"Yeah." She felt the sorrow start to seep in again. Knowledge that she hadn't even come close to facing her fears with anything even remotely like bravery weighed heavily upon her. Claire leaned into the hug almost without realizing she was even doing it. Thoughts of how odd it was, being hugged by Sylar of all people, were the furthest from her mind. All she could think about was that she had shown nothing but weakness and absolute terror during a time when she should have been strong. Should have known something was wrong.
She didn't know how many times she'd cried since coming to, in Priestly's arms, after doing her best to kill herself. She had lost track after she'd broken down in the shower, and the time she'd spent curled up in her bed while weeping sorrowfully for reasons she couldn't even properly explain had passed by like a veritable blur. She could feel the tears again, thickening her throat and stinging her eyes, and swallowed hard in an effort to stave them off. His next comment, however, achieved that goal and caused her to do something else entirely.
She laughed.
It started as a soft snort, then a giggle. By the time his words had fully registered she was outright laughing. There was a touch of bitterness there, a feeling of mild hysteria bubbling up from somewhere inside of her, but Claire didn't care. The laughter helped and, although it died off a little faster than she would have liked, it had served a purpose if only by bringing a smile to her face when she'd honestly felt as though she would never smile again.
"True," she finally managed, voice a touch lighter. "That pretty much sucked." She'd almost lost Priestly that time, too, but had actually reacted quickly enough to save him. The thought made her feel a little bit better. Less of a screw-up, definitely.
"I'm still worried this fear thing is going to come back." The admission was made in a softer tone but was clearly lacking the defeated sound from before. With a soft frown, Claire peered up at Sylar. "Or that it's never going to leave the city at all."