withimpunity | Fic: Sweet Sixteen - Noah/Elle

Title: Sweet Sixteen
Pairing: Noah/Elle
Rating: PG-13
Prompt/Claim: #83 Elle’s first crush for

heroes_fest
Disclaimer: Heroes belongs to Tim Kring, NBC, and other folks who aren’t me. This is for fun only, never profit.

She watches people - watches the way they move, the way they walk and talk and smile fakes smiles at each other; she's learning to be a grown up. She sees the way Steve looks at Jessie when she brings in the morning coffee, notices the way Jessie always tucks her hair behind her ear shyly, but always seems to drop something on her way out and the way Steve watches her when she has to bend over and pick it up. The fact that Jessie's skirts are getting shorter by the day doesn't get past Elle either.

She's sixteen when she walks into Steve's office looking for her Dad and she catches them in the middle of...something. Jessie's in her bra and on top of Steve's desk with her eyes closed and her mouth open, and Steve (Elle peers around Jessie's shoulders to get a better look) has his head under her skirt, which explains the noises Jessie's making. A warm shiver ripples through Elle and she tingles all over, though she's not sure if its the electricity in her veins or something else entirely that's making her feel this way.

Jessie's eyes open as a dozen or so profanities flow out of her mouth and she notices Elle standing there, watching with idle curiosity as Jessie's orgasm rocks through her. She gives Elle a half panicked, half annoyed look and waves a hand at her, shooing her off. Elle bites her lip so hard the skin under her teeth breaks open and she tastes blood on her tongue as she hears Steve's muffled voice under Jessie's skirt, dirty things she wouldn't dare ever repeat. She runs out of the room so quick she barrels straight into someone.

"Whoa there," Noah says, putting his firm hands on her shoulders. "There a fire I should know about young lady?"

Noah's fingers feel like they're burning through her thin cotton t-shirt and she squirms nervously under his touch. She likes the way he grins, the way it lights up his whole face and sometimes, the whole room. He's not like the other people who work at The Company with Daddy. Noah's different somehow, she just can't put her finger on why she feels that way.

"Sorry, Mr. Bennet," she smiles and blushes like a teenager. Which, of course, she is. After all she's been through though, Elle feels like she's been around much longer than sixteen years. "I was just looking for-"

"Your dad?" He asks. "Just ran into him. Well, not literally. Not everyone is quite as enthusiastic as you are." He grins again and its not just his face or the room that lights up this time, its her. Electricity crackles in the very palm of her hand and Elle squeezes her fist shut, extinguishing it before Noah can notice. "He's looking for you too. Right around the corner."

Elle frowns when Noah pats her on the head as he walks off. He looks at her like she's a still a little girl playing dress up in mommy's clothes. She's not a little girl anymore and she doesn't have a mother. It's time for Elle to grow up, and she's going to start with Noah.

***

On Monday Elle starts wearing skirts even though she always told Daddy she hated them. She spends an hour in front of the mirror curling her hair at the ends and applying just the right amount of perfume on her wrists and right behind her ears, something she's seen Jessie do in the ladies room.

It isn't an accident when she walks in on a meeting Bob is having with Noah and Mr. Thompson, but she apologizes anyway and makes up a story about leaving something in Bob's desk. She pretends to look through the drawers, stealing glances at Noah occasionally, and the one time he looks up and their eyes meet, Elle accidentally melts the lock on the filing cabinet and hurriedly scurries out before Daddy notices.

***

On Tuesday Bob asks her why she's putting on so much make-up and Elle lies, saying she just wants to look like a princess and Daddy just smiles and pets her hair, and tells her that's enough blush, she doesn't want to look like a street walker.

Elle paints her nails bright pink while Mrs. Clover tries to teach her Algebra and puts on shimmering lipstick she bought at the drugstore down the street. She watches the second hand tick by on the clock impatiently, jumping up as soon as it lands on twelve thirty, and takes off down the hall, ignoring Mrs. Clover's reminder about homework.

She's not looking where's she going when she bumps into Noah and papers go flying out of her hands in every direction.

"Elle," He says and she can feel her pulse quicken as his fingers curl around her arm. "You really should watch where you're going." He smiles brightly and Elle's body is flooded with warmth when he kneels down beside her.

"Here, let me help." Noah says, reaching over to help Elle gather the miscellaneous papers scattered over the floor and his fingers brush against hers accidentally. "Ouch!" He chuckles when hot electricity travels off of Elle's skin, giving him a startling shock. "That stings a little, doesn't it?"

"Sorry, I'm sorry," Elle mutters, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth as she gathers the rest of the papers in her arms. Noah sucks on the end of his finger as she shuffles off, still tingling a little where she'd inadvertently shocked him. Suddenly, it occurs to him that Elle's not the little girl that he'd had to help Bob lock up in solitary confinement because she couldn't control her ability anymore. His lips curve into half of a smirk as he takes his finger out of his mouth and stares at the scorch mark on his skin.

Their little Elle is growing up.

***

On Wednesday, Elle borrows one of Eden's skirts, red and black plaid with a thick black belt, and Eden lends her a pair of boots to go with it. Bob gives her disapproving looks each time they pass each other in the hallway and Elle hopes he never finds out Eden is the one that lent them to her; she likes Eden. She's not ready for her to go away yet.

Noah, Bob, and Mr. Thompson are all sitting at a round table in the break room when Elle skips in for a cup of coffee and a bagel before her lessons, pretending like she hadn't noticed them there. She reaches for the creamer, accidentally knocking it off the shelf onto the floor and has to bend over to pick it up. A lady would have bent at the knees, but Elle never had anyone teach her how to be a lady. When she leans over to fetch the canister of non-dairy creamer, Eden's skirt rides up the back of her pale thighs, giving those in the room a glimpse of lacy boy-cut panties.

"Noah. Noah. I asked you what you thought about the Simson Case," Bob says impatiently.

"Sorry," Noah clears his throat as Elle straightens her back and looks over her shoulder at him. "Right. The Simson Case. I'm on it, Bob."

***

The day Elle decides she's going to kiss Noah, she wears her first and only pair of high heels with the shortest skirt she owns (which isn't short enough, thanks to Daddy) and the mango flavored gloss Jessie gave her for her birthday. She checks her reflection every time she walks past a mirror or a particularly reflective window and practices pushing her hair behind her ears and looking coy and demure.

As soon as Bob goes into an interview with some new guy, Elle seizes the opportunity and pours a cup of coffee, leaving the sugar and cream behind. Noah likes his coffee the way he likes everything, straight and simple. She can be straight and simple. She can be whatever Noah wants her to be.

"Good morning Noah," Elle says, knowing that she doesn't have to knock as she opens the door to his office and lets it click shut behind her. She smiles subtly, not too wide, just enough to show her sparkling white teeth as she hands him his coffee. Noah quirks an eyebrow at her as he takes the Styrofoam cup out of her hands and sits it on his desk.

"It's Noah now, hm?" He smirks and takes a sip of his coffee, letting his eyes casually roam over her. He wonders idly what sort of profanities would come out of Bob's mouth if he saw how many buttons Elle had undone on her shirt and where in the hell she found a skirt that short. "You're getting to be too grown up, Elle. Making me feel like an old man."

Elle smiles crookedly as she chews at the corner of her mouth and hops onto the edge of Noah's desk, swinging her legs back and forth. "You're not old, Noah," She says, pushing her hair behind her ear the way she practiced. "I think," electricity tingles in the center of her palm as color floods her cheeks. "I think you're very handsome."

"Oh," Noah chokes, pushing away from his chair as he stands up hurriedly. He hadn't expected this at all. "Elle-"

"Shh," Elle grins, putting her finger up to his lips. "Don't."

"Elle-"

"Please," She replies softly, staring down at her feet. "Please don't say no. I don't know any other girls my age, but if I did I bet they'd all had their first kiss by now."

"No," Noah shakes his head vehemently, realizing where she's going with this. "No, Elle. No, no, no. I'm sorry. You should leave."

"Why not?" She asks, pursing her lips into a pout and he's reminded again of a sad little girl who just wanted to go to the fair. He also remembers taking Claire to the same fair and winning her a stuffed bear, then going back while Sandra watched her ride the carousel to win a second one, and the way Elle's face had lit up when he gave it to her the next day.

"Because you're sixteen," Noah whispers, gazing into her glossy, pale blue eyes as he holds her by each arm.

"Then how come I feel so much older?" Elle murmurs as she looks up at him, a single tear streaming down each side of her face.

"Oh, Elle," Noah says softly as he raises his thumb to her face, wiping away the wetness on each cheek. "Please don't."

"Noah, please," She whispers, barely loud enough for him to hear as she fidgets with the hem of her skirt. "I don't want to kiss anyone else."

Noah doesn't know why he doesn't say anything, doesn't say "No, Elle. You're sixteen and I'm old enough to be your father, who I happen to be employed by. This is definitely not a good idea," or why he doesn't back away when Elle puts her hand on his chest and leans forward. He's crippled by the thoughts swimming in his head, memories of Elle being tortured by her father, losing her mother, nearly killing her grandmother. The expression on her face is real pain and sadness and he's wanted for so long to take it away from her, to see a true smile on her face, that he thinks maybe, maybe this is what she needs.

He closes his eyes respectfully and allows Elle to raise up on her tip toes and press her lips against his. He can feel the pointy tips of her fingernails pressing into his shoulder and a slight warm single where her palm rests over his heart as she parts her lips and feels the soft, warm tip of her tongue tracing -

"Elle!" Bob shouts as Noah's office door swings open and Noah pushes her away instinctively, trying to ignore the hurt look in her eyes. "Get away from Noah, Elle."

Elle doesn't dare look back at him again as she straightens her skirt and slides off his desk.

"Go to my office," Bob says firmly. "And button your shirt up, for God's sake."

Noah's heart is pounding in his chest as Bob shuts the door behind Elle and looks up at him. The worst scenario is that Bob's going to fire him. The likely scenario is that Bob's going to kill him. It what's he would do, so its an understatement to say that Noah is surprised when Bob apologizes to him.

"Terribly sorry about that, Noah," Bob says as he picks up one of the paperweights on Noah's desk. "The psychologist warned us that the combination of her ability and her many social disorders might turn into something like this. She didn't do anything too disturbing, I hope?"

"Not at all," Noah told him, straight-faced. "I think I was her guinea pig, so it was pretty harmless. She's quite cunning though, your daughter. She may need someone to watch over her, make sure she doesn't get out of line."

"Are you volunteering, Noah?" Bob asks, lifting an eyebrow as he sets the paper weight back on Noah's desk.

"She does trust me more than anyone else at The Company," Noah replies confidently. He knows Bob can't argue with that.

"You're right about that," Bob says, pondering the idea. "Sounds good, Noah. Good thinking. Come see me in my office later and we'll sort out the details. My apologies again, for Elle's little display. She really is a sweet girl."

"I know she is, Bob," Noah says as he walks Bob to the door, releasing the breath he'd been holding as soon as it clicks quietly shut behind him, and licks his lips, tasting the faint hint of mangoes. "Very, very sweet."