Apocalypse by SLynn

Summary: Three years have passed since the explosion and life has drastically changed for everyone. This isn't the world they imagined they'd be saving.

Spoilers: Up to 'Fallout'

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing and will return them all when I'm done, virtually untouched.

Chapter 6: Relief

"He's coming."

The sky was orange and the streets were deadly silent.

"He's coming."

Claire turned to him, shaking her head.

"No, it's too soon. He can't…"

"He's coming!" Matt yelled as Claire and Peter stared back at him in disbelief. "I can hear him, I can already hear him in my head! We've got to get out of here!"

The wind picked up dramatically, whipping around them.

"We'll never make it," Claire said frantically.

…

Matt's eyes flew open.

For a moment he hadn't remembered where he was, but it all came back quick enough.

Checking his watch he was surprised that only a few hours had passed. The sun would be up soon, but Matt knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep again.

He was too anxious.

Matt snuck a look at Claire who was still sound asleep beside him, but not peacefully. She seemed to be muttering but what he couldn't say.

He was amazed she was still asleep at all. Claire's unique regeneration powers had over the past year enabled her to function with little real rest. At most she caught three hours of sleep a night, and it was all she seemed to need. So far, it was the only way they'd seen her change.

They had all changed in some way or another, evolved as Mohinder liked to say.

Matt couldn't help but wonder when it was going to stop. If it was going to stop.

It had been three years and Matt still felt like it was controlling him instead of the other way around. The headaches were now an everyday occurrence; so regular that he could almost ignore them. Almost. Some days they were worse than others. Some days he didn't think he could get out of bed because of them. But, even then, that wasn't the worst of it.

He still hadn't learned how to entirely block people out. The stronger the emotions were behind the thoughts, the harder it became. Certain people, no matter what, he couldn't tune out entirely for any reason. Their voices just wouldn't go away.

And now he could push his thoughts into others.

It was scary.

Matt didn't want that this. He worried about what he might be able to do next. What was the natural progression for a man who could read minds?

It was very scary.

Stealing another glance at Claire, he thought he might already know.

Matt hadn't dreamt in years, not anything he could remember; certainly nothing about that day.

But Claire on the other hand…

The sound of footsteps approaching caught his attention. As he thought they would, whoever was making the noise stopped just outside the door.

Straining to hear something, anything, all he caught was, '…who they are…'

Seeing the doorknob move slightly, Matt got to his feet. It was best he could do to prepare for whatever was about to come.

"Kyle," he heard a woman say in hushed tones, "you were told to leave them alone. You can ask questions later. Let them sleep."

At the meek, "Yes, mom" that followed, Matt breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's happening?"

Matt turned quickly, startled by Claire's question.

"Nothing," he assured her, moving back across the room and sitting down on the edge of the bed. "It's nothing."

"But you heard…"

"A kid," he said with a shake of his head, "just a kid."

Before Claire could ask anything else there was a short series of taps on the door.

Matt was up again, opening the door with some hesitation. Wondering if Kyle's curiosity had gotten the best of him.

"Good," the man that had let them in last night said, "you're up. Come down to breakfast."

Matt had no time to agree or argue with him, he was gone that quick.

"That was just…"

"Strange," Matt supplied for Claire as he shut the door behind him.

"So," Claire asked as she got out of bed, "do we go down to breakfast?"

"I'm not sure we have a choice," Matt answered.

"I don't like this."

"Me either."

Breakfast was an interesting event.

They finally found out the name of the man who had let them in last night, it was Vincent. It was his house they were in along with several other people, all of whom he seemed to like about as much as he did Claire and Matt; not much. Vincent had a wife named Mary who seemed awfully nervous throughout the meal, which in turn made Matt extremely nervous. He wanted to know what was causing it but there were so many people that he couldn't filter out her thoughts amid the crowd.

After that there were two men whose names he never caught who made Matt nervous in a different way. They kept staring at Claire, but not in the way Vincent had last night. It was much more lecherous. And the thoughts, they were even worse. Claire didn't seem to like it either and kept inching her chair closer and closer to Matt's, hoping they'd take it as a hint. They didn't until Matt finally shot them a look. That finally stopped their gazes, but did nothing for their thoughts.

Then there was Kyle and his mom Carol. Kyle was the main reason Matt couldn't hear anyone else clearly, the boy would not stop. He wouldn't stop talking and he wouldn't stop thinking. Loudly. It was like nothing he'd ever heard before. It was making Matt's head positively throb until he thought he might be sick.

"I asked you a question," Kyle said, tugging on Matt's arm for the third time in five minutes. "Mister, I asked you something. Can't you hear?"

"Kyle," his mother said sharply.

"What?" Matt asked, just now realizing the words had all been spoken out loud.

"I said, what can you do?" Kyle repeated loudly. "Miss Mary says you know magic and I want to see a trick. Can you do tricks?"

"Magic?" Matt repeated, looking cautiously from Kyle to Mary who had stopped dead in her tracks.

'That damn boy.'

'Oh God, they're on to us. What if they're dangerous?'

'I knew I should have called sooner.'

"The last people who stayed with us that could do magic and made the lights turn on and off," Kyle continued, oblivious the turmoil he'd caused. "Can you do that too? That was cool."

Matt and Claire were on their feet in an instant.

"Sit down," Vincent said, on his feet with surprising agility. He had the shot gun out and trained on them.

"Vincent," Mary said, her voice wavering. "Don't. Remember what happened…"

"These two can't hurt us," Vincent assured her. "If they could, they'd have done it already. Isn't that right?"

Matt shook his head in disbelief.

"Really?" Claire shot back as she took a defiant step forward, placing herself nearly in front of Matt.

'She's got to be bluffing.'

Matt reached up and took hold of Claire's shoulder, gently tugging her back.

"We don't want trouble," he said calmly. "Just let us go."

'She's lying; has to be. She can't be that strong.'

"No," Vincent said, but his voice didn't sound as steady as it once had. "Can't do that. They're already on their way for you. And don't tell me you're not like the rest. Only one reason people run around at night anymore. You're hardly the first to try it."

"Then tell them we got away. Say anything you want. By the time…"

But Vincent was already shaking his head 'no'.

"They'd find out," Vincent explained. "They always do. The ones that don't run away end up working for them. We've got to live too, you know. It's nothing personal, but it's the only way we can earn anything anymore."

'It's the only way they'll leave us alone.'

Claire wanted to rush him. She wanted to rush Vincent, force him to shoot her and then Matt could take the gun and they could be off.

She thought it over and over, turning and staring even, but either Matt couldn't hear her over the confusion in the air or he wouldn't.

The only inkling she had of her message getting through was the steady increase of pressure on her shoulder, of Matt holding her tighter into place.

But Claire persisted. She kept thinking it over and over until finally she heard him snap back in her own head with a sharp, 'No.'

She wanted to scream.

Even though he knew she could heal herself Matt would never willingly let her be hurt. He'd never let her put herself in harms way.

So she relented.

They sat in silence for another half hour before the militia arrived.

After a series of questions, which neither of them answered, they were handcuffed and placed in the back of a truck with three armed guards watching them.

'They don't know who we are.'

Claire briefly made eye contact with Matt; up until now she'd been too angry to do even that.

Matt gave her a slight nod and she understood. They were in trouble, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. They hadn't been able to identify them and were either too lazy or too overworked to check their general descriptions against the master list.

It was a huge relief.