Excerpt: Redemption
Author: fiorediloto
Title: Redemption
Pairing/Rating: Peter/Claire, Peter/Nathan, NC-17
Summary: May 1947. After two years, Peter Petrelli's back home from Sicily, but something's changed. Now there's Claire, Nathan's long-lost daughter that Angela decided to reunite to the family. Claire's not happy to be there; Peter's happy she is. Nathan has to deal with both.
At dinner there’s still the same silence that when you were a boy made it impossible for you to raise your eyes from your plate; the imperceptible noise of the family’s mastication and the unhappy tapping of five fingers on the table cloth. Your mother makes that little throat noise that sounds like a cough and Claire stops it, like you did, hiding her hand under the table. You smile to her between a water bottle and a wine one and roll your eyes sympathetically.
“What‘s the family’s business about?” she asks suddenly, talking to everybody and no one, and the silence coagulates around you as cold as if the dining room had turned into a basement.
It’s your fault. You knew your answer (“olive oil importation”) hadn’t convinced her. You should’ve invented something better.
“Olive oil importation,” Nathan answers, looking up. Calm, peaceful, totally self-controlled. After all, it’s not even a lie.
“Just that?” Claire insists, tilting her head to study Nathan over Heidi’s profile sitting between them.
“Claire,” starts your mother, gently.
“Naturally,” Nathan replies.
“Why do you have two bodyguards?”
“Claire, honey. We don’t talk business at the table,” your mother articulates, in a sharp voice.
A wrinkle of stubbornness rises between Claire’s eyebrows, but it gets smoothed out almost immediately. “Right,” she says, surprising you. You allow yourself to relax; maybe the worst has been avoided. In the renewed silence, Heidi orders Simon to finish his dinner.
“I’d like to see my family.” When your mother glowers at her, Claire comments in a peaceful tone: “It’s not business”.
“This is your family,” says Angela Petrelli.
“I don’t think so, no,” replies Claire, chillingly.
You sigh uneasily, spying on Nathan’s expression. “They’ll come and see you next month,” he says.
“My father told me I could go to Odessa around the end of this month.”
“It seems obvious Mr. Bennet isn’t well informed,” your mother points out.
Everything inside you shouts Claire, stop it, but your lips don’t move. Will you let her crash against the wall, like Nathan did with you and your father? Claire’s eyes rise to you, desperate and raging, looking for help.
“I could go with her,” you try, looking at Nathan.
He looks surprised but just for a moment, and you vaguely wonder if he doesn’t already know everything, even the things that didn’t happen yet.
“Claire’s got school,” Nathan replies, calmly.
“She won’t fail the year for missing a couple of days.”
“Doesn’t matter. I don’t want her to.”
“The family’s more important,” you retort, and you don’t notice but you’ve just used one of your father’s favourite sentences.
The silence falls upon you for the third time. Nathan glares you in that way that once frightened and aroused you at the same time, and now just shows how little his personality can still dominate yours.
“The answer is no.”
“Dad respected the others’ families.”
Nathan looks at you with a sarcastic grin, not at all impressed. “You don’t really think mentioning Dad is enough to make me change my mind, do you?”
You clench your jaw, vexed. “The truth is, he would’ve said that I’m right. That Claire is.”
“The truth is, you haven’t got the slightest idea of what Dad thought.”
You step out of the dining room pale with humiliation.
Full story coming September 14th!
With accompanying art by eryslash
Title: Redemption
Pairing/Rating: Peter/Claire, Peter/Nathan, NC-17
Summary: May 1947. After two years, Peter Petrelli's back home from Sicily, but something's changed. Now there's Claire, Nathan's long-lost daughter that Angela decided to reunite to the family. Claire's not happy to be there; Peter's happy she is. Nathan has to deal with both.
At dinner there’s still the same silence that when you were a boy made it impossible for you to raise your eyes from your plate; the imperceptible noise of the family’s mastication and the unhappy tapping of five fingers on the table cloth. Your mother makes that little throat noise that sounds like a cough and Claire stops it, like you did, hiding her hand under the table. You smile to her between a water bottle and a wine one and roll your eyes sympathetically.
“What‘s the family’s business about?” she asks suddenly, talking to everybody and no one, and the silence coagulates around you as cold as if the dining room had turned into a basement.
It’s your fault. You knew your answer (“olive oil importation”) hadn’t convinced her. You should’ve invented something better.
“Olive oil importation,” Nathan answers, looking up. Calm, peaceful, totally self-controlled. After all, it’s not even a lie.
“Just that?” Claire insists, tilting her head to study Nathan over Heidi’s profile sitting between them.
“Claire,” starts your mother, gently.
“Naturally,” Nathan replies.
“Why do you have two bodyguards?”
“Claire, honey. We don’t talk business at the table,” your mother articulates, in a sharp voice.
A wrinkle of stubbornness rises between Claire’s eyebrows, but it gets smoothed out almost immediately. “Right,” she says, surprising you. You allow yourself to relax; maybe the worst has been avoided. In the renewed silence, Heidi orders Simon to finish his dinner.
“I’d like to see my family.” When your mother glowers at her, Claire comments in a peaceful tone: “It’s not business”.
“This is your family,” says Angela Petrelli.
“I don’t think so, no,” replies Claire, chillingly.
You sigh uneasily, spying on Nathan’s expression. “They’ll come and see you next month,” he says.
“My father told me I could go to Odessa around the end of this month.”
“It seems obvious Mr. Bennet isn’t well informed,” your mother points out.
Everything inside you shouts Claire, stop it, but your lips don’t move. Will you let her crash against the wall, like Nathan did with you and your father? Claire’s eyes rise to you, desperate and raging, looking for help.
“I could go with her,” you try, looking at Nathan.
He looks surprised but just for a moment, and you vaguely wonder if he doesn’t already know everything, even the things that didn’t happen yet.
“Claire’s got school,” Nathan replies, calmly.
“She won’t fail the year for missing a couple of days.”
“Doesn’t matter. I don’t want her to.”
“The family’s more important,” you retort, and you don’t notice but you’ve just used one of your father’s favourite sentences.
The silence falls upon you for the third time. Nathan glares you in that way that once frightened and aroused you at the same time, and now just shows how little his personality can still dominate yours.
“The answer is no.”
“Dad respected the others’ families.”
Nathan looks at you with a sarcastic grin, not at all impressed. “You don’t really think mentioning Dad is enough to make me change my mind, do you?”
You clench your jaw, vexed. “The truth is, he would’ve said that I’m right. That Claire is.”
“The truth is, you haven’t got the slightest idea of what Dad thought.”
You step out of the dining room pale with humiliation.
Full story coming September 14th!
With accompanying art by eryslash