Author's Note: I haven't updated this in ages. Anyway, again I warn: slash. Don't like, don't read. Simple, ain't it? Hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes or Angel
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Peter appeared, gasping, in his own hotel room, in his own bed. He felt the tears pricking at the corner of his eyes but ignored them. He wasn't going to cry. That was too pathetic, even for him. But, oh, how he wanted to.
He felt disappointment take up permanent residence in his stomach and knew he wouldn't be able to eat anything without feeling like hurling it for at least a couple of hours. He'd been so sure...Last night had been...well, he hated to admit it now, but last night had been the most wonderful night of his life. Now he felt like shit and oh so stupid.
He banged his head slowly against the pillow. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Bennet had said not to expect miracles; his own brother had looked at him as though he was a nutcase. Maybe Claude was right. What he'd been doing wasn't right (no matter how it made him feel as though it was). And for the first time in his stupid, pathetic life he'd been the one using, not the one being used.
He decided to stay in bed today. There was nothing planned...or at least nothing that other people couldn't do better, without him. He buried himself in the sheets and died quietly inside.
***
She walked through the doors of Wolfram and Hart, her gaze taking in everything it possibly could. Being a Slayer helped immensely. It helped with a lot of things, though. It had brought purpose to an otherwise pointless existence. It had brought her to people like her. It had brought her Fred.
She grinned as the aforementioned woman rushed towards her. "I've missed you, baby," she said, before kissing Fred as passionately as she possibly could. Being a Slayer also meant never knowing when she'd get to see Fred again.
"Claire," Fred said breathlessly a moment later, as the people around them hid grins and hurriedly got back to work. "I've missed you too." She leaned her forehead against Claire's own and smiled shyly. "A lot has happened since y'all were here last." She glanced behind Claire at others gathered in the lobby, gazing about them with wide eyed amazement.
Claire grinned. "I'm sure it has. Peter's still into the whole redemption thing though, isn't he?"
"Sure is."
Claire shook her head. "Some things never change." She glanced around as though expecting the empath to immediately appear. "Where is he, by the way?"
Fred pouted. "I'm not good enough for you anymore, is that it?"
The others hid smirks as Claire kissed her again, silencing any mock protests. They broke apart, breathless and Claire gestured to them. "Maybe I should introduce you?"
Fred ducked her head, grinning. "Well, I already know some of them." She waved to a dark skinned man near the back. "Hey, Dr Suresh."
He waved back, saying in a stern voice, "What have I told you about calling me Mohinder?"
"Sorry, couldn't resist." They grinned at each other and then Mohinder began talking about genetics and some other things Claire never understood, even when they were explained to her by someone as marvellous as her girlfriend. He drew her away from the group, Fred squeezing Claire's hand before moving away.
Claire gazed at the group and shrugged. "I guess we should go see the Boss Man."
Spike, who had been standing nearby, extinguished a cigarette in a potted plant, much to the disgust of one of the secretaries, and moved forward. "You probably need a guide then. This place can get pretty confusing."
Claire grinned and was about to rush towards the blonde vampire when someone bet her to the punch.
"Spike!" Lyle rushed forward and he and Spike did a complicated hand shake, which remind Claire of the one Lindsay Lohan did in that Parent Trap movie remake. She and the others tried and failed to hide their smirks.
Spike ruffled the kid's hair, something he knew Lyle hated and thus did at every opportunity he could. "How's it going, kid? Keeping out of trouble?"
Lyle grinned. "Oh, you know me. Trouble's never that far behind." He had known Spike for years, long before his sister became a Slayer. But then he'd run a secret organisation behind his family's back for longer than that. Keeping the knowledge that he knew vampires existed and that he was actually friendly with some was a piece of cake after that. Ooh, cake... "Got any cake?" Yes, Lyle was pretty much a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of guy, plus or minus the occasional secret organisation.
Spike grinned at his friend's sudden need for cake. From what he could see of the others, cake wouldn't go amiss with them either.
So that was why each of them, except Spike, was carrying a piece of chocolate cake (stolen from the cafeteria) when they finally made their way to Angel's office.
"Claire," Angel said warmly. "It's good to see you." He paused, waiting.
The ex-cheerleader sighed, rolling her eyes. "Buffy's fine. Anything you'd like me to tell her?" She waited barely a second before continuing. "Good. Now, let's get down to business. How's Peter's little plan going? Everything going swimmingly? And what's this about me being some sort of catalyst?"
Angel looked pleadingly at the others. He'd been around for two hundred plus years but he'd never meet anyone like Claire Bennet before. She always came on far too strong. Thankfully she didn't have his skill of capitalising certain words, otherwise he'd be feeling very emasculated right about now.
Lyle sighed. He knew his sister. Spike merely smirked.
"The Plan," Angel began slowly, "is going fine. Phase One is already complete. Wes is working on Phase Two. And you'd do better to ask Fred and Dr Suresh about that whole catalyst nonsense."
Claire nodded. "And where is my lovely ex-uncle?"
"I don't know. He hasn't come in today." He shrugged. He had a feeling he knew where Peter was but he really didn't feel like sharing.
The door opened behind them. They turned to see Sylar enter. He seemed surprised to see them there. Angel frowned. Okay, Sylar was there but where was Peter?
Andrew did semi-impressive arm movements. "So, Sylar, we meet again," he said in the storyteller tone of voice he used whenever he didn't want to sound totally stupid.
Sylar raised an eyebrow. Lyle elbowed Spike in the side. "You were right," he whispered out of the corner of his mouth. "They are impressive."
"Hello, Andrew," Sylar said hesitantly. Andrew's enthusiasm for him had always left him slightly off-guard and with an almost overwhelming need to scrub himself. "So good to see you again." He turned his attention to the others and caught sight of Claire.
"Claire." He nodded, as though to a respected adversary.
"Sylar." She returned the nod. "Still a power-stealing psycho?"
He shrugged. "It depends. You still a tight-assed Slayer bitch?"
She grinned. "Am I ever anything else?"
He blinked. She seemed to have acquired a sense of humour since the last time he'd seen her. He frowned. Wait. Fred...oh god. She was Claire's Fred. He felt a bit silly at not realising that sooner.
"Now, I suppose you'll be able to tell me since he's never very far behind," Claire continued. Angel smirked. He wasn't the only one who noticed it then. "Where's Peter?"
Sylar blinked, surprised. "He isn't here already?" Dammit. He could have stayed in bed if he'd known Peter wasn't going to be here. Now they'd probably lock him in a room again and bash him with sticks, as per usual. And he'd have to wait a little bit longer until the next time he had the opportunity to question Peter again. Dammit.
Claire glanced over at Angel, who shook his head. She turned back to Sylar. "No, he isn't." She frowned. "Which is weird, now that I come to think about it. We could basically count on him being anywhere you were, give or take a few feet."
Sylar filed this piece of information into the questions-I-will-ask-Peter-later folder. He made to leave the room when one of the group gathered around Angel's desk spoke up.
"I could find him for you," the girl once known simply as the Walker Tracking System said. She sniffed in Sylar's general direction. "I can do that, you know."
"Hello, Molly," the murderer of her parents said weakly. What was it with these people and making him uncomfortable? "What have you been up to?"
Molly shrugged. "Oh, this and that. Got injected with some potion thing that negated all my powers (really irritating, that was), got them back, went to India, saved the world a couple of times. You know, the usual."
"Yeah, that negating-powers-potion thing can be a bitch," Sylar said, knowing from personal experience. He gazed at her, curious. "Are you a Slayer too?"
She snorted. "God, no. That's Claire and Monica's show." She shrugged. "No, I'm just someone they thought they should bring along, just in case." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Just because I'm all friendly right now, doesn't mean I forgive you for what you did to my parents, is that clear?"
Sylar raised his hands in mock surrender. "Crystal." He grinned wickedly. "Should I watch my back?"
She glared at him then sniffed, turning away. She wasn't even going to give that undeserving question a response. A verbal one, anyway.
Claire tapped her fingers impatiently against Angel's desk. "Now that that's all taken care of," she said, the sarcasm rife in her voice. "Where the hell is Peter?"
"Got a map?" Molly replied instantly. Angel retrieved one from one of his desk's drawers.
After a moment she glanced up. A puzzled expression suffused her innocent face. "Okay, that was weird."
Strangely, at least to Claire's way of thinking, it was Sylar who asked, "Weird how?"
Molly looked up at him. "I know where he is and," she added, the puzzlement now reaching her voice, "I know what he's doing. That's never happened before."
"What is he doing?" Sylar asked, not caring about anything except that Peter might be doing something stupid. Not that that was entirely unusual but what was unusual was that he was worried.
"He's sulking."
Sylar blinked.
It was Claire who said, "Wait. What?"
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Ooh, and who will get Peter out of his sulky mood? I'm afraid that will have to wait until the next chapter. Sorry, folks!
Review please. They are like kittens and anyone who knows me knows I love kittens.