Author Shenanigans: god almighty, some of the latest reviews cracked me up. Especially the one that called Alaska a 'boobface'. Keep them coming, guys. And for the person that was wondering about who would play Nicholas and Alaska, I was thinking a blonde Ian Somerhalder and Tay Jardine (even though she's not an actress, but sshh.) And, well, I did say at the beginning that this is AU, but I sort of moved an event from a later episode to this chapter. Anyway, enjoy, guys! :)

Nicholas

The day was slowly starting to end, and from the window, Nicholas could see the sky starting to darken. They'd been looking through different files all afternoon, trying to get in touch with anyone who seemed like they might help us. Much to their surprise (and luck), West Rosen actually showed up. It was Nicholas who'd spotted him wandering around outside, and for a moment, he thought that West was from the government, and that they'd been caught. But Micah quickly put his worries to ease, and told Nicholas who he was. Micah was the one that went to meet him, and, apparently West had been as surprised as Nicholas and Alaska had been when they found out Micah's age.

West had been trying to help Nicholas figure out a way to get Alaska back, but the only thing they could think of involved going inside the building she was being kept in. And that wouldn't end well. They'd watched CCTV footage closely earlier, following the van Alaska had been taken in until they discovered where the building was - four hours away in Washington, DC. Even if they did decide to drive there, they'd probably be discovered and caught the second they left New York.

Nicholas was nearly tearing his hair out. He just wanted to know how she could have been so stupid. He knew exactly why she'd left - she'd discovered the plane crash, and was going to save her precious damn father. Even though he'd wanted almost nothing to do with her. Why did she keep chasing after him? She'd survived this long without him! West was looking at Nicholas with concerned eyes. "Was she your girlfriend?" he asked, indicating that he meant Alaska. Her file was up on the screen, and every time Nicholas had looked at it, he'd almost screamed at the words 'Taken in'.

"No, no, nothing like that," Nicholas replied. But his voice trailed off, and the words he wanted to say hung unspoken in the atmosphere. He liked Alaska. More than that, he loved her. He wanted to do anything to protect her. He just didn't want to say anything. After all, they'd only been a team for, what, three months? It felt too early for any of that.

West didn't try and push Nicholas further, and instead offered his help. "I can fly. We can use this."

"How?"

"Get Alaska out of there. Fly away."

"And how are we going to get her out of there, exactly?"

"We'll think of something."

"We need to find a way into the building," Micah chipped in. Nicholas and West looked to him. He might have been on to something.

"If they get an tip that someone they really want is nearby, they might send more agents than usual. Less agents? Less trouble. If I cut the power, it might be easier. It just means you'll have to use the stairs. And who do they really want at the moment?"

Micah received some blank stares. He rolled his eyes.

"They think that we're all one person. We're REBEL. That's how I contact people and stay anonymous. I tell them I'm called Rebel. And it's driving Danko and Nathan insane."

"So, they have no idea Rebel's a bunch of kids?" Nicholas asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"None at all. If I let them think I'm in Washington somewhere, and keep leading them around, you and West can go into the building. West, you could carry Nicholas there, right?" Micah asked.

"I think so," West nodded.

Micah grinned. "I think we have the start of a plan, guys."

Alaska

Alaska awoke, spluttering and coughing, and soaking wet. It took her a minute to gather her thoughts, and work out what was going on. She realized why she was wet. She heard a bucket be set down on the floor, and there were footsteps around her. She went to rub the water out of her eyes and found that her wrists were shacked, and behind her back. There was a man sitting on a chair in front of her. The sedative Alaska had been giving was only just beginning to wear off, and she stared at him, confused, until she realized who he was.

Nathan.

Alaska let out a long string of swear words, starting to shake in anger.

"Are you finished?" Nathan asked, seemingly unaffected at Alaska's outburst.

"You're a traitor," Alaska spat.

"I'm doing what's right," Nathan said. He seemed so calm.

"And rounding people up and locking them away is right?"

"If it stops you being a danger to the public, then yes."

Alaska lowered her voice. "I take it your little team doesn't know that you're one of these 'dangers to the public'? It'd be a real shame if they found that out."

Nathan's expression dropped slightly. But he leaned forward, speaking extremely softly. "You have to understand that if you did that, you'd be done for. Danko out there? He wants to kill all of you. I convinced him otherwise. But, if you threaten me like that again, I can make life extremely uncomfortable for you."

"You're talking to me like I'm a prisoner. I'm part of your family, you-"

It was at that moment a door behind her opened. Alaska twisted her neck, trying to see who'd come in. Danko.

"Are you done in here, Petrelli? I need to, uh, ask her some questions."

"Sure, sure."

Nathan left the room, and Danko took his place on the chair. Alaska refused to make eye contact.

"How did you know we were coming for you?" he asked. He wasn't speaking in a threatening tone. He was asking a simple question. "Did someone tip you off?"

"No!" Alaska said quickly. "No," she repeated, in a calmer voice. She looked at him, and could tell he didn't believe her.

"How else would you have known that we were coming for you? Are you working with anyone?"

Alaska stayed silent. She decided there and then not to say anything.

"This can either be easy, or difficult. For you, I mean," he smirked. "If you're not working with anyone, how did you manage to stay hidden? Hm?"

Alaska struggled to hold his eye.

"Where did the Young boy go?" It took a moment for Alaska to realize who he meant. Nicholas. "If you refuse to cooperate, when we find him, we'll make his life extremely unpleasant. We could kill him, you know. And just tell the police it was self defense."

"Screw you, I'm not telling you anything!" Alaska shouted. Danko narrowed his eyes, but stood up. "You won't find him. I can promise you that," Alaska added defiantly.

"Trust me, we will." Danko turned away. "Take her to human resources." Two agents came in, and unshackled her. Before Alaska could react, however, she had a tube placed in her nose, and she smelt a sweet gas. Sedative. She started writhing and twisting in the men's arms, but the sedative was already taking effect. Her efforts weakened, and pretty soon, she couldn't move. She was still conscious, though. Barely. She could just about make out that she was moving, and then lifted onto something. A table? A bed? She didn't care. Her mind was a jumble, and with every passing second Alaska was wishing she was asleep more and more. Finally, whoever had been keeping a hold of her had let go, and Alaska relaxed.

Why am I here again? she wondered. The smell of the gas got a little stronger, and a couple of seconds later, Alaska was, once again, fully unconscious.

Nicholas

West and Nicholas stood outside Building 26. Nicholas had beads of sweat standing out on his forehead, he was so nervous. West seemed as carefree as normal, but his movements were tense. Micah had explained to them excitedly how they were going to pull this off. Micah was in some cafe downtown with a laptop. He was going to keep flashing alerts up on the computers inside, giving off tips that Rebel was somewhere nearby. Hopefully, agents would run out. Then, Nicholas and West would make their move. They'd go inside the building. Micah would cut the power to the entire building. They'd make their way to the Human Resources room (Micah had looked into where they were being held), and grab Alaska. Finally, they'd take Alaska somewhere, get her to mimic West's ability, West would go and get Micah and take him back, and Alaska would take herself and Nicholas back. It sounded so much simpler in their heads.

Nicholas and West hid near a bus stop. They were wearing baseball caps - the uniform of any teenager in America - to try and hide their faces, without looking obvious. They saw three vans speeding out from the side of the building, and from there, had to make their move. The second they walked into the building, the power cut out. The security guards at the front were distracted from Nicholas and West, and went into an office. They didn't hesitate. From there, the two teens ran.

They had to go up four stories, and there were nearly 8 flights of stairs, but they kept up a fast, steady pace, their adrenaline keeping them going. They made it! The fourth floor! They both knew how risky it was being up here. They stopped running, though. They walked fairly quickly through the dark corridors, and suddenly ran into two people. Nicholas and West instantly took defensive stances, but a second later, Nicholas realized who one of them were.

"What are you doing here, Nicholas?" Peter asked.

"Saving Alaska." No thanks to you, Nicholas silently added.

"Nicholas, we need to keep going!" West urged.

"Look, you owe Alaska a lot. That's all I'm going to say." And with that, the teens pushed past Peter and someone Nicholas vaguely recognized from the files as Matt Parkman. At least they weren't against them.

"You shouldn't have any trouble from the guards," Peter said. "Matt's controlling them. But hurry up."

After a couple more minutes of searching the corridors, Nicholas and West found it - the Human Resources room. However, they weren't prepared for what was behind it. There were rows and rows of hospital-like beds, most of them occupied, and the occupants eerily still. West nudged Nicholas, knocking him out of his mindset. They worked quickly, trying to find the girl, until finally, after they'd looked at almost everyone, West found her. He'd seen her name on the clipboard hanging at the end of the bed and recognized it instantly.

"I've found her!" West exclaimed, starting to unhook the tubes and take them from her nose. She didn't move. Nicholas ran over, slapping her cheeks to try and wake her.

"Wake up, for God's sake, Alaska, wake UP!" he said. Eventually, she groggily opened her eyes. "Come on," Nicholas urged, starting to pull her from the bed. She managed to stay up in a seated position, but she still seemed out of it. Nicholas stood in front of her, and cupped her face with his hands, trying to get her to focus. She blinked at him groggily.

"Alaska, come on. We need to leave," he pleaded.

"We're just going to have to carry her out."

"I-I'm awake," Alaska muttered. Her voice was tiny and raspy, and she was still looking around the room, unfocused and confused.

"Do you know where you are?" Nicholas tested.

"Should I?" Alaska replied.

"Let's just get her out of here!" West said, with increasing tension in his voice. An alarm went off, and the lights came back on. Nicholas pulled Alaska to her feet, and although she wavered for a second, and seemed wobbly, they finally started moving. Alaska was slow and clumsy, and Nicholas had to stop and make sure she wasn't going to pass out again several times.

"Alaska!" they heard someone shout. Nicholas recognized the voice. Peter. This wasn't going to end well.

She stopped dead in her tracks, as if someone had frozen her in place. Nicholas looked at her - he couldn't tell what she was thinking. Her expression was almost emotionless. Actually, he did know what she was thinking - he recognized that look. The only other time he'd seen her like that was after her disastrous first meeting alone with Peter. She was either absolutely furious, devastated, or both.

"How did you get caught?" he asked. His voice was full of concern, and he put a hand on either side of Alaska's arms.

"Looking for you," she said coldly. She brushed his hands off of her. She was completely finished with him.

Alaska

Peter looked a little more defensive. "You know why I haven't been able to see you more oft-" Alaska cut him off.

"Yeah yeah yeah. I know. You have a full time job. And you already have another family. I know the story, Peter."

Matt glanced between the two of them. "We need to go."

"This isn't over," Peter whispered to Alaska. The five of them set off. After turning a corner, however, they found themselves confronted by two agents, Nathan, Noah, and Danko. The effects of the sedative were still lingering in Alaska, so her abilities were useless. West could fly. Nicholas could paint. And she didn't know what Peter and Matt could do. Matt was looking intensely at the five in front of them, and Peter was doing the same.

"I can turn the guards on you," Matt threatened.

"Don't do that, Matt," Nathan said. Danko was looking at Alaska, Nicholas, and West, and Alaska suddenly realized she'd involuntarily let him know nearly everyone she was working with. She could have kicked herself. She owed a lot to Nicholas.

"I can only hold them for so long, go!" Matt hissed. Nicholas pulled Alaska away, with West following, and the three ran. They ran back down the flights of stairs, through the lobby, and into the streets, until Alaska had to stop. Her lungs felt like they were about to burst. They slowed into a jog, and finally stopped near a bus stop. To Nicholas' dismay, Peter had caught up with them.

"We need to talk, Alaska."

"Actually, we don't. You want to talk. I, however, want to go home. You only want to talk because of everything that's happened. I would bet a million bucks that if everything was still normal, you'd still be ignoring me. I got caught because of you. I got caught because I was worried about someone who'd never give a rats ass about me. Well, we ALL saw the result of that."

Peter looked hurt. He opened his mouth to speak, but Alaska quickly cut his words off.

"At least now you know how it feels," she shrugged. With that, and with Nicholas and West in tow, Alaska finally gave up on Peter Petrelli.

Extra author shenanigans: I thought I'd get out this next chapter now, seeing as I'm gonna be extra busy with work and college this week. Enjoy, read, review, etc!