CHAPTER 28
Mira wasn't surprised that Sylar was gone in the morning. She had come to the conclusion that he just didn't sleep. She never really thought about it before, but that must be why he never could make it through a night.
She crossed the busy road, heading towards the hospital. She saw Noah Bennet just a ways a head of her, walking towards the doors.
"Bennet!" she shouted. He turned and looked directly towards her. He waved as she quickened her pace to join him.
"You look great," he said as she approached him. She hugged him.
"Thanks. I'm glad you could join me," she said. "There's so much I have to do. I just…" Noah shushed her, she was rambling again.
"It's okay, let's just go check on Noah, and then we'll go talk to Jazz, okay?" he offered. She nodded in compromise.
They entered the Labor and Delivery wing of the hospital, and headed towards the nursery. A nurse was in with baby Noah, checking his vitals. He was a strong baby. Every day he'd make a little more progress. Mira smiled in relief as she saw him wrap his tiny hand around the nurse's finger.
Noah put his arm around Mira and ushered her away. As they left, they could hear voices in one of the offices. They slowed down to listen.
"I think you've spent enough time with the boy, Dr. Collins. Just to remind you, I am leading Pediatric Surgeon on this case. You need to let me do my job," a woman lectured. They caught a glimpse of her and also caught Dr. Collins' eye.
"Mira! Ms. Ensley, it's nice to see you, we were just discussing your son, Noah's case." He looked at Dr. Carrington for reassurance. She smiled at Mira and Noah and came around the side of her desk to greet them.
"I'm Dr. Lucy Carrington. I've been caring for Noah."
"Is everything alright? Didn't sound very friendly as we approached," Mr. Bennet stated, looking back and forth between the two doctors.
"I guess I was just watching over her shoulder too carefully with Noah." He looked at her, and she was silent. "I was just convinced something would go wrong with the poor child that I just was hovering a bit too much."
Mira glared at him, she could sense he was lying. Noah stared at Dr. Carrington who was staring through her desk.
"Well, we were just leaving," Noah said.
"Thank you for stopping by," Dr. Carrington said, jumping back into the conversation. "Here's my private line if you have any questions for me," she said, handing a business card to Mira. She took it out of the doctor's hand and put it in the back pocket of her jeans.
"Thanks," Mira muttered, looking to Bennet for direction.
"Nice meeting you," Noah said to Dr. Carrington as they left the room. Mira headed down the hallway as Noah closed the door behind him.
"He's getting way too into my kid," Mira said, quickly flying down the hall. Bennet sped forward to catch up with her.
"I think we have a friend in Dr. Carrington. I think we should talk to her privately. She could tell us more," he said, pulling her arm and trying to slow her down. She halted quickly and turned to face him.
"I don't care what you do, but I need to find Jazz now, and just ask her flat out if it was him. I can't do anything else until I know for sure," she spat out. Noah nodded, thinking about it.
"You're right. Let's go see Jazz," he agreed.
She grabbed his hand and closed her eyes. Within moments they appeared in an alleyway. They both checked the ends of the alley, making sure no one saw. They headed around towards the back door. It was jimmy rigged to stay open for the smokers that worked there. They crept in silently and she led him to a dressing room. The door was shut and locked. Mira tapped on it softly.
"Who is it?!" someone yelled from inside. Mira cleared her throat.
"Catering!" Noah shouted in a Spanish accent. They could hear the knob pop as she unlocked the door and walked back towards the lit mirror. She gasped when she saw their reflections. She spun around quickly and lunged for her purse. Mira grabbed her telekinetically and stopped her in her tracks. She turned her to face them. Mira's smile reflected the one on Bennet's face as Jazz stared at them in horror.
"Oh honey calm down, if I wanted you dead, you'd already be by now," Mira taunted her.
"Jasmine, we just wanted to ask you a couple questions, then we'll go," Noah tried to smooth things over with Jazz. She nodded, just wanting to get this over with.
"The man that sent you after me…what did he look like?"
"He was tall and thin. Older. Maybe 50's-ish."
"What was his name?" Noah intervened. There was silence on Jazz's end.
"You know his name, Jazz. I do, too. I saw you two at the bar the night you met him. I remember him. Marty? Do you remember what he said to you that night?"
Jazz was frozen in fear. She couldn't believe Mira knew that.
"What did he say to you, Jazz?" Noah asked calmly. She looked at him.
"He told me to call him if I felt like making some money, so I did. He told me what I had to do and I tried."
"Failed miserably, huh?" Mira reminded her. Jazz glared at her.
"He still got what he wanted from you," Jazz reminded her. Mira gritted her teeth at the snotty comment. "Hell, he's probably already adding the blood he got from you during surgery to the serum, and testing it on himself. By the time you get there, he'd already have his power back."
"Your serum?" Mira asked, perplexed.
"He said if I got you, he'd share it with me. So I could do what you did," Jazz said as she looked away.
"Marty's not who you think he is. He's not going to help some worthless singer in a bar. He's out for himself, and he would have just taken your powers and killed you too," Mira stated bluntly.
"No! That's not true," Jazz defended.
"What'd he say this serum does?" Noah asked, redirecting her.
"He said he used to be powerful. His magic was taken away by some old guy that stole his powers, and this would get them back."
"Why did he need my blood?" Mira chimed in.
"He said he'd get his power back if he mixed the serum with the other peoples blood that had the skills that made up his original power."
"Which was? What skills did he need?"
"I don't know," she whispered.
"Don't lie to me!" Mira raised her tone with warning.
"I don't! All he told me was that he needed your blood. He wouldn't hurt you, he just needed your power."
"We've got to go find him," Noah stated as Mira stared at Jazz. She could feel Jazz's hatred towards her. She started to become enraged herself. He opened the door and stopped when she didn't follow. "Mira, we don't have time-"
"You go, I'll catch up with you," she said as she stared at Jazz. She slammed the door shut telekinetically and locked him out. He wanted to pound on the door, but didn't want anyone to hear him. He began trying to pick the lock.
Mira stood over Jazz quietly.
"What are you doing?" Jazz asked her.
"What power do you have?" she asked. Jazz ignored her. "We've discussed this before. I know you have an ability, just tell me what it is," she hissed the last few words.
"You've known what my gift was since you met me," she said.
"I'm not in the mood for games," Mira warned her. Jazz refused to speak. Mira lifted her hand and pointed towards her head. "Fine, if you won't tell me, I'll find out myself," she shook as her hand moved slowly, parallel to Jazz's forehead. She began to whimper in pain. Mira opened her hand and walked towards Jazz. She placed her palm on her forehead. She felt a swirl of energy go through her. It pulled her in, she couldn't really tell how it worked, but she could feel how it felt. She sighed and was suddenly pulled away.
Noah had reentered the room. He broke her concentration, and Jazz fell to the floor unconscious. Mira realized what she had just done and dropped to her knees. Noah ran over to inspect Jazz.
"What did I do?" she whispered. Noah was silent, he could hear people coming down the corridor. He ran over to Mira.
"You have to get us out of here, now. Take us back to your apartment," he tried to get her to focus. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Mira, we have to go, she's dead, and we need to leave. Someone's coming," he said as he held her face in his hands. He stared at her like a disappointed father. She never knew how bad that could feel.
Mira took a deep breath, took Bennet's hand, and closed her eyes, trying to concentrate. She was still weak from absorbing Jazz's powers. Within seconds they were gone. When she opened her eyes, Mira was back in her apartment, with Bennet next to her. She excused herself and ran into her bathroom. She thought about what she had just done. She had just killed someone for their power.
*
