Elle and Claire arrived at the Sullivan Bros. Carnival. It was a starry night. It was just them since Sandra had convinced Bennet to stay home.
"So what do you wanna do first?" Elle asked.
"We could play some the games." Claire said. "Maybe I could win something for you."
"Or maybe I could something for you." Elle said. "Your bear collection is missing something."
"What's that?" Claire asked.
"One from me." Elle answered.
"I'm pretty sure using your ability would be cheating." Claire said.
"Ooh a fortune teller." Elle said looking at a sign that said 'The tattooed lady'.
"Sure let's go see her." Claire said as the two of them walked into the booth. Once they arrived, they saw a woman with brown hair and several tattoos.
"Hello Claire, Elle. I've been expecting you two." The woman said. "My name is Lydia."
"How do you know who we are?" Elle said as her hands cackled with electricity.
"Relax, I just know things." Lydia said as she showed her arms with what appeared to be tattoos of the two girls. "I can read your desires. Would care to give it a try?"
Elle powered down and held her hand out to Lydia.
Lydia closed her eyes and stood still for a second before speaking. "There's a great desire for Claire. One that is mutual but I sense something else. You want to be younger which is not uncommon. However your reasons are different. You don't want to just regain some lost years. You want to be look for your girlfriend. You want to be able to spend as much time with her as possible."
"Is that true?" Claire asked.
"Yes." Elle said.
"I want you to come with me." Lydia said. "Normally I wouldn't do this but for you two, I can make an exception."
Claire and Elle followed Lydia into the off limits area of the carnival. They saw several people that all apparently had abilities.
"This is much more than a carnival." Lydia said. "This is also a sanctuary for people with abilities. The Sullivans: Samuel and Joseph, run the place."
Lydia knocked out the door to a trailer. A balding man opened the door.
"Joseph, this is Claire Bennet and Elle Bishop." Lydia said.
"Hi" Both girls said.
"I came across an atypical desire from Elle and I was wondering if I could see Arnold to help her." Lydia said.
"Arnold is sick." Joseph said.
"I know but this is rare opportunity. This is love we're talking about." Lydia said.
"Yes I feel a great love." Joseph said. "What is this desire?"
"I want to be the same age as Claire." Elle said timidly. "I want to have a second chance but I also want to be able to go through things with Claire as a peer. Especially since she can live forever I want to live with her as long as I can."
"I can't so no to that." Joseph said. "Come with me then."
They were taken to a dark room with a man inside. Joseph whispered the instructions to the man.
"How old are you?" Joseph asked Claire.
"Seventeen." Claire answered.
"Elle's body began to glow. Her skin seemed to rejuvenate and she shrunk slightly. She also lost a few pounds.
"Can I see myself?" Elle asked.
Lydia gave Elle a mirror and she used her ability to create a light. She blinked at her reflection. She looked like she did when she was seventeen. There really weren't any dramatic differences.
"You're beautiful." Claire said.
"That's something I never thought of myself as as a teenager." Elle said. "Wait a minute am I still?"
"Pregnant? Yes." Arnold said. "You're not too far along but you're still be delivering on time."
"So I guess that confirms that." Elle said.
"Maybe we should head home." Claire said as she began to walk back.
"It's gonna suck not being able to share a bed with you." Elle said.
"Well we'll be in college in a few months." Claire said. "Then we'll have much more freedom."
"I wonder what your parents will think when I show up younger?" Elle asked.
"It's not that noticeable." Claire said. "Then again, it probably wouldn't surprise them. Oh and Dad will probably want to check out the carnival."
"Yeah that sounds like something he would do." Elle said. "Having an overprotective father is probably better than having one who doesn't care at all. You know I kind of feel like Zac Efron."
"Why?" Claire asked.
"Because I'm Seventeen Again!" Elle said happily.
"You do know you'll probably be under stricter rules now, don't you?" Claire asked.
"Well it'll still be better than Daddy's no leaving without permission rule." Elle said. "I would take your dad over my dad any day of the week. Crap!"
"What?" Claire asked.
"I didn't get to win you a prize." Elle said.
"That's okay Elle." Claire said. "I like this result even better."
"Oh I just wanna kiss you right now." Elle said. "Too bad we can't."
"We'll come out eventually." Claire said. "I'm just not quite sure how my family will take it. Well actually I'm not sure how my dad will take it. My mom will probably be accepting and Lyle will be his normal wise-cracking self."
"So when do you wanna tell them?" Elle asked.
"Well I think we should explain the current situation before we throw that at them." Claire said as she walked in the door. "We're home."
"I'm in the kitchen." Bennet said as Claire and her girlfriend walked in. "Rene found an old painting by Isaac Mendez today. Tell me does this seem familiar?"
Bennet pulled out a photo of a painting of the two girls from the night before, half dressed.
"Umm." Elle said.
"Need I remind you that Claire is only 17?" Bennet said.
"Well I am too now." Elle said. "We met someone at the carnival that made me younger."
"This is not what I had in mind when I invited you to stay here." Bennet said.
"Dad, don't blame her. The truth is I've always liked Elle. Hell I think I've always loved her." Claire said. "Please don't take her away from me."
"Well I guess I can't really say no to that." Bennet said. "Just know that if you break her heart, you'll be sorry."
"No!" Claire said. "Don't lay a finger on her. I don't care if she does end up breaking my heart, if you hurt her I will hate you forever."
Elle was really touched that Claire was sticking to her father over her. She had never had anyone care about her that much.
"I didn't realize you felt so strongly about her." Bennet said. "Fine I won't do anything but you two are not sleeping in the same bed anymore."
"Thank you for accepting us, Noah." Elle said.
"Well I would like to inform you now that you are seventeen again, you will follow the same rules as Claire." Bennet said. "And just because you are one now, doesn't mean you should I'll have you acting a teenager. I expect you to be mature. And I'd say that the circumstances wouldn't call for you to call me by my first name anymore. Understand?"
"Yes sir." Elle said.
"Now I think you two should go to bed." Bennet said. "In separate rooms."
"Can I just talk to Elle a few minutes before bed?" Claire asked.
"Okay but do in the living room." Bennet said. "I'll try not to listen."
The two teenagers headed to the living room.
"He took that better than I expected." Claire said.
"I think you might have scared him a little." Elle remarked. "It really means a lot to me that you stood up for me like that."
"Well like I said in the song. I won't let nobody hurt you." Claire said. "Though I would appreciate if you don't break my heart again."
"I promise that I won't." Elle said. "I wonder how your dad feels about us kissing."
"I think we should give him some time." Claire said as she hugged her girlfriend. "Good night. Don't worry you'll be in my dreams."
"Too bad neither of us has that power." Elle said with a smirk on her face. "Dream sex would be fun."
"I think we need to get your mind out of the gutter." Claire said.
"Well you're the one who put it in there in the first place." Elle teased. "It's kind of creepy with him watching us like this."
"Let's go to bed then." Claire said. "I'll see you in the morning."
They went to their separate bedrooms and after a few minutes of realizing that they wouldn't have each other's touch, they both fell asleep.
In the morning, Claire woke up and headed to Elle's room to see if she was awake. She knocked on the door but received no answer. Then she noticed that the shower was running and she entered Elle's room, deciding to wait for her. Elle walked in a few minutes later with a towel wrapped around her. Elle looked pretty beautiful wet.
"Hi." Claire said from the bed that she was sitting on.
"Claire, I know you want me but I don't think that we should while your parents and immature brother are in the house." Elle said.
"I just came here to see if you were up and then I decided to wait for you." Claire said. "So I think we should tell my mom this morning."
"Okay I'm fine with that." Elle said. "So what should I wear?"
Claire smiled and went over to Elle's closet. She picked a blue dress. Since Elle's body had changed, it wasn't as short as it once was. But Elle still looked good in it. Of course Claire thought Elle looked good in anything.
Once Elle was dressed, they headed to the kitchen to see Sandra.
Sandra was making breakfast and Bennet was on the phone. Lyle was most likely off at school.
"Mom, I have something I need to tell you." Claire said.
Before Sandra could speak, Bennet did.
"I just got off the phone with Nathan. It seems someone from the government wants to round up people with abilities." Bennet said.
So this is where we get into Fugitives. But I would like to inform you Elle and Claire will be not be involved. And as Arnold, I figured that the ability to manipulate time could also involve the ability to manipulate someone's age. And please review. Don't just click the story alert or favorite button. The last chapter didn't get a single review despite being a crucial chapter toward the development of the couple.
