Chapter Eleven

Peter's eyes shot open, instantly coming alert. He looked down at the halo of blonde hair that was spread across his chest and smiled as he took in Claire's sleeping form. He felt the weight of her leg entangled with his and the steady beat of her heart. Noting a change in the environment of the apartment, Peter kissed Claire lightly, before slipping out of bed smiling as he caught sight of Claire's leg peaking out from beneath the sheets. He leaned forward to pull the blanket back in place and couldn't stop himself from taking a moment to commit Claire's form to memory. He watched Claire frown in her sleep at the loss of contact and snuggle deeper into the blankets as he pulled on his jeans and t-shirt from last night. Peter moved to his closet to pull out some of Claire's clothes that she had left behind on some previous visit and laid them out on the bed before moving to stand in the doorway of the bedroom.

Nathan prowled quietly around the apartment, only stopping when he caught sight of his brother leaning against the frame in the bedroom's open doorway.

He looked past the younger man to the messy bed, where the sleeping Claire lay, her bare shoulders peeking from underneath the blanket.

"Jesus Peter." Nathan cursed, watching as Claire shifted in her sleep, a bare calf slipping back into view.

Peter pushed away from the doorframe, and closed it silently behind him before moving into the living room.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to get here." He said stopping in front of his brother.

"You had to know we'd be watching. The only reason you'd come back here is to get my attention. So what do you want Peter?"

"I want you to stop this Nathan. Stop hunting your own kind." Peter growled.

"I can't do that. Don't you see Pete? These powers are dangerous. They need to be contained."

Peter laughed harshly and ran a hand through his hair.

"They need to be contained? A few months ago you were planning to give them to everyone. So what is it Nathan? Does everyone get to have powers, or do you kill everyone who already has them?"

"We're not killing people with powers. Just incapacitate them, make sure that they can't be a danger to anyone."

"What about the danger to them? How many people died on that plane Nathan? How many have been taken from their families?"

"Peter, you know what I'm doing is for the best."

"I know that you think you're doing what's best." Peter countered turning to look at the closed bedroom door, deep in thought.

"I want to make a deal." Peter suddenly said, turning to look at his brother.

"You take Claire off your list, and I'll come with you, willingly."

"Peter. She's dangerous, she needs to be contained."

"I'm more dangerous then her!" Peter burst out. "Her ability is protective. It only helps her, it doesn't affect anyone else!"

"My records say differently." Nathan answered. At Peter's blank stare he elaborated. "Her blood can heal anything. If that gets in the wrong hands, it could be disastrous."

"If she's in your hands, that's disastrous." Peter mockingly replied. "I know you'd kill to have me in custody. I may not have been on the original list, but after the crash, I know I'm on it now. And we both know if I don't want to be caught I won't be, and that I'll keep fighting you every step of the way."

Peter moved closer to his brother. "Keep Claire safe, and I'll come with you."

Nathan paced around the room for a few minutes growling under his breath before stopping and returning to his position in front of Peter.

"Fine Pete. You want to sacrifice yourself for her? I won't even begin to get into how sick this whole thing is." Nathan said, picking up his phone and saying a few terse words.

The bedroom door quietly opened behind them as Claire peeked out blearily.

"Peter?" She asked, pulling down the hem of Peter's t-shirt that rode high across her thighs. She glanced around the room, her eyes widening as she took in Nathan's form.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She snarled, instantly awake.

"Claire." Peter started, moving forward. Before he can reach Claire, the apartment door burst open.

Men geared in riot uniforms swarmed into the room. Claire reached out to Peter, prepared to pull them both into the bedroom. Before she could grab him, one of the men shoved her to the ground as two others seized each of Peter's arms.

"Don't hurt her!" Peter yelled, struggling against the men so he could watch Claire pull herself up into a sitting position. Once he was satisfied that Claire was okay, Peter stilled and allowed the two men to wrench his arms behind his back and cuff him.

"Peter?" Claire asked confused.

The men began to lead Peter through the living room, before Claire had a chance to react. Pushing past the man in front of her, Claire rushed up to one of the men holding Peter to hit him.

"Let him go!" She yelled, kicking out at the second man.

"Claire!" Peter yelled as two other men joined the fray, lifting Claire of her feet and pinioning her arms to her sides. "Let her go!" He yelled.

"Peter what are you doing?" Claire yelled, struggling against the men holding her.

"What I have to do." He answered, his eyes meeting Claire's.

"No." She whispered. "Not like this."

I love you. She let the thought flutter through her mind. Don't leave me.

Peter's eyes widened as he heard her thoughts. "I do too." He whispered, allowing himself to be pulled once again towards the door.

"No!" Claire screamed, fighting against the two men holding her. "Don't do this!"

The team leader stepped up to the struggling Claire, motioning to his men that he'd take control of the girl. Claire gasped brokenly, fighting back tears as the team leader stopped in front of Nathan.

"Sir, what about the girl?"

"Leave her. She's not on the list."

"Sir, she's one of the top fugitives."

"She's not on the list!" Nathan yelled, watching as two of guards led Peter out the door. Once Peter was out of earshot, Nathan turned to his leader. "She's the only thing that will keep him in line. For now, leave her be. We'll make sure he knows how quickly that can change."

"Peter!" Claire screamed, struggling once again against the team leader.

"He's not coming back for you." Nathan answered. "The deal's done. Go on with your life Claire. Take this gift and don't waste it."

"I hate you." She spat, finally pulling free of the team leader's hold.

Nathan motioned for his men to precede him out of the apartment. At the doorway he stopped to look at Claire, who stood in the middle of the living room, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

Once again taking in her t-shirt clad form and remembering the image that spilled out of the bedroom only minutes before, Nathan sighed deeply.

"Nothing could ever come of it. It's sick." Nathan said sternly.

"You're the one who's sick." Claire answered darkly. "What you're doing is sick."

Nathan just stared at her a moment longer, before striding out of the apartment.

After his footsteps faded away, Claire collapsed in the center of the living room, sobs wracking her frame. She crawled across the living room, not feeling the broken glass that dug into her skin, to where Peter had thrown his jacket the night before. Fumbling with the phone she pulled from his pocket, Claire took a deep breath before scanning the numbers. She held the phone to her ear, tears silently streaming down her face.

"Matt?" She asked brokenly, when the older man answered.

"Claire?" Matt asked, holding the phone closer to his ear at the heartbreak in her voice. "What's wrong?"

"Peter." She ground out.

"What about Peter?"

"They took him." She cried, clutching the phone close. "Nathan and his men, they came and they took him."

"Claire, we're coming to get you right now. We'll be there in a minute." Matt answered, motioning to Daphne, Hiro and Ando.

"I'm not at the apartment." Claire said quietly, cringing when she thought about what their reaction would be to the latest bit of information.

"What? Where are you?" Matt asked urgently.

"New York." She answered.

"You're in New York?" Matt burst out, causing Claire to close her eyes in despair. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Peter wanted to come. He knew that the only way to stop this was to stop Nathan. So he made a deal, he offered himself to protect me and they took him." She shook her head. "He told me that they wouldn't be watching his apartment. But he knew they would, he planned this, he wanted them to take him. I don't know what to do. He can't stop Nathan alone." She continued, her voice breaking.

"Claire, just stay where you are." Matt said with what he hope was an assuring tone. "We're coming."


Matt hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes.

"What happened?" Daphne asked, coming to stand at his side.

"Peter gave himself up."

"He did what?" Ando asked, eyes wide.

"He offered a trade. He gave himself up if they'd leave Claire alone. She's a mess." Matt answered.

"We must go to the cheerleader." Hiro said firmly.

"We have to contact the others, get the cars ready."

"No." Daphne said. Matt turned questioning eyes to her. "We'll go now, it's quicker. She's all alone up there, there's no telling what she'd do once she's had time to take in everything that's happened. Everyone else can meet us there." She continued looking to Hiro and Ando, who nodded and promised to contact the others.

"Let's go." Were Matt's only words.