Don't Lie to Me - 20

"What the hell happened?" Nathan demanded of his security advisor upon seeing the gaping hole in the side of his campaign office.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Petrelli. Miss Sanders took the young lady hostage and jumped through the window. It's a miracle the kid's still alive."

Nathan looked over at the kid in question. Her clothes were wrinkled and dirty, as if she'd worn them for a few days, but there was no mistaking the face. Just one look at it was enough to break his heart. She was talking to Mohinder, and some freak with comic-book-red hair. Suddenly she turned his way and her face lit up. His heart melted at that look.

"Peter!" she cried out.

"Claire!" Peter had just climbed out of the car. He quickly walked over to greet 'the cheerleader,' oblivious to his brother's dilemma.

Nathan needed to get his eyes off Claire, so he turned his attention to the car. Denise still hadn't gotten out so he glanced inside to check on her. Her leg was still propped on the seat and her head was in her hands.

"You ok?"

"Comparatively," she answered in an annoyed tone. "Just give me a minute… This is why I hate politics."

Nathan had to give a grin at that. He had a fair idea of the multitude of lies that swam about his office. Finally she managed to shimmy out of the car, and get her crutches beneath her.

XXXXX

Claire had given Peter a warm hug in greeting. In a world that was coming apart, it was one pure moment. "I never thought I'd see you again," Peter confessed.

"You think you can just save someone and walk away?" Claire joked, punching him lightly in the arm.

Peter laughed along until he met eyes with Mohinder's. He was still wary of the scientist that had written him off as a nutcase. "Did Nathan ask you to come here?" he asked.

"No," Mohinder assured. "I'm here for Miss Haskell. She asked me to look after her friend." The red head gave a mocking wave. Mohinder didn't know how to convey his regret. All he'd wanted was to prove his father right, and he'd driven away the one person that had come to him with the proof. "I'm sorry, Peter. I should have believed you."

Peter had never been one to hold a grudge. He knew that Mohinder was sincere. Reluctantly his lips pulled into a lopsided smile. "You wouldn't be the first person to think I was crazy."

Brighton was clearly getting bored with the conversation. "So it looks like the scientist is the only member of this sad posse that didn't sleep in his clothes." Everyone looked down and gave an acquiescent shrug.

XXXXX

"So that's the cheerleader?" Deni asked.

Nathan only nodded, not trusting his mouth to keep his secret.

"This certainly complicates things."

"You have no idea," Nathan slipped.

Deni gave him a searching look. "Four misfits, going into hiding from a brain stealing serial killer; one of which is my recently orphaned 19 year old neighbor who's as wired as a circuit board. Another of which is a rather attractive teenage girl. Add to that the fact that I'm an angry cripple, and your brother might explode, what exactly am I missing here?"

Nathan kept his teeth tightly clenched. The thought of the grungy red head touching his daughter made him scrape enamel.

Denise flicked her gaze between Nathan and the Claire, when suddenly it clicked. "Oh," she uttered, quite shocked. "Does she know?"

XXXXX

"What do we do now?" Claire finally asked. She honestly hadn't thought much past finding Peter.

"I've been thinking about that," Peter said. "I think I know a place we can stay."

Brighton chimed in, "When are we going to eat."

"You just ate!" Mohinder stated incredulously. It had been a fairly large plate of eggs.

"That was half an hour ago."

Mohinder gave Peter a conciliatory look, "Good luck keeping up with this one."

"I'm kinda hungry too," Claire admitted, "I only had a bagel for breakfast."

Peter paused to think, and swept his hair out of his eyes. "Let me talk to Deni, then, we'll head out."

They'd all turned their attention to Deni just in time to hear her tell Nathan, "Go Fuck Yourself!" She was hobbling away as fast as her crutches would allow.

Nathan quickly caught her by the arm and whispered something in her ear. Her response was an elbow to the gut, followed by yet another punch in the eye. Nathan's security quickly threw her against the hood of the car.

"Let her go," Nathan told them. "She just got out of the hospital."

"Are you ok, Mr. Petrelli?" asked a security guard.

"Just get me some ice."

In an instant Peter and Brighton were at Deni's side, helping lift her off the car and back onto her crutches.

Deni knew how to fight; it came from working in a bar. Still, Brighton had only seen her deliberately hit one other person, which ironically enough happened to be his late father. "What did he say to you?" He asked with a tone of amazement.

"Nothing you need to worry about. The man just has a talent for pissing me off."

"Are you ok?" asked Peter.

Denise was growing exceedingly tired of the question. "Just get me out of here before I try to kill him."

They managed to get everyone squeezed into Mohinder's cab. Deni once again in the back with her leg propped up. Peter sat in the middle with Claire next to him. Brighton was turned around in the front passenger seat observing the way Peter appeared to be fondling Deni's knee. "How come he gets to sit in the back with the women?"

Deni gave an aggravated reply. "Because my knee hurts like hell, and you fidget too much. Now turn around and buckle up."

Mohinder let out a breath of relief as he pulled into traffic. Finally there was somebody who could control the tempest.

XXXXX

Seven Years Ago

Denise lay silent on the hospital cot. Her wrists were buckled to the side of the bed; a precaution the nurses had taken after her outburst. At least that's what they called it.

The woman had come in to draw blood. The constant headache Deni had been fighting doubled in intensity. Now that Deni understood what the vibrations were, she could immediately identify the nurse as a child beater. She'd screamed and fought, trying to escape the pain of the woman's mere presence. Instead she'd only gotten herself shackled to a bed. There was now a wide purple bruise where the nurse had jabbed the needle into her arm.

There was a knock at the door. Dr. Worthington, he was the only one that acted sympathetic. That was probably due to the fact that he was still fairly new. It wasn't just a job to him yet, he was still saving people. "Hey, Denise, how are you feeling?"

"The same."

The doctor pursed his lips. "I have your test results. Do you want to wait for your family to get here?"

"They're at home waiting for news on my brother. My mom thinks it's my fault he went missing."

The doctor placed his hand over hers; trying to give the smallest bit of comfort.

"It's really bad isn't it?"

"The blood you saw was from a bleeding ulcer. All the aspirin you've been taking has burned a hole in your stomach."

Denise gave a small relieved chuckle, "That's it? You really had me worried."

The doctor squeezed her hand gently. "There's more. When your blood test came back…"

"What? Just say it."