We had been living in New Orleans for almost a year at that point.

It was May; summer seemed at once too far away and tantalizingly close; humidity clung to the walls of our tiny apartment, blossoming into slimy green mold in the closet, which stubbornly remained no matter what fungicides Appa threw on it, Micah and I had the run of the broken-down playground across the way, Sylar was several hundred miles away, and had been for quite some time.

Needless to say, it was a happy time.

Also needless to say, what follows is the part that shatters it.

I'm not too sure who brought up the subject of powers- or secrets, as Micah still sometimes calls them- but somehow the matter was broached and we ended up talking about his technopathy and my clairvoyancy.

At the time, Micah knew more about his power than I did about mine- what his limits where, what he might develop into. The only thing I was really sure about was that objects were harder to find than people, and when people died I couldn't find them.

Micah sort of fixated on that one- and he wasn't subtle about it either. You see, they hadn't found a body when Niki died, and he'd been hoping against hope that she was still alive, somehow, somewhere.

It wasn't the first time the thought of trying to find Niki crossed my mind, but, when you get right down to it, I really didn't want to. I knew it was selfish, but… it would almost certainly mean simply confirming that she was dead. And dead people… well, when I search out a living person, I get a small series of flashes and a geographical location, which I can now sometimes match with its proper name. When they're special, I can see it through their eyes. For the deceased it's different; I get a sense of either everywhere or nowhere that gives me a weird sort of brain-freeze-like headache, and I get a flash of somewhere very quiet and still. It makes me feel a little like I was just encased in Jell-O fresh from the refrigerator, which isn't exactly a pleasant sensation. Which was why I tried my very best to avoid the topic, and changed the subject when it came up.

Micah wasn't having any of that now, though. No matter what I did, he wouldn't let it go.

"Just leave it alone, Micah!" I snapped finally.

"She's my Mom! I can't do that!" he protested.

I didn't reply, choosing instead to give him the silent treatment and hunch deeper down on the hobby-horse. Splinters dug into my backside, but I didn't move.

"Does looking for dead people…hurt?" Micah asked hesitantly.

"No," I mumbled. And it doesn't, in case you're wondering. At the time, it was just part of a long list of stuff in my life that scared the crap out of me. Right now, it's part of a long list of stuff I've learned to tolerate, like artificial sweetener and migraine-strength headaches.

"The what's the problem?" he huffed. "How would you feel if there was a chance one of your parents was still alive and I could tell you for sure if they were but wouldn't?"

Ouch. Low blow, Micah.

"Alright fine!" I gave in. "Just give me a moment to warm up."

I closed my eyes and concentrated. It didn't take much before I found Appa: he had come home from school and was chopping vegetables in the kitchen for dinner, humming one of the Tamil lullabies I had only recently outgrown. Then I found Dad, a few miles away protecting a minor city official visiting a troubled neighborhood. He could 'see' me, still a fairly new development, and gave me the mental equivalent of a reassuring hug before I left.

Sylar was next in my routine. He had, I noticed with some alarm, moved a significant distance away for the first time in weeks. He was going fast, very fast, but didn't seem to be in a car or anything. He must have found whatever person he was stalking and taken their power, I thought, frowning. If he could move that quickly all on his own, it would make it more difficult to predict where and when he'd move.

"Did you find her?" Micah asked, breaking my concentration.

"No. I haven't even started looking for her yet," I replied.

"What's taking so long?" I asked. I snorted. Boys- even Appa, who, I thought, was an exceptionally cootie-free boy- were incapable of waiting for the results when I was using my powers.

Normally Micah was next in my routine, but because he was very impatiently waiting right in front of me, I decided to skip him. Monica was next; she was chewing out a cashier who had given the incorrect change to an old lady. Seven times in a row, apparently. Damon was playing basketball. Sarah was setting the table for dinner. Aisha was doing math homework. John was (ew!) going to the bathroom.

"Did you find her yet?" Micah asked again.

"No," I huffed. "Let me concentrate."

Niki Sanders. I'd met her in Kirby Square; I'd gotten to know her fairly well while Dad was recuperating from his gunshot wounds. He and D.L. shared a room, and she was there constantly with Micah. She seemed very sad, and more than a little afraid whenever she looked at Micah. She drank her coffee black, and was always I the hospital whenever she-

-screams rang through her ear and something wet and warm slide over her eyes. She wiped it away viciously and moved towards the man cowering in the corner. He was whimpering, but she ignored it and grabbed him under the armpit and hip and pulled-

I screamed, fell off the hobby-horse and threw up.

"Molly?" Micah cried. I vomited again. "Molly!"

I started shaking. I was vaguely aware of Micah running in the direction of the apartment, yelling "Dr. Suresh! Dr. Suresh! Something's wrong with Molly!" I almost threw up again, but the fact that I was nearly hyperventilating made that rather difficult.

That was the last thing I knew for a while.

When I woke up, I was in a hospital. Appa and Dad were looming- yes, looming- over my bed looking worried, but once it became apparent that I was more or less alright and the initial diagnoses of a panic attack was correct, those looks rapidly changed to stern.

"This is why we don't want you watching Sylar," Appa explained. "You see what people are doing when you're using your power. And what Sylar is rather infamous for doing is killing people."

"He's a disturbed person, doing disturbing things to other people Molly," Dad added.

"You don't need to see anymore of him than you already have. You-"

"I wasn't watching Sylar," I croaked. "I was looking for Niki. I found her- she's alive and killing people in Montreal."

There was silence. Dad looked over at Appa, was replied, frowning. "Jessica must be back."

"No, it was definitely Micah's mom," I said.

"Micah's mother has a… disability. Because of certain traumatic events in her childhood, she develop two distinct personality instead of one. Jessica is what her alternate self named herself. She's a very violent person," he explained. "We thought we got rid of her before Niki was released but, I suppose, after the fire…"

"She rips people in half," I confirmed. Dad grimaced. Appa frowned. I started. "Is that going to happen to me?"

"What?" Appa asked.

"Am I going to grow another personality?"

"No. No, of course not," Appa assured me. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I've had a lot of childhood trauma…" I started, but stopped when Matt started smiling. "What?"

"Molly," he chuckled. "We'll keep that from happening to you. Promise."

"Will that work?" I asked Appa.

He nodded. "Of course. Jessica only emerged because when Niki was your age she didn't have anyone to protect-"

The lights in the hospital suddenly flickered and died.

"The generators should be on soon," Dad assured us. We waited. The lights didn't turn on.

"How soon should they be on?" Appa asked.

"Sooner than this," Dad replied grimly. "I'm going to see what's going on."

"It's not Sylar," I said. "He's in Texas."

Dad and Appa both gave me looks, but after what I could tell was a quick mental conversation the seemed to agree to wait until whatever ongoing crises had occurred was finished before they started lecturing me again. Dad left the room, and I went through my mental list: Micah was frowning at his now blank computer screen, Monica was rummaging around the kitchen for a flashlight, Damon was drinking something he probably shouldn't be touching for a few more years, Sarah was helping her mother dig the grill out of the garage, Aisha was listening to a portable radio, John was cursing as his iPod died-

"I think the entire city's out," I said.

"Really?" Appa said. "I wonder what-"

His question was answered as a young blonde woman pushed Dad back inside the hospital room, holding a hand pulsating with electric energy behind him like a loaded weapon.

It was Elle, of course. You know someone else who can knock out a city-wide power grid and then threaten a mind-reading cop with lightning? Other than Emperor Palpatine, I mean.

At the time, though, I only vaguely recognized her as the woman who'd fried Sylar before he ran away with the blood and got his powers back. It was a memory I looked upon rather fondly.

"Elle!" Appa exclaimed. "What-"

"The Company wants their tracking system back," she said bluntly.

"No. Absolutely not," Appa said, coming to stand in between me and Elle.

" I think I'm insulted," Elle said. "If I can fry your psycho killer ex-boyfriend, do you really think I can't take you?"

I should probably point out that Elle wouldn't still be talking if we were anyone else. Well, okay she would, because she's just that sort of person, but she would have been saying it to only me as she threw me into the car and left my electrocuted into unconsciousness parents on the floor of the hospital. Which would have totally sucked.

"What's happened?" Appa asked.

"What makes you think something's happened?"

"You were perfectly willing to leave Molly alone when I was still with the Company," Appa exclaimed. He was using the same tone of voice he'd used when talking to Sylar, way back when he'd taken us hostage for the cure to the Shanti virus. That thought made me think of Sylar, and suddenly I got a flash of-

-the guard smashed against the wall, leaving a smear of blood down the wall. His comrades opened fire but she stopped the bullets with a mere thought. The men scattered as she shot the slugs back at them-

"Do you know he's attacking your headquarters in Texas?" I asked.

"Huh?" Elle said.

"Sylar. He's attacking your headquarters in Texas," I repeated.

Elle stared at me. Appa stared at me. Dad stared at me. I quashed the urge to giggle, and blushed under all the attention.

"Oh, you're full of it," Elle scoffed eventually. "He was in Montana less than three hours ago."

"Well, he killed someone who could go fast. Really fast," I explained. "And then he took his power. And now hie' killing a whole bunch of people in that place where Mr. Petrelli was shot last year."

"How deep were they?" Elle demanded.

"What do you mean-" Appa started, but Elle cut him off.

"Tell me!" she screeched, the ball of energy in her hand flaring up brightly. At the same time, Dad's voice sounded in my head: Don't you dare look again Molly!

I really hate it when he does that.

"Deep enough that he was killing a whole load of guards," I answered, glaring pointedly at Dad, who had the grace to look slightly guilty.

"Oh man," Elle whined. "I hate protection duty!"

"Say what?" Appa asked. But Elle was already lowering her arm and dashing to the end of my bed.

"Okay, she's stable, that means were moving," she snapped, striding out the door. The fathers stared at her. She popped her head back in.

"What, did the two of you wake up stupid this morning? Grab the kid and let's go!" she ordered.

"Not before you give us some answers," Dad demanded.

Ella shot a bolt of lightning at the foot of my bed, which promptly caught on fire. Appa gave a surprised shout, and swept me into his arms.

"Now, will you come with me?" she said, sarcastically.

We followed her out into the parking lot, where I reminded Appa that I was capable of walking and had been for some time. He put me down but didn't let go of my hand; Dad grabbed the other hand and the three of us piled like that into the back seat of Elle's SUV.

~*~

Wow, I forgot to update that, didn't I? Don't worry, with classes winding down, I'll be sure to update on a more regular basis. Of course, some reviews would help me remember... :D