"Fate is fickle thing. You can fight against it, and for years it will remain the same. And the moment you stop, the moment you accept, then it will decide to take a new form, and you are left with a new battle."

-Mohinder Suresh

(Carter Daniels- Flint, Michigan)

"Mom, I'll be fine." Carter said, looking over at her. Helena Daniels peered through the windshield of the Corvette, her face conveying her dislike of the idea. "Mom…it's just a college."

"At Midnight."

"At 11:30 pm."

"At night, in Flint."

"With police in shouting distance."

Helena raised an eyebrow. "Flint is the number 3 city for violent crime…and you want me to trust police you have to shout for?"

"Mom, trust me." Carter said. "I am going to grab some stuff from the newspaper and then go straight to my car. In and out in 6 minutes, tops. No big deal."

"Maybe I should…"

Carter gave his mother a soft smile. "Mom, I've put you through enough these last few days…go home, spend time with dad before you old people have to go to bed."

"I'm not that old, and neither is your father." Helena scolded. "Besides…we don't mind doing things for you."

"I know mom…just let me do this on my own, ok?"

Mrs. Daniels sighed. "Alright Carter, alright…" She gave him a weak smile. "What's the term for a parent that hovers around their child?"

"Helicopter Parents…and you're not one, alright?"

"I know." Helena ran her hand along his cheek. "See you at home sweetheart?"

"Only a few minutes after you get there." Carter said, slipping out of the car. "Bye mom."

"Bye Carter."

Watching the Corvette drive off, leaving him alone in the practically abandoned parking garage, Carter began to make the slow journey to his car. The tape they had wrapped his chest in to help his ribs constricted his movement, but he would manage. His eyes were coming along fit, and the shiners Hank had dealt him were clearing up. Other then a few bruises along his stomach, Carter was in great shape.

Heading to the stairs, Carter carefully climbed down to the lower level, stepping into yet another empty area. The florescent lights hummed above him, flickering and casting strange shadows all around him.

'Stupid October.' He thought to himself. Carter didn't like this time of year. There was just too much spookiness in the air for his tastes. Every tree became a monster, every shadow a ghost in October. 'Couldn't even manage down here if I wasn't brimming with confidence…' He glanced down at his hands, which flickered. "Oh, don't tell me I can't even think about emotions!"

"You know, talking to yourself is a sure sign your crazy."

"Kelly!" Carter shouted, holding his hand to his heart. "Don't do that!"

The young woman laughed. "What? Don't tell me your upgrade doesn't cover going into dark and creepy places."

"No, it only works to make me slightly less skittish." Carter said.

"Skittish, not an emotion…good to know." Kelly replied. "Come on Shaggy, walk me to my car."

"Are you going to say that every time I mention a word, Velma?" Carter asked, slowly his pace down to keep in line with Kelly.

"Pretty much." Kelly answered. "And I consider myself more of a Daphne."

"But Velma was the lesbian…"

"Yea, girl with short hair, chunky, and unattractive is the lesbian. That insults me on at least two levels."

"only two?" Carter said. "Shit, I was going for three."

"Shut up." Kelly playfully said. The two walked in silence as they made their way to their cars. "Where's your mom?"

"I sent her home…I can get my car by myself. What about you?"

"Late night on the paper…I spent so much time worrying about you, I let a few deadlines slip."

Carter rolled his eyes. "Yea, it's all my fault that you would rather goof off then work on editing articles about new registering practices."

The young woman smacked his arm. "Shut up!"

"Because we both know you didn't spend all that time shopping with only a ten minute visit to my hospital bed, right Kelly."

"Shut…up."

Carter laughed out loud, narrowly dodging the fist Kelly aimed at his arm. "Watch out, I'm still on the injured list." Dashing towards her car, Carter made sure to get on the other side of the vehicle. "Come on…wouldn't hurt your baby, would you?"

Grumbling, Kelly unlocked the door and stepped in. "We'll talk about this later, Carter."

"I'm sure we will." Carter said, making his way to his own car and opening the door. "Bye Kelly!"

"Bye." Kelly muttered, twisting the key in the ignition.

Nothing

"Damn it!" Kelly shouted.

"What?" Carter asked, peaking from his car.

"My battery is dead!"

Carter nodded. "I'll give you a jump." He turned his own key…and nothing. "What the hell?"

"There is no use of trying to get them to work." Kelly and Carter turned as one to see 2 men step out of the shadows. One was a bald dark skinned man, his face impassive and cold. The other was a pudgy, middle-aged man wearing a parking garage guard uniform…

…and pointing a gun right at Carter.

"Step out of the car, Mr. Daniels…we need to talk."

(Lee Malion- Boston, Massachusetts)

"There…right there…almost…no."

Lee stood up, pacing around the image he had been working on, inspecting it with his most critical eye. He could afford no mistakes, no errors at this point. This piece needed to be perfect, a masterpiece.

He'd been up since 9, examining and reexamining his first base sketches that he'd completed the night before. What he wanted to highlight, what he wanted to ignore, and what he wanted to change. He'd never drawn a picture like this before. He'd never found images he'd draw himself to hold his interest like this one had. And for that reason, he was obsessed with getting it right.

Looking over the image, sketching patiently on butcher paper, Lee searched one last time for any errors he may have made. He sat on his hunches, running his fingers along the carefully drawn lines, caressing it softly.

As he did, the image began to shake. Softly at first, like a flutter, then growing, becoming harder, more violent with each passing moment. Still, Lee remained focused, running his fingers along the parchment.

The image began to bulge up, paper taking on a softer texture. His hand lifted up as the lines faded into golden peach flesh. Strokes of the pencil became locks of hair, the color of the sun. The body, made more shapely and curvy, grew out from its 2-d prison. Until at last, the paper folded in on itself, finishing the transformation.

"Huuuuuuuuuuu!" The woman gasped, eyes snapping open.

"Shh…" Lee whispered. "It's alright."

The woman looked over at her creator, carefully raising her hand and running her fingertips along his lips. "Master…"

Lee smiled, taking her hand in his. "Hello my lovely. My beauty." He kissed her fingers. No 'Niki' or anything like that. His improved goddess would have a name befitting her. "My…Galatea."

(Carter Daniels and Kelly Raegan- Flint, Michigan)

"Is there a problem officer?" Carter said, slowly emerging from his car, hands raised. Suddenly, his words to his mother about the officers being within shouting distance echoed in his head.

"We need you to come with us." The officer said, keeping his gun trained on Carter. "Don't make this any harder." his eyes flicked upwards, "Don't bother trying to use your powers on us."

Carter's hands lowered a bit. "Wh…what?"

"There is a lot we know about you Carter…maybe more then even you know. But right now, all you need to understand…is that you have to come with us."

"Carter…" Kelly hissed, shaking her head. "Voldemort…Voldemort!"

"It'll be ok Kelly." Carter replied, calmer then he actually felt. He turned to the guard, "Ok…just lower the gun and I'll come quietly." The man nodded, letting his gun falls slightly, but still ready to be fired at a moments notice. Carter walked towards him, hands still raised, his eyes darting back towards Kelly to reassure her.

This was how he saw the Haitian begin to move towards his friend. "Hey…what is he…"

"It's alright Carter." The guard said, trying his best to keep his voice soothing.

"Carter…" Kelly called out, backing away from the creepy bald man. "Voldemort….Voldemort!"

"What is he going to do?" Carter asked. The other man remained silent, moving towards the young man. Carter snarled, his hands lighting up like a Christmas tree. "Tell me!"

The pudgy man paused, holding up a hand. "Calm down…he's just going to make sure your friend isn't bothered by this…"

"Let her be bothered." His hands flashed, the energy slowly spilling out and drifting towards the two men. Both felt its affects, and were put on edge.

"I can't do that, Carter. No loose ends." He turned towards his associate. "Hollow her out."

"CARTER!" Kelly screamed, back against a wall as the other man quickened his pace.

"I'm warning you…" Carter snapped, holding up his hand. "Tell him to stand down! I'm coming with you, she doesn't matter, let her go!"

"I can't do that. We can't have her talking about what she saw. You need to worry about yourself…" The man said, raising his gun once more. "She doesn't matter anymore." The man gave him a grim smile. "It's time to go…"

Kelly let out a cry as the bald man grabbed her head tightly in his hands.

"PANIC!" Carter screamed without thinking, spinning about and firing the energy right at Kelly's attacker. The other man let out a grunt as he was hit, falling to the ground, clutching his head. A shot rang out, and Carter bellowed as the bullet burst out his shoulder, blood spilling from the wound. Before the guard could take another shot, Carter was facing him, his face twisted in anger. "PANIC!" He cried out once more, striking the gun carrying man square in the chest with everything he had. The man went down, his weapon falling from his grip.

After a minute, he worked up the nerve to rise into a sitting position, panting. He looked around the garage, only the echoes of the two students' footfalls confirming they had been there at all. He pulled out his phone, still shaking from the after-affects of the blast.

"Carter…Carter Daniels has escaped! I repeat, Carter Daniels has escaped!"

Holding Kelly to his chest, Carter bit down hard to keep his screams at bay. His ribs throbbed, his arms aches, and his shoulder…

'Damn it, damn it, damn it!' Carter yelled in his head, tears blurring his vision. It felt as if a knife was being driven into his right shoulder each time he took a step. Blood was leaking from the hole, and he was trying his best to use Kelly's shoulder to apply pressure to the wound.

But Carter knew, if he didn't hurry, he'd lose too much blood…and then it didn't matter what he did.

Gulping for air, he ran up a ramp, trying to get to the ground level. Then, he could make a dash for the college…hope the doors were unlocked…

Carter's head whipped around as he heard a car skid through the garage, the noise coming closer. Grunting in frustration, he forced his body to go faster, even if it felt like he was moving through molasses. He pushed harder, the car getting closer…

The young man just managed to skid to a stop as the van screeched in front of him, leaving dark black rubber marks on the cement floor. Carter held up his hand, the van's door sliding open…

"H…Hank?" Carter managed to get out.

"Get in!" Hank Delpine cried out, waving him towards the van. "Carter! You need to get in…they are going to kill you! They are going to kill Kelly! Come on!"

Carter paused for only a moment, eyes darting about, before he leapt into the van. Hank slammed the door shut as the vehicle shot forward, rocketing out of the garage and onto the road. Hank grabbed Kelly and dragged her to the back of the van, before returning to Carter, a rag in his hand.

"Hold still…we're going to get you somewhere so we can look at that shoulder…Terry, keep driving!"

"Hank…"

"And we'll look over Kelly, too." Hank said. "Don't worry…"

"Don't worry?" Carter asked. "Don't worry!?!" He screamed. "Why does everyone keep telling me not to worry!?! I just got shout in the damn arm! Some black guy just grabbed Kelly's head and knocked her out! You drive up in a van and tell me not to worry…."

"And you can manipulate people's emotions." Hank said calmly. "I know more then think…and if you'd calm down, I'll explain how."

Carter looked over at Hank, his eyes wide. "Hank…?"

"Fate is fickle…and it will not allow others to control it. It only controls itself."

-Mohinder Suresh

"I have been sent by Hiro Nakamura." Hank Delpine said softly, looking Carter dead in the eye. "I'm here to help you save the world."