Title: "Touch"
Summary: It was nothing, just a touch. A series of moments between Peter and Emma. Spoilers from "Hysterical Blindness" and "Tabula Rasa"
Emma backed up into the street, overwhelmed by the strength of the red light that was the sound of the working jackhammer she was seeing. While her attention was fixed on the light, she felt a stranger's arms wrap around her waist and a body press against hers as someone picked her up and carried her back to the sidewalk. It was the paramedic from the hospital. He set her down, breathing hard himself after his run.
"Are you okay?" she saw him ask. Emma could only stare at him, confused and worried. Something was happening to her, and she had no clue what it was. Emotionally, she was feeling a lot of things other than "okay."
Her rescuer extended an arm in the direction of the departing bus that had almost hit her. "I mean, you almost—" he broke off. "You all right?"
Physically, she could only feel two things at the moment—her heart hammering in her chest and the paramedic's hands resting on her arms as he steadied her.
-*-*-*-
"Hey, wait up a second. Hey! Wait, wait, wait," Peter called after the file clerk, putting a hand on her forearm as he moved to stand in front of her. His hand slipped down to hold hers, but he thought nothing of it. The clinical part of his mind told him he was checking for shaking, a sign of shock. "Are you okay? You almost got hit by a bus back there."
-*-*-*-
"Colors," he said with a grin as he faced Emma. She caught his lips starting to form more words but couldn't read them as he continued into the recreation room without breaking his stride. Hurrying after him, she laid a hand on his upper back, feeling the solid weight of his body underneath his layers of clothing. She dismissed the sensation. She was only trying to get his attention so she could read his lips and explain that she was deaf.
-*-*-*-
Peter held out his arm, gesturing for her to go further down the hallway outside Hiro's room. As they walked the few feet necessary to grant them privacy, he put his right hand on her back to guide her to the far side of the hall. He let his left hand take its place as he moved to her other side before he turned to face her. It fit in the small of her back as perfectly as his right hand had, but he was simply letting Emma know that he was still close behind her.
"Are you okay?" he asked with concern, taking in the worried expression on her face.
-*-*-*-
Emma looked unsure at Peter's suggestion that she talk to his friend Hiro, glancing from the Japanese man, who was reading a comic book in bed, to Petrelli.
"Talk to him," Peter urged, laying a hand near her shoulder to reassure her as he said his next words, "and I'll be back soon." His touch was warm, and she felt the knot of fear in her stomach ease a little.
-*-*-*-
That night, Emma found Peter walking down the hall toward Hiro's hospital room.
"Peter," she called.
He turned around, holding a hand to his chest, startled. "Emma," he said with a sigh. His right arm found its place at her back as she walked alongside him. "I'm sorry it took so long. How is he?"
"Hiro's gone."
"What?" he loudly asked, dropping his arm in surprise.
"He disappeared, just…disappeared."
She shared his concern as they entered Hiro's room. Both of them forgot the momentary sense of security that had enveloped them when Peter had had his arm around Emma.