Hello, everyone! Sorry it's been forever! I know I said one more chapter, but Chapter 25 turned out to be too long, so I split it in two. Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews. You've been so patient and encouraging!
Previously on Heroes (Home Fires Burning): The heroes use Peter's invisibility power to get to the mall, where they leave Noah outside to keep watch. The others make their way into the mall, where Phoebe recognizes the metal doors as looking like the one in Peter's sketch. Meanwhile, Angela and Wyatt show up outside, joining Noah to wait. Inside the mall, the heroes get split up as they hide from some of the villains. Hiro and Claire teleport to Sasha, only to be confronted by Sylar, who has been lying in wait for them...
Chapter Twenty-five (Violent Salvation: Part One)
Hiro Nakamura held his sword before him, glaring at the enemy. "Sylar--you no come one step closer."
The villain smiled as he stepped further into the cold, concrete room. "What are you going to do about it?"
"I will stop you," Hiro said, taking a stance his father had taught him.
From behind him, Hiro heard Claire's trembling voice. "Hiro… We should just leave."
Hiro took a step backward, closer to where Claire and Sasha were standing, realizing the little cheerleader's wisdom.
"Don't even think about teleporting out of here," Sylar warned the little Japanese hero. "Yes, it worked last time, but…" He grinned slowly and lifted a hand. "This time, I think you'll find it a bit more difficult." He made a sharp motion with his fingers, and suddenly, Claire began sliding toward him across the floor.
"Hiro!" Claire screamed, eyes wide as her feet dragged the floor.
"Cheerleader!" Hiro exclaimed, reaching out for Claire.
"I don't think so, Hiro," said Sylar. He motioned toward Hiro with his free hand, and Hiro went flying backward to land at Sasha's feet, his sword clattering to the ground.
"Hiro! Are you alright?" Sasha bent down and helped him to his feet. She could feel fear and anger rushing through his veins.
"We must save the cheerleader!" Hiro cried.
Claire was still being dragged toward Sylar, by now only a few feet away from the murderer.
Hiro grabbed Sasha's hand. "Hold on tight to me!" he exclaimed. Then he began to concentrate hard, determined to save the cheerleader.
Noah, Angela, and Wyatt started with surprise as three people suddenly appeared in front of them.
"Claire!" Noah exclaimed.
"Dad!" cried Claire, rushing into his arms.
"Where are the others?" Noah asked Hiro over his daughter's head.
"I do not know," said Hiro quietly, his face a study of worry. "We were separated."
"My sons?" Angela asked softly, her hands clasped tightly before her.
"They are with Phoebe Agnew," said Hiro. He shrugged. "I do not know where."
"Could you teleport to them?" Noah asked.
Hiro nodded, his face brightening. "I can try!" He stepped back gently from Sasha's grasp. "I will be right back!" He closed his eyes and concentrated hard, cheeks wobbling. For a moment, his figure faded, wavered, but he did not disappear. He opened his eyes wide. "I cannot teleport to them! Something stop me!"
Sylar bent down and picked up the fallen samurai sword from the cold stone floor. He stood and held it before him in both hands, turning it this way and that, studying it, rubbing his thumb over the design on the handle. He smiled slowly.
"I can hardly wait to see you, Peter Petrelli," he said quietly, his voice echoing in the dimly lit room. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, remembering with pleasure the precognitive picture he had painted of himself stabbing Peter with a samurai sword. He had not painted what would happen next, but he already knew. He would take Peter Petrelli's power. "Things are working out for me today."
The door handle turned, then the metal door slowly began to open.
Nathan reached around Peter and grabbed the door handle, slamming the door hard. The man on the other side swore profusely. Half grinning with adrenaline, Nathan turned to his brother and Phoebe. "Find us another way out of this room. And hurry!" He shoved his shoulder hard against the door, clenching his teeth as the metal shuddered under a blow from the other side.
Phoebe and Peter moved into the center of the room, their eyes scanning the walls frantically.
"There aren't any other doors!" Peter exclaimed, his voice cracking with panic.
"And no windows," Phoebe added. She spun around, meeting Peter's eyes instead. "What do we do?" she whispered breathlessly. "We're stuck in here without our powers!"
From across the room, Nathan cursed as the door popped open, shoving him backward. He managed to keep his balance, flinging himself back at the door, slamming it shut with a clang. "Peter! Phoebe! We have to do something now!"
"Phoebe, help me move this desk," said Peter quickly, moving to stand by one of the big metal desks.
"What I wouldn't give for my telekinesis right now!" Phoebe groaned as she helped Peter shove the desk up against the door, giving Nathan a break.
"Or some super strength," Peter added wryly. As soon as the desk was in place, he stepped back and sighed, tossing a stray bang out of his eyes. Then he looked up at the ceiling--and grinned.
"Pete, why are you smiling?" Nathan snapped. "We're stuck in a death trap!"
"We're not stuck, Nathan!" Peter replied excitedly, hopping up onto the desk. Biting his lower lip in concentration, he reached up and began tugging on something on the ceiling.
"What are you doing?" Phoebe asked him quickly, hope rekindling inside her.
"This always works in the movies," Peter told her with a crooked grin. With a cry of triumph, he tossed a ceiling panel down to the floor, then held a hand out to Phoebe. "Come on."
A few minutes later, Phoebe found herself crawling inside the basement ceiling, following Peter and followed by Nathan. Below her, she could hear the angry shouts of the foiled thugs.
"I think we're over the room across the hall now," Peter called back. "I'm gonna try to loosen up this panel… and then we'll find out."
"Great plan, Pete," Nathan muttered, rolling his eyes.
Peter quickly loosened the panel and dropped it into the room below. "Yeah. We're in the other room. And uh… I guess I'll just drop down."
"Be careful," Phoebe told him, her voice tight with intensity.
"I will," said Peter, sliding around in the ceiling so that his feet were positioned over the hole he had just made. "Here goes nothing." Then he dropped out of sight, and Phoebe held her breath. "Ouch! Ow! I'm okay! I'm okay!"
Phoebe sighed shakily. "Good. I'm coming."
Brennan Ashton frowned, teeth clenched, as he listened to Sylar's voice through his cell phone. "Yes, sir. We'll do that, sir." With a sigh, he flipped his phone closed and turned to Bill and Fred. "Orders from the top, guys. We're supposed to shut off our bracelets."
"What!?" Bill exclaimed. "No way, man."
"Sylar says jump, so we make like frogs," Brennan replied. He held up his wrist and quickly flipped the switch on his metal bracelet. "I don't like it, though. I feel much safer with this thing on."
"Not like it helped us get through that door," Fred muttered.
The three hired hands glared at the barricaded metal door.
"I hate these freaks," said Bill.
Peter, Phoebe, and Nathan were just reaching the door to the hall when Peter stopped walking with a gasp, causing his girlfriend and brother to run into him.
"What is it?" Phoebe asked quickly.
"Something happened…" He held up his hands and looked at them, then turned to meet Phoebe's eyes. "Do you feel it?"
Phoebe suddenly did. She nodded. "Yes." Turning around, she reached out with telekinesis to replace the ceiling tile Peter had broken out. "My power is back."
Unable to resist, Nathan levitated for a few seconds. "I think our chances for survival just went up."
Peter pressed his hands against the door and concentrated. "Those five guys just got in the room we were in. They know how we got out." He turned to face Nathan and Phoebe, an intense look in his eyes. "I want both of you to leave--now. You have enough time."
"We're not leaving you to face Sylar alone," Phoebe argued, crossing her arms. "I know that's what you want, but… No. Not gonna happen."
"Phoebe--" Peter started.
"Peter," Nathan interrupted, moving to stand close behind his brother's girlfriend. "She's right."
Faced with the opposition of his beloved brother and the woman he loved, Peter yielded, bolstered by the remembrance that it was him he had drawn getting stabbed, not Nathan or Phoebe. "Okay. You can come with me, just… Stay back, alright?"
"I'm not making any promises, Pete," Nathan said sternly.
"Me, either," Phoebe quickly agreed.
"We have to go in after them!" Claire insisted, her voice catchy with held-back tears. "They could be stuck in there without their powers!"
"It's too dangerous, Claire," Noah replied firmly, taking her arm. "Those men in there are armed. Don't you remember how they shot Nathan?"
"Yes!" Claire exclaimed, jerking her arm out of his grasp. "And that's exactly why I'm going in there!"
"The cheerleader is right," Hiro spoke up, pushing his glasses up his nose. "We cannot leave our friends in mall alone. We must help them."
"Fine." Noah loudly cocked his shotgun. "We're going in."
"They're coming back this way!" Peter whispered quickly to the Phoebe and Nathan as they stood frozen in the hallway.
"Well we can stand and fight them," Phoebe declared steadfastly, stepping around Peter.
"No!" Peter grabbed her arm and pulled her back against him. "They can always turn their bracelets back on." His dark eyes frantically scanned the hallway, darting this way and that. Finally, they settled on a door. "There's no one in there. Let's go."
The three heroes slipped into the other room just as their enemies entered the hall.
Behind the big metal door, Nathan let out a sigh of relief. "That was close. Now what?"
They were in an empty storage room, similar in shape and size to the other rooms in the basement of the mall. Only, this one had another door.
"Through there," said Peter, nodding toward the door.
As the Petrelli brothers walked toward the door, Phoebe hung back, her breath nearly squeezed from her lungs by a sudden, cold tightness. In her mind's eye, she could see Peter's hand stretching out toward the little window on the door, blood dripping from his fingers…
"Phoebe?" Nathan turned and met her eyes, frowning with concern. "What's the matter?"
"The--the door. It's the one. The one from the picture." She lifted a shaky arm and pointed. "See the little window?"
Peter turned to face her. "It will be alright, Phoebe." He moved to her side, taking her hand and drawing her to his chest. As she rested her head against him, he whispered softly, "This is the only way."
A bittersweet tremor ran through her body at his words. "Peter, no…" She started to pull back.
Suddenly, the windowed door swung open, narrowly missing Nathan, who jumped back toward Peter and Phoebe, spreading his arms protectively.
From the shadows of the room beyond, a familiar figure stepped through the doorway with a smile on his face and a sword in his hand. "Peter's right, Phoebe," said Sylar. "This is the only way."
Brennan, Bill, and Fred stepped out into the hallway, angry and annoyed.
"Tricky little bastards," big Bill muttered as they headed across the hall toward the opposite room.
Before the three henchmen could reach the door, a voice called with cold calm, "All of you--freeze! And turn those bracelets off!"
Brennan groaned at the sight facing them--the little Japanese man, the blonde teenager, and a man with glasses and a shotgun. The henchman's spirits lifted, however, when he realized that the intruders were operating under the false assumptions that the bracelets were actually on…
"Stand back, Nathan," Peter ordered his brother through clenched teeth.
"No, Peter." Nathan shook his head, still placing himself between Sylar and the others. "I won't let you do this."
"Nathan, move."
Again, Nathan shook his head.
Peter slipped out of Phoebe's arms, stepped forward, and turned toward his brother. He raised a hand and flicked his fingers, sending Nathan sliding backward, halting at Phoebe's side. With a stern frown, Peter faced Sylar. "How did you get that sword?" he demanded.
"Peter!" Phoebe screamed. She lunged toward him, but Nathan caught her, holding her tightly against him.
"No, Phoebe," Nathan told her quietly. "We've got to bide our time."
Phoebe nodded tightly and tried to relax in his arms.
Sylar laughed and stepped back into the other room. "Your little friend rescued the blind girl, but he left this behind. Unfortunately for him, his little rescue means nothing to me. What happens to you next, Peter…" He chuckled. "Now that means a lot to me."
Peter rushed forward, following Sylar into the other room.
From where Phoebe stood, she could see that the second room was much larger than the one she was standing in, its far wall covered in strange-looking machinery. And just inside the door, Peter and Sylar stood facing each other.
Phoebe looked up at Nathan. "Nathan?" she asked, her voice shaky, her nerves close to panic. "Now?"
Attempting an encouraging smile, Nathan nodded. He planted a brotherly kiss on her forehead. "Now."
And with that, the two of them rushed toward the door.
"I don't think so," Sylar called out. He reached out a hand and, with a clang, the metal door slammed shut.
"Alright! Alright!" The man with the gray coat lifted his hands and turned to face Hiro, Noah, and Claire. "We'll turn them off…" He reached toward the bracelet on his wrist with a grin.
"Wait!"
The men all looked with surprise at Claire.
"Something's not right," said Claire, frowning. "Dad…" She gave her adoptive father a warning look.
"What is it, Claire?" He glanced quickly at her, then turned his eyes back to the henchmen.
"I don't know. I just feel…" She sighed. "Hang on a second." She moved closer to the wall and drew back her arm, slamming her hand against the wall as hard as she could.
"Claire!" Noah exclaimed.
"Ouch," said Hiro, wincing for her.
Claire held up her hand, and the men all watched as the bruises on it faded quickly. "We still have our powers!" Claire exclaimed. "The bracelets are off already!"
With a muttered curse, Noah turned back to the three men. "Drop any weapons you're holding, and do it now," he ordered.
"Not on your life!" cried the man in the back, the big one whom Hiro recognized. He reached into his jacket and grabbed something small and round, then ripped something from it, something that fell to the ground with a ping. Then, holding it above his head, he cocked back his arm.
When Hiro recognized the object as a grenade, he sprung into action.