Thank you all for reviewing. So I finished the third season finally and I'm not really sure what timeline this story is supposed to fit into because I started the story when I had only seen a few episodes. It's supposed to take place after "Invisible Thread" for the most part, but I realize I've already messed some stuff up so I ask that you bear with me. It's assumed in this chapter that after the events of the last season, Claire started going back to school at Noah's insistence. It's not really important to the story, but I wanted to mention it since I made reference to school. Enough babbling, onto chapter 8.
I don't own Heroes.
Chapter 8
Claire came in and found Noah waiting for her. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Where were you?" For a moment Claire's mind raced. I was off getting very well acquainted with Sylar, she thought. The thought sent shivers down her spine. She shook herself and smiled apologetically at her father.
"I'm sorry, dad. My friend Tanner called me and I went out to meet her at the mall."
"You're grounded Claire. The only places you should be are school or home. I make allowances for the library because I realize it's necessary at times."
"I'm sorry," she repeated. "It won't happen again." Claire kissed him on the cheek, softening his expression.
She turned to head up to her room when Noah's voice stopped her. "Peter's out with Parkman hunting for Sylar."
"Oh?"
"He thinks they're getting close."
"Well…that's good. It'll be nice to be rid of him."
"Claire, I don't have to tell you that I'd like you to stay out of the middle of this as much as possible. With the agents and Sylar running loose, it could be dangerous."
"Don't worry about me dad. I'll just be upstairs serving out my sentence." He held her gaze for a moment longer before she broke away and headed up to her room. Once inside she shut the door and laid down on her bed. She closed her eyes and let her mind wander back to Sylar's apartment. She had promised to help him. She just hoped that she was up to it. She let her mind drift further to the moment that his lips had covered hers. His lips were warm, soft, and obviously well practiced. Claire sighed. She shivered again as she thought about it. Her body had ached to take things farther, to pull him closer, to let him have his way with her.
"Claire," her mom's voice drifted through the door, startling Claire out of her thoughts.
"Yeah mom?"
"Lyle and I are going to the pet store to get Mr. Muggles a new collar. Would you like to come?"
"No, I'm grounded, remember?"
"Oh, okay. I'll explain it to your father if you want to come."
"That's okay mom. I'll stay here."
"Alright. Well, your dad went into work. We'll be back soon."
"Have fun." She heard the front door close. She closed her eyes and her mind drifted back to Sylar. She barely heard it when her bedroom door opened. He was already beside her before she realized he was there. Her eyes flew open and she gasped. "What are you doing here?" Sylar smiled down at her.
"I was coming back from buying groceries and I found Peter and Matt in my apartment, so I left. I thought you would be happy to see me."
"You shouldn't be in my house. If my parents come home and find you here…"
"I'll be quiet. May I?" He indicated the bed and Claire moved over so that he could sit next to her. He leaned back against the headboard and closed his eyes. Claire rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow so that she could look at him.
"I guess if I'm going to help you, I should get to know you better." He turned his head to look at her.
"What would you like to know?"
"You said you were adopted. What happened?" Sylar shook his head.
"I'd rather not start there."
"Okay. What kind of hobbies do you have…besides…"
"I like to fix watches. Or, at least, that's what I used to do. It gave me something to think about."
"Do you do it anymore?" Sylar stared at the wall.
"I haven't in a while."
"But you could."
"I could, but I don't think that's what I'm meant for. My mother always thought that I could be more than that. I always felt that I was meant for more than that too." Claire shook her head.
"There's nothing wrong with doing that, if that's what you like to do. It's more productive than killing people." Sylar nodded.
"In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really help either."
"It's good honest work. It may not be world changing, but it's something. Over the time that I've known you, I've noticed that you're driven by the need to be someone more than yourself. Why do you do that?"
"I don't like being nobody. Gabriel was nobody."
"I think I like Gabriel a lot more than Sylar." Sylar was about to respond when Claire moved closer to him, draping an arm over him. He hesitated before wrapping his arms around her. It was silent for a long time before he spoke again.
"My father needed money," he started. "When I was about 7 or 8 he took me to a diner. I didn't know what we were doing there, but I saw him talking to a man then, the man gave him some money. My father called me over and handed me to the man. Then…he just walked out. He left me there and walked out. I ran out after him, but he was already in the car." Claire looked up at Sylar's face and saw that tears had started forming in his eyes. "He killed my mother." Claire sucked in a breath. "I watched him do it. Then he drove off." Sylar looked down at Claire. "This hunger that I have, this uncontrollable urge to become more, it came from him."
"And fixing watches?"
"…Came from my adoptive father. He owned a business. I worked there. I found that I had a talent for it. It made sense to me, like nothing else had. But I always felt like I needed more. My mother, Virginia Gray, she always seemed disappointed. She always wanted me to be different. All my life up until now it seems like I've been somebody's tool. I guess part of me thinks that if I become powerful enough, no one will be able to use me." Claire reached up and stroked his face, wiping away the tears that had started to fall.
"You have to kill people to do that?"
"All my life I've wanted to be special. All my life I've wished I was more than the son of a watchmaker. These people who have these abilities…they don't even want them. Given the chance, they would just throw them away. They don't deserve those powers. I take them off their hands for them."
"You have a chance to change things that are happening now. You're special. With the abilities you've acquired, the power to detect when someone is lying, the shape-shifting, you have the power to help us fix things."
"You may see it that way, but what about Peter, Noah… I don't think they'll see it that way."
"You'll have to gain their trust, but in the end, they'll have to concede that this is about all of us. Those agents aren't picky about which ones of us they take down. Peter will realize that we need each other. You have the power to be anyone you need to be. That makes you and important part of the resistance."
"What if I told you that I just wanted to fix watches?"
"I'm not going to force you to help us. If you want to fix watches, that's fine. You can do what you want. I just thought that-…" He pulled her up to him and kissed her deeply.
"That's all I've wanted to hear my whole life." He kissed her again and Claire surprised him by moving so that she was straddling him. She wrapped her arms around him, running one hand up through his hair. She pulled him closer to deepen the kiss even more. Claire gasped when she felt Sylar's tongue press against her lips. She parted her lips slightly, granting him access. Without breaking the kiss Sylar rolled them over so that he was on top of her. He pulled back to look in her eyes. "We can stop if you want to. I may be a lot of not so great things, but I'm not going to force you to do anything you're not comfortable with."
Claire knew what he was saying. He was offering her an out before things went too far. "I-…it's okay…"
He brushed the hair back from her face. "Have you ever?..." Claire blushed a deep red.
"I've kissed boys before, but…I've never…" Claire shifted her eyes to avoid his gaze. He bent down to kiss her again.
"Claire," he trailed kisses down her neck, "do you trust me?"
"Yes," Claire whispered after a moment. A strange tingling ran through Sylar's body and he shook his head.
"Let's hold off on this until you can say that and really mean it." In the brief silence that followed Claire heard her phone. The sound alerted her that she had a new voice message. Sylar moved so that he was laying beside her. She picked up her phone to listen to her message.
Claire, it's Peter. We're at Sylar's place. He rabbited. He could be coming for you. Keep your eyes open. Matt and I are on our way to your house… Peter's message was interrupted by a sudden crash.
"What are they doing to my apartment?" Sylar asked. In the message Peter was shouting to Matt and then there was a thud and everything stopped. Other voices picked up on the phone for a moment before the line went dead.
"Peter?" Claire stared at her phone.
"The agents have them," Sylar said confidently.
"We have to save them." Claire jumped up. "You don't know where they take them do you?" Sylar sighed.
"As I matter of fact, I do."
"Will you…help me get in there to save Peter and Matt?" He stood.
"I will, but not for them. I'll do it for you." Claire nodded. They rushed downstairs where Claire wrote her parents a quick note before they headed out of the house. She hoped that her father would understand. This was the opposite of staying out of the middle of it, but Claire didn't have time to worry about that now.
