Title: Full Circle
Characters/Paring: Peter and Claire, with mentions of several others.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 387 (not including lyrics)
Spoilers/Warnings: Mild-ish spoilers through 4.17, The Wall, and possibly for the season finale, but I haven't read any spoilers about it, so it's really all just speculation.
Summary: There's a radiating warmth between them in the chilled February air, a sense of completion and home that Peter's desperately missed for far too long.
Disclaimer: I don't own Heroes. :(
A/N: This was totally based on the song "Like Lovers," though the lyrics I use at the beginning are actually from Dolly Parton's song "Full Circle." It's been far too long since I've written Paire. -hugs them-
We've cried in the darkness, we've laughed in the sun
We've been forever, yet we've just begun
We've come full circle, all the way 'round
They stand in the field together, all of them, basking solemnly in the people gone, the people gained, and the loss that almost everyone has suffered. One thought runs among them, unspoken yet clear: where do we go from here?
Peter watches them all, his heart breaking for the group of people who lost not only their leader but their entire way of life. The ones he's known... they have places to go back to. He knows they'll be okay. But the rest, they're like leaves blowing in the breeze, fluttering, unsure which direction is up, and which is down. All they have left is a barren field that once held all their hopes and dreams.
A hand slides into his, fingers weaving between his own, and Peter lets out the breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding.
"They'll be okay," Claire whispers, the confidence in her voice reassuring amidst the jumble of confusion. Peter glances down at her wonderingly, and she smiles that small, sad smile. "It might take a while, but they'll be okay. We'll help them. All of them," she admits a bit begrudgingly, tilting her head to the left a bit, towards where Sylar is awkwardly trying to talk with a still-terrified Emma. Peter can't help but laugh.
"It's a long story," he says by way of explanation, and Claire cocks her head at him as if to say, 'no, really?'
"You can explain it to me tomorrow," she reasons. "Over breakfast."
"It's a date," Peter murmurs, tracing a line back and forth across her hand with his thumb. "How's your dad?"
Claire's smile falters a little, and she squeezes his hand a little more firmly. "He's... recovering. The doctors... they said there was oxygen starvation in his brain, and that he might not be... the same. But he'll be okay." She nods as if to convince herself before repeating, "He'll be okay."
Peter turns towards her, wraps his free arm comfortingly around her shoulder. Claire leans her forehead against his collarbone, and he presses his cheek into her hair. There's a radiating warmth between them in the chilled February air, a sense of completion and home that Peter's desperately missed for far too long.
Somehow, that's all he needs to know that everything is going to turn out fine.