Chapter 18: The unstoppable flood

We harm and heal, we create and destroy. It's only up to us which side do we choose. It is our decision that we try to help, erasing all the enormous damage created before us, or we can choose to cut. Cut into flesh, harm the living. Sometimes it is necessary but mostly it is not. Yet, why do so many people on Earth choose this way?

Suddenly, the Russian shouted and collapsed. Claire was standing behind him and she was holding a tazor in her hand.

"Surface wounds." she said. "Now, let's kill him." And she got the gun in her hand.

"No." interrupted Noah. "We need him alive. For this time. I'll go out to the car for my suitcase. Watch him!"

After a few minutes, Noah came back and pulled a tube and a flask full of some liquid out of the suitcase.

"What are you going to do?"

"I can't threat him. We must keep him calm, he can't use his ability while we are interrogating him. So I'm going to drug him a bit. Hopefully, this makes him tell the truth."

"The truth about what?" asked Claire.

"About the others." answered Noah while he was putting the tube into the man's nose.

"And then what?"

"We'll send him to the States. An order came that the Company needs a villain for research purposes."

"A lab rat?" asked Claire. She was disgusted.

"Pretty much so." Noah turned away from her and slapped the Russian, making him wake up.

"What is your name?" asked Noah, just to test the serum's effect.

"Vassily Siviliyov."

"Everybody knows you as Ivan Dussov." said Noah, calmly. It didn't make sense, to lie in such an unimportant question.

"It's my alias. My parents tried to hide me."

"From who?"

"From our enemies. From the yanks."

"Is there anyone else like you?"

There was a short pause until Vassily spoke again.

"Irina. Irina Yeronova."

"Where is she?" asked Noah harshly.

"She lives outside the city, in an old warehouse. She's keeping someone there."

"How do you know that?" asked Noah. The last sentence raised his interest very much.

"She spoke to me about that."

"Anyone else?"

"Nicolai Starnov, but I don't know where he is. I haven't met him for a long time."

"We won't get far with this." murmured Noah. "What is Irina's ability?"

"She's not dangerous. She hears people."

"Is she protected?"

"I don't know." rattled Vassily. "I presume no..." And he passed out.

Noah stood up.

"OK. I'm ordering a crew to take him to the States, Claire, please, get ready. We'll round up this girl, too. Maybe she'll lead us to Nicolai."

"Is this an ordinary day for an agent?" she asked.

While dialing, Noah nodded.

Just a few minutes later than Matt left to talk with Molly, someone knocked on the door of Nathan's office. He told that it was open. Two people stepped into the room. Both of them was a surprise for Nathan, especially the man.

"Nathan?" asked Ando. "What are you doing here?"

He looked up, confused just like his former partner was.

"I've been promoted lately. But what are you doing here?"

Before he could answer, the woman interrupted him.

"He's helping my research. Alongside with Hiro Nakamura."

"Hiro is here?" asked Nathan curiously.

"He was. He has left." answered Ando.

"But there is something more important here." said the woman.

"I think as I'm sitting in this chair, it's my duty to decide what is important and what is not, Miss..." he hesitated because he didn't know the woman's name.

"Doctor. Doctor Wang Kwanzhe, Mister Petrelli. And before you decide, you should think about the consequences of a major computer shutdown."

Nathan became more curious.

"Is it considerably possible?"

"My computer has been attacked with a virus." she answered. "It does look serious. Someone hacked our system."

"A virus? A hacker. Great. Any more good news?"

"Shouldn't you..." shouted Wang.

"Act? I will. In this moment." he said as he was moving towards the window. "Your job is to find Hiro for the moment. Mine is to find answers for your case." He jumped out and flew away.

As they appeared in the middle of a room, Mohinder and Kamala hoped that nobody had noticed them. Kamala offered to shut down electricity but they decided not to. They needed at least the lights.

"Where are we?" asked Kamala, looking around. There wasn't much light in the room, just lots of boxes and paper.

"I don't know." answered Mohinder. "Maybe this is the archive room, well under the ground. If I was them, I wouldn't guard the archive files directly but the floor in front of the room.

"I have it covered." said Kamala confidently. "Just stay around me."

Mohinder didn't notice any change in their environment.

"What did you do?"

"I turned both of us invisible. Now, let's get out of here."

"I hope this ability won't be tested seriously." murmured Mohinder to himself.

They opened the door, and ran out.

"Where is Molly's room?" asked she.

"Second floor. And it really looks like we're in the first basement. Would you teleport us up?"

"If you want to. But we can also take an elevator."

"The faster the better." whispered Mohinder.

"OK. Then... wait." she said, and she stared to another point, well over his head.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"No, this isn't possible. He can't have been caught." murmured she, to herself. Then, she looked at him. "We're taking another way. There is someone else here, waiting to be free."

Mohinder looked back at her and could almost see fire in it.

Byron Bevington looked a really gray man. There was hardly anything noticeable about his appearance. He was small, fat, he wore glasses and a brown suit. He didn't seemed to be different from anyone else on the streets of Minneapolis. But everyone in the room, both Peter and Nicolai knew that he was really different. After Nicolai had introduced them to each other, he left soon. He said he had some business.

"A bit weird, isn't he?" asked Byron.

"Yes, he is." said Peter curtly. "But if you don't mind, there is much more at stake, so I wouldn't like to talk about him."

Byron stared at Peter.

"Are you doubtful? Maybe, I can help you."

Peter gulped before the answer.

"I don't know what is happening to me. With my abilities. Sometimes, everything slips out of my control. Sometimes, I can't even use the simplest of them."

"I guess you know that I can't control what I see."

Peter nodded. He hadn't forgot the things in Ireland.

"At least, I should give a try."

He looked at the window of his room but nothing seemingly extraordinary happened.

Suddenly, Peter felt like someone had grabbed his throat and everything turned black for a moment. After that, he saw himself standing. It was night and he was in an unknown city. He held out his hand and lightning erupted from it, hitting someone. The other person shouted loudly, coldly. He suffered for some seconds and then, he flew into the skies. Peter flew after him. He made a quick turn, and landed quickly. His clothes were seriously burnt. Peter turned after him immediately, began to fly towards him. And the other person turned, stopped Peter in his flight, and in the same moment, his face could be seen.

It was Sylar.

Matt was quiet and Molly was not used to this. She could feel that she was nervous. After a few minutes of walking, without even a single word, he sat down beside her, on her bed.

"I don't want to get inside your head, and it seems that now I'm unable to begin."

"Begin with what, Matt?" asked she.

He laughed.

"I simply can't believe that I've made such a great journey, just to be stopped by my fears."

She put her hand and his.

"Go on." she whispered.

"I've found Janice. And there was a question I wanted to ask her about."

"Say it out, Matt." said Molly calmly.

"I don't want to hurt your feelings. But I... excuse me, I and Janice... we want to adopt you."

Molly smiled and laughed because of her happiness. She jumped on Matt and hugged him.

"You know you were always like my father." she whispered.

"I love you, Molly." he said. "And I know you miss them. I know what is it like. I missed my father, too."

"You're a good father." she whispered as she began to cry.

Monica quickly became desperate because of the old man's behavior. He didn't look like he was interested in his own safety. He was strolling down the streets as he was living his old life, but now, the once safe and tidy streets were ruined by armed gangsters.

"What are you doing?" she asked many times, before she got something similar to an answer.

"I know much about death. I don't have to be afraid of it." answered Wiklum. Monica had her opinion about this kind of philosophy. He might just be taking a bad step, and he would be shot down, leaving Monica alone. And she knew that she cannot solve this mystery alone. She really needed his help. While they were walking down, a question came to her mind.

"Do dead people speak French?" she asked.

"I don't know. I just understand what they saying."

"But how do you hear them?"

"I go where they have died and I can speak to them and hear them."

"How many people died on this street?" she asked, although she wasn't sure she really wanted to know the answer. But it came.

"More than you could imagine."

"Can you speak with them?"

Wiklum nodded and stopped. Sometimes, his voice sounded like a song but it always remained deep and monotone like it always was.

"They speak about a Spirit Guide. Someone immeasurably strong who kidnaps people, making them fearsome and ferocious at the same time."

"A Spirit Guide?" repeated Monica, although the meaning of the words wasn't totally clear for her. "Can we find it?"

For some minutes, he didn't answer. After that, he shouted.

"My challenge!"

He began to run so fast that it was difficult even for Monica to follow him. He turned left at the next corner and ran straight to a former shop building.

Marie was very surprised. He didn't imagine Gabriel the way he had behaved lately. After he drew that tiny thing into the snow, he became very calm, and a bit quiet, too. He stopped looking around, just sat in his room, stared in front of him and rarely talked.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked in a morning, a few days after that night.

"For the right moment." he answered curtly.

"How do you know that it is the best moment?"

"I feel it. I can't explain it but I will know."

She drank a bit of her coffee.

"Have you read Gautama? Buddha?" she added, looking that he didn't understand.

Gabriel shook his head.

"Quite a pity." she said. "You know, he talked about the Nirvana and some meanings of life, higher than the most understand."

"What do you want to say?" interrupted Gabriel.

"You look quite philosophical sometimes. Like now. You just sit here, although you had a clear purpose to come here. And yet, you aren't doing anything. Just meditating. Maybe you are seeking the way to enlightenment."

"What is enlightenment? Can you explain that?"

"Of course, I can't." she said. "Enlightenment is not universal. For every one of us, every unique person, it is different. Like we all are."

There was a pause for some seconds.

"Can enlightenment come together with immortality?" asked Gabriel.

"In what kind of a way? The soul is immortal. Who would want more than that?"

"Someone whose body is, too. And someone who has seen his death yet it hasn't happened."

Niki and Micah didn't have many places to go. He suggested them to go as far as they could, maybe buy a house from the money he could get, or stay in a hotel for some days, but without using their old names. Except a few things, they wanted to leave their old, disturbed life behind. They bought two tickets for a bus, on its way to Phoenix. When they were just about to depart, a middle-aged man wearing a suit stopped them. Seeing his face surprised Niki very much.

"Nathan?" she stammered. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to help you on your journey."

"If you want to do that, you should better take a step away and let us go."

He turned his head back and looked for their destination.

"And if I say I need something from you?"

"What can you need? And what can you give?"

"I can't give anything except the promise of a better world."

"I'm not really interested."

"So you throw away your only chance to make a difference? You want to run for the rest of your life?"

"I nearly killed you once. Don't force me to do that now."

"May I ask your son?" he asked. She nodded curtly.

"What about you, Micah? If you could help the world, would you say no?"

For about a minute, Micah didn't answer.

"Can we trust this man, Mom?" she asked.

Niki turned back and nodded.

"Show me how." he answered.

"Are you both ready to fly?" asked Nathan.

"You have a private jet or what?" interrupted Micah.

"No. For this journey, you have one."

Mohinder was both amused and a bit frightened how easy it was, stepping in the elevator, in front of the eyes of an armed guard, although they weren't invisible any more because that couldn't have protected them, so Kamala made illusions. Yet, they didn't go on the second floor, they headed down, slipped away from another security guard and phased through another door. Kamala seemed really shocked as she saw the man chained to a bed, and who was drugged.

"Claude! No! Claude!" she cried silently.

He held her in his arms as she almost collapsed. After a few minutes of calming down, Mohinder stepped away from her and pulled the tube out from Claude's arm. As he was waking up, Mohinder asked Kamala.

"Who is this man?"

"He's a friend of my brother. He had been protecting me for years." Suddenly, she rushed to him, trying to hurry his waking up. As Claude woke up, he wasn't so calm.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he shouted immediately. Kamala took a step back.

"Stop! Both of you!" interrupted Mohinder.

"This is not your business!" shouted Claude as he took another step towards her.

"Yes, it is, my friend. I brought her here and I'm also here to get you out."

"You should have never done that." murmured Claude.

"How could I leave you here?" whispered Kamala.

"You should have. Especially now. They brought a damned telepath here and now they know that you exist. It was all for nothing."

"A telepath?" asked Mohinder. "Mid-aged guy with black hair, a bit fat?"

Claude focused on him again.

"Do you know him?" he asked.

"I thought I knew. If he is here, it will make my job much more difficult."

"You should have come alone. She's too much worth."

"I offered him help. You don't know him." stammered Kamala. "And I won't leave without him." she added.

Claude looked from Mohinder to Kamala three or four times.

"You should calm down and get out as quickly as possible. I'll handle him. OK?" he instructed them.

"As far as I get what I want." answered Mohinder.

"I'll wait for you." she added.

As they left the room, Claude began to whisper to Mohinder.

"Watch out. This might get a bit messy. I'll get you up but your mind-reader friend is your job."

Hiro stopped time once again and he knew that he was near to his purpose. He came to the building he was told and he did see some people who looked like Yakuza. But even in frozen time, he didn't do anything to them. He thought that living with the shame that someone fooled them was more punishment for them than death. He walked right past them and naturally, they couldn't notice him. He was like a ghost, a nightmare for them right now.

He walked down a stained stairway, leaving many armed people behind him. He felt like he was Kensei, a modern Kensei who would teach these villains a lesson.

He reached a steel door. He was so happy. He knew that this was the place he was looking for. As he couldn't walk through the door, he teleported behind it. He saw his sister, tied to a chair. As usual, she looked very angry.

To show the Yakuza who they were messing with it, he decided to start time and show themselves in real time. Only then will they escape. They would know who had done that with them, but surely, they won't dare to touch him. Or anyone around him.

For one moment, Kimiko looked very surprised. Then she shouted.

"Hiro! Behind you!"

But Hiro couldn't turn in time. Someone grabbed his face and his neck, and suddenly he felt like someone was strangling him for a time that seemed immeasurably long. He tried to stop time but it didn't work. As the feeling of the strangle disappeared, he felt very tired. And in the next moment, he was punched unconscious, too.

"What do you want now?" asked Matt angrily. "I had to leave her alone."

"I just suggested a meeting for all of us." answered Nathan calmly. "To solve a very urgent program."

In the room, there were three more people. Doctor Wang first, a blond woman, who seemed known for Matt. After a moment he realized that she was the one who killed Malsky and he remembered something about her in the Kirby Plaza fight, too. There was a kid, too, who Matt didn't recognize.

"Could you tell us what is the problem with this, Micah?" asked Nathan, pointing on a computer. On its monitor, a huge lizard could be seen, similar to a dragon.

He put his hand on it.

"It's not responding. Like a person who is deaf, or something like that."

"Can you cure it?" asked Nathan. "If you don't mind that question."

"He's not a doctor. Neither a mechanic." interrupted the blond woman.

"I don't know." said the kid.

But Matt wasn't listening to him, instead to the doctor's thoughts.

"Of course, he can't. I have already tried."

"Why do you think you can handle this?" said Matt out. Everyone turned back to them. "What do you know? Your a doctor, aren't you?"

She looked at him, with clear fear in her eyes.

"Wha... what?" she stammered.

"You said you have tried to stop this. How?" he entered her head and in the first moment, he heard two words. "It's mine."

He got out immediately.

"Why do you think it's yours?"

She burst out into tears. It took a while for her to calm down.

"Many years ago, I was working for the Chinese government. For the secret service. They asked me to construct a powerful computer virus. I lived in the country, I had just got familiar with computers and the Internet, so I did it. It was an experiment and before I could complete it, I realized what have I been doing, destroyed every copy I found and left the country. But now, I could catch a glimpse of the code of the virus and it's similar to mine."

"You knew this and you didn't say a word?" asked Nathan sharply.

"How would you feel if you constructed a monster like this?" she asked. "I was ashamed, I wanted to leave all this behind myself."

Nathan took a deep breath.

"Now, you'll have the opportunity to fix it."

Wang nodded.

"OK." sighed Matt. "Can I go now?"

Nathan nodded to him, too.

Like they had done before, as they reached the old warehouse, they got ready to attack without any hesitation. Noah broke in immediately and Claire followed him, close.

"There is too much open space." whispered he to himself. They didn't see much of the place, either since there was not much light and this made their situation more complicated. They searched through the ground floor. It took many minutes for them to find anything noticeable – Claire found a stair walk. Noah instructed her to go up and prepare to fire, while he would cover her back.

She took all of her steps carefully and as quiet as she could. Just as she got up, she collided with someone. Metal clanged and she took a step back and aimed her gun to her attacker.

"I give up. Just don't shoot. Don't shoot." sighed a woman. Presumably Irina. She was heaving.

"Got her!" shouted Claire and her father rushed up, too.

"Is there anyone else here?" asked Noah hastily. He was surprised that this would be so easy for them and he feared further attack.

"At the moment, it's just me." answered Irina.

"Is someone coming here?"

"No. But I have to go away."

"In this moment, you won't go anywhere." said Noah roughly. He was still trying to get used to the darkness and seeing through it, for the expected danger.

"You don't get it." she said. "I have to go away. For your sake, too."

"Why?" asked Claire and Noah in the same time.

"I put all of my cards on the table." she said. Her voice was slowly getting calmer. "Your attack has been known for a long time. We've made some countermeasures."

"Why do you say we?" interrupted Noah.

"I'm talking about me and Nicolai."

"Where is he?" he asked.

"You have much more to worry about. Your life is at stake."

"You could have been easily moved away. We would have never found you." noticed Claire. "Why are you here?"

"That's not the point!" she shouted. "If I'm not report to him that I'm safe in an hour, you, man will die. The girl won't – she's not able to."

Claire tried to find his father's eyes.

"I think she's bluffing. What's your opinion?"

"Damn! I'm in your hands! Why would I lie to you?" she shouted.

"To walk away safely." said Claire quietly. "If I were you, I would do exactly the same."

"You die!" she shouted and she jumped up, towards Noah. Claire reacted instinctively and pulled whatever was in her right hand, the nearer to her father.

A gun barked and someone collapsed. For some moments, someone's breath was the only thing that could be heard.

"Dad!" Claire called.

"I'm here." answered Noah and he started to get up. "You have a pretty good shot." he added. "You shot her dead."

"Well, nobody can say I'm not your daughter." she pointed out, with a slight smile on her face.

"Come on." said Noah. "If the Haitian is here, we should find him."