Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes.

10 December, 2009

Half of Claire's wardrobe was laid out on her bed. She had spent more time packing and unpacking in the last several years than she had in her whole life. Packing for a trip should have been a piece of cake, although Claire's "help" was being less than helpful with the whole process.

"We could just buy anything we need when we get there," Sylar offered, the prospect of packing a little too much for him.

Claire glared at him as she sorted through a dozen different sweaters, picking her three favorite and placing them in a growing pile of clothes that would inevitably be resorted and skimmed down. "Do you know how long it takes me to find a pair of pants that fit," Claire asked him.

The dark eyed man tilted his head to the side, taking in Claire's very busy form, "Twenty minutes?"

"Hah," Claire huffed, "you are so sweet, and stupid. Try several hours and a trip to the tailor to get them hemmed."

"Seriously," Sylar stared. "Why?"

"Have you seen how tall I am," Claire asked indignantly. "Yeah, they don't make pants for people my size. You have clearly never been shopping for a woman."

Claire was particularly short, she was petite. Standing bare foot she barely came to his shoulders. Claire was the very picture of fragility, which was an utter paradox considering she was unbreakable. He could understand why so many people were drawn to protect her. Peter, Hiro, Ando, Mohinder, Matt, Isaac, Micah, Nathan, the list went on. They had all stood in his way in one way or another on his journey to Claire. Everything had been about saving Claire.

Rising from Claire's desk chair Sylar stepped up behind Claire, her back brushing against his chest as she organized clothing. There was something fascinating about how small she seemed against him. Sylar felt important when he stood by her, sat with her, talked with her. She had this strange ability that made him feel like he was more than just a timepiece repairman.

Leaning back against the warmth of his body Claire grinned. "Decide to be helpful?"

"No," he rumbled slipping one arm around her waist to hug her lightly. "Not unless you've finally decided to let me take charge of the whole thing."

"Not going to happen, ever," Claire informed him, leaning down against his arm to reach for a pile of shirts.

Sylar inhaled sharply as Claire leaned forward, her weight resting against his arm, and her lower half pressing against him. He caught a flash of a smirk on her face. She knew exactly what she was doing. Pulling her back with a tug of his arm, Sylar wrapped his other arm around her shoulders, encasing her in a hug.

"You are going to get yourself into trouble," he growled, his voice the silky darkness of a predator.

She let her weight drop back against him, smiling sharply, "You know that just doesn't have the weight that it used to."

Sylar growled and shifted his grip, sliding one arm down around her knees and with surprising momentum swung her into his arms. She squealed sharply, hands scrabbling for purchase on his arms, shoulders, and chest.

"Sylar," she yelped as he chuckled, watching the multitude of expressions flashed across her face.

Arms bulging against his button up, Sylar lifted Claire a little higher despite her protests before releasing her to fall on the bed. She bounced sharply, limbs flailing as she got her bearings. Claire laughed as the shock wore off. As the laughter faded Claire frowned, all of her hard work had, for the most part, been destroyed.

"You realize that you just added two hours to my packing time," Claire informed him.

Sylar sighed deeply and leaned over Claire, "I think I'll live with it." He flopped down on top of her, arms out. Claire grunted and squirmed as Sylar's solid body landed on her.

"Would it kill you to have a salad, jeeze," Claire grumbled as she tried to push at him. "You weigh a ton."

"And it wouldn't kill you to relax your hyperbolic muscle," Sylar sniped.

Claire moaned in annoyance, her head flopping back against her bed and laundry. Clearly she would not be getting anything done with Sylar in the room.

After shoving Sylar out of her room with a list of supplies that they needed to get before they set off on a twelve hour road trip, Claire set about finishing her packing. Without the constant distraction the task was actually accomplished fairly quickly. With her duffle packed Claire set about finishing her check-out list.

Gretchen arrived as Claire did her final run through, double checking everything on her side of the room was unplugged and off the floor.

"Hey," Gretchen smiled, waving awkwardly. "Packing to head home?"

Claire nodded, "Yeah, I'm leaving right after my Stats final."

"Oh," Gretchen's face fell, her hopeful smile dropping. "I was kind of hoping we could do one last dinner and a little guitar hero before break."

Her gut reaction was to roll her eyes and snort, instead Claire frowned, "Sorry. I kind of decided last minute yesterday."

"Is your dad coming to pick you up," Gretchen asked, moving over to Claire's bed and dropping down on it, arms stretching across the comforter. Claire hid her frown. She wasn't particularly comfortable with Gretchen's mood swings. One moment she was avoiding Claire the next she was trying to make plans and invading Claire's space.

A shake of the head was Claire's noncommittal answer, "Whoever is available is going to swing by to get me."

If Claire had learned anything from her father and the Company it was that specific lies were sometimes the stupidest lies. A specific lie was easier to prove false. Claire was not interested in having her holiday crashed by any "well-meaning" relative. She had even gotten in touch with Micah who had owed Sylar a favor, and after a little talking the boy had made Claire's phone untraceable. GPS tracking would take searchers in circles and calls would appear to bounce across the entire world. After her final, Claire was going to basically fall off the map.

Lifting her things, so her arms would be full so as to prevent any hugging, Claire gave a little finger wave to Gretchen, "I'll see you after break."

The other girl frowned, "Yeah, keep in touch. I'll be thinking of you."

Double checking her answers as she pulled on her coat and backpack, Claire nodded to herself. The test had been challenging, but she had studied and she felt confident about her answers. Refolding her test, Claire lifted her duffle bag and made her way to the front of the room. She smiled cheerfully at her professor who congratulated her on her success in the class so far. That small bit of praise made Claire's good mood grow a little brighter.

Claire walked quickly out of the classroom, happy to be done with her first semester of college and ready to have an adventure. Stepping outside, Claire smiled at the crisp winter air. It was a novelty for her. She had spent years and years in Texas, California, cold weather wasn't the norm. Claire was actually really excited about having a white Christmas, real snow and brisk winds.

Skipping down the steps of the building Claire scanned the street for Sylar. He had promised to meet her after her final and they would set off on their trip. She spotted him leaning against a black jeep; he gave a subdued wave and a small smile. A brilliant grin cracked Claire's face, her cheeks reddening. Her steps picked up, but Claire refused to run or even jog. She was not ready for Sylar to see exactly how excited she was.

Sylar took a few long strides and met the blonde, pulling her into an easy hug. To any outside observer they looked like a happy couple. Claire shed the weight of her duffle and backpack, setting them on the ground only to be caught up in a second hug. Sylar lifted her off the ground, his arms around her torso and waist. He spun her around before setting her down.

"Ready," he asked, waiting for the proverbial other-shoe to drop. Sylar was living in a state of disquietude. He was waiting for his hopes to be dashed as they always seemed to be.

Claire nodded, tilting her head slightly into Sylar's hand as he cupped her cheek. "Yeah, I really am." She started as Sylar's face lit up. Claire had actually never seen him smile that genuinely. Glancing down at her feet demurely Claire smiled a little before glancing up, "but if you snore, this whole thing is off."

He rolled his eyes, "That is your deal breaker. Snoring? Of all of my bad habits, you're worried about me snoring."

"Well," Claire tried to be serious, "I can put up your stalking and wine-snobbery, but an eternity of snoring might actually kill me."

She giggled as Sylar shook his head. He huffed and bent down to grab her bags and put them in the jeep, "eternity, huh?"

Claire rolled her eyes as Sylar helped her up into the car, "Shut up." He mimed zipping his lips, the smugness rolling off him in waves.

A/N: 10/25. Almost halfway through! Thank you for all the feedback, it is wonderful. I feel like deep down Sylar desires to experience the same moments that everyone does. He never really had those in his life before the Eclipse, and the moments that came after were lackluster. Claire is his first real romance where he knows the score and she isn't lying to him about how she feels.