Clarity by RivkaT (PG-13)

[iamtheenemy.livejournal.com]

Fandom: HEROES
Pairing: N/A
Author on LJ: rivkat
Author Website: Rivka T
Why this must be read:

This story was written for Yuletide and was pretty thoroughly jossed soon thereafter, but it's a fantastic Claire character piece. As she tries to deal with what she's learned about her father, she goes back to see Matt and Audrey. This is a relatively short piece, but by the end it feels like Claire's really grown as a character, and we're left feeling as proud of her as Matt is.

Now that Claire thought about it, she could remember a couple of times when Mom came home with groceries identical to the ones already in the fridge. She and Lyle had always laughed - not all that kindly, she thought with shame. Dad had always smiled and kissed Mom's hair and said that they'd all have to eat heartily for the next few days, and it had been another one of Mom's quirks.

Claire realized that she was curled up on her bed, her back against the pillows like a child afraid of the dark. Her face was hot, remembering all the ways in which she'd dismissed her mother and looked to her father anytime level-headed advice was needed.

It's a lot easier to keep a level head when no one's taking chunks out of it.

With all of it, she still loved her father. He would only have done something like this if he truly believed it was necessary. The big black guy with the accent had almost said as much - he'd gone to her mother just like he'd gone to Lyle and Zach, to protect the secret of Claire's specialness.

Clarity