A/N: I'm going to start posting Monday for this story so that all my stories are staggered. Sundays and Wednesdays for Delicate, Mondays for Black Sundays, and Tuesdays for FM Radio.
Check out the post for Part I because Blink1lit made this story an excellent banner.
Part XI
The girl that Peter made them stop and get was a slight young woman. Her olive skin was pale, almost sickly against her dark hair and standard gray clothes, her brown eyes were guarded but on fire. Taken as a whole, Adam could see why his companion was so enamored with her.
There was a certain spunk about her. If she were healthy he might be inclined to call her gorgeous.
“Liz,” as soon as Peter spoke her face lit up into a relieved smile.
They shared a quick hug he could just hear her whisper, “Thank you.”
“Liz this is Adam Monroe. Adam this is Elizabeth Parker.”
“A pleasure,” he shook her hand from where she was still tucked under Peters arm.
“Like wise.”
“Excuse my forwardness but you don't look well.”
He did not need someone getting between him and the influence he could exercise over Peter. All his plans hinged on using the sheer power that was available to the naive boy. Once he accepted what he could do, there would be no force in the world that would be able to stop him.
Adam planned on benefiting from that. As a trusted confidant he would be in the perfect position. And no girl, no matter how attractive, was going to stand in the way.
Liz's lip quirked up, “Next time you can get the crap beat out of you.”
He smirked. She had spunk, “Now that the pleasantries are over we should be leaving.”
Peter nodded and they began their journey, Liz lacing their fingers together in what was a blatant display of affection done, seemingly, without a second thought. Just as the thumb running across her knuckles was the same.
They phased through wall after wall, all the while Adam was wondering how close the pair next to him had gotten during the long conversations that he wasn't privy to. Peter shared very little about the other imprisoned member of their group.
Perhaps her presence would be beneficial.
In his almost four hundred years he had learned that those ruled by their heart, such as Peter was, were the most manipulatable. Their emotions got in the way of making logical decisions. If he came to feel strongly for the girl, any threat to her person could be advantageous.
But first he needed to figure out what she could do.
If it was a physical power, such as a firestarter or water control, than she was no danger and could in fact be a windfall. Being indestructible and having a tolerance for pain born from centuries of regeneration there was little damage she could do to his person. Her abilities however could be a means to an end. Another tool to be used in the case of Peters absence.
But if her powers were mental, such as telepathy, than Liz would have to be removed from the equation: dealing with that ability in Peter would be trying enough; having another there would be too much. Adam was counting on his young companion to trust him after he healed Nathan.
One stray thought could ruin everything.
They stepped out into the cold air. It was biting and after thirty years of captivity it felt painfully good. Ice crunched under his shoes.
He was free. He was finally free.
And those who betrayed him were going to pay.
“This way.”
Black Sundays (HR,XO,UC,Mature) COMPLETE 4-23-08
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vaifeal
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Re: Black Sundays (HR,XO,UC,Mature) 2/11
Last edited by vaifeal on Tue Feb 12, 2008 5:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Like many non-violent men since that time, he was deeply hated." - on Desiderius Eramus
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
-
vaifeal
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 186
- Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 4:08 pm
- Location: somewhere this side of unstable
- Contact:
Re: Black Sundays (HR,XO,UC,Mature) 2/18
Part XII
“What are you going to do with her?” Peter shot him a sharp look. Adam raised his hand in submission. “I only meant are you going to drag Liz into this crusade against the Company or are you going to let her go so she can try and find normalcy.”
“Is there normal for people like us?”
“One can hope,” Adam had no desire for such a life but Peter wanted that for her. Normal in his head was equated with safety.
The young were such fools.
It was a characteristic that he was counting on to allow him to sway his companions. So far it had been an easy thing to do. Inside the walls of the company anyone seemed virtuous. Now was the time for him to exercise skills gained over the last four centuries.
That Peter reminded him of the carp made it easier. His innocent willingness to look for a role model labeled him prey. For the boy Nathan was not an option any longer. Adam would take his place.
He looked over towards the object of their conversation. Liz was leaning against one of the large window that littered the newly renovated but not quite finished factory to loft conversion. She was wrapped in a sweatshirt that was a part of the clothing that Peter had gotten for them, her black hair lightly brushing her shoulder. The moonlight was streaming through the window bathing her in light.
She looked ethereal.
If she wasn't an extraneous part of Peter's life he would have expressed an interest.
But she was so there was no point in entertaining the thought. Her appeal only added to the growing need to eliminate her. The pair was too close, had a trust that would supersede any bond formed between him and the boy.
Relationships formed in intense situations could be volatile.
Adam couldn’t risk her getting in the way.
In the morning he’d go see a man who could help him get the passports and tickets that they would need. It was too dangerous for them to stay in the country with the Company looking for them. They’d let the Company loose their trail before coming back.
He’d even get papers for Liz.
The man he was using for the work was an old contact. One of the few that was still alive and working after thirty years. The documents would be clean and he’d eventually be able to get the money that he’d put away before he’d tried to get the virus.
Peter had his role to play. There would be no stopping what was coming.
“Not everyone wants normal,” the boy said it quietly before walking towards the woman he hadn’t looked away from since they had started talking.
There had never been a question as to whether others were kept in the basement. In fact he had held discourse with many of them but none had had the power that Peter did. So he had bided his time, hedged his bets.
She would not get in his way.
Not this waif of a girl with soulful eyes and a quick wit.
He watched as Peter stood next to her, her head shyly dipped. With the lighting and distance there was no way to know but there was little doubt that her face would be fused red. Their low voiced carried over to him. The empty loft wasn’t conducive to private conversation and he’d known that earlier.
Liz would have heard their whole discussion.
With any luck it would make her question what she wanted and what was possible if she stayed with the boy.
“You’re gonna be able to do everything I can do,” it wasn’t a question. The pair was closer than they had been with Peter’s hand resting lightly on her back.
“Yes.”
“Than you should know it all,” she finally turned towards the boy so that they were silhouetted against a backdrop of streetlights.
“We have time,” Peter pulled her to him, hugging her close and kissed her head softly.
Adam turned away as Liz put her arms around him, returning the comforting gesture.
He’d seen moments like that before. The intense questioning that given time could develop into something more powerful. Oh he knew moments like that, ones that made observers seem like voyeurs with its innocence, that were too precious and too personal for anyone else’s eyes.
Yes, the girl was definitely shaping up to be just as dangerous as he had anticipated.
"Like many non-violent men since that time, he was deeply hated." - on Desiderius Eramus
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
-
vaifeal
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Re: Black Sundays (HR,XO,UC,Mature) 2/24
Part XIII
When Adam entered the loft the next afternoon, Peter was still asleep in the corner and Liz was sitting on the kitchen counter a cup of coffee in hand. There was a pot sitting next to her filled with the substance. His eyebrow raised at the sight of her it could've been any Saturday morning, not one in which they were being hunted by an organization that wouldn't hesitate to kill them.
“It was in with the workers stuff, you want a cup?”
“I'll get it,” he pulled a paper cup from the haphazard stack beside the maker and filled it with the lukewarm liquid. It was horrible, probably the worst thing to be called coffee he'd ever tasted but after thirty years without it: It was amazing.
“I know it's horribly good,” Liz said with a laugh.
He leaned on the counter beside her, one hand resting near hers. She looked much better than the first time he had seen her but there was still a look around her. Like a dog kicked too many times, cautious and little feral.
“Liz.”
“Adam,” she was also in much better spirits.
The improvement was so marked he hated to think of what might have happened on the other side of the loft after he had fallen asleep. The last he'd heard they'd been speaking quietly and the thought that they would engage in anything more intimate.
Adam hadn't been in the same room as someone else having sex since the sixties and that was while the others had been under the influenced of certain illegal substances that were not generally available to the population as a whole. Not that there was anything outside of her cheery disposition that hinted at the act.
She could just be an unusual little woman.
“I can't fathom how you made it thirty years in that place. I wouldn't have made it much longer.”
“From what I understand, the difference between you and I is that I have a sense of self-preservation.”
Liz seemed to weigh the statement before responding with a nod and a laugh, “Ok. Yeah, I can see that.”
The response reminded him of a man he had known over a century previous. That man had met his demise at the wrong end of a shotgun because of the influence that he had exercised. He could see her meeting a similar end. People in power didn't like when someone more intelligent than themselves told them how to conduct their affairs.
Elizabeth without a doubt was a very intelligent woman.
“I take it you're feeling better today.”
“I suppose I am,” she took a sip of her coffee. He did the same before returning to the topic that he had began the discussion to address.
“You never told me what you can do.”
“No, I don't suppose I did,” her brown eyes lit up mischievously. “I kill people with my touch.”
Adam jerked away from her, his hand going to his trouser pocket to grip the small vial there, before relaxing as her laughter rang through the room. Her hand came up to cover her mouth and smother the sound. Peter rolled restlessly before settling down.
“That was not amusing.”
“Oh calm down old man,” she shook her head still grinning. “Don't worry. It's nothing as insidious as that.”
“Than what-” her light touch of his hand silenced him.
“You're like a conscience only I take heed of you,” Liz's voice took on a bit of a lilt before she shook her head as if to clear it. “Sorry, they're still on the fritz.”
His hand once again fingered the vial in his pocket. He'd gotten it in the case that he couldn't persuade her to leave by her own volition. Her gifts changed things. He'd have to use it earlier than anticipated.
“That's an interesting gift.”
“You don't know the half of it. Give me your coffee,” he handed it to her watching closely. Nothing seemed to be happening until steam rolled off the top. Liz handed back the cup, which was now hot enough to burn, and jumped down.
“We should wake Peter.”
“I'll do it,” he gently grabbed her arm, making sure that he wasn't touching her exposed skin.
“How is he?” if the boy wasn't at his most capable than it would take longer than necessary to follow through with his plan. The display of concern also had the added benefit of aiding him with the girl. She would be less likely to use her ability on someone who was a friend of Peters.
“Good. Worried about Nathan, angry at the people who did this, but otherwise he's good,” her brow furrowed as she stared at him. “His abilities are fine. They're in perfect working order.”
She was reading him. The effects of the drugs the Company had been pumping into her were wearing off.
Adam quickly changed the subject, “The two of you are close.”
Liz looked over at Peter fondly, “He's the best thing in my life right now and the only thing that makes sense which is wrong on so many levels but I really don't care.”
With another smile she took a cup of coffee over to where Peter was laying. She kneeled next to him, her hair tickling his face. He heard Peter groan and swat at the intrusion, Liz laughed and whispered into his ear. Adam turned away.
It would be dark in a few hours, one of the benefits of it being the winter, at which time they would leave for the hospital. He'd need to slip her the contents of the vial before then.
When Adam entered the loft the next afternoon, Peter was still asleep in the corner and Liz was sitting on the kitchen counter a cup of coffee in hand. There was a pot sitting next to her filled with the substance. His eyebrow raised at the sight of her it could've been any Saturday morning, not one in which they were being hunted by an organization that wouldn't hesitate to kill them.
“It was in with the workers stuff, you want a cup?”
“I'll get it,” he pulled a paper cup from the haphazard stack beside the maker and filled it with the lukewarm liquid. It was horrible, probably the worst thing to be called coffee he'd ever tasted but after thirty years without it: It was amazing.
“I know it's horribly good,” Liz said with a laugh.
He leaned on the counter beside her, one hand resting near hers. She looked much better than the first time he had seen her but there was still a look around her. Like a dog kicked too many times, cautious and little feral.
“Liz.”
“Adam,” she was also in much better spirits.
The improvement was so marked he hated to think of what might have happened on the other side of the loft after he had fallen asleep. The last he'd heard they'd been speaking quietly and the thought that they would engage in anything more intimate.
Adam hadn't been in the same room as someone else having sex since the sixties and that was while the others had been under the influenced of certain illegal substances that were not generally available to the population as a whole. Not that there was anything outside of her cheery disposition that hinted at the act.
She could just be an unusual little woman.
“I can't fathom how you made it thirty years in that place. I wouldn't have made it much longer.”
“From what I understand, the difference between you and I is that I have a sense of self-preservation.”
Liz seemed to weigh the statement before responding with a nod and a laugh, “Ok. Yeah, I can see that.”
The response reminded him of a man he had known over a century previous. That man had met his demise at the wrong end of a shotgun because of the influence that he had exercised. He could see her meeting a similar end. People in power didn't like when someone more intelligent than themselves told them how to conduct their affairs.
Elizabeth without a doubt was a very intelligent woman.
“I take it you're feeling better today.”
“I suppose I am,” she took a sip of her coffee. He did the same before returning to the topic that he had began the discussion to address.
“You never told me what you can do.”
“No, I don't suppose I did,” her brown eyes lit up mischievously. “I kill people with my touch.”
Adam jerked away from her, his hand going to his trouser pocket to grip the small vial there, before relaxing as her laughter rang through the room. Her hand came up to cover her mouth and smother the sound. Peter rolled restlessly before settling down.
“That was not amusing.”
“Oh calm down old man,” she shook her head still grinning. “Don't worry. It's nothing as insidious as that.”
“Than what-” her light touch of his hand silenced him.
“You're like a conscience only I take heed of you,” Liz's voice took on a bit of a lilt before she shook her head as if to clear it. “Sorry, they're still on the fritz.”
His hand once again fingered the vial in his pocket. He'd gotten it in the case that he couldn't persuade her to leave by her own volition. Her gifts changed things. He'd have to use it earlier than anticipated.
“That's an interesting gift.”
“You don't know the half of it. Give me your coffee,” he handed it to her watching closely. Nothing seemed to be happening until steam rolled off the top. Liz handed back the cup, which was now hot enough to burn, and jumped down.
“We should wake Peter.”
“I'll do it,” he gently grabbed her arm, making sure that he wasn't touching her exposed skin.
“How is he?” if the boy wasn't at his most capable than it would take longer than necessary to follow through with his plan. The display of concern also had the added benefit of aiding him with the girl. She would be less likely to use her ability on someone who was a friend of Peters.
“Good. Worried about Nathan, angry at the people who did this, but otherwise he's good,” her brow furrowed as she stared at him. “His abilities are fine. They're in perfect working order.”
She was reading him. The effects of the drugs the Company had been pumping into her were wearing off.
Adam quickly changed the subject, “The two of you are close.”
Liz looked over at Peter fondly, “He's the best thing in my life right now and the only thing that makes sense which is wrong on so many levels but I really don't care.”
With another smile she took a cup of coffee over to where Peter was laying. She kneeled next to him, her hair tickling his face. He heard Peter groan and swat at the intrusion, Liz laughed and whispered into his ear. Adam turned away.
It would be dark in a few hours, one of the benefits of it being the winter, at which time they would leave for the hospital. He'd need to slip her the contents of the vial before then.
"Like many non-violent men since that time, he was deeply hated." - on Desiderius Eramus
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
-
vaifeal
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Re: Black Sundays (HR,XO,UC,Mature) 3/03
Part XIV
There was nothing simple about the research that Liz had been doing, not by any stretch of the imagination. Complexity and genetics went hand-in-hand, there couldn't be one without the other. Not with so much left unexplored.
Nothing was cut-and-dry and nothing was simple.
For anyone, especially a scientist, to enter a study thinking that they would find one specific gene to quantify all the ticks of a certain human behavior was ridiculous, right up there with building a house without a foundation. Eventually the study would collapse.
Human genetics were painfully intricate. She couldn't think of one characteristic, physical or other, that happened independent of multiple factors. Not even height was purely based on DNA. Take that the average height in Japan and Europe having increased over the last decade because of improved prenatal and childhood healthcare availability while people in the United States had shrunk.
Variables were everywhere.
That was why when she began looking into why she and people like her could do the things they could do, Liz had not only spent hours examining blood and tissue samples from everyone on the genetics tree she could harass into participating but she had collected mountains of data on the external as well. It had been a long arduous process – one she hadn't finished before being untimely interrupted – but perhaps the most important aspect of her research.
The enormous influence that the external had on the internal never failed to awe her which was unusual since her gifts being what they were she couldn't help but be aware of the natural give-and-take that was an inherent process of the world.
This hyper-awareness was how Liz had known that something was off while they were preparing to leave. She had known that it would get worse before it would get better and she had known that all of her attention would have to focused on not doing something stupid that would expose them. The only things she didn't know was why her body had decided to revolt.
She had an idea though.
But she couldn't think on Adam now.
Not when all she could concentrate on was the feel of Peter's hair through her fingers and the warmth that radiated from him as they were pressed together. Inappropriate thoughts and the caresses that accompanied them were all that were keeping her from blowing out every light that they passed like she wanted.
Whatever the drug that coursed through her the effects were making her reckless. It was sheer will that held her back and it was Peter that was keeping her on her feet with exhaustion setting in.
Her fingers lightly traced his lip and felt them tremble under the touch. Things would have been so different if they had met each other earlier under different circumstances. Maybe neither of them would have ended up in that place. Maybe she wouldn't have spent so much time pushing people away. Maybe they could have helped each other. Maybe they would be happy.
Maybe...
For a brief moment the world dimmed to its normal luminance and the events of the last few days properly aligned. They were running, going to help Nathan – the most important person in Peters' life – before the Company could intercept them. Speed was the key, in and out, too long and they'd end up where they had been.
Peters' concern and Adams' annoyance was understandable. Liz was slowing them down. Because of her there might be irreversible consequences for them all. They were playing with the possibility of getting caught by bringing her. Nathan might not get healed.
They had to get to Nathan.
Pushing as hard as she could, she stumbled out of Peters' grip. She only made it a couple of feet before collapsing next to the stairs of brownstone they were near. Hands were on her again trying to pull her to her feet.
“No, leave me,” she pulled her arm from Peter. “I need to stop.”
She pressed her hands to her head. There was too much stimuli. Everything was coming in.
“Peter,” Adam sent an impatient look their way, “time is short.”
“Just go. Go help your brother,” Peter looked between her and Adam unsure what to do. He didn't want to leave her but he needed to help his brother. “I'll be ok in a little bit. Go Peter.”
He gave her a hesitant nod, “I'll come for you.”
“I know,” he turned to leave but she weakly tugged on his sleeve to bring him down for a hug. When his arms were around him she whispered so only he could hear. “Don't trust Adam.”
Liz managed to stay awake until they turned the corner then it was all black.
When she came too her chest filled with panic until she recognized that she wasn't back in the basement but was actually in a hospital room, her hands and feet restrained to the bed. There where no drugs coursing through her system and she almost let herself give into the temptation to get more rest. It was a relief to have total control once again even if she would have to exercise all that to run.
A nurse came shortly after she had woken and silently checked her vitals. She left herself open to get a reading. The woman was an innocent but a pawn. Thoughts flashed through her mind in a unorganized mess that told of a long shift.
Secure... Hospital... Coming.
The Company would be coming to pick her up after having been informed of her location by the police that had found her and brought her to the hospital in concern for her health. More pawns.
“I'm sorry,” the nurse looked up at her startled but didn't manage to respond as she was touched ny a newly freed hand. The woman collapsed to the floor immediately, she'd have a killer headache when she woke.
Making quick work of the other bonds, Liz slipped from the room without looking back.
There was nothing simple about the research that Liz had been doing, not by any stretch of the imagination. Complexity and genetics went hand-in-hand, there couldn't be one without the other. Not with so much left unexplored.
Nothing was cut-and-dry and nothing was simple.
For anyone, especially a scientist, to enter a study thinking that they would find one specific gene to quantify all the ticks of a certain human behavior was ridiculous, right up there with building a house without a foundation. Eventually the study would collapse.
Human genetics were painfully intricate. She couldn't think of one characteristic, physical or other, that happened independent of multiple factors. Not even height was purely based on DNA. Take that the average height in Japan and Europe having increased over the last decade because of improved prenatal and childhood healthcare availability while people in the United States had shrunk.
Variables were everywhere.
That was why when she began looking into why she and people like her could do the things they could do, Liz had not only spent hours examining blood and tissue samples from everyone on the genetics tree she could harass into participating but she had collected mountains of data on the external as well. It had been a long arduous process – one she hadn't finished before being untimely interrupted – but perhaps the most important aspect of her research.
The enormous influence that the external had on the internal never failed to awe her which was unusual since her gifts being what they were she couldn't help but be aware of the natural give-and-take that was an inherent process of the world.
This hyper-awareness was how Liz had known that something was off while they were preparing to leave. She had known that it would get worse before it would get better and she had known that all of her attention would have to focused on not doing something stupid that would expose them. The only things she didn't know was why her body had decided to revolt.
She had an idea though.
But she couldn't think on Adam now.
Not when all she could concentrate on was the feel of Peter's hair through her fingers and the warmth that radiated from him as they were pressed together. Inappropriate thoughts and the caresses that accompanied them were all that were keeping her from blowing out every light that they passed like she wanted.
Whatever the drug that coursed through her the effects were making her reckless. It was sheer will that held her back and it was Peter that was keeping her on her feet with exhaustion setting in.
Her fingers lightly traced his lip and felt them tremble under the touch. Things would have been so different if they had met each other earlier under different circumstances. Maybe neither of them would have ended up in that place. Maybe she wouldn't have spent so much time pushing people away. Maybe they could have helped each other. Maybe they would be happy.
Maybe...
For a brief moment the world dimmed to its normal luminance and the events of the last few days properly aligned. They were running, going to help Nathan – the most important person in Peters' life – before the Company could intercept them. Speed was the key, in and out, too long and they'd end up where they had been.
Peters' concern and Adams' annoyance was understandable. Liz was slowing them down. Because of her there might be irreversible consequences for them all. They were playing with the possibility of getting caught by bringing her. Nathan might not get healed.
They had to get to Nathan.
Pushing as hard as she could, she stumbled out of Peters' grip. She only made it a couple of feet before collapsing next to the stairs of brownstone they were near. Hands were on her again trying to pull her to her feet.
“No, leave me,” she pulled her arm from Peter. “I need to stop.”
She pressed her hands to her head. There was too much stimuli. Everything was coming in.
“Peter,” Adam sent an impatient look their way, “time is short.”
“Just go. Go help your brother,” Peter looked between her and Adam unsure what to do. He didn't want to leave her but he needed to help his brother. “I'll be ok in a little bit. Go Peter.”
He gave her a hesitant nod, “I'll come for you.”
“I know,” he turned to leave but she weakly tugged on his sleeve to bring him down for a hug. When his arms were around him she whispered so only he could hear. “Don't trust Adam.”
Liz managed to stay awake until they turned the corner then it was all black.
When she came too her chest filled with panic until she recognized that she wasn't back in the basement but was actually in a hospital room, her hands and feet restrained to the bed. There where no drugs coursing through her system and she almost let herself give into the temptation to get more rest. It was a relief to have total control once again even if she would have to exercise all that to run.
A nurse came shortly after she had woken and silently checked her vitals. She left herself open to get a reading. The woman was an innocent but a pawn. Thoughts flashed through her mind in a unorganized mess that told of a long shift.
Secure... Hospital... Coming.
The Company would be coming to pick her up after having been informed of her location by the police that had found her and brought her to the hospital in concern for her health. More pawns.
“I'm sorry,” the nurse looked up at her startled but didn't manage to respond as she was touched ny a newly freed hand. The woman collapsed to the floor immediately, she'd have a killer headache when she woke.
Making quick work of the other bonds, Liz slipped from the room without looking back.
"Like many non-violent men since that time, he was deeply hated." - on Desiderius Eramus
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
-
vaifeal
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 186
- Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 4:08 pm
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Re: Black Sundays (HR,XO,UC,Mature) 3/10
Part XV
Matt Parkman knew he wasn't in the best shape. His nickname through out high school had been Stay Puff, so yeah he got it. But things were different know. His ability to read minds gave him a definite edge over the competition who spent more time in a gym a week than he had in his lifetime.
He'd just put Molly in bed when there was a knock on the door followed by an ominous thump. Cautiously he drew his gun and made his way toward the sound. With Suresh at work infiltrating the Company there was always the chance someone would be coming from them. Slowly he opened the door and was met with the slim form of a woman stumbling into his arms.
“Sorry,” she stepped away from him. Barefoot and dressed in hospital scrubs, her shoulder was dark with blood but when the hole from what seemed to be a bullet hole moved there didn't be a wound. “I wasn't expecting the door to open.”
“You knocked.”
“Yes I did,” fathomless brown eyes stared through him. “I need to speak to Mohinder Suresh. I was told he might be able to help me.”
“He'd not here.”
“Do you know when he will be back?” Matt hesitated. He was alone in the house with Molly, he didn't want to bring any danger into the apartment. Appearance could be deceiving especially with the recent emergence of abilities.
Don't worry Matt. I'm not here to hurt you or Molly.
His eyes widened catching the stray thought as the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall. Suresh stopped in front of them glancing between the two. The wounded hospital escapee and the psychic detective. Add some drama and they'd have the makings of a successful television series.
“Dr Suresh.”
Said man walked into the apartments followed by the woman, “Yes? Can I help you with anything?”
“I hope so.”
“Take a seat Ms...”
“Elizabeth Parker. Liz,” she sat down at their kitchen table, Suresh and Matt across from her.
“There was a geneticist at MIT-”
“That was me,” a small smile lit her face making her younger than she had seemed previously, “a million years ago.”
“So what can I help you with?”
“I need to find Peter Petrelli.”
Surprised words passed Matt's lips before he could stop them, “Peter Petrelli's dead. He exploded over the city.”
“No he isn't and yes he did.”
“I'm sorry I can't help you Ms Parker. I haven't seen Peter since that night.”
Matt Parkman knew he wasn't in the best shape. His nickname through out high school had been Stay Puff, so yeah he got it. But things were different know. His ability to read minds gave him a definite edge over the competition who spent more time in a gym a week than he had in his lifetime.
He'd just put Molly in bed when there was a knock on the door followed by an ominous thump. Cautiously he drew his gun and made his way toward the sound. With Suresh at work infiltrating the Company there was always the chance someone would be coming from them. Slowly he opened the door and was met with the slim form of a woman stumbling into his arms.
“Sorry,” she stepped away from him. Barefoot and dressed in hospital scrubs, her shoulder was dark with blood but when the hole from what seemed to be a bullet hole moved there didn't be a wound. “I wasn't expecting the door to open.”
“You knocked.”
“Yes I did,” fathomless brown eyes stared through him. “I need to speak to Mohinder Suresh. I was told he might be able to help me.”
“He'd not here.”
“Do you know when he will be back?” Matt hesitated. He was alone in the house with Molly, he didn't want to bring any danger into the apartment. Appearance could be deceiving especially with the recent emergence of abilities.
Don't worry Matt. I'm not here to hurt you or Molly.
His eyes widened catching the stray thought as the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall. Suresh stopped in front of them glancing between the two. The wounded hospital escapee and the psychic detective. Add some drama and they'd have the makings of a successful television series.
“Dr Suresh.”
Said man walked into the apartments followed by the woman, “Yes? Can I help you with anything?”
“I hope so.”
“Take a seat Ms...”
“Elizabeth Parker. Liz,” she sat down at their kitchen table, Suresh and Matt across from her.
“There was a geneticist at MIT-”
“That was me,” a small smile lit her face making her younger than she had seemed previously, “a million years ago.”
“So what can I help you with?”
“I need to find Peter Petrelli.”
Surprised words passed Matt's lips before he could stop them, “Peter Petrelli's dead. He exploded over the city.”
“No he isn't and yes he did.”
“I'm sorry I can't help you Ms Parker. I haven't seen Peter since that night.”
"Like many non-violent men since that time, he was deeply hated." - on Desiderius Eramus
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
-
vaifeal
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 186
- Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 4:08 pm
- Location: somewhere this side of unstable
- Contact:
Re: Black Sundays (HR,XO,UC,Mature) 3/17
I'm changing the format so that the parts are longer, the pacing is quicker, and it's easier for me to write. Thanks for the reviews ;} and Happy St Pat's!!
Part XVI
The last month had been a challenge but she thrived on challenges. No one knew where Peter was let alone accepted that he was actually alive. Parkman and Suresh had sent her to Noah Bennett but none of the three had believed her until Bob had let it slip to Nathan in order to garner support. Liz would have liked to be there but if she popped up in New York or near the Petrelli's she'd be grabbed.
Beside Peter wasn't in New York. She didn't know how she knew that but she did.
Bennett had been helpful and had let her take part in his effort to bring down the Company. Their efforts were for the same end even if their reasons were different. His attention was focused on protecting his family. Hers was getting revenge for what had been done to her and those like her.
She was tired of letting people walk all over her. What was the point of being inconsequential if they were just going to come after her anyway? She was at the end of her rope. They'd learn that there was consequences for their actions.
In the past she'd learned to live with the things she could do but she'd never exercised them. In the past month she'd tried to change that. If she was going to take the Company down and make sure they both felt it and stayed down, she'd need to use them.
Liz pulled on her jacket and shoved her keys into her pocket. Parkman had called her and told her that they believed that Peter was headed to the Odessa facility. The same place that she was two miles outside of because once Bennett had told her what he had done there, she'd wanted to see it.
Now was her chance.
*
She'd gotten good at infiltrating secure buildings. A touch of her hand and she had the layout of the building with the key card she needed. The ease with which she could do these things made it hard to have any faith in security. It also meant that by the time the alarms started blaring and Peter came around the bend of the hall way, security guards being flung, she was already waiting by the large safe door.
Loathing built up at his companion, “Adam.”
“Elizabeth,” she'd spent so much of her life staying below the radar, mediating feelings that the sheer hate his tone inspired left her reeling.
“Liz,” looking at Peter wasn't an option. He was a vibrator, as Maria had put it so eloquently put it years ago.
Without a thought she had him off his feet and against the wall. She'd kill him, she had no doubt that he deserved it. It was better if he was dead, he'd never be able to hurt anyone again that way. He gasped for Peter to interfere and she could feel the younger mans hesitance.
“He's not worth trying to save. He'd see us all dead before the end.”
“She is right,” she had the strangest compulsion to call the Asian man who'd just materialized Carp.
“I can't let you do this.”
“Are you going to kill me Peter?” it hurt to have him so near. He promised. He promised and she'd believed him. “I have to warn you a lot of people have tried. It's not so easy.”
He looked from her to the Asian man to Adam who was still suspended and would black out soon. Footsteps sounded down the hall accompanied by Parkman's familiar emotional signature. She watched Nathan - taking in the man that was so important to his brother for the first time - when she turned her attention to Adam again he was gone. So was the Carp.
*
Her fingers gently wrapped around his wrist and pulled his wrist down ignoring the memories that flooded her. She was always too open with him, “You don't need your hand, it's just for show.”
They needed to remove a steel door that was probably a foot and a half thick. Liz knew intellectually that the size and weight of the door had nothing to do with their ability to move it. With mental abilities there should be very little difference based on size which was why when Peter wasn't thinking he could move trucks without trouble.
It was the conscious mind that interfered.
“What?”
“Use your mind,” she placed her own hands in her pockets and focused on the vault. It groaned after a moments pressure, not nearly enough to move it. Peter joined after a moment, hand up despite her instruction.
She didn't miss his curious glance. He'd understand when they trained.
*
The tiny vial wasn't anything special. If Peter didn't know the destruction it was going to wrought he wouldn't look at it twice but he did know. Nathan and Matt were looking at the objects in the glass displays. They were seemingly meaningless but they wouldn't be where they were if that was the case.
Liz was still leaning up against the opening, her expression one that he knew meant her attention was focused inward. He'd left her under a set of stairs, near unconsciousness and completely defenseless. He'd said that he was coming back after they'd healed Nathan and he hadn't. There had been circumstances beyond his control but that didn't stop the guilt when ever he looked at her.
She still hadn't looked at him.
“Step back,” he cupped the tube in his hands. He'd stop the virus before it even started.
“Wait.”
“Peter,” Nathan stepped between them. It needed to be destroyed.
“Caitlin,” he didn't question how she knew about her. “You'll create a paradox. If Caitlin exists in a future that doesn't than neither does she. You have to get her first.”
“I can't...”
“I can,” she met his eyes for the first time since they'd separated, he felt as if he'd been sucker punched. He'd broken a promise to a woman who believed the only person she could rely on was herself and proved her right.
Ignoring his brother, her small hands came to the sides of his head. He could feel her intrusion but didn't mind it. Warm and inviting it felt like going home.
Liz stepped away her face was a mask of pain, her hand pressed to her forehead.
“They don't tell you it hurts this much,” he didn't think she was talking about physical pain.
Then she was gone.
Part XVI
The last month had been a challenge but she thrived on challenges. No one knew where Peter was let alone accepted that he was actually alive. Parkman and Suresh had sent her to Noah Bennett but none of the three had believed her until Bob had let it slip to Nathan in order to garner support. Liz would have liked to be there but if she popped up in New York or near the Petrelli's she'd be grabbed.
Beside Peter wasn't in New York. She didn't know how she knew that but she did.
Bennett had been helpful and had let her take part in his effort to bring down the Company. Their efforts were for the same end even if their reasons were different. His attention was focused on protecting his family. Hers was getting revenge for what had been done to her and those like her.
She was tired of letting people walk all over her. What was the point of being inconsequential if they were just going to come after her anyway? She was at the end of her rope. They'd learn that there was consequences for their actions.
In the past she'd learned to live with the things she could do but she'd never exercised them. In the past month she'd tried to change that. If she was going to take the Company down and make sure they both felt it and stayed down, she'd need to use them.
Liz pulled on her jacket and shoved her keys into her pocket. Parkman had called her and told her that they believed that Peter was headed to the Odessa facility. The same place that she was two miles outside of because once Bennett had told her what he had done there, she'd wanted to see it.
Now was her chance.
*
She'd gotten good at infiltrating secure buildings. A touch of her hand and she had the layout of the building with the key card she needed. The ease with which she could do these things made it hard to have any faith in security. It also meant that by the time the alarms started blaring and Peter came around the bend of the hall way, security guards being flung, she was already waiting by the large safe door.
Loathing built up at his companion, “Adam.”
“Elizabeth,” she'd spent so much of her life staying below the radar, mediating feelings that the sheer hate his tone inspired left her reeling.
“Liz,” looking at Peter wasn't an option. He was a vibrator, as Maria had put it so eloquently put it years ago.
Without a thought she had him off his feet and against the wall. She'd kill him, she had no doubt that he deserved it. It was better if he was dead, he'd never be able to hurt anyone again that way. He gasped for Peter to interfere and she could feel the younger mans hesitance.
“He's not worth trying to save. He'd see us all dead before the end.”
“She is right,” she had the strangest compulsion to call the Asian man who'd just materialized Carp.
“I can't let you do this.”
“Are you going to kill me Peter?” it hurt to have him so near. He promised. He promised and she'd believed him. “I have to warn you a lot of people have tried. It's not so easy.”
He looked from her to the Asian man to Adam who was still suspended and would black out soon. Footsteps sounded down the hall accompanied by Parkman's familiar emotional signature. She watched Nathan - taking in the man that was so important to his brother for the first time - when she turned her attention to Adam again he was gone. So was the Carp.
*
Her fingers gently wrapped around his wrist and pulled his wrist down ignoring the memories that flooded her. She was always too open with him, “You don't need your hand, it's just for show.”
They needed to remove a steel door that was probably a foot and a half thick. Liz knew intellectually that the size and weight of the door had nothing to do with their ability to move it. With mental abilities there should be very little difference based on size which was why when Peter wasn't thinking he could move trucks without trouble.
It was the conscious mind that interfered.
“What?”
“Use your mind,” she placed her own hands in her pockets and focused on the vault. It groaned after a moments pressure, not nearly enough to move it. Peter joined after a moment, hand up despite her instruction.
She didn't miss his curious glance. He'd understand when they trained.
*
The tiny vial wasn't anything special. If Peter didn't know the destruction it was going to wrought he wouldn't look at it twice but he did know. Nathan and Matt were looking at the objects in the glass displays. They were seemingly meaningless but they wouldn't be where they were if that was the case.
Liz was still leaning up against the opening, her expression one that he knew meant her attention was focused inward. He'd left her under a set of stairs, near unconsciousness and completely defenseless. He'd said that he was coming back after they'd healed Nathan and he hadn't. There had been circumstances beyond his control but that didn't stop the guilt when ever he looked at her.
She still hadn't looked at him.
“Step back,” he cupped the tube in his hands. He'd stop the virus before it even started.
“Wait.”
“Peter,” Nathan stepped between them. It needed to be destroyed.
“Caitlin,” he didn't question how she knew about her. “You'll create a paradox. If Caitlin exists in a future that doesn't than neither does she. You have to get her first.”
“I can't...”
“I can,” she met his eyes for the first time since they'd separated, he felt as if he'd been sucker punched. He'd broken a promise to a woman who believed the only person she could rely on was herself and proved her right.
Ignoring his brother, her small hands came to the sides of his head. He could feel her intrusion but didn't mind it. Warm and inviting it felt like going home.
Liz stepped away her face was a mask of pain, her hand pressed to her forehead.
“They don't tell you it hurts this much,” he didn't think she was talking about physical pain.
Then she was gone.
"Like many non-violent men since that time, he was deeply hated." - on Desiderius Eramus
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
-
vaifeal
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 186
- Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 4:08 pm
- Location: somewhere this side of unstable
- Contact:
Re: Black Sundays (HR,XO,UC,Mature) 3/24
Again I apologize for the plethora of mistakes in this part. Things have been too crazy to proof this well.
Part XVII
Things were already changing.
It was subtle, a slight wavering in perception as if it was a faulty projection. Even Peter coming into possession of the virus was shifting the possibilities. The future was a fluid thing, every decision shaped it. To jump ahead at one point and what was seen would be different than one seen at a different time.
Still feeling that her head was on fire and keeping a tenuous grip on the foreign ability, Liz stumbled past authorities trying to grab her and crowds of people in the deportation area.
She needed to get to Caitlin.
*
In all the ways she had thought she'd return to Ireland, she'd never thought that it would be through force stranded a year in the future where a deadly virus had wiped out most of the worlds population. Suddenly going with Peter didn't seem like such a brilliant idea. Caitlin was definitely in over her head.
Resignedly she followed the line to get processed not really sure how she was supposed to explain how she ended up in America. Telling the officials that she had traveled through time and space was not really an option, not if she wanted remain out of an institution.
“Caitlin!” she turned and was met by a small woman pushing her way through the crowd. “Caitlin!”
The woman's skin was sickly pale especially against her dark hair and blood was slowly dripping down her nose. She started forward in concern but was promptly shushed, “We need to go”
“What?”
“Peter's waiting. We need to go.”
“Where is he?”
“We need to go.”
Petite hands wrapped around her wrist prompting the same disorienting feeling that had resulted in her being stranded in the future but this time when she opened her eyes even though she didn't know where she was it wasn't so eerie. It was just a building, humming with life, and probably a governmental one.
“He's down the hall,” the woman was leaning heavily on the wall. Her eyes were shut tight as if to block out pain.
“Are you alright?”
“Tell,” she swayed on her feet and Caitlin tried to help her but was brushed off. “Tell Peter...”
She was only mildly surprised when the woman disappeared mid sentence.
*
The relief at letting Peter's ability fade had been palpable.
Of all the abilities that she had gotten from Max, the ability to connect with others was the one that had been the easiest to accept. So close to her own gifts, connecting had become second nature. It was that she could 'borrow' the powers of those like her that had been hard to adjust to.
Borrowing hurt like hell and took more effort than it was usually worth which made it the least used in her arsenal of not so normal quirks.
*
Nathan's hospital room was empty.
Empty.
Not in a way that said it was recently vacated but so that Liz was certain that it had never been occupied. The sources that she'd used to get the information that had brought her to her current location had been the only ones available. They had been her only lead. With him not being there she couldn't heal him.
Either he had passed, which she hoped wasn't the case, or he had never needed to be in the hospital. There were too many things she didn't know.
The door opened behind her and she had her gun trained on it without a thought. Being on the defense was becoming a natural reaction. Elle, the girl that she'd like nothing more than to torture, stood there hands raised in surrender.
Liz could read her intentions in the air. She needed help, didn't want to cause harm, was awakening to the sham her life was because of her father, “I'm tired of being the one that gets screwed over all the time. I won't be that girl again.”
The unease was thick in the air. Elle knew she was at a disadvantage, “What are you going to do?”
“I should kill you,” she holstered the gun.
“Probably.”
Part XVII
Things were already changing.
It was subtle, a slight wavering in perception as if it was a faulty projection. Even Peter coming into possession of the virus was shifting the possibilities. The future was a fluid thing, every decision shaped it. To jump ahead at one point and what was seen would be different than one seen at a different time.
Still feeling that her head was on fire and keeping a tenuous grip on the foreign ability, Liz stumbled past authorities trying to grab her and crowds of people in the deportation area.
She needed to get to Caitlin.
*
In all the ways she had thought she'd return to Ireland, she'd never thought that it would be through force stranded a year in the future where a deadly virus had wiped out most of the worlds population. Suddenly going with Peter didn't seem like such a brilliant idea. Caitlin was definitely in over her head.
Resignedly she followed the line to get processed not really sure how she was supposed to explain how she ended up in America. Telling the officials that she had traveled through time and space was not really an option, not if she wanted remain out of an institution.
“Caitlin!” she turned and was met by a small woman pushing her way through the crowd. “Caitlin!”
The woman's skin was sickly pale especially against her dark hair and blood was slowly dripping down her nose. She started forward in concern but was promptly shushed, “We need to go”
“What?”
“Peter's waiting. We need to go.”
“Where is he?”
“We need to go.”
Petite hands wrapped around her wrist prompting the same disorienting feeling that had resulted in her being stranded in the future but this time when she opened her eyes even though she didn't know where she was it wasn't so eerie. It was just a building, humming with life, and probably a governmental one.
“He's down the hall,” the woman was leaning heavily on the wall. Her eyes were shut tight as if to block out pain.
“Are you alright?”
“Tell,” she swayed on her feet and Caitlin tried to help her but was brushed off. “Tell Peter...”
She was only mildly surprised when the woman disappeared mid sentence.
*
The relief at letting Peter's ability fade had been palpable.
Of all the abilities that she had gotten from Max, the ability to connect with others was the one that had been the easiest to accept. So close to her own gifts, connecting had become second nature. It was that she could 'borrow' the powers of those like her that had been hard to adjust to.
Borrowing hurt like hell and took more effort than it was usually worth which made it the least used in her arsenal of not so normal quirks.
*
Nathan's hospital room was empty.
Empty.
Not in a way that said it was recently vacated but so that Liz was certain that it had never been occupied. The sources that she'd used to get the information that had brought her to her current location had been the only ones available. They had been her only lead. With him not being there she couldn't heal him.
Either he had passed, which she hoped wasn't the case, or he had never needed to be in the hospital. There were too many things she didn't know.
The door opened behind her and she had her gun trained on it without a thought. Being on the defense was becoming a natural reaction. Elle, the girl that she'd like nothing more than to torture, stood there hands raised in surrender.
Liz could read her intentions in the air. She needed help, didn't want to cause harm, was awakening to the sham her life was because of her father, “I'm tired of being the one that gets screwed over all the time. I won't be that girl again.”
The unease was thick in the air. Elle knew she was at a disadvantage, “What are you going to do?”
“I should kill you,” she holstered the gun.
“Probably.”
"Like many non-violent men since that time, he was deeply hated." - on Desiderius Eramus
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
-
vaifeal
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 186
- Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 4:08 pm
- Location: somewhere this side of unstable
- Contact:
Re: Black Sundays (HR,XO,UC,Mature) 3/31
Author notes for all my stories are up at http://oddended.livejournal.com/ A small bit about BS's progress is there.
Part XVIII
They flew into Cork because like with the flight to Montreal they couldn't avoid a connection and Caitlin wasn't comfortable with him flying them even just from London and teleporting was definitely not an option. It would have taken less time but she'd always been hesitant about what he could do but since he'd left her stranded in the future, however short the period had been for her, she'd been increasingly more uncomfortable.
So as soon as Nathan had been safe and the plan they'd spent hours agonizing over was executed. They'd left.
It wasn't permanent. Peter would be moving between the two cities as much as he could which meant that he'd be in the thick everything. Still, he wasn't sure about leaving Nathan alone.
Caitlin opened the door to her flat, the bed still unmade from before they'd left and the paint supplies still littering the far end. When he hadn't had a memory the place had been one of his favorites. Granted, it and the pub had been the only places that he'd known but they'd still been home.
He watched her move about with a feeling of vague discomfort.
In the time that they'd been reunited her interest in what his life really was hadn't been expressed. She'd been polite around his brother, had questioned a little of what had happened but that was it. The disinterest was contrary to expectations and completely unlike what he was used to.
When he was in the facility with Liz she'd asked him everything. He'd been some stranger behind a wall, it hadn't mattered. She'd wanted to know. A persons behavior was shaped by their past, no relationship could ignore such an integral part of an individual. She knew him. Knew what it was like to do things that defied reality. Knew what made him, him. He knew her too.
Peter took a step back into the hall, guilt eating at him, “I'm sorry. I can't.”
*
They'd been looking for the invisible guy from Peter's memories, Claude. As a former relatively high ranking Company employee with a gift that could be useful, they'd hoped he'd be willing to help. Elle only knew so much and Bennett was out the hermit had been the only option.
Finding an invisible guy was about as hard as it sounded. Especially when said man did not want to be found.
So it was surprising when the Company came down on them. In a way it also reassured her that they were on the right track. This man that they all seemed to want obviously knew something that those pulling the strings did not want known. Liz was going to find out.
*
Injured men littered the roof. For company operatives they'd been ridiculously easy to disarm. If Elle was still speaking to her father she'd criticized his forces. Maybe she still would. After all she had almost always gotten the results he wanted. Not toward the end but that was his own fault.
What did he expect when he treated his daughter more like a science experiment than flesh and blood.
Liz stood across from her, her chest heaving. Unlike herself she was not used to exerting herself. Even her abilities were untrained. They'd worked at them but there was still much work to be done. In time the girl would be a very strong empath perhaps she'd learn to funnel others gifts without the pain it cost her at the moment.
“That was easier than I thought.”
“Pathetic,” she stepped over the closest man.
The door to the stairs open prompting her to hide behind the small structure. A man came out, dark haired and frantic looking around. When he saw Liz he calmed, it was Peter in all his glory. She'd suspected that there was something between the pair for some time.
“Liz,” it came out half a whisper.
“Peter,” Liz tried to walk towards the stairs but he blocked her way. A frantic look in her direction was all that she needed, “I need to go.”
“Liz.”
“Move.”
“Come back with me,” the girl closed her eyes and turned her head away. Peter was focused on her completely so it was easy to come up behind him.
She gave him the full blast and watched him fall.
*
Liz could see him sometimes. He wasn't ever there but she saw him all the same. Laughingly telling her of some childhood exploit with his brother. Gently holding her up when she was stumbling sleepily from the couch to her bed.
She knew that if he had said 'come home' she would have gone. But he hadn't. Home for him was with Caitlin. The woman who'd been there for him when he'd had no memory of who he was.
The only thing keeping her from picturing them with each other was focusing all her energy on bringing the Company down. After all, that was all she had left.
*
“Even I'm not so cruel that I would've left him like that,” Liz pushed the door to her room open. They'd moved him away from those who would lock him up again. He'd started to come to as they were leaving. She'd knocked him out again. “Care to explain what he did that was so bad.”
“Not particularly.”
“You sure it was a good idea.”
“Yes.”
“Because he genuinely seemed to care about you,” she was subtly shaking but Elle was a sociopath. What did she care if her colleague was a word away from going unhinged. “I don't see-”
“He wasn't there,” her companion smirked that infuriating smirk and leaned on the door frame. “I needed him and he wasn't there.”
“From what I understand he couldn't control that. Can you say the same?” Leave it to the blond to start feeling empathy when Liz just wanted to bury her head in a pillow and forget the day happened.
“He has Caitlin. Can't that be enough?”
“She doesn't understand what it's like being one of us.”
“He made his choice.”
“You made it for him.”
“What's done is done,” she forced herself to calm down. When she'd told Elle she wouldn't be that girl again. She'd meant it.
“Then what are we still doing in New York.”
With a nod she stood and went to her closet. The duffle bag dropped on to the bed with a bounce, her clothes landing messily on top of it, “Get packed. We're leaving.”
Part XVIII
They flew into Cork because like with the flight to Montreal they couldn't avoid a connection and Caitlin wasn't comfortable with him flying them even just from London and teleporting was definitely not an option. It would have taken less time but she'd always been hesitant about what he could do but since he'd left her stranded in the future, however short the period had been for her, she'd been increasingly more uncomfortable.
So as soon as Nathan had been safe and the plan they'd spent hours agonizing over was executed. They'd left.
It wasn't permanent. Peter would be moving between the two cities as much as he could which meant that he'd be in the thick everything. Still, he wasn't sure about leaving Nathan alone.
Caitlin opened the door to her flat, the bed still unmade from before they'd left and the paint supplies still littering the far end. When he hadn't had a memory the place had been one of his favorites. Granted, it and the pub had been the only places that he'd known but they'd still been home.
He watched her move about with a feeling of vague discomfort.
In the time that they'd been reunited her interest in what his life really was hadn't been expressed. She'd been polite around his brother, had questioned a little of what had happened but that was it. The disinterest was contrary to expectations and completely unlike what he was used to.
When he was in the facility with Liz she'd asked him everything. He'd been some stranger behind a wall, it hadn't mattered. She'd wanted to know. A persons behavior was shaped by their past, no relationship could ignore such an integral part of an individual. She knew him. Knew what it was like to do things that defied reality. Knew what made him, him. He knew her too.
Peter took a step back into the hall, guilt eating at him, “I'm sorry. I can't.”
*
They'd been looking for the invisible guy from Peter's memories, Claude. As a former relatively high ranking Company employee with a gift that could be useful, they'd hoped he'd be willing to help. Elle only knew so much and Bennett was out the hermit had been the only option.
Finding an invisible guy was about as hard as it sounded. Especially when said man did not want to be found.
So it was surprising when the Company came down on them. In a way it also reassured her that they were on the right track. This man that they all seemed to want obviously knew something that those pulling the strings did not want known. Liz was going to find out.
*
Injured men littered the roof. For company operatives they'd been ridiculously easy to disarm. If Elle was still speaking to her father she'd criticized his forces. Maybe she still would. After all she had almost always gotten the results he wanted. Not toward the end but that was his own fault.
What did he expect when he treated his daughter more like a science experiment than flesh and blood.
Liz stood across from her, her chest heaving. Unlike herself she was not used to exerting herself. Even her abilities were untrained. They'd worked at them but there was still much work to be done. In time the girl would be a very strong empath perhaps she'd learn to funnel others gifts without the pain it cost her at the moment.
“That was easier than I thought.”
“Pathetic,” she stepped over the closest man.
The door to the stairs open prompting her to hide behind the small structure. A man came out, dark haired and frantic looking around. When he saw Liz he calmed, it was Peter in all his glory. She'd suspected that there was something between the pair for some time.
“Liz,” it came out half a whisper.
“Peter,” Liz tried to walk towards the stairs but he blocked her way. A frantic look in her direction was all that she needed, “I need to go.”
“Liz.”
“Move.”
“Come back with me,” the girl closed her eyes and turned her head away. Peter was focused on her completely so it was easy to come up behind him.
She gave him the full blast and watched him fall.
*
Liz could see him sometimes. He wasn't ever there but she saw him all the same. Laughingly telling her of some childhood exploit with his brother. Gently holding her up when she was stumbling sleepily from the couch to her bed.
She knew that if he had said 'come home' she would have gone. But he hadn't. Home for him was with Caitlin. The woman who'd been there for him when he'd had no memory of who he was.
The only thing keeping her from picturing them with each other was focusing all her energy on bringing the Company down. After all, that was all she had left.
*
“Even I'm not so cruel that I would've left him like that,” Liz pushed the door to her room open. They'd moved him away from those who would lock him up again. He'd started to come to as they were leaving. She'd knocked him out again. “Care to explain what he did that was so bad.”
“Not particularly.”
“You sure it was a good idea.”
“Yes.”
“Because he genuinely seemed to care about you,” she was subtly shaking but Elle was a sociopath. What did she care if her colleague was a word away from going unhinged. “I don't see-”
“He wasn't there,” her companion smirked that infuriating smirk and leaned on the door frame. “I needed him and he wasn't there.”
“From what I understand he couldn't control that. Can you say the same?” Leave it to the blond to start feeling empathy when Liz just wanted to bury her head in a pillow and forget the day happened.
“He has Caitlin. Can't that be enough?”
“She doesn't understand what it's like being one of us.”
“He made his choice.”
“You made it for him.”
“What's done is done,” she forced herself to calm down. When she'd told Elle she wouldn't be that girl again. She'd meant it.
“Then what are we still doing in New York.”
With a nod she stood and went to her closet. The duffle bag dropped on to the bed with a bounce, her clothes landing messily on top of it, “Get packed. We're leaving.”
"Like many non-violent men since that time, he was deeply hated." - on Desiderius Eramus
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
-
vaifeal
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 186
- Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 4:08 pm
- Location: somewhere this side of unstable
- Contact:
Re: Black Sundays (HR,XO,UC,Mature) 3/31
Sorry bout the delay some stuff came up... the science stuff is my attempt to remember a couple of courses which means that you shouldn't take it as face value as it is most likely wrong.
Part XIX
Chalk dust stuck to her fingers and clung to her jeans where she had tried to wipe it off. The gypsum had always been stubborn. As a TA during her senior year of undergrad she'd spent most of the year covered in the substance. So much so that the professor called her Powder.
“Welcome to Human Evolution,” a plethora of faces looked back at her. There were a total of 137 students in the auditorium, maybe a tenth of them had any real interest in the course. The rest were just there because they figured that, since it was a lower-level and had no lab component, it would be easy. “I'm Dr Parker and I'll make this quick since it's the first day for all of us.
“Does everyone here know who Nelson Mandela is?” more blank/bored expressions. It was going to be like pulling teeth. “If you don't, you should. He said that 'Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You could be that generation.' Now I don't think he was talking about this class,” there was a couple of titters of amusement from the front row, “and we won't be talking about the social context of that quote but it does hold some merit for this class.
“No two generations are genetically the same, just as no two people are, but the differences are so minute, so infinitesimal, that they can't be picked up by even the most sophisticated technology. Now, we'll be examining larger spans of time than what separates you and your parents so the changes will be more obvious but remember that those differences are still relevant. This course is about using the past to predict where evolution will take us in the future.
“And while it is true that it's only a myth that we only use ten percent of our brain we'll be looking at the possibility that there are those among us that have reached a level of human potential that allows them to do things that others can only dream of,” they were looking slightly more interested now. “Alright, I think that's enough for the moment. The syllabus is up on Blackboard with the readings for next week. Dismissed.”
The class noisily exited except for a handful that were looking to get a permission number or to start brown nosing already. Liz politely answered their questions as she packed up her stuff. She could see Elle at the corner of her eye leaning against the door frame gazing coolly at the passing students making several of them speed up.
“What now?” they both watched the last student leave.
“Now we wait,” neither believed that it would take very long for the Company to notice.
As soon as she had explained to the University that she couldn't disclose where she had been since the laboratory fire because of the nature of the work she'd been doing, which was true on some level, they'd jumped at the chance to get her on staff.
Her reputation was a good one. Having graduated at the top of her class for every degree and having become known for her professionalism, the last she'd heard the University had been enthusiastic about letting the field know where she was. They were doing her job for her.
“I hate waiting.”
*
Nathan walked into his brothers apartment with the same air of concern that he'd been carrying with him since Peter had returned from Ireland without the woman that had become so important to him. His brother wouldn't talk about what had happened, only saying that it wasn't meant to be.
That he had thrown himself head first into the investigation on the Company to cover his search for the woman that had been in Odessa. Elizabeth Parker, Nathan had looked into her past for his baby brother but it hadn't done much good.
The woman was a certifiable genius and several years younger than Peter but there wasn't much information about her personal life after she was sixteen. He had hired a private investigator to fired and the envelope he was carrying was the first, the only information that the man had been able to find.
If she wasn't in Maryland like the report said, he didn't know how his brother would react.
Peter was at the easel again painting images of things that hadn't happened yet. He'd been trying to find Liz in his own way but hadn't been successful. From what he had been told about what the woman could do, he wouldn't have been surprised to find out that she was keeping his brother from finding her in some way.
“What's so special about this girl Pete?” the canvas joined the others in the corner. It was yet another picture of the desert.
Eyes that were somewhere between brown and hazel tried to convey what their owner couldn't put into words, “She's Liz.”
*
It had been almost two months since she'd started the bid to get the Company's attention and still there had been nothing.
She'd believed that Bob would have jumped at the chance of getting her and his daughter back but apparently not. Liz didn't like to be wrong, there had to be something that she didn't know. All she wanted was to get Bob, the Petrelli's could have the rest of the Company but Bob was hers'.
A knock at the door brought her attention away from the wall of information that they'd collected. Thinking that it was Elle since the woman always seemed to forget her keys, Liz opened it without checking and was hit will malice so strong she winced.
She tried to close the door but the man on the other side shoved it open, “Elizabeth Parker?”
“Sylar.”
Part XIX
Chalk dust stuck to her fingers and clung to her jeans where she had tried to wipe it off. The gypsum had always been stubborn. As a TA during her senior year of undergrad she'd spent most of the year covered in the substance. So much so that the professor called her Powder.
“Welcome to Human Evolution,” a plethora of faces looked back at her. There were a total of 137 students in the auditorium, maybe a tenth of them had any real interest in the course. The rest were just there because they figured that, since it was a lower-level and had no lab component, it would be easy. “I'm Dr Parker and I'll make this quick since it's the first day for all of us.
“Does everyone here know who Nelson Mandela is?” more blank/bored expressions. It was going to be like pulling teeth. “If you don't, you should. He said that 'Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You could be that generation.' Now I don't think he was talking about this class,” there was a couple of titters of amusement from the front row, “and we won't be talking about the social context of that quote but it does hold some merit for this class.
“No two generations are genetically the same, just as no two people are, but the differences are so minute, so infinitesimal, that they can't be picked up by even the most sophisticated technology. Now, we'll be examining larger spans of time than what separates you and your parents so the changes will be more obvious but remember that those differences are still relevant. This course is about using the past to predict where evolution will take us in the future.
“And while it is true that it's only a myth that we only use ten percent of our brain we'll be looking at the possibility that there are those among us that have reached a level of human potential that allows them to do things that others can only dream of,” they were looking slightly more interested now. “Alright, I think that's enough for the moment. The syllabus is up on Blackboard with the readings for next week. Dismissed.”
The class noisily exited except for a handful that were looking to get a permission number or to start brown nosing already. Liz politely answered their questions as she packed up her stuff. She could see Elle at the corner of her eye leaning against the door frame gazing coolly at the passing students making several of them speed up.
“What now?” they both watched the last student leave.
“Now we wait,” neither believed that it would take very long for the Company to notice.
As soon as she had explained to the University that she couldn't disclose where she had been since the laboratory fire because of the nature of the work she'd been doing, which was true on some level, they'd jumped at the chance to get her on staff.
Her reputation was a good one. Having graduated at the top of her class for every degree and having become known for her professionalism, the last she'd heard the University had been enthusiastic about letting the field know where she was. They were doing her job for her.
“I hate waiting.”
*
Nathan walked into his brothers apartment with the same air of concern that he'd been carrying with him since Peter had returned from Ireland without the woman that had become so important to him. His brother wouldn't talk about what had happened, only saying that it wasn't meant to be.
That he had thrown himself head first into the investigation on the Company to cover his search for the woman that had been in Odessa. Elizabeth Parker, Nathan had looked into her past for his baby brother but it hadn't done much good.
The woman was a certifiable genius and several years younger than Peter but there wasn't much information about her personal life after she was sixteen. He had hired a private investigator to fired and the envelope he was carrying was the first, the only information that the man had been able to find.
If she wasn't in Maryland like the report said, he didn't know how his brother would react.
Peter was at the easel again painting images of things that hadn't happened yet. He'd been trying to find Liz in his own way but hadn't been successful. From what he had been told about what the woman could do, he wouldn't have been surprised to find out that she was keeping his brother from finding her in some way.
“What's so special about this girl Pete?” the canvas joined the others in the corner. It was yet another picture of the desert.
Eyes that were somewhere between brown and hazel tried to convey what their owner couldn't put into words, “She's Liz.”
*
It had been almost two months since she'd started the bid to get the Company's attention and still there had been nothing.
She'd believed that Bob would have jumped at the chance of getting her and his daughter back but apparently not. Liz didn't like to be wrong, there had to be something that she didn't know. All she wanted was to get Bob, the Petrelli's could have the rest of the Company but Bob was hers'.
A knock at the door brought her attention away from the wall of information that they'd collected. Thinking that it was Elle since the woman always seemed to forget her keys, Liz opened it without checking and was hit will malice so strong she winced.
She tried to close the door but the man on the other side shoved it open, “Elizabeth Parker?”
“Sylar.”
"Like many non-violent men since that time, he was deeply hated." - on Desiderius Eramus
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
-
vaifeal
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 186
- Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 4:08 pm
- Location: somewhere this side of unstable
- Contact:
Re: Black Sundays (HR,XO,UC,Mature) 4/14
Part XX
She pushed against the low wall, trying to make herself as small as she possibly could, her breathing coming in panicked gasps. She could hear him walking across the room toward her keeping up a running commentary on what he was going to do to her. For being a person with gifts. For electrocuting him where his hand had been resting on the metal door.
Because he was a homicidal sadist, corrupted by power that didn't belong to him.
Taking a deep breath, Liz pushed herself from where she was hiding and sprinted across the room wishing that for once things could go the way she wanted them to and she'd make it out of the apartment. She'd almost made it when she suddenly she was flying.
*
Elle let loose the strongest bolt that she could as soon as she entered the open door of their apartment.
It was enough to knock Sylar away from where he was trying to wear Liz down from her protective telekinetic shield, one of the things that they'd worked on. With her left hand pointed at the bastard that she'd let get away once before and the other blocking anything he threw her way.
She did well initially, ducking and weaving, hitting him more times that he got her, utilizing the training that her father had forced on her from the time she'd first exhibited her ability but Sylar when it came down to her was more powerful. Her upperhand didn't last long.
So it was a relief when a familiar voice called out as she was slowly being beat back.
*
The blood loss from the six inch long gash from a collision with the coffee table had made Liz's skin paler than Peter was comfortable with but she looked better than she had when he'd arrived at the apartment to find her unconscious and Elle barely holding off Sylar. The next time they met, he'd kill the sociopath.
When he'd finally remembered who he was he'd known that he'd broken his word. It'd been one of the first thoughts to cross his mind. He'd left her. But there'd been too much happening at once. Caitlin had been left in the future and virus was going to wipe out most of the population. Stopping that catastrophe had come before finding her.
If she hadn't shown up in Texas, he would have gone for her.
He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand and used the other to rub his face in an attempt to wake up. It had been a while since he'd last slept, “Peter?”
“I'm right here,” her eyes didn't open but she shifted in the bed, making more room.
“Come to bed,” he knew she was still asleep and didn't know what she was asking so he shouldn't do it but as she tugged on his hand he couldn't resist. When they were both settled she rolled into him, her face resting on his chest. “Love you.”
Peter's heart started to pound against his chest, the adrenaline coursing through his system keeping him awake.
*
“You know she's not going to stick around,” the coffee sloshed out of the cup burning his skin.
“I just need to talk to her.”
“Talk all you want, as soon as she's up we're leaving.”
Peter let out a frustrated sigh, “How bout we leave that up to her?”
“Oh, we will. Doesn't change that we're leaving.”
*
The shirt skimmed across her skin, sticking slightly at the dampness left from her shower. Elle had gone back to their place and cleaned out the necessities, Liz was really starting to like the person the woman was away from the Company. Sure she was still a child in some ways but she seemed to slowly be maturing into a good person the more she experienced.
“You're just gong to leave,” her back stiffened before she could control the impulse.
Without looking back she shoved her wallet into her pocket, quickly glancing around to ensure that nothing had been left behind, “I have things to do.”
“Be honest Liz, if you wanted to you could do them with me.”
“Could I?” she pulled the sleeves of her shirt down to cover her hands.
“Yes.”
Shaking thoughts of what it would be like to go with Peter away, she refused to look at him, “Where's Caitlin?”
“At home.”
“Then I guess you should be on your way.”
“She probably doesn't want to see me considering we're not together anymore.”
“Oh,” she met his eyes briefly, “that's too bad”
“Liz,” taking a deep breath she tried to push away the feel of him standing so close.
Ignoring the tiny voice screaming in the back of her mind that if she gave in he'd only leave again, her body leaned forward into him as he leaned down. Their lips had barely touched when the bedroom door slammed open prompting them to jump apart.
With a infuriating smirk, Elle swaggered in, “We've got Bob.”
She pushed against the low wall, trying to make herself as small as she possibly could, her breathing coming in panicked gasps. She could hear him walking across the room toward her keeping up a running commentary on what he was going to do to her. For being a person with gifts. For electrocuting him where his hand had been resting on the metal door.
Because he was a homicidal sadist, corrupted by power that didn't belong to him.
Taking a deep breath, Liz pushed herself from where she was hiding and sprinted across the room wishing that for once things could go the way she wanted them to and she'd make it out of the apartment. She'd almost made it when she suddenly she was flying.
*
Elle let loose the strongest bolt that she could as soon as she entered the open door of their apartment.
It was enough to knock Sylar away from where he was trying to wear Liz down from her protective telekinetic shield, one of the things that they'd worked on. With her left hand pointed at the bastard that she'd let get away once before and the other blocking anything he threw her way.
She did well initially, ducking and weaving, hitting him more times that he got her, utilizing the training that her father had forced on her from the time she'd first exhibited her ability but Sylar when it came down to her was more powerful. Her upperhand didn't last long.
So it was a relief when a familiar voice called out as she was slowly being beat back.
*
The blood loss from the six inch long gash from a collision with the coffee table had made Liz's skin paler than Peter was comfortable with but she looked better than she had when he'd arrived at the apartment to find her unconscious and Elle barely holding off Sylar. The next time they met, he'd kill the sociopath.
When he'd finally remembered who he was he'd known that he'd broken his word. It'd been one of the first thoughts to cross his mind. He'd left her. But there'd been too much happening at once. Caitlin had been left in the future and virus was going to wipe out most of the population. Stopping that catastrophe had come before finding her.
If she hadn't shown up in Texas, he would have gone for her.
He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand and used the other to rub his face in an attempt to wake up. It had been a while since he'd last slept, “Peter?”
“I'm right here,” her eyes didn't open but she shifted in the bed, making more room.
“Come to bed,” he knew she was still asleep and didn't know what she was asking so he shouldn't do it but as she tugged on his hand he couldn't resist. When they were both settled she rolled into him, her face resting on his chest. “Love you.”
Peter's heart started to pound against his chest, the adrenaline coursing through his system keeping him awake.
*
“You know she's not going to stick around,” the coffee sloshed out of the cup burning his skin.
“I just need to talk to her.”
“Talk all you want, as soon as she's up we're leaving.”
Peter let out a frustrated sigh, “How bout we leave that up to her?”
“Oh, we will. Doesn't change that we're leaving.”
*
The shirt skimmed across her skin, sticking slightly at the dampness left from her shower. Elle had gone back to their place and cleaned out the necessities, Liz was really starting to like the person the woman was away from the Company. Sure she was still a child in some ways but she seemed to slowly be maturing into a good person the more she experienced.
“You're just gong to leave,” her back stiffened before she could control the impulse.
Without looking back she shoved her wallet into her pocket, quickly glancing around to ensure that nothing had been left behind, “I have things to do.”
“Be honest Liz, if you wanted to you could do them with me.”
“Could I?” she pulled the sleeves of her shirt down to cover her hands.
“Yes.”
Shaking thoughts of what it would be like to go with Peter away, she refused to look at him, “Where's Caitlin?”
“At home.”
“Then I guess you should be on your way.”
“She probably doesn't want to see me considering we're not together anymore.”
“Oh,” she met his eyes briefly, “that's too bad”
“Liz,” taking a deep breath she tried to push away the feel of him standing so close.
Ignoring the tiny voice screaming in the back of her mind that if she gave in he'd only leave again, her body leaned forward into him as he leaned down. Their lips had barely touched when the bedroom door slammed open prompting them to jump apart.
With a infuriating smirk, Elle swaggered in, “We've got Bob.”
"Like many non-violent men since that time, he was deeply hated." - on Desiderius Eramus
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child
"Where there is life, there is hope." - Terence
"The mind has no sex." - Descartes
"As long as their is life there is pain. I'm damned to breathe and to be insane." - Old Man's Child