Resurrection by SLynn
Summary: It wasn't their destiny to stop an explosion. It was their destiny to stop him. Sequel to 'Apocalypse'.
Spoilers: Up to 'Fallout'
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing and will return them all when I'm done, virtually untouched.

Notes: So, hiatus again? Oh man! Well, the good news is six weeks without Heroes giving me new ideas to try and incorporate means six weeks of solid writing! Hopefully I'll get this one and the next done before we get new episodes. I'd love to be done with the whole thing before then, so, we'll see. Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting. Thanks to Tripp3235 for editing and helping me tweak some ideas. Enjoy!

Chapter 21: Insanity

Micah hurried out of sight of the Order's army as he headed towards the Market, unconsciously tracing Lauren's first trip there earlier that night.

His plan was to go just far enough one way before doubling back towards the Common and the Boylston subway stop he knew the colony would be passing through.

Instead of heading north on Congress, Micah headed south running as fast as his feet would carry him.

Just before he was about to make a turn west a voice called out and startled him.

"What are you doing here?" Hiro asked, practically appearing out of nowhere and catching him by the arm.

"Me?" Micah asked back in shock, gasping for breath. "What about you? Isn't the colony headed for the college?"

"Lauren and I are going back to the Market for your mom and the rest," Hiro explained.

"How did you end up here?" Lauren asked.

"Maggie," Micah said with a brutal shake of his head. "Maggie is one of them. She was going to take me to the Republic. Turn me in."

"And you got away?" Hiro asked in surprise.

"Not exactly," explained Micah. "We were heading out of City Hall when the Order… I don't know what she was thinking. Apparently she never really listened to Mohinder or Claire talk about her… Insanity. Just insanity."

"What?" Lauren asked, beginning to worry about Micah's state of mind. He was rambling and nearly unintelligible.

"Jenny Yi," Micah finally came out with. "She was there. She talked with Maggie and then just… she just shot her like it was nothing. I watched Maggie kill…"

Micah choked on the words, clearly being overcome by the events of the last few hours.

"Maggie killed Jacobs," he finally managed. "She killed him and she killed that woman Nathan brought in. But this… when Jenny killed Maggie, it was different. It was like batting an eye to her. Less than that. It was so easy. She didn't hesitate, didn't flinch. She's crazy."

"Jacobs is dead?" Lauren asked softly, having never gotten past that part of Micah's tale.

Micah nodded gravely. So much was happening, changing so fast.

"Are you sure?" Hiro had to ask, he had to question it. It was too difficult to believe.

"I saw her do it."

"What now?" Lauren asked, turning to Hiro for guidance.

He considered it.

They could go to City Hall and confront Jenny, but that would be suicide. They were too outnumbered for a full fight against the Order. And Jenny, from everything he'd heard, was just as Micah described her; crazy. She'd kill them all without remorse and without reason if she wanted to.

They could also go back to the colony. Tell them what had happened to Jacobs. Explain what Maggie was and how she'd died. But then again, the colony knew the Order was here. They were fleeing the Order right now. Knowing Jenny was also present would probably just add to the confusion and terror. Jenny was quickly achieving cult status, her legend growing. Telling the colony she was here, hunting them down and that Jacobs had been killed might do more harm than good.

And of course, they had a mission. Hiro and Lauren had set out to bring the rest of their friends back. Everything else could wait. It had to.

"We have to keep on going," he said after a lengthy pause. "Micah, come with us. It's too dangerous to go back alone and we need to get to the Market. Are you up for this?"

Micah nodded.

"Here. Take this," Lauren said, handing him the extra handgun she'd been carrying. "You know how to use it?"

"You've met my mom, right?"

Lauren gave him a faint smile.

"Let's go," Hiro said.

They'd waited at the entrance of the building until the helicopters had flown out of sight.

The first order of business was to check on Sylar, to see if he was still alive or even if he was still there. If the helicopters they'd just seen were from the Republic they might have seen him and picked him up.

"Maybe we should split up," Niki suggested. "A few of us go and check the Market, just to be safe, while the rest go and scope out City Hall. See what we're up against."

"Sounds reasonable," Peter admitted.

"Good," Niki said quickly before he could continue. "Me, Franco and Ando will check around here while the rest of you cut through Government Center…"

"No," interrupted Peter. "No. Niki, if anyone stays here…"

"It isn't going to be you," Niki finished for him. "Last time I had to shake you out of whatever effect Sylar has on you. We can't risk that again. If he's around, if he's even alive, he's not at City Hall."

"She's right," D.L. agreed, even if he didn't like the idea of being separated from his wife, he understood her logic. "It won't take us long to get over there and see what we're up against. See if it's even possible to get in and get anyone out. We'll meet back here in half an hour. Less than that. It could take less than that even."

Peter looked from Audrey to Franco. Both seemed onboard with the plan, willing to give it a go. Ando was the only one that didn't register any emotion either way. He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts and worries to care much about what would happen next.

"Okay," Peter said, "just one change. Franco, I'll need you to come with us. We'll need you to take a look inside, maybe even through some things just to see what's really there."

Franco nodded immediately.

"Good thinking."

"I'll go with Niki then," D.L. offered immediately.

"Alright," Peter agreed. "We'll meet back here in half an hour. Got it?"

Everyone nodded and Peter watched Niki, D.L. and Ando walk around the building and out of sight.

"Let's make this quick," Peter said to Franco and Audrey as he walked briskly towards Government Center. "I just want to take a quick look and get back."

"You don't think he's dead," Audrey said flatly, taking in as much of their surroundings as she could in the near and complete darkness.

"No," answered Peter. "I don't think he can die."

"Everyone can die," Franco returned.

Peter didn't comment.

He really couldn't explain why he felt so connected to Sylar, why he knew he was still out there, but he did. It was almost as if Peter could feel him, could feel his presence. As if his power was somehow reliant upon Sylar's.

And that was unsettling, very unsettling.

And he wasn't dead. Peter knew it would take a lot more than what he'd done to finally end Sylar; that it might take a lot more than he had in him, but it had to be done. Sylar had to die. No matter the cost.

It was strange how the world could change, how it could change you. Peter never thought of himself as a pacifist, never even really considered himself a humanitarian, but he'd always thought life, all life, was sacred.

Before any of this the thought of taking a life would have been abhorrent to him.

And now?

Now it was something that had to be done.

Sylar wouldn't stop. He would hunt him down, all of them. Sylar would take them all one by one until he had all the power he could hold.

Peter wasn't going to kill Sylar because he wanted to. He wasn't doing it for revenge, or justice, or even for fate. He was doing it for survival.

If they wanted to survive, Sylar had to die.

"Wait," Franco said, stopping both Audrey and Peter in their tracks. "I see something."

"What?" Audrey whispered.

"There's a lot of movement in the front of the building," Franco said, straining for a better look. "It's so dark… but I think those are troops. I think they've got guns."

"What about inside?" Peter asked.

"Nothing," Franco answered. "No… No wait… there are a few people on the first floor… I'm not sure what they're doing though…"

"Anyone else?"

Franco shook his head to Audrey's question.

"Where could they be?" Peter asked this time.

"Maybe they got out," Audrey suggested. "Got away?"

"Or were taken away," Peter said darkly.

"No," Franco dismissed. "They'd need transport. We haven't seen any buses or trucks. They couldn't air lift the entire colony out on those helicopters."

Peter sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Let's get a little closer," Franco suggested. "Maybe I can…"

He stopped cold, having scanned the ground below the building briefly.

"I think they might be in the basement," he said quietly. "There are lights on there and…"

Franco stopped and shook his head in disbelief.

"What?" Peter asked quickly. "What's wrong? What's happened?"

"There's a body. There are two militia men moving a body."

"Who?" Audrey asked fearfully, positive Franco knew who and was only hesitating to spare them.

"It's Jacobs," he answered after a pause. "They're taking him upstairs."

"No," Peter dismissed. "It can't be. Jacobs…"

"It's him," Franco repeated. "It is. I'm sorry."

"Is there anyone else?" asked Audrey, her voice still uneasy.

"No one I see," Franco answered. "But there is… there's a hole in the wall… on the far wall, near the front of the building. Jacobs must have dug them out and then… I don't know. Stayed behind? Maybe he was going to close it."

"A hole?" Peter asked in confusion, and then it dawned on him. "The subway. They got out through the subway. That's why there is no one else inside. No transportation. Okay. Okay, let's get back. We know now what…"

"Wait," Audrey objected. "The subway? Are you sure?"

"Yes," Peter said immediately. "There's a stop right in front of the City Hall."

"But where…"

"We'll worry about where later," Peter interrupted her. "Right now, we need to get back to the others and then find our way into those tunnels. We can figure out which line subway line stops there and follow it to them."

"Won't the Order do the same?" Franco asked.

"Probably," admitted Peter, "but we'll have to take that chance."

"He's gone," Niki said without surprise as they came across the spot where they'd left Sylar.

"Now what?" D.L. asked.

"Let's check the hotel," Niki suggested. "He may have gone inside."

"Are you nuts?" D.L. asked. "You want to go looking for him?"

"I want to know where he is," Niki answered. "I'd rather we found him than the other way around."

D.L. shrugged, hating the idea, but willing to go along with it for now. Knowing Niki, if he didn't, she'd just go by herself anyway.

They got a few feet away before realizing that Ando wasn't following them.

"Ando," Niki called out, clearly irritated. "Come on."

Ando didn't move; his eyes clearly focused on the Market.

"We're wasting…" Niki started to say before D.L. shushed her.

He walked back to where Ando stood.

"What is it?" he asked quietly.

"Do you see that?" Ando asked, refusing to point. He didn't want to draw attention their way but feared it was already too late.

The man he had spotted in the doorway of Quincy Market was watching them; cautiously watching them.

"How long?" D.L. asked.

"I don't know," Ando answered as Niki joined them. "A few minutes. I saw the movement and…"

Without warning the three of them were each knocked back several feet, thrown to the ground as if by some unseen hand.

Ando felt dazed; tasted blood in his mouth, having bit his lip when he'd landed.

There was just enough time to get up before Sylar arrived, standing a few feet away. The closest any of them had been to him. The first time they'd gotten a good look at him in five years time.

"Who wants to be first?" he asked with a faint smile.