I am very busy these upcoming weeks, but I will post a chapter now to prove I am not abandoning this story ;) It's even a liiiittle bit longer than usual.

We all love us some Peter/Claire moments, Nathan/Claire moments and... we have all wanted some Adam/Claire moments... have we not? So the story will go on, to give you just that!

Chapter 6

Blasted And Manipulative

Claire blinked and the next second she was standing in the middle of a great room. The walls and the roof were of chestnut colored wood, and a dining table took up some space in the middle of it all, standing silently on the white marble floor.

"Oops," Peter said. "I meant to land on the doorstep."

Claire looked up and gave him a raised eyebrow. "What if you happen to teleport into a wall one day? You should practice."

"I guess," Peter muttered.

At the same moment, Angela Petrelli walked into the room. She opened her mouth in surprise, and Peter and Claire jumped out of the embrace they were still in. But Angela seemed to calm herself quickly.

"Claire," she said and nodded, as if she didn't even had to acknowledge Peter's presence.

"Mrs. Petrelli," Claire said and nodded as well. "I'm sorry for... standing in your dining room all of a sudden. Peter took me here,"

"Sylar attacked her," Peter said seriously, looking at Angela.

"I know," Angela simply said.

Peter opened his mouth but closed it again, a few times, before saying: "You had the dream too?"

"I did. I did not know you were taking her here though. But I realize why, and it's no problem. We have a lot of spare bedrooms."

"Thank you," Claire said and made an effort to smile at her grandmother.

The smile was returned, slightly.

"Alright, you take care of her?" Peter said and took a step away from his niece.

Claire's head darted around, looking confused. "Aren't you staying?"

"I have work in the morning, it's not as if I could sit up and chat anyway," Peter explained, but saw her disappointed look. He found some kind of guilty happiness in seeing her miss him. "But we'll chat tomorrow, if you stay the day and go home on Sunday?" he added.

Claire shone up a bit. "Sounds fine. And Peter… thank you."

Peter smiled his special smile and raised his hand to gently stroke one of her blond curls with his finger, before it wandered on to quickly touch her cheek. "Anytime," he said, blinked and was gone.

Claire remained there, still feeling the warmth of his touch in her face. After a while she noticed Angela was still watching her, with a strange expression on her face.

"Come, child," she said gently. "Let's get you a bathroom and a bed."

…

The next morning, Claire awoke wondering where she was. She remembered the party last night… but she couldn't get drunk so she surely couldn't have ended up in some weird place without memories, could she? And then she remembered Sylar.

She sat up in the big bed and looked around. This was… the Petrelli Mansion. Right. Peter had taken her here, to protect her. And he had wanted her to stay one more night and go home on Sunday. She'd better text Cassie before she and Nick got home, or else Cassie would probably worry herself to death.

Claire got up and got dressed, in jeans and a not too fancy chemise. She then spent some time in the luxurious bathroom connected to the bedroom and afterwards skipped down the corridor thinking of finding something for breakfast. What she didn't think of finding was the thing she spotted walking by the bottom of the stairs when she had already taken some steps downwards. And that thing had clearly spotted her.

Her biological dad.

"Claire?" he said, and seemed to half-choke on the biscuit he was holding part of in his hand.

"Nathan," she said, feeling a bit awkward, "hi."

Of course he was here, he was living here, it was his mansion, why hadn't she thought about that? Or wait… didn't he have wife and kids and a house of his own? But he was probably here to visit. No matter, she was totally not ready to see him. She had absolutely no idea of what to say.

Nathan stopped coughing and looked up at her again. He was dressed in dark gray pants and a white shirt. An official look. Either he was soon going off to his office, or he always dressed like this no matter if he was at home on the couch or at a press conference.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a sharp tone.

"I was… your mother said I could spend a few nights here," Claire replied and continued walking down the stairs.

"She did?" Nathan looked around as if he thought he would see Angela watch over them like a hawk from somewhere. "Just like that? She didn't think of the inappropriate situation, with you being my illegitimate offspring and all?"

"Nobody knows that, and it's actually not 'just like that'," Claire said, not a little offended. "And 'offspring'? That's what you call me so you can forget I'm a living person?"

With that, she stormed past him, towards what she hoped was the kitchen.

"I didn't mean… Claire!" Nathan shouted after her, but she kept walking.

She didn't quite know why she got so upset. He was right, after all. Her whole life she had, for all she and he had known, been the daughter of someone else. It wasn't as if they could start bonding easily and feeling like father and daughter starting now after all these years. He had his own life. And she wasn't part of it, more than as a sad memory in the past. But… maybe she had hoped to find something like a new family in the Petrellis, a family that accepted her for who she was and what she could do. Nathan pretty much crushed that dream though. Oh, where was Peter when she needed someone who understood her?

"That was unnecessary," Angela said to Nathan, stepping out of a corridor.

Nathan jumped a little, but then rolled his eyes. He knew his mother had been watching. She always was.

"What should I say then?" he asked, waving his arms in slight frustration. "That's the way it is. I can't take her back now, it's too late."

"Well, if you've decided for that, I guess it already is too late," Angela sighed and walked past him after Claire.

Nathan stared after them. Did they expect him to have a good answer and a planned future when he stumbled upon her all of a sudden in his own home? Blasted women.

…

Peter woke up, got ready, had breakfast and glanced thoughtfully at the big black tv screen. He never watched tv, but the screen had started to become his personal mental mirror. He would go back to the Petrelli mansion after work this evening, to spend some time with Claire as he said he would. Maybe Nathan would be home as well, and they could hang out with him too. Peter suspected it wouldn't be too easy for Claire, as the only fatherly feelings Nathan had shown towards her before had been part of a show to trick her.

He let out a low breath and opened his door, getting out into the corridor.

"Hey there, mate," Adam said and totally startled the dark haired man.

"Adam! What are you doing here?" Peter said sourly as he locked the door behind him.

"I wanted to check in on you. Everything's fine?"

"Yes, everything is fine."

Peter started walking down the hall, but Adam followed him.

"I was thinking of something," Adam said. "You've met a villain called Sylar, haven't you?"

Peter's eyes flashed him a murderous look, but he kept half running down the stairs, Adam in his heels.

"Sylar wants nothing other than power. To be the strongest and most dangerous person in the world. He is crazy, and if you thought he could help you with some of your evil schemes, you are probably wrong," he said and exited the building.

"That was not really what I had in mind," Adam said. "What is the power a person like that would want the most?"

"I dunno, radioactive hands maybe? To be able to threaten whole countries into making him their king would probably suit him."

"Not at all," Adam said, sneering. "A person like that wants to stand out from the crowd and overcome any hinder. He wants to be a god. And what are gods?"

"Illuminating?"

"Immortal."

Peter stopped his march down the street and turned to face the blond man. He already knew Sylar was going after Claire. Why would Adam care about Peter's niece? He couldn't know what Claire's ability was, could he? But then, come to think of it, her ability was exactly the same as...

"You're afraid," Peter said slowly, his eyes narrowing.

"Well, afraid is perhaps the wrong word. More like concerned. I've been around the world for 400 years. What would it be like if I was suddenly gone and an immortal Sylar took my place instead? The man, the monster, who only cares about power and significance, without and grand schemes of thought-through-ness?"

Peter chuckled, almost in unbelief. "You are… well, unbelievable. You want me to protect you, is that it?"

"You get the point quickly, friend," Adam said and smiled largely.

"No," Peter said and resumed his walking.

"Oh, come on. Don't just abandon me like that," Adam said, a bit hurt, and kept following him.

"Like you abandoned me when we were breaking into the lab?"

"Hey, who was abandoning who? I got freaking teleported into a grave! And you suddenly chose to hop over to the other team."

"You mislead me. I don't think I even want to forgive you."

"So if Sylar comes to get me, you will just let me die?"

"How do you know you even can die?"

"He probably has his ways."

"I don't know, I don't really care."

"An indestructible Sylar would be so much more dangerous than the one present now."

"Why does everyone think Sylar is my personal problem? He's just a bad guy whom others and I happened to stop from blowing up New York once."

"He's a murderer. And what are you? A saviour. A hero. You're not like me, you couldn't even take lives for the greater good of mankind. You can't sit by now, watching innocents die."

Peter stopped again. If Sylar got more powerful, Claire would be in even greater danger. On the other hand, maybe not. Since Claire's and Adam's abilities were pretty much the same, maybe Sylar would leave Claire alone if he took Adam. But then… could he really let Adam die? He wasn't really human after having lived for 400 years, but he was a person. And he had been Peter's friend. He admitted to himself a part of him actually missed the time they spent together.

"And Claire, whatever ability that girl has got, Sylar will be after her, won't he? And your brother and your mother… a hunted family," Adam said, without knowing he was proving that he couldn't read Peter's thoughts. "You might as well protect as many as you can. And I'll help you!"

"You'll help me protect yourself?"

"No, you'll protect me and I'll help you protect the others you care about. I'm not totally without powers, you know."

"You're gonna heal yourself until Sylar falls dead from old age, or what?"

"Silly. I'm trained in martial arts, and I can handle almost every weapon imaginable."

"Really," Peter said. "How come you can't protect yourself then?"

"Partly because two heads are better than one. Partly because my skills aren't always enough. And partly because… well, it's boring to be on your own, isn't it?"

Peter and Adam stood quiet in the street for a while, people and sounds rushing by in the morning light.

"I'll do it," Peter finally said.

"I knew you would," Adam smiled and put a firm hand on Peter's shoulder.

"You did? Seemed kinda desperate to me."

"Because you still haven't teleported away. You could have done that the instant you saw me. But you didn't, which means you unconsciously wanted to listen to me. I knew you were still my pal," Adam said, blinked and walked past Peter into the rushing morning crowd.

Peter raised an eyebrow and grunted. Manipulative bastard.

I hope I'm not making Adam too cheery ^^ But I like him this way. Sorry if I'm making Peter his grumpy contrast right now, hopefully he will have time to be cheerful too. Though... he is pretty low in the show, is he not? XD