A/N: it's been brought to my attention that a couple of the chapters had gotten messed up formatting-wise, so I went back and fixed that. The next couple chapters are going to have some big developments, so stay tuned ;)
"So…" Tracy's spoon scraped against her bowl as she twirled it around with a sound that might have been a pleasant clink were the materials not plastic and styrofoam respectively. "This is nice, huh?"
Meredith nodded, gulping down a spoonful of her own gelato. She had opted for a chocolate flavour, while Tracy had gone with hazelnut. They were sitting toward the back of the gelato shop; all the best seats had already been taken by other customers, whose dull rabble of conversation faded into the background and blended into the indie song playing on the radio. Outside, people were passing by on the sidewalk, sticking close to the walls so they could stay in the shade. Tracy spooned some more gelato into her mouth and closed her eyes as sweetness exploded across her tongue; she leaned back in her seat and let out a little hum of contentment. Meredith chuckled, pushing her bowl aside and reaching over to tentatively brush a drop of gelato off Tracy's cheek. Tracy's heart fluttered at the contact, and she found herself almost involuntarily lifting her hand to intertwine her fingers with Meredith's. As their hands slid into each other and they drew a it closer together, Meredith's skin heated up with the distinctive crackle of a fireplace. Tracy winced and, taking care to keep her power controlled, cooled her down with a little burst of frost. They shuffled a couple centimetres away from each other; Tracy tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and Meredith cleared her throat before picking her spoon back up and stirring it around in her bowl.
"Say, Trace, have you ever had gelato before?"
"Yeah, the last time Noah was in town we went here together."
Meredith nodded slowly as she swallowed another mouthful of gelato. It was hard to read the expression on her face, but after swallowing she licked her lips, straightened up in her seat, and shot Tracy a sort of sideways smile.
"You and Noah, huh?" she said. "Ain't that just the thing. Are you two together, then, or…?"
Tracy's brow crinkled. "Well, he's not here right now, so I don't-" She broke off as she realized what Meredith was asking. "Oh, together together? God, no. I mean, he's a great guy, but I don't really… do dating, anymore. Haven't for a long time."
"Oh?" Meredith raised her eyebrows, biting her lip as though to restrain a hopeful look. "Any reason for that?"
"Well…"
Tracy pursed her lips and leaned back in her seat, tipping the front legs slightly off the ground, like a rowdy student rocking back and forth at their desk. Did she have a reason to avoid dating? Sure, her last serious relationship hadn't turned out very well, but that was years ago-and it wasn't as though she hadn't had any opportunities since then; guys were crazy for her. She just wasn't crazy for them in return. If the right guy came along, maybe she would consider entering a relationship (at least that was what she told herself, but honestly, she was beginning to doubt that more and more). Until then, she was perfectly content to remain single. She was far happier sitting here right now with Meredith, in fact, than she could ever imagine herself being with a man.
A thought appeared in the back of her mind, like a flower that had been budding for months finally beginning to come into bloom. Tracy blushed and dismissed the thought as quickly as it came to her. That would be silly… With all the men she'd been with, even if most of them hadn't meant anything to her, she couldn't possibly be-
"I don't know," she replied, shaking her head to clear her mind. "I guess, cliched as it is, I just haven't met the right person yet."
Meredith clucked her tongue and hummed thoughtfully to herself. She glanced back at Tracy and opened her mouth as though she wanted to ask something else, but then she turned away and shook her head slightly. She dug her spoon back into her bowl, and Tracy did the same, scraping around the edges so she could get as much gelato onto her spoon as possible. In the background, a young couple stood up to leave as one indie song faded out and another began playing. Tracy hummed alone despite not really knowing the words; she was pretty sure she'd heard the song before, but she couldn't for the life of her remember where.
Meredith spoke up again after a while, keeping her eyes fixed on her bowl as she stirred her spoon around in the now mostly melted gelato.
"Flint was like that too," she said. "He could never make the girls stick around. Probably because he was downright deranged and dumber than a bag of bricks…" She broke off with a snort, then shook her head and looked over at Tracy with a sad smile. "But he was my brother, so I loved him anyway."
"Yeah…" Tracy mumbled, wishing she had some point of reference to understand that mindset. She thought of the Petrelli brothers, and how Peter had loved Nathan despite everything he did, and how deeply he'd mourned his death. Truth be told, she really didn't understand it at all; as much as she admired Peter's loyalty to his family, it seemed pretty damn displaced at times. "Siblings, huh?"
"You'd understand, right?" Meredith said, in more of a statement than a question. "You said you had a couple of sisters."
"Well, clones, really," Tracy clarified. "And I never met them. There were three of us, according to Zimmerman-Niki is dead now, and I don't know about the other one. I guess wherever she is, she's… well, hopefully she's living her best life."
"And you don't intend to seek her out, or anything?"
Tracy shrugged. Honestly, she hadn't really given it much thought. That woman who looked like her, whatever kind of life she may have had, probably didn't even know Tracy existed. They didn't know each other, they had no connection, so why bother trying to forge one at this point?
"Probably not," she said. "I mean, if she contacted me that would be one thing, but… I don't know, I figure she's doing fine on her own."
Meredith sighed and turned to gaze out the window. Tracy followed her gaze to see a mother and daughter standing on the sidewalk. The daughter pointed at the sign outside the door, and her mother patted her on the shoulder and said something before pulling her along. The daughter pouted but followed after her mother, and quickly started smiling again when the mother ruffled her hair.
"Yeah, hon, I getcha," Meredith said, turning back to Tracy. "Some people are just better off without you."
"Now, that's not what I'm saying," Tracy said-she knew exactly who Meredith was thinking about, and she wasn't going to encourage that line of thinking. "I've never met the other clone. You… have met Claire. Hell, she was the one to seek you out in the first place. She deserves to know you're alive."
Meredith said nothing. She got up from the table and tossed her empty bowl and spoon in the garbage, then went over and leaned against the doorframe, crossing her arms and drumming her fingers against the sides of her arms. Clearly, this was not a discussion Meredith was open to right now-and that was fine, honestly. It was a lovely day out, so they might as well just try to forget all their issues for once and have a good time. Tracy spooned the last dregs of gelato into her mouth and crumpled up the styrofoam bowl. Just for fun, she froze it in her hand before getting up and tossing it, along with the spoon, into the trash can. Meredith held the door for her as they walked out, and from there, they strolled down the sidewalk together. As they were walking, Tracy found herself reaching for Meredith' hand without realizing what she was doing until their fingers were brushing together. Meredith gave her a quizzical look; cheeks heating up, Tracy dropped her hand away and stuffed it in her pocket. Damn, what was wrong with her?
Meredith's fingers began to shake a little, and fire started flickering at her fingertips. She looked down at them with a wince, then took out a cigarette and lit it up by pressing her fingertip to the end.
"Say, while we're out, can we stop by the corner store?" she asked, holding up the empty box. "This is my last cigarette from this pack."
"Sure, no problem," Tracy said. "Just make sure not to smoke that thing in my car, okay?"
"Yes, boss," Meredith muttered, but when they reached where Tracy's car was parked a couple blocks down from the gelato shop, she tossed the cigarette on the ground and stomped on it. Tracy looked at Meredith and arched her eyebrows; Meredith grumbled and bent down to pick the cigarette up and tossed it in the nearest garbage can.
"Have you ever thought about trying to quit?" Tracy asked as she unlocked her car and they climbed in together. It was probably none of her business, but a lot of the politicians she'd hung around with in the past had been smokers, and she knew full well the effects they had on people's lungs.
"Honey, I don't think I could if I tried." Meredith fastened her seatbelt and pressed the button to turn on the car radio. An upbeat, if fairly repetitive song came on-a love song, of course, and Tracy found herself watching carefully as Meredith tucked a strand of her honey-blonde hair behind her ear and leaned back slightly in the passenger seat. "Anyhow, let's get going, shall we?"
