Volume Two

"For the rest of us, what they must live through, what they must experience, are the things of legend and fantasy. The powers they wield, the dangers they face…how can comprehend them. How can understand? What have we ever given up, sacrificed, for the greater good? Could we do what they do? Could we rise each day, fight for the freedom of those that will never know of our deeds?

Luckily for us…we never have to answer such questions. For what is the extraordinary for us…is for them…yet another day."

-Mohinder Suresh

&&&

"With news of the explosion over New York City, the world wonders just what is going to happen." The anchorman said. He stared into the camera as he spoke. "First, the reports of a mysterious pillar of light…and now, the light over New York…many are left to wonder just what is happening."

On the screen, the fuzzy image of a woman riding on a wave of water appeared. "Add to that the sightings of people doing the impossible…" The image shifted a man in a suit apparently flying filled the screen. "…has left people to wonder…"

Had one been able to see under his desk, they'd saw the man adjusted the black gloves he wore. Underneath said gloves, one would have seen something startling: The man's skin turn to diamond.

"…what will we see next?" The old man gave a slight smile as the NBC Nightly News music played. "Filling in for Brian Williams, I am Anthony Delpine…goodnight."

&&&

Terrence Harper looked over the report. "And you couldn't arrive in time to get the rest of them?"

"I was busy dealing with Lee Malion…my son's friends were the least of my concern."

(Helena Daniels, Terrence Harper and Marshal- CLASSIFIED- 4 hours after The New York Incident (NYI), One day after the Philly Incident)

Terrence frowned. "And yet, from what I have read, Mr. Linderman wanted Carter Daniels and his friends put as top priority."

"Mr. Linderman is dead, so I don't think his judgment was all that wise." Marshal snapped.

Linderman's former bodyguard chuckled. "Well, I say Daniels was a top priority."

"And you've made yourself rather cozy as the new head of the organization." Helena snapped.

Terrence shrugged. "Thompson is dead, Linderman is dead, Noah Bennet has gone rogue. And you don't have the confidence of the senior members…"

"I could care less about what Mrs. Petrelli or those like her think of me. We've seen how well they manage their families."

Terrence turned his head towards were the tech boys were moving Lee's unconscious form into a cell. Past them, the broken form of Carter Daniels lay on a rolling morgue table, ready to be taken for discestion. "Yes…and we've seen just how well you manage your own family…"

Marshal was on him in a second, claws extending as he grabbed Terrence by the throat. The other super was ready, preparing to cut off all electrical signals, when Helena pointed her gun at him.

"You aren't all powerful, Terrence. And you don't have Linderman's healing factor." She lowered her weapon, and Marshal threw him down. "I might not have Petrelli's vote, but there are other members who do trust me…who have not lapped at the hand of Linderman. You try and come after me, try and treat me like one of your grunts…and you will be in one of these cells before you can even get off a shot. I'll take control of this whole organization, just to spite you, if I have to." Helena turned on her heel and marched away from Terrence.

The electrical manipulator rubbed his raw throat. "Keep telling yourself that you're in control." He muttered. "Will make it sweeter when I finally bury you."

&&&

"This is what you drove here in?"

"What did you expect?"

"its…it's a goober-mobile."

Noah Bennet frowned. "Its…not that bad."

"Yea dad…" Claire Bennet said. "…it is."

(Claire and Noah Bennet-New York, NY)

Claire's father shrugged. "It will get us there just fine. And besides…it will be so much better with the company I have now then I did coming here."

"That bad?" Claire asked.

"Parkman and Sprague arguing over the radio? Yes Claire, even your taste in fluffy pop music will be better then that."

"What's wrong my music?" Claire exclaimed.

Bennet rolled his eyes. "What isn't…" He unlocked the door and slid into the driver's seat. "Come on Claire, you can yell at me while we're on the freeway." As Claire sat down in the passenger seat with a huff, Bennet turned the ignition and slipped the car into drive. "Well…lets go." He said, ready to begin the long journey.

RINGALINGLING! RINGALINGLING! RINGALINGLING!

A journey that lasted all of two seconds.

Bennet sighed, grabbing his cellphone from his jacket pocket. He looked at the number, confused by the number he had never seen before.

"What are you doing?" Claire hissed. "Don't answer it…what if it's the people you work for."

"No the people I worked for…" Bennet stressed the past-tense, "…who I worked with. Only a handful of people know this number…and I trust them with my life."

"My life I'm worried about." Claire muttered as her father answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Noah Bennet." A man asked. "Is Claire with you."

"Who is this?"

"Someone that needs to speak with both of you."

"I'm hanging up…"

"Does the name Carter Daniels mean anything to you?" Bennet froze, eyes widening. "From your silence, I would say yes. Please put the phone of speaker, Mr. Bennet." The voice waited, and Bennet finally clicked the phone onto speaker. "Claire, can you hear me?"

"Yea…who are you?"

"My name is Hank Delpine. I'm here with Linda Fray and Kelly Raegan. Girls?" Kelly and Linda both said hello. "I assume you are wondering who gave us this number."

"Not really. Carter's name gave me the answer…you've talked to Helena?"

"Yes." Hank said. "We have."

"Who's Helena…who are these people?" Claire hissed.

"I will explain when we meet." Hank answered.

Bennet frowned. "What do you mean, 'meet'?"

"In New York…we are on our way there, Mr. Bennet, and we have much to discuss." Hank's tone brokered no argument.

"No…we are leaving right now. We don't have time…"

"Listen." Kelly said sternly. "We got a woman here that can control water. You're on a freaking island. Do the math."

"Kelly!" Linda snapped. "I would never do that…and I don't like the idea of the guy that hunts people like us knowing my power."

"People like you." Kelly muttered. "I don't buy into Mrs. Daniels' claim that me and Hank are like you."

"But the idea that I have powers…that Carter hav…had powers…that isn't strange?"

"Had?" Bennet asked. "Why…why past tense?"

Hank sighed. "That's the reason we need to see you and Claire…" Hank's voice grew softer. "I wish…" He paused. "Carter Daniels is dead."

Bennet's hand trembled and Claire looked at her father and the phone. "Sylar?" She questioned, echoing her father's silent fear.

"No." Hank said. "No…I…I will tell you everything, if you will just meet with us…please…" He swallowed. "I promised Carter I would protect his girls…and that includes you, Claire."

"Why me?" Claire asked.

"You didn't tell her, Bennet?" Kelly snapped in outrage. "You didn't tell her of her brother?"

"WHAT?!?"

&&&

(Galatea- CLASSIFIED)

The winds whipped around her, biting at her skin and howling in her ears. Still, Galatea grinned, enjoying the freeing sensation she felt. Hair swirling behind her, the fluffy down jacket she had stolen billow in the breeze; Galatea was walking on air.

Or, more correctly, she was leaping through it.

Slamming down to the ground, Galatea pulled herself up to her full high, peering just over the massive crater she had created. Like a goddess descended from Olympus, she took in the world with a critical eye.

"He in there?"

Galatea looked down at the golden cross, nodding to her reflection. "Yes…Lee is in there." She paused, glancing up and the mysterious building that stood just several hundred yards from her. It was surrounded by a high concrete fence, watchtowers, spotlights, and armed men. "Guards all around…got any ideas?"

"Yea." Jessica said. "Tear them apart."

Galatea grinned. "I like your style."

&&&

"I said get it!"

"NO!"

"Get up!"

"NO!"

"Get up!"

"NO!"

The guard snarled as he grabbed Vally by the arm, dragging her from the bed. Vally struggled, kicking her little legs as hard as she could at the man's shins. Grunting in pain, the guard managed to get her onto the floor, jerking painfully on her forearm and lifting her into the air.

"Let me make something clear, you little freak…" He snarled, shaking the toddler hard. "They need you alive. Pretty soon, you are going to be working for them, and they made it clear that you need to be functioning." Vally screamed in pain as the man let her drop, her body falling to the hard concrete with a thud. She began to sob as the man circled her, his anger getting the better of her. "But that doesn't mean you need to be healthy…or happy." He grabbed Vally bear and ripped its arm off.

"NO!" Vally wailed as the man pulled out stuffing from the teddy bear. "Special bear!"

"Ain't so special, is it?!" The guard roared. "Bruised my shin, I rip your bear apart." He threw the torn apart bear at Vally. "Get up."

"S-s-s-special bear…" Vally sobbed, cradling the ruined toy.

The guard rolled his eyes, taking the billy club from his "You need to figure out that your sister can't save you, your friends can't save you, and the stupid bear can't save you!" He aimed it at Vally, swinging with all his might. Vally looked up, eyes froze in fear, the special bear cradled in her arms. But when the blow never came. Vally stared at the sight of another man, dressed in a long black coat, chest bare and rippling with muscles, holding the guard's wrist in place. The other man's face was twisted in rage, the guard's arm turning white from the bone crush gripe.

"But her father can."

And with that, Carter Daniels snapped the man's neck.

&&&

Author's Note: And now, questions to the author. If you have a question you'd like here, instead of just getting the response through PM, please state that in your review. I will select the best questions for this segment.

1. Heroes is excellent at throwing twists and turns in the plot. What

makes a

good twist? How difficult is it to make a 'good' turn to make the

readers

totally rethink what they saw?

A good plot twist is something that, after the audience sees it, they go back and wonder how they missed it, OR is a startling snippet that they know will pay off in the next chapter.

Personally, I prefer the first kind. There are several major twists in Elsewhere, like Vally being Carter's daughter, Linda being a super, or Helena being an agent, that when you reread the story, you see hints of. And already, there are some very large plot twists started in the first volume that I haven't gotten to yet.

Many times, plot twists work best when you yourself stumble onto them. For example, Vally wasn't Carter's daughter in my mind until I wrote "How to Stop an Exploding Man". Originally, Carter just adopted her. But as I wrote the story, I suddenly realized that there were hints I had setup without knowing it, like Vally's eye color change (both her and Carter's eyes glow now when they use their powers).

And if you do, infact, decide to stage a plot twist, you have to drop the smallest of hints, so not to expose your hand. An example is Linda…in the first chapter, she talks about ripples in a pond. That was a hint.

2. Characters like Matt Parkman and Noah Bennett are essentially good

guys.

But both have made questionable decisions that could have altered their

character drastically. Somehow the writers still managed to portray

them as

good guys to the audience. Have any Characters in Elsewhere morally put

to the

test and still a 'good' person? and if so, Is it easy to do that?

At this moment, no. Volume One had defined lines: Good guys, bad guys. Even Helena you knew was a good person, as we never saw her actually hurt a hero. The closest is Madrid making fake money.

Season two will really get into that though, as the lines between villain and hero blur. A war is coming…and there is no black and white in war.

3. Heroes is back! Excited?

Damn straight. Excluding the show, I am excited that Elsewhere is back!