[For Peter Petrelli] - Dated Monday May 22nd

[thecompanyman]

The day before, he had given Claire a speech about what he had done. Maybe not a speech, exactly, but a dialogue between two mature adults about the matters of the past. Today, he was out of the wheelchair and into a crutch, his pain medication reduced

Comments

[saves_the_world]

Peter hadn't had a shift at the clinic in a while. He'd taken off to work on his hut, and then Nathan had shown up and he'd requested even more time off.

Honestly, he wasn't even sure if there would be a doctor on duty this morning. It could just be Peter and the patients, not that this would bother him. Having specialized in hospice nursing, he was used to being alone with the patient.

Pulling the scrub shirt the clothes box had seen fit to give him over his head, Peter walked into the clinic. Not bothering to look around, he set his messenger bag next to a table and sat down, pulling a clipboard off a shelf.

[saves_the_world]

Ducking his head, Peter silently berated himself. Of course Bennet had a plan. From what he'd seen courtesy of the projector, he should have known that. Granted, Bennet's sources likely would be nil on the island, just as Peter's powers were no longer. However, that did not detract from Bennet's undoubtedly keen mind.

"It's already a constant concern with me. Believe me, I'm keeping an eye on her. And when I'm not, someone else is. Just because we can't-- just because our abilities don't work here doesn't mean we don't need to be wary."

[thecompanyman]

"I've never had abilities," he offered in a pleasant tone, even smiling, no less. "But I've done well by her, wouldn't you say?" It was a challenge as much as it was a statement of pride.

[saves_the_world]

For a brief moment, Peter looked away. From the very moment he'd met Claire, Peter had felt for her. That sad little smile and those intelligent eyes. He'd known Claire felt old for her age, like she'd been carrying weight around. A weaker girl would have cracked from it all -- the secrets, the ability, the lifestyle changes. But not Claire. And although Bennet was not her biological father, he had shaped her life with the way he had raised her.

He had done a good job.

"Yes," Peter said finally, looking steadily over at Bennet, "you have. You gave her a life that her mother couldn't."

[thecompanyman]

"I saved her from the fire that her mother started," Bennet pointed out, not having the best point of view about Meredith Gordon, whom he thought best left out of the picture for her selfish ways. "And here, I'll do what I can and if that means being the normal Dad I always wished I could be for her, then I'll do that."

[saves_the_world]

Twisting at the torso, Peter looked at Bennet over the chairtop. Placing his hands at the top, fingers curling over the edge, Peter commented, "Do you really think you can do that? Be 'normal'?" Peter doubted he himself could do that. Although his abilities weren't working, he still dreamed of flying almost every night. Flying or exploding.

[thecompanyman]

Bennet sighed as he took off his glasses and began to very methodically rub the glass until it shone in the light. "All my life, I've tried to let her be normal. Hoped she would be. So they wouldn't come and take her away. She was my little girl and she still is. I'd do anything for her."

He looked up to meet Peter's gaze. "And yes, I want a normal life for her. Where she doesn't have to worry about who might be coming for her."

[saves_the_world]

"She won't have to worry." Not if Peter had anything to do with it. Save the cheerleader, save the world. That's what Hiro Nakamura had told him to do. While he'd saved Claire back in Odessa, Peter could never be certain that doing that had been enough. From what he'd seen of the Heroes reels, he suspected there was more Claire had to do.

"I think she's got enough of us to look after her," Peter said, amending his tone slightly.

[thecompanyman]

"She does, and I'm glad," Bennet was happy to say. Of course, he didn't mention his concern with enemies of his tracking Claire down as retribution, but he didn't express that worry aloud.

[saves_the_world]

"So am I," Peter said firmly. A beat, and then he stood up. Giving Bennet a pointed look, he continued, "I think that's enough, Mr. Bennet." Peter gestured to the crutch; Bennet had been leaning on it throughout the course of their conversation. Since he was healing, he didn't need to be standing in one spot, putting that much weight in one direction.

[thecompanyman]

Bennet volleyed a look of his own back in return. "Is it now?" he asked, quite bemused as he slowly shifted to find himself a chair. "I wasn't aware I had a professional opinion waiting in the wings."

[saves_the_world]

"It is," Peter said firmly. "And you do. Looks like I'm the only medical staff on duty at the moment, so you'll have to take what you can get."

[thecompanyman]

Bennet gave an old man's groan as he settled into the chair. "Does this mean my pills will be adminstered by you?" he said, quite jokingly. There were no pills, though there was the morphine injections.

[saves_the_world]

"No pills, Mr. Bennet," Peter informed him. Pulling out a drawer of meds, he shook one of the bottles, regardless. "Though if you don't behave I can always change that." The slight upturn of his mouth showed he wasn't entirely serious.

"It's not time for your shot quite yet." Holding his gaze, Peter asked, "Would you trust me to give you that shot when the time comes?" He wasn't really asking about the morphine.

[thecompanyman]

"I think I know how to behave." There were records, of course, of Charles and Peter Petrelli's involvement. He hadn't been mired in it, but he'd known. It was part and parcel of working for the Company.

He arched an eyebrow. "I don't trust very easily," he said mildly. "Though you have earned some of it from me by saving Claire."

[saves_the_world]

Peter ducked his chin a little, a slow smile curving his mouth. Claire's father sounded so mild, though Peter knew from the reels he was anything but when it came to protecting his daughter. For that, Peter was grateful -- even though he found he hadn't always agreed with the tactics and logic Bennet had employed on the screen.

"And I'll keep saving her until she doesn't need it anymore," Peter said evenly. However long it would take until that day, Peter would do it. For her.