Heroes: Incognito (5/12)
Sep. 26th, 2010 05:21 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: 1,149
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 Four
Peter’s been sulking since they left for the airport.
No, not sulking. That’s not quite the word when a clear edge of anger lurks under the heavy silence. Claude traces it back to Nathan Petrelli wrapping a hand over Peter’s shoulder and shepherding him into an office where he shut the door. After they emerged, Peter’s sober, keen focus was sapped to this- brooding, that’s the word. Sour-faced and terse. Claude doesn’t like it one bit, for many reasons.
He manages to hold his peace until they’re seated on the plane. “Look, mate, they say this might only take a week, but I promise it’ll seem a helluva lot longer if you’re going to keep up the sullen adolescent act.”
Peter turns to him, and the riot of embarrassment, indignation, and remorse on his face is more than enough to make Claude grin.
“So, I suppose it’s still my line,” he continues, “Ready? Here it comes... Do you want to talk about it?”
That conjures up a smile and a laugh from Peter, however small, and Claude feels a swell of something more than a little like relief. “I...” he sighs, “Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry. Everything’s fine.”
“Everything most certainly is not fine,” Claude counters, “We’re flying across the country to stop some baddies from turning New York City into a smoking crater. Now, I’m your partner, and you’re mine. I need to know what’s goin’ on in that head of yours.”
The amusement slips away as Peter looks at him, eyes sad as he says, “You shouldn’t have picked me, Claude. I’m... There are a lot of other agents, and... I’m not who you should’ve picked.”
“Well, Peter, you’re the one who said I wouldn’t be alone in this. I wasn’t about to let anyone else keep me company.”
He frowns in confusion. “Why?”
Claude clenches his jaw against saying that Peter is the first trustworthy person he’s met in about a decade and how much that means to him. “Why not?” he asks instead.
Peter’s face shutters, the brooding reviving. “I’m not the most experienced. You should have the best support you can get- millions of people’s lives depend on it.”
“And why else? You were sent to find and retrieve an invisible man, keeping track of me until this is finished is not outside your abilities as an agent.”
“You were right, they expect you to run,” Peter blurts out. “And they don’t expect me to be able to stop you.”
“And by ‘they’ you mean your brother, yeah? Why can’t you stop me?”
“I can,” he snaps, the anger less of an edge and more of a gleam. Claude lifts his eyebrows. “It’s just... last year, I was... I got captured, by Primatech. They took away my empathy, and all of the abilities I’d gotten with it. I used to be able to just absorb them. Anything anyone could do, I could too.”
“Autonomic.”
“Yeah. So, I couldn’t do anything. But there was this... stuff, they called it a catalyst. I took that, and I could hold one ability at a time. I just have to touch someone...”
His hand hovers over Claude’s where it holds the armrest. There aren’t words for how much he wants Peter to touch him before his fingers curl and the hand retreats.
“Uh, so... after that happened, I haven’t really been given assignments that would get me directly involved with Primatech. Everyone figured it would just be... easier.”
“And how long was that supposed to go on?”
He frowns and shrugs, sighs, “I don’t know, okay? Until now, I guess.”
“So you’re not just inexperienced, you’re out of practice,” Claude says, not unkindly.
Peter chuckles, “Pretty much. And that’s why you shouldn’t have picked me. Happy?”
Claude shrugs, “Well, I was hoping for a bad peanut allergy or some such, but...”
Peter snickers, though it fades quickly. “I’m not afraid of them, not really. It, you know- it happened, but I promise, it’s not going to affect my work.”
There’s the Peter Claude’s been getting to know, full to the brim with earnest determination. His hand is rising before he realizes it, the backs of his fingers brushing Peter’s jaw while his thumb runs over his chin. It takes a small gasp across his knuckles to make Claude snatch his hand back. He’s all set to nail his gaze to the seat in front of him for the duration of the flight, but Peter is looking at him. Eyes a little wide and very dark, a smile tugging at a corner of his mouth.
Claude does manage to tear his eyes away, with help from a flight attendant asking for drink orders, but it doesn’t do much to subdue the dizzy heat in his head and heart. What was it dear Nathan said about luck? Right.
***
They find the sun-drenched park that’s been chosen as their meeting place. Conversation has stayed superficial, and Peter isn’t sure if he’s happy about that or not. He tries to take his cue from Claude, who is clearly gearing up for the official beginning of their assignment.
He must be, he’s the one who will be going into the lion’s den while Peter sits safe and sound in a hotel room waiting for news. The thought makes his guts twist with a new kind of guilt and anxiety he really doesn’t need, but of course it’s far too late to whine about it now. It’s been too late since Peter tracked Claude down to that bar, since he first found him alive, since Haram gave Peter his picture.
“Right, so, what ability have you got now?”
Peter swallows. “Just finding. I guess I thought that’d be the most useful.” He puts his hands safely in his pockets.
“Yeah. You just... keep tabs on me, right? When- if you see I’m around here, come by.”
“Yeah, got it.”
“Are you weapons-trained?” Peter blinks in surprise, and Claude half-shrugs. “Just in case.”
Peter nods, “Uh huh.” Hides a grimace poorly.
“Okay. Should be off then. Interception’s supposed to be down the road a ways.”
“Yeah, okay.” Peter hasn’t risked looking at Claude any more than he has to, instead scanning the park for nothing in particular. But he looks now, wishing he wasn’t aware that this could be the last time he sees him.
Claude’s looking right back, and damn if Peter can’t imagine he’s thinking the same thing behind the carefully blank blue. He takes a step closer and Peter’s heart stutters. His hand rises, and Peter mentally begs it to touch his face again, but it lands on his shoulder instead.
“Good luck,” Peter says.
“And you.” The hand squeezes once and lets go. Claude turns and stalks away, fading out of sight as Peter fades back in. The empath takes a moment to breathe before heading on his way.
Chapter Six
Word Count: 1,149
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 Four
Peter’s been sulking since they left for the airport.
No, not sulking. That’s not quite the word when a clear edge of anger lurks under the heavy silence. Claude traces it back to Nathan Petrelli wrapping a hand over Peter’s shoulder and shepherding him into an office where he shut the door. After they emerged, Peter’s sober, keen focus was sapped to this- brooding, that’s the word. Sour-faced and terse. Claude doesn’t like it one bit, for many reasons.
He manages to hold his peace until they’re seated on the plane. “Look, mate, they say this might only take a week, but I promise it’ll seem a helluva lot longer if you’re going to keep up the sullen adolescent act.”
Peter turns to him, and the riot of embarrassment, indignation, and remorse on his face is more than enough to make Claude grin.
“So, I suppose it’s still my line,” he continues, “Ready? Here it comes... Do you want to talk about it?”
That conjures up a smile and a laugh from Peter, however small, and Claude feels a swell of something more than a little like relief. “I...” he sighs, “Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry. Everything’s fine.”
“Everything most certainly is not fine,” Claude counters, “We’re flying across the country to stop some baddies from turning New York City into a smoking crater. Now, I’m your partner, and you’re mine. I need to know what’s goin’ on in that head of yours.”
The amusement slips away as Peter looks at him, eyes sad as he says, “You shouldn’t have picked me, Claude. I’m... There are a lot of other agents, and... I’m not who you should’ve picked.”
“Well, Peter, you’re the one who said I wouldn’t be alone in this. I wasn’t about to let anyone else keep me company.”
He frowns in confusion. “Why?”
Claude clenches his jaw against saying that Peter is the first trustworthy person he’s met in about a decade and how much that means to him. “Why not?” he asks instead.
Peter’s face shutters, the brooding reviving. “I’m not the most experienced. You should have the best support you can get- millions of people’s lives depend on it.”
“And why else? You were sent to find and retrieve an invisible man, keeping track of me until this is finished is not outside your abilities as an agent.”
“You were right, they expect you to run,” Peter blurts out. “And they don’t expect me to be able to stop you.”
“And by ‘they’ you mean your brother, yeah? Why can’t you stop me?”
“I can,” he snaps, the anger less of an edge and more of a gleam. Claude lifts his eyebrows. “It’s just... last year, I was... I got captured, by Primatech. They took away my empathy, and all of the abilities I’d gotten with it. I used to be able to just absorb them. Anything anyone could do, I could too.”
“Autonomic.”
“Yeah. So, I couldn’t do anything. But there was this... stuff, they called it a catalyst. I took that, and I could hold one ability at a time. I just have to touch someone...”
His hand hovers over Claude’s where it holds the armrest. There aren’t words for how much he wants Peter to touch him before his fingers curl and the hand retreats.
“Uh, so... after that happened, I haven’t really been given assignments that would get me directly involved with Primatech. Everyone figured it would just be... easier.”
“And how long was that supposed to go on?”
He frowns and shrugs, sighs, “I don’t know, okay? Until now, I guess.”
“So you’re not just inexperienced, you’re out of practice,” Claude says, not unkindly.
Peter chuckles, “Pretty much. And that’s why you shouldn’t have picked me. Happy?”
Claude shrugs, “Well, I was hoping for a bad peanut allergy or some such, but...”
Peter snickers, though it fades quickly. “I’m not afraid of them, not really. It, you know- it happened, but I promise, it’s not going to affect my work.”
There’s the Peter Claude’s been getting to know, full to the brim with earnest determination. His hand is rising before he realizes it, the backs of his fingers brushing Peter’s jaw while his thumb runs over his chin. It takes a small gasp across his knuckles to make Claude snatch his hand back. He’s all set to nail his gaze to the seat in front of him for the duration of the flight, but Peter is looking at him. Eyes a little wide and very dark, a smile tugging at a corner of his mouth.
Claude does manage to tear his eyes away, with help from a flight attendant asking for drink orders, but it doesn’t do much to subdue the dizzy heat in his head and heart. What was it dear Nathan said about luck? Right.
***
They find the sun-drenched park that’s been chosen as their meeting place. Conversation has stayed superficial, and Peter isn’t sure if he’s happy about that or not. He tries to take his cue from Claude, who is clearly gearing up for the official beginning of their assignment.
He must be, he’s the one who will be going into the lion’s den while Peter sits safe and sound in a hotel room waiting for news. The thought makes his guts twist with a new kind of guilt and anxiety he really doesn’t need, but of course it’s far too late to whine about it now. It’s been too late since Peter tracked Claude down to that bar, since he first found him alive, since Haram gave Peter his picture.
“Right, so, what ability have you got now?”
Peter swallows. “Just finding. I guess I thought that’d be the most useful.” He puts his hands safely in his pockets.
“Yeah. You just... keep tabs on me, right? When- if you see I’m around here, come by.”
“Yeah, got it.”
“Are you weapons-trained?” Peter blinks in surprise, and Claude half-shrugs. “Just in case.”
Peter nods, “Uh huh.” Hides a grimace poorly.
“Okay. Should be off then. Interception’s supposed to be down the road a ways.”
“Yeah, okay.” Peter hasn’t risked looking at Claude any more than he has to, instead scanning the park for nothing in particular. But he looks now, wishing he wasn’t aware that this could be the last time he sees him.
Claude’s looking right back, and damn if Peter can’t imagine he’s thinking the same thing behind the carefully blank blue. He takes a step closer and Peter’s heart stutters. His hand rises, and Peter mentally begs it to touch his face again, but it lands on his shoulder instead.
“Good luck,” Peter says.
“And you.” The hand squeezes once and lets go. Claude turns and stalks away, fading out of sight as Peter fades back in. The empath takes a moment to breathe before heading on his way.
Chapter Six
