By Fabrisse
Pairing: Peter - Nathan
Rating: Everyone
Word Count: ~1150
Category: Drama
Spoilers: Pre Season 1
Summary: Nathan won’t disappoint Peter
Notes: Sorry, gang. Unbetaed again. Written for heroes_fest
Prompt: Nathan surprising wee!Peter by showing up at a school function of his.
It didn’t help that it was on a Wednesday.
Everyone wanted two day passes for the weekend, or at least for a Sunday/Monday combination. Midshipman Petrelli requested a pass from Tuesday at 17:00 hours, which would just give him enough time to make his train to New York, through Thursday at the same time.
The commandant approved it and the request to wear his cadet uniform. Nathan thought he saw the Admiral’s lips twitch in what might have been a smile, but he wasn’t going to press his luck.
It didn’t stop the midshipman officer in charge of his ward from asking, “Why the hell would you want a two day pass mid week?”
Nathan looked him straight in the eye. “It’s career day, sir.”
***
The letter arrived two weeks ago.
Peter wrote Nathan at least twice a week and had been doing so since Nathan’s first year at the academy. Some of his classmates were homesick, but Peter’s letters just assumed Nathan would want to know everything. Nathan never had a chance to get homesick.
This letter detailed Peter begging his father to come to the career day his class was having. Nathan thought it was a little strange; the type of private school Peter was in every kid whose parent wasn’t a doctor had a parent who was a lawyer – unless the name sounded foreign and then their parents were diplomats at either the consulate or the UN. How much variation could there be?
Arthur said no. Nathan was willing to give his dad the benefit of the doubt; most of dad’s time was scheduled months in advance. Peter’s teacher didn’t seem to have given much notice. Although, it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that Peter had forgotten the assignment until too close to the day.
Nathan had less sympathy for his mother. Peter figured charity work was a career, too, and asked her when Arthur declined. Peter might be Angela’s favorite, but there was no way she’d talk to a room full of eight year olds about museum committees for twenty minutes.
After two years of letters, Nathan had learned to verify. Peter never lied, but his interpretations were sometimes skewed or wrong. Nathan talked to his folks late enough that Peter wouldn’t know he’d called, and discovered that both parents had indeed said no.
While he was on the phone, he asked for the school’s phone number and the name of Peter’s teacher. Nathan knew it was unlikely he’d be able to connect with Mrs. Gaeta, but he felt he should try.
Luck was with him the next day. He called just before she left for the day. Mrs. Gaeta confirmed there was a careers unit going on as part of their social studies. Each student was asked to bring in a parent or other relative and have that person speak to the class for twenty minutes. There would be another ten minutes of questions. This allowed two people per class period. Social studies met four times a week, but it was the first class of the day which meant most people could make it.
She also made it clear the students were graded on whether or not someone had come to the class and whether or not that person was prepared. It wouldn’t make a huge difference, five points for the semester, but if a student were borderline, those five points could mean the difference between a B and a C.
The last thing Nathan confirmed was that the assignment really had come only two weeks earlier. Mrs. Gaeta said it was three weeks, but, by the time Nathan allowed for Peter asking their father and getting a response and asking their mother, the better part of a week passing before Nathan got the letter made sense.
His request for leave was filed immediately after he hung up.
***
Nathan let his parents know that he’d be home sometime after ten on the following Tuesday. He asked them not to tell Peter, just in case something happened to cause his leave to be revoked. He also spoke to Maria, Peter’s nanny, and asked if she’d be willing to attend career day should something happen. Maria agreed.
He’d made it to D.C. in time for his train, but Amtrak was having issues -- lots of issues. At three in the morning, he finally was on a train. It was slow, but it wasn’t going to make every stop the way the one that left at two-fifteen had. One thing the military was teaching him was to grab any opportunity he had for sleep. It was tough. He needed to be at Peter’s school no later than eight-fifteen, but staying awake wouldn’t make the train run any faster.
He was the first person off the train when they finally made it into Penn Station at seven-fifty. At the first payphone, Nathan called the house and had one of the cars on its way to the 34th Street and 8th Avenue entrance. He sprinted for the men’s room and shaved in cold water. He brushed his teeth quickly before claiming the handicapped stall and changing into his cadet uniform.
The Petrelli family’s drivers were good. This one was waiting for him when he emerged from the station and cut through the rush hour traffic like a hot knife through butter to get to Peter’s school. Nathan had learned not to look out the windows. He was pretty sure they’d driven on the sidewalk at one point, and while they were only going one way, he wasn’t certain that they were going the way the sign indicated. It didn’t matter one whit. At eight-fourteen he walked in to Peter’s school and inquired where Peter’s classroom was.
At eight-fifteen on the dot, Nathan knocked on the door and introduced himself to Mrs. Gaeta. Maria, who’d been sitting by Peter, stood and left after smiling brightly at Nathan.
When he finally dared to look at his little brother, all Nathan could see was a blinding gapped-tooth grin. He sat in the chair Mrs. Gaeta indicated and listened quietly to the Egyptian cultural attaché explain what an attaché does.
Then Nathan stood up and explained what life was like at Annapolis, why his uniform was different from serving officers, and what he needed to study in school to be a pilot. Peter didn’t ask a single question, but just kept staring at Nathan like he’d come from Mars.
Afterward, the Egyptian attaché took him out for strong coffee and praised him for valuing family so highly.
Later still, Nathan changed into jeans and a sweater to pick Peter up from school. Peter ran to him and jumped up knowing his big brother would catch him. Wrapped tightly in an eight year old’s hug, Nathan thought there was nothing better than Peter’s trust.