Disclaimer: In case you're wondering, I haven't managed to buy Heroes yet. Still don't own it.
-Peter Petrelli
New York City
The phone woke me up. I was lying in bed, on top of the covers. I couldn't remember getting back. The last thing I remember was that- that guy punching me. Thank god, or else I might've exploded.
I let the machine take the call as I rubbed my head and put my feet on the floor. I noticed I was wearing the same clothes as last night. I heard Nathan's voice on the machine. I dashed for it.
"Hey- Peter, it's Nathan, Just gimme a call when-,"
"Hello?" I picked up the phone.
"Peter? Thank god. Have you called Mom? She's worried sick."
"No, I just got up."
"Anyway, I'm in Texas."
My mind raced. What was he doing there?
"Um- okay… Why?"
"Because-," he began, and I heard him sigh, "Peter, do you remember Meredith?"
Meredith. Blonde, curly hair, gorgeous in all aspects, yeah, I remembered Meredith. I also somewhat remembered that she'd moved to Texas…
"Yeah."
"Well- there's something I never told anyone. When she moved to Texas, she was pregnant."
"Nathan, seriously, I hate your dry sense of humor."
"I'm not kidding, Peter." There was silence. I decided to go along with it. I sighed.
"Alright, continue."
"Thank you. Anyway, when this baby was about one and a half, there was an accident and Meredith's apartment building burned down. We assumed the baby girl was dead."
"Let me guess- she wasn't."
"Exactly. She survived. Now, here's the really messed up part. She lives in Odessa."
"Your point is…"
"She's a cheerleader at Union Wells High School out here. Perhaps you've heard of Claire Bennet?"
My jaw dropped. Was it my hearing, or did he just say that- Claire was my long-lost niece? If that was true, then it was no wonder she was special. I was still reeling about a minute later. Nathan obviously had guessed my reaction as I gripped the counter for support.
"I warned you," he said, and I heard a voice in the background, "Oh, that was Claire, she says hello."
"Oh- okay…" I remarked, still shell-shocked. I could almost imagine him rolling his eyes at my response.
"Yeah, he says hi, too," I hear him tell Claire.
"Nathan- I- uh- I have to go." This was an absolute lie. Just to let my shock register.
"Fine. I'll call you tomorrow," he replied gruffly. And then he hung up.
I put the pone down and chuckled. I really shouldn't have been so surprised. Everyone was turning out to be connected, after all. I shook my head as I head the door to the refrigerator shut.
"So- who was that?" asked invisi-man, who I hadn't noticed was in my kitchen the entire time I as in there. Points for observation, Peter, I thought to myself. Well, who else was I going to think to? Besides that one guy I think was a mind reader that I'd met in Odessa.
"My brother. What's your name?"
"Claude. I'm surprised you hadn't asked sooner," he said, opening a beer.
"Yeah, well, I've been thinking about a ton of things, namely New York exploding and me being the cause," I retorted, rubbing my temples.
"If you're still mad about my little lesson yesterday- I didya a favor. You needed a little shock, or else you might'a blown up early. People suck, and sometimes, it's all for the better," he ranted.
"Whatever." I went over to the sink and splashed some water on my face.
"Well, I carried ya back, din't I?" he remarked. I was beginning to hate that accent, "I think that was bloody considerate of me."
I had to give him that. The world had wronged him, although he was used to it by now. Deep down, I knew there was a nice person. I believed everyone was nice deep down. Though, I knew that was a habit Claude wanted me to break, "Yeah, that's true. Thanks."
He seemed pleased, and took a gulp of beer, "No problem, mate. Although, I admit it wouldn't been less of a problem if it was a girl I'd carried to an apartment, but oh well." He was making jokes. Nice.
So, I was taking Super power lessons from an invisible British madman. I'd saved a teenage cheerleader who turned out to be my brother's daughter- yeah, my life was definitely a mess.
-Claire Bennet
Odessa, Texas
I sat in my room, trying to contain my glee. Glee. That's funny word. My english teacher would flip out if she heard me use that word. In a good way, I mean. Hmm… maybe I should try that. Anyway…
So I'd gotten Zach back- score one. I'd found my mother with the help of… that guy who works for my dad- score two. And now I'd met my father. A definite score three. I guess it kinda disappointed me that he was my rescuer's older brother, though. Before I knew he was my uncle, I'd thought he was hot. And brave. Hmm. I still think that. Okay, eww. Uncle. Maybe Zach was right. Eccentric Uncle indeed. From what I understand, though, he's not particularly rich. It's my father who's the rich one.
Of course, even if I'm so happy, I still have to lie to my um- 'father'- who I'm still incredibly mad at. I know he loves me, but- you should see his eyes. They're so manipulative. Scary, even. Sometimes I can't even remember how I wholeheartedly loved him. He was constantly messing with my- well… my adoptive mother's memory. I was really concerned that one day she was going to wake up not remembering anything.
I wondered how he got away with all this, because I knew he was always at Primatech, my dad's work. Maybe on his business trips he went to his, I dunno, headquarters, maybe? But no… I made a mental note to talk to Zach about it. He'd been really helpful lately. He even suggested a road trip to New York. But, that might have tipped my 'father' off. Plus, it's a long way to NYC.
I heard a knock at my door and I walked over to open it, knowing it was probably my 'dad'. Sure enough, he stood there in all of his menacingly sweet (oxymoron much?) manner, ready to feed me more lies about work, when I knew he was probably having that guy brainwash more people.
"Hi Sweetie," he said, smiling. I beamed back. I thought briefly for a moment about becoming an actress. At least most of the acting they do is fake- I do it for real.
"Hi dad. Hey- how's Lyle, is his leg okay?" I asked, referring to my brother's leg, which he had twisted in a soccer game earlier that day. It's strange how I'm already air quoting my adoptive parents, but I still think of Lyle as my brother.
"He'll live. It was only a sprain. Should be fine in a few days. How was your day?" he replied. There was that calculating stare again.
"Oh, y'know. Same old, same old. Boring," I lied. Hopefully I could get away from here. Soon.
"Well, that's nice. Well, I have to go downstairs to do some work, I just wanted to see how you were," he explained. I nodded, still smiling.
"Okay, dad. See ya later!" I watched him walk down the stairs, the grin gone from my face. I hated him. And not just in an 'I hate you' teenage fit kind of way. I mean absolute loathing. He'd lied to me. And tried to cover it up. Repeatedly, as well.
I heard my phone buzzing on my bed. It was still on vibrate. It was Zach. I answered, again, happy.
"Hey."
"Hi Claire," he answered, "How'd the meeting go?"
"Pretty well, I think. He seemed nice enough. I wish I could go back with him to New York, though."
"So you were right about the penthouse in New York, then?"
"Apparently," I laughed.
"So, he's nice? Or is that just a put-on?" Zach asked.
"Well, I'm sure he's used to tossing money at situations, or, at least that's what it looks like," I countered, because in truth, he'd looked rather nervous. He'd made a lot of comments about his brother, as if he was a burden, "He's really concerned about winning this election he's in soon. And, seeing as there's two weeks left, if he were to bring me back with him, I'm sure the press would be all over it."
"Okay… So now what?"
Zach had a good point. I'd found my father- but so what? It's not like he was going to take me in like I was a legitimate child that he could admit to in public without bringing shame on his family. I wish he could, but oh well. He was headed back to NYC the next day anyway.
Suddenly I heard a crash downstairs. It had come from the kitchen. Lyle was in his room, and 'Dad' was in his den, so I knew it had to be mom.
"Hey, Zach- I have to go…" I told him, ready to hang up as sson as I heard his acknowledgement, which he gave rather quickly. I dashed down to check on my mom (notice the removal of air quotes). I found her sitting on the floor holding her head, Mr. Muggles whimpering in the corner. Bits of broken plate were scattered around the floor.
"Mom- are you okay?"
"Get that dog out of here!" She raved, holding her head, in obvious pain, "It won't leave me alone!" Now I was concerned. She was in pain and was rejecting Mr. Muggles- the dog she carried everywhere and talked to in annoyingly high voices.
"Did Mr. Muggles bite you or something?"
"Mr.- Mr. what? Who would come up with an awful name like that? Just- get it out! I don't know how it got in."
"Mom, that's your dog! You love him!" I picked him up, cradling the poor, confused creature.
"Mine? I don't have a dog," She scoffed, getting up. I stared at her. She looked at me, "Anyway, who are you? Why do you keep calling me 'mom'?
That was it. I took Mr. Muggles and ran upstairs. I locked the door behind me as I tore into my room, tears streaming down my face. This was all my father's fault. If he hadn't meddled with her mind, her brain wouldn't be mush. I grabbed the phonebook that I kept in my room. I calmed myself down as I asked for the person I wanted to speak to. The phone rang. And then-
"Hello, this is Nathan Petrelli."
"This is Claire Bennet. I was wondering if you knew of any place I could stay in New York. Not- with you, necessarily, but just somewhere. Anywhere. I'm desperate."
"…Claire?" came the confused response, "Are you- are you alright?"
"My adoptive father- he's messed up. And my adoptive mother has amnesia. Please, sir," I begged, "I can't stay here."
"Your adoptive father? The one who tried to kidnap me in Vegas?" He inquired. He probably thought I was overreacting to a small argument or something. But he knew that my 'dad' was up to something.
"Yeah. I have a hunch he's done that to other- other people like- like us. And with my incident at the high school- well, he's brainwashing people, namely my adoptive mom. Now, she can't even remember my face."
There was a dreadful, excruciating silence on the other end. I sat on my bed, in tears, biting my lip hopefully. Then, I heard him sigh.
"I'll ask around. But you can't-," he began. I knew how to continue.
"I'm just some random girl from Texas, not your daughter. I know," It was painful for me to realize that he liked his life for the most part, and I was a mistake he thought he'd left behind. He wasn't ready to live up to that mistake yet. A few more tears leaked out of my eyes. I brushed them away hurriedly. A he spoke I could feel a nasty voice in my head making comments about every little thing he said.
"Listen, it's not that I don't want to tell peopleprobably a lie… I can't you can- you have a voice. I'll tell my wife you're in townoh, joy. But no one else can know."
"That's fine," I lied. It wasn't fine- just better than staying here. I worried about Zach. Hopefully he'd be okay. He had helped me out so much…
"I'll buy you a ticket, then," he remarked, grimly. Was it me, or did he sound annoyed?
"Wait- could- could you buy one for a friend? A-and can you pick me up at that diner place?" I half expected him to deny me both requests.
"Yeah. Yeah, okay."
"Hey- um. Thanks."
"I guess you're welcome." Yeah, he guessed, "Hey. I'm guessing again here, forgive me if I'm wrong. Did Meredith tell you about the money?"
"What money?" She lived in a trailer, for god's sake. If she had any money, I'd be surprised.
"Oh. Figures. I gave her a hundred thousand dollars," he said, "After you left today." That greedy little- no, I wasn't going to say it. But still. She'd blackmailed him, hadn't she? Nice family.
"I'm sorry, um-," I searched for the right word to call him.
"Call me Mr. Petrelli in company, but… I guess you can call me dad. And don't worry about it. It's not the first time I've been blackmailed."
I could tell he was extremely uncomfortable, "No, that's fine, your kids at home call you dad, right? I'll just call you Nathan, if that's alright."
"Thank you," he replied, softly. There was another side-splitting silence.
"So, I'll see you tomorrow?"
"See you tomorrow, Claire."
Then, there was a click, and I was alone again. I dialed Zach's number. After talking with him and his parents in turn, they decided it would be fine if he went. They weren't really strict. Zach agreed to drive me to the Burnt Toast Diner the next morning at nine, in time to catch our noon flight. His other friend, whom I'd never met, was going to drive his truck back home.
For once in the past six months, I'd gotten what I'd wanted. A way out. Nathan had shown me a little of my real mother's true side, which kind of worried me. Now, I had to survive New York. As I packed carefully and quietly, hiding my bags under my bed, I waited eagerly for morning to arrive. They were small bags, loaded with only the most essential things. I grabbed all the cash I had and stuffed it in- just in case. Unfortunately, Mr. Muggles would have to stay. I had no way of sneaking him out.
I couldn't believe I was actually running away.