Disclaimer: I don't Heroes, and the fundamental concept of this story was inspired by rain and leaves' "Four Months Later" and is used with his permission
Feedback: I'd like it, trust me
A Leap to Safety
"What do you mean, you don't want me there?!" Claire yelled, standing up to look at Peter in frustration. "I'm not some weak-"
"Claire, I've never thought you were weak, so don't even try and use that argument, OK?" Peter countered, looking pointedly back at her as the two of them stood alone in the living-room of the Petrelli mansion; with Angela's current location a mystery, and her mother preferring some time alone to cope with her father's death, Nathan and Matt had concluded that the mansion was the best place for Claire to stay while they prepared for the press conference in Odessa, Peter taking her there while they set up the conference in the station (Hiro had returned to Japan to help out at his father's company, although he had also assured them that he'd be available if they needed his help at some point). "Hell, if it were up to me, I'd love to have you there, but Nathan…"
"What?" Claire asked, looking critically at Peter. "What about Nathan?"
"Well…" Peter began, the expression on his face making it clear that he didn't want to have this particular conversation before he continued. "Look, as Nathan explained it to me… well, what we're about to do is going to bring a lot of attention down on us, so he thinks it'll be easier if we look more like the 'innocent' parties in our dealings with the Company- make us out to be more clear-cut 'heroes', you know- rather than make some of our more… difficult… actions these last few months public…"
"Like the fact that the most powerful guy alive is in his twenties and yet dating a teenager, huh?" Claire asked, shaking her head in frustration.
She wasn't sure what annoyed her more; the fact that Peter was actually agreeing with Nathan on this issue, or the fact that she couldn't help but see things from his point of view as well.
After all, she was only sixteen; compared to what some of the others had done since their abilities appeared, she really hadn't been through that much.
Having to pull that shard of glass out of Peter's head or seeing her adopted dad's dead body- particularly after learning that he was shot by her biological dad; she still couldn't quite get her head around the idea that her real father was over four hundred years old- might have been difficult, but she still hadn't actually done anything major with her ability; in the end, Nathan had been the one to stop Peter from destroying Kirby Plaza when he nearly went nuclear- something that still gave her nightmares even after he'd returned to her life-, and even during the latest 'Adam' crisis she hadn't done anything more dramatic than-
"Stop that," Peter interjected, cutting off her train of thought as he looked at her.
"You know I don't judge you because you're younger, Claire, and I don't think you're weak or anything because of that; it's just that… well, as Nathan pointed out, other people are going to judge us because of that, and we need to-"
"Look as much like the completely innocent and 'pure' 'good guys' as possible," Claire finished for him, looking at Peter with a look that combined frustration with understanding. "I… well, I get that, I guess; I'm not exactly happy about it, but… I'll deal with it."
"Thanks," Peter said, smiling at her with a small smile that did little to conceal the pain in his eyes at the course of action they were committing themselves to.
They'd barely even started to really explore their relationship with each other after learning their feelings weren't as wrong as they'd believed, but they were still hovering on just the wrong side of legality to make the idea of making the relationship public something that not everyone would accept if they didn't know more about them…
They might not be related like they'd once believed they were, but Claire was still a teenager attending high school while Peter was in his late twenties; it might not be a serious 'crime', but it still wouldn't exactly help them to encourage the general public to regard them as the 'good guys' and the Company as the villains if one of them was dating a minor.
"Damnit…" Claire muttered, rolling her eyes in frustration before she turned her gaze back to Peter. "Look, just… come back quick, OK? If we're going to have to start lying about… what we are… for a bit, I'd like some time with you before we have to keep it all hidden."
Smiling reassuringly at her, Peter bent over to give her a quick kiss before pulling back, a casual smile on his face as he looked at her that he didn't think had been there since the moment he'd first learned about his powers.
"With an offer like that in mind?" he replied, smiling at her with that casual grin that he knew she liked to see him assume. "Nothing could keep me away."
With that, he closed his eyes and vanished, leaving Claire standing alone in the mansion for a moment as she looked reflectively at where he'd been before she turned around to head for the kitchen; if she was going to be hanging around here a while longer, she was going to make herself something to eat.
As he reappeared in the Odessa police station where Nathan had arranged to hold the press conference, Peter smiled slightly at the sight of the familiar walls around him.
His first night here might not have been one of his best memories- according to some of Nathan's later conversations with Mohinder while he was in that coma after leaving his body had basically been going into overdrive trying to process all the powers he'd been tapping into after being so close to Sylar, Claire, Matt and Nathan, leaving his body practically exhausted from the strain of what it had been through-, but it had been the place where he'd been properly introduced to Claire, powers and warm personality and all.
Even if the timing had sucked and his health hadn't been that great, he'd always remember that brief conversation he'd shared with her in his cell; he'd found her pleasant company when she was just another girl at a school, but when he'd seen her in that cell, so relieved to learn that she wasn't alone, calling him her hero after he'd spent his life being nothing but 'Nathan's brother' to virtually everyone who knew him…
In a way, it had been the most incredible moment of his life; at last, he'd met someone who he knew for a fact appreciated him for being him, rather than for who he was related to…
As he saw various assorted journalists and news staff either gathered or heading towards a large conference room at one end of the corridor he now stood in, Peter briefly glanced over at the rooms around him before his gaze fell on a slightly open glass door, Nathan's usual expensive suits a sharp contrast to the policemen sitting at their desks and Matt's more basic jacket and trousers.
"Hey," he said as he walked into the room, nodding briefly at the policemen around him before his gaze returned to his brother and his friend.
"Things go OK with Claire?" Nathan asked, looking curiously at his brother.
"Not exactly happy about it, but she gets why we're doing things this way for the moment," Peter replied, nodding briefly at Nathan before he sighed, glancing out of the window at the reporters gathering outside.
"That's her; are you sure you're all right with this?" Nathan asked, looking uncertainly at Peter.
"Yeah, I guess… it's just… all a bit overwhelming, really," Peter replied, nodding slightly at Nathan as he spoke, gazing in a thoughtful manner at the room full of journalists before them. "I mean, a few months ago I was just another nurse, and now I've got all these abilities, I'm dating a girl who can heal herself, and we're about to denounce a secret organisation that's been monitoring people like us for who knows how long…"
He smiled slightly as he glanced back at his brother and his friend. "It's… well, I'd like to say 'incredible', but even that doesn't quite fit; when I think back on what I was like before…"
"Yeah, I know what you mean; it's almost impossible to even recognise who I was before I got my abilities," Matt said, looking over at Peter with a slight smile before he glanced back at Nathan. "Anyway, we'd better get on with this; Peter may have stopped Adam, but we're going to need you if we're going to stop the Company. They're all ready to listen to you; all you have to do is start talking."
"Sure thing," Nathan said, nodding briefly at Matt before he turned to look at Peter. "You got us this far, Pete; it's my turn now."
After a brief exchange of smiles and hugs, the Petrelli brothers stepped back slightly from each other before Nathan walked towards the small podium that had been erected for his current announcement, the symbol of the Odessa sheriff just behind the podium and two American flags on either side of it. As Nathan stood behind the podium, Peter and Matt took up position on either side of him, keeping a subtle eye on the crowd before them in case anything went wrong even as they both hoped urgently that it wouldn't.
"Good afternoon," Nathan began, pausing for a moment as he apparently swallowed- whether he was actually uncertain about what he was doing or just creating an impression to earn increased sympathy from his audience Peter wasn't sure- before continuing. "Most of you have no idea who I am. My name is Nathan Petrelli, and I was elected to Congress in the State of New York. Seems like a long time ago."
For a moment, Nathan paused, looking down at the podium briefly, apparently overcome with the memory of the emotions he'd been feeling at that time in his life, before he continued to speak. "I lost my position. I lost my brother. I lost my family. I'm sad to say that I lost my way. But while I was gone, I had the chance to see the world through newly humbled eyes."
As Peter and Matt watched, Nathan's voice grew more confident, the politician easily moving past his own pain to focus on his admiration of the others. "I've witnessed… amazing things. I've seen ordinary people among us, trying their best each day to be heroes. These ordinary people- like you, like me- are capable of extraordinary things. You have no idea ... how extraordinary."
Nathan paused again, looking resolutely around at the press officials before him to make sure they understood what he was saying, before he continued. "But there are other people, organizations, who don't want you to know the truth; I myself kept secrets. But last year…"
Again Nathan briefly paused, allowing himself a brief smile before he looked back at his audience, his expression solemn as he recalled those dramatic events surrounding the near-destruction of New York. "Something incredible happened to me… and it changed my life. At first, I was afraid. But I'm- I'm not afraid anymore. I'm here to tell you the truth."
Looking down once again, Nathan briefly bit his lip in preparation for the moment when they would change everything, and then looked back up once again. "I have the ability-"
Before Nathan could continue, a gun went off twice, leaving Nathan's shirt holed twice on either side of his red tie. Peter and Matt automatically grabbed Nathan as he fell backwards, Peter barely registering the screams of a woman in the audience or the sudden flurry of activity around him as he stared in horror at the still form he now held in his arms, Matt standing anxiously over them both as he desperately yelled his brother's name regardless of the increasingly-blank stare he was receiving in return…
AN: Well, that's that done; we'll get back to this universe as soon as I've got access to Season Three of "Heroes"- in video and script form- and can thus accurately combine what happened originally with what will happen in this reality (I like to be sure I know what I'm changing in an AU of this scale).
Obvious differences between what I'll write and what happened?
Well… as a slight spoiler, let's just say that Peter's time in the future in this reality will see him accessing a couple of powers we never saw either of him demonstrate in the series…