2007-10-01: Prelude To A Dream

Starring:

Noah_icon.gif Mariska_icon.gif Benjamin_icon.gif Church_icon.gif

with Special Guest Star:

Sasha

Summary: Noah goes to retrieve Sasha. It does not go according to plan.

Date It Happened: October 1st, 2007

Volume Two: Shadows

Chapter Three: Premonition

Prelude to a Dream


Madson House

Upstate New York

Rainer Madson's lovely abode has been well-kept since his disappearance and the subsequent internal announcement of his death. It would appear that someone is home, a housekeeper or perhaps the Company agent put in charge of babysitting the girl, Sasha: the outdoor light is on, as are the lights in the front room. If one didn't know better, it would look almost cozy, from the outside, yellow lights casting a warm glow in the evening dark; at least as cozy as a formidable house such as this one can.

Rainer is dead. To assume that his home has not been compromised is a luxury that he can't afford. As often is the case when things go sour in the Company, Noah trusts no one. While he doubts that Bob would consciously allow dangerous persons to run amok for personal schemes, there are literally dozens others across the world capable of such callous evil.

Treating this like a possible bag and tag, the Company Car (this time, a black Nissan Maxima), Noah pulls up to the driveway, turning off the headlights as soon as he gets within sight. He pulls out some binoculars, doing a swift check to see if there are signs of resistance or people. Negative on both counts. This is either really good or really bad. Silently cursing as he gets out of the car, he makes sure that he has his 'Business' toys ready. Tranq gun for distant take downs? Tucked neatly into belt just behind left hip. Tazer for non-lethal back-up and mid-range take downs? Tucked just behind the right hip. There is there shoulder holster for his shiny gun too, just in case there are people that decide to take things up a notch and are not on the Company's special protection list.

Closing the door gently behind him, Noah makes his way toward the house, merely making his way toward the door. He doesn't knock, merely opening the door as quietly as he can with one hand. The door opens. Rainer always kept it locked and Noah is sure that Madson's staff would do the same. That thought in mind, the taser pistol is drawn and Noah enters without a word.

Inside, the warm glow of the lamps reflects like firelight on the dark, slick surfaces that exist everywhere: the handsome, heavy wood furniture, the dark marble of the countertops and floor, and the scene becomes not so cozy. There's a heightened sense of fear, of adrenaline, and the air is thin.

In the kitchen counter is an empty pill bottle.

On the floor between the kitchen and sitting room, lying half on his side, is a man in his twenties— breathing shallowly and raggedly, he's unconscious. His coat fell open in his apparent collapse, and it's notable that he carries the standard Company pistol. A few feet away is the middle-aged woman who was playing guardian to Sasha, living at Rainer's home. Was being the key-word. Lying on her back, she is not breathing. Her skin has a blue tinge to it from oxygen deprivation.

Just around the corner, but visible, with her back to the wall, facing the sitting room where her caretaker's body lies, is a frail-looking little girl. She stares at Noah with big blue eyes, afraid.

New leaps in science suggest that human DNA is encoded with ancestral memories… as though our grandparents, great grandparents and the ancestors before them, in some secret way, know what fate will bring us along the way. They give us the gift of fear, a warning mechanism to aid our survival…

When Bob Bishop had asked to speak to Mariska Mikhailova this morning, she half expected the man with the golden gun to toss her out on her ear for having left poor, potent Alice all alone in the aftermath of Level 5 for the sake of inflicting cats upon him while paralysed but… no. He had another form of punishment (or was this a reward?) in mind. Trail Bennet. Keep a sharp eye. Play the silent partner (in lieu of the man's usual silent partner) and make sure things went according to plan. Whatever the plan was.

Cut to the cozy abode of one Rainer Madson, now deceased. The teleporter emerges from the treeline, having miraculously managed to follow one black Nissan Maxima through the grid of the city all the way upstate to wherever it was that Madson called home via rooftop hopscotching and keeping to the trees. She was tired, yes, but not spent. She was still up to the task at hand. She watched Noah exit the vehicle and enter the house through the front door and then - only then - did she make her move to draw closer…

"Damn rookies," Noah states as he comes across the site. It's clear what's happened in Noah's mind. For now, there is no danger so the hand temporarily shies away from his firearms. A pair of gentle eyes goes from the bodies to the young girl, HRG able to summon a father's love for most of his tenderness and a bit of acting for the rest. "«It's okay, Sasha… I've been sent here to make sure you were safe. I work with the people your mother work for.»" While having NO idea if the kid understands English, Bennet figures the girl understands Russian. It's a good thing he does too. He looks to the fallen agents, clearly wanting to check on them… But if that kid runs, she's gunna be the one he focuses on. After all, this kid has already cost a couple good people their lives. To lose her now would be a truly horrible thing.

Sasha pulls her knees up and curls more tightly against the wall. She's wearing a dark blue sundress with a black belt and little power blue cardigan, dressed nicely for the nice house she's found herself in. «Mother?» is the word she picks out and repeats. When Mariska saw her, she didn't know - that is, didn't remember - her Russian; she's been learning, and she picks it up fast again. Still, there's a lack of comprehension in her eyes, intermingled with fear. "All the air went away from Miss Ferris."

Well, it looks like the conversation is in English. Good, makes this job a little easier. "I'm aware of what happened to Miss Ferris. How long ago did this occur?" First the one that he thinks is dead, the woman. Once he verifies her death by kneeling down and checking her pulse (or lack thereof), the Company Man lowers his head for a couple of moments. Thinking, praying… Noah doesn't give hints on what it's for. Good, he's breathing, but he could awaken at any time. Considering the situation, Noah decides to protect himself and possibly the girl. After he gets a reply or after he checks out the man (which ever comes first), Noah speaks to the young girl once more, "Now, Mr. Suit Man is gunna have to make this guy sleep for awhile so no one else gets hurt. I promise you, the sleep gun painless."

With this explanation given, Noah withdrawals his tranq gun, just shooting the male agent in the neck. While some would take the tranquilizer out and administer it manually, Noah knows that this is one of the best ways to ensure there is enough pressure and the drug is properly introduced to the bloodstream. Noah knows this might scare the girl, but right now, he has little choice in the matter. If the man wakes up with the kid around, another death could occur.

Like his own…?

Mariska had managed to creep her way up to Madson's front door but, instead of making ingress, she sought out the nearest window so that she might be able to sneak a peek inside of the dear, departed Company man's facade. Her view within had been partially obscured by drapery sheers and all she could really see was Noah's back as he spoke to someone just out of frame in a bilingual mix of two languages she was intimately familiar with. Surely… surely this meant… could it be? The sound of Sasha's long-lost voice lit Misha up like the sun and the Russian woman choked back the overwhelming urge to call out to her daughter and let the little girl know that the mommy she didn't remember was close by. Lost in a moment's reverie, Mariska snaps back into reality abrupt at the muted noise of a gun being fired. Instinct took over.

In the blink of an eye, Misha was wielding a Company-issue tazer and asserted her control over point-to-point space by jumping outside in…

Sasha gives a tiny, mouse-like squeal and shuts her eyes tight as the tranq gun goes off. Her fear spikes and she balls delicate fists in front of her eyes. Those little fists fly away the second Mariska appears; Sasha looks wildly about, unsure of what happened. When she sees the woman a moment later, she gets to her feet and runs for her in the dining room - she's a familiar, friendly face. While Mr. Suit Man is full of reassurances, he just shot someone in the neck. Her logic is that of a frightened child.

The child goes off and Noah follows her dash toward— As Benji would say… nutbunnies. This better not end as badly as that time he tried to capture Nathan Petrelli. Getting outdone by a guy in his underwear was just plain sad.

Noah drops the empty tranq gun as he pulls out the tazer, aiming it straight for Misha. "This is the part where you explain yourself. Now." Misha gets the Bennet Stare, his tone clearly making it sure that she gets that this is not a request.

Let the Mexican Russian tazer standoff begin. With her own tazer leveled at the man, it looks like the two grown-ups might be making a go at having a little non-lethal duel. With a tone of voice cast in cold iron, braided on the edges in a mold that surely Noah must recognize as belonging to someone who would do anything to protect their child (adopted or otherwise), Mariska begins to drawl to standard warning: "Stay away fro— "

Of course, I say begins because the moment that the little raven-haired girl collides with the Russian woman's legs, something seemingly unexpected happens…

Sasha hugs to Mariska's leg and KRAK! They disappear. Simple as that.

Noah Bennet is left alone with the shallowly breathing, tranquilized man and the body of the woman.

As for Mariska and Sasha… they go on a little ride.

They wind up outside Rainer's house, looking in the window—

Suddenly, they're almost in the forest, backed by a treeline.

Whirlwind. They're on a rooftop. In Russia. The view is beautiful! KRAK!

Next stop…

Benjamin & Church

Kirby Plaza

Manhattan

Benjamin was discharged from St. Vincent's earlier in the day. After leaving the hospital, he headed straight home. He was there long enough to shower, change clothes, grabbed a bite of palatable food. After that? Completely against doctor's orders, he went straight to Kirby Plaza to check in. He's definitely feeling the pain now that he's off the IV. It's at odds with his cowardly nature, but at the same time, he has his ability. He can /help/ with the bad guys. How can he stay at home, relaxing and healing with them on the loose?

All checked in, he's gotten updates and a status on the situation, and is sitting down at an assigned desk in a bullpen type area at Kirby to digest it all. It's a lot of information to go through, which could be good. It's keeping him still, seated and from breaking his stitches.

When you hear about an injured man coming back to work, you're bound to notice. Lawrence probably agrees with doctor's orders enough to finish what he was doing before venturing off to find Benjamin. The man in turn shows up at Ben's desk seemingly out of nowhere; he plunks down a Styrofoam coffee cup onto the desk, steam rising out of the lid. Decaf? Maybe. Maybe not.

"Why aren't you at home, Ben?" Church sounds like a parent.

KRAK!

OH HI! Cue the abrupt and unexpected arrival of one Mariska Mikhailova via teleportational jump. (Can anyone say 'hot coffee bath for Churchie'? I thought you could.) She literally appears right there next to Benjamin's desk in the bullpen. Plus guest. A tiny tagalong. There's a little raven-haired girl currently clinging to Misha's legs and, hey, wait — why does Mariska suddenly look all bug-eyed and terrified? "Benjamin!" shouts the Russian woman, reaching out a hand as if seeking some sort of tether to the world around her. Something's… wrong.

The little girl is no older than six or seven, with long, dark hair, blue eyes that match her tiny cardigan, and a darker blue dress. Her eyes are wide, instantly staring at Benjamin and Church. She doesn't look so terrified as the adult whom she clings to, strangely enough; it's more the look one gets when stepping off a rollercoaster and you're not entirely sure if the world has stopped moving yet.

Benjamin would be wise to listen to doctor's orders, considering he has never worked with an injury that had the potential to be fatal. Slowly, he shifts in his seat to find a more comfortable position as he flips through the papers in the file he snagged. When Church sets the cup down, he looks up and gives a faintly grim smile. "There's work to do." At Mariska's appearance, the papers in Ben's hands fly up in the air and out of their neat order. He looks sharply at the woman and her stowaway with a look like a deer caught in the headlights. ".. Mariska.. what's the matter?" He carefully pushes himself up from his chair, looking at the newly arrived with an expression of concern.

Not quite a bath, but Church does knock the coffee down his own leg when he jumps in his skin. Hot, yes, but nothing unfamiliar! He looks just as surprised as anyone might be to seeing people just appear. "Aagh— Mariska—" He says the woman's name, but his eyes are immediately drawn to the little girl. Sasha? Hold the phone, people. They found her? He is totally confused, of course.

«…wait! My little lion…» Have they stopped? Is this it? Oh, man, that was crazy and — erk! There's that familiar tingle again. Abruptly, Mariska reaches out and grabs on to the first thing within reach… Benjamin's arm. All but to no avail. The adventure continues!

Even when our memories are taken away… familiarity remains on a basic level. The memory can be erased from the mind, but the emotion, the feeling, it resides deep within one's core, never to be removed.

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