Warning: this chapter gets a little angsty in places as Bella and the others face the reality of her situation, though at least there's no actual character death this time.

Chapter 24: To the End

For a moment, Peter felt as if his ability to stop time had turned against him, freezing him in place while every horrific image from the dreams that had warned him about the Shanti virus' resurgence crowded to the forefront of his mind, drowning out rational thought with the nightmarish sense of panic and despair he'd felt in those dreams...

Then he wrenched his mind back into the present, reminding himself that his visions weren't set in stone, that he could prevent them from coming true, and reached for Bella again. "Come on, we have to get you back to the lab."

She didn't seem to hear him, her face still frozen in an expression of terrible realization as she fingered the wound on her neck, but at least she didn't resist when he took hold of her arm and teleported her away from the battlefield.

Mohinder jumped when they appeared in the lab and almost dropped the needle he was about to insert into Claire's arm. "Oh! You're back... Is the battle over, then? I hope it concluded favorably?"

"It went fine until Bella got bitten," Peter replied tersely.

"Oh dear. In that case, you'll be needing this blood quickly." He turned back to his work, fumbling slightly in his haste until Claire reached over with her free hand to steady his.

"Don't forget to breathe."

"Yes, indeed. Breathing is important." Drawing in a deep breath, he finally managed to get the needle into her vein. After that, it seemed to take forever for the blood to drain, but at last Mohinder collected enough to fill a cup which he handed to Peter, who immediately pressed it into Bella's hands.

"Drink."

She blinked, her gaze moving slowly from his face down to the cup, which she stared at for a second as if she'd never seen anything like it; then, shaking off the mind-numbing shock that had gripped her when she realized Victoria had bitten her and the understanding of what that meant set in, she raised it to her lips and gulped down its contents.

Claire watched the consumption of her blood with a feeling of morbid fascination; she knew perfectly well what had happened to all the blood she'd already donated but had never seen it with her own eyes, and even though Bella was very neat, allowing no telltale trickle of red to escape like in the movies, there was still something unnerving about the whole thing. When she finished, Claire found herself asking what felt like an absurd question, the words slipping out before she could stop them. "How do I taste?"

Bella looked over at her with eyes that had just turned the same deep red as the blood she'd drunk and arched an eyebrow.

"It's just that Carlisle's explained his theory about why people like me don't smell like food to you, how our species co-evolved not to be enemies so we wouldn't hunt each other to extinction or whatever...so I just wondered what it's like when one of you does feed on someone like me. I hope you didn't have to choke it down."

"You're getting more than twice the limit for blood donations drained out of you every couple of hours, and you're worried about whether it's unpleasant for me?" Bella asked incredulously. When Claire responded only with a slightly embarrassed shrug (one-shouldered, so as not to dislodge the needle that was still drawing blood for the rest of the patients), she said, "Well, I've never had blood from a regular human, so I don't know how yours compares, but you definitely taste better than the animals I've fed on. I'll have to watch myself to make sure I don't get hooked."

"You won't," Peter assured her. "You're stronger than that."

She turned to look at him with obvious surprise. "What are you talking about? Stronger than what?"

Peter frowned at her. "You just said you'll have to be careful not to get hooked on human blood."

"No, she didn't," Claire told him. "She just said I tasted better than animals."

"I thought it, though," Bella said slowly, her face falling as she realized Peter had just heard her thoughts, and her hand went to the wound on her neck again. "Angela said losing your power was the first symptom... That didn't take long."

She didn't have time to mourn the loss of her ability, though, because Charlie picked that moment to barge in, scanning the room frantically until his eyes found her. "Bella! I just heard..." Rushing over to her, he pulled her into a hug that would have left her breathless if she actually needed air, then leaned back to get a look at her neck. "That doesn't look too bad...and the docs found a way to stop it from spreading, right?"

"As long as Claire doesn't get tired of the ritual bloodletting."

His eyes followed hers as she glanced at the ex-cheerleader, whose face was growing paler as Mohinder continued draining her blood. When he finally tied off the tube and removed the needle from her arm, she slumped in her seat for a moment, then sat up and flashed them a wan smile as her blood pressure rose back to normal levels and the color returned to her face. "I don't mind; it's only a temporary thing until they find a real cure. Besides, what's a little blood between friends?"

"We still appreciate what you're doing for us," Bella said softly. "I'm sure my fellow infectees would say the same if they could."

Claire wasn't so sure, but it was nice to hear all the same. "I just wish I could do more. It feels like all I'm good for is my blood."

"You've helped more than anyone else has been able to," Peter reminded her. "Some of the infected would already be dead if it weren't for you."

"There is something else you can do if you want to be more proactive," Bella added. "You can make sure Mohinder doesn't forget to eat and keel over before he finds that cure. It's lunchtime for humans, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I can do that." Claire headed off to the kitchen, happy to have something to do, but Charlie and Peter resisted Bella's attempts to send them with her, not wanting to leave her alone.

"I'm fine, really, and I'll still be here after you eat. Honestly, where would I go? There's no reason for you to miss meals because of me." Finally succeeding in shooing them away, she slipped upstairs and made her way to Elle's and Edward's room.

Elle answered her knock, looking surprised to see her. "I didn't think your dad would let you out of his sight for at least the rest of the week. He almost blew a fuse when we got back and told him you got bitten. Edward said I should give him some time with you," she finished almost defensively, as if to justify why she hadn't immediately checked on her friend upon her return.

Bella believed her, though she had also noticed that Elle seemed somewhat uncomfortable with Charlie, and even more so with the two of them together. She suspected that seeing her with Charlie reminded the other girl of her fraught relationship with her own father, so she had never broached the subject with her, not wanting to stir up painful memories. "It wasn't easy to shake him, or Peter, but I need to talk to you - alone. May I come in?"

Elle obligingly stepped aside to let her enter. "Want me to kick him out?" she asked, jerking her thumb at Edward.

"There's no need for that," he said with mock indignation, rising from his chair. "I'm not one to hang around where I'm not wanted."

"No, he can stay. I wanted to talk to both of you, actually."

"Okay. How are you feeling?"

"All right, for now." Her hand went to her neck again, almost unconsciously. The wound throbbed dully, almost like water lapping against a dam...or pushing at it, trying to escape its boundaries, to unleash a flood of destruction... "My shield is gone, but the pain isn't too bad, thanks to Claire."

"Good." Elle nodded, seeming genuinely pleased to hear that; then she punched Bella in the arm, not pulling it at all. "What did you jump into my fight with Victoria for, you idiot? She was after me, not you!"

"I was trying to help," Bella retorted, shooting the blonde a sour look as she rubbed her arm. She knew Elle was just upset that she'd been hurt, but sometimes her way of expressing concern left a lot to be desired.

"Oh yeah, getting yourself infected was a big help. This is all Peter's fault - the Bella I first met in that Primatech facility three years ago would never have done anything like that."

"No, I would've been too terrified...too helpless to do anything more than cower in a corner and wait for someone to save me. You had as much to do with knocking that out of me as anyone," Bella reminded her with a slight grin. "Peter was the one who made me want to start helping people instead of just focusing on protecting myself, but you started the process. If I've ever done anything even a little bit brave or heroic, it's only because I met you."

Unfortunately, Elle didn't take the compliment the way it was intended. "I hate heroes! Sure, they're admirable and all that crap, but then they do stupid things and get themselves killed!"

"Calm down; Bella isn't going to die," Edward said firmly, wrapping his arms around her to stop her agitated pacing. "Carlisle and Mohinder are working on their antivirus as we speak, and if by some chance it doesn't work out or it's not ready in time, Peter will do something."

"Like what?" Elle scoffed, though she did indeed appear to be calming down. "He's a nurse, not a...scientist of the virus-curing variety."

"All the same, you don't think he'll let her die, do you?"

"I guess not."

"I know he'll do everything he can," Bella spoke up, clasping her hands together nervously, "and he can do a lot, but..."

Elle's head turned sharply toward her, her eyes locking on Bella's face as if to dissect every tiny nuance of her expressions. "There's a 'but'? Are you saying you don't think he can fix this?"

"No," Bella said quickly. "If there's anyone I trust to find a solution regular science can't, it's him, but so far this virus has been pretty unbeatable. Even using Claire's blood as a treatment might just be prolonging the inevitable, and if there is no cure..." She paused to take a deep breath, gathering her courage to voice the fear that had been growing in her mind since the moment she felt Victoria's teeth sink into her neck, even though part of her was afraid to do so, as if putting it into words brought it one step closer to reality. Still, it had to be said. "I don't want to end up like Patient Zero, with my brain cells breaking down until my mind is completely gone, and I'm just a rabid animal...a monster."

"You won't," Edward assured her.

"But if I do... I need to know that you won't leave me like that." She looked straight into his eyes, then Elle's, trying to impress on both of them the earnestness of her request. "You put the Haitian out of his misery; if the time comes, I want you to do the same for me."

"No," Elle protested, though she sensed that it was more of a knee-jerk reaction than an outright refusal. "You can't ask us to do that. Peter-"

"I don't want him to do it," Bella interrupted. "I don't want him to have to... Killing me is the one thing I don't think he can do, and that's not how I want him to remember me, so I'm asking you, as my best friends, to do this one last thing for me. Please."

Edward loosened his grip on Elle, moving to her side so she could meet his eyes, and they stared at one another, seeming to confer silently, for a long moment before they both looked back at Bella, though he was the only one who spoke. "All right. You have our word that, if the worst should happen...we'll make it as quick and painless for you as we can."

The breath she had been holding rushed out of her then, her relief so overwhelming that she almost felt lightheaded (at least she hoped it was only relief making her feel that way), but she managed to hold herself steady as she smiled gratefully at them, her response simple yet heartfelt. "Thank you."

"Don't thank us yet," Elle said dismissively. "Odds are we won't end up doing anything."

"Are you sure you want to talk odds with me? You do know my bad luck is practically a disease unto itself, don't you? I was the only one to get bitten-"

"Actually, you weren't. They got Demetri too, and somehow one of them managed to get their teeth into Esme's ankle."

Bella's face crumpled in dismay at this news, especially when she heard that Esme, who had always been so kind to her, had been hurt. "Oh no, I'm so sorry. How are they?"

"As well as can be expected," Edward said with forced stoicism, and she suspected that he was actually deeply distraught about what had happened to his mother - which was probably another reason Elle had stayed with him rather than checking on Bella's condition - but was forcing himself not to fall apart over it or bemoan her injury too much in front of someone who was arguably worse off. "The lower part of her leg was removed before the infection spread, as was Demetri's hand."

"So I'm the only one who got bitten in a place that can't be amputated?" Bella summarized with a pointed look at Elle.

"Okay, that is pretty rotten luck," the blonde admitted. She paused for a moment, then, in an attempt to distract Bella from what she seemed certain was her impending doom, said, "Jane seemed pretty upset about Demetri, for her. I could swear her face almost made an actual expression when she saw the bite on his wrist."

"She and Alec worked with him for a long time."

"Yeah, but I think she was more upset than her brother... Maybe not just as a coworker..."

"...And that's my cue to leave." Edward did a quick shuffle out of the room, muttering about sordid gossip, while Bella's eyebrows shot up as Elle's meaning sank in.

"You mean you think that they..." Her voice trailed off, the idea of Jane - who she thought of as apathetic at best, cruel at worst - having that sort of attachment to anyone seeming too far-fetched to voice out loud.

The door flew open, and there stood the diminutive vampire in question, scowling at them. "I can hear you, you know."

Bella looked down at her feet, appropriately abashed at being caught gossiping by the very subject of their speculation, but Elle met her glare with a look of eager curiosity. "So spill - what's the deal with you and Demetri? I mean, you lived in the same castle with him for a really long time..."

"Along with many others. There is no deal," Jane said flatly.

"Did you have a thing for one of those others, then? Not one of the ones who died, I hope."

"No, I did not have a romantic interest in any of my fellow guards," Jane snapped, exasperated with Elle's line of questioning. "I didn't waste my time on such frivolous pursuits. Besides, with the exception of my brother, I always suspected that our compatriots found me intimidating."

It was hard to tell if she was being sarcastic - if she was, her sarcastic voice was virtually indistinguishable from her regular voice. Elle's sarcasm, on the other hand, was much more obvious as she said, "Gee, I can't imagine why."

Jane tilted her head minutely to one side, a glint of amusement in her eyes. "Can't you? Your gift has similar applications to mine, and you clearly know how to use it - you dispatched that old man, Daniel Linderman, quite effectively. I've heard you were even in the same line of work as me when you were human, subduing the more unruly among your kind to keep them hidden from the human world at large. We're not so different, you and I."

"Yeah, you're like two peas in a sadistic blonde pod," Bella muttered.

"I guess we do have a few things in common," Elle acknowledged with a thoughtful nod. "I have a boyfriend, though."

"Yes, you clearly haven't scared Edward off. How did you manage that?" The honest curiosity in Jane's voice took on a more disparaging, almost accusatory edge as she continued. "I suppose you have to refrain from using your power on him and go along with the Cullens' bizarre lifestyle choices like a good little girl?"

"Not that much. When Edward changed me, he took me to a place where there were no humans around so that I had no choice but to feed on animals at first, and that made it easy to get into the diet. I really don't mind that part."

"Truly? You've never been the least bit tempted by human blood?"

Elle shrugged. "Sure, they smell good, but I knew they were off-limits right from the start, so I just...never let myself think about it, I guess. Can't miss what you've never had, right? Besides, it's not worth the strain it'd put on me and Edward just to drink something a little tastier."

"So his affection for you is contingent upon your conforming to his standards of behavior." Jane gave an almost smug nod, as if to say she'd expected as much.

"No - he'd still love me if I racked up a higher body count than Jack the Ripper. He doesn't have me on a leash, but I'm not conning him either. He can read my mind, so he always knew I'm the furthest thing from a good little girl." She bared her teeth in a hard-edged grin which then turned slyly insinuating. "And for your information, maybe I do give him a little jolt every now and then. Guys can be pretty wimpy about that kind of thing at first, but they can get used to it. Sometimes they even start to like it."

Seeing that Jane looked a little too intrigued by that statement, Bella said, "Okay, that's my cue to leave," and made her exit through the same door Edward had used, squeezing past Jane. The smaller girl moved farther into the room as she passed in order to give her more space; even though she knew the virus wasn't spread via skin-to-skin contact, she still preferred not to get too close.

"You'll have to excuse Bella," Elle said once the brunette was gone. "I love her, but she can be pretty uptight. I'd hoped Peter would cure her of that, but..." She gave a one-shouldered shrug. "It's a process."

Jane dismissed these remarks with a brief toss of her head reminiscent of someone shaking off a bothersome fly and steered the conversation back to their previous line of discussion; she was far more interested in the girl in front of her, who was so like her in some ways yet so different in terms of the path she had taken, how she had left her former vocation behind and started a new life, how she had somehow made the Cullens accept and even embrace her despite the rougher edges of her personality. "Are you saying the key to happiness for people like us is to date masochists?"

For some reason, Elle found this question absolutely hilarious, which perplexed and annoyed Jane. "It probably helps," she said once she'd gotten the laughter out of her system. "I don't think it's strictly necessary, though, as long as you find someone who isn't a total wimp."

She paused for a moment, and her humorous mood dissipated as she pondered the evolution of her own relationship with Edward - what had first drawn her to him beyond seeing him as a convenient way to fulfill her assignment, how far they had come since then, and why she still loved him today and would continue to do so for the rest of eternity. "Besides," she added more seriously, "when you find the right person, you might realize you don't even want to hurt them."

###

Carlisle and Mohinder continued their work on the antivirus at a frantic pace, though their progress still seemed agonizingly slow. As the days dragged on toward an entire week since the final confrontation with Victoria, however, Bella found that she didn't have much time to brood over her condition, since she was rarely left alone for more than ten minutes. Peter, Charlie, Elle, Alice, Edward, and Claire hovered around her almost constantly, and on the rare occasions when she managed to shake off her regular attendants, it seemed the rest of the family were never far away; even Esme, who was using a cane to get around without her foot, had an uncanny knack for popping up at just the right moment to ensure her solitude never continued uninterrupted too long.

Sometimes she wondered if the doctors' efforts weren't going well and her closest friends and loved ones wanted to spend as much time with her as possible because they expected her to die; at other times she suspected that, since she was the only patient whose limbs hadn't been removed either to curb the virus' spread or confine her to a bed, they were actually keeping her under surveillance, watching for any sign that she was becoming dangerous. Then she wondered if the virus was already eating away at her brain, making her paranoid.

She supposed (or at least hoped) that her mind must not be too far gone if she could still consider the possibility of paranoia, but there were moments, which seemed to come with increasing frequency as the days went by, when she felt herself slipping - when she had to search for words that had once rolled easily off her tongue, or found her thoughts spiraling off into scattered tangents and had to make a conscious effort to stay focused. And of course, the gnawing pain from her wound was always there, slowly creeping outward, its progress impeded by Claire's blood yet not fully stymied, and she knew it was only a matter of time before it consumed her as it had all the others...

These dark thoughts were cut off by Peter's hand on her knee, giving her a gentle squeeze, and she looked around to find him, Alice, and Elle all watching her, their expressions concerned and maybe even a tiny bit nervous. It was moments like this that made her glad she could no longer blush, as she realized she must have spaced out right in the middle of a conversation, except that the implications of such a lapse were really more frightening than embarrassing.

"Sorry," she said with an awkward, forced smile. "What was I saying? ...I was saying something, right?"

"Yes," Peter answered in the same patient tone she imagined he used to employ with hospice patients suffering from dementia, though he probably hadn't looked at them with barely concealed anguish. "We were just talking about-"

"Hang on," Alice interrupted, her eyes sliding out of focus as a vision of the future overtook her more mundane senses. "I have a feeling this is important..."

Everyone watched with avid anticipation until her blank expression gave way to a contemplative frown, which prompted Elle to ask, "Well, was it important, or did you just see who'll win this year's NBA championship?"

"That would be important to Charlie," Bella commented, "although he probably wouldn't appreciate you spoiling it for him."

"No, it wasn't that. Carlisle and Mohinder will have a breakthrough tonight, and the antivirus will be ready soon afterward."

"That's great...isn't it?" It certainly sounded great, yet Peter couldn't help thinking there must be some caveat, or surely she would look happier.

"It will destroy the virus, so Claire won't have to keep donating blood to slow its progression. It won't heal the existing damage, though. That's one conundrum it doesn't look like our intrepid doctors will be able to crack," Alice explained with a dispirited sigh.

"So everyone who's suffered neurological damage... They'll be stuck like that? Forever?" Even as he deliberately avoided saying her name, Peter couldn't stop his eyes from darting sideways to Bella. She was still herself, mostly, but her cognitive capabilities were obviously not what they used to be, even when she was human.

For his own part, Peter would happily take any cure they could get, even if it left her diminished in some ways; after all, it wasn't like he would love her any less. As long as even the tiniest fragment of her mind remained intact, keeping her alive in that state was preferable to losing her completely - even if the Cullens hadn't healed her, if she'd spent the rest of her days as an empty shell sustained only by machines, he would have stayed with her every minute of whatever time she had left - but as he looked at her, he knew those thoughts were selfish.

Bella didn't always seem aware of her own incremental deterioration, but there were other times when it was clear that she knew perfectly well what was happening to her, when her frustration with her mental lapses was painfully obvious. To leave her in such a state forever, to force her to accept that kind of existence just so he wouldn't have to lose her, would be nothing short of cruel.

"That's not good enough," he declared, his spine stiffening with resolve as he stood up. "There's gotta be a way to fix this."

"Too bad our DNA can't be more like yours," Elle remarked. When he looked questioningly at her, she said, "Isn't yours, like, super flexible so it can reshuffle itself every time you meet a new person and copy their power? If ours could do that, even just for a minute, I bet Claire's healing factor would work."

"That's an interesting thought; I'll look into it."

"How?" Bella wondered.

"I'm going to try looking into the future myself. Mom's dreams aren't always clear enough to be useful and Alice only sees the outcome of the course a person's on at the moment, so if we're not on the right track to find the answer her visions probably won't help either, but if I tap into Isaac Mendez's ability maybe I can draw something that'll point us in the right direction. I don't know if I can use it to look for specific things like Alice can, but..."

"It's worth a try," his aunt finished for him. "For what it's worth, I think you can do it - if I can control my visions to some extent, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to do the same even if you're using a different medium. Besides," she added with an upward quirk of her lips, "when Angela or I want something badly enough, we usually find a way to make it happen, and I've seen that in you too. It runs in the family."

###

Two hours later, Peter returned with a pencil sketch of what appeared to be some sort of molecular formula, accompanied by a drawing of Angela's face. "I don't know what this formula is, but since I drew Mom next to it, I think that might mean she has answers - and if she does, I'm going to get them." Taking Bella's face in his hands - ignoring the way Charlie pointedly cleared his throat as he did so - he said, "Whatever it takes to make you better, I will find it, I swear."

He leaned down to give her a brief yet emotionally charged kiss, then disappeared, leaving Charlie sputtering in outrage.

"Oh, lighten up," Alice chided him, rolling up her fashion magazine so she could use it to give him a light smack. "Just be happy that Bella's happy - and that my nephew is so highly motivated to save her."

"Yeah, yeah," Charlie grumbled. "If he can use those powers of his to pull a cure out of thin air, I guess he can kiss my daughter whenever he likes."

"Approval with-" Bella's dry comment was cut off as she paused to search for the word she wanted. "Con... Condiments? No, that's not right..."

"Conditions?" Charlie offered quietly, the low volume doing little to hide his worry. Forgetting such a simple word was a new low, an undeniable sign that she was slowly but surely getting worse.

"Yeah, that's it." She tried to smile, but her lips trembled too much to pull it off successfully. "Thanks."

She slid closer to where he sat on the large sectional sofa and curled up beside him, abandoning the snarky comment she had intended to make about his attitude toward her boyfriend. Playing the disgruntled, overprotective parent was, she realized, just his way of trying to inject a bit of normality into circumstances where it was sorely lacking, and to hide the true depths of his fear and pain over what was happening to her, as well as his frustration at having to rely on other people to stop it. Besides, she didn't want to waste time arguing when, if Angela wasn't able to help Peter find a cure, Charlie's disapproval would soon be a moot point anyway.

Manhattan, NY

Angela Petrelli didn't appear at all surprised when her younger son teleported into her sitting room, where she was sitting - as the name implied - by the fireplace, reading a book which she set aside when she glanced up to find him standing there. "I wondered when you would drop in," she said before he had a chance to speak. "I must say, I'm disappointed it's taken you this long."

"A lot's happened this week."

"Yes, it certainly has." Judging by the thin line of Angela's mouth as she stood up, however, Peter suspected that she was referring to a different set of events. "You were caught on camera using your powers, and then you felt the need to inform your brother not only that vampires exist, but that we're in the midst of a viral outbreak that has the potential to make them even more dangerous." Though she said nothing more, her expression - like she'd just swallowed a lemon - made it clear how she felt about that decision.

"What was I supposed to do? Lie to him?" Peter snapped. Defending his choice was the last thing he wanted to spend time on at the moment, especially since he'd already been through all that with the Cullens and Bella, but he could tell from the stubborn set of his mother's jaw that she wouldn't take kindly to him brushing off her concerns.

Instead of answering, she retorted, "There's a reason we've worked so hard all these years to keep them hidden, and ourselves as well - and you may have undone it all in a single hour. I just hope you're prepared to deal with the consequences."

That sounded ominous, but Peter couldn't get too worked up about it just then, having already reached the limit of his capacity for worry. "Only if Nathan tells anyone. Can you really see him doing that after everything he did to cover up our abilities?"

"It depends on whether he sees a way to turn divulging the information to his advantage. I love Nathan, but as his mother, I'm not blind to his faults - his hunger for advancement being one of them."

"I thought you said that was a good thing."

Her lips pinched together even tighter at the reminder. "It can be. Ambition without caution and perspective, however, can lead to misguided actions. I know you've always looked up to him, but how well do you really think he'll handle something like this?"

"He doesn't have to handle it," Peter said impatiently, trying to ignore the flutter of unease in the pit of his stomach brought on by the fact that even their own mother doubted the wisdom of telling Nathan the truth. "I told him I'd take care of it, which is why I'm here. I need a cure for the virus; then the vampires won't be a threat anymore...or at least they won't go on any more public rampages like that girl did...and I think you might have the answer." Reaching into the pocket of his jeans, he pulled out a piece of paper which he unfolded to reveal his drawing. "Does this formula mean anything to you?"

Angela gasped, then slowly reached out with a hand that shook ever so slightly to take the paper. "I haven't seen this in years... I had hoped never to see it again."

"What is it? Some kind of antidote for the Shanti virus?"

"No, it has nothing to do with that." She looked up sharply. "Where did you get this?"

"I was looking for the cure - not just a way to stop the virus, but to make vampire DNA malleable enough to regenerate - and I drew that. Mom, please - if you know what that is, I need you to tell me. Bella's been infected, and I just... I can't lose her again. Not like this. Please."

For a moment that felt like an eternity, Angela stared silently at him, her carefully neutral expression hiding a tumultuous swirl of conflicting thoughts and emotions; of course she wanted to help him, but she was also afraid of whatever secrets the formula contained. At last, her inability to ignore her son's pain won out, and after drawing in a deep breath, she started talking.

"If you're looking for a way to alter a person's DNA, this could very well be exactly what you need. The Shanti virus wasn't the only dangerous thing in the Company's labs. Over the years, we undertook several studies into the nature of our abilities - how they came about, whether particular ones ran in families, if it was possible to predict which powers certain people would manifest... At one point, we even explored the possibility of granting abilities to those who weren't naturally gifted."

She paused there, in a way that felt loaded with meaning, and Peter caught on quickly. "So this formula can give people new powers?" He looked down at his drawing, heart speeding up as renewed hope surged through him. "If we could give Bella my ability to rearrange her DNA like Elle suggested, so she can absorb the healing factor in Claire's blood..."

His racing thoughts were interrupted when Angela took hold of his arm. "We never used it on vampires, obviously, but I suppose it's as likely to work as anything. If I give you the secret to this formula, though-" Her grip tightened, nails digging into his skin "-you must promise to destroy it after you've cured her. Recent events have shown me that in certain instances, there are no scientific advancements that could yield benefits great enough to outweigh the risks of meddling with things that are better left alone."

Peter's brow wrinkled in a slight frown as he met her sternly demanding gaze - there was always a catch with her - but even though he could simply pull the information out of her head (and would if that was what it took to save Bella, though of course he would be gentler with her than he'd been with Adam), acceding to this particular stipulation didn't seem like too much to ask. His mind was too preoccupied with the nightmare scenario he was currently facing to conjure up any new ones that might result from superpowers being available to anyone and everyone, but he agreed that no one should have the means to play God in such matters.

"Fine, I promise."

The hard lines in her face softened as she relaxed, and she willingly shared all she knew. "What you've drawn here isn't the complete formula; I can give you half of it, but the other half was left in Kaito's possession."

"That means Hiro has it now," Peter thought out loud, his mind already skipping ahead to the next step. "Good - I don't think he'll have a problem giving it to me."

"Perhaps not, but even after you obtain the formula's second half, you'll need one last ingredient to make it work: an organic compound with highly unusual properties, unlike any other substance on earth that we only discovered by accident in a single time and place, which we were never able to replicate."

That brought Peter's plans crashing to a halt, because how was he supposed to get his hands on something like that? "You didn't happen to stash this compound on a shelf somewhere along with the research, did you?" he asked with the forced humor typically reserved for hopeless propositions.

"No, we did not." Before the cold claws of despair could sink too deeply into him, however, Angela continued. "One of the compound's most unique qualities was its resistance to ordinary storage methods; it could only be preserved in a living host, and since we thought preserving it was of the utmost importance, we chose a host whose own ability ensured it would never be destroyed, then entrusted her to our most dedicated agent, who we knew would protect her at all costs. As it turned out," she finished with a wry twist of her mouth, "he took that assignment a bit more seriously than we had intended."

She said nothing more, but as Peter put the clues she'd given him together in his head - an indestructible host, a girl who'd been placed in the care of an agent who would go to the ends of the earth to protect her - the answer soon became clear...and his blood went cold as he realized who the final piece of the puzzle must be, who he would have to find a way to extract this mysterious compound from.

"...Claire?"

And that's a wrap! I was going to have a scene with Nathan struggling over what to do with the information Peter's given him, but then I decided this chapter was long enough, so I'll stick him somewhere in the next one instead.

The scene between Elle and Jane came about from my own musings about the similarities and differences between them, and I included it because it's fun sometimes to take a moment to explore characters who usually don't get much focus.

Lastly, yes, I did decide to incorporate a little bit of s3 elements; that's another fun thing about fanfiction, taking bits and pieces from canon and doing something a little different with them. At least this time there's no Arthur mucking around.