Chapter 8: Confessions among weapons

Mohinder was standing in the building of Dhemak stupa, staring to the face of Buddha's statue, and holding the urn containing his mother's ashes. He came here to seek answers but he didn't even know what to ask. He was standing there, mourning, and couldn't imagine what kind of answer can he find exactly here and now. He looked at the statue: it was peaceful like most of the Buddha statues. He tried to remember the teachings of Buddha but, in fact, his family wasn't really religious. If he remembered it right, his mother has just passed by, to the next life, made the next step on the excruciating path, here on Earth, or if she was ready, to the desired non-existence, the Nirvana. The enlightenment. He thought about it, he thought he would need, he would desire enlightenment, too. So many changes around him, turning the world upside down, changing it forever.

"I think I haven't seen you so far." said a woman behind him. Her voice was soft but very scaring in the empty sanctuary.

"Who are you?" asked Mohinder as he turned back slowly. He saw a woman who could be about the same age as he was, wearing clothes just like the monks did. But generally women weren't allowed to join the monks who were ready to devote their lives to meditation, to the seeking of wisdom, to Buddha.

"I could ask this, too." he answered. For a moment he thought that his sentence shocked her, but the look on her face disappeared in a second. Then, she bowed.

"My name is Kamala." She paused for a moment. "I think I should leave you. You are mourning and I don't have the right to disturb you."

"Well" interrupted Mohinder "I'm not just mourning. I'm looking for answers. This temple. This sanctuary is in my dreams again and again."

"Many of us seek answers here. You've chosen wisely. Are your questions related to death?"

"I don't know."

Suddenly, he felt her hand on his.

"You weren't here?" She looked, she sounded like a very sad, a very empathic person.

"I wasn't. But I supposed to. I was in India when my father died away, and I was away when my mother died in India."

"Like me." she whispered. "I was hiding here when my only brother died, far away from here. I couldn't help him..."

"Did he need help?" interrupted Mohinder but in a moment he realized what he had asked. "Sorry, I didn't..."

"Well, I haven't told this to anyone for a long time. My brother worked in a foreign state and he was killed by his employers."

"By his employers? Why? What kind of employers are these?"

"I don't know. I only know that his friend came to me and told me what had happened to him."

"What a shame." said Mohinder calmly. In these days, the days of mourning he couldn't really pay attention to someone else's pain. "Why are you saying this to me?"

"Maybe you look gentle." she sighed.

"But maybe I'm not..."

"Don't worry." she said. "You won't want to talk to anybody about this. About this story. About me."

And anything happened like she said. A few hours later, he could remember what had happened but he found it a ridiculous idea to tell anybody about the female monk.

"Still no sign of him?" asked Kimiko Nakamura from Ando. She was worried, very worried, she could hardly concentrate to the everyday life of Yamagato Industries.

"No, nothing. I don't know any phone number. He didn't say anything. Only if..." Something suddenly came to his mind, and he felt like a fool, that this didn't happen earlier. "A few days ago, Hiro and I looked into some documents from your father's office. There were some files about a Company in the USA. Hiro was very passionate about it. Maybe, they called him."

"Are you sure?"

"No, I'm not. But I haven't got a better idea."

"Why? Hiro spent only a few days in America, just like our father..."

"Yeah, but this company was a major connection between them." As he spoke and thought about it, he was surer and surer that the Company really called Hiro.

"But why would they call him?"

"Hiro has this ability. Maybe they needed help."

She seemed to think.

"I know where those papers are. Let's go find them." Her voice was full of confidence but Ando was shocked.

"Let's go?" said he, almost stunned. "What about Yamagato?"

"He is my brother, and no matter what anyone else says, I do care for him. So I'll go away, to America, to that damned company, and I'll find him. You may come with me, but it's my mission. At least, I have one."

Peter was both excited and worried about the ball in the Austrian castle. The air was cold, almost icy and he was worried, he didn't want to be accidentally noticed because of his simple breath. It could ruin everything, everything that was build and hidden so carefully. He had to realize, as he was waiting in front of the castle, that her mother was a gorgeous woman when she was young, much prettier without the wrinkles left by time, much prettier than her company, Olivia.

They were simply chatting, trying to hide their enthusiasm. They were greeted gently and one of the valets told them to look for a man in royal blue. They simply couldn't miss him. He was so flashy, his royal blue suit and red tie gave such a huge contrast, that is was easy to consider him as a fool, invited to entertain the guests. But as Peter looked inside his head, he didn't see even a bit of unnecessary thoughts. In his mind, it was clear that he had to meet the two Americans. Strangely, he didn't seem to be surprised because of Olivia, but definitely because of Angela.

He bowed in front of them.

"I expected a pair, but not a pair of two so beautiful women." All the blood in Olivia's face seemed to run out of it as the man kissed their hands.

"We're not here to hear compliments all night." said Angela harshly.

"Certainly, my ladies."

"You won't call us your ladies. At least, not until you tell us your name."

"I'm Konstantin Starnov."

"Well" began Angela "you didn't expect women, I expected you to have a military rank."

"If it matters, it's lieutenancy."

"Everything matters. And what did you want from us?" asked she, still with a very cold voice.

"I want to negotiate."

"Negotiate about what?" As Olivia began to came conscious again, she tried to pull Angela away from the Russian man.

"My bosses think you should give up..."

"Give up what?" said Angela with a grim smile.

"Give up this whole thing. This game called cold war or whatever."

"Why?" Her confidence seemed to drop a bit.

"Because we might have resources you don't."

"Do you want to threat us? Do you think you're lucky with women?"

"I don't want to hurt you. In fact, I don't need to."

"We have to discuss this." interrupted Olivia. "Alone."

Konstantin nodded with a smile on his face. As they got far enough from him, Olivia began to whisper.

"I heard his voice. In my head. I recognized it immediately. I just didn't want to say it."

"You did just the right thing." Angela's voice was still and cold again. "What do you think, what is he talking about?"

"I don't know. But I don't like to think about the possibilities." She looked very frightened.

"You don't need to worry. At the end of the night, we'll know much about these resources."

"How?" asked Olivia stunned.

"Watch and learn." said Angela. She turned back and went back.

Konstantin was now enjoying some champagne when they net him again.

"Lieutenant, I think it would be good for both of us to bury the hatchet. But before we suggest this decision, we would like to know what makes us to do this."

"You can't imagine."

"Oh, I have some fantasy."

"Shall we dance?"

Angela nodded curtly.

As they began to dance for the waltzer played, Konstantin whispered to Angela.

"Special people. They may look ordinary but they can do amazing things. Throwing flames, melt anything, break a concrete wall with their bare hands..."

"Or send a message to anyone in the world?" interrupted Angela. Konstantin froze.

"How?" he stammered.

"Your bosses are very over-confident. I think you won't want to look for me." She broke the hand-contact between them and began to run. Olivia short after her.

Peter would have expected Konstantin to go after them, but he just stood there if he was frozen.

The soft fluid was gone, maybe forever. Niki Sanders had to face her worst nightmares in the cellar of the unknown house. She felt like her brains were burned with flames, hot metal, or like someone was looking in it, and cutting it into parts, like a doctor, a surgeon. She just hoped that something like this was happening during the treatments of Samuel. It was tiring, much more tiring than the visits of Abraham, even despite she was near death that time. Sometimes she thought that Samuel weakened her, but this wasn't without any reason, because sometimes she felt something dark inside her. And she didn't know what happened to those parts of her.

"I'm sorry." whispered Samuel after he had finished one of his visits.

"Because of what?" asked Niki. "You're doing good. Both of you." Not like me, usually, she added for herself.

"About my behavior last time. Sometimes I'm very over-protective."

Niki didn't say anything. Samuel looked like he really wanted to say, to tell something just as dark as Jessica was.

"You know, we weren't born here. We've come from far away. In a country ruined by wars. Civil wars, genocide. I hope you can't imagine." He was definitely right. "It was a few years ago, when we realized these abilities. My mother didn't want us to be buried six feet under before our time comes. She gave all of our money to some smugglers, to transport us to somewhere safe. And it wasn't even enough."

"What happened to your father?" interrupted Niki.

"She was killed, a few years after Abraham was born."

"Oh, I'm sorry. May I ask you how old are you exactly?"

"Seventeen." he answered.

"And how did you get here if the money wasn't enough?"

"You know I can be impulsing." She tried to nod, but she couldn't.

"All I'm trying to tell that for me, Abraham is a bit more like my brother. Sometimes I feel like I was his father."

"What about your mother?" she asked.

"We don't know anything about her." he answered sadly.

"Well, I think I didn't tell you anything about my family, either. My husband was killed because of this ability, and I don't know anything about my son. He can be at the same age as Abraham. He's at some relatives, relatives of my husband, but I don't know about him, either."

For a few moments, none of them spoke.

"Then I think I should act fast." whispered Samuel.

"It's glad to see this pair team up again." said Bob calmly. "I have to make a few adjustments these days and I'm happy to see some of the old faces here again."

"Shut up, just give us our assignment." said Claude angrily.

"Well, you'll get a very special and familiar mission." He gave a file to Noah. He was shocked as he saw the photo inside. It was his own daughter's.

"What shall we do?" he asked and he threw the file back on the desk. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing. We've hidden them. Just like you."

"Meaning no field?"

"Let's say, we'll pull you away from the front line. Your first priority is your daughter. Isn't that what you have wanted? To stay with your family and protect them?"

"Then why with me?" asked Claude.

"In everyday life, Noah Bennet has to act like everyone else. Do his job, and so on. But you, Claude are not bothered with this. You can guard her at any time."

Claude began to laugh.

"Great!" he said. "You chased me down, captured me, threw me into a damned cell, and for what? Babysitting! My dream job ever."

"She's not a baby." said Noah, with a bit of anger.

"You'll discuss it outside. You'll be going to Carson City immediately." said Bob. They had no choice really but to leave. In fact, no choice for now, thought Claude.

"Do you really want to do this?" asked Micah, standing in front of the door of the police station. He felt cold, and was absolutely not sure that they are doing the right thing. "Are you sure there isn't another way?"

"Yes, I am." she answered shortly and she began to pick the lock of the door apart with some tools.

"What if the alarm goes off?"

"It won't." she said. "Do you know what was I doing last night? Practicing for this. I'll go in, disable the alarm ..."

"Why do you think you can?"

"I can. I'm prepared and I need that man. I don't want to be hunted."

"Yeah, but if you make a mistake you'll not be hunted but caught. This is crime."

"We've talked about this. I was almost killed. I want my life back." With a soft crack, the lock was opened. "And for that, I need to do this." She pulled a hood on her head, gave one to Micah and went in. She didn't simply walk on the floor, she was climbing on the walls and the roof of the corridor until she reached the service desk. She climbed down to it, pulled another small tool and began to twiddle something under it. A few moments later, she waved her hand that he can come in. Micah was thinking for a moment, but he thought there's no turning back now. So he pulled the hood on his head and ran in. When he reached the desk, the computer was already booting.

"See" whispered Monica. "We don't have to go any further than this point. Please, go on."

He laid his small hand on the computer and asked for the security cam tapes of the last week. The machine gave him exactly what he wanted. He told it to send it to an e-mail address, an address created by them only for this occasion. But something was wrong. The computer refused to do that. Micah looked into it. And saw something terrible. Something was making some noise, like a signal. The computer crashed, refused to do any command.

"Get out of here!" he shouted but before Monica could answer, someone yelled.

"Hands up! Freeze!" shouted a police officer, pointing his gun at Monica.

"So you're Kimiko Nakamura. The daughter of my friend Kaito." greeted Bob one of his new guests. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Please forget about all the unnecessary courtesy. I didn't come here to hear that."

"Well, then, what are you looking for?"

"Hiro Nakamura. My brother." answered Kimiko.

Bob seemed surprised.

"Your brother? Who can bend time and space?"

Just like Hiro used to say, thought Ando.

"Well" continued Bob "I would have also liked to ask you about him. I've never met him."

"What?" asked Ando shocked. "You weren't the one calling him?"

"Are you Ando Masahashi, a friend of him?" asked Bob. Ando nodded. "What call are you talking about?"

"A few days ago, someone called Hiro. He became happy and enthusiastic after it. He teleported away from Japan as fast as he could."

"Well, I guarantee, it wasn't me."

"But you were the ones related to Adam Monroe. And to this whole save-the-world stuff."

"We could have been, but I can show you my phone calls, if you want to, I haven't made a call to Japan for years."

"You could have manipulated it." stated Kimiko.

"Why would I do such thing?"

"You're bad asses. You were in the same team as Adam Monroe. You made a deadly virus." said Ando.

"Do you think we're really bad asses?" asked Bob, looking at Ando. "Then, I think you're not really interested in my proposal."

"What proposal?"

"You were beside Hiro Nakamura on his first journey in the USA. You can work with special people well. We, this Company always need employees, agents like you."

"Like Men in Black?" asked Ando. His anger disappeared and some kind of passion took its place.

"Something like that. You'll get a partner with abilities."

"Who? Can I meet him?" Kimiko tried to interrupt him but he simply didn't listen to her.

"At the moment not, but I can show you him." He turned the monitor of his computer towards Ando. In it, there was the surveillance from the cell of Nathan Petrelli. "I think you're already familiar with each other."

Ando looked at him like had just seen a ghost.

"If you're in we've booked you a room in Palace Antique."

Ando had to take a deep breath. He was hesitating. Bob's phone suddenly rang.

"I told you not to give any calls to me at the moment." he said.

"Sir, I think you should answer this." There was a short switch tone.

"Dad?" Bob's face fell. It was Elle's voice.

"Where are you, Elle?" There was a short pause.

"That doesn't matter. Where is Claire Bennet?"

"Why are you asking this?"

"I want to work on her case. I must."

"Elle, I've already sent someone there." Another short pause.

"Answer me, or you won't see me ever again. I'll put it down. I won't let..."

"No! Elle! Wait!" He was in a strange situation. Now he was the one without a choice. Don't matter what he had done or said, he loved his daughter. And she was here now, with one single wish. With this, he could get her back. "They're in Carson City, Nevada. Now, please tell me where you are."

"We'll meet there." she answered and put down the phone.

On the other end, Nicholas Senna was surprised how easy it was. He had only heard the girl's voice once but it was enough for him. He knew that Bob was her father, and although he was surprised that the Company didn't know anything about her location, he could turn this into his advantage. Now, he knew, where his destiny was leading him.

Angela reacted quickly. On the night of the ball, they both left with a plane to the United States. They wanted to disappear and they did just that. But, after they landed, and before they made their report to the agency, Angela made a telephone call. She didn't know that she wasn't alone: Peter was listening to her.

"Arthur, we need to get together. There are others like us on the commies' side, too. I met one of them during my mission. His name is Konstantin Starnov. Get Bob on the case. We must know everything about him."

Short pause.

"Yes, I can be more persuasive than him but they know me. They'll look for me. The power of gold should be enough. They don't have any, and they're greedy, very greedy."

Silence fell again.

"He's not the only one. There are others. Naturally, we must know everything about them, too. But first, find Starnov. He seemed to know a lot of them. Then, we have to kill them. All of them."

Peter was stunned by the cold and confident voice of his mother.

This time, Elle decided not to be aggressive. She simply knocked on the door. Someone looked out through the hole on it.

"Elle Bishop?" he asked. She nodded and he opened the door. Byron Bevington was a bit taller than she was, was in good trim, had short brown hair and brown eyes.

"You can see the future, huh?" she asked. She was impatient. "That's how you know my name?"

"Exactly." he answered.

"How can you see the future? I don't see any paintings." said she curiously as she looked around in the house. She turned back and saw that he was smiling.

"I'll show you." he answered. He stepped to a window, looking at the garden of his house.

"I see you. I see your death."

"My death?" asked she desperately. "When? How?"

He suddenly turned round and pointed a gun at her. She almost laughed.

"This?" asked she and tried to fire a lightning bolt towards him. But it didn't work.

"You missed. I'm next." he whispered. Before she could react, he tackled her and pushed her to the wall, putting the gun to her face. "Your ability won't work around me, whatever it is."

The push was strong, and without her ability, Elle was weak.

"I'll tell you why do you have to die here. Your damned father, Robert Bishop, was involved in the murder of mine, with some of his mates. I watched how they tortured him, forced him to betray his motherland and I saw how they killed him, and burned our house. But I stayed alive, and you'll become a part of my revenge, in this very moment."

"No!" shouted Elle. He took a step away and shot her in the chest. Then, two other bullets in her head. He was staring at Elle, when a younger, pot-bellied man came down the stairs.

"Not the best farewell to my old house, don't you think, Nicolai?"

"Didn't you see it, Byron?" replied Nicolai.

"Actually, I did" sighed he. "And some other things, you know."

"Yes, I do. Are you packed?" Byron nodded.

"I'll hide the corpse, as you said. I'll be back in an hour." said Nicolai. "Will you look into that window, while I'm gone?"

"I'll think about it." answered Byron.

"Well, Ann." began Bob after a few minutes of calming down. "I have your file in my hands, and I'm very glad that you have chosen us and we have chosen you." The woman opposite him nodded without a word. "You have been loyal, and have done a lot of messy, sometimes complicated work for the Company. So, you have been given a promotion."

For a moment, she smiled, but then, her pokerface returned.

"You'll get a partner with powers and an assignment right now."

"Who is my partner? Do I know him?"

"The correct word is her, and if I'm right, you don't know each other." He stood up, and opened the door of his office.

"Ann Willis" he began the instruction "meet Maya Herrera. Maya, she's Ann. Your new partner."

The two women greeted each other with a handshake.

"What's your ability?" asked Ann with enthusiasm. Maya didn't say a word, her eyes just fell.

"Later, Ann. Patience is very important, in this mission, too."

"What's the assignment?" asked Ann while she watched Bob sitting down again behind his desk.

"How do you prefer going back to Latin-America, Maya?" he asked.

First, she gulped. She could only answer after a few seconds.

"It makes me remember. I don't like it really. But you helped me, and I owe you."

Ann stored these words in her mind. Maya probably didn't have a very clear past.

During this, Bob gave them a thin document and a photo of a man with brown, creole skin and a small mustache.

"His name is Reginald Rios. We don't know much about him. Some tell that he had an argument with one of his acquaintances, and a few days later, this man's corpse was found in a yet unexplained condition."

"So we have to find out what happened?" asked Ann.

"And capture Rios as well. He proved that he is dangerous, very dangerous. You know the general instructions, Ann. During your flight to Bolivia, you can make Maya familiar with our policies. Good luck."

They were excited but full of fear. Both were rookies, both were new agents, sent on a seemingly dangerous mission on unfamiliar ground. Ann thought that it was about desperation time.

The door of Bob's office couldn't even close properly, when two men stepped in. Matt Parkman, and another man, unknown by Bob.

"What do you want?" asked he.

"I want to leave Nolan here." answered Matt.

"Why? What?"

"Listen here. I've helped you." Matt looked frustrated, angry and tired. "Now you'll help me. I have to travel away from here as fast as I can, and I won't bring him with me."

"Why?"

"Because it's my own business."

Matt began to hear Bob's thoughts.

"Great! I've just got rid of Claude, I'll get rid of Petrelli soon and now I get another one attached to me."

"What?" asked Matt.

Bob looked confused.

"You were thinking about a Petrelli." Matt pulled his gun, and Nolan pulled a string out of his pocket, too.

"I want to know more, Bob. Nathan's dead, Peter's disappeared, what the hell do you know?"

They stopped towards him, and he stepped back. He tried to pull someone out of his suit's pocket but Nolan was faster. He jumped on him, pushed him on his own desk, and held the string up, as he was trying to hit Bob.

"Calm down, Nolan." said Matt. "Just hold him there so I can talk to him."

"You made him a puppet, didn't you? Just like your father tried." he hissed.

"I'm not my father, Bob. But I don't like if something important is hidden from me." He began to read Bob's mind.

"No!" shouted he, but his thoughts were louder for Matt, for his mind.

"Nathan. Nathan Petrelli. Revived. Three floors down, in a cell. The cell is locked. The code..." The mind speech has gone silent. Instead, he heard that somebody has just half-cocked a gun behind them.

Both Nolan and Matt turned back. The Haitian was standing in the door of the office, pointing his gun at Nolan.

The only moment when nobody was looking at Bob was enough for him to pull his pistol out of his suit and place it beside Matt's neck.

"Shall we talk after we've calmed down, Mr. Parkman?" he asked quietly.