Disclaimer: I don't own these characters and no matter how much I wish I did, it's not going to happen. :(
Author's Note: I wasn't sure whether I'd get this weeks one up because I finished work at midnight last night and didn't get to sleep until 4 am. But I managed to get this out after all. This is the chapter I'd just finished when I started posting this story. I've hit a bit of writers block for this story so I haven't written anything for it in about two weeks but I have at least another few weeks before I get up to the chapter I'm in the middle of writing so I'm sure I'll get it done. Anyway, on with the story.
Summary: Angela Petrelli presents Abby with an offer she's sure she can't refuse.
Spark
Chapter Eight
The apartment was quiet. That's all Abby could think about as she sat, all alone, in Peter Petrelli's apartment. She'd been living with him, in his apartment, for a few months, their total time together adding up the months. It was the longest she'd ever stayed anywhere. When she was with Peter she felt the most comfortable she'd ever felt and when around Peter, Claude and Claire she couldn't claim that no one cared about her. There had been many times when she'd threatened to leave but Peter had always convinced her to stay.
They hadn't talked about what had happened between them that night in the hotel, preferring to pretend it never happened. The morning after it happened they'd woken up, taken a look at each other and quickly looked away. They never spoke about it, hadn't told anyone else it happened, but neither of them could deny to themselves that it had happened. It played in Abby's mind at least once a day, sometimes more when he'd look at her with those soulful eyes of his, but she couldn't say anything about it. Peter hadn't wanted Simone to find out and, no matter how much she disliked the woman, she couldn't go against his wishes.
She'd discovered pretty early on that she couldn't say no to Peter, that she'd do anything he wanted her to do. Stay with him in New York? Alright. Go to his brother's place? Sure. Become friends with Claire? No problem. Meet and hang around other people like them with abilities? Okay. He'd dragged her all over New York, showing her the wonders of the city. He'd introduced her to Hiro, Ando, Isaac and Matt and to her surprise and dismay she found herself liking each one of them. She'd never had this many people in her life and she had Peter to blame, or thank (she wasn't entirely sure which to go with), for it.
Almost as soon as she'd discovered that she couldn't say no to him, and pretty much the moment his lips touched hers and he said he wouldn't let anyone hurt her, she'd also discovered that she was falling (gasp) in love with him. That was unacceptable. She didn't do love. She'd never experienced it except for when a psychopath had claimed to be in love with her and that hadn't exactly been the best example. Even more hopeless to the case was that he was already with someone, so even if on the off chance that he felt something similar for her, it wasn't going to happen. He had Simone; the rich beautiful woman was couldn't control electricity, who could go swimming with him if he wanted to without the fear of dying in the water, who didn't have a massive scar down the side of her face, marring her features.
No, her and Peter just couldn't work like she desperately wished it could and the realization made her want to leave him and the nice life he had created for her but she couldn't do it. She'd always been a tad selfish, had to be selfish living on the streets, and she wanted to be around him even if she couldn't be with him. Thinking she would ever be with Peter was just a fairytale and fairytale's weren't real, she'd learnt that earlier than most. So she had to settle for loving him hopelessly while he treated her like a close friend or sister, either way completely platonic.
That morning, when she'd woken up, Claude had proclaimed that he needed some time for himself. She understood his need as a very solitary person to get away from all the togetherness Peter had created for them. She felt that need sometimes; having grown used to being on her own, and had had no problem with letting him get his time alone. Peter had been more panicked. He had to work that day which meant that Abby would be all alone. The one thing she didn't like about Peter was his constant need to shelter her. Sometimes she thought that he forgets that she saved him,not the other way around. She'd reminded him of this fact and that she could handle herself should anything happen. Besides, no one had seen hide nor hair of Sylar since she'd rescued Peter from him so she didn't think anything would happen. Reluctantly, after she agreed not to leave the apartment, he'd allowed Claude to leave and had left for work. Abby was alone and instead of finding the solitary comforting, like she'd thought it would, she just felt lonely.
There was a knock on the door and Abby jumped. She wasn't expecting company so she was on edge. Vaguely she thought that maybe Peter had sent Hiro and Ando or Isaac or Matt to come baby-sit her and realised with a jolt that if he had, she wouldn't mind. Getting up, she headed towards the door. Infinitely glad that there was a peephole she peered through it, her lips turning down in distaste when she saw Peter's mother smiling towards the peephole.
Her first impression of Peter's family had pretty much held up through the time she'd been living with Peter, the only exception being Nathan. On the few times she'd seen Nathan since that first fateful meeting he hadn't acted as disgusted with her as before. Sure, he still checked his wrist when they shook hands but she'd sometimes catch him staring from Peter to her and back again with a look of understanding on his face. He hadn't said any rude comments about her or told Peter she was a con artist or told him he should kick her out, and it wasn't from Claire or Peter asking him not to either, she could tell.
With a sigh, she stepped away from the door and opened it. When the door opened, Angela Petrelli stepped back, a smile on her face. Her smile dropped when she saw Abby standing in the doorway, wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants. The Petrelli matriarch looked completely out of place in the hallway of their building, all pearls and couture clothes. Abby leant against the doorframe, crossing her arms over her chest, as Angela plastered the smile back on her face.
"Sorry, Peter's not here. Maybe you should call back later." Angela rolled her eyes and shook her head, laughing slightly.
"I know Peter's not here. I came here to see you." Abby rose an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Really? And what would you want to see me for?" Angela's fake smile dropped briefly before being plastered back on.
"Do you really want to have this conversation in the hallway, Miss Harris? No, so how about you do the polite thing and invite me in?" Abby sighed and stepped reluctantly back, allowing the older woman to enter. Angela smiled wider, this smile seeming to be real, and stepped over the threshold. She walked towards an armchair, looking around the room with a look of distaste, while taking off her elegant wrap. Abby sighed and closed the door, moving back into the apartment towards the other woman.
"My, you really have made yourself at home, haven't you?" Angela was staring at the socks Abby insisted on leaving everywhere before moving her eyes to the jacket slung over the back one of the kitchen chairs, obviously belonging to Abby. There were plenty of things around the room that belonged to Abby and Angela looked at all of them in distaste. Abby shrugged and moved to sit on the couch.
"Well I do live here." Angela's face dropped at that. "But you didn't come here to talk to me 'bout how I've made myself at home, now did you?" Angela shook her head.
"You are a bright girl, I'll give you that." Abby resisted flicking her fingers to provide a bright spark to prove it to her. "Fine then, let's get down to business, shall we?" Abby rolled her eyes.
"Alright, whatever." Angela ground her teeth before plastering on a fake smile again. The older woman picked up her bag and searched through it, coming up with a check. Abby rose her eyebrows at the odd object.
"Now, I'm going to give you this check and you can look at it before I make my offer." Abby was confused about what offer she was talking about but took the check anyway. The amount written on it made her eyes widen and she quickly handed it back.
"Mrs. Petrelli, I don't..." Angela shook her head and cut her off.
"Uh, uh, my dear, just let me talk for a minute." Abby stared at her dumbstruck. "That check is yours." She'd already gathered that from seeing her name written on the top but she still didn't understand. Luckily, Angela went on. "You just have to do one thing." Abby swallowed around her suddenly dry throat.
"Okay, what's that?" Angela smiled, seeing this was already going her way.
"You have to move out of here." Abby's mouth fell open in surprise. "Sever all contact with my son and granddaughter and never come back." Abby's eyes widened even more.
"Wait, are you suggestin what I think you're suggestin?" Angela smiled.
"If you think that I'm suggesting you leave and I pay you to do so then you are correct." Abby could only find her mouth flapping open and closed, not knowing what to say to that. Angela sighed. "I know that someone... like you might run through this money quickly so let me assure you that if you... feel the need to come back to my son, to contact him or my granddaughter, all you have to do is contact me instead and another check like this will be delivered straight to you, our deal holding up. Got it?" Abby stood up, anger filling her body quickly. She felt the electricity flow through her body with her emotions and Angela could feel it crackling in the air.
"No, we don't got it. I can't believe you're suggestin this. How many times I got to tell you? I ain't here for your money. I'm here 'cause Peter wants me to be here." Angela sighed and crossed her legs.
"Peter doesn't know what he wants, he never has. But I've always known what he wants, what he needs." Abby's fingers twitched, wanting to use her powers but restraining herself.
"And you're saying he... doesn't want or need me?" Angela smiled and nodded.
"Exactly. What he needs is you out of his life. What he needs is to focus on his career again. What he needs is to stop with this need to be a hero. And what he wants is Simone." Abby's fingers stopped itching and she sat back down in her seat, looking hopeless. Angela saw the look on her face and smiled. "He wants to marry Simone and he can't do that with you here, distracting him." Abby stared down at the ground, feeling her heart breaking.
"He wants to marry her?" Angela nodded and sat forward in her seat. She extended the check again. Abby saw the corner of the check entering her field of vision and looked up into Angela's face.
"Yes, he does. Take the check, get out of here and let him have what he wants." Abby shook her head and pushed the check away.
"No, I'm not goin' to leave until Peter asks me to and even then I won't want his, yours or anyone's money." Angela sighed. She sat back and put the check back in her bag. She stood up.
"I wish you would reconsider." Abby shook her head, standing up too.
"I'm not goin to." Angela sighed again. "I think you should leave now." Angela nodded and clutched her bag.
"I think you're right. But I want you to know that this offer will always stand. You can take it up at any time." Abby snorted and shook her head, knowing that she would never ever take the money. Angela headed to the door, Abby following after her. Just as she was going through the door she stopped and turned back to face Abby. "Oh, and another thing. Peter mustn't find out about this. You know he wouldn't take this too well." Abby sneered at her.
"Damn right he wouldn't. But don't worry, your secret's safe with me." Angela smiled and left. Abby slammed the door shut behind her, turning and letting her powers out on the first thing she saw, sending a lamp into smithereens.
Down outside the front of the building, Angela was heading towards her car. Simone was walking up the sidewalk and smiled when she saw the Petrelli matriarch. She waved at her, smiling brightly. Angela saw Simone and smiled back, waiting by her car. When Simone arrived they air kissed each others cheeks.
"Mrs. Petrelli, what are you doing here?" Angela waved her off.
"I was just here to discuss something with Miss Harris." Simone rose her eyebrows in surprise.
"Really? What did you need to discuss with her that you had to do when Peter isn't home." Angela grinned at her.
"You are a very smart woman, Miss Deveraux. How did you know Peter wasn't home?" Simone smiled.
"I just left him. We ran into each other a little while ago. I was just stopping by here to pick up something I left the other night." Angela smiled at her. "So, what did you come here to speak to Abby about?" The other woman's name was spoken with such distain that Angela knew she could trust her with what she'd just done. With a sigh she dug around in her bag, coming up with the check. She handed it to the younger woman. Simone took the check and stared at it in surprise.
"I offered her this to get out of town, to cut off contact with Peter and Claire. Unfortunately she's either greedier than I'd thought or more stubborn because obviously she didn't take it." Simone caressed the check.
"Well maybe we should offer her more money. I could... I could put in too." Angela rose an eyebrow in surprise and considered the suggestion for a moment before shaking her head.
"Unfortunately I think it's actually the other option, I just think she's too stubborn to give in." Simone clutched the check tighter. "Oh well, I'll just have to try to convince her again another time." She reached out for the check. Simone, getting an idea, grasped it a little tighter. She reached out towards Angela, knocking her bag out of her hands and onto the pavement.
"Oh, sorry. I'll get it." Simone bent and started picking up things that had fallen out of the bag. She pretended to put the check in the bag, smiling up at Angela while doing so, but really kept it in her palm. She stood back up and handed her the bag, sliding the check in her pocket. "Well, I'll let you go. It was nice seeing you, Mrs. Petrelli." Angela smiled at her.
"You too." They air kissed each others cheeks again and then Angela got in the car and drove away. Once the car was out of her sight, Simone pulled the check out of pocket, looked at it with a smile on her face, before stuffing it back in her pocket. She had the perfect plan to get rid of Abby, once and for all.
Abby was letting her powers loose in the apartment. She was sending electricity flying around the room and felt comforted by the familiar thrum of power as it licked her body. Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Abby froze, staring at it. She thought it had to be Angela coming back and angrily walked to the door. She was going to throw the door open and yell at the woman but common sense came over her at the last minute, making her look through the peephole. She groaned as she realized it was her other least favourite person standing at the door. She threw open the door and glared at her.
"What do you want?" Simone was startled by her attitude, could actually feel the electricity flowing from the other woman, making her hair stand on end like static electricity. She smiled back meekly.
"I'm, uh, just here because I left some paperwork here the other night." Abby softened slightly and let her enter, closing the door behind her. That was one of the things she really hated about living with Peter, the nights Simone came over or even worse, the nights she slept over.
"Alright." Simone started heading towards Peter's bedroom but stopped suddenly, turning to face Abby.
"Are you okay? You seem a little... on edge." Abby was surprised at the question coming from Simone. She sighed and rolled her shoulders, trying to relieve some tension. She felt dirty after her conversation with Angela and was definitely on edge.
"I'm okay. You know what; I'm goin to go have a shower. I suddenly feel real dirty. You'll be alright by yourself? You can let yourself out?" Simone smiled kindly at her and nodded.
"Yeah, I'll just get what I need and get out of your hair." Abby gave her a small smile before heading into the bathroom. Simone waited until she could hear the shower running and went running to the bathroom door. When she could hear Abby softly humming she ran towards the kitchen, taking the check out of her pocket. She went straight for Abby's jacket and planted the check in one of the pockets. Smiling slightly she headed into Peter's room, got her things and left the apartment, the smile not leaving her face.
Additional Author's Note: Thanks yet again for reading. I hope you liked this chapter and please leave a review. I'm desperately awaiting the second season of Heroes but I'm hoping this and some other stories I'm working on will tide me over until it comes back!