Zach has been taken to Primatech paper and told he, like Claire, will be very special. There he meets the mysterious Vera Gray, a solemn girl obsessed with finding her brother and May Linderman, a self-assured do-gooder hell bent on saving the world from her father. Together they formulate a plan to escape The Company and find Hana Gitelman so they can destroy their former kidnappers.
This first chapter is set between Run and Unexpected. It goes through to the end of the series and changes the finale. As for the graphic novels, it uses up until the death of Hana Gitelman.
Important notes: so far I have no couples, maybe that will come to me as a write or if anyone has any ideas, go ahead and put 'em out there. Characters besides Zach and his two new friends to be featured are The Haitian, Sylar/Gabriel, Hana, Claude, Bennett, Linderman (although all heroes will probably be making an appearance.)
I picture Alexis Bledel (Rory from Gilmore Girls) as Vera, personally and Allison Mack (chloe from Smallville) as Bolt.
Prologue
First ImpressionsI don't believe in destiny. I never have. I've been told by the few people I've encountered that I've not had enough experience to say for sure whether there is such a thing as fate or not. They're partly right. I've spent most of my life in cages, some gilded, some otherwise, but I was in captivity nonetheless. Still, I feel as though I've lived enough to make a proper decision on the idea. Personally, I believe in choice. We all make choices in life. It's ridiculous to think someone was destined to walk a certain path or that they were born a monster. Monsters aren't born, they're molded. No one knows that better then me. My brother, after all, is the boogey man. So yes, choices, not destiny- that's the key.
"You can't keep me here forever!" Zach banged his hand on the glass window feverishly as he screamed the words at nothingness. "My family will be looking for me! Friends! I'm not the TYPE to run away!" Breathing ragged he leaned against the glass, trying to keep tears at bay. It was hard to be tough and manly when you're taken in the middle of the night, gagged and thrown into the back of a van by burly masked men. Fear had seized him as he was dragged from his bed and had yet to let go.
He pounded at the glass one last time before turning around sliding down the door to the ground. Tears slipped silently down his cheeks his shame only made him cry harder. He buried his head in his knees and used his right arm to cover the very top of his forehead so that these people, whoever they were, wouldn't see his childish, weak response. But that was the story of his life- trying to hide the hurt.
His mind raced with questions on what was happening, why was it happening to him and how was he going to escape. He was sliced with guilt at the very idea of this being Claire's fault when he knew, even if it was because of her, it wasn't purposeful. She never meant to put him in any danger. Still, the only reason he could come up with being kidnapped and taken to a white walled cell with an observation glass was something crazy like her gifts. Hopefully she'd notice he was missing and attempt to do something about it…like in comic books.
Whenever the sidekick would go missing the hero would always rescue them. Not that he was a sidekick, well, he didn't think he was a sidekick- however he did hold qualities many sidekicks possessed.
Why was he caring about that now? Insanity. Just insanity. But all of that was buried beneath paralyzing fear and anguish at the situation itself.
"They're not going to hurt you."
Zach looked up and for the first time noticed the girl sitting in the shadows between a dresser and a bed. He couldn't quite see her, just an outline and for the first time he actually looked beyond the white, frightening walls. It was like someone put a mirror in the middle of the room and made identical sides. On each side was a bed with light blue sheets, a white dresser and a door. In the very center of the room was an open door, he creaked his head to the right and saw inside was a bathroom.
He looked back at where the girl was seated. "Where are we? What is this place? Who are you?" It all came out in a panicked streak and he stepped towards where her shadowed figure was. "Who are you?" He repeated.
"Don't be scared." She answered in a whisper. She moved, shifting and then slowly stood. She was a slight of a girl with ghostly white skin, though he saw none of it past her throat for she was garbed in a silken, long-sleeved dark shirt, faded black jeans and black boots. Her hair was long and dark, matching the shirt she donned, she wore it down and it fell over her shoulders neatly. Her lips were thick and pink on an angled face with high cheek bones. She was pretty, he realized, like the girl next door, very sweet and innocent looking- a modern, live snow white. But when she opened her eyes and their gazes met he realized that she wasn't pretty at all.
She was gorgeous.
Not like Claire was gorgeous, a different kind. There was something unearthly and even slightly creepy about her. One eye was a beautiful, morning sky blue, the kind you didn't want to look away from it was so light and the other a dark, complex emerald green. She blinked once and all of a sudden he remembered that a moment ago he had been afraid- that moment seemed a lifetime ago. Lost time. He shook himself and looked at her again. "Who are you?"
"Vera Gray." She stepped forward and tilted her head to the side. "Bokor, he touched you, didn't he?"
"Who?" Zach asked, his body relaxing. He sat down on the bed and stared at her. Her beauty was like a diamond or a statue not the warm and cheerful beuty Claire maintained and she spoke in low tones, almost whispery without inflection. "I don't know?"
"The man who takes your memory away, Bokor, it's what I call him." She hovered near him, not touching, her hands poking out from her shirt as she almost touched the side of his face, he could feel the air move around his cheek but no contact was made. "Who are you?"
"Zachary Nauman." He responded, "Not as cool as Bokor or anything but it's suited me fine through life."
"Zachary." She repeated, placing her hands at her sides. "Close your eyes, keep them closed and remember…remember…."
Wetting his lips he laid down on the bed and did as she asked, current predicament the last thing on his mind. Thoughts surged forwards at a lightening pace until he couldn't think anymore, he couldn't even comprehend them, it was all just so fast.
"This is Claire Bennet. And that was attempt number six."
"Popular? Who said anything about being popular? My life as I know it is over, okay? I've got the Bishop game next week, SAT's in October, homecoming's three weeks from today, and I'm a freak show!"
"You're hanging out with Claire? Since when is she talking to you again?"
"The videotape! The tape where you're, like, killing yourself like twenty times."
"But you are, Claire. You are different. Don't you see that? Don't you see that none of this matters? School spirit doesn't matter. Being a pretty blonde cheerleader doesn't matter. It's not who you are anymore."
"Well, I hope they're not. No offense, but I like -- I like that you're the freak. It makes you more ... special or whatever."
"Jesus." When he opened his eyes he was dizzy and his head throbbed. It felt like some had packed it with knowledge and memories but it wasn't nearly as chaotic as his emotions. Resentment, attraction, love, denial- they all welled inside him until he thought he'd explode. Claire. Claire. Claire. Everything was so mixed up in his head and in his heart, he didn't understand any of it. Then all of a sudden the confusion was dwindling and he had put it all out of his head. "You…you're special too?"
"I hate that word."
He tried to sit up but after moving an inch he decided lying down was the better option. "So it isn't just Claire- that guy who took my memory and you who brought it back…there's more."
He felt her presence next to him on the bed but far enough away that he couldn't reach out and touch her. "Yes. Like us."
Zach shifted his body to one side, still not able to sit up but wanting to look at her to express how insane she was. "Me? I don't have a gift."
She raised an eyebrow, "that's strange then."
"Why?"
She stood, clasping her hands together, "You have an ability or they believe you have one, it just hasn't manifested yet." She walked across the room and touched the glass, sliding her fingertips down it before turning back to look at him. "The gene is passed down, my father had one and thusly I acquired one. Perhaps they know of your parents?"
Her suggestion seemed absurd. His parents having powers? Only if arguing every night until they got a divorce was some sort of gift. Their arguments had driven his father to the North East, somewhere in Boston was the last he heard, not that anyone bothered to tell him. "What do you have? What did your father have?"
She shrugged, "I don't know. Gabriel's father could teleport though."
He noted her not telling him what her power was and didn't ask who Gabriel was though for a moment he felt he should have, "and you think I have one of these?"
"Those who cannot advance their cause are discarded, you weren't."
"Look, I've always been a freak- I just don't think in that way. Not that I'm bagging it, I'd love to have some kind of ability- maybe invisibility, that'd be cool, or super strength but I don't."
She stared at him, "your…friend…?"
"What about my friends?"
"No…lover? No…but you wanted it to be more then friendship. No. No, never mind, don't tell me." She looked past him and he turned around to see Claire's father and the man who took his memories staring at them, his hand on Bennett's shoulder.
"Telling the lad to keep secrets already?" Claire's father asked. Mr. Bennett looked to Zach, "come with me son, there are some things we should discuss." He pressed a button and the glass door opened. Vera made no move to walk out, her gaze was locked with the man she called Bokor. He had the feeling he was missing something there, as though they were having their own conversation using no words at all. Zach began to walk towards Claire's dad with trepidation, where were they going now? The calm was still over him, holding him from screaming bloody murder or crying his eyes out. After he exited the door the other man stepped in and Mr. Bennett pressed the button to shut the glass door. It ended with a clang of a lock snapping shut that echoed through the room.
Zach turned around, they were standing, barely apart, only looking at each other somberly. "What are they doing?
"He trains her." Mr. Bennett responded matter-of-factly. "They hope to make her a field agent. They fail to realize that she'll never comply to their ways. She's a monster."
"She seems nice."
Mr. Bennett said nothing, only motioned for him to follow through the narrow hallway. Close to his heels and yet keeping a watchful eye on things around them, Zach complied. "She's not what she seems and neither, son, are you. I suppose you have a great deal of questions. Why you're here, why I'm lying to my daughter, why the world is suddenly a whole new place to name a few."
"Yeah," Zach responded dryly, "something along those lines."
They turned down the hallway. Right, he noted, deciding a mental map might be helpful. "Your father, your real father, was a partner of mine."
"Excuse me. Real father?" Zach stopped dead, "is this some kind of twisted joke?"
Mr. Bennett shook his head, "no, Zach, it isn't. It's ironic, he never wanted children- not that he didn't love you, Zach, he did. It's why he never claimed you, really, never told anyone about you. He was trying to protect you. But isn't that what father's really do? Protect their children?" Not his real father. It made sense. He hated that it made sense but it did. It explained the late night arguments, his father's terse, callous remarks regarding his mother's virtues, the long hours his father spent at work, how he favored his younger sister more, taught her how to play sports and never tried with him. His stomach twisted at those thoughts and he closed his eyes, emotions bubbling to the surface. The calm was ebbing. "It's unfortunate that he conveyed those feelings to your mother who, in a heated argument with your step-father, screamed it back at him. He, in turn, told someone else and the news leaked back to us."
"Who is us? What is this place?"
"That's a fairly complicated question but I need you to listen, don't ask any questions, just obey. They can not know that Claire's…ability has manifested itself- they'll bring her here too." His pace quickened, his voice became hushed and they passed each door so quickly that they were blurring together in a stream of white. "And I am going to do everything I can to get you out of here, I promise."
"I would never hurt Claire." Zach responded curtly, offended that he would even think such a thing, "Mr. Bennett, you're the one who is hurting her- with your lies. Like…like…my mother hurt me…" It was hard to make the comparison, difficult to think about and it only brought up anger and resentment that he was having difficulty controlling. "Who? Who is he? My father?"
His breathing began to quicken, he was feeling sick and twisted inside.
"His name is Claude and I'm very sorry, I'm very sorry but he…he's been gone for a very long time."
"Gone? Gone how?" It was getting worse, the room was spinning. Mr. Bennett was going in and out of focus, the light was brighter then it should have been and his mouth was so dry he felt like vomiting. Fear. Fear so strong it sliced through his psyche and wiped away the rest of the conflicting emotions. He felt his body moving forward, he was going to fall…
And then there was nothing.
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What if his son had been in the city? That was the burning question he asked himself, the inquiry that changed his mind and decided him on helping Peter Petrelli. What if it had been his boy? He only had a picture of him, nothing more and he never would have anything more or any of him when he got older. Just a faded baby photograph that he carried with him.
He'd done wrong by hunting his own people, giving them to the bad guys. He should have known better, should have done something right. Like Wireless, she was making a difference.
He was just bullying the human race out of bitterness.
But now he had a chance to do something, to help Peter harness his powers, maybe save a whole lot of people. Wireless would be laughing at him for this one, some kid with a bad haircut pops into his life and suddenly it's no longer the invisible man, he's the invisible hero. She'd make some crack about him having a heart after all.
He knew his son wasn't in the city, he was safe in Odessa, but still…
What if?
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Sometime he felt like she was alive.
Like she had never left.
Like the void was completely filled. Those moments were brief and scarce but each time it felt like home.
Those feelings had been intense while that idiot Bennett had him locked away, he could feel her gently brushing his mind, it felt like insect antenna's, light and easy. Perfect. She felt perfect. He had raised her that way, their mother hadn't, she was only a painful reminder to her. His father resented her, loathed her. They locked her away and kept her a secret. Shame. They were ashamed of her. But to him she was so much more then they could ever imagine and so he taught her all he knew, he read her stories, taught her how to read, how to write, how to do figures. He versed her in fine literature and anything else he knew.
Then he would remember she wasn't alive. That she had died and left him more alone then he had ever felt before. His father too. She had been so excited, it was rare that they let her leave the apartment. She had only been outside when he had snuck her out to the park before that. She loved it there. Then she was gone. Just gone. A second ticked by and everything changed.
And that left him alone…with her…their mother.
Gabriel Gray stared at the body of Zane Taylor on the floor. One day his mother would look at him the way Vera did. One day…
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When he woke the girl was standing over him, behind her "Bokor". The world was right again and he was calm. "I'm sorry," that quiet tone, "I should have explained to Bennett that I hadn't centered you yet."
"Centered me?" Zach looked around, Bennett was on the bed. "You were keeping me calm. Right? How? How do you do that?"
She shrugged, "I just do. I always have. I'm not like the others. I've always had my gift. That's why they keep me here to do those tests, they want to know what makes me tick." She smirked at the last word then looked to Bennett though he didn't seem to get the joke. "You don't mind, do you? Me calming you down?"
Zach shook his head, at that point anything was better then what had just happened to him. "N…no."
"Good." She stood, clasping her hands together and turning her back to him. "You should be alright now, centered. Think about what's happening to you right now."
He did. He thought of the men picking him up in the middle of the night, he pictured them in his head and though he could remember being scared he wasn't actually anxious. So he thought of his father, or the man he thought was his father, the constant screaming in his home, because of his birth no doubt and he tried to be angry but he couldn't. He was calm. Incredibly so. Then he thought of Claire. The pang in his heart for her remained, it hadn't been whisked away by the fog of peace that had clouded the rest of his mind. He wanted to thank this strange girl for that but instead he just smiled at her. "I feel…fine. So you're like…a mind controller?"
"Kind of." Bennet answered for her when she didn't respond. "The closest name they've found for her is that her gift is Empathy. She can…gauge any emotion and…manipulate it. Technically she can make people want to do things they don't actually want to do. Well, in theory."
I can also talk to you. Like this and if you think back at me you can respond. But I can't actually read your thoughts.
Like this?
Yeah. It was as though her voice was in his head, like he could hear her but her lips didn't move and neither man beside her reacted. "So I have some kind of telepathy too."
"That's really, really cool." Zach sat up and tried to offer her a bright smile but he was certain it came off wobbly. "You should go into therapy or something, I bet you could help a lot of people."
"Or she could feed off of their emotions like she just did yours." Bennett responded, standing up and standing between them. "She doesn't have emotions of her own, Zach. Remember that. If it means she gets out of here she'll sell you out in a heart-beat." His tone was fierce, cold, he meant what he was saying and when he looked to her his eyes were hard. "If you don't believe me, ask her father."
She glanced at him casually, "step-father," came her calm correction.
"Touché."
"What happened to him?" Zach wanted to know.
Vera Gray stared directly into his eyes unflinchingly, "I killed him."