Baby I've been here before/I've seen this room & I've walked this floor -For <lj site="livejournal.c

[changehistory]

Everything always came back around, in the end, Adam thought. He'd left London after the end of the War, making his way back to America, to Los Angeles that time, to a wife who'd betrayed him and reminded him just how much he'd lost through the years. After her, there had been a time of hope, though, when he finally found those like himself, found a way to maybe build a new home, a place for himself in the world where he didn't have to hide.

But it had all gone to Hell as quickly as so many other good things in his life had, and the last few decades had been nothing but betrayal and pain and loss.

So, he'd returned to the place where it all began, the birthplace he'd only rarely let be home after he fled the first time all was lost. Maybe it would be different this time. Maybe not. But if nothing else, no one would think to look for him here. He'd watched as things imploded in America, kept informed in that way he always had managed by people he still knew, and didn't look back. They'd made their beds, let them lie in them. He'd gotten out with his skin intact, and he wasn't going back to risk losing it, not for any of them, not after what they'd done.

Why save those who wouldn't save you, or who didn't truly want to be saved?

He bought a townhouse, settled into the anonymity of the city, moving into the rhythms of it, but found his feet tracing old paths past buildings that held nothing but ghosts overlay whatever had moved in and tried to oust him. God, but why he bothered, he didn't know. Maybe he should have gone to Australia, instead. That would have been new.

Still, slowly he found a place for himself, sort of. He found a pub he liked, and musicians to play with now and again, and caught up on theatre and film and television and books and music he had missed, and busied himself with acquainting himself with life in the 21st century, and time passed.

It was raining today, a cold rain where you wanted to curl up by the fire with a book and a whiskey and someone or something to pet, but since the cat was hiding under the bed, and Adam found himself down at the corner pub instead, nursing a pint at the bar, watching a football match and chatting with a couple of the locals who'd braved the weather instead. It was all so very normal, he had no idea what to do with himself, but he assured himself it was the waiting period, the calm before the storm. He'd come up with something else, some other plan, some other way to move forward.

He just needed to get his feet back under him first, and then everything would be fine. A sign would come along, and he'd know it, and then he'd be back.

Comments

[coed-claire.livejournal.com]

"They're not exactly best friends." Was there slight bitterness in her voice? She couldn't help it. The more she learned about him, the more she wanted to spend time with him. The girls were boring and vain, as she'd expected they would be.

"Speaking of." She glanced toward them. "They're either going to shove us in a room together or drag me away if I don't report back soon. But I wouldn't mind you showing me around, if you wanted to. I think it'd be nice."

[changehistory.livejournal.com]

Adam's smirk flashed a little bit again, glancing back at the girls, catching the note of bitterness in her voice. How very, very interesting.

"Shoving in a room wouldn't be all that bad, but I won't insult you with the implication you're that kind of girl," he said with a flash of a smile that bordered on teasing. He reached for one of the coasters on the bar and jotted down a number. "This is my number. Give me a call when you can ditch the entourage, and I'll show you the town." And maybe more, his eyes said, but his smile stayed mostly innocent.

[coed-claire.livejournal.com]

He was flirting with her. Very subtly, which she appreciated, but he was flirting with her. She might not have recognized it except for the look in his eyes. And the grin was hard to miss, but mostly the eyes.

"Very smart move," Claire said. Smooth. He was so smooth. She'd never met anyone like him. She wanted to give him the hotel she was staying in and the room number, but that would imply she was that kind of girl, and she wasn't. She'd never gotten far past kissing, truth be told.

"I will," she said, smiling. Oh, she wanted to do more, she knew she did. She wanted to say more. But she was also weary of rushing into things.

There was the very distinct possibility, however, that he could literally talk the pants right off her.

[changehistory.livejournal.com]

"I've been doing this for a while," Adam said, amused, watching the flicker in her eyes, the chance of maybe that was in them. This, he was pretty certain, was going to be fun. He snagged her hand and lifted it to his lips in a gallant gesture that had been in style centuries before.

"I'll be anxious to hear from you," he murmured, letting her hand go and settling back in his chair while never taking his eyes off of her. She was a pretty little thing, though she didn't look at all like her father's side of the family. Maybe that was a blessing, in some ways. He wouldn't have to remember the rest of them every time he looked at her, which would be a much better basis to get to know someone on.

[coed-claire.livejournal.com]

"Apparently," was all she had time to say before he kissed her hand. He actually kissed her hand and she swore her heart stopped. Who did this? They should never have stopped doing it, though. It was entirely romantic and it felt nice.

Wait, romantic? Get it together, Claire.

"I won't keep you waiting." That counted as flirting back, surely. She sucked at this.

As much as she tried to ignore it, she still heard the giggling behind her, and a very mocking laugh from one of the girls. Normally she wouldn't care, but right then it bothered her.

"Excuse me." Claire gave him her best smile and walked back to the girls, anger visible on her face. She told off the girl who'd laughed, leaving them in something of a stunned silence. She'd make it up later.

"Sorry." She hadn't been that mean, really. "It was a pleasure to meet you."

[changehistory.livejournal.com]

Adam felt a little thrill of success with the return of her flirting, no matter how innocently awkward. Her very innocence was itself a thrill. It had been a while since he'd been around anyone who was such a potentially fresh slate, and he had to bite back the smirk.

He watched her turn back to her friends, listened as she told them off, amused and impressed by the flare of anger, able to appreciate it, even if it was milder than his own, really. He was capable of so much darker, so much more, but she had fire, and he liked that. He could work with that.

Shaking his head, he gave her a smile that said he didn't mind. "Never apologize. It was a pleasure to meet you, as well, Claire. I look forward to seeing you again soon."

[coed-claire.livejournal.com]

"I look forward to seeing you too." Or was that seeing more of you? He was interesting, unlike anybody she'd met, and she was curious about him. Eager to learn more. Which was a danger thing for her, because she usually didn't stop once she started something, once she set her mind to it. She'd definitely inherited the Petrelli stubbornness.

Her friends were already tipsy, having drunk more in her absence, but she managed to insist they go back to the hotel before something bad happened.

Now it was a matter of knowing when to call him back. Wait a day or two? A week? She'd go with her gut, but she had a feeling she wouldn't be able to wait that long.

[changehistory.livejournal.com]

Adam watched her go with an amused look on his face, then finished off his beer, paying his tab. He was tempted to follow behind the girls, find out where she was staying, but he behaved himself, switching his steps to wander back toward his townhouse instead.

She'd call. It was just a question of when. He rather hoped it was sooner rather than later.