Title: Forgotten Son
Summary: Set during "Upon This Rock." Noah feels guilty about the hurt he caused Peter and Claire and thinks about his own relationship with his son at Nathan's funeral. References to S3 and S4 up to "UTR."
Disclaimer: The characters and dialogue do not belong to me.
"My brother Nathan taught me a lot," Peter said. "He taught me how to ride a skateboard when I was a kid. How to hook a marlin. How to catch a baseball. Now, those are all things usually a father will teach his son. But, Dad wasn't around. So, it was Nathan."
Noah couldn't help feeling a pang of guilt as he listened to Peter's eulogy for Nathan and realized the younger man had lost not only a brother, but also a father figure. By coercing Parkman into making Sylar believe he was Nathan, Noah had only contributed to delaying Peter's grief. He remembered once telling Claire how he wanted to redeem himself by helping another person. Looking at Peter now and hearing him speak of his older brother, Noah admitted to himself that he had not helped Petrelli at all, but only hurt him, just as he had hurt his daughter with his deceit.
Inevitably, Peter's words also made Bennet's thoughts turn to his own son, Lyle. He couldn't remember ever going fishing with him or having a catch. He had been too wrapped up in his work for the Company, too concerned with protecting Claire. He wasn't even sure if Lyle liked fishing or baseball. Noah wondered whether Sandra's boyfriend, Doug, knew what Lyle's current hobbies were. Had Doug spent time throwing a baseball around with Lyle? Did he take him to sports games? Noah couldn't picture either scenario as being likely. But unlike Peter, Lyle had no big brother to turn to. He, did, however, still have a father.
Noah frowned, realizing that he didn't want to neglect his son and become another Arthur Petrelli. As the roar from the fighter jets that flew overhead in honor of Nathan died down, Bennet stepped away to make a phone call.
"Lyle?" he began. "Hi, it's me, Dad."