All the People We Used to Know, Part 5/12
Title: All the People We Used to Know (5/12)
Sequel to: The Price of a Memory
Pairings: Peter/Claude
Rating: R
Warnings: slash, AU, loosely holiday-related, starts out on the fluffy side but doesn’t stay that way, liberties taken with the Season Two timeline of events, possible inconsistency with canon materials not aired on television
Spoilers: AU after the end of Season One, but through Season Two just to be safe.
Summary: Six months after the events of The Price of a Memory, Claude finds himself participating under protest in a Petrelli family gathering. But more is going on than meets the eye and soon Claude and Peter are faced with a difficult decision.
Disclaimer: Heroes and the associated characters don’t belong to me.
Previous Parts: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four
All the People We Used to Know, Part 5/12
Claude had no way of knowing if Nathan had been telling the truth when he’d reassured Claire that Heidi was looking forward to meeting her, but in either case, the woman put on a good show. She greeted Claire with polite warmth, managing to introduce her sons to their half-sister without seeming to mark the line between Claire and the rest of the family in any discernible way. Over dinner, the two made predictable small talk about boys and school, to which Claire responded courteously enough. She even directed a few somewhat rehearsed-sounding questions back at Heidi, apparently having studied up on her charity work and political ambitions before arriving in Washington. Clearly, the two were not ready to gossip about the latest celebrity scandal over Starbucks, but there were no fireworks or histrionics to speak of and while the uneasy way in which Claire and Heidi got to know each other was entertaining enough in its own right, Claude couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed. And apparently it showed on his face.
“I’m sorry, Claude, you must feel like we’ve been ignoring you all night,” Heidi said.
Claude shifted in his chair like a schoolboy being called out by the teacher for not paying attention to his lesson.
“Not at all,” he replied, setting his fork down guiltily. He’d been using it to poke curiously at the food on his plate, which he had yet to identify in any meaningful way other than the fact that it may have been alive at one time or another. For the life of him, he’d never understand rich people’s taste in food and would have thought in welcoming Claire, the Petrellis would have chosen to serve something comforting and familiar to make her feel at home rather than alienating her with…whatever this was supposed to be. He’d tried everything he could think of to figure it out short of simply passing a note to Peter under the table, which he would have done if he’d only had a pen to write it with. “Content to blend into the background, me.”
Peter snorted indelicately.
Ignoring her brother-in-law, Heidi continued to address Claude. “Tell us about yourself,” she said like this was some sort of support group and Claude was the new member. “What do you do for a living?”
Nathan’s fork froze halfway to his mouth. Peter kicked his brother under the table and Claude couldn’t help but wonder what stray thought had earned Nathan that.
“Used to work for a paper company based in Texas,” Claude said. “Primatech. Traveling salesman, that sort of thing. Not very interesting.”
He didn’t realize his mistake until Claire looked up from her plate, eyes wide.
“Primatech?” she repeated, voice hollow.
But Heidi was already talking again. “It must have been a good business, though,” she said. “I mean, people will always need paper, right? At least until the digital age takes over completely and everything’s on a computer screen.”
Claude smiled weakly. “Right,” he said.
“I saw online the other day that they’re starting to sell books on these devices that are like mp3 players,” she went on, either oblivious to the tension in the room or purposefully ignoring it. “I don’t know how I feel about that. I always like the weight of a book in my hand and seeing it there on the shelf. It just wouldn’t be the same on a little screen like that.”
“Reckon it wouldn’t,” Claude said.
Back when he’d been in training, the Company had made sure Claude knew enough about the paper business not to blow his cover if he was ever asked to blather on about the pros and cons of, for example, recycled paper versus non-recycled paper. They’d given him different sales pitches to memorize and brochures to carry around in a briefcase next to the stash of extra bullets for his gun. He could sound like a native if he tried, even years later. But for the life of him he couldn’t remember a single one of his usual facts and statistics. Not with Claire sitting across from him, staring at him like he’d killed her puppy.
Seeing Claire’s look, Peter was quick to make a point of saying, “Claude’s not with Primatech anymore. He left a while back to do…other stuff.”
“Oh?” Heidi said.
“Yeah, I didn’t really see much of a future for myself there, so we parted ways in the end,” Claude said. “These days I mostly just live off Peter and his trust fund. The lazy roommate that never gets a job or goes away.”
Nathan grunted at this, but said nothing.
“How did the two of you meet?” Heidi asked.
Claude began to wonder if it was only well-learned manners that led Heidi to pursue this seemingly inane line of questions or if she was deliberately trying to corner them all into admitting something more was going on than what they were telling her.
“We met through Mohinder Suresh, the geneticist I was staying with for a while,” Peter said. “Back then, Mohinder was following up on some research his dad left behind when he died. Claude found out about it and he offered himself up as a test subject.”
“Supposedly there was money involved, but I haven’t seen a dime of it,” Claude said.
“I remember the psychology department used to do things like that when I was in college,” Heidi said. “They’d post flyers all around campus looking to recruit people for their projects.” She took a sip of wine. “Was it like that?”
“Kind of,” Peter said. “Anyway, Claude was around a lot and we just kind of started hanging out. After a while, I started to think it was time I stopped imposing on Mohinder so I decided to move back to my old place. But I knew I couldn’t live there by myself and Claude didn’t really have anywhere else to stay, so I invited him to be my roommate and he agreed.”
Claude had to hand it to the boy--he’d become particularly skilled in the art of lying by omission. Everything he’d said was the truth, more or less, but without the more troublesome bits like what exactly Claude had to do with Suresh’s research and the real incentive behind their decision to live together. Heidi had the option of reading between the lines but in the end, Peter had admitted nothing.
“That apartment is awfully small for two people, isn’t it?” Heidi said. “It seemed like it was barely big enough for you when you were living there alone.”
“We do okay,” Peter said.
“It’s all in how the furniture’s arranged,” Claude added.
Heidi looked unconvinced but she nodded anyway and they finished dinner in a skeptical silence. As soon as they were excused, the boys ran off to watch more of that shrill cartoon while the adults stood around uncomfortably, wondering what came next.
“Does anyone want coffee?” Heidi asked.
Claude opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by a distinct buzzing sound coming from Peter’s back pocket. Resisting the urge to make a lewd joke, he watched as Peter took out his ringing mobile, throwing an apologetic look at their hosts as he did so.
“It’s Matt,” he explained before flipping the phone open.
Heidi and Nathan exchanged an unreadable look before leaving the room. Claire began to follow but settled instead for hovering in the doorway, looking uncertain as she and Claude watched Peter answer Parkman’s call.
“Hey, Matt, what’s up?” Peter said. “Yeah, Claude got here all right.” He glanced at Claude. “No, everything’s fine. I just got kind of overwhelmed, I guess. I didn’t mean to scare everybody. What about you? Is everything okay over there?” He smiled. “She did? Well, tell her I said good job.” Another boring story about Molly’s triumphant adventures in school, no doubt. Then Peter’s smile faded and he gave Claude a quizzical look. “Yeah, he’s standing right here.” A pause. “You want to talk to him?” This said with genuine surprise. “Okay. Just a second.” He held the phone out to Claude. “It’s Matt. He wants to talk to you.”
“Seeking relationship advice, no doubt,” Claude said, taking the phone. “I already told him carriage rides in the park were out this year.”
“No, I think they’re back in,” Peter commented before moving away. Claude watched as Claire emerged from the shadows in which she’d been lurking, a look of intense worry on her face.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked.
“Sure,” Peter said. “Let’s go outside.”
Claude watched after them as they went, knowing as well as Peter must have the nature of what it was Claire wanted to talk to him about. Unable to imagine how that particular conversation was going to play itself out, Claude instead occupied himself with Parkman, who still waited on the other end of the line.
“Has anyone taken the time to tell you lately just how sorely you lack subtlety?” he asked.
“This coming from the guy who can’t talk about at trip to the market without making a sex joke,” Parkman retorted.
Claude conceded the point with silence.
“So,” Parkman said after a minute and Claude could tell he was wearing a shit-eating grin, “how are things with the in-laws?”
“Hang on, I want to put you on speakerphone so Nathan Petrelli can hear you say that,” Claude said. “Maybe I can even find a way to record it so Angela Petrelli can have a listen when she gets here.”
“That woman scares me,” Parkman said.
“Rightly so,” Claude said. “Why are you calling me?”
“I think Bennet’s here,” Parkman said. “Well, not in the apartment obviously but here in the city. Mohinder was gone for most of the day but when he came back he was really…weird.”
“So, what’s the verdict? Is the good doctor cheating on you or what?”
“Give it a rest,” Parkman said. “I still can’t tell what’s going on but from what little I could pick up, I keep hearing the names ‘Bob’ and ‘Isaac Mendez.’ Does that mean anything to you?”
Claude swallowed around the bile that stung the back of his throat.
“Isaac Mendez was that painter that could see the future,” he said. “Sylar murdered him last year. Peter’s got his old loft.” Though, as far as Claude could tell, the boy used it more for solitary brooding purposes than for creating prescient works of art. Which, as far as Claude was concerned, was just fine.
“And Bob?” Parkman prompted.
“Common enough name, isn’t it?” Claude replied.
“But it means something to you.”
Claude sighed, wondering if mind reading abilities worked over phone lines. “Bob was a name that got thrown around a lot when I was working for the Company,” he said. “He was one of the twelve founders. Legend had it there was a schism back in the day and he ended up on the wrong side of it.”
“But he’s still involved with the Company?”
“Imagine so,” Claude said. “He’s where they get most of the money for their ‘research’ and such. Among other things.”
“Well, if he’s involved in funding research, that explains why he might be interested in Mohinder,” Parkman said. “But it seems like Mohinder is purposely trying to attract this guy’s attention. Why would he do that?”
Claude hesitated as an unpleasant idea slowly began to form in his mind. “Only thing I can think of is Bennet wants Suresh in good graces with the Company so he can have a man on the inside. A mole or whatever.”
“A mole?” Parkman repeated. “What for?” A pause as it sunk in. “They’re trying to take down the Company. Aren’t they?”
Claude walked to the window. Out it, he could see Peter and Claire pacing the perimeter of the garden. Peter was doing most of the talking but if Claire was listening, it was with reluctance and the kind of deep frown people usually wore only when they didn’t like what they were hearing. Claude had little doubt she felt betrayed, like they’d all conspired to lead her into some kind of trap.
“I’d like to think nobody would be that stupid,” Claude said finally. “But try as he might to hide her, Bennet can’t make Claire completely safe until the Company is gone for good. And Suresh has always hated them, especially after what they did to Molly. Two father figures willing to go to great lengths to protect their adopted kids. Match made in heaven, that.”
There was a pause over the line. “Where does Isaac Mendez fit into all of this?” Parkman asked. “I mean, I know the guy could predict the future, but he’s dead. It doesn’t seem like that’s something that will do us much good now.”
“Not unless he happened to predict some way of bringing about the Company’s downfall before Sylar got to him,” Claude said. “Seems a bit convenient.” He sighed. “Mind, this is all just speculation. I’ll have a better idea what’s going on once I’ve managed to corner Bennet. Meanwhile, you keep cornering Suresh. See what you can get out of him.”
“Yeah, that might be a little easier said than done,” Parkman said. “Mohinder fed me some story today about this lecture thing he was asked to do at the last minute. It’s out of the country and he’ll be gone for at least a couple of days.”
“How out of the country?”
“Let’s just say I doubt he meant Canada,” Parkman said.
“And you can’t figure out where it is he’s actually going?”
“No, he blocked that out.”
“Bastard,” Claude said. “Well, Bennet’s not scheduled to be back here again until day after tomorrow, so it’s probably going to take some time to find out what that’s about.”
“I could…ask Molly to pinpoint his location after he’s gone,” Parkman said. “But that would clue her in that something’s going on.”
“Not wise,” Claude said.
“You could ask Peter to do it.”
“But that would clue him in that something’s going on,” Claude said.
“You haven’t told him?”
“Of course I haven’t told him. The boy can’t keep a secret to save his life,” Claude said. “He’d give it all away as soon as Bennet walked through the door.”
“I see,” Parkman said.
“Then again, your ringing him on his mobile and asking to talk to me will most likely raise a few unwanted questions,” Claude said. “Thanks for that, by the way.”
“What was I supposed to do? You don’t have a cell phone and I don’t have the number for the house,” Parkman said. He sighed. “So for now we just…bide our time?”
“Looks like it,” Claude said. “I’ll do what I can to survive this precious family reunion. You…do whatever it is you do when others aren’t around. Dust the furniture in pearls and high heels or whatever.”
“I’m just…You know? Never mind. I’ll call you if anything comes up.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Claude said and rang off.
He checked the window again to find Claire and Peter had stopped walking. They were standing now on the far edge of the garden where it appeared Claire was taking her turn talking. Her back was turned to Claude, so he couldn’t tell what it was she was saying, but she was gesturing quite animatedly as she said it. Probably not a good sign.
“What was that about?”
Claude was careful not to startle at the question, wondering to himself at what point Nathan Petrelli had managed to sneak into the room without his noticing.
“Think Peter might be explaining the birds and the bees to her,” Claude said without turning as Nathan came up next to him.
“I meant the urgent phone call,” Nathan said. “What’s going on?”
“Parkman couldn’t decide which shade of lipstick went best with the new dress he bought today,” Claude replied. “He wants to surprise Suresh later.”
Nathan made a face. “Parkman’s the mind-reader, right?”
“That’s him.”
“I didn’t realize he and Dr. Suresh were…together.”
“Frankly, I don’t think they realize it either,” Claude said. “Being the resolutely heterosexual men that they are, of course.”
“I don’t know Parkman, but I wouldn’t exactly call Suresh ‘resolutely heterosexual,’” Nathan commented. “When I first agreed to let Peter live with him, I thought it was only a matter of time before those two ended up in bed together.”
“And instead you got me and the idea of Suresh and Peter didn’t seem so bad anymore did it?” Claude said wryly.
Nathan shifted, looking down at his feet. “Look,” he said. “Peter’s not a girl and I’m not his dad, so I’m not going to bother asking you if your intentions with him are honorable or anything like that. But understand this.” He turned toward Claude now, brows drawn into a single, thunderous line. “It’s been a year since the bomb in New York and for the first time it seems like he’s starting to move on. So if you’re leading him down that road again--the one where he thinks he’s being a hero and he’s really just being an idiot--then…” He let the words trail off ominously.
Claude considered his answer. “The jury’s still out on whether or not Peter’s a girl,” he said. “But one thing he’s definitely not is a child. Just so you know.”
Nathan continued to scowl at him, unmoved.
“I don’t know for sure that anything’s going on,” Claude admitted, knowing it would be useless to do otherwise. “And if there is, I can’t guarantee that Peter won’t find out about it. He reads minds now, you know.” He shifted. “What I can promise you, if anything, is that of the two of us here, you’re not the only one who doesn’t want to see Peter get hurt. I’ll do anything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Nathan nodded, accepting this more easily than Claude would have thought. He turned back toward the window, looking out at the garden where Peter and Claire were still talking. “So what is that about?” he asked.
“Bit of a slip-up I made at dinner,” Claude said.
“I’m pretty sure Claire’s figured out that you and Peter are more than just friends, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Nathan said.
“Aye, Claire’s a smart girl,” Claude said. “But I was thinking more along the lines of the allusion I may have made to my past affiliation with a certain paper company. You know, the one that may or may not have been a front for the same shady organization her own father was associated with up until recently.”
Nathan closed his eyes. “Christ, please tell me you’re not talking about the Company.”
“Primatech Paper,” Claude said with a grim nod.
“I was hoping that was all bullshit,” Nathan said. “Now Claire’s going to think I’m trying to lure her into some kind of ambush.”
“And then Bennet will have you killed,” Claude said. “But don’t worry, I think Peter’s sticking up for you out there.”
“Peter would stick up for me if I had my finger on the button to start World War III,” Nathan said.
“True,” Claude replied.
A pause passed between them.
“Anyway, Heidi had a room made up for you,” Nathan said. “Could you at least go in there and mess up the sheets a little so I don’t have to think about you and my brother in his room doing…whatever.”
“Yeah, all right,” Claude said. “Oh, and by the way, you know the labels on the drawers are unnecessary, don’t you?”
Nathan raised an eyebrow. “Peter hung a picture of some cartoon character on his door when he got here so he would be able to remember which one was his,” Nathan said. “I’m willing to admit the labels were overboard, but I’m not convinced they were unnecessary.”
“What about the book of crossword puzzles?” Claude asked.
“That was a joke.”
“Oh,” Claude said. One side of his mouth twitched but he refused to smile as he saw the subtle genius of that.
“Apparently not a very good one,” Nathan added. “Look, I spent a lot of time believing Peter’s memory problems would eventually go away. That whatever the Haitian had done to him would heal and that someday he’d be able to find his own door without a detailed map and a flashing neon sign. So I didn’t do a whole lot to accommodate his…handicap in any meaningful ways. I thought he could learn to do it for himself.”
“Now you’ve accepted that he won’t get better and you’re overcompensating for your prior insensitivity,” Claude surmised, “thus making yourself seem even more insensitive.”
“Essentially,” Nathan admitted grudgingly.
A few beats passed.
“He doesn’t get lost anymore,” Claude said. “Well, not as much. He has Molly’s ability now so if he’s on his way somewhere and forgets where he’s going, he just thinks of the person he’s looking for and he finds his way easily enough.”
“I didn’t know that,” Nathan said.
“He still forgets names from time to time, but he’s gotten quite sneaky about pulling them from people’s minds when he needs to,” Claude said. “Not that people often think of themselves in the third person, but somehow he finds what he’s looking for by listening to what you’re thinking.” He looked down at his hands. “Still has trouble keeping track of plots in movies and books but he takes a lot of notes. I’m always find them all over the flat. No idea how he keeps track of them all, but he seems to manage all right.”
Nathan eyed him. “What are you saying, Claude?”
“The moral of the story is that he is getting better, in a manner of speaking,” Claude said. “But you’re probably right not to let him baby-sit your children on his own. Just don’t ever tell him I said that.”
“I won’t,” Nathan said.
Claude nodded. “Good,” he said. “So, what time does your mother get in tomorrow?”
“Mid-morning.”
“I better go prepare myself, then.”
“That’s probably a good idea.”
Part Six
Sequel to: The Price of a Memory
Pairings: Peter/Claude
Rating: R
Warnings: slash, AU, loosely holiday-related, starts out on the fluffy side but doesn’t stay that way, liberties taken with the Season Two timeline of events, possible inconsistency with canon materials not aired on television
Spoilers: AU after the end of Season One, but through Season Two just to be safe.
Summary: Six months after the events of The Price of a Memory, Claude finds himself participating under protest in a Petrelli family gathering. But more is going on than meets the eye and soon Claude and Peter are faced with a difficult decision.
Disclaimer: Heroes and the associated characters don’t belong to me.
Previous Parts: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four
All the People We Used to Know, Part 5/12
Claude had no way of knowing if Nathan had been telling the truth when he’d reassured Claire that Heidi was looking forward to meeting her, but in either case, the woman put on a good show. She greeted Claire with polite warmth, managing to introduce her sons to their half-sister without seeming to mark the line between Claire and the rest of the family in any discernible way. Over dinner, the two made predictable small talk about boys and school, to which Claire responded courteously enough. She even directed a few somewhat rehearsed-sounding questions back at Heidi, apparently having studied up on her charity work and political ambitions before arriving in Washington. Clearly, the two were not ready to gossip about the latest celebrity scandal over Starbucks, but there were no fireworks or histrionics to speak of and while the uneasy way in which Claire and Heidi got to know each other was entertaining enough in its own right, Claude couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed. And apparently it showed on his face.
“I’m sorry, Claude, you must feel like we’ve been ignoring you all night,” Heidi said.
Claude shifted in his chair like a schoolboy being called out by the teacher for not paying attention to his lesson.
“Not at all,” he replied, setting his fork down guiltily. He’d been using it to poke curiously at the food on his plate, which he had yet to identify in any meaningful way other than the fact that it may have been alive at one time or another. For the life of him, he’d never understand rich people’s taste in food and would have thought in welcoming Claire, the Petrellis would have chosen to serve something comforting and familiar to make her feel at home rather than alienating her with…whatever this was supposed to be. He’d tried everything he could think of to figure it out short of simply passing a note to Peter under the table, which he would have done if he’d only had a pen to write it with. “Content to blend into the background, me.”
Peter snorted indelicately.
Ignoring her brother-in-law, Heidi continued to address Claude. “Tell us about yourself,” she said like this was some sort of support group and Claude was the new member. “What do you do for a living?”
Nathan’s fork froze halfway to his mouth. Peter kicked his brother under the table and Claude couldn’t help but wonder what stray thought had earned Nathan that.
“Used to work for a paper company based in Texas,” Claude said. “Primatech. Traveling salesman, that sort of thing. Not very interesting.”
He didn’t realize his mistake until Claire looked up from her plate, eyes wide.
“Primatech?” she repeated, voice hollow.
But Heidi was already talking again. “It must have been a good business, though,” she said. “I mean, people will always need paper, right? At least until the digital age takes over completely and everything’s on a computer screen.”
Claude smiled weakly. “Right,” he said.
“I saw online the other day that they’re starting to sell books on these devices that are like mp3 players,” she went on, either oblivious to the tension in the room or purposefully ignoring it. “I don’t know how I feel about that. I always like the weight of a book in my hand and seeing it there on the shelf. It just wouldn’t be the same on a little screen like that.”
“Reckon it wouldn’t,” Claude said.
Back when he’d been in training, the Company had made sure Claude knew enough about the paper business not to blow his cover if he was ever asked to blather on about the pros and cons of, for example, recycled paper versus non-recycled paper. They’d given him different sales pitches to memorize and brochures to carry around in a briefcase next to the stash of extra bullets for his gun. He could sound like a native if he tried, even years later. But for the life of him he couldn’t remember a single one of his usual facts and statistics. Not with Claire sitting across from him, staring at him like he’d killed her puppy.
Seeing Claire’s look, Peter was quick to make a point of saying, “Claude’s not with Primatech anymore. He left a while back to do…other stuff.”
“Oh?” Heidi said.
“Yeah, I didn’t really see much of a future for myself there, so we parted ways in the end,” Claude said. “These days I mostly just live off Peter and his trust fund. The lazy roommate that never gets a job or goes away.”
Nathan grunted at this, but said nothing.
“How did the two of you meet?” Heidi asked.
Claude began to wonder if it was only well-learned manners that led Heidi to pursue this seemingly inane line of questions or if she was deliberately trying to corner them all into admitting something more was going on than what they were telling her.
“We met through Mohinder Suresh, the geneticist I was staying with for a while,” Peter said. “Back then, Mohinder was following up on some research his dad left behind when he died. Claude found out about it and he offered himself up as a test subject.”
“Supposedly there was money involved, but I haven’t seen a dime of it,” Claude said.
“I remember the psychology department used to do things like that when I was in college,” Heidi said. “They’d post flyers all around campus looking to recruit people for their projects.” She took a sip of wine. “Was it like that?”
“Kind of,” Peter said. “Anyway, Claude was around a lot and we just kind of started hanging out. After a while, I started to think it was time I stopped imposing on Mohinder so I decided to move back to my old place. But I knew I couldn’t live there by myself and Claude didn’t really have anywhere else to stay, so I invited him to be my roommate and he agreed.”
Claude had to hand it to the boy--he’d become particularly skilled in the art of lying by omission. Everything he’d said was the truth, more or less, but without the more troublesome bits like what exactly Claude had to do with Suresh’s research and the real incentive behind their decision to live together. Heidi had the option of reading between the lines but in the end, Peter had admitted nothing.
“That apartment is awfully small for two people, isn’t it?” Heidi said. “It seemed like it was barely big enough for you when you were living there alone.”
“We do okay,” Peter said.
“It’s all in how the furniture’s arranged,” Claude added.
Heidi looked unconvinced but she nodded anyway and they finished dinner in a skeptical silence. As soon as they were excused, the boys ran off to watch more of that shrill cartoon while the adults stood around uncomfortably, wondering what came next.
“Does anyone want coffee?” Heidi asked.
Claude opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by a distinct buzzing sound coming from Peter’s back pocket. Resisting the urge to make a lewd joke, he watched as Peter took out his ringing mobile, throwing an apologetic look at their hosts as he did so.
“It’s Matt,” he explained before flipping the phone open.
Heidi and Nathan exchanged an unreadable look before leaving the room. Claire began to follow but settled instead for hovering in the doorway, looking uncertain as she and Claude watched Peter answer Parkman’s call.
“Hey, Matt, what’s up?” Peter said. “Yeah, Claude got here all right.” He glanced at Claude. “No, everything’s fine. I just got kind of overwhelmed, I guess. I didn’t mean to scare everybody. What about you? Is everything okay over there?” He smiled. “She did? Well, tell her I said good job.” Another boring story about Molly’s triumphant adventures in school, no doubt. Then Peter’s smile faded and he gave Claude a quizzical look. “Yeah, he’s standing right here.” A pause. “You want to talk to him?” This said with genuine surprise. “Okay. Just a second.” He held the phone out to Claude. “It’s Matt. He wants to talk to you.”
“Seeking relationship advice, no doubt,” Claude said, taking the phone. “I already told him carriage rides in the park were out this year.”
“No, I think they’re back in,” Peter commented before moving away. Claude watched as Claire emerged from the shadows in which she’d been lurking, a look of intense worry on her face.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked.
“Sure,” Peter said. “Let’s go outside.”
Claude watched after them as they went, knowing as well as Peter must have the nature of what it was Claire wanted to talk to him about. Unable to imagine how that particular conversation was going to play itself out, Claude instead occupied himself with Parkman, who still waited on the other end of the line.
“Has anyone taken the time to tell you lately just how sorely you lack subtlety?” he asked.
“This coming from the guy who can’t talk about at trip to the market without making a sex joke,” Parkman retorted.
Claude conceded the point with silence.
“So,” Parkman said after a minute and Claude could tell he was wearing a shit-eating grin, “how are things with the in-laws?”
“Hang on, I want to put you on speakerphone so Nathan Petrelli can hear you say that,” Claude said. “Maybe I can even find a way to record it so Angela Petrelli can have a listen when she gets here.”
“That woman scares me,” Parkman said.
“Rightly so,” Claude said. “Why are you calling me?”
“I think Bennet’s here,” Parkman said. “Well, not in the apartment obviously but here in the city. Mohinder was gone for most of the day but when he came back he was really…weird.”
“So, what’s the verdict? Is the good doctor cheating on you or what?”
“Give it a rest,” Parkman said. “I still can’t tell what’s going on but from what little I could pick up, I keep hearing the names ‘Bob’ and ‘Isaac Mendez.’ Does that mean anything to you?”
Claude swallowed around the bile that stung the back of his throat.
“Isaac Mendez was that painter that could see the future,” he said. “Sylar murdered him last year. Peter’s got his old loft.” Though, as far as Claude could tell, the boy used it more for solitary brooding purposes than for creating prescient works of art. Which, as far as Claude was concerned, was just fine.
“And Bob?” Parkman prompted.
“Common enough name, isn’t it?” Claude replied.
“But it means something to you.”
Claude sighed, wondering if mind reading abilities worked over phone lines. “Bob was a name that got thrown around a lot when I was working for the Company,” he said. “He was one of the twelve founders. Legend had it there was a schism back in the day and he ended up on the wrong side of it.”
“But he’s still involved with the Company?”
“Imagine so,” Claude said. “He’s where they get most of the money for their ‘research’ and such. Among other things.”
“Well, if he’s involved in funding research, that explains why he might be interested in Mohinder,” Parkman said. “But it seems like Mohinder is purposely trying to attract this guy’s attention. Why would he do that?”
Claude hesitated as an unpleasant idea slowly began to form in his mind. “Only thing I can think of is Bennet wants Suresh in good graces with the Company so he can have a man on the inside. A mole or whatever.”
“A mole?” Parkman repeated. “What for?” A pause as it sunk in. “They’re trying to take down the Company. Aren’t they?”
Claude walked to the window. Out it, he could see Peter and Claire pacing the perimeter of the garden. Peter was doing most of the talking but if Claire was listening, it was with reluctance and the kind of deep frown people usually wore only when they didn’t like what they were hearing. Claude had little doubt she felt betrayed, like they’d all conspired to lead her into some kind of trap.
“I’d like to think nobody would be that stupid,” Claude said finally. “But try as he might to hide her, Bennet can’t make Claire completely safe until the Company is gone for good. And Suresh has always hated them, especially after what they did to Molly. Two father figures willing to go to great lengths to protect their adopted kids. Match made in heaven, that.”
There was a pause over the line. “Where does Isaac Mendez fit into all of this?” Parkman asked. “I mean, I know the guy could predict the future, but he’s dead. It doesn’t seem like that’s something that will do us much good now.”
“Not unless he happened to predict some way of bringing about the Company’s downfall before Sylar got to him,” Claude said. “Seems a bit convenient.” He sighed. “Mind, this is all just speculation. I’ll have a better idea what’s going on once I’ve managed to corner Bennet. Meanwhile, you keep cornering Suresh. See what you can get out of him.”
“Yeah, that might be a little easier said than done,” Parkman said. “Mohinder fed me some story today about this lecture thing he was asked to do at the last minute. It’s out of the country and he’ll be gone for at least a couple of days.”
“How out of the country?”
“Let’s just say I doubt he meant Canada,” Parkman said.
“And you can’t figure out where it is he’s actually going?”
“No, he blocked that out.”
“Bastard,” Claude said. “Well, Bennet’s not scheduled to be back here again until day after tomorrow, so it’s probably going to take some time to find out what that’s about.”
“I could…ask Molly to pinpoint his location after he’s gone,” Parkman said. “But that would clue her in that something’s going on.”
“Not wise,” Claude said.
“You could ask Peter to do it.”
“But that would clue him in that something’s going on,” Claude said.
“You haven’t told him?”
“Of course I haven’t told him. The boy can’t keep a secret to save his life,” Claude said. “He’d give it all away as soon as Bennet walked through the door.”
“I see,” Parkman said.
“Then again, your ringing him on his mobile and asking to talk to me will most likely raise a few unwanted questions,” Claude said. “Thanks for that, by the way.”
“What was I supposed to do? You don’t have a cell phone and I don’t have the number for the house,” Parkman said. He sighed. “So for now we just…bide our time?”
“Looks like it,” Claude said. “I’ll do what I can to survive this precious family reunion. You…do whatever it is you do when others aren’t around. Dust the furniture in pearls and high heels or whatever.”
“I’m just…You know? Never mind. I’ll call you if anything comes up.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Claude said and rang off.
He checked the window again to find Claire and Peter had stopped walking. They were standing now on the far edge of the garden where it appeared Claire was taking her turn talking. Her back was turned to Claude, so he couldn’t tell what it was she was saying, but she was gesturing quite animatedly as she said it. Probably not a good sign.
“What was that about?”
Claude was careful not to startle at the question, wondering to himself at what point Nathan Petrelli had managed to sneak into the room without his noticing.
“Think Peter might be explaining the birds and the bees to her,” Claude said without turning as Nathan came up next to him.
“I meant the urgent phone call,” Nathan said. “What’s going on?”
“Parkman couldn’t decide which shade of lipstick went best with the new dress he bought today,” Claude replied. “He wants to surprise Suresh later.”
Nathan made a face. “Parkman’s the mind-reader, right?”
“That’s him.”
“I didn’t realize he and Dr. Suresh were…together.”
“Frankly, I don’t think they realize it either,” Claude said. “Being the resolutely heterosexual men that they are, of course.”
“I don’t know Parkman, but I wouldn’t exactly call Suresh ‘resolutely heterosexual,’” Nathan commented. “When I first agreed to let Peter live with him, I thought it was only a matter of time before those two ended up in bed together.”
“And instead you got me and the idea of Suresh and Peter didn’t seem so bad anymore did it?” Claude said wryly.
Nathan shifted, looking down at his feet. “Look,” he said. “Peter’s not a girl and I’m not his dad, so I’m not going to bother asking you if your intentions with him are honorable or anything like that. But understand this.” He turned toward Claude now, brows drawn into a single, thunderous line. “It’s been a year since the bomb in New York and for the first time it seems like he’s starting to move on. So if you’re leading him down that road again--the one where he thinks he’s being a hero and he’s really just being an idiot--then…” He let the words trail off ominously.
Claude considered his answer. “The jury’s still out on whether or not Peter’s a girl,” he said. “But one thing he’s definitely not is a child. Just so you know.”
Nathan continued to scowl at him, unmoved.
“I don’t know for sure that anything’s going on,” Claude admitted, knowing it would be useless to do otherwise. “And if there is, I can’t guarantee that Peter won’t find out about it. He reads minds now, you know.” He shifted. “What I can promise you, if anything, is that of the two of us here, you’re not the only one who doesn’t want to see Peter get hurt. I’ll do anything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Nathan nodded, accepting this more easily than Claude would have thought. He turned back toward the window, looking out at the garden where Peter and Claire were still talking. “So what is that about?” he asked.
“Bit of a slip-up I made at dinner,” Claude said.
“I’m pretty sure Claire’s figured out that you and Peter are more than just friends, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Nathan said.
“Aye, Claire’s a smart girl,” Claude said. “But I was thinking more along the lines of the allusion I may have made to my past affiliation with a certain paper company. You know, the one that may or may not have been a front for the same shady organization her own father was associated with up until recently.”
Nathan closed his eyes. “Christ, please tell me you’re not talking about the Company.”
“Primatech Paper,” Claude said with a grim nod.
“I was hoping that was all bullshit,” Nathan said. “Now Claire’s going to think I’m trying to lure her into some kind of ambush.”
“And then Bennet will have you killed,” Claude said. “But don’t worry, I think Peter’s sticking up for you out there.”
“Peter would stick up for me if I had my finger on the button to start World War III,” Nathan said.
“True,” Claude replied.
A pause passed between them.
“Anyway, Heidi had a room made up for you,” Nathan said. “Could you at least go in there and mess up the sheets a little so I don’t have to think about you and my brother in his room doing…whatever.”
“Yeah, all right,” Claude said. “Oh, and by the way, you know the labels on the drawers are unnecessary, don’t you?”
Nathan raised an eyebrow. “Peter hung a picture of some cartoon character on his door when he got here so he would be able to remember which one was his,” Nathan said. “I’m willing to admit the labels were overboard, but I’m not convinced they were unnecessary.”
“What about the book of crossword puzzles?” Claude asked.
“That was a joke.”
“Oh,” Claude said. One side of his mouth twitched but he refused to smile as he saw the subtle genius of that.
“Apparently not a very good one,” Nathan added. “Look, I spent a lot of time believing Peter’s memory problems would eventually go away. That whatever the Haitian had done to him would heal and that someday he’d be able to find his own door without a detailed map and a flashing neon sign. So I didn’t do a whole lot to accommodate his…handicap in any meaningful ways. I thought he could learn to do it for himself.”
“Now you’ve accepted that he won’t get better and you’re overcompensating for your prior insensitivity,” Claude surmised, “thus making yourself seem even more insensitive.”
“Essentially,” Nathan admitted grudgingly.
A few beats passed.
“He doesn’t get lost anymore,” Claude said. “Well, not as much. He has Molly’s ability now so if he’s on his way somewhere and forgets where he’s going, he just thinks of the person he’s looking for and he finds his way easily enough.”
“I didn’t know that,” Nathan said.
“He still forgets names from time to time, but he’s gotten quite sneaky about pulling them from people’s minds when he needs to,” Claude said. “Not that people often think of themselves in the third person, but somehow he finds what he’s looking for by listening to what you’re thinking.” He looked down at his hands. “Still has trouble keeping track of plots in movies and books but he takes a lot of notes. I’m always find them all over the flat. No idea how he keeps track of them all, but he seems to manage all right.”
Nathan eyed him. “What are you saying, Claude?”
“The moral of the story is that he is getting better, in a manner of speaking,” Claude said. “But you’re probably right not to let him baby-sit your children on his own. Just don’t ever tell him I said that.”
“I won’t,” Nathan said.
Claude nodded. “Good,” he said. “So, what time does your mother get in tomorrow?”
“Mid-morning.”
“I better go prepare myself, then.”
“That’s probably a good idea.”
Part Six