Nathan's Christmas Carol
Title: Nathan’s Christmas Carol
Rating: R (mostly for language and dark themes)
Summary: A bit of Heroes, a bit of A Christmas Carol - with a few changes, of course.
Spoilers: Mild S3
Disclaimer: Heroes is not owned by me, but by Tim Kring. I’m simply borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.
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Chapter 1/4, Christmas Eve 2011:
“What’s with Scrooge?” Sylar quietly asked Claire as they took a seat at the immaculately set dining room table for Angela’s annual Christmas Eve dinner.
“You know President Petrelli,” she sighed. “Never happy unless he’s able to start a war on the biggest holiday of the year.”
“Sounds like he’s halfway there as it is,” he commented as they all heard the commotion coming from the foyer of the Petrelli home.
“Why’d you even bother to come here?!” Peter demanded.
“Ma wanted me here, just like she does every year. It doesn’t matter to her where I’m supposed to be or what I’m supposed to be doing,” Nathan replied, struggling to keep his voice from escalating like Peter’s already had.
“Because what’s happening on the other side of the world is so much more important than spending Christmas Eve dinner with your family, I get it!”
Peter knew he shouldn’t have been so angry. But he was so sick of his brother ignoring him again. He barely saw him as it was and now he felt they were barely even acquaintances. He wanted his brother back, but ever since he had been elected President their relationship had taken a turn for the worse.
Tracy hadn’t made it any easier, seeming to him more as a parasite as hungry for power as their father had been than his brother’s wife. She hadn’t even married him because she loved him, they all knew that. She was only after the prestige of being the First Lady.
“You have no idea what I have to deal with every day, Peter. I can’t help that I can’t make special arrangements to see any of you,” Nathan fired back.
“You could if you wanted to,” Peter spat before storming back into the dining room and pouring himself another drink. The stronger the better, he decided. There was nothing about this night he wanted to remember.
Angela only sighed as her eldest son followed her youngest back into the room.
“Now that we’re all here, do you think we could simply try to have a civil family dinner for once?” she asked her family.
“Of course, Mrs. Petrelli,” Tracy brilliantly smiled to the older woman before glancing to her still silently fuming husband and his equally angry brother. “This is a lovely dinner you’ve had prepared for us. Thank you for inviting all of us to Christmas dinner.”
“Think nothing of it, my dear,” Angela smiled in her best plastic politeness. She knew her daughter-in-law had great plans to be the new matriarch of the Petrelli family and it angered her to no end. Tracy was pleasant enough when it counted, but Angela knew too well what lurked within her mind. She had been on Arthur’s side until the end, after all.
“Yeah, my dad’s sorry he couldn’t make it -” Claire stated, trying to ease the tension but Angela cut her off.
“I’m sure he is, dear. But he’s on a very important assignment so it’s alright.”
“Never mind the important assignments the rest of us have,” Nathan muttered.
It took all Peter had not to lunge across the table at that. Though he suspected Sylar was holding him back at least somewhat. “Noah isn’t blood. Some of us are,” he stated before standing to get another drink.
“Peter, I do wish you would take it easy. It’s only six o’clock,” Angela told him.
“Ma, if he wants to be a little brat, I say let him. The hangover he’ll have tomorrow might teach him a thing or two,” Nathan replied.
“I’m not a child,” he spat.
“Then quit acting like one,” Nathan fired.
That was too much for Peter, who then hurled the now empty glass bottle at his brother’s head.
“Peter!” Angela cried as the glass hit the floor and shattered on impact.
“That’s it,” Nathan stated as he got up from his seat. “I’m not staying where I’m not welcome.”
“Right, use any excuse to leave just like you always do,” Peter told him.
“You’re a son of a bitch, Peter. You just tried to kill me and now you want to blame me for leaving because of it -”
“You know better than anyone if I was going to try to kill you I’d use a gun again. I just wanted to slap some sense back into you.”
“Enough!” Tracy cried as she leapt from her seat. “You two are brothers! What’s the matter with you?!”
“He is not my brother. We may have the same parents, but that’s it. I’m done. Have a nice life, Pete,” Nathan fumed before grabbing his coat and storming out to his car, leaving Tracy behind.
“And you thought I’d be the one to make a scene,” Sylar muttered to Claire.
“And he thought his illegitimate daughter would be the one to cause him the most trouble,” she replied.
“Peter, you go after Nathan right now,” their mother demanded.
“Forget it, we’re better off without him.”
“Peter, you’re trashed, just go home and sleep it off,” Sylar told him, finally rising from his seat.
“Back off, Sylar. You might be my nephew-in-law and for a few weeks we may have been brothers, but don’t think I’m gonna take your advice,” he spat before shrugging him off.
“Sylar’s right,” Tracy agreed.
“Fuck you, harpy,” Peter replied to her. He still cared too much about Nathan to kill him, no matter how angry he was. But as he blamed Tracy for turning Nathan against his family there was little stopping him from trying to kill her in this state.
“Peter!” Angela cried. Peter may not have currently been seated at her dining room table, but she still wouldn’t tolerate profanity in her home.
“Never mind, thanks for dinner, Mom,” he stated before silently deciding to take Sylar’s advice. He couldn’t stand to be in that house for another minute.
He knew he was drunk, he wasn’t stupid enough to drive. It took him a while but he managed to hail a taxi.
Each had anticipated the impending phone call in their own way. But this time it was Nathan to sit bolt upright at the sound of crunching metal and Peter’s painful scream.
He instantly remembered his mother having told him about the connection Peter thought they shared. How Peter had been awakened by his accident those years before. Nathan had been mostly fine however thanks to his power. He could only hope the same would be true for Peter.
The cell phone began to ring, further jarring his nerves/ Tracy still wasn’t back yet and he wanted to believe it was her saying she was spending the night at Angela’s, not wanting to chance the icy roads.
“Hello?” he answered.
“Dad?” Claire sobbed.
Already tears were beginning to sting the older man’s eyes. “Don’t tell me it’s Peter.”
At that she began to cry harder, a mournful wail escaping her throat.
Sylar immediately curled an arm around her, keeping her from sinking to the hospital floor and took the phone from her slender hand.
“Nathan?” he asked.
“What happened?” he asked, trying to keep his own emotions in check as he spoke to his son-in-law. “Don’t tell me he fucking drove drunk.”
“He didn’t. He got a taxi, but the driver went off the road, black ice they think. There was a crash and Peter -”
Another wail escaped his wife’s throat, sufficing for Nathan’s answer.
On complete auto pilot for the rest of the conversation, Nathan knew he was too shaken to even consider going to the hospital. He couldn’t see his brother dead again. Twice already was more than enough and when that fight was his last memory of him, he knew it would kill him. Knowing the press would want a statement from the grieving President wouldn’t be any help either.