Fic- Whatever it takes 6
Title- Whatever it takes 6/?
Author- Faythbrady
Show/Ship- Heroes, Sylar/Claire, Peter/Emma
Disclaimer- I have magic powers. You will believe I own it all.
Summary- Peter left Sylar and Claire alone. Who said that was a good idea?
A/N- For my ten awesome reviewers and to Rella at breakfast time!
I fully realise that this seems to stop in a weird place but i have my reasons for this. Reasons which will not become clear. Ever. Like how did Sylar keep telekinesis after the Shanti virus. Yeah. it's gonna annoy you that much.
Chapter 6
“Hey,” Claire soothed as electricity crackled between his hands. “It's okay. I know you want this to be good for Peter. We will figure something out. Let's just,” she took a deep breath. “Let's get out of here, okay?”
He nodded and allowed her to lead him out of the hormonal section of the faire and back into normality- if normality was two people arguing loudly about table drapes.
But he felt much better. As soon as they were away from the garish posters Sylar felt a rush of shame for almost losing it like that. He usually kept a tight reign on his powers and it distressed him no end when they fired off for no reason. All the more so because he had done it in front of Claire; the one woman he wanted to impress and have her believe that he'd changed.
Well, way to go there, dumbass, he thought, nothing says 'normal' than almost frying a bachelor party representative. No matter how annoying he was.
But, even though she'd had every reason (and more reason than most) to run. She hadn't. She'd stayed and tried to calm him down.
He looked down at his hand
She'd touched him.
Claire had willingly touched him. His heart leaped a little and he knew a goofy smile was trying to find his face. Her little hand had willing laid across his and he could almost feel her phantom fingers still there, the sensation was intoxicating.
Thank you, Peter.
He'd known that Peter was trying to help him out when he'd sent them off together; it was his less than subtle way of interfering, and Sylar could have kissed his friend as he watched him walk away.
Then he'd seen the sheer panic in Claire's face, swiftly followed by fury. He was suddenly very pleased that she had such a passive power else something very bad could have happened to Peter then. She'd turned to him and Sylar could have told her he could deal with it by himself and allowed her to go off on her own. But he was too selfish for that, he wanted her to spend time with him and he was going to use every advantage that he could possibly get.
But the enjoyment of her company was dulled by the overwhelming sense of failure that loomed. This isn't what Peter would want, his brain yelled. This isn't anything Peter would enjoy.
But wasn't that what a bachelor party was? Men acting like idiots and doing things that they would deeply regret.
Didn't they already have enough regrets?
His hands itched and he was torn with an overwhelming urge to let loose his temper on the unsuspecting public.
Only the small woman in front of him held his temper in check.
Claire had led them to a small area which boasted tables and chairs designed for relaxation and regrouping. Each table held a pot of pens and a pad full of paper so that the wedding party could brainstorm and make notes on what they had seen.
She grabbed a pen and for a scary moment, Sylar felt his eye twitch. Claire allowed a small smile to play around her mouth and he knew that she'd seen his involuntary action.
Still, it was better than her running away in fear, which he'd assumed would be her reaction to his little outburst.
But Claire Bennett was made of sterner stuff and she had taken the bull by the horns, as it were.
“Sorry about that,” he muttered.
She looked up. “What?”
“The-” he waved his hands indicating the electrical energy he'd gotten from Elle. “When I get stressed I tend to lose control a little.”
She nodded slowly and bit down on her lip.
“I didn't mean to scare you.”
“You didn't,” she refuted quickly, her eyes intent on the paper in front of her.
Sylar longed for her to look up and smile at him. Just at him. He might as well long for the moon.
“Okay,” Claire took a deep breath. “So none of that was any good as a bachelor party for Peter. So we need to think outside the box.”
“Right.” He nodded and focused on the blonde. She was cute when she was being determined.
He groaned inwardly. Cute? He was turning into such a sap. The next thing you knew he'd be writing bad poetry and serenading her outside her window.
Her brow wrinkled. “Let's start with numbers. Who are you inviting to this thing?”
“Peter, obviously, me, uh... Edgar, Mohinder, Ando and Hiro. Eli, Matt, Rene, Chris, the fire-breather, Ian and maybe Sean the chameleon kid.”
Claire blinked. “Isn't he blue?”
Sylar shrugged. “Sometimes.”
“So, twelve of you.”
“If Matt, Mohinder and Rene can make it. Matty's just started school, Mohinder's Shanti is teething and Rene could be anywhere.”
Claire cocked her head. “How did you know that?”
“What?”
She motioned with her pen. “About all of them. Their lives, their kids.”
His face darkened as he heard her incredulous tone. Did she think that he should be alone forever; that no one would ever see any good in him? His voice was harsh. “Believe it or not, Claire. I do have some friends. Some people have forgiven me.”
She blanched. “I meant keeping up with people's lives. I forget what Lyle's doing and he's my brother.”
“Oh.” His face reddened. Once again he'd jumped to the wrong conclusion and made an idiot of himself. “Right.”
The awkwardness grew for a moment.
“Mohinder keeps me updated because of my work with Emma and Peter. He's available if any of the potentials want to talk about genetics or the biological side of their powers. One couple weren't sure whether to have kids because they didn't want to pass the mom's ability on. We called Mohinder in and he spoke with them, put their mind at rest.”
Claire looked intrigued. “Did they have the baby?”
He nodded and blushed a little. Claire stared at him in fascination.
“What?”
He groaned and fought the redness that spread all over his face. But he knew that she wouldn't back down. “It was a baby girl, they called her Gabrielle.”
“They named their kid after you?”
Sylar decided that the three-parts impressed, two-parts disbelief expression on her face wasn't completely insulting and he smiled. “She's a cute little thing. If a little loud.” he cocked his head. “Maybe she'll have that sonic sound power; it would explain all the screaming.”
Claire shook her head. “All kids scream. I babysat this one brat called Sophie who never stopped. I mean, seriously. The second her mom left to the second she got back, just one long wail. Drove me nuts!”
He gave her a curious look. “I can't imagine you ever babysitting.”
She waved a hand dismissively. “Dad thought it'd be character-building to have a job.”
There was something that she wasn't saying and he decided to press. “So, how long did this job last?”
“About a half-hour,” It was Claire's turn to blush. “Sophie was my first and last job, okay?”
He laughed and she shrugged sheepishly.
“I wasn't very good with kids then.” She defended. “I got better.”
“I'm sure you did.” And he could just see her with kids. Her own. Their own. Claire holding a tiny little girl with big blue eyes and tousled dark brown hair. The girl dropping Claire's hand to run over to him and wrap her tiny arms around his knees and Claire giving him that smile. Family. Love.
For a moment the longing for that hit him so hard it overrode the Hunger, it was so real, so needed that he could taste it. He ached for it and had to close his eyes as he forced himself to accept that it wasn't real.
Could possibly never be real.
His heart broke just a little.
“Hey,” Claire waved her hand in front of him. “You okay?”
He nodded once, his throat tight and he motioned to her list. “Between nine and twelve of us.”
She watched him carefully for a moment and didn't say anything. But this time he wasn't going to cave. That was one fantasy that was going to stay his.
Eventually she let it go and tapped the paper with the pencil. “So, we know strippers and drugs are out. What other ways do we have fun? What does Peter consider having fun?”
Sylar licked his lower lip thoughtfully. “Saving people.”
“Right, so we threaten New York for his bachelor party? Plant a bomb that he has to diffuse.” The humor in her voice did delightful things to his insides and he relaxed.
“Sure. I can't see any place where that would go wrong,” he said.
“It'd a be a fake bomb. You could do like a treasure hunt for him which ends at a proper heroes banquet. It'd be fun- ooh,” she almost bounced in her seat at the idea. “You could make him dress up as a super-hero. In tights.”
“Should I be worried about you?”
“Oh come on, it would be a party to remember,” she cajoled.
He inclined his head. “That it would and we'd have to ensure Rene was there to wipe our memories of Matt Parkman with his underpants outside his clothes.”
Claire paled. “Good point.”
“But I liked the idea,” he leaned forward. “Come on.”
“Well since you guys can fly and Hiro can time jump, you could take everyone on a history trek. That's be interesting. Meeting key figures in history... and being very careful not screw up the past.”
“Hmm,” Sylar thought for a moment. “No, Peter is too noble to let something go, even when he knows it's for the best. I can imagine him and Hiro trying to save lives.”
“Abducting people before they could board the Titanic?”
He grinned slyly. “Stand on the grassy knoll and yell 'duck'.”
Claire burst out laughing and he stared at her in surprise.
She was laughing. She was actually laughing at something he said. In his company. Claire Bennett was laughing.
And she was beautiful. Her eyes sparkled and her cheeks flushed and he had never wanted to kiss someone so much in his life. But under that was the overriding joy that she had allowed herself to relax enough to laugh.
Sylar vowed then and there that this would be the most awesome bachelor party ever because he owed Peter for the best moment of his life so far. Second best if you counted that kiss- even if it wasn't completely consensual.
“Oh, god I could just imagine that,” she said, still giggling. “JFK's team swarming to pick Peter and Hiro up only to have them disappear. It'd sent the conspiracy theorists nuts!”
“Puts the moon landing in perspective,” Sylar agreed.
“There you are,” Claire said, merriment all over her face. “Get Edgar to steal some space suits and get Hiro to take you to the moon. Zero Gravity. Best party ever! No one would ever top that.”
Sylar rolled his eyes but was struck by a thought. “I wonder what Hiro's range is?”
“Mars party?”
“How about we stick to this planet?”
“All right,” she pointed at him, “but I still think you're missing out on huge bragging rights.”
“Any ideas that won't get us dissected by little green men?”
“Grey.”
He blinked. “What?”
“Grey men, not green. Due the depletion of liver in the Reticulan galaxy.” She waited a beat before grinning broadly. “Me and Lyle used to stay up late watching the X-files. I swear I had the first three seasons memorized.”
He shook his head. “And just when I think I know everything about you, you surprise me again.”
“You don't know everything about me.” Her tone was cool and he was brought back to earth with a bump.
Author- Faythbrady
Show/Ship- Heroes, Sylar/Claire, Peter/Emma
Disclaimer- I have magic powers. You will believe I own it all.
Summary- Peter left Sylar and Claire alone. Who said that was a good idea?
A/N- For my ten awesome reviewers and to Rella at breakfast time!
I fully realise that this seems to stop in a weird place but i have my reasons for this. Reasons which will not become clear. Ever. Like how did Sylar keep telekinesis after the Shanti virus. Yeah. it's gonna annoy you that much.
Chapter 6
“Hey,” Claire soothed as electricity crackled between his hands. “It's okay. I know you want this to be good for Peter. We will figure something out. Let's just,” she took a deep breath. “Let's get out of here, okay?”
He nodded and allowed her to lead him out of the hormonal section of the faire and back into normality- if normality was two people arguing loudly about table drapes.
But he felt much better. As soon as they were away from the garish posters Sylar felt a rush of shame for almost losing it like that. He usually kept a tight reign on his powers and it distressed him no end when they fired off for no reason. All the more so because he had done it in front of Claire; the one woman he wanted to impress and have her believe that he'd changed.
Well, way to go there, dumbass, he thought, nothing says 'normal' than almost frying a bachelor party representative. No matter how annoying he was.
But, even though she'd had every reason (and more reason than most) to run. She hadn't. She'd stayed and tried to calm him down.
He looked down at his hand
She'd touched him.
Claire had willingly touched him. His heart leaped a little and he knew a goofy smile was trying to find his face. Her little hand had willing laid across his and he could almost feel her phantom fingers still there, the sensation was intoxicating.
Thank you, Peter.
He'd known that Peter was trying to help him out when he'd sent them off together; it was his less than subtle way of interfering, and Sylar could have kissed his friend as he watched him walk away.
Then he'd seen the sheer panic in Claire's face, swiftly followed by fury. He was suddenly very pleased that she had such a passive power else something very bad could have happened to Peter then. She'd turned to him and Sylar could have told her he could deal with it by himself and allowed her to go off on her own. But he was too selfish for that, he wanted her to spend time with him and he was going to use every advantage that he could possibly get.
But the enjoyment of her company was dulled by the overwhelming sense of failure that loomed. This isn't what Peter would want, his brain yelled. This isn't anything Peter would enjoy.
But wasn't that what a bachelor party was? Men acting like idiots and doing things that they would deeply regret.
Didn't they already have enough regrets?
His hands itched and he was torn with an overwhelming urge to let loose his temper on the unsuspecting public.
Only the small woman in front of him held his temper in check.
Claire had led them to a small area which boasted tables and chairs designed for relaxation and regrouping. Each table held a pot of pens and a pad full of paper so that the wedding party could brainstorm and make notes on what they had seen.
She grabbed a pen and for a scary moment, Sylar felt his eye twitch. Claire allowed a small smile to play around her mouth and he knew that she'd seen his involuntary action.
Still, it was better than her running away in fear, which he'd assumed would be her reaction to his little outburst.
But Claire Bennett was made of sterner stuff and she had taken the bull by the horns, as it were.
“Sorry about that,” he muttered.
She looked up. “What?”
“The-” he waved his hands indicating the electrical energy he'd gotten from Elle. “When I get stressed I tend to lose control a little.”
She nodded slowly and bit down on her lip.
“I didn't mean to scare you.”
“You didn't,” she refuted quickly, her eyes intent on the paper in front of her.
Sylar longed for her to look up and smile at him. Just at him. He might as well long for the moon.
“Okay,” Claire took a deep breath. “So none of that was any good as a bachelor party for Peter. So we need to think outside the box.”
“Right.” He nodded and focused on the blonde. She was cute when she was being determined.
He groaned inwardly. Cute? He was turning into such a sap. The next thing you knew he'd be writing bad poetry and serenading her outside her window.
Her brow wrinkled. “Let's start with numbers. Who are you inviting to this thing?”
“Peter, obviously, me, uh... Edgar, Mohinder, Ando and Hiro. Eli, Matt, Rene, Chris, the fire-breather, Ian and maybe Sean the chameleon kid.”
Claire blinked. “Isn't he blue?”
Sylar shrugged. “Sometimes.”
“So, twelve of you.”
“If Matt, Mohinder and Rene can make it. Matty's just started school, Mohinder's Shanti is teething and Rene could be anywhere.”
Claire cocked her head. “How did you know that?”
“What?”
She motioned with her pen. “About all of them. Their lives, their kids.”
His face darkened as he heard her incredulous tone. Did she think that he should be alone forever; that no one would ever see any good in him? His voice was harsh. “Believe it or not, Claire. I do have some friends. Some people have forgiven me.”
She blanched. “I meant keeping up with people's lives. I forget what Lyle's doing and he's my brother.”
“Oh.” His face reddened. Once again he'd jumped to the wrong conclusion and made an idiot of himself. “Right.”
The awkwardness grew for a moment.
“Mohinder keeps me updated because of my work with Emma and Peter. He's available if any of the potentials want to talk about genetics or the biological side of their powers. One couple weren't sure whether to have kids because they didn't want to pass the mom's ability on. We called Mohinder in and he spoke with them, put their mind at rest.”
Claire looked intrigued. “Did they have the baby?”
He nodded and blushed a little. Claire stared at him in fascination.
“What?”
He groaned and fought the redness that spread all over his face. But he knew that she wouldn't back down. “It was a baby girl, they called her Gabrielle.”
“They named their kid after you?”
Sylar decided that the three-parts impressed, two-parts disbelief expression on her face wasn't completely insulting and he smiled. “She's a cute little thing. If a little loud.” he cocked his head. “Maybe she'll have that sonic sound power; it would explain all the screaming.”
Claire shook her head. “All kids scream. I babysat this one brat called Sophie who never stopped. I mean, seriously. The second her mom left to the second she got back, just one long wail. Drove me nuts!”
He gave her a curious look. “I can't imagine you ever babysitting.”
She waved a hand dismissively. “Dad thought it'd be character-building to have a job.”
There was something that she wasn't saying and he decided to press. “So, how long did this job last?”
“About a half-hour,” It was Claire's turn to blush. “Sophie was my first and last job, okay?”
He laughed and she shrugged sheepishly.
“I wasn't very good with kids then.” She defended. “I got better.”
“I'm sure you did.” And he could just see her with kids. Her own. Their own. Claire holding a tiny little girl with big blue eyes and tousled dark brown hair. The girl dropping Claire's hand to run over to him and wrap her tiny arms around his knees and Claire giving him that smile. Family. Love.
For a moment the longing for that hit him so hard it overrode the Hunger, it was so real, so needed that he could taste it. He ached for it and had to close his eyes as he forced himself to accept that it wasn't real.
Could possibly never be real.
His heart broke just a little.
“Hey,” Claire waved her hand in front of him. “You okay?”
He nodded once, his throat tight and he motioned to her list. “Between nine and twelve of us.”
She watched him carefully for a moment and didn't say anything. But this time he wasn't going to cave. That was one fantasy that was going to stay his.
Eventually she let it go and tapped the paper with the pencil. “So, we know strippers and drugs are out. What other ways do we have fun? What does Peter consider having fun?”
Sylar licked his lower lip thoughtfully. “Saving people.”
“Right, so we threaten New York for his bachelor party? Plant a bomb that he has to diffuse.” The humor in her voice did delightful things to his insides and he relaxed.
“Sure. I can't see any place where that would go wrong,” he said.
“It'd a be a fake bomb. You could do like a treasure hunt for him which ends at a proper heroes banquet. It'd be fun- ooh,” she almost bounced in her seat at the idea. “You could make him dress up as a super-hero. In tights.”
“Should I be worried about you?”
“Oh come on, it would be a party to remember,” she cajoled.
He inclined his head. “That it would and we'd have to ensure Rene was there to wipe our memories of Matt Parkman with his underpants outside his clothes.”
Claire paled. “Good point.”
“But I liked the idea,” he leaned forward. “Come on.”
“Well since you guys can fly and Hiro can time jump, you could take everyone on a history trek. That's be interesting. Meeting key figures in history... and being very careful not screw up the past.”
“Hmm,” Sylar thought for a moment. “No, Peter is too noble to let something go, even when he knows it's for the best. I can imagine him and Hiro trying to save lives.”
“Abducting people before they could board the Titanic?”
He grinned slyly. “Stand on the grassy knoll and yell 'duck'.”
Claire burst out laughing and he stared at her in surprise.
She was laughing. She was actually laughing at something he said. In his company. Claire Bennett was laughing.
And she was beautiful. Her eyes sparkled and her cheeks flushed and he had never wanted to kiss someone so much in his life. But under that was the overriding joy that she had allowed herself to relax enough to laugh.
Sylar vowed then and there that this would be the most awesome bachelor party ever because he owed Peter for the best moment of his life so far. Second best if you counted that kiss- even if it wasn't completely consensual.
“Oh, god I could just imagine that,” she said, still giggling. “JFK's team swarming to pick Peter and Hiro up only to have them disappear. It'd sent the conspiracy theorists nuts!”
“Puts the moon landing in perspective,” Sylar agreed.
“There you are,” Claire said, merriment all over her face. “Get Edgar to steal some space suits and get Hiro to take you to the moon. Zero Gravity. Best party ever! No one would ever top that.”
Sylar rolled his eyes but was struck by a thought. “I wonder what Hiro's range is?”
“Mars party?”
“How about we stick to this planet?”
“All right,” she pointed at him, “but I still think you're missing out on huge bragging rights.”
“Any ideas that won't get us dissected by little green men?”
“Grey.”
He blinked. “What?”
“Grey men, not green. Due the depletion of liver in the Reticulan galaxy.” She waited a beat before grinning broadly. “Me and Lyle used to stay up late watching the X-files. I swear I had the first three seasons memorized.”
He shook his head. “And just when I think I know everything about you, you surprise me again.”
“You don't know everything about me.” Her tone was cool and he was brought back to earth with a bump.