Will Stone

He and Grant explored the schoolhouse where Emily found young Monty Petrelli. Grant, or Emil, said it was important, that he was expecting someone. He also said that time was growing short, and that he needed to show Will something. So there they were, walking the halls of an empty school, Grant dragging his knuckles across faded lockers. "I'm sure you've noticed how you can't use your talent here," he said, absently.

"Yeah," Will said, nervousness running through his veins. "Shouldn't Emily be here?"

"No," Grant said, firmly. "She has too much emotional baggage. She'd just get in the way. I never told you what my talent was, exactly, did I?" he asked.

Will shook his head. "You just said you were an empath."
"That's only the half of it," Grant said, turning into one of the classrooms. Will followed, and nearly ran out of the place. It stank of rotted meat and sour milk. The place was trashed; the desks overturned, some shattered; papers and cobwebs littered the place. "First off, my real name is Grant Woodruff. What you about to see, you must remember. Promise me that."

"Sure," Will said, eager to get out of the room.

Grant lifted the eye-patch off his eye, and Will watched in horror as both his brown eyes turned white. Grant turned away, facing the center of the room. People appeared, sitting at phantom desks, the whole thing transparent. "This place has a severe amount of emotional tragedy, Will. What you are seeing is the torment of those who created this place."

Will looked around at the faces, hoping to recognize one of them as Ed 'W' Jamison. He didn't expect to see the soft, kindly face of Wyrm. "Wyrm?" he asked himself.

Then, all hell broke loose. The other people in the room started to throw things at Wyrm, taunting in him. Will watched the lips move, but there was no sound escaping them that he could hear. A rock hit Wyrm in the head and blood trickled out, making the young boy wobble.

Another person burst into the room, this one W. He opened up a whole in the floor of the room and one in the roof. Everyone inside the room fell through the open portal, falling through the one in the roof, picking up speed, going faster and faster; roof, floor, roof, floor, again and again.

Will turned away as W moved his hand to close the portal. He knew what would happen to those trapped in the loop, and he couldn't face it. He dry heaved into the corner.

A hand landed on his shoulder and he convulsed uncontrollably. "Will," Grant said. "You said Wyrm. You knew one of them?"

Will shook his head, then nodded, and then finally shrugged. He didn't really know anyone except for Mackenzie, and even then he doubted how much.

"It's okay," Grant said. 'I can see what you mean. I know you didn't watch the whole thing, but that's okay. I just needed you to see enough to tell Emily. The actual, well, demise is unimportant. It's all so we know what kind of enemy we're up against. There is more, but I think we'd better hurry. Someone's here."

Grant put an arm under Will's, helping him to his feet. "Why did you ability work, and not mine?"

"Fair question, I guess. You're ability is physical, mine is emotional. There are different laws here, Will. We're not in Kansas any more, I'll tell you that much now. The rest can wait until with Emily. She's as much involved in this as we are." Grant took Will down ever confusing corridors. He didn't know if he could find his way out if left to his own devices, and he thanked God for Grant.

"Grant, who are you?"

"Shh, we don't want to scare her off!" Grant said, lowering Will to the ground. As he sat there listening, he heard the cries of a small girl off some distant room. Mohinder! Matt! How many people were in here, trapped?

He opened his eyes, finding himself alone with a pistol at his feet. Grant had left him that, tired off carrying him to where ever it was the girl was. He'd left the gun in case of a dog attack or some other demented beast. Will struggled not to vomit. There may not have been sound when the kids in Grant's projection hit the ground, but Will added his own, and it sounded like watermelons hitting the floor, and he heard it over and over again in his mind.

Gabriel Gray

San Ribero

Gabriel stood in what he guessed was the grand chamber, waiting for whoever ruled this little tribe of mutants. Peter was gone, thank God. Gabriel didn't know if he could take another beating at the hands of the vengeful man. Heidi was gone, and that upset him. Heidi was the only one who would stick up for him, the only one who believed that he was different.

The doors opened, and he was surprised to see Elle walk in. She nodded to him, and then led him through to a room with a long table. She sat him down, and took her own seat nearby. "Welcome to San Ribero, Gabriel," she said. "Just so you know, Alphonse is nearby, and he's muting your talents."

"Am I ever going to be free?" he asked. "I know I've done horrible things to good people, but I deserve a chance to try and make it right, to earn a place in society again, don't I?"

Elle shook her head. "Not here. Hell, half the people on this island are ready to hang you now, and the other half are fighting because they haven't found a good tree yet. No, it's best you stay here for a while."

Gabriel lowered his head. Michael's gift had done him no good. He'd never found Claire Bennet, and he would never find solace. "Where's Heidi?"

"She's getting reacquainted with some of our town's folk," Elle said, putting a hand on Gabriel's. "You know, Hiro Nakamura, some ex-Agents, and Claire Bennet."

Gabriel's head shot up. "Claire is here?" Elle nodded. "I need to see her! Michael said…"
"Not yet," Elle said. "First, the courts have to pass judgment on you. You have a number of well respected people fighting for you, and they won't execute you for your actions. We don't do that on San Ribero. There are worse punishments. Besides, Michaels' gift is what's kept you alive for so long. If not for that, Alphonse never would have offered you sanctuary here." She looked at her watch. "I have to go, Gabriel. I'll see you soon."
She stood and left Gabriel alone. He sat in quiet contemplation, unaware of the eyes that were settling on him.

Claire Bennet

San Ribero

She stared at the sullen man, with Heidi at her side. It was so strange to not hate Gabriel for what he's done to everyone, but for the first time, Claire didn't want to see him die. "Has he really changed?" she asked.

Heidi nodded. "He saved my life, and Simon's, from another man named Sylar. Don't ask me how it's possible, but it is. Knowing Peter, you have to believe that anything is possible. Look at you."

Claire opened her mouth to condemn Gabriel anyway, when the door opened behind her and Alphonse walked in. "He's no danger to anyone, Claire, not in my house, he isn't." He was carrying a case a lot like that of Senator Armstrong's, and Claire felt fear shoot down her spine.

"What is that for?" She pointed to the case. Memories of nail clippers flooded her mind, and that point when she would no longer heal. The human body has it's limitations, even one like Claire's. She never wanted to hit that point again.

Alphonse smiled. "It's mostly for Heidi," he said, setting the case down and pulling out a hypodermic needle. "You see, we have ways of healing almost all wounds on San Ribero, and we can't let someone who pulls as much weight as Heidi walk around looking like tenderized beef. However, I do need you blood."

Claire and Heidi threw him confused looks, and his smile widened.

"You mean you don't already know?" They shook their heads, and Alphonse laughed. "I figured with your curiosity, you would have tried to see what else you blood could heal. I knew someone like you a long time ago, Claire, and we did all sorts of test together. You can't cure death in another person, but you can bring someone back from the brink. Heidi's bruised and swollen face is nothing compared to three sword wounds, or a crucifixion."

Claire, hesitantly, offered her arm to Alphonse. She didn't like needles, and she turned her head and clamped her eyes shut. She repeated, for Heidi, for Heidi, over and over again in her mind. Then, her arm turned numb. When she looked, the only thing that happened was that Alphonse had touched her. "What did you do? I can't feel my arm!" Her fear was rising.

"Calm down, just another gift of mine. It'll go away when I let go," he said, slipping the needle in her arm with such grandfatherly gentleness, she hardly noticed the slight pressure on her numb limb. It was over before it began, in her mind. Alphonse turned to Heidi.

"I wouldn't want Claire to go through that in vain," she said, offering her own arm. "Just, don't do the numb thing. I like to know what's going on to my body."

Alphonse nodded and stuck the needle in so fast; Claire blinked and tried to figure out when the actual insertion started. Before she could figure it out, he was depressing the plunger, and her blood flowed into Heidi's veins.

After he removed the needle, Claire watched Heidi's face anxiously, waiting to see what would happen. It started almost instantly, her face returning to normal size and color. Heidi reached up and touched it, feeling how smooth it now was, then going to her nose, which had regain its original shape. She smiled, looking at Claire. "Now, we're blood sisters!"

Claire shuddered. "Let's not go that far, but we are family." She hugged Heidi, laughing.

Gavin entered, with a worried frown on his face. "Claire, its Peter. He's called for us to join him in his apartment."

Peter Petrelli

San Ribero

Before him stood six paintings. Peter had never painted so many so fast before, and his arm screamed at him to stop. But he needed help figuring them out. He would have gone to Nathan, but Nathan was gone. He had Claire and Heidi, that was it. They would have to do.

Claire opened the door, bursting into his apartment, Heidi right behind him, a little more respectful.

"Hey, it's Will!" a man shouted out. Peter looked over Claire to see her friend, Gavin standing in the doorway. He was looking at the paintings. Thinking about if for a second, he figured it couldn't hurt to have another perspective especially from a boy who was getting awful close to his niece.

"Come on in, Gavin," he said. "I need help figuring these out, and I could use all the eyes I can get, but you can't tell anyone about them till I say so. Not even Alphonse." Gavin nodded, following Heidi into the room.

The first painting was the easiest to figure out. It showed Monty being attacked by a dog. There others in the painting, and one of them was Will, who Gavin pointed out. "This girl here, that's Molly Walker," Heidi said.

"That doesn't help much," Peter said, frowning. Maybe he should have gone to Alphonse first. This one he definitely would have to in order to figure out where it was.

"Here!" Claire said, getting excited. She put her finger on a dark spot. "What is that?"

"A shadow?" Heidi said.

"It looks like a pterodactyl," Gavin said, quietly.

Claire laughed. "Don't be stupid."

"No," Peter said. "Anything you see or think, I want to know. This going to happen, and we need to know everything we can." Peter tilted his head, and then added, "It does look a pterodactyl."

Heidi said, "Yeah, a little bit."

"All of you are wrong," Claire said. "It looks like a man with wings." The moment she said it, she wished it was a ptrerodactyl. A flying man was too much of a reminder of Nathan.

Peter shook his head. "Let's move on.

"Yes, lets," another voice said. All four of them turned around to see who the newcomer was, but only three of them knew who he was. Claire lunged at Nathan Petrelli, throwing her arms around him. Heidi was right behind her, and Peter behind her.

Nathan lifted up Heidi, and looked to Peter. "We'll be back in awhile. We need to talk." He dipped low, and then flew out the window.

Peter and Claire looked after them. Gavin shrugged behind them. "Hey," he asked, drawing Peter and Claire's attention. "Who's the old guy?"

(A/N – There's only two more chapter lefts in the 'Siege' story arc, and one more major death planned. Good luck to all your favorite characters!

Thank you all for you reviews, and please continue to enjoy!

With love, Traumedy101)