The worst is over now and we can breathe again

I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away

When he let her walk into the apartment in from of him he could see from the way her body tensed, how her steps were slow and cautious, just how afraid she was.

"It's okay Claire. This place is safe."

She nodded, but he took her hand in his anyway, and walked in with her.

"Where are we?" she asks.

"An apartment. Audrey helped Matt find it so it would probably take a few days before anyone could track us here. And since your Dad thinks you're at your friend's house for the night, we're okay until morning."

"My dad. Do you, I don't know if he bought my story. And I missed school. They'll call my house and…"

"Your mom will answer and then he'll make her forget it."

"He…" she stopped, eyes full of realization, "The man who told me about my dad. He came to you too. And who are Matt and Audrey?"

"They're..." he stopped, coughed again, "Maybe we should sit down first. It's kind of a long story."

"I'm sorry," she said, "Are you okay? Does it hurt badly?"

"No, not really," he said, but lowered himself gratefully down onto the couch, "It feels better the longer I'm around you."

"Is this…." She inches closer to him on the couch, "How does this work? Do you even know? Does it help the closer I am?"

"I'm not sure how it works. All I know is when I'm around my brother I can fly, when I'm around Isaac I can see the future and when I'm with you…I heal."

She smiled, "Kind of neat isn't it?"

He smiled back, "Much better than dying."

"So," she started again, "Whose Matt?"

"He's the cop that talked to both of us in Texas. Him and his partner, Audrey."

"Why would he help us?"

"About nine days ago, just as I got back home, this guy, I assume the one that came to you, came to see me. He told me that your dad sent him to erase you from my memory, and he wanted him to do the same thing to you. That he'd done it before."

Claire's head fell, her eyes on the floor, "Yeah, to me, my mom, who knows who else. They just…forget."

Peter didn't know what to say so he laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and he let his hand slide down her arm. Her hand intertwined with his and her eyes were full of gratitude.

"The man told me that. Then he said that he was sending you here. Told me where to meet you. Told me what I had to do when you got here. Then he told me to contact Matt. He's…like us."

"He has powers. There are more of us."

"Yeah, he can read minds."

"And Audrey."

"No, she's not….not like us, but she's helping us anyway. Well, I think it's more that she's trusting Matt when he says they need to help us."

"So they found this apartment."

"Yeah, but…we can only stay through tonight. In the morning we leave."

"Why not now? Isn't it better to start at night?"

Peter blushed a little, "I, uh, I need a little time to…heal. If I don't rest while I…absorb your power it could make things worse later."

"Of course," she says quickly and her hand squeezes his, "Are you…is it any better? Am I helping?"

"Yeah, it's weird. It doesn't feel like anything's happening, but I'm healing, I just know it. But, uh…" he lets his words trail off as he blushes again.

"What?"

"We're going to have to spend the night together….not…that, I didn't mean…" he stammers, blushes more until Claire takes pity on him.

"We have to stay close, so you can heal. That's, that's fine. I'm not really all that excited about being by myself. I've been that way for over a week. It's kind of nice to be with someone else and not pretend."

He nodded, "I'm sorry that you've been alone. I wanted to come and get you, but I needed to wait until I got some help. Your dad's pretty connected, plus you're underage."

"What are we going to do now? Are we just going to run?"

Peter took a long deep breath as if he'd finally gotten the ability back, "Two weeks. You turn 18 in two weeks."

"Yeah, so?"

"We need to keep on the road until then. Until we're sure your father can't take you back even if he finds us."

"And then?"

"He," Peter emphasizes the word so Claire would know exactly which he it was "thinks your dad will back down. He won't want people looking into your disappearance, or into your abilities, so he'll…"

"He'll what? What Peter?" her voice rose in alarm.

"He'll erase you. From your mom, your brother, your friends, the whole town. No one in Odessa will remember you."

Claire's eyes widened for a moment, and then she took in a deep shuddering breath, "I can never go back, can I?"

"No Claire," he said his hand still holding hers, "You can't."

She nods quickly because somehow she knew this. Deep down she knew the minute she stepped onto the plane that she was never going home again.

But knowing it and hearing someone conform it were two separate things and she can't stop the tears that begin running down her face. She can't find a way to choke back the sobs. She can only squeeze his hand gratefully as he pulls her close, lets her cry on his shoulder as his hand moves over her hair.

He doesn't tell her it will be okay, he doesn't reassure her, he just holds her as she while she breaks.

There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight

I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

Cause I'm broken