Wow...sorry for the long wait! Eek! Life has been insane, but I won't bore you with the mundane details.

So, as of now this is the last chapter for this story. Emergency was intended simply to be a short story about Peter discovering his ability and I feel this is a good place to stop. I'm considering writing an epilogue of sorts. Who knows, maybe I'll just suck it up and write another chapter, he he he, I don't know. I have many more ideas for these folks though. I think the next one up will be a series of chapters looking into how Peter absorbs various abilities. I'm also really looking forward to writing a story about how they Petrelli's discover Claire's ability and how it affects the family. Not sure which I'll do next. We'll see. Thanks for sticking with me.

Many many thanks to by7the7sea for reminding me to keep writing! And happy (late) birthday! :)

Enjoy!

The human mind is an amazing thing.

This is not only true in reference to the APs amongst the general public, but generally speaking, the human mind is astonishingly capable. The brain stores incredible amounts of knowledge, both practical and superfluous; perhaps more of the latter than the former. Phone numbers, addresses, likes and dislikes, the names of the seven dwarfs or Santa's reindeer, can all usually be retrieved without much effort. Yet what is truly fascinating about the human mind is not that we can store facts, but that we can convince ourselves that what we have always known to be true is actually false. We call this denial. A woman weighs herself one morning and, upon seeing that her weight had jumped ten pounds, convinces herself that she didn't get any larger; the scale must be broken. When a heartbroken child is rebuffed by a former friend, he is quick to insist that he 'didn't want to play with him anyways'.

Angela, however, had not had much practice in the art of denial. She had been raised to believe that problems should be dealt with directly. Deception she could manage, thanks to her very Machiavellian father's insistence that deceiving others for their own benefit was not only justifiable but, indeed, laudable. Naturally, there were times when Angela desperately wished to be like one of the weak-minded fools who could peacefully sink into the fleeting embrace of denial. She had made this yet unredeemed wish several times through many difficult years of marriage and involvement with fairly illicit CAP activities, but she had never yearned more for that blissful state than she did the afternoon of the fire.

She had been so focused on her thoughts and the business of her day that she didn't even notice the faint smoke continuing to lazily stream from her home until she was pulling her car alongside the curb a few houses down from hers.

The street in front of her home was congested with emergency vehicles. Anyone who has ever returned to a place occupied by loved ones only to be ambushed by the wail of a siren or a warning flash of red will understand the cold thrill of anxiety that instantly stole through Angela's chest.

'Don't get out of the car,' her only thought. As long as she remained at a distance from the hectic scene she could almost pretend that she had taken a wrong turn and mistakenly arrived at the wrong address. After all, the whole situation was just that: Wrong. What business would emergency personnel have at her home? What danger would dare encroach upon Petrelli territory?

And yet…she cursed her staunchly rational, logical consciousness for obliterating her every attempt at convincing herself that she did not belong at the hectic scene. The hope that she was at the wrong address was countered by the fact that she had lived there for nearly 25 years and had never lost her way beforehand. She knew that as soon as she stepped out of her car she would see Peter's new bike sprawled across the sidewalk, something that irked his father to no end. She would see Nathan's rental car parked across the street. Rose bushes expertly trimmed and growing alongside the gate. Shutters that had recently been painted a delightful hunter green. All the painfully undeniable hallmarks of her home.

Hawkish neighbors were gathering on the other side of the street, hovering and whispering, sharing what they knew of the events that morning. Though they appeared sympathetic, Angela was loath to meet them. She dashed out of the car before she could be spotted by the sharp eyes of these acquaintances. A fireman attempted to stop her as she rushed towards the house, but a determined Petrelli woman is not easily gainsaid, which the man was quick to learn.

As soon as she stepped over the threshold she two things; first, the wreckage of what had once been her front room, and second, her eldest son leaning heavily against the far wall. She succinctly swept a searching stare of her son's body, and while he was coughing lightly, he appeared to be unharmed. Of course, she was relieved to see that Nathan was well, but she was also concerned by what she did not see. Peter.

Nathan straightened as he saw his mother walking towards him, trying to stifle the urge to cough. Any display of weakness, even a slight one, was to be avoided around Angela.

"Where is he?" Her eyes glittered dangerously as they bore into those of her eldest son. She knew he wouldn't ask for clarification.

Nathan sighed and massaged his temple, wearied physically, mentally and emotionally from the day's ordeals. Soothing the fears of the worried mother bear wasn't something he had gladly anticipated. "He's in bed."

Angela didn't require any further information before springing into action. She could instinctively feel that the strange events surrounding Peter for the past week were rapidly approaching a culmination, and she didn't like it.

She pivoted away from her obviously whole, though fatigued, son with the sole intent of rushing up the staircase and on to her baby boy.

Nathan, seeing what his mother intended to do, furrowed his brow and thought 'Here comes the hard part.'

"Wait, ma, you can't go up there yet."

She didn't so much as pause. "Like hell I can't," she muttered dryly. His mother's uncharacteristic use of unrefined language spoke volumes regarding her level of agitation. He was tempted to simply allow the focused woman to do as she pleased. Unfortunately the doctor had insisted that he and Peter be left alone. Nathan's concern for his brother's well-being vastly over-weighed his fear of his mother's wrath so he bound after her in large steps, reaching her before she was midway up the staircase.

"Seriously, ma, you can't," he said firmly, grasping her elbow in his right hand and bringing her to a jerking stop. She turned an icy glare over her shoulder to rest on the obstruction that called itself her son.

"Unhand me, Nathan," she commanded evenly, her tone giving lie to her racing heartbeat.

Nathan took a deep breath and stepped up so that he loomed over the smaller figure of his mother. "I can't ma. Not until you calm down and listen to me."

Matching her son's intimidation tactic, she stepped up one place further so that she and Nathan stood even. "I don't know what happened in my absence Nathan, but it was obviously something very traumatic and my son needs me." She stepped up again, positioning herself a few inches about the young man. "I won't ask you to release me again. You might not have seen fit to be at your brother's side but I certainly won't abandon him."

Nathan raged at his mother's caustic words, bristling at the mere implication that his brother was anything less than everything to him. He moved so that the pair was standing on the same step, simultaneously releasing her elbow only to grasp her by the shoulders. "Who do you think you're talking to?" he hissed forcefully. "You know I would die for that kid. Don't you dare accuse me of not caring about him."

"If that were true, Nathan," she replied heatedly, roughly brushing his hands from her body, "you would be with him now, rather than leaving him…"

"You don't even know what you're talking about," Nathan interrupted, exasperated by the turn of the conversation. "You have no idea what's happened here today."

"I don't need to know the details to recognize that something is very wrong with my baby," she maintained, her even tone beginning to crack under the pressure of her anxiety. "He's only seven Nathan." Her lip quivered despite her frantic attempts at keeping her stoic mask in place. "He needs me."

Nathan shifted uncomfortably. He hated when women cried, especially when, on the extremely rare occasion, that woman was his no-nonsense mother. Understandably softened by his mother's obvious distress, he did what he assumed was the right thing and pulled her into an awkward embrace, which she accepted willingly though she did not reciprocate. The uncustomary display of affection was brief, neither lingered in the hug for more than a second or two, yet she seemed to draw strength from her eldest's seemingly limitless stores.

"Thank you," she said brusquely, blinking back treacherous tears. "I've always known I could count on you to be the strong one."

Nathan shook his head slowly and dropped his gaze to the carpeted floor boards. "We're all gonna have to be strong now, ma. Today was…weird and…bad." He knew his word choice was childish for a man of his age and education, but he could think of no other way of describing the recent developments in Peter. "Dr. Suresh is with him now. He said to leave them alone until he's done."

"Dr. Suresh?" she asked worriedly. As a geneticist rather than a general practitioner, the man wasn't known for making house calls that were anything except social. An intelligent woman, Angela immediately recognized that Chandra Suresh's presence could only mean that Peter's ability had somehow gone awry.

"Peter…" Nathan grunted and shoved his hands through his hair. "He…well…he ignited the front room." He quickly related the disastrous events of that morning to his mother, the words falling eagerly from his lips. He hadn't realized that he had such a need to unburden himself. Though he knew the validity of his words, they sounded insane even to him. His mothers expression was disbelieving to say the least.

"I know it sounds crazy, but this really happened. One second Ted is showing us his laser vision, the next Pete is freaking out as fires coming out of his eyes." He shoved his hands into his pockets and shut his eyes against the images of a screaming Peter writhing in agony.

"We can't keep pretending that Peter's incidents are just coincidences ma," he said softly, unable to look his mother in the eye. "Something's going on and its not normal."

"Don't you suppose we should wait for the doctor's opinion before we make rash judgments, Nathan?" Without looking at her, Nathan could tell that Angela was raising her strategically designed defenses after having abandoned them in the emotional fervor. A telltale change in inflection alerted Nathan to the beginning of this familiar process. He didn't need to see her square her shoulders, narrow her eyes or purse her lips to recognize that Angela Petrelli had her emotional armor well secured.

The heavily charged tension in the air was only increased when Dr. Chandra Suresh appeared at the top of the stairs and uttered the dramatic phrase, "Angela, we need to talk" in a manner that did not bode well.

Nathan followed his mother's sedate steps up the stairs and down the hallway past Peter's room, where Dr. Suresh had assured them Peter was sleeping soundly, to the private sitting area just off of Angela's bedroom.

The anxious family members watched as the professor lowered himself in to a chair with a grunt. "I truly don't know what to say," Dr. Suresh said with a vague glaze over his warm brown eyes. He tore round frames from his face and ran a hand over his balding head.

"Is it that bad?" asked Angela, watching the man closely for any sign of subterfuge or the possibility of a hidden agenda.

He raised his head to fix a probing look on Mrs. Petrelli. "I can't answer that question with any amount of certainty at this point. As you know, I've specialized in advanced genetics for twenty years and I have never come across someone like Peter. Not outside of theory, at any rate." He paused to accept the drink that Angela offered. Resting his back against the velvety smoothness of Angela's settee, his eyes fixed absentmindedly on the cubes of ice swirling slowly about the sweating glass. "Its actually quite exciting," he murmured softly.

The scowls that were produced by his comment were fierce enough to let him know that his opinion was not shared. "Forgive me, that was crass to say the least," he apologized, placing his glass on the nearby side table and rising to pace the room. "However, this truly is an immense development, scientifically speaking. From what I was able to gather by an admittedly cursory screening of Peter in combination with Nathan's generous description of the current events surrounding the boy, it seems that your son is, well, absorbing the abilities of those around him. First Nathan, than his father and, lastly, Theodore Sprague. Astonishing stuff, really," he said, his eyes fairly gleaming with the anticipation of scientific breakthrough.

"Forgive me if I don't share your enthusiasm," Angela replied drying. Nathan buried his head in his hands, willing the exasperating duo to stop dancing around the subject and get to the point: Peter.

Recognizing that he had toed the line of propriety, Suresh cleared his throat and moved to sit by mother and son. "I am sorry for appearing uncaring, Angela. I assure you that I would never make light of a situation in which I felt concerned for Peter's well being, but I can say with almost perfect certainty that Peter is not in any immediate physical danger."

A relieved Angela took Nathan's hand into her own, offering a gentle comforting squeeze to the young man. "Thank God," she murmured softly.

"Perhaps I should have mentioned that from the beginning," Chandra asked sheepishly, realizing that in his excitement he had overlooked the ignorant despair of his patient's family.

"Perhaps," Angela smirked.

"However, I must say that certain precautions will have to be made," he warned. "Peter is in a very delicate state at the moment. His ability is unstable, unpredictable. He needs to be trained to control them immediately."

"I thought you said he wasn't in danger."

"Well, there is always the possibility that he might overload his system by taking on too many abilities too quickly. Also, though he may not be a danger to himself, it is possible that he may accidentally cause serious damage to his surroundings."

"Like this morning."

"Or worse. Sprague's ability isn't simply laser vision. He can manipulate and emit radiation. If Peter was to loose control," the doctor shook his head, "the results could be cataclysmic."

"So what are we talking about here?" Nathan shifted his weight forward, leaning toward the geneticist. "I mean, are we going to hafta lock Pete up in a lead lined room or something? Send him away? Is that the kind of life he has to look forward to?"

Though Angela was horrified by the idea of her family having to face such a future, she was also relieved to be done with the hypothetical discussion and theorizing. She was a firm believer in action and she would gladly fulfill any cautionary measure Chandra could suggest.

"Nothing nearly so drastic," Chandra assured in his most professionally soothing doctor tone. "He should be brought in for blood work ups immediately and, as I said before, you should inquire after someone who could teach him to control his ability. All of his abilities actually," he added as an after thought. "Quite the feat, but I'm sure with your vast connections that shouldn't be problematic." Angela nodded in response, mentally sorting through possible candidates for the important position. "In the mean time," Suresh continued, "I recommend Peter be given a mild sedative. I already administered one dosage…"

Nathan interrupted. "Back up. You gave Pete a sedative without asking us?"

"I wouldn't have done so if I didn't feel it was completely necessary."

"Who do you think you are?" Nathan countered, consumed with the image of a dazed Peter, drooling and unresponsive.

"Nathan, please, that's enough," Angela admonished.

"No, Angela its quite alright. I admire that protective fire, my boy. I anticipate that Peter will require a great deal of support and protection as he adjusts to these changes." The older man rested a steady hand on the shoulder of the anxious older brother. "However, you must understand that unless we take these precautions Peter could be possible of unspeakable atrocities. Are you aware that at six years old your friend Theodore Sprague obliterated his family home? He reduced it, and his family along with it, to ashes and dust. Orphaned by his own doing. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Ted had never mentioned that particular ordeal to his friends, though Nathan supposed he shouldn't be surprised that killing his family wasn't a memory he cherished enough to share. How would sweet, sensitive Peter live with himself if the same happened to him? Who would care for him if Nathan and his parents were gone? Nathan was repulsed by the mere thought. "I get it," he said quietly.

"Sedation isn't intended as a permanent solution," he reminded the pair. "Peter only requires a light dosage, enough to keep him from becoming overly excited, as young boys are apt to become. Theodore controls his ability quite nicely and I have no doubt that, given proper tutelage, Peter can do likewise."

Dr. Suresh's watch began to chime, reminding the busy man that he was late for an appointment across town, which he explained to Angela as he excused himself.

"I'll walk you to the door," Angela offered, ever the gracious hostess.

"One last thing," Chandra remembered, stopping in the doorway and looking back to address mother and son. "Be very careful about allowing Peter in the company of those with abilities he hasn't already absorbed. I can only imagine the damaging affects an influx of newly absorbed abilities could have on his already unstable condition."

"We were planning on enrolling him at the east coat AP academy in a few months," Angela related hesitantly, knowing that Suresh's answer would break her sons heart. "He's really looking forward to it."

"That would be out of the question," Suresh said adamantly, shoving his arms into the sleeves of his jacket. "No camp, school, CAP events or fundraisers until he has absolute control of his ability."

"You mean control over the radiation thing," Nathan clarified.

"No, control over his ability to absorb, which will probably be much more difficult. You must focus on the central factor at work. Don't allow yourself to get distracted by the external symptoms or results."

Nathan and Angela both thanked the man for his time and advice. While Angela led the doctor toward the door, along the way setting an appointment for bring Peter for tests the next day, Nathan finally did what he had been longing to do for what seemed like days. He silently made his way down the hallway and stopped in front of his brother's room.

There was a sign on the door that featured PETER painted in primary colors. Nathan had seen it at a tacky Texas state fair and he knew his brother would like it, with its bright colors and the childlike drawings representing zoo animals. He had been wrong. Peter adored it. Nathan could still picture the look of adulation he had received for the simple, inexpensive gift. Angela had eyed the piece of hand crafted 'folk art' with distaste and discreetly suggested that it hand above Peter's bed, but he boy wouldn't hear of it. He insisted it be placed on his door so everyone could see what Nathan had brought just for him.

Nathan shook himself out of his nostalgic reverie. Tearing his eyes away from the lettering, Nathan laid a hand above the doorknob and gently pushed the door open, trying not to make a sound.

The room looked normal, to Nathan's surprise. While he recognized the thought as irrational, a part of him had expected Peter's room to change with him. Yet, there stood the framed pictures, the piles of comic books and mounds of action figures. Hand drawn pictures continued to litter his small desk and the bulletin board was still covered with letters from his brother. The familiarity of it all was a welcome comfort amidst the fervor of mounting change and uncertainty. He perched on the edge of the red race car bed, the one Peter had stubbornly insisted upon getting because Nathan had commented that it was cool.

Peter appeared to be resting peacefully. His small round face was devoid of any signs of stress or anxiety. He knew he should take solace in that. Nonetheless, Nathan knew that it was a false peace, impossible without the translucent little bottle on the nightstand. It was a lie and it broke Nathan's heart.

He leaned over to gently stroke his brother's forehead, extending his reach further to smooth back the dark silky hair. "No matter what you are," he whispered into the boys ear, "You're always Peter and you're always my brother. Nothing can change that, Pete. Nothing." The exhausted young man laid his head on the pillow beside his brother, bending his overly large body to meet the confines of the child size bed.

When Angela walked in a few moments later she found both of her boys fast asleep, Nathan's arm slung protectively across his brother's smaller frame. The sight gave her some modicum of ease, because she knew one thing for certain; through thick and thin, hell fires and high waters, the brothers Petrelli would always be just that.

Well, what did you think? Yes, lacking excitement, but, I think, necessary. I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. Please review! I appreciate every one!