A Note From Lara: I don't think we've seen Peter smile this much in the entire rest of the series COMBINED!! Seriously. Emma's really good for him. All you Pemma shippers out there (and I know there's more than a few), put your hands in the air and scream over Hysterical Blindness! Anyway, this is just sort of a snapshot. Maybe I'll post a second chapter showing their conversation if I get enough reviews asking for it (hint hint).
*Emma*
If I hadn't believed him before when he made his point about powers with the piano, I definitely did now. The four-foot-long crack in my wall and the shattered frame over my diploma were more than proof enough that my crazy paramedic friend wasn't as crazy as he seemed.
And that was why I spent the entire morning waiting in the ambulance bay in the hopes that his shift would start or end while I was still there. I knew there were files that needed to be organized and records that needed to be updated, but this was more important. Hey, my mother had always said, I needed to get out of the file room...
It was almost noon when he and his partner came pulling into the bay. I could see his face through the windshield; he looked completely nonplussed to see me leaning against the cinderblock wall waiting for him.
Before his partner had even cut the engine, he hopped out of the cab and hurried over to me. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Looking for you," I replied. "Can we... go somewhere? I need to talk to you."
He ran a hand through his hair. "Uh... sure. What about?"
I sighed. I didn't want to say anything to anybody but him, and his partner was watching us with avid curiosity as he climbed out of the ambulance himself. "Something happened last night. Something to do with... the colors," I said in what I hoped was an undertone. Not, of course, that I'd be able to tell.
His eyes changed and his friendly grin morphed into a look of concern. "Is everything okay?" he asked, laying a gentle hand on my arm. "I mean, are you alright?"
I nodded, trying to ignore the hypersensitive place where his skin met mine. "Yes, it's just... Look, can we go somewhere else?"
He smiled, looking relieved that I was okay. It was touching, but something suddenly occurred to me as we left the bay together. "You know," I said, "I don't even know your name!"
"I'm Peter. Peter Petrelli."
"And I'm Emma."
*Peter*
I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been thinking about her all night. At least, all night after I left Hiro. Until he woke up, I was too busy worrying about him to think about much else. But once I went back home and tried to get to sleep... Well, my brain just ran in circles with her standing in the center.
For so long, I'd thought of these powers as a responsibility. A heavy burden and a gift bestowed at a cost. I'd forgotten the pure joy they could bring. The elation of flying, of stopping time, of walking invisible through a crowd of people and not one of them knowing you were there. And then along came a girl with a power so unlike anything I'd ever experienced before, a power that was pure beauty. The colors she saw all around, they were enchanting.
And they weren't the only thing that was enchanting. When we had played the piano together, there had been a look of transported delight on her face that captivated me. Yeah, I hated to admit it, but I had a crush on the girl. Not that it would ever amount to much. I guess my comment about the file room must have offended her, from the way she got defensive after I said it. No chance for it now, I guess. Just one more name to add to the list of girls Peter Petrelli has blown it with.
But apparently not, because she was standing in the ambulance bay with her arms crossed, leaning against the wall and tapping her toe impatiently when Hesam and I pulled in after our morning shift.
I was about as surprised to see her standing there as anything could make me anymore. I hopped out of the ambulance before Hesam had even brought the thing to a full stop and hurried over to her.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, making sure to stand so she'd be able to read my lips.
"Looking for you," she replied.
If I had been surprised before, the only real word for it now was flabbergasted. After the ass I had managed to make of myself yesterday, what possible reason could she have for seeking me out? And her next words caught me even more off-guard. "Can we... go somewhere? I need to talk to you."
"Uh..." Say yes, Petrelli. For once in you stupid, useless life, don't make a fool out of yourself, just say yes! "Sure. What about?" Thank god. I managed to get the words out without tripping all over myself. That might just be a first.
She suddenly looked nervous, glancing over my shoulder at Hesam, and I guessed she didn't want him to hear whatever it was she had to say. Then she sighed. "Something happened last night," she said so softly I almost didn't hear her. "Something to do with... the colors."
I was suddenly worried about her, more so than I would have expected. My own enjoyment of these powers had been ruined by a nuclear incident; I didn't want the same thing to happen to her, not when her power had so much potential for joy and beauty. "Is everything okay?" I asked, unconsciously taking her arm in concern. "I mean, are you okay?"
She nodded, looking a little uncomfortable, and I remembered myself enough to take my hand away from her. Smooth, Petrelli, real smooth. "Yes, it's just... Look, can we go somewhere else?"
I smiled and nodded, and suddenly it occurred to me that it was almost noon. Maybe I would manage to get a quasi-date with her after all...
"You know," she said, interrupting my train of thought, "I don't even know your name."
Oh. Yeah. That might be important. "I'm Peter," I said. Way to go. No last name? What are you, man, a cocktail waitress? "Peter Petrelli," I amended.
She gave me a small grin. "And I'm Emma."
So what do you think? Deserve a second chapter?