Chapter Ten: Kane's First Strike

May 12, 2007

Sylar continued to glare as Ava hugged Claude, smiling happily. "It's so great to see you! It's been too long."

"I know, Kid!" Claude held her at arm's length, nodding appreciatively. "You look good, like you finally got your act together."

"I have, somewhat." Ava grinned. "So Bennet tracked you down after Kirby Plaza and put you with Hiro and Ando huh?"

"It was more Kaito's idea than Bennet's." Claude looked over at Noah, smirking. "Someone's still feeling a little nervous being around me. Probably because he shot me nearly eight years ago."

"I've already apologized for that." Noah sighed as he took off his glasses to clean them. "If I'd known the real reason that Thompson wanted you dead-"

"-If you hadn't been so bloody thick, you'd have caught the hints I was tossing at you, you pillock."

"If you'd just come right out and said what was going on-"

"-By the time I was able to prove it, Thompson was threatening me as well as you AND your wife and kids. He was having me watched, you bloody jackass! Seriously, how dense were you that you couldn't figure out what I was trying to tell you? Bet if I tossed the same hints around about Claire you'd be much quicker on the uptake with her. And another thing-"

"-Guys!" Ava sighed. "Can we talk about this later?" She grinned as she hugged Claude again, ignoring the angry, jealous looks from Sylar. "Can I just say how much I've missed you?"

"Please." Bennet rolled his eyes. "Don't even pretend that you haven't seen Claude in almost eight years. I have it on good authority that the two of you have been almost in constant contact since he faked his death on that bridge."

"Who do you think saved my life after you shot me, asshole?" Claude smirked. He turned, locking eyes with Sylar. "Oooooh, you must be Ava's latest assignment." He turned to Ava, winking. "I don't he likes me very much, must be because I've got my hands all over his woman." He draped an arm across Ava's shoulders as he shrugged. "You'll have to get over it, Sylar old boy. This girl here is like my baby sister and I'll hug her and spin her around all I bloody want."

"Besides, I'm not his woman." Ava looked away as Sylar's eyes narrowed further. "He's made that perfectly clear."

"Sounds like I've arrived in the middle of a little lovers spat." Claude chortled. "Oh well, shit happens."

"Speaking of Sylar," Bennet turned to the man in question "how in the hell did you get out of your cell?"

Sylar turned to Bennet and shrugged. "I walked over to the cameras and told the techs that they could either let me out for the meeting willingly, or I'd create an EMP, melt my doors and TK every head I saw. They sent The Haitian in to escort me here. He's waiting outside."

"I see." Bennet regarded Sylar, nodding slowly. "So, now that you've seen what we're up against, are you in?"

Sylar leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms across his chest. "Depends. Can I get out of that damn cell? I'm getting cabin fever in there."

"That depends on whether or not you're going to behave yourself around us." Bennet leaned forward on his hands, his eyes narrowing at Sylar. "Can we trust you to NOT try and kill all of us?"

Sylar and Bennet glared at each other for a moment until Sylar finally sighed and nodded. "I suppose I can behave until Kane is toast. Can I acquire his powers when this is over?"

"Absolutely not!" Angela Petrelli snapped. "God only knows what havoc you'd wreak if you were allowed that!"

Sylar glanced over at Angela. "Nathan takes after you, doesn't he?"

Angela cocked her head to the side, smirking at Sylar. "You'll be allowed out of your cell, but you're not leaving this town. You're going to return to the farmhouse where you've lived for the last six months and remain under surveillance there. Ava will return there with you to keep you in line."

"What?" Ava's eyes widened.

"HELL NO!" Sylar sat up in his chair. "I'm not living with her!"

"Oh yes you are." Angela's lips curled into a devious smile. "You can sleep in separate rooms if you wish, but you're both moving back to the farmhouse. You have three choices here, Mr. Gray. The first choice is staying in your cell with Ava next door, the second choice is moving to the farmhouse with Ava-"

"-And the third?"

Angela cocked an eyebrow. "Have you ever seen Agent Reese's power when it's at full force? I know you've seen the photos of what she did at her prom at seventeen. She's honed those abilities quite a bit in the last ten years. She could do much worse now, and she will to you if she's been ordered to. No matter what choice you make, you are stuck with Ava. Learn to deal with it."

Sylar slumped in his seat as he cut his eyes over at Ava. "Fine."

"So what's your decision?" Angela's voice was cold and steely.

"I'll go back to the farmhouse with Ava." Sylar muttered.

"Good. We'll move you both there tomorrow." Angela sighed as she sat back in her chair.

"Well! Now that we've got that settled," Claude clapped his hands together, a sunny smile on his face "I'm in the mood for a drink!" He turned to Bennet. "Recommend a bar?"

"At noon?" Bennet made a face.

"It's five o'clock somewhere, right?" He grinned at Ava. "You with me, Kiddo?"

"Sure!" Ava nodded. "We can catch up."

"Great!" He waved to Peter. "You're coming too. I need to hear all the gory details about blowing up in the sky. What was that like?"

"Weird." Peter grinned. He turned to Niki. "You coming?"

"Sure!" She smiled. "I'd like to finally get to know the notorious Mr. Raines."

"NOTORIOUS!" Claude laughed. "I like that." He glanced over at Candice. "You're pretty. You're coming too."

He turned and headed for the door with Ava, Peter, Niki and Candice following him. Matt shrugged and stood up, following behind them. Mohinder frowned. "And where are you going?"

"I'm not going to be left out!" Matt laughed as he left the room.

"Bloody hell." Mohinder stood and followed everyone else out. "Wait for me."

Sylar shrugged and stood up. Bennet glared at him. "And where are YOU going?"

"To the bar." Sylar rolled his eyes. "I'm still a little hung over. I could use a bit of the hair of the dog."

"You're going back to your cell."

"You can bird-dog Agent Reese later. Your release papers haven't been processed yet." Angela smiled coldly.

"WHAT?" Sylar glared angrily at Bennet. "Like hell I am! Who's going to stop me from going where I want?" He turned, his shoulder slumping as The Haitian silently slipped into the room, his eyes boring into Sylar's. "Fine. You people suck!"

Bennet looked up as Claude peeked back into the door. "Forget something?"

"Someone actually." Sylar perked up as Claude scanned the room, then sulked again as Claude nodded to Hiro and Ando. "You two will have to stick near me to stay invisible though, got it?"

"Yes! Thank you!" Hiro looked over at Sylar, covering a laugh as he left with Ando and Claude.

He watched them as they left the building, smiling as he spotted the redhead. He remembered the prophecy that had been told to him three hundred years earlier, about a woman with hair like fire. He studied the tall blond man walking beside her, laughing and joking as they got into cars with their friends. He didn't look like the man he'd seen in the drawing. He cranked up his car and followed them as they drove away from Primatech. He didn't think the blond man was the one with the heart of darkness, but he knew if he followed the redhead, she'd lead him to that man, his enemy, the one who was meant to lead them all into a fight to destroy him.

August 1, 1999

"Sorry about that again, Noah." Claude shook his head as they drove back to Primatech. "We were so close to Diego and then I just let him slip through my fingers. I don't know how that happened."

"It's fine." Noah shrugged. "I'm just glad that we finally got back home. Being away from Sandra and the kids for almost two months on 'paper business' was a little too much."

"At least you two probably had a great reunion." Claude grinned as Noah blushed slightly. "I see! Did absence make Sandy's heart grow fonder?"

"Hush." Noah covered a grin as he pulled into the Primatech parking lot. "I'm not discussing my wife with you."

"Fine." Claude sighed as they climbed out of the car. "Time to get back to the real world here at good old Primatech. I hope Ava's doing okay." He gave a sidelong glance at Bennet as they headed towards the building. "I just don't trust Thompson with her."

"He's fine with her. He's as good to her as we are."

"Sometimes I wonder." Claude cut his eyes at Bennet again as they entered the building and made their way towards OWI.

"What's there to wonder about?" Bennet was waved into the secured part of the building by a security guard.

"He doesn't have her best interests at heart, not like we do."

"We're agents and coworkers, that's all. The only interests we have at heart are our jobs."

"You don't HONESTLY believe that crap you're spewing." Claude stopped, staring at Bennet. "You and I are friends and we're like fathers to Ava at the most, overprotective brothers at the very least. You can't honestly believe that Ava's just a job, any more than Claire is. She's your daughter and Ava's your friend."

"She's also an agent." Noah looked pointedly at him. "I know she's had it rough since she got here in so many ways, but sometimes we have to step back and let her deal with it. She'll never learn to stand on her own two feet if we're constantly there to prop her up. I want her to be a good agent, a great one. She can't be that if we baby her. THOSE are the best interests for her and I DO have those at heart." He turned and walked down the hall as Claude sighed and followed him.

"I want her to be a great agent too, but that's not what I'm talking about. Noah, I honestly think that Thompson-"

"-Thompson what?" They turned to see Thompson walking down the hall towards them, smiling broadly.

Claude frowned. "I was telling Noah that I didn't think you'd be too upset that Diego slipped through our fingers. He just disappeared. We had him cornered in Seville, we had him cornered again in Rome and each time, he slipped out somehow."

"That's fine." Thompson shrugged, his eyes locking with Claude's. "I'm sure he'll turn up again somewhere soon."

"How Ava?" Claude asked, his eyes boring into Thompson.

"Good!" Thompson grinned. "I helped her move into her apartment in Lubbock at the end of June and she has a company car now. She'll be in within the hour. I'm sure she'll be happy to see the two of you. She missed you both." He smirked. "God only knows how she'd handle it if something happened to either of you. You're like family to her."

Claude nodded slowly. "She's like family to us too."

"And you're like family to her." Thompson nodded. "So, I suppose you two will need to write reports on what happened in Europe?"

"We're on that now." Bennet nodded to Claude and headed towards their desks. "What's with the two of you?" He asked.

Claude shook his head. "Nothing."

"What were you going to say about him before he interrupted us?"

Claude looked away, suddenly realizing how Thompson was keeping Ava from talking. "I wasn't going to say anything. Leave it alone, Noah."

May 12, 2007

"-and then I said, 'poker? I hardly know 'er'!"

Peter, Mohinder and Matt sat at a table, watching as Claude held court in his booth at the bar/restaurant they'd found on the outskirts of Odessa. Two places on either side of him appeared empty to the naked eye as Niki, Ava and Candice sat around him, laughing at his jokes. Lunchtime had come and gone, along with the lunch crowd. Now, in this bar, the Primatech people were the only people left. Mohinder sighed and rolled his eyes as he swigged his beer. "I'm bored." He muttered.

"You and me both." Matt sighed. "I thought this was going to be fun."

"It was until Claude decided to dominate his time with the girls and the invisible wonder twins." Peter shrugged as he turned to order another beer.

Niki climbed out of the booth and walked over to Peter, grabbing a barstool next to him as she ordered a soda. "He's a lot of fun!"

"I never knew he was such a laugh riot when he was smacking me around with a big stick and tossing me off of buildings." Peter shrugged.

Niki turned to Peter, smiling softly. "Are you jealous?"

"No." Peter lied as Niki pulled her stool closer to his. He covered a grin as she placed her hand on his thigh, slowly sliding it up. "Okay, I'm a little jealous."

"Don't be. I might be sitting over there laughing my ass off, but inside, I'm wishing we were alone at my house."

"Really?" Peter turned to her. "And just what would we be doing there?"

"You REALLY want to know?" Niki leaned forward, whispering in Peter's ear.

He sat back, his eyes widening as he grinned. "You're dirty."

"Wanna help clean me up then?" Niki winked.

"No, I wanna get dirty with you."

He sat in his car, watching them inside the building using the x-ray vision he'd stolen off of a street vendor in London during his 'Ripper' days. His eyes narrowed at the redhead as she laughed and shook her head, grinning at the older blond man. He could also see the man who'd stolen his glory in Japan, the man named Hiro as he sat next to the blond man and his Japanese friend. He smirked. They may be invisible to the naked eye, but they were very visible to him with his vision. He wondered how he could get into the building and destroy as many of Hiro's friends as he could without getting caught, ending the prophecy. He smiled as he scanned the building, spotting a back door connecting to a storeroom near the bathrooms, his smile broadening as he saw one of the women, the one in the pleated miniskirt, stand and head for the bathroom.

He climbed out of his car and quickly made his way to the back door, rolling his eyes as he realized it was locked. Taking a deep breath, he turned into a steamy vapor, pouring under the door and materializing again inside the storeroom. Peeking out of the door, he waited until the woman stepped out of the bathroom. Moving quickly, he grabbed her, shoving a hand against her mouth as he dragged her into the room, closing the door behind him. As she squirmed against him, he laughed in her ear. "You're pretty. I'm going to have so much fun with you before I leave a message for your friends out there, and you want to know the best part? You can scream all you want in here and no one out there, just feet away will hear you. In fact, I want you to scream, it makes me happy."

Candice struggled against him, her heart pounding as she realized who had her and remembered the crime scene photos she'd seen earlier of Kimiko Nakamura.

At the bar, Peter and Matt looked up in unison, looking around as they both heard Candice's terrified thoughts. It's Kane! Oh my GOD! He's going to kill me!

Peter turned to Matt, reaching for the gun he always kept strapped to his waist. "You heard that?"

Matt nodded, pulling out the gun he always carried in a holster under his arm. "I heard that too."

As they stood up armed, Ava turned to them, her eyes widening. She climbed out of the booth and ran to them as Niki also pulled her gun. "What in the hell is going on?"

"Where's Candice?" Peter asked, his voice filling with urgency as he began to hear more terrified thoughts from the girl in question.

"She went to the bathroom, why?" Ava pulled a gun from her purse as Mohinder stared at them, his eyes widening with fright.

"Let's go. Matt and I just heard her thoughts. Kane has her. Hopefully they're still in the building."

"Oh shit!" Ava's heart began to pound as they started towards the back of the bar.

Claude ran over to them, Hiro and Ando hot on his heels. "What's going on?"

"Stay here, protect Hiro, Ando and Mohinder if you can." Peter glanced at the hallway leading to the bathrooms. "Kane's in the building and he has Candice."

"Oh bloody HELL!" Claude turned back to Hiro and Ando, directing them back towards the front door with Mohinder as Peter, Niki, Matt and Ava slowly headed down the hall, brandishing their guns.

Niki and Ava went into the girl's bathroom, searching the stalls before they came back out, shaking their heads at Matt and Peter. They kept watch as Peter and Matt did the same in the men's room. After they returned, everyone turned to look at the storeroom door. "Think they're in there?" Ava whispered.

"I hope so." Peter nodded to Matt, who kicked in the door. Everyone ran into the room, covering the four corners of the room as they searched the room. "Where are they?" Peter asked, his stomach boiling with nervousness as they looked at each other.

Matt stared at a small puddle of blood on the floor, his heart plummeting as he realized that blood was still dripping from somewhere higher. He looked up his eyes widening. "Up there!"

Everyone looked and pointed their guns at the ceiling, gasping at the sight of Kane clinging to it with his feet, a bloodied and unconscious Candice clutched in his arms. He began to chuckle. "Looks like most of the gang's here. Where's Hiro?"

"None of your damn business." Ava snarled. "Let her go."

"Say please." Kane smirked. "I know which one you are, Firebrand. You were one of the ones mentioned specifically by that old fart in Japan. Where's the man with the heart of darkness who's supposed to love you so much? He here?"

"Let her GO!" Ava cocked her gun at him as he laughed harder.

"You really think that's going to do a bit of good?" With a quick, fluid motion, he threw Candice at Ava and disappeared into a cloud of vapor as Niki, Peter and Matt opened fire. He materialized in front of Niki and kicked her against a wall before disappearing again and materializing in front of Peter. Peter gasped and yelled as Kane opened his mouth, a stream of noxious fluid spewing from it into Peter's face. Kane smirked. "I'm going to have so much fun with all of you!" He turned into vapor again, sliding under the back door as Niki moaned and slowly sat up.

"Son of a bitch!" She muttered as she tried to stand. She glanced at Candice as Ava cradled her in her arms, searching for injuries. "She okay?"

"He slashed up her back and arms." Ava shook her head. "I think he wanted to torture her first before killing her. She's lost a lot of blood. We need to get her back to Primatech to the medical wing."

"PETER!" Niki knelt in front of him, tears springing into her eyes as he gasped and struggled for breath before his eyes rolled back into his head. He began to shake with a seizure. Matt stopped Niki as she reached for him. "LET ME GO!"

"Kane spit something on him. It may have been venom. We need to get him to medical too. Don't touch him though, just in case it's absorbed through the skin." Matt ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm getting the guys. Hiro needs to teleport us back to Primatech as soon as possible before Candice and Peter die." He turned and ran out of the room.

Niki reached for Peter's hand after making sure there was no venom on them. "Hang on Baby, please." She whispered. "I love you. Don't you DARE die on me, dammit. I can't lose you the way I lost D.L." She turned as a hand touched her shoulder and looked over at Ava. "He can't die."

"He won't." Ava squeezed Niki's shoulder with one hand as she held onto Candice with the other. They looked up as Matt returned with Mohinder, Claude, Hiro and Ando, as well as the bartender and owners of the bar. "What are they doing here?"

"The Haitian's going to have to work with them." Matt sighed.

"CANDICE!" Mohinder ran to her, pulling her out of Ava's arms and cradling her in his own. "Oh no!" Niki and Ava stared in shock at each other as Mohinder gently rocked Candice in his arms, fighting tears as he looked over at Hiro. "Well? Let's get teleported back!"

Hiro nodded and made sure everyone was touching each other before he placed a hand on Claude's shoulder, closing his eyes.

August 1, 1999

Claude looked up as Ava entered the office space, frowning at her. She'd dyed her hair back to its natural red, a color he thought suited her much better than the blond she'd been forced to have in London. She'd lost weight since June. Claude noticed the way her clothes hung loosely on her and noticed the dark circles under her eyes. As she spotted him, he noticed the way her face suddenly relaxed from its tense expression and smiled as she half-ran to him, hugging him tightly. "I'm so glad you're back." She breathed.

"It's good to be back, Kiddo." Claude tilted her chin up, making her look into his eyes. "You okay?"

Ava lowered her eyes. "I'm fine."

"I like the red. It's a better color for you than blond."

"I think so too."

Claude watched as Ava turned to Bennet, hugging him. "How have you been?" Noah stared at her. "You need to eat and get more sleep."

"I will." Ava shrugged nervously as she lowered her eyes again. "I promise."

"Probably just having trouble adjusting to life in your own apartment all by yourself, right?" Claude asked.

"Yeah." Ava nodded, glancing at him before looking away. "It's just an adjustment, that's all." She took a deep breath, smiling at both of her friends. "I need to head down to the training room. I've been getting lax in my jujitsu training lately. See you both later."

Claude watched, shaking his head as she walked away, heading towards the training room. Thompson hadn't left her alone. He knew this now. If anything, by the way she looked, things were worse than ever as far as he could tell. Claude slipped away to the A/V room and watched Ava training alone, practicing moves in front of a mirror. He glanced in another monitor and saw Thompson walking down a hallway. His mouth twisted into an angry expression as he realized that Thompson was about to enter the training room. His hands balled into fists as he watched Thompson walk into the room and close the door behind him. On the monitor, Claude watched Ava cower away from Thompson as he locked a door and then pointed a remote at the surveillance camera in the training room, cursing as the monitor went dark. "Rotten bastard. I'll find a way to make you leave that girl alone." Claude turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door angrily behind him.

May 12, 2007

Sylar lay on his bed, glaring up at the ceiling as he sulked. He glanced over at Mac as the puppy jumped on his bed and began to attack the laces on his shoes. "Cut it out, pooch." Sylar muttered before glaring up at the ceiling again. "Take after your real father with that crap."

He sat up as he heard shouting and the sounds of feet running towards one room. He concentrated, hearing Ava's panicked voice rising above everyone else's. "What in the hell?" He got up and walked to the camera. "What's going on out there? I can hear people freaking out, what's going on?" He paced for a moment, waiting to hear someone talk back to him. Finally, he rolled his eyes and went to Mac, shutting the dog in Ava's room. "Fuck this!" He went to the door and concentrated on it, smirking as it melted into a slimy metallic puddle at his feet. "Told you assholes I'd do when someone wouldn't respond to me!"

He stepped over what was left of his door and headed down the hallway. He found his way through the maze of hallways until the voices grew louder. He spotted a door marked "medical" and walked through it, his eyes widening at the scene before him. Candice lay on her stomach on a gurney, moaning in pain as a doctor tended to deep gashes on her bare back. Mohinder sat beside her, holding her hand as she cried out in pain while the doctor and nurses cleaned her wounds. Sylar turned as he heard more voices ringing out in urgency in a room beside him. People in biohazard suits cleaned an unconscious Peter Petrelli's face and body, as others collected a sticky slime that had pooled around his face, carefully placing it in test tubes. Niki sobbed in Matt's arms beside the door of the room.

Sylar spun around as a hand touched his arm. Ava was looking up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "What happened here?" Sylar asked, glancing back over at Peter before looking back at Ava.

Ava shuddered, hugging herself as she struggled to speak. She shook her head, bursting into sobs as Sylar watched. He turned as the doors to Medical burst open and Claude rushed into the room with Hiro, Ando, Kaito, Bennet and a sobbing Angela. "One minute we're all having drinks and kicking back, the next minute Kane's there, attacking us!" Claude reached for Angela, hugging her tightly as she spotted her son and began to wail. "He'll be okay, he just needs a few minutes to recover."

"What happened?" Bennet's voice was tight as he spotted Candice.

"He grabbed Candice and dragged her into a storeroom. Peter and Matt heard Candice's thoughts. They went into the storeroom with Ava and Niki. I don't know what happened next, I wasn't there." Claude shrugged. "Maybe when they calm down, they'll be able to tell more about what happened. I showed up to see Candice covered in blood and Peter having a seizure. They said something about Kane spitting venom on him."

"Venom?" Angela shivered in Claude's arms. "How many powers does that freak have?"

Ava turned to Angela, clearing her throat as she tried to pull herself together. "We know he's venomous and that he can turn himself into some sort of mist. He did that when we shot at him. That's how he escaped."

Sylar stared at Ava, then turned back to look at Peter and then Candice. "Mist? Venom?" He swallowed hard as Ava began to cry again and reached out, finally pulling her into her arms. He sighed as she sagged against him, sobbing loudly. "Holy shit, what kind of monster are we going to be facing, anyway?"

A quick note from the author:

Yeah, I know, Mohinder and Candice are a couple, just like in my other story. Don't ask me why, I just think the two of them would be a strange, yet interesting pairing.

Anyhoo, hope the few of you who are reading are enjoying this story! I'm having a blast writing it, so I'd like to know if anyone out there has been having just as much fun reading.