I don't own heroes, but I often dream that I do :)

Thanks to those of you who have reviewed my little story here, I appreciate any and all feedback, even if you don't like what you read, let me know!

And for those of you who have yet to review, why so shy, I don't bite :) Enjoy!!!

Chapter 6

Matt woke up when the man in the seat next to him rose up and removed his bag from the overhead compartment. The bus made it to Albany before dawn and the prospect of hanging out in the waiting room of a government run institution like child services was beginning to look less and less appealing the more he thought about it. He had no idea how they were tracking them so wasn't sure what was safe and what wasn't. He figured on having to use his ability to get in to see her without being suspicious, after all he looked a little bit like he'd been through hell. In the last week he had acquired precognition, been abducted by the government, survived a plain crash, watched the woman he loved get shot, kidnapped Noah and been rescued by Peter. To say that the sky was falling would have been a gross understatement.

Peter was right though, they didn't have a choice anymore. If Nathan was going to head an initiative to imprison innocent people, they needed to fight back. The big picture had started to become clear to him while the bus rumbled out of the city toward Albany. Molly would not only be able to find Daphne, but anyone they could think of with an ability which meant that eventually they could figure out where Nathan was planning on housing everyone. The big picture had started to make his head hurt so he had closed his eyes and let himself fall asleep which proved to be not that much better of an idea. All he dreamt about were the many ways he should have kept Daphne from getting hurt, he had drawn it after all. What good were these abilities if he didn't use them to save the people he loved?

Matt knew just where he was going although the offices wouldn't be open for another few hours. He was starving and couldn't ignore the pain of it anymore so once in the area of the building that housed the child services office he found a little diner and settled in. After enough pancakes and coffee to put him in a coma the traffic outside finally started to pick up, signaling morning rush hour had begun.

Convincing Maggie to tell him where Molly was wouldn't be hard, he knew that. In fact it was the only comforting part about this plan. Maggie had been a social worker in LA when Matt was a police officer there. They hadn't had occasion to meet until Matt arrested one of Maggie's "kids" for vandalism. The kid was in foster care and had apparently run away a few days before so when his file came up on the computer the contact name was listed a Maggie Nedry, his social worker. Maggie showed up at the precinct at 3am to pick the kid up. Matt had seen it a hundred times, foster care kids destined to become adult criminals because the system was eternally flawed. They all had this far off look in their eyes, like they weren't really there because if they were…It wasn't their fault, but Matt suspected the same future for Maggie's kid too. But when she got there that kid actually smiled. She seriously scolded him as he sat cuffed to the chair next to Matt's desk, but when Matt peeked over at the kid he was smiling a little bit as he stared into his lap. Not a smart ass smile, but the smile of a kid who was glad somebody cared. Over the next few months Matt and Maggie ran into each other on regular occasion and anytime he collared one of Maggie's kids she was his first phone call. Watching her with those kids, seeing that they gave her their trust when they didn't trust anybody, gave him hope knowing at least somebody cared about them. So when she told Matt that she was transferring to New York he was sad to see her go, knowing that LA had lost maybe its best social worker.

When Matt needed to put Molly somewhere safer and more stable than what he could offer her at the moment, Maggie was the only person he thought of. It had occurred to him how lucky it was that she had transferred to New York back then, because if she hadn't things would not have gone so smoothly now. Maggie didn't ask too many questions, and felt that she had the perfect family to place Molly with. Of course Matt insisted on reading their psychological profile before agreeing to anything. His only request from her was that he have no idea where Molly was placed. He knew all too well how dangerous knowing, or having too much can be.

He remembered thinking, as the plane plunged toward the ground, how utterly thankful he was that he had given Molly up, because it had killed him to do so. Knowing he had made the right choice had given him peace in the moments before he thought he was about to die.

The lobby of the government building was filled with a thick slice of the human experience; people in suits with brief cases, mother's with crying children, mother's not paying attention to their children, police officers, blue collar workers, even a homeless man begging for change in the corner near the door. In an effort to avoid as much contact with people as possible he made his way over to the board listing which offices were on which floors. He found what he was looking for after a bit of searching and took the stairs since he was only heading to the third floor. Something about being tucked into an elevator with strangers shoulder to shoulder didn't appeal to him at all just then. He put on a pleasant smile as he exited the stairway into the social services hallway thinking that this was going to be easier than he thought. He looked to this left and headed toward the door just as a woman had exited and started down the hall in his direction.

"Maggie?" Matt halted mid stride looking closely at the woman whose attention was rapt on the file in her hands.

Immediately the woman looked up, her face illuminating with a welcoming smile. "Matt! It's so good to see you." She pulled him into a friendly hug.

"You too Maggie. How are you?" Matt pulled back and took in the fact that the pretty 28 year old woman appeared to have aged about five years since he had seen her last.

"You know, never ends." She chuckled sardonically with a smile. The smile faded quickly however replaced with a quizzical expression. "You didn't come here to ask me how I'm doing…Molly?" She asked knowingly.

Matt had rehearsed this in his head all morning; Molly had a great aunt and uncle that just surfaced and they wanted to take care of her. Thinking about it now however, he was sure that Maggie would never buy the sad attempt at duplicity. Perhaps too quickly he decided to be as honest as he could without involving Maggie too deeply.

"Yeah Maggie…" Matt rubbed the back of his neck, "is there somewhere we can go to talk privately about this?"

"Sure." She motioned a little behind Matt to a door marked conference.

Once the door closed behind them Maggie stood patiently with her hands clasped around the folder in front of her. "What's wrong Matt?" She questioned when he began fidgeting instead of talking.

"I need to find Molly, Maggie. I know I insisted on not knowing where you put her, but I need to find her, it's very important." Matt didn't want to scare her, but the words came out more pleading than he had intended.

"Ok…do you want to tell me why it's so important?" She brushed her black bangs from her eyes. She already looked like she had worked a full eight hour day and her ponytail looked as if it wouldn't survive another five minutes.

"Not really." Matt answered hastily.

Maggie eyed him keenly and sighed. "Ok, let's go." She twisted the door knob and pulled it open waiting for Matt to exit.

Matt didn't move. He stood there looking at her like she was a genie who had just granted his wish. "Just like that…you're just gonna tell me where she is?" He asked amazed.

Maggie smiled warmly but shook her head. "Matt, I can't just give you the address of a foster family…there are matters of privacy. I can take you there, it will be less invasive and time consuming since it would take time to go through the proper channels."

"Maggie I don't want you to get yourself into trouble. If you take me there that involves you in a way I didn't anticipate and I can't…" Matt wanted to continue but couldn't think of a way to tell her he didn't want to get her killed or hospitalized.

"Don't worry Matt; I know where the cracks are…I'm not going to be doing anything that would jeopardize my job. But I'm not going to send you off to a foster family's house to, what, talk to their foster daughter?" Maggie raised an eyebrow.

Matt had absolutely forgotten to figure out a way to take Molly with him without kidnapping her, and now he realized that Maggie was going to be his only hope of not just finding Molly, but getting her back. "Maggie…" Matt began sheepishly, "I don't need to just talk to Molly…I need to take her with me."

"Of course," she agreed halfheartedly, "I expected as much. I knew how hard it was for you to give her up Matt, and how much she wished she could have stayed with you. I knew the next time I saw you it would be because you wanted her back. Her foster family has asked me about the possibility of adopting Molly a few times, and each time I put them off because I knew…" She finished with placing a hand on his shoulder and giving a friendly squeeze.

"I have an idea. Molly is basically hidden in the system anyway…she's never been a problem like some of the kids so there are no reports on her or any history really. I'll just have to inform that a relative of Molly's has surfaced and wants to take care of her." Maggie said resolutely.

Matt started laughing, a little too hard. He didn't care if Maggie thought he was crazy, because he was starting to think it himself. He agreed to her proposed cover story without hesitation, filling with excitement at seeing Molly, and anxiety at what waited for them after.

Maggie headed out of the city and across the river to the east. Eventually they came upon a sign for route 43 exit 8 to Defreestville. He observed it to be a smaller town, suburbs…safe. He was glad that Molly had a nice place to live. The house wasn't large, but modest. He would have approved had he seen where she would be living before making the decision. They pulled up and parked across the street down the way some.

Maggie moved to unbuckle her seatbelt, as did Matt when she suddenly stopped him with a hand on his arm. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm going with you." Matt answered as though it should have been obvious.

"No you're not. I can't take you in there Matt." She informed him.

"Maggie…" Matt started to protest but was stopped when he heard something else, a voice in his head.

Please don't hurt her, please, please, please!

Matt's face fell to a look of horror. Maggie could only sit confused and watch him tear the belt off and catapult out the door.

"Matt!" She yelled but he was already jogging across the street toward the house. She quickly followed him mumbling under her breath about scaring Rick and Sarah the foster parents.

As Maggie crossed the street she saw Matt push the door open without touching the knob. Her heart skipped a beat. Something was wrong and Matt had known it.

***

Nathan walked through the front door of his mother's home. "Mom." He called out, the word slightly echoing through the foyer.

Angela wasn't expecting Nathan for a few more hours; lunch hadn't even been started yet. She heard his voice bounce off the walls so she headed toward the stairs, descending them slowly and deliberately.

"Nathan, you're early." She stated.

"I'm sorry Ma but I have a meeting at 1o'clock and I didn't know if it would run long." He waited to embrace her in a mother son hug as soon as she had reached the bottom of the steps.

"Well, it's a bit early for lunch…there is coffee if you would like some." Angela motioned absently toward the kitchen.

"No…can we go in the living room and sit down?" Nathan suggested.

Angela was suddenly aware that Nathan carried a brief case in his right hand; Nathan never carried a brief case. It intrigued her. Angela inclined her head toward the room in agreement and Nathan followed behind her.

The whole scene looked very formal. Had an outsider been observing they might never have guessed that the two were such closely related; Nathan closed off and confrontational, Angela mysterious and difficult.

Once they had settled Nathan brought the brief case to his lap and removed two manila file folders. He closed the case and slapped the folders on top of the leather before resting his arms over them in a protective pose.

"Since I started this I've seen some things occur I'm not all together comfortable with…"

"Hmm…" Angela interrupted.

Nathan gave her a reproachful look and continued. "Not about what I've started, but about the methods being implimented. I know that a large percentage of these people aren't immediately dangerous…but some of them are." He added quickly when his mother smirked ever so slightly. "I never wanted to be Attila the Hun, sending warriors out to claim their prize no matter the cost. It had never been my intention to get anyone hurt, or killed."

Angela was a bit surprised that her son was confiding in her given the fact that she had warned him that he was engaging in a volatile spectacle. "And now that you have had casualties, you are having second thoughts?" Angela said.

"No, not second thoughts. I know what I'm doing needs to be done. Ma, there are people out there that could seriously injure innocent people, or kill them and some of these people don't know what they have or how to use it. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. No, what I'm doing is necessary…I just want a better way of doing it." Nathan looked down at the files beneath his hands and took a deep breath as he prepared to do something he definitely didn't want to do.

"I thought about what you said, and although I don't agree with the way the company was run, I do think they might have had one good idea buried beneath their collective screw ups." Nathan admitted.

Angela nodded knowingly. "One of us, one of them."

"Not quite. I'm not willing to let any of them use their abilities uncontrolled, but I was thinking…certain abilities can be useful…and I think I've found what I've been looking for, a better way of doing this." Nathan reluctantly handed his mother the first of the files.

"Are you drawing a line Nathan? How are you to judge who is useful and imprison those who are not." Angela looked at the folder, and back at him, waiting for an answer.

Nathan pursed his lips trying to hold back his hostility. He dropped his voice low and looked his mother straight in the eye, the way she would have done. "You've seen the destruction, the lives taken by these people…"

"Oh stop it Nathan! Really…these people!" She rose from the seat next to her son, tossing the file back onto his brief case. "You are one of these people, one of us. Denying who you are, especially to yourself, will only serve to tear you apart in the end. This operation, this joke of a preemptive strike…it has ostrisized you from your brother, your friends, you've already lost your wife and children. Why are you doing this Nathan?!" Angela turned away from him hiding the sudden rush of ferocity that had escaped her.

This was the conversation Nathan didn't want to have with her. It was the very reason he had his assistant call and confirm a time for lunch that he had no intention of showing up for. He knew that surprising her with an earlier visit than she was expecting was his only chance at derailing whatever intentions she had for the meeting. He underestimated her.

"I'm not here to defend my actions to you." He began calmly. "It is because of me that you are able to stay in your big…empty…house and keep your freedom, your security. I'm trying to save the world Mother, from…us. Now, given the way this conversation was heading, you can see how hard it is for me to have to come here and ask for your opinion. So I hope you can put aside your negative judgment of me and my actions for the moment, and help me."

Angela lowered her head, still with her back to her son. She could almost hear his little 8 year old voice in her head, begging to take him to the stables so he could go riding. "Of course, Nathan." She turned, all emotion wiped from her face. "What is it that you wanted to show me?"

"I was looking over files of some of the people we had already caught, and some we are on the verge of bringing in. These two," Nathan grabbed the folders handing one of them to his mother and opening the other one himself, "caught my eye. I noticed the last name, Tanner, see. Turns out they are related, mother and daughter, and they share more than blood, they share their ability." Nathan explained.

Angela was only mildly surprised at the connection between the older and younger women. Her attention was more focused on the picture in Nathan's file.

Olivia, hmm…pretty name.

The woman smiled back from the photo, her brown hair cropped to just below her chin spun in loose waves that resembled the same sort of disarray she had seen in her dream. But something was off about her expression. Even with a wide grin across her face, her eyes glinted with a sadness she couldn't quite place. Angela looked down at the file she held in her own hands finding where the ability was listed almost instantly.

"Empathy. Nathan…" Angela looked at him with a reproving eye. "how do you expect to control some one enough to get them to use their ability to help you. Believe me, this isn't like training a dog." She walked away from him toward the window, wishing Nathan had given her the other file.

Nathan knew what he had to do next, and he knew that her own ego would not let her say no. "Exactly, that's why I need your help. For years you all ran the company, convincing people with abilities to give you their loyalty, even when faced with hurting one of their own kind. I don't want to train somebody to react to a command, I want to convince them that they are doing the right thing, doing what's best, because it is what's best."

"Nathan…a person with empathy would know they were being manipulated. You would need to be absolutely, 100 percent committed to this course of action…know in your heart that what you are doing is right. Can you do that Nathan?" Angela found herself wishing he would deny the capability to turn his back on his own.

"I already have Mother." Nathan fired back resolutely.

"Ok then. Have you given any thought to which of the mother and daughter you would like to enlist in your crusade?" Angela asked sure she knew the answer.

"We already have Tina in custody, picked her up yesterday morning. A team was sent for her daughter Olivia, but when they arrived the apartment was empty. They don't know where she is. As far as anyone can tell she had no friends, no one who she would go to for help except her family." Nathan paced back toward the sofa.

"What about her family?" Angela prompted.

"We have a team watching the house. If she shows up they'll take her in." Nathan assured.

"You didn't answer my question." Angela pointed out.

Nathan gave her an annoyed glance up through his eyelashes. "With everything I've seen, and all that I know about the older generation, I believe Olivia would be a better candidate. Her file says that she lives alone, that coupled with the fact that she moved away from her family and has no friends…she's a loner and probably a little naïve. It won't be difficult to show her the worst of our world…convince her to help stop people like Sylar."

Angela's mouth twitched at the mention of his name, along with the recalled image of he and Olivia riding together in a car. She had wanted to steer Nathan away from Sylar, Olivia, and ultimately Peter. It became evident that that was not going to happen, but she might be able to slow him down.

"If you want my advice Nathan, start with the mother." She handed him back the file she held and reached out waiting for him to give her Olivia's.

"Why?" Nathan seemed honestly curious.

"Because, you already have her. Use her to learn what you can about the daughter. If this girl is introverted enough, she might not be able to control her ability. People with empathy often retreat into themselves due to the rush of emotion that they have no explination for. Offer her an answer…if you could answer her questions, she will more than likely give you her trust. But the mother is where you should begin. Learn what you can Nathan. If you've ascertained anything from the plane crash catastrophe it should be to cover all your bases…know everything." Angela closed the file, committing as much of it to memory as she could.

She crossed the room to the silent man on the couch and handed him the file. He looked up at her before gathering his things and heading for the door. She remained in the doorway to the foyer and watched her son start out the door.

"One more question Ma. You haven't spoken to Peter have you, you don't know where he and Matt Parkman are, do you?" He questioned.

Angela smiled just sweetly enough. "No Nathan. I imagine they would have gone off the grid, it's the smart thing to do…and Peter is certainly that."

"Yeah, he used to be." Nathan left his mother, heading toward building 26 with a new agenda in hand.