Author's Note: I don't not own the show Heroes, or any characters created by the program. I do not own the rights to any of the books described in this chapter. I am the creator of all Original Characters and the Heroes Class System (HCS)
(Carter Daniels- Flint)
"C-c-c-come to visit the enf-f-feebled?"
Kelly Raegan shook her head, slipping into the hospital room and letting the door swing slowly shut behind her. Arms loaded with bags, the young woman moved to one of the standard hospital chairs, glaring at it with distaste.
"Can I borrow a pillow?"
Carter frowned. "Why?"
"The chair is hard."
"So is the b-b-bed."
"You don't need two pillows!"
Carter held up his hand. "Really want to m-m-mess with a man that c-c-c-can make you feel what he w-w-w-w-wants you too?" Carter looked up towards the ceiling, his voice growing quiet. "Already put three people in the n-n-n-n-n…n-n-nutty house."
Kelly reached out, taking Carter's hand in her own. "It wasn't your fault…" She pressed a finger to Carter's lips. "Let me finish, will you for once? For someone so shy, you get awfully gabby." Carter managed to smile slightly at that, letting Kelly continue. "They could have killed you. You had to defend yourself. IS Harry Potter a bad person if he uses his powers to kill Voldemort?"
"Did Harry Potter make Voldemort wet himself by sca…" He paused, watching as energy slowly began to slip through Kelly's closed fingers. "you know." He muttered, sighing with relief as his hand stopped its lightshow.
"Not quite for sure…the book never really said one way or another." Kelly joked. She grew somber the next moment, though. "Seriously Carter…those guys deserved it."
"Maybe…but was it r-r-right?"
"Huh?"
"Is it right of me to pl…pl…play with other people's emotions? Is it right of m-m-m-me to play with my own?" Carter questioned.
Kelly didn't have an answer for that one. The ethics of whether someone with Carter's apparent magical power could…or should…use them to alter people's emotions was well over her head. Even if it wasn't, it wasn't for her to decide. It was Carter that had to make that decision, him and him alone.
But, on the topic of using them on himself…
"I think you should hit yourself again."
"…w-what? Could you re…re…repeat that again…I think I had some cr-cr-cr-crazy in my ear." He paused, looking at his hand. "Crazy isn't an emotion…g-g-good to know."
Kelly gave his hand a squeeze, giving him a gentle smile. "Carter…I…I really think you should use your powers on yourself again."
"Kelly…I c-c-c-can't…"
"Yes, you can." She said firmly. "Carter, I saw what you were like these last few days. You were happy. You were willing to live life. Yes, you were a bit…" She smiled as he squirmed. "…intense. But I think that if you just toned down how much of your power you used…" She sighed. "I just think you should think about it, ok? You aren't going to loss these powers anytime soon. You're going to need to learn how to control them…what better way then to train on yourself?"
Carter shifted uneasily in the bed. "But…wh-what if I…go to far?"
Kelly chuckled. "If you go to far, then I will be right there to pull you back…ok? I'm not saying you should do it right away…I just think you should consider it. Be happy…you deserve it."
"…do you have a m-m-m-m…m….mirror?"
A grin spreading across her face, Kelly released his hand and reached into her purse and pulled out a small hand mirror. "Will this work?"
"S-s-should." Carter said, looking at the mirror a bit nervously. "Just need to r-r-reflect the command b-b-back at me."
"Then give it a crack!" Kelly exclaimed, practically bouncing in her seat. "Give it a rip!"
Carter nodded, taking a deep breath. "Ok…this is it…for all the m-m-m-marbles. No turn b-b-b…b…back. One for the m-m-m-m-m…"
"Carter!" Kelly exclaimed.
"S-s-s-s-s-sorry." He said, blushing slightly. He took a deep breath, focusing in on the mirror. Flexing his fingers, Carter focused in on the mirror, energy crackling on his finger. effect has instantaneous. The commanding energy lashed out, hitting the mirror and bouncing right back at Carter, striking him in the chest. The young man gasped as the manipulation took hold, body humming slightly as he felt his mind shift.
"Whoa." He managed to get out, his eyes flickering from the aftermath. "That was a rush. Not sure if I'll ever get use to the tingling…not that it isn't a good tingling…"
Kelly laughed, interrupting his ramblings. "Welcome back, Carter."
Carter smiled softly, ducking his head slightly. "Good to be back, Kelly…good to be back."
Chuckling, Kelly reached into one of the bags she had brought with her. "Well, now that is settled, I have some gifts for you. Don't know how long you will be stuck in here, but figured you could use some reading material."
The young man glanced down at the books Kelly had plopped down on his lap. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone…"
"The British version."
"Lord of the Rings…"
"Gandalf…one of the best white wizards."
"A biography on Houdini?"
Kelly shrugged. "Best I could find."
" 'How to Be a Superhero: Your Complete Guide to Finding a Secret HQ, Hiring a Sidekick, Thwarting the Forces of Evil, and Much More' by… Doctor Metropolis?"
Kelly beamed. "I found in on sale…it is so cool Carter, they have a section on Magus…and Psoinics…you might be a psoinic instead of a wizard. I mean, yea, your hands glow, but you do mess with people's minds…or emotions…" She paused. "And hey, we just learned that good and evil aren't emotions, or I would be smothering you with a pillow."
"Joy." Carter muttered. "Calm." He said quickly, sending a second command at Kelly before the first could take hold. "Damn it…when I am I going to learn how to control this?"
"That's why I got the book! It has steps on how to practice…"
"Kelly, you know this little line here on the back, where it says this is a humor book?" Carter said, pointing to the line of text. "That means you don't take it ser…er…it isn't a real instruction guide."
"You have a better idea?"
"…give me the damn book."
&&&
(Lee Malion-Boston)
It just wasn't possible.
Lee closed his eyes again, willing himself to believe it was all a dream, and that when he opened his eyes, she would be gone.
Eyelids slowly slide open…
Nope. Still there.
Eyes closed again.
This time, he felt it bop him on the nose, giggling.
It just wasn't possible.
Letting his eyes open once more, he watched as the little blonde-haired fairy looked at him, her face screwed up in a cute pout before she bopped him on the nose again, giggling as she fluttered about the room. All along the floor were all sorts of drawings, of monsters and mystical things…to the mundane like flowers and fruit. Each hastily drawn not just a few hours before hand, each a test.
A part of Lee's mind was working at a much different click then the rest of him, analyzing the situation carefully and cataloging all he had discovered in the last few hours:
He could bring things to life. All he had to do was draw it, focus a little on making it seem lifelike and perfect, and it would become so. Colors were selected at random, going by his own unconscious memory, unless he chose otherwise. The purple and orange squirrels that had tried to gnaw through his computer cables were a testament to that.
That was the other thing. He could revert his creations back to their paper forms with merely a thought. He had tried it several times, blinking in and out of existence a small blue ogre for 5 minutes before simply waving the little creature away. And other then a slight dizziness, he had yet to find any adverse side effects.
'I can create life…but anything else…' Lee thought as he watched as the nude little fairy spun around his head. 'Big fat no!'
His experiments into this newfound power had uncovered an unsettling limitation: He couldn't create inorganic objects. It had only been natural for him to try and create money. Yet, each one of the pictures would not become real, despite how hard he concentrated.
'I could breath life into a thousand kittens, but one little gold brick? NOOOOOOOO!'
And then came his trials with creating clothing. Polyester was out of the question, but cotton proved to be taxing. He'd managed only to make one little mitten stay in existence. All other attempts reverted back to paper before he could even shift forward to inspect them.
Lee sighed, waving his hand and turning the fairy back into a drawing. Running his hands through his hair, he allowed his mind to wander.
'This is not happening…maybe…maybe someone just...slipped something in my drink last night and I am just losing it!'
Lee stood up, grabbing the drawings and ripping them apart frantically. Bits of paper fluttered around him as he tore apart the evidence of his gift. His hectic actions quickly turned to other items in his house, destroying any scrap of paper in sight. Magazines, old sketches, the newspaper…
He just couldn't handle it…couldn't handle what was staring him right in the face.
'I am not sitting here actually thinking that I have some god-like power to create life! I am not…I do not…have the power…to create…'
Lee paused, looking down at the photo he was holding. It was a screen capture of a nudey video his friend Orlando had found online. Some blonde chick from Las Vegas posing and flirting with the camera as she removed her clothes for all the perverts and guys wish cash. Orlando had been bitching about the girl missing her normal time, leaving him without his customary pleasure material.
&&&
"I just don't get it." Lee said. "It isn't like there aren't more girls on the internet willing to take their clothes off."
"But they ain't her." Orlando said, sliding the screen capture towards Lee. "Look at her man! She's a goddess."
"A goddess named Niki?"
Orlando scoffed. "Don't judge, Lee. Seriously…look at her man…she's the type of girl a man would do anything to be with." He leaned in closer, a lusty grin on his face as he tapped the photo. "Anything."
&&&
Lee back down at the screen capture, then over to his art supplies.
"…life" He whispered, a smile forming on his lips.
&&&
"There is a thin line between sinner and savior. And more times then not, the line does not exist at all. For some we are a threat. For others, we are a gift. But even so, we as a species will always lean towards one way or another. And it is this leaning that determines our connection to the world.
For it is these connections, however unexpected, that determines our destiny."
-Mohinder Suresh
&&&
(Location unknown)
Bennet glanced over the file once more, making sure everything was correct
Subject: Claire Bennet
Age: 17
Power: Healing Factor
Class: Potential/Solider
RINGMr. Bennet frowned, pulling out his cellphone. He listened for a moment, then held the cell phone a bit tighter to his ear, hoping he had heard wrong. "They are releasing him today?"
"Yes." The woman on the other end said. "The doctors just cleared him…I tried to get them to wait…"
"You told me he would be bed ridden for another 3 days."
"I thought he would be." The woman stressed, frustrated. "The doctors say the damage must have been less sever then they thought."
Letting out a long sigh, Mr. Bennet rubbed the bridge of his nose. "We'll have to move up the retrieval. We can not let him out of our sight…every minute we don't have him in our custody just gives him more time to master his powers."
"Do you want me to…"
"No." Bennet said quickly. "You need to stay undercover…we can't let on that you and I work together. No…" Bennet adjusted his glasses. "I'll handle it. I have something to deal with here first…the subject we discussed. But afterwards…don't trouble yourself with him anymore."
There was a moment of silence, before the woman spoke again. "He is proving more powerful then we imagined."
Bennet had to agree with that. "Yes…but we should have expected him to be special. After all…" He glanced down at the personal file once more:
Subject: Claire Bennet
Age: 17
Power: Healing Factor
Class: Potential/Solider
Notable Relations: Half Brother- Carter Daniels"…it runs in his family."