Okay, this is where the crack begins. I've no idea what's gotten into me to write Noah so completely OOC. I hope you don't mind too much. Have fun.
Chapter Six
Primatech-Paper, Odessa, Texas
Claude had no idea how long he'd stood there, frozen to the spot, with his eyes flickering from Angela Petrelli's face to the phone in her hands and back.
The too bloody quiet phone.
But eventually the creepy static noise coming out of it had stopped and then a different voice than before, slightly out of breath and with badly repressed anger, had sounded. And it had managed to dissolve the tight knot that had constricted Claude's throat earlier with only one barked-out sentence:
"Target No. One escaped, repeat, lost visual of Target No. One. Both targets gone. Operation unsuccessful. Mission aborted. Damn it!"
Claude let out the breath he'd been holding for the longest time. "Oh bloody hell, thank God!" He shook his head and dropped down onto the cot again. Only then he dared to throw a glimpse at the woman by his side.
Angela Petrelli stared at the silent phone in her hands for a moment longer. When she lifted her hazel eyes to look at Claude… he wasn't sure but… was that relief he could detect there? Or mere disappointment?
Claude didn't care. Noah and Claire had somehow gotten away, they were safe. That's all that mattered right now, wasn't it?
Somewhere in the air above Arizona
Bennet's head lolled forward once more and he could feel his conscious mind threaten to slip into oblivion for the… he'd no idea how long he'd been fighting it. But once again he forced his head up and his eyes to focus on Petrelli's wind-tousled hair. His arms tightened around the man's neck and his fingers dug into his chest until he was sure he'd leave bruises.
Well, a few more of them wouldn't make any difference now, right?
Bennet let out a low chuckle thinking about the absolutely absurd situation he found himself in right now. He was clinging with his last strength to the man that had repeatedly tried to kill him (and vice versa, Bennet had to admit) in the last five hours.
A man that was currently flying them through the night's air just under sonic speed, carrying him on his back in a seriously embarrassing and even more uncomfortable position, to God-knows-where.
"Do you have any idea where we're going yet?" Bennet tried to make his voice rise above the roaring wind around them.
"No!" Nathan Petrelli replied tersely without looking at him.
Bennet opened his mouth to say more but Petrelli then turned his head to glare at him. "And I swear, Bennet. If the next words out of your mouth are 'Aren't we there yet?' or, God forbid, 'I have to pee!' then…"
"Jeez, are we testy or what?" Bennet smirked.
"Testy?" Nathan barked baffled and his grip on Bennet's arms tightened painfully. "Do you have any idea what millions of thoughts are racing through my head right now?"
"Well, hopefully dropping me again isn't anywhere on that list," Bennet couldn't help it, he smirked. He surely must have gotten a concussion, he couldn't think of any other reason why he'd feel the suicidal need to bait the man that had just saved his life.
"You know," Petrelli went on in the same terse voice than before, "it would make things a hell of a lot easier if I would do just that! You're not exactly small luggage, Bennet!"
Bennet knew that Petrelli wasn't simply referring to his tall and surely heavy body. He couldn't quite figure out yet why the man had saved him from the company men earlier. This whole situation was crazy!
"Why did you do it?"
"Huh? What's that?" Nathan had trouble hearing the man, let alone understand what he was asking.
"You could have handed me over to them…"
"And then what?" Petrelli shouted back. "You think they would have let me just walk away? Come on!"
"Alright, point taken," Bennet shrugged. He knew the company policy after all. "Still, I don't… I mean, if I'd been in your shoes…"
"Yeah, alright. I get it!" Bennet could feel Petrelli shift his weight a little before he went on: "You'd have served my head on a platter!"
"I… yes." It was the simple truth and Bennet had no wish to deny it.
Petrelli's mouth suddenly quirked. "Well, then I'm clearly the better man here, right?"
"Yeah, you're a true saint," Bennet smiled at him. "You're like the Pope!" Petrelli only scoffed.
"Pope Petrelli, sounds good, doesn't it?" Bennet continued.
"I was rather thinking of President Petrelli one day," the other man sent him one of his brilliant false smiles.
"Seriously?" Bennet gaped and when Petrelli simply shrugged Bennet couldn't hold it any longer. What started as a low chuckle deep in his throat turned into a wide grin and a full-blown laughter.
Petrelli eyed him suspiciously. "What? What's so damn funny?"
"I was just…" Bennet gasped between coughs of laughter. "Your brother. 'Peter Petrelli, professional patcher-upper and President Petrelli's personal poodle!' If that isn't a tongue twister!"
Petrelli gaped at him open-mouthed for a second and Bennet couldn't help but guffaw again. Eventually Petrelli turned his shaking head back to stare straight on. "They must have hit you a lot harder than I thought, Bennet. That small lump in the back of your head, see, that's the remains of your brain, all jumbled and mashed!"
"You're probably right," Bennet grinned and let his head fall back onto the man's shoulder. The suit's thin material did nothing to stop the body heat from seeping into Bennet's flushed cheek and he leaned into it involuntarily. "Hm, this is nice."
"Shut up, Bennet!" Petrelli growled but there was a hint of amusement that he couldn't quite suppress. "Or else I'll turn around and promptly deliver your crazy babbling self to those company men myself!"
"Yes, Mister President," Bennet smirked and then his eyes fell closed. The last thing he noticed, before unconsciousness finally took over, was that it hadn't been a joke, Petrelli really smelled rather nice.
The Steiner's Estate, Prescott, Arizona
"I wanna go see my Daddy," Claire sniffled into Peter's chest. He pulled the small girl closer and kissed the top of her blond locks. "I know, Claire. I know."
He threw a look around the dark balcony of the Steiner's mansion they were currently sitting on before his eyes traveled up into the sky again. From here he'd earlier watched Nathan and Bennet race up into the air and…
God only knew where they were headed off to in their panicked flight.
Peter let out a quiet sigh and looked back at the girl he'd thrown his arm around. Claire, his niece! He'd still trouble believing that they'd actually found her!
"Where's my Daddy now?" Claire's voice sounded tired and frightened.
"I don't know, Claire. I don't know where Nathan took him but… I promise, I'll keep you safe till we've found them, okay?" He tried to smile at her and thankfully Claire gave a small smile back.
"How did you make us fly, Peter?" She asked then. "And Dad and… Nathan," she tried the name for the first time. "How can you fly?"
"That's… it's just something I can do," Peter smiled sheepishly. "I got that from Nathan."
"Really? Then…can I fly, too?" Peter stared at her in surprise. "I mean, if he's my real father then…"
"I don't know," Peter supplied. "You wanna jump off the balcony and find out?"
"No!" Claire gasped and Peter quickly pulled her close to his body again. "Shhht, I didn't mean that, you know? I'd never let you do something that might get you hurt, Claire. You can trust me."
"I know," Claire muffled into his jumper and then she looked up with gleaming blue eyes. "You're just like my Uncle Claude."
"Claude?" Wasn't that the invisible man Bennet had mentioned earlier?
"Yeah, he's always protecting me, too. You're like him, only you're younger and you don't talk in that funny way of his."
"He talks funny?" Peter wanted to know more about this man he thought he remembered faintly. Claire beamed up at him then. "Yeah, he calls me 'Ccclaaair' instead of Claire and he always uses funny words like 'bloody' and 'sodding' and…"
"Maybe he's English," Peter thought aloud and Claire nodded before she buried her face in his shirt again. "I miss him, you know? And I miss my Daddy," she sniffled.
Suddenly Peter had an idea. "Do you know where he lives? Your Uncle Claude?" Maybe they could go hide with him for the time being. Peter knew that they had to get moving soon, and he'd no idea how he should be able to reach Nathan… he needed a phone, and clothes for Claire. The small girl was shivering in her nightshirt but he couldn't go back to her house to get her some things, could he? He'd no idea where these creepy army men had gone off to… if they had the house under surveillance… he couldn't risk getting caught now.
Claire shook her head sadly. "He lives somewhere in Texas, but I don't know where. I've never been there, Dad always says it's too dangerous though I don't know why."
"Huh, shit!" Peter let out and then suddenly a light in the house behind them was turned on and Peter swore again. "Shit!"
He scrambled to his feet and dragged Claire with him into a corner. He motioned for the girl to stay silent and then he craned his neck and looked through the window. A dark-haired woman had just entered the bedroom and Peter let out a gasp.
"Heidi!"
"You know her?" Claire frowned up at him but Peter didn't look at her. He was trying to think quickly… should he risk it?
When he couldn't come up with a better alternative Peter crouched down to Claire. "Okay Claire. I need you to hide here, while I go and talk to Heidi, okay? No matter what, you have to stay hidden, she can't see you!"
Claire nodded finally, though she had no idea what Peter wanted to do. But she trusted him.
"Good," Peter stood up again and, after he'd taken a deep breath, stepped up to the window and knocked softly. He could see Heidi turn around with a frown and then…
She'd obviously noticed him because the next minute she grabbed something from a corner – was that a baseball bat? – and cautiously made her way over to the balcony door.
"Heidi, it's me," Peter whispered, "Peter Petrelli."
The scowl on Heidi's beautiful face deepened but she opened the door an inch. "Peter? What are you doing here in the middle of the night? I told you already, Nathan's not here anymore!"
"I know," Peter stepped a little closer and was glad to notice that she didn't back away. Apparently she wasn't frightened by this rather odd spontaneous nightly visit.
"Heidi," he continued in low voice, "I know this sounds completely crazy and you have no reason to trust me, but… I need your help. Please, Heidi!"
"My help?"
"Please, can I come in?" Peter hoped that his voice sounded as sincere as he truly meant it.
"Peter," Heidi shook her head once, "I don't think that's…"
"Please, I need to make a phone call. It's really important. I can't explain it to you but… please, you have to help me."
"How did you get up to my balcony, Peter? What happened… I don't understand…"
"I know, Heidi, and I'm sorry for everything that happened with Nathan, believe me." Peter bore his big brown puppy-dog eyes into Heidi's blue ones. Eventually he could see the resolve crumble.
"Wait here and I'll give you the phone, okay?" she stated calmly.
"Yeah, okay," Peter breathed out and watched her go back into the room. Seconds later she returned and pressed a small cordless phone onto his hand. Peter smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Heidi."
Heidi nodded tersely in return.
Somewhere in the air
Nathan was busy searching for a good place to land. He needed to rest for a while, he simply couldn't hold himself, and Bennet's tall slack form on his back, up for a minute longer.
That man was heavy!
He spotted a couple of relatively even rocks in front of him and slowed his flight down until he came to hover vertically above the stony platform. With a grunt he plopped down and let Bennet's lifeless form slide to the ground. The man came to lie on his back and Nathan slumped down next to him, gasping for breath and with his heart threatening to burst in his chest.
"Oh God," he panted and rubbed his hands over his tired face. He felt completely exhausted to the bone.
When, after a few more minutes of simply catching his breath, Nathan hadn't heard any sound from his side he lifted his head from the ground and threw a glance at Bennet.
The man had his eyes closed and his head had lolled to the side. "Bennet?" Nathan prodded a finger at the man's chest. Nothing. "Bennet!" he tried again, a bit louder this time, and with more force behind the poking.
Nathan leaned up on his elbows and took a closer look at the man's slack face. Then he took hold of the nearest shoulder and shook it, hard.
"What do you want?" Bennet's voice sounded annoyed but steady. He pried one eye open and managed to convey a glare even with that.
"Nothing!" Nathan lay back down quickly, not sure he wanted to examine the feeling that suddenly fluttered through his stomach. It felt conspicuously like relief, but that was just mad, wasn't it?
"Petrelli," Bennet sighed, sounding even more annoyed with that.
"It's nothing, okay?" Nathan groused and lifted up on one elbow again. "I was just checking if you'd finally died on me now!"
"No, sorry to disappoint," Bennet smirked.
Nathan plopped to the ground again and put a hand over his face. Then he turned his head to the side and threw a pointed look at Bennet. "Yeah, well, my bad. I was just getting my hopes up but… guess I have to try killing you a little harder next time, huh?"
"You can try, but…" Bennet's smirk was cold when he turned to face Nathan as well. "It takes much more than what a stuffed law-suit like yourself could ever come up with, special ability or not!"
Nathan glared daggers at the man. He couldn't believe it! Here he'd just saved the bastard's life and had dragged his sorry ass hundreds of miles through the air… the bastard who'd kidnapped his daughter and had lied to him about her whereabouts, had hidden her from him and…
Nathan's heart jumped in his chest and he could feel the anger pump through his veins like mad. And yet his voice was deadly quiet.
"Do you know why I'm not simply kicking your sorry ass over the edge there right now and watch your body splatter on the ground?" he growled low in his throat and fisted a hand in Bennet's shirtfront. "Do you wanna know why?"
Bennet merely stared at him silently and Nathan pulled the man closer until their faces were only inches apart.
"Because I don't want to miss Claire's shocked face when she finally comes to understand what the man that pretended to be her 'daddy' truly is!" Nathan released Bennet and slumped back down onto his back. "You stole her from me, you lied to her for her entire life and…"
"You know nothing about our lives, Petrelli!" Bennet sat up and glared at Nathan. "I kept Claire safe and out of the company's grasp for years! Your own mother ordered to kill her! Your mother! And besides, I didn't steal Claire from you! You'd left the mother because you simply couldn't be bothered with a child at that time! You didn't want her, Petrelli! And when I was asked to adopt her I did, and I gave Claire a loving home. I raised her and protected her all this years! She's my little girl and if you even think about trying to take her away from me now then…"
Bennet gulped heavily and Nathan could see the cords stand out in his neck. "Then what?" he glared.
"Then you're gonna feel really sorry for not killing me when you had the chance, believe me!"
Nathan stared at the man for a while. Then he suddenly shrugged and got up into a sitting position as well. "Well, I guess that just leaves me with one option then."
"What," Bennet asked and watched Petrelli struggle to his feet.
"I'm gonna take off and leave you here to…"
Before he'd finished that sentence Bennet had grabbed his legs and had tackled him to the ground. The taller man sat on top of Nathan, pressed his arms to the ground next to his head and leaned down to Nathan's stunned face. "Oh no, Petrelli, I don't think so! I'd rather chain myself to your ankle…"
"With what," Petrelli smirked. "A lock of your hair? Mine? What?"
"I don't care if I have to take your precious fifty-dollar shoe-laces knotted together for that as long as it gets the job done!"
Nathan threw a glance down to his feet before he looked at Bennet's face once more. "I'm wearing slippers."
"Of course you do," came the dry reply. Both men stared at each other for a second. Then Nathan's lips suddenly began to twitch and the corner of his mouth lifted up involuntarily. Bennet tried to keep a straight face for a while longer but… he simply couldn't.
He grinned down at Nathan and eased up on the pressure on the man's arms. "Damn, this is just too fucking crazy!" Bennet shook his head.
"Tell me about it," Nathan copied the words Bennet had already uttered earlier that day to describe their very dysfunctional and fucked-up relationship. Or had that been yesterday?
Nathan couldn't remember exactly how much time had passed since they'd sat side by side on the grass in near companionship right after they'd tried to kill each other for the first time.
He'd known then already.
This man with his dry sarcasm and completely irritating attitude somehow managed to worm his way under his skin like no one else ever had.
Well, apart from Peter of course.
"Peter!" Nathan suddenly gasped when he remembered. He didn't even know for sure if his little brother had made it out of the house alive! And Claire… were they safe?
As if connected by telepathy Nathan's cell phone suddenly began to ring. Nathan startled slightly and then he pushed Bennet off his body to sit up. With trembling fingers he dug the phone out of his suit.
"Peter?" he gasped and let out a relieved sigh when he heard his brother's voice. "Nathan, thank God. Are you safe? Where are you?"
"Ugh…" Nathan looked around and shrugged helplessly. That was a damn good question, wasn't it?
TBC
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