tell the world i'm coming home [peter + claire]

[superchameleon]

If Peter had had to guess what Claire would have done with Nathan's trust fund, he never would have guessed at what she ultimately did with it. He would have guessed she'd use it for college, or for some traveling, or to buy a house or something. In hindsight, he doesn't think it could have been anything else.

He's always been a city boy, born and raised in the middle of New York. His heart beats with the rushing of traffic and frantic bustle of pedestrians and the smells of a hundred different foods on the streets. But every time he comes to the farm, it lodges deeper and deeper in his heart. He's seen it in every stage, from a new purchase, through its renovations, to its tentative first steps as a shelter for evolved humans.

Now, it's full of life. The kitchen that he teleports into is currently empty, but there's freshly made jams cooling in jars, a TV on nearby with a kid's cartoon playing loudly, a half-open book on the counter. One of the dogs greets him happily, tail wagging madly, and Peter makes time to crouch down and give him some affection, rubbing the fluffy thing behind his ears. It won't be long before either Claire or one of the lodgers will wander in.

Thankfully, his visit is casual this time; he doesn't have anybody in tow. At first it had just been the one guy he'd found that had needed help, who he'd brought to Claire. Then, it had been a couple. Then a family. More and more, evolved people from all over the country know his name, and come to him for help -- something Peter's happy to do, though it's rough doing both that and keeping his job. If his bosses at the hospital knew what he was and what he did, he'd be fired before he could even try to defend himself.

Eventually, he's going to have to make a decision. Be a paramedic, or help other evolved humans full time. But he doesn't have to make that decision just yet.

Footsteps catch his attention, and when Claire walks in, Peter's still got an armful of happy dog, so he just greets her with a lopsided grin. "Hey. Sorry for the surprise visit. I probably should have called ahead, but I got told to take a day off and I couldn't think of anything to do, so, here I am."

Comments

[infinite1ups]

The process of watching Peter get more comfortable on the farm has been something joyful to witness. Claire's hometown isn't nearly as small as this one, but she's far more acclimated to rural locations than her New Yorker uncle. She still can't help but smile when she remembers the look on his face after she told him what she'd done with Nathan's trust fund.

He'd been surprised, which hadn't been a surprise to her. Now, though, he fits in here as well as she does, even if he doesn't fully realize it yet.

Of course, the work he's doing with her, it suits him best of all. Peter's calling has always been to help people, in pretty much any capacity. But this... Claire can't help but feel like it's what he's best at. Helping not just any people, but their people. Some of the folks he'd brought are still there, others had moved on for one reason or another. All had been kept safe, and in no small part thanks to Peter.

She's not pushing him, though. He has an open invitation to visit whenever he wants, and she'll accept his help whenever he's willing to give it. No pressure, no matter how much she wishes he'd visit more.

Hearing one of the dogs acting up, she makes her way to the kitchen, expecting to see Archie trying to shake someone down for food. It's a pleasant surprise to find Peter, as always. She grins as she walks over to welcome him, and Archie wiggles between the two of them, unsure who he wants attention from more.

"Nah, it's okay. You're always allowed to drop in," Claire assures him, laughing softly. "And I'm pretty sure I've been on you to take a day off, too. Glad you decided to spend it here. How's it been going? We've been busy, I haven't been able to check in much."

[superchameleon]

Getting told to take a day off is, like, one of the bane's of Peter's life. He's a self-admitted workaholic -- when even Noah got on his case about having an empty life with nothing but work, that's when he knew it was bad, and yet he's done precisely nothing to change that -- but he'll always insist that's because he enjoys what he does. Now and then, though, it means his boss gets concerned about burnout and bars him from the hospital for a day.

At least he's got the farm to come to, these days. He used to just sit in his empty apartment listening to the police scanner.

He rises to stand, and despite Archie's deliriously happy wriggling, makes the space to give Claire a hug, even if a wagging tail is thumping against both of their legs. When he draws back, his hand indulgently goes back to Archie.

"Ah, same as it always is. Sometimes I get a call for the most grisly thing I've ever seen, sometimes it's a concerned mom with a baby who has a runny nose," he jokes. "It definitely keeps life interesting."

Every time he comes here, Claire looks a little more settled. Now, she truly looks like she's at home, like she's doing what she was always meant to be doing. It's been amazing watching her growth, from a frustrated kid who didn't know what her powers meant, to a confident young woman with her own farm and her own life. She's really made something of their situation, and it takes real effort to not tell everyone he knows about how proud he is. He can't even make reference to 'his niece that owns a farm', not if they want to be careful.

"How's everybody doing here? Damn, I should have brought some groceries or something. I'll do that later today." He's got Hiro's power right now, which does make it awfully easy to pop across the country and get a supermarket run in.

[infinite1ups]

She gladly returns the hug, comforted as ever by Peter's presence. No matter how independent she tries to be, no matter how confident and established she becomes, she'll always need her people. It's weird to think of how far she's come, especially knowing how much she cherishes these visits.

Claire has always looked up to Peter; that's not going to change just because she's got a farm of outcasts under her wing. Same with Noah, too. Visits from her dad are a little more frequent, but still treasured all the same.

"We're all good!" Her smile is bright as she pulls back, gently nudging Archie aside so she can get him a biscuit from the canister on the kitchen counter. "Busy with, well. Everything. We're starting to see some of the harvest come in from our garden, and we've been tending to the fields too."

Archie sits at Claire's urging, well-behaved as can be when he knows there's a treat waiting for him. She keeps talking as she gives him the biscuit, which seems to settle him down some.

"Don't worry about it, really. I did a supply run a couple days ago. There's no way I'm putting you to work and making you run errands on your day off." Her uncle's presence, his willingness to offer comfort and advice, emotional support, that was always appreciated regardless of whether he actually did any physical labor.

Some of the kids staying on the farm were coming into their powers and struggling with them - a struggle with which Peter Petrelli was intimately familiar.

"But I'll be taking the dogs out in a bit, so you can come watch 'em run around in the field with me, that's not really work. Oh-- and we're doin' a cookout-slash-picnic thing with burgers and all that if you wanna stay for dinner."