Heroes: Incognito (4/12)
Sep. 26th, 2010 05:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lotus0kidRating: PG-13 (a little language, a little violence, a little sex)
Word Count: 864
Disclaimer: Heroes characters belong to Tim Kring.
A/N:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
heroes_bigboom fic. Thanks for the beta, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
visiblemarket!
Summary: Notorious-inspired AU set chronologically in S1, in which a past schism pits the Company against Primatech. To prevent Primatech from destroying New York City, Company agent Peter Petrelli enlists ex-agent Claude Rains.
Chapter Three
Peter’s eyes dart to Claude on their way back to the office, even though it makes embarrassment churn in his stomach.
He’s such an idiot sometimes. Claude Rains is a grown man, who definitely doesn’t need the ham-fisted comfort Peter spouted outside. He needs a partner, an equal. Peter wishes once again that Haram was here. To reunite him and Claude- that would’ve been... right. Good. There wouldn’t be half the suspicion and mistrust being projected across the table from Peter’s mother and Kaito. And Nathan, and Mohinder, and Matt. The last is obviously still trying to read Claude’s thoughts, even though he’s been told they’re as invisible as the man can make himself. It’s just one of the things about Claude that has fascinated Peter since Haram had first started talking about him.
Now that Peter knows Haram never contacted Claude, he figures the stories were Haram’s way of easing the strain of leaving his partner in the shark tank he’d escaped, and then knowing he’d been executed, believing he was dead. Haram wasn’t really thinking about the effect they would have on a rookie agent who barely had control of his just-manifested empathy.
Claude became everything Peter strived to be in the Company. And one day, he sat down with the stories in his head, a photograph, a map, and his brand new finding ability. It was just an exercise- he would’ve liked to tell Haram where Claude’s body was, if he could. He never expected to find the man, living and breathing, going about his day a few hundred miles off. Peter thinks he understands Haram’s reaction to the news better now- more resignation than happiness, a nod and a smile and a “Good work, Peter.” Claude made it out alive. Haram had an even better reason to keep his distance.
Peter, on the other hand, couldn’t resist. He kept track of Claude. Not all the time, just every now and then, when he wanted to practice his finding. It was a good challenge because the man was always moving.
When Arthur came for Peter, Claude was exactly 781.23 miles away. Peter was never truly scared until Arthur stole his abilities and he couldn’t reach out to that other life, safe and separate from all this. It wasn’t too long before the tumult of his rescue distracted him. But his heart ached when he discovered the new restrictions of his empathy.
The man’s sitting right beside him, nodding along to what knowledge the Company can provide on Primatech. Peter has to help him through this. He has to keep him safe. He has to return the favor. I have to stop leering at him, for Christ’s sake. He blames Haram’s old photograph, which did almost no justice to Claude in the flesh, even with a heavy beard and stained clothes. When those eyes were staring straight to the bottom of him down on the bench outside, it was all Peter could do to only hold his hands. He needs to focus.
“Eric Thompson will be your way in,” Nathan is saying.
Claude snorts, “Stayed in middle-management, did he? Or is he your cock-up of a double agent?”
“He’s not the double agent. That would be Noah Bennet.”
Peter spots tension ripple through Claude’s body and hides a wince of his own, wondering if Nathan knows who carried out Claude’s execution or not. “Two-faced, as always,” he hears Claude mutter.
“He’ll be keeping a low profile for this, trying to salvage his cover. In any case, your job will be to tail Thompson until you can find out what Primatech is hiding. If you’re lucky, it shouldn’t take more than a week.”
“That’d be a first, but this seems simple enough. When do we start?”
“You’re on a plane to Costa Verde, California, tonight. That’s where Primatech’s headquartered these days.”
“Right, Peter’s comin’ along.”
A bolt of heat shoots through the empath’s stomach at the words, and his eyes join all the others that focus sharply on Claude.
Nathan blinks, and sets his smile to appeasement. “Mister Rains, we were planning to partner you with a more experienced agent, someone who came from Primatech.”
“Duly noted, I want Peter. He’s my partner or I walk right now. Once I’m outside the blast radius this is really none of my concern.”
Nathan cocks his head with a sly squint. “You really expect us to believe you’d let New York be destroyed if we don’t comply?”
“Do you want to find out the hard way?”
Peter swallows, looking from his brother’s face to Claude’s profile and back. Both are stony and unreadable. He looks to Nathan, whose gaze is now on him. Measuring, doubting, and something in Peter starts to burn, but he says nothing. Finally, a thoughtful frown and gaze briefly dropped to his lap before returning to Claude, “Okay. Peter will be your point of contact. Communication should be kept to an absolute minimum, only come to him when you have what we need or if you have no other choice, understand?”
“Cheers.”
And that’s that. Peter beats down the automatic clench in his stomach with the small smile Claude shoots him.
Chapter Five
Word Count: 864
Disclaimer: Heroes characters belong to Tim Kring.
A/N:
heroes_bigboom fic. Thanks for the beta, visiblemarket!Summary: Notorious-inspired AU set chronologically in S1, in which a past schism pits the Company against Primatech. To prevent Primatech from destroying New York City, Company agent Peter Petrelli enlists ex-agent Claude Rains.
Chapter Three
Peter’s eyes dart to Claude on their way back to the office, even though it makes embarrassment churn in his stomach.
He’s such an idiot sometimes. Claude Rains is a grown man, who definitely doesn’t need the ham-fisted comfort Peter spouted outside. He needs a partner, an equal. Peter wishes once again that Haram was here. To reunite him and Claude- that would’ve been... right. Good. There wouldn’t be half the suspicion and mistrust being projected across the table from Peter’s mother and Kaito. And Nathan, and Mohinder, and Matt. The last is obviously still trying to read Claude’s thoughts, even though he’s been told they’re as invisible as the man can make himself. It’s just one of the things about Claude that has fascinated Peter since Haram had first started talking about him.
Now that Peter knows Haram never contacted Claude, he figures the stories were Haram’s way of easing the strain of leaving his partner in the shark tank he’d escaped, and then knowing he’d been executed, believing he was dead. Haram wasn’t really thinking about the effect they would have on a rookie agent who barely had control of his just-manifested empathy.
Claude became everything Peter strived to be in the Company. And one day, he sat down with the stories in his head, a photograph, a map, and his brand new finding ability. It was just an exercise- he would’ve liked to tell Haram where Claude’s body was, if he could. He never expected to find the man, living and breathing, going about his day a few hundred miles off. Peter thinks he understands Haram’s reaction to the news better now- more resignation than happiness, a nod and a smile and a “Good work, Peter.” Claude made it out alive. Haram had an even better reason to keep his distance.
Peter, on the other hand, couldn’t resist. He kept track of Claude. Not all the time, just every now and then, when he wanted to practice his finding. It was a good challenge because the man was always moving.
When Arthur came for Peter, Claude was exactly 781.23 miles away. Peter was never truly scared until Arthur stole his abilities and he couldn’t reach out to that other life, safe and separate from all this. It wasn’t too long before the tumult of his rescue distracted him. But his heart ached when he discovered the new restrictions of his empathy.
The man’s sitting right beside him, nodding along to what knowledge the Company can provide on Primatech. Peter has to help him through this. He has to keep him safe. He has to return the favor. I have to stop leering at him, for Christ’s sake. He blames Haram’s old photograph, which did almost no justice to Claude in the flesh, even with a heavy beard and stained clothes. When those eyes were staring straight to the bottom of him down on the bench outside, it was all Peter could do to only hold his hands. He needs to focus.
“Eric Thompson will be your way in,” Nathan is saying.
Claude snorts, “Stayed in middle-management, did he? Or is he your cock-up of a double agent?”
“He’s not the double agent. That would be Noah Bennet.”
Peter spots tension ripple through Claude’s body and hides a wince of his own, wondering if Nathan knows who carried out Claude’s execution or not. “Two-faced, as always,” he hears Claude mutter.
“He’ll be keeping a low profile for this, trying to salvage his cover. In any case, your job will be to tail Thompson until you can find out what Primatech is hiding. If you’re lucky, it shouldn’t take more than a week.”
“That’d be a first, but this seems simple enough. When do we start?”
“You’re on a plane to Costa Verde, California, tonight. That’s where Primatech’s headquartered these days.”
“Right, Peter’s comin’ along.”
A bolt of heat shoots through the empath’s stomach at the words, and his eyes join all the others that focus sharply on Claude.
Nathan blinks, and sets his smile to appeasement. “Mister Rains, we were planning to partner you with a more experienced agent, someone who came from Primatech.”
“Duly noted, I want Peter. He’s my partner or I walk right now. Once I’m outside the blast radius this is really none of my concern.”
Nathan cocks his head with a sly squint. “You really expect us to believe you’d let New York be destroyed if we don’t comply?”
“Do you want to find out the hard way?”
Peter swallows, looking from his brother’s face to Claude’s profile and back. Both are stony and unreadable. He looks to Nathan, whose gaze is now on him. Measuring, doubting, and something in Peter starts to burn, but he says nothing. Finally, a thoughtful frown and gaze briefly dropped to his lap before returning to Claude, “Okay. Peter will be your point of contact. Communication should be kept to an absolute minimum, only come to him when you have what we need or if you have no other choice, understand?”
“Cheers.”
And that’s that. Peter beats down the automatic clench in his stomach with the small smile Claude shoots him.
Chapter Five
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-10-01 12:49 am (UTC)Heh, stalker!Peter is...adorable. But still kind of stalkery. I wonder how Claude would feel about that revelation.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-01 01:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-01 01:12 am (UTC)