Summary: Nathan approaches his estranged brother. First, there is suspicion, then anger, pillows are thrown and then love blossoms. My first Heroes FF not based on a musical. LOL.

A/N: I had always been "iffy" about Petrellicest. However, having just watched the first two episodes of Volume Four, I took it as a personal affront that there is a near complete absense of brotherly love between my two favourite TV brothers. So this my way of "fighting back". :-p

Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes, since Tim Kring is that man. I got the idea of Peter's nicknames for Nathan from "Mesmerized", written by Gayle Lynds and first published in 2001 by HarperCollins. In that novel, the protagonist was described as being the "Queen of the Cosmos. Star of the Universe. Killing machine with compassion." I thought this suited Nathan as well (with "Queen" changed to "King" since Nathan is a man. He's a corrupted man, but still a man.) "Mesmerized" is recommended reading from yours truly, though the storyline has nothing to do with this FF otherwise. Anyway, I'll shut up and get on with it.

Unexpected Petrelli Naughty Activities Encounter

Chapter One: Oh Brother

Nathan

You know what really gets me down? People who have problems accepting authority, particularly my authority. No, I'm not talking about my little brother Peter, though he could potentially become a threat I would have to neutralise. I was talking about Danko, the leader of my special forces team. He had questioned my every move, circumventing my authority. It was unacceptable. He would have to be dealt with. I had put bigger men than him in their places before, so I knew what I was doing.

The ringtone of my cell phone interrupted my thoughts, the polyphonic crooning of Freddie Mercury singing "Don't Stop Me Now" drowning out the silence in my office. I smiled. Nothing could stop me now. Nothing could stop the meteoric rise of Nathan Petrelli, future saviour of the universe. (A small part of me was angry that the author of this story didn't change my ringtone from his first Heroes FF story. I can't complain though, I could have ended up with "The Phantom Of The Opera" theme as my ringtone. I mean, seriously, me playing the Phantom? What was that guy thinking?)

I read the screen to for the called ID and hit the "answer" key. "Yeah?"

"Senator, I have located Oregano-Pepperoni-Supreme."

I sat upright in my chair. "Where?"

"Dalesford Hotel."

"He's in Washington D.C.? Are you positive on this?"

"As positive as I can be, sir. I'm looking at him right now."

Dalesford Hotel was only twenty minutes away, though the lunch hour was coming up and the traffic might slow me down.

"I'm on my way. I'll be there in a half hour, tops. I'm coming alone. Keep me updated if anything develops."

"Roger that, sir."

"Thank you, Jeremy. Keep up the good work."

I hung up. Peter was a delicate matter whom I needed to handle alone. There was no need to have Danko and his squad terrorizing the neighbourhood just to grab people with abilities. I'd deal with Danko later. He would be kept out of the loop for now, especially when it came to my family. He couldn't be trusted. I grabbed my car keys and headed out to the underground parking lot.

**********

Peter

I couldn't wait to bust into Nathan's office to confront him. I almost salivated at the mere thought of it. Nathan Petrelli, King of the Cosmos, Star of the Universe, killing machine with compassion, would know the consquences of crossing his brother. I had entered Washington D.C. undetected, or so I had thought at the time. Of all places, he would never think to look for me on his home territory.

I came up with these nicknames for him back when he was a hotshot criminal lawyer. I once witnessed his brilliance when I was part of the courtroom audience for one high profile case. He was the prosecution lawyer in the case of D.L. Hawkins, a murderer whose crime was so shocking I can't repeat it here. Nathan had the six men and six women of the jury eating out of the palm of his hand by the time he was through with destroying Hawkins' lawyer (and his career in the process). When the guilty verdict was read out, my brother turned to the press gallery, his trademark grin seeming to be permanently etched on his face. My brother looked every bit the self-assured high society professional that he was, and the media appeared to be all too willing to inflate his ever expanding ego. "Petrelli maintains 95% win ratio!" "Star lawyer shoots, he score again!" ranted the headlines. It was like he had modelled himself on Billy Flynn, the criminal lawyer from the musical "Chicago" who never lost a case while having the media on a string. "Show them you're a star kiddo, and you'll always be a winner," he once said to me.

I loved him with all my heart. I wasn't academically minded like him, and I knew I would never have his charisma. I just accepted that I would always live in his shadow. I wasn't jealous, even though the previous paragraph might suggest so. I was in awe of how brilliant he was at his work, in fact anything he set his mind to. I was proud of him, more than I can possibly say. He loved me and I loved him, and that's all that mattered to me. I said to him after the case, "Nate, you were amazing today. You are a star in my eyes. King of the Cosmos, Star of the Universe, killing machine with compassion."

"Thank you, Pete. It means a lot to hear you say that. Did you come up with those nicknames?"

"Yep, all by myself, and just for you. Do you like them?"

"I love them. They are going on my letterhead." He grinned and hugged me tightly. After we pulled apart, he said, "I love you Pete. I want you to know that even though I enjoy my job, that I love you a million times more. You can trust me on that, because I'm a lawyer."

I laughed and hugged him again. "I love you too, Nathan. I will love you forever." Then we went out to celebrate, with me secretly smiling inwardly because I had not created those nicknames. I had stolen them from a novel, and it wouldn't hurt Nathan for him to never know. We are all entitled to our own little white lies.

Now that my power-mad former-lawyer now-politician brother had gone too far by detaining people with abilities, I had convinced myself that love was not an emotion that Nathan was used to any more. The only love he might feel was towards the 80 foot stone monument in the shape of himself standing next to the White House. He had cast me, his own flesh and blood, aside in his quest for power. I valued his life more than my own life, and what did I get in return? I was afraid that my love was turning to hate. I was even more afraid that I didn't care if my love had turned to hate. All there was left were thoughts of revenge. Nathan still loved the media and I couldn't wait to read the headline saying "Nathan Petrelli gets wedgied, brother wanted for questioning". Yes, revenge was a dish best served cold.

However, revenge found itself waiting right now as the only dishes in front of me were the dishes comprising the delicious buffet in one of the Dalesford Hotel's five restaurants. The problem in the forefront of my mind was was whether to begin lunch with the soup or salad.

I was busy contemplating this when I glanced up and saw Nathan standing barely six feet away from me. I was so surprised to see him that it took all of my composure not to drop my plate on my toes. I quickly returned my clean plate to the stack of plates at the head of the queue, my appetite suddenly having migrated to Canada en route to Greenland.

"Nathan...how did you find me?"

"Didn't you know? I always know where to find you," he said with feigned surprise.

I looked around nervously, expecting a SWAT team, or whatever they were called to storm the room and take me down.

"I came alone, Pete. There's nothing to be afraid off."

"I have everything to be afraid off. You made us afraid, Nathan," the anger rose in my voice. I didn't need to tell him that by "us", I meant people with abilities.

"I didn't come to argue," he said, stepping closer to me. "I just want to talk to you." He put his hands on my shoulders.

I considered beating the living daylights out of him at that moment, just for his audacity, for all the pain that he had caused me and my friends, pretending that everything could be fine between us after we had talked. You see, I had learnt that when Nathan said to me "I just want to talk to you" it was code for "I just want to lecture you until your brains have turned to scrambled eggs, because I am a valedictorian, top-of-his-class, former hot-shot criminal lawyer promoted to District Attorney turned superstar Congressman. Yes, I AM BETTER AND BIGGER THAN YOU SO YOU WILL SEE EVERYTHING MY WAY." But I digress. My common sense won out, having decided that starting a mělée in a restaurant with my brother was poor etiquette.

"Okay, then talk."

"In private."

I looked at him. I could tell he was serious.

"Fine, I've booked a room on the 13th floor so we can talk there. If this some kind of trick though, you are as good as dead."

"There's no need for threats. This is no trick, Peter," he replied as he guided me to the elevator. "I'm a politician, so you know you can trust me."

Despite myself, I had to chuckle. No matter how delusional either of us had become, I could always rely on my brother's twisted sense of humor.

To be continued...