I try not to think of Peter/Claire as incest. But sometimes, I must do so. I mean, Peter is indeed Claire's uncle after all, and they are related. But don't you see the way they look at one another? It's like Tim Kring is screaming to us through acting and placing each actor "PETER AND CLAIRE BELONG WITH ONE ANOTHER AND I JUST MADE THEM RELATED TO PISS YOU ALL OFF". Well, congradulations, Timmy. You pissed me off. Peter and Claire are DESTINED to be together, as any fool could see. That's why PETER was chosen to "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" and no one else was. It's plain and simple that they belong together, and that's it. Therefore, this is my Paire fic (is that the shipper name for Peter/Claire? Or is it Plaire? I can never tell, for this is the first time I've written one of these!) and I hope you enjoy~

DISCLAIMER:

Thompson: *points to me* She owns nothing. *points to random Kring in the corner* Tim Kring does.

Me: DAMN!

Save the cheerleader, save the world.

If only it had been that easy. If only it had been as simple as saving the cheerleader, and then the world would be a better place. If only anything would amount to being that simple in Peter Petrelli's life. He could take almost dying when jumping to his death. He could take that he and his brother were two mutated or so on subjects of a changing world. He could take being an empath, and so many people wanting to kill him that he had to fight for his life every waking moment. He could take falling off a something-story building with a man named Sylar, who named himself after the "Sylar" watch he so loved. He could take magically healing up, and then being taken in for a questioning by the police. That was the easy part.

The hard part was falling in love.

Peter had only been in love a handfull of times in his entire life. The one he most truly believed in was his most recent, Simone. He'd loved her so much; or at least, he'd thought he did. Never did he understand what 'love' truly meant until he met Claire Bennet.

Save the Cheerleader, Save the World. It was the message that Hiro, the one from the doomed future, had given to him so long ago on the train. It had changed his entire life, and that of so many others. Peter had saved Claire Bennet, the cheerleader from Odessa, Texas. Never did he expect to understand what Claire could give him.

Peter didn't remember when it first occured to him. Perhaps it was when Claire first ran into him, when he was gazing at the trophy case, falsely thinking that Jackie was the cheerleader he was supposed to save when the real one was standing right beside him. Maybe it was when he looked up at Claire when her ability allowed him to heal and live once again. When they had exchanged names, eyes truly meeting for the first time.

Or maybe it was when Claire approached him in his cell. When she had talked to the police investigating the Sylar case, and then had come to make sure he was all right. He had saved her life, but she had unknowingly saved his.

Whenever the moment, Peter realized that he was in love with Claire. And when he discovered that she was his niece, his relation, his brother's love child from long ago, he was crushed. His heart was shattered, his mind completely blown. Never should he have had the feelings for his niece that he felt whenever he saw Claire drift by him, or her face in his thoughts.

And yet, the feeling never faded. Even with this new information at his disposal, he never wavered from those cursed thoughts. She's so beautiful, so flawless. Is that skin really as soft and creamy as it looks? A mind, so entranced, that he couldn't see what was really in front of him.

He revealed that fact that he was the one that would destroy New York City to her, and she had been horrified, stepping back. Fright and regret flashed in his mind and his heart. Peter didn't want Claire to be scared of him. He wanted just the opposite. It wasn't like he was going to be doing this willingly, however. So why was she so scared?

The meeting. She was leaving for Paris. He was never going to see her again. At least she would live, he reassured himself. At least when he exploded and brutally murdered point oh seven percent of the population, Claire would be safe.

But he needed to tell her.

The monster in his chest screamed to be free. He tried to push it back, to ignore it, but Peter could not deny the fact that he was desperately in love with his unnaturally gorgeous niece, and there was nothing that could be done about it.

So he found her. He gave her the gun. She stared at it, scared. Scared that she would have to shoot her uncle. But there was something else in her fright, something Peter could not understand. Something he couldn't decipher.

'What's wrong?' he asked her, eyes flashing with worry. There was so much to think about, this new fright adding to the list. The last thing he wanted her to be was scared, but there was really no other option at the moment. 'A-are you okay?'

Claire looked up at him. Her eyes were filled to the brim with unshed tears, threatening to spill out. 'P-Peter,' she gasped his name, sending a shiver down his back. 'I don't want you to explode. I don't want to shoot you. Please, tell me what I can do to stop this. I need to save you, this time.'

Oh, how he wished she could save him. But both of them knew well that something like that would never happen. 'Claire,' Peter whispered, cupping her chin and raising it level with his own. Her tears were breaking what was left of his heart that had been shattered oh so many times all ready. Simone's death, Isaac's anger, the explosion, learning and his and Claire's relation... 'I don't want to explode, either. Believe me when I tell you this, but I believe that shooting me is the only way I - we can stop this.'

Save the cheerleader, save the world. It didn't work like that. 'Shoot me, save the world,' he finished, a stare so deep it caused her to look away.

Slowly, they met their bodies together until Peter was slightly pressed up against his niece, who's back was against the stairwell. Angela had gone God-knows-where, Nathan to the phone, Heidi with the kids. They were completely alone.

'Peter,' Claire breathed, that fear lingering in her eyes. 'There's something I have to tell you. Before everything ends...'

'Yes?' he asked, the breath catching in his throat as he anticipated what she would say.

Instead of speaking, though, she parted her lips. Peter was fully aware that Claire had every intention of finishing her sentence, telling him what was wrong with her, but he didn't let her finish. As soon as he saw those lips parted, some creature inside of Peter took control and leaned his neck forward at a very comfortable angle, therefore kissing her deeply. Claire gasped in surprise against his lips for a moment, caught unawares, but then began kissing him back. When oxygen became an issue, they released their lip-lock for a moment, before roughly reconnecting again. Her head was pressed firmly against the white painted wall of the stairwell, with one of Peter's hands grasping her hip bone, massaging it, the other brushing his thumb against the creamy skin of her neck. Her skin was warm and soft to the touch, just as he had imagined.

Claire moaned softly against his lips as a reflex, the kiss deep and warm. Peter's tounge lashed out from it's hiding place and scathed Claire's bottom lip, cautiously asking for permission. She allowed it, opening her lips a bit more so his tounge could snake in, tasting her. The french kiss lasted no more than a few moments at least when someone fiddled with the lock on the door. Though not wanting to escape their almost erotic fantasy, the two split apart. Nathan stumbled through the door, looking on the two with strange looks.

'You guys okay?' he asked.

'Y-yeah,' Peter said, running his hand through the hair that Claire never got to feel. Oh, how she regretted cornering him here and not in their bedroom, where they could have had a few more minutes to themselves. 'We're fine. Just saying goodbye.'

'Okay then,' Nathan said, strangely eager to get away, and walked out.

Peter turned back to Claire, his eyes flashing. 'I love you,' he told her truthfully.

'I know,' she said. 'I love you too. But we can't-' she paused. 'We can't make this work. I'm leaving. You're exploding. We're... related.'

He smiled at her, which was hard to do considering the circumstances. 'We can do our best.' he replied nonchalantly, as if their situation was the most normal one in the whole world.

As he had aforementioned, Peter Petrelli had never really understood love until he met Claire Bennet.

Thoughts? Please review, I LIVE for reviews~