Volume Two: Friends with Power

Fall 2007:

Claire: My friendship with Peter grew steadily over the next few weeks. He just kept on surprising me with the depth of his personality. The more I learnt about him, the more I liked him.

Claire was relaxing on a plush white three seater sofa with a magazine, when Heidi walked in. She was wearing a stunning red knee length dress.

"What do you think?" Heidi did a little spin.

"The dress is lovely Heidi, it looks great on you."

Heidi smiled. "Thanks. I'm a little nervous … public appearances always have that effect on me."

Claire nodded. "Knock 'em dead."

Heidi headed back upstairs to finish getting ready. Claire settled back to her magazine as another figure appeared.

"What are you still doing here?" Claire was a little surprised to see Peter. "It's Saturday night … no hot date?"

Peter shrugged. "Babysitting. I normally watch the boys when Nathan and Heidi go out."

"Uncle Duties, huh?"

"Something like that." Peter flopped on the sofa next to her.

"I'm seventeen, I could handle the babysitting."

"I guess they figured you still need babysitting, so they had to get someone more mature to help."

Claire looked at him sideways for a second. "I don't need baby-" she paused as she recognised the grin on his face. "Peter!" She punched him lightly on the arm.

"Ouch! They wanted me to keep you company is all. Besides, they like to know where I am 24/7 ... after, well, you know."

Heidi reappeared with Nathan on her arm.

"Peter," Nathan acknowledged his brother.

Peter nodded and stood up. "Heidi, you look amazing as always." He kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"Thank you," she smiled with confidence now that Nathan was at her side.

"We'll be home late," Nathan told them as he led Heidi towards the front door.

"Okay. Have a good time. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Peter joked.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do?" Claire repeated after her Father and Step-mother had disappeared.

Peter shrugged. "I know how can I say that when I'm an unemployed loser who lives with his brother."

Claire stifled a giggle. "Could be worse, you could be living with your mother!"

"True." Peter's eyes were wide and he visibly shuddered at the thought. "After the whole exploding thing, I think she thought it better that Nathan kept an eye on me."

"You're not really unemployed though ... are you?"

"No, not really. I've had a few jobs through an agency," Peter explained.

Claire didn't quite get it. "So if you're still working then why are you still living here?"

Peter thought for a minute. "I like it, I guess, being part of the family."

Claire nodded.

"And, you're here now. No reason to leave," Peter said before changing the subject. "So what's for dinner, Tex?"

"Nathan gave Rena the night off so ... um, pizza I guess."

"Not in the mood for pizza."

"What then?"

"I might just have to cook." Peter winked at her and then wandered off towards the kitchen.

Claire stood there with her mouth open, unsure of whether she should follow him or not. Curiosity got the better of her and twenty minutes later the Petrelli kitchen was filled with an array of irresistible smells. She was sitting on a barstool watching intently as Peter created a creamy pasta dish with spinach, chicken and bacon.

"Wow, I'm impressed Peter." She planted her elbows on the bench top and rested her head thoughtfully on her hands.

"What's there to be impressed about? It's just a little pasta dish."

Claire made a face. "You haven't seen my severe lack of ability when it comes to cuisine yet. Trust me you're impressive."

Peter laughed. "You must get that from Nathan ... but don't worry, now you're here I'll be able to teach you."

"Really?" She sounded excited.

"Sure, why not? Here, try this." Peter held out a small wooden spoon with a creamy white sauce on it.

"Ohhhhmmmmmmmm." Claire made small noises of ecstasy as she let the taste swirl around her mouth. "Wow."

Peter smiled proudly. "It's ready then. Will you help the boys wash up please?"

"I will do anything for some more of that pasta!"

Peter: After that night, Claire and I spent many hours together in that kitchen, creating havoc and delicious dishes. It was just one of the many things we did together during that first year.

Claire: It was astounding to me, how quickly I settled in to life with the Petrellis. The first few months went quickly. I started my senior year at school and made friends easily. One with whom I became almost inseparable, when I wasn't with Peter, of course. Her name was Becca and our other friends said we looked almost identical. I can see how they thought that, same height, blonde hair, eye colour one shade apart and the same stupid dimples when we smiled. On the inside, no one knew how different I really was. Everything, that first year, was exactly what I had been hoping for. I had a loving family, friends and some normality to my existence.

Peter: It was an assumed agreement between Nathan, Claire and I that we weren't to actively use our powers since suspicions had been raised by the events at Kirby Plaza the previous year. However, one night, curiosity got the better of us.

"It was a dark and stormy night ..." Peter said, menacingly.

"Quit it, Peter," Claire hissed and waved the torch in his direction. "This basement gives me the creeps."

"Yes. It must be in the building code somewhere that fuse boxes are always located in the deepest darkest corner of old houses."

"What?"

"It's so that the lovely young damsel can easily be put in a position where the bad guy can stalk her in the darkness."

"Right," Claire said, unimpressed.

Suddenly, something impacted against the tiny basement window with a thud.

Claire squealed and jumped at the noise. Her leg banged against something cold and hard in the darkness. "Ow," she cried out, dropping the touch and forcing the deep black to return.

"Just a tree branch," Peter laughed and turned towards the sound of her voice in the darkness. "Did that really hurt or is saying 'ow' just like a reflex for you now?"

"No. It really does hurt just not for long. But, don't you know this? I mean, you've got my ability too."

"Yeah, but I have to concentrate to use it. It seems somewhat automatic for you."

"Got it." Peter flicked the switch and after a few seconds the lights flickered and came back on.

Claire was squatting on the floor holding her shin and when she moved her hand, Peter could see a small skin tear. After a few moments it disappeared before his eyes.

"Cool. My turn," Peter said, looking around for something to injure himself with. After a few seconds he spotted a pair of rusted old hedge clippers.

Claire looked at him in disbelief. "You're not ... are you?"

"Yeah, why not? I don't know if it'll work ... it has been awhile." Peter turned away from her.

"Peter ... you know what Nath-" Her sentence was broken by a hair-raising scream from Peter. "Peter?" She sprang from the floor and moved to his location.

He turned to reveal a bloodied stump where his left hand should be.

"Oh my God, Peter ... Are you-" The grin on his face stopped her from further expressing her concern. "You bastard!"

"I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself."

Claire made a face. "This is why I hate Halloween."

"Aww. C'mon Tex. It was just a little joke."

"For you maybe," Claire said grumpily. "You had this little power cut stunt planned all along didn't you?"

"No, I swear. It was just a coincidence."

"Sure it was." Claire looked at him suspiciously. "Okay, so now we know you can still use my ability, what about the other ones?"

Peter looked serious for a moment. "Aww, Claire I really don't know if we should be messing around like this."

"So it's alright for you to bend the rules, but not me?"

"It's complicated."

"Whatever, Peter. Clearly, you've managed to 'master' my ability without even trying; you must be able to show me more of your repertoire."

Peter frowned at her.

"Please."

"You know begging is not a good look for you."

"Conformist."

Together they made their way back upstairs. Claire stepped through the door into the kitchen. She turned around to say something to Peter only to discover he had disappeared.

"Peter? ... Pete?" she called. "This isn't funny." She heard a noise behind her and she quickly spun around, but there was no one there. She put her hands on her hips. "I know you're there, bright spark, I can smell your aftershave."

Peter materialised in front of her. "Bright spark huh? Watch this ..." Peter send a small white spark of electricity across the kitchen hitting a container of utensils on the way. They watched, wide eyed as the intense heat caused a wooden spoon to burst into flames and a spatula to melt.

"Oh shit, Peter!" Claire gasped, rushing forward to put out the fire.

"Oops," was all Peter could manage to say.

Claire thrust the smoldering kitchen items in the sink and immersed them in cold water. "Nice one." Claire gave him an angry stare before looking back and giving him a grin. "That was so cool. Where did you get that one from?"

"I have my secrets." Peter grabbed his nose. "Yuck, it stinks in here. We're never going to get the smell out of here before everyone gets home."

"No kidding," Claire started laughing. "We'll just have to tell them I was cooking."

Peter couldn't help but join in on her contagious laughter. They spent the next hour tidying and filling the burnt air with a floral fragrance. Afterwards, they look a break on the roof.

"The view up here is amazing." Claire had an excited expression on her face.

"Yeah I know. I come up here a lot."

"You do? What about not using your powers?"

"I climb."

"Yeah right."

"Okay, I don't climb. But, now you know my little secret, I'm not the only one bending the rules."

"Partners in crime," Claire agreed. A moment of silence passed between them before Claire could no longer contain her curiosity. "Seriously, you've been using all this time?"

Peter smirked proudly, but said nothing.

AN: Edited 12/11.