Title: Car

Pairing/Characters: Noah/Claire

Rating: PG

Summary: Prompt #3 of 20. Dref is my Master and I shall write what she wants me to.

Word Count: 1,389

Date: December 15, 2008

"TAXIE!" Claire Bennet screamed at the top of her lungs. She did not care who saw or heard her because she was frantic. This had been a huge sick and twisted game to Sylar. Had been from the start, she'd concluded, when she'd found her dad, Noah Bennet locked in a level five cell bleeding to death. Sylar had given her the choice... He'd told her to choose the first time, when everyone had been safe and well away from him, all except her. Claire was confident that even though she was not the catalyst anymore, Sylar still couldn't kill her. She'd been right, but his mind frame had changed so much since the day he'd taken her ability that she had no doubt he now wanted to kill her, either that or recruit her... She still wasn't sure of his motives.

So she'd kept Sylar occupied while her dad and Angela Petrelli tried to escape the Company building. Unfortunately Sylar had allies on the inside. Ones he'd allowed to roam free from their cages. Doyle had found Angela while Claire'd been grappling with Sylar, who seemed more interested in her choices of believing and following her father rather than taking over the reigns herself. Thankfully, Doyle had no interest in Angela but detaining her in the cell he'd once occupied. Claire had gotten tired of Sylar's philosophies and had run, but that'd given Sylar time to find her dad before she could.

The next time Sylar had cornered her, he'd been so smug, so damn high and mighty that he hadn't actually hurt her at all. Only tried to pick apart her desires and hopes for the future that was slowly being changed by her real father. Seems Arthur Petrelli hadn't survived the day before and now Nathan was bravely taking over and continuing his father's work. This had surprised Claire enough to have her just stare at the murdering psychopath who held her three feet off the ground by her throat. Her faith had faltered at that point. She'd been drained. Her thoughts were chaotic and questioning. She'd only ever wanted approval from her family, both sides of her family. She'd been strong for them all. She'd survived for them all. She'd done everything for him mostly and Sylar was right. He'd only ever let her down, neglected her.

Slowly anger seeped into her. It replaced the numbness, the hurt, the betrayal, but it wasn't aimed at the person Sylar thought it would be. In a way Sylar's plan had worked. He'd made her go past caring about her own safety. He'd made her mad enough to kill someone, but that someone was not Noah Bennet. Claire's face twisted into a perverse smile as Sylar's hold on her neck broke bones and cut off her oxygen. It was fine. Her facade didn't fade and she was glad to see Sylar's own expression change. He wasn't frightened, would never be frightened of her. His expression held curiosity. He saw the change in her and was very curious to see where it would lead. He dropped her. She healed and ran. Sylar had also been right about her choice. In the end saving her dad was the only choice. Sylar had forced her to become older, stronger, and had opened her eyes to what was really important. Fuck everyone else. She thought as she raced to level five, knowing that's where they'd be. She didn't even glance at Angela who was standing up and banging on the Plexiglas she was locked behind.

Claire's resolve had nearly collapsed when she'd seen the state Sylar had left Noah Bennet in, but it was fine. He'd come back to life from a gun shot to the head with her blood, she could heal him again. It was hard getting someone who wasn't only three feet taller than you, but outweighed you by at least a couple hundred pounds on his feet to help him out. Angela screamed and yelled to be let out, but Claire ignored her. No one meant anything to Claire as the man in her arms did. She reasoned that if her mom and Lyle were in trouble that she'd care about them, but she wasn't so sure. Awkwardly she got Noah out of the building and was now screaming for a cab.

The car drove up and almost took off again as the driver saw the blood everywhere. Claire's hair was matted with it and her purple shirt and pants were soaked with it. Noah was looking less than healthy, but all she needed was a bit of privacy to heal him. She grasped the car handle and yanked it open, grunting as she pushed him onto the back seat. "You want hospital?" The driver asked. Great he's foreign... Claire thought as she practically sat on top of Noah to get in the car herself.

"No..." Claire's heart fluttered at the weak protest from Noah's bloodied lips.

"NO! Just drive!" She shouted at the man, hoping to scare him enough to keep his eyes on the road and not his vehicle's occupants. Claire turned her back to the front of the car and kneeled in the floorboard. Noah had positioned himself on his back and had tried to make room for Claire on the seat.

"Cl... Claire..."

"Shh. Shh... It's alright." She said trying to reassure him. Claire's eyes roamed over the damage. His face was bruised and bloody, like someone had beaten him with a bat, but she knew it'd only been Sylar's fists. Noah's clothes were also singed and burnt from what looked like electricity, which meant that Sylar had Elle's ability. The worst injury though was the gaping bloody hole in the middle of his abdomen. "He didn't want you to survive at all..." Claire said very low with disbelief. Sylar had known she'd choose her dad, had said she would before letting her go, but he'd made it very easy for her to just... Let Noah Bennet die if she'd so wanted it. She was glad she was proving Sylar wrong, but the price was too high. "Sorry dad." She said as she removed his bent glasses from his face and used all her strength to break one of the lens. She didn't carry a knife and though she knew the cabby might have one, couldn't vouch for how sanitary it was. Using the jagged edge of the lens, she sliced her palm open. It started healing immediately. This will take forever if I can't control the speed at which my wound heals... She thought as she lowered her dripping palm.

"No..." Again the weakness behind his voice made her heart ache. His hand was weakly holding her's away from him. Claire could have easily pushed his hand out of the way, but she paused as she looked into his eyes. "Yo... You deserve... A... Life... Without me... S... Sylar's... Right..." She was crying now, but if anything hardened her resolve, it was the mention of that bastard's name. She shoved Noah's hand out of the way, almost roughly and placed her bloodied hand inside the wound. She leaned closer to Noah's face, so that he could see her better. He wasn't wearing his glasses after all.

"What I deserve is you here... So that you can make it all up to me. That's what I deserve. I love you. I won't lose, even if it's only to be selfish." She said as she pulled her hand back out of the wound and sliced it open again. This time she used her other hand to squeeze the blood out before the wound closed. It took three more slices and lots more blood for the gaping wound to close up completely. Noah had stopped fighting her and had finally closed his eyes to sleep. She wiped his brow with her bloodied hand and healed the wound there, listening to his normal breathing. "You will not leave me again..." She said trailing off. She was ready to take the reigns now. She was ready to take control of her own life and the first step was to keep Noah Bennet alive.