To be blunt, I got a really bad block, then had work and the holidays so im VERY sorry this is so late and so short, but if im honest i've been struggling with where i can take the story.
I have some free time now so ideally i'll have more to add in a few days, but thanks to the reviewers who've reviewed and again SORRY SO SORRY for not having gotten this posted earlier.
In fact i've just been struck with where it could go so...bear with me.
disclaimers, language, violence etc, i dont own heroes blah, property of...who ever, blah, wish i did blah, cant wait for 22nd Jaunary blah Are you on the list blah bliddy love this show blah.
Enjoy.
xxx
Peter stood under the rain, smiling up at the sky, feeling the water wash away the blood on his face and neck.
He ran his hands over his skin, using his sleeve to wipe away the last remains of the blood, making himself more presentable.
He blinked for a second, glancing idly around himself and the streets around him. He saw a black SUV parked a few cars down, and gave a small smile.
"So predictable" he shook his head slowly, turning to his left so the car was at his back and walking down the street.
He glanced at his own reflection in the large panes of glass in a shop front beside him.
The reflected image of Peter stared back, it's face a mask of fear and confusion, while the Peter walking along the street smiled cruelly back.
He spotted a bar up ahead and with a half turn of his head back at toward the SUV, he headed in, straight to the bar.
Because of the weather, the bar was more crowed than it would ordinarily be relatively early in the evening such as it was.
Peter pushed past just enough people for it to be annoying, reaching the bar its self and banging his hand down atop it to get the barman's attention.
"Hey!" he smiled manically at the barman "Nathan Petrelli wants to buy every one in here the rest of their drinks for the evening!" he said loud enough that the patrons in the bar over heard and a cheer went up.
"How do I know you're speakin for Petrelli?" the barman asked dubiously.
Peter grinned again. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the special ID he had, as Peter's brother, that listed him as a representative of Petrelli's party.
It was really just to enable him to move freely around Nathan's offices and at any events Nathan held, so he didn't have to fuss around with security and such.
But at the same time, as it listed him as an official representative of the Petrelli bid, it meant that anything he said or did that was caught by opposing parties, or the press, was listed as an action by such an officiate.
It also meant Peter was free to make gestures like the one he was now making.
He let the barman scrutinise the ID, leaning forward over the now yelled orders for drinks "He's my big brother, he says to just send the bill to his party, he'll name the bar in the next speech he makes, it's a way to get votes, you know how politicians are" he gave a conspiratorial wink.
The barman shrugged and handed back the ID.
"Vote Petrelli" he nodded, "What can I get you kid?" he looked at Peter.
"Oh nothing for me just yet" Peter slid away from the bar and went and found himself a seat, watching as the people in the establishment pushed their way towards the bar, yelling orders, many of then calling friends on their cell phones and telling them to come down to the free bar.
He gave it an hour. In that time, the full but calm bar changed to a crowded, rowdy drinker filled party central.
Peter watched all of this, calmly, patiently.
When he thought the time was right, he leaned back in his seat, beside an already partially drunk couple.
Since they where leaning over to give a friend drinks orders, neither one of them saw Peter push the mans beer over so it spilled in his lap.
"What the hell?" the guy jumped to his feet suddenly enough that he jarred his girlfriend and his flailing hand caught his friends chin.
"Damn it man!" his friend spat as the girl friend glared at her partner.
Peter left them to argue and walked amongst the crowd, nudging people here and there, jabbing people with his finger. He whispered in peoples ears, spotting one guy watching another man adoringly "hey!" he exclaimed in mock surprise "That's the guy who grabbed my ass in the john, said we should go outside!"
The guy reeled but Peter had ducked out of the way, leaving the man to turn angrily back to his partner, yelling across the crowds at him.
Peter found some one else, an older guy with a younger woman, who winked flirtatiously at Peter.
Peter smiled and walked right over to her, pulling her to her feet and kissing her, sliding one hand over her ass in full view of the older man.
He let her go, walking into the crowds even as the older guy began to yell and kick up a fuss, finding other people to annoy and push to anger.
The alcohol fuelled the anger Peter created and before long, people where just openly yelling at one another, with clearly no intention of backing down from what ever their points may have been.
The whole thing could still have died down, but as sometimes happens in crowded, angry situations, mutually interested groups where forming, lines being drawn in the sand. And then Peter, unseen by any one, tossed a glass to the ground hard enough that it smashed and all sides at once assumed it had been thrown by the other.
Some one threw a punch and bedlam ensued as Peter walked out the door, leaving the chaos, the Nathan Petrelli Sponsored Chaos, behind.
Heroes
"It is not yet known who was the first person to become angry or aggressive in this usually friendly, trendy bar, but what is known, is that the number of injured is already at thirty one people, and seems to be rising as police and emergency technicians try to calm every one down.
"Sources tell us the bar in question is not usually so crowded at this time of the evening but we managed to get a short but exclusive statement from the barman who was serving the drinks tonight, in which he claims that a representative of the Nathan Petrelli senatorial campaign informed him that all of the evenings tabs where to be paid by Petrelli's campaign fund, in, and this is a quote 'A bid to Buy Votes'. Now as yet we haven't heard from Nathan Petrelli's sources but the bar man claims the man who he spoke to had what looked to him like and official badge identifying him as one of Petrelli's campaigners"
The reporter had thick blonde hair and clutched an umbrella to her chest, the small canopy of the umbrella carefully positioned so as to keep her dry without obscuring the cameras shot of the bar behind her, the main window smashed outwards by what looked to be a table that had remained inside the bar.
There where ambulances and cop cars parked around the entrance to the bar, forming a sort of perimeter around the main door in which EMT's and cops tended to or tried to calm the people they where retrieving from within.
Nathan was sitting on the edge of his desk, one hand pressed to his mouth, his eyes wide.
The phone beside him rang and Nathan almost dazedly picked it up "Yeah" he asked raggedly.
"Are you sure?" he asked after a pause, his eyes glued to the screen.
"Fine…call PR, get them onto this. I want it put out that no member of my party was authorised to buy a tab in a bar, that the Petrelli Party absolutely denies any involvement in this event, that I'll be making a statement when we have all the facts. Find out who that barman is and tear him down, I want his name as muddied as you are capable of making it without actually putting him in jail, rumble up some bullshit about one or two ID's going missing at out last big crowded event and the fact that we think this is a prank by some punk kids. Allude with out accusing that my rivals in this race may be behind it but what ever you do, do not go into enough detail for them to try and cry slander. I want any hint or clue that Peter may have been involved to disappear in the next half an hour do you understand me? Tell the men you have following him to approach him, get him to come to me" He ordered calmly "If I hear from anyone that Peter was in that bar, I'll know who leaked it and I will come after you, do you understand me?"
He waited for the answer then slammed the phone down, reaching for his coat, but freezing before he could grab it.
He knew there would already be reporters outside waiting for him. The only reason the phones wheren't ringing off the hook was that for that evening at least, the automated system was in place, intercepting all calls and redirecting them as necessary.
He walked over to the bar he had on one side of the office, meaning to make himself another Irish Coffee. Without the Coffee.
With his drink in hand he slumped into his seat behind his desk, taking a deep breath, composing himself.
Nathan was a lot of things, but he was not a miserable drunk.
If he was going to drink, he would be calm, composed, he would enjoy the liquor and relish the taste and he would not be drowning his sorrows, he'd just be enjoying one of the finer things in life.
He straightened his tie, his hair, practiced his on camera shit eating grin a few times.
With the drink in hand, he rose to his feet and paced around his office, rambling through a preliminary statement as he did, sipping at the drink.
After a short while he had wrapped his head around the situation and knew for a fact that once he had some concrete facts to bull shit his way around, he could get in
front of the cameras and charm his way out of it. He knew it like he knew his suit was expensive or paper was made from trees.
He smiled to himself, nodding once or twice, feeling the confidence creep back in and take its rightful place.
The phone on his desk rang and he scooped it up, answering it with a grin "Nathan Petrelli?" he said brightly.
He listened for a second.
The smile fell away.
"He what?" he hissed raggedly.
Heroes
Almost a half hour earlier, one of the muscular men in the SUV that had been following Peter, nodded to his companion as he closed his cell phone "Boss says Petrelli wants little brother brought in" he said with a small smile "No specific orders that he has to be in one piece"
"Aw yeah" his partner, Zeke, grinned and nodded and put the car in gear, pulling into traffic and cruising after Peter.
Zeke had skin so dark it was almost true black, and his hair was braided tight to his skull in neat little corn rows. He was very tall but thin as a rake, but that didn't mean he wasn't strong. His strength was in his lean and sinewy muscle.
His partner, Danny, was more than twice Zeke's weight but it was solid muscle, every inch of it. He was the same height as Zeke, white, with closely cropped blonde hair and very wide blue eyes that gave him an oddly boyish appearance, in strange contrast with his size and build.
Both men wore non descript suits and carried matching weapons, guns.
They worked security for Nathan Petrelli's senatorial campaign, and like many of the men involved in the campaign, including Nathan him self, where ex military, and used that to their advantage when the situation called for it.
As they cruised along after Peter, Danny watched the way the younger man was moving.
"You seein that?" he asked of Zeke.
"He's movin' different…walking like he's…I don't know…like how a fighter walks…normally he slouches along, all in his own head…he looks like he's aware of everything goin on around him, and he's ready to tear into all of it" Zeke stated as Danny nodded along with his analysis.
"I always pegged Peter for kind of a…not a wuss as such, specially not after he nailed Nate last night, just…not a fighter, not like he looks now" Danny mused.
"Well the orders said he's acting weird and that's why he needs watching…maybe he's always been up for fightin and was hiding it" Zeke shrugged.
"Naw man…Peter's the like…thoughtful one, or what ever…reminds me of my kid brother, I was always the jock and he was always stickin his head in book and shit…Peter aint usually some one we gotta worry about" Danny mused.
"Listen to you like you know the fuckin family inside out" Zeke scoffed "You their therapist now or some shit?"
"No man…I just watch em, Peter's just living his life-Holy shit" he cursed harshly as Peter, turning on a dime, stepped off the kerb and into the path of the SUV.
Zeke slammed on the breaks and froze, gripping the wheel as Peter turned to stare through the windshield.
The weather meant that even early evening such as it was, it was dark enough to have the head lights on, and Peter was standing directly in the path of the beams, his eyes wide, his skin seeming un naturally pale.
He smiled, slowly, and Danny couldn't help the shudder that ran through him.
Peter walked towards the SUV, laying his hands on the hood and leaning forwards, staring at the two men "Does he know who we are?" Zeke asked quietly.
Peter raised one hand, raised one, specific finger, and Danny nodded "He knows"
"We bringin him in?" Zeke glanced to his partner.
"Thems are the orders" Danny put on an overdone southern accent.
Zeke turned off the ignition as Danny climbed out and walked around to the front of the car "Mr Petrelli, we need you to come with us" Danny asked as Zeke came around the other side.
Both men where much bigger than Peter, and moved with the feline grace that truly dangerous people posses.
Peter looked slowly from Danny to Zeke, smiling as he watched them both settle automatically into preparatory stances, their feet certain distances apart, their shoulders set just so, as if they expected him to fight them.
"I don't think I will" Peter gave a small shrug as the few other cars on the street passed them by "I like it out in the rain"
"Your brother needs you to come with us sir" Danny stated "it's not really something you have a choice in"
"So Nathan's turned to kidnapping now?" Peter asked brightly "That's a little overdramatic, don't you think?"
"Just get in the car sir" Zeke said blankly "This doesn't have to be hard"
"I beg to differ" Peter said with a nod.
Danny took a step closer, making damn sure Peter could see how much height he had on him "We don't want this to be difficult. Get in the car" he said quietly, using his voice to threaten, as much as his size.
"Or. What?" Peter met his eyes and Danny fought the urge to flinch.
"or we put you in the car" Danny explained.
"Try me" Peter said.
Zeke moved first, darting to the side but forwards, meaning to trap Peter between himself and Danny but Peter tracked the movement and matched it, reeling on Zeke and lashing out with one hand, his hand seeming to brush Zeke's neck.
Zeke coughed and reeled back, clutching at his throat but since he saw no blood, Danny had to guess that Peter had just hit him rather than killing him.
He reached out a hand and snatched Peter's collar from behind, roughly turning the smaller man with the intention of slamming him onto the car hood and cuffing him but Peter pulled that trick Danny's nieces and nephews where so good at, going completely limp and becoming a dead weight, forcing even Danny to have to stumble a little as Peter seemed to be slumping to the ground.
The second Danny's centre of gravity was shifted, Peter straightened up and slammed a hand into the inside of Danny's elbow, hitting some nerve there that made Danny's fingers pop open, releasing Peter's collar.
Peter's arm moved and his fist slammed into Danny's jaw, and even as Danny reeled backwards, Peter grabbed his shoulders and slammed him forwards, bringing his knee up at the same time so that it smacked into Danny's gut and took the wind out of him.
As Danny, gasping, slumped to the floor, Peter was grabbed from behind by Zeke, who as quick as he could, swept Peter's legs out from under him and shoved him down to the ground, pushing his knee into Peter's back as he reached for Peter's arm's to cuff him.
Peter went rigid, gagging, choking noises issuing from his throat as every muscle in his body seemed to tense up.
"Uh…" Zeke moved his knee, his mind telling him Peter was probably faking, but his second thoughts pointing out the 'probably' in that first thought and listing all the ways his life could go to shit if it turned out he was wrong.
"Mr Petrelli? Peter?" he asked hurriedly, rolling Peter onto his side, "Sir, are you okay?" his voice was still hoarse from where Peter had hit him.
Peter grabbed the sides of his head and butted Zeke so hard he saw stars.
Zeke groaned as he pressed one hand to the centre of his forehead, sensing Peter moving past him.
He heard waited for a second, then raised his head and glanced around.
Peter was no where to be seen and Danny was slowly getting to his feet.
"Tell me we didn't just get our asses kicked by the quiet, sensitive brother?" He groaned.
"Okay…I wont tell you we did" Danny grunted "I'll just let you see"
"We're in trouble" Zeke turned so he was sitting with his back against the hood of the car "And so is Nathan Petrelli"
"Dude…I'm not calling them" Danny looked up "It's your turn"
Heroes