The Cruel Uneventful State of Empathy (Part 2)
Title: The Cruel Uneventful State of Empathy (Part 2 of ?)
Fandom: Heroes
Author: Meli Parker
Word Count: 3186
Rating: R
Characters and Pairing: Peter/Nathan, Claire, Mrs Petrelli
Warnings: Angst, dark, gore, harsh language, incest, slash
Spoilers: Up to 18 (Later bits are slightly episode 19 Spoilerish from scenes online and pictures.)
Summary: Peter can't stop himself from feeling, Nathan and his mother both bring unexpected news.
Notes: Sequel/Prequel to In My Time of Dying. I wanted to post this before tomorrow's episode. Enjoy!
Part 2
Two days passed and Peter hadn’t left his apartment. Peter did as Nathan told. He stayed; he lied in bed for most of it.
Numbness was taking over Peter’s mindset. He didn’t feel like himself anymore, he felt like someone else. That someone else wanted to do terrible things. It wanted to find Isaac and finish the job. It wanted to go across the country and the world with the list he had stolen from Mohinder’s apartment and collect the other abilities. It wanted power. Peter was trying as hard as he could not to give in. Power sounded so good though; not to mention, it felt good.
There was a knock at the door in the middle of the night. Peter didn’t rise from his bed. “Peter?” said a voice from the hall. Peter closed his eyes. It was a girl’s voice. “Peter Petrelli?” she called again. “It’s me, Claire Bennet.” Claire? Did he know a Claire? Peter heard her knocking again. Oh wait, Claire was the name of the cheerleader! What the hell was she doing here?
“Eh, fuck her,” Peter thought.
“Yeah, you want to fuck her,” said a voice in the back of his mind. Peter opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. She knocked once again. Peter continued to lie in bed. He normally would have cared that Claire was at the door -- after all, he was rather fond of the young girl -- but he didn’t. Peter just looked at the ceiling, piecing together faces in the stucco.
“I thought you said he was home?” Claire said to someone outside the door. Peter’s eyebrows burrowed into his eyes. “No, he never answered. And Nathan told you he came home? Maybe he’s doing something.” Claire paused. “That’s kinda mean to say about your own son, Mrs Petrelli.”
“Mom?” Peter thought.
*
Peter couldn’t stop himself from feeling. Peter lied in his bed tossing and turning, holding the pillow over his face and ears to try to rid the noise and feelings. Peter wasn’t feeling his own broken emotions; he was feeling everyone else’s. He was feeling the crowds of tourists’ walking by his apartment and the hog dog vender’s down the street. He was feeling some kid’s who just scrapped his knee in Omaha and a cheating businessman’s guilt when his wife confronted him in Chicago. It was torture. Peter was feeling everyone else’s emotions on the planet and he couldn’t turn it off. He needed someone strong to come to him and sit beside him and tell him it was going to be ok. He needed Nathan.
Ah, Nathan; The big brother who cared so much about him. Peter loved Nathan more than he should have and Peter knew Nathan felt the same way even if he wouldn’t admit it. After all, they had taken their love to the next level two nights prior; it was fantastic. Peter closed his eyes and remembered the way Nathan had forced himself on to Peter, his strong hands running up and down his body and through his hair. Peter longed for Nathan’s touch again. It was a addicting. Peter needed to fuck him again to end his suffering.
Peter opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. Light was flooding his apartment through the semi-shaded window. He had fallen asleep thinking about Nathan. Nathan saved him without even knowing it. Peter smiled for the first time in two days. Maybe there was hope for him.
*
Nathan called the next night. The apathy like numbness had set into Peter’s mind set again. Once again he lied on the bed staring at the ceiling. Peter didn’t answer the phone. “Peter, Peter pick up the fucking phone,” Nathan said over the answering machine. Peter turned his head slowly and looked at the dark, cordless phone sitting on his nightstand. “Peter, this is fucking important, I need you to pick up the phone right now. I know you’re home! This is big. It’s Linderman.” Peter grabbed the phone off his nightstand.
“What about him?” he mumbled.
“He’s knows,” Nathan growled. “He knows about us.” Peter looked up at the ceiling again and smirked.
“Well, that wont do,” he muttered.
“I’m coming over, Peter, right now.” Peter looked over at the clock. 1.14 am.
“Where are you?” Peter asked Nathan. Nathan was breaking up. There was some kind of static in the phone. “I’m loosing you.” Peter heard Nathan laugh harshly on the other line.
“I’m flying in from Vegas as we speak. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
There was a knock on the door that led out to the fire escape. Peter stood up slowly and made his way to it. He saw Nathan standing there shivering. His hair was a mess, clothes in disarray and his eyes were dry and bloodshot. He was blinking an awful lot. He saw Peter looking at him and said, “Don’t just stand there you bitch. Open the fucking door.”
“You flew?” said Peter handing Nathan a cup of coffee. Nathan took the cup from Peter’s hand shaking like he had Parkinson’s. He gave Peter a thanking look and took the mug up to his mouth. “All the way from Vegas?” Nathan looked up at Peter.
“Yeah.” He took a sip of the coffee and closed his eyes. Peter smiled. Nathan’s presence made Peter feel whole again. He made him feel like he could close his eyes and just soar into the sky. Peter liked that feeling. It was the feeling that he always got when he was around Nathan. Suddenly, Peter realized where the feeling was coming from.
It wasn’t the way Nathan made him feel, it was Peter feeling what Nathan felt. Peter grew cold at his brother as he realized the lie he had been living his whole life, but tried not to show it. There were more pressing matters a foot.
“How does Linderman know?” Peter asked harshly. Nathan looked up at Peter darkly.
“He’s always known,” he said eyes pricing into Peter as he said it. Peter looked at Nathan curiously.
“Does that mean that Dad--?”
“I don’t know.” Nathan paused. “He used to be part of this group that went around helping people, but they all ended up being selfish bastards.” Peter’s eyes were wide.
“Linderman has abilities?”
“Yes.” Peter turned away from Nathan and closed his eyes. Linderman had a power. That would explain a lot. And the fact that he knew about them…Maybe he knew about other people too. Like Isaac; maybe that was why he bought Isaac’s paintings: to see the future. Peter smirked to himself wondering what Linderman’s power was. He wondered what that power would feel like as he used it on him. He wondered if could use Linderman’s own power to kill him.
“ Peter,” Nathan said quietly snapping Peter out of his murderous thoughts. Peter slowly turned and looked at Nathan, his hair falling into his face.
“Yeah?”
“You don’t explode,” he said looking at him. Peter almost rolled his eyes, but instead he remained serious.
“We’ve gone over this Nathan, I--”
“Linderman is behind it. He’s behind it all. He’s going to blow up New York to unify the world. Peter, it’s not you. It’s all him.” Peter looked at Nathan harshly.
“Stop it. Stop trying to convince me it was just a dream cause it wasn’t!”
“Yes it was Peter! People have dreams all the time, nightmares even! That doesn’t mean they’re going to come true!” Nathan yelled with fiery anger. He was so sick of hearing about Peter’s constant struggle with reality. Peter could feel anger rising in his own chest and his breathing intensified. He could feel a power unlocking itself from the vault inside his head. Nathan eyes went wide with shock and fear. He slowly began to push himself away from Peter. Peter’s nose twitched in anger as the objects around him began to rise into the air.
“Peter, calm down,” Nathan said softly. “I’m sorry, just let me help you.” Peter laughed harshly.
“You think you can save me, Nathan?” said Peter.
“Of course.” Peter smirked.
“I doubt it.” There was a sudden knock at the door. Peter and Nathan both turned their heads to look and the objects floating around Peter ceased to float. They landed to the floor with a clang.
“Open the door Peter,” said his mother’s voice on the other side of the door. The brothers turned to each other with an identical worried, panic look on their faces.
“Shit,” Nathan muttered quickly trying to make himself look presentable, the way he always did. He rose and went to a mirror to see how he looked, hoping there was no sign of the abnormal. Peter on the other hand turned invisible. Nathan turned back to Peter only to find no one there. “Peter?” Nathan whispered. Peter sat on the couch smirking as a confused and worried Nathan looked right through him. He liked Claude’s power a little too much. It was one of the most useful powers he had collected so far, aside from the cheerleader’s of course.
“Peter,” said his mother again knocking. “Open the door. It’s important.” Peter listened to his mother’s voice again. “I know you’re in there Peter. Don’t make me open this door myself.” Peter laughed internally. The way she spoke to him as if he was a 5 year old, made Peter smile for some odd reason. Even he didn’t understand why. Normally, Peter would be annoyed by his mother’s condescending nature, but tonight he wasn’t. Maybe it was because she wouldn’t be able to find him when she got inside. Nathan looked around for Peter again and then slowly turned his confused eyes to the door.
Peter watched Nathan open his front door from a corner of the room. “Nathan?” she said looking surprised to see him opening the door to her other son’s apartment.
“He’s not here,” he said mono-tonely. His mother looked at him and rolled her eyes.
“Of course he’s here, Nathan,” she said matter-o-factely, letting herself into Peter’s home. “C’mon Peter, get out here.” Peter moved to a dark corner never making a sound. He watched his mother look around the apartment and Nathan frown in confusion.
“Ma, he isn’t here.”
“Nathan, he let you in here and he hasn’t left.” Nathan moved to speak but their Mother spoke first. “C’mon out here Peter. Show yourself. I’m your mother not a serial killer. Come on Peter, I know you’re in here.” She went through the apartment looking for her lost invisible son.
“Oh great, now she’s going crazy,” Nathan muttered under his breath.
“Peter, I’m here to tell you about someone you know,” she said tempting him to come out of hiding. Peter wasn’t going to fall for it.
“Let’s just go, Mom. He--”
“It’s about the girl from Texas, Peter.” Peter’s ears perked up.
“What girl?” Nathan asked his mother a bit harshly. She turned and smirked at Nathan.
“You know her,” she said. Peter was curious. Was she talking about the cheerleader? Didn’t Claire say something about a ‘Mrs Petrelli’ when she was at his door? Was his mother the reason she was in New York. Peter made himself reappear, but continued to stand in a dark corner of the room.
“How does Nathan know Claire,” he said darkly, suddenly speaking. Nathan jumped and his mother turned around and smiled. Nathan turned around as well.
“What the hell!?” Nathan yelled at angrily. Peter continued to stare at his mother darkly and she in turn continued to smile.
“It’s been almost a month Peter,” she said softly looking directly in his eyes. “It’s been almost a month since I’ve seen you…really you. Not you dying in a hospital bed…just you.”
“How does he know Claire,” Peter said darkly once again. It wasn’t so much a question as it was a demand. His mother’s smile faded.
“What’s the matter with you, Peter?” she asked him sensing that something was obviously wrong with him.
“Nothing Mom,” he said quietly. “Just tell me about Claire.” She took a step back to look at both of her boys. Nathan and Peter both waited to hear what she was about to say.
“She’s your daughter, Nathan,” she said softly. Nathan and Peter’s eyes both went wide. “The girl that Peter went to Texas for is your daughter.”
“The cheerleader?” Peter asked.
“Yes.” Nathan looked at his Mother as though she was lying.
“You’re just shitting me right, Mom?” he said beginning to rub his hands through his hair. “Cause the world - the world doesn’t work like this! I mean its one thing to have her come back from the dead -!”
“Little Claire’s alive…” Peter muttered. He suddenly grinned. “Dying…it’s no big deal…” he said. Nathan turned and looked at Peter harshly.
“What was that, Peter?” Peter looked at Nathan and smiled stepping out of the darkness.
“That’s what she said to me…when she came to me when I was in jail,” he said. Peter suddenly remembered everything about her. He remembered her sad little smile when she told him how she had felt so alone until Peter. How they connected without ever knowing each other before hand. Why didn’t he answer the door when she had come for him!? “She said that she had died before.” Nathan frowned at Peter. Peter looked at his mother. “Mom, you gotta take me to her.” She smiled at him.
“Of course,” she said softly.
*
Nathan sat in his study looking at all kinds of paperwork. Peter sat in a plush chair on the opposite side of the room, quietly watching his brother work in equal silence. The lack of noise was almost deafening. Finally, Nathan broke it. “You know, you could be doing something, Peter,” Nathan said not looking up from the papers. Peter smiled.
“I’m waiting for Claire to get here,” he said. “She’s an amazing girl.” Nathan looked up at Peter. “You have a baby, Nathan,” said Peter echoing something he had said to his brother many years earlier. Nathan smiled at Peter but it faded quickly.
“Listen…uh, Peter,” he started as if he didn’t know how to say what he was about to say. “You know how I told you about Linderman…?”
“How he knows about us?”
“Yeah, well, it’s not just us he knows about…and that’s not the only thing he knows…” Peter felt his face grow thoughtful and angry at the same time.
“What else does he know?”
“He knows about Claire.” Almost immediately Peter began to ponder killing him. How could he know about Claire? He couldn’t know about her. Claire needed to be protected especially from a man like that. “He said that Claire can do something,” Nathan said once again snapping Peter out of his dark thoughts. He looked at Peter. “What can she do? Can she fly like us?” Peter frowned.
“I can’t fly, Nathan,” Peter said quietly. “I can fly because you can fly. I do what you can do.” Nathan looked at Peter confused.
“What’d ya mean? I’ve seen you fly Pete. I mean, I know you can do other things too, but you can fly…”
“I can fly Nathan, because…I took your power,” said Peter. “That’s what I do. I take peoples abilities, absorb them…Make them mine.” Nathan looked at Peter almost curiously as if he wanted to know more about what Peter does, but instead he shrugged.
“Whatever you say man,” he said going back to his work. Peter glared at his brother.
“And what do you mean by he knows more,” said Peter darkly. Nathan looked up at Peter again and smirked nervously. It was the same nervous smile his face bore when he didn’t want to believe something, even though it was true. It was the look on his face when he admitted to Peter he could fly.
“He said in three years I’m going to be president,” he said. “And he had one of your junkie friend’s paintings to prove it.” Peter’s eyes went wide.
“President?” Peter breathed out.
“Yeah, can you believe it?”
“No, I mean, you’ll only have been in congress for two years! That never happens! I mean Vice President maybe but…Damn, Nathan this is fucking big.” He laughed at Peter.
“How do you think I felt when I saw the painting?” Nathan said. Suddenly he looked confused. “I was standing there alone though…in the dark. I wasn’t happy.” Peter looked at Nathan curiously.
“Why?”
“I dunno.”
“Maybe something happens like I die or something,” Peter joked. Nathan looked at Peter seriously.
“Don’t joke around like that Peter,” he said sternly.
*
“Claire,” said his mother. “This is your--”
“Peter!” She said running to him. Peter met her half-way happily and she jumped into his body. Peter held her tightly. Peter heard his mother huff and leave the room. He looked down at the golden haired teenager whose face was bright and full of smiles.
“Claire,” said Peter softly. “How are you?”
“I’m great, now that you’re here,” she said. “Ever since you saved me, I’ve wanted to see you, again.” Peter smiled.
“Me too,” he said.
Liar, said a voice in the back of his head. You forgot her name.
His grasp on Claire weakened and she took a step back. Peter looked at her from top to bottom. Her blonde curls sat happily on her right shoulder cascading downward like a waterfall. Hazel eyes looked at Peter with absolute happiness, like it was the first time she felt happiness in years. “You’re Nathan’s daughter,” he said softly. She suddenly looked uncomfortable and her face broke into the sad little smile her remembered.
“I guess I am,” she said.
“You’re supposed to be dead,” said Peter winking. Claire laughed and said,
“Dying’s no big deal.”
“I’m going to miss you, Claire,” said Peter suddenly, taking her hand in his. She looked confused.
“What do you mean? Where you going?” she asked. Peter had to lie. He couldn’t tell her what he was about to go off and do. She would just try to stop him.
“I have to go somewhere tonight. There’s something I’ve gotta do, but you can’t tell Nathan or my Mom…Your Grandma…” Peter smiled at her, hiding the dark thoughts that plagued his mind. Claire looked at him intrigued.
“What do you have to do?” Peter’s mouth twisted into a crooked smirk.
“Hero stuff.” She smiled but never said anything; and she didn’t need to. Claire’s face said it all, she adored and idolized Peter. She had no idea what he was going to do and the murderous feelings brewing inside him. She trusted Peter with all her heart and soul. He could never let her down because he was her hero. Peter finally broke the smiling silence. “I just had to see you…You’re my niece Claire. I knew there was a reason we connected so well. We’re related.” Claire smiled brightly once again.
“My hero’s my uncle,” she said laughing a little.
Fandom: Heroes
Author: Meli Parker
Word Count: 3186
Rating: R
Characters and Pairing: Peter/Nathan, Claire, Mrs Petrelli
Warnings: Angst, dark, gore, harsh language, incest, slash
Spoilers: Up to 18 (Later bits are slightly episode 19 Spoilerish from scenes online and pictures.)
Summary: Peter can't stop himself from feeling, Nathan and his mother both bring unexpected news.
Notes: Sequel/Prequel to In My Time of Dying. I wanted to post this before tomorrow's episode. Enjoy!
Part 2
Two days passed and Peter hadn’t left his apartment. Peter did as Nathan told. He stayed; he lied in bed for most of it.
Numbness was taking over Peter’s mindset. He didn’t feel like himself anymore, he felt like someone else. That someone else wanted to do terrible things. It wanted to find Isaac and finish the job. It wanted to go across the country and the world with the list he had stolen from Mohinder’s apartment and collect the other abilities. It wanted power. Peter was trying as hard as he could not to give in. Power sounded so good though; not to mention, it felt good.
There was a knock at the door in the middle of the night. Peter didn’t rise from his bed. “Peter?” said a voice from the hall. Peter closed his eyes. It was a girl’s voice. “Peter Petrelli?” she called again. “It’s me, Claire Bennet.” Claire? Did he know a Claire? Peter heard her knocking again. Oh wait, Claire was the name of the cheerleader! What the hell was she doing here?
“Eh, fuck her,” Peter thought.
“Yeah, you want to fuck her,” said a voice in the back of his mind. Peter opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. She knocked once again. Peter continued to lie in bed. He normally would have cared that Claire was at the door -- after all, he was rather fond of the young girl -- but he didn’t. Peter just looked at the ceiling, piecing together faces in the stucco.
“I thought you said he was home?” Claire said to someone outside the door. Peter’s eyebrows burrowed into his eyes. “No, he never answered. And Nathan told you he came home? Maybe he’s doing something.” Claire paused. “That’s kinda mean to say about your own son, Mrs Petrelli.”
“Mom?” Peter thought.
*
Peter couldn’t stop himself from feeling. Peter lied in his bed tossing and turning, holding the pillow over his face and ears to try to rid the noise and feelings. Peter wasn’t feeling his own broken emotions; he was feeling everyone else’s. He was feeling the crowds of tourists’ walking by his apartment and the hog dog vender’s down the street. He was feeling some kid’s who just scrapped his knee in Omaha and a cheating businessman’s guilt when his wife confronted him in Chicago. It was torture. Peter was feeling everyone else’s emotions on the planet and he couldn’t turn it off. He needed someone strong to come to him and sit beside him and tell him it was going to be ok. He needed Nathan.
Ah, Nathan; The big brother who cared so much about him. Peter loved Nathan more than he should have and Peter knew Nathan felt the same way even if he wouldn’t admit it. After all, they had taken their love to the next level two nights prior; it was fantastic. Peter closed his eyes and remembered the way Nathan had forced himself on to Peter, his strong hands running up and down his body and through his hair. Peter longed for Nathan’s touch again. It was a addicting. Peter needed to fuck him again to end his suffering.
Peter opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. Light was flooding his apartment through the semi-shaded window. He had fallen asleep thinking about Nathan. Nathan saved him without even knowing it. Peter smiled for the first time in two days. Maybe there was hope for him.
*
Nathan called the next night. The apathy like numbness had set into Peter’s mind set again. Once again he lied on the bed staring at the ceiling. Peter didn’t answer the phone. “Peter, Peter pick up the fucking phone,” Nathan said over the answering machine. Peter turned his head slowly and looked at the dark, cordless phone sitting on his nightstand. “Peter, this is fucking important, I need you to pick up the phone right now. I know you’re home! This is big. It’s Linderman.” Peter grabbed the phone off his nightstand.
“What about him?” he mumbled.
“He’s knows,” Nathan growled. “He knows about us.” Peter looked up at the ceiling again and smirked.
“Well, that wont do,” he muttered.
“I’m coming over, Peter, right now.” Peter looked over at the clock. 1.14 am.
“Where are you?” Peter asked Nathan. Nathan was breaking up. There was some kind of static in the phone. “I’m loosing you.” Peter heard Nathan laugh harshly on the other line.
“I’m flying in from Vegas as we speak. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
There was a knock on the door that led out to the fire escape. Peter stood up slowly and made his way to it. He saw Nathan standing there shivering. His hair was a mess, clothes in disarray and his eyes were dry and bloodshot. He was blinking an awful lot. He saw Peter looking at him and said, “Don’t just stand there you bitch. Open the fucking door.”
“You flew?” said Peter handing Nathan a cup of coffee. Nathan took the cup from Peter’s hand shaking like he had Parkinson’s. He gave Peter a thanking look and took the mug up to his mouth. “All the way from Vegas?” Nathan looked up at Peter.
“Yeah.” He took a sip of the coffee and closed his eyes. Peter smiled. Nathan’s presence made Peter feel whole again. He made him feel like he could close his eyes and just soar into the sky. Peter liked that feeling. It was the feeling that he always got when he was around Nathan. Suddenly, Peter realized where the feeling was coming from.
It wasn’t the way Nathan made him feel, it was Peter feeling what Nathan felt. Peter grew cold at his brother as he realized the lie he had been living his whole life, but tried not to show it. There were more pressing matters a foot.
“How does Linderman know?” Peter asked harshly. Nathan looked up at Peter darkly.
“He’s always known,” he said eyes pricing into Peter as he said it. Peter looked at Nathan curiously.
“Does that mean that Dad--?”
“I don’t know.” Nathan paused. “He used to be part of this group that went around helping people, but they all ended up being selfish bastards.” Peter’s eyes were wide.
“Linderman has abilities?”
“Yes.” Peter turned away from Nathan and closed his eyes. Linderman had a power. That would explain a lot. And the fact that he knew about them…Maybe he knew about other people too. Like Isaac; maybe that was why he bought Isaac’s paintings: to see the future. Peter smirked to himself wondering what Linderman’s power was. He wondered what that power would feel like as he used it on him. He wondered if could use Linderman’s own power to kill him.
“ Peter,” Nathan said quietly snapping Peter out of his murderous thoughts. Peter slowly turned and looked at Nathan, his hair falling into his face.
“Yeah?”
“You don’t explode,” he said looking at him. Peter almost rolled his eyes, but instead he remained serious.
“We’ve gone over this Nathan, I--”
“Linderman is behind it. He’s behind it all. He’s going to blow up New York to unify the world. Peter, it’s not you. It’s all him.” Peter looked at Nathan harshly.
“Stop it. Stop trying to convince me it was just a dream cause it wasn’t!”
“Yes it was Peter! People have dreams all the time, nightmares even! That doesn’t mean they’re going to come true!” Nathan yelled with fiery anger. He was so sick of hearing about Peter’s constant struggle with reality. Peter could feel anger rising in his own chest and his breathing intensified. He could feel a power unlocking itself from the vault inside his head. Nathan eyes went wide with shock and fear. He slowly began to push himself away from Peter. Peter’s nose twitched in anger as the objects around him began to rise into the air.
“Peter, calm down,” Nathan said softly. “I’m sorry, just let me help you.” Peter laughed harshly.
“You think you can save me, Nathan?” said Peter.
“Of course.” Peter smirked.
“I doubt it.” There was a sudden knock at the door. Peter and Nathan both turned their heads to look and the objects floating around Peter ceased to float. They landed to the floor with a clang.
“Open the door Peter,” said his mother’s voice on the other side of the door. The brothers turned to each other with an identical worried, panic look on their faces.
“Shit,” Nathan muttered quickly trying to make himself look presentable, the way he always did. He rose and went to a mirror to see how he looked, hoping there was no sign of the abnormal. Peter on the other hand turned invisible. Nathan turned back to Peter only to find no one there. “Peter?” Nathan whispered. Peter sat on the couch smirking as a confused and worried Nathan looked right through him. He liked Claude’s power a little too much. It was one of the most useful powers he had collected so far, aside from the cheerleader’s of course.
“Peter,” said his mother again knocking. “Open the door. It’s important.” Peter listened to his mother’s voice again. “I know you’re in there Peter. Don’t make me open this door myself.” Peter laughed internally. The way she spoke to him as if he was a 5 year old, made Peter smile for some odd reason. Even he didn’t understand why. Normally, Peter would be annoyed by his mother’s condescending nature, but tonight he wasn’t. Maybe it was because she wouldn’t be able to find him when she got inside. Nathan looked around for Peter again and then slowly turned his confused eyes to the door.
Peter watched Nathan open his front door from a corner of the room. “Nathan?” she said looking surprised to see him opening the door to her other son’s apartment.
“He’s not here,” he said mono-tonely. His mother looked at him and rolled her eyes.
“Of course he’s here, Nathan,” she said matter-o-factely, letting herself into Peter’s home. “C’mon Peter, get out here.” Peter moved to a dark corner never making a sound. He watched his mother look around the apartment and Nathan frown in confusion.
“Ma, he isn’t here.”
“Nathan, he let you in here and he hasn’t left.” Nathan moved to speak but their Mother spoke first. “C’mon out here Peter. Show yourself. I’m your mother not a serial killer. Come on Peter, I know you’re in here.” She went through the apartment looking for her lost invisible son.
“Oh great, now she’s going crazy,” Nathan muttered under his breath.
“Peter, I’m here to tell you about someone you know,” she said tempting him to come out of hiding. Peter wasn’t going to fall for it.
“Let’s just go, Mom. He--”
“It’s about the girl from Texas, Peter.” Peter’s ears perked up.
“What girl?” Nathan asked his mother a bit harshly. She turned and smirked at Nathan.
“You know her,” she said. Peter was curious. Was she talking about the cheerleader? Didn’t Claire say something about a ‘Mrs Petrelli’ when she was at his door? Was his mother the reason she was in New York. Peter made himself reappear, but continued to stand in a dark corner of the room.
“How does Nathan know Claire,” he said darkly, suddenly speaking. Nathan jumped and his mother turned around and smiled. Nathan turned around as well.
“What the hell!?” Nathan yelled at angrily. Peter continued to stare at his mother darkly and she in turn continued to smile.
“It’s been almost a month Peter,” she said softly looking directly in his eyes. “It’s been almost a month since I’ve seen you…really you. Not you dying in a hospital bed…just you.”
“How does he know Claire,” Peter said darkly once again. It wasn’t so much a question as it was a demand. His mother’s smile faded.
“What’s the matter with you, Peter?” she asked him sensing that something was obviously wrong with him.
“Nothing Mom,” he said quietly. “Just tell me about Claire.” She took a step back to look at both of her boys. Nathan and Peter both waited to hear what she was about to say.
“She’s your daughter, Nathan,” she said softly. Nathan and Peter’s eyes both went wide. “The girl that Peter went to Texas for is your daughter.”
“The cheerleader?” Peter asked.
“Yes.” Nathan looked at his Mother as though she was lying.
“You’re just shitting me right, Mom?” he said beginning to rub his hands through his hair. “Cause the world - the world doesn’t work like this! I mean its one thing to have her come back from the dead -!”
“Little Claire’s alive…” Peter muttered. He suddenly grinned. “Dying…it’s no big deal…” he said. Nathan turned and looked at Peter harshly.
“What was that, Peter?” Peter looked at Nathan and smiled stepping out of the darkness.
“That’s what she said to me…when she came to me when I was in jail,” he said. Peter suddenly remembered everything about her. He remembered her sad little smile when she told him how she had felt so alone until Peter. How they connected without ever knowing each other before hand. Why didn’t he answer the door when she had come for him!? “She said that she had died before.” Nathan frowned at Peter. Peter looked at his mother. “Mom, you gotta take me to her.” She smiled at him.
“Of course,” she said softly.
*
Nathan sat in his study looking at all kinds of paperwork. Peter sat in a plush chair on the opposite side of the room, quietly watching his brother work in equal silence. The lack of noise was almost deafening. Finally, Nathan broke it. “You know, you could be doing something, Peter,” Nathan said not looking up from the papers. Peter smiled.
“I’m waiting for Claire to get here,” he said. “She’s an amazing girl.” Nathan looked up at Peter. “You have a baby, Nathan,” said Peter echoing something he had said to his brother many years earlier. Nathan smiled at Peter but it faded quickly.
“Listen…uh, Peter,” he started as if he didn’t know how to say what he was about to say. “You know how I told you about Linderman…?”
“How he knows about us?”
“Yeah, well, it’s not just us he knows about…and that’s not the only thing he knows…” Peter felt his face grow thoughtful and angry at the same time.
“What else does he know?”
“He knows about Claire.” Almost immediately Peter began to ponder killing him. How could he know about Claire? He couldn’t know about her. Claire needed to be protected especially from a man like that. “He said that Claire can do something,” Nathan said once again snapping Peter out of his dark thoughts. He looked at Peter. “What can she do? Can she fly like us?” Peter frowned.
“I can’t fly, Nathan,” Peter said quietly. “I can fly because you can fly. I do what you can do.” Nathan looked at Peter confused.
“What’d ya mean? I’ve seen you fly Pete. I mean, I know you can do other things too, but you can fly…”
“I can fly Nathan, because…I took your power,” said Peter. “That’s what I do. I take peoples abilities, absorb them…Make them mine.” Nathan looked at Peter almost curiously as if he wanted to know more about what Peter does, but instead he shrugged.
“Whatever you say man,” he said going back to his work. Peter glared at his brother.
“And what do you mean by he knows more,” said Peter darkly. Nathan looked up at Peter again and smirked nervously. It was the same nervous smile his face bore when he didn’t want to believe something, even though it was true. It was the look on his face when he admitted to Peter he could fly.
“He said in three years I’m going to be president,” he said. “And he had one of your junkie friend’s paintings to prove it.” Peter’s eyes went wide.
“President?” Peter breathed out.
“Yeah, can you believe it?”
“No, I mean, you’ll only have been in congress for two years! That never happens! I mean Vice President maybe but…Damn, Nathan this is fucking big.” He laughed at Peter.
“How do you think I felt when I saw the painting?” Nathan said. Suddenly he looked confused. “I was standing there alone though…in the dark. I wasn’t happy.” Peter looked at Nathan curiously.
“Why?”
“I dunno.”
“Maybe something happens like I die or something,” Peter joked. Nathan looked at Peter seriously.
“Don’t joke around like that Peter,” he said sternly.
*
“Claire,” said his mother. “This is your--”
“Peter!” She said running to him. Peter met her half-way happily and she jumped into his body. Peter held her tightly. Peter heard his mother huff and leave the room. He looked down at the golden haired teenager whose face was bright and full of smiles.
“Claire,” said Peter softly. “How are you?”
“I’m great, now that you’re here,” she said. “Ever since you saved me, I’ve wanted to see you, again.” Peter smiled.
“Me too,” he said.
Liar, said a voice in the back of his head. You forgot her name.
His grasp on Claire weakened and she took a step back. Peter looked at her from top to bottom. Her blonde curls sat happily on her right shoulder cascading downward like a waterfall. Hazel eyes looked at Peter with absolute happiness, like it was the first time she felt happiness in years. “You’re Nathan’s daughter,” he said softly. She suddenly looked uncomfortable and her face broke into the sad little smile her remembered.
“I guess I am,” she said.
“You’re supposed to be dead,” said Peter winking. Claire laughed and said,
“Dying’s no big deal.”
“I’m going to miss you, Claire,” said Peter suddenly, taking her hand in his. She looked confused.
“What do you mean? Where you going?” she asked. Peter had to lie. He couldn’t tell her what he was about to go off and do. She would just try to stop him.
“I have to go somewhere tonight. There’s something I’ve gotta do, but you can’t tell Nathan or my Mom…Your Grandma…” Peter smiled at her, hiding the dark thoughts that plagued his mind. Claire looked at him intrigued.
“What do you have to do?” Peter’s mouth twisted into a crooked smirk.
“Hero stuff.” She smiled but never said anything; and she didn’t need to. Claire’s face said it all, she adored and idolized Peter. She had no idea what he was going to do and the murderous feelings brewing inside him. She trusted Peter with all her heart and soul. He could never let her down because he was her hero. Peter finally broke the smiling silence. “I just had to see you…You’re my niece Claire. I knew there was a reason we connected so well. We’re related.” Claire smiled brightly once again.
“My hero’s my uncle,” she said laughing a little.