A/N: Holy crossover, Batman! Fringe will not have a prominent role in this fanfic. It's just a convenient background element. I highly recommend it for anyone who hasn't watched it.

Peter pulled out his phone on the way out to his car. He'd called his work on the way over to his mother's place and made vague excuses involving his pregnant sister-in-law. It was nearly the truth. Now he dialed Noah.

His partner answered on the fourth ring. "Um… Peter?" He sounded sleepy.

"Noah. Heidi's gone missing. Nathan thinks she's been abducted by enemies of the Company. My mother seems to think the same. What's your take?"

"Um." Peter could hear Bennet take a deep breath. "Yeah… it's uh, it's possible. There was… there was going to be an attack."

"Yeah?"

"Uh-huh."

"Tell me more." He started his car and pointed it in the direction of Noah's apartment. It was hours away. "Wait. Where are you?" It occurred to him if Noah was at the board meeting earlier that night and he was already asleep, then he probably hadn't driven back home.

"I'm… why?"

"Because I'm going to come get you. I need your help."

Noah seemed to fully wake all of a sudden, "I'll meet you. Where?"

"Come to Nathan's house. Do you remember the address?"

"Not sure I've ever been there," Noah said cagily. Peter gave him directions even though he was pretty sure from Noah's tone he knew exactly where it was. "Okay. I'll be there in an hour. Is Gabriel there?"

"Yes. Is there a problem with that?"

"I hope not." With that ambiguous answer, Noah hung up.

Peter shook his head and took the next left, heading to his apartment to pick up a few things before going back to Nathan's.

XXX

Peter hurried up the steps to see Noah waiting near the door. Noah waved at the house. "No one answered."

"Yeah, he's not handling it well. He's shutting down," Peter said and opened the door. He hadn't locked it when he'd left. Nathan was still sitting where he's last seen him, staring at the floor like a broken robot. He didn't even acknowledge their presence. Noah turned to Peter, who said, "I need to know where Molly Walker is."

Noah's eyes flickered to Nathan, who was still staring off into space. Noah said, "Last I heard, Matt Parkman was asking for help on adopting her. He's living in Boston while on assignment with the Fringe Division. She's probably with him."

Peter looked over at Nathan for a minute. He turned back to Noah. "Will you help me? It's your godson."

Noah sighed and shut his eyes for a long moment. "I don't know why he did that."

"Asked you to be the godfather?"

Noah nodded. Peter said, "Why did you accept?"

"If any child needs help, that one will. Of course I'll help you. That's why you called me. You knew I wouldn't say no." He made it sound like an accusation.

Peter smiled. "Yeah. That and I wanted to see if I could squeeze any more information out of you. Nathan told me all kinds of things, but not what it has to do with me or him or Heidi. You said you knew there was going to be an attack?"

"Yes. Angela has guards with her at all times and a security detail watching her house - this one too, by the way. There have been at least two incidents of other agents being seen. Gabriel caught one who was part of a team of three. I wasn't involved in the interrogation. I gather it didn't yield anything useful except to confirm we're dealing with people with powers and no compunctions against using them."

Peter shifted his weight back and forth. "Do you know why? What are they after? If they want to stop us, a sniper round would do just fine for most of us. Maybe not him, but the rest of us." He indicated Nathan.

"They need you. And him. Whatever they're going to do, you're components of it."

"What are they going to do?"

Noah shook his head sadly. "I don't know, Peter. I give my reports, get my orders and go on. They talk mentally sometimes when Maury is there. He coordinated a discussion between them at the December meeting. It ended with Gabriel telling your mother that he'd find a way to save you with or without her help. That part was out loud, verbal. The rest wasn't."

"Save me?" Peter thought about that. Early December - that was when Nathan had told him his mother knew how to get his full powers back. Nathan had thought she might have done something to Peter because of an argument his older brother had with her. He said, "I'm not in any danger. Heidi is."

Noah shrugged. "I've been at this a long time, Peter. They're getting ready for something. They're having private discussions. They're arguing about direction and priorities and how to respond to some upcoming event. They're not in agreement and I feel that dissension very clearly."

Peter looked down and nodded. He took a deep breath and said, "Nathan told me about the oath of loyalty."

Noah was silent. It confirmed everything.

Peter rolled his head back and forth and rubbed the lingering soreness at the back of his neck. He couldn't think of what to do for his friend. The issue with Heidi was more urgent, anyway. He asked, "Is that all you know?"

"It's all I can tell you."

At Peter's look he said defensively, "Everything else is just speculation, Peter."

"Then speculate."

"No. I can't. My orders are explicit." Noah gestured at Nathan. "If you can get him to tell me to tell you, then I can. But since he hasn't told you himself, I doubt he'll do it. He's sitting right there, listening to us and he's not saying a thing. What I can tell you is that I don't think I know anything that would help you."

Peter sighed. "Okay. Let's catch a few hours sleep and then we'll drive to Boston. I want to be there by six - see if we can't catch them before they head to work."

"We could just call."

"No," Peter shook his head. "We need to be there in person." He waved at his brother. "We'll leave him here. I don't think he'd do anything to Matt, but he might and this isn't a good time to be testing his control." He started to walk off, "Here, let me show you the guest room." As he went he pointed out the kitchen in case Noah wanted anything. After showing him in Peter went back to the parlor and knelt next to Nathan.

He stared into the other man's eyes, so familiar to him after all these years, until there was finally a flicker of recognition in them. It took a distressingly long time. Nathan twitched slightly as if any level of response to the world around him took a great effort. "Nathan," Peter asked. "What is it you won't tell me?"

Nathan's voice sounded hoarse, unused, but at least it was Nathan's voice, for the most part. "You won't stop. I'll lose both of you."

Peter swallowed. That's why. It makes sense. You won't tell me because you think I'll die if I help you. After a beat he said, "Does it save Heidi?"

"They're dead. They die. I thought it was a choice. Now I can't tell."

Peter tilted his head. "A choice?"

"Yes," Nathan looked more miserable, if that was possible. "You or her, her and the baby or you." His voice broke. He jerked as he tried to keep control of himself, blinking furiously.

Peter inhaled slowly. "That's not a difficult choice, Nathan." A woman with her baby who never wanted to be part of this, or a man who knows what he's getting into. That one's easy. He stroked his brother's arm.

Nathan looked away. "I know. I know, Pete. You were my world." He reached out and tousled Peter's hair. "Go. Find Parkman. He'll tell you things you don't want to know, because he can see the future too. If it can't be stopped, you'll be back and we'll go together, because I've seen it - I will see it."

Peter huffed. The fatalism was irritating. "Do you know where she is? Can we just short-circuit this?"

Nathan shook his head. "She's in a building. We're in a building. Concrete walls, crappy blue and white ceramic tiles on the floor with blood all over them… there aren't any landmarks or signs. How we got there wasn't important."

Peter asked, "Is there anything else? Is that the big secret you and mom have been hiding? That I might die trying to save Heidi?"

"Might?" Nathan said dubiously. "Hff. Ma says there's a number of ways for it to play out. The more I tinker with the timeline by explaining it to you, the less likely it will come to pass as we've seen it. Since it sucks anyway, I can't see the harm in it. Ma's certain if we don't let this happen, worse things will be - the dark future, she calls it."

Peter asked, "She thinks… Heidi's death, maybe mine, is required to prevent something worse from happening?"

Nathan nodded. Peter shook his head dismissively. "She's had some pretty hare-brained ideas about necessary sacrifices before. They've been wrong too. We'll save Heidi. Don't give up on me, Nathan." He leaned in and kissed Nathan on the forehead. "Come on, get up. Get upstairs and get some sleep, or at least lay on the bed and rest. The boys need you. I need you. I'm not dead yet and neither is Heidi or the baby."

He tugged Nathan to his feet and marched him up the stairs. Nathan pulled a pillow off the bed and lay on the floor. Peter looked at that and sighed, but didn't say anything. He went downstairs to sleep on the couch himself, setting the alarm on his phone. He didn't think he'd sleep. He had too much going on in his mind. His schedule had gotten turned around a few days ago when Jackson, the primary supervisor at work, had the bright idea to rotate him to the midnight shift. Jackson had told him sarcastically this way his relatives and in-laws wouldn't interfere with his work. Fat chance of that.

XXX

The next morning, Peter stood in Matt Parkman's dining room, looking at a large corkboard that covered most of one wall. It was labeled "US" and "THEM" at the top, neatly divided in two with white tape. On the "US" side were pictures of government agents, mostly FBI. Near the bottom were wallet-sized pictures of Molly, Matt, and his Company partner David Wilcox. Under each picture was information about the person, usually limited to title and organization, but a few also had phone numbers and abilities.

He bent down to look at the phone numbers under Matt and Wilcox's names. He pulled out his phone and input them. If he needed to get in touch with Molly again, he would need the contacts. Besides, since Matt seemed to be walking the straight and narrow these days, or at least trying to, it might be good to talk to him sometimes. Maybe he could give him some insight on what to do about the programming Company agents received.

One of the FBI agents, a willowy blonde woman, was listed as a clairvoyant. Lined up on either side of the tape were people from pharmaceutical and bioengineering companies. With a frown, he noticed three Pinehearst employees. He hadn't known Pinehearst was still in operation after having their headquarters blown up. Pharmatech was also up there - it was another group with Company ties.

Clustered away from the tape on the "THEM" side was a fairly random assortment of people and criminals. Nearly all of them had powers and about half of them had a second picture pinned to their mug shot. The second picture was of their corpse, in most cases, mutilated or mutated. There were colored threads connecting individuals from one side to the other. He recognized one of the deceased as a sonic projector he and Noah had contacted back in September. He looked like he'd been burned to death.

Matt walked in. "Okay. Here's the address. She's in France."

"France?"

"Yeah." He handed Peter a piece of paper with the address. "I'm not going."

Peter nodded. "I know. Not asking. I don't think it would be safe to put you and Nathan in the same room."

"You mean Gabriel?"

Peter rubbed at his eyes. "Yeah." Noah and Matt never call him Nathan. "Listen, I've got a second favor to ask of you."

"What's that?" Parkman sounded unaccountably wary.

"I need you to see what you can get out of Noah Bennet without hurting him. He knows something about the future, something my mother or Gabriel has let slip and he won't tell me." Matt began shaking his head. Peter went on, "No, Matt. I've thought about this. He's not going to like it, but he understands why I'm doing it. I don't think he'll resist it." This was why he'd insisted he and Bennet come in person. He'd left Noah in the car so he could talk to Matt about it.

Matt said, "No, he'll have to resist it. And anyway, I won't. I don't do that sort of stuff to people I know. Not anymore. It's… too painful. Peter… come look at something."

Peter followed him into Matt's bedroom. He pulled out a sketchbook from under his bed and flipped through it. The last drawing, in colored charcoals, stared up at him. It was Matt Parkman with his throat cut and the top of his head missing. In the foreground, someone's hand was reaching for the body. The drawing was made as though from the perspective of this person. In the background stood an older man, looking down at the scene and smiling. It looked uncannily like Arthur Petrelli.

"He's alive," Matt said.

Peter swallowed. "I know." It was upsetting to see confirmation of it though.

Matt's eyes widened. After a beat he flipped to the previous picture. It was of a brown-haired woman with a babe ripped from her womb by c-section, still connected with the umbilical. The woman's face was turned away, but she looked dead. The baby was blue where he wasn't covered with blood. Both were surrounded by a shining golden aura. There were blue and white tiles on the floor beneath them, blood splattered across the floor. Peter shuddered. This was what Nathan saw. Multiple people with precognition are all seeing the same thing. What does that mean? Is it unavoidable? It can't be.

"That's the woman who's missing?" Matt asked cautiously. Peter nodded, but didn't say anything. Matt flipped to the next page back. It showed Noah Bennet stabbing a man Peter thought was Gabriel in the chest while a blurred figure in the background reached for them. Gabriel's face looked like it had been riddled with bullets. Matt closed the sketch book. "The ones before that are related to my cases. I stopped drawing after… after seeing my death. I'm not going with you. I don't want to die. The one with my death has the same tile pattern as this other, I guess that's Heidi? If I don't go there, it can't happen."

"I wasn't going to ask you," Peter said numbly. How many of us have to die to preserve this supposedly better future? Is it really worth it, Ma? Peter looked down at the address. France was a long flight away. He felt he understood enough now of why his mother didn't want Peter to know what was unfolding. He couldn't stand by now that he knew. If his acting would save these people and change the future, then act he would.

XXX

Gabriel was sitting on the steps outside Nathan's house when they returned around ten in the morning. Peter got out of the car and walked over to him. Noah followed a few steps behind. Peter asked, "What's going on?"

"I woke up like this." Gabriel turned his hands over and indicated his face. "Nathan's gone. I called the nanny. She's here. I told her I'm a friend of the family and Nathan had to leave - emergency."

"Nathan's… gone?"

"Peter, it's not his life if you take all the people out of it."

Peter rolled his eyes. The fatalism was really irritating. "All the people aren't out of it. None of them are yet. Get up and pull yourself together if you can. We need to go to France. That's where Heidi is. Can you carry me?"

Gabriel did not stir. "I don't think I can fly."

"What?"

"I said I don't think I can fly. I can't do anything. I can't shift back to Nathan… I can't. The only thing I seem to have left is telekinesis."

Peter blinked at him and sighed, sinking down to the step next to the other man. He put an arm around him and looked up at Bennet, who had an unreadable expression. Losing powers during times of great stress was not uncommon, especially for depression or grief. It just hadn't occurred to Peter.

He said, "Okay. Change of plans then. We'll get tickets and take a plane. Might work out better, because then Noah can come with us. He's the only one no one's predicting to die, anyway." Peter smiled. Neither Noah nor Gabriel looked amused. He patted Gabriel's shoulder. "Look at it this way - there's no chance of a surprise eclipse happening and getting dumped in the middle of the Atlantic."

Gabriel shrugged, unmoved. "Okay."

XXX

One very long transatlantic plane ride later, they checked into a hotel in Paris. Gabriel's French was a little rusty, but he still spoke it serviceably. Peter was glad to notice this as it meant Nathan's memories were still there even if Gabriel wasn't able to summon any of his personality to the fore. The next morning they'd take their rental car south to the address they'd been given. Peter hoped she was still there and hadn't been moved. If she were, he'd just call Matt back for a redo.

He shared a room with Gabriel, whose only input on it had been to specify two beds. Once in the room, Peter tried to go to him but was rebuffed. Gabriel told him, "No. Stay away." His tone was gentle, but he didn't allow argument, settling in on his bed and turning his back. Peter sat on the other bed, frustrated Gabriel was mourning people who weren't dead yet, mourning losing Peter when he was right there. He might even be causing deaths by emotionally checking out.

Maybe another night of sleep will help, he thought. He thought of his hospice training. There was a time to engage with a grieving person, but unless they were contemplating harming themselves or others it was best to give them space when they asked for it. He slept uneasily, made worse by the occasional sounds of suffering Gabriel made in his sleep, distressed by whatever the visions showed him.