Chapter Twenty-Six: Clandestine Meeting

June 11, 2007

They quickly slipped out of the beach house that afternoon, glancing over their shoulders at the house to make sure they weren't being watched. Once they were away from the house, they grabbed hands and quickly disappeared into thin air.

Kaito Nakamura sat on the deck of the beach house in Tahiti, sipping his coffee with his son beside him. He sat up straight with surprise as the four visitors appeared on the beach in front of him. "What on earth?" He asked, as he set his coffee cup down on the table.

Peter grinned sheepishly at him as Niki, Candice and Mohinder stood by. "We sort of need to talk to you, Sir." He glanced over at Hiro and shrugged. "It has to do with Mom's plans, if you know what I mean."

Kaito sighed and nodded. "You can speak freely with Hiro here, I've already told him everything about your mother's 'plans'." Kaito's mouth screwed up with distaste.

"I thought you might have." Peter and the others walked onto the deck and took seats. Everyone looked to Peter as he leaned forward on his elbows, his fingers tented under his chin. "I don't like her plans, Mr. Nakamura."

"I don't either, and call me Kaito." Nakamura sat back in his chair. "I take it you have a plan?"

Peter raised an eyebrow as he nodded. "I might."

Kaito regarded Peter for a moment, his face slowly breaking into a sly smile. "I thought as much." He nodded. "Keep talking."

"I will in just a moment." Peter looked around. "We're going to need the Bennets here for this as well as Matt." He turned to Hiro. "Can you go upstairs and get them while I get Claude?"

Hiro nodded and walked into the house as Peter disappeared, teleporting to Barrow.

July 14, 2004

Ava climbed out of the tub, drying herself off as she heard a knock on her hotel room door. "Room service, THANK GOD!" She pulled on a robe, wrapping it around her as she opened the door, her eyes widening as Linderman smiled at her. "Mr. Linderman?"

"Hello Avery." Linderman stepped into her room. "Apparently I seem to always catch you coming out of the bath, yes?" He turned as Ava continued to stare at him. "I came here to Bogota as soon as I heard the news about your victory with the Juarez couple, your victory and Simon's. Congratulations, my Dear."

"How did you-?" Ava shook her head. "You know everything, of course."

"Yes, I do." Linderman's words were pointed as his eyes bored into Ava's. "I do know EVERYTHING."

Ava swallowed back the lump that began to form in her throat. "Sir?"

"Did you know that when we suspect our agents of wrongdoing, we sweep their apartments when they're not home?" Ava's eyes closed as she leaned against the wall. "Our team found some cameras in your home. They also found some interesting footage of a little tryst between yourself and Agent Thompson that took place right before you came here. Care to explain what's going on?"

"Oh God." Ava could feel the blood draining from her face as her mind began to scramble for an explanation, something, anything to tell Linderman.

"God isn't going to help you with this." Linderman pulled his shoulders back and shook his head as tears began to slide from Ava's closed eyes. "I seem to remember asking you once before if you and Agent Thompson were having an affair. You denied it. You lied to me, Avery. You either lied because Thompson has something on you that he's holding over your head, or you lied because you ENJOY what Thompson does to you. I think it's the former instead of the latter, judging by the footage in your apartment. I've seen more enthusiasm from convicts going to the death chamber." He sighed as Ava began to slide down the wall, reaching out to steady her. "No time for you to get all girly on me and faint." Taking her arm gently, he led her to the bed and let her sit down before sitting in a chair across from her. "I want to know what's going on and I want to know it now."

Ava nodded slowly, taking a deep breath to keep her composure as she blushed, embarrassed for almost fainting. "What do you want to know?"

Linderman leaned forward, his eyes glittering. "Everything."

June 11, 2007

Sylar rolled over in bed, wrapping his arms around a sleeping Ava as he nuzzled the back of her neck. "Morning." He whispered.

"What time is it?" Ava asked sleepily.

"It's actually noon, it's not morning anymore." Sylar began to nibble on Ava's earlobe as his hands slid under the heavy blankets. "Don't you think it's time to get up now?"

Ava shivered with pleasure as his hands began to caress her. "We've barely slept as it is." Ava rolled over to face him. "Someone kept waking me up when he should have been taking it easy."

"I HAVE been taking it easy." Sylar began to kiss Ava, his lips traveling down her neck. "Slow, gentle, steady paces, very easy wouldn't you say?"

"You're supposed to be resting, not waking me up every hour for sex no matter now slow, gentle and easy it is." Ava smiled as she began to kiss Sylar back. "God, I'm hungry."

"Me too." Sylar began to kiss her more passionately, sighing with frustration as Ava pushed him away.

"For FOOD, jackass." Ava laughed. "Aren't YOU hungry? It's been a few hours since Claude brought you dinner, and I barely ate yesterday too."

"I'm really not in the mood for food." Sylar began to tackle again and groaned as his stomach began to growl. "Just ignore that. " He whispered.

"I can't. Mine's been doing that for the last few hours." Ava shivered as she pulled the covers off of the bed and climbed out of it, quickly dressing as Sylar burrowed back under the blankets. "GOD IT'S COLD!"

"I thought this building was made to keep it warm in here." Sylar complained as he snuggled back under the covers.

"Imagine how cold it would be if that wasn't true." Ava sighed as she walked to a thermostat. "It's set to keep the heater running until this room reaches seventy-five degrees, but it's only fifty in here right now." She turned to Sylar. "What do you want?"

"You, back in bed." Sylar nodded.

Ava grinned. "I meant to eat."

"And I say again, YOU." Sylar sighed. "It would be warmer in here if we kept our blood pumping."

"Later." Ava pulled on Sylar's pullover over her jeans and sweater. "I'll be back in a while. There's a galley here that's supposed to be fully stocked."

"Hurry." Sylar watched as she walked out of the room. He stretched under the covers and rubbed his face, grimacing at the raspy sound of stubble. "Damn, no wonder she didn't want to do anything. I was probably giving her rug burn." He sat up slowly, looking around the room.

Their quarters consisted of a living area with a bed, couch, dressers and a table and chairs, with a bathroom off to the side. Sylar twitched his fingers, opening the doors to an entertainment center on the wall opposite the bed. "SWEET!" He sat up, smiling with appreciation at the wide-screen, high definition television with a DVD player. "Oh, tell me we've got cable!" He twitched his fingers again to turn on the television and frowned as the picture was filled with static. "Snow outside and snow inside." Sylar turned off the television and rubbed his cheek again. "Okay, let's see if the shower's at least hot." He brought his clothes to him with a wave of his hand, dressing under the covers before climbing out of bed. Cursing as his bare feet hit the icy floor, he goose-stepped to the bathroom. "Note to self, next time put on socks." He grumbled as he ran into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. The bathroom was spartan, with white tiled floors and walls, a deep clawfoot bathtub on one side of the room, a shower stall on the other, with two sinks and a toilet between them. Sylar pulled a towel and washcloth out of the linen closet before turning on the shower, nodding as steam began to fill the room. "At least the showers are hot." He let the room warm up as he found toiletries for himself and Ava under the sinks and finally undressed, groaning with pleasure as the hot water hit his skin.

He stepped out of the bathroom a half hour later in a cloud of steam, dressed again and clean-shaven. Looking around, he sighed as he realized that Ava hadn't yet returned. Shivering, he walked to the thermostat and adjusted it, tapping it as he grimaced. "Bet you're just here for show." He muttered before walking around the room, looking at the collection of DVDs in the entertainment center and opening drawers. "They even put our clothes away." He laughed softly and then frowned as he opened one drawer, noticing a sketch pad and colored pencils that had been placed there. Pulling them out, he walked to the bed and climbed in, wrapping the blankets around him as he glanced at the door nervously. Shrugging, he opened the pad and began to see a pattern forming on the blank paper. Moments later, his eyes white and unseeing, he began to draw.

July 14, 2004

Linderman paced the room as Ava sat on the bed, her eyes red and puffy. "This has been going on since your eighteenth birthday." He glanced over at Ava. "Correct?" She nodded mutely. "And he's been holding this over your head, forcing you to submit to him by threatening to kill Claude and the Bennet family if you didn't comply or if you told anyone."

"Yes Sir." Ava whispered.

"And you lied to me when I first asked you about this because you were afraid that I wouldn't be able to get to Thompson in time before he sent an order to have your friends murdered, is that correct?" Ava nodded, her expression miserable. Linderman sighed as he patted her shoulder gently. "You've been dealing with quite a burden these last few years, with him pawing at you. Does this have anything to do with Claude being accused of hiding others?"

Ava frowned. "He was hiding others with special abilities, but Thompson went after him for it after Claude found out about us. He apparently attacked Thompson when he found out what was going on." She wiped tears away as they rolled down her cheeks. "Claude's still alive, Sir. I helped him get away."

"I see." Linderman shook his head. "Anything else?"

"Thompson doctored evidence to make it look like Bennet was in cahoots with Claude. That's how he kept Claude silent. He told Claude that if he gave you that evidence, Bennet would be killed too and then he implied that, with Bennet out of the way, he would have access to Claire if she ever manifested." Ava shuddered. "He threatened to do to her what he's been doing to me all of these years."

Linderman's mouth tightened. "He would never have access to that girl. You wouldn't have reason to know this, but if anything were to happen to Noah and or Sandra Bennet, Claire would be returned to her birth family." As Ava stared up at him, Linderman nodded. "I know them well. Thompson won't ever have any kind of 'access' to THAT girl!" He sat back in his chair, his eyes boring into Ava. "Do you have proof, if Thompson came forward with this evidence against Noah, that it is indeed false?" He closed his eyes as Ava shook her head miserably. "Of course not."

"There's something else I should tell you, Sir." Ava shrank on the bed, her head lowered. "I'm still in contact with Claude."

"Oh?" Linderman raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Ava sat up, looking Linderman in the eye. "I'm not giving him up, either."

"I see." Linderman picked a piece of lint off of his pants as he nodded. "And you're telling me this because?"

"Because there's something else that Thompson's holding over my head." Ava took a deep breath and told Linderman about the events at the bank in New York." Linderman nodded as she talked. "Thompson now has that over my head as well."

Linderman took a deep breath. "So not only have you been lying about your 'relationship' with Thompson to protect Raines and Bennet, you've also been lying to save your own skin. You continued to have contact with someone we've disavowed at the very least and would still like to get rid of at the most, you've lied about an agent's sexual abuse of you to protect said disavowed agent as well as another agent and his family, and your contact with that disavowed agent led to the death of another of our agents when he was ordered to take you out. Is there ANYTHING else?" Ava slowly shook her head as Linderman closed his eyes. "Quite a lot of information to deal with." He nodded. "Let's start with your relationship with Thompson, shall we?" He leaned forward, smiling at her. "How would you like the opportunity to take Thompson out?" His smile widened as Ava stared at him, shocked. "His abuse of you and his powers has warranted it."

"When?" Ava whispered.

"Soon." Linderman shook his head. "If you'd told the truth about all of this when I first confronted you about it, Thompson would be cold in his grave already." He sighed. "Unfortunately, some information has come to light. I'm going to need Agent Thompson around a bit longer to help me carry out a little project of mine, but as soon as that's over with, he'll be handed over to you for extermination." He smiled softly. "You can make it as quick and painless, or as slow and painful as you'd like."

"Okay." Ava nodded. "What kind of project do you need him for? Do you need my help?" She grinned. "Anything to speed up the process, right?"

Linderman chuckled. "Oh, you're really going to make him pay for what he's done to you, aren't you? No, I'm not going to need you for this project, however I do need you for something else."

"What?" Ava smiled. "Anything you need, Sir."

"If you follow through with this, as well, I'll forgive your protection of Agent Raines and I won't retaliate against you for it. I'll also look the other way if you continue to contact him, but it'll just be between the two of us, understood? If anyone else, say Bennet, found out about Agent Raines' survival and he had to go after him, I won't be able to protect him."

"Okay." Ava nodded.

Linderman smiled. "There are two things I need from you, actually." He leaned forward. "We've installed new cameras in your apartment. These are equipped with sound and all audio and visual are going to be downloaded onto a new computer that is now in the home office of your apartment. You are to copy everything to DVD and keep it in a safe place. That way, when you DO take Thompson out, you'll have evidence to back up the legitimacy of your termination of him. I want YOU to get him to confess that he doctored evidence against Bennet and I want you to get him to threaten Claire again as well. That way, after he's eliminated, Noah will be safe from retaliation from anyone who gets that doctored evidence."

"Yes Sir." Ava smiled softly.

"And the second thing I need you to do is this," Linderman shrugged "well, let me ask you something first, okay? Why did you turn down the advances of Agent Lopez?"

Ava frowned and stared at the floor. "Because nothing would come of it and if Thompson found out about it, he would have-" she shook her head "-he wouldn't have liked it, Sir."

"Was that the only thing holding you back?"

Ava looked up at Linderman, her brow furrowing. "How did you know about Simon hitting on me?"

"It's like you said earlier, I know everything." Linderman laughed softly. "You're a young woman, he's a young man, of course he'd make advances towards you."

"He said he was in love with me." Ava whispered.

"He possibly could be." Linderman reached out and took her hands in his, patting them gently. "And how do you feel about HIM?"

"I don't know." Ava shook her head. "I like him. I'm attracted to him, but other than that-" She shrugged. "It doesn't matter, really. I'm going back to Texas in the morning and back to Thompson." Her nose wrinkled as the mention of his name. "But I can take it, now that I know there's an end in sight."

"True." Linderman smiled at him. "I'm going to be giving Thompson what he thinks will be a promotion for now. He'll be sent to Austin. He's still going to have some access to you, but I think you'll be able to stomach that, don't you think?"

Ava nodded. "Who'll take over the Odessa office?"

"Bennet." Linderman winked at her. "You and the Haitian will be his second and third in command there. You'll all still report to Thompson, but with him in Austin, you'll at least get some breathing room away from him. You'll also start splitting time between Odessa and Bogota. You and Agent Lopez made an interesting team, I think you two as partners will be quite spectacular, don't you think?"

"We did work well together." Ava nodded again, then frowned. "But if you're going to kill Thompson for-"

Linderman held up his hand. "-I don't have a problem with people that work for me becoming involved, as long as it's consensual, and as long as they realize that their loyalties to me and the company supersede everything else. By finally being honest with me tonight, you've more than proven your loyalty and trust in me. I trust that if you and Agent Lopez become involved, you'll still be loyal to the company above and beyond everything else, correct?"

"Yes, Sir."

"You're a young woman. You SHOULD date, you SHOULD be out there, meeting men. In the line of work you're in, where else ARE you going to meet them, yes?" He laughed softly. "Don't let this job be your life, just let it be a facet of it. There are other facets you should explore. You should date, possibly marry, start a family. Bennet is able to do well at having work and a family, I think you would too."

"Okay." Ava blinked as she looked around the room.

"Okay." Linderman patted her hands one final time. "I'm going to leave you to your thoughts. Thank you for being honest with me, finally."

"You're welcome." Ava sighed. "Thank you for not killing me after finally telling you everything."

Linderman chuckled. "Oh, you're welcome!" He turned and walked towards the door his eyes widening as he opened it to see a room service waiter standing at the door. "I believe this is for you."

"I think so." Ava stood and walked to the door, letting the waiter in and tipping him as he left. She shrugged. "After eating MRE's for the last few days-"

"-Of course!" Linderman smiled. "After the exemplary job you did at your task in the jungles, consider yourself on vacation for the next week. Stay here, relax and enjoy yourself. Thompson and the others won't expect you back for another week at least anyway. In the meantime, I'll head to Odessa and give Thompson his promotion."

Ava's eyes widened in surprise. "I can stay here for a week on vacation? THANKS!"

"You're more than welcome." Linderman pecked her quickly on the cheek. "Such a good agent. Take care, My Dear."

"You too, Sir." Ava closed the door behind him and sat on the bed, pulling the meal cart towards her as she relished the idea of having a week to herself. Smiling with relief, she began to cry and laugh, a weight finally lifted from her shoulders. Shaking her head, she turned to the phone, Linderman's words echoing in her head as she dialed a number.

June 11, 2007

Sylar sat back, his eyes returning to normal as he looked around the room, dazed. He glanced at a clock and realized that he'd been drawing for thirty minutes. Staring down at the sketch pad, his eyes widened in horror as he realized what he'd drawn. A woman lay face down in the snow, dressed in body armor, a pool of blood spreading underneath her. Her long red hair covered her face, a helmet lay beside her as a translucent hand reached for her ankle. In the background, four men were fighting, three dark-haired men, one with a sword, against a blond man with claws. They appeared to be grappling with the blond. Sylar stared at the men, noticing how they seemed to be disappearing from the picture. He tore his eyes away from the men to stare at the woman as she lay in the snow, obviously dead or dying.

"I'm back!" Sylar looked up to see Ava walk through the bedroom door, pulling a meal cart behind her. He quickly closed the sketch pad and hid it, along with the pencils under the bed as she came in the room. "You wouldn't BELIEVE all of the food in that galley! They're definitely stocked for an army, let me tell you! There was this HUGE walk-in freezer with all kinds of different meats and-" She shook her head, laughing "-With the exception of the cold temperatures and icky décor, I think I could just live here forever."

Sylar smiled softly, his heart pounding as he thought of the sketch he'd just drawn. "Sounds great. What's for lunch?"

"Well, it took me FOREVER to decide what to cook , but I finally decided on steak!" Ava lifted up the covers on two plates. "They had the most wonderful looking t-bones in there and the kitchen in there is incredible. There was an indoor grill."

Sylar nodded, suddenly realizing that he'd lost his appetite. "Sounds good."

"I looked for Claude, but I couldn't find him." Ava shrugged. "He's probably strapped on some snowshoes and tried to find his way to town to look for some hot Eskimo or something." She laughed softly. "Knowing him, he'll find one, too." She turned and finally noticed Sylar's stricken expression, her smile fading. "What's wrong?"

Sylar shook his head. "Dinner looks good, but I suddenly don't feel so well."

"Oh no!" Ava walked over to him and stroked his face. "You took a shower and shaved." She leaned down, kissing him softly. "You overdid it, didn't you?"

Sylar nodded, his eyes darting to the floor. "Yeah, I think I did."

"Tell you what," Ava smiled at him "I'll put your food up in the fridge in the galley and when you're feeling a little better, just let me know and I'll bring it back to you, okay?"

"Okay." Sylar reached up and touched her face, letting his fingers glide along her cheek. He stared into her eyes, trying to will away the thought of the sketch that he'd hidden under the bed. He stroked her hair, studying the dark brown shade. "You know, I'm starting to like this color. You should keep it."

Ava snorted as she stepped away from him and sat at the table, pulling her plate towards her as she began to eat. "Not likely. I don't feel right as a brunette."

"It's a very lovely color on you." Sylar nodded emphatically. "You should keep it. Honestly."

Ava shook her head as she ate. "Please. I was born a redhead. I even have the temper that goes along with it. I should go back to my natural red if anything, to give someone a bit of a warning before I go off on them." She sighed. "Actually, there's a box of red color under the sink. I saw it this morning. I guess Angela had that sent here too. I'll probably color it back red later." She noticed Sylar's expression and frowned. "What?"

"Nothing." Sylar shrugged. "I like the red too, but the chestnut-" he struggled to smile at her "-that's the color your hair was the first time I met you. It makes me think of Melissa McCain, the girl I crushed on last year."

Ava smiled softly. "Well, maybe after I go back to being a redhead, I'll dye it back this color for special occasions or something."

Sylar sighed. "Maybe." He lay back on the bed and bundled up in the covers. Closing his eyes, he pretended to doze off until he heard Ava finish eating. He listened as she put her plate back on the cart and left the room, pushing it back to the kitchen. As soon as she was down the hall, he jumped up and ran to the bathroom. Listening as Ava washed dishes and put his plate in the refrigerator, he searched under the sink until he found the box of hair color that she'd mentioned. He quickly opened the box and poured the dye down the sink, washing away any trace of it before he took the box and slipped out of the room. Finding a trashcan, he tossed everything away and dashed back to their quarters, slipping back under the covers. He closed his eyes as Ava returned a few minutes later and listened as she walked over to him. His heart pounded as he felt her hands graze his forehead, then her lips. He opened his eyes and looked up at her as she smiled down at him.

"Just checking for a fever." Ava winked at him. "Go back to sleep, Honey."

"What are you going to do?" He murmured sleepily.

"Shower and become Ava again, red hair and all." She grinned as she walked into the bathroom. Sylar listened as she searched for the coloring, smiling to himself. He heard her sigh and give up before the shower started. He rolled over and pulled the sketch pad out. Staring at the picture again, he shook his head.

"This isn't going to happen to you, Baby. It'll be me lying in a pool of blood before I let YOU die like that." Closing the pad again, he tossed it back under the bed and lay back. "It's not going to happen. I'll be damned if it does."

July 14, 2004

Simon sat back in the chair Linderman had been sitting in an hour earlier, watching as Ava finished her meal. "Why do I get the impression that you actually ordered just enough for yourself?"

Ava blushed. "Because I did." She laughed softly. "And then I changed my mind after it got here and decided that I wanted you to come over and share it with me."

"Why?" Simon's eyes narrowed.

Ava sighed. "I've been thinking about what you said. I'm not in love with you, but I do want-" she looked away "-Mr. Linderman was here earlier. He's letting me stay here for a week on vacation and after I return to Texas, I'm supposed to continue to report here on occasion to be partnered with you."

"I see." Simon nodded.

"Anyway, I was thinking that along with being your partner in the field, maybe we could be partners in other ways too."

Simon raised an eyebrow. "Just what other ways were you thinking about?"

Ava stood up and pushed the cart away from the bed and Simon's chair. Staring into his eyes, she slowly took off her robe. Simon's eyes traveled over her naked body as she blushed and looked away. "Like I said earlier, I'm not in love with you, but-" she gasped as Simon quickly stood and began to kiss her passionately.

"-I don't really care if you love me or not." Simon began to undress quickly with Ava's help. "You have a week, WE have a week, and after that-"

"-We'll have plenty of time to spend together when I come here for missions." Ava gasped as they fell on the bed together.

"You'll end up feeling for me the same way I feel for you." Simon grinned as they began to make love.

June 11, 2007

Sylar opened his eyes as Ava stepped out of the bathroom and pretended to be surprised. "You're still a brunette."

Ava frowned as she climbed into the bed beside him. "I could have SWORN that there was a box of red hair coloring under the sink." She shrugged. "Maybe it was at the farmhouse in Odessa."

"Maybe." Sylar rolled over and snuggled beside Ava. "You could just stay brunette until this is all over with though." He began to kiss her. "That won't hurt my feelings one bit."

Ava kissed Sylar back and then pushed his hands away as they began to roam under the blankets. "Whoa! Stop right there!"

Sylar's eyes widened. "WHAT?"

"Less than an hour ago you were feeling all sickly and tired. You couldn't even eat, Baby."

"But I'm feeling better now." He began to kiss her again. "MUCH better."

"You're not going to overdo it again." Ava shook her head. "Just go back to sleep, okay? You need your rest."

"But I'm not sleepy." Sylar muttered as Ava pulled him close and snuggled against his back. "Really, I'm not in the mood for sleep."

"I am and you NEED to rest." Ava's lips grazed his ear. "Unless you're feeling up to finally telling me what really scared the shit out of you earlier and what it has to do with keeping me a brunette."

Sylar felt his heart plummet at Ava's words. "How did you-"

"-I could sense your fear, Baby." Ava stroked his hair as she lay next to him. "You were really upset about something when I came into the room and you covered by saying you weren't feeling well. When are you going to figure out that you can't hide stuff like that from me? I SAW that hair color under the sink just this morning. I was checking under the sink to see if there was anything we needed and I know I saw it. It's no coincidence that it went missing right after you got freaked out about something and started trying to talk me into staying a brunette. Now tell me what's going on."

Sylar struggled to speak and shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm going to go to sleep now."

"Sylar-"

"-I don't want to talk about it." Sylar scooted away from Ava as she sighed with exasperation and closed his eyes. "Just keep it brown, okay?"

Ava watched as Sylar kept his back to her. Shaking her head, she rolled over and curled up on her side of the bed. Studying a lock of her hair, she made a face as she tossed it aside. "I'm going back to red, dammit." She muttered as she dozed off.

Kaito sat back in his and studied the others. Sandra, Claire, Lyle, Noah, Matt, Janice, Mohinder, Candice, Niki, Hiro, Claude and Peter watched him. He smiled at all of them. "So we're all in agreement?"

"Rotten bastards." Claude muttered under his breath. "I should have known better than to have rejoined with them."

"Me too." Noah sighed as Sandra squeezed his hand.

"Don't you talk like that, either of you!" Sandra nodded towards Claude. "How were you to know what they were cooking up?"

"Because we've both worked for them for many bloody years!" Claude glared angrily. "I knew they were underhanded, but I never thought they'd resort to THIS!"

"It's not ALL of the board members that have decided on this, just the majority. There IS a minority and they could become quite vocal." Kaito looked pointedly at Claude. "Calling them names right now isn't helping. Besides, would you rather be back with the OWI, or living on the streets in New York?"

"I did quite well in New York, thank you." Claude pouted.

Kaito sighed. "Is everyone HERE in agreement on what should be done about this?" He looked around as everyone nodded. "Any dissenters to this plan should speak up now." He nodded as everyone remained silent. "Then it's settled and we'll not discuss this around Angela, understood? We don't need HER running back to the others to try and stop this. We'll inform Ava and Sylar about the company's plans for them after Kane is defeated to keep them in the loop on this. They have a right to know what's planned for them. Meanwhile, I will go to the other dissenters and see if they can help me convince the others to change their votes. If that doesn't work, we'll find a way to help Ava and Sylar escape and go underground when this is finished. Perhaps he won't have to die by her hand after all." Kaito's expression turned sad. "If he helps defeat the man who killed my Kimiko, I'll owe him a great deal. Keeping him safe and alive will be the least I can do for him after that." He looked up and studied everyone, finally pointing to Peter. "You need to return Mr. Raines to Barrow before anyone realizes he's gone and then you should return to The Hamptons with your friends. What does Angela think you're doing?"

"Collecting seashells and strolling along the beach." Peter laughed softly. "Not that she'll miss us. We bribed Molly and Micah with extra ice cream after dinner if they'd keep Mom occupied. When we left, Molly was 'fixing her hair' while Micah was cajoling her to play Guitar Hero with her. She's got her hands full for a while."

Kaito chuckled. "Oh, I'll bet she does." He stood up. "Then this meeting is adjourned. I'll see everyone in Barrow tomorrow when we all arrive there to finish training and to wait for Kane."

Peter stood and offered his hand to Kaito. "Thanks for hearing me out, Sir."

Kaito beamed as he shook Peter's hand. "You're welcome. Your mother had no idea what she set into motion when she crossed you, did she?"

Peter shrugged. "What can I say? She's always underestimated me."

"Stupid mistake on her part." Kaito nodded as he regarded Peter. "I never thought I'd live to see the day when she made one of those."