Heroes fic: Exodus 4/4. PG-13
Title: Exodus
Author: Eustacia Vye
E-Mail: eutstacia_vye28@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: Kring et al owns them all. I just like playing with other people's toys.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers/Warnings: Post "How to Stop an Exploding Man." Eventual mentions of Sylar activities and violence. The idea for this came after the Season 1 ending, but Real Life is hectic, and it's not complete until now. No spoilers to Season 2.
Summary: The Boogeyman isn't dead, but Molly may have found someone that can help them get away from the Boogeyman.
Exodus
Part 1 - Setting the Stage
Part 2 - Mounting Tensions
Part 3 - Lightning Storm
Brian was spitting out every vile curse he knew. He hadn't always worked in a small town, so he knew quite a few interesting ones. The original ten gifted people on their list had been evacuated smoothly. They had been expecting it for some time. Even Cassidy hadn't uttered a peep, and he had expected her to yell. Instead, she had gone deathly pale and apologized for not keeping her skills in check. Brian had no idea that she even had a sense of responsibility, and had to chalk that up to Madison's influence.
Still, he couldn't help but blame this group from New York. This was their fault. Their town was tiny and had been working well. No one had known about them, and no one would have thought to check for them. They had run a tight ship, allowing their people to train in peace and live out their lives. Now these five had upset everything.
He found them in the hotel room, already packing. The little girl was crying, and the boy was sitting next to her, trying to be comforting. "But the Boogeyman's here," she was saying. "I don't know how he found us, but he's here." She looked up at Brian. "I'm so sorry, Officer. I don't know if he can do what I do."
Brian didn't know how to respond to that. Hell, he didn't even know what her power was. It didn't matter, anyway. Whatever it was, Sylar simply couldn't have it. She fell under their purview, the same as Madison's patients did. He looked at the five faces staring up at him, and cleared his throat. The choice was easy, and made long before they actually had shown up. If anything, they were lucky that they had been here, and not some other random small town with no plan for protection. "I need to get you over to Darcy. He'll take you by ambulance over to the hospital. Once there, it'll be easy enough to hide all of you until Gina can get you out of town."
The woman looked at her husband and then back at Brian. Something hard flickered in her eyes for a moment. "What do we do?"
At least she was no-nonsense. Brian nodded. "Come with me. We need to move fast. I don't know what kind of time we have, but it's probably not very much."
"With Sylar, it never is," Mohinder agreed.
Brian tried very hard not to hate him. So far, he was failing miserably.
***
Need.
Madison could feel the raw hunger as she exited the basement. It was close, but she couldn't tell if it was in the building just yet. She'd never really tested the outer limits of her ability before, and now she regretted that. She couldn't know if this hunger was just outside the building's door or a mile away or ten miles away. Molly would know, but Molly would also be safely out of town or on her way to being safely out of town. Madison carried that knowledge with her. At least something went right with this...
She unlocked her office door and stepped inside the room, feeling her anxiety winding tightly all around her.
Wait a minute. She hadn't locked her office door when she went to the basement.
Madison whirled around and saw a man standing by the coat rack. He had a lanky build, dark hair, hollows under his eyes and a slick grin.
No. No, no, no! This can't be happening! Madison thought in a panic. Still, she schooled her face to look more passive. This was precisely the kind of thing that was covered in her training. Whatever she was feeling didn't have to show on her face. She'd faced psychosis and outright homicidal behavior. Surely, she could face someone wanted to carve her brain out of her skull.
Okay, maybe not.
"Who are you?" she asked, thankful that her voice didn't waver. Sylar didn't move. "You don't have an appointment."
His smile only widened. "Your friend is dead. She has strange ideas about what makes tea."
Madison could feel the blood draining from her face. "What?" she breathed.
"Cyanide. The scent gives it away, you know." He circled her, and she stepped forward. He was trying to wedge himself between her and the door, but she would knock him backward if she had to in order to get away.
"You didn't answer. Who are you?"
He laughed, and the sound of it crawled down her spine. "Come now. You shrink heads for a living. You should be smarter than that."
"I only know what people tell me," Madison replied calmly. "I'm a psychiatrist, not a mind reader." She pushed the emotions down, and could feel it drain away. Only Sylar's curiosity and hunger remained, but she could deal with that.
Sylar's eyes glittered, as if responding to a challenge. Madison didn't think that he toyed with people very often; he looked ready to pounce. Knowledge crashed down on her. There was no way she could get out of this alive. The most she could hope for was that she could somehow manage to make her brain worthless to him.
"You know who I am," he replied. There was an edge to his voice. "Don't think you can change that, doctor."
Madison edged sideways, and Sylar's smile seemed to take a razor's edge. She tried not to think of all the movies or news articles played up patient violence. She watched him circle her, a shark converging on its prey. Heart pounding in her chest, she knew it was only a matter of time before he got tired of playing with her.
She threw her fear at him, pushing it into his chest with all the force she could muster. She amplified it the moment she saw his eyes widen slightly. Sylar swayed slightly, then stepped back to keep his balance.
Madison took the moment to run.
Hope rose within her, crazily. She dared to dream that she could get away, that maybe she could save herself from the inevitable. The moment she felt an invisible hand close over her throat, the hope died swiftly.
She had made it outside, and Sylar threw her into the brick exterior. Madison saw stars as the back of her head hit the wall. Concussion, the clinical part of her mind began. The feeling part of her seethed. She had been so close. Her car hadn't been even ten feet away from the exit, and she could have at least run the bastard over before she sped away.
Sylar's calm, pleased face swam into her vision. He was holding her up against the wall, just above his height. Her feet dangled, kicking ineffectually at him. "You should stop that. You're wasting your precious oxygen."
He was so calm as he said it, as he lifted a hand and pointed an index finger at her face. Anger poured through her veins as she reached for his head. Her thumbs sank into his eye sockets, as she pushed with all of her might. Madison could feel Sylar's anger swell, nearly choking her. He had never been hurt like this before. Briefly, images of Brian and her children flashed through her mind. If only...
Madison pushed her anger into him and stoked his own to fever pitch. The invisible hand at her throat squeezed tighter, and Sylar's flesh hands closed over her shoulders. He shook her, yelling at her unintelligibly. Spittle flew from his mouth, and he looked even more frightening now than before. She tightened her grip on Sylar's head and pushed his anger even further.
Now he was completely out of control. Angry beyond all reason, Sylar began to beat Madison's head into the brick wall. He couldn't hear her cries of pain beneath his screams of rage, and wouldn't have cared if he had. She hurt him. She dared to fight back, and the only other one to do so was Peter Petrelli. Petrelli was still alive somewhere, possibly, maybe, he wasn't entirely sure. But this bitch was here, in his hands, shattering against the brick wall. She couldn't get away. She couldn't escape his anger.
And then it was gone. The anger abruptly died. Her dead hands fell away from his face, and she made a wet sound as she fell from his grasp.
Not knowing where he was going, Sylar stumbled off in the direction of the wooded area outside of town. He remembered the way, the distances, the directions. He couldn't see anything, but his memory was pitch perfect. He had survived one injury. Surely he could survive another, and he would figure out how to proceed.
He didn't need eyes to be perfect. He would just find new ones. His journey was more difficult now, but it certainly wasn't at an end.
He would find Suresh another day.
***
"I can't find Dr. Vincent!" the girl cried suddenly, nearly pitching herself forward and out of the ambulance. She struggled in Darcy's arms, arms and legs flailing. Some of her panic was picking up steam, and Darcy was having trouble keeping her still. The blonde was trying to calm her down, but the girl was having none of it.
"What does she mean, she can't find Maddy?" Brian asked, hand on his car door. He had just been about to close his patrol car door. In one moment, he was mentioning that they would be safe and he would go find Madison. And the next, the little girl had started screaming that she couldn't find her.
Mohinder Suresh looked almost ashen. "She finds people," he said, looking at Brian helplessly. "All she has to do is think about someone, and she knows where they are."
Now he knew why they were so desperate to hide her, why Madison was so insistent that they be saved along with her patients. Sylar would love to get his hands on her skill, and it would instantly make it impossible to hide anyone ever again.
He looked at Mohinder with a blank expression. "All right. But I don't understand... why can't she find Maddy, then?"
"As long as someone's alive, she can find them," Mohinder said slowly.
Brian's eyes widened and he looked over at Darcy with a horrified expression. Darcy stopped struggling with the girl - Molly, Brian remembered suddenly - and she ran up to him. "Please, Officer, this can't be good! We have to go now!"
Sylar.
It didn't make any sense, but everything in Brian was screaming at him that it was all Sylar's fault. He had come to their town looking for these five people, and had found Madison instead. It didn't make any kind of rational sense, but that didn't matter anymore. Having special abilities didn't make rational sense anyway. There was no reasonable explanation why he had been able to generate lightning bolts from his fingertips. There was no reasonable explanation why Madison had been able to manipulate emotions. There was no reasonable explanation why Cassidy could manipulate fire, or Molly could find people just by thinking of them. None of it made sense, no matter what Mohinder Suresh wanted to think.
"Darcy, we have to get to the clinic," Brian said, voice firm. "She would be there trying to hide her patient files."
He nodded and closed up the ambulance. Brian took everyone back into the cruiser, and he flipped on the lights and sirens. Darcy did the same in the ambulance.
Brian was praying the entire way that he was wrong, that nothing had happened and he was in a panic for no reason. Madison was fine, the files were safe, and they were going to be all right. The twins would be returning for the holidays soon enough, and they would all joke about how his mother would have to do Thanksgiving this year. They would find out if Madison was just late because of stress or if he was going to be a father. Annika would protest, as she did every year, but would ultimately come along for the family dinner. Everything was going to be fine, and it was going to happen the way it did every year.
The hope died the moment he saw Madison's car in the parking lot. It was nearly six o'clock, and it wasn't one of her evening clinic days. She should have left a half hour ago, and should be pulling into their driveway.
Brian didn't wait for the others. He ran for the side entrance, hand over his gun. If that bastard had come anywhere near-
He stopped short, looking at the building in horror. He couldn't take in the sight of his wife's crumpled body, blood and brains spattered across the old and crumbling brick. He saw the blank and glassy eyes, the sprawled limbs and blood on her hands. Her mouth was open, and already he could feel his world shattering to pieces.
Brian whirled around and raced toward Molly. "You have to find him. You find him now, and I'm going to finish this!"
"I don't think this will help," Mohinder began, reaching out to touch Brian's shoulder. "We don't know what happened here..."
"Damn it, don't patronize me! We all know what happened here!" Brian pointed to the building behind him, dimly aware that he was screaming. "That bastard followed you all here and now he's killed her!"
Molly was shrinking back behind the blonde woman, the boy holding her hand tightly. She looked at Brian with wide eyes, frightened more of his rage than of Sylar. The Boogeyman had gone far away, far enough that they were all safe. He was still moving, probably on foot. He was moving slowly, but moving away. She didn't know exactly where he was since there was no map in front of her, but he was away. Wasn't that the point of this?
Mohinder did his best to try to calm Brian, but soon had to try to duck the punch aimed at his head. "This isn't solving anything!" Mohinder cried, holding up one arm. "We have to get out of here, like you planned for us!"
Brian held clenched fists at his sides. "He came here because of you. She's dead because of you. If you hadn't come here..."
"She knew what had to be done," the blonde woman called out. Her husband was looking at Brian in sympathy, but remained silent. "We all know, don't we? Do what you can to slow him down and do what you can to keep him from taking your power. She did that." There was a flash of emotion, something showing in her face, a sorrow and a sharp bitterness that Brian couldn't place. "We have to keep this going, otherwise she died for nothing."
It was exactly what Madison would have said, and the words hit Brian in the chest. She was gone, dead at Sylar's hands, and nothing could bring her back.
He sank to his knees and covered his face in his hands. This was why he left the city for a small town. This was why he worked so hard on their contingency plans. This was why he had tried so hard to do what needed to be done to help others. It didn't stop the pain, didn't stop him from feeling her loss so keenly.
Darcy shut off his sirens and lights. "Brian, I'm taking them to the hospital. Gina will do her thing, and I'm going to call everyone else." Brian didn't respond, and Darcy sighed. "You guys, into the ambulance. Go." They followed this time, even Molly. They sat silently as the ambulance doors swung shut, and listened quietly as Darcy called in the murder. "Brian's at the site, but he can't start to set up the perimeter. Get a team over as soon as you can."
Sometimes there was no justice.
***
Annika's car was an old sedan that was roomy and well maintained. She had stopped driving years ago, and Gina had bought it off of her the year before for a pittance. Gina was now giving the car away, signing over the title and a hand written bill of sale. "You'll have to file paperwork at some point, if you want to keep it legal," she pointed out. "But in the meantime, you've got transportation that can't link you back for a while. You can go anywhere, and it's probably safer if you get the hell outta Dodge."
"I'm sorry about what happened," Niki said quietly, voice somewhat raw. Her eyes were dry.
"She's a good woman," DL added as he shook Gina's hand. "You've all done good things here. I hope you get repaid for it someday."
"We're going to continue her work," Mohinder began, voice almost hesitant. "In our own way, I suppose. We'll make sure that others with special abilities are safe and aren't being hunted. I think she would have liked that."
Gina pressed her lips together as she nodded and shook his head. "Yeah. She was all about that, you know. That would be good."
"I know where we need to go," Molly piped up, tugging on Mohinder's sleeve.
Gina watched them all drive away, one hand lifted in farewell. Eyes shining with unshed tears, she made her way back to the hospital. Her next shift would be starting soon. There were more lives to save, and each one of them was special.
The End.
Author: Eustacia Vye
E-Mail: eutstacia_vye28@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: Kring et al owns them all. I just like playing with other people's toys.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers/Warnings: Post "How to Stop an Exploding Man." Eventual mentions of Sylar activities and violence. The idea for this came after the Season 1 ending, but Real Life is hectic, and it's not complete until now. No spoilers to Season 2.
Summary: The Boogeyman isn't dead, but Molly may have found someone that can help them get away from the Boogeyman.
Exodus
Part 1 - Setting the Stage
Part 2 - Mounting Tensions
Part 3 - Lightning Storm
Brian was spitting out every vile curse he knew. He hadn't always worked in a small town, so he knew quite a few interesting ones. The original ten gifted people on their list had been evacuated smoothly. They had been expecting it for some time. Even Cassidy hadn't uttered a peep, and he had expected her to yell. Instead, she had gone deathly pale and apologized for not keeping her skills in check. Brian had no idea that she even had a sense of responsibility, and had to chalk that up to Madison's influence.
Still, he couldn't help but blame this group from New York. This was their fault. Their town was tiny and had been working well. No one had known about them, and no one would have thought to check for them. They had run a tight ship, allowing their people to train in peace and live out their lives. Now these five had upset everything.
He found them in the hotel room, already packing. The little girl was crying, and the boy was sitting next to her, trying to be comforting. "But the Boogeyman's here," she was saying. "I don't know how he found us, but he's here." She looked up at Brian. "I'm so sorry, Officer. I don't know if he can do what I do."
Brian didn't know how to respond to that. Hell, he didn't even know what her power was. It didn't matter, anyway. Whatever it was, Sylar simply couldn't have it. She fell under their purview, the same as Madison's patients did. He looked at the five faces staring up at him, and cleared his throat. The choice was easy, and made long before they actually had shown up. If anything, they were lucky that they had been here, and not some other random small town with no plan for protection. "I need to get you over to Darcy. He'll take you by ambulance over to the hospital. Once there, it'll be easy enough to hide all of you until Gina can get you out of town."
The woman looked at her husband and then back at Brian. Something hard flickered in her eyes for a moment. "What do we do?"
At least she was no-nonsense. Brian nodded. "Come with me. We need to move fast. I don't know what kind of time we have, but it's probably not very much."
"With Sylar, it never is," Mohinder agreed.
Brian tried very hard not to hate him. So far, he was failing miserably.
***
Need.
Madison could feel the raw hunger as she exited the basement. It was close, but she couldn't tell if it was in the building just yet. She'd never really tested the outer limits of her ability before, and now she regretted that. She couldn't know if this hunger was just outside the building's door or a mile away or ten miles away. Molly would know, but Molly would also be safely out of town or on her way to being safely out of town. Madison carried that knowledge with her. At least something went right with this...
She unlocked her office door and stepped inside the room, feeling her anxiety winding tightly all around her.
Wait a minute. She hadn't locked her office door when she went to the basement.
Madison whirled around and saw a man standing by the coat rack. He had a lanky build, dark hair, hollows under his eyes and a slick grin.
No. No, no, no! This can't be happening! Madison thought in a panic. Still, she schooled her face to look more passive. This was precisely the kind of thing that was covered in her training. Whatever she was feeling didn't have to show on her face. She'd faced psychosis and outright homicidal behavior. Surely, she could face someone wanted to carve her brain out of her skull.
Okay, maybe not.
"Who are you?" she asked, thankful that her voice didn't waver. Sylar didn't move. "You don't have an appointment."
His smile only widened. "Your friend is dead. She has strange ideas about what makes tea."
Madison could feel the blood draining from her face. "What?" she breathed.
"Cyanide. The scent gives it away, you know." He circled her, and she stepped forward. He was trying to wedge himself between her and the door, but she would knock him backward if she had to in order to get away.
"You didn't answer. Who are you?"
He laughed, and the sound of it crawled down her spine. "Come now. You shrink heads for a living. You should be smarter than that."
"I only know what people tell me," Madison replied calmly. "I'm a psychiatrist, not a mind reader." She pushed the emotions down, and could feel it drain away. Only Sylar's curiosity and hunger remained, but she could deal with that.
Sylar's eyes glittered, as if responding to a challenge. Madison didn't think that he toyed with people very often; he looked ready to pounce. Knowledge crashed down on her. There was no way she could get out of this alive. The most she could hope for was that she could somehow manage to make her brain worthless to him.
"You know who I am," he replied. There was an edge to his voice. "Don't think you can change that, doctor."
Madison edged sideways, and Sylar's smile seemed to take a razor's edge. She tried not to think of all the movies or news articles played up patient violence. She watched him circle her, a shark converging on its prey. Heart pounding in her chest, she knew it was only a matter of time before he got tired of playing with her.
She threw her fear at him, pushing it into his chest with all the force she could muster. She amplified it the moment she saw his eyes widen slightly. Sylar swayed slightly, then stepped back to keep his balance.
Madison took the moment to run.
Hope rose within her, crazily. She dared to dream that she could get away, that maybe she could save herself from the inevitable. The moment she felt an invisible hand close over her throat, the hope died swiftly.
She had made it outside, and Sylar threw her into the brick exterior. Madison saw stars as the back of her head hit the wall. Concussion, the clinical part of her mind began. The feeling part of her seethed. She had been so close. Her car hadn't been even ten feet away from the exit, and she could have at least run the bastard over before she sped away.
Sylar's calm, pleased face swam into her vision. He was holding her up against the wall, just above his height. Her feet dangled, kicking ineffectually at him. "You should stop that. You're wasting your precious oxygen."
He was so calm as he said it, as he lifted a hand and pointed an index finger at her face. Anger poured through her veins as she reached for his head. Her thumbs sank into his eye sockets, as she pushed with all of her might. Madison could feel Sylar's anger swell, nearly choking her. He had never been hurt like this before. Briefly, images of Brian and her children flashed through her mind. If only...
Madison pushed her anger into him and stoked his own to fever pitch. The invisible hand at her throat squeezed tighter, and Sylar's flesh hands closed over her shoulders. He shook her, yelling at her unintelligibly. Spittle flew from his mouth, and he looked even more frightening now than before. She tightened her grip on Sylar's head and pushed his anger even further.
Now he was completely out of control. Angry beyond all reason, Sylar began to beat Madison's head into the brick wall. He couldn't hear her cries of pain beneath his screams of rage, and wouldn't have cared if he had. She hurt him. She dared to fight back, and the only other one to do so was Peter Petrelli. Petrelli was still alive somewhere, possibly, maybe, he wasn't entirely sure. But this bitch was here, in his hands, shattering against the brick wall. She couldn't get away. She couldn't escape his anger.
And then it was gone. The anger abruptly died. Her dead hands fell away from his face, and she made a wet sound as she fell from his grasp.
Not knowing where he was going, Sylar stumbled off in the direction of the wooded area outside of town. He remembered the way, the distances, the directions. He couldn't see anything, but his memory was pitch perfect. He had survived one injury. Surely he could survive another, and he would figure out how to proceed.
He didn't need eyes to be perfect. He would just find new ones. His journey was more difficult now, but it certainly wasn't at an end.
He would find Suresh another day.
***
"I can't find Dr. Vincent!" the girl cried suddenly, nearly pitching herself forward and out of the ambulance. She struggled in Darcy's arms, arms and legs flailing. Some of her panic was picking up steam, and Darcy was having trouble keeping her still. The blonde was trying to calm her down, but the girl was having none of it.
"What does she mean, she can't find Maddy?" Brian asked, hand on his car door. He had just been about to close his patrol car door. In one moment, he was mentioning that they would be safe and he would go find Madison. And the next, the little girl had started screaming that she couldn't find her.
Mohinder Suresh looked almost ashen. "She finds people," he said, looking at Brian helplessly. "All she has to do is think about someone, and she knows where they are."
Now he knew why they were so desperate to hide her, why Madison was so insistent that they be saved along with her patients. Sylar would love to get his hands on her skill, and it would instantly make it impossible to hide anyone ever again.
He looked at Mohinder with a blank expression. "All right. But I don't understand... why can't she find Maddy, then?"
"As long as someone's alive, she can find them," Mohinder said slowly.
Brian's eyes widened and he looked over at Darcy with a horrified expression. Darcy stopped struggling with the girl - Molly, Brian remembered suddenly - and she ran up to him. "Please, Officer, this can't be good! We have to go now!"
Sylar.
It didn't make any sense, but everything in Brian was screaming at him that it was all Sylar's fault. He had come to their town looking for these five people, and had found Madison instead. It didn't make any kind of rational sense, but that didn't matter anymore. Having special abilities didn't make rational sense anyway. There was no reasonable explanation why he had been able to generate lightning bolts from his fingertips. There was no reasonable explanation why Madison had been able to manipulate emotions. There was no reasonable explanation why Cassidy could manipulate fire, or Molly could find people just by thinking of them. None of it made sense, no matter what Mohinder Suresh wanted to think.
"Darcy, we have to get to the clinic," Brian said, voice firm. "She would be there trying to hide her patient files."
He nodded and closed up the ambulance. Brian took everyone back into the cruiser, and he flipped on the lights and sirens. Darcy did the same in the ambulance.
Brian was praying the entire way that he was wrong, that nothing had happened and he was in a panic for no reason. Madison was fine, the files were safe, and they were going to be all right. The twins would be returning for the holidays soon enough, and they would all joke about how his mother would have to do Thanksgiving this year. They would find out if Madison was just late because of stress or if he was going to be a father. Annika would protest, as she did every year, but would ultimately come along for the family dinner. Everything was going to be fine, and it was going to happen the way it did every year.
The hope died the moment he saw Madison's car in the parking lot. It was nearly six o'clock, and it wasn't one of her evening clinic days. She should have left a half hour ago, and should be pulling into their driveway.
Brian didn't wait for the others. He ran for the side entrance, hand over his gun. If that bastard had come anywhere near-
He stopped short, looking at the building in horror. He couldn't take in the sight of his wife's crumpled body, blood and brains spattered across the old and crumbling brick. He saw the blank and glassy eyes, the sprawled limbs and blood on her hands. Her mouth was open, and already he could feel his world shattering to pieces.
Brian whirled around and raced toward Molly. "You have to find him. You find him now, and I'm going to finish this!"
"I don't think this will help," Mohinder began, reaching out to touch Brian's shoulder. "We don't know what happened here..."
"Damn it, don't patronize me! We all know what happened here!" Brian pointed to the building behind him, dimly aware that he was screaming. "That bastard followed you all here and now he's killed her!"
Molly was shrinking back behind the blonde woman, the boy holding her hand tightly. She looked at Brian with wide eyes, frightened more of his rage than of Sylar. The Boogeyman had gone far away, far enough that they were all safe. He was still moving, probably on foot. He was moving slowly, but moving away. She didn't know exactly where he was since there was no map in front of her, but he was away. Wasn't that the point of this?
Mohinder did his best to try to calm Brian, but soon had to try to duck the punch aimed at his head. "This isn't solving anything!" Mohinder cried, holding up one arm. "We have to get out of here, like you planned for us!"
Brian held clenched fists at his sides. "He came here because of you. She's dead because of you. If you hadn't come here..."
"She knew what had to be done," the blonde woman called out. Her husband was looking at Brian in sympathy, but remained silent. "We all know, don't we? Do what you can to slow him down and do what you can to keep him from taking your power. She did that." There was a flash of emotion, something showing in her face, a sorrow and a sharp bitterness that Brian couldn't place. "We have to keep this going, otherwise she died for nothing."
It was exactly what Madison would have said, and the words hit Brian in the chest. She was gone, dead at Sylar's hands, and nothing could bring her back.
He sank to his knees and covered his face in his hands. This was why he left the city for a small town. This was why he worked so hard on their contingency plans. This was why he had tried so hard to do what needed to be done to help others. It didn't stop the pain, didn't stop him from feeling her loss so keenly.
Darcy shut off his sirens and lights. "Brian, I'm taking them to the hospital. Gina will do her thing, and I'm going to call everyone else." Brian didn't respond, and Darcy sighed. "You guys, into the ambulance. Go." They followed this time, even Molly. They sat silently as the ambulance doors swung shut, and listened quietly as Darcy called in the murder. "Brian's at the site, but he can't start to set up the perimeter. Get a team over as soon as you can."
Sometimes there was no justice.
***
Annika's car was an old sedan that was roomy and well maintained. She had stopped driving years ago, and Gina had bought it off of her the year before for a pittance. Gina was now giving the car away, signing over the title and a hand written bill of sale. "You'll have to file paperwork at some point, if you want to keep it legal," she pointed out. "But in the meantime, you've got transportation that can't link you back for a while. You can go anywhere, and it's probably safer if you get the hell outta Dodge."
"I'm sorry about what happened," Niki said quietly, voice somewhat raw. Her eyes were dry.
"She's a good woman," DL added as he shook Gina's hand. "You've all done good things here. I hope you get repaid for it someday."
"We're going to continue her work," Mohinder began, voice almost hesitant. "In our own way, I suppose. We'll make sure that others with special abilities are safe and aren't being hunted. I think she would have liked that."
Gina pressed her lips together as she nodded and shook his head. "Yeah. She was all about that, you know. That would be good."
"I know where we need to go," Molly piped up, tugging on Mohinder's sleeve.
Gina watched them all drive away, one hand lifted in farewell. Eyes shining with unshed tears, she made her way back to the hospital. Her next shift would be starting soon. There were more lives to save, and each one of them was special.
The End.