Noah Bennet, Matt Parkman and Mohinder Suresh, Roosevelt Hospital, Manhattan
"We need to talk." Noah said as he came to a halt in front of Mohinder and Matt.
"Bennet?" Matt said in surprise. "The last time I saw you it was November. What are you doing here?"
"Yes, why are you here?" Mohinder added. "I thought you were in Hartsdale."
"Bob and I have an arrangement." Noah answered quickly. "But that's not important right now. Things are spiralling out of control and we need your help to fix them."
Matt frowned. "What are you talking about? What's going on?"
Noah glanced around, making sure that no one was close enough to hear them. "It's complicated…" He said. "And we're all in danger. There are a group of people we thought were gone. They are all dangerous, smart and will kill without a second thought. Its like twelve Sylar's running free."
Matt's eyebrows rose in disbelief and he immediately cast his mind out and probed into Noah's thoughts.
You have no idea what we're up against! Noah's thoughts echoed inside Matt's head. We're safe for now but not for much longer! The moment they get what they want, we'll be powerless to stop them. We'll all be dead.
"If they're so dangerous then why hasn't The Company hunted them down before?" Mohinder asked.
"We did." Noah stated. "But over the past year, most of them have escaped and disappeared. We don't know where they are or what they're planning. But it's a certainty that they are planning something. It's not like them to simply leave us alone. We have to prepare for the storm before it hits."
Matt and Mohinder shared a sceptical glance. They both knew they shared the same opinion. When a man they barely trust appears and tells them that there are twelve super-powered killers on the loose, what were they supposed to think?
Matt coked his head slightly as he read Noah's thoughts. Jumbled words echoed in Matt's head, but each one indicated that Noah was telling them the truth. "What do you want us to do?" He questioned Noah.
Noah smiled and Matt would swear that a flash of relief streaked across his face. "Nothing." Noah said, causing Matt's eyebrows to rise once again.
"Nothing?" Matt exclaimed incredulously. "You came here just to warn us about them?!"
"Right now, yes. At the moment, these people are keeping to the shadows; it's most likely that they're waiting for their chance to strike at The Company's head. They want Bob dead and the Company destroyed more then anything else. All you two need to do is lay low and be sure not to attract their attention. And above all else, make sure that they don't find out about Molly. If they discover what she can do, they'll take her from you and force her to use her ability, not even you can stop them from doing that, Matt."
"Are we in danger?" Mohinder's question hung in the air, causing Noah to look at him hesitantly.
"We all are." Noah answered. "But I truly think that for the moment you have nothing to worry about. As long as you keep out of the spotlight, you won't attract their attention."
"What about you. You're planning something." It was a statement not a question.
Noah hesitated. "…It's a bad time to be a part of this Company and a lot of people are going to lose everything." He looked at Matt and Mohinder's stunned faces and continued. "I have to go now. Can I rely on the two of you if worse comes to worse?"
Matt and Mohinder shared another glance before they both nodded. "Yes." Matt answered. "We'll be waiting."
Peter Petrelli, Roosevelt Hospital
The change of environment was instantaneous. One moment he was in Nathan's hospital room back in Odessa and the next he was on the roof on the Roosevelt Hospital in New York. Peter opened his eyes and looked around the city; his eyes lingered on the buildings and the New York skyline. Only one thought seemed to solidify itself in Peter's mind.
I'm home. It was a small statement but that only seemed to make it that much more meaningful. He knew that it hadn't actually been that long since he was last here and then subsequently locked in a shipping container with no memories but there always seemed to be this odd feeling in Peter's stomach when he returned here. Nostalgia was the only word that Peter could come up with to describe the feeling.
Peter pushed the feeling aside and focused on what he had come here to do. He had a faint idea on who to talk to first. He figured Lily would be his best bet; he had gotten the impression that she wanted to find out who shot Nathan as badly as he did. But then there was that Sophie woman, she knew who had done it but Peter had absolutely no idea where she was or even if she would help him.
He moved across the roof and pulled open the door to the stairwell. He paused at the entrance, looking around the brightly-lit stairwell in surprise. Different feelings were leaping out at him: fear, anger, envy, even lust—and those were only the ones he could recognise, the only ones that jumped out at him and drowned everything else.
Peter shook his head as he attempted to clear himself of the emotion barrage. It wasn't like what happened with Matt Parkman's telepathy, the sensation wasn't making his head ache—it wasn't even hurting him. He blinked and began to climb down the stairwell. This sudden onset of foreign emotions indicated to him that Lily's ability was doing this—yet another reason to seek her out.
He wiped a hand across his face as he stopped in front of one of the doors leading out of the stairwell. He hesitated for a moment as the barrage of emotions seemed to grow. He closed his eyes tightly and concentrated. For a moment it seemed like nothing happened but soon Peter felt the onslaught weaken until it was a faint buzz in the back of his head. It was annoying, but manageable.
He reached out his hand and pushed open the stairwell's exit. Hospital workers were rushing around the white corridors, each one seemingly having ten things to do. Peter began to walk, weaving his way through everyone with practiced experience. He wasn't exactly sure if he'd find Lily here, he only remembered her thinking about this hospital in a stray thought. He hoped she was here; he really didn't want to go to Hartsdale to look for her.
It was probably close to an hour of walking and reaching out with Matt Parkman's telepathy before Peter finally picked up a strain of thought that was vaguely familiar. It was far-away and indistinct, but Peter recognised it nonetheless. He immediately directed himself towards the thought's source. As he got closer, the thoughts began to grow more distinct and he immediately knew who it was. Buried anger began to claw its way to the surface and consume him, he struggled to control it. He didn't notice several people look around in confusion as he unconsciously projected his emotions to everyone in the vicinity.
He stopped in front of a hospital room and looked through the window at the blonde woman searching through a duffle bag at the foot of her bed. Memories were resurfacing of his time at Hartsdale: The woman's daily visits, even the time they had kissed. Caitlin's face popped out at him as the memories of what the woman had done in Ireland flashed through his mind. It was too much, Peter lost control.
In one movement, Peter pushed the door open and barged inside, slamming the door behind him.
The blonde started as if stung, she spun around and glared at him. Her expression turned from one of anger and surprise to one of complete and utter shock. "Peter?" She said incredulously. "What are—?"
"He was my friend, Elle!" Peter shouted. "And you killed him!"
Elle took a step back, surprised at Peter's anger. Confusion mixed in with her shock and it took her a moment to answer. "What, that guy in Ireland?" She asked, frowning slightly.
"His name was Ricky! He was protecting me from you and your father and you killed him!"
"I don't— He lied to me!" Elle shouted back. Her initial shock at Peter's sudden appearance had cleared and now she was defending herself. Peter knew she didn't think she had done anything wrong—she never thought she did anything wrong.
Peter began to take a step forward but stopped when he noticed electricity forming in Elle's hand. "Are you gonna do to me what you did to him?!" Peter demanded. "I'd like to see you try."
Elle looked down at her faintly glowing electricity and let it fade away from her palm. "No." She said quietly. "I don't want to." Her voice picked up and gained confidence. "But I will if you force me to, Peter."
"Restraint?" Peter laughed. "It wasn't even that long ago when you were begging me to let you shock me!"
"I'm different now." Elle said defensively. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will!"
"A tiger can't change its stripes, Elle." Peter said angrily. He knew he was being cruel but he didn't care, just looking at Elle and knowing the things she had done was making him furious. He didn't care what he said as long as he knew it hurt her. "You're still the same sadistic little girl and you always will be!"
Elle started forward angrily, electricity crackling in her palm.
Peter held out his own hand and felt it pulse with weak nuclear energy. Elle's eyes focused in his glowing hand and let her ability fade away. She took a step back, then another. Fear danced across her eyes and she opened her mouth and let out a scared whimper. "Peter?" She took another step back from the wild look in Peter's eyes. "Peter!" She cried out.
Peter jerked at the obvious terror in her voice. He looked down at his radiating hand and he seemed to snap out of a trance. He let the energy disappear and he felt disgust revolve around his body. He was horrified that he would have actually killed Elle then and there—even more sickening was the realisation that he still wanted to.
"What the hell is going on here?" Peter turned around to see Lily appear inside the doorway, staring between him and Elle with an unreadable expression on her face.
Peter opened his mouth to answer but was beaten to the punch by Elle. "Nothing." The blonde lied, her voice slowly regaining the confidence she had lost during Peter's threat.
Lily frowned at her. She was obviously reading Elle's emotions and sensing the fear Elle had experienced. She turned her gaze towards Peter and stared at him with piercing eyes. Her eyes widened slightly at his furious emotions. "I think you'd better leave, Peter." She said calmly.
Peter didn't say anything; he didn't trust himself to speak. He was horrified with himself. He had never felt anything like that before. He turned away and walked towards the door. Lily slid inside and let him go by. He was almost through the door when Elle's voice sounded through the room.
"Peter?"
He turned back and stared at her. "What?" He asked coldly.
"I'm sorry."
"No you're not." Peter replied as he turned back around and slammed the door behind him.
Elle Bishop and Lily Miles, Roosevelt Hospital
"What happened?" Lily demanded as she crossed the room to look at Elle's face.
"Nothing, I told you." Elle replied as she drew in a deep breath. "I'm fine."
"That didn't look like nothing and you are obviously not fine. I could feel it from down the hall."
Elle met Lily's stare calmly and with full control. "I'm fine and even if I wasn't, it's none of your business."
Lily sighed and turned away. "Have you checked everything?" She asked as she indicated to the duffle bag lying abandoned on Elle's bed.
"Yeah. I just finished before Peter came in. I've got clothes, a gun and all that other stuff you told me to pack." Elle walked over to the duffle bag and zipped it up. "You know, you still haven't told me what you want me to do."
Lily smiled. "We're waiting for Noah. It saves me from explaining everything twice."
"Like he doesn't already know." Elle scoffed. She placed the bag on the ground and sat on the bed, regarding the door thoughtfully.
"Maybe…" Lily said as she followed Elle's gaze. "You don't have to lie to me and tell me you're alright, you know."
"Does he hate me?" Elle asked, completely ignoring Lily.
"Probably." Lily said bluntly. "You hurt him."
"Then why don't I feel guilty about it?"
Lily hesitated and was saved from answering by a knock on the hospital room's door. After a second, Noah opened the door and walked inside. "I saw Peter in the hallway." He informed them, regarding both women casually. "He looked furious, what happened?"
"Nothing!" Elle said sharply. She turned to Lily and said. "Can we get on with this? I don't wanna be here for another hour!"
Noah raised an eyebrow at Elle's tone but didn't comment on it.
Lily smiled at him and nodded towards Elle. "Okay, okay. But first I need to know if you'll tell your father about this, Elle."
"I'm not telling him anything!" Elle said quickly. "I just wanna hear whatever you've got planned and do it!"
"You're sure?"
Elle nodded vehemently. It was curiosity that was driving her more then anything else this time. She knew that her father wouldn't agree about what Lily had planned and maybe that was the reason she was set on doing it. It was a chance to get away from The Company and her father for a little while; a way to escape from her problems and her nightmares.
"I need you two to go to Costa Verde and collect Claire Bennet."
Elle groaned loudly. She should have realised that the price of getting away from the Company had strings attached—or rather one tiny blonde, cheerleading one.
"I knew that was gonna happen." Lily smirked at Elle. "But in all seriousness. Claire is in danger. There are these people out there—I'm sure you remember them, Noah—they're all extremely dangerous and powerful and it's only common sense that they want Claire and her blood. Bob tried to rectify that risk by having Claire killed, of course that didn't go anywhere near to plan."
Elle noticed the corners of Noah's lips rise in amusement. "So you're saying we're bagging Claire." She asked.
"Not exactly; it's true I want you to collect her and bring her to Hartsdale but preferably willingly. That's part of the reason Noah's going with you."
Elle sighed. "So these people that also want Claire; they'll be looking for her too, won't they?"
"I'd be surprised if they haven't located her already." Lily said truthfully. "This will be dangerous, one of the most dangerous assignments you've ever been on. If they have found Claire, you two have to get in, grab Claire and then get out as fast as you can."
Elle nodded and looked at Noah's guarded expression for a moment before speaking to Lily. "See, I told you he knew all of this already."
Lily smiled and shook her head good-humouredly. "There's a plane leaving in an hour. If you don't know what to do when you get there, I'm sure Noah will be happy to clarify."
Elle enthusiastically jumped off the bed and grabbed the duffle bag off the ground. "At least this'll get me away from Hartsdale for a while--even if it means I have to save a cheerleader." She smiled as she slung the bag over her shoulder. "Okay, let's go!"
