ooc ;; ficlet!
Name: Who Wants To Live Forever?
Fandoms: Heroes & Sanctuary
Universe: taxonomites baby!
Characters: Peter Petrelli, Claire Bennet, Helen Magnus, Gabriel "Sylar" Gray, Max Guevara (mentioned), Nathan Petrelli (mentioned)
Rating: PG. THERE ARE NEEDLES.
Summary: Claire asks Peter an impossible question. Though he seems to have the impossible answer to it.
Notes: Aha, this 99% won't happen in actual Taxon Canon. This is what happens when Amy and I get talking about how Claire and Sylar are going to live ~*~FOREVER~*~ with each other.
"Peter, you can't seriously be thinking that."
"Thinking what? The fact that you're going to live for a long time?" Peter looked up from making his peanut butter sandwich "It's a fact, Claire. I know you don't want to think about it often... but I still think talking to Magnus is going to help you out. She's been living for over a century-"
"That's not what I mean." Claire interrupted him. "I mean the fact that I am going to have start getting along with him?"
Peter rolled his eyes. "We've been over the thing about Sylar. As long as we're all stuck in Taxon, we might as well get along until we find a way out."
"And what if that takes decades?" She persisted, leaning against the counter in the kitchen. "What if we're here almost our entire lifetime?"
"My lifetime?" Peter corrected her and finally placed the knife down. They stared at each other for a long moment, judging each other and attempting to figure out what the other was thinking. He sighed before crossing his arms. "This isn't about Sylar. What is this about?"
Claire fidgeted slightly. She wanted to try to weasel out of Peter's gaze. Even if he was concerned, he had a piercing look to his gaze that she couldn't escape from. Eventually she sighed and looked back up at him.
"If we're going to be here for so long before we find a way out..." she started. "I don't want to be here alone. I don't want to be stuck with just Sylar here."
"I can't live forever like you, Claire. I can't hold onto more than one ability."
"So then just keep mine!" Claire insisted. "You can just get it again if you accidentally take another. I'm going to be here! It's not like I'm going anywhere!"
She stood and moved over to Peter, grabbing onto his arm. Despite the doubt in his eyes? She persisted. Claire refused to be stuck for eternity in some underground city with Sylar. Not alone. Peter seemed to get the message and sighed, looking away and shaking his head.
"Doesn't it seem out of place to you?" Peter asked quietly. "I mean... deciding another person's mortality? It's kind of like playing God."
Claire hit him lightly in the arm. "What else am I supposed use my ability for? To live forever alone? I don't want to!"
Peter kept his gaze even with Claire's for a long moment of silence. He didn't say anything, just watching the various reactions that her body language spoke. He trusted Gabriel enough not to go on a murdering spree, but Claire didn't. He knew that Gabriel wouldn't go after innocent people, but Claire didn't believe that. So he had been stuck as being the balancing act between both people. Something to keep the peace between the two immortals before they started fighting with each other.
What would happen if something happened and he did die? Or he just disappeared? Gabriel might not go out after Claire, but Claire could possibly go after Gabriel. Or maybe Gabriel would just snap again and go after people and the two would fight. Either way he looked, Peter couldn't find a winning scenario. In the end he sighed and shook his head at it all.
"I'll take care of it."
"You always say that!" Claire shoved him in the arm. "But how are you going to take care of it? You're not going to stop Sylar! You're not going to be on my side! So just take my stupid ability and-"
"Claire!" Peter grabbed her arm. He forced her to look him in the eyes and waited for her to calm down. "Don't worry, okay? I'll find a way to make it so that everything is going to be alright. For you, and for Gabriel. Just trust me. Okay?"
"Fine." She shoved his hold off. "I really wish you'd just be on my side for once instead of trying to be the hero."
He tried to reach out to her and grab her again, but Claire turned and left the kitchen. He shook his head and sided, flicking the used knife into the sink and listening to it clang against the marble. He really had the feeling that this all could end badly if he didn't fix it soon.
After a few days of turning the idea in his mind, Peter finally resolved to asking the person who would know best. He slowly stepped into the archway of Helen Magnus's office and raised his hand. The woman's attention was brought to him from her research as he knocked on the old wood. She smiled, and he managed one back.
"Please, Peter, come in." Helen motioned for him to take a seat across from her. "Just researching a bit about the Vampires from my home. Do you need something?"
The paramedic sat in the chair across from her, nervously wracking his hands together. How could you ask someone what he was about to ask? He let out a shaky sigh. "Yeah... actually. Magnus, I... have a favor to ask. And, I know that I haven't shared a lot of who I am, but I need to ask it anyways."
"Certainly." Helen nodded with a smile. "You're a wonderful man, Peter. If there is anything I can do to help, you're more than welcome to ask."
"I need a vial of your blood." Peter spoke, daring to raise his eyes to her's. Helen's expression had fallen into somewhat of a sullen one, her body posture guarded. The entire enviroment of the room seemed to change. "I... it's one of the things I remember most from when I saw your memories. Because of the attachment to Druitt it has."
"Why on Earth would you need it?" She asked instead, not caring for the reasoning he knew. Gabriel could of told him, after all. "You must know the potential danger that has."
"I do." He nodded slowly, rubbing his hands together. "It's just that... Gabriel took Claire's ability. They both can live on forever unless something hits that spot that makes them unable to regenerate and die."
"Claire and Gabriel have both told me." Helen said shortly. "And you want my blood in order to make you live longer?"
Again, Peter nodded. "Claire... realized that we could be here for a long time. A real long time. She doesn't want to be stuck living here in Taxon with just Gabriel. She hates him, and I think part of her is still afraid of him. What he can do to her - or others. She told me to take her ability so I can live with her."
Helen leaned forward on her desk. "However, your the ability could be replaced accidentally. So you want a more permanent solution, am I correct in my theory?"
"...Yeah." Peter let out another shaky sigh. "I know, it's not my place to ask. And I know you hate doing it. But.. she's my niece. I saved her, and I want to keep protecting her. And, Gabriel is like my brother. I can't let two family members potentially rip each other to shreds if something happens to me."
The Victorian woman looked at her desk, her hands folding together. Peter watched her closely. He wouldn't be surprised if she denied him the favor. He was expecting it. He knew that things had gone downhill between her and Druitt because of it. And all it did was make her life a living nightmare. But he was surprised when she stood and opened the drawer of her desk. Peter sat up straight, a little wide eyed.
Helen pulled out a small box and walked around the desk to him. Her expression was hard and flat, her eyes almost challenging while carrying a sadness to them. "I agree that there will need to be someone that watches over the both of them, Peter. And I realize that it certainly can't be me. Claire lacks the trust in me, and Gabriel is too much of a son to me. You will be able to make the decisions for both parties that I could not."
"Is that the real reason?" He asked. "Or the reason that you want to give me to make it seem okay?"
Helen smiled. "Where would a girl be without her secrets?"
She placed the small box down on the desk and opened it, pulling out a vial of dark red liquid and a needle. With a glance Peter pulled his jacket off and rolled up the sleeve of his shirt. He was still suprised that she had agreed to it. His eyes watched as she pulled the blood into the needle then turned towards him, moving his arm slightly so that she could inject it properly into the vein.
"It should just extend your life." Helen explained. "It's hardly the Source Blood. There are no Abnormalities really to unlock in your genetics. You'll certainly feel weak and ill for a while. You are, after all, altering your genetics just a tad. After a headache you should be just fine."
"You have a lot of experience in this?" He joked.
"With people like you? None at all." She looked back at him. "That is why I am warning you with what knowledge I have. The effects might be completely benign. I am your patron and also your doctor, Peter. I have a dual obligation to you. Are you ready?"
"Yeah."
Peter shut his eyes as she pushed the needle into his arm. He opened them once she pulled away and blinked a few times. Nothing felt odd or different. It was like everything was normal. That was until he found himself on the floor with Helen over him, and feeling disconnected from everything around him.
He spent the next few days in the infirmary. Claire, Nathan, and Max all stood or sat around his bedside as they waited for him to wake up. Helen herself gave them very little details on what had happened. She informed them that he did something to make Claire happy, and that things would be fine once he woke up. It was enough to at least satisfy Nathan, while it hardly left Claire or Max satisfied.
Helen looked up from her notes at the screens in her lab, watching the infirmary. She had Henry reroute things to her lab so that she could watch Peter, but still not invade the privacy of those around him. She smiled a little to herself. Peter was bold, but perhaps a bit daft. There was no telling what could happen to him now. Than again, could anyone ever know the future? It was constantly in motion.
"Claire said you wouldn't tell her what he did... are you going to tell me?"
She looked beside her at Gabriel, wondering when he arrived. Although Helen shook her head at him with a smile. He certainly knew his magic tricks. Especially around her security.
"Does it matter what he did?"
"Of course it does." Gabriel replied softly. "Peter tries to make everyone happy; to save everyone. He looks past everyone's faults and accepts them for who and what they are. If what he did..."
Helen turned in her chair to him. "I didn't tell Claire, because I imagine that Peter would want to tell her himself. Do you want him to tell you?"
Gabriel smiled slightly and glanced up at the screens. "With all of them there? I won't be able to get next to him for a week, at least. You can tell me... if you want."
"Simply? Peter wanted to live longer." Helen flicked her hair over her shoulder. "For both of yours and Claire's sakes. He asked me to help him."
And that was where his smile faded. "You... Helen, you injected him with your blood? Do you know what that could do to him?"
"No, and I informed him of it. He still wanted it." Helen put her hand over his. "Gabriel. Peter willingly sacrificed a normal life in order to live on for two people he loves. That is certainly a noble reason... much more than the reason I injected myself with the Source Blood. Could you honestly deny a man who wants to help two important people?"
"But... why would he - I don't understand." Gabriel fumbled with his words. "I.. Claire, is his niece, so he'd want to protect her. But, I'm a monster." He flinched under her hard gaze for a moment. "Why would he want to live longer for me as well?"
Helen leaned close. "Love of all types makes us do things others don't understand. Peter is a man of great feelings. If he believes it in his heart, it is what he will do. Just take the comfort in knowing that your younger brother is going to live for a very, very long time."
Gabriel looked back up at the screens in the lab, biting on his lip. Peter was awake now with the three people fretting over him. But, Peter was smiling. Just like always. Claire leaned close as Peter said something to her, and she pulled back.
"You what?" Claire asked.
Peter grinned and closed his eyes, reaching up and squeezing her arm. "I'm going to be around for a long, long time. Just like you wanted."
"Peter, you-" Claire grabbed onto his hand. "You didn't have to, what did you do?!"
"Of course I had to." Peter looked back up at her. "You're my niece. I have to protect you, even if you don't think you need it."
She laughed and fought back the tears that stung her eyes. "You're so stupid."
"I know. But, you still love me."
"Yeah. I do."
Fandoms: Heroes & Sanctuary
Universe: taxonomites baby!
Characters: Peter Petrelli, Claire Bennet, Helen Magnus, Gabriel "Sylar" Gray, Max Guevara (mentioned), Nathan Petrelli (mentioned)
Rating: PG. THERE ARE NEEDLES.
Summary: Claire asks Peter an impossible question. Though he seems to have the impossible answer to it.
Notes: Aha, this 99% won't happen in actual Taxon Canon. This is what happens when Amy and I get talking about how Claire and Sylar are going to live ~*~FOREVER~*~ with each other.
"Peter, you can't seriously be thinking that."
"Thinking what? The fact that you're going to live for a long time?" Peter looked up from making his peanut butter sandwich "It's a fact, Claire. I know you don't want to think about it often... but I still think talking to Magnus is going to help you out. She's been living for over a century-"
"That's not what I mean." Claire interrupted him. "I mean the fact that I am going to have start getting along with him?"
Peter rolled his eyes. "We've been over the thing about Sylar. As long as we're all stuck in Taxon, we might as well get along until we find a way out."
"And what if that takes decades?" She persisted, leaning against the counter in the kitchen. "What if we're here almost our entire lifetime?"
"My lifetime?" Peter corrected her and finally placed the knife down. They stared at each other for a long moment, judging each other and attempting to figure out what the other was thinking. He sighed before crossing his arms. "This isn't about Sylar. What is this about?"
Claire fidgeted slightly. She wanted to try to weasel out of Peter's gaze. Even if he was concerned, he had a piercing look to his gaze that she couldn't escape from. Eventually she sighed and looked back up at him.
"If we're going to be here for so long before we find a way out..." she started. "I don't want to be here alone. I don't want to be stuck with just Sylar here."
"I can't live forever like you, Claire. I can't hold onto more than one ability."
"So then just keep mine!" Claire insisted. "You can just get it again if you accidentally take another. I'm going to be here! It's not like I'm going anywhere!"
She stood and moved over to Peter, grabbing onto his arm. Despite the doubt in his eyes? She persisted. Claire refused to be stuck for eternity in some underground city with Sylar. Not alone. Peter seemed to get the message and sighed, looking away and shaking his head.
"Doesn't it seem out of place to you?" Peter asked quietly. "I mean... deciding another person's mortality? It's kind of like playing God."
Claire hit him lightly in the arm. "What else am I supposed use my ability for? To live forever alone? I don't want to!"
Peter kept his gaze even with Claire's for a long moment of silence. He didn't say anything, just watching the various reactions that her body language spoke. He trusted Gabriel enough not to go on a murdering spree, but Claire didn't. He knew that Gabriel wouldn't go after innocent people, but Claire didn't believe that. So he had been stuck as being the balancing act between both people. Something to keep the peace between the two immortals before they started fighting with each other.
What would happen if something happened and he did die? Or he just disappeared? Gabriel might not go out after Claire, but Claire could possibly go after Gabriel. Or maybe Gabriel would just snap again and go after people and the two would fight. Either way he looked, Peter couldn't find a winning scenario. In the end he sighed and shook his head at it all.
"I'll take care of it."
"You always say that!" Claire shoved him in the arm. "But how are you going to take care of it? You're not going to stop Sylar! You're not going to be on my side! So just take my stupid ability and-"
"Claire!" Peter grabbed her arm. He forced her to look him in the eyes and waited for her to calm down. "Don't worry, okay? I'll find a way to make it so that everything is going to be alright. For you, and for Gabriel. Just trust me. Okay?"
"Fine." She shoved his hold off. "I really wish you'd just be on my side for once instead of trying to be the hero."
He tried to reach out to her and grab her again, but Claire turned and left the kitchen. He shook his head and sided, flicking the used knife into the sink and listening to it clang against the marble. He really had the feeling that this all could end badly if he didn't fix it soon.
After a few days of turning the idea in his mind, Peter finally resolved to asking the person who would know best. He slowly stepped into the archway of Helen Magnus's office and raised his hand. The woman's attention was brought to him from her research as he knocked on the old wood. She smiled, and he managed one back.
"Please, Peter, come in." Helen motioned for him to take a seat across from her. "Just researching a bit about the Vampires from my home. Do you need something?"
The paramedic sat in the chair across from her, nervously wracking his hands together. How could you ask someone what he was about to ask? He let out a shaky sigh. "Yeah... actually. Magnus, I... have a favor to ask. And, I know that I haven't shared a lot of who I am, but I need to ask it anyways."
"Certainly." Helen nodded with a smile. "You're a wonderful man, Peter. If there is anything I can do to help, you're more than welcome to ask."
"I need a vial of your blood." Peter spoke, daring to raise his eyes to her's. Helen's expression had fallen into somewhat of a sullen one, her body posture guarded. The entire enviroment of the room seemed to change. "I... it's one of the things I remember most from when I saw your memories. Because of the attachment to Druitt it has."
"Why on Earth would you need it?" She asked instead, not caring for the reasoning he knew. Gabriel could of told him, after all. "You must know the potential danger that has."
"I do." He nodded slowly, rubbing his hands together. "It's just that... Gabriel took Claire's ability. They both can live on forever unless something hits that spot that makes them unable to regenerate and die."
"Claire and Gabriel have both told me." Helen said shortly. "And you want my blood in order to make you live longer?"
Again, Peter nodded. "Claire... realized that we could be here for a long time. A real long time. She doesn't want to be stuck living here in Taxon with just Gabriel. She hates him, and I think part of her is still afraid of him. What he can do to her - or others. She told me to take her ability so I can live with her."
Helen leaned forward on her desk. "However, your the ability could be replaced accidentally. So you want a more permanent solution, am I correct in my theory?"
"...Yeah." Peter let out another shaky sigh. "I know, it's not my place to ask. And I know you hate doing it. But.. she's my niece. I saved her, and I want to keep protecting her. And, Gabriel is like my brother. I can't let two family members potentially rip each other to shreds if something happens to me."
The Victorian woman looked at her desk, her hands folding together. Peter watched her closely. He wouldn't be surprised if she denied him the favor. He was expecting it. He knew that things had gone downhill between her and Druitt because of it. And all it did was make her life a living nightmare. But he was surprised when she stood and opened the drawer of her desk. Peter sat up straight, a little wide eyed.
Helen pulled out a small box and walked around the desk to him. Her expression was hard and flat, her eyes almost challenging while carrying a sadness to them. "I agree that there will need to be someone that watches over the both of them, Peter. And I realize that it certainly can't be me. Claire lacks the trust in me, and Gabriel is too much of a son to me. You will be able to make the decisions for both parties that I could not."
"Is that the real reason?" He asked. "Or the reason that you want to give me to make it seem okay?"
Helen smiled. "Where would a girl be without her secrets?"
She placed the small box down on the desk and opened it, pulling out a vial of dark red liquid and a needle. With a glance Peter pulled his jacket off and rolled up the sleeve of his shirt. He was still suprised that she had agreed to it. His eyes watched as she pulled the blood into the needle then turned towards him, moving his arm slightly so that she could inject it properly into the vein.
"It should just extend your life." Helen explained. "It's hardly the Source Blood. There are no Abnormalities really to unlock in your genetics. You'll certainly feel weak and ill for a while. You are, after all, altering your genetics just a tad. After a headache you should be just fine."
"You have a lot of experience in this?" He joked.
"With people like you? None at all." She looked back at him. "That is why I am warning you with what knowledge I have. The effects might be completely benign. I am your patron and also your doctor, Peter. I have a dual obligation to you. Are you ready?"
"Yeah."
Peter shut his eyes as she pushed the needle into his arm. He opened them once she pulled away and blinked a few times. Nothing felt odd or different. It was like everything was normal. That was until he found himself on the floor with Helen over him, and feeling disconnected from everything around him.
He spent the next few days in the infirmary. Claire, Nathan, and Max all stood or sat around his bedside as they waited for him to wake up. Helen herself gave them very little details on what had happened. She informed them that he did something to make Claire happy, and that things would be fine once he woke up. It was enough to at least satisfy Nathan, while it hardly left Claire or Max satisfied.
Helen looked up from her notes at the screens in her lab, watching the infirmary. She had Henry reroute things to her lab so that she could watch Peter, but still not invade the privacy of those around him. She smiled a little to herself. Peter was bold, but perhaps a bit daft. There was no telling what could happen to him now. Than again, could anyone ever know the future? It was constantly in motion.
"Claire said you wouldn't tell her what he did... are you going to tell me?"
She looked beside her at Gabriel, wondering when he arrived. Although Helen shook her head at him with a smile. He certainly knew his magic tricks. Especially around her security.
"Does it matter what he did?"
"Of course it does." Gabriel replied softly. "Peter tries to make everyone happy; to save everyone. He looks past everyone's faults and accepts them for who and what they are. If what he did..."
Helen turned in her chair to him. "I didn't tell Claire, because I imagine that Peter would want to tell her himself. Do you want him to tell you?"
Gabriel smiled slightly and glanced up at the screens. "With all of them there? I won't be able to get next to him for a week, at least. You can tell me... if you want."
"Simply? Peter wanted to live longer." Helen flicked her hair over her shoulder. "For both of yours and Claire's sakes. He asked me to help him."
And that was where his smile faded. "You... Helen, you injected him with your blood? Do you know what that could do to him?"
"No, and I informed him of it. He still wanted it." Helen put her hand over his. "Gabriel. Peter willingly sacrificed a normal life in order to live on for two people he loves. That is certainly a noble reason... much more than the reason I injected myself with the Source Blood. Could you honestly deny a man who wants to help two important people?"
"But... why would he - I don't understand." Gabriel fumbled with his words. "I.. Claire, is his niece, so he'd want to protect her. But, I'm a monster." He flinched under her hard gaze for a moment. "Why would he want to live longer for me as well?"
Helen leaned close. "Love of all types makes us do things others don't understand. Peter is a man of great feelings. If he believes it in his heart, it is what he will do. Just take the comfort in knowing that your younger brother is going to live for a very, very long time."
Gabriel looked back up at the screens in the lab, biting on his lip. Peter was awake now with the three people fretting over him. But, Peter was smiling. Just like always. Claire leaned close as Peter said something to her, and she pulled back.
"You what?" Claire asked.
Peter grinned and closed his eyes, reaching up and squeezing her arm. "I'm going to be around for a long, long time. Just like you wanted."
"Peter, you-" Claire grabbed onto his hand. "You didn't have to, what did you do?!"
"Of course I had to." Peter looked back up at her. "You're my niece. I have to protect you, even if you don't think you need it."
She laughed and fought back the tears that stung her eyes. "You're so stupid."
"I know. But, you still love me."
"Yeah. I do."