Special (12/20)
Title: Special (12/20)
Summary: All over the world, people are waking up with extraordinary abilities. Not knowing how they got them or what to do, they will soon discover that they are not alone. They are all connected. They are all special. Based on NBC’s Heroes. Various Pairings.
Links to previous chapters inside.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Disclaimer: I’m not making any money off of writing this story. It’s entirely fictional and based on the performances given in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and not the actual soldiers. Any ideas or phrases borrowed from the NBC show Heroes belong to the writers of that show, not me. I don’t own anything…so please don’t sue me. I wrote it for your enjoyment so…enjoy!
A/N: So the identity of the serial killer is revealed in this chapter. I want to state that there is absolutely NO disrespect for the character I chose to portray him. Note that I said ‘character’. I base my stories on the way the characters are portrayed in the mini-series which is in no way a reflection on the real life soldier. Interestingly enough, that is why I tend to write cracky AU’s. In my mind it helps separate me from the actual soldiers by another degree. Point is…um I dunno I’ll refer you to my disclaimer.
Also I kind of picked him primarily because I ran out of characters….. Oh and if you ever watch Heroes and see the character of Sylar interact with other characters I thought he was a good fit for a character ‘based’ on Sylar.
Los Angeles, CA
Guard duty, it seemed, was something of a punishment in the LAPD….at least the officers on said duty made it seem that way.
“Damn how did we pull this again?”
One of the two officers guarding the building’s back door rolled his eyes at the question. “I couldn’t tell you. When the Hell are those Feds going to come claim their witness anyway?”
This was truly sad. The two officers were both dressed in civilian clothes and obviously postured to look casual outside of the children’s psychiatric center they were posted near.
If they were trying to be discreet about the fact that they were law enforcement they were doing a piss poor job of it.
Suddenly one of their cell phones went off and the officer immediately moved to answer it. After nodding two times, he hung up and gave his partner a nod of his head. The two immediately ceased their complaining and discreetly drew their guns, looking warily around the alley they were facing.
The man observing them from afar cast an amused look upon the building behind them. It had taken him time to exhaust his other options but he had finally concluded that this was where Sherry Tanner was being held.
Children’s therapy…how appropriate. They were probably trying to counsel her over the death of her parents. He knew just the thing to make her forget.
He turned his attention back to the officers on duty, who had obviously received some sort of order to be alert.
Suddenly one of the guards drew his gun arm up in a rigid manner, pistol loaded and finger on the trigger.
The policeman who had received the call sent him an alarmed look, “Sam what the Hell are you doing?”
The man, Sam, stared at his arm in horror, “I don’t know…I can’t…I’m not doing this! Holy shit!”
His partner glared, “You’re not funny you prick, now put it down and keep your eyes open.”
Sam looked alarmed, “This isn’t a joke! I can’t stop-”
He didn’t finish his sentence before his arm swung around seemingly of its own accord, and his gun fired, putting a bullet directly between his partner’s eyes.
Sam screamed as his partner’s blood splattered across his face and the lifeless body fell to the ground.
On the other side of the street, Roy Cobb smiled and focused on telekinetically forcing the man’s gun to his own temple.
He began to walk across the street and to what would soon be an unguarded door.
Lipton sighed as little Sherry Tanner sobbed into his shoulder. The moment they had walked into the room she had taken one look at Agent Speirs' bloody clothes, recognized Carwood and flung herself into his arms.
He rubbed her back softly, trying to soothe her. However he knew it was no use when he caught a string of her thoughts.
whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy? they’re gone- whywhywhywhywhy? bring them back please. don’t leave me please don’t leave me.
The hysteria, pain and erratic nature of her pleas were too much for him and all he really wanted was to hold her tighter and assure her that he wouldn’t leave her. But he didn’t make promises he couldn’t keep..and after losing her parents? She wouldn’t have believed him anyhow.
Agent Speirs for his part was staring at them with uncharacteristically wide eyes. He looked incredibly uncomfortable. Lipton had a feeling that his partner Christenson was probably better in the face of sobbing victims.
Suddenly a gunshot rang out from down the hall and Lipton immediately gathered Sherry into his arms and stood.
Speirs reached to his holster, only to realize his gun wasn’t there. A second shot followed.
“Shit,” Speirs cursed and turned towards Lipton. “Give me your gun.”
Lipton glared at him, “No! Not only am I NOT allowed to do that but you just got out of the hospital!”
He thrust a still sobbing Sherry into the Agent’s arms and un-holstered his weapon. Speirs gave Sherry a look that indicated he’d rather go out and face their possible threat unarmed than look after a crying child.
“Just stay with her.” Lipton ordered and made his way to the door quickly. He put his hand on the door knob and gently eased it open.
He listened carefully to see if he could hear any thoughts, but he wasn’t sure how close a person had to be for his…whatever…to actually work.
When he heard nothing he peered out into the hallway and observed that it was clear. They were closest to the back entrance, which meant that either the officers on guard had engaged someone or someone had engaged them.
He turned quickly and captured Sherry’s attention, “Sherry I just need you to stay very quiet okay? Just like last time. Can you do that sweetheart?”
With tears streaming down her face, she gave him a nod.
He smiled, “That’s good. It’s okay honey, Agent Speirs is going to look after you.”
Having calmed her somewhat, Lipton went out into the hallway and softly shut the door behind him. Crouching down slightly, he silently made his way towards the back entrance.
There was a creak as the door opened and a thin man wearing dark clothes and a baseball cap obscuring his face strolled in. Lipton looked him over quickly and noted the absence of a firearm.
Had he ditched it? Had those shots been warning shots before the officers had decided he wasn’t a threat? He very much doubted that.
sherry sherry sherry. where is that little girl? is this even really worth my time? dr. jones didn’t have the decency to have an ability that also pinpointed just how a person was special…
Dr. Jones? Lipton shook his head. He didn’t have time to worry about that. This was their boy alright. The manner of his speech…or his thoughts as it were…were more than enough to convince Lipton that this was Speirs’ serial killer.
He flicked the safety off his gun and lifted it at the man, prepared to fire. However just as he got the man in his sights, he disappeared right before Lipton’s eyes.
What the Hell?
Carwood felt himself go crashing into the floor face first, shoved by an un-seeable attacker with intense force. His gun flew out of his hand and across the hallway.
In the blink of an eye he was slammed upright against a wall. He would have gaped had the man he had seen disappear not been holding a hand over his mouth.
Lipton shivered as his entire body began to feel as though it were freezing. A strange smile came across his attacker’s face.
“Now you weren’t going to shoot me were you Officer….” He trailed off and looked down at Carwood's uniform. “Lipton?”
“Let him go. Now.”
Was that Speirs? No! Damn it he was supposed to be with Sherry!
The Agent’s command worked and his attacker dropped him to the floor. Lipton immediately scrambled away but found he didn’t have the strength to get to his feet. He looked down in astonishment at his now purple hands. He was so cold…
“Good. Take off your hat, put your hands on your head and turn around slowly.” Speirs instructed the man as he trained Lipton’s gun on him. When had he grabbed that?
Amazingly the man did as he was told. The hat came off to reveal a young, blond man with a narrow face and hateful eyes. He put his hands on his head and slowly turned around.
“What are you going to do huh? Are you going to shoot me? Your little partner tried that. It didn’t really stick.” The man grinned.
Ron frowned and raised the gun slightly, “This one will.”
He pulled the trigger and the bullet stopped right in front of the man’s temple, hovering in mid air.
The man laughed, “Wow you really got me.”
Then the killer lifted his hand and the bullet turned around and was pointed at Speirs who, sensing where this was going, dropped to the floor as the bullet flew towards him and just narrowly missed his head, instead slicing through the wall behind him
On his way down, Speirs fired off another shot just as the man disappeared. Ron then immediately rushed over to Carwood.
“Lipton? Are you okay?”
Carwood glared and feebly shoved the Agent away from him, his teeth chattering. “Get to Sherry! He can teleport!”
Realization dawning on him, Speirs ran back towards the room containing their victim and busted down the door.
Moments later Ron was back by his side, Sherry with him. Lipton sighed in relief at the sight of her, safe and sound.
She immediately hugged him. She soon drew back quickly however, with a gasp, “You’re cold.”
Ron took in the sight of his blue tinted skin and cursed, “Great…let me call 911. Where the fuck are the rest of your brothers in blue? I thought this place was meant to be secure!”
Carwood said nothing and let his head fall to the floor. He noticed a pool of blood near him and, knowing it didn’t belong to any of them, he realized it must have been his attacker’s.
He swatted at Ron’s foot, “Call forensics…looks like o-our friend l-lef-left us some DNA.”
The FBI Agent nodded and held his phone in between his neck and shoulder as he stripped off his bloody jacket and tossed it across Lipton’s chest.
Sherry hugged his neck tightly, “You have to be okay Officer Lipton. You’re my hero.”
He brought a shaking hand up to stroke her hair and refrained from telling her everything would be fine.
Bill Guarnere, Somewhere between Philadelphia and Manhattan
Bill glanced over to the stretcher across the van where a ghostly white man with blood red hair was strapped down- several of the Company’s S.W.A.T trained control officers in full gear surrounding him.
One of them grinned at his expression. “Don’t look so worried sir. We’ve got everything under control.”
Bill frowned at him, which one was he? Gordon? “Is that so?”
The man laughed, “Sir he’s practically dead. Besides, we know how to do our jobs.”
Bill leaned forward in his seat, “Uh huh. Well…since you’re so good at your job..tell me….what is it that makes this man so dangerous?”
The smile fell off the man’s face, “Um…”
With a laugh, Bill got even closer, “He can create, control and emit bursts of radiation so powerful it can take out half of Texas. In addition to that he can cause explosions with his mind. You know what kind of things he can make explode?”
The kid shook his head. Bill rolled his eyes, these control guys…honestly.
Bill made the last lean into his personal space and tapped roughly against the kid’s protective head gear, “People like you. So let me tell you what your job is. Your job is to shoot at people you don’t understand and try, let me reiterate try, not to get killed.”
His phone rang at that moment, sparing the poor kid any more of the verbal insult that Bill had prepared for him. He reached for it quickly, desperate to take his mind off of the ‘special’ that was riding with them-Snow White style.
“Guarnere.” He answered.
Dick’s voice greeted him, music to his ears. “Bill….are you coming to Manhattan?”
Bill frowned and looked over at Malarkey’s guards figuring that they could probably give two shits if he talked on the phone, “How did you know? Did Sobel call you?”
“Not…exactly. Look we have to talk when you get here.”
“Yeah no shit. You’re probably going to be headed back pretty soon. Which is just as well since Babe’s all alone.”
"That’s just great. Why do I get the feeling Sobel’s shuffling us around not only to separate us from each other but from Babe as well?”
“I don’t like it either. Something’s definitely up. I do know one way you could find out. After all he’s kinda got a thing for you…” Bill dropped his voice.
“What? Bill! Absolutely not!”
Bill chuckled, amazed that he still could be so amused by Dick’s indignation even in such stressful times. “Sorry. I’m sorry.”
“I can’t believe you’d even suggest that. Look, I have something to tell you about Liebgott.”
From the tone of his partner’s voice, he had a feeling it was something Dick wanted to keep between the two of them.
“Just wait okay?” He asked him, which he knew Dick would interpret to mean that outside ears might be listening.
“Fine. Guess I’ll see you soon.”
“Guess you will.”
Joseph Liebgott, Manhattan, NY
“Fascinating.”
“See if you can do one by propelling yourself off the wall.”
“Oh that’d be cool!”
Joe glared at the three men observing him. He then looked around the small gymnasium they had relocated to when Dr. Spina had expressed an interest to see his ability in action.
“Look,” he snapped at them, “just because I can do the back flip correctly doesn’t mean I should do it consistently. I’m getting fucking dizzy.”
Ralph Spina, the medical doctor that they had on staff here, nodded quickly. “You’re right, of course. Come sit down, drink some water and we’ll monitor your vitals.”
Dr. Jones was flipping through a file and glancing over an electronic notepad. “This is fascinating.”
“You already said that.” Skip pointed out as he handed Joe a bottle of water.
Henry ignored his research assistant and stood. “Joe it seems your ability is much like you described. Your brain seems to mimic the actions it sees perfectly and stores it in the muscle memory for later use. As far as information goes it is implanted with the degree of expertise it encounters on any given subject by storing it in your brain much like a photographic memory. Only instead of merely remembering you seem to-”
Joe waved his arms spastically, much to Spina’s irritation, and cut him off, “Ah- stop it! Can you find a simple explanation please?”
Henry gave an amused smile to the young man who, given the proper education over an appropriately spaced out amount of time, could be light years more knowledgeable in every academic field than he himself could ever hope to be.
“Certainly. Okay…have you ever seen the movie The Matrix?”
“Um..yeah.” Joe nodded, confused.
“Okay. Well there’s a scene in the Matrix where one of the characters needs to fly a certain type of helicopter. Only she doesn’t know how. So another character looks up everything one would need to know in order to fly it. He then downloads it into her brain and voila-she’s an expert.”
Joe wiped water off of his chin, “And you’re saying that’s what I can do?”
“Essentially yes,” Henry nodded. “When you read something or view something your brain downloads the information and as I said before- voila.”
“But I can do a lot of what I’ve learned instinctively. I don’t always have to think about it.”
“As any expert could.” Skip added.
Joe frowned, “Huh.”
Henry noticed his concern, “What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“Well I’m very interested in finding out the exact nature of your ability…genetically speaking. There may be facets of it that we haven’t even discovered yet!”
Liebgott thought back on what Eli had warned him about. That was what had him worried….
Joseph Toye and Babe Heffron, Philadelphia, PA
“Hey…you Edward Guarnere?”
Babe froze as a youthful, yet gravelly voice called out from behind him. He immediately tightened his grip on the brass knuckles he was carrying and slowly turned around.
He was confronted with the sight of a man of…maybe 27? He was about Babe’s height with black hair and olive skin. Why did he look so familiar? And where the Hell had he come from? There hadn’t been anyone sitting over there two seconds ago.
“Do I…know you?” he asked the stranger cautiously.
The man stood up, looking equally apprehensive. “Not exactly.”
Babe nodded, “I didn’t think so. No one I know calls me Edward.”
The man shrugged and made a face, “I would have called you Babe but I really didn’t want you to think I was hitting on you.”
“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” Babe asked, naturally offended by the statement.
“Just that the last time I physically saw you, you were like…8 or something is all.”
That stopped Babe cold. “What?”
The man rubbed his hands together nervously. “Look this is all going to sound kind of…well…kind of strange.”
“Well I’ve been having a strange week.” Babe shot back, curiosity peaked. Bill would skin him alive for talking to a stranger. But why did he get a feeling that this man wasn’t a stranger? Not really.
“My name’s Joseph Toye. That probably doesn’t mean anything to you…but I used to know your brother Bill.” The man, Toye, explained.
“Used to?”
A strange look came over his face at Babe’s question. Maybe regret?
“Yeah.” Toye answered, “We used to work together a long time ago.”
Now Babe was getting incredibly curious. Did everyone he met have some sort of tie to that damn place? His parents, Bill, Dick. “You worked with Bill at the paper company?”
The question caused Toye to laugh. “Kid…your brother doesn’t sell paper. Neither did your parents.”
Babe knew his mouth was starting to catch flies but he couldn’t help it. “What are you talking about? Who are you?”
“I already told you. Look…I think you have something with you that…belongs to me.”
Babe paused. What? All he had on him were his keys, his wallet, his cell phone and…oh. He gripped his fingers tightly around the brass knuckles and pulled his hand up to inspect them.
The man’s eyes widened as he looked at them, “Huh…I still can’t believe your brother has those..”
“You didn’t give them to him?” Babe asked.
Toye shook his head, “No..I used to keep them at work. I never got a chance to get any of my things..”
“You said that my brother doesn’t sell paper? What is it you guys did over there then?” Babe wondered.
Toye moved back a little and gestured towards the bench on which he had been sitting. “Why don’t you sit down? I’m not going to hurt you.”
“How can I believe that?”
“Trust me…I’m way too scared of your brother.”
Babe smiled and slowly walked past the man to sit down. Toye sat down as well, a respectable distance away as if he were afraid he may scare Babe off.
Toye handed him a crumpled piece of paper. “Read this. It’s okay if you don’t understand it.”
He gave the man a strange look before taking the paper with his empty hand and looking it over.
“What the Hell?”
Powers? What? If this was about him then how did whoever wrote this know he was 16? Had they known his brother? His real parents? What did they know about his past?
He turned to look at Toye but the man was gone. Then, as if by magic, he reappeared right in front of Babe’s eyes.
“Holy shit!” Babe scrambled back on the bench. “You just..you can…”
“Yeah,” Joe responded, much too calmly for a man that had just appeared out of thin air. “You can too it seems.”
Babe’s breathing was becoming erratic. “What the Hell are you talking about?”
Joe reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He grabbed the largest one and shined it on his jeans. Cautiously holding it up he beckoned Babe to look at it.
Babe leaned in slightly and saw..nothing. Well…he could see the track and the sky and the bench he was supposedly sitting on but he couldn’t see himself. It was like he wasn’t there.
He looked up at Toye. “Can you see me?”
The man shook his head.
Babe gaped and looked back at his non reflection. “What the Hell’s happening to me?”
Toye calmly put the keys back in his pocket. “That’s what I’m here to explain.”
Buck Compton, Los Angeles, CA
“What happened?” Buck asked as he rushed into what had been Ron’s hospital room the last time he was there. Now it was Officer Lipton who occupied the bed.
He frowned as he saw Sherry Tanner, whom he recognized from her photograph, sitting on the edge of the bed and chatting softly with the policeman.
He turned to look at Ron, who seemed as though he were feeling much better, even if he was still wearing his bloody clothes. “What’s going on? What’s she doing here?”
Ron pretended as if he had just noticed him standing there. “Oh? Didn’t anyone tell you? While you were off having a heart to heart with your bat shit crazy partner, the three of us were attacked by our serial killer.”
Buck frowned at the insult of Lewis, “You’re going to write him off just like that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Ron glared angrily, “Because I don’t have time to care about people who want to kill me. I have a fucking job to do! Unless you forgot why you brought me in on this case in the first place!”
“Hey!” snapped Lipton from the bed, “If you two are going to argue and curse then would you mind taking it outside?”
The officer inclined his head toward an uneasy looking Sherry. Buck nodded and Ron strode furiously out into the hallway.
Buck followed him and slowly shut the door. “Okay look-”
Ron cut him off, whipping around to face him and whispering furiously, “I like to think you asked for my help in this case because I’m fucking good at my job.”
“I did.” Buck assured him. Having Ron around to spend time with was just a plus. He hadn’t anticipated that Lewis would find out about their affair. “Look…about Lewis…I’m sorry.”
Ron shook his head, “We both screwed him over. If I had been in his position…”
Buck frowned, “You would NOT have done the same thing. That isn’t you and it isn’t really him either.”
“I guess it’s not. The only reason I wouldn’t react that way is because…”
“What?”
“Because I didn’t love him anymore. If I ever really did. Look…we got some blood from our killer. It’s at the crime lab now…they’ll let us know when they have something.”
Buck chose to ignore that information, instead focusing on what else Ron had said. “You did…love him.”
Ron wouldn’t look at him, “When Detective More takes Sherry back into protective custody in 3 hours, Officer Lipton and I need to brief you on what we’ve discovered.”
As he began to walk back to the door, Buck reached out and grabbed his arm at the elbow, “Ron listen to me..”
Ron looked at him coldly before roughly pulling his elbow out of Buck’s hand. “I didn’t okay?” He hissed, “I didn’t love him and I sure as Hell don’t love you.”
Then he spun around and jerked the door open. Buck watched him put on a calm front as he joined Sherry at Lipton’s side. Lipton raised his eyebrow and Ron shrugged off the unspoken question.
Buck watched them communicate wordlessly as Sherry drew patterns on the sheet with her fingers.
“Yeah I’m beginning to see that.” he spoke to himself. Alone…both in the hall and in every way imaginable.
Eugene Roe, Brooklyn , NY
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Webster asked Gene for what must have been the millionth time.
Gene nodded as he watched George Luz pour over another one of Renee’s letters, a young man in a suit hovering closely nearby with a phone to his ear and conversing with the lingering police officers.
“I’m not going to get myself kidnapped again if that’s what you’re asking.” Gene promised the teleporter and he guessed…time traveler. Webster had explained his abilities but Gene still couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of time travel.
“Please don’t.” Webster smiled before following Gene’s gaze to Luz, “What are you going to do?”
He shrugged, “Talk to him…explain what I know that might not be in those letters. I also need to call my roommate…let him know I got here just fine.”
At that Webster gave him a look.
Gene laughed, “Well…in one piece at least. I’d like to help find Renee’s son.”
Webster nodded, “Do you think it was the same people who took you?”
“It depends on if he’s special or not. If he is..then I’m sure it was.” He turned to look at David. “Why are you still here exactly? I thought you were supposed to be checking in on someone.”
In the short time that Gene and Webster had been acquainted, Gene had been forced to listen to David go on and on about this Joe guy. He was obviously in deep…so why was he lingering?
“Yeah,” David looked down, “I guess I’m just nervous.”
“That he won’t be happy to see you?”
David laughed. “No..I’m kind of used to that part. I guess I’m afraid I’ll get him caught…or that..I dunno.”
Gene watched the look on David’s face and felt envious. He never understood what it was like to really be in love. Becoming a doctor, and all that had meant, left him little time for relationships.
He looked over at the raw emotion in George’s eyes as he read the letters, and at the way the young FBI agent kept looking at him with concern.
For some reason his mind brought up an image of Babe. Strange…that he was still thinking about him at all.
He put a hand on David’s shoulder, “You should go.”
The time traveler nodded. “You’re right.”
“I’ve got your number,” Gene reminded him. “I’ll call if I just can’t live without you.”
David snorted and in an instant, he was gone from Gene sight. Show off.
Gene looked around and only the FBI agent seemed to have noticed Webster’s disappearing act.
Gene tensed as the man left George’s side and began to approach him. He opened his mouth to say something but the guy grabbed his arm and whispered, “Hallway. Now.”
Gene let himself be shuffled outside, “Look what you just saw…”
“How many of you are there?” The man asked abruptly.
Gene frowned, “What? You’re not..surprised?”
“No. That man…he’s special. Are you?”
Gene tried to gauge whether or not he could trust this man. He was with the FBI…and Luz seemed to trust him. He looked into the young agent’s face and sighed, “Yeah…I am. How do you know about..?”
“George and Eli...they’re different.” He explained.
Gene gaped, “That means that..”
Suddenly the door burst open and Luz came sliding out into the hallway, hair mussed and blood seeping through the bandage on his forehead.
The agent winced and lifted a hand towards George’s forehead but Luz just batted it away and held up a letter to them. “Do you know what this means?”
The agent shook his head. “Um…no?”
Luz seemed to be incredibly excited, a far cry from the depressed and anxious state he had previously been in. “Burton-this letter says Renee was kidnapped because of her abilities!”
“Her too? How many of you are there? Seriously.” The agent, Burton, asked.
Gene stepped forward slightly, “I already know what you’re thinking. Whoever took her took your son.”
Luz looked over to him and nodded, “Yeah! Now if only we could figure out who they are.”
“I think I might be able to help you with that. The same people kidnapped me and held me hostage.” He explained.
Luz gaped at him in amazement, “Do you know how to find them?”
Gene nodded, “They held me in a building somewhere in Philadelphia. I don’t remember what they looked like. But I know how to find out.”
George straightened up seriously, “These bastards killed my wife and kidnapped my son. You do whatever you have to.”
“The man who was just with me knows someone who’s working against these people inside their organization. He was the one who found out I was being held hostage and had me rescued.”
Burton was staring at him intensely, “And he can tell you who snatched you?”
“I’m pretty sure yeah.”
“I’ve been working on a string of abductions that I’m now positive are happening only to people with abilities like yourself, Eli and George. Whoever took you? They’ve been doing this to a lot of people for a long time.”
Gene looked at him, startled, “The FBI is investigating this?”
The man nodded, “Abductions are our jurisdiction and this case has been highly unusual. People go missing and show up three days later unable to remember a thing. If you say we need to go to Philadelphia I’ll have us booked on the next flight out.”
“We need to go to Philadelphia.” Gene told him.
“You got it.” Burton was already pulling out his phone, “Now call up this guy and found out who it is we’re looking for.”
Gene sighed, Webster was never going to let him hear the end of this.
Company HQ, Manhattan, NY
Bill had only just secured Malarkey into the building’s lowest cell when he was grabbed by Dick and pulled onto an elevator.
“Okay somebody needs to calm down.” Bill noted as his partner immediately shut the elevator doors to ensure that they would be riding to the top floors alone.
“Liebgott is looking for Babe.”
Bill froze, “What? Is there a reason he’s still alive?”
Dick refrained from nodding, aware that the cameras didn’t pick up sound but not wanting anyone to be curious about what they were discussing. With the number of techs in this building it wouldn’t take much to eavesdrop on them.
“Yeah…he’s trying to keep him safe from the Company. I looked through his memories. At first I didn’t find anything useful…just things from his youth. But then I stumbled upon something more recent. Remember when you were following Webster in San Francisco?”
Bill looked thoughtful, “Yeah…Joe told me that he’d been there.”
“It was a future version. He said something about the Company looking to control someone with the most powerful of abilities. That he wanted Liebgott to find him and protect him.”
Bill frowned, “If he’s talking about Babe…we’re already doing that.”
Dick sighed, “Apparently not well enough if someone had to travel from the future to recruit Liebgott’s help.”
“So what do you suggest? That we just trust Liebgott? Welcome him into our Keep Babe Safe Group with open arms? We only trust each other.”
“I know! Look that’s not what I’m saying. I just think that we should do our part to keep him off Sobel’s radar. Let him do what he came here to do.”
“Yeah? And what about this breakout with Roe? Who do you think told Webster where he was? I’m all for him trying to protect Babe but until he does that are we supposed to just let him and his time traveling buddy undermine our work?”
Dick made a face, “Oh don’t try to convince me that what we do really matters. That you think we’re protecting society.”
“Damn right I do. You think these people aren’t dangerous? Take a look at our little friend I just had to drive all the way over here!”
The moment the words left his mouth he realized they were a mistake.
Dick glared at him, easily the angriest Bill had ever seen him, “Don’t forget that your brother is one of ‘those people’ and so am I. You asked me how I felt about hunting my own people. Well if you want the truth-it kills me. I don’t believe in what we do here. But I’ve always believed in you. I wish you could understand that.”
“I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry.” Bill apologized quickly. “But some of you are dangerous.. and I’m just…I’m so good at this.”
“A little too good.” Dick pointed out coldly, no longer looking at him.
Bill swallowed, “Maybe I felt that way before but you’re right. This isn’t what’s important anymore. Babe is..you are.”
Dick seemed to soften at his words and he looked at Bill again. “Bill I’m..”
“I love you.”
Dick froze, “I…what did you just say?”
The elevator doors slid open as they reached their intended floor.
“You heard me.” Bill whispered before he walked off as calmly as he could manage. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear Dick respond any further.
Dick watched him go, unable to move as the doors closed in front of him again.
Joe looked around the hallway nervously. He was tired as Hell from all the crap he’d been demonstrating for Spina. He was checking the halls just as much to make sure the good doctor wasn’t around as he was to make sure that no one was witnessing him going into Dr. Jones’ research office.
Fortunately he’d been able to shadow Skip and Dr. Jones as they had worked on updating his files and had memorized the access code they entered to gain entry into the office after it had been locked up.
Since Skip didn’t spend any more time working than he had to and Henry was taking what Joe figured was an uncharacteristic break from his research, it was the perfect time for Joe to try and get a look at the Company’s files.
It had only taken watching Skip work on his computer for 10 minutes for Joe to memorize his login codes, protection passwords, and how to access all of the information stored in the Company’s database. All he had to do was get to a computer and he would be able to access all the Company’s personnel files.
He checked the hallways once more before softly punching in the code and slipping into the room. However it wasn’t as empty as he had hoped.
Inside, Skip was hunched over not his computer, but Henry’s. The lights were off and Skip jumped when he heard someone come in.
The two men froze at the sight of each other and Joe’s senses zeroed in on Skip’s hand, which was reaching for something below the desk he was behind.
“You got a gun Skip?” He asked calmly, really not wanting to get shot and trying to figure out a way to talk his way out of this. Hopefully he’d think up something believable.
“What are you doing?” The assistant asked, an unusually serious look about him.
“I could ask you the same thing.”
That was when the gun came out and was pointed directly at him.
Joe slowly held his hands up, “Okay. You know what…you don’t have to tell me what’s going on. But whatever it is I’ve got a feeling you’re not supposed to be doing it.”
Skip looked back at the computer anxiously before quickly bringing his attention to Liebgott once more.
“Skip you do realize if you shoot me you’ll only be screwing yourself. People tend to hear gunshots.” He pointed out.
Skip began to look increasingly nervous, “I’ll just tell them that I caught you snooping around.”
“What about when they ask you where you got a gun?”
“I’ll tell them I took it from you.”
Joe gave him a small smile, “They know what I can do. So do you really think anyone will buy that? Furthermore where would I get a gun?”
The man was looking desperate, which wasn’t a good sign. “I have to…this is the closest I’ve come. I’ve been working here for 2 years and this is the closest I’ve been.”
“Skip.” Joe spoke softly, “As you may have gathered from the time we spent together and the fact that I’m even here now…I’m not all that devoted to the idea of working here. They abducted me…remember? Tell me what’s wrong. Maybe I can help you.”
Skip kept the gun trained on him but nodded, “Almost three years ago…they abducted him and I’ve been looking…I knew it was them. I got a job here. I was finally inside the Company…but I still couldn’t find him. I couldn’t…and now he’s here. They're holding him downstairs. I heard them say he was locked in one of the cells in the basement floor. There’s only one..since this is a research and training facility mainly. I have to do something.”
Joe nodded in understanding, “You heard about that break out in Philadelphia right? I did that.”
Skip looked up at him in disbelief.
“It’s true. I knew where they were keeping Roe…I was the one who got someone to get him out. I can help you. I want to help you. I could have been one of these people. Hell for three days I probably was one of these people. This guy…he’s important to you?”
Skip nodded, “Yeah…he is.”
“Trust me. I can help you.”
Slowly Skip lowered the gun. “How?”
Joe sighed, “First…tell me what’s going on. Who is this person?”
Skip dropped into Henry’s chair. Joe walked slowly to him and sat on the edge of the desk, demonstrating he hoped, that he wasn’t going to turn on him.
“His name’s Don. Don Malarkey. He’s…um..he’s my boyfriend. We lived together, had been together since college.” Skip took a deep breath, “I knew things had been bad. He’d discovered his ability about two months earlier and I handled it pretty well I thought. What with the toaster exploding and all.”
Joe smiled softly but kept quiet, knowing that Skip needed to get this out.
“Then he up and quit his job. He was a lawyer for God’s sake. It had taken him forever to get through law school. I know..I was there. He told me he was moving out. That something had happened and his ability was too dangerous for him to be around me, around anyone. He showed me this business card, said someone had found out about him and promised to help.”
Why did Joe have a feeling he knew where this was headed?
“Don was excited, he thought that maybe they could make it go away. Or help him control it. He promised me that he would check in with me and that when he was better he’d be back. He told me he loved me, then he walked out the door and..”
“He never came back.” Joe concluded.
“He never even called.” Skip corrected, “After the first couple of weeks I got worried. I filed a missing person’s report. They checked it out but said they weren’t in the habit of tracking down people’s unhappy exes. So I hired a private investigator to look into this Company. Don had left the card at home with me.”
“What did he find out?”
“That they were probably holding him against his will. He found out that they were based out of Manhattan. Then he wound up dead.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. So I thought…to Hell with it. I took the card and called them up. Made out like I was looking for a job…that someone had tried to recruit me. I was working as a medical research assistant at the time and was incredibly qualified. They didn’t seem to know me. And now here I am.”
“And here he is.”
Skip nodded. “Here he is.”
Joe stood. “I’m going to help you. I just have to wait for my outside guy to contact me again.”
Skip leaned forward, obviously drained from recounting his story. “What were you doing in here?”
Joe bit his lip, “I was uh…going to look at some files.”
“Why?”
“I’m looking for someone too.”
Skip looked up sharply, “Who?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Maybe I can help.”
Once Dick had gotten over the initial shock of Bill’s confession, and once he had managed to get off the elevator, he had attempted to find his partner.
However his boss seemed to have other plans. Dick sighed into his cell phone.
“No sir. I have no reason to believe that Liebgott is working against us.”
“So you looked through his memories?” Sobel asked.
“Yes sir.”
“And Eli Luz?”
“He’s with Dr. Spina now sir.”
“Well it looks like your work is done Dick. I’ve got another job for you. There’s a man in California that the Company is very interested in obtaining.”
“For study or recruitment?”
“A little of both.” Sobel admitted, “But he doesn’t have many options. We’ll likely be able to recruit him and he’ll let us research his ability on good faith. He has nowhere else to go at the moment.”
‘Like me.’ Dick thought, somewhat bitterly. He remembered how he had been. Young, alone, and scared. Of course then the Company had swooped in and ‘saved’ him. Given him a home, a job…all they had wanted in return was his soul….and his brother. Dick already pitied this unknown man.
“Oh and you’ll need to stop by and pick up Harry Welsh first.” Sobel added in a distasteful tone, his dislike for said man seeping out.
“The lawyer? Why?” He actually really liked Harry, so did Bill. The man was always swooping down from one of the higher ups and cleaning up all their messes. He was good humored and smart. But why would they need a lawyer- much less one as skilled as Harry?
“The man in question is currently being help in a Los Angeles maximum security mental institution and facing murder charges. Harry’s going to make those disappear.” Sobel explained.
“So he’s…insane?”
“He’s not insane Dick….he’s special.”
Summary: All over the world, people are waking up with extraordinary abilities. Not knowing how they got them or what to do, they will soon discover that they are not alone. They are all connected. They are all special. Based on NBC’s Heroes. Various Pairings.
Links to previous chapters inside.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Disclaimer: I’m not making any money off of writing this story. It’s entirely fictional and based on the performances given in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and not the actual soldiers. Any ideas or phrases borrowed from the NBC show Heroes belong to the writers of that show, not me. I don’t own anything…so please don’t sue me. I wrote it for your enjoyment so…enjoy!
A/N: So the identity of the serial killer is revealed in this chapter. I want to state that there is absolutely NO disrespect for the character I chose to portray him. Note that I said ‘character’. I base my stories on the way the characters are portrayed in the mini-series which is in no way a reflection on the real life soldier. Interestingly enough, that is why I tend to write cracky AU’s. In my mind it helps separate me from the actual soldiers by another degree. Point is…um I dunno I’ll refer you to my disclaimer.
Also I kind of picked him primarily because I ran out of characters….. Oh and if you ever watch Heroes and see the character of Sylar interact with other characters I thought he was a good fit for a character ‘based’ on Sylar.
Los Angeles, CA
Guard duty, it seemed, was something of a punishment in the LAPD….at least the officers on said duty made it seem that way.
“Damn how did we pull this again?”
One of the two officers guarding the building’s back door rolled his eyes at the question. “I couldn’t tell you. When the Hell are those Feds going to come claim their witness anyway?”
This was truly sad. The two officers were both dressed in civilian clothes and obviously postured to look casual outside of the children’s psychiatric center they were posted near.
If they were trying to be discreet about the fact that they were law enforcement they were doing a piss poor job of it.
Suddenly one of their cell phones went off and the officer immediately moved to answer it. After nodding two times, he hung up and gave his partner a nod of his head. The two immediately ceased their complaining and discreetly drew their guns, looking warily around the alley they were facing.
The man observing them from afar cast an amused look upon the building behind them. It had taken him time to exhaust his other options but he had finally concluded that this was where Sherry Tanner was being held.
Children’s therapy…how appropriate. They were probably trying to counsel her over the death of her parents. He knew just the thing to make her forget.
He turned his attention back to the officers on duty, who had obviously received some sort of order to be alert.
Suddenly one of the guards drew his gun arm up in a rigid manner, pistol loaded and finger on the trigger.
The policeman who had received the call sent him an alarmed look, “Sam what the Hell are you doing?”
The man, Sam, stared at his arm in horror, “I don’t know…I can’t…I’m not doing this! Holy shit!”
His partner glared, “You’re not funny you prick, now put it down and keep your eyes open.”
Sam looked alarmed, “This isn’t a joke! I can’t stop-”
He didn’t finish his sentence before his arm swung around seemingly of its own accord, and his gun fired, putting a bullet directly between his partner’s eyes.
Sam screamed as his partner’s blood splattered across his face and the lifeless body fell to the ground.
On the other side of the street, Roy Cobb smiled and focused on telekinetically forcing the man’s gun to his own temple.
He began to walk across the street and to what would soon be an unguarded door.
Lipton sighed as little Sherry Tanner sobbed into his shoulder. The moment they had walked into the room she had taken one look at Agent Speirs' bloody clothes, recognized Carwood and flung herself into his arms.
He rubbed her back softly, trying to soothe her. However he knew it was no use when he caught a string of her thoughts.
whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy? they’re gone- whywhywhywhywhy? bring them back please. don’t leave me please don’t leave me.
The hysteria, pain and erratic nature of her pleas were too much for him and all he really wanted was to hold her tighter and assure her that he wouldn’t leave her. But he didn’t make promises he couldn’t keep..and after losing her parents? She wouldn’t have believed him anyhow.
Agent Speirs for his part was staring at them with uncharacteristically wide eyes. He looked incredibly uncomfortable. Lipton had a feeling that his partner Christenson was probably better in the face of sobbing victims.
Suddenly a gunshot rang out from down the hall and Lipton immediately gathered Sherry into his arms and stood.
Speirs reached to his holster, only to realize his gun wasn’t there. A second shot followed.
“Shit,” Speirs cursed and turned towards Lipton. “Give me your gun.”
Lipton glared at him, “No! Not only am I NOT allowed to do that but you just got out of the hospital!”
He thrust a still sobbing Sherry into the Agent’s arms and un-holstered his weapon. Speirs gave Sherry a look that indicated he’d rather go out and face their possible threat unarmed than look after a crying child.
“Just stay with her.” Lipton ordered and made his way to the door quickly. He put his hand on the door knob and gently eased it open.
He listened carefully to see if he could hear any thoughts, but he wasn’t sure how close a person had to be for his…whatever…to actually work.
When he heard nothing he peered out into the hallway and observed that it was clear. They were closest to the back entrance, which meant that either the officers on guard had engaged someone or someone had engaged them.
He turned quickly and captured Sherry’s attention, “Sherry I just need you to stay very quiet okay? Just like last time. Can you do that sweetheart?”
With tears streaming down her face, she gave him a nod.
He smiled, “That’s good. It’s okay honey, Agent Speirs is going to look after you.”
Having calmed her somewhat, Lipton went out into the hallway and softly shut the door behind him. Crouching down slightly, he silently made his way towards the back entrance.
There was a creak as the door opened and a thin man wearing dark clothes and a baseball cap obscuring his face strolled in. Lipton looked him over quickly and noted the absence of a firearm.
Had he ditched it? Had those shots been warning shots before the officers had decided he wasn’t a threat? He very much doubted that.
sherry sherry sherry. where is that little girl? is this even really worth my time? dr. jones didn’t have the decency to have an ability that also pinpointed just how a person was special…
Dr. Jones? Lipton shook his head. He didn’t have time to worry about that. This was their boy alright. The manner of his speech…or his thoughts as it were…were more than enough to convince Lipton that this was Speirs’ serial killer.
He flicked the safety off his gun and lifted it at the man, prepared to fire. However just as he got the man in his sights, he disappeared right before Lipton’s eyes.
What the Hell?
Carwood felt himself go crashing into the floor face first, shoved by an un-seeable attacker with intense force. His gun flew out of his hand and across the hallway.
In the blink of an eye he was slammed upright against a wall. He would have gaped had the man he had seen disappear not been holding a hand over his mouth.
Lipton shivered as his entire body began to feel as though it were freezing. A strange smile came across his attacker’s face.
“Now you weren’t going to shoot me were you Officer….” He trailed off and looked down at Carwood's uniform. “Lipton?”
“Let him go. Now.”
Was that Speirs? No! Damn it he was supposed to be with Sherry!
The Agent’s command worked and his attacker dropped him to the floor. Lipton immediately scrambled away but found he didn’t have the strength to get to his feet. He looked down in astonishment at his now purple hands. He was so cold…
“Good. Take off your hat, put your hands on your head and turn around slowly.” Speirs instructed the man as he trained Lipton’s gun on him. When had he grabbed that?
Amazingly the man did as he was told. The hat came off to reveal a young, blond man with a narrow face and hateful eyes. He put his hands on his head and slowly turned around.
“What are you going to do huh? Are you going to shoot me? Your little partner tried that. It didn’t really stick.” The man grinned.
Ron frowned and raised the gun slightly, “This one will.”
He pulled the trigger and the bullet stopped right in front of the man’s temple, hovering in mid air.
The man laughed, “Wow you really got me.”
Then the killer lifted his hand and the bullet turned around and was pointed at Speirs who, sensing where this was going, dropped to the floor as the bullet flew towards him and just narrowly missed his head, instead slicing through the wall behind him
On his way down, Speirs fired off another shot just as the man disappeared. Ron then immediately rushed over to Carwood.
“Lipton? Are you okay?”
Carwood glared and feebly shoved the Agent away from him, his teeth chattering. “Get to Sherry! He can teleport!”
Realization dawning on him, Speirs ran back towards the room containing their victim and busted down the door.
Moments later Ron was back by his side, Sherry with him. Lipton sighed in relief at the sight of her, safe and sound.
She immediately hugged him. She soon drew back quickly however, with a gasp, “You’re cold.”
Ron took in the sight of his blue tinted skin and cursed, “Great…let me call 911. Where the fuck are the rest of your brothers in blue? I thought this place was meant to be secure!”
Carwood said nothing and let his head fall to the floor. He noticed a pool of blood near him and, knowing it didn’t belong to any of them, he realized it must have been his attacker’s.
He swatted at Ron’s foot, “Call forensics…looks like o-our friend l-lef-left us some DNA.”
The FBI Agent nodded and held his phone in between his neck and shoulder as he stripped off his bloody jacket and tossed it across Lipton’s chest.
Sherry hugged his neck tightly, “You have to be okay Officer Lipton. You’re my hero.”
He brought a shaking hand up to stroke her hair and refrained from telling her everything would be fine.
Bill Guarnere, Somewhere between Philadelphia and Manhattan
Bill glanced over to the stretcher across the van where a ghostly white man with blood red hair was strapped down- several of the Company’s S.W.A.T trained control officers in full gear surrounding him.
One of them grinned at his expression. “Don’t look so worried sir. We’ve got everything under control.”
Bill frowned at him, which one was he? Gordon? “Is that so?”
The man laughed, “Sir he’s practically dead. Besides, we know how to do our jobs.”
Bill leaned forward in his seat, “Uh huh. Well…since you’re so good at your job..tell me….what is it that makes this man so dangerous?”
The smile fell off the man’s face, “Um…”
With a laugh, Bill got even closer, “He can create, control and emit bursts of radiation so powerful it can take out half of Texas. In addition to that he can cause explosions with his mind. You know what kind of things he can make explode?”
The kid shook his head. Bill rolled his eyes, these control guys…honestly.
Bill made the last lean into his personal space and tapped roughly against the kid’s protective head gear, “People like you. So let me tell you what your job is. Your job is to shoot at people you don’t understand and try, let me reiterate try, not to get killed.”
His phone rang at that moment, sparing the poor kid any more of the verbal insult that Bill had prepared for him. He reached for it quickly, desperate to take his mind off of the ‘special’ that was riding with them-Snow White style.
“Guarnere.” He answered.
Dick’s voice greeted him, music to his ears. “Bill….are you coming to Manhattan?”
Bill frowned and looked over at Malarkey’s guards figuring that they could probably give two shits if he talked on the phone, “How did you know? Did Sobel call you?”
“Not…exactly. Look we have to talk when you get here.”
“Yeah no shit. You’re probably going to be headed back pretty soon. Which is just as well since Babe’s all alone.”
"That’s just great. Why do I get the feeling Sobel’s shuffling us around not only to separate us from each other but from Babe as well?”
“I don’t like it either. Something’s definitely up. I do know one way you could find out. After all he’s kinda got a thing for you…” Bill dropped his voice.
“What? Bill! Absolutely not!”
Bill chuckled, amazed that he still could be so amused by Dick’s indignation even in such stressful times. “Sorry. I’m sorry.”
“I can’t believe you’d even suggest that. Look, I have something to tell you about Liebgott.”
From the tone of his partner’s voice, he had a feeling it was something Dick wanted to keep between the two of them.
“Just wait okay?” He asked him, which he knew Dick would interpret to mean that outside ears might be listening.
“Fine. Guess I’ll see you soon.”
“Guess you will.”
Joseph Liebgott, Manhattan, NY
“Fascinating.”
“See if you can do one by propelling yourself off the wall.”
“Oh that’d be cool!”
Joe glared at the three men observing him. He then looked around the small gymnasium they had relocated to when Dr. Spina had expressed an interest to see his ability in action.
“Look,” he snapped at them, “just because I can do the back flip correctly doesn’t mean I should do it consistently. I’m getting fucking dizzy.”
Ralph Spina, the medical doctor that they had on staff here, nodded quickly. “You’re right, of course. Come sit down, drink some water and we’ll monitor your vitals.”
Dr. Jones was flipping through a file and glancing over an electronic notepad. “This is fascinating.”
“You already said that.” Skip pointed out as he handed Joe a bottle of water.
Henry ignored his research assistant and stood. “Joe it seems your ability is much like you described. Your brain seems to mimic the actions it sees perfectly and stores it in the muscle memory for later use. As far as information goes it is implanted with the degree of expertise it encounters on any given subject by storing it in your brain much like a photographic memory. Only instead of merely remembering you seem to-”
Joe waved his arms spastically, much to Spina’s irritation, and cut him off, “Ah- stop it! Can you find a simple explanation please?”
Henry gave an amused smile to the young man who, given the proper education over an appropriately spaced out amount of time, could be light years more knowledgeable in every academic field than he himself could ever hope to be.
“Certainly. Okay…have you ever seen the movie The Matrix?”
“Um..yeah.” Joe nodded, confused.
“Okay. Well there’s a scene in the Matrix where one of the characters needs to fly a certain type of helicopter. Only she doesn’t know how. So another character looks up everything one would need to know in order to fly it. He then downloads it into her brain and voila-she’s an expert.”
Joe wiped water off of his chin, “And you’re saying that’s what I can do?”
“Essentially yes,” Henry nodded. “When you read something or view something your brain downloads the information and as I said before- voila.”
“But I can do a lot of what I’ve learned instinctively. I don’t always have to think about it.”
“As any expert could.” Skip added.
Joe frowned, “Huh.”
Henry noticed his concern, “What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“Well I’m very interested in finding out the exact nature of your ability…genetically speaking. There may be facets of it that we haven’t even discovered yet!”
Liebgott thought back on what Eli had warned him about. That was what had him worried….
Joseph Toye and Babe Heffron, Philadelphia, PA
“Hey…you Edward Guarnere?”
Babe froze as a youthful, yet gravelly voice called out from behind him. He immediately tightened his grip on the brass knuckles he was carrying and slowly turned around.
He was confronted with the sight of a man of…maybe 27? He was about Babe’s height with black hair and olive skin. Why did he look so familiar? And where the Hell had he come from? There hadn’t been anyone sitting over there two seconds ago.
“Do I…know you?” he asked the stranger cautiously.
The man stood up, looking equally apprehensive. “Not exactly.”
Babe nodded, “I didn’t think so. No one I know calls me Edward.”
The man shrugged and made a face, “I would have called you Babe but I really didn’t want you to think I was hitting on you.”
“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” Babe asked, naturally offended by the statement.
“Just that the last time I physically saw you, you were like…8 or something is all.”
That stopped Babe cold. “What?”
The man rubbed his hands together nervously. “Look this is all going to sound kind of…well…kind of strange.”
“Well I’ve been having a strange week.” Babe shot back, curiosity peaked. Bill would skin him alive for talking to a stranger. But why did he get a feeling that this man wasn’t a stranger? Not really.
“My name’s Joseph Toye. That probably doesn’t mean anything to you…but I used to know your brother Bill.” The man, Toye, explained.
“Used to?”
A strange look came over his face at Babe’s question. Maybe regret?
“Yeah.” Toye answered, “We used to work together a long time ago.”
Now Babe was getting incredibly curious. Did everyone he met have some sort of tie to that damn place? His parents, Bill, Dick. “You worked with Bill at the paper company?”
The question caused Toye to laugh. “Kid…your brother doesn’t sell paper. Neither did your parents.”
Babe knew his mouth was starting to catch flies but he couldn’t help it. “What are you talking about? Who are you?”
“I already told you. Look…I think you have something with you that…belongs to me.”
Babe paused. What? All he had on him were his keys, his wallet, his cell phone and…oh. He gripped his fingers tightly around the brass knuckles and pulled his hand up to inspect them.
The man’s eyes widened as he looked at them, “Huh…I still can’t believe your brother has those..”
“You didn’t give them to him?” Babe asked.
Toye shook his head, “No..I used to keep them at work. I never got a chance to get any of my things..”
“You said that my brother doesn’t sell paper? What is it you guys did over there then?” Babe wondered.
Toye moved back a little and gestured towards the bench on which he had been sitting. “Why don’t you sit down? I’m not going to hurt you.”
“How can I believe that?”
“Trust me…I’m way too scared of your brother.”
Babe smiled and slowly walked past the man to sit down. Toye sat down as well, a respectable distance away as if he were afraid he may scare Babe off.
Toye handed him a crumpled piece of paper. “Read this. It’s okay if you don’t understand it.”
He gave the man a strange look before taking the paper with his empty hand and looking it over.
“What the Hell?”
Powers? What? If this was about him then how did whoever wrote this know he was 16? Had they known his brother? His real parents? What did they know about his past?
He turned to look at Toye but the man was gone. Then, as if by magic, he reappeared right in front of Babe’s eyes.
“Holy shit!” Babe scrambled back on the bench. “You just..you can…”
“Yeah,” Joe responded, much too calmly for a man that had just appeared out of thin air. “You can too it seems.”
Babe’s breathing was becoming erratic. “What the Hell are you talking about?”
Joe reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He grabbed the largest one and shined it on his jeans. Cautiously holding it up he beckoned Babe to look at it.
Babe leaned in slightly and saw..nothing. Well…he could see the track and the sky and the bench he was supposedly sitting on but he couldn’t see himself. It was like he wasn’t there.
He looked up at Toye. “Can you see me?”
The man shook his head.
Babe gaped and looked back at his non reflection. “What the Hell’s happening to me?”
Toye calmly put the keys back in his pocket. “That’s what I’m here to explain.”
Buck Compton, Los Angeles, CA
“What happened?” Buck asked as he rushed into what had been Ron’s hospital room the last time he was there. Now it was Officer Lipton who occupied the bed.
He frowned as he saw Sherry Tanner, whom he recognized from her photograph, sitting on the edge of the bed and chatting softly with the policeman.
He turned to look at Ron, who seemed as though he were feeling much better, even if he was still wearing his bloody clothes. “What’s going on? What’s she doing here?”
Ron pretended as if he had just noticed him standing there. “Oh? Didn’t anyone tell you? While you were off having a heart to heart with your bat shit crazy partner, the three of us were attacked by our serial killer.”
Buck frowned at the insult of Lewis, “You’re going to write him off just like that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Ron glared angrily, “Because I don’t have time to care about people who want to kill me. I have a fucking job to do! Unless you forgot why you brought me in on this case in the first place!”
“Hey!” snapped Lipton from the bed, “If you two are going to argue and curse then would you mind taking it outside?”
The officer inclined his head toward an uneasy looking Sherry. Buck nodded and Ron strode furiously out into the hallway.
Buck followed him and slowly shut the door. “Okay look-”
Ron cut him off, whipping around to face him and whispering furiously, “I like to think you asked for my help in this case because I’m fucking good at my job.”
“I did.” Buck assured him. Having Ron around to spend time with was just a plus. He hadn’t anticipated that Lewis would find out about their affair. “Look…about Lewis…I’m sorry.”
Ron shook his head, “We both screwed him over. If I had been in his position…”
Buck frowned, “You would NOT have done the same thing. That isn’t you and it isn’t really him either.”
“I guess it’s not. The only reason I wouldn’t react that way is because…”
“What?”
“Because I didn’t love him anymore. If I ever really did. Look…we got some blood from our killer. It’s at the crime lab now…they’ll let us know when they have something.”
Buck chose to ignore that information, instead focusing on what else Ron had said. “You did…love him.”
Ron wouldn’t look at him, “When Detective More takes Sherry back into protective custody in 3 hours, Officer Lipton and I need to brief you on what we’ve discovered.”
As he began to walk back to the door, Buck reached out and grabbed his arm at the elbow, “Ron listen to me..”
Ron looked at him coldly before roughly pulling his elbow out of Buck’s hand. “I didn’t okay?” He hissed, “I didn’t love him and I sure as Hell don’t love you.”
Then he spun around and jerked the door open. Buck watched him put on a calm front as he joined Sherry at Lipton’s side. Lipton raised his eyebrow and Ron shrugged off the unspoken question.
Buck watched them communicate wordlessly as Sherry drew patterns on the sheet with her fingers.
“Yeah I’m beginning to see that.” he spoke to himself. Alone…both in the hall and in every way imaginable.
Eugene Roe, Brooklyn , NY
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Webster asked Gene for what must have been the millionth time.
Gene nodded as he watched George Luz pour over another one of Renee’s letters, a young man in a suit hovering closely nearby with a phone to his ear and conversing with the lingering police officers.
“I’m not going to get myself kidnapped again if that’s what you’re asking.” Gene promised the teleporter and he guessed…time traveler. Webster had explained his abilities but Gene still couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of time travel.
“Please don’t.” Webster smiled before following Gene’s gaze to Luz, “What are you going to do?”
He shrugged, “Talk to him…explain what I know that might not be in those letters. I also need to call my roommate…let him know I got here just fine.”
At that Webster gave him a look.
Gene laughed, “Well…in one piece at least. I’d like to help find Renee’s son.”
Webster nodded, “Do you think it was the same people who took you?”
“It depends on if he’s special or not. If he is..then I’m sure it was.” He turned to look at David. “Why are you still here exactly? I thought you were supposed to be checking in on someone.”
In the short time that Gene and Webster had been acquainted, Gene had been forced to listen to David go on and on about this Joe guy. He was obviously in deep…so why was he lingering?
“Yeah,” David looked down, “I guess I’m just nervous.”
“That he won’t be happy to see you?”
David laughed. “No..I’m kind of used to that part. I guess I’m afraid I’ll get him caught…or that..I dunno.”
Gene watched the look on David’s face and felt envious. He never understood what it was like to really be in love. Becoming a doctor, and all that had meant, left him little time for relationships.
He looked over at the raw emotion in George’s eyes as he read the letters, and at the way the young FBI agent kept looking at him with concern.
For some reason his mind brought up an image of Babe. Strange…that he was still thinking about him at all.
He put a hand on David’s shoulder, “You should go.”
The time traveler nodded. “You’re right.”
“I’ve got your number,” Gene reminded him. “I’ll call if I just can’t live without you.”
David snorted and in an instant, he was gone from Gene sight. Show off.
Gene looked around and only the FBI agent seemed to have noticed Webster’s disappearing act.
Gene tensed as the man left George’s side and began to approach him. He opened his mouth to say something but the guy grabbed his arm and whispered, “Hallway. Now.”
Gene let himself be shuffled outside, “Look what you just saw…”
“How many of you are there?” The man asked abruptly.
Gene frowned, “What? You’re not..surprised?”
“No. That man…he’s special. Are you?”
Gene tried to gauge whether or not he could trust this man. He was with the FBI…and Luz seemed to trust him. He looked into the young agent’s face and sighed, “Yeah…I am. How do you know about..?”
“George and Eli...they’re different.” He explained.
Gene gaped, “That means that..”
Suddenly the door burst open and Luz came sliding out into the hallway, hair mussed and blood seeping through the bandage on his forehead.
The agent winced and lifted a hand towards George’s forehead but Luz just batted it away and held up a letter to them. “Do you know what this means?”
The agent shook his head. “Um…no?”
Luz seemed to be incredibly excited, a far cry from the depressed and anxious state he had previously been in. “Burton-this letter says Renee was kidnapped because of her abilities!”
“Her too? How many of you are there? Seriously.” The agent, Burton, asked.
Gene stepped forward slightly, “I already know what you’re thinking. Whoever took her took your son.”
Luz looked over to him and nodded, “Yeah! Now if only we could figure out who they are.”
“I think I might be able to help you with that. The same people kidnapped me and held me hostage.” He explained.
Luz gaped at him in amazement, “Do you know how to find them?”
Gene nodded, “They held me in a building somewhere in Philadelphia. I don’t remember what they looked like. But I know how to find out.”
George straightened up seriously, “These bastards killed my wife and kidnapped my son. You do whatever you have to.”
“The man who was just with me knows someone who’s working against these people inside their organization. He was the one who found out I was being held hostage and had me rescued.”
Burton was staring at him intensely, “And he can tell you who snatched you?”
“I’m pretty sure yeah.”
“I’ve been working on a string of abductions that I’m now positive are happening only to people with abilities like yourself, Eli and George. Whoever took you? They’ve been doing this to a lot of people for a long time.”
Gene looked at him, startled, “The FBI is investigating this?”
The man nodded, “Abductions are our jurisdiction and this case has been highly unusual. People go missing and show up three days later unable to remember a thing. If you say we need to go to Philadelphia I’ll have us booked on the next flight out.”
“We need to go to Philadelphia.” Gene told him.
“You got it.” Burton was already pulling out his phone, “Now call up this guy and found out who it is we’re looking for.”
Gene sighed, Webster was never going to let him hear the end of this.
Company HQ, Manhattan, NY
Bill had only just secured Malarkey into the building’s lowest cell when he was grabbed by Dick and pulled onto an elevator.
“Okay somebody needs to calm down.” Bill noted as his partner immediately shut the elevator doors to ensure that they would be riding to the top floors alone.
“Liebgott is looking for Babe.”
Bill froze, “What? Is there a reason he’s still alive?”
Dick refrained from nodding, aware that the cameras didn’t pick up sound but not wanting anyone to be curious about what they were discussing. With the number of techs in this building it wouldn’t take much to eavesdrop on them.
“Yeah…he’s trying to keep him safe from the Company. I looked through his memories. At first I didn’t find anything useful…just things from his youth. But then I stumbled upon something more recent. Remember when you were following Webster in San Francisco?”
Bill looked thoughtful, “Yeah…Joe told me that he’d been there.”
“It was a future version. He said something about the Company looking to control someone with the most powerful of abilities. That he wanted Liebgott to find him and protect him.”
Bill frowned, “If he’s talking about Babe…we’re already doing that.”
Dick sighed, “Apparently not well enough if someone had to travel from the future to recruit Liebgott’s help.”
“So what do you suggest? That we just trust Liebgott? Welcome him into our Keep Babe Safe Group with open arms? We only trust each other.”
“I know! Look that’s not what I’m saying. I just think that we should do our part to keep him off Sobel’s radar. Let him do what he came here to do.”
“Yeah? And what about this breakout with Roe? Who do you think told Webster where he was? I’m all for him trying to protect Babe but until he does that are we supposed to just let him and his time traveling buddy undermine our work?”
Dick made a face, “Oh don’t try to convince me that what we do really matters. That you think we’re protecting society.”
“Damn right I do. You think these people aren’t dangerous? Take a look at our little friend I just had to drive all the way over here!”
The moment the words left his mouth he realized they were a mistake.
Dick glared at him, easily the angriest Bill had ever seen him, “Don’t forget that your brother is one of ‘those people’ and so am I. You asked me how I felt about hunting my own people. Well if you want the truth-it kills me. I don’t believe in what we do here. But I’ve always believed in you. I wish you could understand that.”
“I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry.” Bill apologized quickly. “But some of you are dangerous.. and I’m just…I’m so good at this.”
“A little too good.” Dick pointed out coldly, no longer looking at him.
Bill swallowed, “Maybe I felt that way before but you’re right. This isn’t what’s important anymore. Babe is..you are.”
Dick seemed to soften at his words and he looked at Bill again. “Bill I’m..”
“I love you.”
Dick froze, “I…what did you just say?”
The elevator doors slid open as they reached their intended floor.
“You heard me.” Bill whispered before he walked off as calmly as he could manage. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear Dick respond any further.
Dick watched him go, unable to move as the doors closed in front of him again.
Joe looked around the hallway nervously. He was tired as Hell from all the crap he’d been demonstrating for Spina. He was checking the halls just as much to make sure the good doctor wasn’t around as he was to make sure that no one was witnessing him going into Dr. Jones’ research office.
Fortunately he’d been able to shadow Skip and Dr. Jones as they had worked on updating his files and had memorized the access code they entered to gain entry into the office after it had been locked up.
Since Skip didn’t spend any more time working than he had to and Henry was taking what Joe figured was an uncharacteristic break from his research, it was the perfect time for Joe to try and get a look at the Company’s files.
It had only taken watching Skip work on his computer for 10 minutes for Joe to memorize his login codes, protection passwords, and how to access all of the information stored in the Company’s database. All he had to do was get to a computer and he would be able to access all the Company’s personnel files.
He checked the hallways once more before softly punching in the code and slipping into the room. However it wasn’t as empty as he had hoped.
Inside, Skip was hunched over not his computer, but Henry’s. The lights were off and Skip jumped when he heard someone come in.
The two men froze at the sight of each other and Joe’s senses zeroed in on Skip’s hand, which was reaching for something below the desk he was behind.
“You got a gun Skip?” He asked calmly, really not wanting to get shot and trying to figure out a way to talk his way out of this. Hopefully he’d think up something believable.
“What are you doing?” The assistant asked, an unusually serious look about him.
“I could ask you the same thing.”
That was when the gun came out and was pointed directly at him.
Joe slowly held his hands up, “Okay. You know what…you don’t have to tell me what’s going on. But whatever it is I’ve got a feeling you’re not supposed to be doing it.”
Skip looked back at the computer anxiously before quickly bringing his attention to Liebgott once more.
“Skip you do realize if you shoot me you’ll only be screwing yourself. People tend to hear gunshots.” He pointed out.
Skip began to look increasingly nervous, “I’ll just tell them that I caught you snooping around.”
“What about when they ask you where you got a gun?”
“I’ll tell them I took it from you.”
Joe gave him a small smile, “They know what I can do. So do you really think anyone will buy that? Furthermore where would I get a gun?”
The man was looking desperate, which wasn’t a good sign. “I have to…this is the closest I’ve come. I’ve been working here for 2 years and this is the closest I’ve been.”
“Skip.” Joe spoke softly, “As you may have gathered from the time we spent together and the fact that I’m even here now…I’m not all that devoted to the idea of working here. They abducted me…remember? Tell me what’s wrong. Maybe I can help you.”
Skip kept the gun trained on him but nodded, “Almost three years ago…they abducted him and I’ve been looking…I knew it was them. I got a job here. I was finally inside the Company…but I still couldn’t find him. I couldn’t…and now he’s here. They're holding him downstairs. I heard them say he was locked in one of the cells in the basement floor. There’s only one..since this is a research and training facility mainly. I have to do something.”
Joe nodded in understanding, “You heard about that break out in Philadelphia right? I did that.”
Skip looked up at him in disbelief.
“It’s true. I knew where they were keeping Roe…I was the one who got someone to get him out. I can help you. I want to help you. I could have been one of these people. Hell for three days I probably was one of these people. This guy…he’s important to you?”
Skip nodded, “Yeah…he is.”
“Trust me. I can help you.”
Slowly Skip lowered the gun. “How?”
Joe sighed, “First…tell me what’s going on. Who is this person?”
Skip dropped into Henry’s chair. Joe walked slowly to him and sat on the edge of the desk, demonstrating he hoped, that he wasn’t going to turn on him.
“His name’s Don. Don Malarkey. He’s…um..he’s my boyfriend. We lived together, had been together since college.” Skip took a deep breath, “I knew things had been bad. He’d discovered his ability about two months earlier and I handled it pretty well I thought. What with the toaster exploding and all.”
Joe smiled softly but kept quiet, knowing that Skip needed to get this out.
“Then he up and quit his job. He was a lawyer for God’s sake. It had taken him forever to get through law school. I know..I was there. He told me he was moving out. That something had happened and his ability was too dangerous for him to be around me, around anyone. He showed me this business card, said someone had found out about him and promised to help.”
Why did Joe have a feeling he knew where this was headed?
“Don was excited, he thought that maybe they could make it go away. Or help him control it. He promised me that he would check in with me and that when he was better he’d be back. He told me he loved me, then he walked out the door and..”
“He never came back.” Joe concluded.
“He never even called.” Skip corrected, “After the first couple of weeks I got worried. I filed a missing person’s report. They checked it out but said they weren’t in the habit of tracking down people’s unhappy exes. So I hired a private investigator to look into this Company. Don had left the card at home with me.”
“What did he find out?”
“That they were probably holding him against his will. He found out that they were based out of Manhattan. Then he wound up dead.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. So I thought…to Hell with it. I took the card and called them up. Made out like I was looking for a job…that someone had tried to recruit me. I was working as a medical research assistant at the time and was incredibly qualified. They didn’t seem to know me. And now here I am.”
“And here he is.”
Skip nodded. “Here he is.”
Joe stood. “I’m going to help you. I just have to wait for my outside guy to contact me again.”
Skip leaned forward, obviously drained from recounting his story. “What were you doing in here?”
Joe bit his lip, “I was uh…going to look at some files.”
“Why?”
“I’m looking for someone too.”
Skip looked up sharply, “Who?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Maybe I can help.”
Once Dick had gotten over the initial shock of Bill’s confession, and once he had managed to get off the elevator, he had attempted to find his partner.
However his boss seemed to have other plans. Dick sighed into his cell phone.
“No sir. I have no reason to believe that Liebgott is working against us.”
“So you looked through his memories?” Sobel asked.
“Yes sir.”
“And Eli Luz?”
“He’s with Dr. Spina now sir.”
“Well it looks like your work is done Dick. I’ve got another job for you. There’s a man in California that the Company is very interested in obtaining.”
“For study or recruitment?”
“A little of both.” Sobel admitted, “But he doesn’t have many options. We’ll likely be able to recruit him and he’ll let us research his ability on good faith. He has nowhere else to go at the moment.”
‘Like me.’ Dick thought, somewhat bitterly. He remembered how he had been. Young, alone, and scared. Of course then the Company had swooped in and ‘saved’ him. Given him a home, a job…all they had wanted in return was his soul….and his brother. Dick already pitied this unknown man.
“Oh and you’ll need to stop by and pick up Harry Welsh first.” Sobel added in a distasteful tone, his dislike for said man seeping out.
“The lawyer? Why?” He actually really liked Harry, so did Bill. The man was always swooping down from one of the higher ups and cleaning up all their messes. He was good humored and smart. But why would they need a lawyer- much less one as skilled as Harry?
“The man in question is currently being help in a Los Angeles maximum security mental institution and facing murder charges. Harry’s going to make those disappear.” Sobel explained.
“So he’s…insane?”
“He’s not insane Dick….he’s special.”