Family Bonds

A/N: I got into "Heroes" barely four weeks ago, but I'm hooked. Seriously hooked… As so many other fans, I was fascinated with the relationship between Claire and Peter, and a little disappointed to hear they're related – no 'shipping base there, I'm afraid… That is why I'm writing this.

Classification: Missing Scene one-shot to be inserted in ".07". Slightly AU. Centric: Claire/Peter. A very PearlQ19-like story – lots of emotions ahead.

Summary: This takes place around the moment Claire pulls that shard out of Peter's head. Imagine the two would have had a moment together before Nathan and Mrs. Petrelli came back into the room. And imagine that no one had told Peter before that Claire is Nathan's daughter (which is the way it was, anyway, I think).

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Claire stared down at Peter Petrelli's lifeless form and a pang of regret shot through her. Her hero – dead? The man who had saved her life, completely oblivious to his own safety, was no more. And, what was worse – he was a member of her newly found family, and she hadn't even had time to talk to him.

A tear trickled down her cheek, followed by another. Then another. Soon she was crying, sobbing under her breath. She touched his face, caressing his cheeks and forehead, then running her fingers through his dark hair.

Suddenly her hand hit something hard. She felt for it, startled. It felt as if something was stuck in the back of his head…

Claire reacted almost on instinct. Carefully turning Peter's head to one side, she had a closer look. It was a shard of glass, big and ugly; probably it was what had killed him. And the Indian professor who had taken Peter's body here had not bothered to take it out. Why should he, after all?

Suddenly something dawned on Claire. She remembered that horrible day when she had woken up on the autopsy table with her chest opened. She had not come back to life until that branch that had impaled her had been removed. And Peter absorbed others' abilities… maybe, just maybe, he now had her powers to the same degree as herself. And that meant…

Claire almost did not dare to finish thinking. But it was worth a try.

Bracing herself against what was to come next, she reached for the bloodstained shard and slowly pulled it out of Peter's head. It came out with a disgustingly sucking sound. Claire stared at it for a moment, appalled, and then flung it aside. It was so thick that it did not even break when it hit the floor. The blood had long since dried, so it did not leave any smears on the polished wooden tiles. But even if it had, Claire couldn't have cared less. Her eyes were fixed on Peter. She stared at him, willing him to come back to life, like she would have.

Nothing happened. Her hero was still lying there, his skin unnaturally white, his face pale and still. Claire sobbed. Her heart cringed. So he had not absorbed all of her power, after all… Her vision blurred over as the tears began once again to flow, and she fell to her knees beside him. Laying down her head on his chest, she cried for the friend, confidant and brother she could have had in him.

It was then that she noticed some movement. It was minimal; it probably would have escaped her attention if she had not been so close to him. It was only a twitch of some muscle, nothing more, but Claire was immediately alerted. A moment later, she could feel something else, and only after a few seconds did she realize what it was: Peter's heart had started beating again.

Claire drew a deep, shuddering breath and slowly turned her head to look at Peter's face. And she could have screamed with joy and surprise when she found his eyes open, looking back at her. For one moment she just stared, convincing herself she wasn't seeing things. But then Peter moved, blinked, and coughed. He opened his mouth, inhaling deep breaths of air, filling his lungs once again.

Claire looked at him, and slowly, a wide smile spread across her face. Tears were still streaming down her cheeks, but she hardly noticed them. She just looked at Peter and couldn't stop smiling.

He did it. He came back to life. He totally is a hero. And then, with a sudden surge of pride, she thought, I made this possible. My powers. I didn't do anything, but without me this would not be happening.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Hey," replied Peter. His voice sounded raspy. He looked left and right, disoriented. Recognizing the house, he frowned. "How…" he started, but trailed off as realization dawned on him. He lifted one arm and reached to feel the back of his head where the wound inflicted by the shard was rapidly closing.

"I died," he said quietly, never once averting his eyes from Claire. It was not a question. "I died, and you brought me back to life."

"No, not me," said Claire. "It was you. You have the same power as I do. I just made it possible for them to work."

"You pulled that… thing out?" Peter pointed at the shard on the floor next to him.

"Yeah…" Claire shuddered at the memory.

"You're the bravest girl I know," remarked Peter with a half-smile.

Claire smiled back. "It's not hard being brave when you know you're practically immortal."

Peter moved, trying to hoist himself up into a half sitting position. In an instant, Claire was beside him and grabbed him around the back to support him.

"Thanks." Peter looked at her. "Hey," he said suddenly, very softly. "You're crying." He raised a hand and stroked her cheek. When he pulled back his hand, tears glistened on his knuckles.

"I know," Claire said, sobbing. "I can't help it… I mean… you were, like, dead… and I just…"

"I know," said Peter soothingly. He took her by the wrist and pulled her closer to him. Then he put both his arms around her and held her in a tight embrace. "I guess we're even now," he murmured into her ear. "Thank you."

Claire clasped her arms around his neck, wanting to be as close to him as possible. "I'm so glad it worked," she whispered. "I thought I'd lost you before I even found you…"

"What do you mean?" Peter asked, pulling back from her a little. He looked confused and slightly alerted. "Look, I don't… I mean, you and I, that's not… Why are you here, anyway?"

"You don't know?" Claire finally understood his reaction and had to suppress a grin. "Well, I'm not having a crush on you if that's what you think," she informed him wryly.

She could see him blush a little and knew that she had guessed right.

"So what did you mean by finding me?" Peter wanted to know.

"Uhm… well, this might be a bit of a shock," Claire said. "But actually, we're related, Peter. I'm your niece. Nathan's daughter."

She saw his face crumble in surprise. Different emotions flickered through his eyes in rapid succession. But then he only murmured, "Well that explains it…"

"Explains what?" Claire asked.

When Peter looked at her again, there was tenderness in his eyes. He cupped her face again. "Why I felt such a strong bond between us," he said. "Why I felt it wasn't only my duty but my destiny to save you. Why I wanted to save you at all costs. Why I risked my life for you without thinking twice." His thumb stroked over her cheek and he smiled. "And why it felt as if I'd known you for ages after only five minutes."

Claire was moved. She placed her own hand over his and closed her eyes. Gently pressing his fingers, she opened her eyes again and looked at Peter.

"And I know why I turned to you when I had nowhere else to go. I've known only for a few hours that we're related," she added, "but I came here because I was looking for you. I wanted to be someplace safe, with someone I trusted completely. That someone was you."

Now it was Peter's turn to be moved. He took her hand firmly in hers and lightly kissed her knuckles. For a moment, they just looked at each other. Then Peter put an arm around Claire's shoulders and stood up, leaning on her for support for a moment until his legs had readjusted to their being used again. Claire slipped her arm around his waist and let him pull her into another one-armed hug. She looked up at him and he smiled down on her.

"Well, Claire, I might technically be your uncle," Peter said slowly, "but I feel more like your brother. Your big brother. Is that okay by you?"

Claire laughed. "I always wanted a big brother," she said, her eyes sparkling. "And I couldn't wish for anyone else but you. Your little sister accepts the offer."

They smiled at each other, feeling the newly established family bonds between them strengthen with every passing moment.

After a while, Claire looked at her watch. More than half an hour had passed since she had asked for her moment. She smirked. "Well, big brother… how would you like telling the rest of your family that you've come back to life? I think they might be interested in that sort of news…"

xxxTHE ENDxxx