"There are those that are the lone wolves. Beings that, for one reason or another, have chosen a life of solitude. They stand on the fringe, seeing; yet separated. Alone, they are a small piece of the puzzle."
-Mohinder Suresh
"Courage."
A flash a light, a burning in his chest.
"Confidence."
Another flash…and everything felt right once again.
(Carter Daniels- Flint, Michigan)
"Kinda weird to see that from the other side." Hank Delpine said, leaning against a wall, arms folded across his broad chest. He watched as Carter looked himself over in the mirror, poking at the bandages that were wrapped around his shoulder.
"Can imagine." Carter said, examining the white gauze.
"..why are you touching yourself like that?"
"I think the bullet hole sealed up."
Hank shook his head. "Wounds don't heal that quick. Probably just scabbed over."
"I'm telling you, it's all healed!" Carter muttered, reaching over to remove the bandages.
"Uggg…." Carter and Hank turned to see Kelly sitting up, blinking her eyes. "Jesus…where the hell am I?"
"Could you please watch the use of the Lord's name?" Hank begged.
Kelly scooted back against the head board, eyes wide as she glanced over from Hank to Carter, then back to Hank…then once more to Carter. "What the hell is…"
"What's the last thing you remember?" Carter asked.
"What happened to your shoulder?" Kelly asked, startled by the thick bandages that covered his body.
Carter frowned. "I'll explain later, what is the last thing you remember."
"And where are we?"
"I will tell you…"
"And why is Hank…"
"JUST ANSWER THE MAN'S QUESTION!" Hank shouted.
Carter and Kelly stared at him, both giving him a look that told him neither were in the mood for his short fuse.
"Sorry...sorry…" Hank mumbled, leaning back against the wall.
Kelly turned back to her friend. "The last thing I remember is heading to the parking garage after working on the paper…then nothing." She frowned, rubbing her head. "What happened…where we hit by a car or something?"
"More like shot." Carter grunted, rotating his shoulder. "Hank, I swear this thing is all healed up, can't I…"
"No! I didn't buy $30 worth of medical gauze and bandage just for you to rip it off half a day later."
"Half a day?" Kelly questioned. "Carter…"
The young man sighed, grabbing a shirt and throwing it on. "We're at Hank's apartment. To give you the 2-minute version, we met in the parking garage, cars didn't work. Some fat security guard and bald black guy walked up to us with guns, talking about kidnapping me and holying you or hallowing or something like that. You get grabbed, they both get a taste of what I can do, and I get shot in the damn shoulder. I carry you out of there, Hank drives up in a van, rambling about some guy named Hero and that he knows all about me and wants to help me save the world."
"…"
"Never said it made sense."
(Lee Malion- Boston, Massachusetts)
Lee lounged on the bed, watched as Galatea looked through his closet, searching for a shirt that would fit her. Due to Lee's…modifications…his shirts, which would normally fit a someone of Galatea's stature, proved to be too tight in some…areas.
They had spent the night in each other's company, christening every surface in the apartment they could find. Per his instructions, Tea had been a hellcat when it came to sex, and left the graphic artist spent.
So, he had chosen to enjoy the view of her naked ass bobbing up and down as she perused for some clothing. However, his mind kept going back to thoughts he did not want to consider.
He didn't want to revert Galatea to a picture. She was his prize, his trophy girlfriend to flaunt. And what good is a trophy if you can't show it off 24/7?
Besides, he had no clue how this newfound power worked. What if he could only bring her back a few times, then she'd remain paper forever? Or what if the process degraded her in some way? Or was too much of a strain? Maybe this power would stop suddenly, and he would be left without her.
'And I can't loss her.' He thought possessively, watching as she gave a cute little pout, holding up two t-shirts. 'I finally have gotten someone to be with…and I won't risk losing her…'
And that meant a whole new set of problems.
He wasn't for sure if she was human per say, but if last night was any indication, she was damn close. And that meant she would need to be treated like one. He had breathed life into her, and he wasn't heartless enough to treat her like an object. She was a person, and deserved the same rights as him.
Like food, clothing and other basic needs.
Needs he could barely afford to pay for as it was, without the second mouth.
'I'll have to find a way.' He thought. 'I can't make money…but I could make pigs or something…maybe make a butcher to cut them up and a cook to make them…then I would have to decide if I wanted to keep the chef and butcher alive all the time or revert them to paper. Reverting is risky, but with them being alive, I would have to feed them, which means more pigs…' Lee banged the back of his skull against the headboard. "Damn it…there must be someway to make money, like selling my blood or robbing a bank…" He closed his eyes. "Yea, rob a bank…that would work out SOOOO well…"
"Oops!" Tea exclaimed. Lee opened his eyes to see his creation holding his closet door in his hands. It had been ripped from the wall, and Galatea held it like it weighed nothing. "This sure came off easy!"
Lee raised an eyebrow. 'No…it can't be that simple.' He looked up at Tea. "Could you grab me my metal yard stick?"
"Ok!" She exclaimed, skipping from the room and returning with the heavy-duty yardstick. He'd gotten it at an artist's convention, some booth handing them out to anyone that stood there for a moment or two.
"Could you break it in half?"
Galatea shrugged, grabbing it and twisting the metal like a pretzel until it snapped apart. She looked up at her creator, smiling. "IS that good?"
"Oh…it's very good." Lee said, a plan forming in his head. "Tell me…think you could break something…bigger?"
Carter shoved his hands deep in his pockets, looking down at the water below him as it churned. It wasn't that cold out, but the wind that whipped about helped cool the air about them.
That, and the story Hank had told them chilled Carter further.
They had gone for a walk, the young man going stir crazy in Hank's apartment. Deciding that they would be safe in public, at least for the moment, they'd begun walking around the campus. Hank wove his tale of coming to his senses little over two days after Carter had hit him with the panic attack, and finding a serious looking Japanese guy with a sword in his hospital room.
The man, stating his name was Hiro Nakamura, told Hank about Carter's powers, and about how he, Kelly and Carter would help save the world. Then, after warning Hank about the parking garage, had promptly disappeared.
"He really said that Carter was sent by God?" Kelly questioned. The group had stopped on the Harrison Street Bridge, overlooking the Flint River.
Hank nodded. "Yea…said Carter was special, and that a higher power had a purpose for him. Only higher power I can think of is The Lord."
Carter glanced over at Hank. "Can I tell you how ha…y-you know…I am that you didn't automatically assume it was Lucifer?"
"Shut up Carter." Hank said, only half serious. "You might be sent by Heaven to battle the forces of evil…that doesn't mean I like you."
"I'm hurt." Carter replied.
The head of the Christian group grunted. "Think I liked it better when you were all scared and stuttering."
The emotion manipulator shrugged. "You'll pardon me if I'm not exactly acting like your friend, Hank. You kinda broke my ribs, remember?"
"You altered my mind!"
"You treated me like shit for months!"
"You wrote all that stuff about me in the paper!"
"Now it comes out!" Carter shouted. "Always with that damn article, huh?"
"What do you expect…"
Kelly held her head in her hands. "And people wonder why I turned to girls." She latched out and grabbed both men by the ears, giving them a tug. "If you two are done seeing whose is bigger, I'd like to know what is next!" Both guys let out a yelp, struggling to free themselves from Kelly's vice like grip. "Will you behave?"
"Yes!" Carter and Hank shouted. Kelly nodded, letting go and allowing the two to baby their injured ears.
"I should whammy you for that." Carter muttered, cup in ear.
"Try it, I will beat you into next week." Kelly challenged with a grin. "I don't fight like a girl."
"Coulda fooled me." Hank whined.
Kelly rolled her eyes, turning on Hank. "Start talking, now. What is the plan? You're suppose to help Carter and me save the world…you said something about another person?"
Hank nodded, leaning against the bridge's railing. "Hiro said that we would need to leave Flint tomorrow. By that time, there would be four of us." ." He looked at Kelly, slightly annoyed. "Didn't say where we should go, only that you'd figure it out."
"The fourth person that is suppose to be with us…" Carter asked, "You have no clue who he or she might be?"
"None."
"Great."
Hank looked about. He was nervous, being out in the open like this. They had been out too long, and he wondered now why he'd agreed to this walk. Hiro had told him to protect Carter…to help save the world. Letting him stay out here for so long…it was only tempting fate.
"We need to go." Hank said. "Come on…"
Carter frowned. "What do you mean, we need to go?"
"We've been out in plain sight for too long…someone might have seen us. We need to get ready."
"To do what?" Carter asked, his frustration getting the better of him. "We don't even know what we are suppose to do! God…" He began to pace, voice getting louder. "we are running around without, taking the advice of some mysterious Japanese Guy!"
"Calm down." Hank said, trying to reason with him. "I know this is strange…"
"THIS IS STRANGE?!?" Carter screamed. "I can force people to feel things with a word! The people that have decided to hunt me down and shoot me can erase your memories! And now I am go on some Holy Quest because a reject from an Anime told you I would! Why does everyone keep telling me to be calm! I'm scared to dea…"
Carter, Kelly, and Hank froze, watching the young man's hand as it lit up…and fired out towards the car rapidly approaching where they stood. They could hear the screams of the driver as the suggestion took hold, and stared in horror as the car began to swerve violently.
Kelly grabbed Carter's arm as Hank backed up. "undo it…undo it!"
"CALM!" Carter cried out, unleashing a second blast. Once more, the command took hold of the driver, forcing any fear from her.
But it was too late.
The car had leapt the curb and was heading right for them.
"JUMP!" Hank screamed, leaping off the bridge. Carter grabbed Kelly's hand, the two plunging over the railing just as the car skidded past where they had been standing. Kelly screaming as they fell, Carter taking in a gasp of air before they hit the water.
Instantly all three felt the jolt from the icy water, numbing their muscles and freezing their blood. Carter forced himself to hold onto Kelly's hand, kicking up as hard as he could and breaking to the surface. The young woman gasped for air when the reached the top, her hair clinging to her face. A few feet away, Hank struggled to swim to them. The bridge was right over the roughest part of the river, water churning from the dams designed to lower the river. White foam churned all around them as all three struggled to reach each other, Carter and Hank finally locking hands.
"Keep treading!" Carter yelled over the waves. "The river will push us towards the ladders!" Hank and Kelly nodded, turning to focus on the old iron ladder that hung against the concrete walls that now formed the banks of the river. Forcing their tired bodies to move, all three kicked with every ounce of strength they could, letting the water push them forward as they moved to the right
"We aren't getting closer!" Kelly screamed.
"Keep kicking!"
"Carter!" Hank yelled. "Look at the water! It's rising!" In front of them, the water seemed the veer up unnaturally, forcing them to swim uphill.
"No…we're sinking!" Carter cried out. Sure enough, a 8-foot circle of water around the three seemed to be slowing down, the level lowering dramatically. "This…this isn't possible!" Carter shouted as they were slowly surrounded by walls of roaring water, their own section seeming to be held in place.
Kelly gasped when her foot touched the bottom, and the three soon found themselves standing on the riverbed, fish flopping around them and garbage littering their feet. The water had, by now, receded to a trickle, leaving the circle they stood in bone dry.
"Carter…are you doing this? A new power?" Kelly whispered in awe, toeing a beer bottle.
"No…not me….either of you?"
"Not them." A voice called out above them. All three looked up, shielding their eyes. Above them, standing on the water, was the woman that had nearly ran them off the road. Her eyes were glowing a pale blue, focused on the small area she had cleared just for them. "Me."
Carter's eyes went wide.
"But when lone wolves join together…anything is possible."
-Mohinder Suresh
"Dr. Frey?"
Author's Note: I would like to thank those that are reviewing: Bob the Robot, ShadowStorm14, SameraiSirius, Griffbear, Dragonborn, In My Memories, Nickelman,Titubla, Corebowe, TheRavynFire, and finally, my parents. I respond to all reviews, and will at times include spoilers and other goodies. So please, continue to review.