January

Pinehearst Research, Fort Lee, New Jersey

Doug looked around the conference room. It was filled with faces, some familiar and others that weren't. I see Maury, that new girl Val, Daphne, Knox and Flint. I'm not seeing Elle anywhere, though. And where's Gray?

Choosing the only open seat, beside Val, he leaned over to the leather clad woman. "Any idea what's going on?"

She shrugged. "Not sure. I figure he'll tell us when he shows up."

"And I will." Arthur walked through the door, nearly making Doug jump out of his skin. Val laughed quietly at his surprise.

Approaching the head of the table, Arthur looked around. "Seems like everybody's here who should be. Some I've already discussed this with, and others won't be involved." Smiling coldly, he sat down in the plush chair reserved for him. "Pinehearst has gone global. We have positive media coverage in every country, and we have the backing of the most popular politician in recent history. We're making money hand over fist leasing the test we developed last month to the government as well as selling the serum to the general public." Of course, for every test there's a cheat. And we're making a fortune with that on the black market, as well as selling variations of the serum on the black market. But there's no need to tell them that. "Not to mention, there's talk of using Pinehearst personnel, who have proven themselves reliable, in the special force designed to contain those Enhanced Humans who refuse to register. In other words, as far as America and most of the world is concerned, we're golden."

Smiling coldly, he leaned forward. "The problem is there are currently two companies in America. There's only room for one. We have been attacked by Primatech repeatedly. Just yesterday, our IT people barely stopped a targeted virus from destroying everything we've worked for in these halls. We recently lost a team of Black Coats while on a field mission. Evidence indicates Primatech was responsible for that as well." And I'm still pissed off about that necessity. But some of these will hesitate to do what is needed if they don't see a clear threat. Walker and Nikita could've been good Black Coats, but the greater good demanded their sacrifice. "If we don't eliminate them, they'll eliminate us."

Flint leaned forward, an unhealthy gleam in his eye. "Whaddya need, boss?"

Arthur glanced at Maury. "I need you to pay a visit to Sabine Hazel. We need everything she knows about Pinehearst."

Maury looked nervous. "She'll have had training in blocking a telepath."

Arthur just stared at him. "That wasn't a request, Maury. It was an order. If you have to, give her a dose of Ketamine if you have to, but get inside her head."

Maury hesitated for another minute, and then left the room. Daphne watched him leave with a puzzled expression on her face. "What, exactly, are we going to be doing?"

"As I said, they want to eliminate us. They've already opened this little war. We're going to retaliate, and we're going to win."

Cal raised her hand tentatively. "Mr. Petrelli?"

"Yes, Miss Drake?"

"Not to be a pain in the ass, but how do you plan on taking out something as huge as Primatech. They have at least a thousand agents running around, and no less than a dozen facilities."

Arthur leaned back and flashed a quick smile. "I know. After all, I helped build the Company into what it is today. The truth, however, is that it won't very difficult. At least not as difficult as the numbers make it sound.

"The overwhelming majority of Primatech's offices around the country are staffed by agents who, though capable enough, are never going to rise further within the Company. Primatech could lose almost all of those offices and agents, and they wouldn't even blink. Within a month, the staff would be replaced and within a year the offices would be rebuilt."

A calculating grin crossed his face. "But there are three primary facilities without which the other offices would soon die." Pushing a button on the desk in front of him, a projector turned on behind him. "The first is the facility in Hartsdale, New York. Not only is it the central office, the hub, of the Company, where you will find the highest ranking members when they're not in the field, it also contains the primary containment facility." Nodding at Knox and Flint, he smiled. "It is there you will find the infamous Level Five. Where Primatech holds what it feels to be the most dangerous of its captured Enhanced Humans." Waving at a pair Doug didn't recognize, he smiled. "Allow me to introduce to you another couple who escaped that fine facility. Tina Ramierez and Michael Fitzgerald." Losing the smile, he continued. "If we take out that facility, a large percentage of the Company's records will be permanently lost, and there will be an immediate shortage of manpower for them to draw on."

Pushing another button, he moved to the next facility. "This one is in Odessa, Texas. It may not look like much, but it is literally the second most important facility Primatech has. It contains the primary research and development facility. Everything Primatech discovers is stored there. Until recently, they had the most dangerous virus ever created housed in that facility. There are countless other viruses and diseases, even cures for almost every conceivable illness, stored in a vacuum sealed vault in the sub-basement of the facility. There are many artifacts stored there as well. This facility is always run only by the single most trusted and reliable supervisory agent the Company has. It is staffed by agents that man, or woman, picks. They are always the best the Company has to offer." Leaning forward Arthur drove his point home. "If you think of Primatech as an army, the agents working at and running this facility would be the equivalent of the Rangers or Delta Force. Absolutely the best. Take that facility out, and you deal a nearly fatal blow to Primatech."

Leaning back, he pushed the button again and pulled up yet another facility. "This facility is in San Diego. It is only slightly less important than the other two. It's the building from which Primatech runs its most important operations. It is always run by the man, or woman, who is second in command to whoever is running the Company at the time. When Linderman was in charge, he had Sakamoto running things. When Bob was in charge, his protégé Gael Cruz ran it. Now that Angela's in the main chair, we have no idea who is in charge. It may be Gael still. She always worked well with him. The important thing is whoever's running the San Diego facility doesn't need to check in with the leader of the Company. They run all operations the way they believe they should be run. The only times they must check in with the head of the Company are when something they're running has the real risk of revealing the existence of EH's and the Company to the world, when they require additional personnel, or when they need to open one of the cash reserves. Take them out, and you cripple operations within the Company."

Turning off the projector, he stood. "Understand this; taking out any one of those facilities hurts the Company badly, nearly to the point of destruction. Taking out all three kills the Company completely. If we do this right, we can either sit back and watch as the sundered branches of Primatech wither and die, or we can pick them off at our leisure. "

Doug raised an eyebrow. "Sounds great, boss. If they're coming after us, I say we take them down and do it hard. The only problem I'm seeing is how and when."

Arthur nodded quickly. "You will be split into three teams. Each team will be given one of the facilities as a target. The teams will be chosen to best combine stealth, power and skill. Assignments will be handed out in the following days. The attacks will take place next month."

Lima, Peru

Santiago Urbina stood at the front of the cathedral. It had been an interesting, and tumultuous, relationship. It started the day he discovered he had an ability. Accelerated Probability, I think she called it.

That very day, he had encountered a woman on the way home. Less than ten minutes later, he found out he wasn't the only one with a special power. That was followed by being abducted and taken to Elisa's employer, a woman who was willing to do anything to force his cooperation. Not the greatest start to a relationship.

Within the next several days, his world had turned completely upside down and inside out. Elisa had helped him escape, betraying the Company she worked for. His father, who had supposedly died years ago, returned and killed the woman chasing them.

Slowly, he had fallen in love with Elisa, and his parents had reunited and his father had moved back into the home. Everything had led to this day. Almost as if there was a destiny in play that I couldn't see.

His focus moved from the men and women seated in the cathedral as the opening chords of the bridal march swelled through the ancient chamber. He watched the back as the massive doors opened and his bride walked through in all her radiant beauty. He could just see Elisa's, soon to be Mrs. Santiago Urbina, smile under her veil.

New Orleans, Louisiana

Micah looked at the computer screen. There was no video, but he could follow everyone in the building through the GPS in their cell phones. Pushing the button on his radio, he glanced at the computer screen. "You need to get under cover, Monica. Looks like two of them headed your way."

Her voice came back over the radio. "Any way to divert them, Micah? There's nothing for cover in here. And it's St. Joan, not Monica, while I'm working."

Shaking his head, he chuckled and sent out an emergency signal to their phones. "Yeah, I keep forgetting that part. They think there's an intruder spotted one floor up from you. Get the kidnap victim and get out. I doubt you have more than five minutes before they figure out something's up."

Yamagato Industries, Tokyo, Japan

Hiro looked at the board of directors. He had taken the past several months to consider his options after Sparrow's sudden appearance and mysterious comments. This will let Father down, but there is no other choice.

Clearing his throat, he uncomfortably straightened his tie. I hate these things. "After much consideration, I have made the unfortunate realization that I am the wrong person for this job to which my father appointed me. I have discussed this with the person whom I will designate as my successor, and we have agreed that, effective immediately, I will step down from the position of Chief Executive Officer for Yamagato Industries. Instead, I will become President of the Yamagato Fellowship."

One of the board members looked at him carefully. "And who is to run the business? Your father was explicit that it was to stay in the Nakamura family."

Hiro nodded. "I am aware of this. Although I know it flies in the face of tradition, something my father was a strong proponent of, I believe Nakamura Kimiko to be the best fit for this position, and have acted accordingly in naming her my successor." Before the board could argue, he held up a hand. "She has already accepted, and has indicated her willingness to prove herself to the board."

Standing up, he left the room while the board still struggled to accept what he had said. Now to do as future me said. I must become a warrior. I will use my ability, and my father's money, and learn from the greatest swordsmen of the day. Now to explain why I must leave to Ando and to Sparrow.

Edgewater, New Jersey

Maya sat in the middle of the floor of her living room in the small apartment. She had tried religion. She had begged Mohinder to cure her. She had tried everything possible to rid herself of her ability.

When Mohinder betrayed her and Petrelli refused to take her ability, she had fled from the Pinehearst building in rage; barely holding her ability back. She left the city, but lacked the money to leave the state.

She took a job as a hostess in a small restaurant and rented this apartment as soon as she could. Never far from her mind was the tenuous control she had over her ability.

She couldn't let herself get stressed. She couldn't watch her favorite movies. She couldn't even mourn her brother. Anything that brought strong negative emotion broke the grip she had over her ability.

She had spent months being helpless. Ever since her ability first manifested. Always an extremely emotional woman, she had been forced to face the fact that those emotions were now a weakness she could not afford.

So she had enrolled in a yoga class, and taken lessons in relaxing meditation. Now she sat in the full lotus position, working on that inner peace that was so central to control of her ability.

Primatech Research, Hartsdale, New York

Angela stared across her desk at the slight Chinese woman. "I'm sure you're wondering, Miss Park, why I brought you away from your assignment in China."

Hsiu-Mei Park, native of Beijing and permanently assigned to the Hong Kong branch of the Company, shrugged. "The question had crossed my mind, Mrs. Petrelli."

Angela smiled mirthlessly. "We have a problem. As you know, the Company was founded by those of us with powers. Daniel Linderman could heal others and Robert Bishop was an alchemist. My own gift is to see things that will happen through dreams. I recently had a dream about you, my dear."

Straightening in the chair, Park swallowed nervously. "And what did you see?"

"That I need you to leave for Japan immediately and locate Hiro Nakamura."

"Why? My work in China is important. I do not even speak Japanese."

Angela sighed. "Hiro speaks English, and will become more proficient. More importantly, if you stay within the Company, as you are certain to do if you remain in China, you die."

"I…don't understand."

"There's a storm coming, Miss Park. I haven't seen when, or where, it will strike, but it is somehow going to strike the Company. If you are still within the Company when it hits, you will be killed."

Hsiu-Mei stood up. "Very well. When do you need me to leave?'

Angela stood as well. "Immediately. You will still receive your Primatech salary, though it will be filtered through the Yamagato Fellowship. You will find Hiro Nakamura, or someone closely associated with him, in that facility in Tokyo. Tell them all I have told you." Shaking Hsiu-Mei's hand, Angela led her to the door. "You will still be employed by Primatech, but only you and I will know that. Your records, all trace of your existence within the Company, will disappear."

"Understood. Who do I report to?"

"Nobody. As of now, you are a completely independent agent. If the time comes when the Company can reestablish contact, it will be done."

Kermit, Texas

Contrary to what she'd told Claire all those months ago, she hadn't left the country. She hadn't even left the city. I learned a long time ago. The best way to hide is to be in plain sight. She had taken her trailer and moved to another trailer park on the other side of the city. The only thing she had moved out of the state was her cell phone. That had been dumped in an eighteen wheeler at a gas station where she worked part time.

She was just coming home from a late shift when she noticed a light on in her trailer, and her door was unlocked. Immediately cautious, she readied a low flame in her palm.

Bursting through the door, she stared around the room, her flaming palm held ready, low at her side. From the living room, a voice spoke near the lamp. "Hello, Meredith."

Spinning around, she launched a small ball of flame at the sound. "OY! What the bloody hell? Trying to kill me?" The man belonging to the voice faded into view as he beat out the flame that had landed on his ancient coat.

Readying another flame, she stared at him with fury in her eyes. "Jesus, Claude! What the fuck are you doing here?" When he didn't answer, she raised her hand. "Tell me, or the next one doesn't miss."

Rolling his eyes, he made sure the last of the flames were out, and then faced her. "There's something big going down, Meredith. Something bigger than anything I can deal with alone."

When Meredith simply stared at him, he sighed. "Listen, I'm hiding two people from Primatech. I'm also hiding two people from this new group that showed up, Pinehearst."

"Get to the point, Claude. I'm not exactly a fan of yours."

Claude raised an eyebrow. "Just because of that one little incident?"

Meredith folded her arms. "You mean the one where you tried to fucking kidnap me and take me in by force? The one where you stole my damned baby? Yeah. That one."

Claude shrugged. "Just following orders."

"That's what they said in Nuremberg too. Get to the point."

"There's something big coming down. Pinehearst is growing, and has gone public. The world knows we exist now. Primatech isn't going to take that lying down. Pinehearst, if they know Primatech exists, knows that. They're both going to be…recruiting our kind. Heavily. On top of that, the US government is ready to use that test Pinehearst developed to hunt us down and force us into those damned camps they're setting up."

Meredith used her finger to light a cigarette. "Do you plan on getting to the point sometime before morning?"

"There's already too many of us hiding, Gordon. You here, me wherever I can. My four. However many others are running around. The more of us there are, the fewer places there'll be. As much as I hate the idea, I need to know if you're interested in helping me out with a project."

Meredith laughed. "You're kidding, right? You want me to help you? I don't even like, or trust, you."

"You think that matters? I don't like or trust anyone. But we've got a problem, and the only way we're getting out of it is to work together." Walking to the door, he shrugged. "The only way they'll be safe is if we get them to a country without a strong Pinehearst presence. Japan's a good option, so is China."

Meredith stared at him for a minute. "Pinehearst only exists in the West. The main presence is America and England. If you want to hide people, pretty much anywhere else is safe."

Claude opened the door. "Primatech has offices scattered all over the Americas. And over most of the EU." Turning invisible again, he said, "If you want to get people out of here, check out Japan and China. I think they may be our best options."

Washington, DC

Nathan looked around the packed room. The largest conference room in the building the task force had been assigned, and it was still filled beyond capacity. The Enhanced Human Task Force, we really need to work on that name, was crewed entirely by volunteers. Every branch of the military was fully represented, and even members of the CIA black teams had enlisted.

Stepping forward, he cleared his throat. Once he was certain he had everyone's attention, he began. "I've just spoken with the President. Part of our appropriations have been specifically tagged with building multiple containment facilities for the EH's who refuse to register themselves. Those facilities are being built as we speak. Pinehearst has lent several employees for technical assistance, specifically as regards containment and nullification. The facilities should be open by March. Once they are open, they will be the most secure facilities on the planet.

"There will be several smaller facilities scattered across the nation, but there will be three primary facilities near Kaltag, Alaska, Lincoln, Nebraska and Wellton, Arizona. These were chosen because of their relatively remote locations, as well as the sizable land available."

Looking around the room, he focused on each individual member of the force as he made his next statement. "All EH's in the United States have until those facilities are open to register with the Federal Government. Once they're open, that's when our mission begins. The test has already proven effective, and it will now be a required part of all physical examinations. The tests will be performed before a child can register for school, during the enlistment phase of military recruitment, and even randomly at all workforces.

"According to the law, any adult who fails a test and is unregistered will be given the opportunity to prove, via brain scan and polygraph, that they were unmanifested at the time the law went into effect. The parents of any child who fails a test and is unregistered will be given the same opportunity.

"If they fail either the brain scan or the polygraph they are to be considered in direct violation of the law and a direct threat to the security of the United States. They are to be immediately apprehended and taken, without benefit of trial, to the nearest Task Force office to be sent to one of the containment facilities. Once in, they are held indefinitely."

Pausing again, he looked down at the table and then back at the men and women in the room. "You were all given the same speech when you volunteered for this duty. Once in, you can never leave unless your enlistment period expires or you retire. I will give you one more opportunity to make that decision, now that you know precisely what this task force will be doing. Anyone who does not report for their duty shift tomorrow will be released back to their respective units, no questions asked." Narrowing his eyes, he said, "But this is your final time to back out. After tonight, you will not be allowed to leave. Make your decisions now." Taking his notes, he left the room.

February

Briefing Room 1, Pinehearst Research, Fort Lee, New Jersey

Arthur stepped into the room and scanned the half dozen men and women in satisfaction. He knew some of them would die during the operation. But it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. As long as Gabriel returns alive, the others can all die and I'll consider it successful.

Clearing his throat, he waited until they were all looking at him before speaking. "It's time. You are Assault One, and your target is the facility in Hartsdale, New York. As I said last month, this is Primatech's prison facility. Every prisoner is to be brought back here, where they will be faced with a choice." No need to tell them what that choice is. I have plans for those prisoners, plans I can't even share with Gabriel. "All Primatech agents you encounter will have exactly one chance. If they stand aside, or join us, they live. Otherwise, I want them dead."

Focusing on Gabriel, he smiled coldly. "Have fun, son. If someone has to die, and you like their ability, feel free to take it."

Throwing a set of pictures on the table, he said, "You will have some help from inside." In turn, he pointed at the images. "Connie Logan and her daughter Penny. They've been working for us since November of two-thousand six. They want to free Julien, Connie's husband, from where Primatech is holding him. When they've done that, assuming they manage to survive it, I want them brought here."

Heading to the door, he looked over his shoulder. "Gabriel's lead on this op. Now, gear up and head out."

Briefing Room 2, Pinehearst Research, Fort Lee, New Jersey

Arthur walked into the room and caught the group's attention. "You're Assault Two, and Knox is running point. Your target is the Odessa, Texas facility. Doug, you take the vault. Bag everything that's safely portable, destroy everything else. Val, you're on the computers. Copy every file they have. Odessa's the hub, so you'll have access to the entire system. I want everything, down to the last nanobyte. Once you've got it, destroy the system."

Glancing up, he looked at the remaining members of the squad. "Everyone else? Primatech agents get exactly one shot at survival. If they join us, or at least stand aside, they live. If they don't, kill them. Any prisoners they may have, or anybody they're studying, gets brought back here." Heading to the door, he snapped out, "Gear up and head out."

Briefing Room 3, Pinehearst Research, Fort Lee, New Jersey

He sighed as he entered the room. This was the least reliable of his assault teams. To be brutally honest about it, if they all died it wouldn't bother me much. The only one I'd miss would be Daphne, she's at least worth keeping. Flint's a loose cannon, at best, and Maury's weak. I've been half tempted to kill them myself.

"All right, this is it. You guys are Assault Three, and you're taking out the training facility near San Diego. Flint, you're running this thing. Daphne, I want you to get them in with a minimum of fuss, and I want you to bag everything that isn't nailed down. If there's a question about it, bring it. If it's worthless, and obviously so, destroy it. Maury, I have a couple requests of you. First, sew as much confusion as possible. Turn them against each other, have them suicide. Go to town in there. But, before you leave, I need you to contact Connie and let her know we're moving."

Looking around, he carefully concealed his distaste. "Any prisoners they may have are to be brought back here, alive. Any Primatech agents get one shot at surviving this. If they join us, or stand aside, we don't kill them. If they won't? We take them out. Now, saddle up and get to work."