2007-05-01: Have Your Weapons Ready

Starring:

Cass_icon.gif Peter_icon.gif

Summary: Training session #2 for Peter. This time practicing Object Relocation, which he'd picked up from Jack. Includes plans for when he will face Sylar again in the future.

Date It Happened: May 1st, 2007

Have Your Weapons Ready


Peter Petrelli's Apartment

Early in the morning, just after dawn in fact, Cass walks down the hallway to Peter's apartment. In one hand she has a leash which restrains the exuberant Bonnie - happy to get out of the apartment after having been left there far too often. Ruined bookstores is not a very safe place for dogs to stay all day, what with hidden glass and all. In her other hand, she grips a holder with two big paper cups of coffee. Early morning training sessions are going to require caffeine. At least for Cass. Should Peter not want his, she'll gladly drink it for him. As soon as she's at the right door - she double checks to make sure, since it would be quite embarrassing to accidentally wake up a neighbor - she lifts up the arm holding the leash and knocks.

The apartment that Peter calls home looks similar to most the others, but as a corner door, it might have a little more overall space. Or less space. Either way, there's some silence greeting her knock, and then the soft breathing-bark of a tiny dog from inside. Snowy's already awake. A few moments later, Peter arrives at the door, pulling a shirt over his head as he opens it. Looks like he'd been either asleep, or at least lounging about. "Cass— hey. Were we supposed to meet today?" He'd— honestly forgotten. She'd notice something odd, Snowy is tied up in the kitchen. Which she doesn't seem to be enjoying. She has her food, a pillow to lay on, a chew toy— he looks cautiously towards Bonnie and steps back, staying a bit out of reach of the two. "I— had a bit of a long night. Come on in."

Tilting her head slightly, Cass takes note of what she can from the sliver of open door that Peter isn't blocking. "Hey Peter. Yeah…well, we didn't talk about it yesterday, but I just assumed it was still on. I brought you coffee. And I brought Bonnie. Hope that's not a big deal?" She realizes now that she probably should have asked. She just assumed that since he brought Snowy, she could bring Bonnie along. Let the dogs have a playdate while they work. Noticing Peter's demeanor, a worried frown forms on her lips. "I'm sorry. Are you alright? Do you want to do this another time? I can come back tomorrow or something." However, she does step inside when the offer is given.

"No, no, it's okay… just…" Peter backs away, looking worriedly at the dog for a few moments, and leaving her to close the door behind her. Unlike Nathan, he trusts her to actually close the door. "We can still do this, I just forgot about it," he says, gesturing her towards the front room, where there's a few items spread out on his table. The items have nothing at all in common. But one of the items, is a toothbrush… and it stands out from all the others. By being pure, solid gold. "Got a new ability. A little worried about it— Turned Elle's pants into gold while she was still in them. If I'd had my hands touching her skin at the time… Could have turned her to gold. Could have killed her." He shakes his head, picking up the toothbrush and studying it. "I'm practicing it on my own, but it's only worked once… and I wasn't trying to do it at the time. I was trying to brush my teeth."

Once fully inside the apartment, Cass bumps the door close with her hip (her hands are kind of full). She can't help but look around as this is her first time here and she smiles at all the little personal touches she sees. Most guys she knows just kind of live in a space without making it theirs. Tugging gently on Bonnie's leash to get the dog to heel, she steps into the main room and moves to slide the coffees onto the table with the littered items, eyes growing wide when she sees the golden toothbrush. "Holy. Woah. Peter…" she eyes it cautiously from where she's standing. "That's both an amazing and terrifying ability. That's…well. I really wanted to work on object relocation with you. But if you want we can work on the whole Midas touch thing first." She frowns, looking up at Peter. "Is it reversible? The gold thing? If you turn something into gold, that means you should technically be able to change it back."

This apartment is extremely personalized. There's paintings and pictures on the wall, decorations on the book shelves, and a whole CD tree that… small, and very much personal. Whimsical in a way, even. The decorations vary from normal, to rather cute. Like his cookie jar. Peter shakes his head, putting the toothbrush down, "I've been trying to work on it all night and most of the morning. Might have figured out what triggers it, but— doesn't work. This is the only time it did." He waves the golden toothbrush. Even the bristles are turned to gold, separate strands, not fused together. Setting it down, he looks up at her, "Object relocation— Jack's power?" That's one he's been practicing a few times, so… "We can work on that. Need a break. Just— won't be shaking your hand or petting the dog for a bit. Not until I'm sure I can touch things without…" He gestures. …Gold.

Cass frowns as she looks at the toothbrush. "I don't blame you. I think Lachlan would murder me if I got his dog turned into gold. And I don't quite fancy being a statue, either." But, then, she turns around to face him and smiles, trying to get him to do the same. "Though if it does happen, you have to promise to give me a really great placard to be put underneath me. Then you can hoist me up in Union Square and I'll hang out with the birds. Wouldn't be so bad." Taking Bonnie over to the gated area, she loops Bonnie's leash around so that she's tied up with Snowy. "Be good," she instructs the dog as if she can understand human talk. They will keep each other company while their respective parents work. "Yeah. Jack's power. It's come in real handy before. Saved my skin more than once. But, it came to me while I was watching Harry Potter the other night." Yes, she's watched Harry Potter and will not be ashamed of it. "If we hide a few select things around your apartment where no one else will move them, you can call them to you whenever you need them in a pinch. And you wouldn't have to carry them on you. Like money. Or a gun."

At her joke, he smiles faintly, "I'll make sure you're washed off weekly, or get— someone to tell the pigeons to not use you as a rest room." It's a light joke, one he barely means, but he's playing along with the humor. There needs to be some. His girlfriend lost her memory, his life was recently threatened, and he nearly turned someone he cared about into gold. Bad week, yes. "Live on my own, so— as long as I put things somewhere out of normal reach, it probably won't be moved," Peter says, glancing around the bookcases, and towards the closet that's still closed off, even if Snowy and Bonnie can't get to it. Then back to his room. "I've tried to use it a few times, but— it sounds like a good idea. How did you want to practice this?"

"That's good. No need for pigeon poo on my statue." Cass laughs and picks up the coffee she got for herself. She takes a quick sip as she thinks this over. "That's good. I figure we stash three or four things you might need in a fight and then we keep practicing where they are again and again until it becomes second nature. That way, should Sylar randomly show up at you again, you can be prepared. It's like you'll be armed all the time." Frowning, she looks around this personalized apartment and then back at Peter. "So that brings me to my first question. Do you have a gun?"

There's a long pause after the question about a gun. It takes a few moments, and then Peter stands up and walks over to the closet, which he opens and steps into. A few sports equipment things are in sight, field hockey or lacrosse sticks, a hockey stick, a helmet (for lacrosse), and a bike are all visible. Stepping into the closet, he reaches up and pulls down a metal box that has a lock on it. "The key's actually in a box over there," he gestures towards the bookshelf, where there's a few boxes, almost like simple storage boxes made of wood. "I can probably just leave it in here for this. It's never been moved. Though we'll need to put it back in there, I guess…" He puts that back where it had been, and then steps out. "I'll probably need to load it before we put it back in, so— I can relocate it ready to fire. Nathan thought it was a good idea, considering the neighborhood." Lower East Side isn't the best area of Manhattan.

Cass slowly sips on her coffee while waiting for Peter to answer her about the gun. When he brings down the box she nods, though she certainly looks uncomfortable. "I actually hate guns. And what they can do. But…after seeing what he did to you, I think it'd be better for you to be prepared for anything. Plus, it'll be good for you to have a weapon that doesn't tax you so much. Just in case." Even if getting it will expend some of his energy. She moves to the bookshelf to go look for that key he was talking about, but then stops. "Well. If you're going to keep the box locked, we should practice like it's the real thing. Unloaded, though. We'll load it and put it back once you've got the hang of it. Put it back where it's going to stay and we'll start."

Shoving the box into the corner of the top shelf, Peter steps back out and looks towards Cass, nodding, "Not a fan of them either, but— there's other reasons to have them." After all, a gun could stop him from going nuclear just as fast as it would put Sylar down. "Won't work out great against him— Sylar has more control than I do. He can stop and reverse bullets on the person who fired them… but if he's not expecting it, and if it's at point blank range, it might work." And— she's right… "Need all the help I can get." Settling down on the couch, looking towards his array of items, everything from coffee mugs, to an umbrella, to plates and pieces of paper— even a book he didn't care much for. None of them turned to hold, but— "Okay— so I'll just consentrate on where the gun is, and try to remember how Jack made me feel…" All at the same time. "I bring the gun to my hand, and try to fire it— even if it's not loaded and the safety is on— that work?"

Hearing this newest information on Sylar makes Cass blink. "Geez. Is it even /possible/ to bring this guy down?" She frowns. "Instead of a gun, maybe we need a bazooka or something. Or. Well. When I figure out about this virus that he had…maybe we could inject him with it again. And /then/ we can lock him up or something." Not that that really worked well before. But at least he wouldn't be able to repel bullets with his mind." With a shrug, she moves so that she's out of the line of fire, so to speak. Already scientific wheels are turning in her brain. "Well. At least this will work for just about anyone who tries to come after you. Not just Sylar." Sylar is their biggest problem, but there seems to be a lot of little ones that keep cropping up. "That seems perfect."

GAME: Peter has rolled OBJECT RELOCATION and got a result of MEDIOCRE.

"Anyone can be killed," Peter says specifically, looking across at her as he looks back. "Honestly— I don't want to kill him." It's not the first time he's made this confession, but… "Even if we could figure out how to infect him again— he still killed people without his abilities. It won't stop him. He'll just be more aggressive— going after what he desires, until he gets what he wants. Which is power. He'll stop at nothing to get power, as much as he can— in any way possible." Closing his eyes, he tries to consentrate on the gun, in his closet— and call it into his hand, which he rests against his thigh. Come here. Only nothing happens.

"I don't believe in the death penalty," Cass agrees, softly. "I don't like the idea of killing anyone. But…if he can't be subdued and he's still dangerous without his powers, what else can we do to make him stop?" Because, obviously, they can't just let him keep doing what he's doing. "God. If it's not the tornado, it's Sylar. If it's not Sylar, is the Company, if it's not the Company…" she trails off when she realizes that Peter is trying to concentrate. Her talking about all the bad things going on isn't going to help him with this. She'll try and push him further later, but the first few times he needs to be able to do it without any other pressure.

GAME: Peter has rolled OBJECT RELOCATION and got a result of GOOD.

"If I have the chance— I'll kill him. One way or another," Peter admits in an almost deadpan voice, but it sounds like he won't enjoy it for an instant. It's not something he's ever wanted to do— he'd rather die than kill another human being. But— "Even if it ends up killing me too," he adds on, taking in a slow breath and remembering one feeling where Jack was involved that involved a gun. When the man handed him a weapon while they drove down the street in Julia, towards the off-road racing party that Elena's brother got involved in. Only reason he'd have drawn that weapon, was to protect Elena, if that had been needed— it hadn't, but this would be drawing a gun to protect everyone that Sylar would kill. Which includes Elena. Similar emotions, similar connections… The gun appears in his hand suddenly, and as soon as he feels the weight, he raises it, points it towards the pictures on the wall, and squeezes on the trigger. It doesn't fire, and the trigger doesn't even go all the way back, but it's the thought that counted. "Okay— that's one."

It's Peter's reluctance to kill Sylar that is the only reason Cass feels comfortable training him to be armed all the time. She knows that this is something that he'll only use when necessary and she trusts in his knowing when those times are. "I know what you mean." Lately she's been thinking a lot more about what she would die for and what she would kill for. More than just the idle thoughts from before, but actual internal discussions of what ifs. This time she does go searching for that key for the box on the bookshelf, finding it underneath a ship in a bottle. "But the whole point of this is to try and make sure you live through it all," she smiles. "Excellent! We're just going to keep doing this till you can do it in your sleep. Though, uh, I wouldn't recommend that." She moves to the closet to unlock the now empty box to put the gun back in. "I'm trying to think of what else would be pretty helpful in a pinch should you get yourself in trouble and need something fast." She thinks this over and then a thought comes to her. "Oh! Mace! Well, that'll be next. I think the gun is important and then we'll work on other 'emergency' objects."

Honestly, Peter's less concerned with his own well being than he is with protecting everyone else. There's a long history of this with him. Saving the world at the cost of his own life is just another day on the job, to him. That topic isn't one he'll push, though, because he knows they'd never agree on it. "Yeah— wouldn't want to do this in my sleep." But he won't admit he's already got an idea of one object he's going to stash somewhere, so he'll never, ever be without it… "Mace could work. If we could find some of those fancy heat-vision goggles… that's be worth it. Not for me, but for me to toss to someone else to use. Since Sylar can turn invisible now. So that they'll be able to find him, if he does that." He doesn't need it, but… He lets her handle all the walking to carry the gun back to it's location, though he does partially stand as if to help. "Wish I could think of something to counter his ice— freezing my body would pretty much end the fight. Just like if I could ever figure out how to work the Midas touch power… I'd win."

It's true. While Cass is mostly of the same opinion of Peter of what she would do to protect her friends and family, Peter is among those. So him dying is not something she can condone. The box is put back, but kept unlocked for now. If they're going to be replacing it for awhile, why bother locking it and unlocking it all the time? "We'll have a nice little pile. You'll be like that Marry Poppins bag that everything comes out of all the time." Then this /other/ information about Sylar makes her pause. "I…he can /what/? So he could be anywhere and we wouldn't know?" Now that's not something she wants to think too much about. "I'll try to think that one over. Other than making yourself into some sort of living flame like the Flame from Fantastic Four, I don't know how you'd be able to keep him from freezing you. And you'll get the Midas power, Peter. I know you will."

"I think I might stash a cellphone. And maybe a— panic button kind of thing? If we could get one with a GPS locator it would be good, too. So you could come and find me when I press it, and know that I'm really in danger," Peter suddenly says, thinking of things as he settles down to try this again. They're going to keep trying it, as many times as they need to. It takes about eight minutes before he gets the gun to appear in his hand this time, and by the time it DOES… he almost forgets to fire it towards the wall. There's a nice delay. "Okay— that's two…"

Nodding along, Cass listens. "Those all sound great. A panic button would be a really good idea for a lot of us. Since I think…well. I think the Company may know about me. Or know that I know about them. And more than just through my father." She shrugs and continues to the rest of the topic. "But we'll have to make sure the pile is manageable. Or, well, we only will have to practice a lot with the things you'll need in the spur of the moment. It's really what you think you can handle. Because I'm here to help, but you're the one that knows what you can do the best." While she waits for him to get the gun again, her eyes wander, but mostly she's focused on Peter. Willing him to be able to do this.

There's a laugh as he's told he's the one who knows what he can do best. "I wish I could say I understand it, but I'm certainly trying," Peter admits, looking down at his hand, and trying to do his best to bring the weapon back. As he does it this time, though, he back tracks a bit, remembering something he'd forgotten, "He's not here now. But— yeah. He could show up anywhere. Might be a good plan to get motion sensors in the store, and turn them on when you're alone. Heat sensors— anything at all that might detect him without needing to see him. You might be able to get away with security upgrades considering how many times your store has been broken into…" The insurance company might even encourage it at this point. It's six minutes before the weapon appears in his hand this time, but he "fires" it right away. They could continue this all night— just as she wanted.

"Knowing and understanding are two very different things," Cass tells Peter with a wry smile. "You /know/ what you can do. Doesn't mean you understand it. You could do everything you're doing now without my help at all. I'm just hear to help you think of things you might not think of. And to study you like a science project once I get my lab up and running." With that, she grins, obviously teasing. She would never treat Peter like some sort of experiment. The grin fades significantly when talk about store security is brought up. "Yeah. Well, I'm definitely going to be upgrading the security even more. I don't know if the insurance company would go for heat sensors, but I'll think of something. I can't imagine why he'd come into a tiny bookshop, but I'm taking no chances considering how many people with powers seem to come there." Not to mention work there. The fact that it takes less time to get the gun is encouraging, as is his remembering to fire right away. Cass has no problems with staying here for as long as it takes for Peter to master this trick. She'll even order food and more coffee should it be necessary.

"He'd come into a tiny bookshop because there happen to be Evolved who work there. Not you, obviously, but…" Peter isn't going to go right out and say that all three of her employees are evolved. Niki he knows by personal experience. Alyssa she knows of on her own. Rose… he's never met her, but her father had been worried Sylar was after her. "And— actually I know he's seen at least one of your employees before." TWO actually. He won't spill more on that, though, saying that she can speak to them about it if she wishes to. "And I go there, too. If he knew Alyssa had a list of people who might be Evolved— he'd want that as well." So there's many reasons the crazed serial killer could go there. The gun summoning happens slowly again, but then he gets a whole string of successes, close together, until he starts looking winded. There's no more than half a minute between putting the gun back, and calling it to his hand after a while. "Okay— I think I got it." Before they put the gun away this time, he loads it, chambers a round, and switches off the safety. It's ready to fire as soon as he calls it, before he locks it away. "Thank you for the help."

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