ECHOES IN THE DARKNESS
Part XXIX - Bloodlines

Hiro was unable to sleep. All day he had been feeling restless, like his protective spirits were trying to tell him something. At two a.m. when he could no longer stand the tossing and turning, he stepped outside on his balcony into the cold night air looking down at the streets below.

The city was wide awake. From his perspective high above, he could see people as they went about in the night; unaware of the distant threat of a man they knew and worshiped as Phillip Callahan.

And so their time in a peaceful world was coming to an end. He would be the one to make a difference, so they thought. To make right what they felt was wrong with the nation. Oblivious in their world of discontentment the man they worshiped was in all tidings the devil himself. They went on about their business like nothing had changed.

But something had changed. Hiro could feel it in the night air. Since the night of the rain, the evil was among them. Waiting. Watching for the moment to strike.

Hiro recalled the day eight years ago yesterday when terrorists attacked America. He was a student in Japan at that time, but he cried tears of anguish for the world. How naive we all were. Going on about our daily lives as if nothing could ever harm us. But it did.

Closing his eyes, Hiro remembered the words of his grandfather; "When one cries, we all cry." He never understood the meaning of those words; until now.

Behind him Hiro saw a flash. A young man materialize before him. He grabbed his sword, standing armed against the intruder.

"You won't be needing that." The man assured him stepping out of the shadows.

Without his glasses, the man was a blur, but the voice sounded familiar. He could see the man walking closer to him.

"Who are you?" Hiro demanded his visitor.

"Here you go, Hiro San." He bowed to him as he handed Hiro his glasses. "Don't be afraid."

Hiro put on his glasses and looked at his visitor. He nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Gabriel?" He looked closely at him in astonishment. Though he looked like Gabriel, his green eyes were disillusioned and there was a sadness in his voice.

The young man laughed. "Close, but no. My name is Seth Ryan. I am Gabriel and Laura's son. The one she is expecting at this moment."

Hiro smiled happily clapping his hands together. "You come from future! Like me! You teleport?"

Seth smiled. "I have a power similar to yours, Hiro-San. I am able to teleport, but only inside my own lifetime."

Hiro could see the man was kind. He had his father's face, but his build was more defined. His eyes were green like his mothers and his hair was lighter. Hiro could see he did not wear a wedding ring.

He looked Hiro over, giving a friendly chuckle.

"Why you laugh at me?" He asked him, taken aback by his insolence.

"I'm sorry Hiro San, I mean no disrespect." Seth again bowed to Hiro. "In the future I come from, you are sixty three years old with long white hair. You are very wise to the point it is almost scary." Seth smiled respectfully. "You told me once when you were my age you were naive and a little goofy."

Hiro looked at him eyes narrowed.

"But in a good way." Seth smiled.

"How you know me in the future?" Hiro asked him.

Seth smiled. "I grew up with you and I played with your children. You taught me to sword fight. It is because of you and my mother that I am a warrior. You are part of my family, Hiro San."

"Why you come to me?" Hiro asked him.

Seth stood in front of Hiro. "As you know, I cannot tell you about the future. But know this. The future I spoke to my mother of has changed. For the better? I don't know. But there is something you must make known to my mother and father. And you must listen to me very carefully, Hiro San."

Hiro moved his ear closer, listening carefully.

"There will be an event that will happen which will divide us. Many we love are going to die. Those of us who are fortunate enough not to be captured will be deemed terrorists. Of course, we are not. Our government has made the people fearful of us. We are the latest public witch-hunt. People who have powers live in fear of being captured or exterminated. We live on the run. You, my mother, my Uncle Brandon, Peter Petrelli, Mohinder Suresh, Candice Wilmer, Matt Parkman, Molly Walker, Claire Bennett, Lyle Bennett. And your families. Many of our friends and loved ones will be missing, presumed dead. For all we know they are dead; they may be alive, but there were no choices. We prayed at night that our loved ones will find us. We need to keep moving. We sleep in the day and keep watch at night while we travel. Sometimes we teleport, but they find us; they always find us."

Seth took a deep breath and continued. "We have managed to stay one step ahead of the Uns and so far we have not been caught."

Hiro looked at Seth puzzled. "Uns?"

Seth nodded. "It is our term for un-evolved. Those without powers. They call us Vol's...those who have evolved with powers."

Hiro looked at him with astonishment. "What can I do to change the future?"

"What my mother tells you." Seth told him firmly. "Now Hiro San. There is a message you must deliver to my parents. And you need to listen to me closely; do you understand?"

Hiro nodded quickly.

"You need to say these words to them separately, and they must not know that they are receiving an important message. And you must only say this to my parents and nobody else. Understood?"

"Yes...understood." Hiro nodded.

"You must say to my mother and my father...Armada Rose." Seth told him sternly. "They will look at you like you are crazy, but that is the whole point. We do not want them to know they are receiving a message, but the message is important and they must remember these words one day."

"Is that a person or a place?" Hiro asked in bewilderment.

"It is a phrase that will be important to them in the future." Seth replied. "How you deliver the message is up to you and I cannot stress enough that they cannot know they are receiving a message. You are for all intents and purposes planting a suggestion. Are we clear, Hiro-San?"

"Yes, we are clear." Hiro smiled. "I tell your mother...and then your father. Armada Rose."

"Yes." Seth nodded. "I must go back now." He embraced Hiro and stood in the middle of Hiro's living room.

"Wait!" Hiro touched his shoulder. "Do not go, Seth. Tell me about you. Do you have family."

Seth shook his head sadly. "I never married." Then he smiled. "But you will." He began to materialize and disappear.

"Wait!" Hiro called out. "You say I have children! Who is my wife."

"Somebody you will least expect." Seth called out to him as he disappeared.

Hiro smiled to himself. "Somebody I least expect." He went into his bathroom and stood in front of the mirror, turning to his side to look at his profile. Taking in a deep breath, he sucked in his stomach attempting a macho look, then let it out coughing. He frowned as he saw his stomach hanging down over his pajama bottoms.

"No more waffles for you." He told himself.

Hiro went back to bed. As he lay in the darkness he smiled. "Ok...I dream of my wife."

Closing his eyes, he went into a deep sleep.


"So, are you telling me that you have known about this all this time?" Gabriel looked hard at Laura, trying to understand. "Did it even occur to you at anytime, that maybe...just...maybe, my son gives you information like this that concerns my own life...I WOULD WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT! Dammit Laura! What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking you were going to totally freak out and I was right." She replied.

"Um...yeah!" Gabriel nodded incredulously. "I'm not going to live to see the child you have growing inside you...that is a part of me, grow up to become a man. You don't think I'm entitled to freak out?"

"Well, now that you have figured out the golden ratio's alignment to the stars, you probably don't even have to worry about it now." She replied shrugging.

"This is not a joke Laura!" Gabriel looked at her angrily. "How do you think it makes me feel that my own wife doesn't trust me enough to confide in me. Were you ever planning on telling me any of this?"

Laura sat on the couch with her eyes lowered, rubbing her thumbs together. She looked up at him, feeling defeated. "I don't know." She answered simply.

Gabriel shrugged. "You don't know? Either you were going to tell me, or you weren't."

"I am being honest Gabriel, I don't know if I was going to tell you." She answered him slowly. "I know that sounds lame, but I guess I was hoping I could make the formula work and you would never have to know about it."

"Ok. Fine!" He stared exasperated at her. "Let me just play devil's advocate here for a moment. We'll put the shoe on the other foot for a second here. Say Seth came to me and told me something vital that concerned you. How in he hell would you feel if I didn't tell you?"

"I would have been seriously pissed off." She answered matter-of-factly.

Gabriel threw his hands in the air. "Thank you!" He nearly shouted. He sat down next to her. "Look, I'm not upset that you didn't tell me about your vision quest. That happened to you, that was yours. It happened before we got back together. But Laura, you have been keeping something from me that I had every right to know. And right now I am between being so pissed off at you that I want to march down to the pub downstairs and slam down some shots; and being so much in love with you for loving me enough to protect me this way."

Laura looked sadly at him. "I guess I'm sorry is a little weak, isn't it?"

Gabriel nodded his head. "Usually you can look at me with those beautiful green eyes and that little girl smile and I turn to jelly. But this is huge, Laura." He reached out and touched her face. "Why did you keep something so major like this to yourself?"

Laura's eyes teared up. "I don't have any excuses, Gabriel. I don't even know what the truth is. I have been given this goddamn prophecy...all of my ancestors are counting on me to kill this son of bitch, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and here is my adult son from the future telling me the love of my life is going to die in the battle. Can you please tell me what in the fuck would you do if you were me?"

Gabriel sighed. "I don't know. But I do know I would have talked to you about it. Baby, I love you, but sometimes you are a goddamn control freak! I know you used to be the CEO of your fathers company and you are used to being in charge, but I am your husband. We are a unit. Where one of us is weak, the other picks up the slack. I mean, you have been working on this program for twelve days and you were no closer to figuring it out than you were the day you started, were you?"

Laura looked down at her feet. "No." She looked up at Gabriel. "I should have had more faith in you. And I should have known that you, out of everybody I know, would be the one to solve this. Even Seth told me as much."

Gabriel smiled. "He said that?"

Laura nodded. "Yeah, he did. He loves you." She whispered.

Gabriel bent down putting his face against Laura's stomach. "I know you can hear me in there...I can hear you. I love you buddy! Don't give your mom too much trouble in there, ok?"

Laura smiled, then looked at him wrinkling her nose. "Are you still mad at me?"

Gabriel nodded. "Yeah, I am. No getting around it. It pisses me off when you don't include me in things that are this important. The day you and I took our vows, we became more than just lovers; we became partners. You are my equal and it is time for you to consider me your equal too."

Laura smiled sadly. "You are my equal. And you are right. I can't save the world alone. I promise I won't leave you in the dark ever again."

They kissed tenderly.

"So...now that the Golden ratio is correct, does this mean I am not going to die?" He asked.

"I think so." She shrugged. "I don't understand it all yet, but Seth was very adamant that this had to be exact." She closed her eyes. "But it is time for me to stop figuring out it's secrets on my own. As you have brutally made me realize, I have people around that can help me, so when we head up for our powwow, we will all work together. I have asked them all to be involved, so now I have to get off my high horse and let them all help me."

"Good." He gently kissed her forehead.

Laura stood up. "Are you coming back to bed."

Gabriel shook his head. "No. I'm going to sit here and stew in my own juices for a little while until I get over it."

"Ok. I understand" Laura nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too." Gabriel looked at her without smiling then looked straight ahead.

Laura stood and watched him for a moment then went back to bed. The bed was cold and lonely without him next to her. She lay on her back lin the darkness ooking up at the ceiling. "Laura Ryan, you are an arrogant jerk." Soon she closed her eyes and went to sleep.


Laura absentmindedly stirred her latte as Peter sat down beside her. She did not notice him.

"Hey, don't look now, but there is an intruder sitting at your table." He said to her telepathically. Laura quickly looked around to see him sitting there.

She smiled rolling her eyes. "Cute."

"Sorry." He chuckled. "I had to get your attention someway."

"Goofball." She laughed only half heartedly.

"So, are you going to tell me why you are sitting here crying in your latte?" He reached out rubbing her hand.

"I messed up and Gabriel is angry with me." She smiled sadly.

"Want to talk about it?" He asked her gently.

"Well, we had our first "marital spat" this morning." She replied thoughtfully staring at her latte. "We talked it out, but he was still pretty mad. I left him in the living room on the couch, I went back to bed and when I got up this morning, he was gone. I thought he had taken Zeus out, but Zeus was standing at the door waiting for me with his leash. I haven't seen him since I got up."

Peter rubbed her shoulder. "Well, you know he didn't go very far. And you know when he gets angry he has to be by himself. He is probably walking it off. I don't think you could ever do anything that would drive him away."

"I know." She closed her eyes sighing. "Peter, I didn't tell him what Seth told me about being killed by Catherwood."

"Laura!" Peter looked at her incredulously. "You said you were going to tell him!"

"I know...I know!" She put her hands over her face. "It was stupid! And really Peter...I honestly don't why I didn't tell him. I trust him completely. And we could have worked on this together. I am such an idiot!"

Peter smiled affectionately at her. "Sometimes when we're in love, we do really stupid things."

"Yes, we do." She looked sadly at him. "But you know what's crazy, he's the one who figured out the ratio. He actually plugged in the numbers into a programming language he knows absolutely nothing about, and got it to work on the first try! How fucking amazing is that?"

"Gabriel?" Peter laughed astonished.

"He's smart Peter." She smiled proudly. "I knew he was. I guess I just didn't know how smart he was until now."

Peter looked up at something behind Laura. "Well, I need to go help Niki get Micah off for school and then I need to get to work. Are you going to be there."

"Yeah, I'll be there." She smiled softly. "Thanks for being here...again."

"I'm always here for you, you know that." He kissed her cheek and walked off quickly. "I'll see you later."

Laura smiled sadly as she watched him walk away wondering why he left so quickly. Suddenly she felt something tickling the side of her face. She turned to see Gabriel holding a white rose. She tearfully stood up embracing him.

"Baby, I'm so sor..." She began, but her words were cut off by his finger touching her lips, then kissing her softly.

"You don't have to say your sorry anymore." He whispered holding her as he stroked her hair. "I was mad, but I'm over it. Your intentions were in the right place. But you can't fix everything, baby. Sometimes we just don't have control over these things, and you just can't keep trying to control the uncontrollable. But I love you for loving me enough to put yourself through this." He gently touched her face, whispering to her. "And I love you too much to see you torture yourself when you don't have to."

"I know. I obsess about things." She half-smiled.

"Yes, you do." He nodded in agreement. "And you probably always will. You saved me once; let me be the one to save you?"

She smiled tearfully embracing him. "I just don't want to be without you ever again."

"I know." He pulled back looking in her eyes. "So, from here on out, we're a team, ok?"

She smiled nodding in accordance. "Ok."

He kissed her gently. "So, now that we've had our first fight, are you up for a round of make-up sex?"

She smiled teasingly at him. "No."

"No?" He repeated his eyes widening flabbergasted.

"No." She replied simply. "Maybe that will teach you leave the house after an argument and leave me worrying half the night about you." She smiled kissing him quickly as she started walking toward work. She turned to look at him. "Mess with me!"

He began to laugh in disbelief. "I hate you sometimes." He called after her.

"No you don't." She stopped for a moment and came back to him. "By the way...my dad put out an internal requisition two days ago for a programmer. Guess what? Your getting promoted. Your welcome." She turned smiling at him.

Gabriel sat shaking his head, laughing exasperated as he watched her walk away. "Oh, my love...just when I think I've got you all figured out, the weather changes again. You make me crazy sometimes; but life would be very boring without you."


"This can't be possible." Mohinder Suresh whispered in disbelief. He looked through his microscope again then plugged some numbers into the computer. He sat back astonished shaking his head.

"Mohinder, are you alright?" Claude asked as he entered his office.

Mohinder didn't hear him.

"Mohinder!" Claude loudly called to him again causing him to jump.

"Dammit Claude!" Mohinder shouted. "Don't you ever knock?"

Claude laughed. "I knocked three times, mate. If I was trying to sneak up on you I would do this." He went invisible as Mohinder looked around for him, unamused. Claude then reappeared behind him. "Boo!"

Mohinder seethed at him. "I have better things to do than stupid play games, so if you..."

"What is all the yelling about in here?" Laura walked through the door arms folded. "Some of us are trying to work."

"It's my fault." Claude replied shamefully. "My apologies Mohinder."

"It's ok." Mohinder half-smiled. "I'm working on something important and I'm getting kind of touchy. I'm sorry I snapped at you." He extended his hand.

"No worries, my friend." Claude replied shaking hands.

Laura looked curiously at him. "I know that look, Mohinder. You found something out about Catherwood, didn't you?"

"Yes." Mohinder nodded slowly. He walked over to his computer followed by Claude and Laura.

"On your left, you are looking at the cellular structure of a normal human." He used a pointer as he spoke. " You can see there are white blood cells and red blood cells that are contained in human blood."

He continued. "On the left, is a sample of Catherwood's blood."

"Where did you get that?" Laura asked him dryly.

Mohinder looked up at her sadly. "This is a sample that came from your mother's skin. Your father had it frozen to analyze, but technology was not what it is today. I'm sorry Laura."

"It's ok." She nodded stiffly. "We have to use whatever it takes."

"So, what are the characteristics that his blood either has, or is missing?" Claude asked him.

"Well, he does not carry the cellular constituents which are erythrocytes or red blood cells. In our bodies, erythrocytes carry respiratory gases and give our blood it's red color as they contain hemoglobin. This is an iron-containing protein that binds oxygen in the lungs and transports it to tissues in the body. And the white blood cells, scientifically know as leukocytes, which fight disease, and platelets, otherwise known as thrombocytes..."

"Um, Mohinder." Laura smiled. "Layman's terms...please"

Mohinder laughed embarrassed. "Of course, you're right."

"What does it all mean?" Claude asked.

"Whatever he is...he is not human." Mohinder replied dryly, as Laura and Claude looked at each other fearfully.


The problems from the morning all but forgotten, Laura sat on the floor of their living room listening to her MP3 player as she quietly meditated. The lights were turned down and three candles dimly lit the room around her. Something from behind her caught her eye making her turn around. The sight of Gabriel in the doorway made her giggle.

He wore a pair of khaki pants, loafers, a plaid flannel shirt under a brown cardigan. His face was clean shaven with his hair parted on the side and neatly combed. Topping off the look was a pair of thick black glasses.

"Hmmmm...sexy." She smiled.

He playfully scowled at her. "You're kidding, right?"

"Hell...no." Standing up, she removed her earphones then approached him slowly. "So, where have you been hiding this look?" She began kissing him.

"Well, you want me to be computer programmer, I thought I should look like a geek." He stood with his hands deep in his pockets. "I told you this is how I used to dress when I worked in my watch shop."

Laura slowly caressed him. "And I told you, I think Geeks are very sexy." She whispered sensuously kissing him.

"Really?" He narrowed his eyes smiling. "So, you mean if you came into my watch shop and saw me dressed like this, you would be all over me."

"Oh yeah." She took off his glasses and threw them on the couch, messing up his hair. "Groooowwl"

"Um...is it getting hot in here?" He asked in a nerdy voice.

"And it's about to get a whole lot hotter. You better close the shop" She ripped off his cardigan unbuttoning his shirt, taking it off. She began feverishly kissing his chest.

He began kissing her neck as he removed her tank top.

"Um...c...can I touch your breasts?" He asked through his nose.

She moved closer to him slowly rubbing her breasts against his chest. "How's that?" She whispered.

"Oh God, why didn't you ever come into my shop?" He asked as his breathing got louder.

"If I knew this hottie was in there, I would of relocated to the big apple a long time ago." She smiled as she forcefully pulled him down on the floor.

"Why Mrs. Ryan, I do believe you are trying to seduce me." Gabriel said in a nasally voice.

"Get over here fix my clock, watch boy." She pulled him on top of her as they began to make love.


It was almost midnight as Mohinder began to fall asleep at his office computer.

"Dr. Suresh." Gaby the cleaning lady stuck her head in the door. "Your working late tonight. Don't you have a girl to go home to?"

Mohinder looked at his watch. "I don't tonight." He smiled. "Would you like to be my date this evening?" He teased her.

She giggled. "Oh, if I were thirty years younger and there was no Mr. Gonzalez. You get home and get some rest, Doctor. Or I'm going to tell Mr. Ryan you are sleeping on the job."

"Via con dios Gaby." Mohinder said as she took off down the hall.

Mohinder looked up as he saw somebody at the door.

"Good evening Mr. Ryan." Mohinder greeted him nervously.

"Mohinder. Please. Call me George." He smiled. "This is not the company Mr. Linderman used to run and hopefully I am not nearly as frightening."

"Not at all sir...I mean George." Mohinder half smiled.

"Much better." George grinned. "Is what I have heard true?"

"Yes, your suspicions are correct." Mohinder replied. "We have somebody on our staff that is from the same family line as Catherwood."

"Same family line in the human sense?" George asked. "Or...the beast."

Mohinder took off his glasses and set them on his desk. "This person has similar DNA characteristics to what I found earlier today. It is entirely possible that this person is a direct descendent of Catherwood's original family lineage."

"Is it possible they may be unaware of these traits?" George asked stunned.

Mohinder nodded. "There is no reason to believe this person is anybody but who they say they are. I do not believe that they realize what they are."

George sat on the stool next to Mohinder's desk "Does this make them malevolent?"

"Absolutely not." Mohinder replied putting his glasses back on. "It is Catherwood's greed for powers that makes him evil, not his species."

"Wow." George shook his head, staggered by the news. "Lets keep this between us for now. I would like to keep an eye on this development."

"Of course." Mohinder replied.

"And what about Caterwood's blood sample." George asked. "We're you able to conclude anything?"

"I'm sorry, the sample I had was much too old and..." He took a deep breath. "And the embalmment process used on your wife made getting a good sample difficult. It was preserved correctly for the time, but it does not fair well with our equipment. If there was only a way we could get a hold of a fresh sample of his DNA..."

"Perhaps I can help." George and Mohinder turned to see Hana Gitelman standing in the doorway holding a vile of fluid.


Laura's body trembled with pleasure as her nails dug into the pillow behind her. Gabriel shuddered on top of her drenched with perspiration, then breathlessly collapsing against her chest. She kissed his forehead, stroking his damp hair. He rolled off of her, his back on the floor, as she laid her head on his stomach.

"Wow!" He said trying to catch his breath. "That was hot!"

"I told you nerdy guys turn me on." She smiled kissing his stomach.

"Where were you ten years ago?" He asked still breathless.

"Looking for guys like you." She moved up kissing his lips.

"And they say when you get married, the sex gets boring." He pulled her in kissing her again.

She lifted her head looking at him inquisitively. "Who in the hell said that?"

"I don't know...probably Oprah." He replied teasing.

"And that's probably why she's still single. She thinks she's going to keep getting some good nookie from Stedman." She smiled biting her lip.

"From a guy named Stedman?" Gabriel wrinkled his nose.

"I don't know. Maybe her nickname for him is 'Stud muffin'." She giggled.

"No...sorry...you don't have mind-blowing sex with guys named Stedman." He shook his head grimacing.

"What are you talking about?" She laughed. "How does somebody's name have to do with what kind of lover they are?"

"Please! Oh yes...Stedman! Oh yes, right there...Stedman! Oh God...Stedman! OH YES...GIVE IT TO ME...Stedman! OH YES...Stedman." He shook his head. "See, doesn't work."

Laura collapsed against him laughing. "Is that what I sound like? I mean without the Stedman?"

"Well, I don't hear you screaming out Gabriel, but other than that...yeah." He kissed her softly.

"Gabriel has to many syllables." She rubbed her lips across his chest, planting soft kisses. "That's why I like calling you baby."

He pulled her in kissing her feverishly.

He rolled her over climbing on top of her again. "I don't think I fixed your clock right the first time, Mrs. Ryan. Can I oil your chimes for you?"

She giggled as she pulled his face next to hers. "Oh YES...Gabriel you big trucker...give me all eighteen wheels!"

And the night again exploded in passion.

End of Part XXIX


Since my dear friend, loyal reader and fellow writer TMM1205 was kind enough to pimp my story in her last chapter, I thought I would give her the courtesy of doing the same. Her story New Alliances, also a Gabriel Gray/Sylar-licious fic is absolutely outstanding. She also has a new story called Fear Itself which has a La Femme Nakita flavor to it. Both of these stories ROCK and TMM1205 is a very gifted writer with a true gift for the written word!

A few more shout-outs by my friend and loyal reader Smithsbabe65 two outstanding Heroes/Gabriel/Sylar stories called The Devil's Own and its sequel The Ties That Bind. These are both stories that feature a Sylar/Claire pairing. She is a WONDERFUL writer whose words come together like poetry. I look forward to each chapter with bated breath. It has fastly become one of my favorites.

And if you want a little something out of the ordinary, another story that has captivated my senses is Years Gone by Unlikely Hiro. It is a futuristic story that takes place 15 years after 5YG, featuring Claude, an adult Molly Walker and Sanjon Iyer, plus many other lesser used Heros characters. UH is an outstanding writer with a real gift.

Support these wonderful writers and check their stories out. You will not be disappointed!