A/N: I know I'm terribly overdue, but I finished, and, man, it feels good to be finished. Review replies!
faithfulwriter: Thanks, Dani, glad you liked it. I meant to reply your message only i don't have the slightest idea how...
angelnikki: It's true that battles aren't really planned, but they have Hannah on their side, and don't forget: she's from the future!
Chapter Ten
"The Battle of Lost Sins"
There is only so much thee can pray for, only so much hope one must feel. But the players know, as much as their change has come, that the last chance is not taken with faith or hope, it is taken with bravery.
Level 5 Facility
Daphne Millbrook
There was a time where Daphne thought she was on the right side, that she was doing the right thing by sticking by Knox and his utterly demented plan. But now, she doubted herself, she doubted Knox, the person who sheltered her, the man who was her friend.
She was beginning to doubt Knox was telling her the entire plan. Sometimes, she wondered if he ever told the truth at all. The blonde woman ran from her sheltered makeshift home straight to the Level 5 facility to get Knox out.
The halls of Level 5 were wide, the space dividing between cells. To her right, she saw Knox, in his straight jacket, the one he assured Daphne he didn't need.
"Daphne, you're here," the black man said.
"Get in, get it, and get you out, right?" she asked, putting the palm of her hand on the glass window.
"Right," Knox said.
"I'll be back," Daphne said, and ran, blowing wind in all directions.
Straight ahead was a door she proceeded to, that opened to big white hallway, similar to the one back in Russia, but this time, she didn't know her way around.
All she knew was there was going to be a button at the end of the hallway, the button that would let not only Knox, but eight others, escape.
Daphne Millbrook decided to screw her moral ambiguity, and ran through the hallway, where no one could be seen. She pressed the button.
"What was that?" a man with a heavy beard asked. Around him were five agents, two of them field agents, while the others were managing surveillance.
"Someone set off the alarm, sir," another man answered, this time a Hispanic man.
"Set off the alarm?" the first man, older than the second, asked. "Dear God. Karina, Cruz, follow me. You, Jules, call everyone we've got! There are villains escaping!"
"Villains, sir?" the second man, Jules, asked.
"You're new here, aren't you?" the older man asked. "If someone set off that alarm, the world will never be the same, you hear me?"
Jules's facial expression changed immediately, while his companion was calling the phones for field agents. Gael Cruz and his wife, Bianca Karina, followed the older man outside, with loaded guns. God knew they needed them.
Her father once told her that battles were always planned, no matter what. Some of his other comrades disagreed, the thought battles just happened: a natural reflex to seeing your enemies.
But Hannah knew, her father knew better than them. Her father knew more than them. Besides, it was he who fought for his life, not them. He told her than battles were always planned, because, either way, good guy or bad guy, they were waiting for the other to arrive.
"Why?" Hannah had asked, sitting on her father's lap. She was a shy girl of eight, too early to listen to her father's version of the Art of War, but she listened nonetheless.
"Because that's what heroes do, Hannie, they think ahead so that they can beat the villains," her father answered.
He then kissed her on the forehead and went out the door like any other day. Hannah realized right then why she had accepted Evan's nickname so easily. Her father had called her that, once, that one time, and it somehow brought her happiness to hear her once makeshift nickname said by a stranger.
"Ready?" Peter asked.
His hand found its way to her shoulder, while the other hand was on her mother's hip. Hannah knew the blonde had somewhat adjusted to her calling of 'Mom', but Hannah had the pleasure to give it a test run.
"Ready," Claire answered.
Before she knew it, she was thrown into oblivion, the sensation she remembered from her time-traveling from the future. God, she hated the feeling. It was as if someone was having fun rubbing a knife through her.
She had her eyes closed the entire time, but when she opened them, they were in a dark hallway. It was only surrounding by walls of cement, no villain in sight. But she saw there was an opening ahead, and Peter seemed to see the same thing.
He nudged the team to follow him to the opening. Hannah turned sideways, and saw Evan looking at her. He nodded to the future daughter, to which she replied back for reassurance. When they turned the corner, they were already too late.
They could see Sylar holding a Company agent against the wall, the signature telekinetic mark on her forehead was already there. The eight others followed his lead, as Flint lighted up to scare the remaining five agents.
Hannah stood by Peter's side, and watched the scene, from the nine villains, to the scared five agents and the now dead body on the floor. She had no words for it, the situation. But Mia did: "Oh my shit."
Sylar heard it, the super-ear super villain he was. The archenemy of Peter turned his head from his latest victims to see the team of seven on the opposite side.
"Peter, long time no see," Sylar said menacingly. The eight others turned, and saw what they saw: prey.
"You know what to do," Peter said to his team, and was replied with nervous nods.
In moments, everyone on both sides was ready to strike. Hannah's fingers had become solid missiles; Evan's hands were glowing with plasma blasts, Hiro and Ando drew their swords while Flint's hands were glowing, too, and was laughing at the crowd, as if they were not competition to him.
Hannah was caught off-guard by a bomb exploding, the first move from the opposite side. She knew better: it was coming from a demented woman called Landry; someone who Hannah immediately realized did not belong on Level 5, but instead, a whack shack.
Just by that exploding bomb, everyone was suddenly ready to strike. Landry's hands were filled with another bomb, ready to explode and disintegrate everything in its path. She was running towards the future daughter, and, just as she was ready to fire her missiles at the deranged woman, Ando stepped in.
Before Hannah's eyes, she saw the Japanese man commit his first murder, as he plunged his sword into the woman's gut. The woman looked up, gasped for air, and Ando watched as the woman fell to floor, drawing her last breath.
Their makeshift moment of peace was interrupted by a fire ball coming towards them. "Thought you were safe now, did you?" Flint asked, laughing.
On the other side of the room, Claire was facing her own devil. "Hello there," Knox said, in his torn straight jacket.
"I know how your power works!" Claire yelled amidst loud blasts and screaming. "You can't hurt me, because I'm not afraid of you!"
"Yeah, you are. You're scared of what I'm gonna do to your boyfriend over there," Knox nudged to the Peter fighting like hell.
Claire didn't have time to respond; Knox was too busy punching a hole right through her gut. The blonde looked down, and saw blood dripping from her gut to the floor. She gasped out, but within moments, she felt her skin sewing itself back together again.
Claire looked up, seeing Knox surprised as hell. She punched him in the face, and said, "Oh, it's on."
"We're not so different, Peter," Sylar said to his enemy.
"I wouldn't kill anyone innocent," Peter said. "Tell me how that makes us the same."
"I killed to take what others didn't deserve," Sylar said.
"What makes you the one who decides whether they deserve it or not?" Peter asked, his hands itching to get at Sylar.
"Because I'm special," Sylar answered, smirking.
"That's it," Peter said, his hands on the other's neck already.
"That the best you got?" Sylar managed to choke out.
"No, I'm leaving the best for last," Peter said, punching him from left to right.
He saw his enemy's blood drip from his face, and drew satisfaction from his pain. This was the man who tried to kill the woman he loved, he should be delirious he was taking control.
Peter got a good grip on Sylar's shirt, and pulled him up against the wall thanks to Niki Sanders's super strength. The empath let the serial killer go, letting him hang like that by telekinesis when he realized he couldn't just deal with Sylar, he had an army to kill.
But before that…Peter dropped Sylar to the ground, and punched him one more time. "That's for messing with my girl," Peter said.
The situation was more than deadly: it was deafening. Peter fought through the crowd, firing everything he had at the enemy's side, and saw that Hiro needed help. The Japanese man was being held back by a man Peter recognized as Geoffrey from Hannah's dossiers.
"Come on, Sulu. I'm sure you can do better than that," Geoffrey said, holding back Hiro's sword from his face. Hiro grunted, and pulled away.
"You," Peter said, and flung the man to the wall by telekinesis. "Don't mess with my team."
"Thank you, Petrelli-san," Hiro said, and bowed.
"No problem. Now where are the others?" Peter asked.
The moment was ruined by a whoosh of silent air. Peter recognized the sound; he heard it all the time during practice. It was the sound of a speedster. And since the only two speedsters Peter knew, him and Mia, were standing still, that would mean…
"Another Speedster," Peter said.
"What?" Hiro asked.
"Hiro, you remember our one practice? You stopped time and the only people that were moving were me, you and Mia?" Peter said.
"Yes," Hiro said.
"OK, I think there's another speedster around here. I need you to stop time and take her out, okay?" Peter said, moving away.
"Yes, Peter," Hiro said, crunching his face together.
The Japanese man succeeded: everyone was standing still, except for Mia. Peter had decided not to use his time powers for this one. "Why is everything still?" Mia asked.
"Petrelli-san thinks there is nother Speedster. I must," Hiro put his two fingers up as an air quote, "'take her out'."
"Okay, then," Mia said, smiling.
"How are you doing this?" Hiro heard a voice, and it wasn't Mia.
The Japanese man turned around to see a woman with straight blonde hair, dressed in crisp black, which told him she wasn't part of the Level 5 escapees. But he still knew she was helping them, and that would make her his 'nemesis.'
"I stop time," Hiro answered, composing himself in front of the speedster.
"Huh, interesting," she said. "So what? You're gonna kill me now?"
"Yes, I must," Hiro said, drawing his sword.
Could he? He's killed before, he's plunged his sword into someone before. Question now was if he could do it now. He couldn't. Instead, he tucked his sword back, and punched the other speedster to knock her out. With that, he blinked and found time resuming again.
"Hiro, did you do it?" Peter asked.
But his question was answered with the unconscious woman, with burgundy warmth running down her face. He failed. He was supposed to be the hero, and the hero killed every villain. Including ones that looked innocent.
Peter decided his team was good as it ever was, and resumed his attention to torturing Sylar. The serial killer was still lying on the ground, looking defenseless. But Peter knew that looks were deceiving.
Sylar stood up, blood and all, got a good grip on Peter and threw him against the wall. "I've been waiting to pry open that skull of yours," Sylar said, pointing a finger at Peter's skull.
Just like before, Sylar was beginning to mark a telekinetic knife on Peter's forehead. And, just like before, Peter screamed due to the immense pain. "All that power, all that delicious power, will be mine as soon as I-"
Peter cut him off by throwing the taller man through one of the glass windows. Peter stood up, composing himself. "Dejavu, huh?" he smiled, wiping the blood from his forehead.
Sylar stood up once again, and pulled Peter into the cell. The serial killer got a grip on Peter's neck, and had him against the wall, just as the other had done before.
"You think you're so special," Peter managed to choke out.
"It's true," Sylar said, and began punching his enemy.
He blew his fist on his face from left to right, making the other's jaw to crack a little, and blood to drip from his nose all the way to his neck. The enemy of the young Petrelli smiled at Peter's pain, just as Peter had done before, as he saw the blood from his nose drip into his mouth. Let him taste his own pain…Sylar thought.
Peter got away from Sylar's grip by giving the serial killer a dose of his own medicine. He was thrown against the opposite wall, as Peter got off the wall.
"It was too bad you came with such a handy power. It makes it easier for me to kill you," he said. Peter used his hands to pull Sylar off the floor, and, as soon, as he got a grip on Sylar's shirt, he began hitting him hard and rough.
In fact, he thought about using Hannah's weaponry to hurt him even more, but he doubted it would hurt more than Peter's revenge. But what he didn't expect was for Sylar to actually make a comeback.
His hands found Peter's neck, and Peter realized he was flirting with death. He got away from his deathly grip and tried to run, but Peter found a sharp tug on his shirt, which caused the shirt to tear off, and Claire's concentration be fazed.
She was watching from the outside, still battling Knox. As he recovered from her past punch, she looked at Peter, in his shirtless glory. Blood, sweat and hotness made Peter even more handsome, as demented as that was.
Claire realized she shouldn't be looking, but who could not? What I wouldn't give to pounce him right now, she thought. She soon paid for her distraction and Knox punched her, just like before. Shit.
The young Petrelli turned back and gave Sylar one more punch and yelled, "Don't you ever die?!" This punch was different. Due to it, Sylar got blood running down his face, and was knocked out. Thank you, Niki!
Natasha was a fighter; Hannah had to give her that. Every blow Hannah gave her, from her missiles to her gun fires, Natasha always found a way to block and evade them.
But she was growing weaker and weaker, her weapons growing less and less sophisticated, and Evan noticed. His own energy draining, he knew how she felt. But Evan refused to get down, just as Hannah was doing.
"Hannah, I'll take care of this," Evan could hear Peter say, out of nowhere.
Hannah looked at her father with a WTF? look. "Are you serious? You gave me her to take out, and what? You think I'm not strong enough? Because I am," Hannah said angrily, throwing another bullet at Natasha.
"I have no doubt about it, but I know you can't be strong forever," Peter said. "Listen, all I'm doing is protecting you! Why won't you let me? Why can't you trust me?"
"Because I can't," Hannah said.
"Why not?" Peter asked.
"Because you're going to disappoint me, just like you always do," Hannah said her voice lower.
A blast interrupted them, and it came from Natasha. Her hands were glowing now, no doubt with fire, because that was what she'd been playing with.
"Run," Peter said to Hannah.
"What?" she asked, incredulous.
"I said, run!" Peter said, pointing her to a corner to hide behind.
"Hell no," Hannah said, arms out ready to fight the demented woman in front of her.
Her hands turned into cold, hard metal, a perfect armor to protect herself, and take out the bitch. But she didn't have a chance to use them. Instead, she fell to floor of exhaustion.
"Hannie!" Evan yelled, stopping his monotonous plasma blasts to go to her side.
Peter watched as Evan held his daughter, the daughter he disappointed, up by the neck. The future daughter looked pale, her raven hair around her like a fallen halo.
"Keep fighting, Peter!" Evan said to the father of the unconscious girl he was holding.
"Come on, Hannie, I knew you were going to do this! Prove me wrong, dammit!" Evan said to the girl.
"I can't do anything," Hannah managed to say, each word separated with a breath. "I'm weak, you asshole."
Evan looked at her, and said, "Yeah, well, so am I!"
Peter did what Evan told him to, and took Natasha out, leaving her cold. He then crouched down to his daughter's side, stroking her raven hair. The hair she no doubt inherited from him, in fact, besides her green eyes, she was the female version of him. He didn't even get the chance to make her happy.
Before he knew it, the empath found his eyes welling up. Evan found himself stuck himself between a very awkward position.
"OK, Evan, I need you to run, okay?" Peter looked up at the teenage boy.
"Run? Where?" Evan asked.
"Into one of the cells. Use your blasts to get in okay, and run as far as you can from her. I'll find you with Molly's power, and we'll meet up somewhere, okay?" Peter said.
Evan nodded, and put his arms under the future daughter to carry her. He turned back and saw Peter's worried expression. "Don't worry, I'll take care of her," he said.
Peter got the biggest shock as Natasha crept up on him. "You really should give up already," she said, and burned him with her fire hands.
As normal, he recovered from every burn, every injury Natasha could throw at him, but not like normal, he kept feeling weaker and weaker.
"Listen to my advice, boy. Give up," Natasha said, as she saw the young Petrelli kneel to the floor from the pain.
"I'm not going to let you win," Peter looked up at her.
The next chain of events was blurred in his eyes. He saw Natasha wake away, laughing sinisterly, he could see every blackout, and he saw the slight image of what seemed like his angel, saving him in his time of pain.
Peter couldn't take it; whatever Natasha did to him was taking his toll. But the image of the angel stayed in his head: Claire.
"They left," Knox said to Natasha.
"Of course they did, why wouldn't they?" Natasha smiled at her accomplice. "Heroes always run when they sense a threat, Knox. I'm glad we sent the message."
She saw Sylar help Daphne up from the floor, both faces decorated with burgundy warmth from the opposite's attacks.
"Now, who do we have on our side?" Natasha asked Knox.
"Just us and Flint," Knox answered.
"Where is he?" Natasha asked.
"Taking our guests. Apparently they were clumsy enough to leave behind two of their comrades," Knox said.
"Good job, team," Natasha said to the group of four.
"Why good job? The rest of them are still out there," Daphne said.
"Because it's only a matter of time," Natasha said, and turned to her beloved son. "And you need to make sure of that, Gabriel."
"Of course, Mother," Sylar smiled at his biological mother.
"Good, then," Natasha smiled.
"Our ride should be here in a few," Knox said.
"And where is that taking us?" Daphne asked.
Sylar's mother looked at the blonde woman, smiled and answered, "Russia."
A/N: Hmmm...Can anyone guess who the two are?? I think it's pretty obvious...Read and review, people!!
-Aly