December, 2008
Pinehearst Company
Fort Lee, New Jersey

Audrey didn't know how long she had been lying on the hospital-like bed. It could have been days, weeks, months. They had her on a steady drip of sedatives, and the details were a little fuzzy. They grew clearer though, as time wore on. Audrey guessed that was her ability. Slowly, her body was building up an immunity to the drugs that held her immobile. Eventually, she would be free. And when she was, she would kill the bastards who had taken her in the first place.

Every so often, she would be graced by the company of doctors, and other employees. She always feigned total paralysis when they came in. Once, she was visited by the man and the woman who had taken her. She found it so hard to lie still then, when all she wanted to do was leap up from that bed and strangle them both. But she held, and she managed to hear snippets of conversation here and there.

"- wants me to recruit Matt Parkman-"

"-giving powers to non-specials, he must think we're crazy-"

"-Mohinder Suresh, he's becoming a problem-"

Mohinder Suresh? Audrey knew that name. During one of her house visits with Chandra, she had noticed a photograph on his desk, of him and a young man. The young man in the picture had clearly just graduated, and they were both smiling. "Is that your son?" Audrey had asked. Chandra had nodded.

"Yes. Mohinder. He's a geneticist, like me, back in India." Chandra had looked wistfully at the photograph, but after a moment he turned it a way and continued taking Audrey's blood sample. She gathered that Chandra and Mohinder didn't have the best relationship. Still, if Mohinder was now in the States, perhaps he and his father were reconciled. And they were making hell for her kidnappers. The thought would have made Audrey smile, if she had control over the muscles in her face.

Today, things were different. When Audrey drifted out of her uneasy sleep, she observed that the IV into her arm had been removed. The bag of sedatives was hooked up in the far corner of the room. She slowly felt feeling returning to her body. It felt wonderful. Audrey thought about wiggling her toes. They wiggled. She thought about sitting up. Her feet swung around the side of the bed, and she was sitting. She laughed. Now she would get payback.

The door to her cell opened. Audrey frowned. It wasn't her abductors. This man was tall, and definitely Italian. She was dressed in a crisp, black suit and tie. His salt and pepper hair was short, and his face was lined with age. He looked grim. He looked like a man who rarely smiled. And that scared Audrey. He may not be the one who had snatched her, drugged her, but he was clearly involved in this operation. He would have to do. Audrey reached out her hand and focused on the energy within her, thinking of throwing the man through the door again. Nothing happened.

"Oh, your powers won't have returned to you yet," he said. His voice was oily and slick. He sounded like the lawyers that used to come in to Audrey's cafe in New York. Audrey hated lawyers. "Those were some pretty strong sedatives we gave you, and neural inhibitors. It's incredible that you're able to sit up right now."

Audrey glared at him. He stared back and chuckled. It was a humorless chuckle; she suspected he was trying to make her feel more comfortable. It wasn't working. "My name is Arthur Petrelli. I had you brought here, because you are someone very special, Audrey. I think you know what I mean." Audrey shook her head stubbornly. "Oh, yes, you do, Audrey. You're gifted. Like me. Like all of us her at Pinehearst." Arthur extended a hand towards her, and blue sparks danced across his palm.

"Audrey, your particular ability is rather unique. The ability to absorb anything, any ability, any knowledge, that makes you stronger... well that's a lot of power for one person to control. I would know. It's not dissimilar to my own ability. You are a remarkable specimen, Audrey."

"Will you cut the crap?" Audrey demanded. She really didn't have the patience for lawyers. "What the hell do you want with me?"

Arthur wasn't offended by her rudeness, on the contrary. He seemed almost entertained by it. "I've been gathering people with abilities, Audrey, people like you. People who share my vision for a better future, one where we don't need to hide what we are." The speech he was giving sounded impressive, but well rehearsed. It sounded fake to Audrey. "We would like you to join us, Audrey. Join us in this better future."

Audrey looked at him. For a moment, she wasn't sure if she should spit in his face or laugh. In the end, she was laughing hysterically. "Boy, do you have problems!" she screamed with mirth. Arthur Petrelli frowned. Clearly, this was not the reaction he was used to getting. "You kidnapped me, drugged me, locked me underground for I don't know how long... and now you want me to work with you? Are you crazy?"

Arthur's frown deepened. "So, you're saying no, then?"

Audrey smirked at him. "No shit, I'm saying no. Crazy bastard!"

Arthur sighed. "Such a shame. We really could have used your ability." She hadn't even realized the men entering the room behind her until they held her by her arms, forcing them behind her back. Arthur walked forward, shaking his sleeves back from his hands. "Now, I'll have to take it by force." He clamped his hands down on either side of Audrey's head.

The pain was excruciating. Audrey felt as if he were ripping her to pieces from the inside, pulling parts of her into him. All she could think of was how, if this was the end, at least she would see Kyle again. Her thoughts were filled with him. Kyle's voice singing, the sound of him strumming his guitar, the look of concentration on his face whenever he used his gift... As she remembered Kyle, the pain receded. She was herself, she was whole.

Arthur removed his hands from her scalp. Her stared at them, confused, then looked at her incredulously. "That's interesting." Audrey felt the guards shift uneasily behind her, shuffling in confusion. They must have realized that their boss was unable to take her power. "That's very interesting..." he mused. He turned to the door, making a motion with his hands. A stream of doctors flooded in to the room. The IV was back in her arm and the sedatives leaked back in to her system. She felt herself lulled back in to a sleep.

At the door, Arthur Petrelli turned and glanced back at her. She did her best to glare at him, but her lids were heavy and her vision blurred. "This may be harder than anticipated, but I will have your ability yet." His voice had turned dark and threatening, and for a moment, Audrey didn't doubt him.