The Countdown

Present Day…

"Ow! Would quit poking that thing into my head?!" I flinched as Peter was applying stitches to the cut I received from Sylar.

Peter was more than relieved to receive my call. Apparently Mohinder called the house and Angela ignored the phone because she believed that he was still trying to get me to be a part of his science experiment. After a fifth attempt, Peter finally picked up the phone but by that time school was over and I was in Sylar's hands. The world hates me, okay.

Shortly after my call, we caught a cab and headed straight towards the Mansion. Peter didn't waste any time in treating my wound despite all of the questions he most likely harbored. Cole, on the other hand was stuck with the task of explaining everything that happened to Angela, Nathan and Claire. Poor kid. I was still a little lightheaded, but now that I wasn't using my power I didn't feel so dizzy. That still didn't mean I was a fan of stitches. I was glad that Peter had the materials on hand though.

Peter smiled in amusement at my reaction. "Relax, I'm almost done."

I took in a deep breath as he continued to sew my head. Thankfully Sylar didn't slice my entire forehead like I had seen in my nightmares. The cut barely made it past half of my eyebrow if you really want to know that much.

"And we are done," Peter said. "How are feeling?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. I mean is it bad if I say I'm doing OK?"

"No, that's good. It means he didn't get to you."

"But it was more than that. I used my powers to save myself and Cole. Something I never thought I'd do. Even before that, Cole saved me. He knew that if he messed up, that would be the end yet he still went in to save me."

"Well Cole cares for you more than you give him credit for obviously. As for the powers, that's great. The more you use your powers, the more control you'll have over them."

"I just can't believe that this happened. I mean I'm not the popular girl at school nor am I a complete loner. I tried to stay as normal as possible, but Sylar still showed up."

Peter put a hand on my shoulder. "It's not your fault, Danni. It's his for coming after you. Now, I think we should go help Cole out. Mom and Nathan are probably grilling him."

I nodded in agreement as I followed Peter out of the kitchen and into the living room. Cole stood in front of Angela and Nathan who were propped up on the couch while Claire stood a small distance from them. She probably still wasn't comfortable with them just yet. I lived with these people for four years now and they still gave me the chills at times.

Nathan looked over at me. "And she lives. How are you feeling?"

"A little better," I said. "Although, it makes me think twice about going to school."

Nathan didn't respond to that. I didn't care whether he felt guilty about the situation or not. He didn't know that Sylar would make his appearance right when I was needed at school. Despite the whole situation being selfishly driven, I did not blame him.

Angela broke the silence in the room. "So what are we going to do now? Sylar is obviously making everything impossible."

"He's coming more out in the open," Peter stated. "I think the best thing for Danni right now is for her to miss school for a while. Cole as well because he confronted Sylar."

"Great, this is just what we need two days before the election," Nathan grumbled.

"So we'll pretend to be sick for the rest of the week or so," I snipped at Nathan. "It's not going to damage your campaign."

"I know. It's just a minor setback."

"All right," said Angela. "It's decided then: Danielle and Cole will not return to school until it is safe. In addition, Cole will have to stay here with us in the guest room."

"Wait a minute," Cole held up his hands. "What am I supposed to tell my parents? They'll wonder where I'm at."

"You're young and creative. Think of something."

Angela left the room without further explanation.

Cole ran a hand through his hair. "Jack is going to see right through me. I'm already on thin ice with him."

"Just tell your brother and your parents that you have to stay over at a friend's house to work on a project for a few days or that rehearsals run late this week so you have to stay at a friend's house," Nathan suggested.

Nathan would be expert in lying. Cole nodded his head. "Yeah, I'll just think of something I guess."

"Well I need to fill out a couple of things so if you'll excuse me."

Nathan left the room just as quickly as Angela did.

"This has been an interesting day," I commented. "I faced off with a serial killer and Cole faced off with the Addams Family."

Claire walked up to me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks."

"But you almost died."

"Well, I didn't and I have Cole to thank for that."

"I don't mean to break up a moment or anything, but you need your rest if you want those stitches to be healed," Peter half-ordered.

I sighed. "Once a nurse, always a nurse."

"C'mon, you'll have plenty of time to talk to Claire and Cole after you've rested."

"OK, you can seriously drop the nurse act. I'm going upstairs now."

I didn't nap for that long though. I spent most of my resting time lying in bed as I traced the stitches on my forehead. Today was close call. That's all I could say about that. I found myself searching under my pillow until I was able to pull out a photo from it. The photo was all too familiar. This was the last piece of evidence I had of having a real mother. It was taken a few days before the car crash.

My mom had taken a day off of work to spend time with me. We spent the day watching movies and playing soccer. I wasn't sure who took the picture, but my mom had her arms wrapped around me and perched her head on my shoulder. Her smile was soft and gentle as mine was the result of a laugh. She was beautiful to say the least. She had long golden blond hair, blue eyes and olive-toned skin. It was hard to believe that I was her daughter. We had the same full lip structure but other than that we hardly looked alike. I didn't know who father was nor did my mom talk about him so I couldn't automatically assume I got my other features from his side of the family.

I didn't even know if there were any raven heads in my mom's side of the family. She didn't talk about them much either now that I thought about it. I knew my grandfather came from Mexico and my grandmother grew up in America but was full blooded Italian. And there's the fact that the Petrellis knew my family before I did. That's about it. I never really asked about it either. I just got used to it being just me and my mom that I felt that's all that mattered.

The door slowly creaked open and I looked over to Claire trying to sneak in.

She smiled guiltily at me. "Sorry, I just needed to grab something."

I sat up. "It's okay. I couldn't sleep anyway."

"What's that?" she asked curiously.

I patted the spot next to my bed and she sat next to me. I gave her the picture.

She smiled. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," I said.

"You were cute."

"Thanks."

"Who's the woman in the picture?"

"She was my mom," I said in a low voice.

"Was?"

"She died in a car crash when I was twelve and I've been here ever since."

She looked at me wide eyed as if she did something wrong. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for you to bring that up. I thought you were—"

"Separated from my mom," I finished. "No. It's okay, you didn't know."

"But still…So what was her name?"

"Linda Santiago. I used to be Danielle Valarie Santiago. Don't ask where the English first name came from because I don't know."

Claire handed the photo back to me. "I went looking for my birth mom before my house blew up. I thought if I met her, I would know who I was. Her name was Meredith Gordon and only a couple days after I met her, she left. She even agreed to take money from Nathan to keep quiet about me."

I could sense disappointment in her voice. She expected more than what her birth parents could give her and now she was starting to feel the anger.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"But what about you? Do you know who your father is or where he is?"

"No to all three."

"But aren't you at least curious?" Claire questioned.

I shook my head. "I'm not in a rush to know who my dad is because I've lived my life so long without one that I can't imagine my life with one."

"I understand. Speaking of dads, Nathan told me I should go to Paris with Angela."

My heart nearly dropped on the floor. "What?"

"He thought it would be better for right now and I agree with him."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this."

"I know you don't really get along with Nathan, but I want you to come with me."

"¿Qué?"

"Please, Danni. You'll be the only one who understands," she begged. "And I don't want to be stuck with Angela alone."

"I don't think anyone on this earth that wants to be, but this is too sudden. Especially with the bomb happening soon—I don't know if I can."

"Well, it doesn't matter what you decide. You're going whether you like it or not."

Angela walked into our room as if she had heard our whole conversation right outside of the door.

"Excuse me?" I said taken aback.

"You're coming," Angela clarified. "It's too dangerous for either of you to be here at the moment."

"What about Cole?"

"He can survive without you."

"But I can't just pick up and leave," I protested. "I know there's something I can do here to stop the bomb."

She only stared at me as if I didn't say anything at all. "We start packing in the morning."

Angela left before I could argue once more. I groaned falling down into my bed. "I swear I am living with a walking brick wall."

I ended up not getting that much sleep the following night. If it wasn't the pain from my forehead, it was the anger I felt towards Angela for forcing me on this trip. I knew it wasn't because she wanted to shop in Paris. She was trying to pull me away before the bomb went off. I still couldn't believe it was happening. I didn't even know how was going to survive in France. I didn't speak a word of French.

Then as if she couldn't get me any more frustrated, Angela woke me up at six AM to start packing. I wasn't going to school that day. I should have been able to sleep in sorrows. Anyway, I did as I was told and began packing with Claire.

Claire did her best to cheer me up by saying that this was for the best but I hardly believed a word of it. I received the same speech when foster care told me the Petrelli family was going to adopt me and look where I am now. I appreciated Claire's support in this though. She was a victim of the situation as well. I tried many times to see Cole, but Angela would always be there to stop me. I guess she really wanted me to leave things on a sour note.

By the time I was close to finishing my packing, the door opened. I looked up to see Cole.

"You're leaving for Paris?!" Cole shouted at me.

"Say that a little louder, I don't think the French heard you," I quipped.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried, but I every time I stepped out of this room Angela would pull me back in here to finish packing."

"But you can't leave, Danni. Not right now."

"I know," I sighed. "Once again, I tried telling Angela that but she wouldn't listen to me."

"Do or do not. There is no try."

"OK, so I didn't convince Angela to leave me here in New York and want to know the better news, Nathan told Claire to go to Paris."

Cole groaned. "How many more things can go wrong today?"

"It's okay," Claire reassured us. "Nathan just wants what's best for me."

"No, he wants what's best for his campaign," I said. "You being gone makes his life a whole lot easier."

"Now, you're being dragged down with everyone else," Cole grumbled.

"What do you want me to do? Because of the whole Sylar incident, Peter doesn't want me to go anywhere alone."

"Peter doesn't want you leave for Paris either—either of you. Besides since when do you listen to Angela, Danni?"

"I don't want to," I said. "But if I don't go, she's going to force me anyway."

"That's not fair and you know it."

A knock came from the doorway. Nathan smiled at us. "So how's the packing coming, ladies?"

"We're just finishing up," Claire answered.

"Good. Danielle, can I speak to you for a moment?"

I nodded as I made way to another conversation with Nathan, the most stubborn man on the planet. I had a few things to say to him anyway. Nathan closed the door and walked a certain distance away before speaking.

"Look, I know you're upset about the arrangement—"

"Upset is an understatement," I snapped.

"But it's for the best right now," he continued. "With the election coming up and the bomb, it's better to just get away for a little while."

"Please don't say you told the same thing to Claire."

"It's not the right time," he muttered.

"You pushed away your only daughter and that's all you have to say for yourself?" I exasperated. "Oh well, I guess that's the answer to everything these days! Like if you have a math test you didn't study for you can tell your teacher, 'Hey, I can't take this because it isn't the right time.' I've got news for you, Nate: there is no right time. There's a now or never, but never a right time."

"The election is tomorrow. The last thing I need is reporters getting on my back about Claire."

"She's your daughter just as much as Monty and Simon are your sons."

"The bomb is going to happen soon. I don't want her here while that's happening."

"She can't die. All I am hearing out of you are excuses of why you can't."

Nathan's face of content suddenly transformed into one of frustration. I didn't care if I "upset" him. He needed to know the truth whether he liked it or not.

"You're going to Paris and that's final," he growled. "Heidi's coming over today so make sure Claire is out of sight."

Nathan stormed off before I could say anything else. Claire didn't deserve this. She was just a girl trying to understand biological father. Another reason why I wasn't in a rush to learn who my father was: I didn't want to get my hopes up too high.

I returned back to my room trying my best to restrain myself from screaming to the world. Claire and Cole stared at me in silence as I put my last pair of socks in my suitcase and zipped it up.

"So, you're still going?" Cole asked expectantly.

I nodded to avoid accidently snapping at him.

"You got in a fight with Nathan again, didn't you?"

I nodded again.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Scream, yes. Talking, I don't think it's going to make a difference," I said coolly.

"You don't have to listen to Nathan either. He's an ass." Cole looked to Claire apologetically. "No offense to you whatsoever."

"Yeah, I think I better go step out for a little bit," Claire said, obviously feeling out of place.

Once Claire closed the door behind her, I spoke again. "Nathan is a number of things that I can't say without having an R-rating."

"What's going to happen when you're gone?"

"You know what's going to happen, Cole."

"Yeah, but you're supposed to help us. There's a reason for everything you know."

"What am I supposed do?" I said lowering my voice. "So far all I've done to contribute this cause is help save Claire and almost get my head sliced off. Maybe it is best if I go."

"What are you talking about? Danni, Peter is the bomb. Do you really want him to go through this alone?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but Angela interrupted me. "Danielle, the boys want to see you before you go off to Paris tonight."

Angela smiled pleasantly at me as she walked in with Claire following behind her. Did Claire see Heidi? Did she see Simon and Monty? I didn't have to ask. It was written all over her face.

I took Cole's hand and led him to the door. "OK."

"We're not done talking about this," he hissed in my ear.

As we made our way down the spiral staircase, I saw Peter walking up the stairs.

"Hey, Peter," I greeted.

"Hey, Danni." He turned to Cole. "Any luck?"

"She's as stubborn as a tree," Cole answered.

My eyes widened. "Wait a second. Are you two working together again?"

"Well we do have two girls that shouldn't be going to Paris," said Peter. "Cuts my work in half."

"You really need to warn me every time that you two decide to form an alliance against me."

"Aunt Danni!" I heard Monty rejoice.

Monty didn't waste any time in running up the stairs and hugging my legs. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, kid," I said.

"Can you come play Uno with me? Before you go away?"

Again, Monty gave me those cute puppy dog eyes. I couldn't say no. "Sure. Do you mind if Cole plays?"

"No. C'mon guys, let's go."

Monty pulled Cole and I down the steps as Peter was holding back a laugh. There was no escaping this place with Nathan's sons here to guilt trip you. We ended up playing Uno, Twister, Candy Land and any type of board game until Angela pulled me over to go to bed since we were going to have an early start in the morning. I wasn't happy about the situation at all, but what could I do? As much as I hated to say it, Angela was my legal guardian. Until I turned eighteen I was under her influence.

The next morning, pulled myself out of bed preparing myself for the next few hours. I thought about saying goodbye to Cole, but he would only try to persuade me to stay. I would miss him, though and hopefully he wouldn't hate me forever for leaving. Along with Claire, I dragged my suitcase down the stairs only to run into Peter and Cole at the bottom. So much for avoiding goodbyes.

"You weren't even going to say goodbye?" Peter questioned.

"Goodbye," Claire said without any emotion.

"Danni, you can't be leaving," said Cole.

"I'm not having this conversation with you again. I have no use in being here so why should I stay?" I inquired.

"For me—for the world."

"Claire, I think I figured out a way for you to save the world." Peter held out a hand gun to her.

"You're giving her a gun?" I asked.

I myself had never handled a gun, but I didn't need to know that much that they weren't people friendly. Why was Peter giving her a weapon before we walk on an international flight?

Claire found the idea just as ridiculous as I did. "A gun? That's how I save the world, that's your plan?"

"I can handle Ted," Peter said. Oh, I guess Claire told him about Ted and his ability. Less work for me. "But if I lose it, you're the only one who can get close enough to stop me. Right through the back of the head. You know the spot. The same place you pulled the piece of glass from."

Oh God, it's official. Peter's completely lost it. How can he ask Claire something like that?

"My destiny is not to shoot you," Claire stated as she tried to walk past him. "The universe cannot be that lame."

I followed behind her. "Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with the cheerleader on this one."

"You cannot run away from who you are," Peter told us. "This bomb is happening."

"How can you be so sure?" Claire asked.

"Because I can draw the future." Peter handed his sketchbook to us. I looked inside to see illustrations of the city on fire and Nathan's campaign flyers floating around it. "I met a guy who could do it, now I can do it, you see? Someone's gonna blow up. Me, Ted. It doesn't really matter. It's happening around the election, unless you stop it."

Claire stopped flipping the pages and stared at a drawing of a man with long wavy hair. "That's Ted. You drew Ted."

"Ted? As in Ted Sprague?" I asked.

I was looking for this man for a month now and Claire only found him by looking at Peter's drawings. The universe hates me.

"Are you sure?" Peter looked down at the drawing.

"I can never forget that face."

"That's Kirby Plaza, Midtown. Ted is here in New York. Don't you see, Claire? You're a part of this. But you have to do this." Peter held the gun out to her once again.

This time Claire took the gun and stored it in her bag. She was staying.

Peter's eyes flashed to me. "Are you going to stay?"

I sighed. "I would, but what can I do to stop this bomb?"

"You can fly, run fast, control air itself. Use your imagination. If we need more information somewhere, you can get there faster than the rest of us can."

"I still don't know."

"Danni, this is your chance to be someone. You can either be known as the girl who sat there and did nothing or the girl who stood up and made a difference. You can save millions of lives."

"Think about your mom, Danni," Cole said. "What if you had these abilities the day she died? If you could, would you go back to save her?"

There was no hesitation in that answer. "Yes."

"Then why are you pausing to save millions of lives? The question is simple and the answer is simple: are you going to stay in New York or go to Paris?"

Cole and Peter were right. No matter how small my part was in this, it was still important. We were so close. I couldn't give up now.

"I'm staying," I finally said.

Cole pulled me into an embrace. "That's my girl."

"Hey, while I was gone did you two happen to K-I-S-S?" Peter teased.

We pulled away from each other at that. I shook my head. "No."

"Sorry, it's just that I caught you guys holding hands and now that you hugged each other, I just had to assume."

My felt my face burn up. "Look, this stuff is pretty unpredictable so I think we'd better head over to Kirby Plaza before Angela realizes that we're gone."

"What about Nathan?" Cole whispered to them. "Isn't he a part of this too?"

Claire shifted uncomfortably. Something happened.

"He can't be trusted right now," was all Peter said about that.

I raised an eyebrow. "Again?"

"You're right, Danni. We should get going now if we're going to catch Ted on time."

I grabbed what I needed and left with the others. Peter drove us to our destination within the hour. We tried our best to keep the topic of our conversations separate of the bomb. None of us were particularly comfortable with the subject since every minute that passed the bomb inched closer.

Once we were in Kirby Plaza, each of us split up around the plaza to look for Ted Sprague. It was weird. I spent a month searching where this guy would be and now I would come face-to-face with him in matter of moments. My biggest fear was Peter's encounter with the man though. Peter had no control over what ability he absorbed and Claire would most likely have to pull the trigger sooner than later. I hoped that wasn't the case. Too many things have happened for me to lose my brother again.

After searching around my section of the plaza, I went back to Claire and Peter to deliver the news.

"I can't find him anywhere," I informed them. "I don't know if it's because we missed or he's not here yet."

Cole came up behind me. "Same here, man. He's not anywhere."

"Don't worry, we'll find him," Peter reassured.

I looked down at Claire who had watery eyes. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just miss my family," said Claire.

"You won't have to miss them for that long. Once this whole thing is over with, we'll all be able to go home."

Claire nodded and looked the other direction. Her sadden expression suddenly turned into a face of relief as she ran.

"Dad," she breathed out.

I looked over to see three men walking towards us. I recognized all three: Matt Parkman, the man that interrogated me at the police station, Mr. Bennet, Claire's father, and Ted Sprague, the nuclear man in Peter's drawing. This is the weirdest combination of people I've seen. Claire ran straight into Mr. Bennet's arms and her father pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Can you see the future too?" Cole hissed to me.

"No. Irony still exists, you know," I said.

"I love you, Claire Bear," I heard Mr. Bennet say to his daughter.

At least they were happy. I looked towards Parkman who seemed just as surprised to see me. Then I began to hear buzzing. I looked over to Peter who was exchanging glances with Ted. My eyes flashed down to his hands to see that they were glowing with energy.

"Claire!" Peter shouted.

Claire separated from her father and became worried at the sight of Peter.

"What's he doing?" Ted questioned.

Mr. Bennet shared the same expression of despair. "He's absorbing your ability."

"He's gotta make it stop," Parkman said.

Peter struggled to control the energy in his hands as they continued to glow. I underestimated my fears. Looks like the bomb was going to happen sooner than later.

Thanks for reading! Sorry about the delay. I start classes in a couple days so we'll see how long each update happens now. And I think you should know that there are only two chapters left this season and one chapter left until the season finale!

~Emyrox567