{"id":1632,"date":"2012-09-05T23:35:10","date_gmt":"2012-09-05T23:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/azar.ink-and-quill.com\/?p=1632"},"modified":"2012-09-05T23:35:10","modified_gmt":"2012-09-05T23:35:10","slug":"fic-the-promise-of-christmas-past-heroes-gen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azar.ink-and-quill.com\/?p=1632","title":{"rendered":"Fic: The Promise of Christmas Past (Heroes, gen)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author’s Note:<\/strong> Written for a Heroes Christmas exchange. My prompt was the song, “Here Comes Santa Claus”. Set several years pre-series. Ages are estimated based on series canon and the actual ages of the actors. (Oh, and if you have a problem with adorable little kids, you’d probably better skip this one. \ud83d\ude09 )<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIs he here yet, is he here yet?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sixteen-year-old Nathan Petrelli awoke with a grunt as a four-year-old bundle of energy landed square on his chest. He blinked bleary eyes into the semi-darkness; even though it had to be the middle of the night, the lights of Manhattan still glowed through the curtains just enough that he could make out Peter\u2019s form and, more indistinctly, also his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2026what time is it?\u201d The alarm clock, which he had to peer around his brother to see, displayed \u201c1:42\u201d in glowing red numbers. \u201cPete, have you been to sleep at all yet?\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter shook his little head, bowl-cut black hair flying around his eager face. \u201cNuh uh. Can\u2019t sleep. Did Santa come yet?”<\/p>\n

With a deep, long-suffering sigh, Nathan picked up his brother and set his feet on the floor before slowly sitting up in bed. He looked at the eager boy with a guarded but affectionate smile. \u201cYou\u2019ve gotta go to sleep, Pete. You know how Santa \u2018sees you when you\u2019re sleeping\u2019 and \u2018knows when you\u2019re awake\u2019?: he\u2019s not going to come until you\u2019re asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter\u2019s face visibly drooped. \u201cBut how\u2019s he gonna find us, Nathan? And how\u2019s he gonna get in? We don\u2019t have a chimney.\u201d<\/p>\n

A part of him couldn\u2019t help but smile at the innocent worry in his brother\u2019s voice, but if there was one thing Nathan had promised himself when Peter was born, it was that he wouldn\u2019t have to worry about anything. Not even how Santa was going to come down the nonexistent chimney in the family\u2019s Manhattan penthouse or how he would find them when they weren\u2019t at home in Long Island.<\/p>\n

Picking Peter up, he balanced him on his hip. \u201cDon\u2019t you know Santa can find anyone in the world? He\u2019s got a built-in radar or something.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the sleigh?\u201d Peter asked, awed.<\/p>\n

Nathan shook his head. \u201cNah, in his head. If I was standing next to Santa right now and I asked him where my brother, Peter Petrelli was, he would tell me he was in an apartment in New York. Even if he\u2019d never been here before in his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

He paused to open the door to his bedroom, but Peter was already voicing his next worry again: \u201cBut how will he get in without a chimney?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, think about it. Most chimneys are pretty narrow, right?\u201d Nathan asked.<\/p>\n

Peter nodded, wide-eyed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Santa\u2019s a pretty big guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another nod, this time accompanied by a giggle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, the way I figure it, Santa couldn\u2019t go down chimneys at all if he was an ordinary man. So you know what I bet? I bet he can walk through solid objects. Like walls or fireplaces. That\u2019s how he doesn\u2019t need a key to get in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter\u2019s already wide eyes bugged even bigger. \u201cWow! Like Shadowcat?\u201d<\/p>\n

Nathan\u2019s smile widened. So, some good had come out of reading Peter his old X-Men comics after all. Mom had yelled at him, told him Peter was too young to understand and that Nathan shouldn\u2019t fill his head with that kind of nonsense. She said he should learn to live in the real world, but personally, Nathan wished he\u2019d been allowed to be a kid and believe in fantasy a little longer. No way was he going to help inflict the same Petrelli pragmatism on his brother before he was five.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. Just like Shadowcat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat else can he do?\u201d Peter asked eagerly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell…\u201d Nathan had to think about it for a minute. Thank God he had started reading comics when he was only a little older than Peter, because now he had lots of ideas for the suddenly-almost-omnipotent Santa Claus. \u201cHe\u2019s carrying that bag that has presents in it for all the children of the world, and I bet it\u2019s pretty heavy. He must be pretty strong, like Superman. And not every home in the world has a big roof where he can land the sleigh with all the reindeer, so I bet he just parks them on one roof and then flies to all the other houses in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter\u2019s eyes almost popped out of his head. \u201cSanta can fly<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

Nathan nodded. Mom would probably scold him again for the tale he was weaving, but for now it was enough just to see Peter\u2019s eyes light up like that. \u201cAnd if you think about it, he\u2019s been delivering presents for a long time, so I bet he\u2019s immortal too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s immortal?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means he can\u2019t die,\u201d Nathan explained. \u201cThat he could live forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou mean forever\u2019n ever\u2019n ever?\u201d Peter asked excitedly.<\/p>\n

Nathan laughed. \u201cYeah. Forever and ever and ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to stay up and see Santa,\u201d Peter pouted. \u201cIf I\u2019m pretending to sleep, won\u2019t he come then?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you kidding?\u201d Nathan said, giving his brother his most convincing look of disbelief. \u201cSanta can read your mind–how do you think he always knows which present on your list you want the most? If he comes around and you\u2019re not dreaming, he\u2019ll know.\u201d<\/p>\n

This time it was Peter\u2019s turn to let out a deep sigh in imitation of his brother. \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll go to bed. But if you see him, Nathan, promise you\u2019ll say thank you for me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Now didn\u2019t that just figure: most kids wanted to stay up to see Santa so they could catch him leaving their presents. Peter wanted to thank him. Nathan just smiled again. \u201cYou bet I will.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019d reached Peter\u2019s bedroom by this time, so Nathan opened the door and walked them in, stopping only to turn on the light. He lay Peter down gently in his small bed with its Superman bed sheets then pulled the covers up to his brother\u2019s chin and sat down on the bed beside him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNathan?\u201d Peter asked next.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, Pete?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world is pretty big, right?\u201d He sounded worried again.<\/p>\n

Nathan nodded. \u201cYeah, it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo how does Santa give presents to all the kids in the world in just one night? Does he hafta skip some because he runs out of time?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, of course he doesn\u2019t,\u201d Nathan promised. \u201cBecause you see, that\u2019s something else Santa can do. He can stop time, so that when he lands at our house, everywhere in the world time will just stop until he unloads all the presents and goes on his way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what does Santa do if he forgets somebody?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSanta?\u201d Nathan made an affectionate scoffing sound. \u201cSanta never forgets anything or anyone. And even if he did, he won\u2019t forget you, I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Relaxing at last, Peter snuggled down deeper into his covers. Nathan smiled, leaning down to give his brother a kiss on the forehead before standing and heading back towards the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cNathan?\u201d Peter asked sleepily just as he reached it.<\/p>\n

Nathan turned back. \u201cYeah?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I grow up, can I be Santa and do all those things?\u201d<\/p>\n

Nathan laughed softly as he reached out with one hand to turn out the light. \u201cYou can be anything you want, Pete.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he closed the door, he made another silent promise to himself: I\u2019ll make sure of it.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author’s Note: Written for a Heroes Christmas exchange. My prompt was the song, “Here Comes Santa Claus”. Set several years pre-series. Ages are estimated based on series canon and the actual ages of the actors. (Oh, and if you have … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[159,76],"tags":[342,112,565,35,576,569],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azar.ink-and-quill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azar.ink-and-quill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azar.ink-and-quill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azar.ink-and-quill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azar.ink-and-quill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1632"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/azar.ink-and-quill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1633,"href":"https:\/\/azar.ink-and-quill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1632\/revisions\/1633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azar.ink-and-quill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azar.ink-and-quill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azar.ink-and-quill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}