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AN: This one's a bit shorter than the previous one, but I had to write it to establish some details of the future Hiro's currently visiting; the next chapter both continues to look at Peter and the other heroes in the aftermath of the Kirby's Plaza battle without the knowledge that Hiro will bring to them from the future, while also looking at Hiro and Future Matt as they try to track down Sylar and learn why he wanted Hiro's powers (As well as revealing the point of the Meredith thing in the first chapter, of course)
Seeds of the Future
Claire Bennet and Peter Petrelli
New York City, 2008
When Peter opened his eyes, he was surprised to note that Heaven looked nothing like he was expecting (He assumed it was Heaven because the room was at least white, whereas Hell was generally regarded as being a very dark place); it looked like the average hospital room as far as he could tell.
Then he saw the young blonde woman sitting on a chair by his bedside, looking anxiously at him, and he knew that he wasn't dead; he was pretty sure that his paradise wouldn't have included the woman he loved looking that sad, and the general tone of his surroundings didn't fit the idea of this being Hell.
"C… Claire?" he whispered, looking at her in surprise. He had passed out after hitting the ground, fully accepting the idea that he was going to die, and yet here he was, alive (If not 'well' by any stretch of the imagination; his neck at least was still sore) and in hospital, as his niece (As much as he thought of her as anything but) sat opposite him. "Wh… what happened?"
Claire shrugged.
"I'm not too sure, really," she said, looking apologetically at him as she spoke. "My father- Mr Bennet, that is, not… y'know- and I were driving out of the city, but I… well, I 'heard' your voice in my head."
"In… your head?" Peter repeated, looking in confusion at the young woman before him. "But… how?"
"See, that's where the 'not too sure' bit comes in," Claire said, her wish for more clear answers for him evident on her face. "I thought you might have been tapping into that 'Matt' guy's powers- you know, the telepathy thing- but as far as I know he can only read thoughts rather than sending them…"
Peter shrugged slightly at that.
"Maybe he'll develop that ability later; I certainly had a better grasp of Issac's powers when I started using them than he did at the time," he said, by way of explanation. "Don't know how that worked, but it got the job done…"
Then he shook his head slightly, as though forcing himself back on track, and looked curiously at her once again. "Talking of Matt and that, where is everybody? And where am I?"
"We brought you to a hospital; you'd already healed the worst of your injuries, but my dad and I figured you needed somewhere to rest, and, well, I didn't think your mother's place was the best option," Claire explained. "Matt seems to have been taken here as well- it sounds like the bullets weren't exactly pretty, but he'll be OK-, and I saw that blonde woman who helped you tackle Sylar here with her family."
"What about Nathan?" Peter said, looking anxiously at his niece. "And Hiro?"
Claire shook her head.
"They've both just… vanished; I haven't heard anything about them yet," she said, looking regretfully at him. For a moment, se moved to place a comforting hand on his shoulder, but she removed it almost before he'd had time to register its presence. "Do… do you remember what happened after you flew up?"
Peter paused for a moment, as though making sure he had his thoughts straight in his head, and then turned to look at her again.
"I… well, once, Nathan and I were up high enough, I threw him away from me and used his powers to put a bit more distance between the two of us," he explained; whether it was just Claire's presence or something more, he couldn't be sure, and didn't care. "I think I got him far enough away from me to escape the worst of the explosion; when you take into account that Nathan's already durable enough to cope with the friction of speeds that can break the sound barrier, he could probably handle being on the edges of the blast without too much damage."
"Well, that's good to know," Claire said, smiling slightly at him before she raised a curious eyebrow at him. "But how did you end up in that crater I found you in?"
Peter shrugged in an attempted casual manner.
"I hit the ground really hard," he said, wincing slightly as he reached up with one hand to tenderly touch his neck; even after his body had automatically mimicked Claire's powers to deal with the actual life-threatening part of the injury, it was still at least slightly sore. "I think I must've duplicated your powers when I hit the ground; I was too drained to really heal completely from what had just happened, but it must have been at least enough to keep me alive until you got there and I could use your powers properly."
"Glad I could help," Claire replied, reaching over as though she was going to touch his face before pulling her hand back once more, as though having only just realised what she was doing. "Anyway… I should go."
Peter blinked.
"What?" he said, looking in confusion at her. "Go where?"
"Away," Claire said, shaking her head slightly as she looked at him. "I don't know precisely where, sorry; my father- Mr Bennet; not Nathan, obviously- thought that it might be a good idea to get away from the company and start over."
"But… couldn't you hide here?" Peter said, looking curiously at her. "I mean, Nathan must have had contacts that could set you up with another identity if you need it; nobody else knows about… well, your father-"
"It's not that," Claire began, holding up her hand as she looked at him, the faint gleam of tears in her eyes as she looked at him. "I want to stay, Peter; it's just… I can't. It's… it's too hard... being here, with... you know..."
As the two of them looked at each other, no words passed between them, but words were unnecessary.
In that moment, both of them knew that the desires they'd felt ever since they first met each other were reciprocated, just as they both knew that nothing could ever be allowed to come of them.
God… Peter groaned, as he looked at the young woman sitting beside his bed. Why, of all the people I could have fallen for, did I have to fall in love with my long-lost niece? I mean, I've heard of forbidden love, but this?
There was no other way to say it; ever since he'd acquired his powers, his life sucked. If it wasn't him nearly destroying New York out of an inability to control one of the more 'volatile' powers he'd absorbed, it was the fact that he'd met the perfect woman for him, and he'd never be allowed to be with her because of some genetic link that neither of them had known about.
He knew that what he felt for her was wrong on so many levels; he knew that he shouldn't be thinking of his niece- more, his under-age, not-even-allowed-to-drink-yet niece- like this; he knew that he was going to burn in several different kinds of Hell for his thoughts…
But he also knew that he could no more ignore his feelings than he could have denied the existence of his powers; he could pretend they weren't there, but once he knew they existed, he almost had to acknowledge them.
From the moment that just the thought of Claire had allowed him to unlock a new level of his powers that not even he had suspected, Peter had known that he could never think of her as just a friend, and even the discovery of their biological relationship had done nothing to stop his feelings.
"Yeah…" he said finally, sighing slightly as he leant back into his bed, staring dejectedly at the young cheerleader before him. "You're right. It's… it's for the best."
"I know," Claire whispered softly. "But… before I go… just let me… have this…"
Then, with no warning, she leant forward, clasped the back of his head, and leant forward to briefly press her lips against his. It was so short that Peter didn't even have time to open his mouth to respond, but, in that moment, both of them felt an almost electric jolt shoot through their bodies, leaving them with a delicious tingling sensation that spread through their entire bodies, leaving them both almost desperate for more…
"No," Claire whispered, her heart almost breaking as she sharply pulled back from him, unable to stop herself feeling like she'd stabbed herself in the chest with Hiro's sword as she did so. "We… we can't."
"I… I know," Peter replied, looking back at Claire with a heartbroken expression on his face. "It's… it's not right."
Never mind that it had felt more right than anything he'd ever done in his life; the fact remained that he shouldn't think of his niece that way, and he definitely should not be enjoying the feel of her lips against his, in a kiss that far surpassed any he had shared even with Simone in the past.
Even as Claire turned and hurried from his room, her hands pressed tightly against her eyes to stop the tears that were about to start pouring from her eyes, neither of them could entirely accept the terrible hand that fate had dealt them.
How could a kiss that should have been so wrong in every way, feel so right that just the feel of their lips against each other leave them feeling more contented and satisfied than they'd ever felt after any other kiss?
As Claire's footsteps finally faded from the corridor outside the room, Peter, alone once more, turned around, pressed his face against the pillow, and began to softly cry for the dream that could never be.
