Chapter 3- Let's Make a Deal
Peter and Noah both looked at the tangled pile of humanity that had appeared on the floor of Peter's dimly lit and sparsely furnished apartment. Hiro disentangled himself and leapt to his feet staring at Jim who was looking around in a daze. "Mr. Kirk!" He exclaimed astonished. "Why did you come?"
Jim stood to face him straightening his uniform in an attempt to regain at least a shred of his dignity. "I didn't know I had a choice." He replied bitterly. He narrowed his sharp blue eyes for effect and Hiro bowed his head in shame. Jim Kirk had been party to some fairly fucked up things in his time, but this one took the cake. It just went to prove what his best friend Bones always said: no good deed went unpunished.
"Who's your friend?" A man also wearing glasses asked amused while a younger man looked on with a dead expression as though suddenly appearing people was nothing new to him.
"James T. Kirk," he stated defiantly looking the men in the eyes, "Captain of the starship Enterprise." The two men looked at each other and raised their eyebrows as though he were crazy which only made him angrier. He felt a shock of adrenaline when he noticed a large handgun at the waist of the man wearing glasses. An actual gun that fired projectiles. Bones once showed him pictures of what kind of damage that did to human bodies. "My first officer will be looking for me and trust me when I say you do not want to deal with an angry Vulcan." He warned.
The younger man stretched out his hand and said, "We are not going to hurt you, James. What happened was an accident, you must have been touching Hiro when he jumped." There was something almost hypnotically relaxing about his voice and Jim found himself lowering his guard a bit. "I'm Peter and this is Noah." He continued gesturing the man with the gun.
"Peter Petrelli?" Jim asked glancing at Hiro.
"Yeah." Peter confirmed a bit perplexed. "How did you know?"
Jim jerked his head toward Hiro and answered, "He said he knew you and that your brother was an ass or something like that." Peter chuckled despite himself.
"There are no more special people in the future." Hiro chimed in. "We must stop Nathan."
"James, do you know of any humans in your time that can do…unusual things?" Noah asked with an air of authority.
"Call me Jim." He instructed. He really hated being called James, only his grandma could get away with that. "And no. Humans are not capable of extraordinary things. Well, aside from saving the planet from utter destruction."
"We know a little something about that." Peter mused and Hiro nodded grimly.
"Are you saying you can?" Jim challenged folding his arms into his best skeptical Bones pose. "Hiro told me you can do all kinds of things."
Peter looked at Hiro and sighed. He really didn't like being thought of as a sideshow freak. Still, he stretched forth his hand and made one of his kitchen chairs levitate a few inches off the ground for a second or two before gently returning it to the floor.
Jim's eyes were wide with wonder. "So it is true!" He breathed. "Evolved humans did exist!"
"Did?" Noah prompted placing his hands on his hips inadvertently exposing his rather large weapon a little more.
Jim shifted his gaze to the older man and explained. "It was always a rumor that evolved humans existed sometime before the third World War. There were hints of them in documents from that time, but no real solid evidence. And then just like that," he snapped his fingers and Peter jumped slightly, "they were gone."
Noah glanced uneasily at Peter and asked, "Do you remember hearing about a man named Nathan Petrelli or any of the names of evolved people connected to this disappearance?"
"No." Jim answered shaking his head. "But I wasn't really all that into it since it seemed more like a fairy tale than reality. I tell you who would be helpful- my chief engineer, Scotty. He loves this kind of shit and I wouldn't be surprised if he has a whole drawer full of stuff on this in his office."
"I am not going to jerk you around here, Jim," Noah announced in a serious tone, "but you may well be looking at the last remaining evolved humans. They have been disappearing steadily over the past few days never to be heard from again. There are a few more out there that I could gather, but they have no place to hide."
"I see." Jim immediately caught his drift and the negotiator in him kicked in. "I could offer you sanctuary on my ship and access to all the resources I have on this disappearance thing in exchange for a little research of our own."
Peter shifted uneasily and asked, "What kind of research?" He could just imagine vivisection being in the cards and healing power or not, he didn't want any part of that.
"Starfleet insists your kind does not exist. If we can get some autobiographical and physiological data on how your powers work, I would consider it a fair trade." He explained.
Noah glanced at Peter and Hiro. "I have the perfect person in mind, but you have to give me some time to catch him."
Peter immediately shot Noah a fierce look. "You are going to give them Sylar? Do you know what he will do?" Even Hiro seemed to think it was a bad idea. Jim didn't know who this Sylar person was, but it didn't seem like he was the most popular guy in the school yard.
Noah ignored Peter's protest and directed his attention to Jim. "I can give you perhaps the most powerful evolved human in existence, but it will be done my way. This guy is no pussy cat, but you can do whatever you want to him- no holds barred."
Jim nodded in agreement, although he knew Bones would require some convincing. He noted the old stethoscope that snaked around Peter's neck and wondered if he was a doctor as well. He knew the good doctor would never do anything as barbaric as cut him open to see how he ticked, but it seemed like these people didn't care enough about this Sylar guy to prevent that from being his fate and he found that a little sickening. He wondered if Sylar felt the same about them.
"I should go too, then." Peter said with a sigh. "Just in case." He didn't need to say it out loud because Hiro and Noah knew that he was probably the only one who had a chance in stopping Sylar should something go wrong, although Kirby Plaza was something he tried hard to forget.
"Hiro," Noah began slowly as though he were addressing a guilty child, "can you take Jim and Peter back to his time and make it back?"
Hiro held his head high and gave one sharp nod in determination which made Noah smile, but he knew that now was not the time to be lost in time with such precious cargo in order to save face. "Alright, then. Meet me back here and I will gather the others."
Hiro placed a hand on each of the men's shoulders and thought of the bar he had come from as he closed his eyes. Jim was about to ask if he should also close his eyes or hold his breath, but he was gone before his mouth could form the words, leaving Noah alone in Peter's apartment wondering if he had made the right decision. He had to be satisfied because if he did nothing, the future was certain- there would be no more specials. After 20 years in this business, that was an outcome he just couldn't abide.
He let himself out of Peter's modest apartment and wondered what Angela thought of her son's living conditions. She had probably never seen it for herself since she would never be caught dead in this neighborhood.
He exhaled and watched his breath dissipate into the cold night air. The drizzle had stopped and he focused his attention on bagging and tagging Sylar all on his own. It was easier in the past when he wasn't as strong or skilled and he had the Haitian to neutralize what powers he did have. But the Haitian was on the MIA list and Sylar had become wise to his tactics, making the task all the more daunting. All he could do was find him and then play his hand as the cards were dealt in the hopes that he was the better poker player.
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Spock had clipped his communicator back on his belt and looked once more at the paper currency in the flashing lights of the sign above the entrance that read, "Big Mamma's Bar." The currency was well worn and slightly soft to the touch. It bore the likeness of a former president named Hamilton and overall had a pinkish orange hue although it was tough to tell with the intermittent red splash of light. Spock once heard that you could tell what a culture valued most by what was on its money and to him it seemed that early Americans were quite fond of themselves judging by the number of times "The United States of America" was printed on the surface.
He looked up when the doors opened and he heard a familiar voice almost whine, "I feel sick." Jim was bent over holding his stomach while the Asian man looked on. Another man with EMT on his back instructed him to sit. "Take a few deep breaths and it will pass. It takes a few times to get used to." He encouraged.
"I don't know that I want to." Jim wheezed between breaths. "Jesus, transporters aren't that rough."
"Captain?" Spock inquired as he slowly approached. Although the humans seemed harmless, the Asian one did kidnap his superior and now he had an accomplice. He remained on guard just in case.
"Spock!" Jim smiled although he was still a little pale. "You will not believe what just happened!"
"Likely not, but I am willing to examine the details." He answered dryly. The truth was, any explanation was better than what he had which was exactly nothing, but he wasn't about to admit that.
"It's true!" Jim exclaimed blue eyes sparkling with wonder. "They do exist! I accidently went back in time with Hiro and this is Peter," he said gesturing to EMT man, "and there are more! They will be staying on the ship for awhile because they are in trouble."
Spock straightened a little and placed his hands behind his back. He had already made up his mind to speak with Dr. McCoy regarding Jim's recent hallucinations, but now he wanted to bring people with unknown abilities onto the ship? He would have outright dismissed Jim's ramblings, but the logical part of his brain balked at the unexplained phenomenon of personally witnessing them vanish before his very eyes and now they were back. He was reasonably sure they were at the only entry point of the establishment, so he couldn't have snuck past him. Aside from this, there was EMT man whom Spock knew for a fact was not previously in the bar.
Spock was not a man who routinely listened to his gut instinct because feelings were illogical, but he had a very bad feeling about this. He just had no way of expressing his concern to Jim because in the end he was the Captain and there was no reason he could not take refugees aboard, even if they were from an alternate timeline. He couldn't remember any Starfleet regulation that prohibited it which meant it didn't exist.
His eyes remained fixed on EMT man as he once again removed his communicator and hailed the ship. "Mr. Scott, are the transporters back online?"
"Aye, Sir." Scotty reported cheerfully. "They just came back up to full power."
"Four to beam up then, Mr. Scott." Spock informed dispassionately.
"Four, Sir?" Scotty inquired confused. "Did ya find the Captain drawn and quartered?"