Progeny, Chapter 2
by Creedog VanDrey
Category: Heroes
Genre: Action
Rating: T
Language: English
Summery: In sixteen years, the world will need a new class of heroes, but until that day comes, it's struggling just to get by.
Spoilers: Vaguely Season 3. If you missed the spoiler notice from the previous chapter, this spoils a lot of my other series, "The World Entire."
A/N: For those of you who are active on HeroesWiki, I have my own section to document everything "The World Entire." I wouldn't have started the thing had another user not started the ball rolling for me. Though it's popular on , I found had it had bled over to other Heroes Fic Recs, so I thought it'd reached a level of relevance worthy of a User section at HeroesWiki.
In the last chapter of The World Entire: Progeny… Peter welcomes his newborn daughter, an empathic mimic who absorbs his induced radioactivity, with tragic results. Company Head Nathan converses with his Regional Directors. And sixteen years in the future, a destiny is waiting to be fulfilled.
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Chapter 2: Storm Clouds
The speed of light is some 88,000 times the speed of sound, which would seem rather poorly planned. In the event of a lightning strike, the warning signs—thunder—would not arrive until long after the disaster has occurred, while the actual visible demonstration of it… is instantaneous. This is so much like life, where tragedy comes in a flash, and it is only long after that we hear the rumblings that announce the decimation. Perhaps it's just Mother Nature's way of saying we ought to bow to the storm cloud rather than try to tame the wind.
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Elle and Audrey
Primatech Research Facility
Barstow, California
2:55 PM
Danny Pine, both his forearms converted into metal, smashed the handcuffs around his wrists. Ten feet away, Elle passionlessly sent small arcs of electricity into his arms, causing him to scream and thrash about, trying to get close enough to attack the much smaller woman. Behind him was his cell, the thick bulletproof glass shattered to pieces.
Inside the open cell was Audrey Hanson, hanging up-side-down from an air duct by her legs. Against the back wall was a metal coil recessed into the wall. Near the top was a mess of damaged electrical equipment that Audrey was studying.
Down below, Elle made two finger-guns with her hands and held them by her side. "C'mon partner, make my day." She quick-drew her hands and fired off two beams of electricity, knocking Pine down. He metalized his back and crashed through the concrete behind him. "And that's why they call me Lightning Lass," added Elle, in an ever-thickening cowgirl accent.
Pine shook off the fall and climbed back into his cell. He de-metalized his body, leapt up, and, with metal hands, latched onto the air duct. He kept one hand locked around the duct and used the other to grab hold of Audrey's wrist. Without skipping a beat, Audrey twisted her free arm around, grabbed a multi-tool from her back pocket, yanked out the main electrical wire of the converter, and stabbed Pine's hand with it. His arm lurched back and he swung by his one arm. Audrey stuck the wire into his forehead, causing him to twitch and release his hold. He plummeted to the floor, the metalized back of his head cracking the cement. His eyes, however, crossed, before he slipped into unconsciousness.
Back up near the ceiling, Audrey taped up a wire and flicked a switch on the electrical box. The metal ring began to hum pleasingly and Audrey's multi-tool was wrenched from her hand to the magnetically charged ring.
"What are we going to do about him?" Elle asked, kicking Pine's side childishly.
Surveying the mangled metal shackles sliding across the floor toward the wall, she replied, "Doberman chain." Audrey released her legs and landed gracefully on the ground with a small grunt.
"Hmm?"
"It's a type of collar for large dogs, made out of metal links that poke the dog if they pull on it too hard."
"Kinky. And you know about these how?" Elle teased.
Half-grinning, Audrey replied, "I've got a dog."
"I know. Didn't you name her Pixiebelle?"
"Yep. She's a 110-pound Bullmastiff mix. She enjoys pulling up mailboxes for fun."
"Remind me to never accept a dinner invitation from you."
"I would never invite you to dinner."
"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me." Elle climbed out of the cell just in time to see Gabriel and Ryan walk by with a bound man, a beanie pulled over his head, floating like a balloon by Gabriel's side.
Without having to be asked, Gabriel replied, "Special with neurocognitive deficit. He turns off higher-brain functions."
"Ooh, zombie-maker," Elle noted excitedly.
"Yeah, but he needs eye contact," Ryan explained, indicating the face cover.
Audrey, dusting herself off, came out. "Hey, Ryan. Hello, Sylar." She then pulled out her gun and shot Gabriel twice in the chest.
As Gabriel lay healing on the far wall, Bess walked down. In her Russian accent, she commented, "Ah, I see Mr. Pine is back in his cell. Good job. I can have maintenance put in the new window."
"Audrey shot Gabriel," Elle tattled.
Bess took a passionless glance at Gabriel returning to his feet while catching the two bullets being forced from his chest through his blood-stained white dress shirt. She told Audrey, "Miss Hanson, I believe we've already had this conversation. When you shoot Mr. Gray, I would ask that you not use your company weapon. Or do it on Company property. Look at all this blood that the janitor is going to have to clean up."
"Sorry, Boss," Audrey replied.
Bess nodded and turned to Gabriel and Elle. "I figured you two would be on your way to Odessa by now. The Texas one."
Gabriel's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, I almost forgot. C'mon, Sweetie. Uncle Gabe and Aunt Ellie need to welcome their new niece into the world." He took hold of his wife's hand and led her out. She showed none of the enthusiasm her husband did.
Elle allowed her husband to drag her down the hallway, noting, "You weren't this excited about Andrew."
"Oh, c'mon, at this rate, Nate's gonna pop out another dozen before he dies. Pete, on the other hand…"
"Ooh, I hope the next Nathan-spawn is a girl. Tracy told me she wanted one. Or maybe a cat. I wasn't paying attention."
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Meredith Gordon
Dallas, Texas
December 22, 2012
3:04 PM
"CANCELLED" flashed in red on screen next to the flight to Odessa, while all the other flights flashed with "DELAYED" in green.
Meredith, dressed in a three-piece fuchsia skirt suit, answered her ringing phone. "Tracy? What the hell is going on?" she asked hurriedly with an eye glued to the departures board. After hearing Tracy's reply, her head jerked to the window where she peered out, wondering if she could see Odessa from here.
Her face pale, she breathed out "Damn" heavily. Taking a moment to collect herself, she asked, "I'm guessing Claire is okay?"
Tracy's voice seemed so resolute, even more than usual, "Not that I wouldn't be worried about my child, but you need to get to New York immediately. Nathan is… well, let's just say you just got a promotion."
Meredith fell into a nearby chair. "H-how is he?"
For once, Tracy's voice didn't hold an ounce of jealousy, "Just get there."
"All the flights…"
"Samuels will be there within the hour with Air Force Two."
Without saying good-bye, Tracy hung up abruptly.
Meredith looked down at her sleek phone as Tracy's image disappeared. She brought the phone to her cheek again, and stated, "Call Matt Parkman."
When the man answered, she stated, "Matt, it's Meredith. I'm gonna need a favor…"
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Peter Petrelli
Odessa, Texas
December 22, 2012
3:58 PM
The tiny, bare newborn girl sucked on her father's thumb as she slept against his equally bare shoulder. After trekking half a mile, Peter finally found some buildings that hadn't been completely knocked over by the nuclear explosion that destroyed Primatech's Odessa campus.
Peter happened upon what used to be a mid-priced clothing store in a strip mall. All the windows were blown off their frames and the fluorescent lights were obliterated, leaving the inside of the store dark. Mannequins, disfigured by the heat and peppered with glass shards, lay on the ground like surreal corpses. As Peter walked across the uneven tiled floor, he saw a mess of items that didn't belong: mobile phone components, fast food toys, car side-view mirrors, and an unopened but heavily dented can of collard greens, among other scattered items.
Peter found a pair of sweatpants hanging from a clothes rack leaning against the wall. Carefully holding his napping daughter with one hand, he levitated a foot off the floor, and used telekinesis to slip them on. Not wanting to risk waking his daughter, he eschewed a shirt and found a pair of kitten-themed slippers to walk in.
There was a rustling at the back of the store and Peter slinked over to investigate, readying a handful of fire. What he found was the bare back of a familiar petite blond woman slipping on a silk robe.
"Claire?" he whispered.
Claire turned her head and quickly finished wrapping herself in the garment. "Hey, Peter. What happened?" She spun and her eyes fell to the nude sleeping infant.
Peter looked down at his daughter, "She's a mimic like me. Borrowed my radioactivity and had herself a nice tantrum."
"That 'tantrum' your daughter had cost me that lovely red sweater-and-slacks set I was wearing for the Christmas party."
"Sorry. Need some shoes?" He floated a pair of fire-engine red Crocs to Claire's side.
Claire took a hold of them and tossed them into a pile of clearance underwear. "I'll go barefoot." She approached the pair and gazed on the girl's soft face. "What's her name?" she whispered.
"In all the excitement, I haven't gotten to that step. Ma wanted me to name her after an angel."
"Anyone you particularly like?"
"I memorized the list. There's Cassiel. The angel of tears."
"Cassie's pretty, but I wouldn't want that namesake hanging over my head."
"There's Lailah, the angel of conception."
"I think the irony's a little thick with one," Claire noted.
"Haniel, the angel of harmonious love."
"Hannah," Claire mused, "I could work with that."
"Hannah it is. Should I give her 'Claire' as her middle name?"
"Make it 'Sandra'," Claire declared quietly, "Or, rather 'Alexandra'; flows better."
"Hannah Alexandra Petrelli," Peter repeated, "Now to get her somewhere safe."
Claire hooked her arm around Peter's. "Ready."
"Claire, Hannah's a ticking time bomb. It could be a while before she's safe to be around. And you know you have no obligation to…"
Claire cut him off, "It was always part of the plan that I would help raise her. Now, take me away."
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Peter Petrelli and Claire Bennet
Primatech Research Facility
Hartsdale, New York
March 20, 2029
A group of three entered the building. The first was the dark-haired Peter Petrelli, who, despite being 49 years old, still looked like a spry man of thirty. The second was the blonde Claire Bennet, who, at 38, still looked in her early twenties. The third was a girl of sixteen with caramel-colored hair, walking between the two, bouncing excitedly.
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A/N: Just get used to being teased about the future. I will get to it, but I'm finding that the build-up is just as intriguing as the actual adventure that will occur in 2029. For now, I'm content just to see how ominous I can make Hannah's birthday.
Thanks to heroes124 for betaing.
Started 6/8/2009. Finished 7/30/2009.
