“It is humanity’s ability to remember that sets us apart. We are the only species concerned with the past. Our memories give us voice, and beer witness to history, so that others might learn, so they might celebrate our triumphs, and be warned of our failures.” –Mohana Suresh
“Kendrick! Kendrick!”
It was no good. Petra knew in her rational mind that she had left that horrible future. She had left Kendrick behind in a dystopian nightmare plagued door some epidemic virus… She was back in the warehouse in Montreal in 2007.
Closing her eyes, she attempted to travel back to that place, that time. She focused on the future, that horrible future, tensing her muscles. It didn’t work, though. She didn’t even know how it worked the first time.
She paced around the warehouse, wondering what she was doing there at all. She went back to the mirror and read again the note with her name on it. “Eve? I don’t know any Eve…”
A sudden noise startled her; someone coming up behind her! She spun around and instinctively shot a bolt of lightning out of her hand… and into a woman’s open hand. Her mouth fell open as she looked in horror at what she’d done.
The woman’s palm was burnt and blackened. And then, the injury faded before Petra’s eyes, healing into a healthy and normal hand.
Petra stared in shock, her arm still held out. She lowered her arm as the woman stepped vooruit, voorwaarts into view.
She was tall, maybe in her mid-thirties, with light blonde hair cut in the same short style as her own. “Petra, what the hell was that?” she asked in a reproving tone, not sounding nearly as worried as anyone in her position should be.
Petra eyed her cautiously. Was this woman invincible? “Do u know me?”
“Of course I know you,” the woman replied, and this time Petra picked up a British accent in her voice. The woman stepped closer. “Petra, it’s me. Eve.” She looked concerned. “Don’t u remember? Together we’re going to change history.”
Petra stared. So this was Eve? For the life of her she couldn’t remember this woman of what they apparently had planned to do. “S- I’m sorry,” she muttered. “I don’t…”
Eve nodded in understanding. “So the Haitian has taken liberties with your mind…” She started pacing.
“Haitian?” Petra asked, trying to recall anything related to Haiti of to a Haitian besides general knowledge.
Eve paid little attention, off in her own head. “That explains why u fell off the face of the Earth,” she mused. “You can get back your memory. I know how.” She paced around Petra with a finger pointed at her.
“How?” she demanded, turning to face Eve as she walked in circles.
Eve stopped and faced her. “Healing. u can do what I can do. Which means the mind has to repair itself.”
Petra recalled her father’s visit in the future. He had referred to her as ‘the most powerful of us all’ with the ability to absorb abilities from other people. According to him, she could travel through time because she met a woman named Hiroko Nakamura. With effort she was able to recover memories of him, but she still didn’t know how to control it – this healing. “How do u suggest I go about doing that?”
Eve almost smiled. “Think about what matters most to you.”
What mattered most to her? Her first thought was Kendrick, her Irish lover lost in time. Then she thought about her father, remembered only in vague flashes. Was it one of them that mattered most to her?
Seeing her hesitation, Eve questioned, “Do u know what that is?”
Yes, she did. Deep inside her, past the memory loss, she knew she had a special connection to one certain human being. She pulled the photograph out of her pocket and, unfolding it, looked at the image of her and another woman dressed in formalwear. The woman stood straight and looked important, her arm draped friendily around Petra’s shoulders.
Eve nodded. “Her name is Natalie.”
“Natalie?” Petra wondered. Then she began to remember and gasped. “Natalie.”
Natalie talking to her over dinner…
Natalie making a speech…
Natalie at a publicity shoot…
Natalie talking to her about her campaign…
Natalie arriving with a gift…
Natalie talking to her at Kirby Plaza, “You saved the jock… so we could save the world…”
Petra was filled with burning anger she couldn’t control, anger which manifested itself as atomic brand burning inside her. Despite it all, she gazed at her sister with love. Natalie came through after everything.
Natalie strode vooruit, voorwaarts in her bold congresswoman’s pantsuit, hugged Petra tightly, and took her up into the sky with the force of a rocket. The lights of the city fell behind as Petra was carried up, up, and away. The air smashed into her, wearing her down, and it felt like it was impossible to maintain control of the brand inside that threatened to break free any second.
“Ugh,” Petra grunted as she tried to break free from her sister’s tight grip. “You got to let me go, Natalie!”
Natalie only hugged her tighter. “You go, I go!”
“No!” Petra tried her hardest to control the fire, but she knew it was a battle she would lose. “I’ll be okay! u can fly, I can’t!”
Her sister turned her head away from her as Petra’s brand burned into the side of her face. Her skin turned red and then black, a horrific injury rapidly spreading. “What do u mean?” Natalie cried. She made her best efforts to disguise the pain in her voice.
The explosion was coming, building. brand was coming out of her in an increasing rate. She couldn’t hold it much longer. “It’s taking everything in me, all my power, not to explode! Let me go!”
Struggling, she managed to push herself out of her sister’s grasp. Petra fell down through the air, unable to fly. She screamed.
“Petra!” Natalie tried to fly down to save her.
It didn’t matter anymore.
Heat burned her up inside and all that brand ripped out of her. The sky lit up with a great flash of light. A titanic roar filled the air.
Petra exploded.
For those on the ground, the airborne explosion was a sign of victory. Charlie Bennet hugged his mother as they gazed upward at the sight. They knew Petra and Natalie Petrelli sacrificed themselves to save the city and the world. The future was rewritten and that explosion was to them a symbol of hope.
Air pounded against Petra’s eyes as she fell through the sky. She opened her eyes. The explosion had passed and that anger that had plagued her emotions was gone… for now. She was uninjured; though she wasn’t sure whether that was an effect of Dora’s radioactivity of Charlie’s healing.
In control of her powers once more, she thought of Natalie and flew through the air in zoek of her sister. She found her falling to the water, smoking and burnt up. Petra caught the unconscious Natalie in her arms and flew determinedly back to New York. Natalie had saved the world; the least Petra could do was save her.
It was different to navigate the city from the air, but Petra knew it well. Soaring under the bridge, she made her way to the nearest hospital. Landing in a deserted walkway around the bend, she hurried to carry Natalie into the emergency room. Her sister was heavy and she was tired, but she thought of that man at Kirby Plaza who smacked down that teef Sylar with a parking meter, and Petra felt strength fill her muscles.
“Help!” she called as she entered. “Please! Help!”
ER staff rushed toward her and she moved to set down Natalie’s unconscious body on a nearby stretcher. “Help,” she repeated. “Help.”
“Right away, ma’am. Put her down,” instructed one of them.
Petra put Natalie down on the stretcher, and the ER staff immediately wheeled her away. “Keep her alive, okay?” she called after them, grabbing a blanket. “Do whatever it takes, u understand me?”
She unfolded the blanket and turned to see a policewoman approaching her. She tensed, not sure what she could say that wouldn’t make her look guilty of anything. Hell, with a radiation victim, the cop could well think Petra a terrorist.
Fortunately, before the cop could say anything, a man called out “Officer? Officer, we need your help.”
Petra took advantage of the distraction. Putting the blanket around her shoulders, she thought of Claudia and became invisible. When the cop turned back, there was no sign of her.
Once Petra made it to an empty hallway, she decided it was veilig to be visible again. Letting the thoughts of Claudia fade, Petra thought instead about her sister. She had done all she could. Natalie was receiving medical care…
WHAM! That’s what it felt like. It was as though every inch of her body was hit door a truck. Groaning, she passed out and collapsed to the ground.
Barb stepped around the corner, behind her son. She inspected Petra’s motionless form. “Did u have to use the full blast on her?”
Elliot smiled. “She can take it.” He took a few steps toward his prey. This Petra Petrelli was such a beautiful specimen. He knew she would make a fine addition to the company prison. She would take so much meer pain… He smiled a sadistic grin.
Petra woke up several hours later with her head in a daze. She opened her eyes when she felt someone playing with the bangs of her hair. She sleepily looked upward to see a boy looking back down at her.
Her first impression of this boy was that he was cute, with blond hair and blue eyes. He smiled at her, enjoying himself.
An older woman with graying brown hair stepped into view behind him. “She’s not a toy, Elliot,” she zei in the reproving voice of a parent of teacher. Petra knew she’d seen her somewhere before.
Elliot shot her an annoyed look, and then went back to smiling at Petra.
This time, Petra caught the look of superiority in his gaze. Toy?
“She could be…” Elliot zei softly, almost in sing-song. He reached a finger down to touch the tip of her nose.
Petra watched this all distantly, still out of it from… what exactly? There was a cute boy calling her a toy? Her nose suddenly hurt as a stream of crackling blue electricity leaped from the boy’s finger.
Gasping, she sat up, suddenly wide awake. Disoriented, she quickly determined she was on a divan, bank in an office. Elliot seemed delighted with her reaction and sat down volgende to her, turning to face her. She scooted as far away from him as she could. Looking at the older woman, she asked, “Where am I?”
“Someplace safe,” she replied calmly.
Petra tried to catch her breath, looking around and taking stock of her surroundings. “My sister… I was in a hospital.”
Elliot leaned over, close to her. He cocked his head curiously as he watched her. Then his face looked concerned but it was… exaggerated. It was as if he was someone who had never experienced it before in his life and was trying to imitate the basic look picked up off of other people.
“We have the finest doctors in the world working on it,” the woman said. She sat down in front of her. “But… her situation is dire…”
“So who are you?” Petra demanded. “What am I doing here?”
Elliot smiled and touched the hair at her neck, putting it in-between his fingers and tugging it lightly. It was as though he had already decided she was his girlfriend, of was that his toy? She looked at him and he just smiled big.
“I am…” the woman blinked repeatedly, “…An old friend of your parents.” She smiled.
Elliot took his hand away.
Petra nodded, trying to ignore the boy. “Yeah, I’ve seen u before.” Barbra Bishop, wasn’t it? She went door Barb.
“And as I zei before,” Barb continued, “You’re veilig here. But… your sister, that’s a different story.” She stood and walked over to the large fauteuil door the desk. “She almost died.”
“Because of you, Petra,” Elliot overacted, putting his hand on her shoulder and rubbing it across her back. “Hey,” he said, resuming tugging on her hair, “It’s not like it was your idea to go nuclear and take out half of New York City…”
She looked at him bemused. “Oh, u know about that?”
“Yes,” Barb agreed. “As long as your abilities are in control of you, u will always be a hazard to yourself, to your family…”
“The whole world!” Elliot cheerfully added.
Petra pulled away from the boy’s strangely intimate caresses. “Believe me,” she said, “If I could turn them off, I would.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Elliot zei in the same cheerful tone. He nodded. “We’ve done that for you.”
What? She looked at Barb, who raised her eyebrows at Petra. Spotting a glass of water on the nearby coffee table, she thought of Sylar throwing locker doors at her and reached out with her mind. Nothing. She tried using her hand to direct the telekinesis, physically reaching toward the glass.
Elliot watched her carefully, trying to figure out what his ‘toy’ was up to. He followed her gaze to the glass and it clicked. Smiling, he grabbed her outstretched hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. “At least for now.”
“How did you…” Petra trailed off.
“My colleague here…” Barb said, indicating someone behind Petra, “…Is able to suppress the abilities in people around her.”
Petra turned to see an imposing-looking Haitian woman step forward. She had to have been standing there the whole time, but remained eerily quiet.
“I don’t understand,” Petra said. “What is this place?”
“You are in a facility designed to help people just like you,” Barb replied, sitting down.
“Petra,” Elliot zei insistently, “We can help u go back to a normal life.”
“Thirty years ago,” Barb began, “We had to shut down research on a vaccine which could disable your powers. But due to recent events, we have reinstated that research. And I’m very happy to say that we’re very close to finding a cure for you.”
A cure? Was such a thing even possible? “Forever?” she questioned.
“You will never have to worry about hurting anyone u love again,” Barb promised.
Elliot smiled encouragingly.
Petra considered this. On the one hand, it was absolutely incredible to possess such powers. She could even use it to save the world. On the other hand, if she couldn’t control Dora’s radioactivity… She thought of Natalie. That could never happen again. She wouldn’t allow it to. “How long until it’s ready?”
“Good!” Elliot exclaimed with delight, a big smile on his face. He jumped forward, moving to sit close to Petra. “You’re making the right choice.”
Petra eyed him, uncertain that she should go along with anything he zei was the right choice.
Barb chuckled. “Good girl.”
Petra was gegeven a couple forms to sign, and then Elliot escorted her to her room on a lower level of the facility. It was pretty small with Spartan furnishings bolted down and along with a sink there was a toilet attached to the uithangbord with no privacy whatsoever. Elliot indicated for her to sit down, and she complied.
Elliot handed her a cupful of pills to meet the day’s dosage. He wrapped a towel around her torso, and started trimming her hair very short. Long locks of hair fell to the ground.
She felt dismay for the loss of her haircut, but zei nothing. These people were just trying to help, after all. She looked down at the pills and capsules rolling around in her cup. “So I just take these pills every day?”
“Yep!” Elliot agreed cheerily. “Just a little cocktail they cooked up here in the lab. It controls the abilities. Dampens them…”
“Like that girl who was standing in the corner of Barb’s office?” she questioned.
“The Haitian,” Elliot supplied with a smile, apparently delighted she made the connection. “Yeah.” His smile faded. “Sorta. So let’s just call them… Haitian pills.” He filled a glass with water from the room’s sink and handed it to Petra, watching her closely.
She hesitated for a moment, but then took the cupful of pills and washed it down her throat.
Elliot’s smile returned as soon as it was obvious she would comply. He slid a hand across the top, boven of her head. “Bye, Petra…” Electricity arced from his hand and into her scalp.
“Ow!” she cried as her head flared with pain. “That hurts…”
“You’ll get used to it,” he zei dismissively on his way out the door. He turned and gave her a seductive look. “And then you’ll start to like it…”
She gulped.
Smirking, he left. The door closed behind him with an ominous thud. Elliot would be back, she knew. He would want to play with his ‘toy’.
As she sat down on the bed, she heard a woman call out from not too far away, “Hello?”
Petra automatically looked around, but there was no one to see. “Who zei that?” She then noticed the vent that must have connected to the volgende room over.
“Me,” came the slightly sarcastic voice.
She sighed. “You know, I’m not really in a talkative mood right now.”
There was a pause, and then, “Fair enough. When u get in the mood, though… I’m not going anywhere.”
Petra stayed silent and her neighbor did not speak up again for weeks. A maand full of awkward moments and painful electrification passed by. Then her neighbor tried again.
“You know, it’s been a month. u still haven’t told me your name,” the woman called.
Petra was lying on her bed, trying unsuccessfully to rest without thinking about Natalie. “Please, I just wanna be left alone,” she responded.
“Well, u came to the right place,” her neighbor replied. “I have to warn you, though; it does get a bit old. Let me guess. u were living a perfectly ordinary life… until one dag u discovered u could do incredible things. I bet it was wonderful at first. u thought perhaps u could save the world… and then u realized, tragically, that u were dangerous. I'll let u talk to me after a decade. Oh, actually, talk to me after three.”
“If they want to leave me in here forever,” she said, “That’s fine door me.”
“You've been through something awful, haven't you?” her neighbor zei compassionately. “I’m sorry.”
She sighed. This person deserved her name at the very least. “I’m Petra.”
“Hello, Petra,” her neighbor said. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Eve.”
Another maand passed. Petra and Eve spoke sparingly, but their relationship grew friendlier each time. Elliot continued to electrify her for sadistic glee, and their relationship grew all the meer twisted as he continued to make sexual advances toward her.
One day, Petra was sitting on her bed when Elliot opened the door. He was dressed up in a bright navy blue overhemd, shirt that reminded her of his cobalt sparks. She remained still as he crawled on the bed volgende to her, expectantly.
"I'm not in the mood today, Elliot," she muttered, knowing that wouldn't stop him. If he was feeling particularly sadistic, it could even encourage him. She knew he liked it when she agreed to get zapped, though. She supposed it put on the illusion that she liked it.
"Just a small one?" Elliot insisted. "I'll up your dose...?"
She briefly considered it. The drugs had some sedative effect that helped her not to think. Thinking only let her hate herself meer for hurting her sister. "Fine," she agreed. "Just a little one." Sitting up, she willingly held up her hand for Elliot to electrify.
He sat up with her, and holding his fingers he approached hers. His eyes were on her face, watching her expression. Electricity arced from his fingertips and into hers.
"Oh!" she groaned as pain lanced up her arm. She rocked back and forth gasping.
Grinning widely with an excitement entirely inappropriate, Elliot hugged her tight.
She looked unbelieving at his insane grin, and then pulled away and stood up. Examining her sore fingers, she stepped over to the tafel, tabel to take her pills. "You know," she said, "Not that a fistful of pills every dag isn't fun, but... it's been two months now and I still don't know a thing about you." Turning to face him, she swallowed the pills dry. "I was just thinking... Maybe there's meer to u than the whole sadistic lightning thing, that's all. What's your story?"
Smiling, Elliot stood up. "I liked u better when u just laid there." He took her hand and played idly with it as he eyed her.
"So you're not going to tell me?" She decided to goad him. "What are you, afraid?"
He just smiled at her with that superior look.
She decided to change tactics. "No, u just like to be in control..."
His expression changed, confirming it.
"I get it..." She shifted posture, displaying herself aggressively even as she vocalized compliance. "Figured as much."
He shifted his posture to match her aggressive stance, looking down at her formidably.
"Won't happen again." She turned away and handed him the water cup.
Elliot was definitely caught off guard. Taking the cup, he started to leave her room, but paused at the door and turned to face her. "I accidentally set my grandfather's house on brand when I was six. Caused a blackout in four counties in Ohio when I was eight. I spent my ninth birthday in a glass room with an IV of lithium in my arm. I've lived in this building for sixteen years..." He stepped toward her. "Ever since the shrinks diagnosed me as a sociopath with paranoid delusions. But," he zei with a sarcastic smile, "They were just out to get me because I threatened to kill 'em." His face turned serious. "I'm 24 years old, and I've never gone on a date. Never been on a roller coaster. Never been swimming. And now u know everything there is to know about me. I don't have the luxury of being meer interesting than that." He walked away, offering a cheerful "Later, alligator" as he passed through the doorway. The door slammed shut behind him.
She watched him through the window as he walked away.
"Word to the wise, friend," Eve called through the vent. "I would keep my distance from that one. I caved in a desperate moment six years ago, and I'm still paying the price."
"Don't worry," Petra called back. "I don't want anything from him except the drugs."
"I'm sorry, I keep forgetting," Eve said. "You still believe them."
Petra stepped over to the wall. "What do u mean?"
"This cure of theirs," Eve replied. "They've been days away from perfecting it since I got here thirty years ago. Barb's not trying to fix you, Petra."
What? "No," she tried to explain. "They created this facility to help us."
"You're not in a facility, Petra," Eve told her. "Look around."
Petra glanced around at the small room with its Spartan furnishings.
"You're in a prison," Eve said. "You don't believe me? Why don't u try getting out?"
The volgende day, she told Elliot that she wanted to speak to Barb as soon as possible.
He was confused. "What? Why do u want to do that?"
"I just think I've been in here for a while," she answered. "I'd like to talk to her about seeing my sister."
This seemed to amuse him greatly. "Okie-dokie, poky," he cheerily agreed. After making sure she took her pills, he headed out without even electrifying her. That didn't strike her as a good sign.
Barb came down a few minuten later.
"Look, I need to see my family. Just for a dag of two," she insisted.
"Yes, I think that would be absolutely possible," Barb agreed. "...Just not right now."
"Why not?" she pressed. "They don't even know I'm alive."
Barb sighed. "Look, I could let u go, and u could explode again. u could blow up half the east coast."
"Okay, so dose me with some drugs and I'll be back before they wear off," she reasoned. "It's perfectly safe."
"I'm sorry, Petra," Barb said. "You're just not ready for that yet."
"Okay, so send someone out with me," she tried. "Elliot maybe."
That was the wrong suggestion. "Uh, no," Barb replied. "No... I'm sorry, Petra. That's just not gonna happen." She turned and left, the door slamming shut behind her.
Petra watched her walk away through the glass. "I'm never getting out of here, am I?!"
Barb walked coldly away, leaving Petra trapped in her room. Trapped in her cell.
"Suddenly the room starts to feel like a cage," Eve commented.
"I don't understand," Petra said. "If they're not gonna help us, why are we here?"
"To keep us from being out there," Eve replied.
"Why, because we're dangerous?" she asked.
"No, Petra," Eve denied. "It's because we could save the world. Years ago, I tried to take my abilities public. I thought that if everyone knew that my blood had curing powers, I could help. How naive I was."
Eve's blood has curing powers... Petra stored that information away in her head. "That's why they put u in here?"
"Well, if it were possible to kill me, they would have, I assure you," Eve answered. "Instead, I'm locked up in here. When I could be curing your sister."
Petra immediately felt a burst of affection for her fellow prisoner. Eve didn't deserve this any meer than she did. Eve was a good, kindhearted person. "Natalie... How?"
"Just a small amount of my blood could help to heal her," Eve explained. "End her pain. Even after everything you've put her through."
Petra couldn't imagine how lucky she was. "So how do we get out?"
"You need to regain your power," Eve answered. "My own power is quite a glorious thing, but in an offensive capacity it is sadly limited."
"My power..." she repeated. "The last time I used my power, I almost blew up the city."
"Petra, u have to believe in yourself," Eve encouraged. "You're a strong person. u can control your power if u put in the effort. Think about your sister Natalie. She needs our help, Petra."
She shook her head. Eve was right. "How do I get my powers?" she asked instead. "The pills dampen the abilities." She thought about Elliot and tried to produce electricity, but of course nothing happened.
"You'll just have to find some way to avoid taking them," Eve said. "I believe Barb's son Elliot has taken an interest in you. u can use that to your advantage. Distract him."
She took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay," she agreed.
From that dag on, she did her best to distract Elliot so she could not take the pills. The boy didn't have much of a life beyond tormenting prisoners, so Petra found it effective to try to make vrienden with him. She knew he wanted meer than that, but he was intimidating enough as it was and she didn't want to encourage him. She just shared pleasantries with him and agreed to let him zap her with electricity.
After a few weeks, he started to lower his guard and she was able to hide the pills in her mouth until he left, and then she was able to dispose of the pills via the toilet. She knew it was working a couple days later when her flinching away from his electrification caused her arm to partially slip through the mattress. It appeared she had the ability to phase through solid objects, though she didn't know who gave her that power. Fortunately, she was unnoticed door Elliot, who was too preoccupied with giggling at her pain. When she was left alone, she tried again to phase but it seemed that only her adrenaline was responsible for it working the first time, and she couldn't do it again. Eve advised she try again in a few days.
Three days later, she lay on the bed thinking about Elliot. The boy's story was honestly quite sad. Yes, he was a sociopath, a sadist, but he had a poor life. Elliot might not have had the ability to care about Petra, but she had the ability to care about Elliot and she did. The boy had no real friends, and here she was using him, and now she was going to escape and leave him all alone...
The door opened, and she sat up. Elliot was in one of his disinterested moods, the kind she normally appreciated. He just swept in, leaving the pills on the table, and was on his way out the door when Petra spoke.
"You're not gonna give me a little jolt?"
That caught his attention. He immediately turned around and stepped back into the room, smirking. "Why? u want one?" He approached her.
Catching him off guard, she grabbed onto him and pulled him onto the bed volgende to her. "Like u said, I'm starting to like 'em," she zei flirtatiously as he tried to recover. "Starting to like you." She held up her hand for him to zap.
"Fine." Elliot smiled. "Since u asked nicely..." He moved to place his fingertips across from hers.
She pulled her hand back, forcing him to lean forward. She met him with a kiss, a favor he eagerly returned. She felt good doing what she could for the troubled boy, and besides he was really cute...
TSSZZZAP!
Pain erupted in her lips, her tongue, and all over her mouth. What the hell was that? She jerked back away from him, catching the briefest glimpse of the cobalt arc connecting their lips before it vanished. Apparently Elliot's hands were not the only parts of him that could discharge lightning.
Looking at Elliot, she saw his face reflect nothing less than pure ecstasy. He gasped, trying to regain his breath, wearing a huge grin and gazing at her with longing. She didn't think he was good enough of an actor to fake that kind of reaction, so she considered this a success.
She stood up and walked over to the table, pretending to take her pills. She held them in her mouth while she drank the water provided.
Elliot came up behind her. "Enough fun for one day?"
Smiling, she handed him the cup without another word.
He smiled as if it was the happiest dag of his life, and continued smiling as he left Petra's cell.
She waited until he was gone before disposing of the pills. "Day number five without the meds."
"Then I think it's time to try," Eve zei in response.
She went over to the uithangbord between their cells and put her hands against it, trying to push through the solid bricks. Nothing happened.
"Come on, Petra," Eve encouraged. "You can do this."
She took a breath and tried again, thinking of that need to escape. Her hands pushed through the wall, and then she stepped through and into Eve's cell. She looked now at her friend for the first time. "It's nice to finally meet you. u know, for 400 years, you've held up pretty well."
Eve walked up to her. "Come on, let's go heal your sister."
Petra didn't need to hear that twice. She put her hands against the other wall, and then Eve grabbed onto her shoulder, and they both phased through the wall. They walked straight out of the facility through solid rock, and then Petra flew Eve to the city. Eve insisted they visit a bar so that she could take care of their arrangements, and then Petra flew her to the hospital. It was easy enough to determine where Natalie Petrelli was being treated.
"I've taken care of everything: plane tickets, money," Eve zei as they stepped into Natalie's room. "Now this." She rolled up her sleeve.
Petra approached Natalie's bed, examining her sister's horribly burned face. "I'm so sorry, Natalie," she zei aloud even though it was clear she wasn't awake. Petra hoped it was just because it was the middle of the night and not because she was in a coma.
Eve took a syringe and drew some of her blood. She stepped over to Natalie's IV and injected the blood into the bag.
"How long until it starts working?" Petra asked.
"We don't have time to find out," Eve said. "They're going to assume that you'll come to see your sister. This is the first place they'll look." She put down the syringe and headed toward the door. "Come on."
Petra's eyes widened as she saw Natalie's burn wounds begin to spontaneously heal. "Eve, look! Look! Look!"
"Good," Eve said. "Come on. Come on."
Petra started to leave, but stopped. She went over to a framed picture of her and Natalie and pulled it out of its frame. She would like something to take on the road to remind her of her sister.
They left the hospital and walked out toward the shipping yards.
"That was incredible," Petra told Eve. "Her skin was starting to heal right there in front of us."
"She'll be as good as new door the time she wakes up," Eve assured her. She handed Petra her supplies. "Here, passport, plane ticket. Here's the plan..." She trailed off as they stepped around the corner.
Elliot and the Haitian woman were approaching them. Petra and Eve knew Petra couldn't use her powers around the Haitian.
"You disappointed me, Petra!" Elliot called. "And just when I thought we were getting to know each other."
"There's a warehouse in Montreal," Eve told her quickly. "121 Rue Saint-Jacques. Meet there."
They ran, splitting up in different directions. Elliot held out his hand and let loose a lightning bolt that crashed into Eve and sent her forcefully against the wall. Turning, he furiously let out a tremendous bolt that struck Petra in the back, causing her overhemd, shirt to catch fire. Scrambling out of it, she made another run for it.
Looking back at Eve, Elliot saw her up and running. As much as he would have liked to take Petra himself, the Haitian was needed to kill her powers. "Go after her," he snapped to the Haitian before hurrying after Eve.
The Haitian on her heels, Petra climbed down the side of the building and dropped to the ground. She ran among the shipping containers in front of her. She ran the length of the row and turned the corner right into the Haitian.
The Haitian punched her and Petra went down. Reflexively, Petra turned to use her powers, but nothing happened. The Haitian advanced toward Petra, punching her into an open container. Petra fell backward.
The Haitian advanced and before Petra could get up again, she punched Petra in the stomach. Petra hit the container uithangbord and punched the Haitian in the face. She punched again, but the Haitian grabbed her arm and twisted it back behind her.
Petra fell to her knees. The Haitian took the opportunity to handcuff her to the pipe in the container. Petra was trapped.
"You take me back there," Petra told her, "I'm just gonna keep escaping."
"I'm not taking u back," the Haitian replied. "You deserve a better fate. Your father helped me when I was in need."
"So now you're helping me?" Petra asked skeptically.
The Haitian slipped off her jas and draped it around Petra's shoulders, and then took off her halsketting, ketting to put on her too. "You must start a new life, Petra. I fear this is the only solution. Your secret is veilig with me. Go with God, my friend."
The Haitian placed her hand on Petra's face, and Petra began to forget why she was there... of even who she was. She let out a scream as the last of her memories faded.
"There are many ways to define our fragile existence, many ways to give it meaning. But it is our memories that shape its purpose and give it context: the private assortment of images, fears, loves, regrets. For it is the cruel irony of life that we are destined to hold the dark with the light, the good with the evil, success with disappointment. This is what separates us, what makes us human. And in the end, we must fight to hold on to." --Mohana Suresh
In a warehouse in Montreal, Petra staggered back as the full weight of what had happened finally hit her. She looked around, taking everything in. Eve was there. They had escaped. "I remember," she told her. "I remember everything."
"Good, then," Eve said. "Shall we save the world?"
Petra thought of Kendrick, her lover lost in that horrible future. She thought of the jock she had protected from Sylar in her vorige attempt to save the world. She thought of Hiroko, Mohana, Claudia, and Mattie Parkman. She thought about her father, how he helped her remember who she was... Mostly, though, she thought about Natalie. Petra had hurt her already so much. She wouldn't let anything like that ever happen again. She would save her sister, and the world.
She nodded.
“Kendrick! Kendrick!”
It was no good. Petra knew in her rational mind that she had left that horrible future. She had left Kendrick behind in a dystopian nightmare plagued door some epidemic virus… She was back in the warehouse in Montreal in 2007.
Closing her eyes, she attempted to travel back to that place, that time. She focused on the future, that horrible future, tensing her muscles. It didn’t work, though. She didn’t even know how it worked the first time.
She paced around the warehouse, wondering what she was doing there at all. She went back to the mirror and read again the note with her name on it. “Eve? I don’t know any Eve…”
A sudden noise startled her; someone coming up behind her! She spun around and instinctively shot a bolt of lightning out of her hand… and into a woman’s open hand. Her mouth fell open as she looked in horror at what she’d done.
The woman’s palm was burnt and blackened. And then, the injury faded before Petra’s eyes, healing into a healthy and normal hand.
Petra stared in shock, her arm still held out. She lowered her arm as the woman stepped vooruit, voorwaarts into view.
She was tall, maybe in her mid-thirties, with light blonde hair cut in the same short style as her own. “Petra, what the hell was that?” she asked in a reproving tone, not sounding nearly as worried as anyone in her position should be.
Petra eyed her cautiously. Was this woman invincible? “Do u know me?”
“Of course I know you,” the woman replied, and this time Petra picked up a British accent in her voice. The woman stepped closer. “Petra, it’s me. Eve.” She looked concerned. “Don’t u remember? Together we’re going to change history.”
Petra stared. So this was Eve? For the life of her she couldn’t remember this woman of what they apparently had planned to do. “S- I’m sorry,” she muttered. “I don’t…”
Eve nodded in understanding. “So the Haitian has taken liberties with your mind…” She started pacing.
“Haitian?” Petra asked, trying to recall anything related to Haiti of to a Haitian besides general knowledge.
Eve paid little attention, off in her own head. “That explains why u fell off the face of the Earth,” she mused. “You can get back your memory. I know how.” She paced around Petra with a finger pointed at her.
“How?” she demanded, turning to face Eve as she walked in circles.
Eve stopped and faced her. “Healing. u can do what I can do. Which means the mind has to repair itself.”
Petra recalled her father’s visit in the future. He had referred to her as ‘the most powerful of us all’ with the ability to absorb abilities from other people. According to him, she could travel through time because she met a woman named Hiroko Nakamura. With effort she was able to recover memories of him, but she still didn’t know how to control it – this healing. “How do u suggest I go about doing that?”
Eve almost smiled. “Think about what matters most to you.”
What mattered most to her? Her first thought was Kendrick, her Irish lover lost in time. Then she thought about her father, remembered only in vague flashes. Was it one of them that mattered most to her?
Seeing her hesitation, Eve questioned, “Do u know what that is?”
Yes, she did. Deep inside her, past the memory loss, she knew she had a special connection to one certain human being. She pulled the photograph out of her pocket and, unfolding it, looked at the image of her and another woman dressed in formalwear. The woman stood straight and looked important, her arm draped friendily around Petra’s shoulders.
Eve nodded. “Her name is Natalie.”
“Natalie?” Petra wondered. Then she began to remember and gasped. “Natalie.”
Natalie talking to her over dinner…
Natalie making a speech…
Natalie at a publicity shoot…
Natalie talking to her about her campaign…
Natalie arriving with a gift…
Natalie talking to her at Kirby Plaza, “You saved the jock… so we could save the world…”
Petra was filled with burning anger she couldn’t control, anger which manifested itself as atomic brand burning inside her. Despite it all, she gazed at her sister with love. Natalie came through after everything.
Natalie strode vooruit, voorwaarts in her bold congresswoman’s pantsuit, hugged Petra tightly, and took her up into the sky with the force of a rocket. The lights of the city fell behind as Petra was carried up, up, and away. The air smashed into her, wearing her down, and it felt like it was impossible to maintain control of the brand inside that threatened to break free any second.
“Ugh,” Petra grunted as she tried to break free from her sister’s tight grip. “You got to let me go, Natalie!”
Natalie only hugged her tighter. “You go, I go!”
“No!” Petra tried her hardest to control the fire, but she knew it was a battle she would lose. “I’ll be okay! u can fly, I can’t!”
Her sister turned her head away from her as Petra’s brand burned into the side of her face. Her skin turned red and then black, a horrific injury rapidly spreading. “What do u mean?” Natalie cried. She made her best efforts to disguise the pain in her voice.
The explosion was coming, building. brand was coming out of her in an increasing rate. She couldn’t hold it much longer. “It’s taking everything in me, all my power, not to explode! Let me go!”
Struggling, she managed to push herself out of her sister’s grasp. Petra fell down through the air, unable to fly. She screamed.
“Petra!” Natalie tried to fly down to save her.
It didn’t matter anymore.
Heat burned her up inside and all that brand ripped out of her. The sky lit up with a great flash of light. A titanic roar filled the air.
Petra exploded.
For those on the ground, the airborne explosion was a sign of victory. Charlie Bennet hugged his mother as they gazed upward at the sight. They knew Petra and Natalie Petrelli sacrificed themselves to save the city and the world. The future was rewritten and that explosion was to them a symbol of hope.
Air pounded against Petra’s eyes as she fell through the sky. She opened her eyes. The explosion had passed and that anger that had plagued her emotions was gone… for now. She was uninjured; though she wasn’t sure whether that was an effect of Dora’s radioactivity of Charlie’s healing.
In control of her powers once more, she thought of Natalie and flew through the air in zoek of her sister. She found her falling to the water, smoking and burnt up. Petra caught the unconscious Natalie in her arms and flew determinedly back to New York. Natalie had saved the world; the least Petra could do was save her.
It was different to navigate the city from the air, but Petra knew it well. Soaring under the bridge, she made her way to the nearest hospital. Landing in a deserted walkway around the bend, she hurried to carry Natalie into the emergency room. Her sister was heavy and she was tired, but she thought of that man at Kirby Plaza who smacked down that teef Sylar with a parking meter, and Petra felt strength fill her muscles.
“Help!” she called as she entered. “Please! Help!”
ER staff rushed toward her and she moved to set down Natalie’s unconscious body on a nearby stretcher. “Help,” she repeated. “Help.”
“Right away, ma’am. Put her down,” instructed one of them.
Petra put Natalie down on the stretcher, and the ER staff immediately wheeled her away. “Keep her alive, okay?” she called after them, grabbing a blanket. “Do whatever it takes, u understand me?”
She unfolded the blanket and turned to see a policewoman approaching her. She tensed, not sure what she could say that wouldn’t make her look guilty of anything. Hell, with a radiation victim, the cop could well think Petra a terrorist.
Fortunately, before the cop could say anything, a man called out “Officer? Officer, we need your help.”
Petra took advantage of the distraction. Putting the blanket around her shoulders, she thought of Claudia and became invisible. When the cop turned back, there was no sign of her.
Once Petra made it to an empty hallway, she decided it was veilig to be visible again. Letting the thoughts of Claudia fade, Petra thought instead about her sister. She had done all she could. Natalie was receiving medical care…
WHAM! That’s what it felt like. It was as though every inch of her body was hit door a truck. Groaning, she passed out and collapsed to the ground.
Barb stepped around the corner, behind her son. She inspected Petra’s motionless form. “Did u have to use the full blast on her?”
Elliot smiled. “She can take it.” He took a few steps toward his prey. This Petra Petrelli was such a beautiful specimen. He knew she would make a fine addition to the company prison. She would take so much meer pain… He smiled a sadistic grin.
Petra woke up several hours later with her head in a daze. She opened her eyes when she felt someone playing with the bangs of her hair. She sleepily looked upward to see a boy looking back down at her.
Her first impression of this boy was that he was cute, with blond hair and blue eyes. He smiled at her, enjoying himself.
An older woman with graying brown hair stepped into view behind him. “She’s not a toy, Elliot,” she zei in the reproving voice of a parent of teacher. Petra knew she’d seen her somewhere before.
Elliot shot her an annoyed look, and then went back to smiling at Petra.
This time, Petra caught the look of superiority in his gaze. Toy?
“She could be…” Elliot zei softly, almost in sing-song. He reached a finger down to touch the tip of her nose.
Petra watched this all distantly, still out of it from… what exactly? There was a cute boy calling her a toy? Her nose suddenly hurt as a stream of crackling blue electricity leaped from the boy’s finger.
Gasping, she sat up, suddenly wide awake. Disoriented, she quickly determined she was on a divan, bank in an office. Elliot seemed delighted with her reaction and sat down volgende to her, turning to face her. She scooted as far away from him as she could. Looking at the older woman, she asked, “Where am I?”
“Someplace safe,” she replied calmly.
Petra tried to catch her breath, looking around and taking stock of her surroundings. “My sister… I was in a hospital.”
Elliot leaned over, close to her. He cocked his head curiously as he watched her. Then his face looked concerned but it was… exaggerated. It was as if he was someone who had never experienced it before in his life and was trying to imitate the basic look picked up off of other people.
“We have the finest doctors in the world working on it,” the woman said. She sat down in front of her. “But… her situation is dire…”
“So who are you?” Petra demanded. “What am I doing here?”
Elliot smiled and touched the hair at her neck, putting it in-between his fingers and tugging it lightly. It was as though he had already decided she was his girlfriend, of was that his toy? She looked at him and he just smiled big.
“I am…” the woman blinked repeatedly, “…An old friend of your parents.” She smiled.
Elliot took his hand away.
Petra nodded, trying to ignore the boy. “Yeah, I’ve seen u before.” Barbra Bishop, wasn’t it? She went door Barb.
“And as I zei before,” Barb continued, “You’re veilig here. But… your sister, that’s a different story.” She stood and walked over to the large fauteuil door the desk. “She almost died.”
“Because of you, Petra,” Elliot overacted, putting his hand on her shoulder and rubbing it across her back. “Hey,” he said, resuming tugging on her hair, “It’s not like it was your idea to go nuclear and take out half of New York City…”
She looked at him bemused. “Oh, u know about that?”
“Yes,” Barb agreed. “As long as your abilities are in control of you, u will always be a hazard to yourself, to your family…”
“The whole world!” Elliot cheerfully added.
Petra pulled away from the boy’s strangely intimate caresses. “Believe me,” she said, “If I could turn them off, I would.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Elliot zei in the same cheerful tone. He nodded. “We’ve done that for you.”
What? She looked at Barb, who raised her eyebrows at Petra. Spotting a glass of water on the nearby coffee table, she thought of Sylar throwing locker doors at her and reached out with her mind. Nothing. She tried using her hand to direct the telekinesis, physically reaching toward the glass.
Elliot watched her carefully, trying to figure out what his ‘toy’ was up to. He followed her gaze to the glass and it clicked. Smiling, he grabbed her outstretched hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. “At least for now.”
“How did you…” Petra trailed off.
“My colleague here…” Barb said, indicating someone behind Petra, “…Is able to suppress the abilities in people around her.”
Petra turned to see an imposing-looking Haitian woman step forward. She had to have been standing there the whole time, but remained eerily quiet.
“I don’t understand,” Petra said. “What is this place?”
“You are in a facility designed to help people just like you,” Barb replied, sitting down.
“Petra,” Elliot zei insistently, “We can help u go back to a normal life.”
“Thirty years ago,” Barb began, “We had to shut down research on a vaccine which could disable your powers. But due to recent events, we have reinstated that research. And I’m very happy to say that we’re very close to finding a cure for you.”
A cure? Was such a thing even possible? “Forever?” she questioned.
“You will never have to worry about hurting anyone u love again,” Barb promised.
Elliot smiled encouragingly.
Petra considered this. On the one hand, it was absolutely incredible to possess such powers. She could even use it to save the world. On the other hand, if she couldn’t control Dora’s radioactivity… She thought of Natalie. That could never happen again. She wouldn’t allow it to. “How long until it’s ready?”
“Good!” Elliot exclaimed with delight, a big smile on his face. He jumped forward, moving to sit close to Petra. “You’re making the right choice.”
Petra eyed him, uncertain that she should go along with anything he zei was the right choice.
Barb chuckled. “Good girl.”
Petra was gegeven a couple forms to sign, and then Elliot escorted her to her room on a lower level of the facility. It was pretty small with Spartan furnishings bolted down and along with a sink there was a toilet attached to the uithangbord with no privacy whatsoever. Elliot indicated for her to sit down, and she complied.
Elliot handed her a cupful of pills to meet the day’s dosage. He wrapped a towel around her torso, and started trimming her hair very short. Long locks of hair fell to the ground.
She felt dismay for the loss of her haircut, but zei nothing. These people were just trying to help, after all. She looked down at the pills and capsules rolling around in her cup. “So I just take these pills every day?”
“Yep!” Elliot agreed cheerily. “Just a little cocktail they cooked up here in the lab. It controls the abilities. Dampens them…”
“Like that girl who was standing in the corner of Barb’s office?” she questioned.
“The Haitian,” Elliot supplied with a smile, apparently delighted she made the connection. “Yeah.” His smile faded. “Sorta. So let’s just call them… Haitian pills.” He filled a glass with water from the room’s sink and handed it to Petra, watching her closely.
She hesitated for a moment, but then took the cupful of pills and washed it down her throat.
Elliot’s smile returned as soon as it was obvious she would comply. He slid a hand across the top, boven of her head. “Bye, Petra…” Electricity arced from his hand and into her scalp.
“Ow!” she cried as her head flared with pain. “That hurts…”
“You’ll get used to it,” he zei dismissively on his way out the door. He turned and gave her a seductive look. “And then you’ll start to like it…”
She gulped.
Smirking, he left. The door closed behind him with an ominous thud. Elliot would be back, she knew. He would want to play with his ‘toy’.
As she sat down on the bed, she heard a woman call out from not too far away, “Hello?”
Petra automatically looked around, but there was no one to see. “Who zei that?” She then noticed the vent that must have connected to the volgende room over.
“Me,” came the slightly sarcastic voice.
She sighed. “You know, I’m not really in a talkative mood right now.”
There was a pause, and then, “Fair enough. When u get in the mood, though… I’m not going anywhere.”
Petra stayed silent and her neighbor did not speak up again for weeks. A maand full of awkward moments and painful electrification passed by. Then her neighbor tried again.
“You know, it’s been a month. u still haven’t told me your name,” the woman called.
Petra was lying on her bed, trying unsuccessfully to rest without thinking about Natalie. “Please, I just wanna be left alone,” she responded.
“Well, u came to the right place,” her neighbor replied. “I have to warn you, though; it does get a bit old. Let me guess. u were living a perfectly ordinary life… until one dag u discovered u could do incredible things. I bet it was wonderful at first. u thought perhaps u could save the world… and then u realized, tragically, that u were dangerous. I'll let u talk to me after a decade. Oh, actually, talk to me after three.”
“If they want to leave me in here forever,” she said, “That’s fine door me.”
“You've been through something awful, haven't you?” her neighbor zei compassionately. “I’m sorry.”
She sighed. This person deserved her name at the very least. “I’m Petra.”
“Hello, Petra,” her neighbor said. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Eve.”
Another maand passed. Petra and Eve spoke sparingly, but their relationship grew friendlier each time. Elliot continued to electrify her for sadistic glee, and their relationship grew all the meer twisted as he continued to make sexual advances toward her.
One day, Petra was sitting on her bed when Elliot opened the door. He was dressed up in a bright navy blue overhemd, shirt that reminded her of his cobalt sparks. She remained still as he crawled on the bed volgende to her, expectantly.
"I'm not in the mood today, Elliot," she muttered, knowing that wouldn't stop him. If he was feeling particularly sadistic, it could even encourage him. She knew he liked it when she agreed to get zapped, though. She supposed it put on the illusion that she liked it.
"Just a small one?" Elliot insisted. "I'll up your dose...?"
She briefly considered it. The drugs had some sedative effect that helped her not to think. Thinking only let her hate herself meer for hurting her sister. "Fine," she agreed. "Just a little one." Sitting up, she willingly held up her hand for Elliot to electrify.
He sat up with her, and holding his fingers he approached hers. His eyes were on her face, watching her expression. Electricity arced from his fingertips and into hers.
"Oh!" she groaned as pain lanced up her arm. She rocked back and forth gasping.
Grinning widely with an excitement entirely inappropriate, Elliot hugged her tight.
She looked unbelieving at his insane grin, and then pulled away and stood up. Examining her sore fingers, she stepped over to the tafel, tabel to take her pills. "You know," she said, "Not that a fistful of pills every dag isn't fun, but... it's been two months now and I still don't know a thing about you." Turning to face him, she swallowed the pills dry. "I was just thinking... Maybe there's meer to u than the whole sadistic lightning thing, that's all. What's your story?"
Smiling, Elliot stood up. "I liked u better when u just laid there." He took her hand and played idly with it as he eyed her.
"So you're not going to tell me?" She decided to goad him. "What are you, afraid?"
He just smiled at her with that superior look.
She decided to change tactics. "No, u just like to be in control..."
His expression changed, confirming it.
"I get it..." She shifted posture, displaying herself aggressively even as she vocalized compliance. "Figured as much."
He shifted his posture to match her aggressive stance, looking down at her formidably.
"Won't happen again." She turned away and handed him the water cup.
Elliot was definitely caught off guard. Taking the cup, he started to leave her room, but paused at the door and turned to face her. "I accidentally set my grandfather's house on brand when I was six. Caused a blackout in four counties in Ohio when I was eight. I spent my ninth birthday in a glass room with an IV of lithium in my arm. I've lived in this building for sixteen years..." He stepped toward her. "Ever since the shrinks diagnosed me as a sociopath with paranoid delusions. But," he zei with a sarcastic smile, "They were just out to get me because I threatened to kill 'em." His face turned serious. "I'm 24 years old, and I've never gone on a date. Never been on a roller coaster. Never been swimming. And now u know everything there is to know about me. I don't have the luxury of being meer interesting than that." He walked away, offering a cheerful "Later, alligator" as he passed through the doorway. The door slammed shut behind him.
She watched him through the window as he walked away.
"Word to the wise, friend," Eve called through the vent. "I would keep my distance from that one. I caved in a desperate moment six years ago, and I'm still paying the price."
"Don't worry," Petra called back. "I don't want anything from him except the drugs."
"I'm sorry, I keep forgetting," Eve said. "You still believe them."
Petra stepped over to the wall. "What do u mean?"
"This cure of theirs," Eve replied. "They've been days away from perfecting it since I got here thirty years ago. Barb's not trying to fix you, Petra."
What? "No," she tried to explain. "They created this facility to help us."
"You're not in a facility, Petra," Eve told her. "Look around."
Petra glanced around at the small room with its Spartan furnishings.
"You're in a prison," Eve said. "You don't believe me? Why don't u try getting out?"
The volgende day, she told Elliot that she wanted to speak to Barb as soon as possible.
He was confused. "What? Why do u want to do that?"
"I just think I've been in here for a while," she answered. "I'd like to talk to her about seeing my sister."
This seemed to amuse him greatly. "Okie-dokie, poky," he cheerily agreed. After making sure she took her pills, he headed out without even electrifying her. That didn't strike her as a good sign.
Barb came down a few minuten later.
"Look, I need to see my family. Just for a dag of two," she insisted.
"Yes, I think that would be absolutely possible," Barb agreed. "...Just not right now."
"Why not?" she pressed. "They don't even know I'm alive."
Barb sighed. "Look, I could let u go, and u could explode again. u could blow up half the east coast."
"Okay, so dose me with some drugs and I'll be back before they wear off," she reasoned. "It's perfectly safe."
"I'm sorry, Petra," Barb said. "You're just not ready for that yet."
"Okay, so send someone out with me," she tried. "Elliot maybe."
That was the wrong suggestion. "Uh, no," Barb replied. "No... I'm sorry, Petra. That's just not gonna happen." She turned and left, the door slamming shut behind her.
Petra watched her walk away through the glass. "I'm never getting out of here, am I?!"
Barb walked coldly away, leaving Petra trapped in her room. Trapped in her cell.
"Suddenly the room starts to feel like a cage," Eve commented.
"I don't understand," Petra said. "If they're not gonna help us, why are we here?"
"To keep us from being out there," Eve replied.
"Why, because we're dangerous?" she asked.
"No, Petra," Eve denied. "It's because we could save the world. Years ago, I tried to take my abilities public. I thought that if everyone knew that my blood had curing powers, I could help. How naive I was."
Eve's blood has curing powers... Petra stored that information away in her head. "That's why they put u in here?"
"Well, if it were possible to kill me, they would have, I assure you," Eve answered. "Instead, I'm locked up in here. When I could be curing your sister."
Petra immediately felt a burst of affection for her fellow prisoner. Eve didn't deserve this any meer than she did. Eve was a good, kindhearted person. "Natalie... How?"
"Just a small amount of my blood could help to heal her," Eve explained. "End her pain. Even after everything you've put her through."
Petra couldn't imagine how lucky she was. "So how do we get out?"
"You need to regain your power," Eve answered. "My own power is quite a glorious thing, but in an offensive capacity it is sadly limited."
"My power..." she repeated. "The last time I used my power, I almost blew up the city."
"Petra, u have to believe in yourself," Eve encouraged. "You're a strong person. u can control your power if u put in the effort. Think about your sister Natalie. She needs our help, Petra."
She shook her head. Eve was right. "How do I get my powers?" she asked instead. "The pills dampen the abilities." She thought about Elliot and tried to produce electricity, but of course nothing happened.
"You'll just have to find some way to avoid taking them," Eve said. "I believe Barb's son Elliot has taken an interest in you. u can use that to your advantage. Distract him."
She took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay," she agreed.
From that dag on, she did her best to distract Elliot so she could not take the pills. The boy didn't have much of a life beyond tormenting prisoners, so Petra found it effective to try to make vrienden with him. She knew he wanted meer than that, but he was intimidating enough as it was and she didn't want to encourage him. She just shared pleasantries with him and agreed to let him zap her with electricity.
After a few weeks, he started to lower his guard and she was able to hide the pills in her mouth until he left, and then she was able to dispose of the pills via the toilet. She knew it was working a couple days later when her flinching away from his electrification caused her arm to partially slip through the mattress. It appeared she had the ability to phase through solid objects, though she didn't know who gave her that power. Fortunately, she was unnoticed door Elliot, who was too preoccupied with giggling at her pain. When she was left alone, she tried again to phase but it seemed that only her adrenaline was responsible for it working the first time, and she couldn't do it again. Eve advised she try again in a few days.
Three days later, she lay on the bed thinking about Elliot. The boy's story was honestly quite sad. Yes, he was a sociopath, a sadist, but he had a poor life. Elliot might not have had the ability to care about Petra, but she had the ability to care about Elliot and she did. The boy had no real friends, and here she was using him, and now she was going to escape and leave him all alone...
The door opened, and she sat up. Elliot was in one of his disinterested moods, the kind she normally appreciated. He just swept in, leaving the pills on the table, and was on his way out the door when Petra spoke.
"You're not gonna give me a little jolt?"
That caught his attention. He immediately turned around and stepped back into the room, smirking. "Why? u want one?" He approached her.
Catching him off guard, she grabbed onto him and pulled him onto the bed volgende to her. "Like u said, I'm starting to like 'em," she zei flirtatiously as he tried to recover. "Starting to like you." She held up her hand for him to zap.
"Fine." Elliot smiled. "Since u asked nicely..." He moved to place his fingertips across from hers.
She pulled her hand back, forcing him to lean forward. She met him with a kiss, a favor he eagerly returned. She felt good doing what she could for the troubled boy, and besides he was really cute...
TSSZZZAP!
Pain erupted in her lips, her tongue, and all over her mouth. What the hell was that? She jerked back away from him, catching the briefest glimpse of the cobalt arc connecting their lips before it vanished. Apparently Elliot's hands were not the only parts of him that could discharge lightning.
Looking at Elliot, she saw his face reflect nothing less than pure ecstasy. He gasped, trying to regain his breath, wearing a huge grin and gazing at her with longing. She didn't think he was good enough of an actor to fake that kind of reaction, so she considered this a success.
She stood up and walked over to the table, pretending to take her pills. She held them in her mouth while she drank the water provided.
Elliot came up behind her. "Enough fun for one day?"
Smiling, she handed him the cup without another word.
He smiled as if it was the happiest dag of his life, and continued smiling as he left Petra's cell.
She waited until he was gone before disposing of the pills. "Day number five without the meds."
"Then I think it's time to try," Eve zei in response.
She went over to the uithangbord between their cells and put her hands against it, trying to push through the solid bricks. Nothing happened.
"Come on, Petra," Eve encouraged. "You can do this."
She took a breath and tried again, thinking of that need to escape. Her hands pushed through the wall, and then she stepped through and into Eve's cell. She looked now at her friend for the first time. "It's nice to finally meet you. u know, for 400 years, you've held up pretty well."
Eve walked up to her. "Come on, let's go heal your sister."
Petra didn't need to hear that twice. She put her hands against the other wall, and then Eve grabbed onto her shoulder, and they both phased through the wall. They walked straight out of the facility through solid rock, and then Petra flew Eve to the city. Eve insisted they visit a bar so that she could take care of their arrangements, and then Petra flew her to the hospital. It was easy enough to determine where Natalie Petrelli was being treated.
"I've taken care of everything: plane tickets, money," Eve zei as they stepped into Natalie's room. "Now this." She rolled up her sleeve.
Petra approached Natalie's bed, examining her sister's horribly burned face. "I'm so sorry, Natalie," she zei aloud even though it was clear she wasn't awake. Petra hoped it was just because it was the middle of the night and not because she was in a coma.
Eve took a syringe and drew some of her blood. She stepped over to Natalie's IV and injected the blood into the bag.
"How long until it starts working?" Petra asked.
"We don't have time to find out," Eve said. "They're going to assume that you'll come to see your sister. This is the first place they'll look." She put down the syringe and headed toward the door. "Come on."
Petra's eyes widened as she saw Natalie's burn wounds begin to spontaneously heal. "Eve, look! Look! Look!"
"Good," Eve said. "Come on. Come on."
Petra started to leave, but stopped. She went over to a framed picture of her and Natalie and pulled it out of its frame. She would like something to take on the road to remind her of her sister.
They left the hospital and walked out toward the shipping yards.
"That was incredible," Petra told Eve. "Her skin was starting to heal right there in front of us."
"She'll be as good as new door the time she wakes up," Eve assured her. She handed Petra her supplies. "Here, passport, plane ticket. Here's the plan..." She trailed off as they stepped around the corner.
Elliot and the Haitian woman were approaching them. Petra and Eve knew Petra couldn't use her powers around the Haitian.
"You disappointed me, Petra!" Elliot called. "And just when I thought we were getting to know each other."
"There's a warehouse in Montreal," Eve told her quickly. "121 Rue Saint-Jacques. Meet there."
They ran, splitting up in different directions. Elliot held out his hand and let loose a lightning bolt that crashed into Eve and sent her forcefully against the wall. Turning, he furiously let out a tremendous bolt that struck Petra in the back, causing her overhemd, shirt to catch fire. Scrambling out of it, she made another run for it.
Looking back at Eve, Elliot saw her up and running. As much as he would have liked to take Petra himself, the Haitian was needed to kill her powers. "Go after her," he snapped to the Haitian before hurrying after Eve.
The Haitian on her heels, Petra climbed down the side of the building and dropped to the ground. She ran among the shipping containers in front of her. She ran the length of the row and turned the corner right into the Haitian.
The Haitian punched her and Petra went down. Reflexively, Petra turned to use her powers, but nothing happened. The Haitian advanced toward Petra, punching her into an open container. Petra fell backward.
The Haitian advanced and before Petra could get up again, she punched Petra in the stomach. Petra hit the container uithangbord and punched the Haitian in the face. She punched again, but the Haitian grabbed her arm and twisted it back behind her.
Petra fell to her knees. The Haitian took the opportunity to handcuff her to the pipe in the container. Petra was trapped.
"You take me back there," Petra told her, "I'm just gonna keep escaping."
"I'm not taking u back," the Haitian replied. "You deserve a better fate. Your father helped me when I was in need."
"So now you're helping me?" Petra asked skeptically.
The Haitian slipped off her jas and draped it around Petra's shoulders, and then took off her halsketting, ketting to put on her too. "You must start a new life, Petra. I fear this is the only solution. Your secret is veilig with me. Go with God, my friend."
The Haitian placed her hand on Petra's face, and Petra began to forget why she was there... of even who she was. She let out a scream as the last of her memories faded.
"There are many ways to define our fragile existence, many ways to give it meaning. But it is our memories that shape its purpose and give it context: the private assortment of images, fears, loves, regrets. For it is the cruel irony of life that we are destined to hold the dark with the light, the good with the evil, success with disappointment. This is what separates us, what makes us human. And in the end, we must fight to hold on to." --Mohana Suresh
In a warehouse in Montreal, Petra staggered back as the full weight of what had happened finally hit her. She looked around, taking everything in. Eve was there. They had escaped. "I remember," she told her. "I remember everything."
"Good, then," Eve said. "Shall we save the world?"
Petra thought of Kendrick, her lover lost in that horrible future. She thought of the jock she had protected from Sylar in her vorige attempt to save the world. She thought of Hiroko, Mohana, Claudia, and Mattie Parkman. She thought about her father, how he helped her remember who she was... Mostly, though, she thought about Natalie. Petra had hurt her already so much. She wouldn't let anything like that ever happen again. She would save her sister, and the world.
She nodded.
