"Parkman residence, Los Angeles, California"
-MATT PARKMAN-
Matt searched his house frantically,
"Mattie! Janice!" He yelled searching for them. He ran down to his basement nearly falling down the stairs. As he reached the ground his worst nightmares were realized. His wife and child lay on the ground soaked in blood. The tops of their heads removed, exposing their brains. Matt staggered backwards, feeling nocuous. As he moved towards the staircase, horrified, he bumped into someone behind him. He turned around quickly, tears in his eyes. Usutu, the prophet he met in the desert stood with his staff; his eyes were rolled back in his head,
"There is danger approaching Parkman." He said in his thick African accent," You must look deeper."
Matt awoke, sitting straight up in his bed. Sweat poured from his forehead. His breathing was rapid; he placed a hand on his chest. After calming down, he turned to the right to look at Janice, but she wasn't there. His heart dropped. He slowly got out of bed and walked into little Mattie's room. He looked into his crib, but the child wasn't there. His heart dropped further. He hurried down to the basement,
"Mattie, Janice!" He reached the bottom, and like his dream, he stood horrified at what he saw. Janice was backed into the corner, holding their son tightly in her arms. There were two men in dark government agent suits surrounding them. Janice spotted Matt,
"Matt! Help!"
Matt Jr. started to cry. Parkman tried to push a thought into the agent's heads, but nothing happened,
"Stop please! Let them go!" Matt yelled. A man walked from the shadows of the basement. It was Rene. The two agents looked at him, awaiting an order. Rene just nodded his head in Matt's direction. Without a single word the two agents stepped towards Matt, grabbing his hands forcefully,
"Stop! What are you doing!"
Rene stood in front of Janice. She pushed against the wall as far as she could, shielding Matt Jr. from him. He slowly placed a hand on her forehead. Janice closed her eyes tightly,
"Please…" She whispered
"You will forget everything you know of Matt Parkman. He is not your Child's father-"
"NO!" Matt screamed, trying to get loose from the agents grip,
"The father of your child died last year in a car accident. His name was Christopher Parkman." The Haitian continued,
"You can't do this to me! Janice, don't listen!"
"Now, you will put your son to bed, and then you will go to sleep. You will continue your life as normal." Rene removed his hand. Janice opened her eyes. She stared blankly ahead of her, right through Matt. She walked slowly forward, and then up the stairs. Matt's eyes filled with tears. He stopped fighting the men that held him. He was defeated. Rene walked over to him gravely,
"I am so sorry." He choked. The two men and Rene lead Parkman out of his house, and into a black Buick. The sun was just beginning to rise,
"Where are you taking me?" Matt asked quietly weeping,
"Primatech."
"Outside Primatech Research, Hartsdale, New York"
-GABRIEL AND CLAIRE-
Gabriel sat quietly in the dark of the carrier. His muscles ached from sitting in the same position for hours. His head ach had finally eased, but that could not focus his thoughts. He and Claire hadn't talked for at least six hours; in fact no one said anything at all. The only sound heard was the shifting of people's positions, the whir of the helicopter, and a few wails from some of the captives. As bad as the situation was, he was glad that he didn't have "the hunger" gnawing at his brain. It was a large relief to his entire being.
The carrier lurched suddenly as it was losing altitude. Gabriel felt someone latch onto him, shaking violently. At first it was unsettling; he didn't know who it was, but he instinctively wrapped his arms around the small frame. He felt long hair in-between his fingers. It must have been a young girl. She started to sob uncontrollably. He stroked the back of her head gently,
"Sshhh. Hey, it's okay. You're okay." He cooed. The young girl quieted down,
"Miranda!" a male voice called worriedly. Gabriel looked in the direction of the voice,
"Are you Miranda?" He whispered to the little girl. He felt her nod against his chest, "Don't worry, I've got her. Once we've landed I'll get her back to you." Gabriel said to the dark space.
"Oh god, thank you!" The man replied thankfully. The Helicopter continued to decline in altitude, making a louder whine than before,
"Are we gonna die?" Miranda asked, quivering again. Gabriel breathed deeply,
"No. Of course not." He stroked her hair again. He made his response as sure as he could, though he wasn't entirely positive in his answer.
A few moments later, the Helicopter touched down, gently onto the ground, or at least, what felt like ground. It took a few more minutes for anything to happen. Suddenly light filled the carrier, blinding the captives. Gabriel shielded his, and Miranda's, eyes. Slowly their eyes adjusted to the brightness of the outside world. Gabriel searched for the man who had been looking for Miranda,
"Miranda! Miranda! Come here quickly." Someone in the crowd yelled in a distressed tone. The young girl unlatched her grip on Gabriel and ran for the man who was assumedly her father. Gabriel watched her go, and then met the spiteful eyes of the man. He stared Gabriel down with a disturbed glare, then quickly picked up his daughter protectively. Claire observed the scene from her position, not too far away, but before she could think, she was being grabbed roughly by agents. They dragged all 17 captives out of the carrier one by one. They were each led down the ramp, onto the roof of the Primatech building; then, they were pulled down the stairs from the roof into the interior,
"Let me see my dad! Where is he?" Claire growled furiously. The agents only tightened their grips on her arms,
"Shut up mutant!" the one on her left spat,
"My dad is Noah Bennet! Your boss! Get on your little walkie talkies, and ask him yourself!" Claire retorted, gritting her teeth. The agent on her right, a young man with a shaved head, pulled out his walkie talkie.
"Bennets office"
-NOAH BENNET AND MOHINDER-
Noah stood outside a small cell with Doctor Mohinder Suresh. The cell was a floor above level five and was part of a treatment and medical ward. Mohinder had been working here for about four months now, after Noah had offered him a job. Suresh had been planning on moving back to India to continue his father's research, away from all the chaos of New York, but as soon as Noah contacted him, he had changed his mind. Mohinder couldn't remember what had made him decide so easily, but there was just something about the whole situation he couldn't put his finger on.
"Is the body responding?" Noah asked, looking into the cell at the covered corpse on the table slab. Mohinder looked at the body for a moment longer before turning back to Noah,
"Yes, but the situation is a little different than what we first thought." Mohinder replied in his thick accent. Bennet furrowed his brow immediately,
"How so?" He asked tentatively, staring at Mohinder. Suresh handed him a clip board with information about the body. Bennet read silently to himself while Mohinder stood, secretly observing Noah's face. Bennet's expression changed from a concerned glare to a sinister smile as he continued to read. When he was finished, he handed Suresh the clip board,
"Well, this will work out nicely." Noah piped, smiling at Suresh. Mohinder narrowed his eyes,
"What are you planning? What's this all for?"
Bennet's smile widened, "I have my reasons." Mohinder sighed at the response. He hated being kept in the dark,
"Don't worry Mohinder, it's nothing." Noah said raising his brow, "Do you think you could perform a DNA test at this stage?" He asked looking towards the body again. Mohinder nodded,
"I suppose, but-"He was cut off by Noah's walkie talkie,
"Uh, Mr. Bennet? We have arrived with the 17 from the reservation. We're bringing them in now, but there's a girl here who is causing some issues. She says she is your daughter?" Noah's jaw fell open slightly as his eyes widened,
"On my way." He replied surely. He turned the walkie talkie off as he walked quickly down the hall, leaving Mohinder alone.
"Stewart point"
-PETER AND EMMA-
Peter held Emma's hand as they walked deeper into the forest. Peter was on high alert; he searched for agents and refugees. He wasn't sure of how big the woods they were in were, but he couldn't believe that they hadn't seen anyone in the past two hours,
"Peter?" Emma murmured behind him. Peter led her to a large tree before speaking,
"What?" he whispered back,
"Will we be able to go back to the reservation?"
Peter licked his lips, then shook his head, "There would probably be agents waiting; they would be expecting us to come back." Emma's face saddened,
"Why is this happening? We wouldn't hurt anyone…." Tears began coming to her eyes. He pulled her into a gentle hug,
"I don't know." He replied, even though she couldn't hear him.
"Uh, am I interrupting something?" A female voice sounded. Peter jumped, pulling away from Emma, searching for the sound. His eyes met Tracy Strauss immediately. Her bright eyes reflected the moonlight as she crossed her arms smugly,
"Tracy! It's about time we found someone else." Peter replied, smiling for the first time in hours,
"Is there anyone else with you?" Emma asked softly,
"Yeah, a group of us stuck together. I went out looking for a few more, and now here we are. Follow me, and I'll take you to them." Tracy turned, and walked from the way she came. Peter and Emma followed right behind.
"Somewhere in Utah"
-MATT PARKMAN-
Matt had drifted off to sleep in the Buick on the way to Primatech. Rene paid no mind to Matt's tossing and turning. Matt was dreaming again; he had been doing that a lot lately. He again saw Usutu, but he couldn't place where they were. Matt looked around the dark hallway he and the prophet stood in,
"Parkman. Do not be afraid. Things can be fixed."
Suddenly the lights flickered on, revealing the cement walls with the number five imprinted upon them. The usual Primatech cells were illuminated. Matt looked in each starting with the first, then on down. He noticed that all were empty, except the last two, which were directly across the hall from each other. Matt looked into the one on his left first. What he saw horrified him. It was Claire in her red and white cheerleading uniform. Two men, dressed in the same Primatech guard wardrobe, had wicked grins on their faces. They took turns pushing the blonde from one into the other. They laughed, but Parkman couldn't hear anything through the glass. One of the men, once she had been pushed into his chest, wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, trying to take off her uniform. Matt struggled to watch. He saw Claire desperately trying to push away from him. He even saw her trying to scream, but no one could hear her,
"The cheerleader may even die," Usutu began. Matt turned away from the scene, but what the other cell held in store, was more evil than the last. Sylar stood directly in front of Parkman, on the other side of thick glass. His eyes looked straight through Matt, much like Janice did a few hours ago,
"but you have to save Sylar." Matt turned sharply to Usutu,
"Do you even hear yourself? Why would I-"
"Do not question, look." Usutu pointed back towards the Cells, and Parkman reluctantly turned. Sylar banged on the glass, staring into Claire's cell. Matt could somehow hear him despite the barrier,
"Stop! Let her go! Stop it!" Sylar's usual dark demeanor had vanished, and was replaced by one of worry and helplessness. Matt furrowed his brow as he observed the twisted event. Sylar moved to the back of his cell, still intently watching Claire and her attackers. What happened next went in slow motion before Matt's eyes. Sylar sprinted towards the glass, leading with his left shoulder. The glass cracked as his body connected with it, and then shattered. Glass shards flew everywhere as Sylar threw himself forward onto the ground outside his cell. An extremely loud alarm sounded, as red lights began to flash. Before anyone even had time to think, the doors to the hallway flew open. A large group of agents filed in with guns drawn, but they soon parted as Noah Bennet pushed through, aiming his weapon,
"He is the only chance you have at fixing what has been done to you." Usutu finished. Noah walked over to Sylar, who was now sitting on his knees. Matt's vision began to fade out as Bennet placed the muzzle of his handgun on Sylar's forehead. Matt saw nearly nothing but darkness when a shot sounded.
Matt jolted awake, startling Rene. He breathed rapidly, taking in everything his dream had brought him,
"How long… until we...get to Primatech?" Matt asked Rene, trying to catch his breath,
"In about an hour we'll be handing you over to some guards who will take you to Primatech by plane. It will be about another five hours."