Disclaimer: Don't own Heroes, but I sorely wish I did so I could molest Mohinder, Peter and Issac.

A/N: Holy shit I haven't written on of these in so long it's scary but here I am. I took a very long break from writing because of life issues, but atlas I am back. Wanting to write this fic is what inspired me to get writing again so you better like it! Lol, just kidding. I'll warn you this chapter is very jumpy but only because I suck at starting stories. Once I get going I'm fine but the first and second chapters aren't usually my best so please bear with me. So without Further ado, I give you Chapter One.

Unnatural Fire

Chapter One

Awakening

The music pounded through me like some narcotic upper, filling my entire body with electric energy. The mic was in my hands and I moved and rocked my body without thought. What seemed like a thousand eyes watched me and I stared into them all at once as my voice rose high above the raw sound of the Guitar which faded out. This is what I lived for. My voice continued for a few seconds before it too faded away into nothing. The cheer rose strong and I took a little bow before turning to my band mates and chugging down water as if I had never seen water before in my life.

"You guys rocked tonight!" I said into the mic, putting my hand in the air with the rock sign. "Thank you so much, you guys are awesome!" A cheer rose and I smiled before walking into the backstage area which really wasn't all that glamorous considering that our career hadn't gone past bars, but it was a start. I collapsed, panting, exhausted and covered with sweat into one of the chairs. Two hours of performing can have that kind of effect on people.

"That was the show guys!" I exclaimed happily, holding my hand out for four high-fives. "That was the show!" Jake, Len, Even and Dan all grinned at me as I reached for the water bottle and guzzled down the other half of it.

"You were amazing." Jake said, sitting on the edge of the chair and giving me a newgie, making me shriek despite my exhaustion.

"Not the hair!" I shouted as I struggled to get away from him as he threw my auburn hair into complete disarray. "Not the hair!" He let go of me and I playfully slapped him on the arm. "Jerk." He just laughed and I knew it was because that was definitely not the worst thing I had ever called him by a long-shot.

"Still, I think that was the best show we ever did." Dan said with a nod of agreement with himself.

"I would hope so." I replied "We rocked out with every little once of anything we had." Already I could feel my eyes trying to close as the adrenaline rush left me. "And I don't know about you guys, but it's two in the morning and I am going home before I get the point where I will fall asleep at the wheel and endanger hundreds."

"Little lady has a point." Len said, grabbing his guitar and putting it in it's case as Jake snorted in laughter.

"Lady my ass." I laughed and stuck my tongue out him followed by my middle finger sticking up loud and proud. So what if I was twenty-one and still acted like a teenager? At least I knew how to have fun. Besides, I was still a teenage by most counts, just at legal drinking age.

"Still guys, you were great." I said as we formed into a group hug in which I gave 'my boys' as I called them a kiss on each cheek. "I'll call you guys tomorrow." I said, slipping out the backdoor and into the parking lot searching for my car. It was nothing flashy but it was by no means a piece of shit.

The drive home was busy even though it was two in the morning, but such is New York I suppose. At this time of the night one would assume that my apartment complex would be reasonably quite but it was just the opposite. There was probably at least parties going on but the noise level would suggest something close to ten. I unlocked my door and threw my keys onto the kitchen table as my cat, Sammy, jumped up to greet me.

"What are you still doing up?" I asked the small animal playfully as I stroked her soft fur. "You know it's past your bedtime." Shaking my head at myself for pretending that a cat had a bedtime I stripped off my tank top and threw it into some distant corner where it lay forgotten. I was exhausted and nearly lost the fight to get out of my jeans but atlas I was victorious and collapsed onto my bed.

I sighed against the feeling on the ridiculously comfortable pillow and snuggled under the sheets. I fell asleep almost instantly with Sammy curled up around my ankles.

I awoke with a start to the sound of my own screaming and the feeling of pain. Pure and utter pain unlike anything I had ever felt before, like being burned alive. It was so pure and complete that I could do nothing but scream as if I was being murdered and mentally wonder if I was dying.

And then as quickly as it had come, it was gone leaving me trembling, terrified, panting and drenched in my own sweat. My limbs shook from shock and I looked around in the dark as if it would give me some kind of explanation. My mind was foggy and it was hard to think about anything other then my sheer terror.

Still short of breath I laid back down on my pillow and closed my eyes, trying to let myself fall back into the tranquillity of sleep. I felt Sammy jump onto the bed and once again position himself around my ankles seeing as he had probably went into hiding when I started screaming my head off. I mean, I had always had strange things happen around me, but nothing that could even compare to this.

I sighed and once again let myself fall into sleep.

Next Day

I hate work.

I really fucking hate it.

Needless to say, I was not having a good day waitressing at a local restaurant that was close to my house. I would much rather be singing in some packed club but that isn't exactly a steady income. I picked up some dishes that were left on a table and brought them to the main counter.

"What's wrong?" Lin asked, reading the less then happy look on my face.

"Nothing." I muttered followed by a sigh.

"You look pissed."

"I am." She laughed and continued wiping the table down. Picking up more dishes I turned around - and knocked into something very hard which was another girl carry a pot of coffee. The pot slipped from her hand, smashing off my arm before hitting the floor. The pot shattered into a thousand pieces, spilling coffee everywhere in it's wake.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed, covering her mouth. "Are you alright? Let me see." She reached for my bare arm which the pot had hit, looking for any burns or injuries.

"I'm Fine." I replied as Al came out with his mop. "Sorry Al." He just smiled and shook his head wordlessly telling me that it was alright.

"Are you sure? That pot was boiling."

"I'm fine, really." I assured her.

"Well, your damn lucky you don't have a nasty burn. Those things can get pretty hot." I just grinned and rested my hand on her shoulder.

"It's ok, I'm still in one piece so no damage." She nodded just as an order was called out. She excused herself and went into the back room to retrieve it and I slipped into the bathroom. I threw some cold water onto my face and examined my arm. It was sore, but no burn. She was right, those things can cause massive burns…….and here I was unharmed. Strange.

I just shook my head and dried my face with a towel. It only made momentary contact and I wasn't hurt so really, what the hell am I complaining about? Besides, I only had fifteen minutes until this hellish day was over and I could go to band practice. With thought being practically the only thing that was keeping me sane I went back into the lion's den to take my last order of the day.

By the time 5:00 hit, all you could see was my vapor trail leading out of the doorway. I slipped into my car and drove the fifteen minute drive that it took to reach Jake's house. As usual, everyone was already there.

"Hey guys." I said, letting myself in, going into the basement and throwing my bag onto a chair. "You will not believe the day I had today."

"Less then wonderful I'm assuming?"

"You could say that." I answered, removing my shoes and throwing my hair into a messy bun. "First there was this snotty women who sent her food back twice and then this guy who changed his order like a hundred times, I was hit on by a group of retards and almost got fired for telling them to go fuck themselves and then last but not least, had a boiling hot pot of coffee dropped on my arm. Other then that things have been just fine."

"Wait, you had a pot of coffee dropped on your arm?" Len asked, passing his cigarette to me which I took without hesitation, taking a long drag. "You know, your gonna kill your voice doing that."

"Hasn't killed it yet." I answered. "And yes, I had a pot of coffee dropped on my arm."

"I don't see a burn." Dan said, searching my arms for abrasions.

"Wasn't one." I replied simply, setting up the mic. Dan raised his eyebrow.

"You mean, you had boiling coffee poured on you and your not burned?"

"Uh ya." I said. "Why is everyone having such a hard time with that?"

"You know, Laira, I'll never understand you." Even added, grinning.

"And I plan on keeping it that way." I replied, setting the mic in it's stand. "Ok, let's jam. I've had a really bad day so I wanna sing something angry."

"How about 'Never Ever'?" Dan suggested.

"Sounds good to me." I answered, doing some small exercises to warm up my voice.

"Ok then. One, two - one, two, three, four!" On cue the guitars and drum burst into life, surrounding me in the beautiful rapture that always came upon every time I sang or performed. Practicing didn't give me as much adrenaline as performing, but I didn't do it just for the rush. I did it because it was my passion and my life - and a lot more reliable then a guy. My cue came and without thinking I opened my mouth and the familiar words poured out.

"You don't know a fucking thing, So stop wasting my time, I've already turned my back, Your the dirt and grime, Under my fingernails, I pick and pick but you never seem to leave, So just go, just go." The guitars became rougher and this time I put in all the power that I could, letting the emotion run through my body. "Because I've never ever loved you, Never ever wanted to, You know I hate everything you do, I'm the hammer, You're the screw!

"Stop calling me constantly, I don't care about a word you have to say, Keep bitching, bitching, bitching, But it won't make me stay, Because you're nothing but a liar, And a petty one at that." I closed my eyes, letting the music entirely take me over as I rocked my body to the angry beat, remembering the man that had inspired me to write this song.

"So just go, just go, Because I've never ever loved you, Never ever wanted to, You know I hate everything you do, Don't bother trying to confide in me, I'm not your damned confession pew!

"I don't care what you think, Who am I your fucking shrink!? I've never ever loved you, Never ever wanted to, You know I hate everything you do, So pack your shit, And get a clue!" The music died and I stood there, grinning to myself.

"That was awesome!" Even exclaimed. "We're totally performing this one at the next gig."

"Hell ya!" I replied. "Here, take this I need a drink after that one." I said, passing the mic to Even who winced in pain.

"Ow!" He said, putting the mic in the other hand. "Fuck!"

"What?" I asked, completely perplexed at the fact that Even seems to have just been assaulted by an inanimate object.

"That was hot!" He answered. "Seriously, that mic was hot."

"Dude, lay off the blow." Dan replied, patting him on the shoulder.

"I'm serious! That mic burned me." Even protested as I took a huge swing of water.

"Ya, and I was attacked by a tree on my here. It happens to us all."

"Whatever." He replied, waving Dan off. "I know what I felt."

"Ok, so, next song." I said in a painfully obvious attempt to change the subject. They took it and we spent the next two hours jamming and just having fun. Our next gig was on Saturday so we wanted to make sure we were prepared, just in case some random record company came along and wanted to sign us. Hey, it could happen. At around 6:30 Jake had to go to work so the rest of us headed home, only thing is, once I got there I just wanted back out again.

I was going through one of those restless periods that we all go through from time to time and the fact that Even accused the mic of burning him didn't help. I mean, how was that even possible? Even wasn't the type to have delusions or lie about things so I had to assume that he was actually burned. I was in no way a skeptic of the supernatural but evil mics wasn't on my list of things I had to conquer.

I mean, I was holding the mic and didn't feel anything, so why the hell would he? I mean, it's not like the mic could heat itself, which would mean that some outside force had to heat it in the time it took me to hand him the stupid thing……. shaking my head I walked right out of the door I had came from.

I needed some air. I needed a new brain. Only one of these was possible. The streets of New York were crowded as like every other day and I breathed in deep, taking in the fresh air, although with all the pollution and smog it probably wasn't as fresh as most people believed, but at least it was sunny out.

The streets were so typical it almost made me want to cry. Shops, houses, people of all shapes and sizes varying in wide of fashion from classy and sophisticated to just plain scary. Wow, I really was in New York. Despite the fact that I had been living here for two years in order to attend college I still wasn't quite used to life in the big city. And I do mean big. In fact I think New York is big enough to be officially declared a content all it's own. But that's just my opinion.

Me being the absent-minded person I was, I didn't even think about where I was going until I walked into something.

"Oh, sorry." I said, looking up at the short Asian man who looked up from the comic book he was studying and stared at me. He said something in a language that definitely wasn't English and I just stared at him with what I was sure was a confused look. Then suddenly his eyes widened and he began looking from the comic book to me, and saying something very fast to the man who standing beside him. I had no idea what they were saying but they seemed to understand each other just fine.

"You!" He exclaimed, pointing in the book. "This is you!" His speech was very slow and hard to understand but it was clear that he thought someone in the book was me. I personally thought he was crazy and a long way from home but I looked in the book anyway.

My eyes scanned the page and a combination of things happened to me. My stomach hit the floor, terror flooded my body and I suddenly became very cold. The girl on the page looked exactly like me if I had been a cartoon. She was holding a mic in a basement surrounded by four guys, all of whom looked exactly like my band mates.

"Let me see that!" I exclaimed, ripping the book quite rudely from his hands to study the picture further. Everything down to the last detail was perfect, flawless. I was even wearing the same clothes - a black spaghetti strap tank top, low slung jeans with chains on them, a studded belt, even the same jewelry. "Where did you get this?" I demanded and although I was sure he was rusty in English he pointed behind me to a rack which carried at least a dozen copies. Without hesitation I bought one, turning back to the man. "Bye." I said, trying to smile but fear interfered and it probably ended up looking like I was trying to smile with a lemon in my mouth. I turned away, but was stopped by his hand on my arm.

"You have power!" He said, pointing to the book. "See, you have power - like me!" Ok, now I was getting just plain freaked out.

"I have to go." I said, turning around and walking away before he could stop me again. I heard his friend say something to him but damned if I know what it was. If there was a award for speed walking, I think I would have won it as all but ran back to home, getting there in twelve minutes taking a route that would normally take me twenty.

I slammed the door behind me, going straight into my room and flopping down on the bed, ripping the comic book open. If I wasn't freaked out before, then I definitely was now as I read what had happened to am today at the restaurant and then at band practice. Everything was frighteningly perfect. It even had the part about Even being burned by the mic.

The drawings were flawless in their accuracy. The girl in the novel looked exactly like me. Longish red hair in a messy bun, green eyes, reasonably thin but not too thin. The more pages I turned, the more terrified I became and the more I tried to tell myself that what I was seeing was impossible. Completely impossible - but then again, I had seen many things which most people would deem as impossible.

The last page, however, was the most disturbing. It depicted me clutching my head in what appeared to be pain and then running from a burning room which looked just like my apartment. Coldness entered me and I turned the book around, looking for the author.

There was a picture of a man with longish hair on the back with the name Issac Mendez, author, and a New York address written under it. I stared at the picture for a long moment, a thousand thoughts running through my head not all of which were pleasant.

Who the hell was this guy, and how the fuck did he know me? I had never seen him before in my life. I stared hard at the picture, trying to force myself into some connection to his face but there was simply none to be made. Issac…..

Cramming the book into my bag I again got up and grabbed my car keys. I got into the car and slammed the door harder then was really needed but that was the furthest thing from my mind at the moment. I didn't know who the hell this Issac thought he was or what he thought he knew, but it was definitely time to find out.

A/N:

This actually turned out better then I thought it would, even though I had to take some replace some things that I thought were irrelevant to the story but all and all, not a bad start. I have a lot planned for this fic so I hope to get at least some reviews. Most of the romance fics for Heroes on this site kinda, well….. suck and I'm hoping to maybe change that a little. Neways, please leave a review and if any of you want to contact me, feel free to check out my myspace. The link is on my profile as my homepage. Hope to here from you all! Until next time……..