First Heroes fanfiction. First fanfiction to also be posted on deviantART. OC-ness abound. I do not own Heroes.

Still-life

To be frank, I remember it quite well. It was my first time and I was scared to death. All those movies I had seen, the dreams I had dreamt; nothing could have prepared me for what had happened.

I was in a museum when it happened. Yes, a museum. I'm a bit of a geek like that. It was not all quiet and secluded, as museums tend to come, but largely in the open and hustle-and-bustle. It was a simple museum to me, since I had been there probably more times than I could remember and the only reason I stood in front of the oversized locomotive was because it was a required field trip for a class. All I can remember about that is that I signed up for a local history class, not… well… a wasted Friday.

As the teacher droned on, my pals Jon, Ruby, Greg and I wandered off. Being seniors in high school, it was a miracle we could even sit still for a moment, let alone listen to a lecture properly. We were restless in the fact that high school and its factions bored us. It was a lucky thing that these feelings only surged up recently, otherwise who knows what kind of trouble we would have experienced.

"This place is so boring," Jon huffed as we all came to sit on a bench far off from the group. "Haven't we been coming here every other year since the third grade?"

"Almost," I sighed, adjusting the satchel I had slung over my shoulder.

"They never have anything to do here," Ruby whined. She was generally correct with that statement. Any museum, no matter how fascinating, does become dull and monotone after a while.

"Let's go look at the tech line," Greg said, standing up from the bench. The rest of us got up and followed. Greg always had that ability for some reason. When he got up and went, we all did for some unexplainable reason. None minded though, since Greg usually was fairly spot-on with picking out our activities.

We walked over to the far other side of the museum, coming right to the "technology timeline" that was there. Small children, most likely second graders, ran past us with gleeful smiles and panicked teachers close behind. Some elderly people sat down on a bench, admiring what devices were displayed, much of which they had seen within their lifetimes. We stopped by the entrance, watching as the disgruntled teachers attempted to wrangle the children.

"Well, isn't that sweet," I chuckled, allowing some of my natural accent to seep through. Ruby giggled. She always did when I used my Scottish accent. Still, us two girls just stood there as we watched the children cause havoc, not paying attention as to where the guys went.

"Hey, look!" Greg laughed. Ruby and I turned our heads and saw the Greg was dressed up in a haz-mat suit from the nuclear section of the timeline. There had always been a dress-up booth there, but one of the outfits had always been too big for us. Since Greg had just gone through a growth spurt, he fit perfectly.

"That's great!" Jon said, admiring Greg's accomplishment. "You're a regular chemicals janitor."

"You haven't seen chemicals."

"Want to bet…?"

"Oh, stop that you two! This is not the time!" Ruby snapped. The guys were always competitive, no matter what the situation. They grew up less than a mile from each other, spending childhood in the poorer areas of the Metro Detroit area and for some odd reason, it sparked some sort of friendly rivalry between them. Who's seen the worst fights, worst housing, the ugliest whore… it sometimes became frightening what they would share. Jon always claimed that because he was a black he came from a rougher area than the very white Greg, but to be honest, they were a pair of sweet softies; the perfect kind of guys to hang around.

"Let us have some fun Ruby!" Jon sighed, giving Ruby a pained look. Ruby, the mature member of the group, simply pointed back towards the dress-up center and glared. The guys recoiled and retreated, completely defeated.

"Good job," I said, leaning up against a railing. I gazed into the exhibit before me. There was a recreation of a nuclear power facility, complete with stationary dummies dressed in the same haz-mat suits Greg was trying to wriggle himself out of. Ruby leaned on the railing too and sighed.

"Wouldn't it be fun to work with that stuff?" she asked, pointing at the exhibit.

"What? Uranium cores? Uh, no."

"I want to work with that stuff. It looks fun and pays well."

I let out a chuckle at Ruby's remark. I knew she could do any sort of job if she wanted. Not many people were as smart as she was, that was for sure. It was just the fact that she sometimes changed her career choice twice a day. She was so indecisive that she might have become the most intelligent burger-flipper ever.

For a while afterwards, we stayed silent, staring at the exhibit. I tried to imagine what it would be like if that was a real plant and Ruby worked there. The dummies began to move in my mind, going about their business as if the workday existed for them. The daydream made me smile, until I heard Ruby gasp.

"Holy…!"

"What's the matter?" I asked, turning my attention to Ruby. She stood there staring at the exhibit in shock, mouth agape.

"They're moving!" she was barely able to squeak. I turned back to the exhibit and jumped back. The dummies were milling about inside their closed environment. I took a step back, only to be greeted by a shrill scream from one of the children that were being chased by teachers.

I snapped my head in the direction of the scream, only to see that the small children were running all about, caught up in their panicked frenzy. There was a stuffed bear, obviously belonging to one of the children, was walking about as if out on a Sunday stroll.

"Come on!" Greg shouted at Ruby and me. I turned and saw Greg and Jon with equally taken aback expressions as mine. "We have to get out of here!"

"Right!" I answered. As a group, all four of us ran back towards the giant locomotives, which was where we assumed our teacher and classmates were. We ran and more things were set off as we passed them. Kennedy's car revved when I nearly ran into it. Lincoln's theatre chair tapped on the glass, trying to escape. Trash bins began to throw themselves about in pell-mell fashion. Our class was in sight, still looming by the steam engines, when the culmination of the chaos began to come crashing down upon us.

The steam engine, after sitting in the museum for who knows how long, sounded its horn.

Right after that moment, many people in the museum were too startled and frightened to remember what had happened. All I could remember after that was a whole bunch of screaming, running and children caterwauling in my ears. The entire museum was evacuated. We all went back to school early and the day continued as normal. The entire incident was on the five, six, ten and eleven o'clock news that night on every news station. I would have never had any idea as to what caused the spontaneous movement of the exhibits, or their just as sudden loss of life, had I not thrown my satchel on the floor of my room later that day. Out rolled the walking plush bear, which immediately stood up and ran over to me like a lost child. I screamed and stared bug-eyed at it. Lugubriously, the bear climbed up my unmade bed and jumped up and down, wanting me to pick it up. I wished it to have no more life and it crumpled on my wrinkled sheets.

"Is everything alright?" asked my younger brother Rory as he opened the door. "I heard a scream."

"Never mind me," I said, letting my accent slip for the second time that day. "Just a bug. Squished now. Nothing to worry about." My brother raised his eyebrow and shrugged, closing the door again and going away. I stared at the bear. It hopped up. It fell down again. Life. None. Life again. I willed it. I commanded that bear. I had the power to make it move on its own.

That was two years ago, when I was seventeen. Since then, I discovered a less-than-proper term for my talent: constitutionary locomotion. I am not even sure on the spelling, but it was used in an old Disney movie. In the film there was supposed to be an incantation, witchcraft and an eccentric lot of individuals playing football with some cartoons. I know better. All of those suits of armour and old military uniforms moving along by wires were all natural and simple to me. If it is willed, it shall come alive.

I still talk to Greg and Jon almost every day. We never lost contact, even when we all moved out on our own into different apartments. Ruby went off to school in the Upper Peninsula on scholarship and we promised not to call on her unless we gave notice a few weeks in advance. None of us talked about that day at the museum though. Never. There was even a recent movie about a night guard in a museum that comes to life at night that none of us have dared go to see. It pains me to keep this ability to myself. I have to tell someone. Greg does not know. Neither does Jon or Ruby. How long can I keep it all to myself? When will I be revealed? Am I a mutant, only thought of as being in films and comic books, hated by most powerless humans? It is frightening to think about sometimes.

I kept that toy bear. He sits on my dresser in my apartment bedroom when I am not home and is always at my side when I feel alone. He helps me to remember that I need to keep this ability in check. I had planned to live out my life telling not a single soul about my power. Total secrecy would keep me sane and safe. It all went well until I found a card in my mail with one single phrase on it; a phrase that would slowly, change my life:

"Save the cheerleader, save the world."

Like? Don't like? Should the story of Brigid McEwan stay hopeful? Reviews please!