Title: Feedback

Rating: PG-13

Characters: Peter and Claire

Summary: Peter was around Matt just a little time before Claire visited him…Unbeknownst to her, he was able to here her every thought…PAIRE one-shot.

Warnings: Spoilers for Fallout and Homecoming

Disclaimer: No own-o nada!

I went back and totally overananalyzed this scene, lol. I watched it again with the “thoughts” put in, and I think I did a reasonable job of filling in the gaps. This probably did NOT actually happen, but it would be cool if it did. =)

This is also totally un betaed, so please forgive me for any mistakes in grammar or in spelling.

Also, everything in italics is a thought. Ha. You shmucks don’t even realize that- oh. Er. *cough*

***

Feedback is often heard at shows when the sound setup is bad. For Peter, the feedback was in his own head.

It wasn’t the same thing he heard in the interrogation room, though. There was no squeaking and sharp ringing in his ears. He just felt like he was in a very noisy, crowded room. The voices were distant, though, and it was just mumbling rather than anything comprehensible.

He heard a jiggling of keys outside his door, and saw a pretty blonde girl standing behind the glass. Peter’s emotions were melded between relief that she was alright, excitement to talk to her, and oddly…self-consciousness and anxiety. Looking sweaty, sickly, and in a bloody old undershirt wasn’t exactly attractive. Unless you were Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The door opened and the voices in his head grew louder in a quick wave. He stood abruptly and focused on Claire, trying to block out the noise. Coincidentally, when the fiberglass door closed behind Claire and her father, the voices went soft again.

“You’re okay,” breathed Peter. Claire looked up at him.

“Thanks to you.”

Peter’s natural humbleness would have made him reply to his damsel in distress sheepishly, but Claire’s father began talking.

“Mr. Petrelli,” said Bennet. “I’m Claire’s father.”

Mr. Petrelli, thought Peter. That makes me sound so old. But that wasn’t the only thing he heard in his head.

Petrelli…said a female voice. That’s so pretty.

The background noise had dissipated and Peter realized with a jolt that he was hearing another person’s thoughts: Claire’s.

He stared at Bennet’s outstretched hand and quickly shook it.

“Hi,” he rasped lamely.

The father arched an eyebrow. “You saved my little girl. I owe you my life.”

“I was just in the right place,” Peter shrugged, looking at Claire.

Claire was staring at him shyly. Alumni, eh? her inner voice said.

Peter was snapped out of his reverie by Bennet, who was still talking.

“Maybe someday I’ll be in the right place,” the bespectacled man said cryptically, “and can return the favor.”

Sickness coming back, Peter began coughing. Great timing, he scolded himself, trying to get the coughing attack under control.

Claire’s inner voice gasped. Is he okay?

“Feeling alright?” Bennet asked.

“Yeah. I’m fine,” Peter replied, though he wasn’t talking to the man.

Claire turned to her dad after hesitating for a couple seconds. “Hey Dad? Can you wait outside?”

Bennet cast a blank look over at Peter. Leave you alone with this guy?

Offense and confusion was written all over Peter’s face. How two-faced WAS Claire’s dad, anyway? Bennet was still staring at him, so the nurse tried to cover his emotions with a quick smile.

Something in Bennet seemed to reconsider his first thought, and he smiled down at his daughter.

“Of course.”

The older man left for the door, but not without taking one last revolted look at Peter. Just keep your belt on, Claire-bear.

After hearing this one thought, Peter’s eyes narrowed. God! Why does EVERYONE think that I’m some sort of pedophile! he cried out in his head. Luckily, Claire’s back was turned, and she completely missed the conflicting expressions on his face.

“How long have you known?” she asked, when she turned around.

Too lazy to probe her thoughts, he simply replied. “Known what?” However, it came out as more of an irritated retort than a reply. Peter tried not to wince at himself.

What is he angry for? Claire thought, as she said. “That you’re like me. You would have died if you couldn’t-.”

To prove that he wasn’t angry with her, he made sure to soften his voice as he leaned forward.

“W-wait,” he stumbled, inches away from her face as he sat on the cot. “Do you heal? Is that it?”

Claire nodded, smiling and blinking slowly.

She really is pretty, the male in Peter thought to himself. Then, within, his normal personality groaned. Oh no, they’re right. I AM a pedophile.

You’re allowed to think she’s pretty without wanting to sleep with her! snapped his defensive side.

Claire was talking again. “All this time I thought it was just me, and now there’s you.”

This made Peter grin. He couldn’t help it. And he smiled even more when he heard her think:

Wow. He’s so handsome when he smiles.

“Is that why you came for me?” Claire asked, totally changing the subject. “Is that why you asked me if I was the one?”

The one. Right. I wonder if you’ve been replaying that in your head, Claire.

“Well, no, it’s just…” Peter replied hastily. “I knew I had to save you.”

Claire paused and gazed at him, a smile twitching at the corner of her lips.  Am I just weak or are you some sort of white knight? she sighed to herself. However much Peter hoped that she would say this aloud, she didn’t.

Instead, she just asked “Why?”

“To save the world,” he responded dreamily. Peter? Earth to Peter? She’s SEVENTEEN. You can’t talk to her like that! And you love Simone, remember? shouted Peter’s head, but he ignored it. The sensitive guy in him was beginning to take over.

Stop reading her thoughts. Give her some privacy, for God’s sake.

He barely heard Claire quizzically ask, “What do I have to do with the world?”

“I dunno,” said Peter, still in a daze. He looked away idly, and then snapped his head back up. “Yet.”

They sat in quietly in tension for a few seconds, when Peter remembered that he wasn’t the only one that needed to be humbled. He scooted a bit closer to her on the cot.

“I-I do know that I probably wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you…I think I died.”

Claire stared at him expressionlessly. “I’ve died before.” Then, she smiled. “It’s no big deal.” She gave a little giggle, and when he didn’t respond, her face fell.

Now I look so insensitive, she tormented herself. He’s probably still petrified from the whole thing.

He didn’t think she was being insensitive…she just didn’t know the truth. And stop reading her mind, too!

Peter swallowed, hard. “I’m not like you, Claire. I-.”

Mr. Bennet rapped on the window and Claire turned around. She put up the “one more minute” finger and looked back at Peter. Her eyes went straight to his lips, where she’d kept them for about half of their conversation.

“This, uh,” Peter continued, “…this healing thing is kinda new for me.”

Claire looked into his eyes in bewilderment. “What? You didn’t know that you were gonna heal when you dove off the building?”

“No,” Peter said, chuckling. Uh. That’s not funny at all. Why am I laughing?

This brought on another poorly-timed coughing fit. Peter cleared his throat and looked back at Claire awkwardly.

“It’s kinda stupid, huh?” he asked, eagerly anticipating her reaction.

Claire smiled kindly. “No, it’s not.”

It was all Peter could do to not to reach out and hold her hands, right then and there. He tried desperately to get these terrible thoughts out of his head. Simone is hot. You’re in love with her. You love her a LOT. …But Claire is beautiful, not just hot….and she’s not treating me like her rebound guy to get back at her drugged up ex-boyfriend, either…

While Peter was trying to convince himself that he wasn’t a child predator, Claire’s father was rapping on the window again. Impatient man, he. Claire turned around and looked at Peter in a bittersweet kind of way.

Stop looking at me like that, or I’m gonna wind up in this jail cell for the rest of my life! He added ‘and lose Simone!’ as an afterthought.

Unable to control himself, he peered into her thoughts as she got up off the cot. I wish I could sit here and talk to you for hours.

Peter swallowed nervously, and the sides of his mouth twitched into a small smile. Claire turned in the doorway and smiled at him some more.

“You’re totally my hero,” she said coolly, not hiding the fact that she was looking him up and down.

This line was like novacaine and his whole body numb. The only thing that Peter could do was grin goofily back. Claire beamed and walked out.

Even after she left, Peter sat still, his mouth half-hanging open. His eyes wandered around and he cocked his head in a slightly content way. Well, that’s it then. I’m a hero. HER hero. And the hero gets the girl, right?

He rested his chin on his palm and sighed, as the loud feedback returned. “Yeah, but in fairy tales, they don’t have an age of consent.”

<Finis>