I've been watching too many Heroes' episodes and this story has been banging around in my head. This is my first Heroes story and I hope I don't disappoint. This story takes place after Chapter 7 of Season 3 - Eris Quod Sum.

Enjoy!

Chapter One

The Stranger

The atmosphere felt full of electricity; bristling with it. Like just before a lighting storm, but the New York sky was crystal clear and unseasonably warm for March. The downtown was already going full speed at 10 o'clock in the morning. The traffic light at the corner of Columbus and W. 86th had just turned green. The cabs and other cars were just about to begin through the light when Mani saw the weirdest thing. Mani had been the owner and operator of the Newsstand there for the last 15 years. So to say this was the strangest thing he had ever seen was something. He looked up to the small alley across the street to see a young girl appear out of nowhere and stumble into the traffic. A cab halted in front of her and she put up her hands to protect herself. Mani shook his head from side to side and went back to tending to his stand.

The girl ran up to his stand and begun looking through his papers and magazines. She was making a right mess and she seemed a bit desperate. Not another meth head looking for money he thought to himself. He had had to deal with three this week alone. He grabbed at her arm and turned her towards him. The first thing he noticed was her eyes. They were a light violet with milky brown ring around the pupil. He had never seen eyes like that. The next thing he noticed was how healthy she looked; if she was an addict, she must have been a fresh one.

"Whatta think ure doin'?" he asked trying not to raise his voice too loud.

"What day is it?" She asked as she tried to look back at the papers. She saw the headline "Nathan Petrelli appointed Senator by Governor". She looked frantic. Sliding papers back and forth and pushing his customers out of the way. This girl was going to ruin his day; he knew that for sure now.

"It's Tuesday," he responded and begun trying to get this wacked out girl away from his livelihood. She turns back to him and grabs him by both arms.

"What. Day. Is. IT!" She is almost screaming now. He was astonished by how strong her grip was. She was about 5'5" and 150 pounds, but she was nearly breaking his arms.

"March 27th," she let out a breath as he saw a look of relief flood her young face and her grip loosened. He pulled away from her and blood begun to flow back into his hands.

"What time is it?" She asked. Would this girl just leave already?

"10.15 in the am," he answered. The panic was back on her face. She looked around and tried to gauge where she was.

"Damnit! I'm late!" she said to no one and ran back across the street. Dodging traffic as she went.

Yep! Strangest thing he had ever seen.

She went back to the alley and looked around her. She needed to be sure no one saw her. And she really needed to work on her "jumping". She took in a deep breath, pulled in on herself, and shot straight up into the sky. She hovered for a second and then saw her target.

A pier on the Hudson River.

The 10 year old boy was right where she thought he'd be and so was his assailant. Bubba Scott was a 45 year old pizza delivery guy with an unhealthy like of little boys. She watched from the air as the boy ran down the pier and hid behind a storage crate. Bubba was toying with the boy; purposely taking his time. As much as he liked playing with boys, the fear was just as much fun. The boy had been running from his guy since he tried to grab him about ten blocks ago. Being homeless, no one pays attention to a running boy. His legs were burning and he just wanted to crawl into a hole to hide. She could hear him begin to cry and she saw Bubba grab him from behind. The boy screamed and struggled to get away. Bubba swung him from side to side, laughing the whole time.

God, she hated this guy. She quietly lowered herself to the ground. She waited and watched.

The boy had one more trick up his sleeve; literally. As Bubba begun to smell the boy's hair at the base of his neck, the boy pulled a makeshift knife from his coat sleeve and stabbed it into Bubba's thigh. The man screamed in agony and dropped the boy. As soon as the boy's feet hit the pier's surface, he ran up the pier; further into the Hudson River. She laughed as she saw Bubba fight to get the rusty metal out of his leg.

That was when he used his ability.

He put his left hand out and pointed his palm toward the water. She watched as the water begun to swoosh and swirl. A huge ball of water came up and out the river; he closed his fist to suspend the ball just above the river's surface. He swung his fist toward the boy and the ball flew through the air. It brushed across the pier's surface and the ball exploded into the boy as Bubba opened his fist. The rush of the water knocked the boy off his feet and he rolled before finally coming to a stop. She watched the boy lay on the ground, not moving. Bubba was up and he was pissed. He pulled the knife out of his leg and threw it away. He limped over to the edge of the pier and looked down into the dark water. He was going to have fun with this kid. Bubba stretched both of his hands over the river and she could hear the water begin to roar. She heard and saw the boy move.

Now was her chance.

Bubba pulled another ball of water out of river and raised it above his head. She jumped to her feet and ran at the boy. Bubba waved his hands across his body and the ball of water flew through air at the small boy. She slid to his side, scooped her arm under him, and pulled him to her. She closed her eyes and a bowed her head. Bubba watched as a flash of light came out her followed by a force field that covered the boy and her. She shook the boy awake. His eyes slowly opened and she set him down.

"Run! NOW!" The boy did not need to be told twice. He scrambled to his feet and ran down the pier, toward the street. She slowed stood up and turned to face Bubba. Bubba wore an expression of pure shock. He had never seen anyone else with a power before. Here he thought he was the only one. The look of shock slowly went to fear as he saw the look on her face. He swallowed hard.

"Think you can beat me girlie?" He tried to hide his quavering voice.

"And I'm looking forward to it," she slipped her coat off her shoulders and tossed it aside. She was nearly a foot shorter than him. Even if she had that bubble thing, how was she going to beat him? Sure, she had good upper body strength, but still. It was like a western movie standoff. They stood nearly 50 yards away each other; both waiting for the other to make their move. She listened and heard the water under her feet begin to rumble, but she struck first. She extended her hand out and grabbed a crate ten yards away. She whirled the crate at him, it splintered as it hit him, and he doubled-over in pain. She jumped into the air and landed on top of him; knocking him out. She rolled him onto his stomach and cuffed his hands behind his back.

"Be back later," she whispered to him. She walked, picked up her coat, and flew into the air. She had another stop to make.

Peter was still sore as hell and Claire wasn't much help. He could see by looking at her that she was different. She still had that spark in her eye that he first saw in that high school hallway, but it wasn't nearly as bright. He was worried that she was slowly becoming that future Claire that, quite frankly, scared him. Every move hurt. He knew that falling seven stories would hurt, but he figured that he would never have to experience it firsthand. Claire gave him some aspirin and he tossed them down him throat.

"Look, Claire. In the future," he was cut off by loud banging on his door.

"Open up!" A woman's voice yelled through the door. Claire answered the door and was immediately pushed out of the way. The woman rushed into the apartment and walked right pass Peter. Claire entered the room and stood next to Peter, in a fighting stance. Whoever she was, Claire was ready to at least fight. The woman came back into the living room and stopped mid stride.

"Whoa, weird," she said as she caught sight of Peter and Claire standing there. "Did I miss Nathan and Tracy?" She inquired. Peter and Claire looked at each and then back at her. Peter was able to really see her now. She was about 25 or 26 with short curly brunette hair with blonde highlights brushed through. She was wearing blue jeans with a purple lace tank top with a black one layered over it. Her black jacket was loose and rested just at her hip. The edges of her jeans were wet and she looked at bit frantic.

"What?" Peter asked.

"Did I miss them already?!" She demanded.

"Yeah, they just left," Claire answered.

"Damn! I really have to work on my timing. We gotta go," she said as she started back toward the door.

"Wait! Who are you?!" Peter yelled and she stopped just before his front door. Her head dropped slightly, her shoulders fell, and she turned back toward them.

"My name is Angela. Angela Petrelli,"

Well, whatta think? This will not be as long as some of my other stories, but review me and let me know.

Thanks!