Title: The Riddle
Pairing/Character(s): The Petrellis, The Bennets, Meredith, Zach, possibly others. No romantic pairings as of yet.
Rating: T
Summary: Claire isn't about to give up on getting to know her father.
Spoilers: Through 1x15 (Includes the paternity spoiler, so if you haven't seen it yet and don't wanna know... just a warning:))
A/N: Claire is 17 for purposes of this fic. The title and lyrics in the beginning of the fic are from The Riddle (You and I) by Five For Fighting.
Warnings: spoilers through 1x15. That's it I think.
Disclaimer: Heroes not mine. sigh

Chapter 1

There are secrets that we still have left to find
There have been mysteries from the beginning of time
There are answers we're not wise enough to see

Claire kept herself crouched directly outside her mother's trailer, poking her head up intermittently in attempt to sneak a glimpse at the man she had dreamt of meeting. The father who she was told didn't want to see or know her. It sure didn't sound that way to Claire. It sounded like this man, Nathan, wanted to see her. It sounded to Claire like he was curious about who she was, what had become of her.

Hoisting herself up on the balls of her feet once again, all she truly wanted at that moment was to get at least a look at him. Did she look like him at all? Did she have his eyes or his nose? All she could see though as she pushed herself up, was the back of his head and his dark hair. She heard her mother speaking to him.

"I wish you coulda seen her, Nathan," Meredith lied. "Poor little girl, desperate to meet her daddy. Hoping to escape her broken life. But ya know I thought with you runnin' for office and all... everyone would just love findin' out about a baby born out of wedlock."

Claire bit at her bottom lip, watching Nathan sit, obviously fighting back tears as he remained silent. She wiggled a little to keep her legs from falling asleep, head peaking up over the window sill.

"I just hope... that this helps." Nathan never really looked directly at Meredith. "I know that it can't possibly make up for my not being there but..."

"It'll go a long way at makin' things easier." Meredith never took her hand off the white envelope.

There was an awkward silence for a moment before Nathan almost silently cleared his throat. "I should... be getting back to New York."

As Nathan stood, turned towards the door, Claire locked her eyes on him. He seemed to be in his early forties. Handsome, rich. He was clearly much more well off than her mother. The door to the trailer pulled open forcing Claire into hiding. She was pulled in a million different directions as she watched Nathan get into the back of a black town car. Part of her pulled to make a scene, force him to turn around. Another part of her said to step back, call Zach and go home to Odessa.

The red parking lights on the town car turned off and the auto pulled away slowly. Claire stepped out from where she hid, a smooth stone clutched in her hand. Her fingers moved over it, eyes growing blurry with tears. She dropped the rock beside her silently and the car pulled further away until it was completely out of sight.

Nathan pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, lifting his other hand simultaneously to wipe the forming tears from his eyes. He pressed the speed dial, letting the line ring once. Twice.

"This is Peter. I'm not home right now. Leave a message and I'll call you back."

The beep sounded and for a moment, Nathan considered just hanging up, but he spoke.

"Pete... I don't know where you are but I need to talk to you. I'll be back in town later today so... just call me when you get this, OK."

Nathan ended the call, shoved the cell phone back in his pocket and flipped his sunglasses onto the bridge of his nose, He cleared his throat softly, leaning back in his seat. The driver couldn't get to the airport fast enough.

Maybe Meredith had been right to turn the young girl away. She couldn't just leave everything behind and come to New York. It would cost him the election if the fact that he had an illegitimate child even came out. Plus, she had a family here, in Texas, parents that had taken her in, given her a home. True, he had never signed away the rights to his child, but now was not the time to unearth that secret.

The best thing for him to do right now was wait for Meredith to cash the check and attempt to put the encounter out o f his mind. He had his boys back in New York. He had Heidi. He had the election. That's what he needed to keep in the front of his mind. That's what he needed to be focused on now.