Though she didn't know it at the time, cutting off her pinky toe was the first step in Claire Bennet's path towards becoming a hero. (Set after "Lizards.")

I don't know, this just sort of came out of me. Could be a stand alone, but also works as a good beginning to a story. So, if you like it or think it has potential, I would definitely consider doing just that.

Disclaimer: Don't own a thing.

Finding Peter Petrelli

Her pinky toe grew back. It grew back. Out of nothing. Bone and tissue and flesh had regenerated itself. Out of nothing. Yet, her mind was anywhere but on her pinky toe. With her newfound knowledge, something in her had shifted. She felt empowered. Where she had only moments ago been plagued by despair, she now felt resolve. What had moments ago been suspicion, was now hope. She knew she hadn't tested the full extent of her limits. Not even close. But she was feeling an understanding of her abilities that she never had before. This understanding made sense of something else she couldn't explain before. An uncanny feeling. An idea that was preposterous. The idea that Peter Petrelli was alive. She was aware that it didn't actually make much empirical sense, but somehow her hopes were confirmed. Her pinky toe grew back, and something in her had shifted.

Peter was alive.

She knew who she was supposed to be: Claire Butler, ex-cheerleader, junior at San Blah high school, utterly ordinary, average in every sense of the word. She didn't know why pretending had bothered her so much, why she complained so adamantly. It really wasn't too difficult, blending in. It was necessary, for the sake of her family. Suddenly though, she understood. She wasn't merely blending; she was fighting who she was. Who she really was was Claire Bennet, and Claire Bennet was extraordinary.

In the end, Peter had gotten to her. He had convinced her. Save the cheerleader, save the world. She was a part of something. Something big. Something important. She was fighting her place in the world, hiding away in this small California town. She was involved in saving the world, and she had a feeling her involvement didn't end that night in Manhattan. She wasn't going to simply be the rescued cheerleader anymore. She was going to be a hero. And she was going to start by saving hers.

She wasn't sure how Nathan was going to take what she had to say. She figured it would upset him, but after the initial shock of finding her on his doorstep and hearing her announcement, she had no idea what he was going to say. Anyway, he was her best shot at an ally.

"Claire," his tone as he said her name was one of both patience and exasperation. She knew this wasn't going to be pleasant. "I miss him too. This is hard for all of us, we're all having trouble with it," he rubbed his beard deliberately in a rare motion of self-deprecation. "But what you're doing is living in a fantasy."

Claire was silent. She looked to the ground, seeming to consider his statement. Her small, sad smile crossed her lips.

"What?" asked Nathan, confused by her reaction.

She shook her head, "It's just, now I know how Peter felt. Everyone thinking you're crazy."

Nathan only looked back at her with sympathy. She could tell she wasn't going to change his mind about her self-imposed mission, but it didn't touch her resolve.

"I'm not giving up on him. I'm going to find him." With that, she turned on her heel and started walking away.

Nathan called after her, "I want him back too, but he's gone. And you're going to have to deal with it."

The desperation he put into those last three words caught Claire off guard. His deep concern for her made itself apparent for the first time. She turned back to him and looked at him seriously. The silence lasted a few moments before she spoke, her voice thick with emotion, "He found me. He saved me."

To Nathan, it was as if his long lost daughter was changing before his eyes. The determination on her face and the resolution in her stance was something he had only glimpsed at the night Peter exploded. She wore her strength like it was new, like it was something she didn't quite fit into yet. Still, she looked magnificent. He knew that she wasn't going to stop until she found his brother, or rather until she found conclusive evidence of his demise. Either way, Claire looking back at him at that moment was the picture of someone taking the first steps onto the path that would determine who she was. And Claire Bennett, his only daughter, his oldest child, was a fighter.

Before he could contemplate Claire fulfilling her destiny any further, she was walking out of the room. Something sat uneasily inside of him as she left. He was afraid to admit to himself what it was.

He was surprised by the fact that he could so clearly see himself in his daughter. She had inherited his stubbornness, his ambition, and his hot-headedness. What truly overwhelmed him though was how much she reminded him of Peter. Claire's soulfulness, her belief in goodness, her caring nature, empathy, passion, and her quiet, subtle strength.

It bothered him at first, the fact that his brother had a stronger connection with his daughter than he did. The fact that the reason she came to New York to begin with was for Peter. The whirlwind of events that had transpired in the months preceding Peter's explosion had bonded them in a way that was unshakeable. They saved each other. They had realized their fates together. He couldn't help but feel a little put out by their bond. Claire's declaration a few minutes ago had again demonstrated her intense connection to Peter. He tried to convince himself it was this that unsettled him as she left.

In truth it was that, in that last moment she looked back at him, something soft flickered inside him. He was afraid of it, afraid of the possible and probable devastation that would lead from it. But Nathan knew exactly what it was. For the first time in months, Nathan felt a small sliver of hope.