When two people suddenly appeared on his roof, Claude Raines had been surprised and more than a little intrigued. But as soon as he recognised both of them, that surprised had doubled and his interest quadrupled.
The woman had a blue bear tucked under her arm and was ignoring the fact that her blonde hair was flying around her face in the wind. It had been years since Claude had last seen her—over a decade even—but he still was able to recognise that mischievous glint in her blue eyes that marked her as Elle Bishop. She had been one of the very first reason's Claude had turned against The Company.
Even more surprising was the man. His hair was slightly short from when Claude had last seen him but those pair of puppy-dog-like eyes were unmistakable. It was Peter Petrelli and it finally seemed like he was in control of his bag of dog-tricks.
When the two started talking Claude made sure he hung right back on the roof—more so they didn't hear him then anything else. He wasn't too concerned about Peter seeing him; right now, the guy had eyes for only one person.
They traded stories about their memories on this roof-top and Claude felt his stomach flip with the sickly, helpless romanticising of the moment. It was like a scene from a chick-flick and it was making Claude's stomach unsettled.
He only knew that he needed to get off of there.
He started to turn around and creep towards the entrance to the stairwell. He made sure his footsteps were light and soundless—courtesy of all the years he spent wanting to move unseen and unheard.
When he turned back, a huge, amused grin appeared on his face and he resisted the urge to chuckle. Peter and Elle were pressed together and kissing passionately. Oh, Peter. You sly dog! Claude chuckled in his head as he moved through the exit and into the Deveaux building's stairwell.
When he was halfway down the first flight of stairs, Claude pulled out a cellphone he had stolen from this woman's pink purse the day before. He quickly dialled a number and held the phone to his ear, waiting for the dial tone to cut off.
"Hey, Parkman." Claude said as Matt's voice sounded on the other line. "Is that pool still open? What am I saying—of course it is. Tell that little girl of yours to put me down for tonight. I swear if the two of them aren't banging like rabbits by midnight… Yeah, okay. Twenty bucks, right? Okay, I'm gonna enjoy spending their money."
Claude flipped the phone shut and dropped it over the edge of the stairwell. It hit the ground with a loud crash and was ultimately trod on when Claude reached the bottom floor.
Claire's feet lightly touched the ground when West dropped slowly to the roof of the apartment complex Elle was staying in; the place where this entire doomed mission began. They hadn't been able to find Elle or Peter in the carnival so in the end they had just given up and flown back here.
"Thanks, West, for doing this with me." Claire said as soon as West released her. "I thought it might have been kinda awkward."
"No, it was fine." West smiled. "Just like old times."
"Jumping off giant letters?" Claire laughed.
"Yeah, something like that."
"Well, I'm glad it wasn't weird for you. I was seriously nervous when I asked you to help me with this. I really thought it would be weird. You know, after the break-up."
"We're adults, Claire." West shrugged unconcernedly. "We can break-up and still be friends. We flow better this way, I think."
Claire smiled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right, I guess."
West returned her smile. "Do you need me for anything else? I thought I might swing by Mohinder's and join in that card game. Molly will still be up—as well and all of the others. I wanna see that pool board too and make plans for my victory after Elle and Peter's next date. You wanna come with? I'm sure Maya's got some food leftover—we did skip dinner after all."
Claire smiled and shook her head slightly. "No, no. I'm not really all that hungry and I'm not in the mood for cards."
West placed a fake-shocked look on his face. "Not in the mood for cards?! This coming from the girl who takes any chance she can to play them; the girl who corrupted Molly by teaching her how to play poker!"
Claire laughed and kicked West lightly on the leg. "I didn't corrupt her! It's not my fault she's gotten too good at it and has been taking your money!"
"You taught her how to do a poker face!"
"She smiles! That's all!"
"Deceptive smiles!" West exclaimed laughingly.
Claire giggled and shook her head.
West looked up. "Are you gonna stay up and wait for Peter and Elle?"
Claire nodded. "Yeah. Elle asked me to so she can tell me about it. I've just got to be careful to act surprised at the right moments considering we were following them."
"Just make sure that Peter doesn't stay over, I don't care what you have to do. I refuse to lose this pool! I have a real shot—unlike you, four dates…" he shook his head in a mock-disappointed gesture. "Even Molly knows that they can't resist that long. And she's ten."
"Eleven now." Claire corrected.
West shrugged and waved Claire correction off. "Still, four dates, Claire. Four!"
Claire laughed again and after a moment West joined her. "Well, I guess I'll be the gentleman and walk you to your door." He said after his laughter died down, though Claire still noticed amusement twinkling in his eyes.
"Okay, thanks." Claire smiled. The pair slowly crossed the roof and climbed down the stairwell leading to Elle's floor. Claire was suddenly very self-conscious being near West. Before she had been wrapped in his arms while he flew them around New York and she hadn't felt anything, but now the silence and closeness was making Clare's nerves tingle with something she thought might be excitement.
"Here we are." West announced, jerking Claire out of her reverie. She hadn't even noticed arriving at the door before now.
"Thanks, West." Claire said. "Really. I had fun spying with you."
West grinned. "Don't mention it, Claire. I had fun spying with you too."
Claire's breath caught as West bent down and pressed his lips against hers. Claire returned the kiss, that same tingling sensation returning, the tickling reminiscent of their very first kiss on that beach in Costa Verde.
They parted after a moment, both slightly out of breath.
"Well, I'm gonna go." West said huskily, a pleased grin on his face. "I really want to win that eleven-year old's money for once. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Claire nodded and stared after him as he walked away; she touched her lips softly, feeling a small smile grow.
She removed her fingers as West spun around at the end of the hall, holding up four fingers and mouthing the word "four" at her.
Claire smiled widely and scoffed at West's action.
West smiled back and continued around the corner, heading towards the stairwell and disappearing from Claire's view.
Claire replaced her fingers on her lips and leant softly against the door. Maybe she would reconsider her relationship with West. She smiled again and unlocked the door to her and Elle's shared apartment. She almost couldn't wait for tomorrow.
Peter found he loved the feel of Elle's lips and the feel of her tongue touching his. He loved the little shocks that she sometimes accidentally let out that made both of their mouths tingle addictively. It was the entire reason why they had been outside of her apartment as long as they had—and why they had taken so long to move off of that rooftop.
From under the front door, Peter could see light emerging from under the crack, meaning that Claire was still awake and moving about the apartment. He hadn't expected anything less. She was probably staying up because Elle wanted to talk about the date and most probably her own personal reason of making sure that her friend and her uncle didn't do anything while she was in the apartment.
"We can't keep doing this, Petey." Elle murmured in-between kisses. "Otherwise neither of us will be ready for tomorrow. Remember the 'M's' are having a housewarming or something."
"That's a week from now, Elle." Peter corrected just before their lips met again. "But you're right. We can't keep doing this."
Elle smiled and pulled back, breathing deeply. Peter noticed that her cheeks were flushed with a happy tinge of red. "I had a really good time, Peter. Probably the best night of my life."
"That's good. I had a really good time too."
Elle grinned happily and pushed open the door. She had unlocked it when they first arrived but then they had neglected to go through.
The door opened widely revealing Claire and Elle's neat and tidy apartment. Claire was lounging on the very same chair she had been in when Peter came to collect Elle early in the evening.
"About time you two came in." Claire said in a mock dragged out tone.
Elle smiled widely. "It's not my fault your uncles a good kisser. He does this little—"
Claire closed her eyes and pressed her hands over her ears. "Oh, Elle, I don't wanna hear about that!"
Elle laughed and turned back to kiss Peter again, ignoring Claire's over-pitched groans. "I'll see you tomorrow, Petey." She murmured as she broke away. With a grin and a flirtatious wink, Elle led Peter towards the door and kissed him again. "Goodnight."
"Hey, ah, wait." Claire said, scrambling up from her chair. "I just need a quick word with Peter about tomorrow."
Elle looked surprised but shrugged and moved away from Peter, disappearing inside her bedroom after a quick wave goodbye.
"Yeah, Claire." Peter said as he turned his attention towards his niece with a mischievous glint in his eye. "If you're gonna give me the 'talk' Nathan already went over it."
Claire shook her head, immediately registering her uncle's words as a joke. "No, I just wanted to say that I'm glad things are working out between the two of you. She deserves some happiness in her life."
"I'm not gonna hurt her, Claire… Wait; are you giving me the overprotective friend speech?"
Claire chuckled and shook her head. "No, I'm just happy for you."
Peter looked at her knowingly. "And I suppose that happiness really came from your little quest with West?"
Claire froze and stared at Peter in shock. "…What?"
"The next time you two decide to follow me and Elle. Don't announce it to the entire 'M' household, word gets around." Peter grinned and pulled his niece into a swift hug. "And thank you for handling that small problem with Sylar. If you and West hadn't attracted his attention, he probably would have noticed Elle and me."
"So… you knew?" Claire asked, open-mouthed.
Peter winked and softly patted Claire's blonde head. "Night, Claire." He smiled again and walked out of the apartment, leaving Claire staring at the closed door completely dumb-founded.
A/N: A big thank you to everyone who's been reading and reviewing this fic. There's one final chapter coming up that's set a week later. Thanks again!