HEROES Rebirth from the Ashes
Chapter seven
The Unknown
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"Come on in Mrs. Bennett," Claire Bennett's roommate said in an over the top, cheerfully inviting tone as she opened the dorm room door wide for Them to enter in to the college dorm room. "Would you like some coffee? I just brewed a fresh pot" Gretchen's face was all smiles. Her perky attitude radiated from her and made Sylar inwardly cringed at her obvious attempt to be nice to Claire's mother. He could hear her heart beating fast inside her chest. She was nervous. She was definitely not happy to see Claire's mother. He remembered once more how much he hated this girl. She grated on his nerves and made his skin crawl.
Syler (as Sandra Bennett) absentmindedly agreed to the coffee as he laid a sleeping young Noah down on Claire's bed. Gretchen crossed the small dorm room and lifted a coffee pot from the machine. She paused for a moment looking at a pair of coffee mugs, hanging on two pegs in the wall; apparently deciding which was the more presentable for her guest. She selected the yellow coffee mug with purple butterflies; that turned green with the warmth of the coffee being poured in to the mug for Claire's mother: and the bland white mug with the college logo for herself.
Gretchen sat down in her desk chair and rolled the chair across the small room with ease, and handed Syler the steaming cup of fresh coffee without spilling a drop. She then rolled back to the coffee machine and grabbed the second mug and poured herself a cup as well. All the time her mouth was in a continuous flow of the latest news on campus; how Claire had not been back since the carnival trip to New York, and how she was really having a hard time covering for Claire missing so many classes to their professors. How she missed her room-mate, and wondered how Mrs. Bennet's trip was to the college.
Syler, tuned out the annoying voice of Claire's roommate, his eyes taking in the entire dorm room, as the warm coffee in the mug soothed his nerves. Claire's bed was made and not slept in anytime recently. Her side of the room was immaculately clean, every item stored away in its spot. Gretchen's side of the room however, was a miss-match of multiple colors. Her bed was disheveled, and the art work that covered the walls hung at odd angles with no real theme. Her shelves were full of stuff and knickknacks that in his mind lent little to the academic mind searching supposed to be exercised on campus. It seemed to him that every shelf was on the verge of falling off the wall. His ears caught his attention back to the roommate, having noticed the flow of chatter had stopped. He lifted the warm mug to his lips and took a long slow sip; enjoying the flow of the warm liquid, down his throat.
Gretchen had rolled back to her desk, in her roller chair; and had turned off her monitor screen, while he had been distracted. She turned from her desk and was leaning forward now, with her elbows on her knees, looking intently over the top of her coffee mug; the steam snacking around her face. She looked like she had just asked the most important question in her life and was eagerly awaiting a profound answer.
"I'm sorry Gretchen; you asked a question didn't you young lady, and I missed it, what was your question?" he asked as he took one more long sip of the warm coffee. There seemed to be a hint of vanilla in the brew.
"Do you like the coffee? it is a new flavor I am trying it has a hint of vanilla." Gretchen asked as she leaned even more forward on her elbows in her chair. "Yes, this is a wonderful flavor, I can taste the vanilla just fine."
Sylar paused in thought. His words sounded hollow, and far away. It was like another person was speaking. His heart began to pound loud and deep in his chest, like he was in the last 100 yards of a marathon. His ear began to squeal with a high pitched scream. His feet and hands became numb and he could no longer feel his body. The coffee mug slipped from his fingers and dropped to the floor in slow motion. His ears began to pound in his head as the ceramic mug shatter against the hard tile floor. The colors of the room began to fade, and swirl in a slow spiral like in the kaleidoscopes he used to love as a child.
"Blast!" Syler slipped off the edge of the bed to the floor as he heard the wheels of the roller chair slowly roll over to his side. He could not stop his body, his breathing was heavy and he had to fight to keep his eyes open. "That little twit, she drugged him!"
Sylar hit the floor, his face flat against the cold tile. His mouth open gasping for breath. His eyes lids fluttered open and then closed, he could not move. His mind was foggy and sluggish and the screaming in his ears made every fiber in his body holler in pain. Without control of his powers, the form of Sandra Bennett faded and his real form returned; the form of Sylar Gray.
Gretchen walked herself in her rolling desk chair across the room slowly. She knew the legend of Sylar Gray. She was terrified that he was in her room. But she was a trained agent and knew her job. She pushed at his face with the toe of her shoe. His head rolled to one side and then back again, but otherwise Sylar did not move. "Hello Sylar!" Gretchen rolled her chair back into place at her desk and sprung to her feet. she pulled the coffee pot out of the coffee maker, and emptied the dark brown liquid into the planter box just outside the window. "Best take care of this before I forget. Your strong, I put enough in this pot to drop an Elephant."
Gretchen dug through her things and finally found a small bag and turned to squat on her heals beside Sylar's face, "Estelle warned me you would be coming. I didn't know how you would look. You picked the perfect person to disguise as; for me that is. You see just the other day I killed Sandra Bennet, her new husband, son, and new baby." She said with a chilling smile. "Now you just stay put as I try to think of how best to get rid of your body" Gretchen glanced up and froze as young Noah grunted in his sleep on the bed only a few feet away. He rolled over to his other side and was once again fast asleep. "This child is a new wrinkle I will have to think through, until then I can't have you getting back up," She opened the small bag just out of Sylar's blurred vision. "This will keep you nice and still, until I can decide how to kill you and the kid, and then figure out how to dispose of your bodies." Gretchen jabbed a syringe into Sylar's spine just at the base of the neck, and injected him with a drug that burned as it flowed into his body.
X-X-X
Tracy Strauss and Noah Bennett sat in a lovely park just a few minutes walk from the store where Tracy worked. She liked it here; the clouds overhead were small and puffy. She came to this park several times week to enjoy to peace and quiet. She liked to think and ponder she past life, and dream of the possible futures. She watched through the corner of her eye, as Noah finished the last bite of his sandwich and Molly swung on the swing set a few yards away, both in her field of vision. Would she ever have a normal life? Would she someday marry, have a husband that loved her, raise a family? Would she ever have a daughter like Molly, or maybe a son?
Noah cleared his throat "So now you know why we are here, someone wants the specials dead, and you must be on their list."
"I can't be on anyone's list Noah, you took care of that for me. Tracy Strauss died last year in the parking garage. No one is looking for me, except you." Tracy sipped her coffee, almost to the temperature she liked. "Can't you too just leave and let me live my life iin peace?"
"We need your help, Tracy" Noah said, placing a hand on the top of her knee, "I need your help. They want Molly and her ability. To use her to find the rest of the Specials. They want Claire for some reason also, but she is missing, and I need to find her." Noah pleaded with Tracy, "Tracy, Claire is lost, I don't know where she is and I can't protect Molly, find Claire, and go on the offense all at the same time."
"Please, I need Molly to be safe. I know you can protect her. If she can stay with you, I can fight." Noah begged. He hated begging.
Tracy finally gave in, "OK she can stay with me for a few days."
Noah Bennett reached for his wallet, "Excellent, let me give you some cash, just in case.."
Suddenly his body convulsed as a bullet hit his chest and forced him off the park bench and into the bushes beside them. "SAVE MOLLY!" he shouted, as Tracy exploded into her water form and moved to Molly like a tidal wave. Watery hands scooped up the young girl and solidified as she grabbed and Molly and ran, just as two Black SUVs turn off the street onto the grass of the park and charge at them.
Noah Bennett staggered from the bushes opening fire with his pistol on the closer of the two vehicles. His free hand held tight against his chest where he was shot as blood ran from the open wound, staining his chest and left side of his body, "RUN!" He shouted as he stumbled and ducked behind a large tree trunk, with bullets showering the park bench and tree behind him.
The closer SUV gunned its engine to run Tracy and Molly down, attempting to run them down into the grass and dirt of the once peaceful park. Tracy grabbed Molly by the shoulders and pushed her clear at the last moment. At the last second before the SUV ran her though she transformed into her water form and the SUV passed right through her. She could see two men in the SUV as her flowed over the SUV and solidifies once again. They were dressed in Black military uniforms, with helmets that blocked their faces. A patch with a blood red eagle was on each uniform just above the heart.
Noah hid behind the tree and fired at the Gas tank of the other SUV and grunted with satisfaction as it explodes into flames. He placed a hand against the tree trunk to catch his breath. The he heard Molly scream.
Tracy turned toward Molly as the girl screamed out her name. The SUV had come to a stop and a man was aiming a shotgun at Tracy, and fired. Tracy flashed into water form as the shot passed through her body, and hit the grass all around her. But as the shot hit the grass the small pellets exploded into a single electric charge dropping Tracy to the grass out cold.
Noah jumped out from behind the tree as the SUV gunned its engine once more charging towards Molly. "Run, Molly" Noah shouted above the noise and turmoil. Molly ran across the park as fast as her little legs could take her. She ran across the street and into an alleyway to escape. The SUV hit the curb and launched into the air. It landed in the street and squealed its tires, and followed her. She was their target.
Noah stumbled to Tracy's side, bleeding from another couple bullet wounds. Quickly he checked her for a pulse; she was alive. He pushed himself back to his feet, he had lost a lot of blood, but Molly needed him. "Please God, save her."
Molly ran down into the alleyway, her bare feet slapping against the pavement: her shoes and socks back in the park by the swing set. she turned to look behind her for the SUV, it was closing in on her, its engine roaring loudly. Her lungs were burning. Her heart was raging. She desperately looked from left to right, somewhere to hid. She turned to watch where she was going and plowed face first into a grizzled old man. "Get behind me, and hold on tight." The man said as he pushed her behind him. His clothes were that of a street beggar, his beard and hair long and shaggy. But she would never forget his eyes. They seemed to shine with power and strength.
The SUV roared up upon them as the grizzled old man stepped forward, lifting his hands together in a single fist high above his head. His body sparkled and crackled with energy, as he seemed to pull energy straight out of the air. Molly felt the little hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. The grizzled old man then slammed down on the hood of the vehicle, just as the roaring SUV was only inches from his body. The Engine and front end of the SUV flattened to the ground, exploding with an incredible BOOM!. The SUVs windows shattered. The Tires burst off hitting the walls of the buildings in the small alleyway, and the then the vehicle exploded into flames.
X-X-X
Estelle lifted her steepled her hands into a pyramid below her chin as she examined Angela Petrelli sitting across from her in Nathan Petrelli's old Senate office. "Hello Angela, what an unexpected surprise. You're looking better than the last time I saw you." Angela Petrelli crossed her legs and adjusted her clothing to a much more presentable position. "Yes, Estelle I feel much more alive." Estelle bristled at the fact Angela new her name. If the victim does not know your name, they have no power over you. "We have been looking for you everywhere since you left our care. We will find you, and then you will help us find the others." Angela's heart leapt inside her, there were others! They had not killed everyone.
"We will stop you, we will figure out why you want us dead." Angela Petrelli leaned forward and stood, placing her hands on the desk. "Who are you Estelle? Who do you work for? You are too small to have completed all this on your own." Estelle stood on her side of the desk and matched Angela's posture and stance. "We are going to kill all of you. We want the girl. Where are Claire and Peter? Give us the girl and maybe we can make a deal." As Estelle spoke her finger found the silent alarm button under the edge of the desk, which she had had installed. She pressed the alarm button and moving inches away from Angela's face, her glare sending daggers. "I want the girl!"
Angela Petrelli stood upright and crossed her arms, "you should not have done that." Estelle tilted her head mocking confusion, "done what?" she asked as a strong Haitian hand touched her face, soft fingers that seems to reach into her mind and turn something off. Estelle slumped into the chair behind the desk, her eyes still open but unable to move. Angela hurried around the desk, "Thank you."
X-X-X
Claire Bennett and Hiro Nakamura appear suddenly in a dimly lit house. The decor and furnishings seemed to Claire to fit the 1940's. "You need to stop doing that." she turned to Hiro while stomping her foot. She then and give him a big hug. "I am so glad you are feeling better." Hiro sat up and smiled sheepishly as he realized his shirt was open and his naked, hairless chest was exposed. Claire looked at his wounds, and they were all but gone; a slight discoloration remained where each bullet hole had been. "Thank you Cheerleader" was all he could muster through his embarrassment.
Claire was so excited, "We need to go back for Peter. He is stuck in the past and has been living through the last 200 years. We need to save him." Claire grabbed Hiro's arm and pulled him to his feet, "Come on lets go!"
Hiro finished adjusting his shirt when from behind him there was the sound of a metal object hitting a solid surface. His face went confused as he fell to the floor unconscious. Claire surprised steadied herself for their attacker. The Attacker took a swing at Claire with the fire place shovel. The woman attacking Claire was shouting at her in German. Claire dodged the blow, and ducked under another. "Not again with Germany!"
Claire realized "why am I, afraid of a shovel"? She stop dodging the shovel and stepped in the next swing. She felt the shovel rip into her hip and cut her dress. Claire stepped past the shovel and punched the woman in the nose, with one solid blow. The German woman dropped to the floor out cold. Who was this woman? Claire understood her attacking them; they were most likely in her house, and speaking English to boot. Claire dragged the woman to a chair at the dining table. She found some rope in a drawer in the kitchen and tied her up. She then shoved a piece of clothe into her mouth just as the woman began to wake up. Claire glanced at Hiro.
Hiro was asleep on the floor, a look of shock and bliss on his face. No blood, so he should be OK in a few minutes. Claire went to the front window of the house and looked outside. The view was one of destruction, tanks and military equipment everywhere, German soldiers marched this way and that. A Siren was blaring overhead and she could hear gun fire and shelling close by. A Calendar hung by the door, it was in German but Claire could make out that it was April 1945. All the spaces were marked off up to the 27th. They had leapt another 29 years into the future. The Woman was struggling against her bonds. Claire having compassion for her told her in German, "do not scream and I will take out the gag." The woman agreed. "What is your name?" Claire asked. The woman cleared her throat, "Eva Braun, are you American?"
Just then the front door opened in marched four Nazi soldiers, two turned to the left, and two to the right. They drew they weapons and aimed them at Claire as she dashed back to Hiro's side. A man walked in from the street between them, his boots resounding hollow on the old house floor. He removed his hat and placed it under his right arm, and the soldiers lifted their right arms high in the air calling out in German" Hail Hitler!" Adolph Hilter stood there taking in everything as he signaled one of the soldiers to Eva's side to untie her, and for the rest to lower their weapons.
Before them was the most evil man in modern history: his pride and ego knowing no limits, and his desire for power unquenchable.
Hitler stared at Claire for a moment, recognition passed over his face just as Claire and Hiro vanished.
X-X-X
Estelle awoke with a start! Angela Petrelli, the Haitian! Her agents were banging on the door, but it was locked. Her hand flew to the cushion of the chair for the small jar she had hidden there. It was gone; along with the box from her employer that had been on her desk.
Estelle stood her anger boiling. How could her agents let this happen? How could Angela get into her office, without being stopped? She unlocked the double doors to her office and threw the doors open wide. She grabbed a gun out of the shoulder holster of the nearest guard and shot the man directly between the eyes. The other agents stood at attention beside their dead comrade. "Get rid of the body!" She bellowed.
Estelle turned her back to the guards and reached into her pocket for her cell phone, another phone call she was not looking to make. He was not going to want to hear that finger was lost. Then her brain froze as she realized her jacket pocket was empty, they had taken her cell phone too.
X-X-X
Sylar lay on the dorm room floor unable to move, his face against the floor gasping for breath. He was angry with himself, this little girl drugged him. He was getting too trusting. Whatever she had injected into him prevented him from moving his body with his muscles. But his mind was clearing from the coffee drug. The ringing in his ears and pounding was beginning to fade.
Gretchen paced back and forth in the room; she was not sure how to proceed. She went to her computer and opened a side panel, to get her firearm, and connected the silencer. She then picked up her cell phone. She finally decided on a course of action, would be fun!
Gretchen dialed Estelle's number and as the phone rang, with Sylar watched unable to move she aimed the gun at little Noah's temple as he slept on the bed. She would kill the child first. While he slept. She could then cut off Sylar's head and dispose of the bodies.
She could not hurt the boy! Sylar's very soul ragged with fire. He reached out with his mind and grabbed Gretchen around the throat. He lifted her into the air and threw he across the room. The cell phone fell to the bed beside the sleeping baby Noah. Gretchen's arms flailed out trying to gasp for breath, as Sylar held her against the wall with his mind. Sylar reached into his body, and using his ability of electricity sent a charge of throughout his system, raising his temperature to the boiling point and burning away the last of the drugs in his body. Then slowly he stood to his feet.
Gretchen's eyes grew wide with horror as Sylar reached out with his hand and pointed a single finger at her. "You will not hurt my boy!" There was a snap as Sylar broke Gretchen's neck from the inside. He watched with an inward joy as she struggled to breath, His eyes burned into her soul as she took her last breath and let her body crumble to the floor in death.
Sylar picked up the cell phone and placed it to his ear, the person on the other end asked "Hello?"
Syler growled into the phone his anger and power barely contained "Gretchen is dead! Now I am coming for you Estelle." There is a pause on the line, and then a voice very familiar to Sylar calmly states, "Gabriel this is Angela Petrelli."
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