Chapter 12: Runaway

Claire woke up in the woods, beside a small campfire. She looked but didn't see anybody or anything significant since it was night. She didn't know when or had she fallen unconscious but she was a bit happy that she was awake now. Yet she was frightened. She didn't know anything this region. She didn't know where she was, she didn't know where the next city was. She only knew that she should not stay here. She slowly stood up. She still didn't see anyone. But someone had to ignite the campfire. She jumped up like a rabbit and began to run. For a few moments. Something tackled her and she was pushed to a nearby tree. She felt the pain but she still felt she was regenerating. She tried to stand up again but the force grabbed her neck and pushed her to the tree. Suddenly, a mid-aged man appeared out of nothing and he made her get even more frightened.

"I don't want to hurt you." he whispered. "In fact, I know I can't."

"How do you know about me?" asked Claire, amazed and afraid.

"What do you think? I was one of the two who brought you out of that damned fire."

"So you..."

"I worked with your father. You're right."

"Then why are we here?"

"I had to remind your father that he should hurry up and don't try to play the boss."

Claire tried a bluff.

"You'll surely get caught."

"Me?" he shrugged. "You hasn't known that I've even existed until I decided to show myself to you."

She looked into his light blue eyes and tried to speak confidently.

"He knows you. He'll find you. And you'll be in terrible danger when he does."

"You're still a kid. Let me tell you something about the people you're talking about. Hasn't your father told you how he had become my partner? Of course not, because he didn't know. Before him, my partner was an Indian guy, Haram Abderrahman. We were hunting a mass murder and she attacked him. We managed to deal the situation but Haram lost control for a moment and killed the bastard."

"And?" asked Claire. She didn't get the point.

"Haram disappeared. A few days after I noticed that he had left a message for me. He was killed by the Company."

Claire just stood there. Her neck was released so she could breath easily and so did she.

"Guess what. The Company killed my father, too." she said harshly.

As Nathan and Peter appeared at the door of their mansion, they didn't see anybody around. Nathan tried to yell, to call their mother's name out, but Peter suddenly grabbed his face, causing him to remain silent. Two policemen were moving towards them. Peter pulled his brother away from them and turned both of them invisible.

"Pretty messy." said one of them, a white-haired man. "This whole mansion without any heir. One kid murdered, one disappeared and now the mother killed."

"I bet it was some relative of her." said the other. "Maybe we should ask them if they have an alibi."

"Since there's no sign of intruder. She probably knew her assassin. Poor dame."

They opened the door during their conversation and left the mansion. But Peter didn't let Nathan go until he hit his younger brother.

"Peter!" shouted Nathan. He didn't answer. Tears started to appear in his eyes and he fell down. He looked like he could hardly keep his conscience.

"Mom's dead." he said. "Mom's dead."

"Peter." whispered Nathan. "We should expose ourselves. We must seek revenge. And Mom deserves to be mourned by her sons."

Peter's mind was full of thoughts. In one moment, he thought that Nathan was totally right, in another he thought that his survival should be kept secret, he thought about bringing Angela back, just like Nathan, and at another time, for one small moment, he thought that Nathan wasn't even crying. He was just as cold as Angela was, like their father was when Konstantin was killed.

"Peter! Peter!" he didn't hear Nathan's voice for a short time and he had to realize that his brother wasn't just calling his name out. He was crying in pain.

"Peter! What are you doing to me?"

Peter couldn't answer him. He didn't know what he was doing, he just saw Nathan in agony. Just like Konstantin's agony, when Arthur used his ability. He tried to stop it, come to conscience but he failed.

Nathan couldn't open his eyes for a short time. When he finally could, the remains of the immense pain were still in his bones, in his muscles, in his brain. But Peter was gone.

"Peter!" he shouted, calling his name. There was no answer.

"Did you find anything?" asked Sylar from Marie. "Do you have any idea?"

"Well" she answered "first, I looked around in the Internet. And guess what. I found the name on the second picture. Matt Parkman. He's a police officer and he lives here." As she was talking she threw a printed photo in front of him. Then, she grabbed her coat and moved towards the door of her flat.

"Where are you going?" asked Sylar.

"To the police station. I'll see this Parkman guy." she answered.

Sylar had a strange feeling about Parkman. As he saw the photo, he immediately recognized him and knew that he saw him at Kirby Plaza. At Kirby Plaza, surrounded by many people connected. He didn't know if he had an ability but his intuition told him not to meet him before Marie had.

"What should I do?" asked he.

"Don't you have an ability to cook?" she asked, smiling.

"Actually, I don't." he answered.

"Looks like you've bet on the wrong horse. I'm a terrible cook. Well, if you feel up to it, you can paint something." With these words, she closed the door.

For some reason, he couldn't help smiling.

Mohinder rushed so hastily in his flat, that his pure speed made Kamala frightened.

"Pack anything you want and get in the car outside." he said and he grabbed one of his bags.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Away." he answered curtly. She tried to read his mind but she managed to get only a few words. She thought that he was happy that he had decided to rent another flat, outside the facility, even if he had to leave Molly there. He couldn't have managed to make this escape out of the lab.

Kamala walked out of the flat and jumped to the back seat of Mohinder's car. There was another girl, a black one. She looked frightened, much more afraid than herself or Mohinder.

"I'm Monica." she whispered. Her voice sounded much more confident and much maturer than her look. "Monica Dawson."

"I'm Kamala. Kamala Abderrahman." she answered, after a short gulp. His brother told her not to give away her name but she trusted Mohinder. And she trusted him that he won't bring anyone near her who can pose a threat to her. And, in fact, she didn't see anything neither in Monica's soft, dark eyes nor in her thoughts.

With a loud bang, Mohinder jumped in the car, too.

"Where are we going?" asked both of the women.

"I don't know." he sighed. "The only thing I know that we can't stay here."

Nicholas woke up to something cold. Someone was spraying water in his eyes.

"I didn't expect to meet you this way, agent Senna." He heard a man's deep but cold voice. He knew he had heard this one before, even if from tape. It was Noah Bennet's voice.

"Neither did I" answered Nicholas, using Bennet's voice. "agent Bennet."

Bennet quickly pulled a gun, and hit Nicholas' face with it.

"If I kill you" he whispered "I won't get any answers."

"Answers for what? I don't work for the Company any more."

"No, you're just pretending that, to get close to Claire. Am I right?" he shouted. "Where is she? Don't think I won't kill you if I think you're useless.

Nicholas tried to remember. The only thing he knew that he was hit at the arena. He didn't know what happened to Claire after that.

"Tell me where's your damned friend, Claude Rains!" yelled Bennet.

"I don't know who you're talking about." stammered Nicholas.

"Then, where's Sylar?"

"I don't know. He killed DeFargau. He ordered me to run and I ran. Claire was safe. I didn't have anything to do there. I hardly got away."

Bennet paused for about a minute. This just made Nicholas more and more frightened. If he could see in his head...

"You know, Claire didn't mention you. I knew about your existence from another source. Do you know why?"

"No, Mr. Bennet, I don't. But I have to tell that we are all in the same boat. We both want the same thing: your daughter safe and happy."

"Why should I believe you?" he asked.

"Don't. But I bet, if you realize that I'm lying, I'll be shot down like a dog. Please, let me help you. Do you know where could this Rains guy be?"

Noah didn't answer just cut his ropes and put his gun away.

"We're all clean." told the gangster named Spike, who was the leader of this group of 17th street gang members. But that didn't help. All of them was searched, and after that, the Dallars let them do the same. Spike decided to search the two main guys. He didn't find anything at the first one, and he tried to step to the other guy, Hype, when he quickly pulled his gun and put it to his head. Everyone was watching him.

"It's just business, man." whispered Spike. "What do you want?"

"I want it to end." Hype Wilson pulled the trigger, and then, before anybody could reach him, shot down himself, too.

If Matt hadn't had this ability, he would have been hopeless. But since he could control everybody's brain, he could escape quite easily, order the first homeless to change clothes with him, and even persuade the taxi driver to take him to his house without being forced to pay. As he got out of the cab, he was in a dark but nostalgic mood. The cordons that were out because the house was a crime scene, were already removed and his former house looked almost new. Except, all the curtains were shirred, and that made Matt feel really strange. It was his house, but it wasn't. He walked to the door, and tried to open it. Naturally, it was closed. He looked around, scratching his head. He didn't have the keys to this house any more and there was no one around who could let him in. Suddenly, he heard a faint noise. He instinctively tried to finger his gun, but it wasn't there. A black, seemingly homeless man with rasta hair was stepping out from beside the house.

"Hey, man, are you this?" he murmured. As he spoke, his voice let Matt know that he was possibly drunk. He showed him a paper, with the name "Parkman" on it.

Matt didn't ask anything about the man, about how does he know his name. He got into his head without any hesitation. He read his memories. It didn't take to long for him to find the one he was looking for. The man was woken up by someone, in the middle of the night, in downtown LA. There wasn't many light, so the only thing he saw that the man who woke him up, was wearing glasses. He told the black man where to go, gave him the paper and twenty dollars. Then, he simply walked away and the black man fell asleep again. The next morning, he looked at the paper but it meant nothing to him so he decided to go there and find this Parkman guy. Maybe he gives him more than twenty bucks.

Matt became furious and tore out the paper from the man's hand and began to read the back of it.

"We have what you want. Get to the place of the Malsky incident. We'll contact you soon."

Peter simply flopped down and took a look at his bare hands. He was totally devastated because of what he had done. He attacked his brother, the person he loved the most. He was confused. He didn't know why he wasn't able to stop torturing Nathan. He thought about their parents. There were so many things they didn't know about them. He didn't even know that his father, his beloved father had an ability. He couldn't imagine how and when did he use it. How did he become familiar with it? Was it a curse or a blessing for him? Did he torture Angela, too, just accidentally? And were there any more questions about it? How did they handle their abilities? How could they decide when or how should they use it? So many questions, he could have asked from them but he didn't. And now, they are all dead, and he is near to lose the only person he can trust. He must be miles away from him. And in fact, he didn't know where he was. He looked around and realized that he was in Odessa, just in front of the police station. At the place where he saw his present mother for the last time.

He thought if this was a sign? Does anyone want anything with him or is he just a useless piece, forced to pretend to be someone he's not. Forced not to use his abilities, because of their instabilities and those posed a threat to anyone around him? He thought about living without any human contact, like a hermit. This was the moment when he blacked out.

Marie considered herself as very lucky. He got into the police station without any unnecessary questions. No one asked her if he knows Parkman, or why is she looking for him. He got to his partner in minutes. His name was Fuller and he was a mid-aged, black officer.

"Why isn't Mr. Parkman here?" she asked. "I would like to talk with him."

"Miss Williams" answered Fuller with pure disappointment "believe me, if I had any information about Matt Parkman, I would tell it to you in this very moment."

"How do you mean you don't know anything about him?" she asked, confused.

"He has gone out of town almost without a word. I got a message that he was on holiday in LA because of some family business. Since then, I tried to call him many times, but no one answered my calls."

Marie was disappointed, too. They saw an exact name on one of the paintings. A clue to solve a maybe colossal mystery but it just slipped away. She left her number at Fuller and asked him to contact her if they have any information about Parkman but unfortunately this was the most she can do.

She walked out of the Fuller's office with her head turned down. Suddenly, something came to his mind from Psychology lectures which she had attended to before. She decided to suggest herself. In fact, she could do everything she could and they have more clues to go after. In addition, it might have become more since she had left. She lifted her head and her focus. And she almost froze. She saw a too familiar face on the wanted list. Although he wore glasses, he could recognize Gabriel. She read why he was wanted for. She became shocked when she realized that Gabriel Gray had murdered his own mother. And this man was resting in her house. Despite this, she decided not to tell the police. She was frightened but this made her even more courageous. She wanted to see how she can handle a man like him.

Hiro moved as quick as he could – and this meant unimaginably fast. First, he went to Hartsdale but he had to realize that there were just workers, moving the whole facility. Luckily, one of them could tell him where they were heading. As he appeared in New Mexico, he ran directly into Bob. He tried to say something but Hiro didn't listen to him, just ran towards the first, hospital-looking door he saw. He find what he wanted: Ando was lying in a bed, he was conscious but his shoulder was covered with some drape and it was a bit bloody. As Hiro stepped in – with Bob on his heels – Ando smiled on him.

"What happened, Ando?" asked he.

"Nothing serious, the doctor says. It's just a surface wound."

"I'm sorry." he murmured. "I shouldn't have let this happen."

Ando still smiled.

"I tried to be Men In Black. Maybe I'm not tough enough."

"Don't say that. You are my partner. Forever."

"In the cubicle. It's dangerous outside."

"You saved me many times. I'm sorry, my friend, for not being at the right place when you needed me."

Ando offered Hiro his hand.

"I'm OK, Hiro."

"Just a few days, and you can go back on track again" interrupted a woman "if you want to. If Mohinder wanted to kill you, he would have done it. But no, he shot you in the shoulder."

Hiro turned back and became amazed in one simple moment.

"Dr. Wang Kwanze."

"Kwanzhe's the correct form, Mister. Do we know each other?" asked Wang.

"We've already met. Three years later, in the future."

Everybody's face fell, except his.

Claire was in a total stress during the hours of hiding. They have settled down in a lodge for the night, because Claude said he needed sleep. Claire did need some too, but she was too excited to fall asleep. Since Claude was invisible, even during sleeping, she couldn't know if he's really asleep and so she could try to escape or he is just watching her. She pulled the blanket on her, closed her eyes, acted like she was asleep, but her mind was like a power station.

Suddenly, she heard some wood, the material of the lodge breaking and in the next moment, something was thrown in the room. She opened her eyes for one moment and it was a very bad decision. It was a flashbang and it exploded just when she tried to look around. Although she didn't see anything, she jumped up and shouted for help.

Someone grabbed her but he couldn't decide who was it.

"Help!" shouted she but there was no answer. So she thought it was Claude holding her again.

"You knew that this would happen, Claude. You knew you wouldn't be able to hide now." This voice was a lifeline for Claire. It was Noah's voice.

"Now nobody can see each other. We're evenly matched, Claude." If the first voice was a lifeline, this one pushed both of them to the deepest darkness. It was Noah's voice, too, but from another place.

"Let's make things clear, Bennet." shouted Claude. "Your daughter is in my hands. So you'll let me go away."

"And what prevents me from shooting you down?"

"Dad!" shouted Claire. "Help me!"

"No, he won't!" shouted Claude. "Let us go!"

"Yes, he will!" shouted Claude again, but from another place, farther from Claire.

"What the...?" yelled Claude beside Claire's ear.

Claire felt that the hold is becoming weaker until Claude let her go.

"I'm here, Claire Bear." whispered Noah.

Slowly, her sight became clearer. Noah was hugging her and Nicholas' blond hair was almost lighting in the darkness. As she stepped, she realized that Claude was lying dead on the floor, and she was standing in his blood.

"I lied." said Noah. "I brought some IR glasses."

He looked down on Claude's corpse. "No one gets away with hurting my family, Claude Rains."

You might run. You might run as fast as you can but you can't run away. No matter when will destiny come squarely in your way, it will choose the moment when you don't count on it. It can break or fuse families, friendships, but it is always hiding. Just when you think that it let you to have a blink on it, in the next moment you have to realize that it is farther than you think.

Sylar wasn't happy when he saw the results of his work. There were only two paintings in front of him. In the first, he saw Bennet and Claire sitting somewhere and having a conversation. In the second, there were two figures, too: Peter Petrelli and Suresh arguing with each other.