Tile: Family

Author: finkpishnets

Rating: Alright for all.

Characters: Peter/Claire, all others.

Summary: It hadn't been intentional; they'd simply adopted the space as their own and before long they were their own little, bizarre family.

Spoilers: All just to be safe.

Warnings: Not really any. Some mentions of death.

A/N: I felt the need to write something so I just started typing and this came out. I can't decided whether I hate it or love it, but let me know what you think.

It hadn't been intentional; they'd simply adopted the space as their own and before long they were their own little, bizarre family. Isaac still lived there since it was his studio but he didn't seem to mind the company, in fact he had once commented to Peter that it was actually pretty nice knowing that he wasn't alone. The tension between the two of them should have been much higher considering the past love triangle that they'd participated in, but Simone was now with Isaac again and, surprisingly, Peter hadn't minded. It was obvious that they loved one another and it had been nice whilst it lasted but he was perfectly happy just to go with the flow. Of course, he's secretly been angry and upset for a few weeks when on his own. Peter had been the first to move in with Isaac shortly after his break up with Simone and when his rent had been up and Nathan hadn't helped him to renew it.

Hiro had been the next to take up residency. He had been living in a hotel room nearby with Ando but money had run low and Ando had responsibilities back home in Japan. Hiro didn't take up much room since he hadn't brought very much with him but over time he'd begun to collect silly little trinkets that were of no use to anyone but seemed to please him, such as a white porcelain duck and a collection of Star Trek memorabilia plates. He certainly eased any tension in the place with his light-hearted attitude and his entertaining skits.

Matt had moved in when he and his wife had finally separated. They had both worked at it, especially Matt, but unfortunately the pressure of his 'power' was just too much and they had both called it quits. Peter had told him that they had a room he could have and he'd gratefully accepted, moving his things in as soon as possible and requesting a transfer from work. He found it strange to be living in a flat full of guys again and it reminded him a lot of his days in police training but with added weirdness due to their abilities.

Claire threw everything off balance when she arrived from Texas, scared, cold and alone. She and her father had had a fight over her powers when she'd realised some of the things he was behind, even if it had been to try and keep her safe. She had Peter's address from the few letters they'd exchanged and had hopped on a train without thinking. When she'd turned up on their doorstep everyone had been surprised but ushered her inside with consistent questions about her well being. She'd given them a brief explanation and then turned her large eyes and pouted lips on Peter, asking if she could stay. Of course he said yes; no one could resist her wide-eye, pout-lips combo.

And so they'd become a family. Everyday they'd get up, shuffle around one another in the kitchen and complain that someone had used up the last of the milk. They couldn't leave their dirty laundry around or Claire would lecture them on hygiene and how she refused to live in a male infested pig sty and Peter would automatically stick up for her and immediately do as she said. At night they would all just relax, reading, painting, drawing, whatever they felt like doing and nobody would interrupt one another. They all said goodnight in a typical sitcom fashion as a running joke before retiring to their own rooms.

It was a routine that made them all feel safe and at home, particularly to Claire who had been afraid that she wouldn't manage without her parents. She still had moments of dire home sickness but one of the guys would always be around to cheer her up and that made her feel special. When Simone came over she always became a bit on edge, worried that the older woman would steal her sense of importance, but it never happened. Isaac would always treat her like his little sister and include her in conversations and jokes whilst Peter would pay even more attention to her than usual, making sure her glass was full or she wasn't bored. It was nice.

Peter was finding it strange to be living with other people and kept having flashbacks to his days of medical school; of course, they were nowhere near as weird. He'd been worried about sharing the flat with Isaac at first but as the others joined them it got easier and easier. He'd found good friends in all of them and he began to worry less about what the future had to hold. The only thing that still kept him on edge was being permanently around Claire. He'd been taken with her since their first meeting and as time went on he'd realised that he was most likely falling in love with her. With Simone it had been easier, she was around his age, he wasn't living with her and they weren't in such extreme circumstances at the time. But Claire was a lot younger than him, he had to live in close proximity to her and they were constantly worrying for their lives. Not easy. Eventually he just decided that what would be would be and let her know how he felt through his actions and attentions rather than actual words.

Claire had kissed him on his birthday. They'd held a small party for him in the flat, inviting Nathan and his family, Peter's mom and Niki, DL and Micah. Hiro had baked, Isaac and Simone had decorated with streamers and balloons and Claire and Matt had gone on a present hunt. Peter couldn't remember ever having such a loving birthday. When the non-resident guests had gone home and they were clearing up she'd walked up to him, said 'Happy Birthday, Pete,' and kissed him. It was the best birthday ever.

Changes had come in to play after that. Whilst things were still generally the same, Peter and Claire kissing and holding hands was a new development. It was strange the first few evenings they had cuddled up on the couch together but eventually, that too became something everyone got used to. Even when Claire packed up her things and moved in to Peter's room it only took a while before that became perfectly natural as well.

They managed to live together and fight together for almost two years without disaster. That all changed when Nathan was killed. He was knifed by one of their many enemies and it took too long for someone to get to him. When they had it had been too late and there was nothing anyone could do. Peter isolated himself after that, not talking much and barely leaving the sanctuary of his room. Claire tried to get him to open up but nothing she did seemed to have any effect and she found that all she could do was wait for him to pull himself back together. She felt so helpless and couldn't believe that the world could be so unfair as to make such a wonderful, loving man feel like this.

Peter didn't come out of his funk for months. He'd stopped eating properly and had taken to sitting on the roof, not especially an improvement over his room as it held the added worry of whether or not he would do anything stupid. Matt would often sit at the bottom of the roof steps and hone his powers in to Peter's thoughts to make sure he was OK. He'd sit their for hours until he knew that Peter was ready to come back down and then he'd disappear before he could be spotted.

Hiro constantly baked wonderful cakes and foods for his friends, worried but unsure what he could do. He wanted to make his friend alright again but he didn't know how and that made him frustrated. Instead he started to make sure that Claire was alright. He figured that if he couldn't make Peter alright then he could make sure Claire was alright for when Peter did become himself again.

Isaac had no clue how to act around his friend. He felt a huge amount of pity that he couldn't find outlet for and that made him mad so he started to spend less time at the studio and more at Simone's. He didn't think his absence would be noticed but Claire often wished he were there so she'd have someone to talk to.

The day Peter finally stopped grieving was the day that Isaac and Simone announced their engagement. He'd heard the commotion from his room and gone to investigate; it had been quiet for a long time. In the studio stood the rest of the group issuing their congratulations and admiring the diamond ring that Simone displayed proudly and joyfully. Everyone had become hushed when he'd walked in but he'd simply looked at the ring and smiled his first smile in four months before offering his own best wishes and hugging both the bride and groom to be. It was amazing how quickly the tension in a place could evaporate.

Everything returned almost back to normal after that except Peter was making more of an effort to be the boyfriend Claire deserved and Isaac and Simone were planning their wedding; a small affair with close friends and a simple ceremony there in New York in only two weeks. It had been a beautiful ceremony which had gone entirely smoothly except for Isaac wearing sandals.

It hadn't really crossed their minds that Isaac would be moving out. He and Simone were looking for a small house near to where she worked and since the studio was in his name the others were going to have to think seriously about their living arrangements. The studio was their home and also a convenient place to meet when the world was ending but there was no way the land lord was going to let them keep it after Isaac moved as he already had huge offers up to his elbow.

Matt had picked up a property paper one day on his lunch break and found the perfect place; an apartment in central Manhattan with roof access and a large warehouse type basement that would come with the property – the perfect meeting place. They wouldn't be trapped in, they would be able to meet privately and it was near to all of them. The only problem was that it was only a two bedroom flat. He put the paper in his bag and forgot about it for a while.

As it happened, Matt made an offer to the estate agents and Hiro chipped in the other half of the rent and the two of them moved in as soon as it was available. Matt hadn't thought it would happen until Peter had taken him aside and said he'd found a small house a few blocks from the hospice which he wanted to buy for he and Claire since she could do her internet college courses from anywhere, and would Matt mind as he wouldn't do it if wither Hiro or he didn't want him too. Matt had grinned, patted his friend on the back and dug out the paper, showing him the place he thought was perfect. So everything had fitted together. Of course, when Peter had asked Claire to move in with him, and only him, she had squealed, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him senseless.

Six months later, the world hadn't ended once again and Peter had celebrated by asking Claire to marry him. They'd been standing in an alley, bloody and surrounded the others all checking their injuries when he'd just come out with it; 'Claire, marry me.' Her eyes had widened and her mouth dropped and it was the first time in the history of their friendship that any of them had seen the young woman speechless. Instead of answering she burst into tears and Peter began to panic, worrying that he's upset her. She's told him he was an idiot and that she was 'happy, you moron!'. He'd made her actually say yes, just to be sure, and that had been that. Claire had written her parents telling them about the upcoming nuptials and received a lovely letter from her mother saying how happy she was for her and how much she loved her, along with a small note from her brother saying 'Congrats' and then saying Peter must be an idiot to put up with her. Her father hadn't written anything.

The wedding was supposed to be a small affair like Isaac and Simone's but Peter's mother had gone in to overdrive and soon everyone they'd ever spoken to and even more that they hadn't were invited. The wedding took place in Mrs Petrelli's back lawn with beautiful white flowers strewn everywhere and a lovely string quartet playing softly in the background. Claire was in her element and looked astonishing as she walked down the aisle in the wedding dress of her choice, escorted by Hiro who had been overwhelmed at being asked to take the position. Simone and Niki were her bridesmaids since they were the two women she was still close too, and Matt and Isaac were Peter's groomsmen with Matt doubling as best man. D L and Micah sat on the front row trying not to fall asleep. The ceremony was beautiful and a small mention of Nathan was included in respect. The reception was fabulous but tiring and Peter and Claire were happy when the could retire home, Peter carrying her over the threshold in tradition and them both laughing when he tripped on one of her shoes in the hallway. They didn't have a proper honeymoon as everything was too up in the air, but they both took time off work and study for two weeks so they could just spend their time together taking walks and going to the theatre. Both of them felt that it couldn't have been more romantic.

Over the next five years, miraculously, none of them died, but they did drift apart. Niki and DL moved to California in order to help Micah rehabilitate after he'd become paralysed from the waist down in a fight that he shouldn't have been a part of. Simone was offered a job as the manager of a highly renowned gallery in Toronto and since Isaac could do his work anywhere, the two of them agreed that it was the right move for them.

Hiro had become a huge success in the world of business and soon he was travelling between Japan and New York so often that it seemed like a wise decision to move back to his native country. He didn't want to leave and gave them so many hugs at the airport that they thought he'd break their ribs. Everyone was sad to see him go.

Matt had re-met Detective Audrey Hanson whilst on a field case and the two of them had gone out for drinks to catch up. They moved to Chicago shortly after Hiro had left and were currently working as partners both professionally and personally. Audrey knew about Matt's powers and he found it amazing how even that could make their relationship work so well.

Peter and Claire stayed in New York and after Claire had completed her degree she got a job working as a therapist. She didn't go in for any of that 'how are you feeling' crap but she did believe that it important for people to have someone they could talk to. She specialised in working with teenagers that felt like outsiders, a situation she could definitely relate to. After they had been married two years Claire gave birth to a beautiful baby boy that they named Zach after her old friend who had made her believe in herself. Neither of them gave up work but they arranged their schedules so that one of them was always around to look after baby Zach.

They all tried to keep in contact but eventually the letters, emails and phone calls dwindled away to the odd Christmas and birthday cards and after a few years even those stopped. Only Hiro remembered to send them each and every year.

They met up all together one last time almost eighteen years after they'd gone their separate ways. It had been hard for Zach Petrelli to contact all of his parents' old friends but he'd managed eventually. He knew it was the right thing to do. Seeing the mismatched group all together was bizarre after hearing so many stories about their pasts but he felt strangely proud that they all still cared. He gripped him mom's hand tighter as his fathers coffin was lowered into the ground and tried to hold in his tears; he needed to be strong for his mom and little sister, Jen. Everyone paid their respects and spoke about how great his dad had been; how kind, how selfless, how brilliant. Zach knew it all but it was still nice hearing other people say so too.

Claire hugged all the guests goodbye and thanked them for coming before they went home, her old friends joining them by request. They all sat quietly in the lounge, sipping delicately at hot drinks and nervous to say anything as, well, what could they say? Claire was the one to break the silence by laughing. It shocked everyone but she giggled girlishly, tears still running down her face as she told the story of how she and Peter had first got together. The tension was broken and soon everyone was telling the real stories about Peter's life and it felt so wonderful to Claire to be able to talk about him with people who had really known him, her children by her side.

They'd all formed a bond over the years that could and would never be broken. They were friends and they were allies. They had known each other inside out and better than anyone else ever could. They had loved one another for who they were. They were heroes not only because of the abilities life had presented them with but because of who they were. They had fought besides one another and they had lived besides one another and that would keep them forever intertwined no matter how much distance, in life or in death, was put between them. They were family.