4
--
She's getting really good at lying. Better than her dad. Better than Nathan. She has a twisted sort of pride about it.
She searches for every detail she can find about Kirby, including the short glimpses of the other players she'd seen. She hunts down news articles, what little useful information that there was in the New York Post and web news sites. She finds the name of the man that was shot – DL Hawkins – and his family, Niki and Micah Sanders. She remembers the police officer, Matt Parkman, and finds with a jolt that he was admitted to the ICU at Sacred Heart Hospital that night, though the short article on him doesn't say what for. Most of what she finds is articles on the disappearance of Linderman, and the mysterious circumstances surrounding. She knows by now that Linderman's dead, so she doesn't pay much attention to that.
What she's most interested in, however, is the little girl, who was with the dark skinned man. She hunts and hunts and still finds nothing. She thinks of asking her father, even knows in some sense that he'd help her if he knew, which he probably does, but she recoils at the thought of him discovering just how obsessive she's become.
She searches every corner of the Internet, she calls Matt Parkman's wife and gets hung up on, she mentions it to Nathan during one of his calls – which of course is useless – and still finds nothing of anyone other than her and her father, the Petrellis, the Sanders family and Matt Parkman in the Plaza that night.
She knows there's more going on here. She knows it.
She thinks of the "tracking system" and the pained look on her father's face the one time she'd inquired about it. She remembers the look on the little girl's face in the split second Claire had seen her – afraid, but not, at the same time.
It feels vaguely like the search for her past, for her biological parents and her heritage. It's a purpose, something that gives her something to focus on other than inventing new and exciting ways to kill herself.
She finds Niki and Micah Sanders, at any rate. It's relatively easy, she's become well versed in the sciences of hiding. They're in Las Vegas, and Claire makes up a girl's weekend to San Francisco. There are people that she's friendly enough with that'll cover for her.
Her dad probably knows she's lying, but maybe not. After all, she did learn from the best.
--
She finds the house fairly easily. She goes at night, for a reason she can't identify. It's a nice neighborhood, but not the best, and there's a close call with a creepy drunk guy. Claire shakes him off, not even feeling the cut that's healing on her forehead.
The man opens the door – DL. He's tall and lean and solid, and his arm is in a sling, wincing as he opens the door with his good hand. He looks at her for a very long, extended moment, before shaking his head slightly and letting her in. You know I know why you're here.
She smiles ruefully, and the first thing she sees is the woman.
Niki Sanders is ice and fire mixed together. A warrior and a mother. She looms tall in the doorway leading from the kitchen, and Claire knows she recognizes her.
Niki's voice is even and neutral. You're alive.
So are you.
Yeah. She smirks. For now, anyway.
Claire shrugs. I'm Claire. No last name. It's not like she would know which one to give, anyway.
Niki. She shrugs, flipping her hair over a shoulder. Would you like to meet my son?
Claire recognizes the respect in that offer; smiles and realizes that yes, she really would. That'd be nice.
And so Claire becomes a little less alone.
--
Micah Sanders is like the little brother she'd wished she could have, when she was younger and her mother had told her she was pregnant with Lyle. He's quiet and intelligent, and after an hour talking quietly with him in his room, Claire feels like he's her best friend. Maybe he is. He certainly understands her better than most of the friends she's ever had.
She spends the weekend with them, crashing on the couch instead of returning to her cheap motel, at Micah's insistence. She feels the same way she did upon meeting Peter in Odessa. Connected. Alive. Real. A part of something, something bigger than herself. She thinks – hopes, really – that they feel the same way. That Micah, at least, feels the same way.
Niki is a little vulnerable, a little crazy. Claire identifies with that. There are moments when she drifts off, staring into space, and a strange hardness comes over her face. She always comes out of it, though from the looks on Micah's and DL's faces whenever it happens, she thinks there might've been a time when she didn't.
DL is impossibly realistic. Every move he makes is connected, somehow, back to his family and their life. Surviving. Moving forward. Living. Keeping their heads above water. Claire imagines what he must've been like that night at Kirby, the night he was shot, and shivers. He's kind to her, though she can tell that he doesn't really know exactly why she's there, and that he doesn't really trust her. That's okay.
She waits until her last few hours in Las Vegas to ask about the little girl and the other man. DL frowns and thinks, but Niki instantly comes up with an answer.
The little girl's name is Molly Walker, she says, rising from the table and retrieving her purse. I don't know where she came from, but the man with her is…Mohinder Suresh. She reads the name from a business card that she's dug from her wallet. We went with them to the hospital that Matt Parkman was at. He paid for DL's surgery.
DL's expression is uncomfortable, and Claire thinks that he doesn't like the idea of someone paying for him. He was a decent guy, is all he says.
Claire bites her lip. Could I…could I contact him? It's just that…I'm trying to find somebody, somebody who was in the Plaza that night.
Niki looks at her softly. Nathan's alive, is all she says.
I know, Claire says. It's his brother…I already found Nathan. But Peter's still missing. She hadn't really realized that Peter had been her goal until this moment. She isn't surprised, though.
Niki nods and hands her the card. I hope you find him, she says kindly. Micah, in the corner, gives her a wink.
--
She flies back to California and barely makes it home in time to get ready for school. She avoids her father's glare and her mother's curious gaze and leaves the house quickly. She's not going to school, but she is going. She feels guilt attack and slide off her shoulders quickly.
Micah Sanders is more than a confidant and a comfort. He is generous and – well, smarter than shit – and this hadn't hit home for Claire as hard as it did when she'd discovered an address, phone number and Map Quest-ed directions to Mohinder Suresh's apartment in New York City, tucked into the outside pocket of her messenger bag. Not to mention the plane ticket. With an alias's name on it.
As soon as she hits the airport, she calls him. You're a devious little thing, aren't you?
Micah laughs. Nope. Just good with computers.
How much do you know? Claire asks.
I know you have a secret, he says. I do, too.
Claire smiles. I figured.
Micah is relatively a stranger, so she shouldn't miss him as much as she does when she can hear the smile in his voice. Keep me updated. You've got my email, right?
She chuckles. I'll definitely keep you posted.
She hangs up and feels happy. It's a simple, strange feeling.
--
She finds Mohinder's apartment relatively easily. Not just because of Micah's directions, she likes to think, but because of her vague familiarity with the city. She connects most things she sees back to Peter – Peter showed me that, or did Peter like that building? or was Peter ever here?
She thinks that he was. Peter loved his city, after all.
As she ascends the stairs (elevator's broken) she wonders if she'll always be the one showing up at strangers' apartments. She thinks with fleeting resentment that once – just once – she'd like to be the one that someone is looking for.
Mohinder Suresh opens the door and doesn't look at all surprised to see her. Thank God, he says. I've been looking for you everywhere.
Well, then.
The girl is there, lying on a pull-out couch bed with an IV hooked up to her arm. Claire's heart thuds loudly, but she looks up and smiles so sweetly that Claire can't help but smile back.
I tried calling your father, Mohinder is saying.
You know my father? Claire asks, surprised. Then she backtracks and wonders if he means Noah or Nathan.
Yes, well – this man is impossibly British, she thinks. But he's from India – she's never met anyone from India before. Is this normal, or is Mohinder just…special? She could believe either choice.
There's something that you need to know, Mohinder says slowly.
Claire is sitting next to Molly and staring at a large broken piece of plaster in the wall, as if somebody was thrown into it. She figures somebody probably was. Well, what is it?
Somebody grabs her from behind and she screams, jumping up, but Molly's laughing and Mohinder is rubbing his eyes and it's then that she hears his voice.
Claire? Claire, it's me.
She backs up to the broken plaster, hands flattening against the dip in the wall. Her voice is a whisper.
Peter?
--
He's invisible. He's fucking invisible.
Claire really has to learn how to stop being surprised by stuff.
I can't control any of it. His voice floats over from somewhere near her left shoulder. She wishes, so desperately does she wish, that she could see his face. She wishes she had the courage to reach out and find him with her hands, to hug the air that he occupies. I don't remember anything past Nathan showing up, just…Mohinder found me.
Mohinder smiles modestly at the gratefulness in his voice. He was in a hospital in Ohio, of all places, and Claire thinks of course he'd go father than Nathan did. He was delirious at first.
Nathan was too, Claire says, and suddenly senses that Peter has snapped his eyes to look at her.
You were the one that found Nathan? His voice is urgent.
Yeah. He didn't tell you? Silence, and Claire realizes that he hasn't told Nathan yet. Peter.
Yeah, I know. Peter's voice hints at regret and something deeper, and Claire drops it
Sensory overload, Mohinder says. Peter's been through a traumatic experience, and as such, his control over his powers has been lost. It will come back in time as he heals.
There are tears in her eyes. I knew you were alive, she says and why didn't you find me?
Mohinder tried, Peter says. I was too sick at first, but…we looked. We did. We couldn't find you. I hoped that it was a good thing, that your father had hidden you.
He did, Claire says, and in that instant knows that it was a purposeful action, moving their family to the furthest point in the country from New York that they could get. I found Nathan, though.
Yes, you did.
--
She calls her father that night, when Mohinder and Molly are asleep and Peter – presumably – is in his room, which is actually just the bathroom. He's been sleeping with a blanket in the bathtub, and Claire shakes her head ruefully when he tells her that.
Peter's alive, she tells her dad, almost accusingly. I'm with him in New York
Silence over the line. Claire, come home.
She takes a deep breath, thinks of horn-rimmed glasses and gunshot wounds and pieces of memories floating away like smoke on the wind. I love you Dad, she says. But no.
--
Claire forces Peter to see Nathan the next morning.
He's your brother! And she'd never thought she'd be the one defending Nathan this go around, but whatever. Life is screwy like that. You've seen the news, he thinks you're dead.
No, his publicists think I'm dead, Peter corrects, but there's a bit of longing and a bit of awe in his voice, and Claire realizes that he's afraid
He's your brother, Peter, she says again, softly
She tries to imagine the expression he'd have on his face if he were visible.
She doesn't know exactly if he's following her as she strides down the street, but she hopes he is. She thinks he's honest enough to be. Then on the subway, she loses her confidence because she doesn't exactly remember where Nathan lives, and she hears a phantom chuckle and a whisper in her ear, and she relaxes.
Nathan's face is almost comical when he swings his door open to see her. Claire?!
Um, hi. She shifts uncomfortably, remembering in a rush his wife, Heidi, his sons, Simon and Monty. He'd told her about them during his phone calls. This is gonna sound really weird, but I think I need to come in.
Of course, of course. He lets her in, and shoots her a very strange look when she holds the door open with her foot long enough for Peter to slip in, too
Okay, first of all, I'm not crazy, she says with conviction. But…Peter's here.
Nathan's strange look gets stranger. No, he's not, he says slowly.
Yes, he is, she insists. He's invisible.
Nathan raises a brow slowly. Claire. That's it, just her name. It sounds impossibly fatherly
Peter, help me out, dammit.
Nathan looks very alarmed for all of three seconds before Peter's voice comes from his left. Nate, it's me. I'm here.
Nathan suddenly looks very scared and he does that thing again where his lips don't move when he speaks. Peter?
Yeah. I'm here.
And suddenly they're hugging – though it looks slightly strange, given that Peter's still invisible – and Claire is wishing with all her might that she had the courage to do just what Nathan is doing now.
But then there's a ripple in the air, like a shift, and Peter appears. Or rather, it's more like the air around Peter melts away, and Peter is in the negative space that the air used to be.
Nathan pulls away, face wet. Jesus, Peter.
Do I look that bad?
Claire makes some sort of noise, she must, because both of them turn to look at her at the same time. She doesn't make the conscious decision to move forward, but in the next instant, Peter's arms are around her, and he's making soft noises into her hair. She can feel Nathan's hand on her back, and feels impossibly safe. Shh. I'm here, and you're here. That's all that matters.
For the first time in a very long time, the offer of comfort actually works.
--
She tells them all – Nathan and Peter – God, Peter – Mohinder and Molly, Matt Parkman, who has been released from the hospital – she tells them everything she knows. Trying to find out anything she could about Kirby Plaza. Her father, her birth mother, the Company, meeting Micah, Niki and DL, and what she knows of Linderman, both what her father and DL and Niki have told her.
She even tells them about the suicide tapes she made with Zach, and the time she fell from the balcony at the history museum. Peter seems interested in that story, asking how she fell. She says she remembers someone jostling her, but she never saw who it was, and he wonders out loud about a man named Claude. He has a penchant for pushing people off of things, he says dryly. Claire snorts and doesn't ask.
In turn, they tell her things she'd never imagined could be real. Mohinder speaks of his father and his research, of Sylar posing as 'Zane' and of his run-ins with Noah. Matt talks about his wife, who is pregnant and unsure of whether to send the divorce papers sitting in her desk or not. She learns of time travel and the full story of Niki-slash-Jessica. She hears about two Japanese man named Hiro and Ando and a painter named Isaac who allowed Peter the opportunity to save her; a gallery owner named Simone and her father Charles, both people whom Peter had loved, she could tell, and the full, complete story of Gabriel Gray, aka Sylar – his life and death(s) and disappearance.
There's a united feeling in it. All of them are players in a huge chess game, and this is the first time when they've all made it to one side of the board. It's heady and exhilarating,
Then Molly starts to scream about a man who sees her, and please hide her, don't think don't think about him, don't, he'll see you, and suddenly it all starts again.
--
Peter pulls her aside as they all rush to their respective duties, and asks her very seriously, if she'd like to go back to California.
What's in California? she wants to ask, but remembers her family and feels guilty.
She thinks of the two paths laid out before her and it really doesn't take her long to decide at all.
I'm a part of something here, she says. So thanks for asking, but no. So where did this Isaac guy live, anyway? Maybe he painted something else we haven't found yet, something that we can use to protect Molly?
He smiles and squeezes her hand. I can show you.
She follows him out onto the street, her skin tingling. Yes, this is new, but it's okay. Yes.
--
end
--