Chapter Fifty-Two: Playing Nice, Angela's Story
Candice sat in her new room in Linderman's compound, pacing the floor nervously. It had been three days since she'd returned there from South America. Linderman was still in Chennai with Gota and The Haitian, seeing to Ombasa's recovery. Candice hadn't spoken to Linderman since the night she'd met with Peter Petrelli and his girlfriend Sherry Bombano in Peru, the night she'd truly sealed the deal to join up with the good guys and had been imbued with two powers to protect her from detection, and allow her to escape if need be. Candice closed her eyes for a moment, remembering how icy Linderman had been on the phone, when she'd told him that she had been unable to collect anyone else in South America, her excuse being that Peter and Sherry, using Peter's teleportation powers, had always beat her to the punch. Linderman had made it quite clear to her that she would be dealt with when he arrived home, the question being: what would he do to her? Word around the compound was that they were due home that day. Candice chewed on a fingernail as she glanced out of the window for the hundredth time that day, searching for any signs of a helicopter.
She'd been true to her word and had been lurking around the compound, taking the forms of different people in order to truly listen to what others were talking about. They knew that CANDICE at that moment was persona non grata, but they didn't mind talking around 'civilian' members the staff, the ones they usually ignored as they gathered to discuss rumors and hearsay about Linderman's plans. She heard that Furkan Kaya, one of the men she herself had recruited in Turkey, had been ordered by Linderman to begin training everyone in hand-to-hand combat, as well as sword fighting, training that had begun for her the night she returned home. That training was the only time anyone would acknowledge her existence, not that she wanted that acknowledgement from anyone anymore. The training was painful, and difficult, especially since they were being trained with real scimitars, swords that caused constant pain whenever she was stabbed and prodded for being too slow. Candice stared at her hand, shuddering. That morning, Furkan had chopped it off during their training session, laughing as a new one quickly grew in its place. She'd also heard something else, something that had made her blood run cold when hearing it: the fate of the Bunton children.
She turned back to the window as she heard the familiar, and heart-dropping sounds of a helicopter approaching the compound. She watched, terrified as the aircraft landed, her eyes narrowing with a combination of anger, fear and jealousy as Linderman stepped out of the craft, holding Gota's hand as they entered the building, The Haitian and a newly-restored Ombasa following behind them, the latter man pumping his once-amputated arm in triumph.
Candice slipped out of her room and walked down the hall, peeking around the corner to watch them enter the lobby. It's now or never Girl, she thought to herself, get your game face on and remember, block only what you WANT him to hear, suck-up stuff, I'm sorry stuff, but never let him hear WHY you're really back. He has to keep thinking that you still worship him, like the idiot lapdog he thinks you still are. As everyone else began to file out of their rooms to line up in the lobby and greet Linderman on his return, Candice fell in line with them, walking down the stairs and standing in rank and file with the other recruits. She stood almost at attention with her arms behind her back, her head down as she stared at the floor, blocking all of the hateful thoughts that ran through her head.
Linderman nodded and smiled to everyone as he passed them. When he reached Candice, he stopped, Gota smirking behind him. "Candice" he purred "good to see you back from your little 'vacation' in South America."
Candice looked up at him as Gota guffawed. "It's good to see you too again, Mr. Linderman." Her voice was sweet as she smiled kindly at him. Rot in hell, you bastard. I can't wait for Peter and Olivia and Gabriel and all the rest of them to destroy you, you selfish, murdering son of a bitch. She studied his face, waiting to see if he'd detected any trace of her thoughts, her heart pounding nervously.
Linderman smiled back at her. "I see your attitude has improved since we last spoke. That's good."
"I understand my place here Sir, and I understand that I am here to serve you and only you." She nodded. My place is to bring you down low enough for everyone else to rip you to shreds. I'm going to spit on your grave you bastard. She turned to Gota, smiling kindly as her insides churned with hatred. "Welcome back as well, Gota. It's good to see you again." You're going to die screaming, you bitch, I'll see to that myself.
Gota's smirk faltered as she stared at Candice's gentle smile. "It's good to see you too." Her voice was uncertain as she glanced nervously at Linderman. "It's good to be back."
Candice stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Gota, giving her a hug while she fought the urge to snap her neck. "I missed you, my friend."
Gota's eyes widened as she stared over Candice's shoulder at Linderman. He beamed and clapped his hands together. "We're like a family here." He touched Candice's shoulder and turned her away from Gota. He pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. "We fight, we disagree, but in the end, we always forgive each other, yes? I've forgiven you for your missteps and shortcomings, do you forgive me for losing my temper?"
Candice looked up at him, beaming with tears in her eyes. "I will always forgive you for anything." I hate you. I hate you. I hate you so fucking much. You make my skin crawl.
"Gota and I are going to retire to our suite. In a few hours, I'd like for you to come up and visit with us. We have a lot to catch up on and there's a lot for us to do if we're going to give those idiots in Las Vegas a run for their money." He turned to The Haitian. "Take Ombasa to the lab to be imbued with the regeneration factor. I don't want to have to travel to restore function to his arms again." He smirked at Ombasa's terrified expression before walking away with Gota.
Candice glanced around the lobby at the other people as The Haitian led his partner towards the laboratory. They were now watching her, acknowledging her existence again. She smiled softly and nodded to everyone before walking upstairs to her room. Inside, she looked around, realizing that she was still being watched by cameras Linderman had installed everywhere, everywhere but the bathroom. She slowly walked to the bathroom and closed the door, sliding down into a jelly-legged heap against it as she burst into tears. Grabbing a towel, she muffled the sobs as she tried to control her shaking, realizing that putting on a docile, content face when she wanted to scream and tear everyone apart was going to be harder than she thought.
Gabriel and Olivia opened their eyes, smiling with relief to see that they were standing in their apartment. "Good to be home." Olivia sighed.
"Yeah, and in one piece, too!" Gabriel smirked at Peter as he stepped away from him. "Getting better at this, huh?"
"Much better. " Peter grinned. "It doesn't take as long to get ready for the next jump as it used to either. Give me time, and I'll be able to bounce anywhere at anytime."
"So you and Sherry will be able to just bounce off to a beach at a moment's notice if you wanted to." Olivia winked at him.
"Yeah, but at least we'll be smart enough not to get busted by dozing off naked!" Peter laughed at her. "You never should have told me about that one. You know you'll never live it down around me."
"I know." Olivia rolled her eyes as she set her knapsack down. "But what are brothers for, if not to annoy and tease their big sisters?"
"And what are big sisters for, if not to scar their little brothers with images of inappropriateness? By the way, Nathan is totally hearing about this when he gets back. I don't want to be scarred alone."
"Glad to do what I can to ruin the idea of sex on the beach for you." Olivia laughed.
"Oh, you didn't ruin it, you just taught me what NOT to do if Sherry and I don't want to get caught. Rule number one: don't fall asleep afterwards, not that we usually do, not after the FIRST time, anyway. It takes a few times before we actually get tired." Peter wiggled his eyebrows as Olivia cringed.
"Okay, that's enough. I'm skeeved out now." Olivia closed her eyes.
"I was wondering when I'd finally get you to want to cover your ears in horror. I was about to start discussing the wonders of whipped cream." Peter laughed.
"We've discovered those wonders all by our self." Gabriel grinned. "Along with the fun of other various ice cream toppings, silk scarves, handcuffs, whips-"
"-I'm leaving now." Peter turned towards the apartment door.
"When will the two of you learn? Don't fuck with the master of skeeve." Gabriel laughed as Peter shuddered and left the apartment. Gabriel turned to Olivia. "I'll have to remember to do that whenever I want to be alone with you. I'll just start mentioning S&M gear, naughty food items-"
"-Keep it up Mister, you're giving me LOTS of ideas!" Olivia kissed him.
"I love giving you ideas." Gabriel kissed his wife back, then sighed as he looked around their apartment. "Home, I missed it."
"Me too." Olivia stretched out on the couch. "I never realized how exhausting a vacation could be!"
Gabriel laughed as he lifted up Olivia's legs before sitting on the couch, draping her legs across his lap. "We're going to have to rest as much as we can. You heard Peter, starting tomorrow morning-"
"-Training with Hiro, Hana and Kaito." Olivia groaned. "No rest for the wicked."
"Exactly." Gabriel leaned his head back, closing his eyes, then made a face as their doorbell rang. "God, who is it now and how does everyone know we're home already?" He answered the door, nodding to Angela. "Hello 'Mom', I missed you."
"I'm sure you did." Angela swept into the room, regarding Olivia as the young woman continued to lie on the couch. "Please, don't get up. I'm sure having constant sex while drifting around the Caribbean on a dinghy is quite tiring."
"I forgot just how much fun you are." Olivia smirked. "What brings you here?"
"I haven't seen you in over a week, not since the day that Linderman shot you. I thought I'd check in on you and see how you were doing."
"As you can see, I'm fine." Olivia sat up, shrugging. "No worse for the wear."
Angela studied her daughter, her lips pressing tightly into a thin line. "I can see that." She looked away for a moment, then looked back at Olivia. "I didn't get a chance to talk to you after the meeting, after your little near-death experience."
"I know." Olivia nodded at her mother, then glanced over at Gabriel. "Could you give us a moment? I think we need to talk."
Gabriel smiled softly at Olivia. "Sure. I've been feeling the urge to do some painting anyway." You're going to talk to her about what we saw with Dr. Solis-Jimenez, aren't you?
"I can't wait to see what you come up with." Olivia smiled and winked at her husband. It's time we talked about it. I need to know everything.
Gabriel walked to Olivia, kissing the top of her head before walking out of the room. Angela watched him walk away, then turned back to Olivia. "What did you want to talk about?"
"What did YOU want to talk about?" Olivia raised an eyebrow. "You came here, remember?"
Angela shrugged as she sat in a chair opposite the couch. "I just wanted to welcome the two of you home and make sure you were okay after last week."
"I'm good. I'd be better if I'd actually made that killing of Linderman stick." Olivia sighed. "Peter said that Hiro wants to start training all of us tomorrow morning."
"I know." Angela shook her head. "I'm not exactly looking forward to that. I'm not old, but I'm not a young woman anymore either. The idea of learning to fight with swords isn't exactly appealing to me."
"You're tough. You'll probably end up kicking all of our asses." Olivia fidgeted with her hands nervously. "So what else is new?"
She jumped as Gabriel's voice echoed in her brain. Will you STOP pussy-footing around and just TALK to her, for crying out loud?!? Good lord woman, it's your mother, not the damn devil!
Angela stared at Olivia. "What on earth is wrong with you?"
Olivia closed her eyes. "There's something I want to talk to you about. After the meeting, Peter teleported us to San Juan, where we collected Dr. Oscar Solis-Jimenez, have you met him yet?"
Angela's eyes narrowed. "I've heard of him. What about him?"
"Then you know what his power is?" Angela nodded wordlessly as Olivia stared at her. "Angela, he demonstrated his power on me, with Gabriel. He pulled up a memory, a memory that I'd forgotten, or blocked out. I was pretty young in that memory."
Angela looked away, her lips thinning even more. "What was the memory?"
"I think you know what it was. You were there." Olivia leaned forward, her elbows on her knees as she stared intensely at her mother. "Angela, you KNOW what I remembered, don't you?"
Angela's eyes snapped back to meet Olivia's. "Tell me what you saw."
Olivia sighed. "Fine, you want to play coy, I'll tell you what I saw. I was four years old, it was a month or so after my birthday. It was late at night and you had come to the house on Tybee Island, shall I continue?"
Angela looked away again, her eyes shimmering. "No, that's enough."
"You were desperate to see me."
"I said that's enough." Angela whispered. "I remember that night perfectly well, I was there, wasn't I?"
"You wanted me when you were pregnant with me, didn't you?"
"Of COURSE I did!" Angela sighed. "I don't know what kind of poisonous lies Linderman filled your head with when he ended up with you after Jack and Sally's deaths, but I most certainly wanted to raise you myself."
"Then WHY didn't you?"
"It's complicated." Angela shook her head.
"It's not that complicated, Angela. Either you raised me or you didn't. Either you wanted to, or you didn't."
"It's much more than that, you silly, idiotic child!" Angela turned to her. "You're going to actually make me talk to you about this, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am. I got Linderman's side of it, which I always figured was probably bullshit. Let's hear your version of the events."
"Fine." Angela began to pace the room. "I had an affair with Linderman. That much, you know. I thought I was in love with him and I thought he was in love with me. He wasn't. The only thing that man loved was power, as you well know. Sleeping with me was just another way to control my husband, to prove to him that he was better at everything, even satisfying me. When I found out I was pregnant, I was still wearing blinders as far as Linderman was concerned. I went to him, told him I was pregnant and begged him to run away with me. I had it all planned, you see. We'd take Nathan and hide away from the rest of the world, one happy family." She snorted in derision. "But Linderman refused that plan. How could he control my husband, lord it over him, if we were in hiding? He loved rubbing our affair in his face, and we weren't exactly discreet about it. My husband owed his fortunes, everything to Linderman, so he couldn't say anything or do anything about it. He just had to sit back and let it happen.
When I told Linderman about you, the only thing he wanted me to do was give you over to him the minute you were born. The only thing he craved as much as power, was an heir to twist and warp into his own image. My husband, that spineless idiot, wanted to go along with his plan to hand you over. He couldn't say no to Linderman and he didn't want a daily reminder of our affair growing up in our house. That's when I realized that I could NEVER give you over to him. You'd have been unrecognizable as anything remotely human if that had happened. He'd have removed any idealism, sensitivity or kindness in that soul of yours, and turned you into a power-hungry monster, just like he was and is."
"I know." Olivia raised an eyebrow. "He spent eleven years trying to do just that. He made fun of me for wanting to be a doctor, even though he grudgingly allowed me to do it and really wasn't pleased with my decision to work at St. Ignacious instead of a bigger, more prestigious hospital."
"There was a couple that we were all friends with, a couple that were infertile, Jack and Sally Greene. They were good, kind and decent people, as you well know. I knew that if I couldn't raise you myself, they'd be the next best thing." Angela laughed softly. "Actually, they probably did a better job of raising you than I would have. You would have been much more spoiled and self-centered if I'd raised you, nowhere near as kind-hearted."
"I don't know, Peter and Nathan are both decent, kind-hearted guys."
"They're soft-hearted, true. They got that from their father. You have to contend with my and Linderman's DNA. Anyway, Sally and Jack agreed with me, Kaito and Charles Deveaux as well. We knew that Linderman had no business raising a child, so we outvoted him and my husband, and the Greenes agreed to adopt you when you were born. That was the last time our organization was really and truly together. Linderman stormed out, furious at us for refusing him access to his child and my husband never completely forgave me for going against him. We splintered off after that, even though we eventually all came back together, with Jack and Sally as the exception. I left for Paris for an 'extended vacation' to wait out my pregnancy. Jack and Sally met me there in May when my due date approached. They stayed by me throughout the labor and as soon as you were born, you were handed immediately to them."
"You swapped bodies with Sally during the delivery." Olivia grinned.
Angela smiled back at her. "If I had to endure the pain of giving you away, the least she could do was endure the pain of bringing you into the world. I swapped during some of the harder contractions. When it was time to push, I swapped back. I wanted the honor of actually giving birth. You didn't cry when you were born, you know. I thought something was wrong at first, until I saw you. You were content with your very first breath." She smiled softly for a moment, then frowned, turning away. "I refused to hold you or even look at you after that moment. I made the doctor give you to Jack and told them to leave with you immediately. I knew if I looked at you or held you even once, I'd never give you away. I wanted a daughter so desperately, giving you away was the hardest thing I've ever done." She stared at the floor. "Actually, it was the second hardest thing."
"What was the hardest?" Olivia watched Angela, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Giving you to Jack and Sally was difficult, but I kept telling myself it was for the best, you could have an actual future with them, a real childhood. They promised me that they'd love you like their own, which they did. They promised to give you the best of everything, which they did. They also promised that if anything ever happened to them, you'd be returned to me. They did that too, you see."
Olivia frowned. "But why did Linderman take me instead?"
"We're getting ahead of ourselves." Angela glanced over at Olivia, tears brimming in her own eyes. "I may have told myself when you were born that giving you up was for the best, but I couldn't let you go. For the first four years of your life, I was there. I returned home to my husband. We reconciled and had Peter, but I could never stop thinking about you, worrying about you. I hired private investigators to watch you and send me photographs of you. Pictures of you in strollers, swings, playing on the beach with that little dog that Jack and Sally were so fond of-"
"-Daisy-" Olivia smiled.
"-Cute little mutt. Sometimes when my husband would go away on business trips with Linderman, I'd take Nathan and Peter to Tybee Island on vacation. Jack and Sally weren't pleased to see me when I would show up there, my sons in tow, to rent one of the neighboring houses. You met Nathan and Peter once, when you were three. Nathan was twelve and Peter was eleven months old. He was already walking. You were playing on the beach and the place we'd rented was about two houses down. Jack and Sally allowed us to visit their pretentious little private beach for a few hours, pretending that we were still all old friends, even though they wanted to throttle me. You bonded with your brothers and they bonded with you for those few hours. Nathan was adorable, toting you on one hip, his little brother on the other. You don't remember that, do you?" Olivia shook her head wordlessly. "Maybe you should ask Dr. Solis-Jimenez to bring that one up. You and Peter played in the sand together and Nathan took you swimming in the ocean. Jack and Sally made me promise then not to come back. They didn't want to confuse you. I agreed, but I couldn't stay away. The next year, I came back alone. That was the memory you recalled. I got a chance to be your mother, even if it was just for a few minutes. I got to tuck you in and kiss you goodnight." Angela's voice broke as she looked away again. "After that night, I decided to stay away for good until you were eighteen and able to make your own decisions about whether or not you wanted to know me. That memory of that night, tucking you in, seeing how loved and safe you were, that was what kept me away. I knew you were safe and happy."
"And then?" Olivia's voice was thick as she fought tears.
"And then the accident happened." Angela closed her eyes, fighting tears. "Jack and Sally's lawyer knew that if something were to happen to them, he was to call me immediately. I got the call late at night. My husband tried to keep me from leaving, but I refused to speak to him. I took the first plane to Miami where you had been airlifted from whatever podunk hospital in Florida had initially treated you. You know how bad your injuries were, I'm sure." Olivia nodded. "You were dying. You were finally mine, and you were going to die on me. I couldn't bring myself to talk to you, so I just sat beside your bed, holding your hand. I knew you couldn't feel it, but I was there, Olivia. Charles and Kaito also dropped everything to come to Miami. We watched over you in shifts, hoping you'd prove the doctors wrong and wake up, even though we knew that, even if you did pull through, you'd be a vegetable. I knew the only thing I could do to save you was call Linderman."
"He was in Tibet." Olivia frowned.
"The fuck he was!" Angela glared. "He was sitting on his fat cat ass in Las Vegas, waiting for me to call him. He knew about the accident, he knew how bad off you were, and he was just waiting on me to call him. He knew I'd eventually turn to him and he was unfortunately right. That's when he gave me an offer, one that he knew that I, as a mother, couldn't refuse. He'd heal you, bring you back from your coma, but only if I signed away all rights to you. He would take you after you recovered, not me. He would finish raising you, not me. I was not allowed to contact you in any way, shape or form unless HE allowed it for the rest of your life. Charles and Kaito tried to convince me not to do it, they thought that death would be better for you than being subjected to Linderman, but I couldn't stand back and watch you die when I knew that you could be saved. I had a choice, watch you die, or give you away-AGAIN. THAT was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I couldn't even be there when he brought you back. I agreed to it. I kissed your forehead, told you I loved you and left, hoping that the love that Jack and Sally had shown you for the first seventeen years of your life was enough to keep you from being twisted by your birth father." Angela looked at Olivia proudly. "And I was right. He couldn't break you. I saw that on the few occasions he'd invite me for 'business' dinners with the two of you when he'd visit New York."
"He didn't completely break me." Olivia sat back, fighting tears. "He told me that you didn't want me and that you didn't visit me in the hospital. He told me that Mom and Dad had left me to him and that he was the only one who cared enough to visit me. He said that you knew they were dead and that I was dying, and chose to ignore it."
"He lied." Angela snarled. "He was the one who was ignoring it. He waited for me to plead with him to bring you back. He made me beg for your life."
Olivia nodded. "You wanted me."
"Every day of your life." Angela looked sadly at Olivia as her daughter began to sob. "I wanted to raise you with your brothers, I wanted to watch you grow up, but I knew that Linderman wouldn't let you grow up in peace. I don't regret giving you up, either time, I just wish I could have done things differently. When I found out that Linderman was dead, I was relieved, because I could finally be a part of your life, whether you wanted me there or not."
"I didn't." Olivia sniffled. "He told me so many hateful things-"
"-I know." Angela nodded. "They were lies. I'll bring Parkman or Trevor Kelley in here now to prove it if you want-"
"-I don't. I know you're telling the truth. I could see how much you loved me when Oscar brought that memory up."
"I did love you. I do love you." Angela sighed as Olivia began to sob harder. She sat beside her daughter, hugging her gently. "Now stop crying. Your eyes get red, your nose swells and you look terrible."
Olivia laughed softly as she hugged Angela back. "Stop telling me what to do."
"Now we sound like a mother and daughter." Angela hugged her daughter one last time before standing up. "I need to rest and so do you, if that walking hormone bomb in there will actually LET you rest. We're going to have a difficult day tomorrow." She cradled Olivia's face in her hands, studying it. "You have his eyes, but the rest is mine. The curls were my grandmother's. Jack and Sally let me name you after her. God only knows where that idealism and sensitivity came from, you're just like Peter in that respect. Maybe he didn't get ALL of that from 'Dallas'. That smart-ass attitude though, that's mine." She kissed her daughter on the cheek. "When you have your daughter, you'll understand why I did what I did."
"I understand now. You loved me and wanted the best for me."
"And I still do." Angela sighed as she stood up. "But you're so damn stubborn, you won't listen to me when I tell you what I think is best." She smirked. "That's from me too, unfortunately. Stubborn as hell. Goodnight, Olivia. I'll see you in the morning at that damned training session." She headed for the front door.
"Goodnight Ang-" Olivia took a breath "Goodnight Mother."
Angela stopped, her hand on the doorknob. She turned back to Olivia, smiling softly before turning back to the door, leaving.
"You okay?" Olivia turned to see Gabriel leaning in the doorway. "That was a pretty intense discussion."
Olivia smiled, wiping away tears. "I'm okay. I feel badly for treating her like shit these last few months, but I'm okay."
"Angela's a tough cookie." Gabriel sat beside his wife, pulling her into his arms. "Something tells me that she was fine with you being a bitch to her since she came back into your life. She knew that Linderman probably told her some hateful stuff about her."
"He really did." Olivia glared as she nodded. "He made her out to be an adulterous whore who tossed me away the minute I was born. I'd see her around town, and occasionally he'd let her come over for dinner with us when he was in town, but she was always so cold. Now I know why. She couldn't be anything else to me around him. The day he 'died' she showed up claiming that she had to help me with his plans about Project X, which I later named Project Athena. No matter how much I shut her out, she stayed put and wouldn't let me drive her away. I thought she was just being greedy, wanting some of that glory for herself if the project worked. Now I know."
"So I guess you two aren't going to be as bitchy towards each other anymore." Gabriel sighed. "Too bad, I always enjoyed watching the two of you snipe at each other."
"Oh, I'm sure we'll still have plenty of things to snipe about. I still have you around, much to her dismay." Olivia laughed.
"I'm glad to do my part." Gabriel grinned as he kissed his wife.
"So, what did you paint?" Olivia asked.
"Nothing. I was too busy listening to the newest retelling of 'Sophie's Choice-Angela's Story'." He winked. "And now I'm tired as hell and ready for bed. How about you?"
"I'm exhausted, physically and now emotionally. Bed sounds wonderful." Olivia slowly stood up with her husband and walked to their bedroom. She pulled off her clothes and climbed into bed, smiling as her husband did the same. "How tired are you?" She snuggled next to him. "I mean, it is our first night back home in our OWN bed."
Gabriel rolled over, kissing Olivia passionately. "Well, I wasn't going to say anything, since you seemed tired, but I'm not so sleepy yet."
"And we're both probably going to be way too tired tomorrow to do anything but actually sleep." Olivia kissed her husband back.
"Not to mention too sore to actually move." Gabriel grinned as Olivia began to kiss his neck, then his chest. "I think we can definitely sleep later." He whispered, moaning as her lips began to move further down. "MUCH later."
