PETER
HIS APARTMENT, NEW YORK
"I know I've already called today, but I thought that I'd just try again…" Peter paused, wondering if there was anything he could say to Claire that he hadn't said yet that might make her listen to him for once. "Well, here I am trying again…Claire…please call me back sometime. Please." He let out a sigh and hung up the phone.
A knock on his door distracted him before he had a chance to sink too far into his depression over yet another rejection from Claire. He opened the door without checking the visitor's identity and was a little surprised to find Sarah standing there with a smile.
"Sarah…hey…"
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I probably should have called before just stopping by like this…" she still lingered in the hallway, looking a little uncertain. "I'm sorry…you're totally confused right now…I should go maybe…"
"No, it's fine," he stepped aside and invited her into his apartment with a slight nod of the head.
"Thanks," she stepped in, but stayed close to the door with her arms crossed over her chest. Her bright brown eyes scanned the front room, not making contact with Peter. "I'm sorry," she said again. "I didn't mean to barge in on you. I mean, you barely know me at all, but I just needed to see you…"
"It's really fine," he shut the door and walked further into the room, expecting her to follow him. When she didn't, he turned around and faced her bluntly with his hands on his hips. "Look Sarah, I don't mean to be rude, but what exactly are you doing here?"
"Earlier when you came with me to see Claude, I could feel your pain."
"My pain?" He shook his head, no longer willing to hide his frustration. "Look Sarah, this really isn't any of your business. So if you've come over here just to be a friend, give me a shoulder, and all that, you might as well leave now."
She stared at him for a moment. Her dark eyes were penetrating and made Peter a little uncomfortable, but he didn't look away. Clicking her tongue piercing against her teeth she shrugged and smiled.
"You're good at being the strong, lone ranger type," she told him. "It's charming, really, but it's not going to help you win this fight that's coming."
"Lone ranger?" Peter scoffed and finally broke eye contact with her. He headed to the kitchen and took a beer from the fridge.
"Drinking alone?" Sarah had followed him.
"What? You want one?"
"If you're offering, sure," she smiled and took the beer from his hand.
He looked a little surprised for a moment, but then took another one from the fridge for himself. "Okay, so this pain that you're feeling in me…" he popped the top of his bottle and took a drink. "What's it feel like?"
"You know better than I do," she told him. "The only trouble is, I can tell that you're not dealing with it. It's completely consuming you, but you're pretending that it's not, which is only making it more dangerous."
"Now it's dangerous," he laughed a little.
"It can be."
He frowned at how serious her tone was. "Did Claude send you here to check up on me?"
"No. He doesn't know I'm here. Nobody does," she set down her beer after only a couple of sips. "I'm worried about you Peter."
"You don't even know me!" His mind flashed to the future that he had visited, when Sarah had seemed to know him so well and he let himself consider what sort of relationship they had had, or would have, before that future could exist. The way she had hugged him…it wasn't easy to forget. There was so much emotion and attachment in that single hung. It was the way he knew he would hug Claire if she gave him a chance to see her again—as if he would never let go. Did Sarah and I have a relationship? Or are we going to? The difference in time traveling was confusing his mind and so he tried to stop thinking about it.
"Claude told me that you've agreed to join our team."
"In theory," he agreed. "I'm willing to help protect the world, but don't expect to see me at a lot of group functions."
"Not a big joiner?"
"I haven't felt in the mood for people lately."
Sarah analyzed him for a minute and frowned. "No, you haven't. You've wanted to be alone…or with someone…just one person…that's the pain I'm feeling—loneliness and loss. You've lost someone that you can't get back…"
"Stop that," he snapped. "My feelings are private."
"I'm sorry, but it's my ability. I can't just stop it. Besides, your pain is a little hard to ignore."
Peter resented Sarah's invasiveness and he finally started to understand why Claire used to get so upset with him for reading her thoughts without permission. When Sarah started focusing on him again, he decided to use her ability against her. It had been a while since he had adopted a new power and he wasn't sure how quickly he'd be able to tap into it, but he was determined to try, if only to spite her. While she still focused on him, he started focusing on her, taking deep breaths and clearing his mind. He tried to push aside his own emotions so he could feel hers and after a minute he started feeling something new. It was a strange sensation, different than reading minds, mainly because he heard nothing, but also because it wasn't so much a sudden hearing, but it was rather like a sudden awareness. He felt what she was feeling as though there were waves emanating off of her.
"Who are you angry at?" Peter asked her.
"What?"
"You're very angry. I can feel it. You are angry enough to kill! What's happened to make you so angry?"
Sarah glared at him. "None of your damn business!"
"See, emotions are personal," Peter jabbed a finger in her direction.
"You took my power!"
"I did. It's my ability, and I can't stop it."
"Touché," she smiled slightly. "Okay, let's cut the crap and get down to it."
"Sounds good to me."
Peter walked over to the couch, this time with Sarah beside him, and they both took a seat. He continued drinking his beer, and she had retrieved hers before leaving the kitchen, so she now took a few sips as well before speaking.
"Claude thinks you're the answer to all our problems," she told him. "I think he sees you as some white knight or superhero or something."
"And you don't?"
"I don't know what I think. I don't know you, but I do know Claude. He has a good heart, and I know that he has a good mission, and I am devoted to it completely. If he believes that you are important to saving the world, then I have to believe you are too," she decided.
"Then why are you so hesitant to accept me?" She was taking so long to get to the point that Peter was tempted to read her thoughts, but decided to refrain and let her speak openly. He thought it might help build trust with her.
"Despite Claude's good intentions, I don't know if he's always right."
"You think he might be too trusting sometimes?"
"I don't know, maybe."
"How long have you known Claude?" Peter asked suddenly. "How did you meet and how did he recruit you to his cause?"
Sarah looked a little surprised by the sudden turn in conversation, but obliged Peter by answering his questions easily. "He found me at school. I'm currently working on my masters in psychology at NYU."
"Impressive," Peter commented.
"Thank you," she took the compliment happily. "I work part time as a high school guidance counselor. It might be considered cheating, but my ability helps me read people. There's another girl who works with us, her name's Julianne…"
"Yea, I met her."
"You did? When?"
"In the future."
"Right…" Sarah was clearly just as confused about time traveling as Peter was, but she let it slide by without too much contemplation. "Anyway, Jules can sense people who have abilities, and so she's how Claude found me, and quite a few of the others, actually. He approached me after class one day and gave me a proposition to 'save the world' with him. It was catchy and I couldn't ignore it, so he gave me a number and after a couple days I gave him a call. I've been hooked ever since."
"So, ho long has it been?"
"Almost five months."
"Five months," he nodded. "That's not bad. Now see when I met Claude last year, he didn't have any groupies."
"Groupies?" She scoffed.
"And when I met him, he was a mess. He was living on his own with no friends, no connections, no responsibility, and absolutely no mission. I'm not saying it to brag or anything, but if he hadn't met me, I think he might still be without a mission. Helping me helped him, and consequently the world. So if you don't want to trust me that's just fine, but if Claude's got a mission, then so do I. Got it?"
She nodded silently.
"Good," he sat back and finished off his beer in a long gulp. "So, feel like telling me why you're so angry?"
"I'm not…"
"You can't lie to me Sarah," he cut her off. "Not only can I now sense your emotions, but I can also read thoughts." He noticed her shocked expression and quickly defended himself. "I'm not reading your thoughts, and I haven't yet, but if you continue to lie to me I might give in to temptation."
She took a long sip of her beer and then gave in to his questions. "I had a twin brother."
"Had?"
"He disappeared last year."
"Disappeared?"
"You're echoing me like a parrot. Stop it."
"Sorry, please continue."
"My brother vanished last year, without a trace," she explained. "I searched for him for months, doing all that I could…but then the cops gave up, and eventually I had to give up too. There was just no hope. I didn't have the resources or the ability…and so I've been trying to cope with that for a while now. My parents died a few years ago and my brother was all I had. We've always been very close."
"I'm so sorry Sarah," Peter was genuinely sympathetic to her feelings in this matter. "I can imagine how hard it must have been for you to lose him, especially not knowing what happened…"
"When I met Claude he told me about an organization that kidnapped people with abilities."
"Yes, I've had the misfortune of crossing paths with them." Peter started to put the puzzle together. "Claude thinks the Company took your brother."
"Yes."
"And so you joined ranks with him in order to face off against the Company?"
"And to save the world."
"Right, to save the world," Peter nodded. "I guess we have something in common then."
"Claude also mentioned that you knew a little something about the Company."
"Yea, like I said I've had my run-ins."
"He mentioned that your mom was involved?"
"Umm," Peter stood suddenly and walked away from the couch, turning his back on her. "Yea, that's complicated. I'm not really sure how she fits into it all yet, but I'd like to believe she's an innocent party in the whole business."
"I hope for your sake that's true," Sarah told him sincerely.
Peter looked at her for a minute and without even thinking about it he had invaded her private thoughts and couldn't stop himself from listening in.
There is so much pain in his eyes. I can feel it too, but I'm trying not to. It's almost too painful to bear. God, I wish I could take away some of his pain.
He pulled himself out of her mind abruptly and smiled unintentionally. She returned the smile slightly, though looked a little uncertain about why she was even doing it.
"Well, I guess I should go now…" she stood suddenly. "I've intruded long enough."
Peter stood as well and walked her to the door. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For coming over here tonight," Peter explained.
She smiled wider. "Really? You're cool with it?"
"Yea," he nodded and opened the door. "I'm cool with it. I wasn't at first, trust me, but I think it was good for me to have you here tonight."
"I'm glad," she told him. "Well…" she took a step outside of his apartment. "I'll see you later then."
"Yea, you will." He watched her head down the hallway and disappear around the corner before closing himself back in his apartment.
NIKI & CLAIRE
NEW YORK CITY
"Hi honey! It is so good to see you!"
"I know, it's been ages," Claire agreed as she gave Niki a hug.
"I'm glad you called me," Niki smiled and linked arms with Claire as they headed into the café where they had met for lunch. "I was starting to wonder if you had forgotten all about me."
"Of course not!" Claire directed them towards the counter and hostess seated them. Things have just been so crazy lately. You know I moved in with my dad—my real dad—so I've been adjusting to that whole thing. Plus school has been crazy, and cheer…"
"I know," Niki cut her off. "I wasn't actually blaming you. I just meant that I've missed our little lunch dates."
"Me too," Claire smiled and relaxed. "So tell me all the updates. How are DL and Micah?"
"Good…they're both good. DL's job is going very well. Micah is still the smartest little guy in the world, but he's been lonely without Molly."
"Oh I'm sure he has," Claire sympathized. "They were so close. I spent Saturday with her and she misses him a lot too. I mean, of course they still have school together, but since they no longer come home together, she says they don't really have much time to play."
"I feel bad about having to separate them, but things at home have just become a little uncertain and I feel Molly would be better off somewhere else."
"I understand completely," Claire tried to reassure her. "It's the same way I felt when I asked you to take Molly. I'm sure she understands too."
The waiter arrived and the girls placed their orders before speaking again.
"So, you're living with Nathan now…"
Claire confirmed with a nod.
"How's that going?" Niki asked. "Do you enjoy it?"
"Umm, yea," Claire tried to paste on her most believable smile. "He's great, or well at least he tries, but I think it's been difficult for him to adjust to having a teenage girl in the house."
"At least he's trying."
"Yea, he is," Claire agreed. "And the boys are adorable! At first I was a little nervous they wouldn't want me as their sister, but they genuinely like me!"
"Well of course they do," Niki laughed. "You are a very likeable person!" After a slight silence, she asked with a bit of awkwardness: "What's his wife like?"
"Heidi's incredible," Claire gushed instantly. "I know that she wasn't thrilled to discover her husband had a kid with another woman, but she adjusted very well. Honestly I think she has been the best part of the whole thing. Obviously I miss my mom a lot, but Heidi has made sure that I don't feel completely alone, you know? She's been great."
"That's good," Niki smiled a little. "It's good she's nice."
"Have you ever met her?"
"No," she answered quickly.
"You have met Nathan though right? I can't remember if you were at the meeting that one time…" Claire paused. "That was a long time ago, but you were both there I think…"
"Yes, I've met Nathan."
"He's pretty great, isn't he?" Claire continued. "A little obsessed with his politics and sometimes he forgets he's not the only person in the world, but he's sweet and he really cares about me and his family."
"It's lucky you have him."
"Yea, it really is."
"So, why did you leave Peter's?"
"What?" Claire had been so determined not to let that subject come up that she hadn't anticipated Niki starting it.
"You two always seemed so close, it's just surprising that you left his apartment."
"I know…" she sighed. "It definitely wasn't planned. To be honest, I wish it hadn't happened. I…I really miss him."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really…" Claire answered instinctively, but even as she said it, she realized that what she had been wanting for the past month was exactly that: someone to talk to. "It's just very complicated."
"Trust me, nobody understands complicated like I do!"
Claire smiled at Niki's gracious offer and for a moment she felt an urge to be completely honest and tell Niki exactly what had caused her rift with Peter.
"It's not that I don't trust you," Claire explained. "Or even that I don't want to tell you…I do actually. I haven't told anyone about it yet though, and it's difficult for me to even think about on my own. I'm not sure I should talk about it. It's very personal."
Niki had suddenly become very silent. Claire noticed her eyes had momentarily shifted out of focus and her lips had lost their forced smile.
"Niki?" Claire frowned. "Is something wrong?"
The older blonde looked back at Claire and her thin lips twisted up into a smile. "I love personal…"
Claire thought the tone of Niki's voice was a little strange, but since she was being so encouraging and Claire was so desperate to speak, she relented to her desire and spilled the great secret she had been keeping so shamefully.
"Peter kissed me."
Niki raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Was he bad?"
"What?" Whatever the response Claire had been expecting, this was not it.
"Was he a bad kisser?"
"Oh my god…that's so not the point…" Claire shook her head. "Peter kissed me. I mean, he was drunk and I know he didn't mean to do it, but a part of him clearly had thought about it and wanted to do it…I couldn't stay with him obviously after that…"
"Why not?"
"Because he kissed me." She couldn't understand what part of her statement was being lost on Niki.
"Did you enjoy the kiss?" Niki asked.
"I..." Claire couldn't answer.
"It's okay to admit it," Niki told her. "It makes sense. You said Peter was drunk when he kissed you, so it's something you should have been able to forgive and forget without a second thought. If you had wanted to, you could even have pretended it had never happened. He undoubtedly would have supported that decision. And yet, you chose to run away from the situation."
"Of course I ran away from him! He kissed me!" Claire hoped she wouldn't have to repeat it again.
"But did you run simply because he kissed you or because you wanted him to?"
"I didn't want him to…" she spoke very quietly. "He's my uncle."
"And you have been living with him for a while, by yourself, becoming very close to him…it makes sense that you would have developed romantic feelings for him."
"I didn't," Claire insisted. "It was his mistake, and I left because I wasn't sure if I could trust him anymore."
"Was it Peter you couldn't trust, or yourself?"
"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Claire decided. "And please, promise me you'll never tell anyone! Nathan can never know…"
"Sweetie, I don't want to burst your little bubble, but your dad's not exactly a saint himself."
"I…I never said hew as a saint, but he's been so good to me…" she paused to consider the strange expression on Niki's face. "Why do you say that about him though? I mean, you've only met him once, right?"
"That's what he'd like you to believe."
"What does that mean?"
There was another brief silence while the waiter delivered the food. During the quiet, Claire watched Niki's unfailing smile. There was something different about her smile. There was something different about her smile somehow—a bit of the sweetness was gone. When the waiter left, Claire repeated her earlier question.
"Sure you want to know?" Niki asked, still smiling. "I'm not sure you can handle it."
"Niki, you're not making sense. What do you know about Nathan?"
Without losing her smile, she gave Claire her answer. "He and I met in Las Vegas, and let's just say I got to know him very well that night…in his hotel room…"
"You're not serious!" Claire felt the sudden desire to leap to her feet, but she restrained herself for the moment. "He would never…"
"And yet, he did."
"But how could he?" Claire shook her head. "How could you? What about DL?"
"What he doesn't know can't hurt him."
"I cannot believe I'm hearing this!"
"Yea, I didn't think you'd be able to handle it. You are just a child after all."
"Stop it," Claire glared angrily. "I'm not a child. I'm just a little shocked to hear you talking so casually about having an affair."
"It didn't mean anything," Niki explained. "It was a one time thing. For me it was just an assignment—a job. For him, however, it was a personal choice…"
"I don't want to hear about this any more. What Nathan decides to do in his personal life doesn't concern me…" she was lying to herself, hoping Niki wouldn't see through her emotional barrier.
"Look honey, I'm just saying, don't put him on a pedestal too easily."
Claire fell quiet and stared at her food not feeling very hungry anymore.
"Make sure and give him my love when you get home."
"I don't think this is very funny, Niki," Claire told her bitterly. "Nathan is my dad and even though Heidi is like, well, technically my third mom, I still feel very close to her and I hate to think how she would feel if she knew…" suddenly it hit her. She understood why Nathan had been sleeping in the guest room and why he and Heidi had been awkward around each other since the day Claire had moved in. "For your sake Niki, I hope DL never finds out what you and Nathan did."
PETER & HEIDI
PETER'S APARTMENT
"Wow, hi Heidi…I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you…" Peter didn't budge from the doorway. "Did Nathan send you? Or Claire maybe?"
She motioned for him to stand aside so she could enter. He did so reluctantly, but finally realized he had no choice if he wished to hear her purpose in being there. When he had offered her a seat on the couch and a glass of wine, she started to talk.
"When Nathan lied to me about the blonde woman he was visiting in Vegas, why did you defend him? Actually, if I remember correctly, you came up with the story for him."
"I did," he agreed. "Heidi, I didn't want to hurt you, but that was not the appropriate time or place for you to learn of your husband's betrayal."
"And he is your brother. You have your loyalty to him to consider," Heidi reminded him.
"No," he disagreed easily. "My loyalty to my brother doesn't make me ignore that what he did was wrong. I hate him for hurting you."
"That's good of you to say, but I understand if you feel the need to side with him."
"I'm not taking sides."
"Fine," Heidi held up her hands to surrender the conversation. "I didn't actually come here to talk about me and Nathan."
"I have a feeling I don't want to talk about that…" Peter stood and went to the kitchen to find himself a beer.
"Peter," Heidi stood and followed him into the kitchen. "Claire has been staying with us for a whole month now and we still don't even know why. Her boyfriend is over nearly every day and she's got her school and cheer, but she never smiles anymore. She's changed Peter, and I know you're the reason."
"Yea, I know that too," Peter told her.
"Peter, please, tell me what happened between you two."
"Absolutely not. It's none of your business. What happened is between Claire and me."
"But it's effecting everyone. You can't come for dinner anymore and her mood is making Nathan miserable. He thinks he's failing as a father."
"Why do you care? I thought you weren't speaking to him."
"I'm still living at home. We are trying to keep up appearances for the boys. Besides, I don't care," she insisted. "I just thought you might care."
Peter put his untouched beer down on the counter and faced Heidi. "I do care. That's just it. I care too much."
"I don't understand."
"I care about Claire."
"Good, then you should care about how miserable she is."
"You don't understand."
She considered his expression for a moment and then took a step back. "You care for her romantically."
His silence was her answer.
"I should have known. I should have seen it," Heidi returned to the couch and sat down. "All the moping and anger…you're in love with her!"
"So you see the problem, right? I mean listen to what you said: I love her. She's my niece Heidi!" He laughed suddenly. "God, I should be arrested."
"You haven't done anything wrong. It's just a feeling, and I can understand how hard it must have been for you to be living with her and growing so close to her…" she paused. "I know she cares about you too Peter. I can tell because she cries every time you call."
"She still hasn't returned any of my calls."
"She's upset Peter," Heidi reminded him. "What I don't know is why she's so upset with you. What happened?"
He hesitated and then dropped onto the couch beside her and covered his face with his hands. "I kissed her."
"Oh God…" Heidi reached out a hand and put it on his shoulder. "You shouldn't have done that…but Peter, you can't hate yourself either."
"How can I not?" Peter was on the verge of tears, but he did his best to fight them off. "The way she looked at me…I had betrayed her and hurt her…it's unforgivable."
"No Peter, she's a very understanding person, but she has been wounded and it will take her time to heal."
"How much time?"
"Only she knows that." Heidi stood and came around to face him. "Peter, I have to ask…"
"What?" he looked up with a defensive scowl.
"If she were to forgive you and come back…" she paused and seemed momentarily to reconsider, but then continued. "Would you feel tempted to kiss her again?"
"No!" He nearly screamed, making Heidi take another step away from him.
"I didn't mean to upset you…"
"No, Heidi, seriously," he persisted loudly. "It was a mistake! I was upset and completely drunk and it just happened…I wasn't thinking…it would never…I would never let it happen again."
"All right," Heidi stopped him. "I believe you. And eventually she will too. Just have patience and don't give up on her. The friendship that you two used to have was too great to lose. I'm sure she knows that."
"Yea?" Peter sighed and grasped Heidi's hands. "I hope so."
"I have to go. The boys are going to be done with school soon and I promised to pick them up today."
"Right," he stood to walk her to the door. "Thank you. And Heidi, if you think Claire should forgive me for my stupidity, maybe you should reconsider forgiving Nathan."
She smiled a little and left without another word.