Title: Daddy's Girl

Author: Hermione Eveningfall

Fandom: Heroes

Pairing: None (general family fic)

Summary: Just as Claire settles into a new and comfortable routine, her world is once again turned upside down when her father makes an unexpected appearance.

Part I

Claire

I actually found my first full month attending Manhattan International High School invigorating. The students, while yes they were tough at times and street smart as I expected, took me in like one of their own almost instantaneously. As my Uncle Peter suggested, I had a personality that was very easy to connect with, and I really didn't give myself enough credit.

"I'm home!" I called on Friday afternoon as I pushed open the front door to the relatively large New York City apartment, and found my Uncle going through a stack of mail in the kitchen.

"Hey, munchkin," he greeted when I approached, after disposing of my backpack in the corner of the living room.

"Are you ever going to stop calling me that?" I asked, accepting a hug and realized he had a small paper bag sitting on the table top. "So what's that? Dinner?" I asked with a hint of amusement in my voice, and he placed the bag into my hands without a word. Smirking, I opened the top, and discovered he'd gotten several warm chocolate chip cookies from one of the best bakeries in the area.

"Figured I'd help you celebrate surviving your first month of school in New York," Peter explained, and I made a playful face at him.

"Well, thank you very much...these are my favorite," I replied, and immediately went to fetch the carton of milk from the refridgerator.

"No problem." Peter set the mail back down on the table, and sat down on one of the wooden chairs with a grunt. He began work at the hospital again, and thankfully managed to pick up regular shifts from 7-3. He was almost always there when I got home from school, which I found nice.

I poured two glasses worth of milk, and handed one to my Uncle before diving into the bag of cookies.

"Thanks," Peter chuckled, not used to how much I spoiled him on a regular basis. He never lived with anyone prior to myself, which meant his domestic skills weren't exactly up to par. We shared all chores, though I wound up cooking most nights because he only knew how to make chili or grilled cheese sandwiches.

"Learn anything fascinating today?" Peter asked, after a few moments of silence. The two of us sat across from each other, and I tapped the glass with my fingertips.

"Only confirmed the fact that I suck at math," I answered. "got my first quiz back, and bombed it."

Peter frowned, leaning back in his chair. "Even after we studied for two days in a row?" he asked, and I shrugged helplessly.

"I do fine on the homework, but I fall apart when it comes to exams. I might go in for some tutoring if this keeps up, though." I shoved another piece of cookie into my mouth, and had to lick the melted chocolate from my hand.

"Well, as long as you have a plan," he said. "how did your other classes go?"

"You can tell I started late in the semester, because we're already disecting worms tomorrow," I laughed, and he made a face. "that I don't mind. I'd rather disect a thousand worms than take another algebra quiz."

He shook his head with a laugh, and finished the last of his milk in one swallow. "So do you still have the friends you started off with?" he asked, and I knew my Uncle was determined to make me as happy as possible in Manhattan. It was a big change, living in a city this size after coming from Texas, but I was pretty adaptable.

"Yeah," I replied. "My biology lab partner's pretty nice...her name's Angela. I've been sitting with Rose and Megan at lunch, and I met them in gym class."

"Any news about cheerleading squad?" Peter cocked his head to one side, and I rolled my eyes.

"Missed try outs," I replied. "they have them the third week of September, and the squad is already full to the max. They said I could try out next year, though."

Peter gave me a sympathetic smile, knowing how much I liked the sport. "I'm sorry to hear that," he replied. "but at least you're getting along. Didn't I tell you so?"

I nodded, finishing off my last cookie, and stretched my arms over my head. "Yeah," I agreed. "how was your first week of work? Probably felt weird."

"Tell me about it." he cleared his throat, and brought our dirty glasses to the sink. I watched as he paused for a few minutes, leaning heavily against the countertop, and felt a pang of worry.

"Are you feeling okay?" I asked, and he took a deep breath. Peter had just gotten over a bad flu two weeks ago, and according to the doctor, narrowly escaped pneumonia. I had never been so scared in my life, and had to stay home from school myself when his fever finally broke, due to having sat by his bed most of the nights. When he did get better, I lectured him on working too hard, which was primarily the cause of the illness getting so bad.

"Yeah," he replied, blinking a little. "I'm just tired."

"Go take a nap," I encouraged, and he looked at me. "I'll be fine," I promised. "I don't want you getting sick again. Go on." I waved a hand at him, and Peter shuffled to his bedroom after giving me another reassuring kiss on top of the head.

I sat on the living room couch while he dozed, and cracked open my World Culture book to do some reading. For some reason I couldn't focus on my homework this afternoon, even though I honestly had nothing to worry about. Peter was safe, and so was I. Maybe that was the problem...there was no conflict, nothing to fear, no daily stomach flip. When life became almost monotonous with routine, when I couldn't use my powers at all, I felt strange. Standing up from the couch, I headed into the living room and grabbed one of the sharp kitchen knives, grateful Peter wasn't in the room. He hated when I purposely cut myself to watch as my skin healed within a matter of seconds. Sometimes I had to, in order to prove to myself that I was still different, special.

I cringed as the knife dug into my flesh, and watched as blood quickly flowed from the wound, dripping into the sink.

Sure enough, barely two minutes passed when the wound sewed itself up, leaving nothing more than a light blood stain. I turned on the sink and washed my wrist, as well as the sink itself so Peter wouldnt walk in later and discover it. Sighing heavily, I wandered aimlessly through the apartment, peering through the window as a light snow began to fall again. It had been snowing off and on for the past few days, something I wasn't used to after having lived in Texas for most of my life. Peter was amused by my fascination of the "white stuff", and allowed me to go and play in it as long as I stayed close to the building. He promised to take me sledding in the park when we got enough snow, but that hadn't happened yet.

I entered my bedroom, and saw Munchkin the fish swimming around in his bowl on my desk. We added colorful stones to the bottom, as well as a few plants to make the bowl a bit more decorative. Funny how a tiny little creature could provide such entertainment on a daily basis. I sat on my chair and leaned my chin on my arms, watching as the fish drifted through the water, flapping it's little clear fins.

My new bedroom had grown on me within the first few weeks of living here, and I felt proud of the work Uncle Peter and I did on it. The blue paint looked very nice, especially when the sunlight would hit it just so.

Around five thirty I decided to start making dinner for us, and took a package of chicken that I'd put in the refridgerator before leaving that morning. Peter came out of his room just as I had the chicken in the frying pan, and immediately began setting the table.

"Did a nap help?" I asked, and he smiled at me.

"Yeah," he replied. "a little, anyway. Smells good...what are we having?"

"Chicken breasts with bread crums and a light spread of honey mustard. I also have rice cooking and I used a package of those mixed veggies for another side. Hope that's okay."

Peter laughed at my hopeful expression, and set the last of the silverware down on the table. "Munchkin, you know I have no problems at all with what you make for dinner. I still don't know what I did without you."

I smiled as I turned the chicken over, making sure it was properly cooked on each side. Within the next half hour the food was on our plates, and we sat eating and talking about topics chosen at random.

"Do you have the feeling that something big's about to happen?" I asked suddenly, and Peter raised his eyes to me.

"What do you mean? Are you okay?" he asked. "nothing happened at school, did it?"

"Oh no," I promised. "trust me. I've been very good at not letting anyone know I'm freaky."

He sighed with relief, and continued to eat. "So what are you talking about?" he asked, after swallowing his current mouthful, and I took a sip from my cup of milk.

"I've been feeling really restless," I admitted. "I can't concentrate on anything in particular. I keep feeling like I want to pace back and forth, like I shouldn't sit still."

"I see." Peter sniffed, and straightened up. "Well, I can garuntee I haven't sensed anything, so you should be safe. I think you're just getting comfortable with life here, so your system's not sure how to handle it. Trust me, I was the same way when I first started using my powers. I couldn't just live life normally without feeling confined. That's kind of why I disappeared for a while after the homecoming."

I shuddered a little, and played with the food on my plate. I wasn't that hungry anymore, and asked if I could be excused.

"Of course," he replied, frowning. "I'll take care of cleaning up." He watched as I started to leave the kitchen, and called my name before I disappeared from sight. I turned and faced my Uncle, cocking my head to one side with confusion. "It's going to be okay," he promised, and I managed a smile in response.