Title: Things Are Going Well.
Rating: PG.
Pairing: Claire/Gretchen
Word Count: 2330
Disclaimer: I do not own the televison show "Heroes."
Notes: Takes place after the events of "Brave New World."
A/N: There's some slight possible character bashing here, but it is just because it's from Gretchen's perspective.
"Okay, don't panic," Claire said as her eyes darted all around their bedroom. She paced around the room frantically. It looked like she was thinking on a big mission. Gretchen had a feeling this was scarier than that for Claire.
"I'm not the one that's panicking." Gretchen smiled. Claire turned to her then with so much vulnerability in her eyes, Gretchen nearly melted.
Gretchen calmly stood up and walked over to Claire. She tangled both her hands with both of Claire's and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Claire smiled slightly at their clasped hands. Gretchen moved a strand of hair out of Claire's face, leaving a trail of kisses against her jaw as she spoke. "My superhero girlfriend has done the impossible, the amazing, the heroic- and she's scared of this."
"Don't make fun of me." Claire said as she began to tug her hands away but Gretchen kept her in place.
"Do you want me to go with? Hold your hand?" Gretchen asked.
"Yes," Claire smiled before slouching her shoulders in defeat, "but I think this is something I have to do on my own."
"Why does it feel like we keep having this conversation over and over?" Gretchen asked.
"Because we do." Claire ran a hand through her hair before placing both her hands on Gretchen's shoulders, standing on her tip toes and placing a kiss her girlfriend's lips. "I'm sorry."
"I forgive you." Gretchen murmured in a daze. Okay, so her girlfriend totally owned her. She was fine with it.
Claire sucked in a breath and grabbed one of her girlfriend's hands. "Okay, here we go."
Gretchen nodded before rolling her eyes to herself. Claire did not need permission to speak to her own family.
Claire opened the door and Gretchen followed her out. They descended the large spiral staircase of the Petrelli home and Gretchen could swear Claire got more nervous with each step she took. She wobbled unsteadily and her hands began to shake. Gretchen wrapped an arm around her girlfriend's waist and continued to hold her hand firmly, her thumb drawing circles on her skin to soothe the tremors away.
Claire put on a brave smile as they reached the bottom of the staircase and disentangled herself from Gretchen's warm comfort. Claire took a few steps towards the study where her family was in one of their meetings about how much healing blood to donate to the blood bank or how much time travel should be legal. Since Claire jumped off that ferris wheel in front of those cameras a couple of months ago, it seemed everyday presented another issue for the specials of the world to deal with and every time a new issue arose Gretchen would notice someone casting a sideways glance at her girlfriend, cursing her for screwing up a good thing.
Gretchen knew better. Claire did what she felt she had to do. People could be introduced to people with special abilities through a villain or a hero and Claire decided it had to be her. Thankfully she was a hero. She was to Gretchen anyway.
Still, Gretchen knew Claire was worried what people thought of her now. There were times when Claire turned on her family for their behavior even if somewhere in her heart she knew they were doing those things to protect her. Admittedly, murder, secret first wives, and selling out specials to the government were hard things to get over, but Claire had just changed the lives of every special out there. They were now celebrities or targets and Claire, though her intentions were noble, was to blame. She knew Claire could not take it if her family turned on her, which was why the next few minutes were so important.
Claire turned around and shot Gretchen a panicked glance. Gretchen snapped into action and rushed to her girlfriend's side, stumbling over a coffee table as she did so. Suddenly all eyes were pinned on them.
Gretchen tried not to squirm in front of some of the most powerful people she had ever known. She had been living at the Petrelli estate for a month, but she did not know them too well. While she was not allowed to leave the premises, the others came and went as the pleased for groceries, visiting loved ones, handling press and rescuing those specials who had been discovered and were being hassled.
Gretchen did not do much herself since that fateful night she saw the girl she fell in love with on the ten o' clock news changing the world. She tried to live her life, go to classes and hope Claire would return. It did not work as planned, students were gossiping about her at every turn. Soon the news crews and conspiracy theorists started showing up and following her everywhere until the point when she had to barricade herself in her room and stare at the empty bed next to her as she was sure Claire did when Gretchen had left earlier that year. She reached out to her family who disowned her for taking her "unusual behavior a step too far this time."
But just as she thought she might just die of starvation in her dorm, Claire and a Japanese man appeared in the middle of the room. Gretchen almost thought Claire was a mirage at first and she had a feeling Claire felt the same way from the relief that flooded her face. Claire knelt down and brushed some hair out of Gretchen's face and like a true knight in shining armor said, "I'm sorry for everything. I'm here to take you away from all this." Gretchen took Claire's hand and never looked back.
Now, here she was trying to have Claire's back in a room full of people she herself was just getting to know. There was Peter, (who Gretchen secretly called Saint Peter behind his back), the serious and noble superhero. He was also Claire's uncle (a fact that Gretchen strangely only learned a few days ago).
There was Mr. Bennet, Claire's dad, who treated Gretchen as if she was family and always gave her the same peck on the cheek he gave Claire as if she was his daughter too. He also was always ready to offer coffee and a smile every morning and only half the time the smile that he gave made Gretchen think he poisoned her coffee. It was not that he was not polite. It just said a lot that so many people could seem so scared of a middle aged man with horn rimmed glasses. Gretchen sometimes ignored it but she never forgot it.
There was Sylar, the man who was a psychotic, sarcastic, flow chart making serial killer, who used telekinesis to force a kiss on her girlfriend and also stole Gretchen's backpack. Yet apparently he was good for now, which Claire begrudgingly admitted happened from time to time. Gretchen was still not allowed to be left alone in a room with him and every time she and Claire held hands in the house, he got the most inscrutable smile on his face that Gretchen was still desperate to figure out.
There were Hiro and Ando, the most ridiculously optimistic and sweet people she had ever met. They were the people Gretchen felt most comfortable around even after she found out about Ando's extensive porn collection. Hiro privately assured Gretchen that after Ando was married to Hiro's sister in the summer, the porn collection would perish in the biggest fire Japan had ever seen. He did not have the heart to share this with Ando yet.
Gretchen argued with them about whether the things Superman did were really physiologically possible, if the time space continuum is as fragile as it seems and if the pictures of Hiro's father really did look like Sulu from the original "Star Trek" series. Gretchen did not think Claire was that interested in the conversation, but nevertheless she would just watch sit these discussions with a loving gaze every single time.
Then there was Angela Petrelli. Gretchen used to call her Grandma Petrelli in her head and now she did not even dare do that. Even though she was only adult Gretchen knew that was as short as Claire, to Gretchen she was more intimidating than anyone in the entire room and that included the back pack stealing, murderous sociopath. There was just something in her eyes that screamed 'yeah, I killed people and I'll do it again.'
"Claire," Peter said suddenly, causing Claire to jump, "are you going to say something or am I going to check you for a head injury we both know you don't have?"
Claire nervously smirked at the joke and scanned the array of expectant glances directed her way, before glancing at Gretchen.
"Just breathe," Gretchen encouraged.
Claire nodded and took a deep breath. After a moment she squared her shoulders and put her best poker face on. "Everyone, I just wanted to tell you something about me. I am in love with Gretchen, who is my girlfriend and also a girl... You probably knew that, but still. We're in love and together and I like girls. I'm not saying I'm a lesbian or anything right now. I just... I am an adult now. I am independent and in control of my own life. This is just how it is. It's not going to change. I'm sorry if that shocks you, but that's all I wanted to say."
They were met by silence before Hiro spoke. "My English is not perfect... lesbian?"
Ando immediately leaned over and whispered some things in Hiro's ear and a few creative hand gestures later, Hiro nodded with a smile of realization. "Oh."
"Yeah, oh." Mr. Bennet added. "Claire, we knew this already."
Claire's jaw dropped. "What? How did you know?"
"The way you smiled at each other, the way you acted when you were apart. It's why I invited Gretchen to Thanksgiving." Mr. Bennet said with a small shrug.
The look of disbelief on Claire's face did not have a chance to subside before Angela spoke up. "You two have been sharing a room for a month, Claire. A one bedroom room. And I know we said we moved to the west wing of the house to give you privacy but the truth is as much as we would love to believe the screams coming from your room at night are nightmares, I think we all knew better."
"Angela," Mr. Bennet growled in a warning.
Claire's face turned the deepest shade of crimson that Gretchen had ever seen and she rushed to Claire's side to keep her from falling over in shock. At that moment, Gretchen cursed her ability to laugh at the most inappropriate situations and prayed she could just get through this moment without falling prey to her laughter. If she did not Claire would probably not let her back in bed for a month.
"Plus Claire," Sylar said, gaining an instant glare from Claire just for speaking, "by jumping off that ferris wheel a month ago you essentially came out to the whole world about your ability. Were you really that nervous to come out to us?"
This seem to stop Claire in her tracks for a moment. He did have a point.
Peter smiled. "If that's all, we have work to do. This healthcare plan won't write itself."
Claire crossed her arms, her lips pursed in an annoyed frown. "Fine, we're going. I feel like an idiot and we're going."
Claire spun on her heels and tugged on Gretchen's hand for her to follow.
As they left the study, Hiro's voice stopped them and forced them to turn around. "Cheerleader?"
"Yes Hiro?" Claire asked.
"You know, we all still love you, just as much. Also, we're renting 'Star Wars' tonight." Hiro said with a definitive nod.
Claire dropped Gretchen's hand, ran over to Hiro and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pressed a kiss to his cheek. "You're a sweet guy, you know that?"
Hiro tried not to blush at the praise but was clearly proud of doing the right thing. Gretchen wanted to hug him too.
Claire finally pulled away and walked out of the room with Gretchen. When they finally made it back to the room, Claire quickly slammed the door behind them before sliding down the wall.
"That went well," Gretchen said.
Claire turned her head slightly to look up at Gretchen. "Did that really just happen?"
Gretchen chuckled as she took a plopped down onto the bed. "It did."
Claire laughed. "Okay, I just came out... for the second time and nobody cared."
"They cared. They love you just as much." Gretchen and Claire shared a smile.
Claire pushed herself up on her feet and walked over to stand in front of Gretchen, also facing the bed. "You're right and you know what?"
Gretchen gulped as a sudden wave of excitement went through her. "What?"
"Everything's okay. The world didn't end. It is in fact not all about me and I am now free, completely free and clear to kiss my girlfriend in public." Claire said.
Gretchen nodded. "Mmhmm."
Claire grasped Gretchen's shoulders and pushed her back onto the bed, before climbing on the bed to straddle her. "And I can kiss my girlfriend in private too. Do more than that really."
The blush that came from innocence melted off of Claire's face as she lowered her body against Gretchen's to seductively whisper in her ear. "I mean, we do have the whole wing."
Claire pulled back just long enough to give Gretchen a wink before leaning in and placing a soft kiss upon her lips. As things began to progress, Gretchen knew when things got heated she would not be able to form coherent thoughts.
The last thing she did think made her heart soar with glee. 'For the first time in the long time, things are going well.'