HEROES: Duality p6
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 and PrimaTech have been given government sanction. The President is readying to announce the existence of "Specials" to the world. Angela has convened a new generation of Heroes at the Coyote Sands site to learn where the previous generation began their lives anew, forming The Company. Meanwhile, a new drug has begun hitting the streets....
-
Matt Parkman led Angela Petrelli and Mohinder Suresh through the ramshackle buildings now lined with six foot walls at odd intervals. They turned one corner and found themselves facing a wall that had blown explosively outward. Matt cautioned Angela to stay back as he and Mohinder stepped forward to examine the damage.
"Any clue what happened here, Prof?"
The Indian geneticist peered closely at the scorch marks. "Best guess? Lightning strike," he replied.
"You think it came from up there," Matt asked pointing up, then poised his hands like he was about to grab something, "or from a man-made source, down here?"
Mohinder glanced back to his friend. "It looks like the rock exploded outward to me."
"Ando?"
"Most likely," Suresh replied. "The question remains, where is he now?"
Matt shook his head and suddenly turned. "He's not the only one who disappeared," he said before calling out, "Angela!? Where'd ya go?"
Her voice came from a nearby window. "In here, Detective."
The roommates followed her voice, Matt spotting her shadow in one of the cabin windows. "What are you doing?" he called in to her.
"Remembering," she said with a sigh. "This is the cabin my sister and I lived in while we were here."
The duo made their way around to the door and joined her. She was standing in the middle of the room holding a weather worn piece of paper as they approached. "This was hers. Alice's," she said, showing them the paper.
Matt looked at it and saw the faded blue book cover with a little girl and a white rabbit.
"Alice in Wonderland?" Mohinder asked.
"It was her favorite book," Angela informed them. "She took it everywhere.
Matt looked around. "Then where's the book?"
Angela looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "We find the book, we find Alice." then she strode past the duo and out the door.
Matt and Mohinder shared a confused look and followed.
"Can you hear her thoughts, Detective?" Angela asked as they followed her, assuming she had an idea of where to go.
"I've been trying, but I'm not very good at uh, open listening or radar scanning, yet," he replied. "I could ask Nathan if he's seen anything, yet?"
"I'm surprised you haven't already."
Matt started to say something, but thought better of it, so turned his thoughts to his airborne companion. Nathan, have you seen anything unusual yet?
Not yet, Matt, came the reply. There does seem to be some sort of bunker in the hill to east. Meet us there.
Will do, Nathan, he thought back before turning to the man's mother. "Nathan's spotted some sort of bunker to the east, he wants to meet there. Do you know what that was?"
Angela thought a moment as they headed in the direction of the bunker. "I don't really remember. Maybe storage?"
"We'll find out," he replied as the trio made their way.
When they arrived, they found an agitated Nathan waiting.
"Where's Sylar?" Matt asked, annoyed.
Nathan jerked his thumb at the bunker door. "He took it upon himself to investigate inside."
Angela started to say something, but Nathan held his hand up. "Don't worry, she's not in there."
Matt sensed there was more he wasn't sharing. "But?"
Nathan glanced at Matt before turning back to his mother. "Some has been living here recently, Ma. There's no way of telling who, but the person does have a few worn, dated dresses near the sleeping area."
"Alice?" she asked with a growing panic.
Nathan shrugged. "We don't know, Ma. Whoever it is has been living here an awfully long time," he told her as he escorted her inside. She saw Sylar inspecting stacks of aged newspapers, bundles reaching the roof.
"I haven't found anything of consequence," he told her. "But whoever is living here has been keeping up with the outside world for a very long time."
Angela looked around, trying to take in the fact someone would willingly live by themselves in this isolated camp of nightmares. Then she saw the book laying there on a shelf.
"Alice in Wonderland," Gabriel pointed out as she examined it. "It's a very well-worn copy from the Fifties."
Angela looked at Nathan with tears in her eyes. "It's hers. I remember this book, Nathan. It's Alice's." She slowly wrapped the aged jacket over the binder. "She's here. She's alive."
The men all shared questioning looks.
-
Claire flipped open her phone. "Great, now my battery's about dead."
"Surely there's enough power to make one quick call or text?" Daphne offered as they strode the main street of Coyote Sands proper.
"That's about all I'm going to get out of it," the younger blonde griped as she showed the speedster the flashing red battery.
"Need a charge ladies?"
The young women turned to the voice behind them. A Japanese man was holding up his hand with red sparks flowing around his fingertips.
"Ando?" Claire asked in disbelief.
"Ando!" Daphne cried out, hugging her friend. "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!"
Ando laughed as he set Daphne down. "Sorry, we had to leave the camp because of the storm. We were just getting ready to head back out to see if you had returned."
"Yeah, we got back about an hour ago," Claire answered. "Where's my parents? How did you get all the cars out?"
"Your family is fine, Claire," he informed her. "They are all back at the motel, getting ready to head back out."
"Wait, I checked all the hotels," Daphne remarked. "I didn't see any of our cars there?"
"Bennet made us park the cars randomly over town, just in case," he replied. "I was just headed over to mine."
Claire rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that sounds like something dad would do," she said before turning to Daphne. "You were probably looking for all our cars together, right?"
"Yeah," Daphne replied. "It seemed the obvious thing to me, look for two or three of the rentals together," she explained. "That would be the best place to start knocking on doors to find you guys."
"That's my dad, master of the obvious," she griped before turning back to Ando. "Well, do you want to get your car first, or tell me where my dad is?"
-
Back at Coyote Sands Camp, Matt, Mohinder, and Nathan conferred outside while Angela and Sylar looked for clues to Alice's possible whereabouts in the bunker.
"You don't really think she's alive after all this time, do you, Nathan?" Mohinder asked.
"Some of those papers were pretty recent," he replied, mulling the question over. "The storm that drove away our friends had to be her. I'd say she's still here, maybe even watching us, right now."
Matt turned back towards the camp, mentally scanning for any thoughts. "I don't hear anything. There's no storm front moving in. Maybe she's asleep or--"
The wind started picking up.
"Spoke to soon?" Nathan chided him.
Matt gave him a dirty look. "I don't suppose you want to do some more aerial surveillance? See what direction she's coming from?"
"Sounds good, give me a shout if she shows up, here," he said as he lifted off again.
"What about us?" Mohinder asked as the wind grew stronger.
"Back inside!" Matt had to shout in reply as he hustled his friend toward the entrance. He reached out to Molly and Hiro, Take cover, there's another storm blowing in! They responded in the affirmative, Hiro offering to take Molly away to safety.
"What's going on?" Angela asked as they came down the stairs.
"Wind storm," Matt answered. "Whoever caused the storms may be back."
"Where's Nathan?" she asked.
"He went back up for some recon," Matt consoled her. "I'm sure he knows what to do if this storm bringer comes calling again."
"'Storm Bringer'?" Gabriel questioned. "Someone's been reading too many comics," he chuckled.
Matt shot him a dirty look as Angela answered, "What else would you call her? She's a weather manipulator, plain and simple. 'Storm Bringer' is as good a description as any."
"I meant no offense, Angela," Gabriel apologized.
"The wind's died down," Mohinder noted, staring up the stairwell.
"Get back!" Matt shouted, grabbing his friend's arm and pulling him away as a shadowed person began descending.
The foursome watched as a woman aged beyond her years entered with a handful of canned goods, barely giving them notice as she set them on a shelf.
Angela stepped forward. "Alice? Alice, is that you?"
The women turned to face her.
"It's me, Alice. It's Banana," she replied, holding back tears. "I've come to take you home." She held out the book to her sister. "I have socks for you."
The woman stared at the book for a long moment, then at Angela. "Is-Is it true? You've finally come back?"
"Yes, dear," she replied. "I've come to take you home."
"A-Angela?" she asked again, confused.
"I'm sorry, Alice. I didn't know you were still here."
The woman looked down at the book again.
"It's my fault. I told you to stay and wait for me, I didn't realize--"
Matt sensed the woman's growing anger. "Mrs. Petrelli! Wait--!"
The windstorm began again, blowing sand down the stairwell.
"You left me!"
"I'm sorry, Alice! I didn't know!" she cried over the growing wind.
"You abandoned me!"
"I wanted to come back, Alice! I did!"
"I have lived out here, stealing food and what I needed to survive once the supplies ran out. I don't need you, any more!"
"Come home with me, Alice! Meet your family!"
"You left me here all alone!"
"Yes. For nearly fifty years, Alice, I'm sorry!"
Mohinder was having a hard time breathing in the growing wind. "Please! Calm down!" he shouted, reaching for the woman. "Calm down!"
Memories of Chandra Suresh pleading the same words raced through her mind. She didn't realize she faced the son of that man, right now, only that they looked similar. She screamed and a lightning bolt shot through the doorway, blasting Mohinder and sending him flying into Matt, knocking both men to the ground and sending several bundles of newspaper tumbling down on top of the pair.
Angela screamed "Alice, NO!"
Gabriel stepped forward, protectively placing himself between the two sisters. "You need to stop!"
Another lightning bolt streaked through the room, blasting Gabriel square in the chest. He winced at the amount of energy he absorbed, but glanced back to Angela to see she was unhurt.
"Alice, please! This is your family!" she shouted.
Alice stood before the stairwell, the wind lifting her upward. She began laughing. "You abandoned me!" she cried out once more as she disappeared.
The wind died down immediately. Angela ran up the stairs as Gabriel tended to his fallen comrades.
"Be careful!" he shouted after her, hoping Nathan would swoop down to her rescue if need be. He turned to the two men as he tossed the bundles to the side. Mohinder was unconscious, but Matt was awake, but dazed. "Matt? Can you hear me? Can you focus? Matt!"
Matt's eyes darted about, trying to regain their surroundings. "M'inder?" he asked.
"Right on top of you," Gabriel replied, as he reached for Matt's wrist to check his pulse.
Matt's eyes focused on Gabriel and pulled his hand back. "Lemme 'lone, f'king kill'r," he grunted.
Gabriel winced at the accusation, but pushed it away. "Don't move, yet. Mohinder was struck by lightning and landed on top of you," he informed the dazed man as he began to check the Indian's vitals.
"Y'r not doctor, Pete is," Matt said groggily.
"The fact remains, Peter is not here at the moment, Mohinder was electrocuted and you may have suffered a concussion. Now lie still!" he ordered.
-
Nathan landed outside the bunker by his mother. "Ma? You guys alright?"
"Where did she go, Nathan?" she pleaded, grabbing his arms.
"I-I didn't see which way," he replied. "She was kicking up too much sand, I had to land for a few minutes. By the time it cleared, there was no sign of her, Ma. I'm sorry."
Angela hugged her son, crying. "Oh Alice, I'm so sorry! What have I done?" she sobbed.
Nathan could do nothing but hold her. He glanced back to the camp and saw a dust trail headed their way. "Looks like we've got more company, Ma."
Daphne sped up to the duo and stopped. "What'd we miss?"
"My aunt, the Storm Bringer," Nathan replied. "I think Matt is still inside," he motioned to the bunker.
"Thanks," she said and ran inside. A moment later, Nathan heard her scream, "NO! Get away from them!"
Angela and Nathan ran after the girl to see what had happened. They found Daphne, hands a blur, rapidly pummeling Sylar near the two prone bodies of Matt and Mohinder.
"Please, stop!" Gabriel yelled. "I was only trying to see if they were okay!" he grunted in pain and protest.
Matt tried to reach for her, mumbling, "Daph? No."
Nathan pulled her away from Gabriel. "What happened?"
Gabriel pulled himself together as his bruises quickly healed themselves. Daphne was slight, but hundreds of punches in under a minute took their toll. "I tried to tell her, Mohinder was truck by lightning, Matt may have a concussion. I was merely trying to ascertain their conditions."
Daphne knelt down by her boyfriend. "Matt? Are you okay?"
"'m alive, Daph, he mumbled. "He's telling truth, we're hurt. He wanted t'help." He grimaced as he said this, but she wasn't sure if it was because of the pain or his dislike for Sylar. He motioned to the man on top of him. "Mo, needs hospital." His eyes glazed over and his head fell back.
"Matt? Matt, stay with me!" she yelled. He gave a small groan and lolled his head to her. She turned to Nathan. "Can you fly them to a hospital?"
"I would if I knew they could be moved," he replied, kneeling beside her in the cramped space. "Even then, I'd be afraid of injuring them further by flying them somewhere."
"We have to do something!" she protested, looking to Gabriel and Angela, who seemed on the verge of tears, staring at the pair lying there.
Just as she was about to say something, a small girl's voice cried out. "Matt? Mohinder? Are you in here?"
"Molly, wait!" came a familiar accented voice in response.
"Hiro! Down here!" Daphne called out. "We need your help!"
Two feet pounded down the stairs, followed by the girl's scream. "Matt! Mohinder! NO!" She ran to their side, grabbing one of their hands in each of theirs.
Nathan turned to the Japanese teleporter. "Do you think you can take them to a hospital? Suresh was hit by lightning."
Hiro hesitated. "I-I do not know. My power, it is unreliable," he protested.
Angela spoke up. "You must, Hiro. You have to save their lives," she insisted.
Hiro, taken aback by her demand, nodded. "I will try."
Molly turned to him, crying. "You have to, Hiro, I can't lose my daddies again!"
He gave her a smile of understanding, then reached down to touch the pair. "Wait, where should I take them?"
"Have you been to the PrimaTech facility in Los Angeles?" Angela asked him.
Hiro shook his head. "No, I do not know where that is."
Angela sighed. "Fine then, what about the Odessa office?"
"Yes, I know where that is," he replied, nodding.
Angela nodded. "Fine, we will join you there as soon as we can."
"Take me with you!" Molly suddenly insisted.
Hiro smiled and nodded. "Okay, but you have to hold on very tight," he told her, then looked up at Daphne.
"Go, I'll meet you there in a few," she told him.
Hiro nodded and then vanished, holding Matt and Mohinder, as Molly clung to his arm as tight as she could.
Daphne stood and turned to Nathan. "Claire and I ran into Ando and Bennet in town, they're coming back with the vehicles. I'm guessing they'll be here shortly."
"Great, thanks Daphne," he replied.
"Gotta go," she said and disappeared in a blur.
Nathan caught Gabriel watching her as she left with a hungry look. He gave the man a disproving look. He turned to his mother. "What now?"
Angela finished wiping the tears from her eyes. "Now, we wait for everyone to return."
-
"It looks like this Formula of yours actually works," Knox said to the blonde sitting behind the desk at the makeshift office.
Tracy Strauss looked up at the strongman. "We need more volunteers. People we can control."
"I got plenty of boys that can step up, but I don't know about their loyalty after," he told her.
Tracy thought a moment. "There's a lot of homeless in the area, aren't there?"
Knox shrugged. "Yeah, what of it?"
"How much do you think they'd be willing to help test a new vaccine?" she smiled wickedly.
Knox thought about it a minute. "What's that saying? Better the devil you know than the devil you don't?"
"So you want to be betrayed by friends, or would you rather put down some strangers if they get out of control?"
"You got a point," he conceded. "How many we talking about here?"
"Well, since these doses are watered down, we can afford a few trial volunteers," she said. "After that, we'll see how it goes."
"I'll get a few of my boys on round up duty, right away."
"Let's start with a half-dozen, say by tomorrow?"
Knox nodded and left. Tracy picked up her cell.
"Yeah, it's me. I told Knox to bring in a half-dozen homeless by tomorrow. We're going to use the weaker Formula on them, see what happens. Of course I'll keep you apprised, Mr. P--" She paused while her boss yelled at her. "I have no reason to deny anything to you, sir. Yes, I understand. I'll let you know how it goes."
She closed the cell, and glared out the window. The sooner he got what he wanted, the sooner she could stop being his whipping boy. Girl. Whatever.
-
"You sure you'll be fine?"
"Grandma's resting, and will be fine in a few days, thanks to you, Peter," Monica replied. She bit her lip, not wanting to concede the next, "and Gabriel, too, I guess."
Peter smirked. "Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to head back and see how the others are faring at Coyote Sands."
"Thanks again, Peter."
"No problem, that's what I'm here for," he smirked and vanished in a small gust of air.
He returned to the spot he had left inside the stone circle with the remains of the bonfire still cooling. He then teleported outside of the wall to see if anyone was there. Glancing around, he saw a dust trail headed for the camp coming from the road. A small caravan of vehicles approached, Noah Bennet driving the lead. Peter greeted them as he pulled up.
"Where's your family, Suresh and Parkman?" Bennet asked.
"I don't know, I just got back, myself," he replied. "Ms. Dawson will be fine, by the way."
"Do you have Nathan's flight? Can you do an aerial recon to see where everyone is?"
"Not at the moment, but I can do some random teleports around the camp, see if I can find them," he said.
"I'd advise against that," Noah cautioned. "It seems the young lady who put the wall around the fire last night also erected a maze of stone between the buildings."
"Young lady?"
Noah jerked his thumb at one of the vehicles. Peter glanced over and saw a new face behind the wheel. "That's Miss Sparrow Redhouse, geokinetic."
"Impressive," he replied. "So what do we do, then?"
Noah was looking at something behind the nurse. "Ask your brother," he pointed. Peter turned to see Nathan alighting near them.
"About time you all showed up," the former Junior Congressman said. "You missed all the fun. And Aunt Alice."
Noah Bennet and Peter Petrelli gave each other confused looks.
"Hurricane Alice has come and gone, already," he explained. "Meanwhile, Ma wants everyone back here, ASAP."
"Who else is missing?" Peter asked.
"Hiro had to take Suresh and Parkman to Odessa, took the girl with him," he said. "Mom said she needs everyone back here for the next part. Go run Claire to Odessa, and get young Ms. Dawson back here, double-time, Pete."
Peter crossed his arms and leaned to Noah. "You got any brothers?"
"No. No, I don't" he replied coolly.
"Want one?" he chuckled and disappeared to Claire's car in a gust of wind before Nathan could retort. "Come on, your dad has a mission for you," he said.
"A 'mission'? Doing what?"
"Probably saving Mohinder and Matt's lives, allegedly," he replied as he held her hand and they disappeared.
Having dropped her off at PrimaTech's Odessa office, Peter returned to Nana Dawson's hospital room. "Hey, Monica, can I borrow you for a few minutes?" he asked, startling her.
"Peter?! You just left and now you need me again? What happened?"
"I don't know, but my mother has requested everyone return, but I don't think she meant your grandmother in her condition. I wouldn't let her, anyway."
"I guess, since I still need to get Damon," she replied, grabbing her jacket. Peter put his arm over her shoulder and they disappeared as a nurse walked in, just missing them. She shook her head in confusion, having heard a conversation only to find the room empty, save the sleeping Nana Dawson.
-
Claire entered the PrimaTech offices, remembering where her father's office used to be. She was surprised to find a familiar face waiting for her.
"Hello, Claire," he greeted. "Your grandmother sent you?"
"uh, yeah? Why are you here?" she asked the Haitian.
"She also asked me to come down here to wait for you."
"When did she do that?"
He smiled. "A few days ago. Now come, Doctor Suresh and Detective Parkman need your assistance."
"Right, and by assistance, you mean my blood?" she laughed.
"Yes, that, too," he chuckled, leading her to the infirmary where an anxious Hiro Nakamura and Daphne Millbrook waited with young Molly Walker while her foster fathers were triaged.
"How'd you get here so fast?" Daphne inquired.
"Peter dropped me off," Claire replied.
"Are you here to help?" Molly asked her.
Claire took one look at the little girl and sighed. "How can I refuse a sad face like that?" She began rolling up her sleeve.
Fifteen minutes later, Matt was sitting up, rubbing his sore head. "I owe you what?"
Claire smiled. "Dinner, for starters," she said smugly. "Also, promise me no more foolish sacrifices that could orphan that little girl outside in the waiting room."
"Molly's here?" he asked, groaning. "And for the record, Mohinder was the one who yelled at that lady to calm down, she retaliated by throwing lightning at him, knocking him into me. I was merely an innocent bystander."
"This time."
Matt blushed. "Yeah, this time. How's Angela, by the way?"
"What?" Claire asked, caught off guard.
"I saw another flash of lightning before I blacked out the first time," he informed her. "I take since she's not here, she's okay?"
"Peter didn't say anything about Angela?"
"Peter came back? Is he the one who brought us here?"
"No, he just dropped me off. Hiro is out sitting with Daphne and Molly. I would guess he's the one who brought you back? Oh, and Angela wants us back right away, by the way."
Matt was about to answer her when Mohinder groaned, coming around. "Yeah, give us a minute to catch our breath, why doesn't she?" he mused.
It was another hour before the staff doctor would release them, much to Matt and Mohinder's chagrin. Hiro took Claire and Mohinder, who held Molly, back first before returning for Matt and Daphne. He was surprised to see them kissing when he returned.
"Oh. Is this a bad time?" he asked sheepishly.
"What?" Matt asked. "No, I was just reassuring her I'm feeling fine," he replied, suddenly feeling guilty for having been caught kissing.
Hiro gave Daphne a funny look. "Oh. Well then," he said, somewhat somberly. He held out his hands. "If you are ready?"
Matt couldn't shake the feeling he had somehow upset Hiro as he and Daphne each took a hand, still holding on to each other's as Hiro teleported them back to Arizona.
As the trio returned, Hiro immediately shied away from Matt and went off to find Ando. Matt and Daphne exchanged confused looks as Angela called everyone together.
"I was talking to Nana Dawson last night after she arrived. She knew the real reason I called you all out here," she explained. "You see, my family came here when I was a teen, back in 1961. I met some friends who have now all sadly left us. We managed to escape what happened here by sheer luck. Charles DeVeaux, Daniel Linderman, Bob Bishop and I went to look for some outside help as things were growing too tense for what we had been told was a helpful endeavour to those of us struggling to control and accept what we could do," she continued. "We weren't gone long when it happened. I knew something was coming, but I didn't realize what would happen to my family and many new friends I met here."
"But you survived?" Daphne asked, as Matt tried to shush her.
"Yes, Miss Millbrook, we managed to survive, as did my sister, Alice, as Mr. Gray, Dr. Suresh and Detective Parkman can attest, having encountered her today. Many others here did not."
She scanned the faces of the group. Mostly curious, some shocked at her last statement.
"Maybe it would have been easier to make you learn for yourselves, but fortune has brought someone to us that can do the work for us," she told them. "Miss Redhouse?"
Sparrow jumped in surprise. "Me?"
"Yes, you. You can move the earth, do you not? You raised the walls of stone and such?" She waved towards the compound huts.
"Y-yes?"
"You can also reveal things long buried?"
"Well, yes, but--wait, buried?"
"Nana told me herself, she could still feel the restless spirits that still remained," Angela informed the group. "If we are to start the Company anew, you must learn why and how it was formed the first time." She walked a short distance to a barren patch of ground. "Miss Redhouse, if you would be so kind?"
Sparrow stepped over to Angela and motioned to the ground nervously, waving her hands apart. The earth shuddered, moved, and a small pit formed. A few feet down, Sparrow gasped as bones lay revealed. A tattered baseball glove lay on top of the small skeleton. A small hole in the skull.
"Frankie Davis," Angela said as the others crowded the boy's shallow grave. She stepped a few feet away and pointed to the ground again. "Here."
Sparrow followed and parted the earth once more. Another skeleton lay revealed.
"Do the children really need to see this?" Sandra protested.
"Yes, Mrs. Bennet, they do," Angela replied calmly. "I knew everyone buried here and I was their age when this happened. They need to know what can happen to them if they allow it."
"I won't let you--"
"Your husband has killed to protect this secret, and much worse. As have I," she admitted. Sandra stared in shock at Noah, who worked his jaw in aggravation at his former boss' revelation. She turned to Matt. "What about you, Detective? How many have you shot? How many have you killed in the line of duty?"
"I haven't had to," Matt said barely hiding his disgust at her accusation, especially with Molly present.
"Consider yourself lucky, then," she said. "This is what could happen to all of us. Sometimes, it will come down to kill or be killed."
She looked around the group, nervous looks were tossed about. Gabriel stared at her, displeased.
"Kill or be killed," she repeated. "It has happened before, it will happen again. Trust me on this."
"Are we done here?" Matt asked sternly, a scared Molly whimpering into his shoulder. She didn't need to hear this.
"No, Detective. In the field, when we were hunting the more, shall we say, 'volatile' and dangerous abilities, my code name was 'Cassandra'. It was something my husband, Arthur, and his friend, Daniel Linderman, came up with, having used code names on the military mission where they first met as 'Dallas' and 'Austin'." She faced Matt again. "Do you want to know what your father's was?"
Matt shook his head grimly.
She cast a glance to the young girl cradled in his arms before looking him in the eye again. "Nightmare."
Molly winced and hugged Matt tighter.
"You don't believe me, Detective?"
"These are different times. We don't have to be like that," he countered.
"We didn't want to 'be like that', either, but we had to. It wasn't easy, it never is."
"I was on the Force for over a decade, I know what it's like out there!"
"Yes, normal people with normal weapons, Detective," she reminded him. "We are all living weapons."
"I am not a weapon!"
"It's too bad your father isn't here to tell you otherwise."
Matt started to argue, but Nathan stepped over and held his hands up between the two. "Enough! Mom, Matt, both of you should know better!"
"That's my point, Nathan. I do know what has happened to people like us in the past, and what is yet to come for you all. I am merely trying to prepare you."
"And scare the kids!" Matt argued, fuming at the woman. Sandra nodded in agreement.
Angela kept a tight rein on her emotions. Barely a flicker of the eye before she responded. "Detective, I--"
"No!" he shouted and immediately regretted his outburst. "No, I'm sorry, but we're done here, Mrs. Petrelli. You made your point. I'm getting my family out of here before you scare them any more." He turned and started to walk away.
"Scaring the children, or scaring you, Detective?"
"Ma, that's enough!" Nathan interjected, pulling her aside. "I don't know what you've got against Matt, but it ends. Now."
"I'm merely trying to prepare him, Nathan. Prepare all of you."
"Preparing for what?"
She turned back to see Matt give her one last dirty look before Daphne sped off with him and Molly.
"The future, Nathan. The future."
Mohinder stepped over to the pair. "Pardon my intrusion, Mrs. Petrelli, but you said my father worked here?"
She gave him a long look before replying, "Yes, what of it?"
"Would you mind if I took a look around? See if he left something behind that might be of use?"
"I think that would be highly unlikely, but do as you wish," she told him. "I don't think my sister will be back, but if she does return, don't let her find you, she won't like it."
"I understand, and thank you," he said before wandering off to a building marked "BLDG 26 - LAB", thinking it would be the best place to start investigating.
Angela called her youngest over. "I think it would be okay to take Ms. Dawson and her brother to visit their grandmother, now."
"What am I, a taxi, now?" Peter joked.
"Don't get smart with me," she chided before kissing him goodbye.
"What about the rest of us, Ma?" Nathan asked.
"Don't worry, I have a job for you, as well."
-
Los Angeles
Knox and his men ushered the homeless they had gathered into the makeshift lab Tracy had set up. She could barely stand the stench of the group.
"You couldn't hose them down, first?" she asked, looking over the raggedy group. Most of them were lean and malnourished, but one was heavy-set, at least 350 pounds she guessed.
"You know how long it's gonna take to get that smell out of our rides?" he countered.
"Alright, you have a point," she conceded. "First things first, we need blood samples. Have them at least wash their hands and arms, while I get ready for that. The boss also wants a video of the 'volunteers' for some reason."
"Why don't he come down here, himself?"
"He has his reasons, now go get them washed up. And make sure they use plenty of soap!"
While Knox supervised the clean-up, Tracy set up the video camera, then prepared the syringes. She made the men write down their information as she took their blood, asking for basic details like name, age, place of birth and any known disease, although she was sure several had undiagnosed infections of various sorts.
She sent one of Knox's men out for food for the group as she ran the basic test to identify if they had the proper genetic marker that the Formula would enhance.
"It's a motley group, to say the least, sir," she informed her boss as she looked over the results. "At best, we may have lucked into two promising results out of the six we brought in. A Charlie Fabian and it looks like Bradley? He crossed out 'Johnny C' before writing that. That was probably an alias or nickname."
"I want to see them both, first."
"Yes sir, I can send the video to you and--"
"No, I want to see them in person."
Tracy hesitated. "Whatever you say, sir."
"I'll be there in an hour. Tell Knox and his men to leave."
Tracy passed the order on to her associate and waited with the malodorous group. When her boss finally arrived, he took one look at them and pulled the two she mentioned into a side office.
"Do you two know the potential you have? That you have squandered?" he asked them.
The pair looked at him in confusion, the larger one still munching away at a sandwich.
He pointed at the redhead. "Come here."
The man stepped toward his benefactor, who laid a hand on either side of his head and bowed in concentration. The man began screaming in agony. The elder grunted as if caught off guard in pain, but refused to show any other sign of weakness.
"Charlie? You okay?" the fat man asked, suddenly fearing he was next. Charlie collapsed in exhaustion. The elder man now approached him and grabbed his head. Bradley screamed as his mind felt like it was going to burst. He fell to the floor beside his friend.
"W-what did you do to us?" he moaned.
"I just released the potential you've hidden from the world."
"I'm hungry," he said. "I'm starving." He looked up at the man, who suddenly took a step back. Then he noticed the door to the other room was still open, and, as the elder man motioned, there was now a buffet waiting to be consumed. He slowly stood and stumbled toward it.
"Johnny, wait," Charlie cried out, grabbing at his friend.
Before his eyes, Johnny started growing even thicker, his mass expanding. Charlie pulled his hand back and it stopped. Johnny glanced down to his friend then stumbled to the waiting buffet before him.
Charlie was shocked by what he saw. Tracy had to flee the room, both in disgust and to save her own skin.
"What did you do to us?" Charlie demanded, grabbing her.
"Get off of me!" she cried, pushing him back. Suddenly, her arm dissolved into water and she found that the stream her arm had become had pushed the man into the wall, pinning him there as if funneling a firehose. She gasped in surprise and her arm returned to normal after a few tense moments of concentration. "What the hell was that?" she asked her boss, who had disappeared.
She ran back to the other room, to find him standing over the cannibal, body parts strewn everywhere. She choked back the vomit in her throat. He was holding the fat man's greasy (and now bloody) head again. "Yes, this will do nicely," he said.
Tracy watched as the men appeared to be locked in a staring contest for a long minute before her boss finally broke off and stumbled back.
"What the hell? Where am I?" he asked.
She stepped to him. "Mr. Parkman? What's wrong?"
"Do I--? Strauss, isn't it?" he asked, disoriented. "Arthur recruited you the other day, didn't he?"
"The other day?" she echoed in surprise. "It's been over--"
She never finished that thought, as both were suddenly laid low by the towering behemoth before them. "Yes, this body will do nicely...for now." He began laughing that would have sent chills down the spines of Maury Parkman and Tracy Strauss had they still been conscious to hear it.
"Johnny? Is that you?" came a weak voice from the next room.
The man turned and strode into the room after it. "Charlie Fabian?"
"J-Johnny?" he asked.
"Is that who this body used to belong to?" the gargantuan man inquired. "Come with me if you want to change the world, Mr. Fabian. And you can call me the Head Man around here, now." He gave a wicked smile as he licked his bloody fingers.
-
Sullivan Brothers Circus
Joseph Sullivan surveyed the storm blowing in from the west.
"What is it, brother?" Samuel asked, joining him.
"It looks like we have a new addition to the family, Samuel," he replied.
"This is the woman Lydia said was coming?"
"Go send Violet to greet her, why don't you?"
"Why not greet her ourselves?"
"This one requires a more delicate touch, Samuel," he replied. "A friendly female face is what's called for with this one. Violet is just the woman for the job, I think."
"If you say so, brother," Samuel replied, turning on the heel of his worn snakeskin boots and striding back into the grounds, black duster blowing in the wind.
Joseph called after him, "What about the boy in Georgia? The healer?"
"I've already sent Edgar to scout him out, Samuel replied. "He should be back by ton--"
"Joseph! Samuel!" Edgar cried out, running to a stop by the two men, trying to catch his breath. "The healer! There's a problem with him!"
"Nothing I'm sure we can't handle," Samuel replied smugly.
"No, you don't understand," Edgar said. "He's not just a healer. Something happened, he's changed. He also brings death."
Joseph and Samuel locked eyes for a moment, considering this new turn of events. "Well now, that does complicate things, doesn't it, brother?" Samuel said before turning on his heel and heading toward the Carnival's trailers once more.
Joseph watched his brother leave with dark eyes. "Edgar, you're sure?"
"His parents are dead, birds, the lawn, all dead."
"That's a shame. Come with me to see Arnold, he doesn't have much time."
___________
NEXT: RECRUITMENT