Special

By Fabrisse

Summary: Marco Pacella warns Nathan Petrelli that he might be arrested for illegal use of promicin. With persuasion from Diana, a summit is held among the three forces from Seattle and many of the Heroes. Do the 4400 and the Heroes derive their abilities from the same source?

Fandoms: Heroes and The 4400
Pairings: Diana/Marco, Nathan/Peter, Nathan/Marco, mentions of Peter/Claire
Rating: Older Teen
Warnings: Discussions of drug use and suicide, mentions of incest
Seasons: Through Season 2 of Heroes and the finale of The 4400. I'm completely unspoiled for season 3 of Heroes, so everything in here is speculation.

My betas were "kelly_girl", who did the very first beta on the opening section way back in the spring before I decided to finish it as a "heroes_bigboom" submission, "riverfox" and "mystery_sock". All of them gave me invaluable advice, whether or not I took it. It's not their fault if anything is still wrong.

The cover is by "jkivela". I was thrilled to have art work, and something this good is just a terrific bonus.

He appeared on the doorstep around eleven in the morning.  He confirmed the address and rang the bell.

"Mrs. Petrelli?"  He flashed his NTAC ID and prayed she wouldn't notice there was no badge with it.  "My name is Marco Pacella.  May I speak to your husband?"

"Nathan no longer lives here."

"I assume you have a forwarding address?"  He hadn't expected this. 

"Yes.  Just a moment, I'll write it out for you."  She closed the door and walked away.  Marco looked around and hoped she was serious about coming back.

A few minutes later, she opened the door and handed him a sheet of paper.

"Thank you, ma'am."

An address wasn't much help, but with the purchase of a small tourist map and a few questions of passersby, Marco found himself in a very different neighborhood.  The address was correct. There was a Petrelli, Peter rather than Nathan, on an upper floor.  The buzzer didn't get any response, and Marco began to wonder whether he should go back and try again tomorrow.

As he was leaving the building, two men rounded the corner, and he recognized one of them as Nathan Petrelli.

“Excuse me, Mr. Petrelli.” Both men stopped and looked at him. He opened his wallet to show his NTAC ID. The older man, the one he recognized from photos as Nathan Petrelli took it from him.

“There’s no badge. You’re not a field agent. What does,” Nathan looked at the identification more closely and continued, “Seattle NTAC want with me? Or is it Peter you were looking for.” He handed Marco his wallet back.

“You, sir. And so far as I know Seattle NTAC doesn’t have any direct interest in you. Is there somewhere we can speak privately? It can be a public place as long as we’re not overheard.”

The brothers looked at each other. Finally the younger one, Peter, said, “Viet Pho should be open by now. Thuy won’t mind if we just have coffee as long as we leave before the lunch rush.”

“Fine, Mr. Pacella, would you care to join us for coffee?”

“Please call me Marco.”

“I’m Nathan. My brother is Peter.”

“Yes, I know.”

They walked together in silence to a little Vietnamese restaurant around a corner. The owner greeted Peter like a long lost brother and put them at a back table. “I hope you don’t mind, I told him to bring three Vietnamese coffees. You’re not diabetic or anything?”

“No.”

“Then if you have an Italian sweet tooth, you’ll like this.” Peter smiled, and Marco felt himself relaxing.

Nathan took the opportunity to go on the attack. “I thought Seattle was still under quarantine, Marco.”

“It is. Though there haven’t been any new deaths in over six months. What’s more, there’ve been some tentative exposures to other populations and the virus hasn’t spread, so as a population we’re pretty safe.”

“But still, a new variant of cholera …” Peter sounded baffled. "Has the CDC cleared everything?"

Marco looked uncomfortable. "Have you heard of something called promicin?"

"Was that the cure?"

Nathan shrugged. “Fill him in. I still have government contacts so I know a little bit of the truth.” Nathan stared affectionately at his brother.

“Anything big enough I usually find out about.” Peter smiled back at Nathan.

Marco said, “Well, the 4400 landing near Mount Rainier five years ago should have been big enough.”

“Yeah. A bunch of so-called alien abductees appeared in a great big ball of light. Whatever happened with that? Did the government ever prove how they did the hoax?”

Marco managed to keep his jaw from dropping. Nathan caught his eye and gave a half shrug of apology as their coffees were delivered. “Give him the back story. It’ll bring me up to date as well.”

“The ball of light wasn’t a hoax. The department I work for, NTAC, was founded under Homeland Security to deal with them. The ones who hadn’t been US citizens when they disappeared were repatriated after a long quarantine. Once they left quarantine, some of them began exhibiting powers, like telekinesis or healing. Long story short, they weren’t kidnapped by aliens – they were taken by human beings from our future – and the cause of their abilities was a then undiscovered brain chemical called promicin.” Marco took a breath to continue.

Peter interrupted, “Wait a minute. I recognize the name now. I thought promicin was a street drug?”

Nathan took over. “It is, but it’s a brain chemical, too. We had a couple of cases come out in the DAs office. We had a hard time charging people because ‘possession with intent to distribute’ needs a monetary value under New York law and these were given away free.”

“To get repeat customers.” Peter said rolling his eyes.

Marco shook his head. “Promicin is a single shot. When it was first distributed it was known that the odds were fifty-fifty. Live and develop a power, with no guarantee of what you’d get, or die within three minutes. Once it’s in your system, if you survive, your body will produce it naturally.”

“Crap.” Peter looked sober.

“It was nearly impossible to prosecute.” Nathan was grim. “They didn’t use drug dealers; there was no real infrastructure.”

“And once your body produces promicin, it can be taken from your blood and distributed. All you need is a doctor or nurse who’s sympathetic so you have access to the equipment. It takes less time than a plasma donation.”

Nathan looked at him closely. “The epidemic wasn't cholera, was it?"

Marco shook his head. "Promicin went viral."

"Seattle NTAC?” Nathan asked.

“Those of us who survived are p-positive. The one exception has been made the temporary regional director.” Marco sighed and sipped his coffee. “So. With that background, Peter, can you guess why I’m here?”

“I’m still working on how a brain chemical became a virus.”

Marco looked pensive. “Someone who took the shot developed the ability to spread promicin. He secreted it in his waste: sweat, urine, and …”

“Water vapor from the lungs.” Peter sighed. “It must have gone viral very quickly.”

“It did. His mother died first. When he took her to the hospital, it started to spread rapidly. If you want to know more about the epidemiology, our temporary RD used to work for the CDC.”

Peter just shook his head.

“Nathan? Have you worked out why I’m here?”

“I want to hear you say it.”

Marco nodded. “You are an attorney, aren’t you? I run the Theory Room at Seattle NTAC. Because Seattle is the largest region, I also coordinate with all the other equivalent departments nationally. You, Nathan, are suspected of being an unregistered p-positive. They’ve been looking to take down a national figure for awhile. You’re fairly well known, thanks to your congressional run and the shooting in Odessa. It makes you likely to be the one they use.”

“And you’ve come to warn me. Why?”

“I also coordinate with other agencies. The CDC when there’s a rash of promicin deaths would be one example. But sometimes I’m sent more general information, things happening in the popular culture that might relate to how the 4400 or p-positives are perceived. There’s a book by Doctor Chandra Suresh. It posits a genetic development of similar powers.” He’d put out the bait.

The brothers looked at each other for a long minute. “Why didn’t you just go to Doctor Suresh?” It was Peter who spoke much to Marco’s surprise.

“Two reasons: the first is that he’s dead. Although, there’s some indication that his son Mohinder, who's also a geneticist, is continuing the research.” Marco caught a glance between the two men before they looked back at him. “The second has to do with the nature of my promicin ability. I … teleport, but there are some specific limitations on my ability.”

Nathan changed the subject. “And what ability am I supposed to have?”

“Regeneration. Not healing, like Shawn Farrell, but the ability to regenerate yourself.”

Nathan visibly relaxed.

Marco continued. “Suresh claimed to have a list of people who were likely to develop these abilities. I’m not sure how my contact got the list, but the Petrelli family is on it. My question is, do you think your ability, whatever it may be, could be because your family produces promicin?”

“You seem very certain I have an ability.”

“You’re an attorney. Client privilege goes both ways. What’s your retainer?”

“How much do you have in your wallet?” Nathan was amused.

Marco looked. “Seventy two dollars – less the cost of the coffee, and a five Euro note.”

Peter chuckled. “I’ll cover the coffee.”

“Give me the two dollars.”

Marco handed it over and put his wallet away.

Nathan continued, “Since we’re now covered under attorney-client privilege, what did you want to say?” He caught Marco’s glance at Peter. “My paralegal is covered too.”

Marco smiled. “I know this isn’t covered under whistleblower laws, but I want to talk to Doctor Mohinder Suresh. His father had no idea about promicin, but I can get him access to the foremost experts.”

“Government experts?”

“Some, maybe, but the main one I was thinking of is part of The 4400 Center.”

Nathan cocked an eyebrow at Peter.

Peter decided to communicate directly. “He could be right. But I don’t like the idea of you being taken. If you are, what do you call it? P-Positive? Then it seems there are things you can be charged with.”

Nathan nodded to himself then looked at Marco. “I take it you’re on your own in this?”

“Not entirely. But my ability lets me come and go freely from Seattle, and I’m the one who’s lost the most faith, I think.”

“Can you carry someone?”

Marco blinked. “Yes. I’ve done it once with a colleague.”

Nathan said, “I have a harder time trusting one person than I do two, if you see what I mean.”

“One person is more likely to be a trap or, if killed or captured, breaks down the whole structure in one swoop. What part of Italy is your family from?”

Nathan replied, “A small town called Oriolo, down near the sole of the boot.”

“Mine’s from the big town near there, Taranto.”

They smiled at each other. Nathan said, “That helps. Seriously, though, is there anyone else you can bring here?”

Marco thought for a moment and checked at his watch. “I hate time zones. Just a minute.” He pulled out his cell phone and hit 1. “Hi Diana. Yes. I have someone here who would like to meet you.” He listened for a moment and stood up to walk toward the entrance. They heard him say, “I’ve known you for five years. Have I ever asked you for a favor?”

Peter stared after him as Nathan sipped his cooling coffee. “Nathan, look.”

Nathan followed his eye line out the window. “There’s nothing there.”

“He disappeared. He stepped backward and took a picture of the façade with his phone, kept walking and vanished.”

Nathan shrugged but kept an eye toward the front. Less than five minutes later he saw a man holding a woman close to him just at the edge of the sidewalk. The woman stepped backward, and the man was revealed to be Marco. He would be willing to swear in court they’d just appeared between one heartbeat and the next.

He turned to Peter. “Do you think he’s one of us?”

“I’m learning to recognize the vibe that says I’m getting a new power. I don’t get that from Marco.”

“You already have teleportation.”

“Yeah, but I still get the feeling even if there’s nothing new to acquire.”

Nathan rose as Marco and the woman came back to the table. Peter stood too.

“Diana, this is Mr. Nathan Petrelli and his brother Peter. Nathan, Peter, this is Doctor Diana Skouris, Regional Director for NTAC, Seattle.”

Nathan signaled for more coffee as they resumed their seats. “Regional director.”

Peter chimed in with, “Didn’t Marco say you’re the only person who’s not p-positive there?”

Diana gave a little glare at Marco. “That’s right.”

“So why do you care?”

“My daughter was born in 1936. She’s thirteen.”

“You adopted a 4400?” Nathan looked at her admiringly.

“Maia was one of the first to display abilities. Hers is precognition. Even if we weren’t on alert because the quarantine’s still in effect, even if Marco hadn’t demonstrated the possibility of people with powers who aren’t p-positive, Maia’s told me that I need to make common cause with you, Mister Petrelli.”

Marco seemed surprised.

Nathan smiled. “Please Doctor Skouris, it’s Nathan.”

“Diana.” She turned to Marco. “Maia had a vision last night. She was immediately drawn to the book I’d been reading and when she saw the photograph on the file…”

Marco nodded. “Will it avert the war?”

“Maybe. She’s convinced it’s the best hope.” She turned back to the Petrelli brothers. “I’m sorry. Marco knows Maia quite well, and he knows more about her visions than anyone besides Maia and me.”

Peter suggested, “Let’s grab lunch quickly and talk about anything else. We can go back to my place and talk privately afterward.” He looked at Marco. “It is private?”

“As far as I know, they think Nathan is still living with his wife. It’s unlikely your apartment would be bugged.”

“Good. I’ll get us some menus.”

***

An hour later, the four of them left the restaurant and went around the corner to Peter’s apartment.

At the door, Peter looked around, then glanced at Marco. “You showed me yours, let me show you mine.” He took Diana’s hand and walked through the closed door with her.

Marco heard the lock. When Peter opened the door, he saw Diana sitting on a sofa looking shaken.

Nathan said, “Tell you what, Pete, offer Diana something to drink, and I’ll show Marco my ability.”

“Sure, the door’s unlocked.”

“Your ability?”

“I hope you don’t mind a climb. I don’t trust that elevator.”

“Lead on.” Marco hoped he sounded more confident than he felt.

When they got to the roof, Nathan looked around. “Put your arms around my neck and hold on tightly. You might want to put your glasses somewhere safe.”

Marco hoped his knees weren’t shaking as he removed his glasses and did as Nathan requested.

The take off was fast. Nathan went above the Empire State and Chrysler buildings then sped off toward the open ocean. He banked slowly and brought them back to the city to land gently on the roof of Peter’s building.

Marco unwound his arms and stepped back. He glanced at his watch; less than ten minutes had passed.

Nathan smiled. “You’re lighter than my last passenger.”

He put his glasses on and grinned. “That was amazing. I thought I got a pretty cool ability, but flying…”

“Don’t tell Peter, but I love flight. I flew in the Navy and wished I didn’t need a plane. I can break the sound barrier, not that I’ve ever tried it with a passenger.”

“I won’t say a word.”

Nathan continued to smile at him for what seemed to Marco to be a beat too long. He blushed as he realized that Nathan had probably felt exactly how cool Marco found his ability.

He clapped Marco on the shoulder. “I won’t say anything either.”

***

Diana seemed more like herself when they got back to Peter’s apartment. She was sipping tea in a chair while Peter sat across from her talking quietly. He looked up when they came in.

“What did you think?”

“I never expected to see the Statue of Liberty from that angle. It’s amazing. And reassuring.”

Nathan picked up on the word. “Reassuring?”

“None of the 4400 nor any of the registered p-positives has an ability that even resembles flight.”

“Flight?” Diana turned to look from Nathan to Marco. “He can fly?”

“Like Superman.” Marco was still grinning.

“So you think the nature of my ability may indicate that it’s not promicin-induced.”

Diana answered. “It seems less likely to be, but we still haven’t really explored the manifestation of abilities. We know promicin’s the mechanism and that it links to the corpus callosum, but that’s all.”

“And the Theory Room has been speculating that there’s a wish fulfillment aspect to promicin abilities -- or at the very least a personality component.”

Peter said, “That makes sense. The brain is the seat of personality, so a change to the brain chemistry might link to the personality somehow.”

“Exactly. But it’s a lot of ‘somehow’ and ‘perhaps’ and ‘maybe’ right now.”

Nathan interjected, “That’s all very well, but why do you need Doctor Suresh?”

“I’m assuming from the way you two keep wordlessly communicating, that you know him,” Marco said.

Peter picked it up. “Yes, we do. But the genetic anomaly that allows Nathan to fly and gives me my ability isn’t new.” He stared at his brother for a long moment.

Eyes still locked on Peter’s, Nathan began, “Our parents and the parents or relatives of some of the others like us got together and formed a company. Among other things, they’ve ‘bagged and tagged’ many of us.”

Diana looked startled. “Including you two?”

“They tried it with me. That’s when I found out I could go supersonic. Pete?”

“As far as I know Mom protected me. Whether because they knew what I was and didn’t expect me to survive or for some other reason, I just don’t know.”

“Supersonic?” Diana was intrigued. “Has anyone gauged your top speed? What keeps you whole?”

“I don’t know. You’re welcome to suggest ways of finding out. Whatever keeps me from flaying the flesh off my bones at that speed extends to whomever I’m carrying. That I know.” Nathan looked at Peter with a mixture of sadness and affection.

“Yes. That’s certain.” Peter gazed at his brother.

Nathan broke away and turned to Diana and Marco. “Mohinder has joined the Company. We still aren’t certain why or whether there was coercion involved.”

“The Company is providing him lab space and top of the line equipment. That’s something he wouldn’t have without them.”

Diana looked at Marco. “NTAC could provide similar access if that’s his only reason for joining them.”

“This is where I start to show my paranoia,” Marco said. “I would strongly recommend that Doctor Suresh coordinate and report his findings to NTAC, but I think he’d be better served by doing his research elsewhere. Either through this company or through The 4400 Center.”

“What about this ‘Promise City’ we keep hearing about in the news? Wouldn’t they be able to finance his research?” Nathan seemed genuinely curious.

“The most stable structure is a tripod. Look, this is just … theory if you will, but here’s my take on the situation in Seattle.”

Diana gave a weak smile. “Are you sure I should hear this?”

“I still work for you, Diana.” Marco took a minute to organize his thoughts. “Like any large office, NTAC has betting pools going. The big one at the moment is when the Seattle quarantine will be lifted.”

“I put five dollars on May 29, myself.”

“That would make it, what, ten months after the original crisis? Nearly seven months after the last proven instance of the virus being transmitted?”

“Seven months to the day. That’s why I chose it.”

“You worked for the CDC for nearly a decade. What was the longest quarantine you saw before this one?”

“I’ve never seen one citywide before, but the largest one, which was also the longest, lasted eight weeks.”

Marco nodded. “The hot dates in the pool are more than a year out.” He turned to the Petrellis. “The thing is, the only people immune were the ones who were already promicin positive. Police and emergency workers were the first exposed and were hit hard. Seattle would have been chaos, so the government ceded control to Jordan Collier and his people from Promise City. In the meantime, NTAC continued to exist and do its job while dealing with the grief of losing nearly two-thirds of our colleagues and the psychological fallout from developing abilities.”

“So why didn’t it devolve into a power struggle?” Marco could see Nathan was viewing the situation through a politician’s lens.

“Because the third leg of the tripod was an organization Jordan Collier founded before he died and came back. He left it to a follower of his, Shawn Farrell, who has been trying to walk a middle ground between his uncle, who works for NTAC, and his position as one of the most famous 4400s. He was the de facto leader of the movement while Jordan was dead.”

Peter said, “Wait a minute, you’ve got a guy dying and resurrecting with the initials JC?” He turned to his brother. “And we thought Adam was bad.”

“We’d noticed the initials.” Diana’s voice was wry. “Shawn’s done a remarkable job. He has scientific facilities and the ‘father of the 4400 technology’ works for the Center.”

“He also has the advantage of not having to classify the work done at the Center. If Doctor Suresh worked for NTAC, he probably wouldn’t be allowed to publish.” Marco was trying to persuade everyone.

“Marco, are you thinking of jumping over to the Center?” Diana asked.

“Is the Regional Director asking me?”

“The Regional Director stayed in Seattle. Diana would like to know.”

“What do you know about the other betting pool?”

“Nothing.” Diana looked puzzled.

“It’s the one about how soon we’ll all be packed off to Guantanamo. My bet is one day before the quarantine is lifted.”

Diana slumped. “Don’t you think I’d do everything I could to prevent that?”

“Of course, but you’re not directly threatened. Maia might be, and I know you’ll fight like a tiger for her, for all of us. But I honestly don’t think they’ll go after the original recipes – other than the way we do now.” Marco explained to the brothers, “If they’re a threat to others, we take them out and put them on the inhibitor. Most of the involuntary extra crispies will be treated the same way, and a few who took the shot under the cover of the quarantine will slip through that little net.” He shook his head. “NTAC is another story. We’re government, but we’re also extra crispies. We know firsthand what decisions have been made and why. How many orders have you carried out that you disagreed with, Diana? How many times have you or Tom, or me for that matter, done an end run around secrecy and policy because we saw the 4400 as people?”

Nathan looked at them. “Do you need an attorney, Marco? I mean, you’ve already paid my retainer.”

Marco smiled. “Would you be willing to take on the government?”

“This could be the way for those of us with genetic abilities to come forward. My daughter and I have both been looking for a way to do it. The last time I tried, I was shot.”

Peter chimed in, “This is too big to decide today. We need to coordinate. At the very least, you should talk to Matt, Nathan. He can let us know whether it’s safe to bring this to Mohinder.” He turned to Diana and Marco. “Can you guys come back tomorrow?”

Marco began to demur, but Diana said, “Of course. What time?”

“Diana, can we miss two days? Won’t it seem suspicious?”

“When I called in ‘sick’ this morning, I called in for you, too. I made it clear that we might be ‘sick’ tomorrow and through the weekend – maybe even on Monday.”

Marco’s eyes clouded for a moment, then he smiled at her a little weakly. “You’re a much better conspirator than I am.”

“It won’t get you in trouble with Abigail, will it? I mean, I thought you and she…”

“No, Diana. Abigail and I aren’t dating any more. It’s fine.”

Peter and Nathan were staring at each other again.

Marco glanced between them. He thought for a moment about the long looks and pregnant silences they had and something clicked. He said, “Which one of you is the telepath?”

“We’ve already seen their abilities. Experienced them, even.”

“Diana, earlier I was willing to believe they might just have some sort of connection because they were brothers. And then I thought… well, that’s not important…”

Peter interjected. “You’re not wrong.”

Marco started. Peter had just admitted they were lovers. “Which means you’re the telepath.”

“One of the three we know of in our group. Matt, the man we mentioned earlier is one and his father is the other.”

“It’s a lot more than telepathy,” Nathan said. “Maury could lock you into your own nightmares. He did it to me. Peter’s done something so that I can send to him or read him anytime I need to. Proximity doesn’t seem to be an issue.”

“I’m still stunned that more than one power is possible.” Diana’s face reflected her words.

Peter said, “It isn’t, not really.”

When Diana and Marco continued to look blank, Nathan continued, “Peter’s power is to absorb powers and retain them. If he gets too many at once, or too strong a power too quickly, he goes into a coma until he’s ready to use it. Sometimes it’s so brief it looks like a faint. One of his earliest ones lasted several days. If you look closely, you can see the grey hair I got from that one.”

There was a shocked laugh from Diana.

Marco came to the rescue. “I asked Diana to bring some syringes with her. With your permission, I’d like to take samples of your blood back to Dr. Burkhoff with the 4400 center. He can run the test for promicin and check for ubiquinone in your bloodstream as well. Your genetic abilities may make you natural immunes.”

“And if we aren’t naturally immune, and we don’t produce it?” Peter was sharp.

Diana said, “Then I recommend you have a functional MRI, if you can. A regular MRI is usually sufficient, but both NTAC and the Center are trying to refine the predictions so the odds are better than fifty-fifty. FMRIs are a first step.”

“What should the techs look for?”

“A corpus callosum that’s either larger than average by at least five percent or a corpus callosum with a greater percentage of neural connections. The latter is the more accurate predictor, but we haven’t worked out the minimum number of connections required.”

Peter thought a moment. “It might not be the number of connections. It could be the type of connections.”

Diana brightened. “If Doctor Burkhoff’s not already working on that angle, I’ll bring it to his attention.” She pulled four capped syringes and several vacuum bottles out of a jacket pocket. “I’m sorry that I’m not better at drawing blood, but I have done it before.”

Peter stood up and wandered toward the bathroom. “I’m a nurse. Let me get my kit, and I’ll do the blood draw. Why four syringes?”

“That’s what Marco requested.”

Marco shrugged. “I thought it would be a show of good faith if we had our blood taken so Doctor Suresh could have a look. I have promicin in my blood, and Diana has the elevated ubiquinone levels that make her immune.”

***

“You trusted him pretty quickly.”

“Who? Marco?”

“He’s the one we’ve been talking to for the past,” Peter looked at his watch, “six hours.”

“I figured you’d tell me if there were something wrong with him. Was there?”

“He’s genuinely scared of what might happen when the quarantine’s lifted. The fear came off him in sheets while he was talking about Guantanamo.”

Nathan raised his eyebrows. “That surprises me. He seemed completely calm. Interested in getting Diana on his side…” He stopped at a snort from Peter.

“He’s in love with her. I got a couple of glimpses from both of them. They’re exes.”

“So. Very interested in getting Diana on his side. Especially if he’s thinking of leaving government service.”

“Were you serious about being his attorney if he decides to blow the whistle?”

“Absolutely. If it turns out our powers come from the same brain chemical, then we have to stand beside the 4400 and the others who are promicin positive – especially the ones who are involuntarily positive.”

“And if we aren’t?”

“If it’s because we’re naturally immune, then I’ll defend him without bringing up our powers. If we’re in the same boat as the general population…”

“We could be worse off. What if our powers don’t even give us the fifty-fifty chance? Any promicin kills us.”

“Is that likely?”

“It’s probably the least likely. I’d like to talk to Mohinder about it. Or rather, I’d like to bring up the possibility and have him talk to Diana or this other scientist about it.”

“Well, if the meeting comes off, you’ll have that chance.”

“Think Matt’s home from work yet?”

Nathan picked up the phone. “Let’s find out.”

***

“Are you certain, Marco? There’s more risk for you in this than anyone else.”

He’d walked them into The 4400 Center to pick up Maia from school. “If Petrelli had been p-positive, I mean he still could be, but, if he’d taken the shot, there would have been different considerations. Since they’re definitely a different strain of power, I think this is the only way.”

“Will you take this public?”

“I don’t know. It depends on how the meeting goes. But if there’s any move to make p-positives less than full citizens, I will blow whistles, bang drums, and scream bloody murder.”

“I’ll be right beside you. My musical ability only extends to comb and tissue paper …” Diana smiled when she got a chuckle out of Marco. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you laugh.”

“With the epidemic, there hasn’t been much to laugh about.” He looked down at the hand he was still holding and dropped it. “You take Maia home, and I’ll talk to Shawn, if he’ll see me.”

“Let me get you in to see Shawn, and then after you’ve talked to him, come to dinner tonight. Maia hasn’t seen you in a while.”

“Sounds good.”

Diana pulled out her NTAC badge and spoke to the guard.

***

Early Friday evening, Peter and Nathan watched as Marco suddenly appeared in front of the row of mirrors in Peter’s entryway. Peter handed Nathan a dollar bill.

Nathan smiled at Marco’s puzzlement. “He didn’t believe me when I told him you’d end up in the laundry basket if he left it there.”

“Ah. Thank you for moving it. That’s the main reason I’m not comfortable teleporting indoors. The parking garage at NTAC is bad enough.”

“What about time travel?”

Marco blinked at him. “I teleport. The couple of experiments the Theory Room has been able to do have indicated that there’s a time lapse between my departure and arrival. Within Seattle, it’s measured in nanoseconds, but I still don’t think time travel is possible.”

“Oh.”

“You two are telepathing again. What’s up?”

“The other teleporters we know are also time travelers.” Nathan looked at his brother.

Peter continued. “Hiro is definitely a time traveler.”

“Well, that may be another proof that we’re not getting our powers from the same sources.” He looked a little stunned. “Time travel.”

“Yeah. He’s seen sixteenth century Japan and about four years into a pretty bleak future. We averted that one, and we think we kept the world from going into the future that I went to.”

“Why do you think that?”

“There aren’t bodies stacked like cordwood anywhere that I know of, and most of New York still seems to be populated.”

Marco looked at Nathan who gave a small nod. “I believe him. There was this virus. By the way, I hope it’s not too early for you to have dinner.”

“I missed lunch. What can I do?”

“Nothing. I’m just fixing pasta.”

***

After putting the plates on the table, Nathan started.  "I spoke to Matt.  He's in favor of anything that gets Mohinder away from the Company.  He's gotten Mohinder to agree to come and listen.  Mohinder's promised not to pass any information along to the Company without permission."  When he caught Peter frowning at him, he continued, "I asked.  Matt didn't use his powers at all."

"You trust him on that?"

"I trust you."

Peter inclined his head and speared a forkful of salad.

Marco looked between them.  "All right, you're talking which is a definite plus after yesterday, but I still feel like I'm missing something."

"Matt's powers are huge.  Anything to do with the mind, he can manipulate.  I'm just worried that he might have manipulated Mohinder."

Marco turned to Nathan.

"Pete knows Mohinder a little better than I do.  I know Matt better.  I don't think Matt would use his powers on Mohinder for a couple of reasons, but Peter's just pointing out, with those types of powers, we can't be sure."

"Well, strictly from my point of view, that covers the essentials.  I've got Burkhoff to agree to meet.  Shawn Farrell and an attorney from The Center will be accompanying him. You have Suresh agreeing to meet.  Just tell me where and what time and we're done."

"You don't sound convinced."

"Things often change when Maia gets involved.” He pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket.  “This is a list of people she says have to be at the meeting.  She also said we'll get a representative from Promise City without inviting anyone."

Nathan looked at the list Marco handed him.  "She's thirteen.  Do you believe her?"

Marco took off his glasses and polished them.  "I don't know anyone named Micah nor do I know why his 'Mom' would need to be there.  From the look on your faces, you recognize the name.  The only person on there that you mentioned yesterday was Matt, and you didn't mention him in the context of the meeting."

"Are her predictions about the future always accurate?"  Peter's eyebrows were raised at the short list Nathan passed to him.

"That's the question.  In this case, the prediction is self-fulfilling.  She gives me a list of names -- names you obviously recognize -- and I'll do my best to get them to the meeting.  So, the prediction comes true.  On the other hand, where do the names come from, if not precognition? The only way we'll know for sure is if we get that Promise City representative she mentioned."

"Forgive me, but it sounds like you've been burned by Maia," Nathan said.

"She's admitted to lying in one extreme case.  She and Diana would not have gotten out of Promise City -- this was before the epidemic so Promise City was more like a bunker -- without violence if she hadn't.  But it's made me suspicious of a couple of other cases of manipulation in her personal life.  Something like this, no, I don't think it can be faked."

Peter persisted. “So, she’s done something to fake you out?”

"Not me.  Not specifically.  But, after Diana broke it off with me, her sister came back into her life with a new man.  There was some bad history between April and Maia.  Maia's a romantic.  She wants her mother to be happy and happy is a boyfriend, at least."  Marco looked at his plate, then resumed.  "I watched Diana, whom I consider to be an honorable person, take her sister's boyfriend because Maia told her they were destined for each other."

"It's hard to see someone you love happy with someone else."  It was Nathan who spoke, but Marco suspected it was Peter reading his emotions, though.

"It was tough.  I thought she was making a huge mistake because I knew her relationship with her sister was fragile.  And she seemed giddy rather than happy, if that makes sense."

"So, did it all work out the way Maia said?"  Peter spoke this time.

"It lasted six months.  There wasn't a wedding, which had been Maia's big prediction.  I called Diana to let her know her sister had been given the promicin shot.  You never know whether someone's taken it, of course, but possession is the only crime that we can make stick."

"She returned to work." Nathan didn’t seem surprised.

"Diana was only supposed to stay until she found April, but, well, she's now temporary director of NTAC."

There was a silence.  Marco noticed the brothers communicating with each other and then Nathan changed the subject as Peter began to clear the table. "There's gelato.  We have hazelnut, pistachio, and chocolate -- all fresh from the place down the street. How about a little of each?"

"Yeah, I'll have some.  Thanks."

Half an hour later, they left Peter with the dishes and climbed to the roof.

"How long's the flight going to be?"

"Don't worry. It’s less than an hour to our place in Nantucket.  And unlike most airlines, I give door to door service."

"Doesn't it hurt having a couple of hundred pounds on your back?"

Nathan motioned, and Marco put his arms around his neck.  "Takeoff and landing are a little problematic.  The flight itself doesn't seem to take any extra energy."  With that, they went straight up into the night sky.
***
The house was dark when they landed on the flat part of the roof.

"A widow's walk?  How old's the house?"

"Don't let a local hear you call it that.  It's a walk, period.  The women were hoping not to be widows."  Nathan answered Marco's grin and found his keys to use on the trap door.  "There are two rooms that date right back to the founding of the Island, but most of the house is mid-nineteenth century."  He opened the door, and stepped down until he could reach a light switch. 

Marco went down the steps to a landing.  Nathan closed the trap door, then passed him and led him down to the ground floor.  "You could stay here tonight if it would be easier.  We have plenty of room."

"No.  It's probably best if I go back to Seattle.  Make it easy for people to contact me."

The ground floor had four doors off a huge entry.  Nathan said, "I thought the entry would hold the most people.  I'll bring in the dining room table and there's also a refectory table on the back porch."

"It's six people from our end with a possible seventh, if Dr. Burkhoff insists on having Tess here." 

Nathan counted on his fingers.  "Eight on my side, plus your Maia said to expect someone from Promise City."

Marco nodded.  "Which could mean two more because whoever comes from Promise City is likely to want either an attorney or official representation."

"You're right.  When did this become so big?"

"I don't know.  Will the two tables hold fifteen?"

"I think we can get by with just the refectory table. There’re leaves."

"Need help moving it?"

Nathan said, "I was just going to let Peter use his telekinesis, but it would probably be easier to negotiate the doorway with two people. He still bangs things occasionally."

"Telekinesis?  Is there anything Peter doesn't do?"

"Laundry."

***

They decided to leave the bulk of the chairs for Peter, but they manhandled the table into the foyer and put in the leaves.

"I was thinking this," Nathan gestured to the mostly empty back porch, "would be the best place for you to walk people in." 

Marco got out his camera and began photographing the room.  "Empty is always good.  So far, I haven't ended up trying to share space with an object, but I have a feeling the object would win."

He took a step backward in the doorway to get one last shot.  "Is ten all right?"

"Could you start a little earlier?  The ferry should arrive at quarter til. So we might be able to get the whole thing started by ten if your party's already here."

"Sure." 

The silence stretched between them.  Nathan slowly leaned in and kissed Marco.

It started almost chaste, but, as Marco recovered from the surprise, he found himself exploring Nathan’s mouth with his tongue.

They stood with their arms wrapped around each other, swaying slightly. "You can stay the night." Nathan gently teased at Marco’s lower lip with his teeth.

"Peter wouldn't mind?"

"Peter's offered to join us, or in my place, if you’d prefer him."

"Whoa.  Not the answer I was expecting."  Marco looked poleaxed.  "I have to say, you're not the first man to make a pass at me, but you're the first I've ever found ... attractive.  Nothing against Peter, but I've never been interested in guys."

"So find out what you've been missing."  Nathan grinned.

"I am so, so tempted.  But the past couple of weeks – especially yesterday – have made me think, I may have another shot with Diana.  I can't screw it up."

"The faithful knight." Nathan stroked his cheek with the back of his hand.

"Well, I'm either a chump, a knight, or a stalker.  Knight seems the best option."  He gave a rueful chuckle.

Nathan made sure he had his full attention. "Marco.  If Diana doesn't come to her senses, the offer's open."

"Good."  Marco reached his hand behind Nathan's head and pulled him in for a lingering kiss.  "Otherwise, I'd regret leaving now."

Nathan laughed and watched as Marco took two steps backward and vanished.

***

Marco walked the people from Seattle onto the currently empty back porch, then went back for another group.  Nathan motioned them inside the house.

The table had been set with a water glass, a pad of paper, and a pen at each spot. There were pitchers of water on the table and thermoses with coffee and hot water at a side board. Diana jumped when Peter appeared out of nowhere with donuts, bagels, and cream cheese.

"Find a place to sit.  The ferry should be landing within the next few minutes so the rest of our group should be here soon."  Nathan looked at Maia.  "Molly and Micah will be attending.  I assume you three would rather find some place to talk without the adults around."

Maia gave him the most assessing look he'd ever had directed at him.  "At first.  But after 11:30 we'll be in here too.  Where do you think would be good?"

Nathan glanced at Diana.  "I know early April's still a little chilly here, but there's the back yard.  Or I can put a couple of chairs and a small table into the sunroom for you."  He gestured behind him.

"Maia?"  Diana got her daughter's attention.

"It's going to be okay, Mom."  She turned to Nathan.  "The sun porch for right now."

Nathan was a little nonplussed.  "Good.  I'll get the chairs."

Marco brought in Shawn Farrell and Kevin Burkhoff and introduced them to Nathan.  "I should only have one more trip for the moment."

Maia answered him.  "Yes.  Promise City will be here later.  You'll probably need to make a trip around one."

"Good to know."  He pulled out a board game that he'd tucked under his arm.  "I meant to bring this the first time.  I know they're predictable for you, but I thought it could be an icebreaker."

Maia ran up and gave him a hug as she took the game from him.  "I love 'Ticket to Ride.'"

"There's a couple of decks of cards, dominoes, and Chinese checkers in the sun room, too."

She nodded at Nathan.  "Thank you, Mister Petrelli.  Don't worry. Your sons will come to live with you when Simon is twelve."  She ran off to the sun room to set up the game.

"Does she do that a lot?"  He looked between a grinning Marco and an obviously amused Diana.

"I think she likes you," Diana said.

Marco nodded and added, "More to the point, she's decided she can trust you not to make fun of her."  He looked around the room then checked his watch.  "I'll go get Shawn's lawyer."

"And Tess.  I won't do this without Tess."  Burkhoff looked like he was scouting the room for escape routes.

"Does she know to come with me?  I don't want her angry." 

Burkhoff gave a small, barking laugh. "She thinks you're cute.  No need to worry."

Both Diana and Nathan found it hard to suppress laughter.

Shawn had his cell phone out.  "If Mr. Petrelli doesn't mind, I'll call her and let her know to meet you in my office."  He hit a speed dial number and turned away from them to speak quietly.

"Thanks.  That'll work better than being cute.  Diana, I'll leave you to make the introductions."  Marco took a couple of steps toward the sunroom and vanished from their sight.

***

Everyone Nathan and Peter had invited made it by the same ferry.  Mohinder and Matt had parked in the driveway, but Claire and Niki had left their rental cars parked on the mainland.

Nathan had a few words with Matt Parkman before they all sat down to the table.

He'd asked Diana to sit to his left and suggested that Peter be about halfway down the table so that, between them, they'd have everyone in their sightlines.

He opened the meeting by saying, "I'm Nathan Petrelli. Thank you all for being here. About forty years ago, my father met Daniel Linderman.  He, Linderman, my mother, and nine other people, founded a company dedicated to making certain that people like them, people with genetic -- well, there really isn't another word for it -- superpowers wouldn't be threatened by anyone.  To do it, they tagged other people like themselves, often against their will, and used the information gained to do further research into the condition.  The one thing they never wanted to do was make our abilities public.  Several of us in the next generation ..."  He stopped at a throat clearing from Claire.  "And the generation following ours, think public disclosure may be crucial, if only to repudiate some of the things our parents -- or grandparents -- may have done.  Last time I tried to do it, I got shot which apparently brought me to the attention of the U.S. government in a new way.  I'm going to ask everyone to introduce himself to the group.  I'm not going to ask anyone what power he has, but if you want to say so, please do.  I am going to ask you identify whether or not you possess a power and which of the four groups at this table you are affiliated with.  Since I just admitted I have a power, I'll say that I want to bring down the company my parents helped found, but I have no formal affiliations beyond that."

He gestured to his left.

***

The introductions went smoothly.  Diana gave a little history of NTAC and mentioned that she had been patient zero for the ubiquinone immunity. 

Marco didn't mention what the cholera epidemic really was -- they'd decided to wait until Mohinder asked or it came up organically in the discussion -- but he did mention his power and defined it as "entering pictures" which finally explained to Nathan why Marco took so many photographs.

The other members of the Seattle contingent took their cue from him and said where they were from, whether they were 4400 or p-positive and what their ability was. 

It was a little disturbing for Nathan to find out Tess was older than he was and that her power was to "make people do things."

Christopher Dubov, the attorney for The 4400 Center could tell whether people belonged together by their scent, and apparently Doctor Burkhoff was a "cured" paranoid schizophrenic who'd dosed himself with promicin until he developed an ability.

Nathan made a note to ask about that later. Maybe he'd talk to Diana or Marco during a break.

Shawn Farrell made no assumptions that people knew about him and explained about the Center, his role, and his healing ability.

Nathan saw that Mohinder's interest was piqued by this. Another note went on his pad, this time to tell Mohinder to look up Linderman's ability.

Mohinder's introduction was disarming. He outlined his father's research and his own path to continuing it.

Niki was next. Her introduction was simple. "I'm strong. I'm with the Company. I'm here as Mohinder's bodyguard, though in this room, I doubt I'd be the winner." She gave Nathan a wry smile and her eyes flicked to Peter before she turned to Matt for his introduction.

Matt took a deep breath and smiled around the room. His words formed directly in all their minds. "This is my power. Today, I'm using it for security. Only people who are supposed to be here will notice that the Petrelli residence is being used."

Nathan received his own mental whisper. "Yes, Nathan, that includes the caterer."

The internal voice continued, "I haven't always been nice about my ability. Like Miss Doerner, I can make people do things. I won't. And if that doesn't comfort you, remember, like Niki, I'm at best the second most powerful person in the room."

The looks on the faces of the promicin crowd were an interesting study. Even Diana and Marco, who'd heard about Matt's ability, looked a little fearful.

Another mental voice cut in. Peter sounded amused as he thought, "Matt, stop scaring people. I was next anyway, so I'll use the same method to introduce myself." At a gesture from Peter, all the water jugs on the table rose and began refilling the glasses in front of the participants. "My power is to absorb other genetic powers. I don't take them away from the people who have them. They share."

The jugs set themselves down. Not a drop had been spilled. Peter touched his glass and frost formed on it. He spoke aloud. "My powers are equal to whomever I've absorbed. If I haven't seen Matt in awhile, I usually get an upgrade when I see him. I'm the reason Niki doesn't think she's the strongest person in the room. She is, of course. Mine can only equal hers. She's trained. I'm not. Therefore, she wins in a fight."

"Like you'd let me get close enough to fight you." Niki was grinning as she said it.

"I'm not that big a fool." Peter smiled right back.

Claire broke the tension. "My turn. All I do is regenerate, but it seems to be a little more than the healing Doctor Burkhoff described as his power. I once cut off my toe, and it grew back. Anything that leaves my brain intact is fine. I've even woken up during my own autopsy which was kind of creepy."

Nathan shuddered a little. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he didn't think he could have handled raising Claire.

There were several empty chairs, and Nathan realized that he'd set up for the kids and the mysterious visitors Maia had described. There were no more introductions to be made.

"Well, then. If there are no questions for anyone …" Nathan looked around the table and saw wariness and wonder. "All right. Doctor Burkhoff, would you mind beginning?"

Burkhoff nodded. "As I've told Diana before, involving a paranoid schizophrenic, even a former one, in a conspiracy is not the smartest thing to do.  On the other hand, I've been living under this quarantine. 

"So.  Blood.  The two samples I was given were too closely related to try and work out a general rule.  Next time, try not to give me two people who share a mother.  However, they do both show an anomaly.  Maybe two.  Both have small amounts of ubiquinone in their blood streams.  Not enough to protect them from promicin.  As a matter of fact, it may only be an indicator that they've taken a regular co-enzyme Q-10 supplement because a cardiologist told them to." He looked between Nathan and Peter questioningly.

"Yes, I do take that supplement."  Nathan said.

"In other words, no real finding.  However, there is something interesting.  Promicin.  But not at a level that would indicate you're promicin positive."

Diana broke in with, "Wait a minute, by NTAC standards someone's either p-positive or they're not."

Burkhoff nodded emphatically.  "That's what makes this so interesting.  When I was first brought in on this research, I only found trace amounts of promicin in the samples I took. Then we learned about the inhibitor.

"Now, if I take blood from a 4400, nearly a twentieth of the sample is promicin.  Say someone took an imperial pint of blood from a 4400.  One ounce of that sample would be promicin -- enough for about three shots on the street.  Of course, if we do it like a plasma donation we can get a lot more, but ... "  He looked around the table and realized he was digressing.  "But to get back on point, these two samples had so little promicin in them I nearly missed it."

"Kevin, you became p-positive by using small injections, much, much less than the street shots, given over a long period of time.  How does promicin work in your blood?"

"Same as any other p-positive, Diana.  I can get two or three ounces of the stuff out of my blood stream with one plasma donation.  With a 4400, you might get four ounces, but, other than Isabelle, I've never seen more."

"And the Petrellis, you'd get what?"

"At a guess, a full plasma donation would net one street shot, maybe less -- about what I got from Isabelle when she was a baby."

Nathan thought.  "So what would happen to Peter or me if we took one of these shots?"

Burkhoff shrugged.  "No idea.  Since you've already got the stuff in your blood, it might not kill you.  But it also might not give you a new ability.  Or maybe it would reinforce the ability you already have somehow. And since you and your half-brother have so little, I can't be sure about your chances without an MRI.  A functional MRI would be even better."

"If you have the facilities, we'll come have them done,"  Nathan said.

Inside his head was a little nudge from Peter.  "Half-brother. Think it's true?  It would explain why Dad didn't like me much."

Nathan communicated back to him.  "If we don't get Mohinder away from the Company we can ask him to check the files.  You know they have to be keeping breeding records."

A faint "Yeah" came back to him.

Burkhoff concluded.  "I'd like to take samples from any of you who have, well, I guess genetic abilities is the right term.  And if any of you can get one of these functional MRIs or even just a regular MRI and have the results sent to me, that would be a great help.  I'm not a chemist, and I'm sure as hell not a geneticist. But before I went crazy, my specialty was neural pathways.  It would be nice to work with them again."

"Thank you, Doctor Burkhoff.  Mohinder?"

"Well, I am a geneticist, so I was a little shaky on looking for a new chemical in the blood.  Mister Pacella's sample seemed to have the results Doctor Burkhoff expected.  This odd chemical showed up in what would be a statistically huge volume.  The other sample, which I believe is Doctor Skouris's had no trace of the chemical, but did show a much larger than usual level of ubiquinone.  Do you take the supplements?"  Mohinder flashed a smile in Diana's direction.

"No.  It seems to be my body's reaction to the same kind of shot schedule Kevin gave himself."

"But the immunity persists."

"Yes.  Essentially, I was vaccinated."

"Fascinating.  If anyone from the p-positive group would be willing to donate blood for my research, it would be extremely helpful. And I'd love the MRI or functional MRI results too."

Shawn nodded. "Anyone in Seattle can come by for an fMRI.  If they give their permission, we'll forward a copy to you.  It may only have a patient number for reference ... "

"Which is fine.  I understand the ethics of sharing patient data."  Mohinder said.  "I assume this means the meeting is over, Nathan.  The drive took longer than the discussion."

Nathan laughed.  "There's more to it, Mohinder, and you know it.  I've made no secret of the fact that many of us would prefer you not to work for the Company anymore."

Peter chimed in, "Not to mention the fact that those of us with genetic abilities may be lumped with the promicin people.  We're in violation of the law by having it in our blood, right, Diana?"

"Not exactly, but right now we operate under the assumption that promicin in the blood stream is evidence you've taken it illegally unless you're a 4400 or from the quarantine zone.  Your results prove that non-4400s who haven't taken the shot can produce promicin too.  It's a major development. It could take time for government policy to catch up."

Mohinder looked puzzled.  "Mister Pacella, if you don't mind, you said you worked for NTAC."

"Yes."

"But you also said you were promicin positive.  It was your blood I was given to examine."

"Yes."

"How are you still working for NTAC?  You've taken an illegal drug, one that your department works specifically to regulate.  Surely, Doctor Skouris should have fired you?"

"I'm sure she's been tempted, but not for this."  Marco checked both Diana's and Shawn's reactions.  "May I?"

Shawn gave a sharp nod. 

Diana said, "Let me. Doctor Suresh, the 'cholera epidemic' you've heard about in the news was actually a viral form of promicin.  Marco is p-positive, but never took the shot."

He looked surprised.  "I see.  It still changes nothing about my employment with the Company."

"Maybe not," Claire said, "but this is the first time I've gotten a chance to really talk to you. Why are Niki and I the only two girls at this table? I know Molly has a power, too, but really, if I look at how many men I know with genetic powers, women seem a little outnumbered."

Peter laughed. "Yeah, but you guys get some really cool ones."

"That's actually one of the questions I've been working on. Using the Company's historical records, I've found you're right. For the first several generations there were no females with powers we could find at all."

Burkhoff smiled widely. "It's like male pattern baldness, isn't it?"

Mohinder's smile answered his. "Got it in one as my father would have said. The marker for abilities is carried on the X chromosome. It takes two X chromosomes with the marker for a woman to manifest abilities, but only one for her to pass it on to half her male offspring. Women will always be less likely to have the abilities for that reason. But there may be some truth to Peter's observation about the 'coolness' factor, too. The powers women get may be stronger, or rather manifest more strongly, than the powers men get."

Everyone was startled when the doorbell rang.

Peter communicated to Nathan. "I'm only seeing one person at the door, but I'm getting something like a second mental impression."

Matt chimed in, mentally, with, "I have the same anomaly. But I think the security Peter and I implemented works. This guy is supposed to be here."

Shawn looked around as the bell sounded again. "Is anyone going to get that?"

Peter went to the door. A pleasant looking young man with a backpack was standing on the porch.

The newcomer said, "My name is Kyle Baldwin. I think Promise City should be at your meeting, Mister Petrelli."

***

In the sunroom, Maia laid out the board and set up the white pieces for herself. She always played white.

There was a great deal of hubbub in the other room as the people who came by ferry arrived. She debated going out, but thought it might seem stronger if she waited for the others to come to her.

Nathan opened the door. "You can sit at the table if you want to, Micah, but this is Maia, one of the original 4400 from Seattle. We thought you might want to stay away from the dull stuff for awhile."

Micah looked at his mom who said, "It's your call, sport."

"If I don't have a computer, I might as well get to know someone new." He held out his hand to Maia. "Micah Sanders."

The adults backed out of the room.

She clasped Micah's hand. "Maia Skouris. Although, if you're going to look up my information on your computer later, you'll probably find most of it under Maia Rutledge."

"So are you a mind reader like Matt?"

Maia looked perplexed for a moment and then smiled. "No. I see the future. I know you're going to look me up because I've already seen that you look me up."

Micah was impressed. "Cool."

The door opened again. Peter was in the doorway with an Indian man and a girl a year or two younger than Maia.

Peter made the introductions and then told Molly that she could stay or join the adults as she pleased.

Molly smiled broadly at Micah. "Good to see you again."

"Yeah, you too."

She held her hand out to Maia who took it. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you."

Once again the adults stepped out of the picture.

"Was that Doctor Suresh?" Maia was curious.

"Yeah. He and Matt are my foster parents."

"Maia just told me she sees the future."

Molly stared at the other girl. "Really. I find people. And he can do anything with electronics."

Maia looked thoughtful. "Do you need to know the people you find?"

"I can find people I know without a map. Otherwise, someone can give me a name, and I can use a map to find that name."

"What if somebody gives you a name like Joe Johnson? How do you know it's the right one?" Maia asked.

"I haven't gotten names confused so far. If someone asks me, I find the right one."

Micah said, "So has Matt or Mohinder tested you for telepathy?"

"Not yet. Don't suggest it to them. I like not being a guinea pig."

Micah turned to Maia. "What about you? Does the future you see always come true?"

"When I was younger, yes, always. But that was because I was on the inhibitor, I think. Only something really strong came through. Now, I see several different things. Like this meeting. I've seen it with several different sets of participants, but the one with what I think is the best outcome had you two here as well as your parents."

Micah pursued the thought. "So what makes you think something is a good outcome?"

Maia looked at both of them. "I see a war. I've always seen a war. It will be here by the time I'm twenty. It might start sooner, but as of this minute, I don't think it will start later. Sometimes, I've seen the government winning. The 4400s and others like us are sent into quarantine. We live and die there. No exit. Sometimes, I've seen us, the 4400, winning. I used to think we'd be better, but we're not. If Jordan Collier wins, everyone who doesn't have a power loses. That might include you guys since your powers don't seem to work exactly like ours do."

Molly nodded. "Are those the only two futures you see?"

"Lately, there's been a third future. The quarantine of Seattle made both of the previous ones more extreme, but this third one has come out of it. People stop looking to Jordan Collier and start looking to The 4400 Center. There are still battles, but they're smaller. There are more compromises, and change is much slower. But the changes still happen. More people have powers, but the ones who don't are penalized and they aren't scared."

"And this meeting determines that?" Micah asked.

"You and Molly determine it," Maia said. "If you two convince your parents to come to Seattle and work with Shawn, the future I see looks much better than either of the ones where the whole world is at war."

Micah and Molly looked at each other and then looked back at Maia. Molly said, "So convince us we'll like Seattle."

They started the game and Maia told them all about the school at The 4400 Center. The idea that virtually everyone at the school, teachers and students, had a power intrigued them.

As the game progressed, Maia could see her words impressing them. She finally stopped and said, "Micah, there's an atlas in that cupboard behind you. Would you bring it here?"

He got up to get it. "Why?"

"Time for a practical demonstration of my power. And I'd like to see how Molly's works."

"Sure." Molly took the heavy book from Micah. "Who should I find?"

"There are two people. Both in the United States. The first is Jordan Collier."

Molly found a map of the continental US and her hand hovered over the page for a moment before settling on Seattle. "There's one. Who's the other?"

"A man named Kyle Baldwin."

Once again, Molly's hand hovered she finally put a finger down in the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Cod. "Let me see if this thing has a map of Massachusetts." She flipped through and found it. Her finger pointed directly to Nantucket Island.

The doorbell rang.

Maia smiled at both of them. "That's Kyle Baldwin."

***

Kyle's arrival made Nathan call a break.  He checked his watch, 11:40; Maia had only been off by ten minutes.  He caught Shawn's eye and motioned him over. 

"What can you tell me about this guy?  What's his power?"

"The first question's a little easier to answer.  He's my cousin.  I've known him all our lives, and he was the one who was supposed to be abducted, or maybe we both were.  They planned to turn him into the communications device from the future to the present.  I threw him out of the beam of light and got taken."

"So he's not a 4400, but he's part of the plan."

Shawn made an odd movement with his head that seemed to be a partial agreement.  "It's complicated.  He's also p-positive.  His power seems to be 'being in the right place at the right time.'  He's done it a few times now.  There's a book of predictions Jordan and his advisor's use. It's one thing Kyle tracked down."

"How?"

"I don't know.  I nearly killed him at one point.  We haven't been as close since he became one of Jordan's followers."

Nathan looked at Shawn more closely.

Kyle interrupted smoothly with a smile on his face.  "What my cousin neglected to mention is that when he nearly killed me, I had committed a crime.  Murder.  I was controlled by the future and killed Jordan during a blackout."  He looked at Nathan and gave a small laugh.  "I know how ridiculous that sounds."

"My brother nearly killed the entire human race because he trusted the wrong person.  Nothing sounds anywhere near as farfetched to me as it would have a year ago."

Kyle continued, "Shawn used his power to take me down to the edge of death.  Whatever was controlling me left me then."

Shawn nodded.  "We both felt it."

"At the time, he hated me for killing his mentor Jordan.  But he didn't kill me, he cured me.  Now he opposes Jordan."

"And you?"

"I think Jordan Collier is our only hope for the future."

"Since you're p-positive, what's your power?"

"What's yours?"

"I can fly."

Kyle seemed taken aback.  He obviously hadn’t expected a response. "My power seems to be having an imaginary friend."  He looked a little distracted, like he was listening to someone else.  "Cassie objects to my characterizing her that way, but essentially there's a person I see and hear who tells me where I need to be to bring about Jordan's future, the right future.  Yesterday, she told me where to find enough money to buy a plane ticket to Providence and then to make my way here."

"Well.  Flying seems normal in comparison."  Nathan smiled at the cousins.  "We should probably call the meeting back to order."

"Actually, Nathan, I was hoping to talk to you."  Shawn seemed diffident.

"Same here," Kyle said.

"Can it wait?"

Shawn said, "Yes," just as Kyle said "No."

Nathan put a hand on Shawn's shoulder.  "Then let's talk at lunch."

"Of course."  Shawn made to leave and acknowledged his cousin with a brief, "Kyle."

Nathan turned to Kyle. "So?"

"I think Jordan Collier should be here."

"You just arrived.  How did you come to that conclusion?"

"If you're talking about the fate of the 4400 and the promicin positive, Jordan Collier is necessary.  There wouldn't be any p-positives without him."

"So I've been told.” Nathan’s face was icy.  “We were actually discussing other issues."

Kyle's face took on the "listening to far off music" expression again.  "Cassie says you're talking about people who have promicin abilities genetically."

"We're talking about genetic abilities.  We don't know their exact relationship to promicin."

"If NTAC and The 4400 Center are here, Promise City needs to be here, too."

"Let me call the meeting back to order.  Bring it as a motion and we'll vote."

Kyle began to protest, but Nathan cut him off by calling everyone back to the tables.

Nathan wasn't at all surprised to find Maia, Molly, and Micah pulling up their own chairs. 

***

They went around the table very quickly introducing themselves. All anyone said was whether they had a power and whether it was genetic or promicin based. They then left the floor open for Kyle.

"Those of you from Seattle know me. Shawn is my cousin. Diana's partner when she was a field agent was my dad. I killed Jordan Collier. When he came back from the dead … " There was a bit of surprise from Mohinder and Niki at one end of the table and Claire, Micah, and Molly at the other.

Kyle nodded. "Yes, he returned. His body had been taken to the future and healed. When he came back, he lived among the homeless at first, and then tried to reclaim The 4400 Center. He found out that a young woman named Isabelle Tyler had given promicin to the government to create super-soldiers. He liberated that promicin and began the street distribution of the drug using his contacts in the homeless community. It was given away, not sold, to anyone who asked. Everyone was told that the odds were fifty-fifty as to whether you lived with a power or died very quickly."

Nathan said, "We'd already heard some of this. Why are you here?"

"I took the shot. Shawn was in a coma, but my power told me to give him a promicin shot, and here he is sitting at the table. Later, I was told to find a group of people who'd left a book in Seattle in the early twentieth century. The book was in code, but it talked about the kingdom Jordan would bring -- one with no global warming, one where we lived in harmony with nature and each other, one where everyone had an ability. Inside the book there was also a list of people who had to take the shot before Jordan's vision of the future could come to pass. My father's name was on it. And so was Mister Petrelli's?"

Diana gave a small laugh. "Which Mister Petrelli? We have two in this room."

For the first time, Kyle looked less than entirely self-possessed. "Oh. Which of you is Mister Arthur Petrelli?"

Nathan's eyes narrowed. "Is there anything on your list that says people who take the shot will survive?"

"What would be the point of their taking it otherwise? How could they bring about the future if they don't survive?"

There was a nudge on the channel Peter shared with him.  "How did Dad kill himself?  I just figured we bribed the coroner to cover up a gunshot."

"No.  Injection.  We never did trace what drug."

"Promicin?"

"It would make sense, both as an answer to Kyle's list and why no one was expecting his death. Let me do the talking on this one?"

"No.  They're expecting you.  Let me play emotional little brother."  Nathan could feel the smile through the connection.

Peter turned toward Kyle. "So what you're telling me is that my father might not have committed suicide.  Jordan Collier could have killed him."

Kyle's reply was mild, but there was a little bit of panic in his eyes.  "The odds are fifty-fifty.  No one is supposed to distribute the shot without telling potential p-positives the odds."

Marco said, "But that's why the dead from this shot are disproportionately poor or sick, right?  The rich and healthy don't feel the need for superpowers.  They're also disproportionately young.  Most older people don't feel the need either, although there are exceptions across the board." 

Nathan nodded.  "Dad certainly skews your data -- if it was promicin.  Would we be able to tell with an exhumation?"

Doctor Burkhoff responded.  "No.  Within a week of taking the shot, you might be able to tell.  Certainly there are usually external signs -- bleeding from the eyes, nose, and ears being the most conclusive.  If someone thought to save the syringe, that could tell you."

Nathan made a few notes and acknowledged Burkhoff's help.

Kyle interjected.  "You're making accusations based on incomplete knowledge.  Jordan Collier needs to be here to explain.  Shawn has his own agenda now, and NTAC never trusted Jordan.  Why shouldn't those of you new to this debate hear from him directly?"

Mohinder chimed in, "It seems fair.  If you're trying to convince me to work on this new possibility for non-genetic powers, then surely I need to hear all sides of the argument."

Maia looked at Nathan and whispered, "Told you."

Nathan leaned in conspiratorially. "Then you can tell me whether Marco is bringing back two people or just one?"

"Just Jordan.  If Mohinder's interested, then the contracts can be written up later."

"If Mohinder's interested, I'll help write them up."  Nathan whispered. 

In his normal voice, he asked, "Marco, would you mind inviting Mister Collier for lunch and a meeting?  You can tell him anything you need to about our discussions this morning."

The front bell rang. It was one o'clock; the caterers had arrived.

Nathan broke the meeting for lunch. After everyone had started to eat, Nathan found Marco.

"Are you up for another trip to Seattle and back?"

"Yeah. I've used my ability more today than I ever have before, but I seem to recover from the energy expenditure pretty quickly. Just let me finish this sandwich, and save me one for when I get back." Marco smiled warmly. "By the way, Kyle's coming with me to convince Jordan."

"I take it you don't like this man."

"He has a great deal of charm and personal charisma -- the kind they say can sell ice to Eskimos. But I think he deliberately duped his followers in the early days of the 4400s return, and that he's been feeling a little messianic since he came back from the dead."

Nathan nodded. "It's weird, I can tell you that. Is this going to keep Mohinder from listening?"

"I'm more worried in the other direction: he'll listen to Jordan and not to Shawn."

***

While Marco and Kyle were gone, Nathan suggested that everyone take an hour to go for a walk or find a comfortable chair for a nap before they resumed the discussion.  People wandered off together. 

Peter was chatting comfortably with Claire and Niki.

Shawn wandered up to Nathan.  "Is now good?"

"Sure, what can I do for you?"

"It's the other way around.  When I shook hands with you, I felt a great deal of past pain."

Nathan shook his head.  "The bullets left my body when I had the transfusion from my daughter.  Everything healed as good as new."

"Everything healed as good as old.  I don't know how you got your scars.  I don't know how anyone comes by their injuries or illnesses unless they tell me.  But I know that you have chronic pain from whatever caused them."

"Better a little pain than a lot of death."

"I can take it away."

"Two transfusions from regenerators haven't done it."

"I don't pretend to know how any of this works.  With the exception of the elementary school crowd, I'm the least educated person here.  But I know my ability will take it away.  If you want me to do it."  Shawn looked at him appraisingly.  "You wouldn't be the first person to say no.  When people have been living with something for a long time, it can be hard to let it go."

"Even pain?"

"That's my limited experience."  Shawn smiled.

Nathan smiled back at him.  "What do I need to do?"

Shawn held out both arms, palms up.  "Just give me your hands."

Nathan looked at him, looked at his hands, then placed his own in Shawn's.

***

Marco brought Kyle and Nathan back. A quick mental greeting from Peter let them know the break would last for another half hour or so. Kyle and Jordan grabbed sandwiches and wandered out the door for a walk around the island.

Marco looked around for Nathan, and saw him deep in conversation with Shawn. He thought about his strategy for a moment and wandered over to Micah.

"Maia tells me you're a computer whiz."

Micah looked him over.  "She says you're one too."

"My doctorate used a lot of computer modeling for statistical analysis.  I'm a fair programmer, but I'm mostly an analyst.  Now my colleague Brady -- he was a hacker."

Micah thought it over.  "I don't exactly hack.  Computers communicate with me.  And they'll mostly do what I tell them to, if I can connect to them."

Marco nodded.  "Can you find information?"

"If the system has internet access or is hooked in to another computer, I can go in and look.  But I leave tracks.  It's not like telling an ATM to give me money or the traffic lights to change colors."

"All right, I think your ability rivals mine in coolness.  I'd love to change the traffic lights when I'm driving." Marco was grinning at the thought.

"Why are you asking about this?"

"Let me answer a question with a question.  What did you think about Kyle's description of Jordan?"

"If what he said is true that guy could be scary."

"Yeah.  Scary enough that you'd be willing to look at his files?"

Micah met his eyes and nodded.  "I can get some help if we need to keep it untraceable."

"All right.  I'm going to give you my password and ask you to get three memos from NTAC.  Can you keep those from being traced?  If you can't, it's okay.  I'll take the consequences."

"But you'd rather not have to."

"What can I say?  I don't think the climate at Guantanamo would agree with me."

"You got a PDA?"

Marco pulled out a Palm Pilot.

"Mom confiscated mine." Micah took Marco's and said, "First, let me introduce you to someone."

He closed his eyes and an instant messaging screen opened.  There was no logo, but the screen name ComputerBoy showed up with the message: Hey, Wireless, you busy?

Wireless:  Not too busy for you.

ComputerBoy:  Make a note of this computer.  It belongs to a friend.

Wireless:  And what does this "friend" want?

ComputerBoy:  Access to a place called Promise City.  He needs to know if there were any internal memos before 2007 referring to a rapid spread of 4400 abilities.  Could be a virus.  Could be injection.  Could be something else.

Wireless:  That was easy.  I have two and they are now on your computer. 

ComputerBoy:  Can you check The 4400 Center?  Earlier timeframe?

Wireless:  There are a couple.  I've added them.  Anything else?

ComputerBoy:  Let me put Marco on.

The screen name TheoryOne popped up and Marco did a double take.

Micah said, "Give her the information."

Marco's typing was much slower than Micah's direct communication.

TheoryOne:  Hi.  I'm marco. Marco Pacella.

Wireless:  My name is Hana Gitelman.  Good to meet someone else fighting the good fight.

TheoryOne:  How would you know that?

Wireless:  I read the memos when I put them in your computer.  This Collier guy seems dangerous.

TheoryOne:  That was fast.

Wireless:  Have Micah explain about me sometime.

TheoryOne:  Maybe we can talk for ourselves later.

Wireless:  That could work, too.  Now, what do you need?

TheoryOne:  Government hacking.  I can give you my access codes, but I don't want them knowing it was me if it can be helped.

Wireless:  No one can tell when I touch a file.  Parameters, please?

TheoryOne:  There should be at least three memos.  One with my signature from about mid-2004, one from Diana Skouris from late 2005, and one from Dennis Ryland.  I don't remember when his came out, but probably just after mine. 

Wireless:  Next time, ask for something hard.

TheoryOne:  I didn't give you my information.

Wireless:  Didn't need it.  All three are on your computer now.

TheoryOne:  Thanks.  I hope I won't need to ask for something like this again.  Is there anything I can do for you?

Wireless: Call me sometime.  Say bye to Micah.

The IM screen closed. 

Micah held his hand out for Marco's computer.  "Let me go tell Nathan's printer to handle this."

"If he has a wireless printer, then ... "

"He doesn't.  That's why you need me."  Micah gave a grin and wandered off.

***

Jordan's arrival had polarized the room.

For awhile, there had been a feeling like lightning waiting to strike for awhile. It appeared Marco was going to be the current.

Peter apparently caught Nathan's thought, because he played with electricity between his fingers for a moment.

Jordan stopped what he was saying and stared at the dancing sparks. Finally he broke away and began to speak again. "I firmly believe the 4400 were sent back to save the world.  Promicin is the next step toward humanity's better future. Most of us have developed powers that link us to either the Earth or each other.  The powers themselves are beneficial."

"Beneficial."  Diana's incredulity was palpable.  "The very first person with a power we found was Orson Bailey who caused vibrations so intense they fractured a man's skull.  That was a 4400, not someone who developed a power after taking a shot."

Marco picked up the thread.  "Our original take at NTAC was that the future was attempting to harness the ripple effect.  The man killed, for instance, was embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars.  His death allowed the peculation to be discovered before it could cause a financial problem that might trigger a worldwide depression."

"More than that," Shawn said, "Beneficial is one side of the power.  Most of us, at least among the 4400s, have flippable, for lack of a better term, powers.  Everyone knows I can heal.  Very few realize I can kill.  It's two sides of the same power."

"You see, it's the individual use to which a power is put -- the free will of the user -- that determines whether a power is good or bad."  Jordan made it sound like this had been his original point.

"Free will is fine.  I'm a fan of free will.  Why did you use yours to put promicin on the street?"  Marco asked.

"I made certain that anyone who distributed promicin explained about the 50-50 chance.  People were less likely to be afraid of us, if they were able to become like us."

"Why not wait, Jordan?"  Shawn was pleading with his former mentor.  "Doctor Burkhoff was working on a test.  He'd done experiments to see if vaccination would work for the half of the population that would die from a full dose.  You could have waited."

"I saw the future:  the haves versus the have nots.  A giant walled city with people on the inside having everything and those on the outside dying from poverty.  Waiting -- when the path to prevent that was so clear -- just wasn't an option."  Jordan's voice was quietly intense.

"How did releasing promicin to the general population prevent that?"  Mohinder Suresh spoke directly to Jordan for the first time.

There was a little gleam of satisfaction in Jordan's eyes as he explained.  "The people outside the wall were dying from the effects of global warming.  What man has done to the ecology of the planet ... "  He trailed off.  "But most people with promicin abilities have an effect on the environment.  There's one young woman -- I don't know if the founding of Promise City made the news on the East Coast, but, if it did, you saw her clean a polluted stream from something poisonous to potable."

"So you're saying the 4400 and others with promicin abilities will help the rest of us live more harmoniously with nature.  Perhaps, like this woman, they can help correct our species' past mistakes."  Mohinder sounded thoughtful.

"Exactly.  We've made part of the Sahara fertile."

"And yet, it came across like a terrorist threat," said Diana.

"Of course, all this ecological restoration works faster with a smaller population, right?"  Marco cut cleanly into the conversations. "Even without giving people abilities, promicin reduces the population. With fewer people competing for the resources left, maybe no walls need to be built."

"Marco, I made certain no one would give out the shot without telling people what the risks are.  People can choose for themselves.  Maybe they think the risk is worth it."

"I didn't choose for myself. I watched a colleague die in front of me in less than two minutes. His last words were, 'I didn't even take the shot.'" Marco focused very intently on Jordan. "Those of us left had to check every part of the building for the bodies of our friends. Any flat surface was used as a stretcher. NTAC was lucky enough to be in a building with a morgue. What about the buildings that didn't have the facilities? In all the careful planning you did, Jordan, did you think to provide enough gravediggers?"

"Do you think I wanted a tragedy like the one that befell Seattle to happen? Do you think so little of me, Marco?"

"Answer one question for me, Jordan, where did you come up with fifty-fifty odds? Because the relation of bodies to living people at NTAC was closer to two-thirds dead."

When the tension in the air between Jordan and Marco became overwhelming, Nathan called a break. Marco leaned toward him. "Think it's okay for me to take a walk outside?"

"I'd like to ask Peter to monitor you. I can't tell about Kyle, but Jordan makes the hackles stand up on the back of my neck."

"Yeah. Tell him to leave me alone with my thoughts, though."

Nathan gave a small chuckle. "Don't worry. Peter hates mind reading."

Marco nodded and walked straight out the front door.

Nathan scanned the room and finally found Diana.

She smiled when she saw him coming toward her. "Well, Marco has certainly been giving this a lot of thought. I had no idea he was so passionate about promicin distribution."

"Marco strikes me as passionate about a great many things." Nathan saw Diana blush a little.

"He's apparently somewhat indiscreet."

"You both were." When Diana shot him a puzzled look, Nathan continued, "Pete got flashes of past relationship off of both of you the other day. Nothing big, just enough to know you were once an item."

"Telepaths. I thought the worst I had to deal with was my bosses tapping my phones."

"'O brave new world to have such creatures in it.'"

Diana gave a rueful laugh. "Was there something in particular you wanted?"

"I want to talk to Maia. I may have to play Perry Mason a bit."

"I want to be there."

"Yes. That's why I came to you first."

Diana acknowledged him, and they went off to find Maia.

She was standing looking out one of the windows in the sunroom. "You want to ask me about Ben."

"What?" Diana was on the verge of anger.

Nathan just said quietly, "Yes. I think so. I didn't know his name."

Maia gestured to the chairs left over from the earlier game and sat across from them. She looked from one to the other.

Finally, Diana asked the first question. "Did you lie about Ben and me?"

Maia nodded. "He was going to break up with Aunt April anyway. I wasn't doing it to get back at her."

"Which isn't really the point. Why did you say you saw us married?"

"Because that was the only way I could see us leaving Seattle. I didn't think we'd get to go to Europe, but I wanted us away from NTAC and everything."

"Do you want me to quit my job once the quarantine's lifted?" Diana looked like she was seriously considering it which intrigued Nathan.

"It's too late. We can't avoid it. Though I hope with Nathan and Mohinder helping ... "

"Maia, are you talking about the war?"

She fixed her mother with a hard look. "You know what I'm talking about. You read my diary."

"No, she glanced through it -- enough to know you were still having visions." Diana and Nathan both started at the sound of Marco's voice. "She knew the information might be important, so she turned it over to me. I made a phony copy to put in the files at NTAC, but I later, I had to provide the transcriptions of the original that I had on a thumb drive at home."

"I don't want you to die."

Marco crossed the room and knelt by her chair. "Everybody dies, Maia. Mine may be heroic. As I told your Mom, it's kind of cool."

Maia threw her arms around him and began crying against his neck.

Diana was puzzled. "But why did we need to be out of ... Oh. I see. Our being there might cause Marco’s death."

Maia turned to look at her mother, "You liked Ben. I thought it would all be okay."

"Lying. To me. You played with people's emotions, and you made decisions that weren't yours to make." Diana's voice was crisp.

Crying harder, Maia turned to Marco and said, "You understand."

"Sure. But that doesn't mean I don't agree with your Mom on this one." She sobbed harder without easing her grip on him. Marco continued, "Maia, look at me." When she did, he said, "I'm just glad I didn't have superpowers at your age. I'd probably still be grounded."

There was a hiccupping giggle in the middle of one of Maia's sobs. Nathan looked around the room. "I'll leave you guys to it. I found out what I wanted to know. Ten more minutes and then I'll call it back to order."

Marco nodded his thanks as he pulled Maia more securely onto his lap.

Nathan thought about it. In some contexts those same actions might seem odd or even creepy, but Marco, who was younger than Peter for heaven's sake, just seemed paternal.

He was stopped at the doorway by Diana touching his sleeve. "Thank you for the extra time. No woman wants to look like she's been crying."

Nathan nodded. "No problem. Anything to reduce the tension." He started to leave, and then took her hand and looked over at Marco. "You don't strike me as a fool."

She glanced over at her daughter and Marco, then inclined her head to indicate they should walk out of earshot.

"Nathan, I don't know you all that well, but it's different for a woman. If you dated someone thirteen years younger, people would barely blink."

"If public opinion is what's stopping you, I take it back. You are a fool."

Diana looked like she'd been slapped.

Nathan softened his tone. "Look, emotions can't be made to order. Attraction, love, passion, none of it is sensible. So if you just think of him as a friend, great. Tell him. Work on the friendship. But I've only known you for two days. When you're not taking notes, you're looking at him. You guys communicate like Peter and me, and neither of you is a telepath. With Maia, the three of you behave like a family. She seems to think of him like a father."

"Right now, I'm his boss. It just wouldn't be appropriate."

"He's smart enough to find a new job if that's all that's standing between you."

Diana nodded. "I'll help you refill the water pitchers before we come back to order."

Nathan allowed the change of subject and showed her the way to the kitchen.

***

Jordan resumed where he'd left off as if there hadn't been any break in the proceedings. "I can see all of you are impressed by Marco's baseless accusations, but I can assure you I never planned for the Seattle disaster to happen."

Nathan was a little surprised when Micah's hand went up, but he gestured to him. Unlike the adults, Micah stood to speak. "That's not true. I have three memos -- one from when you were head of The 4400 Center before promicin was even discovered and two from before Promise City was founded -- that indicate you were hoping someone would find a way to mass distribute what you called '4400 powers'."

Jordan looked directly at him. "How old are you?"

"Twelve. What does that have to do with anything?"

Niki looked very amused and both Marco and Nathan were hiding their mouths behind their hands.

"No such memos exist."

"They were on your server. They have your electronic headers."

"So you're a thief."

"Come from a long line of them." Micah didn't back down. "I also have three NTAC memos, one written by Diana, one written by Dennis Ryland, and one by Marco, all of which predict potential disasters similar to this one. Diana's even mentions that she and Tom talked to you about the possibility."

Nathan wrote on his pad and slipped the note over to Marco. It read, "Is this what you were talking to him about?"

Marco nodded.

***

Nathan called an end to the meeting. "Mohinder, I know Shawn would like to make you an offer. I assume Jordan would like to as well. Why don't you meet with Jordan in the sunroom, first? Then listen to Shawn. You don't have to decide right away."

Mohinder answered, "Thank you Nathan." He looked at Jordan Collier, "Shall we?" And he, Jordan, and Kyle closed the door to the solarium behind them.

***

Niki was listening to her son ask to move to Seattle. "Mom, I know you feel like the Company has helped you, us. Maybe it has. But The 4400 Center has a school for people like me. We could be together, instead of me in New Orleans and you in New York."

"I have to do what Mohinder decides." Niki hugged her son. "Technically, if he chooses not to work for the Company, I'm supposed to bring him back as a prisoner. But I won't. I'll go where he goes because I think he has good instincts."

"If I can convince Shawn, will you let me live in Seattle instead of New Orleans?" Micah pled.

"No." Niki was firm. "Not while there's still a quarantine. But once the quarantine is lifted we can talk about it."

***

Nathan could hear Claire talking to Doctor Burkhoff and wandered over. "So, if I take this promicin shot, I know it won't kill me.  Right?  I regenerate.  Does that mean I'll develop a new ability?  Like flying?" Peter and Shawn joined the group of people around her.

"Don't be silly.  People can't fly."  Burkhoff took in the looks of the non-promicin people around him.  "One of you flies?"

Peter chimed in.  "Three of us fly -- well, two in this room.  My brother..." and he mentally inserted 'half' in front of the word, "me because I absorb other powers, and the one who's not here is Claire's ex-boyfriend."

"What a useless ability."

Nathan said, "Don't knock it.  It's great for fast getaways."

Shawn chimed in. "What are the limits on your abilities, Claire?"

"I recover from anything that doesn't take out my brain. That includes dying."

"Well, I can heal just about anything, but I couldn't heal Devon when she took the shot. It's fast."

"Not to mention," Peter began, "the description we got earlier makes it sound like the brain's involved. Bleeding from the eyes, ears, and nose? There's got to be brain involvement."

"But I'd have you two backing me up. Don't you have the ability to heal others as well as regenerate, Peter. And Shawn, my ability would probably slow the effects down enough that your ability would have time to work."

Shawn said, "I'm not a scientist, Claire."

Peter looked at her determined expression. "Doctor Burkhoff is working on a test, right? Something easier than the fMRI."

Burkhoff nodded, but remained silent.

Peter turned back to Claire and continued. "Wait. You or I would be the perfect guinea pig for the test when it's ready. If there's a problem we heal, and Shawn's there, too, as back up."

Shawn caught Peter's eye and thought very deliberately. "She won't try it alone, will she?"

Peter smiled as he listened to the thought. "No. Not at the moment." He placed the thought carefully in Shawn's consciousness.

Aloud he said, "Claire. I could stop you from even thinking about doing it alone. Please don't make me attend your funeral." Peter ran his thumb over her jaw.

She kissed him quickly on the cheek. "Next time, play fair."

Nathan felt a gentle tap on his shoulder as he watched this exchange. Shawn's attorney, Dubov, motioned him over to the sideboard for a cup of coffee. "Mister Petrelli, I can tell when people belong together, but I can also smell relationships."

"All right." Nathan was instantly wary.

"The young lady talking to your brother … well, the two of them together have the tightest bond I've ever smelled. They are life mates. I can also tell she's your daughter."

"Biologically. They didn't know, none of us knew, about the relationship when they first met."

Dubov nodded. "I won't say anything, but I thought you should know. It will come. You and your brother's relationship is also intended."

"Yes. Well. That's definitely not for public consumption." Nathan paled.

"I won't say a thing. I thought you should be aware that I knew. Whether or not we end up as allies, it seemed fair."

Nathan nodded. "I appreciate it more than I can say. And I'll tell you right now. Shawn Farrell has impressed me. I don't know if Mohinder will leave the Company, but I can tell you that the Petrellis will stand by The 4400 Center should it be necessary." He thought a moment. "Have you been near Diana and Marco at the same time?"

The other attorney smiled. "No. I met Doctor Skouris a couple of years back with her field partner. They smelled of friendship only. I don't usually find it necessary to tell people about that."

Nathan motioned to Diana and Marco to join them for a cup of coffee.

***

When the door finally opened, Kyle and Jordan didn't look terribly happy. They walked over to the sideboard. As Dubov went over to join Shawn, Jordan turned to Diana, Marco, and Nathan, "No decision has been made yet. Doctor Suresh has promised to let us know by the end of the week. Marco, will you bring him to us if he decides in our favor?"

Marco gave a sharp nod. "Of course. I'll respect his decision."

"Thank you. We may disagree, but I think you're an honorable man."

"I appreciate that. Would you like me to return you to Promise City?"

"Yes. Kyle, will you come home?" Jordan held out his hand to the younger man. Kyle took it.

"Let's go out to the porch." As they passed Diana, Marco said, "I'll be back in five minutes. If I'm not, I'll call."

"If you're not, I'll send Peter for you."

Jordan's lips twitched. "Understood, Diana."

Marco took their hands and after two steps disappeared with them startling a couple of people who hadn't seen it earlier.

Claire turned to Peter. "It always seems more abrupt when you and Hiro do it."

"I think it's because we can time travel, and he can't."

"Cool."

***

Shawn and his attorney found Molly Walker joining them as they entered the sunroom.

Mohinder asked, "Molly?"

"I want to make certain Shawn tells you all about the school they have. I'd get to learn with Maia and lots of other kids who have abilities."

Mohinder turned to Shawn. "Did you put her up to this?"

"No. I hadn't planned to say anything about the school other than that it's free to anyone who works at the Center." Shawn looked abashed.

"Maia told me about it. She thinks Shawn's future looks better than Jordan's. Or NTAC's." Molly was defiant.

"Well, Shawn. Tell me all about The 4400 Center, and pay special attention to the school."

***

Matt, Mohinder, and Molly offered Niki and Micah a ride to the ferry so they could pick up their car. Nathan saw them off, and Niki turned to him with genuine warmth. "I've already told Micah, I'll follow Mohinder's example as far as the Company goes."

"I'm glad to hear it." He kissed her cheek. "It's good to see you well."

She beamed back at him, then walked with Micah and Molly to the car.

Mohinder took Nathan's hand. "Doctor Burkhoff is fascinating. This whole phenomenon is astounding. I promise I'll let everyone know my decision by the end of the week. I think you were right to call this meeting."

"Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you." Nathan released Mohinder's hand and clapped Matt on the shoulder. "If he goes to Seattle, what does that do to you?"

"They need police desperately. Having powers won't matter, and I might start as a Sergeant. Fast track to promotion and no tests."

"Sounds good, Matt."

He waved them off. When he went back in Nathan found Marco had already returned Doctor Burkhoff and Tess to Seattle too.

"If you can wait just a moment, Marco. I'd like to talk to Shawn for a second and then to you and Diana."

"Sure."

Shawn smiled when he came back and sat down to talk to Maia.

Nathan said, "I asked Shawn if he'd like to take Maia to the Center for the night. Give you two a chance to be alone together here. There's plenty of space, or if you feel like you need more privacy, there's a carriage house out back. It's set up as a full guest house."

Diana and Marco hadn't spoken much since they'd been told they smelled right together. Marco began, "Do you trust Shawn to babysit overnight?"

"Over two nights, if he and Nathan don't mind. I told them at the office we might not be back until Tuesday." Diana teased him a little bit.

"In that case, want to stay in the carriage house?" Marco looked both pleased and shy.

"Let's." She whispered in his ear. "I plan to make a lot of noise."

Diana walked over to tell Shawn and Maia what the plans were.

Nathan turned to a blushing Marco and said, "Good choice. Claire's staying overnight with us here in the main house."

Marco raised his eyebrows at that.

Nathan continued. "Peter and I don’t like to sleep apart, but we aren't incapable of it. Claire will probably be told one day, but not until she's older."

"Got it. Thank you for trusting me."

"Yeah. That offer's still good." Nathan grinned.

Diana came back. "What offer is that?"

"I told Marco I was serving blueberry pancakes at nine tomorrow morning and don't be late."

Nathan turned to Marco. "Seriously, I think from the discussions we've had today, we're going to have to confront the government about civil rights for p-positives. I hope you're ready to be the face of the fight. It means those of us on the genetic side have to come forward too. We can plan strategy over breakfast tomorrow."

Diana smiled. "As long as it waits until tomorrow. Tonight, we should all just relax." She glanced at Marco and continued, "Shawn and Maia are ready to go. See you in five minutes."

"Yeah."

"I'm ordering pizza. Veggie all right? Peter doesn't do meat."

"Sounds great." Marco took Maia and Shawn by the hand and walked them back to Seattle.