Meredith. It was a familiar name put to a familiar face, and now Tracy realized from where. This person sitting before her on a park bench in the rain was Claire's biological mother. But wasn't she supposed to be dead?

"I've gotta say, California doesn't quite live up to my expectations," Meredith said, relighting her cigarette and taking a drag. "But it's where my daughter is. Not that I've visited her at all since coming here."

"The girl you're talking about-Claire-I know her," Tracy said. "Well, sort of. We're not really close, but we're acquaintances."

"Then you know I'm presumed dead by just about everyone, her included." Meredith gave Tracy a melancholy smile. "Honestly, I think it's better that way. Sandra is a better mom for her than I could ever hope to be."

Although it wasn't the same situation at all, Tracy thought of Micah. He was better off under the custody of the Dawsons than her. Still, part of her always felt like she ought to be a bigger part of his life. Then again, at this point it probably didn't matter much. Micah was younger than Claire, who was now in her twenties, but he was in his late teens. Before too long he would be able to get by on his own, and if he didn't need Tracy now, he certainly wouldn't need her then. It was just such a shame that she had to look just like Niki.

Just then, thunder rumbled overhead and Meredith shuddered, putting her hood back on and zipping her coat up. "Sorry to be a bother, sweetie, but I don't really have any place I'm staying at the moment," she said, tiny orange sparks dancing at her fingertips as she spoke. "I don't suppose there's any chance I could come over to your place?"

Tracy thought it over for a second, trying to ignore the term of endearment. She knew that southerners tended to call everyone "dear" or "sweetie" or "hon". Hell, it wasn't uncommon for some of her neighbours to call her "babe"-although to be honest, it always made her skin crawl a little, especially with the men. Somehow, though, the term felt more… comfortable, in a way, on the tongue of a stranger than coming from her next-door neighbours. Maybe that was because Meredith just gave off an oddly comforting vibe. Despite the bags under her eyes and the way her hair fell unkempt and singed around her shoulders, there was a warmth in her eyes that matched the literal warmth radiating off her. It made Tracy feel light-headed.

"You can come," Tracy agreed after maybe not as long as she should have taken to decide, "just so long as you don't burn the house down."

Meredith blinked gratefully at her. Tucking her pack of cigarettes into the pocket of her raincoat, she got up and followed Tracy back to the fancy two-story house. Tracy knew she was getting ahead of herself here, but before they were even up the driveway, she got the feeling the house wouldn't feel so lonely anymore. Maybe making friends wasn't as hard as she'd thought.

-From the Total Eclipse of the Heart group chat-

clairebear: listen we were joking around in the main chat the other day but like... we've legit got messed up parents

p_petrelli: are you talking about your adoptive or biological folks?

clairebear: both! :(

superhiro101: well my dad wasn't that bad really

tracy_the_ice_queen: I never actually met my parents, I just heard about the bad things they did from some scientist guy (not Mohinder ofc)

crimson_arc_69: you guys haven't met my folks, but they're actually pretty cool

p_petrelli: well ok so not all of us have bad parents, lucky you I guess

officerparkman: I'm arresting you all for sad on main

superhiro101: yeah wasn't this supposed to be a fun chat?

officerparkman: although tbh my dad was also really bad

p_petrelli: we need a feelings quarantine chat

clairebear: ok but make sure Sylar doesn't get in this time

superhiro101: who invited him into the main chat anyway?

p_petrelli: that was me, sorry

(Several people are typing...)

p_petrelli: guys I had a reason! I really thought he'd changed!

officerparkman: you can't change a guy like that

tracy_the_ice_queen: I've changed though, haven't I?

clairebear: yeah but like... you're different

Once they were sat down inside-Tracy pulled up a chair to sit across from Meredith, who she insisted take the couch-the two women got to talking. Claire occasionally posted about Meredith in the group chat, but Tracy didn't really know much about her apart from her name and face. It turned out she had a brother named Flint who she still didn't know the whereabouts of. "I don't suppose you've ever met him?" Meredith asked after providing a description, biting her lip like she was trying to bite back a hopeful look. It pained Tracy to shake her head; she'd never heard of the man. It was doubtful he was still around, and even though the droop in Meredith's shoulders was barely noticeable, it was clear she realized this too.

"I had a sister," Tracy said without really meaning to. "Two sisters, actually. But I never met either of them. By the time I found out they existed, they were both long dead."

She stared at her hands, which were folded neatly in her lap. Tracy knew full well she shouldn't overshare in their first conversation, but something about Meredith made Tracy want to tell her everything.

"I suppose you're wondering how I'm still alive," Meredith said after a moment. "After all, I did kind of get caught in an explosion, didn't I?"

Tracy had to admit that she had been curious. Meredith laughed humourlessly and extended an arm, palm open. Rolling up her sleeve and brushing her hair back, she warned Tracy, "You'd best step back, sweetie."

She trained her gaze on her open hand and then closed her eyes. A flame shot out of her palm, dangerously large at first but quickly becoming more controlled. While she admired the way it flickered, Tracy was a little nervous about having an open flame in her living room. She was about to ask what this had to do with Meredith surviving an explosion until the flame spread partway up Meredith's arm-no, wait, the arm wasn't on fire. The flesh, blood, and bone between her hand and elbow had actually been replaced by flame.

Tracy's face must have given away her astonishment, because Meredith gave her a sort of half-smirk and extinguished the fire, returning her forearm to normal. She kept her sleeve rolled up, though, and even rolled up the other sleeve as well. Her arms looked nicely toned. Tracy fanned her face; the residual warmth from the fire was highly uncomfortable.

"My powers have always had their upsides and downsides," Meredith explained a few minutes later as Tracy put together some drinks for the two of them. All those years as a mindless socialite had paid off in some ways-money being the obvious one, but also her aptitude for mixing drinks. "In fact, when Claire was just a baby, there was this house fire..." Meredith fiddled listlessly with her pack of cigarettes, repeatedly taking one out and then putting it back in. "Back then I had no clue about her healing powers. I thought I'd lost her."

"That's when you got tangled up with the Company?" Tracy guessed. Not giving Meredith the chance to confirm or deny, she went on, "I wish I had the excuse of a tragic backstory. I just got lucky and ran with it."

She wasn't sure if what she was saying even made sense, but Meredith murmured in agreement. Once the drinks were prepared, Tracy brought them out and was about to set them down on the coffee table when she realized she had no coasters; she'd frozen and subsequently shattered the last one a few days ago upon spilling a drink.

"Um, you don't mind if we don't use coasters, do you?"

"Coasters?" Meredith snorted. "Hon, the way I'm used to living, I'd be lucky to have a surface to put them on."

"I-I guess so." Cheeks burning, Tracy set the glasses down and sat back down across from Meredith. Upon taking a sip of her ice-cold beverage, it occurred to Tracy that she'd felt overheated for a solid twenty minutes or so. Relieved to be cooling off a bit, she smoothed out her hair and flashed Meredith a nervous grin. "So, where are you living now? You said you'd only come to LA recently, right?"

"Oh, right. About that..." Meredith sighed, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger. It was a very nice colour-similar to that of her daughter's hair. Looking at Meredith, it was easy to tell where Claire had gotten her good looks. "Like I said, there's no place in particular I've been staying. My old trailer is back in Texas, of course, so I've been renting hotels and hoping to God I find an affordable trailer before I run out of money."

Tracy really must have been getting nicer after all, because she didn't take more than two seconds to blurt, "I've got money."

Meredith took a sip of her drink and gave her a sideways look. "Well, good for you."

"N-no, I mean..." Tracy was acutely aware of how fast her heart was beating; it was a good thing Meredith's power wasn't super hearing. "I could give you some of my money so you can buy a trailer-or a house, even-if you want."

A few tense moments passed as Meredith seemed to think it over. She licked her lips, eyes darting around the house with a certain shine to them that almost made Tracy wonder if-no, that would be silly. She'd never want to stay in a place like this. Hell, even to Tracy the place didn't feel like a home; someone like Meredith could never feel comfortable in such a fancy yet vacant residence. Even so, it was about four in the afternoon, and from the sound of it Meredith hadn't booked a hotel for the night...

However, when it rolled around to five (Meredith said she'd think about Tracy's offer, but that she was doing fine for money at the moment, really) and they'd both polished off their drinks, Meredith stood up and announced that she'd better go. "I've gotta book a hotel room," she said, grabbing her raincoat off the coat rack. "Thanks for everything though, sweetie. It was real nice meeting you."

She smiled, and it didn't quite reach her eyes-not until Tracy returned the smile, that is. Then Meredith's eyes lit up, and her rosy cheeks turned a couple shades darker.

It wasn't until Meredith was already out the door and well on her way down the street that Tracy realized she'd left her pack of cigarettes sitting on the coffee table. Part of her wanted to run down the street after her, but she didn't want to make a fool of herself. Besides, Tracy thought with a faint blush spreading across her cheeks, now Meredith would have a reason to come back sometime.

People were always more likely to come back to Tracy if they had a reason for it.