A/N: Just a quick, big thanks to Miz for noticing my misuse of the word 'Menagerie'. It's been changed and I just want to thank you for pointing it out to me.
"So, how are things going at that little job of yours?" Elle asked as she leant forward and closed her lips over the straw to her glass of coke. The waitress had been surprised when Elle had ordered a coke instead of an expensive wine like everyone else usually did. Normally Elle would have decided to have wine; but she knew that she really couldn't hold her alcohol, no matter how little she drank. She didn't want to be half-drunk in front of Peter anyway. She wanted him to like her; he made her stomach twang in a way that she'd never felt before.
"You mean working with Mohinder?" Peter grinned. "It's not really a job. You know, we need more help, Elle. Mohinder keeps asking you to join."
"Is this why you asked me out?" Elle joked, "To have an expensive job interview?"
Peter shook his head and grinned wider, "No, I asked you out because I like you."
Elle felt heat surge into her cheeks. She picked up her glass of coke and held it close to her face as she drank so Peter wouldn't see her blush. She peered over the top of her glass and looked at Peter. He was smiling knowingly at her. It was obvious he knew that his words had made her blush.
Elle was immediately overwhelmingly happy and a little bit angry at the same time. She was overjoyed at Peter's confirmation that he returned her feelings; but she was also mad that he had made her blush. She grinned as a thought struck her, latching onto her mind and filling her being with delight. She had a new game to play now; Peter was winning one/nil at the moment, but she was determined to win this little game.
"You know, I might just take you up on that job thing." She smiled as she reached out casually with her foot and softly stroked up and down Peter's calve muscle. She watched Peter's face, looking for the slightest red tinge on his cheeks to signify that she had scored a point in this blushing game. "I mean, we could spend more time together."
Peter leaned forward and placed his hand over Elle's. He didn't even seem fazed by her foot stroking his leg; not even the faintest red blush coloured his cheeks. Elle managed to keep her face clear of any disappointment. She had hoped that Peter would at least be a little bit flushed. But she was pleased that Peter had picked up on their little game and was trying to make her blush again.
"Yeah, a lot more," Peter said. "Things are getting easier now after Sylar went off the map. But I guess it'll only be a matter of time until he pops back to the surface."
Elle smiled and absently stroked the back of his hand with her thumb. "Well, its kind like a whacka-mole game with you two, at least when Sylar does pop back up, you'll be there to bash his head back underground." She giggled flirtatiously. "You're the strongest of us all, as long as you're here, we'll all be fine."
She smiled wider as the faint tinge of embarrassment appeared on Peter's cheeks. One point for Elle, she thought happily. The score was all tied up now. Elle was pleased now that she had found out what made Peter blush. She supposed that compliments and praise would be the easiest way to win. But she didn't think it would be a fair game if she continuously tried to make him blush that way. She wanted to feel his electricity stir as his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. She wanted to smell his delicious electrical scent as his face warmed.
"There are other strong people, Elle." Peter replied, his slight flush receding as he spoke. "You've lived with your lightning all your life. I really wouldn't want to be on the receiving ends of your bolts. Once is enough, believe me."
Elle was cut off from answering by the waitress bringing their food to the table. She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks at Peter's words. Okay, Peter, Elle thought grudgingly, Another point for you.
"Oh, no," Claire whispered as she trained the binoculars on the figure emerging from the alleyway, the entire air seemed to chill as the butterflies in Claire's stomach began to flutter madly. It was a feeling of unstoppable fear that came to all the people who had narrowly escaped the man's quest for power. "Why now? Of all the times he could have…"
"What? What is it?" West asked, hearing the urgency and the tinge of fear in her voice.
"Sylar," Claire said, her tone twisting in hatred.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa; that's Sylar?!" West asked incredulously. "I thought Peter killed him?"
Claire shook her head and focused the binoculars on the serial killer, watching his every movement. "No, Sylar got away last time. I swear, he must have nine lives considering the amount of times someone's tried to kill him."
"Well, what can we do?" West asked with the faintest trace of fear was in his voice. He had never seen Sylar before, but he had heard stories from Claire and the others. He had been told that if he saw Sylar, he should fly as fast as he could in the opposite direction.
"We can't do anything," Claire said, "The only person who can stand up to Sylar is inside that restaurant."
"Maybe we won't have to do anything," West pointed out hopefully. "Sylar might not notice Elle and Peter. They are on the second floor."
Claire nodded even though she was unconvinced by West's optimism. She hoped he was right, but she knew from experience that things rarely turned out the way you hoped they would. She had hoped that Elle's first date would run its course without any unwelcome interruptions rearing their heads. But now that Sylar was here…
"No!" Claire said vehemently, causing West to look at her in surprise. "I'm not going to let Sylar ruin this!"
"Claire?!" West asked; his tone filled with worry and confusion.
"Peter's not the only one who's fought Sylar and survived." Claire said as she pulled her cell-phone out of her pocket. "He'll know what to do."
"Who?"
"Hiro Nakamura," answered Claire. "The only thing is that we have no idea where he is. We might not need him at all though, because like you said: Sylar might not even notice Peter and Elle in the restaurant."
"So, who are you calling?" West asked.
"Mohinder Suresh," answered Claire, as her fingers danced quickly across her cell-phone's keypad. "He'll be able to find Hiro and tell him that Sylar's popped back up again."
Claire handed the binoculars back to West as she held the cell-phone to her ear. She looked down at the slowly walking Sylar on the sidewalk across the street. He looked completely oblivious to the fact that he was being watched. Claire sincerely hoped it stayed that way.
She smiled slightly as Molly's voice sounded through the phone line. "Hello?"
"Hi, Molly," Claire said, "It's me. Is Mohinder there?"
"Who's this, sorry?" Molly asked, making the smile drop from Claire's face.
"It's Claire."
"Oh, hi, Claire," Molly said happily. "I'll just get Mohinder. He's been working non-stop on his computer, he hasn't even noticed how late it's getting."
"Okay," Claire smiled as she glanced across the street and looked into the second story window of the restaurant. Peter and Elle had finished their dinner and were now leaning forward to talk each other, occasionally taking sips of a dark fluid in their glasses. Claire had initially been surprised when she saw them appear at one of the window tables; she had heard how hard it was to secure reservations. She supposed that Peter had pulled some strings to obtain a table. It made it easy to keep an eye on the two, but it also made it easy for someone else to spot them from the street below.
"Hello?" Mohinder said, snapping Claire away from her thoughts.
"Hi. Sorry, I don't have much time. We need to find Hiro. Sylar's popped up again and we need Hiro's help."
"You should be asking for Peter, not Hiro." Mohinder said.
"Peter's busy right now. He's on a date with Elle. Normally I would interrupt to tell him that Sylar's back; but considering its Elle's very first date and everything."
Claire could hear Mohinder sigh through the phone. It was obvious that he didn't agree with her; but he knew how stubborn Claire could be when she dug her heels in. "Alright," Mohinder said, not even bothering to argue with her, "I'll try and contact Hiro. I'll text you when I've located him but I won't send him your way unless you really need his help."
Claire smiled, "Thanks, Mohinder. We owe you one."
"Glad to be of help, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yup, see you then." Claire removed the phone from her ear and quickly switched the setting to vibrate. It never took Mohinder long to contact someone, she didn't know how he did it; it just never took as long as everyone thought it would. Claire guessed that in maybe five minutes or so, Mohinder would text her saying that Hiro was waiting for her confirmation.
"Oh, crap." West muttered. Claire glanced at him. He was holding the binoculars limply in his hands; he was staring down at the street with an expression of horror on his face.
Claire frowned and followed his gaze. She didn't need the binoculars to see what was happening. Sylar had stopped walking and was staring up at their position on the rooftop with a malicious glint in his eye. Claire shuddered as her green eyes met his black ones.
"Come on!" West urged, grabbing Claire's hand and pulling her away. "We have to go, now! Sylar knows were here!"
Claire didn't try to complain; her stomach buzzed and ached like it was being tied into knots. She had no idea how Peter could possibly stand being under Sylar's paralysing gaze.
She gasped as she felt West's arms wrap around her as he pushed off from the hard concrete of the rooftop. She felt immediately relieved to be free of Sylar's glare. She was so consumed by her relieved thoughts that she didn't notice that her hands were completely free and empty.
Elle smiled as Peter tucked her chair back under the table. The dinner had been delicious. She'd never had Italian like that before; she'd only ever had pizza and the occasional pasta dish. The meal had only been exceeded by her and Peter's blushing game. She'd never had so much fun over dinner before. The game was still fun, even though Peter was winning by a few points; the same trick never seemed to work on his twice; while he could make Elle blush like a school girl most of the time.
The reddest Peter had gotten was when she had complimented on his kissing back at the holding cell in Hartsdale. She had gone into explicit and slightly inappropriate detail about how the kiss made her feel. She had been extremely pleased by Peter's reaction.
She cocked her head admiringly as Peter leaned forward to scrawl his signature across the dinner bill. She wished Peter could see her doing it; it would almost certainly score her another point in their game.
She waited patiently as Peter handed the bill over to the hovering waitress. Elle smiled at him as he turned around to face her. She was truly loving this date.
"Shall we go?" Peter asked.
Elle nodded and slipped her hand into the crook of his arm, "Yup, where are we going now?"
Peter smiled down at her, "I know a place."
Sylar stared up at the night sky as he paced along the top of the rooftop. Those two were long gone. He wished whole-heartedly that they hadn't noticed him standing in the street.
Sylar grinned to himself. It was sheer dumb-luck that he had even noticed that they were up here at all. He always made the effort to activate his enhanced hearing every few minutes; it sometimes picked up words and voices that were useful in his quest for power--or his struggle to stay alive. He had been incredibly pleased and surprised to hear Claire's innocent voice from up here.
He frowned as his sensitive ears picked up on a dull vibration from across the rooftop. He walked slowly towards it. He bent down and picked up the vibrating pink cell-phone from the ground.
He glanced at the caller I.D. and grinned evilly as Mohinder's name flashed across the screen. "Well now, Claire," Sylar said softly to himself. "Why would Mohinder be contacting you?"
He flipped open the cell-phone and read the Mohinder's text message. He was amused to read it in full and proper English rather then the shorter and faster text format. So like Mohinder. Sylar thought. "Hiro is waiting here. Again, just text if you need him. Hope Elle and Peter's date goes well."
Sylar's grin widened as he read the last sentence. He quickly glanced towards the restaurant across the street, his eyes searching out for Peter and Elle.
He smiled and pocketed Claire's cell-phone, "I'll hold onto this for you, Claire." He said wickedly. He didn't care that he couldn't see Elle or Peter. He knew that he'd find them soon enough. A few innocent text messages from 'Claire' and he'd know exactly where to look.
"See you soon."
