The Eclipse IV

"So when did your powers show up?" I questioned as we walked along the same abandoned train track that brought us here, moving forward since Claire said it was a shortcut to the main road. We just left the site.

"About three weeks ago. I noticed it when my hand got cut by a glass shard after struggling over this same outfit with Jackie.

"It was a pretty deep cut that should've taken at least a week to heal but when my dad checked the bandage after I told him the pain was gone, after like five minutes, the cut was fully healed." She explained as we skipped over a bunch of bulky roots.

Was this shown in the show? If it was then I couldn't remember it...

"What about you? When did you discover yours?" She glanced at me from the corner of her eyes and asked casually.

"Like two days ago," I revealed and she turned to look at my face with her eyebrows arched, a look of disbelief on her face.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, why would I lie?" I shrugged and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Nevermind." She shook her head and sighed, turning away to focus on the road.

"So apart from your personal favorite of jumping off very high buildings, what 'self-loving' things have you done to your body?" I asked with a sarcastic smile that made her roll her eyes in exasperation.

I could remember some of the things she'd done or tested on her body like cutting her toe to see if it'll regenerate, which it did, but I wanted to know about the personal ones.

I would then use that information to argue that she was an 'M' anytime she tried to diss me. If she was now my friend then I needed some dirt on her, for you know, friendship sake...

"Not much really. I've stabbed a steel rod through my neck, broken every bone in my body a couple of times, and stabbed myself through the chest." She stated casually as if it was something she did every Tuesday.

Hearing this, I just deadpanned at her. And I thought I was eccentric...

"What?" She looked at me and asked, a little defensively, her lips in a pout.

"Claire, tell me the truth, are you absolutely sure you aren't a masochist? You don't need to be ashamed about it, I'm not the judgy type so you can tell me." I squinted my eyes and interrogated her, straining and forcing myself to sound serious.

"I'm not a masochist Xander, just curious about my powers and how far it can go." She sighed helplessly, her back almost hunching in frustration, as if tired of trying to convince me.

"I get that but what about the pain? Don't all those stunts hurt like a bitch?" I wondered, raising my head to imagine the pain and almost cringed when I remembered my headaches.

I couldn't even stand them and I was sure the pain was way lesser in scale when it was compared to stabbing myself through the chest. Not to talk of breaking all the bones in my body.

Her pain receptors must either be faulty or she didn't have them at all...

"They do hurt, well not technically. Take it like this. On a scale of one to ten, if someone who gets stabbed in the chest feels the pain as a ten, I would feel it as a one or maybe a two. I just don't experience pain like the way most people do." She explained slowly, she sounded a little unsure.

Just like I thought. There was definitely something going on in that brain of hers but nonetheless, it was a boon. A good boon perfect for her power...

"Interesting. I guess it makes sense considering your power. Otherwise, you'd pass out from the sheer pain and trauma alone anytime you pulled stunts like today's own." I nodded in understanding.

"So what is your power anyway? Is it like invisibility or teleportation or a mix of the two?" As if she just remembered something important, she looked at me sharply and probed inquisitively.

"More or less, but it's more complicated than that. I basically shift my body into a different dimension and apply the properties of said dimension to my body." I iterated, making it as vague as possible so she wouldn't get the full picture.

I didn't fully trust her, just yet. And even if I did, I didn't trust in her skill or keeping that information away from Telepaths or compulsion-power-based superhumans.

Information was a powerful weapon and I wasn't about to hand it over to just anyone. Besides, I barely understood the power myself...

"....Wow, I have no idea of anything you just said. Is your power that complicated or is it just me?" She chuckled and asked me with a helpless smile.

"Trust me, Claire, it's that complicated. I don't even understand it fully myself, you can say I'm still figuring it out." I sighed in frustration, hunching my back and looking down to prove my point.

I felt her hand clapping my shoulder gently in support.

"Don't worry, you're a genius. I'm sure you'll figure it out in no time." She beamed at me with a radiant smile, her voice filled with confidence and belief.

The energy in her voice infected me and made the corners of my lip curl up into a smile. I could get used to this...

"Thanks, Claire." I thanked her, sounding genuine and she nodded.

"No problem."

The conversation ended and we relaxed in the comfortable silence hanging around us, smiles on our faces, and continued our journey.

A while later, we heard the blaring sound of sirens and people shouting on our right, a few meters away from our position, past an opening in the thicket.

"What's going on?" Claire asked but I shook my head and shrugged.

"No idea, but let's find out," I added and after she nodded in confirmation, we increased our speed and arrived at the opening.

A wide field was in front of us, stretching all over with green grass and shrubs, and at the mouth or edge of it was a working train track that extended way past our sight.

A blazing train, liked by large tongues of fiery red flames, laid a considerable distance away from the track. Black smoke waved lazily from the train into the sky.

Firefighters in their yellow and flashy overalls with a red cap resting on their heads, stood close to their red fire trucks as they sprayed long beams of water onto the burning train.

People, who were a mix of passing civilians and survivors from the crash, were standing over a barricade, their faces marred with worry as they watched the train. Some reporters and cameramen where also standing at the side, busily recording the scene.

I remembered this place. This was where Claire did her first act of heroism in the show.

We walked towards the people and reached them in a few seconds, standing behind the people as the firefighters barked at each other, desperately trying to off the remaining burning compartments.

Even from where we stood, I could feel the intense heat exuding from the train. I couldn't help but nod at the bravery and willpower the firefighters had to stand so close to such heat, even with their protective suits, and even consider rushing in.

I could see Claire looking at the flames intensely, almost zoning out, and a weird look flashed across her eyes when someone shouted for help from inside the compartment.

"Hey Xander, how hot do you think it is in there?" She asked absentmindedly and took a step forwards towards the barricade but I grabbed her arm and pulled her to me.

"Hell no, I don't know what's going inside that head of yours but I'm not going to allow you to go into that furnace," I told her seriously, and immediately, she frowned and shrugged my hand off her arm.

"Why? Can't you see there's a man trapped inside who needs help?"

"That's why this country pays those men over there. They are called firefighters for a reason Claire, let's leave the saving to them."

"What saving? Look at them, they can't even get close to the fire. At this rate, the man will suffocate to death or worse." She gestured for me to look at the firefighters who backed away quickly as a large flame erupted from the sides and covered the entrance.

She was right. At this rate, the man would die. Not that I cared anyway but Claire did and if I didn't say something to stop her, she'd run face-first into that fire and then all hell would break loose.

From what I could remember, it was because of this particular incident that Sylar was able to figure out that there was a girl in Odessa who could walk through fire and come out okay.

It was literally the talk of the town, if not the entire state. It was printed in all the newspapers and even right now, it was being recorded live.

They didn't know it was Claire who did it since she took off before anyone could etch her face into their minds but they recognized her outfit and came to the school asking questions.

They wanted to thank the person who saved the man. Claire didn't own up but Jackie did and stole the credit, hence Sylar got wind of it and then came to the school looking for her. Hence, Jackie got her head cut open like a can of tuna flakes.

If there was change or a way I could prevent that or delay it for even a second, I would do it so today, Claire wasn't going to be the hero...

It was going to be me, it just had to be done no matter how I hated it.

"Look, I know you want to do the right thing and save him using your powers but think of the cost. You'd invite attention to yourself and extension me and believe me when I tell you none of us need that sort of thing right now." I told her seriously, my tone grave with a little anger mixed in it.

And I could see her resolve falter in her eyes.

"But the man. He's going to di—"

"He won't. Let me handle it. I can go there, save him, and come back with no one being the wiser." I cut her off and suggested, her eyes lit up.

"If you have a handkerchief, give it to me right now," I said, gritting my teeth in annoyance, and nodding, she put her hand into a bag and brought out a small clean pink face towel.

Frowning, I snatched it from her and was about to transition after checking to see if anyone was watching when she looked at me with fond eyes and wished,

"Good luck Xander and be safe."

I simply nodded at her word without looking at her and with a thought, the world warped around me.

I immediately moved towards the burning train, my speed increased greatly and passed by the firefighters in a flash, moving through the fiery entrance into the compartment itself.

All around flames danced about the items scattered around, trailed by copious amounts of smoke.

I glanced everywhere in search of the man and found him with his back against a couch, coughing heavily, his body dirtied by the black smoke and dust.

My eyes darted around for something I could use and after finding a thick blanket lying on the floor, about to be touched by the raging flames, I moved to it and took a deep breath, tying the towel around my neck to cover my nose and mouth.

My heart raced in both fear and excitement but I managed to push those feelings down and transitioned back. My feet touched the hot floor.

Instantly, my eyes started burning due to the smoke and my temperature rose as I felt the full brunt of the heat. It felt like I was being roasted alive and the disturbing sound of things burning, like the crackle of wood, didn't help either.

Hurriedly, I took the blanket and dashed to the man's side, helping him up with one hand while I used the other to cover our whole bodies with the blanket.

He coughed on me but I ignored it and together we moved towards the entrance. The moment we got there, the flames roared and rose in height, effectively shielding the entrance so we froze.

Seeing this, I had half a mind to just leave him there and leave but I had my pride and when I decided to do something, I always saw that it to the end.

But still, I wasn't foolish enough to willingly send my body through hell's gate. So, I shifted myself out of the blanket as the man continued to cough, and used it to cover every inch of the man's body.

Then I removed his arm that was lying around my neck, and inching the both of us a lot closer to the fire, just enough that I could feel my face burning, I called out all of my strength and used it to push the man into the fire.

He screamed as he flew through it. I had done my part, whether he lived or not, was his problem. With this, I hoped I had bought myself some time...

I immediately called upon my power and shifted into the dimension. Then, I flew out of the container fastly and arrived just behind a worried and anxious Claire in no time.

I deactivated my power and landed on my feet, stumbling to the ground as I coughed heavily. My legs felt weak and I almost couldn't feel them.

"Oh my God, Xander are you okay!?" She practically yelled as she quickly crouched down and held me, her face marred with worry and care.

"I'm okay, I'm okay, there's nothing to worry about." I coughed out, my eyes still burning as I ripped the face towel away from my face. My whole body felt weak but I still had some strength left in me.

It was a suffocating and daring experience, one I vowed I wouldn't do again. Next time, Claire suggested anything like this again, I'd kick her perky ass to the curb.

I wasn't a goddam hero...

"Hang on to me, I'll get you out of here." She attached her short soft body to mine and placed my arm around her neck, pulling me up. Then, ignoring the gaze of the onlookers, she carried me away.

I could smell her feminine scent mixed with her perfume, dust, shampoo, and blood from our proximity and it made my heart race a little but I shook my head and concentrated on feeling my legs again.

"Thanks for doing this Xander, I know you didn't want to. And also, I'm sorry for being impulsive. I could've put us all in danger, no, I put you in danger and again, I'm sorry for that.

"When I heard the man, I thought that maybe I could use my power to do something. I've always seen it as a curse but because of what you told me earlier, I wanted to use it to do something good, something better.

"And I guess that feeling clouded my judgment. You can be angry at me if you want, I deserve it, but just know that I'm deeply and I promise I won't put your life in danger again."

She explained slowly in a low tone that showed how sorry and apologetic she was.

She was also looking down, and her once bright eyes filled with positivity were replaced with sadness. Seeing this, the anger that was stewing inside of me, vanished and a deep sigh left my mouth.

Her heart was in the right place and it wasn't like she forced me to do what I did. She wanted to do it herself before I stopped her.

The only reason I was angry in the first place was because of her naivety and how careless her actions would've been.

But seeing her introspect and realize her mistakes together with hearing her heartfelt apology, made the anger disappear.

And besides, I had learned a lot about the practicality of my powers and how vulnerable my body was in up close fashion.

If I struggled this much to just save a man from burning, how was I going to fight Sylar who could throw me away like a doll with just one glance? Not to talk of his other fucked up powers and the other villains as capable as him.

Today made me see that, I had to grow stronger, fast. There was no time to relax. It was time for some serious grinding...

"...Hey Claire, look up. The eclipse is starting." I rose my head to look at the darkening sun as the moon covered it and told Claire casually.

She rose her head to look up and as our feet touched the abandoned train track again, we stopped and admired the view while the world around us darkened.

It was beautiful and seeing it brought a serious look to my face. It was all going to start now...