Title: One in a Million
Requested by: Christina
Show: Heroes
Pairing or Character: Peter, Claire, Nathan with Peter/Claire undertones
Rating: T
Spoilers: Season 2
Summary: "So after five months of missing and agonizing, the circumstances Claire found herself in seemed almost surreal. Peter was dead, had been thought dead for months, yet here she was, standing in an airport with Nathan, waiting for him to disembark."
Word count: 2,536 words
Author's Note: It's season 2 but still AU. Oh and the math at the start of the fic might be wrong so just overlook that…
One in a Million
5 months.
151 days.
3,624 hours.
…
No, she had to stop thinking about it. She couldn't keep living in the past.
Claire Bennet (not Butler, never Butler) couldn't believe that five months had passed since Kirby Plaza, since the night that changed her life dramatically. To her, it felt like just yesterday – watching the deep hue glow of his hands reflecting off of the cold metal of her gun,watching them fly up into the sky, the colours jumbling to create an almost eye-piercing glare of light as they exploded…then finally, the eerie silence that had followed, filling Claire with dread just thinking back at it.
She had spent all five months missing the family that never was, missing the father she never had. Most of all, Claire missed the instant bond that had formed between her and Peter Petrelli.
Yes, Claire missed Peter. Non stop.
So after five months of missing and agonizing, the circumstances Claire found herself in seemed almost surreal. Peter was dead, had been thought dead for months, yet here she was, standing in an airport with Nathan, waiting for him to disembark.
The constant phone calls to her drunk father must have counted for something, for he had eventually climbed off of his ass and started looking for Peter again, using all his resources to find him. It had finally paid off and his investigators found Peter in Ireland. So far away from the people he loved, so far away from home.
But with the happiness of finding Peter came the distraught feeling of finding out that he had forgotten all about Kirby Plaza, his powers and most importantly…Claire herself. The gaping hole in her heart that his disappearance had caused was now filled with a sense of dread that she had lost the person that had meant so much to her.
"What's taking this damn plane so long?" Nathan asked impatiently.
Claire turned towards Nathan, her eyes intent on how much he had changed since Peter's disappearance. Gone was the clean cut man she had met her first time in New York, and in his place was a harder, more emotional man that seemed to be irreversibly cracked in his heart and soul. While Nathan's outer shell had definitely hardened, it also seemed as if his emotions were bubbling just below the surface, giving him an air of both strength and vulnerability. It was a familiar feeling for Claire, since she'd been living in a state not unlike Nathan's since she was fifteen years old.
"We're early."
"It's late." Claire sent Nathan a stern look, causing him to return the favour. "What?" he asked suspiciously.
Claire sighed, combing her hand restlessly through her shorter hair, still unused to the shorter length, "Nothing – just that you'd think you'd be a little less grouchy now that Peter's coming home."
Her comment was met by an absolute silence. Nathan stared at her, trying to figure out if he wanted to yell at her for having no respect for her father or applaud her for being the only one to notice how emotional he really was. What he ended up doing in the end shocked both him and Claire.
Nathan Petrelli laughed. Claire stared at her father as if he was some kind of idiot before bursting out into a fit of giggles, herself.
A few seconds later, silence overtook them once more as the laughter died down.
"Do you think he'll still have those emo bangs?"
Nathan gave Claire a quick sideways glance. "Probably…he never cut it when I asked him to do it."
Claire sighed, not fully accepting his short and somewhat annoyed answer. Though Peter was safe she could feel irritation and other mixed emotions pouring from every single pore of Nathan's body. She felt frustration with her father – for cutting their bonding so short in such a jagged manner. It felt to her like he wasn't even trying to bond with his "little girl".
"Though – you never know, with Pete." Nathan paused, smiling slightly at his thoughts, "I didn't even know how much he cared for you."
"Cares." Claire corrected.
Nathan nodded. "Right, cares."
They shared a little smile, a sweet little smile that showed that maybe everything could become better. That maybe they could grow to love each other.
"You think he'll ever remember everything again?" Claire continued.
Nathan frowned, his brow furrowing. "Are we playing 20 questions?" His comment only received a grimace from his daughter. "Well, here's hoping he won't remember the whole episode in Odessa. Saving a silly little teenager like that."
The sting her flat hand left against his arm was all worth it. The smile lit up her face as she saw through his façade and giggled quietly at his jokes. Nathan felt a little thrill, knowing he was the one who'd put it there. He knew he would make it up to her – be a better father to her. It would take time, but Nathan was sure that he could do it.
The announcer's voice suddenly crackled though the PA system; breaking through the invisible force field they had built around themselves. An endless bustling stream of people invaded the small room where Nathan and Claire stood huddling in the corner like lost tourists. Yells of delight erupted as family and friends found each other in the busy room. A young soldier greeted a family holding a 'welcome home' banner for the entire world to see. An old woman smiled happily as her husband engulfed her in a hug, leaving his bags on the floor. Claire stood on her toes, searching the room for that one boy that made her heart beat faster and slower at the same time. Next to her, Nathan stood with an authoritative stance, searching the room with his wide eyes.
Claire's glittering green eyes found the dark pupils of Peter across the room.
To Claire, time and movement and everything else connected to life stopped right at that instant. Claire found Peter's eyes and was instantly flooded with a wealth of images. Discovering him in the hallway back in Odessa. His arms around her as they ran. His voice, solid and calm in her ear
It felt like the moment his body collided with hers in that same hallway, like the moment she realized that he would be her hero. Saving her from the man that wanted to kill her. Saving her from her own demons. Sacrificing his life for a complete stranger. Claire felt the surge of emotion that pressed up from deep inside of her, fighting to come out.
Every single memory of them together slipped past her thoughts in a constant gaze of a never ending love story. Love, such a simple word yet holding so many different meanings. Before meeting Peter, Claire had not known how it was possible to fall in love with a stranger. It wasn't even a possibility for her to ever care for someone so deeply like she did Peter. But standing in that room, staring at the man she loved in a way that would only ever be clear to them, Claire knew that her life would always be built around the security of Peter. Around watching him smile at her with that smile only she ever saw. Around giggling as he tickled her.
He created a feeling of passion in her. Passion for the life outside of the normal American lifestyle you were born to believe was the only thing you could ever be. Before Peter, she had never been so passionate about breaking the rules for the greater good…about saving people…about caring.
Feelings of adoration resurfaced and to Claire it was as good as them being back in the cell, staring at each other through guarded gazes. The day that had cemented that sentence so heavily in her mind for the rest of eternity.
"You're totally my hero."
Claire wondered if he would even remember that saying. If he would remember how she'd tuck his one single bang behind his ear before complaining that he could never get it to do what he wanted it to do. If the countless memories of the times they spent together would forever be lost for him. If in the end…all Claire would have would be the memories.
But she refused to believe it. Refused to believe that she would never see his funny lopsided grin again.
Peter was one in a million.
He was the beginning and end of everything Claire knew, believe and loved. Peter was the reason she went to bed at night and the reason she woke up in the morning. Peter was the first thing on Claire's mind and the only thing she ever dreamed about.
Peter would never be anything less than her Peter, her hero.
They would always be tied together by blood – Petrelli blood. But Claire knew that the love they shared would survive even the toughest of situations. She knew that with Peter back her life would irreversibly change and that in the end – she would return to New York to be closer to him.
Heroes.
Family.
Friends.
Lovers.
Soul mates.
No words could ever sum up what they were – are, would ever be – to each other. Even soul mate seemed to be lacking in describing what Peter was to Claire. He was all that and so much more. He was her everything.
As she stood in the mania that was the waiting room, all that Claire ever felt was important in her life – acceptance, understanding of her power, finding her birth parents – all of that faded away into the motionless world around them. She realized that all that would ever matter in this world and the next would be her and Peter and their love.
The rest of the world be damned, Claire was finally going to have Peter back.
She ran to him like the day in Kirby Plaza where she refused to leave him to his doom. Claire ran to him like she was purposefully destroying any of the images from his nightmares where she had run from him – like she could ever do that. Her feet fell to the floor too slowly for her liking, her body moving at a snail's pace. Claire felt like she couldn't get to him fast enough – her mind already twenty steps ahead of her own two clumsy feet.
Then, like a car hitting the hard surface of a block of concrete, Claire stopped right in front of Peter.
Her eyes searched his – looking for any sign of recognition behind the glazed eyes. Peter in return gazed at her with such determination that she was sure he would burn through her soul with just one look. Tears of relief dripped down her cheeks as she let her eyes travel over his short hair, taking in his whole appearance in one big gulp of reality.
He was beautiful…more beautiful than she remembered.
Claire didn't say his name, didn't breathe a word to him. Didn't move closer or retreat to Nathan making his way through the mass hysteria she had left behind her. She was even afraid to blink in case it was all just a dream and that he'd disappear. Then, as the world started to spin around them and everything come back to life, Claire realized with sudden hysteria that he had yet to make any sign of recognition. So Claire did the last thing she could think of that didn't require her to make any sounds for she was sure her voice would fail her.
Claire gave Peter that little sad smile he had always teased her about.
It happened so fast that Claire was certain she was having a nightmare. The world had started up again and people came bustling between them, pushing her further and further away from Peter. A wretched sob escaped her throat as she reached out to him, urging her already tired body further into the maniac crowds.
Then suddenly all hope was lost as a pair of arms pulled her back into a rugged chest, pulling her further away from the only man that ever made her feel safe. Furious, Claire turned and slammed her small hands into the man's chest, swearing at him for doing this to her.
The strong arms slipped past her waist and pulled her tightly towards the chest and Claire tensed. Through tearful sobs of pleading she could make out a soft soothing voice escaping from above her, calming her. Looking up Claire felt like her heart stopped and every single part of it that had shattered the day Peter exploded, came back together.
Holding her tightly to him, smiling his usual crooked smile, Peter gazed down at Claire with so much emotion that it made one thing very clear. Peter remembered.
"Uh – hey." Peter grinned after a short silence.
Claire stared at him dumbfounded. All the words she practiced saying to him flew out of her memory and left her with only one big blank. She prayed he wouldn't notice.
Peter did notice.
He combed his hand slowly through the much shorter hair that was actually starting to grow on him. It was much more comfortable than the other style he use to have. "So, sorry about the hair. I know you loved it longer."
Claire opened her mouth before she realized she had no clue how to respond. Blushing, she closed it again and just gave a single nod.
Peter raised one eyebrow at her reluctance of speech. "No hello? Welcome back? Nothing?"
She stared hard at him for what felt to him like an eternity of silence. Then finally she gave a small smile. "I don't talk to people who cut off the emo bangs. I liked the emo bangs." She faked hurt and anger.
Peter laughed softly. "That's my girl." He paused, letting his fingers run through her hair, taking in her appearance. "But you can't talk – I see you don't have that much hair anymore as well."
Claire giggled as she cocked her head and looked up at him. "Okay fine fine! We both cut our hair! Truce?"
"Truce." He agreed after a split second. "You look good Claire."
"You look good too, Peter. I missed you."
Peter ran his hand up and down her cheek, like he had done before the explosion. This time Claire didn't close her eyes. "Ditto." He said quietly.
Claire rolled her eyes. "You can't say ditto. You have to say the words!"
Peter leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss against Claire's forehead. "I missed you too Claire."
They both noticed Nathan making his way over to them at exactly the same time – breaking the bubble they had placed themselves in.
"You're totally my hero…" he whispered quickly as Nathan finally came into hearing distance.
This time, it was he who had said those magical words to her.
5 months.
151 days.
3,624 hours.
217,440 minutes.
13,046,400 seconds.
Five months was how long Claire had wished to be back in Peter's arms again. Five months was how long Claire waited to be with him again. Five little months was all it took for Claire and Peter to be home.
END
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