Seasons by SLynn
Rating: PG-13 by default
Fandom: Heroes
Season: One/AU after Fallout
Characters/Ships: Nathan, Peter/Claire
Disclaimer: Not mine. Well, not all mine.
Summary: Nathan struggles to find his place during their first year in Maine. Post-'Revelations'.
"October is a symphony of permanence and change."
Bonaro W. Overstreet
Autumn
"Shouldn't you be outside?"
"I was about to ask you that," Peter returned as he took a seat next to Nathan.
"Yes, well, it's not my party, is it?"
Nathan felt Peter's eyes upon him, but wouldn't look up from his book.
"Nathan," he began.
"Let me save you the trouble," Nathan said, cutting across the rest of Peter's words. "I'm not going."
"Everyone is outside waiting…"
"Obviously not everyone, Peter," Nathan said as if completely unconcerned. "I'm not, and neither are you."
Nathan kept his eyes on his book, just catching Peter shake his head out of the corner of his eye.
"I don't know what to do about this," Peter said quietly, sounding more upset than Nathan had realized. "Nathan, I want to help you but I don't know how."
Nathan put down his book to give him his full attention.
"You don't have to do anything for me," Nathan said, turning to meet his brother's eyes. "You've done enough, Pete."
"No, I haven't," he argued. "I haven't if you're still…"
"My happiness is not your problem," Nathan interrupted. "You worry too much; about me and about everyone else. You want someone to worry about, worry about Claire. Concentrate on making her happy and I'll consider us even. Alright?"
"Nathan," Peter tried again, but he wouldn't listen. Nathan only shook his head indifferently and picked up his book again.
Peter stayed a minute or two longer before finally standing up to leave. He'd almost gotten out of the room before he walked briskly back to where Nathan still sat.
"Claire would be happier if you were trying harder."
"I am trying."
"That's crap, Nathan," Peter said harshly. "You know it is. She wants you to be a part of her life, and she's not the only one. And you'd rather sit here and wallow in your own misery."
"Wallow?" Nathan repeated as he stood up to face Peter.
"Yes, wallow," Peter returned. "You're wallowing. And that's saying a lot considering I'm the one who is supposed to have such a hard time controlling my emotions."
"You heard that?"
"I hear everything around here," Peter answered a matter-of-factly.
"I didn't mean…"
"It doesn't matter what you meant," Peter continued. "Nathan, I don't care about that. I care about you and I hate seeing you like this. I hate seeing you give up. To be honest, it's scary. It's really scary. You've never… you've never quit anything before and now… I'm worried about you. I know you think I shouldn't be or that I should just stop, but I can't. You're my brother and I love you and I can't stop any of that. I can't change it and I wouldn't want to."
Nathan nodded briefly with downcast eyes before enveloping him in a hug.
"I can't forget, Peter."
"You don't have to forget. Just forgive yourself already."
Nathan pulled back only to shake his head slowly; pulled away entirely and left the room without saying another word. He couldn't have this fight, not with Peter. Not so soon after what had happened with Lauren.
Instead of staying indoors, as he'd vowed to do since he'd learned that the little party they were having tonight would be held outside, Nathan moved quickly out the back door and off into the yard; stopping not far from the house and sitting near the wood pile.
He was angry; Peter had no right to tell him that he needed to forgive himself. Peter, of all people, who had never needed to be forgiven. He couldn't possibly understand. There was no way.
Nathan shook himself out of his bitter reverie, hearing the approach of footsteps behind him. Certain it was his brother, having followed him to continue their discussion, Nathan didn't turn around. And, after a pause, Nathan realized his mistake as whoever it was began to sift through the wood stack beside him.
"Do you need any help?" he asked, able to make out her silhouette despite the dim light of evening.
"No," Lauren said softly. "Thank you. I've got it."
"Are you certain?"
"Positive," she said, not bothering to look up from what she was doing.
Nathan nodded, having to content himself with her refusal. It was the most they'd said to one another since that afternoon where he'd been forced to lie to her. He watched, however, as she struggled briefly to hold tight to all that she intended to carry. He stood when, a few feet away, Lauren's balance got the best of her, and several logs fell to her feet. Then, without asking and without waiting to be asked, Nathan strode purposefully to her and picked up what had fallen, took what was still in her arms, and walked ahead of her towards the front of the house where she'd come from the party. He knew that she'd paused behind him, clearly unsure of how to handle the situation, but ultimately followed him without questioning it.
Nathan deposited the firewood and paused, stopping a moment to take in the decorations for the party.
"What do you think?"
Nathan turned, surprised to find Claire by his side; Lauren had already walked away.
"It looks good," he admitted. "Micah is what, eighteen now?"
"Sixteen," Claire corrected with a small smile.
"Really?"
"Yes," Claire said. "And as glad as it makes me that you approve my décor, I was actually talking about the other thing."
"What other thing?"
"Peter didn't talk to you?" Claire asked, her face furrowed in an oddly familiar way.
Nathan scowled, irritated to be attacked not once now in a night, but twice.
"Yes," Nathan said, a bit harsher than he'd intended to. "I've talked to Peter. And I don't need you bringing it up as well. I already know how you both feel, and you should know my sentiments by now. Let's not talk about it now. Let's not continue to ruin a perfectly good night."
"You're a real bastard," Claire said, her face white with rage as she stormed off.
Nathan didn't have time to even try and figure out how that conversation could have gone so badly, so quickly, when Peter was pulling him by the arm, off to the side.
"What did you say to her?" he demanded to know.
"Nothing," Nathan said as he wrenched his arm free.
"Then why is she so upset?"
"I don't know."
"You're unbelievable," Peter said, staring straight at Nathan.
"I'm unbelievable," Nathan repeated. "You know, you wanted me here and I'm here. I try and say something nice and… this is exactly why I didn't want to come. You know, Peter, if you'd just stay out of my business she wouldn't be so upset. She wanted to know about our talk and I told her exactly what I thought. I didn't realize she'd… what? What?"
Peter had begun to shake his head and laugh.
"This is my fault, Nathan," Peter said, smiling now as well. "I'm sorry. I'll fix it up with Claire. I'd forgotten why… I'm sorry."
"Great," Nathan said dryly. "Fix it with Claire. Now, would you like to tell me what the hell is going on here or am I going to have to guess?"
"Claire's pregnant."
Nathan stared at him disbelievingly.
"I was supposed to tell you before the party," Peter explained. "I just… I got distracted and… Well?"
"Well what?"
"You're not even happy for us, are you?" Peter said, his irritation beginning to show again.
"No," Nathan said quickly. "I am. I'm just surprised. But, it's really great, Peter. It is. I am… I'm very happy for you. For you both."
Peter paused, scrutinizing Nathan for a moment longer, before finally smiling and hugging his brother in celebration.
"I'd better go clear things up with Claire," Peter added, unable to stop smiling.
"Maybe I…"
"I've got it," Peter argued before rushing off. "It really is my fault. You know, just try and say something nice later."
Nathan watched him go, smiling now himself; trying to grasp the reality of the situation. Scanning the group of people gathered out on the lawn. All of them smiling and talking and going on with their lives. Making plans and making futures in ways Nathan couldn't fathom. Retreating from the scene, Nathan caught her out of the corner of his eye watching him but thought nothing of it. He still felt as if he hadn't deserved a future.
A few more weeks saw many changes in the area. Keeping a farm up and running required a lot of work, but it was impossible not to stop every now and then and marvel at the season. Autumn in Maine was a beautiful sight.
Nathan came into the kitchen in the morning not at all surprised to find Lauren wasn't there. She'd stopped beginning her mornings at the main house, and Nathan couldn't help but feel relieved.
Today it was just Claire, Peter and Ben. Claire, standing near the sink sipping a glass of water, more than a little green in hue. Peter and Ben sitting at the table with a few different glasses sitting between them; each filled about half full with water.
"How are you feeling?" Nathan asked Claire.
"Horrible," she sighed in-between tentative sips from her glass. "But it will get better."
"Sure it will."
"It does get better, doesn't it?" Claire asked, almost looking panicked.
"Don't lie to her," Peter said without looking their way. "Some women stay sick their entire pregnancies."
Claire looked stricken by the thought.
"Don't worry," Nathan said. "Heidi was only sick the first month with both…"
Nathan paled, stopping as it dawned on him what he was saying. Claire watched his reaction with concern, reaching out and rubbing his arm. Peter looked back in time to see Nathan smile at Claire.
"You should stick to small meals," Nathan continued, as if he hadn't stopped. "The blander the better. Am I right?"
"You are," Peter agreed.
"Weren't you in hospice care?" Claire asked with a skeptical smirk, meant to tease. "I'm not sure that qualifies you to be giving me advice about this."
"By all means then, listen to Nathan," Peter said, pretending to be affronted. "I'm sure his law degree is much more useful then my nursing experience in this situation."
"Weren't you just agreeing with me?" Nathan asked.
"Boys," Claire said with a laugh.
"Peter," Ben said after clearing his throat, catching his attention.
"Sorry," he replied, turning back to the table. "I'm supposed to be concentrating, aren't I?"
"It does help," the other man replied.
"What are you doing?" Nathan asked, taking a seat by Peter.
"Trying to copy Ben," Peter answered, leaning in close to the glass directly in front of him.
"It's not hard," Ben insisted, giving the glass a glance; setting the water inside spinning in a perfect whirlpool for a moment. "You've just got to concentrate."
"I am," Peter said, staring now at glass and trying to imitate the effect. "I just... it's water. There's too much of it. This is exactly why I couldn't work Jacobs' power. He was only manipulating air and I never felt comfortable. There was too much of it to worry about."
"That's only half a glass of water," Nathan pointed out.
"No," Ben said, disagreeing. "I get it. Water is everywhere. It's in the air. It's in our bodies. It's in the pipes running through this house. I get it. You're afraid of getting hold of the wrong bit; accidentally busting someone's head apart. Am I right?"
"Now that you mention it," Peter said with a worried nod.
"Well, I seriously doubt you'd do that," Ben said. "I know I keep saying it's simple, but I've had a few years of practice and it does take some effort and a lot of control."
"So you're just moving the water?" Nathan asked, curious now himself.
"Moving it was the first thing I'd done," Ben said with a nod. "I've gotten quite good. I can heat it and cool it now as well. I can almost create it. Made it rain once, but that could have been a fluke."
Nathan nodded, certain he wasn't hearing the entire truth. He'd never met anyone with a power who didn't downplay certain aspects. No one wanted to give away all that they could do.
"Ah," Ben said, looking at the doorway with a beaming smile. "Good morning, Lauren."
Lauren smiled his way briefly before catching sight of Nathan and turning to address Claire.
"Mohinder and I are going to ride into town. Is there anything you'd like us to look for?"
"I can't think of anything," Claire said with a shake of her head. "Peter?"
"If you see anything useful," Peter said, "but nothing specific, no."
Lauren moved slightly, silently questioning the remaining two in the room.
"I'm fine, thanks," Ben said.
Nathan just met her eyes and shook his head.
"Okay," Lauren said. "We should be back before dark and we'll have a radio so…"
Lauren seemed to be out of things to say, so she only smiled uncomfortably and left with a small wave.
"She's a sweet girl," Ben said not long after she'd left. "Shy, I take it. Most days I can hardly get a word out of her."
"She's not a girl," Nathan said evenly, glaring at Ben; catching the amused glance Peter threw back at Claire out of the corner of his eye.
"I didn't mean anything by it," Ben returned, surprised by Nathan's annoyance. "I was only making an observation."
"Maybe you should find someone else to observe."
"My mistake," Ben said, still keeping his voice friendly enough. "I didn't know you two had something going on."
Nathan felt Peter's hand on his shoulder, a gentle reminder to keep calm, but it wasn't needed.
"No," Nathan said after a heavy pause. "We don't. I was just giving you a bit of advice. Lauren doesn't like being called a girl because she isn't one. And she's really not someone you should piss off."
"Point taken," Ben returned, standing to go.
Nathan watched as he walked out of the room, still bristling despite his own best efforts.
"Was that necessary?" Peter asked as soon as he heard the front door shut.
"What?" Nathan asked back.
"What?" Claire repeated, hurrying over and depositing herself into the chair Ben had just occupied. "You're kidding, right? Nathan, you were threatening him. You can't do that."
"I was not threatening him," Nathan said, getting to his feet and pacing the room.
"No," Peter agreed sarcastically. "You just told him to stop talking to Lauren or else."
"Actually I implied that," Nathan corrected. "I never stated anything explicitly."
"Oh, yeah," Claire said. "That makes a world of difference."
"I'm sorry," Nathan finally said, leaning with his back to the counter. "I don't like him. And I don't like him talking like that."
"I don't think your problem is with Ben," Peter stated.
"And I don't think that it's your business," Nathan returned, leaving the room directly.
Nathan kept busy the rest of the day, doing his best to stay clear of Peter and Claire, and even of Ben. However, he ultimately decided it would be for the best if he made an appearance at dinner, knowing he'd been wrong. The least he could do was make an attempt at smoothing things over. They couldn't live in this close of quarters with that kind of animosity hanging over their heads, even if Nathan had meant every word of it.
"Where's Pete?" Nathan asked, seeing almost everyone else had already gathered in the dinning room.
"He's with Micah," Claire answered.
Nathan looked the room over once more and realized it wasn't just Peter and Micah missing; Mohinder and Lauren were gone as well.
"Is everything okay?" he asked, stepping closer to Claire and lowering his voice.
"Yeah," she answered, but her eyes were worried.
"Maybe I'll go…" Nathan started to say.
The lights first stuttered and then went out completely, pitching them into near darkness.
"I'll get some candles," Hiro could be heard to say, followed by the sound of footsteps going out of the room.
"I don't like this," Rebecca said, only loud enough to be heard.
"It's fine," Ben assured her. "Just fine. Happens a lot, I'm sure."
D.L. quickly repeated similar words of reassurance to the young girl, assisted eagerly by Bethany.
"Nathan," Hiro said so suddenly near it was startling. "Sorry. But, maybe we should --"
A loud boom shook the room as a sudden downpour of rain sprang from the sky outside.
Before anyone could react the front door banged open ushering in Micah, Mohinder and Peter.
"I'll try to restart the power," Micah said, hurrying off towards the basement.
"D.L.," Peter said quickly. "Go with him. Barricade the outer door. Claire, we need you here."
"What's going on?" she asked, surprised to see Mohinder leaning heavily into Peter.
"It's a scratch," Mohinder insisted as he slid into the nearest chair.
"You're bleeding," Claire argued, not sure what to do. "I can help…" she continued, looking at Nathan horrorstruck. He was still the only one that knew anything about her problem; her failed attempt to fix Nathan had been chalked up to stress. "I think I can."
"It's fine, Claire," Mohinder assured her. "I know you can't heal me."
Claire gaped at him before remembering he didn't have a power; she really couldn't cure him.
"Try," Peter quickly cut in. "It may work."
"Of course I'll try," Claire said immediately, the color draining from her.
"I think his leg is broke," Peter added, but couldn't stop to help. Instead he went back out onto the porch.
"Peter," Nathan called out, heading out to join him.
"Stay inside," Peter snapped.
Nathan turned instead to Mohinder, whose face had gone ashen. Bethany had slid in beside him now and was holding his hand, looking stricken.
"What's going on?" he asked him. "Where's Lauren?"
"She's outside," Mohinder answered. "Holding them off so we could get back."
"Holding who off?" Hiro asked as the lights flickered a few times without coming back on again.
"There're eight or nine of them," Mohinder said, each word heavier than the last. "Saw them in town."
"I can't," Claire said, her voice full of urgency. "I can't… it's not working. I can't stop it. I can't do anything…"
"We need to get something to wrap it in," Bethany supplied, getting up and heading quickly to the kitchen.
"I'm getting Peter," Claire said, starting for the front door only for Nathan to take hold of her arm.
"No," he barked. "You're not going out there. I'll get him."
"Claire," Bethany said, "I need you're help here. I don't think it's broke, but it's cut deep."
"Hiro," Nathan called out, "get everyone upstairs. Into the attic. We'll be up shortly."
"Right," Hiro said before urging the rest of them to their feet.
"I can help," Ben offered.
"Help Hiro," Nathan told him. "If it comes to it, help then."
Ben nodded, following Rebecca and Hiro up the steps.
"Mohinder, stay awake," Bethany said sharply as she began to wrap his leg.
Nathan gave them one more look, hoping Mohinder would be alright, before opening the door and staring into the suddenly stormy night. Well past the houses, Nathan could see the familiar blue half-dome of light showing him exactly where Lauren was, accompanied by equally brilliant flashes of lightning that could only be Peter.
He didn't think about it, only acted. Nathan was down the street and at their side in a blink of an eye. The rush of wind the only warning they got to his arrival.
"Nathan," Peter screamed above the noise of the storm he'd created. "Go back! Now! I told you to stay put!"
"Claire needs your help," he returned, yelling over the storm around them.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know, just go," Nathan answered. "I'll bring Lauren back. Hurry. Go, Pete. Now."
Peter paused only to consider it for a second before nodding and taking off, returning just as quickly as Nathan had arrived.
"Let's go," Nathan said to Lauren once they were alone.
"I can't," Lauren argued. "If I drop it they'll start shooting again."
"They won't get the chance," Nathan told her. "We'll be gone before they know it."
Lauren looked at him, clearly frightened, before turning her attention back to what she was doing. With one hand still up, still holding the main field in place, she pushed out her other hand with one quick motion and Nathan watched in fascination as a smaller blue orb-like object appeared about thirty feet on their left, knocking a previously unseen man off his feet.
"Okay," she finally agreed. "How do we do this?"
Nathan stepped in front of her, careful not to obscure her view, and wrapped his right arm around her waist. Lauren hesitantly put her right arm around his neck with a shuddery breath. He moved closer, pulling her completely into his arms, his head resting lightly against hers as he kept his eyes fixed on the place that would be their final destination.
"Just say go," Nathan whispered into her ear.
Lauren tightened her grip on him with her right arm before dropping the field with her left hand and calling out, "Go." Before she could even get her other arm around him completely, they were there.
They stood on the porch, still embracing, for a long moment almost unable to move; Lauren's whole body was shaking with either fright or adrenaline, Nathan wasn't sure which.
"Are you alright?"
"I think… I think I left my breath back there," she managed, her eyes wide as she continued to tremble.
"I'm sorry, I should have given you…"
"It's fine," she interrupted, beginning to calm down. "I just… that was…"
She stopped, seemingly embarrassed, and Nathan realized that he was still holding her as tight as he had when they'd been flying. Relaxing his grip, Nathan took a deep breath and hesitant step back. Lauren's arms slid from around his neck, resting on his shoulders; her fingers dug gingerly into his skin, as if unwilling to part with him completely.
"Get inside!"
Nathan and Lauren both turned their heads in unison at the sound of Peter's voice calling to them irately.
Lauren blushed deeply, hurrying across the threshold with Nathan just behind her.
D.L. and Micah were now with them in the foyer. Mohinder was apparently better, but there was a good amount of blood on him and the floor.
"How many are left?" Peter asked Lauren.
"Five," she answered. "I'd knocked one out, I'm sure, so that leaves five."
"Mohinder?"
"We only saw eight or nine to start with," he said, his voice shaky.
"I took out three of them," Peter said evenly, "so five sounds right."
"What's going on?" Nathan asked, not for the first time.
"We ran across them in town," Lauren answered. "It was Alison and Cal, and others we didn't know. One of them has powers; he can mess with the power. They came back…"
Lauren's eyes darted away from Nathan's, unable to finish. She didn't need to. Nathan knew why they'd come back.
"They spotted us and chased us back here," Mohinder added to the story. We couldn't radio. That guy they got with them killed it and the ATV. We had to run for it."
"What are we going to do?" D.L. asked.
"We're going to protect ourselves," Peter said evenly. "Mohinder," he continued, "I want you, Micah, Bethany and Claire upstairs in the attic with everyone else. Send Ben back down; we'll need him here."
Mohinder nodded uneasily as Bethany helped him to his feet, neither Micah nor Claire arguing the point.
It wasn't long before Ben had come bounding down the steps, looking only slightly apprehensive as Peter quickly explained the situation.
"Are you up to this?" Peter asked him, waiting only for Ben to nod 'yes' before issuing more orders. "Okay, D.L., you and Nathan need weapons. There's guns stashed in the basement. I'll want Lauren on the second floor. Nathan, you too. You should have a better view from up there of the grounds. Ben, D.L. and I will take this floor; one of us by each entrance. No matter what, don't let anyone into the house. If you need help, yell for it. Understood?"
Everyone nodded in agreement, and Nathan watched Lauren head upstairs before he turned to follow D.L. to the basement in order to retrieve a gun for himself.
That done, Nathan gave Peter a parting glance, and then headed upstairs. Lauren was still waiting at the top of the staircase, staring out the window that overlooked the front of the house.
"I figured this window, the one at the other end of the hall, and the two main bedrooms will be the best spots," Lauren said in a whisper.
Nathan nodded silently in agreement.
"We should probably keep moving, too," she added. "Spend maybe ten to fifteen minutes at each one. Keep opposite each other."
"I thought you weren't good at strategy," he said archly.
"Please," Lauren said, her voice wavering in the dark. "Not now. Don't joke, it's really not the time. I can't… my nerves can't take it. I'm barely…"
"I'm sorry," he said quickly and sincerely, taking hold of her lightly by the arms. "I'm just trying to lighten the mood."
"I know," she said, nodding slightly. "You don't have to. Just lie to me some more. Tell me it'll be fine and I'll believe it. I'll believe anything you say right now."
"It will be fine."
Lauren held his gaze a moment, relaxing as she leaned into him. Nathan shut his eyes, resting his forehead to hers as he pulled her completely into his arms.
"It will be fine," he repeated. "This is nothing. It's going to be over soon, I promise."
"You're a good liar," she whispered.
"Now who's telling jokes," Nathan whispered back.
Nathan could almost feel her brief smile as she tilted her head up slightly, brushing her lips lightly against his.
"How's it going up there?" Peter yelled from the bottom of the stairs, bringing them both back to reality.
"Great," Nathan yelled back as Lauren moved away, hurrying down the hall without saying anything more.
The next several hours were like torture. Peter came upstairs a few times to see how they were doing and more than once Hiro came out of the attic to offer assistance, but Peter insisted that everyone remain put. He wanted Hiro to use his powers only as a last resort, and only to get the rest of them as far out of the way as he could. He briefly explained that he'd picked Ben and Lauren to stay because they could do the most damage, and D.L. and Nathan because they had the best chances of escaping serious injury. Hiro had listened to his arguments and agreed, but not happily. However, Peter wasn't asking him to do it, he was telling him to.
Just as it seemed as if they might have overreacted and that their attackers must have given up, scared off by Peter's overt display, they proved again that they were determined to do some kind of damage.
Nathan was first alerted by the sound of glass shattering nearby as he'd been on watch in his own room. He wasted no time, dashing out the door and across the hall to the room shared by Peter and Claire; the room he'd last seen Lauren in.
"Left side!" Lauren shouted no sooner than he opened the door. "There's one on the left!"
Nathan peered over her shoulder and through the broken window, watching as she pushed a man backwards with a small blue wall of light.
"I panicked and forgot to open it," she said with a quieter voice, never taking her eyes off of what she was doing. "I forgot it would break."
"I don't mind," Nathan said indifferently. "It's not my room."
Lauren smiled before muttering at the man on the lawn to, "Stay down."
"Knock him over again and he will," Nathan advised.
"You should check the back of the house," she said, her eyes only darting his way for an instant.
Nathan briefly squeezed his shoulder before turning to do as she'd suggested.
"You both okay?" D.L. asked, having stopped at the top of the stairs.
"Lauren's got one pinned on that side," Nathan answered, indicating the direction with his head. "She thinks they might be trying to distract us."
D.L. gave him a quick nod and before Nathan had made it to the back window a small series of booms shook the entire house.
"What the hell was that?" Bethany said, opening the attic entrance almost directly above where Nathan stood.
"Probably Peter," Nathan said, in what he hoped was a reassuring tone; he actually didn't know what it was.
"It was," Lauren said, coming out into the hallway and moving with Nathan toward the back of the house. "My guy ran off. It's fine."
Bethany looked at them uneasily and then shut the entrance up again.
"Is it?" Nathan asked her quietly as he opened the back window for them to both take a better look.
"I don't know," she admitted to him in a quieter voice.
The stood side-by-side, watching out the back window for longer than they'd done for any previous stretch, expecting everything and nothing all at once.
"What's that there?" Lauren barely breathed, squinting off into the distance.
"Where?"
"Way, way out there," Lauren said, pointing off into the fields. "What is that? Is that…"
Nathan took hold of her hand and pulled it down with a laugh. "I think it's the scarecrow."
"Are you sure?"
"Quite sure," he said, having not let go of her hand just yet. "It hasn't moved since we've been here. No one in their right mind would be standing out there like that, in plain sight, while my brother is busy throwing lighting bolts."
"I think you're giving them too much credit," she returned with a chuckle. "Lightning didn't stop them the first time."
The sound of footsteps on the stairs finally made Nathan relinquish her hand, and even then it was reluctantly done.
"Hey," Peter said, just as they'd pulled apart. "I think they're gone. I just walked around the whole house and I can't see them anywhere. But, to be safe, we're going to keep watch. Are you both up to it?"
Nathan nodded, and they both turned to Lauren expectantly.
"Yeah," she said, also nodding. "Of course."
Peter smiled uneasily at them both. "And, um, maybe you two should split up. So, you know, we have more people watching different sides."
They both agreed, neither bringing up the fact that that was what they'd been doing until now. It wasn't worth the mention.
"I'll be back up every hour or so," Peter added before leaving them alone again.
Nathan and Lauren locked eyes briefly, but said nothing more.
They were up the whole night. No one slept and it wasn't until morning when they were able to walk around freely. Peter and D.L. went back into town to retrieve the ATV and to ensure the group had cleared out completely. They broke into smaller groups and every house was searched carefully, along with the barns and sheds. Nathan even checked from the sky. It looked as if they were really gone for good.
Exhausted, no one seemed capable of doing more than going over the situation, as they huddled, more or less, in the living room of the main house. They immediately set to devising new plans of action and of defense. Eventually that kind of talk died down and Hiro volunteered to stay awake while anyone who needed to rest did so. At first no one seemed willing to do so, but after Nathan saw Lauren's head dip forward three times in a row, he stood, went to her and led her by the hand out of the room.
"What is it?" she asked.
"You're going to bed."
"No," she objected, too tired to yank her hand from his as he continued walking with her up the stairs.
"Yes."
"I don't have a bed here."
"You can use mine."
"Nathan," she said, shaking her head and dragging her feet. "No. This isn't… I'm fine."
"I insist," Nathan said as he shut the door and marched her over to the bed. "Lay down."
"Fine," she sighed, her head hitting the pillow as he drew the curtains shut.
"You're already halfway there," he said, nearly laughing and moving to leave. "Get some sleep."
"Wait," she called out more lucid than before as she sat up. "Can you stay? For a little while until I'm asleep?"
"Just till you're asleep," Nathan promised.
He smiled tentatively at her before shutting the door; walking lightly across the room and taking a seat in his arm chair by the window. Lauren smiled back at him before shutting her eyes and Nathan watched her until he was sure she was asleep. Instead of leaving as he'd meant to, he stayed in the room, turning his thoughts loose in his mind.
She'd known he'd been lying. Lauren had known it and Nathan couldn't understand why she'd played along if that was true. Yes, he'd wanted her to believe it. He'd wanted Lauren to hate him, because that would be easier. But she didn't. Nathan smiled as it dawned on him, that she didn't hate him. She'd held him; she'd kissed him. She'd done that on her own.
The smile fell from his face as he remembered why he'd lied in the first place; to protect her. Nathan still wanted to protect Lauren from himself. He was no good for her. He was no good for anyone. Eventually he'd only make her miserable and Lauren didn't deserve that. What's more, Nathan didn't deserve to be happy.
Nathan's eyes darted back across the room, surprised to find hers open and staring back at him.
"You're supposed to be asleep," he said softly.
"I was," she said, sitting up partially. "You weren't going to stay."
"I changed my mine."
"Me too."
Nathan was hardly aware of the fact that he'd moved. It seemed one second he was sitting nearby her in the chair and the next he was sitting next to her on the bed. Lauren had pulled her feet up, allowing him room beside her; she'd sat up and leaned into him; her head falling gently on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm protectively around her waist.
"Do you think they'll come back?" she asked.
"No," he said, letting his cheek rest against the top of her head.
Lauren drew lazy circles on his knee with her fingers, perfectly content, as Nathan ran his hand up and down her back, feeling restless.
"Why not?"
"They know better now."
Nathan dragged his hand up her back, gently kneading her neck before resting it on her shoulder. Lauren sighed and shifted into him, snaking one arm around his back and squeezing and rubbing his leg with her other hand now.
"Why did you stay?"
"You ask a lot of questions."
Lauren moved first, craning her neck to look at him; meeting his eyes and daring him to go on. So Nathan kissed her, slow and deliberate. Taking in a moment he wasn't sure he'd get the chance to live again. It was all sighs and soft kisses in the near-dark. He pulled her completely into his arms as she wrapped her own around his neck, sinking deeper into this kiss, this thing between them.
Gradually their kisses grew in urgency. His hands slid beneath her shirt, pushing it up first with a gentle curiosity, and then finally away entirely as it became too much of an obstruction. She kept one hand on his neck, as if she had to hold him to her, as her other hand slipped down his chest, intent on touching his skin as she tugged loose the buttons the kept his clothes in place; pulling him with her as she laid back against the bed.
They moved instinctively together, struggling blindly to free themselves of all that remain between them; their inhibitions long gone or forgotten. Whatever hesitations she may have had overcome by desire, and his by need.