YAY! My first fanfic!! So please be gentle, no flamers allowed! Thank you for actually reading this!
Disclamer- in no way do I own Heroes, I only own Maddy1!
I sigh as I look around the streets of Manhattan, California was way better! I come from a small town in southern California called Las Paseodoraes, pretty hard to pronounce huh? But it doesn't matter if I like it here or not; this is the last place anyone would look for me, if they even noticed I'm gone that is.
I close my eyes silently thanking God that I finally got away from there. After all, I guess New York isn't that bad, I mean, it rains a lot here! Which to most people is a bad thing, but not to me! I love the rain and how it feels as it drenches your clothes, the smell of it, the feel of it running down your skin. It feels like God is cleansing you of all your sins. Yep, I'm pretty weird alright.
I snap myself out of my reverie to look around; I always have to be alert, especially here. If your not observant you can get hurt, I learned that a long time ago. I sigh for about the hundredth time that day, it was getting dark out, I would have to sleep on the street seeing as I had no money.
I slowly make my way to a subway station, carrying my few possessions with me. I find a spot and sit down, say my prayers and then wait for sleep to come.
Matt's P.O.V.
'I don't think I'll be able to go to work tomorrow, I'm too exhausted!' I sigh and stop by a newspaper stand to buy a paper, even though it's eleven O'clock at night. After paying the newspaper stand guy I walk away reading the employment section, I can't take anymore of my boss at the Deli where I work. 'Maybe I should be a cop again' I think as I skim the ads for work and sigh when I find nothing. I'm so exhausted I think my feet will fall off, so I decide to take the subway, anything's better than walking right now.
As I walk in the station I look around sadly, all these homeless people are kind of depressing. I see a couple single moms begging for money, some crack addicts, and a couple teenage punks who probably ran away from home, and then there's one kid that really catches my eye, she cant be older than 12, and probably doesn't weigh eighty pounds, even right now when she' s soaking wet from the storm outside.
I stop and give the begging mothers some money and slowly make my way towards the girl, I should probably take her to a shelter, she's too young to be out here alone. I tune into her thoughts before I get to her though, if I know more about her then she'll probably go with me more willingly.
'I'm glad I got away, they almost found out, they would have beaten me until I died' I frowned, was this girl abused?
'No one can know about my powers, no one, they'll kill me!' I stopped dead in my tracks, she has powers. She's like me and Claire and Peter and Niki, oh my God!
I silently approach her and kneel down in front of her.
"Hey sweetie, do you want to go to a shelter or something? You shouldn't be out here." I say shaking her a little. Surprised when she jumps up and looks at me with fearful eyes. I gasp as I look at her eyes; they were a strange combination of forest green, gray and blue.
"It's okay, I just wanna get you to a shelter."
She searches my eyes for a minute then reluctantly stands up. And I hold back a smile. I try to take her hand but she pulls back and quickly tucks her hands under her arms. I sigh a little and apologize.
As we walk out of the subway I decide to ask her a question.
"So what powers do you have?" I asked normally. She freezes then looks up at me sacred.
"What? What do you mean?"
"You know, your powers? What do you have? Super strength, x-ray vision, what?"
She looks at me for a moment and tries to run away but I gently pull back her arm.
"Let.Me.Go." She says fiercely but is betrayed by the fear in her eyes.
"Listen, I'm not gonna hurt you! I have powers to, that's how I knew you had yours, I can read minds, watch." I say as I start to read her mind.
"Your names Maddison Hannah Jacobs, you're from Las Paseodoraes California, and you ran away from an orphanage."
She just stares at me for a moment the asks, "What are my powers?"
I smile "That's for you to tell me." She looks undecided for a moment.
"I can fly, run super fast, and am an empathic"
"Nice ones, I can read minds, send thoughts, and create illusions."
She nods. "What now?"
"How about you come home with me, I have a roommate Mohinder that studies this stuff, he can help you, plus he's a good cook."
She thinks it over for a moment then looks at me, "Sure."
I smile a little, "Lets Go.
Maddy's P.O.V.
I cant believe he has powers, heck, I cant believe I'm following him! There was just something in his eyes; it made it easy to be around him. God! What happened to not trusting anyone? I mean, I'm following a stranger to his apartment in New York City! How Stupid am I? Oh well, if he try's anything funny I'll be out of there in the blink of an eye!
"Hey, um sir?" I ask
"Yes."
"What's your name?" I ask, God I didn't even know his name!
"Oh! Sorry, I can't believe I didn't tell you my name, Its Matt Parkman."
I nod and look back down at my shoes, he seems nice enough. Pretty soon we arrive at an apartment building, it's not the best but it's not falling down either. He leads me to apartment 19c on the fourth floor.
Matt's P.O.V.
I knock on the door; stupid me forgot the keys again. As I wait for Mohinder to answer the door I look back down at Maddy. She's soaked to the bone and looks about to collapse from exhaustion, and through her thin clothes I can clearly count every one of her ribs. Her arms are like sticks and her light brown hair is limp.
"Maddy?" Her head snaps up, and looks at me.
"Yeah?"
"How long have you been on the road?"
"About a month." She says looking down, I feel sorry for the poor kid. I wrap my arm around her shoulders and rub her arms trying to comfort and warm her at the same time. I feel her stiffen and start to shake, but then slowly relax. I frown slightly, feeling every bone in her thin shoulders.
Just then the door opens.
"Hello Matt, and who is this?" He said looking at Maddy and smiling, Maddy just looks back at her shoes.
"This is Maddy, um Mo? We should talk inside." Mohinder looks at me curiously but shrugs and opens the door wider. I lead Maddy inside.
"Matt, what is going on?" He asks confused.
"Maddy has powers, I found her in a subway tunnel." I state simply
He looks at where she's standing by the window, watching the rain. We were in the next room so we didn't have to worry about her hearing us.
"Good God! Wait, you found her in a subway tunnel?"
"Yeah, I was gonna take her to a shelter, you know, because she was so young? And I read her mind and I found out she had powers, so I took her home."
"She followed you? It looks like she would have a hard time talking to you!"
"I know, she was scared as heck when I found her, but after I told her I had powers and showed her she very reluctantly followed me."
"I see. But Matt, why was she in a subway tunnel?"
"She ran away, she came her from an orphanage in California."
"California! And she traveled by herself?"
I sighed sadly "yeah, and she looks half-starved."
"And about to collapse! Look at her Matt she must be freezing! I can clearly count every one of her ribs!"
I look back at Maddy, she was leaning heavily against the window frame in an attempt to stand up and her eyelids were heavy. At this rate she would be out in ten minutes.
"Why did she run away?" Mohinder asked quietly
"I think that the orphanage abused her, and she was afraid they would find out about her powers. She's been on the road for a month."
"Abused? Oh dear God!" He said looking at her sadly; I could tell he felt sorry for her.
"No wonder she has trouble making eye contact." He said after a moment
"Yeah, she would hardly look at me, and when she did all I saw was fear. I tried to take her hand once and she acted like I was going to hit her." Mohinder nodded sadly and looked back at Maddy.
"We should get her to bed." He said after a few minutes. I looked back at her and noticed she was still leaning against the window but her eyes were closed, she was sleeping. I smile sadly and walked over to her, then I picked her up and put her on the couch and covered her with a blanket.
"Matt, get to bed, I'll watch her. Besides you look like you'll collapse any minute."
I nod and headed to my room hoping to get some sleep.
Mohinders P.O.V.
I looked at Maddy sadly. The poor girl probably went through heck, she looked like it. If Matt was right, and this girl was abused, I should probably check her vitals.
I sat down to examine her, her pulse was erratic and she looked as if she was having a bad dream. She curled into a tight ball and started wimpering. I placed my hand on her back but she flinched away. What was she so afraid of?
"It's okay Maddy, I wont hurt you. You're safe here. Shh, it's okay." I soothe tentatively placing a hand on her and started to rub her back lightly. After a few minutes I continue to examine her. I gently tilt her head to the side and notice an old scar on the side of her eye and a horrible gash. I run my fingers through her tangled hair and put another blanket on her since she's shivering. I reach into my medical bag and take out a thermometer, gasping when it reaches 104 degrees. I take off her wet shoes, socks, and jacket, which are only making her fever worse.
Silently I walk to the kitchen and got a washcloth, after I soaked it with warm water I went back into the living room. Kneeling down next to her I carefully washed her face and arms, then I bandaged the cut on her forehead, sighing softly as she winced in pain.
"It's okay Maddy, you're okay now." I mumble softly hoping she would take comfort in my words.
After I bandaged her cuts I felt along her ribs, feeling for breaks and gasped when she cried out and buried her face in her hands, curling into a protective ball again. Rubbing her back I carefully lifted up her shirt, nearly crying when I saw an eight inch bruise along her side, along with a couple of nasty looking cuts.
"My God! What did they do to you Maddy?" I said stroking her hair.
There wasn't a lot I could do with the bruise except bandage it, I treated the cuts and checked her arms wincing when all I felt was bone. Moving on to her stomach I found an even bigger bruise, as I carefully touched it Maddy flinched and started crying. I brushed her tears away with my thumb and tried to squeeze her hand, but as I took her hand she tucked it under her arm and started shaking.
"Maddy sweetie you're okay. I wont hurt you, you're okay." I said stroking her still damp hair. I sighed I would have to wait until tomorrow to finish checking her. Maybe I could get a DNA sample to study too. I sat back in the chair and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Maddy's P.O.V.
I opened my eyes and looked around. How did I get here? Then it all came back, running away, Matt finding me, falling asleep at the window. Wait, why was there a bandage on my side?
I slowly lifted up my shirt a little to find that my side and stomach had been bandaged, I wondered who did it? I looked to my side and saw Mohinder asleep on a chair next to me. He probably did it. Just then he woke up and smiled at me.
"Good Morning Maddy! How are you?"
"Fine." I say quietly
"That's good. So I understand you have powers?"
"Yeah."
"Maddy, I'm sure you already noticed that I bandaged your side and Stomach but I need to finish checking for wounds. Is that alright?"
"I guess." I say, he seems nice, kind of like Matt.
He smiled "Great, could you sit up please?" I sat up slowly.
He reached down and grabbed a medical bag.
"Could I see your neck please?" I slowly nod even though I freak whenever people touch my neck. He tilted my chin up and moved it gently side to side. "No cuts there." He whispered, "Can I see your back?" He asked I turned around and lifted up the back of my shirt. 'Why am I trusting him?'
I wince as he runs his hands over the cuts. I wonder what he thought of them? I jerk a little and stiffen as I felt something cold touch my back.
"It's okay Maddy, it's just some antibiotic cream." He says soothingly. He must notice my discomfort though because he starts talking to me.
"What powers do you have?"
"I can fly, run super fast, and am an empathic"
"Those are nice. I know a lot of people who have powers like you and Matt."
"Really?" I ask surprised
"Oh yes." He said and started talking about all of them. I kind of like Mohinder, he's really nice. Then he started talking about his past and his sister and how he followed his father's footsteps of studying people with powers.
"So Maddy what's your past if you don't mind me asking?"
"My mom gave me to the orphanage when I was a baby, but the nuns there were really mean and beat you if you did the slightest thing wrong. So When I was eight I tried running away, but I never made it out of the city, after a day they found me and practically beat me to death. Since then I've tried to run away 16 times. This was the first time I've been successful though."
Mohinder's P.O.V.
So that's where all those scars were from, old beatings and running away. I'll tell Matt when he wakes up.
"So how old are you now?" I ask
"I'm eleven."
I smile "That's a good age, well Maddy you're all done! Now if you don't mind I would like a blood sample to study, you know, for your powers."
"Okay." She says uncertainly and I take out a needle and some alcohol.
"You might feel a pinch." I warn her. She nods and exhales shakily as I draw some blood. Not liking the fact that there is almost no fat on her arms, which makes it nearly impossible to draw blood.
"When was the last time you ate? Your very malnourished!" I say concerned.
She shrugs "I don't know." She whispers and rubs the spot where I drew blood, not looking up from her feet. I pack my medical bag silently. But smile when I look up at her.
"Well how about some breakfast then?"
"Sure, if it's not any trouble." She says meekly following me into the kitchen.
"Of course not! Matt has to go to work soon and I'm starving! How about some pancakes?" I say taking out some batter.
"Sure." She says sitting down
"You know the man I was talking about, Peter, well he's coming over tomorrow and I was wondering if you would like to meet him." I ask, trying to start a conversation.
"Peter's the one that can absorb other peoples' powers right?"
"Correct." I reply
"Sure, I'd like to meet him."
"Great! It'll be a nice surprise. It's not every day we meet another one." I say while placing some pancakes in front of her, then sat down.
'She has extremely good table manners!' I note as I watch her eat. But then again if she was ever bad at the table she would get beaten, I remember sadly. Frowning when all she eats is half a pancake, but I decide to not say anything about it.
"Morning Mo." I hear Matt say as he walks in the kitchen
"Hey Maddy! Didn't think you'd be up. How'd you sleep?"
"Good."
"That's good." He says while sitting down.
"Peter's coming over tomorrow, I'd like him to meet Maddy." I tell Matt
"Good idea." He says finishing his pancakes "Maddy you wanna' watch some T.V.?"
"Sure." She says following Matt out of the room, a couple of minutes later Matt comes back in and starts clearing the dishes.
"She was definitely abused." I say helping him clear the table. I see him freeze next to me.
"By who?" he asks
"The nuns at the orphanage she lived in. Her mother left her there when she was a baby. She's tried to run away fifteen other times, but this is the only successful attempt." I pause, seeing him wince, then continue, "I've seen the marks and they're not pretty. Last night she had horrible nightmares and got scared anytime I touched her. We'll have to warn Peter to be careful."
Matt nods. "So you already patched her up?"
"Last night after you went to bed. Someone beat the heck out of her."
"What do you mean?"
"She had a huge bruise on her side with numerous cuts all over her body. And there was a large bruise on her stomach, when I touched it she started crying. She has a bunch of old scars all over herself and a nasty gash on her forehead." Matt frowned and nodded.
"I have to go to work now, but could you watch her?"
"Of course Matt! Besides, I still have to study her blood."
He smiled gratefully "Thanks Mo!" I followed him to the living room where Maddy was watching television.
"Bye Maddy, I'm going to work!"
"Bye Matt." She said turning around
"I'll see you later then!" He called to us.
"Bye!" I said waving "Well Maddy, what shall we do today?" I asked sitting down next to her. She shrugged fingering a scar on her neck. I would have to take a look at that later.
"How about we have a look at your blood?" She nods and follows me into the other room. I put her blood sample under a microscope and extract the mutated gene, and then I put the gene under another microscope.
"See, the genes are like a code. No one knows how it mutated or the components it's made of. I'm trying to crack the code, but it is very difficult.
She nods, still rubbing her scar. Apparently in deep thought.
"Maddy, can I take a look at that scar?" I ask walking towards her. She shakes her head no and starts backing away from me.
"Please? I'm not going to hurt you. You know that right?" I ask. She continues to back up, hitting the wall behind her and sliding to the floor.
"Maddy sweetheart, are you alright?" She curls into a ball and starts to shake and cry. I hesitantly reach out and touch her shoulder, surprised that she doesn't pull away. I walk to the couch for a moment and grab a blanket. When I return to her side I put the blanket around her and draw her into a hug, lightly rubbing small comforting circles in the middle of her back. This seems to relax her a little because she stops crying.
"Shh. I'm sorry Maddy, it's okay, I won't hurt you, just remember that. I'll never hurt you. Shh, it's alright, your fine, your alright." I say as I gently pick her up and take her to the couch.
'What was that about' I think as I stroke her hair. While she's sleeping I gently turn her head to look at the scar.
'Oh my God!' I think, resisting the urge to scream. On her neck was the Heroes symbol.
I don't get it, why would this little girl have the heroes sign on her neck? Did the company take her at one point? They probably did, and the heroes sign is a way to recognize her. That's why she was so scared when I wanted to look at it probably. Or maybe she works for the company? NO! I just know she doesn't! Matt would have found that out when he read her mind.
"Oh Maddy, what happened to you?" I say softly, pulling her into a hug and rubbing her back lightly, careful to avoid the cuts and bruises. Sighing when I felt her bury her face in my neck and hold onto me tight. I should call Matt right away. He needs to know this. I gently lay her back down and brush the hair out of her eyes.
I pick up the phone and dialed Matt's cell phone.
"Hurry Matt, come on pick up!" I whisper
"Hello?" He finally answers
"Matt it's Mohinder, Maddy has the heroes symbol on her neck. When I tried to look at it she freaked out."
"What! Is she okay?"
"Yes she's sleeping now. I think that the company kidnapped her at some point and experimented. Then put the heroes symbol on her to identify her. They might have implanted a tracking device also, but I'm not sure."
"God. Listen, my shifts almost over, I'm coming home."
"Okay, I'll try to keep her calm. Goodbye."
"Bye."
"Maddy?" I ask as I walk back into the room and kneel in front of her.
She curls into a ball and starts shaking and crying. I sit on the edge of the couch and run my fingers through her hair. Whispering soothing words. She starts to breathe heavily and breaks into a sweat, it looks like she's having another nightmare. I pull her into a hug and try to wake her up.
"Sweetheart please wake up! You're alright. Matt will be here any minute. Shh, calm down." I murmur into her ear while rubbing her back. She stops shaking and holds onto me as if she were drowning. I held her until Matt ran through the door minutes later.
He comes over to me and places a hand on her back. "Is she alright?" He asked worriedly while smoothing down her hair.
"Barely, this nightmare is worst from last nights, and I don't think she can wake up." He nods and holds out his arms.
"Give her to me." I carefully hand her to him. Nearly crying at how light she is.
Matt's P.O.V.
I take in a shaky breath as I feel all the bones in her back. I hug her tighter and reach for another blanket to cover her thin frame.
I look at Mohinder "Where's that scar?" I ask. He kneels by me and moves her hair. I look at it and gasp.
"It looks like it was branded on her." I muse. Mohinder looks closer and nods.
"What are we gonna do Mo?" I ask looking down at the pale figure in my arms.
"I can give her a sedative that will calm her down. But I really need to check her fever and treat that burn." I nod
"You do that. Who knows, maybe peter can help, he's good with kids." He nods.
"Hold her still, she might fight back. Considering her mental state right now."
"Okay." I say holding her tighter and rubbing her back as Mohinder injects her. He then takes her temperature and inspects the scar.
"This is a few years old so there's nothing I can do to it now. The company probably did this to her. I can't believe that someone would brand a child like they were property!"
"To them she was property." I remind him softly as I place her back on the couch. "When do you think she'll wake up?" I ask.
'Who knows. Hours, days. Whenever her mind thinks it's safe
"Why did she get like this though when you asked to see her scar though?"
"She went into defensive mode when I mentioned the scar. When she realized she couldn't over power me her mind retreated to a safe place. It's her defense mechanism. Kind of like Niki's multiple personalities."
I look back at her and nod. "I'll stay up with her tonight."
Mohinder nods "Call me if you have any problems." He says fixing the blankets around her.
"Will do Mo. Now go get some sleep!" he smiles and walks toward his room.
I look back down at Maddy and take her hand, gently touching the scar on her neck.
"Please wake up soon." I whisper.