A/N I really liked Claire and Zach's friendship in the first season, and was extremely disappointed that he wasn't in season 2. Their relationship had so much potential it's crazy that they didn't end up together! D:

I came across some good one-shots of them on here, but not really any multiple chapter stories, so I figured I'd contribute some of my own ideas. I hope you enjoy them. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Heroes.

"9 Lives"

Claire held her messenger bag close, keeping to herself as she maneuvered through the school's halls. Normally she would be conversing with her fellow cheerleaders, chatting and gossiping. But after being diagnosed with "the condition", as they called it, she'd just completely shut herself off from all other people. She didn't really see the point in having relationships now, if she couldn't feel anything to begin with. All humans felt something. She was practically a monster.

No.

Even worse.

She was a freak.

An outcast.

Although no one else in the school was aware of her condition, and thank goodness for that, she still felt inwardly distant from everyone else. She could hardly enjoy the feeling of touch in general, because her brain vaguely registered feeling.

Sure, it had some perks. Like those annoyingly painful moments when you accidentally stub your toe, or when you're taking a piping-hot tray out of the oven with no gloves on.

But even though she couldn't feel the pain, that didn't mean that the damage wasn't still there. She still acquired quite a few burn marks from various hot objects; like the oven, stove, clothing iron, etc.

Mr. Bennet, her father, had told her to be more careful with such things, but it was often hard to do when she couldn't feel the pain leading to the cause of the problem. She had to be constantly checking her hands and fingers for minor cuts and burns, and often times she would forget that the cookie tray was still piping hot, or that the heated electric stove was left on, and she would end up with yet another unknown burn mark.

Claire made a final turn through the halls, trying to locate her locker as a wave of students pushed past her, causing her to lose her grip on her bag, and ultimately have it fall to the floor, spilling all its contents. She sighed irritably, bending down to retrieve her items. She slowly tilted her head upwards to identify the culprit.

It was none other than Brody Mitchum; the football quarterback.

"Oops, sorry Claire, I didn't see you there." He said in mock concern, flashing his devilish smile.

"Oh, no, don't worry about me." She said sarcastically, rising up to his level, bag in hand.

"Do you need some help standing up, Princess?" He teased.

"I'll be fine on my own, thank you." She replied, turning on her heel.

And for a brief moment, her edgy walk-away might have been seen as cool.

Had it not been for her totally wiping out as she was accidentally shoved into a locker by an unsuspected teenage boy. Heavily embarrassed (and extremely annoyed) she fell to the ground. Even though she couldn't feel the pain of the impact, she still saw stars.

"OH MY GOD!" The teen boy shrieked in shock.

She could already hear Brody behind her, cackling over her defeat.

Claire shook her head, disoriented, and began picking up her items once again.

"I'm so sorry," The familiar boy apologized sincerely. "Here, let me help you," he immediately began picking up her pencils, books, and other school supplies, frantically stuffing them back into her bag.

"I wasn't looking where I was going, are you okay?" He asked, genuinely concerned. Claire froze in place when she recognized who had run into her.

Zach.

She hadn't spoken to him since 6th grade. They kind of drifted apart when she started hanging out with the popular kids. And because of her selfish fear of losing her popularity, she quit being around him altogether. So you can imagine how awkward it was for her to run into him. Or, in this case, have him run into her.

"Um, Claire?" Zach questioned, slowly waving his hand in front of her to get her attention.

She quickly blinked herself out of her trance.

"Mm, yeah?"

"I said, 'are you okay?' "

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," She waved him off and stood up swiftly, rotating herself around to show him there wasn't any damage.

"See? Just fine."

Claire's brave face immediately depleted when she saw Zach's horrific facial expression. His jaw dropped and his eyes were as wide as saucers, staring down at something on her.

"YOU'RE BLEEDING!" He exclaimed, pointing at her.

Claire followed his gaze. She saw that her left leg was oozing a crimson color out of a deep-looking gash.

What was she supposed to do now? If she didn't cry out in pain he'd be sure to suspect something, but if she did, it would definitely draw attention, something she was not very fond of. Not wanting to be discovered, she did the only thing she could do to save her dwindling reputation.

She yelled.

"Ow!" She knelt down to hold her leg, pretending to be in pain.

A few students turned their heads in her direction, curiosity evident on their faces. Now that she practically had the whole school's attention, there was no going back now.

"Claire?" A man's voice questioned from somewhere in the hall.

She looked in the direction the voice was coming from, and saw Mr. Bishop, her English teacher, sprinting towards her.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Mr. Bishop knelt down beside her and put his arm on her shoulder.

A/N Did you get what I did there? :D I just used Bob Bishop (Elle's father) for Claire's English teacher! Haha! XD

Okay, I have three possible scenarios on what could happen next, but I'm not sure which one to choose, so I'm hoping you can help me decide by dropping me a review with one of the following choices;

A) Claire tells Mr. Bishop it was Brody's fault, resulting in him getting a detention, Claire gets sent to the nurse's office, and Zach and her bond over their disliking towards Brody.

B) Mr. Bishop assumes Zach was the culprit despite Claire's protests, sending him to detention. And Claire goes to the nurse's office, later Claire apologizes to Zach after school for the misunderstanding.

C) Claire tells Mr. Bishop it was her own fault for running into Zach, and gets herself sent to the nurse's office. Zach follows her on her way home from school and they have a friendly chat.

Yeah, they pretty much all involve Claire getting sent to the nurse's office. But hey, you get the point, right? Please review and let me know which one you choose!