Heroes, "The Devil and Her Treasures" Epilogue
Fandom: Heroes
Title: The Devil and Her Treasures
Author: paynesgrey
Artist: rebelle_elle
Word Count: 23,514
Rating: R
Characters/Pairings: Claire, Peter, Sylar, Elle, Noah Jr, Nathan, Rene, Danko, Knox, Daphne, Claire/Elle, Elle/Sylar, past Peter/Claire
Warnings character death, manipulation, implied incest, torture, violence, sexual situations
Notes: Written for heroes_bigboom. A huge thanks goes to bellonablack for the beta job. This is a sequel to my other fic, Grave New World, and takes place in the "exposed future" around the events of the “Second Coming” and “I am Become Death” episodes, as well as the “Resistance” online graphic novel chapter 106 (which I would recommend reading if you want some early chapters to make sense).
Summary: Renowned terrorist Peter Petrelli has been hiding Sylar, Elle and their son for a long time after Noah Bennet’s death, and when Pinehearst Agent Claire Bennet finally discovers them, they strike a deal to leave Sylar and his son alone, as long as Elle becomes Claire’s prisoner.
Link to art master post: HERE.
The Devil and Her Treasures
Epilogue: Freedom in This Crumbling World
In the beginning months when Claire and Elle had been running, Danko had put them both on the number one fugitives list, and while Claire was true to her word that they’d always be steps ahead of him, they finally became tired of running and decided to head off to Canada. Soon, Rene split off from them, finding sanctuary in his homeland when he felt like the two women could survive well enough on their own.
As Peter had predicted, the world was in chaos. After a year, Danko had failed as an interim president, and he was soon voted out of power when a pro-ability president took over. Sales for powers went back on again, camps were disbanded, and even Claire and Elle were dropped from the fugitives list. Danko became a dissenting voice, appearing on TV networks as a view against the president and the abilities movement, warning for war and disaster.
Mostly, he was right. When other countries got hold of the formula and began selling powers, it seemed as though everyone had special abilities. There was fighting all over the place between Specials, and as they fought they left destruction in their wake. Elle and Claire mostly kept out of the spotlight, and after one more trip in America, they would head back to Canada and hide away from the mess.
They didn’t know how much longer this world had left. Elle supposed that Peter succeeded, that he had changed the future and this time-line was splintered and soon, they wouldn’t exist. They would crumble away by some disaster and that would be it. They would disappear like dust into the universe. “It was a theory I’d seen working at the Company. We had a few temporal jumper types that would talk about theories of changing time. Sometimes those time-lines still existed, but they were weak, and while the people that dwell there would still go on, the time traveler could no longer visit the time-line anymore because it wasn’t the right one.”
“So what do we do, wait until the world ends?” Claire said as Elle drove southbound through the arid highway. She turned to Claire with a smile.
“I guess so, Pom-Pom.” Claire rolled her eyes at her, but Elle seemed unaffected by the pessimism. In all their time together, Elle had resolved to her fate. She missed her son and husband, but she found traveling with Claire as a part of her own redemption. She could have left many times, but she stayed, and the first couple of times Claire brought it up, she was surprised when Elle declined to leave.
“I chose to live. I don’t know why; you’re such a bitch sometimes,” Elle said with a laugh. “But as you said, I hated Sylar once too.”
Elle grinned at her and looked Claire over, enjoying that her hair had finally grown out and returned to its golden color. It was like the terrible woman with dark brown hair and leather jumpers was dead, and Elle had told her many times that she was glad Claire was back to her true self.
Touched by Elle’s affectionate gaze, Claire reached over and squeezed her hand on her lap. Twenty minutes later, they’d come to the mass grave memorial in Costa Verde and started searching for Noah and Gabriel’s graves. Mostly likely the slabs were together, and now that Elle and Claire were no longer running from the government, they could finally visit this place.
Elle hadn’t returned to Costa Verde her since Claire took her as a prisoner for Pinehearst. Claire, on the other hand, remembered vividly dying here in that nuclear explosion and then coming back to life one cell at a time. Both of them shuddered at their memories, and even Claire knew she couldn’t apologize enough to Elle on what she’d done to her.
“That’s the past,” Elle said with a snort. “Do we really have to keep going there? It’s annoying.”
“No, but today is the last time we go back,” Claire said, and they stepped in front of the black marble plaques that contained Gabriel and Noah’s name - their real names, not fake ones that Elle and Gabriel had been using while on the run. Claire smiled at the thought and was unexpectedly happy for it. She watched as Elle knelt down, tracing her hand lovingly over the smooth marble of her son’s etched name.
“I used to think that Pinehearst gave me a purpose after my dad died,” Claire said as she looked down at the graves. Elle knew that Claire didn’t talk about her dad much, and only recently had Claire accepted that it hadn’t been Sylar and Elle’s fault that her dad had died. Like Elle, it took time for Claire to heal from such things, which is why Claire could always understand that Elle didn’t immediately trust her that night they escaped Pinehearst. “I was wrong, of course. It changed me, and even though it changed Peter for the worse too, he had been right about a lot of things.”
“You think you can finally forgive Peter?” Elle asked. “I mean I eventually forgave you.”
“Yeah, only last week,” Claire said, rolling her eyes, and Elle cackled.
“Still, Peter’s dead, so it should be easier for you. I actually have to live with you,” Elle remarked.
“I know,” Claire said with a heavy breath. “I think... I already forgave Peter a long time ago. I just didn’t realize it until lately, when the world is crumbling right under our feet.”
“So the world is ending and we’re just going to accept it? Just like that?” Elle said, turning toward her and rising from her knees. Claire shook her head.
“No, Elle. We fight, we run, and we live, as long as we can,” Claire said, and she held out her hand to Elle, who took it a lot faster than she did those months ago when they escaped. She was also squeezing back, grinning at Claire and leaning close to her, teasing her with an extra charge. Claire could feel an electric breeze pass through them as she leaned in and found Elle’s lips.
“Come on. Let's go home,” she whispered, pulling Elle along. She smiled as she reveled in the feeling of Elle's hand within hers. Like the pain that returned to her, Claire thought it was the most beautiful feeling in the world.
END
Title: The Devil and Her Treasures
Author: paynesgrey
Artist: rebelle_elle
Word Count: 23,514
Rating: R
Characters/Pairings: Claire, Peter, Sylar, Elle, Noah Jr, Nathan, Rene, Danko, Knox, Daphne, Claire/Elle, Elle/Sylar, past Peter/Claire
Warnings character death, manipulation, implied incest, torture, violence, sexual situations
Notes: Written for heroes_bigboom. A huge thanks goes to bellonablack for the beta job. This is a sequel to my other fic, Grave New World, and takes place in the "exposed future" around the events of the “Second Coming” and “I am Become Death” episodes, as well as the “Resistance” online graphic novel chapter 106 (which I would recommend reading if you want some early chapters to make sense).
Summary: Renowned terrorist Peter Petrelli has been hiding Sylar, Elle and their son for a long time after Noah Bennet’s death, and when Pinehearst Agent Claire Bennet finally discovers them, they strike a deal to leave Sylar and his son alone, as long as Elle becomes Claire’s prisoner.
Link to art master post: HERE.
The Devil and Her Treasures
Epilogue: Freedom in This Crumbling World
In the beginning months when Claire and Elle had been running, Danko had put them both on the number one fugitives list, and while Claire was true to her word that they’d always be steps ahead of him, they finally became tired of running and decided to head off to Canada. Soon, Rene split off from them, finding sanctuary in his homeland when he felt like the two women could survive well enough on their own.
As Peter had predicted, the world was in chaos. After a year, Danko had failed as an interim president, and he was soon voted out of power when a pro-ability president took over. Sales for powers went back on again, camps were disbanded, and even Claire and Elle were dropped from the fugitives list. Danko became a dissenting voice, appearing on TV networks as a view against the president and the abilities movement, warning for war and disaster.
Mostly, he was right. When other countries got hold of the formula and began selling powers, it seemed as though everyone had special abilities. There was fighting all over the place between Specials, and as they fought they left destruction in their wake. Elle and Claire mostly kept out of the spotlight, and after one more trip in America, they would head back to Canada and hide away from the mess.
They didn’t know how much longer this world had left. Elle supposed that Peter succeeded, that he had changed the future and this time-line was splintered and soon, they wouldn’t exist. They would crumble away by some disaster and that would be it. They would disappear like dust into the universe. “It was a theory I’d seen working at the Company. We had a few temporal jumper types that would talk about theories of changing time. Sometimes those time-lines still existed, but they were weak, and while the people that dwell there would still go on, the time traveler could no longer visit the time-line anymore because it wasn’t the right one.”
“So what do we do, wait until the world ends?” Claire said as Elle drove southbound through the arid highway. She turned to Claire with a smile.
“I guess so, Pom-Pom.” Claire rolled her eyes at her, but Elle seemed unaffected by the pessimism. In all their time together, Elle had resolved to her fate. She missed her son and husband, but she found traveling with Claire as a part of her own redemption. She could have left many times, but she stayed, and the first couple of times Claire brought it up, she was surprised when Elle declined to leave.
“I chose to live. I don’t know why; you’re such a bitch sometimes,” Elle said with a laugh. “But as you said, I hated Sylar once too.”
Elle grinned at her and looked Claire over, enjoying that her hair had finally grown out and returned to its golden color. It was like the terrible woman with dark brown hair and leather jumpers was dead, and Elle had told her many times that she was glad Claire was back to her true self.
Touched by Elle’s affectionate gaze, Claire reached over and squeezed her hand on her lap. Twenty minutes later, they’d come to the mass grave memorial in Costa Verde and started searching for Noah and Gabriel’s graves. Mostly likely the slabs were together, and now that Elle and Claire were no longer running from the government, they could finally visit this place.
Elle hadn’t returned to Costa Verde her since Claire took her as a prisoner for Pinehearst. Claire, on the other hand, remembered vividly dying here in that nuclear explosion and then coming back to life one cell at a time. Both of them shuddered at their memories, and even Claire knew she couldn’t apologize enough to Elle on what she’d done to her.
“That’s the past,” Elle said with a snort. “Do we really have to keep going there? It’s annoying.”
“No, but today is the last time we go back,” Claire said, and they stepped in front of the black marble plaques that contained Gabriel and Noah’s name - their real names, not fake ones that Elle and Gabriel had been using while on the run. Claire smiled at the thought and was unexpectedly happy for it. She watched as Elle knelt down, tracing her hand lovingly over the smooth marble of her son’s etched name.
“I used to think that Pinehearst gave me a purpose after my dad died,” Claire said as she looked down at the graves. Elle knew that Claire didn’t talk about her dad much, and only recently had Claire accepted that it hadn’t been Sylar and Elle’s fault that her dad had died. Like Elle, it took time for Claire to heal from such things, which is why Claire could always understand that Elle didn’t immediately trust her that night they escaped Pinehearst. “I was wrong, of course. It changed me, and even though it changed Peter for the worse too, he had been right about a lot of things.”
“You think you can finally forgive Peter?” Elle asked. “I mean I eventually forgave you.”
“Yeah, only last week,” Claire said, rolling her eyes, and Elle cackled.
“Still, Peter’s dead, so it should be easier for you. I actually have to live with you,” Elle remarked.
“I know,” Claire said with a heavy breath. “I think... I already forgave Peter a long time ago. I just didn’t realize it until lately, when the world is crumbling right under our feet.”
“So the world is ending and we’re just going to accept it? Just like that?” Elle said, turning toward her and rising from her knees. Claire shook her head.
“No, Elle. We fight, we run, and we live, as long as we can,” Claire said, and she held out her hand to Elle, who took it a lot faster than she did those months ago when they escaped. She was also squeezing back, grinning at Claire and leaning close to her, teasing her with an extra charge. Claire could feel an electric breeze pass through them as she leaned in and found Elle’s lips.
“Come on. Let's go home,” she whispered, pulling Elle along. She smiled as she reveled in the feeling of Elle's hand within hers. Like the pain that returned to her, Claire thought it was the most beautiful feeling in the world.
END