Heroes Fic: Conductor (PG13)
Title: Conductor (or: Five People Claude Never Bagged)
Fandom: Heroes
Rating: PG13 (for dark implications; it's rather tamer than canon)
Character/Pairing: Claude, Mr. Bennet, OCs, minor mention of Claude/OFC
Summary: It wasn't the first one, it was just the first one the company had found out about.
Notes: Yeah, I should be working on my girlslash, but this grabbed my hindbrain and demanded to be let out. I hope it's good, because it kind of took me by surprise. Spoilers for Company Man.
I. Dynamic Camouflage
The first was a young shapeshifter, shy and scared, who'd flashed through about a dozen different faces in sheer startlement when he'd popped back into visibility. And then he'd realized that, once she'd learned enough control to copy a shape and hold it, it would be the easiest thing in the world to let her copy him, and go with her unseen.
One Claude went into that building, and one Claude came out, and much later someone else entirely, who had never ever been seen before by anyone, left the state. She should be fine as long as she didn't let herself be scared into changing again.
II. Enhanced Speed
It was never so easy again, of course. Not everyone could have the perfect disguise.
A man that crackled with electricity all the time was liable to be noticed pretty damn quick... so he didn't risk it. Later (not that much later, either) he caught a look at something he wasn't supposed to see- the man's autopsy photos- and didn't sleep a wink that night.
So, the next time he was creeping invisibly into someone's bedroom, he accidentally knocked over a lamp. Its owner must've been pretty twitchy since finding out he wasn't normal; he ran away at what his partner swore had to be a landspeed of at least a thousand miles an hour. No way of measuring it properly now.
III. Hyperspectral Vision
Then there was the one they hadn't even been looking for. She'd seen him, though, plain as day; the heat of his body, she said. And that wasn't all those gray eyes could see, not by a long shot.
Claude had never really approved of Bennet having a wife; it only put her in danger. But here was a woman he could keep contact with without anyone ever knowing they had any association. It wasn't the same thing at all. Still, whatever they were, it didn't last long.
For all he knew, she was still living in the same place, totally unmolested. Quite the head she'd got on her shoulders; she'd probably never have let on to anyone at all if she hadn't been so surprised at seeing someone by infrared alone.
IV. Cryokinesis
Crackling made for some unpleasant memories, but this time it wasn't electrical, or the burning of a devastated apartment. The grass, wherever he stood, was crackling with frost, in a Texas summer. About the only place you could probably hide this one would be in the bloody Arctic, unless he could learn to cut it out, and fast.
It only took a few days to get the ice under control. It took considerably less time than that to start to hate Claude more than he'd ever hated anyone in his life, but then he wasn't looking for a buddy.
V. Baseline
He had no idea which one they'd found out about, but did it matter? They'd briefed Bennet without him (as far as they knew) and it wasn't anything good, and when had his rookie become able to look him in the eye and lie like that? If he hadn't known already-
He hesitated, at the open car door, just for a moment. He could still run. If he never reappeared, there was at least a chance of keeping hidden...
"Are you coming?" asked Bennet.
Claude forced himself to smile. "Of course."
Fandom: Heroes
Rating: PG13 (for dark implications; it's rather tamer than canon)
Character/Pairing: Claude, Mr. Bennet, OCs, minor mention of Claude/OFC
Summary: It wasn't the first one, it was just the first one the company had found out about.
Notes: Yeah, I should be working on my girlslash, but this grabbed my hindbrain and demanded to be let out. I hope it's good, because it kind of took me by surprise. Spoilers for Company Man.
I. Dynamic Camouflage
The first was a young shapeshifter, shy and scared, who'd flashed through about a dozen different faces in sheer startlement when he'd popped back into visibility. And then he'd realized that, once she'd learned enough control to copy a shape and hold it, it would be the easiest thing in the world to let her copy him, and go with her unseen.
One Claude went into that building, and one Claude came out, and much later someone else entirely, who had never ever been seen before by anyone, left the state. She should be fine as long as she didn't let herself be scared into changing again.
II. Enhanced Speed
It was never so easy again, of course. Not everyone could have the perfect disguise.
A man that crackled with electricity all the time was liable to be noticed pretty damn quick... so he didn't risk it. Later (not that much later, either) he caught a look at something he wasn't supposed to see- the man's autopsy photos- and didn't sleep a wink that night.
So, the next time he was creeping invisibly into someone's bedroom, he accidentally knocked over a lamp. Its owner must've been pretty twitchy since finding out he wasn't normal; he ran away at what his partner swore had to be a landspeed of at least a thousand miles an hour. No way of measuring it properly now.
III. Hyperspectral Vision
Then there was the one they hadn't even been looking for. She'd seen him, though, plain as day; the heat of his body, she said. And that wasn't all those gray eyes could see, not by a long shot.
Claude had never really approved of Bennet having a wife; it only put her in danger. But here was a woman he could keep contact with without anyone ever knowing they had any association. It wasn't the same thing at all. Still, whatever they were, it didn't last long.
For all he knew, she was still living in the same place, totally unmolested. Quite the head she'd got on her shoulders; she'd probably never have let on to anyone at all if she hadn't been so surprised at seeing someone by infrared alone.
IV. Cryokinesis
Crackling made for some unpleasant memories, but this time it wasn't electrical, or the burning of a devastated apartment. The grass, wherever he stood, was crackling with frost, in a Texas summer. About the only place you could probably hide this one would be in the bloody Arctic, unless he could learn to cut it out, and fast.
It only took a few days to get the ice under control. It took considerably less time than that to start to hate Claude more than he'd ever hated anyone in his life, but then he wasn't looking for a buddy.
V. Baseline
He had no idea which one they'd found out about, but did it matter? They'd briefed Bennet without him (as far as they knew) and it wasn't anything good, and when had his rookie become able to look him in the eye and lie like that? If he hadn't known already-
He hesitated, at the open car door, just for a moment. He could still run. If he never reappeared, there was at least a chance of keeping hidden...
"Are you coming?" asked Bennet.
Claude forced himself to smile. "Of course."