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 9: Escape

Matt had seen some pretty remarkable things over the past years, but this was amazing.

"Stand back," Jacobs warned, for once sounding completely serious, "and watch the guards."

"I know what to do," Anne said with her oddly soft voice.

"Good," the older man said, "and, you might not all want to be looking at me all at once. The less suspicious we act the better."

They'd all agreed to it, but once he'd begun they couldn't help but stare.

Matt felt the air around them stir, and it had begun to get warm. Very warm.

Next thing they knew, Jacobs was standing, facing the wall and just melting his way through it. Not melt the way Matt had seen D.L. do a hundred times before, but literally melting a hole in the wall. Somehow he was using the air to push his way through it. Matt probably wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it. There was no odor or noise, only heat.

Soon enough they had a crowd gathered around them, watching awed.

"Hey," one of the guards called out from across the room. "What's going on over there?"

Anne looked first at Matt and then to Lionel; both men gave her a quick nod as if to say, 'now'.

"Almost done," Jacobs hollered from well inside the wall.

Anne had already turned herself towards the approaching guard, dug in her heels and let loose a scream so loud she knocked the man off his feet.

People everywhere clutched at their ears from the sound, but it was only the people directly in front of her that really felt it. Matt, Claire, Lionel and Jacobs who were behind her, hardly heard it at all. Anne could apparently direct and focus the noise when she needed to.

"She's almost out," Lionel called back to the others.

"Tell her to stop," Jacobs returned, "I'm done."

Anne shut her mouth and the silence was almost as deafening as the noise had been. Before her were a dozen or more people lying unconscious on the floor. Some of them were even bleeding from their ears.

"Was that okay?" she asked them in a shuddery breath. "Was it enough?"

"Perfect," Matt answered, wondering how in the world they'd even managed to capture her in the first place.

"It was great, honey," Lionel said, squeezing her hand and kissing her on the temple.

"Good," she near whispered, "because I can't do it again. Not for some time. It takes… it takes a lot out of me."

"Not to be rude," Jacobs said, "but I think we should finish this conversation outside."

They all quickly made their way through the wall, followed by anyone still standing, and Jacobs directed them towards the back fence.

"This should be quick," he promised, easily cutting through the chain links.

"Now what do we do?" Claire asked.

"The guards won't be too eager to chase after us," Jacobs said. "Never-the-less, I suggest we get as far away from here as soon as possible. And orange was never that flattering, so we need a change of clothes. Most of the homes in this area are deserted. If we can get into one we might be able to find everything we need."

The area immediately surrounding the detention center was wooded and gave them good enough cover, but Jacobs was right; it didn't seem like anyone was bothering to look for them.

The first house they came across was large and looked empty. They thought it might have once been a fraternity house or something like it considering how close it was to the college, but didn't really care one way or another.

By the time they got inside it was just starting to get dark. The first thing they did was spread out and look for something to change into. The three men didn't have too much trouble finding anything appropriate, but the same couldn't be said for the two women. Anne and Claire were both petite and the house only had men's clothing in it. They had to make do with the smallest sweatpants available and a couple of sweatshirts they practically swam in.

"Don't laugh," Claire said immediately upon returning from dressing. "I know, I look like the saggy-baggy elephant in these."

"I wasn't going to laugh," Matt said, smiling widely.

"Yes you were," Claire countered, taking a seat near him.

"Okay," Matt admitted, "I was. But Claire, it is funny. A little."

"Sure, to you. You had no problem finding something to wear."

"Yes, Claire," Matt said sarcastically. "No problem at all. Never mind that I'm a good twenty years older than the former inhabitants."

"You are not."

"Yes, I am."

"You make it sound like you're old," Claire returned.

"I am old," Matt answered. "Too old for this at least."

"Ah, this is refreshing," Jacobs said, joining them with a lit candle in his hands. "I love bickering. Please, continue as if I wasn't here."

Matt and Claire exchanged a communicative look.

"So," he continued as he took a seat opposite them, "how long have you known one another? Since before or after?"

'Do we trust him?'

"Before," Matt answered, but a lot of the good humor had gone from his voice.

"That explains it," Jacobs said. "History. You have history. No one I knew from before has seemed to survive. I've had to make new histories with the people I've met since after."

"What people?" Claire asked. "Do you mean like at the colony?"

"You've heard of it?" Jacobs asked as Lionel and Anne joined the conversation.

"Some," Matt answered.

"We were thinking of going there when we were picked up," Lionel said, "but weren't sure."

"Why not?" Matt asked.

"Well," Lionel continued, "we've heard rumors that not everyone is welcome. That they don't take normal people, people without abilities."

"I won't go if they won't let my husband go with me," Anne said quietly.

"I won't pretend that there aren't some in the colony that would look down upon you," Jacobs said quite sincerely, "some that think they are better than the average person, but generally that is not the case. Many of us have only survived because of the help we've received from what you call normal people."

"That's right," Claire added firmly causing them all to look at her.

"So what about you two," Jacobs asked, turning the conversation. "You've obviously known one another since before. Where are you from?"

"New York if you can believe it," Lionel answered. "I used to be a stock broker; Anne was getting her masters in literature. We'd only been married for a year when it all happened. We were lucky though. Lucky to be out of town the day it all happened."

"Very lucky," Jacobs agreed.

"Yeah," Lionel said with a chuckle, "and if you can believe it, we both actually voted for Petrelli in that last election. Didn't think we could do better. Who'd have known?"

Jacobs chuckled at this, but Matt shifted uneasily.

"What about you…um," Lionel said turning to him before letting out a short laugh. "I'm sorry; I don't even know your name."

"Matt," he answered after a slight pause. He still wasn't sure if he could trust them completely, but again there wasn't much choice. "This is Claire. We've known each other for some time."

Anne smiled at them nervously, as if expecting more.

'What are they hiding? Maybe this is a trap.'

'That's strange.'

'Interesting.'

"So," Jacobs said, "what line of work were you in?"

"Law enforcement."

"And you're a telepath?" Jacobs questioned.

"How did you know that?" Matt asked in return.

"Forgive me, but the two of you exchange an awful lot of looks," Jacobs explained. "I've never met a telepath before, let alone two. Of course, I've heard of tale of the existence of one; one in particular that the Order is desperately looking for. Until now I was working on a theory that we all had unique gifts, but if the young lady can... "

"I can't…" Claire started to say before Matt could stop her. He was fine with them believing she could read their thoughts as well. Better that then them knowing what she could really do.

'Sorry.'

"Matt," Jacobs said turning to him directly. "I think we're past the point of secrets. How can we trust you if you don't trust us?"

"No offense," Matt said bluntly, "but I don't know any of you."

"Just like you didn't know Claire before this began," Jacobs countered.

"That's different."

"Matt," Claire began, "he's right. We owe them something. They saved us. And it's not like he hasn't already figured it out."

"Figured what out?" Lionel asked nervously. "Exactly who are you two?"

Jacobs only smiled.

"Claire and I met before the explosion," Matt said with a relenting sigh. "Some would say it was pre-destined."

Claire smiled warmly, knowing very well who Matt meant.

"A friend of ours," Matt continued, "well, he wasn't a friend at the time, we were all strangers, but he became a friend after… Anyway, he could paint the future..."

Matt stopped for a minute, his hand across his eyes.

"How do I say all this?" he asked Claire.

"Take your time," Jacobs said reassuringly.

"He painted these pictures. Lots of them. Pictures of the explosion, of the aftermath. Pictures of Sylar."

Anne gasped; the name obviously still incited terror.

"We were supposed to stop it."

"You were there?" Lionel asked. "The day it happened? I didn't think that was possible. No one could have survived…"

"To tell you the truth," Matt answered, "I'm not sure how I did. I was pretty banged up. Claire took care of me, took us about a year to find our way back. To find our friends again."

"Who took care of you?" Anne asked Claire quietly, her eyes full of concern.

"I didn't need… I heal. I can heal myself," Claire said with some relief. She was glad to have it all out in the open.

"So you really are the ones they are looking for," Jacobs said somewhat in awe. "I was beginning to think you were rumors as well."

"But you'd guessed…" Matt started to say.

"Yes," Jacobs answered, "I had a very good idea it was you. I try and stay up to date on the list."

For a moment there was complete silence.

"So," Jacobs said after the pause, "what do you plan to do? Where are you going now? To meet your friends?"

"We were on our way to the colony," Matt answered. "Our friends are probably there by now. Our group got separated coming out of Baltimore. Others…"

Matt stopped as reality dawned on him. The ambush. The militia. The Order had to have known something about their movements. Who they were involved with. Who was helping them. Likely they had gotten to Audrey and Mohinder by now.

He hadn't really thought about it until now.

Claire reached out and took hold of his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Others of us, that have helped us, were also getting out," Claire finished for him. "We were all going to meet in Trenton today."

"Why Trenton?" Jacobs asked her, eyebrow raised.

"That's where it is, right? The colony."

"Oh no," Jacobs corrected. "That's not where it is at all. That's a bit of misinformation we like to get out there. It's where the Order thinks the colony is."

They all waited for him to continue.

"The colony is actually in New York."

"City?" Lionel asked in disbelief.

"The very one."

"No," he said dismissively, "it's unlivable. There's nothing left of it."

"I'm sure these two would disagree," Jacobs said, indicating Matt and Claire with a wave of his hand. "It's very livable. Not desirable by any stretch of the imagination, but certainly livable. We've only been there the past year, but we've made great improvements."

"So you've seen it for yourself?" Claire asked. "It's real? There are people like us there?"

"It's my turn to come clean," Jacobs said with an unusual amount of solemnity. "I've been looking for you for quite some time."

"Why?" Matt asked with concern in his voice. Worried they'd have to run again, not knowing the extent of Jacobs' powers.

"Honestly, because the Order wants you. We figured if they were looking for you so desperately, we should be too."

"Who's 'we'?" Claire asked.

"The council," Jacobs said. "Humans, we're social creatures, but we need structure. So of course, immediately after forming our own colony we formed our own government. We're still working out the kinks, but it seems to be working well for now."

Matt shook his head. This couldn't be real.

"I volunteered about six months ago to come down, back into the Order, and search," Jacobs continued to explain. "I'd never seen your pictures, but I had your descriptions and knew what you could do."

"You've really been looking for us?" Claire asked.

"If anything, you have answers. You were both there. You can tell us things we've needed to know about how it all happened. How it began."

"We don't know that," Matt said with a shake of his head. "No one knows that. We're just like the rest of you."

"The rest of us weren't painted into pictures of the future," Jacobs countered.

Anne and Lionel stared expectantly at them in awe.

"There's still time to save the world."