hackthis_archive | Heroes - A Brand New Set of Wings (Peter, Nathan or Peter/Nathan, PG)

I, uh, yeah. Not quite what I set out to write, but what decided to write itself.

Heroes
Peter, Nathan OR Peter/Nathan (depends on your point of view)
Spoilers for Season Finale 'How to Stop an Exploding Man'

A Brand New Set of Wings

T-minus: 00:22:49 to Nuclear

Claire doesn't understand. Claude didn't understand either. Neither did Simone, or their father, or their mother, or anyone else who has ever seen them together. No one has ever understood -- but the fact of the matter is that Peter needs Nathan. Whether it's to wipe blood and bone fragments from his face, or to prop him up when no one else will, or to break his heart (yet again) -- Peter has always needed his brother. Even in the middle of Nathan letting him down, all Peter wants to do is wrap himself around Nathan and beg him to say it isn't true. All Peter wants is to believe in this one thing. When the world is falling down around his ears, all Peter wants is to take Nathan and fly away from here.

T-minus: 00:04:18 to Nuclear

This isn't about Sylar. It's not even about the city -- yes, Peter wants to save it -- but this anger isn't directed at this boy -- man -- person across from him that in some ways is so similar to him. In many ways the only person who can understand Peter is Sylar -- but this isn't about him. Peter could probably control this if this were just about Sylar -- but that's a rational thought and Peter's not very rational at the moment. He's very emotional at the moment. Dealing with Nathan always makes him emotional and stressed out and vexed. Everything with Nathan is always so much work. Peter's tired of Nathan letting him down. He's tired of feeling like he's alone in this. He's tired of not having this one thing he wants so desperately. He feels like he's been carrying this -- them -- on his back for an age. He feels like he's been circling and waiting for the word to come down.

He's done.

He's ready to land now.

T-minus: 00:01:06 to Nuclear

When Peter was growing up, he had a nanny -- Tanya -- who loved The Beatles. She used to make Peter peanut butter and jelly sandwiches -- extra jelly and toasted bread -- for lunch while singing 'Lovely Rita' and 'A Hard Day's Night' and 'All You Need is Love'. Peter used to sing along, and at the exact moment that Claire points the gun at him, he wonders if Tanya's still living in Staten Island. He wonders if she still believes in love.

T-minus: 00:00:45 to Nuclear

Peter doesn't know what to say when Nathan drops out of the sky like an avenging angel. He doesn't know what to do with the power crawling under his skin or the way that he can feel the fibers of his body stretching and melding and coming apart -- all he knows is what he sees, and what he sees is Nathan. He just wants Nathan to tell him it will all be okay. He just wants Nathan to make everything right.

T-minus: 00:00:18 to Nuclear

They're flying. Together. Peter has dreamed about this for months, but this isn't what he saw in his mind.

The wind is whipping past them and Peter thinks that this is what he's craved his entire life: Nathan's body solid underneath him, Peter holding on tight, and just the two of them acting as one. Except with his head tucked under Nathan's chin, it takes Peter a moment to gather his senses, to realize what's truly going on isn't that beautiful lifetime event that he's always hoped for. Nathan's desperately trying to hang on, his skin burning, his clothing turning to ash around them -- what Peter wants most is Nathan, and Nathan is going to die for what Peter wants.

Be careful what you wish for, because when you get it, you'll realize you were wrong all along.

T-minus: 00:00:07 to Nuclear

When Peter pushes Nathan away, it's not with his normal human strength. In fact, every fibre of his being goes into shoving Nathan far away from him for a change. As much as Peter plays the martyr, he'll be damned if anything happens to the person he loves most.

Nathan's totally not expecting it -- he must have thought that if it was going to happen it would have happened long ago -- the look in his eyes as he goes flying through the air is one of shock and resolution, and Peter has to thank Claude for hitting him repeatedly. For teaching him how to do more than one thing at a time. Peter can't control what he's going to do, but he can still fly. He can do this. And it's a race, except it's not, not with Peter's eyes on fire and Nathan shooting straight for him.

And then it's all over.

Peter would have hope, but dead men don't have hope.

T-plus: ??:??:??

The skin on Nathan's right shoulder is peeled away. He's got radiation burns on his neck, and he's naked. Peter thinks he probably should have realized the naked thing first, but Nathan's carrying him like a bride and dying is very disorienting. So is rebirth. Almost as disorienting as the fact that he's just as naked as Nathan is.

The windburn alone is making him wake up pretty damn fast.

"Clothing," he rasps out, his voice feeling very new. He thinks his voice was pitched higher before.

Peter can feel the vibrations in Nathan's chest when he speaks. "Well, hello to you too."

"We're not dead."

Nathan's chest rumbles with laughter. "So you noticed."

Peter tries to extract himself from Nathan's grasp, but Nathan's hold just gets that much tighter. "You're hurt, you need to stop," Peter says, resolutely not pushing at Nathan because who knows what's holding him together at this point.

"Stop where exactly?" Nathan snipes. "Do you know of somewhere in the tri-state area where two naked men can just fall out of the sky and no one will ask any questions?"

Peter opens his mouth and nothing comes out. When he looks down at his hands they look exactly the same way they did this morning, which is more than can be said for Nathan's burned and charred skin. "You're hurt -- Nathan, please."

"We can see about me later," Nathan says gruffly, but he flinches when Peter touches his chest.

"Later when?" Peter needles.

"When we get where we're going."

"And where's that?"

"France."

T-plus: France

There's something awe-inspiring about being able to break the sound barrier when you fly, but when you're flying with radiation exposure and no clothing it takes a little bit longer to get where you're going. Nathan is exhausted and ill, and Peter's pulled the curtains to keep as much sunlight as possible out of their room.

The pied-a-terre in Montmartre was ready for their mother and Claire, so it's perfectly habitable until they find someplace else to stay. Nathan's finally sleeping, albeit fitfully, barely covered by bed linen and with several milligrams of painkillers in his system.

Peter told him they were aspirin, and he knows Nathan didn't believe him, but sometimes you have to lie for the greater good.

The internet says that people with radiation poisoning experience delirium, vomiting, fatigue and every possible symptom in between. Peter's basic nursing training says that the patterns burned into Nathan's skin by his clothing probably aren't going to fade. Of course Peter's training also says that Nathan's probably going to die, but Peter's not going to think about that. He's just saved the world, died, come back to life, almost killed his brother, and spent the last four hours by Nathan's side in the bathroom, holding back his hair as he vomited up whatever was left inside.

Peter didn't do all of this just to be cheated now. He's going to ignore that voice that says if Nathan dies there may be an explosion after all.

T-plus: France + 1 day

Peter didn't go to sleep last night. Instead he lay down beside his brother and watched as Nathan's lips blackened, peeled, cracked and healed. Instead of eating after saving the world, Peter watched as Nathan's missing eyebrows grew back and the skin on Nathan's chest went from black and scarred to white and almost flawless. Peter didn't shower or change out of the flowery bathrobe he'd put on absently in the first place. He sat, and watched, and waited, and when Nathan rolled over in his sleep, his back was lean and muscular and his shoulder blades looked as though they would sprout wings and carry Nathan away if Peter got up to use the bathroom.

T-plus: France + 3 days

Today, Nathan woke up, sat up in bed and Peter pulled back the curtains to let in the world. Neither one of them mentioned the blackened sheets underneath Nathan or the dead flowers that were on the bedside table. Peter brought in croissants and coffee, and they ate companionably in silence. How Nathan had healed or what his body had done to process that much radiation and make things right was something they could discuss at a later date. Or never. Peter thought never would be just fine.

Neither one of them brought up Claire or Heidi or their mother or the boys, but at some point Nathan reached out to touch Peter and he hesitated, his hand hovering in mid-air. Peter didn't miss a beat, however, and he leaned forward to meet Nathan halfway. Nothing could hurt him if he had Nathan –- he'd always known that -– but now the realization worked both ways. Finally.

"I'm not going anywhere," Peter said simply. "Ever."

Nathan smirked and pushed a wayward lock behind Peter's right ear. "Yeah, I'm starting to get that impression."

Peter turned into the palm of Nathan's hand and smiled. "It took you long enough."

-end-

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