AN: Hello friends! How are ya'll this wonderful Saturday morning? It may be stupid of me to post today, being that no one's on, but a mostly-finished draft has been sitting for days and I pushed through and made it here. Now it must be put up.

Well, that being said, I'd like to mention that I DESPISE this chapter. Truly I do. But it's begun a HUGE landslide affect that will be detailed in the next chapters. Believe it or not, hidden in here are multiple turning points that set off other events not previously foreseen. Yay for that!

I just hate the writing in this one. I was coming up so blank it was sad, so I had to get it over and done with in order to move on. Maybe at a later date I can go back and redo this, but until then it stays in its crappish form.

Which reminds me that looking back over the last chapter, there were 3 mistakes that I let slip through! THREE! God I felt so horrible reading through it…I wanted to jump off a building. But I didn't because I'd soon be wishing I had Claire's ability, and sadly, I don't. :P

Well, now that I've detailed the importance of this chapter and its suckishness; which is a major contradiction, I know; I suppose I should allow you to actually READ it in the next million years so you can see for yourself.

Um…I don't think there's anything else to say, luckily, so this show can get on the road. Hell, let's throw it on the highway because baby, this story just got interesting! :D

Immolation Chapter 11: Family Ties

"The world really is much smaller than we think it is…"

He glanced casually through the list, scanning each name and location. He would have to wait a while, lie low, or find a way to dispose of the bodies. He didn't need people knowing he was still alive, and his way of killing was somewhat out of the ordinary. Each power was something different. Teleportation, telekinesis, pyrokinesis, power negation, super speed, negative duplication…

He started and read the information on that one; he'd never heard of it before. Person with negative duplication possesses a shield that can block other abilities on oneself, and when trained, can be stretched to others. Though, this shield is strong enough to negate powers within the holder of said powers, even stealing them or duplicating them for one's own use. An extremely powerful mimicking/blocking ability.

He grinned. This person could block abilities as well as duplicate them for themselves? He could use this. He looked at the name and information and smiled. It was only all the way across the country. He began to plan out the encounter.

He smirked and glanced once again at the name and town before setting off for the subway. He laughed and began to make his way to the train. Who the hell names a town Forks?

III

I smiled at Claire who merely nodded to me. We were seated on the couch across from Peter, who was looking at Claire with concentration. I grabbed onto her, doing the same. I tried to feel for the shield that Peter spoke of, tried to find it around my mind. I bit my lip and closed my eyes, not sure what I was looking for. It was like trying to drudge up a memory I'd long forgotten.

I slit open an eye and Peter shook his head, indicating that Claire's thoughts were still available to him. I bit harder, ignoring the pain as I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, trying to find something. But I was quickly giving up hope. We had been practicing all day, and while I knew this was probably one of those things that didn't happen overnight, I was still getting discouraged. I had hoped to make some sort of advancement, but it was already getting dark and we still had nothing.

I sighed. I wasn't about to give up, though. I'd keep fighting simply because I'd feel like a failure if I didn't try. So I looked and sorted and pushed, but nothing came.

And suddenly, I did feel something.

I was so startled I gasped, letting go of Claire's hand, and sat straight up, my eyes flying open. Claire looked over at me and Peter did the same. "What's wrong? Did she do it?" she looked over at Peter for answers, but he shook his head, just as confused.

"I…I felt it," I whispered, still awed. "I could feel the shield you were talking about! Don't ask me how I know what it was but…I did!"

Peter's eyes widened. "What was it like?"

I shook my head, a furrow in my brow as I recalled. "Like…like liquid rubber." It had been smooth and rippled under my mental touch, bending beneath me. I had felt its whole presence, wrapped securely around my mind. I wasn't sure if I would be able to do anything else with it, but I knew now that it was there.

"Wanna keep trying or stop?" Claire asked finally.

"We can't stop." This was the glimmer of hope I needed—now I was sure that the shield itself actually existed, and I could try and find it again. I smiled and nodded to Peter, who seemed slightly happier as he looked at Claire.

I felt around in my mind again, shutting my eyes as I tried to find the warm thing again. I pushed and pulled and tried to do the same thing as I had before, but I wasn't finding it. Ten minutes or so passed, with still nothing more. I bit my lip again in concentration, adjusting my position and grabbing Claire's hand.

Another ten minutes passed. And again, as suddenly as before, I felt it. A warm, rippling presence, wrapped gently yet securely around my mind. I didn't jump as I did, though it did surprise me. As I reached out toward it, it was like it wrapped around the tendril of consciousness that was me. It rippled and moved as I thought. Wow, definitely not what I expected.

But I didn't swerve off course. I thought to it, hoping something would happen. Please, please work. It shivered, but did nothing. Move. And it did; it quivered and pulled, shifting, but not detaching itself or stretching away from me as I thought it would. It rippled like a pond around me.

I licked my lips with determination, trying to concentrate on getting it to do something. I tried to force it out and to my right, where Claire was currently sitting, but it didn't move like I expected it to. It…it slithered down, stretching from around just my mind to my neck and spreading to the rest of my body. I could feel it, like a second skin, wrapping around me.

And then, just as it reached the hand holding Claire, I gasped for breath. I hadn't been aware that I was holding it, but my eyes flew open as I heaved in air and it snapped back into place, gone. I felt for it, but it was gone, and I had a feeling that was all I'd get for today.

I sighed and slumped back into the couch, gulping in air to replace what I'd deprived my body of, feeling tired all of the sudden. I let go of Claire's hand as Peter questioned me. "Did you feel it again?"

I nodded wearily, but smiled. "I even got it to move. But then I stopped because I wasn't breathing and it went away again."

"Got it to move?" Claire asked. "You mean you blocked my mind?"

I shook my head. "No, not yet. It was like…spreading over my body, and was about to go to yours, but it was taking a lot of concentration and I lost it." I bit my lip, angry with myself for allowing it to slip through my fingers so easily.

She smiled, though. "That's okay Bella, you're getting better. Pretty soon we'll find out all the things you can do." I nodded and smiled, before looking at the clock—it was nine, and we all had yet to eat because of the hospital incident. My father, had, in fact, shown up and told me to be more careful. But he had to go back for a late shift because another family of hikers was missing—this time with two little girls.

So I was back at Claire's and Peter's, and needed to make dinner. Briefly I wondered if Elle was mad at me—after all, Peter had only gotten back from taking her home an hour ago. But I doubt she would be—she had willingly gone to the hospital in the first place, and I think she knew we might be there a while.

I shrugged and forced myself up, looking over and smiling at them. "I think I'll make something to eat, if that's alright." I looked over at Peter for my answer; he had to be getting tired of me over all the time, cooking their food.

He rolled his eyes. "You don't see me complaining. It's just that we really don't have anything."

I licked my lips and sighed. I was in dire need of a grocery trip anyway, so what would it hurt to borrow their car and stop for us both? "Mind if I…uh, use your car?" It was such an awkward question to ask, I instantly felt stupid. But he just shrugged and handed me the keys.

"Sure. For what, though?"

"I figured I'd pick up groceries." He began to reach for his wallet, but I gripped his arm to stop him. "I'll get it, don't worry. I do come over here and use up all your food anyway."

"Bella," he began, but I shot him a look.

"I'll be back soon, though, I'm pretty fast. Thanks so much for letting me use the car," I said quietly, and they both nodded as Peter went to pop in a movie. Claire decided to stay behind and consequently quiz her uncle on Elle, so I slipped out the door.

When at the grocery store, everything seemed to go according to plan. I was just about done when there was a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a small, round-faced Asian man. He smiled up at me through his glasses. His voice was cheery and he spoke in broken, thickly accented English. "Excuse me miss. But do you know where I can find Mr. Petrelli?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Peter Petrelli?" He nodded vigorously. I examined him silently for a moment, but honestly didn't see a threat, considering he was small and slightly nerdy-looking. Not to mention Peter was super strong, among other things. I smiled back at him, the cheery air contagious.

"Um, yeah, actually. I'll take you there if you want. I'm almost done shopping." He smiled and walked alongside me as I threw random things into the cart, now slightly distracted. What a strange occurrence, to have someone at the grocery store; whom I'd never seen before; ask me if I knew Peter, when I just happened to.

"So," I began as we made our way down an aisle. "What's your name?"

"Hiro Nakamura, miss…"

"Bella Swan." He nodded.

"Bella Swan. It's so nice to meet you."

I smiled again. "It's nice to meet you too. So, Hiro, what brings you to Forks?"

He seemed to contemplate it silently for a moment, and I reached over for a bottle of ketchup. "I need to tell Peter what happened a while ago." He paused. "Miss Bella, are you sp—" he was abruptly cut off by a shout.

"Hey! You! Get over here!" Some security guy ran down the aisle toward us, and I felt my eyes widen as the bottle of ketchup hit the floor. What had I done? Did they think I stole something?

And yet he grabbed Hiro, instead. "You're coming with me."

"Wait, sir," I said quietly, latching onto his arm. What had little Hiro done wrong? "What's happened?"

He huffed at me. "We've had complaints from other customers that he's been harassing them about some Peter Petrelli. We told him to stop and all he'd do is babble about it then run away. Been chasing him all over." He looked over at Hiro, who wasn't struggling, even though he had an awfully tight grip on his arm. "You're coming with me."

"Sir, can't we…?" But I didn't get to finish, as they were already halfway down the aisle.

III

Peter and Claire were sitting, watching a movie, waiting for Bella to show up again. She had left in order to shop for groceries, which he was extremely grateful for, as he never really had much time to do it himself, and he wasn't sure how well Claire would do. But he trusted Bella.

She had borrowed the car, though he could tell she was nervous about it. He inwardly chuckled to himself—of all the people, Bella would be nervous about driving their car, even with both of their repeated assurances that it was fine and they had plenty of money should anything go wrong.

He sighed, glancing at the clock. What was it about Bella going out at this late hour that made him so uneasy? Maybe it was that she just looked so frail and weak—he doubted if anything happened she could defend herself properly. He pushed it out of his mind; no reason to dwell. She'd be back soon.

Claire looked over at him. "So."

He raised his eyebrows at her, turning down the movie. "So?"

"Elle," she responded coolly. "Do you…you know, like her like that?"

He nearly laughed. Elle was an interesting character, to say the least. The whole ride all the way out to her house—which was quite a ways away—had been non-stop flirting on her part. She would say the most random things, sometimes insulting him, sometimes complimenting him, and smirk suggestively the whole time. It had been a colorful ride, to say the least.

But she was a teenager—eighteen and in her senior year. She still lived with her parents for Christ's sake! That wasn't, in his opinion, a very appealing factor. And though Elle looked older, she acted quite immature at times—she even pouted when he didn't respond to her advances. The idea of actually desiring Elle that way was laughable.

"Trust me, Claire, I don't wanna date your friend," he assured her, because he didn't.

She huffed. "Good. Watching her flirt with you had to be the weirdest experience of my life." He laughed.

"I guess that's understandable. But don't worry; I wouldn't do that to you."

"Cool." She grabbed the remote from his hand and turned the movie back up, looking relieved. He sighed and glanced at the clock again—had that conversation really taken fifteen minutes? Time flies. And where is Bella?

Just then, there was a knock at the door. He jumped to get it, probably a little too fast. He glanced at Claire, who was still set on watching the movie, not looking at him. He turned and walked down the hall, wondering why Bella would feel the need to knock when he had reminded her that he had left the door unlocked so she could just come in. Then again, she might have so many groceries she can't open the door by herself.

He hurried over and opened the door, only to find someone completely opposite from Bella. "Peter Petrelli!"

"Hiro?" he questioned quietly. "What are you doing here?"

Immediately, his mood dulled. He slumped forward slightly, and walked in with that same, defeated posture. "I did not save the world, Peter Petrelli."

Peter furrowed his brow, shutting the door behind him as Hiro walked in. He directed him to the living room, where he flopped onto the couch next to Claire where Bella had been. "What do you mean?"

He sighed. "I was supposed to stab brain-man. But your glowing distracted me and…and he got away."

Peter didn't know what to say, or how to console him properly, but he did the best he could. "Don't worry, Hiro. It's not your fault. And we'll get Sylar."

The man slumped backward even further into the couch. "I am sorry Peter Petrelli. I have failed."

Peter patted his arm awkwardly. "No, everyone makes mistakes. We'll get him, I promise."

Hiro sighed again, sitting sullenly as he stared at his toes, before jumping up enthusiastically, his normal bouncy energy renewed once again. "I suppose you are right. But first I must get Ando!" And then he disappeared.

III

D.L. called to the driver and quickly scooped up Micah, managing to balance their bags and the limp child as he made his way out of the bus and into the dark, damp street. He looked around himself—they were in a sleazy alley, but they were in a sleazy alley in Seattle, and that was all that mattered at this point.

He threw the bags over his shoulder and gently shifted Micah, who stirred but didn't awaken. I need to get this kid to a bed, pronto. He sighed and looked around himself, before quickly making his way to a promising looking street. At least it had lights.

He emerged and immediately bumped into someone, who scowled at him even though he was obviously not quite capable of keeping perfect track of his surroundings. He ignored him and turned right at the flashing neon that advertised a motel.

He reached the main office and managed to somehow dig out enough money for two nights. He walked down the hall and shoved open the door, throwing the bags down before slowly lowering Micah onto the mattress and brushing a stray piece of hair from his eyes. He sighed, gazing down at his son for a moment—the product of he and a woman who was most likely running on a crazy rampage at this very moment.

Again he cursed Jessica, but had nothing to do about it. Deeming the situation unfixable, he lay down next to Micah and stared at the ceiling.

But before long, a small, scratchy voice came from next to him. "Dad?"

He looked down at Micah with a small smile. "Hey, buddy. We're in Seattle now. Wanna go find Mom?"

Micah nodded to him and they set off out the hotel with haste. The faster they got to Jessica, the faster they got home.

III- The next day, Claire and Peter's residence –III

I looked over at Peter and smiled, and he returned it, before nodding at Claire, indicating that I should continue. It was Wednesday, Peter's off-day, and we were practicing my power more. And it was amazing, how easy and natural it was becoming to manipulate the shield.

So far I was able to get it around my whole body—although, the moment it touched Claire, the harder it became to uphold. So far I hadn't been able to get it around her mind, but that point was looming ever closer and I couldn't help but feel excited and determined. I had convinced myself that it would be done today, even if for a small sliver of time.

I bit my lip and began to concentrate, seeking out the shield. Almost instantly I could feel the warmth it seemed to exude, and it wrapped itself around my mind. I forced it to stretch and move, and it began to slither away from my mind outward. I directed it toward Claire and could feel it begin to stretch into the air toward her. It inched forward, pushing in her direction.

It touched her and I put extra force on it, keeping it from snapping back as it had been prone to lately. I pushed with all my might and felt it move closer, closer…and finally, it snapped. I could almost hear the ring in my ears as it stretched around Claire's mind, hugging it as tightly as it hugged my own. The feeling was a strange one…it was like I was connected to her, in a way.

Peter gasped and looked over at me. "You did it," he said slowly.

"She did it?" Claire asked with excitement and shock in her voice.

He nodded, "I can't read a thing…from either of you."

Claire reached over and hugged me—and although I wasn't usually a fan of such strong emotion, I laughed and hugged her back. I had done it—a wave of relief and a feeling of success washed over me, putting my mind at ease. It was done—I was able to stretch my shield to other people.

"So, Bella," Peter began casually. "Do you think you might wanna—" but he was cut off before he could finish. With a frown, he headed off toward the phone where he talked in a hushed voice. I stared after him for a moment, but snapped out of it, berated myself, and looked over to Claire.

She smiled at me. "Aren't you so happy? Now we can actually utilize your power and stuff!"

I felt my smile fall. "Utilize it? How?"

Her smile dropped also, "Well…we've probably got some people after us, so if we ever come across a power that needs blocking, well, you're the one to do it."

I furrowed my brows as the hidden meaning of her words became apparent. "You want me to…use my powers in a fight?"

She sighed. "I guess you could think of it that way. I don't wanna sound rude or anything, but we could really use your help."

I shook off the bad feelings I got about helping harm another—after all, if the situation arose, they would be after Peter and Claire, and that was incentive enough for me to help them. Hell, I'd jump in front of a bullet for them. "Sorry I gave you the wrong impression—you've both already done so much for me; I'll be willing to help whenever."

"You're the best, Bella!" She wrapped her arms around me again. "I'm so glad Peter landed here. I don't know where we'd be without you."

I felt touched by her words, but only laughed and responded with a comment I didn't register—Peter had walked into the room and taken my attention, as he seemed able to do as of late. I cursed my teenage hormones because that's all this was. Teenage hormones.

He still wore a frown, a deep furrow of concentration in his brow as he sat back in the armchair and stared at the floor. Claire and I looked at him silently for a moment before she spoke. "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head no, but responded differently. "Yeah, a little."

I bit my lip. "What's happened?"

He looked up at me with those intense eyes of his, and I fought to pay attention to his words as they locked onto mine. "I guess someone's escaped from the Company somehow. Noah said they've been distracted with another project of some sort and a guy named Jason Mallory made it out."

Jason Mallory…Jason Mallory…why does that ring a bell? For a moment I was unsure of where I'd heard the name, but suddenly it clicked to one of my first days when Jessica had siphoned out the local gossip.

"Yeah, totally. I guess he's like, in some special prison or something. No one knows why or if he'll, like, ever get out," Jessica said quietly, digging a spoon into her pudding. I looked up at her, slightly dazed—he was gone again today. This made four days in a row, and I couldn't help but wonder if it was my fault…it didn't seem like a random string of coincidences. He suddenly hated me in Biology, tried to switch classes the same day, stormed past me, and then fell off the face of the earth.

"Who, what?" I asked slowly, still distracted. She sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes.

"Jason Mallory, Lauren's dad. He's some sort of prisoner all the way out in Seattle, where she moved from. And I also told you that Tyler Crowley's mom ended up adopting these twins that totally turned out to be her own kids from five years ago! How creepy is that?"

"Yeah…yeah, creepy," I responded, looking back over to the table with one missing person yet again.

Jason Mallory. Lauren Mallory's dad…he turned out to be in not just a special prison, but a prison for special people…which means he can do something extraordinary, no doubt…and he's probably roaming around here! "And he's heading this way, isn't he?" I asked.

He looked surprised. "Yeah. How…?"

"Lauren's dad." I looked to Claire, whose eyes seemed to bug out of their skull.

"Are you serious?" I only nodded, and her face turned stony. "Small world," she said drily.

"What am I missing?" Peter was slightly agitated with being left out of the loop, so I explained to both of them what Jessica had told me.

"And there's no way it's some weird coincidence," I reasoned. "If he's out this way, it would be for his family. I'm ninety-nine point nine percent sure."

Claire nodded. "Who would be lurking around Forks for no reason?"

"Care to fill me in?" Peter snapped.

I grinned sheepishly at him, a blush heating my cheeks. "Um, a girl we go to school with—"

Claire interrupted me with a roll of her eyes, "The biggest, bitchiest manipulator ever."

I smiled and continued as if she hadn't interrupted—after all, she wasn't wrong, in my opinion. And I'd gone to school with a senior class of over a thousand of those same snarky blonde cheerleaders. No offense to Claire, of course, being that she was a nice girl stuck in a stereotyped body. "Her father was in jail for a time, though no one knew why…and now we do."

His brow remained furrowed, though the brief annoyance he had with us was gone immediately. He seemed to be pondering it. "All Noah said was that he was dangerous and heading this way. He…gently urged me to try and recapture him." I had a feeling he was giving us the understatement of the year when he said 'gently urged'.

I bit my lip. "Did he happen to tell you what his power is?"

He nodded. "It's pretty ugly…he can manipulate matter. As in make things move or bend or change. Well, inanimate objects, at least."

It was silent for a while as we absorbed this information—well, Claire might have. I started to think it over, to plan, but that was lost as I looked up at Peter. Rarely had I ever seen eyes so intense, so captivating—and I wasn't going to recall who else had that same, swirling liquid pool effect. Only Peter's was better. His was a genuine gift, while…the person in question's had been the average among his kind. He was made to be beautiful—Peter, admittedly, simply was.

I bit my lip harder and broke our eye contact—how he dealt with my constant staring was beyond me—by closing my eyes and dropping my head slightly lower. Now I could think.

So, Jason Mallory is Lauren's father, who had been captured by the Company and hauled away. But Noah, honestly, didn't seem like that bad of a man. After all, he went to such lengths to protect Claire, when her ability could be so important to doctors and scientists everywhere. So surely if this man wasn't too much a threat, he'd let it go—especially because Claire told me that he was already distracted by a call he had gotten from a Dr. Suresh.

If that's the case, which seems likely, then Jason Mallory must be pretty dangerous. Especially if Noah's going to such lengths as coercing the guy who's currently taking care of the daughter he's trying to protect. And that power of his is pretty scary—or at least can be.

"So," I began. "What's the plan?"

Peter frowned. "I go after him. Now I don't even have to worry about tracking him down or anything. Where does Lauren live?"

Clare and I shook out heads, and he sighed. "Alright, change of plan—I need to find out where Lauren lives, then hunt him down."

"Now?" He nodded and my eyes widened. "You can't go now, it's nearly dark!"

Peter stared at me for a moment, and I began to lose my train of thought when he finally spoke. "I have to. If he's dangerous we can't have him running around."

I began to argue. "Peter, no! I promise, I'll find out where she lives for you—you just can't go tonight. It's too late. You wanna be able to see so that way he can't get away."

He seemed to consider my reasoning for a moment, before sighing and settling back in his seat. "You're right. Thanks, Bella." I smiled and nearly blushed for no reason other than the thanks was from him; what was wrong with me? Suddenly I was some mushy teenager over my best friend's uncle! It was sad.

I bit my lip for the millionth time that night. "No problem."

There was a beat of palpable silence before Claire broke it. "So…"

I got up and glanced back at the clock. "I've gotta go home. I'll see you at school Claire—I'll see you tomorrow, Peter." They both nodded and Claire smiled and waved, turning to watch out the window as I got into my truck and pulled away.

On my way home, I didn't think about anything, simply half-dazed as I took the well-word route. Soon enough I was stepping in the door and calling out to Charlie, who responded with a quick one word and left me be. I smiled at him as I passed and made my way up the stairs.