Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! By the way, I forgot to explain that everyone has moved to New York now. Silly me.
Previously on Heroes: Storm Clouds Gathering: The heroes are preparing for Claire's introduction into New York society as the daughter of Nathan Petrelli. Nathan and Heidi are at an awkward point in their relationship, while Peter and Phoebe are flourishing as a couple, and Hiro and Sasha are beginning to look at each other differently. Peter flies Phoebe to the banquet hall, helping her get over her fear of flying. When they start walking toward the building, Peter suddenly turns around and looks at a dog in the alley, then tells Phoebe that there's something he has to do--and it deals with his disappearance after the explosion. Promising to explain more later, he disappears so she can't follow him. Phoebe quickly finds Nathan, who has been warned by Wyatt that something is going on. While Phoebe is explaining Peter's disappearance to Nathan, Angela and Heidi happen upon them and seemingly come to the wrong conclusions. Meanwhile, Peter has gone to find an old friend, apparently the one who aided him after the Kirby Plaza incident. John, his friend, stays in the shadows and tells Peter that he was just checking on him, then urges Peter to return to the banquet, telling him that he's found someone who can help him with his problems.
CHAPTER TWO
"Phoebe, is everything okay?" Claire asked, studying the face of her friend closely.
Phoebe glanced at the younger girl. "No," she said softly, green eyes wide.
Claire placed a hand on Phoebe's arm. "Where's Peter?" she asked quietly, intensely.
"He left." Phoebe glanced around. The ballroom was slowly filling up with guests. Nathan stood near the door, greeting them, his mother and his wife at his side. He briefly met Phoebe's gaze and gave her a cautioning look. She turned her eyes back to Claire. "Something is going on. Something bad, I think. Peter wouldn't let me follow him. I think it has something to do with what happened to him after the explosion."
Claire's eyes widened. "Oh."
Angela suddenly approached the two girls. "Phoebe, Claire…" She stretched out a welcoming hand. "Come with me. There are some guests who wish to meet you. Remember, Claire, you need to make a good impression for the sake of your father."
"That's right," said Claire, lifting her chin and steadily meeting Angela's eyes. "For the sake of my father."
Phoebe caught the implied "not for you."
Apparently, Angela did, too. She pressed her lips together, seeming at an uncharacteristic loss for words. Finally, she rallied. "Well, come on, then."
Claire walked past her grandmother in the direction of Nathan and Heidi, head held high, shoulders squared.
Phoebe had to smile. There was a bit of Nathan in his daughter after all…
"Phoebe." Angela's hand suddenly wrapped around Phoebe's forearm, and her eyes were intense. "Where is Peter? Where is my son?"
"I don't know," said Phoebe, feeling helpless and useless and oddly sorry for Angela. "I wish I did."
For a moment, the two women locked gazes.
"I love him," Phoebe said finally.
Angela's lips twitched. "I know." Then she turned from Phoebe and moved to join the others.
Phoebe followed quietly in the older woman's footsteps. These Petrelli's! So complicated!
Peter walked out of John's house with a heavy heart. He felt utterly useless. Surely there was something he could do to help John… He shook his head and sighed, then concentrated and teleported himself into the alley across the street from the banquet hall. From the shadows, he watched as Hiro and Sasha alighted from a limousine and made their careful way up the steps of the hall. Surely together, the heroes could figure out a way to help John…
Trying not to think of the sad state of his friend, Peter took a deep breath and quickly crossed the road. Just as he was heading up the steps, a sharp breeze whipped around him. He shivered, suddenly filled with an inexplicable trepidation. The dark sky lit up briefly with a flash of lightning, and thunder boomed in the distance.
Peter frowned. He had not heard that there was supposed to be a storm.
Thunder rumbled again, and to Peter, it sounded oddly like laughter…
"Peter!"
He looked up. "Wyatt! How is the banquet going?"
The tall black man reached the younger man's side and walked with him the rest of the way up the steps. "Your brother and Miss Phoebe are really worried about you, Peter." His dark eyes were solemn. "You need to be careful. Some things you just shouldn't deal with alone."
Peter shrugged and patted his old friend's shoulder. "It was nothing. Just… There was someone I really needed to talk to."
"Okay, Peter. Whatever you say…"
"Peter!" Nathan descended upon him just before he could enter the ballroom. The elder Petrelli glanced over his shoulder, making sure Claire and Phoebe were covering for him--and that they had not noticed Peter's appearance. Satisfied, he quickly turned to Peter, slipping an arm around his brother's shoulders. "What's going on, Pete?"
"Nathan, there's someone who needs our help," Peter told his brother sincerely. "He helped me after I--after the whole exploding thing. He protected me. And now I think he's in trouble."
Nathan raised an eyebrow. "What kind of trouble?"
"He's got a power, too, Nathan," Peter told him quietly. "And he has a hard time controlling it. He says he's found some people who can help him, but… I've got a bad feeling about that."
Nathan's lips quirked in a wry grin. "Are you listening to the Force or something?"
"I'm serious, Nathan," Peter insisted.
Nathan patted his younger brother's back. "I know. And so is Phoebe--serious with worry for you. You need to come inside and reassure her that everything is fine. And we can talk about your friend after the banquet."
Peter smiled crookedly. "Thanks, Nathan."
"No problem, Pete." Nathan walked ahead of his brother into the banquet hall.
As soon as Peter entered the hall, he was met by an exclamation of, "Peter!" Phoebe came rushing to him and flung her arms around him. Smiling, he wrapped his around her as well.
"See? Everything's okay," he told her quietly.
She held him for a few moments longer, then drew back slightly to meet his eyes, studying his face closely. "Peter… What's going on? Whatever it is, you can tell me."
Peter nodded. "I know. I'll tell you after the banquet. I think Nathan's gonna help."
Phoebe sighed with relief, then turned and flashed Nathan a grateful grin.
"Come on, you two," Nathan said, motioning to Peter and Phoebe. "It's almost time for Claire's introduction."
Hiro was not really sure how he and Sasha managed to arrive late, but they did. Giggling, they hurried out of the limousine and up the steps, Hiro leading Sasha carefully. Quieting their laughter, they slipped in the front door of the banquet hall just as Nathan was stepping forward to officially introduce Claire to the world as his daughter.
Hiro was excited. Cameras were flashing at the Petrelli family and Phoebe, and everyone was eager to hear what Nathan had to say. Hiro flashed Claire an encouraging smile, and she grinned back.
"We all make mistakes in our lives," Nathan was saying, his voice resonant and sincere, holding the crowd riveted. "But sometimes, blessings can come from mistakes. Tonight, I want to introduce you to one of the biggest blessings of my life." He took Claire's hand and drew her to his side. "Everyone, this is my daughter, Claire Bennet."
Claire looked down for a moment, blushing at the surprised exclamations from the crowd, then raising her head with a smile as they began to applaud. From the look she gave Peter, Hiro deduced that Claire's uncle had been the one to start the applause.
The guests began pressing close to Claire, all vying to speak to her. Nathan calmly exerted control, keeping the crowd from overwhelming his daughter.
"Hiro!"
Hiro grinned. "Peter Petrelli! How are you?"
He watched from the shadows as the people in the ballroom started to dance. The girl, Claire, had chosen this activity, he was sure. It was her party, after all. He watched as she danced in her father's arms, her eyes wide, their expression caught between hope and doubt. From across the room, the congressman's wife watched, arms crossed. Every once in awhile, she faked a smile at one of the guests, but clearly, she was uneasy.
The watcher grinned crookedly. Interesting.
His attention was caught by the little Asian man and the slender girl whose eyes stared off into nothingness. Obviously, she was blind. They danced rather clumsily around the marble floor, laughing and seeming to enjoy themselves greatly. A cute couple, to be sure.
Another couple also stood out from the crowd. For a moment, something clenched in the watcher's heart as he studied them. Their eyes were locked in a powerful gaze, and something about the way they held each other made him think that there was a transcendent, unearthly love between them. Then the watcher realized that this was her. He should have noticed her resemblance to the photograph in the file in his hands, and also her resemblance to the other one, the woman he had met in Canada. He watched her dance with the congressman's younger brother for a moment longer, then realized that he himself was being watched, by Angela Petrelli.
He quickly tore his gaze from the couple and walked casually toward one of the food tables, hoping to avoid the piercing gaze of the Petrelli matriarch. He glanced over his shoulder quickly to ascertain the position of Claire Bennet, his hands tightening on the file.
Claire was beginning to feel more at ease dancing with Nathan. Naturally, he was a superb dancer, and Claire was glad she had brushed up on her dancing skills with her mother and Mr. Muggles a few days before the banquet.
"Are you enjoying yourself, Claire?" Nathan asked as the music began to change.
Claire nodded, smiling. "I am." The orchestra began to play an instrumental version of a sixties hit, "Baby, I Need Your Lovin.'" Claire loved that song.
For a while, father and daughter danced in silence, then Claire looked up at Nathan, steadily held his gaze, and whispered softly, "Thank-you."
Nathan raised an eyebrow. "For what?"
"For thinking of me. For doing all this." She studied his face closely. "You care. I know that now. I wasn't so sure… before."
"You changed me, Claire," Nathan said quietly, looking down and away from her eyes. "You and Peter. You taught me how to…" He looked up, smile back in place, and they finished the dance in silence. As soon as the song ended, Nathan asked, "Would you like to try some of the food? After all, you picked it out."
Claire smiled gratefully at him. "Sure. Let's get some."
Nathan led his daughter across the floor to one of the food tables. "I did add one item to the menu because it… Well, it made me think of you." He had an odd look on his face, his expression both sheepish and proud. With flourish, he brandished a plate of sweets. "Voila! Chocolate éclair."
Claire giggled, surprised and touched. "How clever!"
"I thought so," said Nathan. Sheepishness was gone, and pride remained in the form of a smug smile.
As she sampled the éclair with Nathan, Claire made up her mind that she could really get to like the man. In fact, she decided they could be friends…
"Nathan."
Claire felt a surge of nervousness as Heidi approached the food table.
"Yes, darling?" Nathan asked politely as Heidi placed a hand on his shoulder.
"May I have the next dance?" Heidi asked, her eyes uncertain.
Nathan glanced quickly at Claire, and she gave him the tiniest of nods. "Certainly," said Nathan, turning back to his wife. He winked at Claire. "Don't go far."
She gave him a smile. "I won't."
And then he was back on the dance floor, this time with Heidi.
Claire sighed, both pleased that her moment with Nathan had gone so well and disappointed that it had ended so soon. She hovered near the desserts, smiling at curious guests and watching the others dance. Hiro and Sasha giggled and stumbled around the dance floor, while Nathan and Heidi danced professionally, but without looking at each other, and Peter and Phoebe glided dreamily, caught up in the romance of the moment. Slowly, Claire made her way to one of the huge, heavily draped windows and peered out between the red velvet curtains. She had expected to see stars and the moon, but instead, she caught a glimpse of dark clouds.
Suddenly, while she was still looking out the window, she felt someone slip something into her hand. She started to turn.
"Don't move!" a man's voice whispered harshly. "Read it. Now."
Frowning, fingers trembling, Claire looked at what had been placed in her hand. It was a yellow paper folder. Slowly, worriedly, she opened it. The first page in the file was titled "John Shoe," and a photograph was clipped to it, the photograph of a man with unruly brown hair and very sad dark eyes. Impatiently, Claire flipped the page, then stared in surprise.
Clipped to the second page was a picture of Phoebe, wearing her favorite pink trench coat and a multi-colored scarf. Claire began to read, and she soon realized that this was a Company document. Obviously, the Company had been shadowing Phoebe.
Claire spun around, angry and full of questions, but there was no one there. Pressing her lips tightly together, she looked back down at the page and continued to read. Something she read on Phoebe's page made her gasp, eyes widening. "So Phoebe is--"
"What are you reading, Claire?"
Claire looked up. Angela was standing in front of her, one eyebrow raised. "Uhm… I'm not actually sure. Someone just… gave this to me." She hesitated, unsure of Angela's intentions.
"Let me see it, Claire." Angela held out a hand.
Instinctively, Claire drew the folder closer to herself and took a step backward.
Angela sighed impatiently. "Claire, if that has anything to do with the Company, then I probably already know everything in it."
Claire wavered for a few seconds, then handed the documents to her grandmother. "Did you already know? About Phoebe?" she asked, watching as Angela flipped through the file.
Angela smiled wryly and met her granddaughter's eyes. "Of course. I've always known."
Sasha was waiting for Hiro at the punch table. He had hurried off to fetch her some cake, and already she was impatient. She was finding it harder and harder to enjoy herself without the sweet little man at her side. She tapped her high-heeled shoes rhythmically against the marble, keeping time with the small orchestra across the room. They were excellent. Sasha had always appreciated good music.
Suddenly, someone, a man she thought, brushed past her. "Excuse me," he mumbled, patting her elbow.
That touch sent sensations of trouble and mischief running up her arm. Sasha was instantly alert, listening for any other sign of the man, but there was none. He was gone. The blind girl felt her heartbeat speed up. That man had dangerous intentions; she had felt it in his touch. And it had something to do with the heroes gathered at the banquet…
"Come on, Hiro! Where are you?" she muttered worriedly. Now she had another reason for wishing he would return.