Spark
Chapter Four
The door of Peter Petrelli's apartment opened and Peter came through it, groaning loudly and putting his hands over his ears. Abby had started singing 'The Song That Never Ends' in the plane after a couple of kids sitting behind her had taught it to her while peering over the top of the seats and she hadn't let up yet. Even worse was that when Claude saw how much it was annoying Peter, he joined in, although he'd only recite it for a little while before stopping, only to start up again when he felt Peter was getting too used to Abby's rendition. Both were currently singing it (if you could call what they were doing singing) and Peter felt like he was going to snap at any moment.
"Alright, that's enough. Quit it you two." Abby chuckled but didn't stop and Claude just started reciting it louder. Peter groaned and shut the door behind them, slamming it in his annoyance.
"Peter? Is that you?" All sound stopped as Simone came out of another room. Abby stared at the other woman, her eyes wide. Simone hadn't even noticed Abby there, her eyes only on Peter, and there was no indication for her that Claude was there at all. Peter stared at Simone in shock as she ran towards him and threw her arms around him.
"Uh, yeah, it's me. What are you doing here, Simone?" Simone pulled away from him, a worried look on her face.
"We've been looking for you for weeks. You just disappeared. Where'd you go? Where have you been all this time?" Behind the couple, Abby moved uncomfortably and this finally drew Simone's attention. Her eyes widened and she continually looked between Peter and Abby, a look of hurt on her face. Peter panicked. He could tell what she was thinking, seeing him with another woman.
"This isn't what it looks like, Simone." The woman rose an eyebrow at him, clearly not believing him. "And it's not like it's just us. Claude's here too. Oh wait, you can't see him. Claude, please show yourself so Simone can see you." Nothing happened and Simone backed away from him. Peter felt panicked. "Wait, Simone, it's really not what it looks like. Damn it Claude, show yourself." Still nothing. Peter was really annoyed at Claude at that moment.
"Peter, you don't have to lie to me." Peter shook his head.
"I'm not lying. Let me explain." Simone sighed. It was obvious she thought something was going on.
"He's not lyin. This ain't what it looks like. I just saved Peter, is all." Simone looked at Abby, a look of disbelief on her face.
"You saved him? From what?" She stared at Abby like she wasn't even worthy to be stuck on the bottom of her shoe.
"Not what; who. Sylar." Simone's eyes widened. The name was definitely familiar to her. Her eyes moved from Abby back to Peter, worry clearly etched on her face again.
"Sylar had you?" Peter nodded. Simone threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around him again, crushing his body to hers. "But you got away. You got away and you're safe." Peter nodded and pulled away from her, his gaze moving to Abby.
"Thanks to Abby." He smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back. Simone looked between them again, an eyebrow raised, before stepping between them, cutting off their line of vision to one another. She could tell that this was a potentially dangerous situation for her relationship with Peter.
"Well then I guess I should thank you. I don't know what I would have done if Peter..." She trailed off before plastering a smile to her face. She walked towards Abby, extending her hand to her. "Thank you." Abby shook her hand, smiling slightly.
"Don't mention it. I couldn't let him kill him." Simone smiled and started leading her to the door.
"Well, I guess you should be on your way home now, wherever that is, shouldn't you?" Abby's eyes widened as she allowed herself to be led. Peter quickly headed towards them but Claude got there first, standing in front of the door and becoming visible. Simone jumped as he appeared.
"I don't think so, girly." He put his hand on the doorknob so she couldn't reach for it. Simone stared at him.
"You startled me." Claude smirked at that. "But really, maybe you both should leave, I'm sure Peter's tired." Peter reached her side and shook his head.
"Actually, they're not going anywhere." Simone gave him a shocked look. "You see, Sylar's going to be out looking for Abby now too and I'm not safe either so I figured she could stay put... here... with me." Simone's eyes widened. "And Claude's staying here to take guard duty." Simone turned back to look at Abby then Claude, the latter smirking at her.
"Oh, I see. But it's only for her safety, right? Nothing's going on between you?" Peter shook his head.
"Nothing's going on between us. I promise." He smiled at her and she smiled slightly back.
"Well good." They all stood around awkwardly for a minute. "Well, I guess I'd better be going. I'm glad that you're alright, Peter." Peter smiled at her brightly. She kissed him on the cheek and turned towards the door again, finding Claude still standing there. "Well, it was nice meeting you Abby, Claude." Abby smiled slightly and nodded and Claude simply opened the door and stepped aside, becoming invisible again. Simone shivered and stepped through the door.
"Good riddance." Claude's voice sneered angrily as he closed the door. Peter shook his head.
"Claude!" Suddenly there was a knock on the door and all three turned to it in surprise. Claude motioned for the other two to step back and peered through the peephole. Once looking through he turned to look back at them, sneering.
"It's just her. She's back." Peter rose his eyebrows and opened the door. Simone was standing in the doorway looking uncomfortable.
"I forgot to tell you. You should call your brother, he's worried about you. You should let him know you're alright." Peter nodded.
"I'll do that." Simone smiled and nodded before stepping closer to him and planting a small lingering kiss on his lips. When she pulled away she simply smiled at him, her eyes flicking to Abby, before turning and walking away. She'd just staked her claim on him and Abby knew the action had been directed at her as a warning to keep her hands to herself. Peter closed the door and turned to face Abby. She was staring at the ground, fiddling with the bottom of her shirt. He suddenly felt guilty, though couldn't figure out why, and shuffled nervously.
"Uh, I guess I'd better go call my brother. You should go get settled in." He smiled at her and she looked up at him, smiling back before nodding and heading towards the couch. She took the small bag of her things she had and went to sit on his couch. Peter watched her for a moment, a frown on his face, before heading to the phone. He saw Claude walk towards Abby and sit next to her. The two had a hushed conversation, one he couldn't hear, but could tell it was serious. Putting them out of his mind he dialled his brother's number.
"Nathan Petrelli. A vote for him is a vote for the future." Peter couldn't help but chuckle at his brother's political greeting.
"Hey Nathan, it's me." He could hear the chair his brother was sitting on creak as he obviously sat up straight.
"It's Peter, he's back." Nathan said to someone else, Peter assumed it was either Heidi or his mother. "Are you okay? Where have you been? You've been missing for weeks." Peter sighed. He reached up to rub the back of his neck.
"Sylar had me." Silence greeted him on the other end. "You still there, Nathan?"
"What do you mean Sylar had you?" Peter sighed. Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Claude instantly got up to check it.
"Sylar had me. He tried to kill me. He would have succeeded too if it wasn't for this woman." He glanced over at Claude, seeing him rolling his eyes at whoever was at the door, before glancing at Abby, a smile coming over his face.
"A woman? You were saved by a woman?" Nathan chuckled slightly. "I thought you were the hero, Peter. At least that's what Claire keeps telling me." Peter perked up hearing about Claire. He felt extremely protective over the young woman he'd recently learnt was his niece and knew he'd feel like that forever.
"How is Claire? Is she there?" Nathan chuckled but didn't get the chance to answer.
"Actually, I'm right here." Peter snapped his head around and saw Claire standing in front of his now closed door, Hiro standing next to her. Suddenly Claire launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around him.
"Claire, what are you doing here?" He heard Nathan chuckle again on the other end of the phone.
"I heard Nathan saying you were back and Hiro was over visiting so he teleported me here. How cool is that?" Peter couldn't help but laugh at Claire's enthusiasm. He looked past her at Hiro who looked just as excited. The Japanese man was waving at him so excitedly it looked like his hand was going to fly off his wrist.
"Okay, I think I'll let you go seeing as though I doubt Claire's going to let you carry on a conversation with me right now." Nathan chuckled again. "Just tell me you're alright." Peter smiled at the concern in his brother's voice.
"I'm alright." He heard Nathan sigh in relief.
"Okay. Come over tomorrow and you can explain everything to me." Peter nodded.
"Okay, see you tomorrow. I can introduce you to Abby then." Nathan was going to hang up but that last bit caught his attention.
"She's still with you?" Peter nodded, his gaze going to Abby still sitting on the couch, a small smile coming to his face. His gaze drew Claire and Hiro's attention, both of them looking at the woman on his couch in surprise.
"Yes, she's still with me. Probably will be for a while." He flashed a grin at her when he saw her roll her eyes. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow." Nathan, still partly in shock, nodded.
"Yeah, tomorrow." Both men hung up. Peter moved towards the couch, Claire and Hiro coming to stand on either side of him.
"Abby, I'd like you to meet some people. This is Claire, my niece, and my friend, Hiro." Hiro's face lit up hearing himself referred to as Peter's friend. Sometimes he thought they just tolerated him around, after all he was different than the rest of them, but Peter had always treated him well. "Guys, this is Abby, the woman who saved my life." Abby smiled slightly and looked down, still uncomfortable with the praise.
"It's nice to meet you, Abby." Claire offered the other woman a bright smile and Abby smiled back.
"You too." Hiro smiled at her and stepped closer to her, offering her his hand.
"Hello. Me Hiro. Nice to meet you." Abby stared at him for a moment, a smile on her face, before shaking his hand.
"It's nice to meet you too, Hiro." He smiled brightly back at her and bowed which made her scrunch her nose up in confusion, a smile still playing on her face.
"They're both like us. They both have abilities." Abby nodded.
"I figured that one out as soon as Claire here said Hiro teleported her here. I'm not as dumb as I look, you should know that by now, Peter." Claire laughed and turned to face her uncle. Peter rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I'll remember that for next time. I don't know why I keep forgetting." He grinned at her and Abby huffed indignantly, crossing her arms across her chest and turning her head so her hair flicked over her shoulder.
"You're a pain in my ass, Petrelli." Peter laughed at that and shook his head.
"You love me." She winced a little at the words and gave him a fake smile. Peter sighed. He'd just ruined a nice playful conversation.
"So Claire, what can you do?" She was obviously trying to change the subject.
"I'm indestructible. I can't get hurt. I regenerate." Abby rose her eyebrows in surprise.
"That's definitely cool." Claire smiled brightly at her and moved to sit next to the older woman on the couch.
"I'm not always sure about that but thanks. What can you do?" Abby grinned. She put her hand up and flicked her fingers and the light above them went off before turning back on after another flick. Hiro gasped and moved closer to her. Abby flicked her whole hand and a ball of electricity flew from her hand, bounced off a mirror before coming back to her. Hiro laughed and clapped while Claire's eyes were wide in surprise. A smile slowly spread over Claire's face. "Cool." Abby smiled at the younger woman.
"Not nearly as cool as bein indestructible girl." Claire smiled brightly at her. "Or bein a teleporter." She looked at Hiro and he smiled but shook his head.
"I not only teleporter, I bend time and space." Abby gave him a confused look.
"Sounds like somethin outta Star Trek." Hiro grinned wider.
"Yes, exactly like Star Trek!" Abby chuckled and nodded before turning to Peter.
"What exactly is it he can do?" Peter laughed.
"He can freeze time, go back in time or forward into the future and teleport." Abby looked impressed before turning back to Hiro.
"Cool." Hiro grinned at her. Claire had watched the interaction between Peter and Abby, a smile on her face, and desperately wanted to know something.
"Hey, Peter, why don't we go get drinks for everyone?" Peter nodded at the suggestion and smiled at Claire as she raced to the kitchen to help. As soon as they were alone and away from the others she turned excitedly towards Peter. "So, Abby seems nice." Peter smiled as he got some glasses out of a cabinet.
"Yes, she is." He nodded, the smile turning a little dreamy. Claire grinned even wider.
"So... anything going on there? Are you two...you know?" She winked at him and Peter gave her a disbelieving look.
"Claire, are you implying what I think you're implying?" Claire giggled and shrugged.
"Maybe." Peter groaned and shook his head.
"We're friends, Claire. Besides, I'm with Simone." Claire frowned. She didn't like Simone, especially after she'd approached her and told her to stop with the Hero worship she had going with Peter.
"Simone's a bitch." Peter sighed. He knew that for some reason Claire didn't like Simone but just didn't know why.
"She is not. I don't know why you don't like her." Claire rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, well, I still think you'd be better with Abby." Peter snorted and shook his head.
"Well it's not going to happen so if I were you I'd quit it. Now come on, let's bring the drinks out there." Claire sighed as he walked out of the kitchen looking a little angry. She followed after him, holding the glasses. She handed a glass to everyone, confused when there was an extra glass left in her hand. She jumped when Claude appeared, taking the glass off of her, before offering the loner a smile. Hiro clapped excitedly as Claude appeared and the invisible man snorted gruffly at the two people he was uncomfortable with before disappearing again.
"Should we toast?" Hiro asked, raising his glass in the air. Claire shrugged and lifted her own glass.
"I don't see why not. To Peter's return and to Abby for making that possible." She offered Abby a bright smile, seeing the other woman shift uncomfortably. Peter grinned at Abby and repeated the toast, Hiro, Claude and Abby copying him. They each took sips of their drinks. Peter noticed Abby yawn.
"You know what, it's getting kind of late and we had a long flight. Maybe you guys should go." Claire frowned.
"Oh, I don't want to go yet. I just got here." Peter sighed and moved to wrap his arm around her.
"I'm going to see Nathan tomorrow so I'll see you then, okay?" Claire frowned.
"Can't I stay here? I stayed here with you before you disappeared." Before Sylar had captured him Claire had stayed with Peter most nights. She felt the most comfortable and safe with him, more comfortable than with the man she'd only recently found out was her father. As a result of Claire staying over so much and the fear that Sylar would catch up to him Peter had moved apartments. His old apartment was too small for more than one person and he'd gotten sick of having to sleep on the couch so he'd upgraded to a two bedroom apartment with a room just for Claire. He wouldn't have minded Claire staying but he was going to give Abby that room to sleep in.
"Sorry Claire. You can't sleep here tonight." Claire sighed but nodded, understanding completely.
"Okay, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." She pouted, trying one last ditch effort, but Peter simply stared at her. "Goodnight Abby, goodnight Claude. I'll see you tomorrow." Abby smiled at the younger woman.
"Goodnight Claire. Goodnight Hiro." Hiro bowed to her before leading Claire towards the door. In a blink of an eye both were gone. Abby smiled at the sight, nodding. "Cool." Peter chuckled at her. He put his drink down and reached his hand out to her.
"Come with me." Abby looked up at him doubtfully but took his hand. He led her to Claire's bedroom. "Here's where you're going to sleep." Abby shook her head, backing up slightly.
"Really, Peter, the couch is fine. Don't make me get into this with you again." She raised a finger at him in warning and he chuckled, shaking his head.
"Well this time's fine seeing as though there's two beds. This is the room Claire usually sleeps in. My room's next door." Abby smiled and nodded.
"Okay, this is fine then." Peter chuckled.
"Besides, if you slept on the couch, where would Claude sleep?" Abby grinned mischievously.
"I don't know. In with you?" Both men shook their heads adamantly.
"There's no way I'd ever share a bed with Petrelli here." Abby chuckled at Claude's answer and the disgusted look that went with it.
Peter snorted. "Like I'd ever share a bed with you." Abby laughed again.
"Okay, sorry, didn't know exactly what type of relationship you two had. Glad that's cleared up." Peter rolled his eyes, knowing she was stirring them.
"Goodnight Abby." Abby grinned at him as he turned and started walking towards his bedroom.
"Peter." He stopped and turned back to face her. "How are you going to get to sleep without my voice putting you to sleep?" She grinned at him and he rolled his eyes. Every night at Sam's house they talked before falling asleep and she often teased him saying it was only because the sound of her voice never ceased to make him sleepy.
"I think I'll manage. Goodnight Abby." Abby smirked at him.
"I could yell a bedtime story through the wall if ya wanted." Peter chuckled and shook his head, reaching the door of his bedroom.
"Goodnight Abby." He walked inside his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. There was silence for a moment before something shattered it.
"Once upon a time there was a prince named Peter who needed savin by a princess named Abby." Peter chuckled at the yelled out bedtime story.
"Goodnight Abby," he yelled back, chuckling to himself. Abby grinned and looked at Claude, seeing the invisible man wink at her with a smirk on his face before settling himself in on the couch. She shut the door and got changed before climbing into bed. She laid there for a few minutes, a frown on her face. She couldn't sleep and she couldn't figure out why. She sighed when she realised what it was.
She frowned and started whispering to herself. "Once upon a time, there was a prince named Peter who needed savin by a princess named Abby. Little did he know that he'd end up savin her in return." She sighed again and rolled onto her side, staring at the wall.
Peter was on the other side of the wall, staring at it too. He sighed thinking about her. It was ridiculous but he felt like he really couldn't sleep without hearing her voice telling him things about her life. He sighed again and put his pillow over his face for a moment. He took the pillow off his face and threw it at the wall, satisfied when he heard the small thump sound it made. An answering knock came from the other side of the wall and he couldn't help but smile. Feeling better now he settled in and fell asleep.
I totally know that that ending was a bit lame so don't bother even saying anything about it, lol. I'm really looking forward to next week's chapter because I really like that one and it will really prove that not everyone in this story loves Abby. Also, I know Simone is dead but she wasn't when I wrote this. Don't expect me to be killing her, or Isaac (wah, just saw him die last night, boo) in this story although that might change. Anywho, don't forget to review (please!) and see you next week! (Oh man, I totally just ruined my earlier announcement of a short Author's Note, didn't I? Doh!)