Heroes: Incognito (9/12)
Sep. 26th, 2010 05:56 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: 2,033
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 Eight
Claude walks in step with Thompson as they make their way through the parking lot of Primatech’s headquarters.
“You know you can go visible anytime.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“Okay, well, don’t blame me if introductions are a bit awkward.”
“Got a lot of new recruits?”
“Oh, a few, here and there. Young people today are so ambitious. And then there are the ones we bring in ourselves- every so often they like what they see.”
Claude’s skin crawls. Good old Primatech. It’s all he can do to keep his breathing steady as they make their way inside the building. He clings to his seven years of complete social isolation if only to keep his mind in the present. He thinks of Haram, and the iron need to know what happened to his closest friend. In his mind’s eye he sees the painting of New York City on the verge of cataclysmic destruction. And Peter’s waiting for him.
“Still being bashful, Claude?” a cultured voice says from behind them. Claude turns to find Daniel Linderman standing with his snowy eyebrows raised. “Come now,” the man continues, “let’s have a look at you at last.”
It takes an actual effort for Claude to take down his shield. He reminds himself that he’s supposed to want to be here, and tries to dig up a cheeky smirk for Linderman to see.
The older man smiles, “Ah, there we are. You know we were all terribly surprised when Mr. Thompson shared the news that you were in town. That you were anywhere, in fact.”
Claude shrugs, “Bad penny, I suppose.”
Linderman nods and hums, “Indeed. Well, if you would come this way, there are some things Arthur would like to discuss with you.” He turns and walks away with a casual “come along” gesture of his hand. Claude follows him, after sharing a glance with Thompson, who sketches a salute and goes his own way.
Linderman leads Claude to an office in which Arthur Petrelli waits with what has to be Claude’s file on his desk. His green-brown eyes watch as he takes a seat, expression completely blank. “Claude Rains,” he says, “I don’t think we got the chance to properly meet, way back when.”
He extends a hand, and Claude’s breath catches momentarily. Every instinct he has screams not to touch the ability thief. Trying to believe he would be no good to them without his ability, he reaches out and shakes Arthur’s hand, and feels no different when he lets go.
Arthur’s gaze turns to the file. “I’d say the only thing stranger than your being alive, Mr. Rains, are the sentiments you’ve expressed to Eric Thompson. I hope he was correct in his interpretation of those sentiments- that you’d like to become an agent again.”
“Yes, he is.”
Arthur’s face creases in a smile and soft chuckle. “Well, allow me to ask the obvious question then- why? Seven years ago, you made your opposition of our practices so blatant it was necessary to have you killed. Can you explain what’s inspired this change of heart?”
Claude’s never been so grateful for his invisible thoughts as the words A night of too many piss-poor American beers and your youngest son echo around his head. “Call it a rebellious phase. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve nothing better to do with my life than work for you.” He caps his performance with another half-smirk and shrug.
Arthur looks as if Claude is an odd new species he’s never encountered before. Claude maintains eye contact. Arthur looks down, “Mister Rains, I’ve always believed action speaks louder than words. As such, I have an assignment for you.”
“Yeah?”
“You correctly identified Noah Bennet as a threat to our operation, and eliminated him. Naturally I appreciate the gesture, but I’m curious- did you know how Mister Bennet had lost his integrity with us?”
“Not the details, no.”
“Do you recall that he was made the guardian of an infant born to a pyrokinetic?”
“Yeah, I do,” Claude replies mildly as panic alarms sound within.
“Her ability has manifested, and Bennet was going against his orders and hiding her from us. Now that he’s dead, she must be brought in for examination. That’s your assignment. Understand?”
“Sure. Where can I find her?”
Arthur stands. “Go out to the main lobby. Your partner will fill you in on the details.”
Claude follows him out of the conference room, a litany of swears filling his head. To avoid casting suspicion on Claude’s cover, the Company hasn’t evacuated the Bennets yet. He honestly doesn’t know if they value his assignment over Claire Bennet’s freedom, if they’ll let him hand her over to the nightmarish Research Division to secure his place at Primatech. Christ, Claire... The memory of a brilliant gap-toothed smile surrounded by golden curls flares in Claude’s head. Noah’s family was his family. He can’t do this.
Seeing his partner only makes things worse. Elle Bishop grins at him, and he tries not to see the sad broken girl he remembers. “So you’re back from the dead, huh?” she inquires, snapping bubble gum.
“Y’could say that.”
“Nice accent,” she giggles and flits out to a car. He trudges after her. “Okay,” Elle says when they’re on the road, “Claire’s at cheerleading practice. It’ll end in about twenty minutes, we can grab her on her way home.”
“You’ve been doing surveillance?”
“Yeah, from the inside. High school sucks, but you gotta start somewhere, right? That’s what Dad says.”
“She doesn’t know what’s happened to her f- to Bennet?”
“Nope. I think Mrs. Bennet called around noon, asking if he was at the office. Boy is she in for a surprise.” Elle laughs, and Claude feels sick. This is everything he hated about being an agent, only a hundred times worse. He wonders if Peter knows where he is, if he’s trying to figure out why Claude’s headed for Costa Verde High School. He isn’t sure if he wants Peter to show up or not.
Some Company agent has to be watching her by now, he decides. Primatech knows Bennet went to the Company, they won’t be surprised if an agent is protecting Claire. That could work. It wouldn’t even be a lie- he can’t go after the girl without attracting the Company’s attention. However, the Claude Rains he’s pretending to be doesn’t know to fear Company agents. He’ll have to tip off Elle to Claire’s tail somehow. They can bolt back to Primatech and Claude can prove himself some other way. And, just maybe, he can get this job back on bloody track.
They park in the far corner of the school’s lot. Elle goes to the trunk and fetches a large, trendy-looking purse. “The sedation kit fits in here like a dream,” she remarks before walking back and twining her arms around one of Claude’s. “We’re invisible already, aren’t we?” she murmurs in his ear.
He does his best not to cringe. “Yeah.”
“That’s so cool.” Elle leads him at a strolling pace up to the edge of the football field where the cheerleading squad is practicing. After a minute or two the coach blows a whistle and dismisses the squad. The cheerleaders begin gathering their things, collecting in groups to chat. “That’s her,” Elle says, nodding toward one girl who has sat down on the bleachers.
Her hair is long, not as curly as Claude remembers it. She’s not smiling, her body is tense. It’s a simple matter of tracking her nervous glance to the Company agent protecting her. The Haitian, naturally, Claude thinks when he spots the man sitting on a sidewalk bench with a newspaper. Of course Bennet would only accept the best. Claude hopes he’s good enough to make this work.
He turns to Elle, “Okay, here’s how it’ll be. I take the sedation kit, grab her, and carry her out once she’s under. You bring the car around, I load her in, and we’re done. Clear?”
“No!” Elle cries, “All I do is go get the car? Listen, I need to be in on this or I’ll be stuck in Breakfast Club hell forever!”
“Sorry, princess, but this is quite literally my ticket into Primatech, an’ I won’t let some wide-eyed rookie fuck it up, okay? Now get to the car before you’re seen.” He pulls the purse from her grip, and though he can feel her furious glare dig into his back, he walks away.
He knows he can’t have more than five minutes before Elle starts getting suspicious, so he makes do with detouring to squeeze the Haitian’s shoulder on his way to the football field. He crosses over to the bleachers, where, luckily, Claire still sits on her own.
Nearly all of the other cheerleaders have left, and none are paying attention to Claire. Claude steps silently onto the bleachers, moving to her side one row back. He puts a hand on her shoulder as he says, “Don’t move, Claire.”
She stiffens, but does as instructed. “... Claude?”
He lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, and smiles, “Yeah, it’s me. Sorry for the theatrics. We’re invisible now- you can turn around.”
She does, and her smile is a pure ray of sunshine. “Oh my god,” she breathes. “This is so weird.”
Claude chuckles, “Don’t I know it.” He sobers, “Y’have to listen now. Do you know what’s happening with your dad?”
A complicated expression comes to her face. “Well, it’s been a lot to process. Primatech- the company he works for- it’s some kind of front for... human experimentation or something? I don’t know. And you- you’re trying to stop them, right?”
He nods, “That’s about it, yeah. And to do that, I’m trying to get them to think I’m on their side. To do that... I’ve been told to bring you to them. I won’t,” he continues as her eyes widen with alarm, “I never would, but we’ve got to arrange it so it looks like I tried. Understand?”
She blinks a few times, but also nods, “I- I guess so.”
Claude takes a breath, “Good. Now, I saw the agent watching you, the Haitian-”
“You mean René?”
It’s Claude’s turn to blink. “Is that his name? You learn something new...” Keeping a gentle hold on Claire’s arm, they stand and start walking as he says, “What I’m thinkin’ should happen is that René can intercept us on the way to my car. He wipes my brain, and I run back to Primatech with my tail between my legs and you safe and sound. Make sense?”
She shrugs. “Close enough.”
Once clear of the bleachers, Claude looks to see the sidewalk bench is empty. “Where are you supposed to meet René if things go wrong?”
“Over here,” she says, leading him away from the football field to the school itself. They turn the corner at the gym, and Claude spots René waiting. He turns them both visible.
“Primatech sent me to capture her,” he says, “Some stupid initiation ritual of theirs. Tell whoever’s taking care of it at the Company that the Bennets need to be relocated now.” René nods. “Claire?”
She turns to him with a small smile that brings the same to his face.
“Good to see you, love. Stay safe for me, will ya’?”
Claire throws her arms around him in a tight hug, “Wherever we end up, you have to come visit, okay? Don’t disappear again. Promise.”
“I promise.” He takes another breath, and looks to René, “Make me forget I saw her.”
His long-fingered hand rises to cover Claude’s eyes, just as a sharp voice rings out, “HEY!”
Claude and Claire spring apart, and René is already tugging her away as Elle strides toward them with sparks gathering in her hands. “Go!” Claude shouts at them, “Both of you- run!” He promptly follows his own advice, going invisible and sprinting down alongside the gym.
He expects Elle to go after Claire, and René to stop her. So he’s very surprised indeed when he makes it five steps before a searing pain strikes him and his vision goes blue-white. Then black.
Chapter Ten
Word Count: 2,033
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 Eight
Claude walks in step with Thompson as they make their way through the parking lot of Primatech’s headquarters.
“You know you can go visible anytime.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“Okay, well, don’t blame me if introductions are a bit awkward.”
“Got a lot of new recruits?”
“Oh, a few, here and there. Young people today are so ambitious. And then there are the ones we bring in ourselves- every so often they like what they see.”
Claude’s skin crawls. Good old Primatech. It’s all he can do to keep his breathing steady as they make their way inside the building. He clings to his seven years of complete social isolation if only to keep his mind in the present. He thinks of Haram, and the iron need to know what happened to his closest friend. In his mind’s eye he sees the painting of New York City on the verge of cataclysmic destruction. And Peter’s waiting for him.
“Still being bashful, Claude?” a cultured voice says from behind them. Claude turns to find Daniel Linderman standing with his snowy eyebrows raised. “Come now,” the man continues, “let’s have a look at you at last.”
It takes an actual effort for Claude to take down his shield. He reminds himself that he’s supposed to want to be here, and tries to dig up a cheeky smirk for Linderman to see.
The older man smiles, “Ah, there we are. You know we were all terribly surprised when Mr. Thompson shared the news that you were in town. That you were anywhere, in fact.”
Claude shrugs, “Bad penny, I suppose.”
Linderman nods and hums, “Indeed. Well, if you would come this way, there are some things Arthur would like to discuss with you.” He turns and walks away with a casual “come along” gesture of his hand. Claude follows him, after sharing a glance with Thompson, who sketches a salute and goes his own way.
Linderman leads Claude to an office in which Arthur Petrelli waits with what has to be Claude’s file on his desk. His green-brown eyes watch as he takes a seat, expression completely blank. “Claude Rains,” he says, “I don’t think we got the chance to properly meet, way back when.”
He extends a hand, and Claude’s breath catches momentarily. Every instinct he has screams not to touch the ability thief. Trying to believe he would be no good to them without his ability, he reaches out and shakes Arthur’s hand, and feels no different when he lets go.
Arthur’s gaze turns to the file. “I’d say the only thing stranger than your being alive, Mr. Rains, are the sentiments you’ve expressed to Eric Thompson. I hope he was correct in his interpretation of those sentiments- that you’d like to become an agent again.”
“Yes, he is.”
Arthur’s face creases in a smile and soft chuckle. “Well, allow me to ask the obvious question then- why? Seven years ago, you made your opposition of our practices so blatant it was necessary to have you killed. Can you explain what’s inspired this change of heart?”
Claude’s never been so grateful for his invisible thoughts as the words A night of too many piss-poor American beers and your youngest son echo around his head. “Call it a rebellious phase. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve nothing better to do with my life than work for you.” He caps his performance with another half-smirk and shrug.
Arthur looks as if Claude is an odd new species he’s never encountered before. Claude maintains eye contact. Arthur looks down, “Mister Rains, I’ve always believed action speaks louder than words. As such, I have an assignment for you.”
“Yeah?”
“You correctly identified Noah Bennet as a threat to our operation, and eliminated him. Naturally I appreciate the gesture, but I’m curious- did you know how Mister Bennet had lost his integrity with us?”
“Not the details, no.”
“Do you recall that he was made the guardian of an infant born to a pyrokinetic?”
“Yeah, I do,” Claude replies mildly as panic alarms sound within.
“Her ability has manifested, and Bennet was going against his orders and hiding her from us. Now that he’s dead, she must be brought in for examination. That’s your assignment. Understand?”
“Sure. Where can I find her?”
Arthur stands. “Go out to the main lobby. Your partner will fill you in on the details.”
Claude follows him out of the conference room, a litany of swears filling his head. To avoid casting suspicion on Claude’s cover, the Company hasn’t evacuated the Bennets yet. He honestly doesn’t know if they value his assignment over Claire Bennet’s freedom, if they’ll let him hand her over to the nightmarish Research Division to secure his place at Primatech. Christ, Claire... The memory of a brilliant gap-toothed smile surrounded by golden curls flares in Claude’s head. Noah’s family was his family. He can’t do this.
Seeing his partner only makes things worse. Elle Bishop grins at him, and he tries not to see the sad broken girl he remembers. “So you’re back from the dead, huh?” she inquires, snapping bubble gum.
“Y’could say that.”
“Nice accent,” she giggles and flits out to a car. He trudges after her. “Okay,” Elle says when they’re on the road, “Claire’s at cheerleading practice. It’ll end in about twenty minutes, we can grab her on her way home.”
“You’ve been doing surveillance?”
“Yeah, from the inside. High school sucks, but you gotta start somewhere, right? That’s what Dad says.”
“She doesn’t know what’s happened to her f- to Bennet?”
“Nope. I think Mrs. Bennet called around noon, asking if he was at the office. Boy is she in for a surprise.” Elle laughs, and Claude feels sick. This is everything he hated about being an agent, only a hundred times worse. He wonders if Peter knows where he is, if he’s trying to figure out why Claude’s headed for Costa Verde High School. He isn’t sure if he wants Peter to show up or not.
Some Company agent has to be watching her by now, he decides. Primatech knows Bennet went to the Company, they won’t be surprised if an agent is protecting Claire. That could work. It wouldn’t even be a lie- he can’t go after the girl without attracting the Company’s attention. However, the Claude Rains he’s pretending to be doesn’t know to fear Company agents. He’ll have to tip off Elle to Claire’s tail somehow. They can bolt back to Primatech and Claude can prove himself some other way. And, just maybe, he can get this job back on bloody track.
They park in the far corner of the school’s lot. Elle goes to the trunk and fetches a large, trendy-looking purse. “The sedation kit fits in here like a dream,” she remarks before walking back and twining her arms around one of Claude’s. “We’re invisible already, aren’t we?” she murmurs in his ear.
He does his best not to cringe. “Yeah.”
“That’s so cool.” Elle leads him at a strolling pace up to the edge of the football field where the cheerleading squad is practicing. After a minute or two the coach blows a whistle and dismisses the squad. The cheerleaders begin gathering their things, collecting in groups to chat. “That’s her,” Elle says, nodding toward one girl who has sat down on the bleachers.
Her hair is long, not as curly as Claude remembers it. She’s not smiling, her body is tense. It’s a simple matter of tracking her nervous glance to the Company agent protecting her. The Haitian, naturally, Claude thinks when he spots the man sitting on a sidewalk bench with a newspaper. Of course Bennet would only accept the best. Claude hopes he’s good enough to make this work.
He turns to Elle, “Okay, here’s how it’ll be. I take the sedation kit, grab her, and carry her out once she’s under. You bring the car around, I load her in, and we’re done. Clear?”
“No!” Elle cries, “All I do is go get the car? Listen, I need to be in on this or I’ll be stuck in Breakfast Club hell forever!”
“Sorry, princess, but this is quite literally my ticket into Primatech, an’ I won’t let some wide-eyed rookie fuck it up, okay? Now get to the car before you’re seen.” He pulls the purse from her grip, and though he can feel her furious glare dig into his back, he walks away.
He knows he can’t have more than five minutes before Elle starts getting suspicious, so he makes do with detouring to squeeze the Haitian’s shoulder on his way to the football field. He crosses over to the bleachers, where, luckily, Claire still sits on her own.
Nearly all of the other cheerleaders have left, and none are paying attention to Claire. Claude steps silently onto the bleachers, moving to her side one row back. He puts a hand on her shoulder as he says, “Don’t move, Claire.”
She stiffens, but does as instructed. “... Claude?”
He lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, and smiles, “Yeah, it’s me. Sorry for the theatrics. We’re invisible now- you can turn around.”
She does, and her smile is a pure ray of sunshine. “Oh my god,” she breathes. “This is so weird.”
Claude chuckles, “Don’t I know it.” He sobers, “Y’have to listen now. Do you know what’s happening with your dad?”
A complicated expression comes to her face. “Well, it’s been a lot to process. Primatech- the company he works for- it’s some kind of front for... human experimentation or something? I don’t know. And you- you’re trying to stop them, right?”
He nods, “That’s about it, yeah. And to do that, I’m trying to get them to think I’m on their side. To do that... I’ve been told to bring you to them. I won’t,” he continues as her eyes widen with alarm, “I never would, but we’ve got to arrange it so it looks like I tried. Understand?”
She blinks a few times, but also nods, “I- I guess so.”
Claude takes a breath, “Good. Now, I saw the agent watching you, the Haitian-”
“You mean René?”
It’s Claude’s turn to blink. “Is that his name? You learn something new...” Keeping a gentle hold on Claire’s arm, they stand and start walking as he says, “What I’m thinkin’ should happen is that René can intercept us on the way to my car. He wipes my brain, and I run back to Primatech with my tail between my legs and you safe and sound. Make sense?”
She shrugs. “Close enough.”
Once clear of the bleachers, Claude looks to see the sidewalk bench is empty. “Where are you supposed to meet René if things go wrong?”
“Over here,” she says, leading him away from the football field to the school itself. They turn the corner at the gym, and Claude spots René waiting. He turns them both visible.
“Primatech sent me to capture her,” he says, “Some stupid initiation ritual of theirs. Tell whoever’s taking care of it at the Company that the Bennets need to be relocated now.” René nods. “Claire?”
She turns to him with a small smile that brings the same to his face.
“Good to see you, love. Stay safe for me, will ya’?”
Claire throws her arms around him in a tight hug, “Wherever we end up, you have to come visit, okay? Don’t disappear again. Promise.”
“I promise.” He takes another breath, and looks to René, “Make me forget I saw her.”
His long-fingered hand rises to cover Claude’s eyes, just as a sharp voice rings out, “HEY!”
Claude and Claire spring apart, and René is already tugging her away as Elle strides toward them with sparks gathering in her hands. “Go!” Claude shouts at them, “Both of you- run!” He promptly follows his own advice, going invisible and sprinting down alongside the gym.
He expects Elle to go after Claire, and René to stop her. So he’s very surprised indeed when he makes it five steps before a searing pain strikes him and his vision goes blue-white. Then black.
Chapter Ten
