A/N: I don't own Heroes. I'm just borrowing the characters for a little bit. The beginning may be familiar because it's Nathan's direct speech from Episode #02x11: Powerless. The rest is from my brain. This is a one-shot and I hope you enjoy it. I love writing Nathan, Peter, and Claire. I hope I keep them in character. Please read and review. Thanks!
Editing in 2015 – just needed to because the punctuation and grammar hurt my brain… whatever you recognize doesn't belong to me, the rest is from me.
Family
Matt Parkman, Nathan Petrelli and Peter Petrelli
Odessa Police Station, Odessa, Texas
"Good Afternoon," Nathan started, "Most of you have no idea who I am… My name is Nathan Petrelli and I was elected to Congress in the state of New York. Seems like a long time ago… I lost my position. I lost my brother. I lost my family. I'm sad to say that I've lost my way."
He took a pause and continued, "But while I was gone, I've had the chance to see the world through newly humbled eyes, witnessed amazing things; seeing ordinary people among us trying their best each day to be heroes. These ordinary people, like you, like me, are capable of extraordinary things. You have no idea, how extraordinary. But there are other people, organizations, who don't want you to know the truth."
Once more he took another pause and looked up, "I myself kept secrets. But last year something incredible happened to me and it changed my life. First I was afraid… but I'm-I'm not afraid anymore. I'm here to tell you the truth."
He looked to his brother Peter for strength as he braced himself. Nathan was ready to reveal to the world about his ability to fly, "I have the ability…"
BANG! BANG!
Shots rang out and panic ensued. Peter and Matt flinched at the loud noise. It took them a second to realize that Nathan was the one who was shot. Nathan fell into Peter's arms. Peter yelled his brother's name, praying for him to be okay.
Nathan breathed, "Peter."
He was still alive. Barely.
Matt stood over Nathan and Peter as the cameraman tried to catch the fallen man on tape. Peter wasn't paying any attention though. All of his focus was on his fallen brother.
"Call an ambulance!" Matt yelled to the cameraman. He didn't pay Matt any mind; he continued to tape Nathan slowly dying.
Not taking any more crap, Matt thought-projected, "Call an ambulance!"
The man immediately took out his cell phone and dialed 9-1-1.
"It's going to be okay, Nathan. You're going to be fine," Peter repeated over and over again like a mantra. It was like he was trying to convince himself more than his brother. As a nurse and a mind reader, he knew Nathan had already slipped unconscious.
While Peter was supporting Nathan, Matt tried to find the shooter by reading everyone's mind but failed. All he heard was static like the Haitian.
The next couple of minutes for Peter were a complete blur. Next thing he knew, he and Matt were on their way to the hospital in the ambulance with Nathan. Matt had used his new skill to get the paramedics to let them in the ambulance to come with them to the hospital. They arrived and all Peter and Matt could do was wait while the doctors did what they could for Nathan.
Time passed and Nathan was put in a room to recover. They managed to remove the bullets, but he was still in critical condition. His once pristine shirt was strewn over a chair in his room. The two bullet wounds were covered with white bandages, slowly turning a dark crimson from the blood. Due to Nathan's extensive injuries, the hospital staff forwent putting him in a hospital gown. He remained shirtless, though he still wore his pants. Matt and Peter sat next to him at his bedside. Peter had his head in his hands hoping and praying for a miracle.
"I wish Nathan could heal like somebody I met," Matt broke the silence.
Peter lifted his head and looked up to Matt, "What?"
"There was this girl I met that could heal… regenerate. I just said that I wish Nathan could do that. He'd be okay by now," Matt repeated.
"That's it!" Peter exclaimed happily, jumping up.
"What's it? He can't regenerate!" Matt wasn't following.
"I know, but I can… I absorb abilities remember?" Peter started pacing. He rubbed his chin, thinking, "But I don't think my blood will do anything because I couldn't heal naturally."
"What the hell are you talking about, Peter?" Matt asked again and then it dawned on him that he probably got Claire's ability when he saved her at her homecoming game, "Never mind."
"I just wish I knew where to find her," Peter thought.
"I think I know how you can find her," Matt answered his thought. At Peter's glare, he apologized, "Sorry, force of habit."
"She doesn't even know I'm alive and I don't even know where to I'd even start to look for her," Peter voiced his thoughts.
"You absorb abilities, right? Do you have to be directly next to them?" Matt asked.
"Are you going somewhere with this?" Peter was a little annoyed. He didn't have any time to waste. His brother was dying.
"Well you were at Kirby Plaza… obviously and there was a little girl there, Molly, she can find anybody anywhere on the planet just by thinking about them. Maybe you were close enough to her to absorb her ability," Matt suggested.
"Really?" Peter perked up finally after about an hour or so of losing hope.
"Just a minute…" Peter began thinking about his niece Claire.
Suddenly, blurs whipped past his closed eyes and he zeroed in on an image of her in his mind talking to a guy about her age with brown hair and a striped shirt in her room. He focused further out, saw the address, then the street name and ventured even further to see that she was in Costa Verde, California, "Got it… I know where to find her. I'll be back as soon as I can with some help. Stay with him."
Matt simply nodded, "I'll be right here by his side. I'm not going anywhere. You two are my best friends."
Peter nodded an acknowledgement, closed his eyes and teleported out. He combined Hiro's ability and Molly's to teleport to Claire's exact location.
Peter's abrupt departure caught Matt a bit by surprise, "That is so much cooler than reading minds."
Right after Peter popped out, a brunette woman with two little boys burst in the room. One boy was in her arms and the other was walking next to her. She seemed shocked to see somebody else in the room with Nathan.
"Um, hello," Matt greeted them. He wasn't sure what to say. He didn't know who they were exactly, but figured from the woman's distress, she must've come a long way with two small boys just to see Nathan.
"Hi, I'm Heidi… Nathan's wife and you are?" Heidi introduced herself.
"Detective Matt Parkman," Matt smiled; still proud he was able to put the word 'Detective' in his title.
"Are you investigating who shot him?" Heidi was clearly intrigued, walking closer to him. She set the boy Matt could only assume to be her son down.
"Yes and no," Matt answered, "I'm one of Nathan's friends. I was with him when he was shot. I tried to stop the shooter, but he sort of disappeared before I could get to him."
Heidi just nodded and sighed dejectedly, "This is Simon and Monty. They're our sons."
"Nice to meet you," Matt smiled. They reminded him a little of Molly, "Don't worry. Your daddy is going to be fine. His brother is bringing help."
"His brother? Peter? He's alive?" Heidi's eyes widened, "Angela… his mother, told me he died in the car explosion that caused Nathan's disfigurement that clearly now has somehow miraculously healed."
"Peter's very much alive, Mrs. Petrelli," Matt replied.
"How? And please call me Heidi," Heidi asked.
"I'm not sure I'm the one that should tell you. And call me Matt," Matt replied.
Claire Bennet & West Rosen
Bennet (Butler) Home, Costa Verde, California
"I'm not going to expose the Company," Claire sighed dejectedly to her boyfriend.
"You're not?" West raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"No… my dad, he's alive. The Company used my blood to regenerate him. He came back and told me that I can't expose the Company. So for once in my life… I'm going to listen to him," Claire answered.
"Well, I'm glad you're not. And I'm glad you're staying," West smiled which got a smile in return. They embraced in a hug. Claire was facing the window and West was facing her bedroom door.
Out of nowhere, a man appeared in front of him, "Who the hell are you?!"
At West's outburst, Claire turned around and stood with her mouth agape in complete shock, "Peter?! Oh my God!"
Claire ran to crush her uncle in a huge bear hug which he was happy to return, "You're alive! Nathan was right! What are you doing here?"
"I need your help, Claire," Peter simply said coming out of the hug.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" West was still completely confused.
Realizing that West had no idea who her hero was, she thought an introduction would be a good idea, "West, this is Peter… my hero. Peter, this is West, my boyfriend."
"Good to meet you, and I don't want to be rude, but Claire I really need your help," Peter shook West's hand and quickly turned back to his niece.
"Anything," Claire replied.
"I need your blood," Peter stated.
Claire furrowed her eyebrows confused at the odd request, "What do you need my blood for? You can heal."
"I need it for Nathan…" Peter started but was interrupted by his niece, "Nathan?! What happened to him? Is he okay?"
"He was shot. We were in Odessa, Texas and called a press conference. Nathan was giving a speech. He was going to reveal to the world what we can do and expose the Company, but someone got to him first," Peter explained with venom in his voice when he mentioned the 'someone' who had shot his big brother.
"He was going to expose the Company? I was going to do that," Claire realized how much she really was like her biological father.
"Yeah, and right now he's in the hospital in critical condition. The doctors don't think he'll make it to tomorrow, but if you healed him with your blood, he'd be fine," Peter's voice was filled with so much hope. He looked to West with dread. Did he just inadvertently reveal Claire's ability?
Claire noticed the direction of his gaze and his sudden uneasiness and quelled his fear, "It's okay, Peter. He knows about us. In fact, he can fly."
"Speaking of flying, you two are crazy if you think I'm flying you both to Texas. I don't have super-strength, you know," West didn't realize that wasn't what she was implying.
"We don't have to fly… I can teleport us there," Peter replied, "You don't have to come."
"If Claire's going, so am I," West stepped closer to Peter. He simply nodded and looked back and forth at Claire and West.
"Fine, let's go," Peter placed his hands on their shoulders and teleported out.
Nathan, Matt, Heidi, Simon, and Monty
Odessa General Hospital, Odessa, Texas
"Exactly how is he?" Heidi pushed Nathan's hair off of his forehead. He looked deathly pale and sweating. He was losing too much blood.
"He's in critical condition and…," Matt started and then looked to the young boys unsure if he should continue. Heidi noticed his hesitance and nodded, "The doctors think that the amount of blood loss might be too much for him and he won't be able to make it to tomorrow unless he stops bleeding."
"I'm so sorry, Nathan. I shouldn't have pushed you away. I shouldn't have taken our boys from you. Maybe if I hadn't been scared or selfish or even have listened to your mother, we could be at home right now instead of here," Heidi thought, looking down at her husband's pale features.
Matt couldn't help but listen in. It was a force of habit. He gave a small smile at the loving woman, empathy radiating off of him.
"Mommy! I just saw Uncle Peter in the hallway!" Simon yelled as he came running back inside the room. There was only so much a little kid can do in a hospital room without getting bored.
Peter didn't want to teleport the three of them in Nathan's room, afraid that their sudden appearance might give Matt a heart attack.
"What?" Heidi breathed in disbelief.
Peter entered the room and motioned for somebody else to walk in. Two teenagers followed Peter into the room. Heidi stared at her very much alive brother-in-law in shock.
"Heidi? What are you doing here?" Peter asked when he noticed his sister-in-law in the room along with his nephews.
"We flew in as soon as we heard what happened… I thought you were dead. Your mother told me you died in the car explosion over four months ago," Heidi was still shocked.
"Believe me, Heidi, you can't trust a single thing my mom says. I promise we'll explain everything to you in a minute," Peter swore.
"Officer Parkman?" Claire wasn't sure if it was really him.
"Actually, it's Detective Parkman now," Matt corrected happily, "But you can just call me Matt, Claire."
"You know Claire?" Peter was amazed at how connected they all truly were.
"Yeah, she's the girl I was talking about before," Matt said.
"How do you know Matt?," Claire asked her uncle.
"We met after I saved you at your homecoming game. Don't worry, everything will be explained in a minute," Peter made his way closer to his brother's bedside where Claire had already taken place on the opposite side.
"He looks so pale," Claire brushed his hair off of his forehead that fell back down after Heidi had moved it.
"Well, we're about to change that," Peter found a syringe from the table next to Nathan and came around next to Claire. She stuck out her arm and waited for Peter to draw her blood. Amazed that all she felt was a little prick, she looked up. All Peter said to explain was, "Nurse."
"Uncle Peter? What are you doing?" Simon asked as he watched him taking Claire's blood.
"We'll explain everything in a little bit, buddy," Peter ruffled his nephew's hair. He released Claire's blood into Nathan's IV bag just as Adam had with his own blood before.
Knowing the effects would be pretty instantaneous, Peter took off Nathan's bandages as all the occupants in the room watched as the two holes miraculously close up. In its place was dry blood over smooth skin. Nathan's color returned to his face and his sweating ceased.
Peter and Claire were still the only ones standing next to his bedside. The others were at the foot of his bed. Heidi was holding Simon and Matt was holding Monty whom of which Heidi entrusted him with; and West stood behind Claire, closer to Matt.
"Pete?" Nathan rasped out groggily, waking up, his eyes half open.
"I'm right here, Nate," Peter smiled as Nathan opened his eyes fully.
"How am I not dead? The last thing I remember is speaking at the press conference and then nothing but pain in my chest and falling into your arms," Nathan recounted. He pulled the breathing ventilator from his nose because he no longer needed it. For the moment the only person he saw clearly was Peter. Claire's blood was still flowing through him repairing anything else that ailed him. He wasn't fully aware of all his surroundings quite yet.
All Peter said as a response was, "Claire."
He looked in the direction of his niece. Nathan's eyes followed to see his daughter's smiling and teary-eyed face.
"Claire? What are you doing here?" Nathan sat up straighter, "If I were you, I wouldn't have done anything for me, especially after the way I talked to you before."
"I wanted to… I know you didn't mean what you said, well except for the part of Peter being alive. Besides you were a hero at Kirby Plaza. You saved the world," Claire shrugged her shoulders in an "it's-no-big-deal" fashion.
"That's true, Nathan. Out of all of us, you were the real one to save the world," Peter proclaimed. Nathan smiled back at his brother and continued the smile in Claire's direction.
"Just so you know, Claire, I'm really sorry for giving you the cold shoulder. I was mad at the world, but more specifically at myself. I saw myself as a monster. I hope you can forgive me," Nathan apologized, "And whenever you want to talk to me, call, anytime and we'll talk about anything your little heart desires."
"I'll accept your apology if you accept mine for the way I doubted you when we first met," Claire gave him an easy ultimatum.
"Of course I do… I give lousy first impressions," Nathan tried to lighten the mood.
"I accept your apology too," Claire replied sheepishly, twisting her foot on the floor. She looked every bit 'Daddy's Little Girl.'
Nathan widened his arms waiting for a hug and she entered it quickly, "I love you."
"I love you too, Claire," Nathan hugged her back as hard as he could, kissing her hair. His eyes were closed as tight as hers as they just reveled in each other's arms for a moment, happy to have a somewhat normal experience as father and daughter. They finally let out their emotions. However, Nathan and Claire's professed love to each other caused five others in the room to be very confused.
"You love her?" Heidi's voice went up. Why would her husband be admitting to loving a teenage girl?
"Heidi? What are you doing here?" Nathan came out of the hug, finally realizing that his wife, sons, and Matt were also in the room, as well as some kid Claire's age.
Claire moved over next to her uncle so Heidi could come closer to Nathan. Now completely healed, as well as his backache from flying Matt from New York to Texas, Nathan fidgeted around until he was in a more comfortable sitting position in the bed.
"I came to see you. So did your sons," Heidi was angry, "What did you mean by you love her anyway?" She was praying that she wasn't the 'blonde' that that reporter was talking about all those months ago.
Nathan closed his eyes and figured now would be a good as a time as any to finally tell the truth, "She's my daughter."
"Daughter?" Heidi, Matt, and West questioned in unison.
"Now I'm really confused," Matt said.
"Get in line," West folded his arms across his chest.
"I told Heidi that we'd explain everything in a minute, so I guess now we should explain everything," Peter nudged his brother, hinting that besides confessing about his daughter, they were also going to tell her about their abilities and prove it.
"Start with her being your daughter," Heidi folded her arms across her chest, but before Nathan could answer, Monty asked with his innocent little voice, "We have a sister?"
"Yes, Monty, you have a sister. Actually, she's your half sister but your sister all the same," Nathan tried to explain with a small smile gracing his lips.
"How old are you?" Simon looked up at Claire. He was now sitting at the foot of his father's bed with his brother seated next to him.
"Sixteen almost seventeen," Claire replied which caused her two younger half-brothers to widen their eyes at the "huge" number. After all, they were still in elementary school.
"So it was before we even knew each other?" Heidi unfolded her arms. Even though it was obvious based on Claire's answer, she still wanted to hear it out loud to make it real.
"Yes, Heidi, it was before we met… I thought she had died fourteen years ago, well almost fifteen years now, but I didn't know she was still alive. I thought she died in a fire when she was eighteen months old," Nathan explained.
"Okay," Heidi simply said. In that one word she told her husband that that was fine with her and was happy for Nathan. He had another child in his life and she even omitted a small smile in Claire's direction, "So, would you care to explain how you no longer have any gunshot wounds?"
"Or a back ache?" Nathan tried to make a joke, looking at Matt. Matt just gave him a smug grin and narrowed his eyes.
"Here, use this to wipe off that dry blood, Smarty Pants," Matt handed Nathan a wet towel. He took it gratefully with a small smile at his own little joke.
While Nathan took the time to clean himself off a bit, West turned to Claire, "So you've got two dads and both of them were shot in the same week."
"Yeah… don't rub it in. I guess I should have told you I was adopted, but well I guess that's just another attribute to what makes me, me," Claire tilted her head in teasing.
"I'm guessing he, uh, Nathan, knows about your ability otherwise he'd be freaking out, right?" West asked.
"Yeah, he knows and we'll explain everything, don't worry," Claire assured her boyfriend, kissing him on the cheek.
"This explanation is going to be long," Nathan said.
"We're not going anywhere," Heidi crossed her arms once again.
"Do you mind if I get out of this bed first? Everyone staring down at me is a little unnerving," Nathan shifted in the bed. For a guy that ran for Congress and was used to giving speeches in front of many people, he sure could get unsettled easily by having his family all looking at him. Everybody stepped away from the bed so he could get up.
"Maybe I should take the IV out of your hand first, Nathan," Peter gestured to his taped hand. Nathan just nodded as his brother took the IV out. Now standing, and still shirtless, Nathan was ready to answer all questions.
"All right, what do you guys want to know first?" Nathan looked to his wife and sons. Matt had joined him on his left side and his brother, daughter, and West on his right.
"How are you all healed?" Heidi wanted to know, "And I'm not just talking about just now with your gunshot wounds. I'm also talking about how you no longer have any scars or burns from that car explosion."
"First of all, there was no car explosion," Nathan replied.
"Nathan, don't start with your story of Peter being a bomb," Heidi warned, "Your mother told me that you're starting to have the same delusions of grandeur that your father had."
"Heidi, you can't believe my mother. I'm not crazy. Peter really was a bomb. I got scarred and burned like that because I flew him up in the sky as he was giving off radiation so he wouldn't blow up half of New York!" Nathan was frustrated and losing his patience. He knew he sounded like a madman even though everything he said was true.
Before Heidi could retort or walk out Peter stopped her, "It's true, Heidi. I was a bomb."
"You both have it," Heidi shook her head with disbelieving eyes. She grabbed Simon and Monty's hands and started to hurriedly walk to the door. But as she was about ready to stretch out her hand for the door handle and leave the room, Peter appeared in front of her, "What the-?"
"We're telling the truth, Heidi," Peter simply said while she still had her eyes widened from shock of seeing him appear in front of her from out of nowhere.
It's a little hard to not believe something when you see it with your own eyes so Heidi turned back to Nathan, "So you… can… really fly?"
The words sounded ridiculous coming out of her mouth, but after witnessing her brother-in-law appear out of thin air in front of her, it was starting to be a little more plausible.
"Yeah, it's been what I've been trying to tell you," Nathan nodded, but before he could say anything else, West cut in, "You can fly too?"
"What do you mean too? Who is this kid?" Nathan pointed at West and looked around to see if anybody could give him an answer. He just realized that he had been completely honest about himself with a complete stranger to him in the room.
"He's my boyfriend West," Claire explained.
"Boyfriend?" Nathan's eyebrows shot up. His paternal instinct was kicking in full gear. He knew she was at that age where she would date, but he didn't quite grasp the fact that she might actually have started dating already.
"I've never met anybody else who could fly before," West smiled sheepishly.
"Ditto, well except for Peter," Nathan nodded to his brother.
"Wait, exactly how much can you do, Peter?" Heidi was already deeming herself insane from even believing any of this stuff, but she just needed to know.
"I absorb the abilities of others… I'm called an empath," Peter explained. "I've literally lost count of all the stuff I can do. Last year I absorbed a nuclear power that I couldn't control and I blew up… Nathan flew me up in the sky where I wouldn't be able to hurt anybody."
"So you actually exploded?" Heidi couldn't believe her own words.
Peter nodded.
"You really are a hero, Nathan," Heidi replied. Nathan smiled in return. His wife finally believed him.
Figuring everyone was confessing their abilities, Matt stepped up, "I'm telepathic and I can do other things with the mind too."
"Regeneration," Claire raised her hand, "I can heal from anything… I've even died before, a couple times actually. That's why Peter didn't die from exploding. He had my ability. My blood can heal others too. Hence why Nathan's healed now, but I don't know about why he's healed from before."
"Adam," Peter said by way of explanation, "He's like you, Claire except he's four hundred years old. He regenerated so many times that after a while he stopped aging."
"Is that going to happen to me?" Claire was clearly intrigued and slightly worried.
"I don't know," Peter shrugged.
"Daddy?" Simon wanted to enter the conversation, "Can you show us how you fly?"
"Well, I can't exactly fly around too much in here, but I'll levitate and move around a bit. How's that?" Nathan kneeled down to be eye-level with his son. At his confused face from all the words he didn't understand, Nathan simplified, "I'll float for you okay, buddy?"
After a vigorous nod from both his sons, Nathan started to float about two feet off the ground and did one lap around the room coming back to his original spot and remained in the air.
"Oh my God," Heidi said in shock.
"I guess he wasn't delusional," she thought and then remembered what Matt said about being telepathic.
She looked in his direction to see him quickly turn his head back to look at Nathan. She knew he heard her, but just smiled instead of getting angry at him, "I can't believe this… this is all so unreal."
"It does take getting used to, but don't worry… you'll get used to it eventually… I did," Nathan answered and smiled as his wife returned the smile.
"Nathan?" West started unsure if he had the right to call him by his first name. When he wasn't corrected, he continued, "Can I ask you a personal question?"
"Kid, I'm floating here. I've got no shirt on and I'm telling everybody about my hidden past, and you want to ask a personal question? Just ask it," Nathan ordered him.
"I was just wondering… how fast can you fly?" West asked indifferent to Nathan's sarcastic retort. He wanted to know if he was faster than him. His question inadvertently turned into a competition for the two men.
"I've broken the sound barrier… how about you?" Nathan floated back down, putting his two feet back on solid ground. He folded his arms defensively. They sounded like two guys comparing how fast their cars could go.
"Not that fast, but I've never really tried to fly that fast. In fact, I've been wondering how to do that," West tilted his head and crossed his arms, as an intrigued expression crossed his face and he stepped closer to the shirtless man.
"Well, you know when you're just flying at a leisurely pace?" Nathan started gesturing with his hands in an explanation. West nodded and motioned for him to continue.
Everybody else in the room was staring at them laughing inwardly at their topic of conversation. The whole thing seemed ridiculous.
Continuing his tutorial, Nathan mimed his explanation, "All you do is just bend your knees and propel yourself to go faster."
"That's all? Wow, I probably could've just figured that out on my own," West nodded, "Thanks though."
"You guys all done bonding about flying?" Claire laughed and came up behind her boyfriend, sporting a sarcastic smirk on her lips.
"What's so funny?" Nathan asked.
"You two… you should have heard yourselves just now," Claire answered. Nathan and West looked around the room to see everyone holding in their laughter. Matt was just smiling, his sons were actually giggling quietly, and Heidi and Peter had their hands over their mouths to cover up their mirth.
"I can't believe everything that you guys can do," Heidi shook her head in disbelief as she uncovered her hand from her mouth, "Is anything else going to manifest?"
"I don't know what's going to happen, but whatever happens, we'll deal with it as a family," Nathan looked around the room at his brother, daughter, wife, sons, Matt and even West, "Because that's what we all are to each other… family."
THE END
A/N: I hope you enjoyed my story. I hope the ending wasn't too sappy or corny. I hope I kept everyone in character and made this story entertaining. I loved writing it and if you get a chance please review and please don't forget to watch the 2-hour premiere of HEROES: VILLAINS Season 3 on September 22, 2008 at 9pm ("The Second Coming") and 10pm ("The Butterfly Effect") with a countdown show at 8pm . It's going to be so awesome! :)
Edit in 2015: Even though Nathan and Peter aren't in it, Angela Petrelli will be - try to check out 'Heroes: Reborn' airing September 24, 2015. :)
