Chapter Nine
Three days after Peter and Claire settled into their apartment, the others who went on the run with them found places of their own and settled in for the time being.
"It's a little small." Tracy said of the apartment with shared with Mohinder and Micah. "Not the cleanest, but I guess beggars can't be choosers."
Mohinder rolled his eyes in exasperation from behind Tracy and Claire stifled a giggle.
"It's not that I don't understand that we're fugitives, but that doesn't not mean we need to live in a hovel." Tracy continued and Claire simply nodded her head, unsure of how to reply.
Micah simply smiled from his place on the floor where he was working on a laptop that Mohinder found at a pawn shop near by.
Claire glanced over her shoulder at Peter and Matt who were quietly talking near the kitchen doorway. Her gaze caught Peter's attention, who quirked at eyebrow at her in question. Claire raised one back, and with a grin, Peter and Matt returned to the rest of the group. After he settled down next to her, Claire turned her attention to Peter.
"So what were you two talking about?" She asked.
"Strategy." Peter answered simply. "As of right now, we have no idea how big this thing is. I mean the government is involved for sure, but we don't know how much funding they have, and what they mean to do with it."
"You mean other then hunt us down, stick us on a transport plane, and do god only knows what with us once we get there?" Daphne asked sardonically.
"I'm more concerned with the 'what are they going to do now that they know we've escaped'." Peter said quietly. "If this thing is as large as we think it is…" He began.
"They'll never stop hunting us." Tracy jumped in. "The amount of money and time it takes to set something like this up. They'll have the funds they need to hunt us down. Keeping us quiet and contained, they'll stop at nothing to achieve that."
"Then we stay here. Beneath the radar." Ando said. Hiro nodded energetically in agreement.
"It's not that simple." Matt said. "We can't keep living off of stolen ATM money. And a city is an expensive place to live. We'll have to move soon. Go someplace deeper, where they won't begin to look."
"We'll leave the country." Tracy said. "No matter how much funding this program has, they won't be able to justify following us all over the world."
"We can go someplace where they don't have extradition laws." Daphne said. "We'll get fake passports, money and then leave. As soon as possible."
"With our combined powers we can get the money from any bank. And if they figure out it was us, it doesn't matter, because we'll be out of the country anyway." Tracy said.
"No." Peter replied shaking his head. "We're not robbing a bank. Something that huge, what we'd need to do to pull it off that would get their attention."
The group debated different options that they had before them for the next few hours, finally agreeing to stay put for the time being, before they slowly began to trickle out of the apartment to return to their own homes.
Claire was cleaning up the plates, silently moving around the room, a trash bag in hand. Peter sat quietly on the couch, deep in thought.
"With all that planning, I never heard you once mention stopping Nathan." Claire finally said, leaning against the chair.
"Nathan is my problem. Nobody else's."
"Peter you can't stop him by yourself."
"Yes I can. I have his ability, Mohinder's, your's, Matt's. I have more then enough to stop him."
"Is that really all you need to stop him? Powers?" She asked. "Do you really believe that?" She continued gently.
Peter opened his mouth to reply to her when the door to their apartment crashed against the wall. Peter jumped to his feet, tackled Claire and threw them both to the ground as tranquilizer darts whizzed over their heads.
"How did they find us?" Claire cried out, scrambling out from under Peter and taking cover behind an overturned chair. She peeked over the arm and sighed. "It would've been really nice if you could still teleport right about now."
Peter couldn't help the grin that crossed his face as he planned his next move.
"The first chance you get, go into the bedroom and out the window. Get to Parkman." Not giving Claire a chance to argue, he shoved her out of harm's way, lifted the chair, and threw it across the room to where the masked men were filing in.
Two men in suits held back, eyes wide as the chair flew past them.
Claire shot to her feet, only to be slammed back as a dart shot into her chest. She yanked it out, shaking her head to clear the effects of the drug as she moved forward. A pair of arms closed around her waist and she felt herself being pulled backward.
"I don't think so." She ground out, stomping her foot down as hard as she could on the man's instep. With a grunt of pain he released her and Claire turned, reaching out for his shoulders to pull him closer as she kneed him in the groin. As the man dropped to the ground, Claire turned to gage how Peter was fairing. Considering the number of men currently crashing into the furniture around her, she figured he was fine.
Peter made his way towards the door. He heard the man's thoughts a moment before the shot rang out. He felt the pain as the dart hit him in the side, causing him to drop to a knee. Claire's scream rang out from behind him, and he turned to see her fighting her way through the few standing men to reach his side. He saw his shooter move closer, as soon as the man was in range; Peter reached up and tore the gun from his hands. He pulled himself to his feet, yanking out the dart and grabbed the man by his collar.
"Who sent you?" He yelled. The man said nothing, only his eyes showed his fear. Peter listened silently for a moment then dropped the man to the ground.
"Where'd they go?" He asked glancing around the room.
"Who?" Claire asked breathlessly, coming to stand at his side.
"The two men in suits!"
"I didn't see anyone in suits." Claire answered glancing around.
"I thought I told you to leave." He said in exasperation.
"You might've needed my help." Claire answered with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Claire." He said with a sigh. "Come on. It's not safe here anymore." He said, holding out a hand to Claire. She eagerly placed her hand in his, smiling as Peter gently squeezed it. Peter glanced around the war zone that used to be their apartment, before leading the way out the door. They walked quickly down the hall, glancing in each direction as they made their way to the fire escape. Peter released Claire's hand to pull open the window, gesturing for her to hold back as he slipped out onto the fire escape. Seeing no one in the area, he nodded and Claire climbed out onto the metal stand. Before she could say a word, a shot rang out into the silent night, and Peter fell backwards against the railing.
Claire screamed his name, lurching forward to stop Peter from going over the railing. A heavy pressure tore through Claire's shoulder as a bullet struck her and Claire's head shot up, catching a glimpse of two men in suits. She saw the gun in one of the men's hands and threw herself back against the wall as another shot rang out. The bullet quickly popped out of her shoulder as she pressed herself closer to the brick, listening to the low murmurs of the men above them. Hearing the shift of metal above her, Claire glanced up and saw the two men climbing back inside the building. Taking her chance, she rushed out of her hiding place and pulled the barely conscious Peter up. She slung his arm over her shoulder, grimacing as his weight fell against her. She half dragged Peter to the edge of the fire escape and stood on the top rung.
"Hold on to me." She directed Peter, shaking him to get his attention. He silently complied, his arms slipping lightly around her hips. "Hold on tight." She continued, feeling his arms strengthen around her waist. Her own arms reached down to hold the edges of the ladder. "This had better work." She muttered, just before lifting her foot and slamming it down on the fire escape's release. She gasped at the sudden drop as the ladder released, losing her grip when it jolted to a stop, sending her and Peter sprawling to the ground.
Claire jumped quickly to her feet, glancing up to where she last saw the two men. Seeing the empty area, she pulled Peter up and hurriedly moved down the alley. Peter's strength was slowly returning, his ability to heal, having been hindered by the dart. He groaned at the pain in his side where the bullet was still lodged, but gaining more awareness of his surroundings, he hurried at Claire's side without comment. They quickly moved through the alleyways, until they stumbled across an abandoned building. Seeing an opening in the plywood that covered the doors and windows, Claire released Peter. She moved closer to the building, glancing around her before turning to Peter.
"Are you able to give me a boost up?" She questioned, noting his pale skin. Peter nodded silently, and moved to stand behind her. Claire gasped lightly as Peter's hands closed around her waist and he lifted her so she could scramble through the window, with Peter following a moment later. Once inside, he sprawled on the ground, coughing lightly.
Claire crawled to his side, closing her eyes for a moment at the sight of his blood-stained shirt.
"You're bleeding. Why are you bleeding?" She asked, slowly peeling his shirt away from the wound. "You're not healing." She cried out.
"The darts." Peter said quietly. "They can immobilize us, and apparently, our abilities. It was only in me for a second, but whatever chemical they used must not be fully out of my system yet." He answered, leaning up on his elbows to peer down at the wound.
"God Peter, when you almost went over." Claire started, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
Peter leaned forward and placed a finger over her lips. "I'm fine." He said.
Claire placed one of her hands over his, and placed a kiss in his palm.
"I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you." She continued, her next words were cut off, as Peter leaned closer and covered her lips with his own. Claire eagerly returned his kiss, her lips parting beneath his easily. She moaned low in her throat as Peter deepened their kiss. She sighed as Peter's hand skimmed passed the side of her breast and along her torso, to lightly clasp her hip. She reached up a hand to tangle in his hair, and hold him close as she nibbled lightly against his lower lip. Peter's tongue slowly traced the inside of her mouth, as if trying to memorize every facet of it. He broke the seal of their lips, to trail his mouth along her neck and collarbone. Reaching the bloodstained shirt, he growled low in his throat, before nuzzling underneath the fabric to place a soft kiss against the smooth skin where the bullet had been. Claire moaned, pulling on Peter's hair until his lips returned to hers. An eternity passed before the need for air grew so strong that the two slowly broke apart.
"I'm fine." Peter said quietly, once he caught his breath. As if to further prove his words, with a metallic sounding ping, the bullet popped out of Peter's newly healed side. "See?" He continued with a crooked grin.
Outside of Peter and Claire's now former apartment, the two men in suits returned to their car.
"You have to call him." The first said. "He told us not to move until he made the call."
"They were all together, it was the perfect opportunity." The second argued.
"Except now they know we're here and we've managed to lose them."
"I know." The second man sighed dreading what needed to be done. "I'll call him."
Author's Note: Reviews! Thank you guys so much for all the reviews! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story. Now for some info. Even though it seems that "Heroes" is only giving Peter one power at a time, my Peter has his original ability, so he has powers of everyone he's in contact with. Also, it might be awhile before the next update, and i apologize in advance, but I have some exams and papers going up in the next few weeks so it be some time before I can get the next chapter finished.
