man had been his 'brother' for a grand total of a few weeks, after all, and in that entire time, he never quite had.
"Because, I think he's forgiven me." After all, she had done a lot to him over the length of their feud but she knew that wasn't exactly what Peter meant. "You said I should understand why my dad would come up here because he loves me. Do you think I should forgive my dad?"
"I don't know." If he said yes, it would make him into a hypocrite, given that he hadn't forgiven Nathan despite the fact that he still loved him. If he said no, well, it gave Claire all the more fuel for her argument. He sighed, resisting the urge to drop down next to her on the couch. "But I don't see how Sylar forgiving you has anything to do with this. He was the one that terrorized you--not the other way around. You didn't do anything to him that needs forgiving."
Claire wasn't going to explain the feud, that felt like something that existed just between her and Sylar; it would be like telling Peter about their sexual exploits. After a moment or two, she looked at him. "What answer do you want?" She looked at him quite seriously. "You already told me there's nothing that I can really say, right? I'm not looking at what happened in the past with us, I'm looking at now and what's in the future." As far as she could with the two of them having to be on the run.
"I just want to understand, and like I said--I really don't get it." He skipped a beat, looking away from her as, suddenly, the floor was much more interesting. "Just tell me something, ok?"
Claire felt like they were running in circles but it wasn't like it was a very easy topic for the two of them to discuss. She bit back a small frown as she looked at him. "What is it?"
"Tell me you're actually happy with him," he answered. "If you can say that and mean it, I'll go back to your dad and make something up or whatever. I think he'd buy it if I told him you weren't here, and it's not like he can risk getting a message to Molly again."
He had no idea why he was promising Claire something like this--he should have just grabbed her and flown them both back to New York the second it had become apparent Sylar wasn't around--but the words were already out and he couldn't exactly take them back. Maybe it was because for as much as he didn't like Sylar, out of all the people Claire knew, he trusted her the most. Strange, given that in the last glimpse of the future he'd had before Arthur had stripped him of his abilities, his niece had been the one to kill him, but true nevertheless. Maybe it was because she didn't seem like that Claire, despite the company she was keeping and whatever the hell was going on here. Maybe, but it didn't want to dwell on it for too long, or else he'd probably end up coming to his senses in thinking that letting Claire make her own decisions was doing the right thing.
"But if you're not, just--just tell me. I'm not gonna hold it against you, either way, but I'd rather get you out of here, if you're suffering or he's hurting you. You're still my niece. I still care, even if everyone else is running around acting like idiots."
Claire looked at him quietly for a moment because it was the first time that someone had actually stopped to ask her that question. Everyone had just made assumptions anywhere from her being brainwashed to being scared into being with him. Sure, Peter still worried those were options but he was still taking the time to actually ask her if she was happy where she was. He was here, concerned, but still offering to help in his own way.
It almost broke her heart because she knew it was going to be hard for him to hear her answer which almost made it hard to tell him.
She worried for a moment that the words would get stuck in her throat but he asked and she needed to tell him. Not just because he would then cover for her and Sylar but because he deserved to hear the truth. Sylar also deserved it because it was the truth. “I’m happy.” She said it softly. “I’m happy with him.” She kept her eyes locked on his and it was there in her eyes that she wasn’t lying. She said that she was happy with Sylar and she clearly meant and believed it.
He nodded a bit, holding her eyes for a moment before looking away, feeling decidedly like a kicked puppy. He'd half been expecting that answer, true, but it still didn't sit right with him. "Ok," he managed finally. He had promised her, after all, and considering everything that happened in the last few years, he had realized on more than one occasion that he hated being made a liar. "I'll--I'll let your dad know I couldn't find you, then."
Claire felt guilty because she could see the reaction from him, like she had just kicked him in the gut. "Peter." She reached out to him to touch his arm as she studied him closely. "I'm sorry."
Shaking his head, he looked up at her, slowly. "It's not your fault, Claire. You can't--I guess you really can't choose who you care about. It just happens."
"It did." She nodded slowly as she pulled her hand back to her side. "I didn't mean for it to but there are things I understand now, especially about him and myself." There was a warm sort of emotion emanating from her as she thought about Sylar. There were a lot of other emotions mixed with it but it was mostly warm now.
"Mind if I ask what?" He tilted his head to one side, trying to fight back a frown. "Or did we cover that in the part I wasn't too clear on?"
"It's complicated." She considered it for a bit. "I can't talk about it, really." There were secrets between her and Sylar, things she was sure he wouldn't want her telling Peter. "But he does care for me, believe it or not."
"Because he came to bust you out, when Danko caught you?" Clearly, Bennet had filled him in on that much, too.
She frowned a bit. "Maybe." She looked at her hands once more as she tried to guess exactly how much her dad had told him.
And now it was Peter's turn to frown. "That was a set-up, wasn't it? I mean, your dad--" Both of them. "--told me that you and Sylar had some kind've fight, and that they got it on tape. I just ... I can't see him coming back, if that'd been real."
Claire looked over at him quietly as he figured it out and she wondered if he had or if her dad had put it together. "Why would we do a thing like that?" she questioned him calmly. "Sylar and I fight. Doesn't mean he'd want to see me in the hands of Danko and my dads."
"He showed up too quick," he answered, still frowning. "Even if he didn't want to see you with your dads or Nathan's guys, it would've taken him longer to get back. He would have gotten the hell away from DC, before he decided he wanted to come back, and it would've taken him time." A pause, and then, "I'm not stupid, Claire."
Claire sighed a little bit as she pushed to her feet and walked to a window to look outside. "Are you going to tell my dad?" She turned around to look at him.
Peter shook his head. "I think if I wanted to, I would've done it already."
"We just want it to be done." She sighed, sitting down in the chair across from him. "But Danko wouldn't have let it go." She was sure that would explain it enough without her actually confessing what they did.
"I'm not sure it's done now, though." He sighed, reaching up to run his fingers through his hair again, before stuffing his hand into his pocket. "You guys pissed a lot of people off--Nathan, for one--and he's not gonna just drop this."
"That's why we're up here." Though already she was figuring they would be gone by morning if not sooner.
Apparently, Peter had made the same assumption, and he looked away, the floor suddenly far more interesting. "Except for the part where I pretty much ruined that just by being here."
Claire sighed, looking weary as she turned her head to the side. "You know I can't come home now. Even if things were different ... like you said, people are pissed. Neither Nathan or my dad would be able to protect me." That wasn't the reason she was with Sylar though, something she continued to make clear. "After you leave, I don't know when I'll get to see you again."
"I could give you my phone number," he suggested, raising his eyes to her again, after a moment. "I'm not sure how much longer it's gonna be good--you guys aren't the only ones trying to keep off of the radar--but ... " He shrugged a bit helplessly, not sure how much more he could offer.
"I don't know if we should risk that." She hated to say it. "But maybe we could find another way to get messages to each other?"
"You have an idea?" Because he was sure as hell drawing a blank, and he didn't want to just let his niece go.
"Maybe ... " She drew a blank. "I'm sure they're tracing our cellphones or whatever."
"Yeah, that's why I said I didn't know how much longer mine's gonna work." He popped one shoulder in a shrug, the whole thing so old hat by now that it didn't really bother him anymore. "I've kinda been ditching them and getting a new one, every time I started getting paranoid that big brother was watching."
"I could do the same thing but we would need a way to get numbers to each other." Then she brightened a little bit. "My mom, she might transfer messages between us."
"You think so?" He didn't know Sandra all that well, to tell the truth, and he couldn't help but be vaguely suspicious that the woman would sell them out to Bennet. Maybe he was justified, or maybe he'd just gotten paranoid over the years.
"Yeah." Claire bit her bottom lip. "Mom doesn't agree with what they're doing and ... she's not with Dad anymore but he'd make sure she wasn't being watched." At least that was what she could hope. "Only other would be Rebel."
"And since, in five years, I still haven't figured out who Rebel is ... " Oh, he had an idea or two, but he didn't dare tell anyone, for fear of Rebel's capture. "... I guess your mom works."
Claire just nodded her head as she didn't say if she knew who Rebel was or not. "Or we'll figure something else out. Maybe meet somewhere in a month or two?"
He offered her a wry, lopsided smile. "Any ideas on that one?" Because honestly, they'd have to figure it out before he left, otherwise one if not both of them would be doing a lot of guess work in the near future.
"Not a one," she admitted with a faint laugh. "I'd say come back here but if my dad knows we're here, Sylar will want to leave." She looked disappointed with that idea.
"Sorry," he muttered, looking away again.
"We should meet on this side of the border." She brushed off his apology.
"Because it's not as easy for Nathan to get up here, yeah." Or, well, Nathan's men, anyway--it wasn't like the politician did any of his dirty work on his own.
"Keep your phone for as long as you can. As soon as we start to move, then I can give you a better idea of where we can meet." She gave a little smile. "Okay?"
He nodded, shifting a bit so that he could fish his cell phone out of his pocket. It was cheap and nearly ancient, given what most people had for phones these days, but it worked, and in his current situation he supposed that was all that mattered. Still, though, it didn't keep him from brushing his thumb over one of the dings in the casing with a frown, before he opened it to look up his number. He didn't have it memorized, considering how rarely he used it and how few people actually called him, and so he had to check. And once he had it, he looked up at her, slipping the phone back into his pocket.
"You have a piece of paper around?"
"Sure." She hurried over to the kitchen, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen before bringing them back to him. "Here you go."
"Thanks." Taking it from her, he set the paper on his lap, awkwardly scribbling down his number. Then with a small, crooked smile, he was offering it back to her, wordlessly.
She took the piece of paper from him, studying it for a moment before folding the paper to tuck it into the pocket of her shorts. "Thank you." She looked at him then, growing serious as she pressed her lips together.
Peter popped one shoulder in a shrug, before sobering, slowly. "No problem." He hesitated for a moment, looking up at her, and then he was getting to his feet, reluctantly. "I should get going. No offense, but I really don't wanna be here when Sylar gets back from where ever."
Claire could understand as that wouldn't be a very warm greeting for anyone. "Okay." She took a half step forward like she was going to hug him but she stopped awkwardly, not sure if he would welcome the hug from her.
Where she stopped, however, he was pulling her into his arms, head resting on top of hers as he tugged her into an embrace. "Just ... stay safe, ok? I know that's kind of a stupid thing for me to say, but still."
Claire was relieved as she sank against him while wrapping her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. "I will." She murmured. "You stay safe too, okay?" She tilted her head back. "And if you don't show up, I'll come looking for you."
"I'll be fine," he answered, running his fingers up and down her arm, affectionately. "I promise."
She looked at him and gave a little smile. "Good." She knew it had to be hard for him to leave her behind especially with Sylar but she had assured him that everything would be okay.
He pulled away after a moment, just as hesitantly as he had suggested he leave in the first place, and then he was nodding towards the door. "I'll, uh ... see you around, I guess?"
Claire followed him towards the door, nodding. "I guess so." She hated the feeling that this might be the last time.
Frowning, he shot a glance between her and the door, and then with a sigh, he was reaching to open it. And somehow, he managed to make his expression one-eighty, so that he could flash her a bit of a smile over his shoulder as he stepped out. "Later, Claire." And then he was marching off into the woods, to find a good place to take off.
Claire watched him leave as she stood in the doorway of the cabin, nibbling on her bottom lip as she felt a little pang in her chest. Out of everyone to face, he was the hardest and yet she had still sent him away. She still chose Sylar.
[co-written with
hadtobeahero ]