*Spoiler Warning: Okay this is the chapter that is based directly off the previews for volume 4 and a possible spoiler that I heard, so beware those who do not wish to be possibly spoiled.


Chapter Two

Their faces were covered with black masks, no one can identify those around them, cannot find comfort in others to get through this hell. Beads of sweat trickled down Claire's face, her breathing heavy and deep as she tried to calm herself, her only focus, putting one foot in front of the other. She overheard men talking, mentioning that they're all being put on a freight plane to be taken to a facility somewhere in the West. Her wrists and ankles were bound together with chains, making walking difficult. Before she could consider what she heard, a rough hand grasped her elbow, pulling her further into the hatch, and Claire was only on level ground for a few moments before she was roughly shoved into a seat, and ordered to keep her mouth shut, or she'll regret it.

Claire sighed deeply, taking deep breaths to try to keep the tears at bay. She doesn't know how many days passed since she was taken from the Petrelli mansion and this hell began.

She sat silently, her back aching against the hard steel of the seat, feeling the plane shake as each new person was brought on and shoved into their seats. No one spoke, other then the orders given from their captors in undertone.

Claire didn't know how long she was sitting on the plane, waiting, before she heard the hatch close and the roar of the engines. Their captors said nothing to them, other than harsh words demanding silence. The plane vibrated beneath her feet and she heard the gasps of the others as the plane began to taxi down the runway. Claire braced herself against her seat, knowing instinctively that they would soon lift off.

She couldn't contain a quiet whimper as she felt the plane lift into the air, taking her further away from anything normal, and brining her and the others ever closer to hell.

Minutes passed, hours, she lost track of time long ago. She could hear the heavy breathing of the other prisoners, hear the rustle of clothing and she imagined the others reaching out to each other for some comfort as they traveled ever closer to their unknown destination.

"Claire?" Came a harsh whisper from right in front of her. Claire lifted her head in response, trying to find the source of the sound. Before she could pinpoint the movement she heard in front of her, the mask lifted from her face and she was staring into Peter's worried brown eyes.

"Peter!" Claire whispered, a smile finally breaking across her face. "How did you?" She trailed off, looking around her at the other people still chained in their seats.

"I promised you I'd come back for you." She noted the bright orange jumpsuit that both she and Peter, as well as the other prisoners were wearing. She grimaced at the meaning and then turned her attention back to Peter when he pulled out a thin metal pick and pulled Claire's hands towards him and inserted the pick into the lock of the chain around her wrists. After a few minutes of fiddling, the lock finally clicked free.

"Impressive." Claire said, smiling down at him as Peter worked on the lock around her ankles. "Are there any guards?" She asked looking around the hatch again.

"They're indisposed at the moment." Peter answered, pulling the chains from around her ankles, freeing Claire's legs. Claire gasped at the tingling sensation as the blood flow was reestablished and Peter lightly rubbed them to help relieve the tingling. Peter gently pulled Claire to her feet, enveloping her in a tight hug, before they turned and looked around the hatch in front of them.

"We have to help them." Claire urgently whispered, glancing up at Peter entreatingly.

"I know." Peter answers grimly. He pulled a second metal pick out of his pocket and handed it to Claire. They moved as one, ducking down in the center of the hatch behind some boxes as they hear movement from the other end. Peter held a finger to his lips as he leaned past Claire to look towards the sound of the noise. He noted the guard making his rounds at that end, and held out a hand to keep Claire still until the guard returned to another part of the plane.

"Okay now!" He whispered the two silently moving from their hiding place and moving towards the two prisoners in front of them.

Claire lifted the mask off the prisoner in front of her, revealing Tracy Strauss. Next to her, Peter revealed Hiro Nakamura. Peter glanced at the two prisoners and then at Claire.

"They've been drugged."

"I know, it's to keep us in check." Claire answered.

"They didn't drug you."

"They did." She replied, then shrugged. "It didn't take." Peter nodded in understanding before turning his attention to the young Japanese man in front of him.

"Ando." Hiro whispered, head lolling to the side as he tried to focus on the man in front of him.

"Just hold on Hiro. We're going to get you out of here." Peter whispered leaning forward to try to open the lock. Next to him Claire struggled with the lock around Tracy's chains.

"Here let me." Peter whispered as he finished with the lock around Hiro's ankles. Claire moved to the side as Peter took her place in front of Tracy. He quickly unlocked the chains and Tracy gasped as the blood rushes through her lower legs.

Just as Peter and Claire were about to move to the next prisoners a shout erupted from behind them.

"Hey you! Stop or I'll shoot!" One of the guard's that Peter knocked out before releasing Claire stood before them with his gun pointed. He kept his eyes on them as he reached one hand up to his walkie.

"We have a problem back here!" He yelled, never taking his attention from the two people before him.

"Hiro! Take them and teleport!" Peter yelled out, gesturing to Claire and Tracy, preparing to face off against the guard in front of him.

"I cannot." Hiro hesitantly answered. "Arthur Petrelli took my power." He finished sadly.

Peter inwardly groaned.

"Release as many as you can. I'll take care of him." He said, striding forward.

"Stop right there or I will shoot!" The guard threatened. Peter continued forward, his left side jerking when the guard's bullet struck him in the upper chest. His forward motion never stopped as the wound healed itself and Peter wrapped his hand around the guard's neck. His fist drew back and a hard punch sent the guard sprawling to the ground.

"Hurry!" He gasped out following quickly behind Claire as she freed Matt, Daphne and Ando, before a second guard's voice interrupted them.

"They're releasing the prisoners! Bring it down!" He called into his walkie talkie, backing away from the growing group.

The plane lurched, as the pilot changed course, sending the group scattering as some slammed into the walls of the hatch, while others skidded across the floor. The plane veered downward, causing Claire to lose her balance and slide down the hatch. Peter scrambled after her, catching her hand and hauling her close before she collided with the back of the hatch. The two crawled, using the seats for leverage, and came upon the small emergency exit door.

Peter glanced wildly at Claire and then at the hatch around him. Recognizing the look in his eyes Claire gasped.

"No! We have to save them!" She cried, wrenching her hand from his and pulling herself into a standing position. "Take as many as you can! I can heal!"

"We don't know if you could survive this!" Peter argued, holding onto the knob of the door for balance.

"Then go now and come back for me!" Claire yelled, pushing him towards the small group huddled together holding onto the boxes for balance. Peter opened his mouth to argue, but decided it against it, instead yelling for Tracy, Daphne, and Ando to come with him.

Behind Peter, Claire struggled to open the door, gasping and grabbing onto the seat when the force of the air pressure wrenched it out of her hands and swung the door open. Before she could blink, Peter launched out of the open door an arm around both Tracy and Daphne, who held onto a nervous Ando. Unable to move from her spot next to the seat, Claire watched helplessly as the other prisoners cried out with each jerky movement of the plane. Within seconds Peter returned, and Claire yelled for Matt and Hiro to join him. The two men helped each other move across the hatch, then each grabbed onto one of Peter's shoulders, before they too disappeared into the night.

Claire's arms grew weak as she tried to anchor herself to the seat, the pressure from the open door becoming harder to resist.

"Claire!" Peter yelled as he returned to the plane. "Come on!" He rushed to his earlier hiding place and pulled out a large backpack then threw it over his shoulder, before grasping Claire around the waist.

Claire glanced back at the other prisoners, still locked in.

"What about them?" She cried out, throwing her arms around Peter's neck, as he backed them closer to the open door.

"It's too late! We can't help them!" He returned brokenly.

"I'm sorry." He whispered to the others in front of them, so quietly that Claire wouldn't have heard him over all the noise if she wasn't so closely huddled against him.

Peter backed out of the plane, taking to the air and holding tightly to Claire as he watched the plane continue its path towards the ground. He felt the wetness of Claire's tears against his cheek. He hugged her and flinched when the plane fell low enough that it began to skid through the trees beneath them. He and Claire watched the plane bounce against the trees, slowing its descent, before skidding along the ground and coming to a stop, with only an orange glow and a path of destruction marking its location.

Claire whimpered softly against his chest and Peter slowly lowered them down to the ground.

"All those people." She whispered brokenly, her forehead resting against Peter's as they both tried to cope with the tragedy.


Author's Note: Thank you for all the reviews you guys! I'm so glad you enjoyed the first chapter and please keep those reviews coming!