The New Tide

Who am I? What's my purpose? That's the existential questions we constantly ask ourselves. Most spend their entire lives trying to figure that out, but personally I never put that much thought into it. Honestly, I thought I had it all figured out: a teenage girl with amazing abilities she didn't even want. But as I moved further into my journey, I realized how wrong I was. It's not who we are that defines us. It's our decisions. That's why there is no good or bad in this world. There are decisions that only reflect differently on others. It's just a matter of prospective.

I felt numb. I wanted this to be a nightmare so I had the possibility of waking up and returning back to reality. But that was the problem: this was reality. There was no chance of waking up from this. Not a few moments ago, I witnessed my brother, Nathan Petrelli, give the speech that would expose individuals with special abilities along with the good cop, Matt Parkman and the brother I believed that was dead for nearly a year, Peter Petrelli. And only a few hours ago, I was in the hands of the mass murderer, Sylar, desperately searching for a way to cure him of his disease. Then to top everything off, Nathan was shot two times in the chest before he could expose us entirely. The broadcast cut off as Nathan was being carried off by the ambulance.

I was with Mohinder, Molly, Maya, Elle, and Cole in Isaac Mendez's old loft when I saw the event on TV.I knew what I had to do. I needed to see my brothers again.

I tapped Molly on the shoulder. "Molly, can you find my brothers for me?"

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Mohinder questioned. "You might want to wait until Peter calls you about anymore news."

"Peter doesn't know that I know he's alive," I quipped. "I haven't seen Nathan in a couple months. I need to see them."

"What if the gunman is still out there?" Cole asked.

"I highly doubt he wants to shoot other people. Nathan was the only one shot and if he wanted to shoot more than he would have. These are my brothers were talking about here."

"Let her go," Maya urged the group. "No matter what happened they are her brothers. I would give anything to see mine again."

"All right, you have my permission," Mohinder sighed.

"She wasn't asking for you permission, Doc," Elle nudged him.

I looked back at Molly. "Can you find my brothers for me?"

She nodded and closed her eyes. Molly had the ability to find anyone in the world as long as she had a picture so she could think about them. She didn't need a picture from me though. She saw the broadcast with the rest of us.

Molly finally opened her eyes again. "They're in Odessa, Texas on the way to the hospital."

"Same place where we found Claire," I mused. "Ironic."

"That town just has bad luck," Cold commented.

"Thanks, Molly. I owe you one." I turned to Cole. "I hate to leave you like this, but I have to see my brothers."

"No, I get it. You thought Peter was dead the whole time and Nathan got shot."

"If only they'd stay out of trouble for once."

"They could say the same about you. Besides, I'll be fine. I feel great actually thanks to Claire."

"Remind me to give her a call today. Do you need a ride home?"

He shrugged. "I can catch the bus back to the apartment since my car is over there."

"No. Sylar is still out there, Cole. You shouldn't be walking around alone anywhere for a couple days at least."

"I would offer, but Sylar was the one with the keys to the car," Maya informed us.

"I can give everyone a lift back," Elle offered. "But we need to hurry. I need to get back to the Company and tell my dad Sylar is back from the dead."

"Fair enough," Mohinder nodded. "I need to make arrangements as well."

"Thanks, Elle," I told her. "I need to get going too if I want to catch Peter and Nathan on time."

"Good luck with your brothers," Mohinder said. "You're going to need it with those two."

I rolled my eyes. "Wow, I feel the love." I looked down at Molly. "Don't give Matt and Mohinder a hard time while I'm gone, okay? And it was nice meeting you, Maya."

I went to embrace Cole. "I'll call you as soon as I know anything."

"I'll be waiting." Cole pulled me into a kiss before separating from the hug. "I love you."

"I love you too."

I sprinted out of the loft and jumped into the air as soon as I knew no one was looking. Flying across the country was a new experience, I began to realize. New York was easy. I spent enough time in the city to recognize land marks from the sky. But for Odessa, I had to remember the last time I was there. I remembered to diner that was there. That's where we met Hiro Nakamura's friend, Ando. With that in mind, I flew as fast as I could go.

No matter how many times I flew, the feeling was the same: liberation. Freedom. I could go anywhere I wanted in hardly any time at all. I stayed as far above the clouds as I could to avoid any passing planes. When I saw the familiar landmarks of Odessa, Texas I began to glide down. My eyes locked on a fast moving ambulance truck. That had to be Nathan. If not Nathan, then the truck would lead me to the local hospital.

I landed just a few blocks away from the hospital behind a couple of buildings. From there, I ran to the hospital. Once inside, I realized that I had little chance of seeing Nathan with the receptionist and security around. I glanced at the directory and found the room that Nathan would be in: emergency. So with my ability, I sped past the receptionist desk leaving behind a gust of wind.

I stopped when I reached the correct wing. I looked around for any sign of Nathan or Peter. Then I saw a glimpse of a familiar figure and paused. The man was staring into the window of the operation room. He was tall and had short black hair. It was Peter. When I saw him on TV, I was breathless but as I saw him that moment, I was elated. I ran over to Peter. He must have heard me coming because when he turned to look, I embraced him.

"Oh my God, Peter," I said. "I thought I would never see you again. How did you survive?"

Peter pulled away from me. "Danni? What are you doing here?"

"I saw you and Nathan on TV. I saw the shooting. I had to come in case…"

"You can't be here," he said sourly. "You shouldn't be involved."

"And why not?" I was taken aback by his harshness. "You and Nathan are my brothers. Nathan was shot and the last time I saw you, you blew up over Kirby Plaza. Since then, I thought you were dead. So what happened?"

"That's complicated."

"How complicated? Because last I checked, a phone call is a very simple task to accomplish. But no, some guy had to break into my house and tell me you were alive and I still didn't believe him—until now."

"I'm sorry. I'll explain it later, okay? Nathan is in that operating room right now. We don't know if he's going to make it."

I looked in the room to see many surgeons scrambling around Nathan's unconscious body. He was pale and bloody. I wasn't so sure if was going to make it either.

I nodded. "I'll let it go for now. But you need to tell me. You owe me that much."

Peter silently agreed as he looked back at Nathan. As happy as I was to see Peter, I was frustrated as well. There was no sign that Peter was alive or that he never died. Adam was the only one who told me the truth. So that meant Peter's imprisonment in the Company had to be true. I couldn't blame him completely, but at the same time, why didn't he come back home when he escaped?

Pain written on his face, Peter moved away from the window and leaned against the wall across. I joined him, not wanting to see the sight myself. We didn't speak for the moments that passed. It made me feel sad that Nathan barely had the chance of living. The reason he became an alcoholic was through the grief of Peter's apparent death. Now that Peter was back, he had the chance to make things right. I guess you could say we bonded for a short time. I was the one trying to set Nathan straight through his dark hours. But it didn't matter how many times Nathan tried to push me away or how angry I became with him; he was still my brother in the end.

The door finally opened revealing the doctor in charge of the operation. He looked at us with somberly look. "I'm sorry."

That was it. That was all the doctor had to say of Nathan's unfortunate end. Peter and I slowly got up from the floor and walked into the room where Nathan's body laid. I barely recognized him. His entire chest was covered in blood and the color in his face had completely faded. All I could think about was how Claire would react to this. She didn't know him as well as I did, but he was still her father. And then there was Heidi and the boys. How would they take the news? I could only imagine Angela's emotions being his mother.

I watched as Peter placed a hand over Nathan's head. "Shouldn't have ended this way." He bent down and kissed his dead brother's forehead.

I patted on his back. "It'll get better, don't worry."

Then there was a gasp. Nathan shot straight up from the hospital bed looking at us in disbelief. It was a false alarm, again.

"Seriously," I breathed. "Does the definition of death escape us?"

"Danni, go get help," Peter ordered. "Now."

There was no point in arguing. Peter still owed me that conversation anyway. I ran out of the room and caught up to the doctor that was treating Nathan. He was surprised to say the least. Long story short: Nathan was transferred to a private room and the hospital staff was completely baffled by the idea. Apparently they couldn't even get a pulse out of him while they were operating. I didn't know what to think of it. At first I thought maybe Nathan gained what Claire had as an extra ability but I knew that wasn't possible. Then when the doctor settled Nathan in his room, he told Peter and me that Nathan was very lucky. Luck. I guess that made more sense than the problems I was running into at the time.

Peter and I waited beside Nathan's bed as he rested soundly. I glanced at Peter. This was my only chance.

I sighed. "Look, I know this is a really bad time but we need to talk about this. I know you were a prisoner to the Company for a few months after the bomb and that the reason Nathan survived was because a man named Adam Monroe healed him. But after all that was done, you disappeared. What happened? Why didn't you come back home?"

"The Company was after me," he explained. "I had to leave everything behind in order to protect you."

"So what did you do? I'm pretty sure your story is better than mine."

"I lost my memory. The Haitian got a hold of me when I was running and erased everything—even my name. The next thing I knew, I woke up in Ireland to a gang who thought I stole their iPods. Eventually I gained their trust and the head gave me box of who I was."

"What was in it?"

"Just little things of my past. Pictures and such. Didn't really bring up any memories though. Anyway, soon enough I was rediscovering my abilities and then the day came when the head was murdered by someone from the Company. His sister, Kaitlin…she went with me to Montreal and we went to the future. Almost everyone was dead due to the Shanti virus. I lost her that day."

"I'm sorry. It sounds like you cared about her."

"I did," he mumbled. "I came back to the present to meet Adam Monroe. That's when everything clicked again. He convinced me that he wanted to stop the Shanti virus from spreading so I would help him."

"He told me the same thing," I said. "Apparently he was the one that wanted to spread it."

"You met him?"

"He was the guy that broke into the house. He claimed you were alive and he wanted me to come with him to meet you. I thought he was crazy."

"He is. The important part is that we took care of him and the virus is destroyed."

"Good," I smiled weakly. "I'm sorry I freaked out earlier. With Nathan being shot and seeing you in all of the same day, you could say I was a little overwhelmed. Not to mention, Sylar."

His ears perked at that. "What?"

"Well, you're not the only one who came back from the dead."

I told Peter about my incident with Sylar. He was listening intently as I explained every detail from Sylar appearing the night before to him making his escape with Claire's blood and the high possibility of using it to gain his abilities back. He didn't seem surprised at the news though. Or even angry as I thought he would be.

"We don't know where he went," I continued. "But he's definitely coming back with a vengeance."

"And everyone else is fine?"

"Yeah. Cole said he felt great after having Claire's blood in his system which slightly concerns me."

"He'll be fine. He's Cole. How's he been anyway?"

I tried to suppress a smile. "He's been fine. Great. Awesome."

"You're bad liar, Danni," he smirked. "Tell me what's wrong."

"There's nothing wrong. I just don't know how you're going to take this. I mean didn't tell Angela or Nathan that I was dating Chad but then again Nathan did walk in on us—"

"You were dating someone?"

"Yeah, but then I caught him cheating on someone and that is over."

"How does Cole fit into this?"

I bit my lip. "He told me he loved me a couple days ago and then a month before that he kissed me. Not the smoothest move, but it's cute."

Peter grinned at me. "So are you and Cole…?"

"Yeah. We're dating. Well, we haven't really gone on a date yet since I said I loved him the night Sylar came. But it's most likely going to happen when I come back."

"That's great. I'm happy for you."

I looked at him expectantly. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"Like what?" he responded, confused.

"Like 'I told you so'? For years, you've been telling me that Cole and I were going to end up being a couple and I kept saying no."

"Oh, right. I figured it wasn't necessary." Peter got up from his seat. "Look, I'm going to head back down to the station for any updates on the shooter. I'll be back soon. Stay here with Nathan."

"Okay, see you soon then."

Peter left the room at that. Something was off. I didn't know what, but something didn't seem right about Peter. He seemed bitterer than I remembered. Then again, I didn't know what to expect from a man that came back from the dead. Maybe time is what Peter and I needed to get back to normal.

I waited in Nathan's room for a few more minutes until I decided to call Cole about the news. The call was well overdue. I walked out of the room and dialed the number outside of the room.

He answered within the first ring. "Danni?"

"Yeah, it's me," I said. "Nathan's going to be okay."

"I heard about that on the news. They said it was a miracle."

"It was. He was dead when Peter and I walked in and then all of the sudden he's breathing again. I think I've seen more people cheat death this past year than what is healthy."

"At least everything's okay. How's Peter?"

"He's still Peter, but I feel like something is off."

"Off like what?" he asked.

"Like when I first saw him, he hardly said hi. He questioned why I was there like I shouldn't have been there in the first place."

"Maybe it was just in the heat of the moment. Nathan was shot at that point."

"I guess you're right. So how are you?"

"I'm fine. I drove home after Elle drove us to Mohinder's place. My mom freaked a little that I ditched half of the school day, but I said that I was sleeping over at your house."

"You're giving her more reasons not to like me," I laughed. "I hope you know that."

"Anyway, before I went back home, Mohinder told me that he was sending Molly back to India. It was to protect her from Sylar."

"No, I get it. I'll miss her, but I understand. New York is not so safe anymore."

"Where do you think Sylar went?"

"I don't care at this point. All I know is that I need to be prepared the next time he comes."

"What do you mean?"

"I need to train myself," I told him. "Sylar was right about one thing: my ability is powerful and I'm ignoring that. So I have to work with my power to figure out how strong I can be."

"I feel like I'm dating Supergirl right now."

"Shut up. It's about time the woman wore the pants in this relationship."

"I can't remember the day where you weren't the man in this relationship."

"Ouch," I teased.

"But really, I'm happy for you. Your ability is a part of who you are. It's about time you accepted that."

"Thanks. But you'd be the superhero just for argument's sake."

"Really? Maybe we should team up then."

"Maybe."

"Danni," Peter's voice came from behind me.

I turned to face Peter. "Hang on, Cole. What's up, Pete?"

"Did you see where Nathan went?"

"He's in his room." I glanced inside the room but Nathan's bed came out empty. "Well, he was."

Peter huffed before storming off. Nathan must have snuck past me when I wasn't paying attention.

I sighed returning back my conversation with Cole. "Listen, I have to go. Nathan just disappeared while I was talking to you."

"No problem. Just call me when everything is in the clear again."

"I'll be home soon. I promise. I love you."

"I love you too."

I hung up the phone and followed Peter's stride through the hospital. I didn't have a clue as to where Nathan would go. I simply followed Peter. Soon we were out of the hospital and right across from the local church. When I spotted the camera crew peeking inside of the church, I knew where Nathan went. Peter and I followed the camera crew inside to find Nathan, dressed in a suit, kneeling next to a family as he whispered to them. Peter went behind one of the pillars while I stood beside the camera man. I didn't bother to question the gesture because I was preoccupied with the fact that Nathan would run away to a church.

It was strange. I never considered Nathan a religious man. He lied and he cheated. But coming out of death—that changes a couple of perspectives.

"Mr. Petrelli," the reporter began. "Earlier today, you were about to make a statement. You had a message to deliver. Are you ready to do that now?"

Nathan paused for a moment. He didn't have to tell me that he was about to expose us. Anyone that was different could read in between the lines of what the former congressman was about to say. Then he surprised me again.

"God is the only one with the message," he responded. "It's a message of hope and urgency, because he's not gonna wait much longer. His message is a simple one: we're all connected. Our hopes, our dreams, our children's future, reflecting back in each other's eyes. We fight our own personal battles, but we know we're not alone. Because only together can we make our short time on this planet mean something. Only together can we be the stewards of our own destiny, and we hold in our hearts one noble goal: to save ourselves, save the world."

Throughout the years that I knew Nathan, I learned but one thing: the man could speak. He completely turned the direction of his original speech around so no average person could tell the difference like we could. But here was the other scary part. He was serious. Nathan believed in the word of God all of the sudden.

Nathan turned from us and bowed down to the altar. Peter appeared next to Nathan as he began to lose his balance. He collapsed in Peter's arms. I went over to the scene and helped Peter carry Nathan out of the church as the news cameras were following us.

Once we were back in the hospital, the doctors spotted us and placed Nathan on a wheelchair where they took him back to the room. I stopped Peter before he went to follow them.

"Pete, was he like this before he got shot?" I questioned.

He shook his head. "No. He wanted to expose us, but I guess he changed his mind."

"And you were more than willing to let him do that?"

"I agreed with him. I thought the world was ready, but it really isn't."

I nodded. "We should probably go wait for Nathan to wake up again. I didn't realize he would walk off like that."

"I didn't either. It was lucky we found him. I don't think those reporters would have helped him."

I silently agreed as we walked back towards Nathan's room. The nurse had dressed Nathan back into his hospital gown and he was sleeping once again in the bed. She left us to wait for Nathan to reawaken. Peter and I didn't speak often while Nathan was sleeping. I spent most of the time texting Ava as to why I didn't go to school that day. This time I didn't have to lie. Visiting family members in the hospital was pretty normal. Then I remembered Claire. Did she know about this?

"Peter, did you ever call Claire about this?" I asked breaking the silence.

He didn't break his gaze from Nathan. "No, but she called me. She saw the broadcast like you did, but she couldn't get here as fast. I told her to stay where she was at."

I nodded. "I'll call her and let her know what's going on."

I got up from my seat and left Peter alone with Nathan. I took out my phone and dialed her number. The phone rang, but there was no answer. Odd. At the time, I would figure that she would be standing by the phone to hear the news. Regardless, she would still hear it in a message.

"Hey, Claire," I said to the voicemail. "It's me, Danni. Peter told me that you saw what happened to Nathan. Well, good news: he's going to be okay. He may not be all there in the head though. The first time he woke up he walked into the church speaking about the Bible and he collapsed. But what else can you expect from Nathan? Also, I wanted to thank you. Sylar showed up and Cole was shot. Your blood healed him so thank you. So call me back as soon as you can and I'll talk to you soon."

Once I hung up the phone, I walked back to the room to find Nathan still sleeping and Peter standing over him now. I opened my mouth to speak, but Peter spoke to Nathan first.

"I don't expect you to understand what I did to you," he whispered. "But I hope someday you'll forgive me."

I was confused by the words. What did he do?

Peter moved away from Nathan, suddenly realizing I was in the room. "Danni? How long were you standing there?"

"Not long," I answered. "Was he awake before?"

"Yeah, but then he passed out again. It'll probably be awhile until he wakes up again."

"Danni?" Nathan called out groggily. "Is that you?"

"It's me," I confirmed. "You should probably get some rest though."

"Can I talk to you for a little bit?"

I looked to Peter who nodded his head in approval. "Sure."

"I'll be waiting outside," Peter whispered to me.

Whenever Nathan wanted to speak to me alone, it was always a lecture towards my character. But now, with his new view of life, I wasn't so sure what to expect.

I took the seat next to Nathan's bed and sighed. "So? What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to apologize," he said.

I blinked. "You? Apologize?"

"I know. It's long overdue. I'm sorry I used you for selfish purposes during my campaign. You didn't want any part of it and I didn't care. But to be honest, it was just my way to spend time with my sister. You connected so well with Peter that I wanted to know you in the way he did. Even when we thought he was dead, I knew I could never build that type of relationship with you. I said things that should have never been said and I'm sorry. And more recently, I'm sorry for leaving you like that. I knew you were capable for taking care of yourself, but I shouldn't have left like that. I was looking for Peter and I didn't want to get your hopes up."

I let Nathan's words sink in. All those years I thought he was annoyed with my existence, but he was pushing away any type of relationship we could have had because he knew I wouldn't accept him as quickly as I accepted Peter. I remembered the first time I entered the Petrelli household. He and Peter were forced to join in my first dinner there. Nathan was frustrated with the fact that his parents decided to adopt a child at their age. He didn't speak to me nor spare me one glance. Peter, on the other hand, made an attempt to speak to me despite my nonverbal answers. The Nathan then was almost opposite to the one lying in the bed in front of me.

I didn't know how to respond so I simply said, "I forgive you."

"I also want to thank you."

This man was full of surprises that day.

"You were the one who stuck with me in my dark time after Peter's death," he continued. "You were trying to steer me in the right direction even though I didn't want to go there. You pushed me to believe that there was still hope in this world. So thank you."

"You're welcome. I'm just glad you're okay."

Nathan smiled. "You can thank God for that."

"All right. Now I know you're delusional." I got up from my seat. "You need your rest."

"But He did save me. I mean if we exist, why can't God?"

"Valid point, but I've had my troubles with religion. Bad things happen to good people. We work to make our lives better. That's the world we live in."

"It doesn't have to be that way. You just need faith."

"That's the problem then. I have no faith. I can be faithful to others, but with faith itself comes trust. I have problems trusting people if you haven't noticed."

"Well, there's Peter," he pointed out. "And what about Cole?"

"They're the exceptions." I looked at the clock. "Speaking of, I probably need to head back home soon. I'm already in trouble because I ditched school."

"I'll see you at home then."

"Get some rest, okay? Some might think you're a mad man," I teased as I left the room.

Peter was outside as he promised leaning against the wall beside the door.

"What did he say?" he asked.

"He apologized," I said. "Then he thanked me and he tried to make me believe there was a God. Did a bullet get stuck in his head or something?"

"No. I think he's trying to improve himself more than anything."

"Well, it's creeping me out more than anything. But at the same time I kind of like it."

"So how long are you planning to stay?"

"Not long. I have to get to school tomorrow and explain why I ditched."

"Let me at least get you a cup of coffee before you leave and maybe something to eat."

"Okay, but no hospital food. It's not the greatest. Trust me, I would know."

Peter smiled. "All right. I saw a diner just a couple doors down. We can grab something there."

"Sounds great." I embraced him. "It's great to have you back, Pete."

Peter returned the hug. "I missed you too."

Everything was starting to look up again. Both my brothers were alive and on their way back home. Granted, Sylar was alive as well. But that was an issue we were all ready to face. It was the new tide that we never expected. Nathan's traumatic experience was only the beginning in a whirlwind of everything that could and would go wrong.

Hey guys! I'm back! I apologize for the long wait for this update. As I stated on my profile, I had a very challenging semester. I figured this would be a good holiday gift to my readers for sticking with me for this long. I hope you enjoy this volume as much I enjoyed writing it. Thanks!

~ShatteredxDreams411