HEROES: Duality p3 - The New Deal
Disclaimer: I own nuttink!
Notes: Having written the bulk of "Darkness" before s3 played out, I found the show went in a different direction than I thought it would. I eventually figured out where my story and the show canon really diverged. Here's what happened in my AU, and it's all Matt's fault, as usual. (sorry, Grunny!)
Pinehearst still stands. Tracy has escaped with Knox, and there are soldiers waiting to be injected with what little remains of the Formula. Sylar has killed Arthur Petrelli and moved on to attack PrimaTech's Hartsdale, NY complex (as seen in ep 3.13). Meanwhile, Nathan has to explain what is really going on to the commander of the military squad his father hired...among other people.
_
PrimaTech, Hartsdale, NY
"Get her out of here!" Claire yelled at her adoptive father as she ran out the door to try and save her mother.
Noah Bennet looked from the still body on the floor to the regal woman sitting in her chair as if she had never been threatened with death, only moments before.
"Go after her, Noah," she said simply. He nodded and chased after the young blonde.
She turned her attention to the body at her feet and sighed. She rose from her chair and turned to the computer at her desk, made a few keystrokes, double-checked the information was being sent and turned back to the body.
She kneeled down beside him, grasping the thick shard of plexiglass firmly. She gave a firm pull, but it wouldn't budge. She sighed again before taking a better grip.
The shard pulled free on the second try with a wet sound she had heard too many times in her life. She waited a moment, then saw the wound begin to knit itself back together.
She gave a small smile and leaned down to whisper in his ear. "You owe me, Gabriel. Make the most of the life I gave you."
She stood, glanced around the room one last time with a longing sigh, dropped the bloody shard on the floor by his head and strode from the room with a quick, but unhurried pace.
She made her way to a clearing that afforded her a good view of the building as it burned. She was shortly joined by her granddaughter and her best agent. The trio stood watching the flames for some time until they heard the sirens of the local fire department arriving.
Angela and Noah shared a glance, knowing which cover story they would give as the trucks arrived to douse the blaze before it could spread into the nearby forest.
She pulled out her cell phone. "How are things on your end?" she asked. "We need a ride. Do you think you can pick us up?" she replied. "Just Claire, Noah, and myself. Thank you, dear."
Noah chuckled silently at how sweet she sounded. He knew better.
-
Pinehearst, Fort Lee, NJ
Sgt. Jon Davis sat there, incredulous. He couldn't believe what he had just been told by newly appointed Senator Nathan Petrelli, but Pvt. Rachel Mills confirmed at least part of the story, about the man downstairs that could conjure blue fire from his hands. She would neither confirm nor deny anything else.
Before he could inquire further, Petrelli's phone rang. He grimaced as he checked the number, then flipped it open.
"Hi, Ma," he answered. "We're managing, but busy, why?"
Peter and Matt shared a look and chuckled.
"I can send a car. Who's with you?" he continued, waving the other two to be quiet. "Sure, Ma, no problem." He shut his phone and tossed it to Peter. "Go call home, tell the driver to go pick up Ma at Hartsdale, would ya, Pete?"
Peter caught the phone, gave his brother an annoyed look and went out into the hallway to make the call.
Nathan turned back to Davis, who sat there, dumbfounded. "So, you're saying you have this Formula that can give people super-powers, like out of comic books?" he asked.
Nathan and Matt shared a look, then nodded. "Pretty much, yeah. There are people who were born with them, and a handful who have received injections to activate the potential abilities we all were born with."
"You really are serious?" he asked again.
Nathan nodded. "Yes, but, and this is the important part, whoever came up with this Formula, it can only be used properly with the Catalytic Agent, which is now lost to us."
"No more Secret Ingredient, no more super-power formula, is that it?"
Nathan smiled. "Exactly. Unfortunately, we don't know how many have already been injected over the years. My father just recovered the Catalyst after 16 years, but we've now lost it forever."
"Do I want to know?" he asked. Nathan shook his head. Davis continued, "But there are people who were born with powers, like in the comics?"
Matt spoke up this time. "Yeah, just like in X-Men, but I don't know if you'd call us mutants or whatever--"
Davis cut him off. "'Us?' Did you just say 'us'?"
Matt glanced at Nathan and grimaced. "Uh, yeah. Mine developed last year. I never had any hint of it before, and my dad was never around to warn me."
"So you inherited your powers from your father?"
Matt nodded sheepishly. "What you saw in the lab, earlier, when I touched Ando, I lost control of my power for a second--"
Davis picked up on this. He pointed at Nathan. "Then your brother grabbed his head, too! You both were born with powers?"
Nathan balked at this. "Uh, not quite." He glanced at Matt. "My brother was born with the ability to mimic other abilities, but lost them recently."
"Then what happened earlier?"
"When we were trying to subdue Flint, Peter accidentally rolled over onto some vials of the Formula, reactivating his powers, it seems."
"And what about you, Senator? What can you do?"
"I wasn't born with any kind of ability, Sergeant," Nathan said firmly.
Davis held his gaze for a second, but decided not to pursue this line of inquiry. Petrelli was being more than forthcoming, but he was also holding back. Jon didn't blame him for that. "So what do we do, now?" he asked.
"Well, we only have a handful of Formula samples left, now," he explained.
Matt stepped in. "More importantly, we had the idea to reach out to those born with natural abilities," he said, "to see if we can help them with the more volatile powers."
"Like this Flint, downstairs, with the fire hands?" Rachel piped up.
"Exactly," Matt answered her. "There are others out there with more dangerous abilities, people who need training."
"Like the X-Men?" Davis said, smirking.
"Hey, if the shoe fits," Matt laughed. "Seriously, though, some people will need help adjusting, controlling their powers, and we can't just lock them up if they haven't done anything wrong." He gave a sideways glance to Nathan, who blatantly ignored his friend.
"But what if they have, like that guy downstairs?"
"I used to be a cop, you two are soldiers, we were trained to handle weapons. Some people who develop abilities may not know what to do, we can train them, help them learn control," Matt explained. "For those that want to cause mayhem and destruction like Flint, we will have to restrain them."
"That's what our parents were already doing," Nathan explained, "but with everybody, not just the bad guys."
"Wait, that's why we're here, isn't it?" Rachel asked. "We were supposed to be some super-police or something?"
Nathan and Matt shared another look. Nathan nodded grimly. "That's what my father had planned for you, yes."
"So when you asked about our psych profiles?"
"Yes, Miss Mills," Matt replied. "When I saw how Hanover was freaking out earlier with Flint and then tried to start a riot, I thought it best to go over them once again, make sure we had people who weren't going to freak out like he did."
"My father was a bit of a control freak," Nathan explained, "and knew he would be causing as much chaos as he would be order with your squad rounding up innocent people and jailing them just for being born different."
"And that's the last thing we want to happen," Matt spoke up. "We can't jail people for being different. They already tried that in the Forties, the Red Scare in the Fifties, Guantanamo Bay today. Hell, how long have the blacks and gays, among others, been persecuted just for how they were born? We can't let that happen again."
"Wait, so how would he keep us in line, if we decided to turn against him?" Davis countered.
Nathan hesitated, but proceeded to explain. "My father had the ability to steal other abilities, it seems. I would hazard to guess, anyone who he thought he couldn't control would probably be stripped of their abilities."
"Hail Caesar, eh?" Davis asked.
Nathan clenched his jaw and looked at Davis. "I think my father thought even Caesar beneath him," he said in disgust.
"So what's the plan, now, Senator?" Rachel asked, quickly trying to change the subject.
"Now? Now we go over the psych profiles and weed out any possible problems may father may have overlooked," Nathan replied. "Then I'll go talk to the President and try to get some government backing to help anyone who needs it."
"But not against their will, right?" Matt asked.
"Only if they prove too dangerous to leave alone, Matt," Nathan said. "People like Flint and Sylar, we'll have no choice but to take into custody."
"What about decent people who have abilities they can't control?" Matt pressed. "Another Ted Sprague? What happens then?"
Nathan and Davis both raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
"Ted...Sprague, remember?" Matt said out loud, but mentally filled Nathan in on his late nuclear powered friend.
"Ah, yes, Ted," Nathan said, somewhat in surprise as he took a moment to process his mental briefing. "We'll have to take those on a case by case basis, I'm afraid."
Davis glanced at Mills, then to the two men sitting opposite him. "I'm sorry, who is Ted Sprague? What was his problem?"
Matt hesitated, unsure how much to reveal. He glanced at Nathan, who nodded. "Ted," he began, "had a very volatile power like Flint, that he, uh, well," Matt hesitated, unsure how to proceed. "Ted's ability accidentally killed his wife, and nearly killed several others, myself included. This Sylar we mentioned? He also has the ability to steal powers, and he took Ted's power, almost destroying New York City a few months back--"
"I remember hearing about some sort of unexplained explosion over New York, right after the elections," Davis interrupted. "Most thought it was a meteorite or something, but you're saying...?"
A glance between Matt and Nathan confirmed the story for Davis and Mills. She gasped in shock.
Matt nodded. "Yeah, we were responsible for that." He grimaced before continuing. "Actually, I was laid out, having been shot by Sylar, so I really don't know the exact details--"
"Sylar shot you?" Rachel exclaimed.
Matt blushed. "I, uh, I actually tried to shoot Sylar, take him out before he could do anything, but he caught the bullets in mid-air, sent them flying back to me. Luckily for me, he didn't have the ability to send them back with the same speed." He grimaced and unconsciously reached for his ribs where the scars still showed.
"I think I've heard enough, Senator," Davis said. "I suggest you talk to whoever you need to talk to on Capitol Hill, I'll issue a gag order to the troops downstairs. I probably need to court martial a few in particular while I'm at it." He saluted Nathan and left the room. Rachel rose with him, but stayed behind.
Mohinder finally spoke up. "From what you've told me of that night, Matthew, he probably heard you sneak up on him using the, um, 'super-hearing' ability he took from Dale Smither, then used his telekinesis to catch and return the bullets to you."
Matt gave Mohinder a dirty look. "Thanks, Prof, I really needed to hear that." Mohinder looked flustered, so Matt gave him a wink to know he was pulling the man's leg.
Rachel spoke up. "What were you saying, about your friend Ted?"
Matt explained, "The first time I met Ted, we arrested him, thinking he was Sylar. It was only later that we realized what was really going on, and he was innocent of the serial killings, but not--" Matt caught himself, realizing he could ruin everything if he gave them the whole truth of what had happened to him and Ted. "Uh, he was only really guilty of accidentally giving his wife cancer, killing her. Too bad Sylar got to him and killed Ted for his power. That was right before New York almost became a crater."
She locked eyes on Matt. "I'm sorry, did you just say he gave his wife cancer? You mean he was--?"
Matt swallowed hard. He saw Nathan turn to him. "I won't lie to you. Yes, Ted killed his wife by giving her cancer. He, uh, he was a walking nuclear reactor, it seems."
"That's how powerful you people are?"
"NO!" Matt and Nathan shouted as one, both knowing what that implied.
"No we're not, Rachel" Matt explained. "Ted was a rare case, but he could control his ability as he got used to it. I spent several days with him and I'm fine!" he protested. "He said he went out to the desert, practiced getting control of his power so he wouldn't hurt anyone else. He was a decent guy who didn't want this power, much less the grief it caused him."
"I...see," she said. "Thank you, Mr. Parkman. I guess I'll see you around?" Matt nodded and she left the room. He stared after her.
"Something troubling you, Matthew?" Mohinder asked.
Matt glanced to his friend. "No. No, I hope not," he said. "Nathan, how soon do you think we could talk to someone about this?"
Nathan mused a moment. "Hard to say, it could be days, weeks, even months, depending on schedules. I'll keep everyone informed and we'll work out a game plan in the interim. That okay with the two of you?"
Both men nodded.
-
Mohinder returned to his lab with Matt to find Daphne, Hiro and Ando waiting as patiently as they could.
"Matt!" Daphne shouted and ran to hug him.
Mohinder approached Hiro. "Well, Mr. Nakamura, are you sure you want to try taking the Formula?"
Hiro glanced at Ando before answering. "A true warrior shows bravery in the face of adversity," he proclaimed.
"I sense a 'but' coming," Matt said.
Hiro glanced to Matt and nodded. "I have done much good with my power, but I have also seen the chaos that has resulted in abusing power. With Great Power must come Great Responsibility." He proclaimed and then hesitated. "I do not think I am that responsible with my powers. I could not save Charlie, I almost destroyed the time continuum on several occasions. I do not deserve to have my powers restored."
"Hiro, what?" Ando asked in their native tongue. "I thought it was your dream to be Super-Hiro?"
"No, Ando-kun," Hiro lamented. "I have not proven myself worthy of the powers I was given. I do not deserve them." He turned to Mohinder, "I will not be taking the Formula. I do not need my powers to be a Hero."
Mohinder gave him a sad smile. "It's up to you, if that is what you think is best?"
Hiro frowned. "Yes, I think it is for the best."
"Well, keep in touch," Matt said, shaking his hand. "I think Nathan has an idea you may want to help out with."
"I will, Matt Parkman," he nodded and gave a slight bow.
Daphne stepped up to him. "For what it's worth, you were a good nemesis." She kissed him on the cheek.
Hiro blushed. "Thank you, Nem-" he caught himself. "Thank you, Daphne. May you find your happiness in life." He bid the others goodbye and left the room.
They looked at Ando.
"I don't know where he's going, but I guess I better look after him? I'll keep in touch, everyone!" he said as he followed his friend.
Matt looked at Mohinder as Daphne settled back into his arms. "What now, Prof?"
Mohinder held up the vial, looking at the red liquid in the light. "I set aside a dose just in case he changes his mind, that's what, Matthew." He smiled and placed the cartridge in a foam-padded lockbox.
"Anything else we need to discuss tonight, Mohinder?" Matt asked tiredly, suddenly finding himself stifling a yawn.
"No, not that I can think of offhand." he said. Except Molly, he thought.
"WHERE did you send Molly?!?" Matt suddenly shouted, catching the errant thought.
"Oh. yes. Molly," Mohinder blushed. "I sent her to my mother, didn't you get my message?"
"Wait, who's Molly?" Daphne asked, suddenly finding herself holding Matt back from attacking his friend and co-guardian of the girl in question.
-
Washington, DC - 3 weeks later
"But there are people that could rival this Ted Sprague in power, like this 'Sylar'?" the man with the deep voice asked as the men before him briefed him on the events leading up to that fateful night at Pinehearst.
Nathan and Matt looked to each other, then at Mohinder. "Prof, you dealt with him more than we have," Matt pointed out.
"Sylar no longer has that ability, it seems," Mohinder explained. "He contracted a virus that seems to neutralize abilities, and apparently lost all the abilities that he had obtained prior to that time."
"And you know this how, Professor?"
"Doctor. Doctor Suresh," he corrected, glancing at Matt, who only smirked I return. "It seems that there was someone who could create viruses some thirty years back. One of those viruses harnessed was one that affected the evolved abilities and neutralized them. We have only recently learned of this, so I don't know if it affects natural and the handful of Formula-given abilities, but in the end it does not matter, as the result is the same: death."
"Yet this Sylar still lives? How did he do that if this so-called 'super-virus' is always fatal?"
"My fault, I'm afraid," Mohinder replied. "I was in possession of a blood sample from someone who could regenerate," he paused to glance at Nathan, who nodded him on. "That blood sample was meant to cure someone else of the virus, but Sylar held hostage someone innocent and very dear to me. I was forced to give him the healing blood in order to save her and myself."
"So you let loose a known serial killer to save some girl?"
"Not just some girl!" Mohinder protested. "Both of her parents were killed by that madman, as was my father, and I had no intention of seeing her die by his hand as well!"
"Excuse me?" Matt interjected, nearly jumping up. "Are you saying he came after Molly again?"
"Yes, Matthew," Mohinder apologized. "I'm sorry, but he held Molly hostage, shot Maya point blank, and threatened to kill the both of us, too, if I didn't cure him."
"She better be alright or--" Matt demanded.
Mohinder held up his hand to cut him off. "Matthew, I've told you, she's fine, and we can discuss her later, but we have business to discuss, now, alright?"
"So you have an interest in this girl he saved too, Mr. Parkman?"
Matt turned his attention from his roommate to the man questioning him. "Yes, sir. I was the officer who found her hiding in her parent's house after Sylar killed them. Hers was the first voice I heard," he paused to tap his temple before continuing. "She and I kind of bonded after that, and we, well, we've become family, I guess," he chuckled.
The man raised his eyebrow in acknowledgement before he turned his attention back to Nathan. "Senator, just where do you propose we have these facilities to help these people with abilities?"
"Well, we lost the PrimaTech Facility in Hartsdale, New York, but we still have the Pinehearst facility in Fort Lee, New Jersey, and PrimaTech's Odessa, Texas facility."
"There's also a branch in Los Angeles!" Matt spoke up. The others looked at him. "What?" he shrugged. "I'm from there, and it would be an easy place to get to for those on the West Coast."
"So we have three facilities spaced out around the country to help those with abilities, is that correct?"
Nathan answered this one. "Yes, it seems that way, sir."
"How long have these facilities been operating, did you say?"
"According to my mother, who is apparently, the last of the Group of Twelve Founders that originally ran these facilities, since at least the early Sixties."
"The rest of these 'Twelve Founders' are all dead, then?"
"Yes, sir," Nathan answered. "In fact, it appears my father, Arthur Petrelli, faked his own demise for nearly a year before coming out of hiding. He then killed Mr. Parkman's father, and another fellow Group member, simply for intimidation purposes. That left only himself and his wife, my mother, from that group."
Matt winced at this mention, as he recalled learning of his father's death from Daphne's offered memory.
"You're sure he's really dead this time?" the man's aide asked.
"Yes," Nathan answered with a slight smirk at the absurdity of the situation before turning serious, "my brother, Peter, was a witness to Sylar putting a bullet in my father's skull, and I saw the body shortly after, myself. He was dead. Peter formerly worked as a nurse and confirmed it."
"I see," the man said, looking over his notes. "Back to this virus, where is it being kept? How do we know it won't be spread among the population?"
"Mr. Parkman can confirm that he and I saw the last known samples of that particular virus destroyed before our eyes," Nathan replied, and Matt nodded his assent. He almost added the details of that encounter with Adam and the contagion he almost unleashed, but decided it was better to remain secret, especially since Peter destroyed the sample with his bare hands with a power he no longer had.
"Well then, gentlemen," the man said, glancing among them, "it seems that you appear to be a trustworthy lot that want to correct the sins of your parents and help others. You just want Federal funds to help you in your endeavor?"
Matt looked to Nathan. "Actually, sir," he began, "we don't need financial help. We just wanted to be totally above board and to work in conjunction with all authorities and agencies in helping people."
"You don't need money?" he asked, throwing a curious glance to his aide.
"Correct, sir," Nathan continued. "It seems one of the original Group had alchemical abilities and at least one other had some sort of probability foresight, which he used in playing the stock market, so we have no need for financial aid."
"Well, that will be a relief for the taxpayers," he joked, and the others chuckled along with him.
"In addition, our Japanese cohort has found himself in charge of his late father's corporation, and is willing to turn his resources into helping establish a similar project in Japan and, hopefully, all of the Far East." He paused as the two men across the table shared an impressed look. "With any luck," Nathan continued, "we can open the borders to Canada and Mexico to help any people with abilities there, too. Although, we have been talking about a Chicago office, and my brother Peter knows of a place in Montreal that was previously established, at least as a warehouse, but we haven't had a chance to investigate that particular location, yet."
"Any other locations you know about or would care to share?"
Nathan hesitated before continuing. "One of the former agents of the Company working with us in this transition knows of at least half a dozen 'safe houses' scattered around the world, from England to Continental Europe and Odessa in the Ukraine. We were thinking those might be ideal in establishing a world-wide outreach program."
"Odessa, in both Texas and Ukraine?" he aide asked, chuckling.
Nathan nodded. "We don't know if it was happenstance or intentional," he replied with a hint of humor.
"I see, we'll have to look into that, too," the man said pausing to whisper something to his aide. "Excuse me a moment, will you?" The man reached for the phone. "Yes, would you send them in? Thank you." He turned back to the group.
"Gentlemen, I had some research begun when Arthur Petrelli first requested military aid into this situation and a few names discussed here came up. In fact, it seems Dr. Suresh, here, had already provided Quantico with a list of possible candidates that were in 'grave danger,' I believe you said?"
Mohinder nodded in surprise while Matt and Nathan gave each other curious looks as the door opened behind them. The man waved the newcomers over.
"In particular, this 'Sylar' and that you were already connected to him, Mr. Parkman," he explained. "That was the Walker homicides in Los Angeles, correct?" Matt nodded. "Speaking of, I believe you already know Agent Hanson and Corporal Mills?" He motioned to the two women who had entered.
Matt did a double-take upon seeing who came in. He rose and beamed at the blonde woman across from him, that he had worked with the year before and had not seen since he was in the hospital recovering from his Sylar-inflicted gunshot wounds.
Nathan and Mohinder also rose and congratulated Rachel on her new promotion.
"Both of these ladies will be assigned as government liaisons to your venture," he explained, "to make sure everything is above board, as you said, and to ensure interdepartmental cooperation. The other liaison, Jakob Pradasa, is currently finishing up another assignment, but should be in contact, shortly."
"Thank you, sir," Nathan and Matt replied.
"I am to understand that you already reviewed the other recruits your father had requisitioned?"
"Yes sir," Nathan answered. "We had to refuse several of them, based on our follow-up interviews, but found several recruits that we think will help with any volatile power situation."
"Alright, just for debate's sake," the man inquired, "what do we do with these people once they have been trained in the use of their abilities?"
Nathan spoke up. "As mentioned in the brief, some of those abilities would be useful in various workplaces. Flyers, teleporters, and speedsters would find a niche in the courier industry; strength and telekinesis could be used in construction as well as rescue operations; telepaths could be interpreters, provided they know both languages; many others we could find whole new industries for, depending on the ability and the skill of that person."
"What if these people were conscripted into literal super-weapons?"
Matt scowled as Nathan answered, sternly, "We would hope it won't come to that. Sir."
"Not all nations would agree with you, Senator."
"We realize that, sir, and I would hope that it never comes to pass," he replied. "These are people, not rifles and bombs."
The man nodded grimly. "I realize that, and realize some people won't care and will use their people as terrorists, unfortunately."
"Can we look into some sort of temporary amnesty for those people?" Matt asked. "I mean, for those forced into terrorist acts, train them to control their powers properly, and hope for the best that they won't turn against us?"
"We'll have to look into it, Mr. Parkman," he replied, then turned back to Nathan. "You mentioned a regenerative blood sample, what about medical research?"
Nathan hesitated. "I, uh, I'm afraid that we would ask these people not to exploit themselves like that. I don't want to see someone like that held prisoner and used as an endless supply of organ donations or cure-alls for diseases. The abilities I mentioned that would be good for the workforce would also be completely at the discretion of that individual. If a woman could lift a Humvee, but wants to be a housewife, who are we to deny her?"
The man frowned. "Yes, I see where you're coming from on that point. So you want to train people in the control of their abilities, if necessary, and allow them to go back to their lives or put their abilities to use for humanity, if-and I stress this again, IF they want to?"
"Yes, sir," Nathan replied, as the others nodded their assent.
"Mr. Parkman, I understand you had some strong concerns about turning this into a modern day 'Red Scare', witch hunts and all, quite literally, it seems?"
"Yes sir," Matt replied. "I don't want to see a new Kristallnacht happen. People rounded up just for being different, which I, um, I think you would understand?"
The man gave Matt a stern look. Matt looked down in embarrassment. "You're Jewish?"
Matt almost choked in surprise. "I'm sorry? Yes?"
The man chuckled and waved his hand. "Don't worry, Mr. Parkman, Senator Petrelli expressed your previous concerns, noting your fears and the fact you mentioned in particular the Japanese internment camps in California you informed him of." He smiled. "Not a good day for the American people. And yes, I do indeed understand. I am old enough to remember some of the hatred that some people still can't let go of even today. I'm just glad the people who elected me have looked beyond color of skin. Hopefully, they can come together and overlook this as well," he said, motioning to the files before him. "I do agree that I don't want to see another Tuskegee or even a Holocaust happen."
Matt glanced to his friends, still slightly embarrassed, but now tinged with a bit of hope.
"It's just that," he continued as Matt's heart skipped a beat, "you promise you didn't use your mental powers on me, today?" He looked Matt square in the eye.
"What? No!"Matt spat out, totally flustered. "Honestly? I'm too nervous right now to concentrate on doing something like that, much less have the concentration to keep that thought in your mind!" he protested. "Besides, it wouldn't be fair to us or anyone else to do that, and I used to be a cop."
The man smiled. "Just as I thought, pardon the pun. Relax, I was merely testing you, Mr. Parkman," he chuckled and Matt finally relaxed. Nathan nudged his arm and Audrey winked at him.
"Congratulations, gentlemen, as far as I'm concerned, you have the blessings of this Administration behind you."
"Thank you, Mr. President," Nathan replied, rising again and shaking the man's hand.
"Congratulations, Nathan," the President's aide enthused. "Looks like you're finally going someplace."
"Thanks, Liam," Nathan replied. "I won't forget this, buddy."
"Now the hard part," the President said. "Breaking the news to the world that super-humans really do exist."
Matt glanced at Nathan. "As long as I don't have to stand next to him at the press conference again!" he joked.
"So much for 'To Serve and Protect'!" Nathan chided.
"Don't worry," the President said. "I'll make sure you're all three up there beside me on the podium when I have to announce this to the world."
Matt felt the blood drain from his face. A glance at Nathan told him he was feeling the same dread.
-
Elsewhere, in a cabin in the woods...
"There will come a time. Maybe tomorrow, next week, next year, when you realize the...hunt, your entire life, is meaningless and disappointing. because there's no challenge in it. You know, all the power in the world doesn't matter, if you've lived an unsatisfied life."
Samson looked up at his son. "But I think you know that already, don't you? You want to know more, or are you going to kill me now?"
Gabriel looked down at his father, thoughts churning....
To be continued....
-
A/N: last bit quoted from "Shades of Gray", wherein Gabriel Gray must decide whether to continue his redemption as Sylar or embrace his life as Sylar. Will he make the same choice this time?
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