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The Not-So-Average Girl

When Mohinder walked into the room, he was pleased to note that it actually seemed rather comfortable from the inside. Obviously he was trying to avoid making any snap assessments, and the fact that they were keeping a little girl locked up like this didn't make him feel comfortable about this situation in the first place, but at least Molly didn't seem to be too upset about what had led her here.

"Hi, Molly," he said, smiling politely at her as he held up the tray with the syringe on it. He didn't have much experience with children, but what he knew suggested it was best to be open with them about his intentions. "I'm Doctor Suresh, and, uh, I need to take some blood, if that's OK."

As though it was an automatic reaction from her by this time, Molly stuck out her arm and pushed her sleeve up.

"Molly," he continued, as he set the tray down and took the low seat next to her. "I want to stop the man who… hurt your family, and who tried to hurt you-"

"You can't stop the boogeyman," Molly replied, her expression disturbingly fixed. "He sees into your soul, and then he eats your brain."

Mohinder had to wonder if that was actually how Sylar's power worked, but already knew he wasn't going to ask Molly to elaborate. There were times when it was appropriate to indulge his academic curiosity, and times when such a thing would just be cruel.

"Well, you know who can stop the boogeyman?" the doctor continued, as he prepared her arm to take the injection. "You. I hear you have an amazing ability."

"It's not so amazing," Molly said, as Mohinder tied the band around her arm. "They ask me where people are, and I find them."

"You find them?" Mohinder repeated. "Anywhere in the world?"

"Yeah," Molly said. "I just think about them, and then I know where they are."

Even as he reminded himself that he was talking to a little girl who had been through a traumatic experience, Mohinder had to wonder how that ability worked on a larger scale. Was Molly able to find people she hadn't met personally? Was it easier for her to find people she already knew in places she had already at least heard of? Was there a distance limit to her powers…?

"But it doesn't work right now," Molly's words interrupted his speculation.

"Well," Mohinder said, deciding to focus on the positives of this new knowledge, "that is a very special ability, Molly, because the boogeyman… he likes to hide. But if you can tell us where he is, we can make sure he never comes back again."

"You're different from the other doctors," Molly said, glancing at her arm with a smile. "They're much better at this."

"Thanks," Mohinder chuckled, choosing to accept the implied compliment in her words.

He still wasn't sure what was wrong with Molly's ability or how his father's work could help, but if he could study her blood, he might be able to come up with a few ideas…

In hindsight, Peter was embarrassed he hadn't done this earlier. His close call with Sylar during his last attempt to make contact with Doctor Suresh gave him a valid reason to wait, but from what he'd seen about Sylar so far the man was unlikely to wait in that area. From what they'd read in those files he took from the police station back when he first met Kim and Ron, Sylar's methods always seemed to involve a direct assault on his targets, and there had been some notes from a psychiatrist suggesting that he almost didn't have the patience for any kind of long-term strategy.

Peter wasn't sure how much faith he should put in an evaluation carried out by someone who didn't know about Sylar's real motives or anything about 'superpowers' in general, but the concept made sense. In any case, with Kim having sent a quick update that her meeting with Nathan had been unsatisfactory and she was off to rendezvous with Ron, Hiro and Ando, that left Peter and Claire with no better idea than trying to go back to Doctor Suresh. They had some promising theories about the Exploding Man situation, but if the doctor was available, it couldn't hurt to get a more professional opinion while they were returning his paperwork.

"Pity we don't have the natural survivalist here, huh?" Claire smiled over at Peter as the two of them walked up to the door of the doctor's flat, the papers packed into a bag under Peter's arm.

"Says the girl who can't die anyway?"

"There's a difference between not being able to die and being able to avoid dying in the first place."

"You know, we kind of do have her…"

"Yeah, but didn't you tell us that you're only as strong as the original owner if you're in the same room as them or something?"

"That doesn't mean I'm useless without Kim here, you know," Peter countered with a brief smile, raising his hand to generate a green fireball before he snuffed the flame out. "Besides, she has important things to do herself; we can't put all our eggs in one basket."

"Yeah, we can't exactly take chances with something on this scale…" Claire agreed, as Peter came to a halt in front of the familiar door. "Is this-?"

Peter was just about to knock when the door opened on its own, revealing a tall man in glasses and a suit who looked at Peter in surprise for a moment before his gaze turned to Claire and his expression shifted to outright shock.

"Claire?" the man yelled.

"Dad?" Claire retorted, stepping back from the door as Peter moved to stand in front of her. The man who was apparently Claire's father pulled out a gun and aimed it at Peter's head with the kind of speed that even Peter's inexperienced eye could tell indicated someone with professional training. Peter was just fortunate that the sight of an obvious threat to his life triggered Kim's talent; he had dropped the bag, knocked the gun out of Mr Bennett's hands and was aiming it at the older man almost before he was consciously aware he was even moving.

"Don't," he said firmly, hoping that an authoritative tone would hide the fact that he didn't actually want to shoot the man in front of him. "This isn't-"

He winced as he suddenly felt something… he could only describe it as a sense of something trying to reach into his mind from somewhere in front of him. Peter tried to keep hold of the gun as he fought against the intruder, but suddenly it seemed to turn around and he was reaching out-

Peter bit down a yell as he suddenly felt as though he was simultaneously in his head somewhere in the room in front of him. For a moment he thought he'd activated that cloning power by mistake, but he soon confirmed that whatever was in the room wasn't him; he had a sense of looking through other eyes, but the body he felt with them was definitely not his own-

For a moment, Peter fell backwards as the strange sensation in his head shifted to outright pain, as though something had just rammed a nail into his skull, but then Claire grabbed his arm and it became easier for him to move past the pain. He wasn't sure if the pain had stopped or if contact with Claire was helping him deal with it, but so long as he felt better he wasn't complaining. He gave Claire a brief nod of thanks as he stood up, but then focused his attention on the man who had almost shot him. To his credit, Claire's father hadn't moved to pick up the gun, but the tense expression on his face made it clear that Peter was still in trouble.

"I take it you're Peter Petrelli?" he said at last.

"Yeah," Peter replied with a nod. "And you're Claire's father?"

"Your daughter?" another voice said from inside the room, followed by an unfamiliar short blonde walking out to stand beside Bennett and look at the two in the corridor with a barely-concealed look of surprise. "Huh… what are the odds?"

"The odds?" Peter repeated.

"We were discussing how she ran off with you just a short while ago," the woman explained with a slight smile that Peter couldn't properly read on her face. "Some of us thought you might be able to help out against this Sylar sucker; take it you've heard of him?"

"Yeah," Peter said, returning the woman's stare with his own cool expression. "Had a run-in or two with him in the past week."

"And you survived it?" Bennett asked.

"I got lucky," Peter shrugged, deciding that Claire's father at least deserved some extra details. "When you meet someone whose whole thing is always knowing how to survive, you get used to staying alive."

"Well, that's…" the woman trailed off as she looked at Peter with a new sense of caution. "Hold on a bit… you were in Odessa?"

"How- oh," Peter said, the question prompting his own memory to fall into place.

"You've met?" Claire looked between Peter and the woman in surprise.

"Briefly," Peter clarified, turning to look at Claire. "Remember when Kim and I broke into the station to get the files on Sylar?"

"Yeah…"

"She was one of the investigating agents."

"And it was a bit off-putting to find that I'd fallen asleep on the job," the woman looked at Peter with a particularly pointed stare. "I take it that was you?"

"…Yeah," Peter nodded cautiously at her. "Sorry, but if I was going to protect the kids, I needed to know what I was dealing with."

"'Kids'?" Bennett looked at Peter and Claire in surprise.

"Kim Pierce and Ron Sinclair?" Claire clarified as she looked at her father in exasperation. "Did you even know anyone else had left school with me?"

"I… knew they'd disappeared, but I…" Bennett trailed off as he took in the glares on the faces of Peter and the other woman, for once put out to be faced with this kind of disapproval. "Look, I couldn't know where they were but I knew enough about Claire to-"

"Let's not get into that," Peter shook his head as he picked the bag back up and walked past Bennett into the apartment, Claire shooting her father a warning look before she followed Peter. Inside the room, Peter was briefly regretful at the sight of the water damage and torn materials that he must have left behind after his last 'visit', but reminded himself that it had been damage the room at that moment or leave them for Sylar to study later. His attention was more immediately focused on the other three men in the room, which included the bald dark-skinned man who'd initially confronted him and his three new allies, a somewhat overweight man he recognised from the Odessa station, and an unfamiliar man with a scraggy beard and shaggy hair that suggested to Peter he hadn't been to a barber's for a while.

"Uh… hi?" Claire waved a cautious hand at the others.

"Hey," the overweight man nodded at Peter and Claire. "Matt Parkman; good to meet you."

"Ted Sprague," the man with the beard added. The dark-skinned simply nodded at them in a manner that made it clear he wasn't prepared to reveal his name, and considering his potential power Peter wasn't going to press the issue.

"Hi," Peter nodded back at the other men before looking curiously around the room. "So… is Doctor Suresh here, or not?"

"He's… dealing with another issue," Parkman clarified.

"Right," Peter said, deciding that he wasn't going to make this more difficult as he put the bag down on the table. "That's got what I managed to save of Mohinder's paperwork last time I was here; hope it helps."

"Thanks," the woman nodded at him.

"So from what we've heard… you can imitate what anyone else can do?" Ted looked at Peter curiously.

"You know about that?" Claire asked.

"We got the details," Parkman explained.

"Your company knew about Peter?" Claire looked over at her father.

"Actually, Doctor Suresh made that observation," Bennett clarified with a slight smile. "His methods are unorthodox, but they make some interesting results."

"He's that good?" Peter asked. "I mean, if he knew what I did and you didn't-?"

"Your secrecy was also aided by the fact that certain parties had an interest in keeping you under the radar," the dark-skinned man put in.

"Huh?" Peter looked at the other man in surprise. "What are-?"

"OK, probably some interesting history there, but can we focus on discussing that after the serial killer's been dealt with?" the woman put in, before she looked over at Peter. "Audrey Hanson, by the way; just the FBI agent in this little task force."

"Yeah," Parkman put in with his own smile. "I read minds, Ted generates radiation, and he keeps us all under control."

"You read minds?" Peter looked at Parkman with new understanding. "That explains the headache…"

"Headache?" Parkman repeated. "I just… had one…"

"Yeah," Peter nodded at him, glad that they were both thinking on the same lines. "I'm thinking it must have been some kind of feedback thing; you were reading my mind as I was reading your mind, and we just… ended up in some kind of feedback loop."

"That… makes sense," Parkman nodded.

"Uh… you said you were Ted Sprague, right?" Claire looked over at Ted as an anxious expression crossed her face.

"Yeah…" Ted nodded uncertainly at her.

"So… you're the other exploding man?"

"…I'm the other what?" Ted looked at her with a new sense of uncertainty.

"…Nobody told you that yet," Claire groaned in frustration as she looked around the room. "Please tell me it's just that Doctor Suresh didn't tell you anything?"

"What did Mohinder not tell us?" Agent Hanson looked at Claire with a resolved glare.

"We've been… long story short, various sources have told us that there's going to be an explosion in New York in the next few days," Peter explained, stepping in to stand between Claire and Ted. "We've found other sources suggesting that there's an exploding man involved in causing it, and…"

"And you think that's me?" Ted looked sharply at the two new arrivals.

"We're not thinking that you're going to do it on purpose, but-" Peter began.

"Oh, that's just great!" Ted yelled, looking around the room in exasperation. "I came here because I trusted that you were all going to help me, and now these people are telling me I'm going to blow up New York?"

"Ted, we're not going to- just calm down-" Parkman began.

"You try being calm when you just heard you might be going to blow up the damn city!" Ted yelled, swinging his hands out in exasperation and striking the bald man in the face. The blow itself wouldn't have been much, but when the other man struck a wall head-first, he was sent staggering back, clutching his bleeding head-

Peter felt a new surge of power hit him as he looked down at his hands, which had suddenly started glowing with a new energy, combined with a renewed headache as he began to tap Parkman's powers all over again. He had enough time to realise that the other man must have been keeping the powers of the other people in the room contained before he took that blow to his head, but then he was feeling the power build in his hands and he was panicking and he was going to lose control and this was too much power-

"Peter!" a voice yelled, as he felt something clasp him by the arms. He yelled in horror when he realised that Claire had grabbed his forearms even as her own hands burned from the energy he was generating, but the way her eyes fixed on his made it clear that she wasn't going to accept any attempt he made to get her to let go. Peter wasn't sure if it was the physical contact or just seeing Claire that helped him focus, but the reminder that she was there gave him the incentive he needed to focus his powers in another direction and teleport out of the apartment before he could do more than burn himself. He wasn't sure where they had arrived at first, but the easing pain in his head and the sudden cooling of his limbs assured him that he was out of range of Parkman and Sprague. A series of loud yells caused him to spin around anxiously, but he relaxed when he saw Kim, Ron, and Ando standing in a room with all kinds of swords on display.

"What- CLAIRE!" Kim began before she ran past Peter to look at Claire. Turning around, Peter suddenly felt ill when he took in Claire's hands and forearms, which looked like someone had turned a flamethrower on them.

"I'm… OK," Claire said, waving Kim back as she held up her limbs to confirm to the rest of the group that her injuries were already healing. "Shirt's… a write-off… but I'll live."

"OK, so… what just happened?" Ron looked uncertainly at the two new arrivals. Peter was unable to stop himself shaking at just how close their recent call had been, but Ron and Ando's simple curiosity was strangely reassuring.

"Well," Claire looked around at the others, "the good news is that we've found Ted Sprague."

"Boo-yah!" Ron grinned, before his face fell as he took in Peter's shaken expression. "What's the bad news?"

"His power is the ability to generate radiation," Peter explained. "Which means that not only did I just copy a very unstable power, but if we can't keep an eye on Ted…"

"Then you may have just found the exploding man," Kim finished with a grim nod. "And it doesn't matter if he does it himself or Sylar takes his power to do it himself; either way, we're in trouble until we can get Mr Sprague somewhere safe."

"There's also-"

"No," Kim looked at Peter with an intensity that was still strange to see from a teenage girl. "You can control this power, Peter; every time you end up tapping it, just focus on me and how much you don't want to kill people, and you'll be fine."

"Exactamundo!" Ron grinned at Peter with the kind of casual confidence Peter wished he felt about this situation. "Seriously, whatever Sprague's got, he just needs one bad day with his powers to get into trouble but you've got a lot of options to make sure you don't go that far… and Claire and KP are going to be here whenever you need help controlling it."

"Ron's right," Claire nodded at him, the only sign of her previous injuries the burnt sleeves of her shirt even as her arms were now fully healed. "Kim can help you find the right way to stay alive, and I'm there to keep you alive, so consider us your personal bomb squad until you've got a good handle on this new ability."

Even as part of Peter wanted to get away from these two teenage girls as they volunteered for a duty that nobody should have to deal with, when he looked at them both… Kim's firm faith in his own ability to control himself and the warmth in Claire's eyes he couldn't let himself analyse too closely…

Still, when he pulled both girls towards him for a grateful hug, he didn't bother to stop himself from kissing Claire's forehead as thanks for what she'd just done for him, one part of his brain trying to place the scent of her hair as it filled his nostrils.