A/N: Sorry for the late update! I've had severe writer's block on this... it's not my best work, so bear with me, please.
Jake hadn't told her where she was going. All Audrey knew was that he had a surprise for her, that he knew where there were other heroes, that they were going to show them that they were special too.
But the drive was long. Jake passed the time by listening to music, but Audrey slowly grew bored of that. She started passing electricity from one hand to another, slowly drifting off to sleep in that hypnotic glow…
When the car stopped, she snapped awake. She rubbed her eyes tiredly.
"How long was I out?"
"Not long." Jake reassured her cheerfully. "An hour, maybe?"
She nodded slowly, trying to re-orient herself. He hurried over to open her door for her, and she pulled herself to her feet.
He smiled as she stepped out. He shut the door behind her.
"So… what are we doing, exactly?"
"It's a hero I know. She's been trying to figure out what's happening to her. I think she'd take it better from you."
He gestured for her to follow him, and she did as he asked.
The two came to a small house. The roof was water damaged, and the paint was chipping. Drops of water drizzled down the sides, though the sun was beating down.
They walked to the front door. Jake knocked; he was the one who knew this hero after all, not Audrey.
The door was opened very slowly. A woman looked out at them. Her brown hair was in messy tangles, her pale blue eyes swimming with tears.
"Yes?" She asked.
Jake stepped forward. "Hello, Anne."
She breathed out a sigh of relief. "Jake!" She opened the door wider. "Come in, quickly!"
They did as she asked. Anne shot a wary look towards Audrey, but Jake nodded. "She's a friend."
Audrey looked around the house. Water damage was everywhere. Mold crept up the side of the walls, which were a faded brown color. The furniture was a crazy mixture of colors and patterns, and each piece only resembled the other because of the old, faded look each of them had.
"They came for me." Anne said softly. "I don't know who they are, but they wanted to lock me away!"
Jake placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. He looked at her, concerned. "What happened?"
"They came for my power." She whispered.
Jake shared a glance with Audrey.
Anne looked at them. "You don't believe me, do you? You think I'm insane." Her eyes landed on the sink in her kitchen. "I'll prove it to you."
She turned on the faucet. Water immediately gushed out from it. Anne lifted up one hand, and the water began to bend, shooting towards her. It stopped, two inches away from her face, and slowly poured into a ball.
She turned off the faucet, and the water ball fell into her hand. She twisted her other hand around it, and it began to take a different shape. It twisted into a large, twirling shape. Followed by a cube. And then she stretched it, until it was a very thin wall between herself and Jake.
Audrey watched in amazement as Anne formed it back into a ball, placing it in the sink. It dissolved and disappeared down the drain.
Audrey had a strange feeling. Like she needed that ability. As though there was something inside her, something dangerous, that demanded she have that power. She needed to be like Anne, she needed that ability. Whatever it took.
"I don't know why I have it!" Anne broke her out of her thoughts, on the verge of tears.
Jake came over to her. "None of us do." He said sympathetically.
Anne froze. "U-Us?"
Jake nodded. "Audrey and I are special too."
Anne's wide eyes flickered up to Audrey.
She nodded, pointing a finger at her skin. It broke apart wherever her finger traveled as the telekinetic energy sliced through it. Slowly, it began to close. The skin reformed, turning pink for a brief second before returning to its original healthy state. She cleared the blood away from it and showed it to Anne.
Jake smiled as Anne stared. "How…?"
"We don't know." Jake said. "We just… get these abilities. Not everyone has them, but some do. Audrey's ability is to copy other's abilities through genetic transfer. Blood transfusion…" He winked at Audrey. "A kiss, even. That's how I gave her my ability."
Anne turned to him. "And what's yours?" She asked. She looked excited.
Jake thought for a minute. "You know, I'm not exactly sure. These abilities just appear when I need them. I'm not even sure how many I have. Telekinesis, cellular regeneration, manipulation of electricity… but I'm always finding new ones." He smiled.
Audrey smiled back, realizing that this would now be the case for her.
Anne was now smiling with them. She let out a deep sigh of relief. "You have no idea… I was so scared. I thought that I was some freak! That… that I was alone!"
"Freak?" Audrey asked. "You really thought you were a freak?"
The question seemed to take Anne off guard. "Well… yes. I was controlling water for crying out loud! I wasn't exactly normal."
Audrey's eyes locked on hers. "And who decides what 'normal' is? Anne, we're as normal as anything in this world gets."
Anne looked at her, fascinated, as Audrey continued.
"Look. I don't pretend to know everything about the normal world, or even out this new world. But I do know that normal isn't always what it's meant to be. Normal is stress. Normal is watching your family die around you. Normal is being powerless, being unable to help the ones you love." Her eyes were smoldering softly. "We may not be normal; but we can help people. We can do things no one else can. Maybe it's better that way."
"You were brilliant."
Audrey smiled, resting her head on the back of her seat. "Thanks."
"I'm not kidding." Jake continued. "That was absolutely brilliant. I think she's going to be ok with it." He smiled at her. "Thanks to you."
"It was nothing." Audrey blushed. "Anyway, we'll see how she feels tomorrow, won't we?"
Jake nodded and kept driving.
It was four in the morning when the knock came on the door.
Anne opened it tiredly. "Oh. It's you." She rubbed her eyes. "What are you doing here so late?"
His eyes gleamed in the darkness. "I need to talk to you, Anne. It's important."
She nodded, yawned, and opened the door. "It can't wait until tomorrow?"
"No."
She sighed. "Ok. What is it?"
He smiled. "That little ability of yours. It's pretty handy." The smile stretched. "Very handy."
Anne looked at him. "What are you talking abo-"
She watched in horror as his face began to bubble and chance, the bone structure shifting with audible cracks!
She backed away, terror showing in her features as a completely different man stood before her.
"I'm sorry about this, Anne." He said softly. "Truly I am. But it has to be done."
He came forward, and Anne backed away. He raised a hand, and she flew backwards, hitting the wall with bone-rattling force.
He raised a finger. Anne screamed as a bright, crimson gash began to form on her forehead.
Audrey would never forget.
She would never forget the horrible, gruesome sight in front of her.
She would never forget the pain of the loss of Anne.
She would never forget the way her heart lurched inside of her chest.
She would never forget the look in Anne's lifeless eyes.
She would never forget that blank stare that the former water-controller had.
She would never forget how the top of her head had been severed.
She would never forget the crimson that stained the floor.
She could never forget.
It was the last sight she expected. The last sight she thought she would see when she opened the door of Anne's house.
"Anne-" Her words had been chocked off as she opened the door, revealing the body inside.
Jake came up behind her. Horror and shock filled his features.
Audrey blinked at the tears stinging her eyes. She did the only thing she could do, the only thing she could think to do.
She turned and ran.
Jake ran after her. She didn't stop until she was a good distance away, and her lungs were screaming for air.
She sobbed. The air caught in her throat and pushed its way out of her lungs.
"She… she…" Audrey tried to speak as Jake came up next to her, but it was all too horrible. An anguished cry ripped its way out of her lungs.
Jake wrapped his arms around her. He looked shaken, his face pale, his hands trembling as sweat poured down his face. "It's horrible." He whispered. "Just… horrible."
"We… we have to call the police." Audrey said, trying to be brave through the tears.
Jake looked at her almost pityingly. "I'm afraid we can't, Audrey. This is one of the setbacks of being a hero; if we ever speak to the police…" he trailed off, as though it was an unspeakable horror.
Audrey chocked off another sob. She'd only known Anne for a short time; barely a few hours. "Who… what could have done that to her?"
"One of us." Jake replied grimly. "A hero. There's no other explanation."
She wrapped her arms around herself, as though this feeble attempt could hold her together.
But, despite her telekinesis, her regenerative ability, the fact that she could tell when someone was lying… despite how incredibly powerful Audrey was, she couldn't keep herself together.
So she turned to Jake to do it for her. She allowed him to wrap his arms around her once more. She sobbed into his chest, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"This shouldn't… happen… to anyone." She whimpered. "Why, Jake? Why did this happen to her? How could anyone do that to her?"
"I don't know." He replied.
"They'd have to be… some kind of... monster."
Jake stroked her hair back, trying to comfort her but seeming unsure of how he could.
He allowed her to cry for a while, then told her, "We have to go, Audrey. If the police show up and we're here…"
She nodded. "Right." She wiped a hand over her eyes, breaking out of the hug.
He took her chin in his hands. "It's the right thing. It may not seem like it, but…"
"I know." She replied weakly. "If the police come, they might not believe us. And then we'll be accused of murder, thrown in jail… and eventually people will find out. And once that happens, the others will be captured…" She smiled in a pathetic attempt to regain humor. "I did read comic books, remember? I know the deal."
He smiled softly back at her. "Yeah. Yeah, I remember."
Audrey shot one last, regretful look at the house, then turned and started walking.
Jake allowed her to walk, though he knew it would have been faster if they'd have flown. Audrey still didn't know about that ability, and it was probably best if he didn't inform her of it now. She needed the time to think.
She didn't say anything when they reached the car; she just got in. Jake let her sit in silence, trying to figure her emotions out.
Audrey stared out the window as the scenery flew past her. The grass was a green blur as they raced by, though the trees remained for a moment longer. But then they, too, were taken from her sight.
She watched the disappearing countryside with a blank, absent stare. Despite the brevity of her almost-friendship with Anne, she had liked her. The water-controller was a nice girl; too nice to end up the way she did.
But that was often the way with the world, wasn't it? Nice people always finished last, and evil roamed the streets, becoming more powerful and more dangerous with each second. Nothing ever happened to the bad guy, not in real life.
It was so simple in the comics. Two guys in tights went at each other until one of them was on the ground with a black eye and whatnot. It was always the villain that lost, always the hero who won, living to fight another day.
The life of a superhero was a restless one; the city never stayed saved for long. But no matter how many times the world was threatened, no matter how far out of their league the superheroes went, no matter how powerful the villain was, the hero always won. Justice triumphed against all the odds.
The real world was so different.
Audrey had thought that superpowers could make everything better. That being special helped everything.
The problem, as she saw it, was that there were other special people out there.
Everything began to fall into place. Audrey was no killer, so she wasn't about to go and destroy every 'special' out there just so the world would be safe. Nor could she go and destroy every person who would misuse these powers.
But she could be ready for them when they came to kill her.
When Jake finally parked the car, Audrey's eyes were as hard as steel. Her mind was made up.
"Jake?" She asked.
"Yeah?"
"How many of us are out there?"
He looked at her curiously. "Not sure. Probably thousands. Maybe more."
She swallowed and took a deep breath. "Then I want to find them."
He looked confused, so she elaborated.
"Think about it, Jake. There are bad people out there. People like the one who killed Anne. And, someday, they may come for us. So we have to be ready. We have to be able to fight back."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Please, Jake. Please. I don't want this to happen to anyone else." Her eyes shone. "We can help people. Really help them. We can be heroes."
The other eyebrow joined the first as he considered. Finally, he spoke.
"Heroes, eh?"
She nodded.
He thought about it for another moment. "You're suggesting that we just… look? Audrey, we have no idea who and where these people are..."
"Then we find out!" She cut him off. "Find people with abilities and make sure they know the dangers of being a hero! Make sure they know what can happen! Like you did with me!"
He paused.
"And, if they agree, I could copy their ability. We could help protect them."
Jake slowly began to nod. "It could work."
"It will work! Please, Jake!"
He looked at her, pleading with him, and sighed deeply. "All right, Audrey. I'll do it, but there's…" he sighed, tryign to find the words. "If we're going to do this, then there's something you need to know."
She looked at him. "What? What is it?"
He sighed again, a much louder, deeper sigh. "It's about the man who killed Anne."
Her eyes widened.
Jake swallowed. "His name is Sylar."
