DISCLAIMER: If I owned Heroes…well, it wouldn't be very good, because the people who do own it do a fine job. That's why I write fanfiction and they write episodes.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Yay, promised humor! Something that does not involve wailing, moaning, and gnashing of teeth. Just so's you all know that I'm not an insanely depressed person :).

CONCENTRATION

"It's there."

Peter gave his niece a skeptical look, and then turned over the card she had indicated. Sure enough, there was the Queen of Hearts.

"Not bad," Peter conceded. He sat back. "So you can throw yourself off buildings and walk away without a scratch and you can remember everything."

Claire giggled. "Dad and I used to play this game every night after dinner. We'd have done it for hours if Mom let us." She turned over a card. "Ace of Spades."

Peter squinted at the deck of cards neatly laid out on the floor in front of him. The newfound relatives had found themselves trapped in the Petrelli mansion bored stiff, and Claire had discovered a deck of cards hiding behind an end table in the hallway. After several rounds of slapjack they decided the backs of their hands couldn't take it anymore and Peter suggested concentration as a much more peaceful game. However he hadn't realized what a concentration maven Claire was.

"There." Peter pointed to the card right in front of Claire.

Claire flipped the card over. "One for you."

Peter gave a small smile and turned over a card.

Claire found the matching one without hesitation.

Peter raised an eyebrow. "You sure this isn't some other power you've been hiding?"

Claire made a face that screamed Nathan and flipped over another card.

Peter turned over a card to his right. It didn't match.

Claire snickered. Peter glared playfully at her. "Isn't it one of the Ten Commandments that you shouldn't enjoy other people's suffering?"

"Don't ask me." Claire shrugged. She rolled over onto her stomach and studied the cards.

"Wait." Peter frowned. "It's my turn."

"No it's not."

"You just chose the cards," Peter defended himself. "It's my turn."

"You didn't find the match," Claire negated. "It's my turn."

Peter felt his brow furrow. "That's not a rule."

"Yes it is."

"No it's not."

"It is."

"It's not."

"Is."

"Isn't."

Uncle and niece glowered at each other for a few seconds. Neither one blinked, unwilling to lose the staring contest.

"Peter."

"Yes, Claire?" Peter didn't move his gaze from her face.

"Who's winning?"

Peter couldn't contain the laugh that busted out of him. It was like all the tension of the last month let itself out in a stream of endless laughter.

Claire couldn't hold it together either, quickly following him into a fit of hiccupping cackles. The two laughed until their sides hurt and their heads ached.

This really isn't that funny, some little part of Peter's mind registered. But it had been so long since he'd really laughed. He'd forgotten how good it felt.

"Let's just start over." Peter brushed his right hand over the deck.

Claire wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Sounds good." She set to work rearranging the deck.

Peter watched Claire fix the cards. "No cheating," he admonished playfully.

"I don't need to," Claire said smugly. "You, on the other hand, might benefit from a little illegal action."

"'Illegal action'?" Peter shook his head. "You know this family too well, my friend."

"I'm a fast learner." Claire indicated the deck. "Your move."

Peter let out a residual chuckle and turned over a card.

New York was going to go up in flames and millions of people would die if they didn't find a way to fix it. But right now Peter couldn't do anything about that. Right now it was fine with him, for the first time since the beginning of October, to concentrate on something besides the end of the world.