2007-07-27: Back To The Future

Starring:

Peter_icon.gif Cass_icon.gif

Summary:

Cass comes to Peter's apartment to talk about the vision that Desiree had.

July 27th, 2007:

Back to the Future


Peter's Apartment

Hours before his required appearance at work, Peter Petrelli has just stepped out of the shower. The possibility that he just recently woke up is pretty high, as his bed isn't made yet, and he doesn't have much done around the apartment except for that. Halfway dressed, in a dark pair of shorts, he's dried off for the most part, though his hair sticks up in a few places thanks to the dampness. Sticks up, or sticks down— it doesn't seem to decide what it wants to do with itself yet this morning. A noticable absense in the apartment is his dog— as he's left her at the Petrelli house more often than not lately. Maybe he'll bring her back soon, but there's still a construction zone in the works. The balcony doors need repainting still, obviously just replaced from the construction tape still on them.

Coming down Peter's hallway is Cass. She's dressed for work, but she's not there yet. Instead, she has an awkwardly large canvas bag that she's got slung over one of her shoulder. Whatever it is, it's high and flat. As she comes to Peter's door, she waits a moment, readjusts her bag and then knocks on the door. It's a little early, she knows, but this is something she wants to talk about before the crush of the day gets started. And it's certainly not something she wants to talk about at the store. Of course, talking about catastraphic disasters could actually fit in there.

The knock on the door takes Peter by surprise and he doesn't even finish running the comb through his hair to tame the every-which-way thing it has going on. Instead he puts it down and steps over to the door, checking through the spyhole before he unlocks and opens the door. Shirtless. He doesn't even really notice. "Cass— what's going…?" She doesn't usually visit him. In fact he's not sure she has besides the training visits. It could be she's dropping in for one of those, but his eyes slide towards the canvas back and his question trails off, eyebrow raising. "…Come on in," he adds after a second, stepping back into the kitchen, with owl cookie jar, enough that she can enter.

Peter may see Cass' look of surprise when he opens the door. It's the shirtless thing. She's actually seen him shirtless before after Jessica eviscerated him, but that's when she was cleaning up blood. This is a little different. "Hi Peter," she smiles, though and enters when he steps back and opens the door wide enough for her. The absence of Snowy is noticed and she looks about to see if the puppy is about to bound out froms somewhere. "Thanks. I just…have something I need to talk to you about." Obviously, otherwise she wouldn't be here. Not that she wouldn't visit Peter just to see him, but she'd probably call him out for food or something rather than just drop by unannounced. "Where's Snowy?"

Yeah— situation is a bit different. Not covered in blood, and all that. Still looks like he's making some attempt to stay in shape, even if her boyfriend-turned-fiancee definitely has him beat in muscle mass still. Peter steps out of the kitchen, so she has plenty of room to move, and not white fuzzball appears out of nowhere. "She's staying with the boys still— I brought her over there while staying for extra protection and haven't brought her back yet. Was going to, but…" He shrugs, trailing off, and pointedly avoiding looking at the construction zone. "She should be able to come back soon. What's going on?"

"Ah." Cass carefully places her bag down onto the ground against the wall so that it won't fall over. She doesn't move very far, she just waits until Peter comes back into the room and looks over at the construction zone. "What…what happened? Renovations?" It doesn't exactly look as neat as renovations may be. It looks more jagged than that. There's a few questions she feels like getting out of the way before launching into the gloom and doom that's about to happen. "Desiree came over to my apartment yesterday. And she saw something more. About…about everything."
There's a hint of a grimace. Peter's avoided explaining what happened here to just about everyone, but… "I got upset and lost control of my abilities for a moment," he confesses. She is kind of his teacher in all things powered, so he doesn't want to hide that. "Hit them and they shattered— I'm getting them fixed." It could have been a lot worse. Still a reminder that he needs to control his emotions. "I've been reading a lot more on those meditation books again." Emotional control is key… And if she remembered how he'd been at Bat Country that day… she might know when it happened exactly. But Desiree is an important topic. "What'd she see?"

Cass' eyes widen when Peter explains what happened. She stares toward the balcony doors with a bit more interest than before. "Ah. So. I guess we should work on power control during emotionally stressful situations." Not that she can completely fix a problem like that, but she can make it so that he should be able to keep control of his powers under most situations. Obviously, that's something that should be covered. He doesn't lose his temper often, but it can happen. Maybe she does know what happened, but she doesn't bring it up immediately. Crossing the room again, she pulls out what it was she was carrying in her bag - a painting. The painting that he did of Times Square. "It was about this. Or, related to this. She saw a storm coming. She saw how everything was wrecked, like what you painted, two years from /today/. We think it's someone Evolved. But we don't know if it's on purpose or an accident. Or anything. But whoever it is…we've got to find them."

The painting. Peter looks at it again. He's studied it's digital version so many times he's not even sure how he could get from it. He painted it and he still doesn't know what it means half the time. Other than— it's a bad, bad future. Where Elena might become a stripper. But he promised not to show that to anyone and he hasn't yet. "Two years from today? She was that exact?" He frowns, looking at the painting again, as if he'll see something he didn't see in the digital photograph. "Jane brought me over some rubble from a strange wind that went through East Village a while back, but… I haven't really been able to get much from it yet. It probably is an Evolved, but… we still have to figure out who… before we can even find them."

"That's why I brought this over," Cass tells Peter. She sets it down some place where she can stare at and maybe get something more out of it. "Desiree saw a frontpage of the Times. And if you think the tornadoes are surprising, you haven't heard the headline. You're the brother of a future president, Peter." Better to just get that one out in the open. "I don't know if I'd tell /him/ that yet, though. Might jinx it or something." She's not sure if that part is actually sinking in to her yet. "The headline said President Petrelli to Hold Live Feed from Whitehouse Tomorrow. I'm thinking…all these people in Times Sqaure…why would there be so many in one place? All grouped up like that? I'm thinking…maybe it was a rally or something. I don't know. I want to figure out they're doing there." Then, she adds, "Rubble? What can you get from rubble?" It's interesting, but she's not quite sure she gets the significance. "I know. There's so much. How are we going to find one person in all of New York?"

President Petrelli. Peter can't help but blink a little and shake his head. He's really not sure what to think of that. It can't be HIM. He's too young. The most he could be at his age in two years is a Congressman still. And he doubts his mom would suddenly start to take up the mantel of politics. So it pretty much has to be his brother. "President Petrelli…" He trails off, thinking about this a lot. Running a hand over his hair and slicking it down for a few seconds before a side sticks back up on it's own. "She was thinking I could get a vision from it— I haven't been able to get anything interesting yet— I might need to find the right piece." And since he's knocked out every time he does it, maybe for a few hours, he hasn't finished all of them yet. "I don't know. I'll think of something." He's already working on it, but he needs to figure it out first.

"I hope so. If you could, that would make this a lot easier." Sighing, Cass just stares at the painting, doing her best to look at it neutrally. To not see herself at the very bottom of the painting. However, it's hard not to. Finally, she just turns away form it because she can't watch it any more. "I know. Surprising, right? We know a future president. Maybe he'll let me be on his cabinet." It's kind of a joke because she knows she wouldn't be any good at politics and it's something she can't do. "We can think of something together. There's got to be a way. I've been meaning to get a hold of Mr. Nakamura. The last time we talked…he said he might go to the future. To see what happened. He said it was dangerous. But…that he could do it. At the very least…I don't know. I don't know if he should do it. But he should know what we found."

"Depending on the situation, I think Nathan would make a good president." Peter says softly, frowning a little. Would his brother give him a cabinet position? He's not really qualified for much. There's no cabinet position for a nurse or a walking nuclear weapon. As far as he knows. And he's not sure he'd want to be involved in that way. "I'll try to contact him. If he's not in the future already…" And he has some ways to find that out, even if he's not sure he could find his exact location. If he's in the present, though, he should be able to answer a cellphone. "I can tell him what to look for." And there's an extended thoughtful expression. "Maybe I can help him."

"I'm sure he would," Cass replies with a smile. "Of course, that means we'd elect him next year. And it may not have been under the best circumstances." Depending on when everything turns into tornado central. "He may be. I don't know. I haven't seen him in months." But then, she hasn't really been looking /very/ hard for him. She's had a bunch of other things that have kept her occupied. "Just…if you do. If the two of you do…be careful. It's not a happy future you're going to." She glances over at the painting again. "It looks dangerous." Called, found, any way they find him, she's not sure what to do about it all. "I'd offer to come with you. But…there's so much here. And I couldn't leave Lachlan."

Not the best of circumstances. It sounds a lot like something he heard in a dream— or something very similar to one. Peter's not totally sure how to feel about this, but maybe he'll find out. "I'll see about that," he finally says. Normally the saying would be 'we', but he's not even thinking she would go with him until she mentions it at the end. "It's dangerous for me to just leave my apartment," he adds on with a smile, looking towards her. Going to work killed him one day! And let's not talk about all the other times he died just doing random, not world-saving things. "This is just a little more dangerous than usual. I'll be fine." As long as he can make it back. "Won't even notice I'm gone, right? It's time travel." That's how time travel works, isn't it? Here one minute, there five hours, back the same minute. That's what Back to the Future told him.

Ah, that's Back to the Future for you. However, this is a little different. It's not a movie. "You will, won't you?" Cass laughs a bit at that. Peter being able to see his brother as president. "Now, just don't run into your future self. There's tons of laws about that. You'll break the universe or something. Or maybe that's going to the past. I'm not sure. Just to be safe, though, I wouldn't do it." Sure, every day life in the world of Peter Petrelli is dangerous, but that was before he went to a future that looked so bleak. "I guess so. Or, how it works on Doctor Who, where you're gone for however long and everyone thinks you're dead because in our time you've been gone six months." She didn't get to be the friend of a comic book store for nothing. "So…don't do that, either."

"All right— I'll try to avoid myself," Peter says, though he's not really sure how he would do that— what if himself wants to meet him? How is he going to stop it? But then there's— really? Gone the same time you're there? It doesn't seem he likes that idea very much. "I'll try to make it a short visit then, if I can. But I'll stay as long as it takes to figure out what we need to do to stop it from happening, too." And there's a chance that Hiro won't even be findable… "If I don't come in to work tomorrow, you know what happened, at least." There's one thing. Man… what is he going to do about certain things. Who should he tell about this? He has a lot of messages to leave tonight, it seems. Just in case her version of time travel is the right one.

"I don't know. It depends. I've never really gotten the whole time travel thing." She'll admit that to Peter. "And we haven't gotten the chance to practice it." Cass shrugs and then smiles just slightly. "Just, be careful. And take the time you need to. I'm sure you'll only be gone a day or so." Optimist Cass. "Okay. I'll keep that in mind. Tell him hello from me." She doesn't mind being a messaging service for Peter should he need it. Or letting people know what happened should they ask. And if she would trust them.

"I'll— leave a few messages, but— if I'm not back in a day, tell my brother for me," Peter's sounding a little hesitant. His brother is one of the ones he wants to leave a message for, but— he's also the one who could talk him out of it. "Maybe leave out the whole— in the future where you're the president part. And um… Niki and Mr. Gomez too, I guess." Who is he leaving a message for? Two people, actually. One he doesn't really want Cass to have to contact, the other… he's been leaving a message for every night the last few nights. "You know— the painting would be easier to carry around in a tube."

"Okay. I'll make sure I tell him." Cass smiles. "Except for that other part. I don't think he should quite know yet." Because, well, it's kind of one of those things that he should know when he's actually in the future. Why bother trying to spoil it for him? "I'll tell them," she assures the younger Petrelli. Whoever these people are that he's leaving the messages for, well, she'll deal with it when she has to. "Yeah, but I'd have to take it off the backing and stuff." Which may damage it. And while it's disturbing and horrible to look at, it's still the best link they have to what may happen.

"Thank you. I'll see if I can find Hiro…" Peter looks towards the painting again, and frowns a bit but then nods. Yeah, it could damage it. He hasn't taken Elena's painting out of it's rolled up tube in the closet yet to look at it, but he has the digital image too. "Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow— but if not— I'll see you soon." To him, he MAY see her tomorrow. In the future. But if he goes to the future will she even remember this conversation? Or— time travel is weird. "I'll figure it out, somehow."

"You're welcome." Picking up the painting, Cass puts it back into her canvas bag to cover it. She can imagine the looks she'd get for having a painting exposed that showed the holder dead. If nothing else, it's a little weird. Of course, it may be a little weird for her to be keeping it in the first place. "Good luck with that. I'll see you soon. I'm sure you'll have a bunch of stories for me when I see you next." Hopefully, it'll be tomorrow no matter how long it takes for him. "I know you will." Reaching forward, she moves to give him a hug. Shirt or not. "Bon voyage. Just in case." Then, she'll make for the door.

The hug is accepted, and extended, even if Peter's suddenly aware he has no shirt on. He knows she's devoted to Lachlan, so even if his fist is jealous with one Petrelli, there's no reason to be jealous about this one— he hopes. "I'll be careful." Even if it he dies a few times. No matter what, he'll try to see her in the future. "Be safe getting home," he adds, as she makes for the door.

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