Peter let his arms circle around Claire as he hugged her tight to him. It had been so long since he'd hugged anyone and even longer since he'd hugged Claire. The last few years had been long, hard and lonely. Peter had been lonely before but he'd always had his family around him in the past. Recently, though, his family were the ones he'd been running from and it had been a struggle all the way. There had been days when he'd wanted nothing more than to just give in. It was only his dreams about what the future would hold for the world if people like him hadn't kept fighting that kept him holding on. Still, it was better than he could have imagined to hug his niece tight to him again without being scared that she would try to kill him. Running from Claire had been the worst thing about the last year, by far.
"I've missed you," he said into her blonde hair, his voice muffled a little by the way he was pressing his face into her neck. He'd forgotten how small she was but, like always, he could feel the power stored up in her petite body. If anyone ever judged Claire Bennet purely on her size, they'd be making a mistake. A smile slowly twisted up the right side of Peter's mouth as he kept hugging her, reluctant to let her go. For the first time in forever, he didn't feel completely alone.