TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY
Part 11 – No Greater Love

November 25th, 2012
Mojave Desert, CA

Laura's eyes opened with a jolt. She stood up slowly rotating, frightened by her unfamiliar surroundings. "Brandon? Where are you?"

Then a firm but gentle voice came from behind her. "Brandon isn't here, Laura."

Startled, Laura jumped, quickly turning in the voices direction. "You!" She whispered as she saw Addie Dawson's familiar smile. Surrounding them was a comforting light. Laura looked down at the white robe she was wearing. She saw that Addie wore the same thing. "Where am I?"

"Where would you like to be?" Addie giggled a little as she spoke.

"Um, I don't know." Laura began to feel at ease, thought her voice was still apprehensive. "I'm still not quite sure what you're doing to me?"

Addie softly placed her hand on Laura's. "Don't you worry, sugar. You haven't left the desert. I am only taking your mind on a quest."

"What kind of quest?" Laura furrowed her brow unnervingly.

Addie took her hand. "To discover the answerers to the truth you already know inside your heart."

"Answers to what?" Laura shrugged in utter confusion. "What are the questions?"

"That is for you to determine." She told her gently. "I am only here to serve as your guide. Now close your eyes." Laura did as she was told. She could feel a soft breeze whirling around her. And then a swirling vortex transported them away. Then it stopped.

"You may open your eyes." Addie told her gently.

Laura opened her eyes, then smiled as she realized they were standing in the lobby of her apartment building in Oakland. "This is where I lived before that day that changed my life forever."

"Would this be that day?" Addie smiled nodding to the lobby door where Laura watched Gabriel walk through the door carrying a box.

She whipped her head around looking at Addie, her eyes fit to bust out of her head. "How is this possible?" Laura asked in astonishment.

Addie laughed as she shook her head. "I am only along for the ride, baby. You are the one that is driving this bus. These are the questions you have been asking yourself."

Laura became irritated. "Look, I know you are only trying to help, but what is this going to prove? What's done is done! How is taking a look at the past going to fix anything in the present?"

Addie cocked her head raising an eyebrow at Laura. "You of all people should know the answer to that! Didn't you say in your own journal entry two years ago that we must look to the past to find the answers to our future?"

Laura folded her arms in front of her crossly. "Don't you be using my own words against me!" She then tilted her head glaring at Addie frowning suspiciously. "But how did you know that?"

"You told me." Addie responded straightforwardly. "Remember, we are inside your head. You are the one who asked the question."

"What question?" Laura shouted with exasperation.

Addie touched the side of Laura's face. "The question you have been asking yourself for two years. The first question you ask yourself every morning when you wake up and the question that has haunted your dreams at night. The question began as a whisper, but now roars like a lion in your heart."

A tear began to roll down Laura's cheek. "How much does he love me?" She whispered. "Would he ever really hurt me this way?"

"When you answer the first question, there will be no doubt." She whispered to Laura.

Once again, Laura felt herself being transported. But something had changed. They were still in the lobby, but now she could hear, see and feel inside of Gabriel's heart and his mind. The existence of the vindictive darkness plaguing his soul frightened her. But as Laura and Gabriel collided in the stairwell, the moment their eyes met, Laura could feel the intense love taking over the darkness inside his soul.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" She heard herself say. "Are you ok?" She reached down to help him up.

"Nothing broken." He stared into her green eyes mesmerized. Laura remembered to herself how his smile instantly captivated her. "If you live here, is there another stairwell in the building?"

"No, why?" She cocked her head staring at him oddly.

"Because I don't think I'll ever feel safe walking up and down here again." He teased her, though she could feel his heart racing.

"I'm just kind of distracted today. I'm really not that clumsy." She laughed defensively holding out her hand. "My name is Laura Ryan. I own this building." She could feel his heart sink as he realized this was the woman he came to kill. "It really is a shame I am going to have to kill you, Laura Ryan." She could hear the thoughts racing through his mind.

The time passed to several hours later when they were standing in front of her door after he walked her home from dinner that night. His heart was overflowing as he stared into her green eyes. She could feel the desire building inside of him for her as they melted together with a sensual kiss. "I can't kill her; I love her." Laura remembered the moment and felt the powerful fervor overflowing inside of him as they fell together on the bed making love.

Her eyes jolted open as she felt a sensation she had never experienced before. "Ok. So now I completely understand why guys continuously have sex on the brain." She told Addie as her body became one with Gabriel's.

"Um…hmm." Addie replied smiling knowingly.

The vortex carried them away. When she opened her eyes, Gabriel was standing with Peter at his New York apartment.

"So what do you want from me?" She heard Peter ask him.

Gabriel slowly walked toward him. Peter could see the pain and torment in his eyes as he spoke. "I want you to kill me." He whispered, his eyes filling with tears. "I want to protect the world from me so I can never hurt or kill her; or anybody ever again. And…." He took a deep breath attempting to regain composure. "And I want you to take every memory of me from her life so she will never remember I ever existed. I know you guys can do that." He broke down. "I will never be able to marry her or give her the life she deserves. This is the only good thing I can ever do for her."

Laura could feel the intense anguish in his heart as he fell to his knees in heartbroken sobs. "Oh God, Gabriel." She whispered, tears rolling down her own face.

The scene shifted again to another moment. "Oh God no!" Laura shook her head with dissent. "Please don't make me do this." She pleaded with Addie as she recognized the setting.

Addie only smiled sadly. "I don't call the shots, baby. But you have been brought here to find your answers. This was the moment that transfigured him forever."

Laura stood shaking her head with tears rolling down her face as she heard the gunshot; and then the feeling of agony in Gabriel's heart as he saw the bullet penetrate through her heart. She looked down at the wound in her chest, then up at Gabriel, her eyes filled with desperation as she reached out her hand to him. "LAURA!" He screamed desperately trying to run to her. They tried to restrain him, but he shoved the guards off of him running to her, taking her in his arms before she hit the ground. "Oh God! Baby, just hang on!" She reached up touching his face shaking her head as the tears fell from her own eyes.

Laura felt the moment of realization as he heard the faint heartbeat dying with Laura. "Please! She's carrying a child! You have to save her!" But Laura's hand slowly fell from his face; her heart no longer beating. "NO!" Gabriel fell over holding onto her tightly. The pain echoed in his eyes as he looked up at the others watching the tragic scene. He shook his head with tears rolling down his face. "She wanted a child more than anything in this world. She was going to be a mother. She was carrying my child! She can't be gone!" He held her lifeless body close to him rocking her back and forth in his arms as he stroked her face sobbing brokenheartedly. "Laura! Please come back to me! Please baby! Don't leave me! You have to come back".

"The child was a girl." Laura told Addie, the tears still stinging her eyes.

"She was never meant to be born." Addie told her softly. "It has always been destined that you would carry the first male child in your line."

The devastation in his soul overwhelmed Laura with sadness as she sobbed. "Please take me away from here."

Addie nodded to Laura as the vortex carried them away once again. She found herself in his prison cell. There was nothing in his heart but numbness and pain. "He thought I was dead." Laura spoke softly to Addie. "I knew he went through hell when he was in this place, but my memories were erased. Eventually I became lovers with Mohinder Suresh. I had no idea he was out here loving me. Completely broken."

"You have no idea the depths of despair by which he suffered for you." She shook her head slowly. The door to Gabriel's cell opening caused Laura to jump.

A prison guard with a malevolent gleam in his eye walked through the door staring balefully at Gabriel. "Rise and shine, pretty boy!" Laura could feel the fear rising up inside him.

"My God!" She whispered. "Gabriel could have taken this guy anytime he wanted to. But he didn't fight back. He told me once when he thought I had died, that was the moment he died inside." The tears fell in abundance down her face. "I can feel his pain. Oh God what he went through for me."

Laura suddenly let out a scream as she felt the pain of a high pressure washer ripping apart Gabriel's skin. He did not scream. The pain was the only sensation he had allowed to penetrate his soul in a long time. "Oh God!" Laura screamed in agony feeling his flesh being torn off.

And then his heart felt elation in the moment he learned she was still alive; desperation filling his core to get home to her. As she watched him regain his strength to escape, she whispered to Addie. "I was completely oblivious of him, or the love we shared together. Yet my heart yearned for him. There was this huge void in my heart where I loved him."

Addie nodded furtively. "But when your souls found each other again, no love in this world was ever greater."

Laura nodded, her face stained with tears. She could no longer feel Gabriel. They were back again among the white light. Addie gently touched her hand. "So now you have the answers you seek?"

Laura's eyes sparkled for the first time in two years. She wiped her tears away. "Everything he has done has been for me, because he loves me."

Addie's eyes narrowed with knowing kindness. "What about your other question? Don't you want to take this journey a little bit longer?"

She closed her eyes tearfully shaking her head. "I know all I need to know."

Addie nodded. "Then my work here is done."

Laura looked around and Addie was gone. She was all alone. "Addie?"

But as she turned to look for her, it was not Addie standing there. "Laura." She heard him whisper.

"Gabriel." She tearfully ran to him. He held out his arms to her, holding her tightly as she fell into his embrace. She looked up at him, her green eyes soaked with tears as he softly stroked her face. "Oh God what you have been through." She shook her head slowly. "You have been through hell because you love me. How could I ever believe you would hurt me?"

"Everything I do is for you." He whispered holding onto her tightly, his voice breaking as he spoke. "You are the one who bought my soul back for me. You have given me everything."

She nodded. "And you have given me everything." She closed her eyes sobbing harder. "Oh God, Gabriel! I'm so sorry."

"Shhhh." He whispered shaking his head holding her face in his hands. "There's no sorry here; just you and me."

"Is this real?" She smiled up at him.

"I don't know." He replied shaking his head. "But right now I am looking at you; I can feel our hearts beating together. What does it matter what this is?"

"I love you Gabriel." She whispered gently touching his face.

"I love you Laura Grace." He pulled her in kissing her intensely, their souls soaring together.

Then Laura opened her eyes gasping for air. "Gabriel!" She shouted abruptly jumping up from where she lay on the ground.

"Take it easy sis." Brandon put his hand on her shoulder.

"Gabriel!" She looked around for him with great urgency. "He was here with me! I could feel him! Where is he?"

Brandon shook his head oddly. "Gabriel's not here, Laura. You must have been dreaming."

"I don't think so." Laura smiled at her brother agitatedly shaking her head. "It was real Brandon! I could feel him. I felt his love! I felt his pain. Oh God Brandon! He loves me so much! How could I ever have doubted him!"

"If you tell me it was real, then I believe you." He smiled at Laura, wrinkling his forehead. "So now you see it too? You know that man on TV the other night was not Gabriel?"

Laura nodded slowly. "I'll never doubt my heart again."

"That must have been some dream." Brandon grinned as they slowly walked back to the house.

Addie sat under a tree smiling as she watched them walking together arm in arm.

And somewhere far away, Gabriel lay sleeping; he slowly opened his eyes smiling as tears rolled down his face. "Laura." He whispered.

Catacombs Beneath the White House

"Oh my GOD!" Hearing Niki scream, everybody stopped what they were doing quickly rushing to her bedroom.

"Niki!" Nathan ran to her. "What happened?"

Niki stood there smiling, barely able to contain her excitement. "Guys look!" She lifted Jessica inside of her crib as the others looked on in amazement.

"Yes!" Gabriel shouted jubilantly picking her up and swinging her around. "Our plan is working!"

George picked up Jessica. "In a few days you may be going home to see your daddy. What do you think of that!"

"Daddy!" Little Jessica hugged George who pressed his lips together looking dejectedly at Niki. Her face sadly crumpled.

"She knows the word, but the only exposure she has ever had to a man is all of you." She reached out taking her back from George.

"That will change as soon as she meets Peter." Nathan grinned. "My little brother will quickly make her his little girl and he will be wrapped around her little finger in no time."

All of the sudden Niki let out a scream as Claude snuck up behind her grabbing her ass. She turned around just as he materialized punching him in the nose, sending him flying into her dresser. George, Nathan and Gabriel all laughed boisterously. "Just what in the fuck did you think you were doing?" Niki shouted at him angrily with her hands on her hips.

"So sorry luv." He stood up smiling as he dusted himself off. "I've been wanting to do that for a long time, you know. I suppose that's the price I pay, you think?"

"Try it again and next time I'll send your ass flying into next week!" Niki shook her head glowering irately. "And I think my husband has been itching to get even with you for throwing him off a roof six years ago. I don't think he is going to be too happy when he hears you grabbed his wife's ass."

Gabriel put his arm around her shoulder. "Now that's the girl that hit me with a parking meter all those years ago!" He gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I think you have found your inner badass again!"

"Yeah!" Niki smiled up at him proudly biting her lower lip. "I'm starting to get that don't fuck with me confidence back again!"

George thoughtfully folded his arms across his chest. "Claude, how secure are you with your invisibility?"

Claude thoughtfully tugged on his beard. "Well, I was able to stay invisible from right after we came in here, until just before Niki knocked me for six." He chuckled. "Why?"

At first he didn't answer. He looked at Nathan. "Can you fly?"

Nathan closed his eyes in concentration; slowly he hovered off the ground, then lowered himself again. "This is all I can do right now, but it's better than I could do two days ago."

"Gabriel?" George nodded to him.

Gabriel held out his hand concentrating on a plastic bottle of baby lotion on Niki's nightstand. The bottle began to rattle, then moved slowly across the table. Narrowing his eyes cocksurely he looked at George. "What else would you like to see?"

"So, what's the plan, George?" Nathan asked him hopefully.

George scratched his head, and then looked up at them with a vindictive smile. "I think in a few days time we'll be making Seneca our bitch!"

"Oh hell yeah!" Gabriel shouted as Niki, Claude and Nathan applauded in agreement.

Addie quietly sat in the room which had to be her favorite in the desert home. During the day while the others were working around the compound or training, the twenty by thirty recreational room was quiet. And thanks to the handy skills of Brandon, Peter and Elko, the room now had a skylight making it easier to do her knitting.

But today Laura had found her. She quietly sat down in the chair across from her. Addie knew what she had come there for, but she just looked up smiling coyly at Laura sitting there with a perceptive stare. "Yes?"

Laura said nothing. She only sat on the edge of her chair with the corners of her mouth turned up in a knowing smile.

Addie just continued with her knitting, then looked up at her slyly. "So did you find the answers you sought?"

Laura's eyes beamed for the first time in many months. "Yes." She paused for a moment staring at Addie with a grateful glint in her eye. "Thank you."

"I don't know what you're thanking me for." She shook her head as she continued her knitting. "You're the one who searched for the truth. All I did was hold onto your hand."

"Well whatever it was it gave me a new perspective." She reached out taking Addie's hand. "And a very much needed one."

Addie looked up at her for a moment with a mysterious smile. "Then it was well worth it, don't you think?"

Laura slowly stood up. She leaned over and gave Addie a kiss on the cheek then left the room. She went back to her knitting with an eloquent air about her.

Inside the catacomb hell, Catherwood had constructed an atrium that from outward appearances looked like a backyard from Better Homes and Gardens complete with a pool, artificial sky and sunlight for their enjoyment. While Nathan, Claude and Niki splashed in the pool with little Jessica, Gabriel sat nearby on in a chair leaning forward smiling as he watched them. Tears came to his eyes as he thought of Seth, now two and a half. "I could have been with him all this time splashing around in the water like this." He said aloud to himself thinking of all the time he had missed with his wife and son because of Catherwood's false promise to him. "Why didn't I leave with her when I had the chance? Why did I ever leave her?"

"What, and miss all this fresh air and sunlight?" Gabriel looked up at George quickly grimacing at the sight of him in his swim trunks.

"Oh God, I thought your daughter was pale." He placed his hands over his eyes to avoid the glare.

"Perhaps." George grinned impishly. "But how many men past the age of sixty do you know with abs like this!" He thumped on his stomach proudly. "How many men my age do you know with six pack abs? Most men have the whole keg!"

"Yes. You have a body like Adonis." Gabriel shook his head in jest, but George could tell he was distracted.

"What's on your mind?" George furrowed his forehead with concern. "I would have thought you would be among the happiest of all of us to be getting out of here. You're going to be home within the month, if not sooner. I thought you would be walking on air."

"That's if there's a home for me to go back to." Gabriel sighed desolately.

George raised his eyebrow with concern. "What do you mean?"

"Common George, I walked out on Laura when she needed me twice now. The first time when I left with Catherwood and the second time just a week ago. She had to have seen Seneca proposing to Angelina Lopez on TV! The way the media eats this shit up, she would have to be blind and dumb not to know it by now."

"You don't think she would know the man she is looking at on her TV isn't her husband? Yes, it is true that a lot has happened between you two, but my daughter knows your heart. And once the shock wears off, I know she will believe with her heart and not her eyes. "

Gabriel thought for a moment, then flopped back in the chair. "I don't know. All I know is I haven't exactly given her a reason to trust me and now she probably thinks I am leaving her for somebody else. You and I both know the thought of that is absurd, but it is what she believes that counts. After the pain I have brought to her, I don't know if I would be willing to give me another chance if I were her."

"You need to have more faith in her love for you, Gabriel. Laura loves with all her heart and that heart belongs to you. She may sock you in the jaw just before mopping the floor with you when you get back to her, but I can guarantee an hour later she will be dragging you off to the bedroom."

Gabriel laughed staring ahead thoughtfully. "You know, I never understood how or why a girl like Laura could fall in love with a guy like me. She could have had any guy she wanted to, and she wanted me."

George nodded. "Yes, my daughter could have had the pick of the litter. She had a lot of suitors coming to the door and calling all hours of the night." He narrowed his eyes ominously. "Do you really think I got to be so good with firearms because of my affiliation with The Company?"

"If we ever have a daughter and if she anything like her mother, I am locking her in the house until she is fifty!"

"If you have a daughter that is anything like my daughter, good luck with that!" He pulled his wallet out of his swim shorts. "You tell her I showed you this, and I'll kill you." He glared at Gabriel removing a photograph from his wallet.

Gabriel's eyes widened at a photo of Laura at age fifteen wearing braces and wire rimmed glasses. "Wow! She told me she was a nerd in High School, but I didn't believe her. I figured she was beautiful and smart but was making up the nerd part to make me feel better."

George shook his head. "She had an awkward stage, but she has always been beautiful. To this day though when she looks in the mirror, this is the girl she still sees. Oh, when she turned sixteen, she started turning heads, but she thinks they are looking at her because she has a booger hanging out of her nose or something. She does not know she is beautiful."

Gabriel smiled at the photo then back up at George. "So, how did she go from the gawky teenager to a stunner?"

George chuckled reflectively. "Shortly before Laura turned sixteen, over the summer she finally started getting curves and breasts. Her build was always athletic, but now she had a nice shape to her and the boys were starting to take notice, but nobody was asking her to the homecoming dance. Because of my work with The Company, I had to go out of town often and I always had a lot of good people I could leave her with while I was gone. This time Tracy who was a combination of a mom and a big sister to Laura came and stayed with her. Well, I guess she was starting to want boys to notice her, so she asked Tracy if she could give her a makeover. But Tracy saw Laura's…ah…potential and wasn't going to settle for that. She had connections and she was going to make Laura the belle of the ball. She had her braces removed; she got her contact lenses. And then she got her hair done and learned how to do make up and all that girlie stuff. So, I came home after two weeks and when I walked through the front door…" George's eyes began to tear up. "…there was the most beautiful young girl I had ever seen standing there waiting for me. She looked just like her mama and I couldn't be prouder."

Gabriel smiled softly. "And then she drove you crazy when the boys starting hanging all over her like flies on shit?"

"Well, yes the boys started calling." He laughed. "And she got that date to the homecoming dance and was even a princess. She loved the attention at first, but after a while it got old. She soon put her head back into her studies and martial arts. She graduated Valedictorian from High School then went on to Sanford where she was Magna Cum Laude. My girl never gave me any trouble." Then he frowned at Gabriel, his eyes piercing into him. "Until she met you."

Gabriel was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

George wagged a finger at him. "You got my daughter pregnant out of wedlock, asshole!"

Gabriel groaned rolling his eyes. "Oh, this again! Common George! It was only damn piece of paper! We were married in every other way. And you got a handsome grandson out of the deal!"

"Yeah, I did! Didn't I?" He beamed proudly.

"Uh huh! And if we were married before she got pregnant, you would have been sending us cheap champagne and porn flicks to get grand kids and you know it! So don't be such a goddamn hypocrite!"

George laughed boisterously. "Well, when you get home to her, I will be wanting more grandchildren, so I will be babysitting Seth often, you realize."

"You're on." Gabriel shook his hand then sat back thoughtfully. "You know, last night I dreamed about her. It was so real; so vivid. I could feel her touch and her lips. And then I woke up reaching for her. If I didn't wake up to this shit hole, I would have thought I was home with her."

George slowly turned his head toward him, raising his eyebrow. "Really? Where were you in your dream?"

Gabriel smiled contemplatively. "I don't know. There was this comforting light and it was all…good. There was no fear or doubt. Just our hearts together."

He nodded knowingly. "I see."

Gabriel furrowed his brow. "You see what?"

"I think my daughter was taken on a quest to find answers. It is part of Addie Dawson's gift. And you were sleeping at the right time so she was able to get inside your memory."

"So, it was real?" Gabriel asked him hopefully.

George nodded affirmatively. "On a spiritual level, absolutely."

Gabriel sat back in the chair smiling dreamily. "She still loves me."

"Now are you in a hurry to get home?" George asked him, wrinkling his forehead sternly.

"Lets see how my powers are doing." He grinned holding up his hand as George rose up from his chair, his arms flailing around.

"Gabriel! What are you doing? Put me down! This is not funny!"

"Put you down? No problem! How about right over there!" He moved George over the deep end of the pool, then flung his hand open as George fell in. Nathan, Claude and Niki burst into laughter.

"Common in George!" Claude chuckled. "The water's fine." George glared at him then splashed Gabriel who laughed removing his shirt joining them all in the pool.

Two Days Later

Kevin laid back on his bed in the room he shared with Hiro attempting to catch up on his reading. But tonight there would be no concentration; he could only think of her.

Trying to pretend she was just another girl; just one of the guys was futile. He could only remember the softness of in her laugh; the little girl smile that tugged at his heart that night. Had he only known how her kiss would tantalize his senses and the way her hair gleamed in the moonlight, he never would have sat beside her on that rock.

Hard as he tried, the memories of her that night taunted him. He wanted to comfort the sadness he saw behind her green eyes; a sadness bestowed upon her by the love of another man.

He did not know Gabriel Gray. He knew of his history and wanted to hate him, but deep inside he knew he was a victim of circumstance as much as the wife he had left behind. Wherever he was, no doubt his own heart was breaking.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his book and lay back against the headboard; banging his head in frustration. "Why do I always have to fall for the ones who are pining away for some other guy?" He asked himself aloud.

"Do you always talk to yourself when you think nobody's looking?" He jerked his head up, staring at her where she stood in his doorway amused by his talking to himself.

"Sorry." He narrowed his eyes in sarcasm. "I hope I'm not making too much noise in here."

Laura shook her head. "Quite the contrary. You've been so quiet the last few days I came to see if you were ok."

He stood up placing his book back on his dresser. "Really? I didn't' realize you actually noticed." He quickly discerned that Laura was taken aback by the sharpness of his tone. He closed his eyes taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry Laura. That was entirely uncalled for."

She shook her head slowly closing her eyes as she sat down in the chair next to his bed. "But not undeserved." She opened them again half-smiling. "Kevin, I was way out of line coming on to you the way I did the other night. Especially after the way I treated you when you first got here. I wouldn't blame you if you told me to fuck off. I would."

Kevin sat down across from her staring into her sad green eyes. Though, simply dressed in a pair of gray yoga pants and an oversized navy hoodie, the incredibility of her beauty shone though. She sat in the chair with her knees pulled into her chest, her dark hair tumbling down her back in gentle waves. Usually the presence in his bedroom of such a beautiful young woman meant the promise of a night of sweltering, hot sex, but he knew the night would not end this way. "Look, I'm not going to lie to you, Laura. I care about you. In face, I care for you much more than I should, especially as another man's wife. I know you are going through hell right now and I'm so sorry. I wish I could take that pain out of your eyes, but I realize that's not my place."

She nodded softly, her lips pressed firmly together. "Well thank you for wanting to. And I suspected you were beginning to have feelings for me. My head wasn't in the right place the other night and I said and did things that were highly inappropriate." She closed her eyes sadly. "But you were nothing but the perfect gentleman. And I thank you for that."

Kevin looked around the bedroom then back at Laura. "Speaking of inappropriate, having you in my bedroom is giving me some very improper thoughts. You mind taking a walk outside?"

Laura bit her lower lip laughing. "After sitting in the rec room after eating chili with those guys, you bet."

Kevin laughed as they headed out the back door.

Once outside, they walked through the desert. Kevin walked with his hands shoved in his coat pockets while Laura pulled her coat tightly around her to shelter herself from the night air. "I can't believe it gets so damn cold out here."

He nodded in agreement. "I thought coming out to California from New York was going to be warmer."

"Common misconception." Laura smiled up at him. "Most people think the entire state is nothing but warm sunny coastline. They have no idea how cold it gets in the mountain, inland and desert regions." She stopped walking; folding her arms she looked up at him curiously. "Speaking of switching coasts, why are you here?"

He shrugged with his hands still in his pockets. "I'll let you know when I figure that out." He exhaled as he thought about the events that brought him there. "One day I am working late, and I get this file on my desk about the holding facilities, as President Hart likes to call them, in all actuality being death camps. Next thing I know, I am walking out to my car to have a drink with a co-worker, I go back inside the building to grab the file. Then my car blows up with my co-worker inside."

Laura looked up at him in horror. "Oh my God!"

He nodded and continued. "The blast sent me flying several hundred feet. The next thing I knew I woke up in what I thought was a hospital room with some shadowy man that I at first assumed was a doctor talking to me. I finally got out of there and ran. I went back for the file, there was a note in there to meet it's sender in Baton Rouge and that is where I found Peter. And now I'm here."

Laura pursed her lips together thoughtfully. "So this guy in that was there when you woke up. Did he follow you when you ran?"

Kevin thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No. Come to think of it they didn't. Do you know who it was?"

"Yeah." Laura nodded biting her lower lip. "They work for The Company."

"The Company…" He shrugged. "Who, or what in the hell is The Company?"

"A shadowy, clandestine organization that tracks people with abilities." She told him mysteriously. "They were a pretty shady group of folks until my father took over several years ago, but now their objective includes protecting the Vol population from people like Catherwood."

"At who's orders?" He shrugged. "Your father has been locked up and Peter is here. How did they even know about me?"

Laura gave a knowing smile. "They know everything, trust me. But it's ok. They may not exactly be the warm, fuzzy type of guys, but they're on our side. If anything they were protecting you."

"Great." He laughed sarcastically. "I feel better now."

As they stood talking a plane flew overhead. Kevin looked up then quickly motioned to Laura not to move. "Just hold perfectly still. It's an A-12 spy plane." They stood perfectly still until the noise had past. Kevin watched it fly away. "There are three air force bases within a hundred mile radius of here. The President could be sending out night flyers from Edwards to take photos in an attempt to find us."

But Laura did not answer. She was staring at him with her mouth gaping open. "What?" He shrugged.

"Kevin!" She shook her head in amazement. "That plane was at least half a mile up! How in the hell could you have known what kind of plane that was?"

He looked at her taken aback. "I just looked up and saw it. Why are you looking at me like that?"

She walked closer looking at his eyes. "I have always had eyes like a cat. I have never had trouble seeing in the dark. But not even I could see that plane that high up in the darkness. But you could see the plane well enough to know exactly what kind it was?"

"Um…yeah." He replied uncomfortably. "Can't everybody?"

Laura shook her head slowly. "No. No Kevin, not everybody can see like that! What else could you see?"

"I could read it's serial number and I could see the pilot yawning behind the controls." He smiled oddly. "What's going on?"

She narrowed her eyes wrinkling her nose. "What did you say you did in the army again?"

"I was a Green Beret, but I also did Counter intelligence." He replied. "That's why I knew where to look for the serial numbers on the plane." He shook his head at her sudden strange behavior. "You're acting really weird. What's going on?"

She smiled up at him with astonishment. "Kevin! You have an ability!"

He stared at her, his mouth gawped open. "Shut the fuck up! You mean I'm like you, Peter and Hiro?"

"You are one of us!" She laughed hugging him. "I can't believe you never knew it!"

"I just assumed everybody could see long distances in the dark." He shrugged still stunned from this revelation. "Yet I can't see two feet in front of me in daylight. How fucked up is that?"

She smiled broadly then grabbed his hand. "Common! Let's go tell the others."

Four Days Later

Gabriel woke up that morning to the sound of rain on the roof. He smiled remembering mornings lying in bed holding Laura just listening to the rain and counting the seconds between claps of thunder. "Soon, my love." He whispered aloud."

His eyes jolted open. "I can hear rain!" He said to himself quickly sitting up. "I CAN HEAR RAIN!" He shouted waking the others. "I can hear the fucking rain on the sidewalks on the street!" Gabriel began to laugh and dance around his room.

George came running into his room. "What are you in here shouting about?" George demanded still half asleep.

"Hey Dad!" He laughed. "Catch!" Gabriel gave a swish of his fingers and a pillow came flying off the bed right at George.

"Gabriel! Your powers are back!" George embraced him laughing as Niki came running in holding Jessica.

"What's going on?" She asked sleepily.

"Well don't just stand there little girl! Lift something!" George chuckled giddily.

Niki handed Jessica to Gabriel who played with her cheeks. She looked around the room finally a solid oak dresser caught her eye. She carefully placed her hands around 

it closing her eyes. Effortlessly, she lifted the dresser above her head. "Oh HELL YA!" Niki shouted lowering the dresser. "I'm back!"

"Where are Claude and Nathan?" George looked around for them.

"Right here." George jumped as he heard Claude's voice behind him.

"How long have you been invisible?" Gabriel asked looking around for him. He jumped as his voice came from directly behind him.

"Since ten o'clock last night and counting." He reported proudly.

"Nathan?" George called out to him. "Where are you, boy?"

"You don't have to shout, I'm right here." They all looked up to find him over their heads hovering with his arms folded. "I've been here the whole time."

"Flying tiger is back!" They heard Claude laugh blissfully.

"Think you can fly home?" George grinned.

"Just try getting in my way." He grinned fiercely.

Niki put her arms around George's neck hugging him tightly. "Let's get the hell out of here!"

"Not so fast guys." Gabriel put Jessica down to walk as she began to writhe in his arms. "Nobody wants to get home sooner than I do, but if we want this to work, we need to stick to the plan and timing is everything."

They all looked at each other nervously. "Do we have a failsafe plan B incase this doesn't work?" George asked with apprehension.

Gabriel took a deep breath nodding slowly. "Yeah. I do." He closed his eyes exhaling, opening them again. "And you aren't going to like it."

END OF PART 11