AN: Takes place during The Butterfly Effect. Future!Peter and Present!Claire.
As the train inches forward ever so sluggishly, Claire awaiting something to feel again... not just pain, but emotions which she's afraid she'll lose forever. Her heart doesn't even quicken, in fact, it slows, awaiting its abrupt stopping – well, more like pausing – and she wonders if she'll even have a heart anymore. If she'll feel, at all.
Once she's completely braced, completely ready for another suicide experiment (which, is kind of sad, she contemplates, and not the same without Zach), a familiar face dressed in dark clothes flies in and moves her out of the way.
Who could possibly try to save her? Nathan isn't even her – dare she say it – father, at least, when he's on his little political cruise ride. Her real adoptive father (kind of an oxymoron in this case) wouldn't have powers, and that only left one soul on this cold, solemn Earth that would even try.
Peter.
Of course, she inwardly remembers, as she looks up at his face that she remembers far too well, from the horrific night in Odessa to the terrifying thought of him exploding... her hero. But there was something... different about this Peter. His eyes are stony, like they've got all this experience hidden behind them, his posture is stiff, and his mouth lacks the charismatic sensitivity in the crooked smiles Claire loved far too much.
He asks what she's doing, and she explains the feeling she's been longing for, whether it be pain or love. They then blandly discuss the occurrence with Sylar, when she's happy to not be alone anymore. At least, that's how it feels.
Peter pulls Claire into a tight embrace, but she notices that it's still different... he's changed, this is more of sympathetic than anything... his arms are still stiff, this isn't the Peter she remembers. He brushes his lips to the top of her blond hair, stroking it lightly, kissing it softly, providing the comfort she's wanted, been longing for. Now, she feels, and even though it's not the pain she was searching for...
She's just happy to be in his arms again.