A.N: Right, I've been working on this for a week now, and my friend has finally said it's okay to put up here, even though she risked a lot reading this when she's only watched up to the end of Season 1. I managed to see the finale of Season 2 last Wednesday, and I was pretty impressed with it apart from one tiny little thing...no Paire reunion.

So I've resolved that, although it's not a face to face one. : ) I made this up out of the 'cut' scene they filmed with Claire finding out Peter was alive on TV.

Disclaimer: I'm making no money out of writing this, and I don't own Heroes, either. If I did, Peter and Claire would've been unrelated a loooooong time ago. ; )

Warning: Spoilers up to Season 2 Episode 11. And there's implied-sort-of-Paire, so you all know what that means.

Her father had gone, back to the Company. He'd gone and left for God knows how long.

The constant mantra played out in Claire's head like an unwanted guest; persistent and hard to forget. Since he'd left, Claire had struggled to find any remnants of her once normal life save from her mother and brother.

Then again, what's 'normal'? The web of secrets and lies her father had kept from the family all these years? A Company renowned for experimentation on humans and deadly viruses? The ability to cut off her own toe just to watch it grow back seconds later?

…The appearance of her biological family in her life, only to find her grandmother was a sadistic bitch, her father a short-lived Congressman turned alcoholic and an uncle who…

Hot tears threatened to spill down Claire's cheeks once again and she willed them away. The familiar ache in her heart which had doubled over her father's 'death' had reverted back to that constant pain that she wished, oh, she wished would heal since the day Peter had literally exploded right in front of her. She was sure that that was the ultimate sign of her 'abnormality'; no 'normal' niece would react like this over the death of an uncle who she'd known for 5 days, 13 hours and 27 minutes. It just wasn't right.

An empty cardboard box that had escaped from the chaos of packing the evening before received an undeserved kick as Claire collapsed onto her bed, the contents of her room spread out across the floor in preparation of the 'Butler' family move. Not that they were much of a family anymore.

She toyed with the long, blonde strands of hair growing way past her shoulders, remembering a time when they were matted with blood and dirt, not really caring much about it as long as she knew he was alright.

"Hey…what's your name?"

A look of disbelief on her face; she was looking in to the eyes of the man who had just jumped off the amphitheatre to save her life. He was supposed to be dead…but here he was healing, just like she could. He looked like hell, but, then again, probably no worse than she did.

"Peter."

"I'm Claire."

"Are you the one? By saving you did I…did I save the world?"

What she had to do with the world Claire didn't know. But this stranger, this hero who had bumped into her by accident – destiny was the word that ran through her mind – clearly thought she had been worth saving.

"I don't know. I'm just a cheerleader."

Bitter laughter escaped her throat, bubbling up to rest between the half-formed sobs that still rested there, suppressed by the last threads of self control Claire had left.

That memory had reappeared often lately, most recently when she had been trying to apologise to West…not that West really mattered anymore. He was a person Claire thought would understand her, the one person who would tell her that what she was trying to do, expose the Company – just the thought of that vile word sent shivers down the girl's spine – for what it is, was the right thing.

She should have known that the only person she knew would understand – the only person she'd ever been able to trust since all this had started six months ago – was the one person she would never see again.

The tears she had let build up were suddenly released, and she allowed them to run intricate, glistening patterns down the contours of her face.

Just why was he gone in the first place? It was down to her Peter could survive at all, so there must have been some defect to her power, some reason why he hadn't regenerated.

She feared it was her last thoughts of him in the car that did it, those horrid thoughts that, although not spoken, had shown in her face. She hoped that Peter hadn't been reading her mind at that point, but if he had…

It might have made him want to forget ever saving her, meeting her, cause him to abandon her power…

Small hands shakily brushed the tears away. No, no, no. She would force herself to stop thinking such things, to stop reliving the past and going over what she could not change.

The future may not be written in stone, but Claire knew she couldn't change the past.

Looking for a distraction, Claire picked up the remote of her T.V set, and began flicking through the channels, sitting up on the edge of her bed to get a better view.

What she saw shocked her to the core.

Her father, no, not her father, just her bio-dad, Nathan was there, looking every inch the Congressman he was the last time she saw him four months ago. Claire wondered if she'd jumped onto some sort of political debate show, and though rather vindictively for a moment that at least he'd got his life back on track, while everyone else was left to flounder.

"Good afternoon. Most of you have no idea who I am. My name is Nathan Petrelli and I was elected to Congress in the state of New York. Seems like a long time ago. I lost my position, I lost my brother, I lost my family."

She stared at the screen with intense eyes, letting the mention of Peter slice through her heart like a knife. What was Nathan doing?

"I'm sad to say that I lost my way. But while I was gone I've had the chance to see the world through newly humbled eyes, witnessed amazing things, seen ordinary people among us trying their best each day to be heroes. These ordinary people, like you, like me, are capable of extraordinary things. You have no idea how extraordinary."

Claire was trying to figure out what on earth Nathan was getting at, and her breath caught in her throat when she came to the conclusion that he must be doing exactly what she'd been planning to do; to tell the truth.

Then the camera panned out, and Claire's heart stopped altogether.

Whatever else her bio-dad was saying went through her brain like water through a sieve, all the mattered to Claire at that moment was the man standing next to him, looking slightly different with a new, shorter haircut and the expression of someone who had nearly lost everything in his eyes.

"Peter," she breathed, almost reverently.

That one glorious moment of seeing her hero alive again was cut short when Nathan's face came into view once more:

"But there are other people; organizations who don't want you to know the truth. I myself kept secrets. But last year, something incredible happened to me, and it changed my life. At first, I was afraid, but I'm not afraid anymore. I'm here to tell you the truth."

"I have the abil –"

What happened next was the final blow in a series of events that left Claire feeling physically sick. Three shots rang out and, within seconds, Nathan had disappeared and a flurry of screams and shouting had begun.

The last thing she saw was Peter rushing to his brother's side before he hit the ground, and then the screen turned blank.

Still reeling, Claire stood up shakily, heart beating at ninety miles a minute, but knowing exactly what she was going to do.

The past couldn't be changed, but the future sure as hell wasn't written in stone; not if Claire and her blood had anything to do with it.