InsaneJournal

Fic: Dinos: Prologue 1/1 Heroes
Title: Dinos: Prologue
Author: Lopaka Tanu
Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes.
Characters: Angela, Nathan, Gabriel, Chandra, Mohinder, Peter.
Words: 2867
Fandom: Heroes
Pairing: Pre-Sylar/Peter
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Language, Violence
Summary: A series of scenes leading up to Dinos: Heroes.
Author's Note: Pretty much a 'what happened last time' without having to write out the whole 'last time'.
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Prologue

March, 1981 - New York City

"I've got it, now run!" Ass to the banister, he used every bit of strength to keep his balance as he slid down. The heavy case in his arms cradled close to his chest, he hopped off just before the last step.

Gun drawn, the woman quickly swept over the front room with her senses. They hadn't been detected, but that didn't mean they would get away scott free. "The way's clear."

"Excellent." On shaky legs, he quickly crossed to the front door. He had barely made it to the entrance before the alarm went up. The shrill shriek that filled the mansion caused his heart to skip a beat.

"Move!" Panting, she slammed in to his back with her free hand. They were quickly through the double doors and out on the street. Sweeping left and right with her gun, she knew they were out there. "Get to the car!"

As she spoke, a black sedan came screeching to a halt in front of them.

Too busy to acknowledge her order, the man dived in through the back door a passenger had thrown open. He spun so that he impacted against the man, protecting the case.

The woman kicked the door shut as she opened the front passenger door. As she backed in to the car, they burst forth through the mansion's front door.

Three quick shots took down the front runner. This did nothing to deter the four behind him. Rushing towards the car, they had their claws bared.

"Floor it, god damn it!" Firing at again, she swore as they ducked aside, causing her to miss. In the next instant, she was thrown against the door as the car took off down the street.

Smoke flared up as the tires burned their tread.

In a last ditch effort, the man at the front of the pack leaped towards the fleeing car. The attempt fell several feet short. He landed upon the street with a dull thump.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April - Auckland

Heart pounding, he tried to hear what was going on around him. The bag over his face prevented him from seeing them, but he knew they were there. A snort behind him caused him to jerk forward, but the two holding his arms prevented him from escaping.

Twittering could be heard in the distance. High pitched whistles echoed in the chamber followed by a shrill cry. A ground shaking base voice moaned, making his knees grow weak.

He tried to stop them from forcing him further by planting his feet. This had no effect as they dragged him over the spot. He had to hop to get his feet back under him the rest of the way. Ten more paces, then they came to the center of the chamber.

Once there, he was forced to his knees.

Light stung his eyes as the hood was tore away. Blinking, he tried to adjust his sight through the tears. He sniffed, biting his lip as blobs became more distinct shapes. "Please."

Appearing in the light, a step away, Angela smiled down upon him. Reaching up, she pressed the tips of her fingers to his temple. "Hello, Nasuada."

"Ma'am." Swallowing, he tried to catch his breath. His heart was beating in his throat making it hard to breathe. "I didn't mean for it..."

"Shh." She silenced him with a finger to his lips. Tracing the outline of his lips, she drew her fingers over his skin. "Where is my egg?"

"I don't..." He trailed off as her fingers slid down to his throat. Raising his eyes to her face, he tried to plead with her. "I didn't know they would take it, you have to believe me."

"No. The only thing I have to do is find my egg." Leaning down in to his face, she pulled back her lips to bare her teeth at him. "One last chance to make this quick. Where is my egg?"

The breath fled his body. "Amareo is dead." He trembled. "They killed her, whoever she was selling it to. She and Pontius made all the arrangements. They didn't tell me any thing else, I was just the driver. I swear! I don't know any more than that."

Pulling back, Angela slid a hand through his hair. "Well, dear, that is most unfortunate." She took a step back. "Eat him."

Excited whistles filled the chamber.

Eyes going wide, he spun to look behind him. Then he screamed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March, 2006 - New York City

The knock came in the middle of slicing a sandwich. The knife missed the sweet spot at the direct center and cut it disproportionately. With a growl, he drove the knife in to the board. Picking up a hand-towel, he wiped the bits of tomato and Mayo from his fingers.

Another knock came from the security door, louder this time.

"Hold your damned ponies, I'm comin!" Disgusted, he tossed the towel back at the cutting board. There were other things more important than a sandwich, but not at this exact moment.

Hands clean, he pushed the few strands of his gelled hair back out of his eyes. He walked through maze of tables and chairs that made up his living room to his front door. Clearing his throat, he reached up and opened the privacy window on his door. "Yeah?"

"Casper Degroot?"

Snorting, he narrowed his eyes. "Who wants to know?" Eyes quickly widening, he didn't have time to react before the door was kicked in. He was pinned underneath as they came stomping in.

High pitched whistles filled the air, followed quickly by screams.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Setting aside the paper, Angela Petrelli glanced up at her son. "Is there a point you wish to make? Consider me daft, and plainly state it." At his pissed expression, she sighed. There was really no reasoning with the man.

Across from her, in the opposing seat, Dorinne eyed Nathan from the corner of her eyes. "Your bid, Angela."

"Four spades." Picking up her cards from the table, she used two fingers to slowly spread open the hand. She could hear Nathan's teeth grinding as she continued to sit there physically ignoring him. "If you are quite through, the ladies and I are playing cards."

"I am not, and you know it!" Nathan snatched up the newspaper. With a snarl, he slammed it down in the center of their card table. "I told you I would handle this, Ma!"

"How insolent!" Sniffing, Magda exhaled towards Nathan.

"She's right, dear, you've forgotten your place." After picking up her cards, Angela glanced to her left. "Your turn."

Instead of cowing him, this only served to incense Nathan. "I said I would handle it." Leaning over the table, he put himself between his mother and Adele. Baring his teeth, he glared at her. "Perhaps you've forgotten the fact you don't control this city."

"And so very rude." Magda leaned in closer to Nathan. "My Espania's Isaac would never behave this way."

"Stuff it, orange gills, this is between Ma and Me." Nathan spared her only a cursory glare before switching his attention back to his mother. "I took the job with the D.A.'s office so we wouldn't have to do this shit! Are you deliberately trying to expose us, or were you even thinking beyond your own stubborn pride?"

Stunned silence descended upon the table.

Angela considered her cards for a second more. With a raised eyebrow, she looked over to her son. "You are right, I should not have sent the enforcers."

Nathan blinked. Pulling back his head, he blinked at her again. "Excuse me?"

"I said, you are right. Don't get used to it." Sighing again, she went back to looking at her cards. "Next time, I will wait until you say it is clear."

Standing up tall, Nathan continued to watch her in confusion. When she made no other move but to play her cards, he adjusted his jacket. "That's it?"

"Yes, you may go." Smiling brilliantly, Angela focused once more on her left. "Adele, your bid?"

He couldn't believe it. That was it? She was just going to pretend like it hadn't even happened? Closing his eyes, he took a calming breath. There was nothing to it, and he knew it.

Turning for the door, Nathan shook his head. He was almost to it before he heard her clear her throat.

"Oh, Nathan, one more thing." She waited until his back went stiff. "Give my regards to Heidi, won't you?"

"I will." Swallowing, he quickly made his exit.

Smiling, Angela nodded to the other three women. "There now, where were we?"

All eyes switched to Adele.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April - New York City

The bells jingled, signaling the arrival of a potential customer.

Glancing up from his work bench, Gabriel looked towards the front door. Sure enough, it wasn't just one of the neighborhood kids jerking his chain. There was a man standing at the entrance to his shop.

Smiling, he wiped the cleaning oils from his fingers. That done, he reached up to remove his jewelers glasses. "Hi there. How may I help you?"

Satchel in hand, the man dragged his eyes away from the finely crafted clocks and figurines about the shop. He licked his lips when he found Gabriel watching him. "Uh, hello. I am looking for the proprietor of this shop. Would you happen to know a Simon Gray?"

The smile slipped from Gabriel's face. Looking away, he had to take a moment. "This is my shop now. I am Gabriel, Simon was my father." When he looked to the other man again, he found him studying him intently. "Is there still something I can do for you?"

"I apologize for my ignorance. His last correspondence was quite some time ago, I merely assumed..." The man silenced himself with a depreciating smile. "Well, I guess that is no longer relevant." Walking quickly towards Gabriel, he held out his hand. "I am Chandra Suresh, Dr. Chandra Suresh."

Raising his eyebrows, Gabriel studied the man. "Is that so."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May - New York City

Nathan flinched as the cameras flashed, recording forever the gruesome scene. He wasn't certain which was worse, the sight or the smell. Closing his eyes, he turned away from the body. Licking his lips, he took a shuddering breath.

"First crime scene?" The highly amused voice drew more than Nathan's attention. Lettuce dripping from her borrito, Detective Hanson smirked at him. "How many cases you prosecuted for homicide?"

"This is my first one, but I'm pretty sure that," he pointed towards the fallen lettuce with a pen, "constitutes as contamination."

"What?" She followed his direction. Seeing it, she growled. "Shit!"

"Cheer up, Detective, at least you're not throwing up all over the place like the last DA we had out here." Pushing passed Nathan, Detective Harte made sure he made the other man stumble. "Is there a particular reason you're here so early, Mr. Petrelli? D.A. doesn't usually get involved until we got our initial reports in."

"Actually." Nathan held up the file that had been tucked under his arm. Relieved to be distracted, he felt his public persona slip perfectly in to place and the nervous tension in his gut drift away. "The victim is a visiting Doctor, on a diplomatic visa. The D.A. called me personally."

"Is that so." Harte snatched the file out of Nathan's hand. Giving it a quick glance over, he handed it to Hanson. "That all?"

"Yes, that's so." What the hell was this man's problem? The other officers and detectives had recognized the importance of his presence.

With a snort, Detective Harte dismissed Nathan from thought. "Fine."

Watching the man leave, Nathan shook his head. There were just so many things wrong with his actions. It was no wonder no one else wanted these cases. He had a bad feeling on top of that about this case.

A uniformed officer appeared through a doorway. "Hey, Mr. DA, you gotta come over here and see this."

Groaning to himself, Nathan restrained his natural need to snap at the officer. There would be no love loss between them, bad blood would only anger things up more. Turning to the offending man, he found the officer holding up a plastic evidence bag.

It wasn't one of theirs.

His interest piqued, he wandered over. He held up his hand to take the bag from the man. Nathan was pleased when it was handed over without a fuss. The moment he got a good look at the contents, he had to bite down on his reaction. "Where did you find this?"

"It was in this file cabinet. Looks like there were a lot more than just this." Pointing through the door they were standing next too, the officer indicated an open filing cabinet. "Whoever hit this place nearly cleared him out. Luckily, this fell down in the tracks of the bottom drawer, else we might never have known what was in there." Looking at it, he snorted. "Then again, I still have no fuckin idea what it is."

Nathan did. Not that he would tell the man.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Facing out the window, she didn't see beyond the glass panes. Angela reached up to trace her fingers along her gold chain. "Are you certain?"

"Ninety-eight percent match." Hands folded behind his back, the Haitian stood at attention. "Our labs repeated the tests four times just to be certain."
"Were they able to abstract the sex?" Closing her eyes, she tried to keep her breathing normal.

"Congratulations, you have a girl." Despite his words, the man kept his tone level. It was not a time of celebration or mourning. "Unfortunately, that is all we can gather from the egg casing fragment."

"Very well, thank you." She raised a hand over her shoulder to dismiss him. Angela waited until she heard his footsteps disappear in the distance before she allowed her chest to clench. Gasping, she leaned against the window for support.

She was out there some where. Was she alive? Did she know of her heritage? Was her daughter looking for her?

Biting her lip, Angela fought to push these thoughts from her mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

September - Yonkers

Wiping down the dry-erase board, Mohinder sighed. There would be thirty students in the seats behind him starting tomorrow and he was woefully unprepared. Half his texts were lost some where between JFK and Antarctica. His classroom lacked even the basic wall jack for a phone. And on top of that, the bloody TA he had been assigned was late.

He knew that he should have chosen his own. The problem with that is he didn't know a single person at the college. He had relied solely upon the discretion of that pleasant lady in the Dean's Office to pick one. Checking his watch for the fifteenth time, he was really starting to regret that.

Just as he was looking up to check it against the clock above the board, his door came clattering open. He jumped as it shot in to the wall, ricocheting back at the person who had opened it.

By some miracle, the young man caught it with his foot. How he had seen it with those bangs blocking his vision, Mohinder was uncertain. As he tried to will his heart back in his chest, he watched the man enter.

Shaking the hair from his eyes, the man looked about the classroom. Upon seeing it, the hopeful expression slipped from his face. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Funny, I had the same reaction." Mohinder grinned when the younger man glanced his way. "Can I help you?"

"Dr. Suresh?" The corner of his mouth tugged down as he stared wide eyed at Mohinder. His pale skin seemed to glow in the fluorescent lights.

His expression seemed to amuse Mohinder for a reason he couldn't quite understand. "Yes?"

"I'm Peter, your new TA." Walking forward, he tried to hold up his hand. Unfortunately, the large boxes in his arms decided to resettle themselves at that exact same moment. Without his hand to support them, they came tumbling down over his feet.

Mohinder watched for a half second, then forced himself to move. Rushing forwards, he reached Peter's side in time to prevent him from hitting the ground. He was moving so fast, he hadn't the force to slow himself down. Their momentum brought them down upon the boxes, driving the breath from his body.

Gasping, Mohinder saw through the spots in his vision that Peter wasn't faring much better. He rolled on to his side, releasing Peter in the process.

Peter fell back, easing himself the rest of the way off the box. He heard something inside shift that shouldn't be moving, but didn't care. Laying there groaning, he closed his eyes to keep the room from spinning. "Bad first impression. I seem to have a knack for that."

"So I've noticed." Chuckling, Mohinder laid his head against the cool tile of the floor. "I am Doctor Mohinder Suresh. Nice to meet you, Mr..."

"Rains. My name is Peter Rains." Peter grinned. He wanted to laugh, but his chest hurt too much. "Welcome to Southern Yonkers College."

"Thank you, I think."

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