A/N: Five yeas later everything looks good, but only on the surface. They can never be the same again. Claire is living in the Petrelli Mansion. She's trying to have a normal life and she's about to graduate from the University. The dark side in Peter rises and their lives are about to be changed forever.
Note: It's AU Paire fic. It's not the typical Paire fic you're going to read. The dark notes here are highlighted. I've never written such Paire fiction before. It's dangerous and it's a challenge for me to write it, but I'm going to try it.
Rated: M
Couple: Peter/Claire
Warnings: Again, it's AU. I don't own Heroes, sadly. The dark themes here are highlighted.
Enjoy reading,
ArinnaVal
Chapter 25
It was really hard to deal with that bubbling anger inside of him. Sometimes it felt difficult to contain all these powers. Only Peter knew how difficult it was in fact. There were few quiet moments however, when he felt completely powerless. In these moments he felt himself closer to his old self than ever. One of these moments was Claire's wedding. Yes, he had stopped her. He was there on time, but still. There was something in his feelings for her that could leave him breathless every now and then. The anger had taken the best of him then and he had dealt with the situation in his way.
The second time was when he had found out that she's pregnant. There was that shock of course, but then… then Peter had felt something else. He felt weak, so weak like never before. The only reason was Claire, again. However, it wasn't only she this time. She wasn't alone. And he had never thought of kids before. Not his own anyway. He never thought that he could have any, let alone to love them. When that became a possibility, he felt that his life had turned upside down. He felt confused and more conflicted with himself than ever. He was so close to his old mushy self that sometimes, his old feelings for Claire almost took over.
Peter wanted to protect her. The old Peter wanted only this though and that was the problem for his new self. Therefore, he felt a strange need to talk to somebody before he could walk outside and kill a person with no reason. This was how he appeared in the porch of his old family home, also known as Petrelli's mansion. It was quiet. Only the sound of the fountain could break the silence. Peter shook his head and pushed the front door open.
The inside was just as quiet as the outside. There was no sign of his mother, although Peter was sure that she was there. His eyes narrowed when he made his way to the library. She had to be there by this time of the day, drinking her afternoon cup of tea. It was annoying habit that Peter had to tolerate when he used to live here. Not right now though and not anymore.
She was there, sitting behind her desk. The steaming cup of tea was right in front of her and she was reading a piece of paper. She didn't even look at him when he walked in. It was if as she was expecting him. That was a bold move, Peter had to admit. A dark smirk appeared on his face when he took the chair opposite Angela.
"Good afternoon, mother!" He greeted her with coldness in his voice. His hands rested casually on the armrests. His head tilted to a side.
"No tea?" She finally put the paper down and stared at him. His stare was blank, emotionless. Peter had to admit that she was good in what she was doing.
"No," he shook his head. "You know I don't like it, mother."
"Stubborn as always," Angela leaned back on her chair and her arms formed a pyramid in front of her body. "What do you want from me?"
"Stubborn? Me?" Peter sighed, tapping his chin. "I can't remember such moment in my childhood. I was the good kid, remember?"
"You were good, Peter!" Angela chuckled, but her eyes stayed cold. "Then you've decided to play the hero. This is when the problem appeared."
"The problem?" Peter almost smiled. "You mean, Claire?" It was more of a statement than a question.
"I believe so, yes." Angela nodded slightly. "Something in her changed you."
"I thought you've accepted her in the family?" Peter gritted his teeth.
"I did," Angela sighed with annoyance. "She is from the family after all."
"You wouldn't even admit that she exists if it wasn't my trip to Odessa!" Peter scoffed.
"Not true," Angela rested her arms on the armrests and stared at Peter carefully. "She came here for you. She wanted to find you. I couldn't let that happen."
"It wasn't up for you to decide mother!" Peter grabbed the armrests of his chair angrily. "You kept her away from me for too long! Why?"
"What happened with you two," Angela trailed off. "it was never supposed to happen, Peter! This is why I kept her away from the family. She changed you into something that you're not!"
"The bad guy in the story?" Peter snarled. "I'm sorry, mother but it was you who did all this! You let it happen!"
"I did my own mistakes, Peter!" Angela finally showed some feeling. "I can tell when I'm wrong! But what you've done… and keep doing it is…"
"What?" Peter got off the chair. "Bad? Forbidden?"
"Wrong! And you know it!"
Peter looked at her with rather bored expression on his face and sighed, "How many times we have to talk about this? Seriously, there're so many subjects to talk about."
Angela glared at him, but said nothing. Just then Peter felt the atmosphere in the room changed. He didn't have to turn around. He knew who was standing by the door. The feeling was so familiar that he just shook his head and lifted up his left hand.
"Peter!" Angela gasped, but Peter didn't show any emotion on his face this time.
His left hand clenched in fist and he could hear the sound of a falling object. He thought that his mother was smarter than this, but he was obviously wrong. His eyes narrowed this time.
"A white noise," Peter mumbled, still looking at his mother. Angela was smart enough to look at him with fear in her eyes. "I could never mistake that feeling," Peter opened his hand again and could hear the sound of fast and erratic breathing. "Hello, Rene!" He turned around to see the Haitian standing by the door. "Long time no see."
"You were about to kill him!" Angela scoffed behind his back, but Peter knew that she used that voice as a self-defending mechanism.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Peter's voice lowered and his eyes stared at the syringe, lying on the floor close to Rene. "I'm so sorry that I was strong enough and you couldn't make with the shot! What is this?" He reached out his free hand and the syringe flew right into it. "Hmm, a sedative? Strong enough for me? I have to say that I'm flattered."
"Well, I've tried!" Angela lowered her voice as well. "Can you blame me for wanting to try at least?"
"No, mother," Peter turned around to face his mother. "I can blame you for wanting to hurt your own son, but… well." Peter's eyes were cold as eyes. They were in perfect unison with his voice. "We all know that you're not exactly the mother of the year."
"Release him, now!" Angela had turned her old usual self. Her face was emotionless again. "He did nothing against you."
"He tried." Peter said almost politely. The Haitian was still in his trap. "If I hadn't worked over my powers, he would've succeed and let's be honest. If Claire wasn't with me now, giving me the strength that I need, you would've stand a chance against me. How… bad, isn't it?"
"Peter…"
"Seriously, mother?" Peter continued as if she hadn't said a word. "I thought you value Rene too much to make him stand against me."
"This is not a war, Peter!" Angela insisted.
"It's not?" Peter said with fake confusion in his voice. "I thought you were the one who sent me to Level 5? You were the one who hid me from the world? You were the one who made all that happen! So, my dear mother… I thought that you were the one who started all this. I'm simply going to finish it."
"How many times I have to say that I'm sorry?" Angel was looking at him straight at the eyes. "It's been few months, Peter."
"I haven't heard a word from you… saying you're sorry!" Peter scoffed. "Not that I'm going to believe it anyway. So, you see how bad are we right now, huh?"
"Let Rene go, Peter!" Angela insisted.
Peter sighed and waved with his left hand, "Fine!" He said finally. "Consider it as a birthday gift from me!"
"My birthday is in few months…"
"Then I don't have to buy you anything," he grinned.
"Why are you here anyway?" Angela leaned back on her chair. "What do you really want from me?"
"I wanted to inform you that Claire and I, are expecting a child," his grin grew wider and his mother flinched. "Yes, you're going to be a grandmother."
"What do you expect from me?" Angela asked quietly and saw how his grin disappeared. "I'm not going to stay in your way."
"Well, that's a lie." Peter sighed with annoyance. "You do know how much I hate lies, mother."
"The person you should worry about is Noah," Angela shook her head. "Trust me!"
"I'm not," Peter sat back on the chair and stared at her. "And I think Noah is smart enough to stay away. If he's not… then he'll get hurt."
"You know that'll hurt Claire as well," Angela didn't even blink.
"She's not so found of him right now," Peter shrugged. "She's good by the way. I take a very good care of her."
"I know," Angela said quietly for his surprise. "We both know this is not the problem, Peter."
"There won't be a problem if you're not creating one," Peter shrugged. "That leads me to the second part of my visit here. Claire's puppy is lurking around my place. Tell him to stay away! I'm in such a good mood right now, but I don't know until when."
"I've tried!" Angela insisted. "He wants Claire!"
"He won't have her!" Peter got off his place. "And you should try harder! Oh and mother…?" Angela looked at him quizzically. "Do you think that a person like me is capable of love?"
"Excuse me?" She was clearly surprised from his question.
"You heard me," Peter insisted. "The question is simple."
"Yes," she answered quietly. "Yes, you are."
A small smirk appeared on his lips and that smirk reminded her of the young and innocent boy he was before.
"Thanks," he said simply and teleported away, appearing on the rooftop of his building just to see Claire sitting there. When she looked at him and his heart skipped a beat, he realized that his mother was right.