Lost in Queens (open)

[henry]

7th November 2008

Henry was having a bad day. After moving from his old home, he had been transfered into a new school. Being the new kid was bad enough when your a senior in high school. Now Henry had to try and get his population back in this crowd. Not to mention living in a city was sometimes hard on the ears. Although, that's what he gets for begging his brother to get the cheapest place next to the coolest club in the city. In retrospect that wasn't such a good idea.

Now to make matters worse, Henry found himself in a bad situation. He was lost. In Queens. He seriously needed to find a map or at least some one to point him out in the direction of Manhattan. Parting his hair a bit, Henry continued to follow what he assumed was the right direction.

[clairebear]

Claire had taken some time out to go on a little shopping trip in Queens with some of the money that her dad Noah had given her when she left to live with Nathan in New York. She had already got quite accustomed to New York and its surrounding areas, and today she just felt like going into Queens for some nice new clothes. A little bit of retail therapy she thought, it never hurt anyone.

After having been in several shops already and found some really nice things to buy, Claire was heading for home, with a good few bags weighing her down. As she continued to walk in the direction of home to her now, she saw a slightly younger looking lad looking a bit, well lost she thought. She wondered if she could help him at all.

She walked up to him slowly, with a smile on her face, as only Claire would do. It was possible he'd even recognise her now, since Nathan had already announced to America she was his daughter, and it was election day tomorrow. She gently tapped him on the shoulder, "Hi there, can I maybe help you at all? You look as if you're a little lost" she said kindly with a warm smile, hoping she really could help put him in the right direction.

[henry]

Henry was getting tired of looking around all over the place. HE was walking around in circles. It was like the entire district was a giant maze and he was the mouse trying to find a chuck of cheese. Normally he'd have found his way home by now, but not today. So far all he found was gum under his shoe.

Just as Henry was about to give up, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around to see who had come up to him. It was a girl who didn't look much older. Henry had to admit, she was kinda pretty too. He flashed her a smile when she asked if she could help him. Finally!

"Lost would be an understatement," he said. "I'm trying to find my way to Manhattan, but I've know idea where I am or where it is." Henry looked at the girl and cocked his head. She looked a little familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. "Have I seen you somewhere before?" he asked her, his previous problem forgotten.

[clairebear]

Claire put her bags down on the ground at her feet while she waited for the guy to respond to her. Hopefully she would be able to help him, and it wasn't like she was in a hurry to get home anyway, so she could probably help him find his way and then head for home after that.

When he said lost was an understatement Claire laughed slightly, and then she listened as he said he was trying to find his way to Manhattan. Claire smiled, "Well you're in an area called Queens right now, Manhattan isn't so far, I happen to live there with my father" she responded with a big smile. So showing him where he had to go wouldn't be so bad, as she would still be home at a fairly reasonable hour.

When he asked if he had seen her somewhere before, she started to laugh again lightly, she knew that question would probably be asked at some point. She smiled, and held out her hand, "I should think you have" she began and grinned, "Claire Petrelli, I'm Nathan's daughter" she continued waiting for the guy to shake her hand and possibly introduce himself.

[henry]

Henry tried to find the name Petrelli in his head somewhere. He knew the name sounded familiar. It suddenly clicked that the name Nathan Petrelli was the name of the politician running for presidency. Henry hadn't really been up to date with politics, not his favorite topic. The only reason the name sounded familiar was one; his teachers talked non-stop about the up coming elections, and two; his brother was keeping up with it too. Personally Henry didn't really care much about who won, but he was at least glad to meet a celebrity's daughter. And she was willing to help him too.

"Henry Ward, nice to meet you." he said, shaking her hand. He flashed her a smile, grateful to have some help. "I'm really lucky to bump into someone who knows their way around here. Most of the people I've run into are tourists." he said.

[clairebear]

Claire was quite amazed that the name didn't seem to register with him right away. She could tell he was mulling it over in his head, which made her laugh into herself a little. It was good to actually not be known to someone immediately. Not that she hadn't been enjoying all the publicity of being Nathan's daughter, she kind of had, but it was also nice to know that she was still rather unknown to a few others out there.

Claire grinned back at him, "Well Henry, it's really nice to meet you too" she replied, as she picked up her many bags, and looked over at him. "So if you just want to follow me, while we're talking, I'll get you to Manhattan in no time" she added, still smiling at him.

"A while ago, I wouldn't have known much about anywhere here myself, originally from Odessa, Texas, then moved to Costa Verde, and now living in New York with my father Nathan" she explained, not entirely sure why she was telling a stranger so much about her past history. Hadn't Noah always said it was dangerous to do that. She shrugged it off, he seemed harmless enough.

[henry]

Henry followed Claire and listened to her story. Like any good guy, he listened. She seemed to have an interesting life. First living in Texas, then Costa Verde, and now New York. He knew what it was like moving around. Although, he highly doubted Claire's reasons for moving were as pleasant as his. "Must have been annoying moving around like that. I know it was for me." Henry said as he followed Claire through the streets.

[clairebear]

Claire continued to walk in the direction of Manhattan, turning corners here and there, crossing roads, left and right, turning round every so often to make sure Henry was still following and keeping up with her.

He was thankfully.

"Yeah it's been kind of annoying, we had to move from Odessa for, well personal reasons to Costa Verde. The only reason why I moved from there was to be with my biological father Nathan. I was originally adopted" she explained some more. However, she wasn't going to give out her adopted surname, because she knew Noah wasn't well loved by everybody and it could pose for trouble for her.

Just then, she went to walk across the road, thinking it was safe, and saw a car go flying past, she jumped, but not quick enough and it clipped her on the side, knocking her to the ground. She heard her ankle snap, but of course couldn't feel the pain, and she had blood dripping from the side of her head and nose.

Shit, she thought, this wasn't good, this wasn't good at all, because she knew within seconds, she'd start to heal, and the guy would think she was some sort of freak. She jumped up, or at least tried to, grinning.

"I'm fine, just fine" she said, as she touched the side of her head, and wiped at the graze, in order to try and hide the fact she'd been injured in anyway at all.

[henry]

Henry was intrigued by what Claire had to say about her past. She was adopted, and now lived with her biological father. That was definitely interesting. Henry frowned at the thought of his own father. Fathers were still a sore subject for him and he was kind of jealous of Claire. He wished his father was still a kind man.

Henry had been staring at the ground for a minute, thinking of his father, when he heard a car horn. Looking up, he saw Claire get hit by the vehicle. "Holy shit!" he cursed. He started to panic and ran to Claire's side. He was freaking out. Of course anyone would be when they just saw someone they met nearly get hit by a car. Claire had said she was fine, but he was finding that hard to believe.

"Fine, you nearly got run over by a car. You're bleeding, come on let's find a hospital or something." Henry took off his jacket and was about to put it around her when he saw something he didn't quite understand. "You're not scratched." he said. "You must be one really lucky chick."

[clairebear]

Claire couldn't believe she'd allowed herself to get hit by a car. She should have been more careful of where she was going. She had hurt herself, but having the ability to self heal, the problems were gone instantly. After she jumped her, the broken ankle fell back into place again and she was able to move it more freely.

Just like she knew he would be, he was pretty amazed by what happened, as he said she was bleeding and then looked and realised she hadn't a scratch on her.

"Told you I was fine" she said with a grin, when he went to put his jacket around her and then point out the fact she didn't have a scratch on her. She sighed, she had to tell him. She couldn't have him wonder what the hell had happened.

"I wasn't lucky Henry, I actually broke my ankle and had a graze and cut on the side of my head, but I have an ability to heal myself" she said sheepishly, as she took a look around, and wondered if she really should have told him that. What if he was normal, he wouldn't get it.

She gathered up her bags, which had been thrown across the sidewalk and smiled at him. "Ready to continue?" she asked, as she began to walk once more in the right direction of home.

[henry]

Henry was beyond amazed by now. How could someone get hit by a car and come out unscratched. There was no explanation for it. It was impossible for a normal person to get hit and come out unharmed. Clair didn't even had any blood on her.

He was amazed that she had gotten up like nothing had happened. She had just gotten hit by a car and was taking it all with a calm stride. How was it possible for a girl to do that. Forget luck, he saw her get hit by a bloody car. Then Clair told him she could heal herself. Oh, now it made sense.

Henry went from shock to impressed. Clair was just like him, someone with powers. Granted, his wasn't as cool as her, but still. He was surprised that she had actually told him, not knowing if he had powers or not, but he was glad she did anyways. Henry finally noticed that Clair was walking ahead and went to follow her.

"Hey, Clair, that's so amazing." he said, "I mean, I haven't met anyone who could heal themselves. I mean, this is the first time I actually saw something like that. Sure my mom could move stuff with her mind like on Charmed, but this is great." It suddenly dawned on him that he was starting to sound like a nerd, but he didn't care right now.

[clairebear]

Claire stopped and looked back to see that Henry had started to follow her again and he had. He seemed to be pretty amazed about her power to heal herself. Claire was so used to it now she just sort of shrugged it off these days.

"Yeah, some people say it's amazing, but I've never really liked it myself, I mean I've always seen myself as not normal, you know?" she said, trying to explain why she didn't like to be different. She began to wonder how far into her abilities and history she should go with the guy. But it seemed to Claire he was harmless enough.

"I was attacked by Sylar not so long ago, he managed to take my ability without killing me. He said I was special" seh said through her gritted teeth, as she once again thought back to that frightful day. "He took my ability, but didn't kill me, but now I don't even feel pain" she said.

"I know some people would love to not be able to feel pain, but I felt human when I could at least feel pain, but now, now I don't know what I am" she said sadly. And yes she had promised she wouldn't get melancholy over it anymore, but talking about it, just brought back all the memories of that day.

[henry]

Henry listened to her. He kinda felt bad for her. To have a power, only wishing to be normal like everyone else. He really couldn't relate to that because he had always wished to be special when he was younger. Of course when he found out he was special, he ended up with the lamest super power in existence. The thought of not feeling pain was interesting, but he could see it from her point of view.

"Well you know, there is a disease that targets the nervous system, making a person unable to feel pain or lose their sense of touch. Maybe he didn't take your feelings away. Maybe he just gave you that disease." Henry had told her, trying to make her feel better. Although he felt like he really wasn't. Another thought dawned on him.

"Um Clair, how can someone take someone else's powers without killing them? I mean what didn't he do?" Henry realized he was prying into someone's private life, but he couldn't help it. His power always made him want to know more about something. "Sorry, I think this is a sore subject. You don't have to tell me."

[clairebear]

Claire listened to him go on about some disease that Sylar may have given her instead of taking her feelings away. Maybe that's what had happened, but she wasn't sure. She just knew that before Sylar took her ability, she could at least feel pain when she hurt herself, now she couldn't.

"Maybe you're right Henry, although to be honest, I know it's not such a bad thing not to feel pain, I mean there must be a lot of people out there who wish on a daily basis they couldn't feel pain, but when it makes you feel like you aren't a human..." she trailed off, hoping he would get the idea.

"It's fine, I don't mind talking about it" Claire said slowly, as she smiled at him, "That's just it, I don't know how he didn't kill me, he just said I was special, I think it's because I have the ability to self heal, I think that's why he couldn't kill me?" she said trying to explain with a question, because she wasn't completely sure she was on the right path or not.

[henry]

Henry had to agree, as weird as it sounded, pain was what made us human sometimes. To feel pain was to know you were alive and know you were, well, normal. Henry shook his head. He was putting too much thought into this. He wasn't a philosopher or anything. It's just sometimes you tend to over analyze thing.

"Well whatever this Sylar guy didn't to you, I'm sure you can fix it. Or at least find a cure." he reassured her. "As for the special thing, maybe he just like stalking little girls." he joked, trying to lighten the mood. "I just don't know what would make a guy attack someone like that."