Because You Found Me (Chapter 25)
By obi's girl

Claire was right. Peter found Claude on the rooftop of the Deveaux building, feeding caged pigeons. He'd asked Claire to come with him in case Claude needed some convincing, but she opted not to because this was something he needed to do on his own. And she had said that she felt funny standing around not knowing where the invisible man was, and then there was the possibility of Peter disappearing in front of her. Claire especially didn't feel comfortable with the latter part.

Claude spotted him as he closed the cages and marched over toward him angrily, pushing him. Peter scowled but didn't back down. "I thought I told you to leave me alone, kid," he said. "What's the matter now? You need someone to hold your hand before exploding into bits of pieces?"

"I'm only going to ask this once," Peter said. "I need you teach me to control my ability, because if you don't, you and I and those pigeons over there are going to explode into tiny particles, and New York won't be able to recover from an explosion like that for a long time."

"A bit dramatic, ey?" he mused and crossed his arms, leaning back. "What makes you think I can teach you?"

Peter shrugged. "I don't know. A friend of mine painted you, and I saw you in my dream," he said. "But I know I wouldn't have seen you in my dream and Isaac wouldn't have painted you if you weren't important to the future."

"Isaac?" Claude questioned.

"Isaac Mendez, he's an artist. He can paint the future," Peter replied. "And it'll be a grim future if New York explodes and I become dust on the pavement."

"Again, you don't need to be so dramatic," Claude reminded him.

Peter could understand his skepticism. Claude barely knew him, and didn't know Isaac, but Peter knew that he was destined to help him. He had too. It was cheesy to say, but there were so many reasons why he didn't want to die, and a certain blond was at the top of his list. Peter really liked Claire, and he couldn't stand dying without her knowing how he felt. Even though they both had agreed that nothing could happen between them, Peter now incandescently knew the agony she must have been feeling by keeping her distance from him when she wanted so badly to be near him, and touch him without consequences.

"Look, you're my only hope…if I can't find a way..." Peter stopped himself and gulped. "You have to help me."

Claude sighed. "All right," he agreed, "but be prepared for a lot of pain, kid, because none of this is going to be easy."

Claire never liked waiting. Often, she'd have to wait for her brother Lyle to get out of the bathroom they shared so she could get ready herself. But in this case, she wasn't at home waiting on her brother. Instead, she was waiting on Peter as he tried to convince a complete stranger to teach him to control his power. Even though Isaac had painted this man, in Claire's mind, it wasn't a definite that he would help Peter. He could refuse and walk away. Of course, if he did that, then Claire would have probably jump in and threaten him to help Peter because she didn't want Peter to explode, and couldn't imagine parts of him scattered all over New York.

To Claire, Peter was special; he was caring, understanding…and cute. Of all his wonderful characteristics, his looks were a definite plus, but she knew there was more to him than that. He understood her better than anyone, and had let her to stay with him when she didn't have anyone else to turn to. And when Claire was with him, she felt alive and at peace.

Claire realized that her father could still show up at any minute and take her back to Odessa, but right now, she was happy to be with Peter and she was sure that her presence comforted him as well.

Maybe he needs me, she thought to herself and stood up, quietly leaving the studio.

Only Matt noticed her leave, and couldn't help but smile, knowing that she was going to be with Peter, because he was her hero.

Peter was explaining to Claude his visions and his friends when Claire found them on the rooftop. She didn't see them, of course, but she knew Peter was there. It was funny how Claire was able to sense Peter...maybe it was because she had become attached to him to the point that she could feel him without seeing him. It was odd, but comforting at the same time.

"Peter, are you here?" she called.

Peter smiled when he saw Claire. She moved forward hesitantly, and then went to the caged pigeons, looking fondly at them. "I just came up here to check up on you," she said.

Claude looked curiously at the petite blond; she couldn't have been more than sixteen years old, but judging from the way Peter was looking at her, clearly, she was special to him. And Claude deduced that she was probably the reason he didn't want to blow up. At least now he knew the man's motivation. She was a pretty little thing. "Your sweetheart, mate?" he asked him.

Claire turned toward the voice. Again, she didn't see anyone, but knew she heard a voice coming from the ledge. She walked closer to it. Peter ignored Claude's comment and walked toward Claire. The closer he got to her, the more his body materialized into solid form. Claire gasped at the sight in front of her. He really could copy other people's abilities.

"Hi."

"Hey," she said casually. "The invisible man's here, I take it?"

"Yes," a voice said. "And you are?"

Claire didn't know where to look, but since she could see Peter fine, he had to be over by the ledge. "Claire," she said. "I'm a friend of Peter's."

Claude studied the girl. Peter didn't appreciate the way Claude was looking at Claire, but he knew it was only because he was curious about her. She was young, after all, and if she was a friend of Peter's, then that meant she also possessed an ability. "So, what can you do, Claire?" he asked.

"Um," she said, "I can heal. I healed Peter when he died after fell off the amphitheater at my school."

"You've healed just Peter? No one else?"

"Um, myself," she clarified. "It's not a very active power. Why? Is that important or something?"

Peter rolled his eyes. He didn't approve of Claude's interest in Claire. Claire was only seventeen years old, after all, and Claude was…he didn't know Claude's exact age, but he had to be older than Claire and himself, which made the idea of the two of them even more disgusting.

"I was just curious is all," he said. "I've met several people with abilities. I think my favorite has to be astral projection – now, there was a power that could come in handy if you needed to get out of a tight situation."

For a minute, Claire wondered what he meant by 'tight situations,' but let it go. It was then that she realized that she detected a slight British accent, so she knew he was from England.

"How old are you, Claire?" he said, studying Claire again.

Claire looked at Peter and blushed. She didn't think she looked older than seventeen, but apparently, she was wrong. "Um, seventeen," she giggled and smiled. "Why? Do I look older?"

Claude shrugged. "All I know is that you're a beautiful angel, Claire," he said. "Did you know that the name 'Claire' means 'illustrious?'"

She smiled thoughtfully at him, impressed. "No, I didn't know that," she mused.

"All right, that's enough!" Peter cried, unable to take the exchange anymore, and steered her away from his new mentor.

Claire frowned, surprised by Peter's behavior. She knew that Claude was only being friendly. After all, it probably had been a very long time since he'd talked to a woman who actually knew he existed. "Peter…I," Claire started. "What is the matter with you? Claude was just being friendly."

Peter ignored her comments. "Claire, isn't he a bit old for you?" he whispered. "I mean he has to be older than you and me."

Even though he was slightly offended by that comment, Claude didn't say anything about it, and curiously watched the exchange between them. Clearly, there was something going on between them, but until this point, they hadn't really considered each other's feelings as something more. That much he could tell.

"Aren't you too old for me?" she shot back.

Peter scowled. "That's not the point, Claire," he said, sighing. "He's just not for you."

"And you are?" Claire challenged.

Peter wanted to say something, but didn't know what. He really had no right to tell Claire whom she could or could not like. He wasn't her boyfriend or lover. It shouldn't have even bothered him, but it did, more so than Peter wanted to admit.

Claire, of course, didn't have a romantic interest in Claude, but she was flattered that Peter thought she did. It really touched her that he felt something for her, even if it was jealousy. It was something, and that was all that mattered. But it still peeved her the way he was acting. "I never said that I was romantically interested in Claude, Peter," she pointed out, "but if you're not careful, maybe one day I will end up with someone you won't like."

Claire looked to the ledge, where she assumed Claude was still. "Claude, it was a pleasure meeting, you and I hope you can help Peter. Maybe you can even tune down his ego a bit," she said.

Claude smiled, watching Claire leave. He'd only just met her, but already he liked her. She knew how to put Peter in his place, and that was a big achievement for a girl like her. Peter scolded himself for acting that way in front of Claire and looked back at his mentor.

"I like her," Claude said.

Peter glared back at him. "Oh yeah?" he questioned.

"Relax Peter," Claude eased. "I'm not a pedophile or anything. You, on the other hand, I don't know about," Peter glared at him again and he raised his hands. "I was kidding."

Peter shook his head, went to the door and looked back at him. "Are you coming?" he asked.

"Why?"

"Because my other friends are going to want to meet you," Peter explained, "but don't worry, Claire's the only seventeen-year-old in the mix."

Claude walked towards to him, smiling. "Oh good! I just can't wait to meet the others. Are we going to sing Kumbaya and exchange stories about our special abilities while roasting marshmallows?" he asked sarcastically.

Peter restrained himself as he followed Claude.

No one, except for Claire, noticed Peter and Claude come into the studio. She was still angry with him for acting like a jealous boyfriend when he wasn't even her boyfriend. Claude noted how angry she still was, but he couldn't blame her. Obviously, there were strong feelings between her and Peter, and issues that clearly had yet to be resolved, but whatever was going on between them had to wait until later. And neither of them liked that all.

Peter stepped away from Claude, and materialized in the middle of the room, shocking the current inhabitants, except for Claire. "Um hey, I'm back," he said, "and I brought Claude."

They all stared at him, not really knowing whom he was referring to, so Claire stepped in. "He means the invisible man from Isaac's painting," she said. "His name is Claude Rains."

Peter smiled over at her, thankful that she was helping him with this, despite what happened on the roof earlier.

"So, where is he?" Matt asked.

Claire looked at Peter and then he turned back to the door. Claude sighed, grabbing a dirty towel on a table and whipped it about, encouraging "ooo's" and "ah's" from everyone else. "Like Peter said, I'm Claude Rain," he said. "I've already met Claire…you all must be the others Peter was talking about. Let's see if I can guess right who's who, shall we?"

Peter gestured, all right. Claude walked around the studio, first stopping in front of Isaac. He had some splashes of red and blue paint on his face. "The one who can paint the future, Isaac Mendez," he said. Isaac indicated that he was right, realizing that he had some paint on him. Claude handed him the cloth he picked up before and used it to clean himself. Next, he came to Hiro and Ando. "The clock stopper, Hiro Nakamura and Ando – sorry, Peter didn't tell me your last name."

Ando blushed and looked at his friend. Next up were Matt and Audrey. "The confused mind reader Matt Parkman, and his partner, Audrey Hanson," he said, turning to look at Claire. "And of course, Claire, the invincible cheer–"

"Hmm, former cheerleader," she corrected him.

"Sorry, former cheerleader, Miss Claire," he said. "Is there anyone I missed?"

"Well, my brother Nathan and Simone aren't here," Peter added, "but you can meet them later."

Claude looked back at him curiously. "That's all right," he said. "Peter told me about his exploding and destroying all of New York. He said if he wasn't able to control his ability then his dream might come true…"

Claire stepped forward, crossing her arms. "…Which can't happen. Is there anything you can to help him?" she asked.

"My first suggestion would be to get away from all of you, including you, Claire, and figure out how to draw out his abilities one at a time," he said. "Sorry, but I'm afraid, Peter, that you will have to leave New York after all."

"What?" Claire cried, "No!!! You mean even after Peter's convinced you that he needs your help, he still HAS to leave New York?! That's not fair."

Claude wanted to say something to comfort her, but he didn't know what, so Peter stepped in. He didn't want to leave New York and Claire either, but if that's what he had to do to protect his friends and Claire, then he had to do it. "Claire, listen to me. I know you don't like this, but I have to do this. I need to get away and focus how to draw my abilities one by one, and I can't do that here. Believe me, Claire, I don't want to go away from New York – and you – but I have to do this," he said.

Claire couldn't believe what she was hearing; Peter leaving New York and her…it was like a bad dream. She loved Peter so much, but now he was leaving and he'd never know how she felt about him. They'd never get to resolve anything, say what they wanted to say to each other because of this. "There's no other way?" she pleaded.

"Sorry Claire," Claude added, "but Peter needs to leave New York."

Peter braced his hands on her shoulders, turning her away from Claude and the others. "Look, you know, Claire, as long as I'm here with you and the others, I'm absorbing more abilities, and eventually my body won't be able to handle all those abilities anymore."

"Yeah, I remember," she said. "I just don't want you to leave because of this."

Peter smiled and lightly brushed her cheek with his hand. "I'll be back when I can control this," he whispered. "I promise, Claire, I'll be back."

Claire smiled at him hopefully. She wanted to tell him 'I love you,' but she felt awkward saying it in front of their friends. For the moment, Claire settled for a tender hug from the man she loved so dearly. Peter held onto Claire as long as he could, trying to remember everything about that moment and about her. He couldn't erase the tears from her eyes, tears she didn't want anyone else to see but even so, Claire never had looked so beautiful and so fragile. Secretly, Peter wished that he could stay with her forever.

"Peter," Claude interrupted, "we have to get going,"

Peter didn't leave where he was, standing there with Claire in his arms, but he knew he had to let go. Claire was surprised when he leaned down suddenly, placing a kiss on her forehead. "I promise I'll come back," he whispered.

Claire cringed as let go of her and left with Claude. She wanted to scream and cry but she couldn't – she felt so numb if someone had pinched her, she wouldn't have felt it.

Peter hated leaving Claire; he didn't even have the chance to call Nathan and ask his brother to look after her. At least if Nathan and Heidi were looking after her, then he knew that she would be safe and with someone who could comfort her when he couldn't. Nathan could be a pain in the ass sometimes, but he was sure, if given time, he and Claire could become close friends. He was sure that she and Heidi would get along fine. But most of all, Peter hated that he wasn't able to tell Claire how he really felt about her.

They'd put off talking about their true feelings for each other, and now they were forced to wait even longer. But Peter vowed once he did have control over his ability, that he would come back and be with Claire.

After all, he was her hero, and Peter refused to let her down.

The End