Heroes Fan Fiction ❯ Playing Minerva ❯ Epilogue ( Chapter 6 )

Spoilers: 01x11, "Fallout", AU after that, does not take “Distractions” in account
Warnings: time-travel, memory jumps, implied underage themes

 

Playing Minerva

Epilogue

In the present time...

Claire sighed in relief for what might have been the hundredth time that day. Dutifully, she stayed by Peter's bedside as he absorbed her powers and recovered from his strenuous session with Claude.

For the most part, Claude was wholly indifferent to her. In the beginning, he was annoyed by her presence, and he would have preferred Peter to learn controlling his powers alone. However, as the date of the explosion drew near, Peter became more ill, and Claude took great effort in helping him in time. That's where Claire had come in.

Peter outwardly admitted that if Claire hadn't been living with him and coming to his aid after training, he would be suffering a lot more. Claude had disagreed with him in the beginning, telling him not to rely on `some' little girl, and that absorbing Claire's powers were no different than absorbing any one else's.

However, Claude soon realized after a few days of training that there was a special bond between them, and Peter actually needed Claire's powers more than anything to survive. Fate had definitely brought them together for a significant reason.

Claire had remembered something important one evening after an exhausting day of his training. Peter was struggling to breathe as she held onto his hand. Every day he had to master the technique of his sponge-like powers, controlling them by storing them away so he could access them at any time. He even asked, “Is it alright someday when I master my power that you'll let me have yours at any time?”

“Are you asking me for permission of my powers?” Claire smiled at him as he eyed her seriously. “Don't be silly, Peter. It's not like you can help it. I'd be relieved if you'd use my powers.” She paused, reveling in the memories with his future self and still angered that she had to forget them. She only hoped that Peter would be alive for that to someday happen. She gave him a reassuring smile as he awaited her response. “I don't want you to get hurt, so you need to learn to use my powers when you need them.”

“But... I haven't obtained complete control yet,” he said sighing in defeat. He rubbed his tired eyes and exhaled heavily. Claire put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and he relaxed to her touch.

“Don't worry, until then I'm here for you.”

Claire snapped out of her flashback, and she looked back to Peter, still unconscious in the bed. She grunted and heard a sound behind her. She jumped in fright, turning around to see Claude sneaking into the room.

“You scared me!” she announced. Claude sneered at her, and he didn't seem to care much about her feelings. Instead, his tired eyes watched Peter, and Claire knew that even if he didn't care for her, Claude did care about Peter.

“What happened to him?” she asked, brushing off his disposition toward her. “I thought he was improving.”

Claude scoffed, keeping his eyes on Peter. “The stupid git couldn't focus today. Something must have been on his mind.”

Claire nodded, and suddenly the atmosphere around them became very awkward. She bit her lip.

“I know exactly why he was like that,” Claire said, giving Peter's limp hand a squeeze. “He found out Simone went back to Isaac.” And as soon as the words came from her mouth, she had to curb her inward excitement.

Claude made a noise in his throat and seemed perturbed more than ever. “That damned harlot, she's been nothing but trouble for him since I started training him. I thought she was trying to help him.”

Claire turned to face Peter again with her back to Claude. She couldn't agree more on what he said about Simone; she honestly thought Simone wanted to help Peter too.

“I don't know. Knowing what Nathan and Heidi have told me about Simone, I don't think she and Isaac ever were over to begin with.” Claire frowned, and once again they were submerged in silence.

“Women, the lot of them are nothing but trouble,” Claude hissed. He began to walk out the door as he noticed her offended expression. He gave her a steely look. “Tell him to contact me when he wakes up. Kick some sense into him too. I don't care if you have to pound it into his head. We have to focus on preventing that explosion, not worry about some shifty tart.”

He turned around and then disappeared, and Claire could have sworn she saw a smirk on his face before he left.

She turned to Peter, still sleeping soundly in his bed. She wondered if he'd heard their conversation through his empathy even though he was asleep. Claire sighed and reached over to push back the troublesome tendrils of hair covering his eyes.

“I promise Peter that it'll be different with me,” she whispered confidently, and looked at him with great affection. She traced a finger over his lips, remembering the way they felt over her body and mouth.

She snatched her hand away, remembering future-Peter's promise to forget about that night and keep time on its course. Claire longed to kiss him, just once, but the possibility of Peter waking and freaking out was too great to risk.

Claire dreaded the idea that he might reject her. Instead, she closed her eyes and brought his hand up to her mouth for a light kiss. Even that seemed safe enough to her, and if it was all she could get for the moment, she would definitely take it.

“I promise you, Peter,” she whispered softly, still watching him sleep. And she meant it with her whole heart, for this Peter and for all future Peters to come.

--

In the distant future ...

As soon as Claire's team returned from Texas, she immediately rushed to Peter's side. She had been worried since Heidi had called her that he was horribly sick and that he could possibly die before she returned. However, as she came into the main room of their operations, he appeared healthy and jubilant as he greeted her. She ran into his arms for a tight embrace.

“Peter!” she screamed in excitement, and he twirled her around as her feet flew off the ground.

“I'm so glad to see you,” he said, relishing in her touch. This time, it felt right holding Claire without reservations of changing the past. In her arms, he was home.

Claire's feet touched the ground, and she released from his embrace. She looked into his eyes worriedly. “I had heard you were really sick. I came as fast as I could.”

He smiled widely, touched by her concern. “You didn't have to rush. Something happened… but I'm fine now.”

Claire tilted her head and eyed him suspiciously. “Did you get into some trouble again?”

Peter gave her a sheepish look, trying to pass it off with his crooked smile. Claire knew him too well. “Yes, but don't worry. I told you I'm fine now.”

She grabbed his hand and walked them back to their bedroom, the one they started sharing only a few weeks ago. The only one who seemed to have a problem with this arrangement was Simone, who still adamantly worried about their `vast' age difference. Everyone else shrugged it off, knowing full well neither Simone nor anyone for that matter, could keep Peter and Claire apart.

“Please, Peter, you told me you'd start telling me everything. I tell you everything! Well, when you're not grabbing it out of my head with Matt's powers,” Claire insisted, and Peter sighed in defeat.

“Alright, alright, I'll tell you,” he said buckling to her demands. As they arrived into their room, she shut the door. Maybe it was a good idea to tell her and get this time traveling business squared away once and for all. Claire sat down on the bed next to him as he held her hands.

“Remember the time I came back from using Hiro's powers for the first time?” Claire nodded with a wry smile. It was a turning point for their relationship; as soon as Peter came back, she had run into his arms, and they had finally confessed their feelings.

“Yes, you went back and ran into me by accident,” Claire said. She gave Peter a quizzical look. “But what does that have to do with your illness?”

“Something happened where I changed the timeline, um… and according to Hiro there was a rift, and I got sick again… like I was in danger of exploding.”

Claire gasped and covered her mouth. “Peter! Oh no! And I was away all this time…” she said pouting and feeling guilty she wasn't here to heal him.

Peter grasped her shoulders and eyed her reassuringly. “It's okay. It's not your fault. I fixed it.”

“How? How did you get better if I wasn't here to heal you? How did you not explode?”

Peter smiled at her, but he was afraid of her coming reaction to his response. “I had to go back into the past again and warn you not to call me from your cell phone. Otherwise your father would have found you, thus preventing our second meeting.” He added grimly, “I would have never seen you again.”

Claire froze, and her eyes widened in shock. “I… I remember that. You stopped me at the bus station.” Peter nodded. “I didn't notice you were sick… it's so strange, it's like I'm suddenly remembering it.”

“Claire, it's a shift in time, so of course you're remembering it now.” Peter shook his head. “I don't exactly know how it all works; sometimes I wonder if Hiro actually knows either, but whatever happened, I was dangerously close to reverting back to my old self.”

Claire leaned in and rested her head against his chest. “Well, everything's alright now. You're not going to explode anymore.”

“Claire...”

“I promise I'll be here for you like always.”

He rubbed her arm affectionately and squeezed her against his body. He inhaled a draught of breath and took in her youthful scent. “I know. I just wanted to say, now that it's all over, thank you keeping your promise about that night where I met your past self. I know… I know it must have been hard for you to keep it to yourself, and I understand that it'd be hard for me too.”

Claire let him go for a moment and watched the emotions flicker across his face. “For the longest time I thought touching you at that age in the past was wrong, and that I'd someday be punished for my mistake.” He paused and thought about how sick he had been. “I thought when the others said that I'd might explode again, that it was time I'd pay the price.”

“Oh Peter...” His words were bringing her close to tears. He turned to her and smiled.

“I realized that I was scared… I was scared to die without you by my side, Claire Bennet.” He bent down and kissed her, and she soaked up the intense feelings in his warmth. He broke the kiss and nuzzled his nose against hers.

“Peter, you don't have to worry about that. You know I'll always be here.”

Peter looked up into her eyes again and then drew her into his chest as they fell backward together onto their bed. Sunlight peeked through their window and carved out a patch of light over their entwined hands.

“I know that now, Claire,” he whispered finally, and he remembered a dream he always had with her by his side, taking his hand and promising that things would always be better with her.

Whether in the past, present or even the future, Peter knew nothing in the world could be better than being with Claire. And everything he could ever want was right here in her arms.

THE END