She walked with her father down the sterile corridor, willing her short legs to keep in step with his.
"Guess what we are going to do today in Daddy's special lab, my darling?" Linderman asked smiling down at her.
"What, Daddy?" she asked, breathlessly.
"We are going to perform a little experiment. I want to see you do some things for me with your little power."
"Is somebody sick?" The girl asked, looking up at her father.
"No, this is a little different. We are going to meet one of Daddy's friends and he is going to help us with this experiment."
"What's he going to do?"
"All in good time, my girl." Linderman said as he opened the door for the child. They stepped into a spacious exam room with an exam table and equipment on one side and an open area on the other. Motioning to the man standing in the middle of the open area Linderman said, "This is Daddy's friend, Reynard."
The man turned and smiled a monstrous smile at the girl and her heart began to race. Linderman pushed the girl further into the room and closer to the man.
"Now my dear, don't be afraid. Reynard is simply going to hold your hand, alright?"
Reynard held out a hand to the child that was covered with scars. The girl tentatively put her hand in Reynard's outstretched one. Once he had her hand she turned to focus on her father so she couldn't see Reynard or his horrible scars.
"Now, Reynard is special like us and I would like for him to perform his trick on you and see what happens." Linderman explained.
The girl glanced at the man then turned back to her father, "Will it hurt?"
"Maybe just a little. You are a big girl, now, almost seven. And sometimes, big girls have to endure a little pain but they can, because they are big girls. So, will you do this for me?"
The girl looked unsure for several seconds, "Ok, Daddy."
Then her hand began to feel warm, then hot and then it began to burn. The girl turned to look at her hand in Reynard's and drew in a breath to………….
"No!!!" Rose bolted up from her bed her sheets and her nightgown soaked in sweat. She sat there for a moment regaining her breath before she through the covers to the side.
"Yeow", grumbled a voice.
Rose turned to find two yellow eyes glaring at her from underneath the discarded covers. "Sorry, Sprite. Go back to sleep."
The cat took a long look at her then placed its head back on its paws and began drifting off.
Rose grabbed a thin robe off the chair at the end of her bed and headed down the hall to the living room. She passed the TV and gave it a tap, zapping it to life. In the kitchen, Rose pulled out a K-cup and placed it into her Keurig brewer.
"…….Authorities are still unsure what led to this assault but the evidence seems to point to all six men being involved."
Rose turned to the TV. I could have sworn I had that thing on cartoons. Then she noticed the caption. Multiple assailants responsible for Abnormal Genome person's death. Oh Great.
Rose's thoughts were interrupted by the shrill ring of her phone. "Yeah." She answered.
"You need to pack a bag. Bring enough professional clothing for no less than a week, maybe more. Be at JFK by 630 this morning and don't be late." Bennett's voice ordered over the phone.
"Yes, sir," She answered, but he had already hung up. She turned back to the TV and watched the screen as men that were involved in the assault were being brought into custody. The men didn't look angry or self-righteous but sad. As she continued to watch words flashed on the screen in a type completely different to that of the news channel. It's starting.Rose's eyes widened, "Oh shit."
Rose zig zagged through the terminals dodging people who were walking at a slower pace or rudely stopping in the middle of the walkways. Finally, she came to a plain gray door marked, Authorized Personnel Only. She knocked on the door. A moment later small but round gentleman in a sky captain's uniform answered.
"This is a restricted area, miss."
"Yes, I know. I'm with Claire Petrelli's group." Rose answered, smiling politely.
"Are you, now? Well let's see, what's your name?" The man asked eyeing her suspiciously.
"Rose Linderman."
"Well, Mrs. Linderman, I'm going to have to check on this you'll have to wait here."
"It's Ms. Linderman," Rose snarled. "Mr. Linderman was my father. You don't need to check on things because you just remembered seeing my name on the list given to you earlier. So you're going to let me through the door, tell me where the Petrelli group is and wish me a safe flight."
"You know," the man said. "I think I remember seeing your name on the list earlier, so why don't you go on in?"
"Thank you, " Rose smiled stepping through the door.
"The Petrelli group is up that ramp and to the left. Have a safe flight, Ms. Linderman." The man waved as she made her way up the ramp.
Rose found three of their group sitting in a small boarding area awaiting the flight. Claire sat in a chair on the far end of the row talking on her cell phone. Bennett was also on his phone standing in front of one of the huge windows watching the landing strip. Sylar was by himself on the other end of the row of chairs, staring at nothing.
"Hey," Rose said, taking the seat next to him. She set her carry ons on the ground and checked her cell phone. 6:08. She had gotten here in plenty of time no thanks to Captain Ornery, whom now made her regret not bringing that batch of brownies to test out. Once she saw that she had no texts from Rebel she placed her phone back in her jacket pocket.
"What the hell is that?" Sylar asked, eyeing her abnormally large carry on bag.
"What?" she asked innocently, eyes as wide as they would go.
Sylar glanced from Rose to the bag, "There's something moving in your bag." He accused pointing at the offending bag.
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Rose said, turning away from him to end the conversation. "Hey!!"
Sylar had used his telekinesis to drag the bag over to him. He grabbed it up, unzipped it and came face to face with a very pissed off black and white mane coon cat. "You brought a cat!?" Sylar glanced at Rose then back at the cat, which had brought itself up to a sitting position in the bag and was meeting his gaze fearlessly.
"Oh good, you made it. Now we're only missing Peter and Angela." Bennett said as he crossed over to them done with his phone call.
"They'll be late" Rose started, urging the attention toward her. "They're going to run into some complications at the ticket counter, something about Angela's bag being fifty pounds OVER weight. It's okay though, because the plane won't actually be ready to board until about 6:50."
"That's impossible." Bennett countered. "I specifically told them to do whatever they had to do to make the plane ready to go by 6:30."
"Guess it's not going to be enough. You can help Angela and Peter's case though, by calling off the maniacal Mr. Rogers watching the entrance to the terminal. He takes pleasure in stalling everyone who comes through the door for as long as he can."
Bennett sent a glare down the ramp then turned back to Rose and Sylar. "What the hell are you doing with that cat, Sylar?"
"What? I……." Sylar started to answer.
Bennett rolled his eyes, "I don't even want to know. Look, just do whatever you're going to do with it in your own time, okay? And privately. The last thing we need is a picture of you eating a cat gracing the news stands." Bennett turned and took off down the ramp to deal with the terminal guard.
Rose clamped her lips together behind her teeth to keep from smiling as she scooped her cat and bag from a stunned Sylar's lap.
"I don't even know why I try." Sylar mused darkly
"What?" Rose asked as she began petting the cat in the open bag.
"No matter what I do, I'm still gonna be just a killer to everyone and everything, apparently."
"You just got on the good guy wagon, what, four or five months ago? You have to give everyone time to believe it and get used to it. Plus, it's not supposed to be easy for you. This is your penance stage, if you make it through this then you become a good guy." Rose explained.
"Yeah? When does this end?" Sylar asked miserably.
"For some, it lasts their whole life." She answered.
"Great." Sylar said sarcastically.
"Ummmm. You could be rotting in the ground somewhere like your however many victims. You get another chance at life but it doesn't come free. You don't get to just forget about what you've done." Rose reprimanded.
"I don't think I need advice on living from the girl who totes a cat around." Sylar sneered.
"There's nothing wrong with this." Rose insisted.
Sylar turned to look at her eyes on fire. Stop talking, now! I'm losing my patience so just back off for a while. His words echoed in Rose's head as he stomped off across the room putting space between them. Sprite stared after him, gave a satisfied grunt and began to settle herself back in the bag.
"I know," Rose said, sadly agreeing with the cat in the bag. That's when she felt the buzz in her jacket pocket.
Peter and Angela arrived just after the plane had entered the terminal at 6:49. They all began to board the plane while Bennett barked out directions.
Peter sided up to Rose, "So first day and it's already getting fun."
"Yeah, I haven't been on a vacation in years. I'm excited."
Peter winced, "I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. Washington is going to be less relaxing with the group you signed up with."
Rose smiled, "I think I'll manage."
"Is that a cat?" Peter asked looking curiously at her bag.
"Don't ask," Sylar said as he brushed past them.