Disclaimer: I don't Heroes, and the fundamental concept of this story was inspired by rain and leaves' "Four Months Later" and is used with his permission

Feedback: I'd like it, trust me

AN: Not sure about this chapter, but I still feel it has a certain something; things will REALLY start to get VERY interesting for Paire fans in the next one, though, I can assure you of that…

A Leap to Safety

As Claire lay up in her bedroom, her arms wrapped around her pillow as she sobbed uncontrollably on her bed, she still couldn't believe how badly things had turned out.

She'd known that Peter would freak once he learned who he was if the two of them had… done anything, of course; she just hadn't expected him to go this… far when he remembered when all they'd done was kiss (But God, those kisses had been incredible…)

Dumping her back home was one thing, but just… leaving her like that when he'd only just remembered who he was barely five minutes ago?

She wasn't sure what that said about his reaction; was he disgusted at her for not telling him about their real relationship, or himself for feeling that way?

She almost wished it was the first one; Peter didn't deserve to hate himself for her leading him on. He hadn't done anything wrong; he was a good, kind, brave person who'd only ever wanted to help others…

God, I'm a mess… she thought, prompting a fresh wave of sobbing at that thought; how could things have become so messed up? You weren't supposed to feel like someone had scooped out your heart and poured acid into the hole because your uncle had just decided to get rid of you like this…

But then again, rationality had never been Claire's strong point even before she'd acquired the ability to heal; the fact that she'd tested her ability by trying to kill herself was proof enough of that, after all.

Hell, she was just grateful that she'd managed to hold things together long enough to set up an alibi for why she'd come back so early; she called May to say that her rendezvous with her 'boyfriend' had been cut short due to him having a 'work crisis', while asking May to tell her parents if they rang that the cheerleading thing (Claire couldn't even precisely remember what excuse she'd given now) had been called off due to some of the supervisors being ill, before she simply hurried up to the room to try and cry out the worst of her pain before somebody got back.

She still hadn't figured out what she was going to say about Peter's absence, of course, but right now the best thing she could think of was to say that he'd remembered enough about his old life to feel comfortable with leaving them to find his family and pick up the rest of what he needed to get back from them (She'd have been perfectly happy to pretend she didn't know where he had gone, of course- the better to conceal what they'd been up to- but she had a feeling her dad would just get overly paranoid about it if she wasn't able to provide an explanation).

Family

God, she never would have thought that word could sound like such a curse as it did when it was referring to her and Peter.

If only they weren't related…

If only she wasn't his brother's daughter…

If only…

The sound of a door opening downstairs forced Claire to collect herself; even if she didn't feel up to going anywhere right now, she would definitely start attracting the wrong kind of interest if somebody came in and found her as she was right now.

As she shifted her position on the bed to make it look as though she'd just fallen asleep while reading something- fortunately a school textbook had been left on the desk by her bed; she wouldn't need to worry about getting up to get anything-, she vaguely heard footsteps coming towards her room, turning her back so that she was facing away from the door just as it opened.

"Claire?" her mom's voice said, walking slightly into the room only to stop, apparently mid-way between the door and the bed. "Are you OK?"

"Mmm?" Claire said, trying to sound like she was still slightly tired as she spoke, her voice half-directed at her pillow to increase the chance that her mom wouldn't notice that she'd been crying. "Yeah… fine… just…", she paused briefly to yawn before she continued to speak, "tired… long trip…"

"Oh," her mom said, thankfully sounding apologetic rather than anything else; at least she probably wouldn't ask Claire any more questions about what she'd been doing in that case. "Well… do you need anything?"

"Just want to…" Claire said, her voice low as she yawned again before continuing, "rest a bit… OK?"

"Sure," her mom said, a slightly sympathetic tone to her voice. "You just rest up as long as you want; I'll let you know when dinner's ready, OK?"

"Thanks…" Claire replied, allowing herself another brief yawn before she moved to snuggle slightly into her pillow once again, waiting until her mom had left her room before she allowed the faintest tears to trickle from her eyes once again.

She'd bought herself some time before she had to face anyone.

All she needed now was to be able to use that time the way she had to use it and get over her current emotional mess…


Even looking back at the day's events in hindsight, Nathan Petrelli was never entirely sure how he'd reached a point where such a surreal chain of events appeared normal. After learning that his currently-missing brother was alive but with nobody having even the slightest clue where he was, he'd then had to deal with a woman with superhuman strength going nuts as the result of some psycho telepath trying to trick her, followed by the son of the aforementioned telepath trapping his deranged father in his own nightmare to save his adopted daughter from the same problem…

The weirdest part of all that was that none of that felt particularly weird any more; after learning that he could fly and his brother knew someone who could paint the future, things had reached a point where even the strangest things actually seemed almost normal.

What he hadn't been expecting was that, as he sat in his new ally's apartment, Matt going over the facts they had in an attempt to piece them together while he just sought some time away from the insanity that his life had become lately- Molly Hayes was currently back at school while Doctor Suresh was still doing… whatever he did… back at the Company-, there would be a sudden crashing sound from another room, followed by a voice muttering something that Nathan couldn't quite hear.

He didn't need to hear what the voice was saying to recognise it, however; even after four months, the memory of the last time he had heard that voice speak to him remained clear in his memory.

"Is that…?" Matt asked, looking curiously up at Nathan, all thoughts of their current investigation briefly forgotten with this latest turn of events.

Nathan didn't even bother replying; leaping to his feet, he hurried into the next room of the flat, his eyes widening in amazement at the sight before him; his brother, dressed in grey sweats that looked like something you'd get in a prison or medical facility- generic clothing you'd never wear if you had an actual choice in your apparel-, was curled up on the floor, sobbing bitterly.

"Peter?" Nathan said, staring incredulously at his miraculously-returned brother as he lay on the floor of the room, the faint bruises from where he must have hit the ground- and what had he been doing teleporting into mid-air?- already healing as he cried, his tears displaying a depth of emotional pain that Nathan wasn't sure he'd ever seen Peter- or, indeed, anyone- display before this moment.

"Oh God…" Peter whispered, apparently unaware of even the presence of the two men standing over him as they stared in shock, his eyes tightly shut as he sobbed into his hands. "I love her… I love her… I love her…"

Nathan wasn't sure what to think about this latest turn of events; Peter turning up alive was unexpected enough, but now he was talking about loving someone like it was the end of the world?

"Look," he said, glancing over slightly uncomfortably at Matt- he hated having to rely on the other man for something this personal, but with Peter having not even glanced in their direction it looked like Parkman was the only way he was going to find out what he needed to know if he was going to even try and help his brother-, "sorry to have to ask this, but any chance you could…"

"Find out what he's talking about?" Matt replied, shrugging slightly as he turned his attention back to Peter. "I'll try, but I can't make any promises; the last time I tried this both of us just ended up with headaches…"

Focusing his attention on the man before him, Matt narrowed his eyes slightly in the manner that Nathan had come to associate with him accessing his ability, only to step back a few seconds later with one hand pressed to his forehead, discomfort evident on his face. "Damn…"

"Anything?" Nathan asked anxiously.

"Nothing," Matt countered, shaking his head at the other man. "Whatever's happened to him, he's… well, he's somehow blocking me; I can't find anything about where he's been or what he did…"

Stepping back slightly from Peter's still-shaking body, Matt sighed regretfully before he indicated the nearby bed. "Look, maybe we should just try and let him rest; from what I did pick up, I think he just… well, he needs some time to himself to think about… whatever he found out."

For a moment Nathan was about to offer an alternative suggestion- they had access to the Company's resources right now, and they were certainly owed a favour or two after taking out Maury Parkman-, but then he recalled the Company's failure to 'treat' Molly after Maury had trapped her in her own nightmare- to say nothing of what Bob Bishop had implied about their interest in Peter due to his power- and swiftly decided against it; right now, the only person he'd trust his brother's safety with was himself.

If Peter didn't show signs of improvement later on, then he'd consider other measures; right now, it looked like the best thing they could do for Peter was give him time to get over the shock of whatever had happened to him.

He just wished he knew who Peter was talking about right now; maybe if he knew the name of the woman who'd left him in this state, it would help him figure out how to help his brother…


A couple of hours later, Claire sat on a sofa in the main living area of the new house- it was still too early to think of this place as anything but new- trying to focus on reading the book she had been assigned for class without letting her thoughts drift back to the subject that she should not be thinking about.

God, why had she been so stupid? What had she been thinking? If she'd just had enough strength of will to stop Peter from kissing her…

The problem was that she hadn't had the strength of will necessary to stop him. He was just…

God, when she'd seen him in the future after being terrified she was going to be trapped there…

She'd completely forgotten all her reasons why she shouldn't let him get too close and given into temptation like that-

"Where have you been?" a voice said, prompting Claire to glance up and see her dad standing over her, a solemn expression on his face as he glared at her that gave no indication how he really felt about his current line of questioning.

"I told you," she said, taking care to sound casual, "there was a cheerleading thing-"

"This soon after you've joined the team?" her dad interjected, his expression shifting slightly to convey a certain suspicion that could have been mere idle curiosity or something far more serious.

"They needed people-" Claire began (God, she really needed to work on her cover stories!).

"You go away on the same day that Peter vanishes and you honestly think I won't notice?" her dad countered, his arms folded as he glared at her in a more authoritative manner.

"Peter's a grown man, Dad-" Claire started to say, knowing that it wouldn't help her case even as she said it;

"He doesn't know what he can do-" her dad continued, his tone making it clear that he regarded Claire as foolish for not taking further precautions.

"He remembers, OK?" Claire countered, standing up to better look her dad in the eyes (God, why did she have to be so damn short?), offended at the implication that she'd just let Peter leave on a whim. "He remembers who he is, he knows what he can do, and he's gone-"

"Gone where, Claire?" her dad countered, his voice raising as he glared at her. "Did you even bother to find out where he was going before you let him fly off to… wherever he is now? This isn't a game; your tiny rebellions are putting this family in danger!"

"Me?" Claire retaliated, finally feeling like she had reached the point where she wasn't going to take any more; she'd been put through the emotional wringer lately, and how her dad had the nerve to imply that she didn't care about her family? "What about you, Dad? You think any of us really believe that you were out at a copy conference? Where were you, out abducting people?"

It was only after Claire had said those words that she realised she genuinely believed that.

Even after everything he'd said about staying undercover and getting away from the past, she knew that her dad was still working

"What is going on down here?" her mom's voice suddenly said, cutting into the temporary tense silence that had settled over the two of them as she came down the stairs.

"What did Claire do this time?" Lyle added as he joined them, shrugging slightly in frustration.

"Shut up, Lyle!" Claire yelled as she spun around to glare at her brother; it was bad enough having to cope with her dad's disapproval, but Lyle didn't even know what it had been like trying to cope with the thought that there was some psycho out there trying to cut open her brain

"It's not safe here any more," her dad said, turning to look at the two new arrivals with a resolute glare. "Pack your bags; we're moving!"

Claire was stunned.

He did not just do that…

"You can't do that," she said, moving forward to coldly stare him in the eyes as he turned back to look at her

"This is not a discussion!" he said, his tone the one that he had always used in the past when he was trying to make her do something she didn't want to do. "We're leaving!"

Somewhere inside herself, Claire felt something stretch dangerously close to breaking point.

She'd just seen a future where the human race was down to barely a fraction of what it had been because of some stupid virus, and she knew the name of the guy who was going to try and release said virus; she'd be damned if she was going to just stay here like a 'good little girl' with that kind of stuff fresh in her mind.

"Then you're going without me," she said, staring resolutely back at him. "I have to help Peter-"

"He left you here, Claire; I think it's clear he doesn't want-" her dad began.

With that comment, whatever had been stretched inside Claire's mind before was finally pushed to breaking point.

She didn't stop to think about what she was about to do; if she did, she'd never do it.

Before her dad- her trained, professional dad, the man who had hunted down and captured God-knew-how-many-people with abilities in his past, the man who had stood up to Sylar, Officer Parkman, and that 'Ted' guy- could realise what she was about to do, Claire had drawn back her fist and punched him in the stomach with all the strength she could muster. Even as she felt a couple of her bones break from the force of the blow- her hands were just not tough enough to deliver that kind of punishment without consequences-, she was pleased to note that her attack had paid off; since her dad hadn't been expecting an attack from her, he hadn't been prepared for it, leaving him winded and giving Claire just the chance she needed to knock the wind out of him.

It wouldn't put him down for good, of course, but that wasn't what she was after; all she needed was time.

Before Lyle or her mom could stop her- both of them were just that bit too far away to reach her and stop her that way-, Claire had charged past both of them and through the doors into her dad's new 'study', quickly shutting and locking the doors behind her before turning around to tear open the boxes containing the files he'd brought with him from the Company. It only took a few quick glances before she'd found the file she was looking for- "Monroe, Adam" certainly seemed like as good a place as any for Claire to start looking for information about what Adam might be up to-, quickly grabbing a few other files at random to make it harder for her dad to work out what she was doing before she turned to look at the nearest window.

This is it… she thought, tensing herself for what she was about to do. No going back after this

Then again, as far as Claire was concerned, there'd been no going back since the moment she'd seen Peter Petrelli's bones resetting themselves after he'd tried to fight Sylar to save her; this just made it more definite.

Before her parents could get the door open, Claire, the files in her arms and her wallet in her pocket- she had never been more grateful for a breakdown; she'd been so busy crying she'd never taken the wallet out of her pocket, the men who'd put in quarantine having allowed her to keep a hold of it after her 'grandmother' had vouched for her-, grabbed her dad's chair and hurled it at the window, cracking the glass before she charged at it herself.

She didn't even stop to think as she felt the glass scratch her arm- she didn't want to risk anything happening to her eyes unless she had to-; as soon as she hit the ground, she rolled forward to leap back to her feet and continued running away from her house, her ears closed to her parents' calls for her to come back.

Maybe what she'd done was risky.

Maybe she'd just basically ruined her relationship with both her parents…

But she didn't care.

She had a chance to make a real difference for once, and she was going to make it.

She was going to find out where that virus Peter had mentioned was kept, and she was going to make sure that Adam Monroe didn't get his hands on it.

Everything else…

Well, she'd worry about that later; right now her main goal was just to find a taxi and get to the airport to give her time to figure out where to go next.