2007-06-16: The Trap

Starring:

Elena_icon.gif Ramon_icon.gif Desiree_icon.gif Cass_icon.gif Peter_icon.gif Heidi_icon.gif Eric_icon.gif

Summary: Following the tense events of the early morning hours, the group returns to Ramon's family's apartment to discuss what they found. Unbeknownst to them, the trap that Cass and Desiree anticipated is already at play.

Date It Happened: June 16, 2007

The Trap


The Gomez Apartment, Queens, New York

Luckily, Ramon's van is big enough for all of them.

Whenever they arrive back to the Gomez apartment, it is around 9 in the morning, considering the man needs to weave through traffic. While Desiree is well aware of the steering wheel stylings of Ramon Gomez, Cass and Peter might not be. But when they park in front of the old brownstone in Queens, it is business as usual. The business surrounding the apartment buildings are opening up, there's a few street cleaners working, and buses come and go to take people to where they need to go.

The building itself is quiet. The couple that keeps fighting across the street with the perpetually squalling baby are, thankfully, quiet for now. In fact they've been quiet for a couple of days.

And in the mood Ramon is in, preoccupied and high strung, he's about ready to run over cabbies as if what he's driving is a monster truck. His mouth has settled into a tight, grim line, and he's taken to flipping off anyone who doesn't run yellow lights with him. He whips around them and floors it whenever possible.

As the van bullets down the street at break neck speeds and crazy swirves, and he could swear there was a squirrel back there that is now a paddy on the pavement, Peter does his best to hold on tight. The famous 'Holy SH*T' bar? He's using it. Next time Ramon Gomez asks to drive, he's going to fly. Even the possible crash landing would be easier than this.

Oh yeah, and if they get pulled over, he's turning invisible. Nathan would kill him for being arrested.

Desiree opens her mouth to try to calm down or stop Ramon from nearly hitting another vehicle or taking out a pedestrian several times, but ultimately, she says nothing, choosing to stay quiet and hang on for the ride. She flashes Cass and Peter a few shakily encouraging smiles from the front seat on the way. It's going to be okay! Really! "Hang on to your insides, it'll be over soon," she murmurs to them. When they arrive at the Gomez residence, she's anxious to get out of the RTS van when it's time to stop, stumbling rather hurriedly onto the sidewalk in front of the brownstone. "You know you're crazy, right?" That is, obviously, to Ramon.

Clinging on to whatever she can - and she's not shy about holding on to people - Cass has her eyes shut and is trying to imagine herself in a happy place. Anywhere but a careening van going very fast about to plow into other cars. The moment the car stops, she is quickly unbuckling herself and stumbling out onto the sidewalk as if dizzy. It's possible she is. "I. I think I'll walk home," she mutters to herself.

Ramon makes an incoherent growling sound in reply and goes striding up, doing his normal mental *sweep* in search of trouble. "We never found the trap," he says harshly. "Why didn't we ever find the trap? We found the bait, so where the fuck was the trap?" He unlocks his door and looks like he might kick the thing open like a cop on t.v. before realizing its his. Swift fingers punch in the numbers on the security system.

The sweep, at present, picks up nothing. It is clear, which should either relieve or make Ramon even more nervous. There was nothing, and they just left Billy Jones, and the file was hidden under the floorboards, but in the end, there was nothing else.

The door opens after Ramon unsecures the door and steps inside the Gomez apartment. There is a certain sound, coming from the kitchen. In fact, it seems like someone's rather busy, and there's thumping sounds from the counter.

After a few moments, Elena peeks out from around the kitchen, blinking at the party that comes inside. She's clad in pajamas still, and a tanktop. Her hair is bound up in a loose twist, and there's a dishtowel in her hand where she's wiping off her hands. Well….this is odd. She knew that Ramon and the rest were going to Brooklyn to stakeout the address that had been given to him, but she thought….well, her father looked angry, and everyone else looked either tired or tense. No injuries though, meaning they probably didn't get into a fight like she feared…

"Papa! I didn't think…" She looks at the rest. "…how did it go?" she asks softly.

"I'm taking a cab," Peter remarks, shaking off the ride. Or calling a Petrelli driver, but a cab sounds less… rich guy. As 'the trap' is mentioned, with no idea what it was, he shakes his head quietly and follows towards the door, hesitating a little due to a certain promise he'd made about the apartment. But— "I'm also going to need to call my brother and his wife." The Petrelli's have heightened security. And as he steps in behind the others, he notices Elena in her pajamas and… looks away towards one of the walls, as if there's something suddenly very important to notice there.

"Maybe it weren't a trap," Dezi suggests - reluctantly, like she's slightly afraid of everyone biting her head off because they all think it was a trap - as she follows up the steps. "I mean, I'm jus' tryin' to think outside of the box here. Or maybe the trap just ain't sprung on us yet. Maybe it's got like, a time delay." On that note, she steps into the apartment with the others and smiles warmly without hesitation at Elena. "Well, it… we got Mister Jones," she says, wandering on into the kitchen. "He's okay. But there was…" She just sits down at the breakfast bar, a ponderous half-frown tugging the corner of her mouth.

Ramon goes prowling around his house like a tiger, and only shoots one wry look at the back of Peter's head that clearly says he is fooling nobody. He hovers protectively around his daughter. But he can't seem to talk about his finds easily. What he manages to say is, "What is…Gonad-prep-erin?"

"Subway. Subways are good." Cass replies with a weak smile to Peter. Then, she turns to Desiree and shakes her head. "No. Something was /wrong/ there. It was like…it was like being on a movie set, you know? Everything looks alright from the outside, but there's nothing actually /there/. Nothing of substance." Up the stairs and into the Gomez apartment. She's never actually been here, before, so she's wary of touching anything. Just something she does. She doesn't know what's off limits. "Hey Elena." She smiles at the woman, but tilts her head a little. "You're pretty quiet." Back over to Ramon, she shrugs her shoulders. "It's a fertility drug. It's used in fertility clinics to boost a woman's chance to get pregnant. It's Ganadropin."

"….trap? What trap?" Elena asks, yanking a hoodie too big for her off the rack near the kitchen and putting it on. They had guests after all, and zips it up. She's looking a little concerned about this, glancing at Ramon and furrowing her brows at him. "Goddawhatta? And…-Mr.- Jones?" She knows Dezi, Manny, and Ramon managed to snag a - Mrs- Jones, but a Mr. Jones? And listening to Cass, she rubs her face with one hand. "Wait……what, so……Mr. Jones had a fertility drug in his system?" Well, all she's catching is bits and pieces. It is clear in her expression that she thinks giving a man something that gets a woman fertile is kind of weird. What sort of pervert are they dealing with? "Ah, do you guys want anything to drink?"

With the hoodie pulled over her pajamas, Peter can do more than glance over every so often to make sure where she is in the room, and leads him to finally move over to the table and sit down, withdrawn into his more quiet side when around a great deal of people. At the invite for a drink, he hesitates, and then shakes his head, "I need to get back to the house soon. We— found something that— I need to talk to my brother and Heidi about— think they might be involved in what's going on." It's the first thing he's said to her since they got inside, and he's suddenly very interested in the sleeve of his shirt. It's a nice sleeve. He's just worried about his brother, sister-in-law and her kids. As well as this trap everyone keeps talking about.

Desiree, despite trying to think outside the box, agrees with Cass - and that's why she's so thoughtful, distracted, as she sits there. Furrows etch into her brow as she peers down at the counter and her thumbs toying with one another on top of it. "Hm? Oh, no, not for Mister Jones!" She cracks a silly grin for a second before she nervously looks to the prowling man of the house. "Ramon? Should you the files?"

Ramon hands the files to Desiree, not sure what she thinks ought to be done with them, but sure he wants a weapon or something. He sits down at last though, his fingers drumming on the table. "I'm not hungry, chiquita," he growls. "I'm too pissed off to eat."

"Sure, thanks Elena." Cass sighs and takes a seat across from Peter because everyone else seems to be sitting, too. "I'll just have some water or something." Then she stands up again. "Do you want help?" Because she feels bad about asking for something without helping. "No…" then Desiree explains and she falls silent again. She's now nervous and apprehensive, thinking about this time slowed trap that they've possibly sprung. "Maybe we shouldn't have left Mr. Jones," she frowns, thinking about how they managed to snag Mrs. Jones. "Because we still don't know where his wife is." It's obviously worrying her.

A concerned glance is tossed over to Peter at what he says, reaching out to rest a gentle hand on his shoulder…even though she has absolutely no idea what they found that's got him so worried. And then Elena looks at the rest. "Wait…what…." She doesn't get it. What does Heidi have to do with anything? Why does Peter look pale all of a sudden? Why does Cass look so tense and why do Ramon and Dezi look so confused? Though at least the Southern woman manages to crack a smile, and she can't help but smile back. Her eyes fall on the folder that's passed to Desiree. "Oh it's okay, Cass. Sit. You had a long morning."

She turns to the fridge, opening it and grabbing a bottle of cold water, sealed. She moves over, passing it to Cass. And then…….she looks up. "Wait. Cass said it was like a movie set right? Everything was fake?" She takes a seat at the table. "……..so…..where's the money coming from? You got the information from Mr. Winters, right? Unless he faked every single receipt and every single W-2…..?"

"It's… hidden in the floor there's— files," Peter nods towards the files being passed around, even though he's too worried to really know how to explain it. "A picture of Heidi and the boys were included in them, and— I need to talk to her about it. See if it's true." That she might have done fertility treatement isn't something he's sure he should share in front of everyone here, but— "Your father thinks… he… might be going after them next, or eventually at least. The security at the house is already big since the kidnapping incident— you… don't think that might have been connected, do you?" That wouldn't be, surely.

Desiree takes the file and lays it on the counter in front of her; she hesitates with her palm splayed on top of it instead of opening it right away. "Yeah, I feel weird about just leavin' him there," she comments, chewing on her lip; finally, she turns corner of the folder open, but her palm covers most of the contents on the first page just as fast. "I dunno about the taxes, but this guy's… well, he's up to somethin' other than plumbing." Pause. "..y'know. Sorta. Manner of speakin'." After regarding Peter for a moment with worry evident in her hazel eyes, she slides the file over the counter for Elena to see.

Letting everyone do the talking, Cass just takes the bottle of water and cracks the top. She takes a quick drink and then sits down again. Twirling the cap around on the table, absently, she thinks. "I don't know. I mean, he had two basic slaves doing whatever he wanted. He could have made /them/ do it if he didn't like menial tasks. And just because he submitted a W-2 doesn't mean that he had to show them all his receipts. Only if he got audited. So it's possible that he lied and just submitted something to keep him on the books as a legitimate business." She sighs. "I don't know."

"But a business still has to pay quarterly taxes," Ramon murmurs. He is going to get back on the phone with Benjamin and see what he can find out, if he can get Ben on the phone. Given a definate direction, the man stops acting like a tiger with a sore tooth.

Heidi? HEIDI? Elena takes the folder from the counter, flipping it over to scan the contents, and her face drains of color. "…wh…what the…." She looks up at her father. "I don't get it. He's after -mothers-, right? Why are there pictures of kids in here?" And no pictures of the husbands. Maybe whoever this John Carter was, he didn't care. When she gets to Heidi's file, her face turns a little gray. And then, she comes across her own file, her eyes falling on the environs around the library where she spent most of her time at school. She…when had this been taken? She looks a little ill. She slumps back down heavily on her seat after getting to the red A notation on her file. "…….maybe he means my grade-point average," she says, trying to crack a joke and failing miserably.

PHONE: You overhear Ramon saying, "Benji, I want to let you know that I found one of the missing people on your information. But you remember that question about that audit? The answer is yes, absolutely. The whole business was a front. Full of blank ledgers and receipt books that had nothing in them." into his phone.

PHONE: Into his phone, Ramon snorts. "Yes, they've been doing such a wonderful job with everything else. Hell no we're not going to call those incompetent assholes. You want to nail someone, you don't go to the policia, you go to the IRS, everyone knows that. The IRS is an authority."

Yes, Heidi. While everyone else does their thing, Peter looks as if he's mulling through thoughts, "Heidi is a mother…" And it would have been possible that the only picture he could find had been with her sons… except it hadn't been like that. And there's another file that he's worried about to, but he doesn't think to haven given her warning until she already finds it. With a slow breath, he stands up from his chair, pushing it back in politely. Could be he's ready to dismiss himself, but instead he walks over, hesitates a moment, before finally dropping a hand on Elena's shoulder. Just returning the gesture she'd given him before. They'd already known she could be in danger specifically, but this… "It'll be okay. We'll figure this out." The hand squeezes gently.

"Whatever it is, it don't much go with the crazy religious bend he seemed to be on. Or maybe it does, maybe I just don't get it," Desiree points out in her drawl. She slides off of her seat and circles around the counter slowly, coming to stand on the opposite side of Elena from Peter. She, too, squeezes one of Elena's shoulders in comfort. "Is' true," she agrees with the young man. "Jus' like we did before." She glances in the direction of Ramon while he's on the phone.

PHONE: You overhear Ramon saying, "Thanks Benji." into his phone.

"He can't be religious, he took the time out to quote an athiest," Ramon says, as an aside off the phone while he covers the mouthpiece. "Some fat white lawyer who thought too damn much. Elena, don't worry. I'm going to rip his head off." He sounds…very certain of this.

PHONE: Into his phone, Ramon lets out a long sigh and sounds tense even before he speaks. "I don't know," he says at last. "Maybe help me find where the money is coming from."

"I'm more worried about Heidi," Elena confesses to Peter, looking up at him though her words applied to everyone. "And Simon and Monty. And the other one….the one that's still alive." Her gaze falls on the pile of files. Somewhere in there, Maria Al-Hamza and her mother are staring up at the rest of them. "The one Papa interviewed before. She survived hers. Save for her and Heidi, everyone else is….." Dead. Including her own mother. Her eyes wander over to her father as he talks to Benjamin. She had her abilities, at the very least. She can defend herself. Heidi, though….she already went through something -bad- this year. When Dezi comes over to squeeze her other shoulder, she smiles over at her. Both her hands come up to touch Dezi's and Peter's on her shoulders. "I don't think you guys have to worry about me too much though," she says with a laugh. "I mean, children were included in all those pictures sure but….he's only going after the mother's in terms of….uh. Shuffling them off the mortal coil and all."

PHONE: You overhear Ramon saying, "I will. Thanks man." into his phone.

It seems like Peter and Desiree already have a monopoly on Elena's shoulders, so Cass stays where she is and fiddles with her bottle cap. She's worried about Elena as well as Heidi and everyone involved in this whole situation. However, she's not sure what to say right now. Frowning in a worried manner, she stays silent for the moment.

Twisting the hand on he holds on his shoulder, Peter squeezes her hand a little, before letting go and stepping back a bit, just to give her proper space. "I know, I'm worried about Heidi too— but the injections— that happened after they got married. It could be whatever— I don't know. But— I'll make sure Nathan ups the security for the house again. I think they toned it down after nothing happened to follow it up. Don't worry— we'll protect her." There's an unspoke 'too' at the end there.

Dezi nods slowly to Peter, moistening her lips as she bobs her head. "Yeah, well," she says after a moment; her hand tightens just a little on Elena's shoulder. She's not so sure about the girl's safety. "You're one of them kids, but what happens now? Now that you're all grown up and fertile and ready to make babies too? Who knows how far this freak'll go."

Elena stares at Desiree, blanching considerably. "Wait….you….you think this guy is going around trying to IMPREGNATE PEOPLE?" What? WHAT? EW. WHAT? That didn't make any sense! She thought he was a SERIAL KILLER. He's supposed to be KILLING people. Not make MORE of them.

Ramon just threw up in his mouth a little.

"…"

"………………………….."

"………………………………………………………………….."

"Elena," he says, doing a remarkable job of sounding calm after Desiree suggested that his girl is a rape target, "I'd like to get in your head and try to plant something that will ward off the guy's control. In fact, I'll just offer that service to all of you. Get Heidi over here and I'll do it for her too. And then maybe we can all discuss what the best sized shanks are for the delicate feminine hands of you ladies so that you can cut off his balls when the time comes."

The idea of some guy going after Elena to impregnate her… Peter isn't quite throwing up in his mouth like her father might be, but he's definitely not liking this. He'd been pale when he entered — and not just from the van ride — and he's pale again. It's Ramon's words he responds to, though it doesn't sound as if he heard them at first when he blinks and suddenly looks over at Mr. Gomez, "What— oh, of course. I— might have some defense against it already, but…" Wait, how much will he have to poke around in his head? The last time he'd been around a mind reader doing that intentionally, he got a pretty bad headache. But— call Heidi. Pulling out his phone, he turns it on finally and flips it open, dialing a number for his sister-in-law.

"Well I dunno! No one knows. That's what we're tryin' to figure out. If he's got this fertility drug…" Desiree's hand drops away swiftly from Elena in surprise and she stares with wide eyes at Ramon. Stare, stare, stare— "Can you … /do/ that?"

PHONE: You overhear Peter saying, "Heidi? It's Peter. I— could you come over to Elena's apartment? I know it's short notice and all, but there's something…" How does he explain this? Finally he settles on an urgent, "It's important."" into his phone.

"Papa are you sure…?" Elena says softly. "How many times have you…?" She knows he did it once - with Mary Jones, and she had mysteriously vanished before they could figure out whether or not it actually worked. The lab rat left the building. She stands up slowly from her chair, looking a little concerned. After all, her father was going to be using an ability that he hasn't really -practiced- too much as of yet. She was afraid of what it would do to him. And then…she nods. "Heidi first," she tells Ramon. If they were doing this now, and she knows how much it strains her father when he does…..the surest target out of the bunch was Heidi, who fit the other profiles.

PHONE: Into his phone, Peter speaks in a tone that gives away a lot of his tension, and various emotions. He's not happy, and very much worried. "I understand it'll take a while…" He hesitates, as if thinking about something, but then shakes his head, "I can explain when you get here. It's nothing… too urgent." No trips to the hospital this time— but it's definitely still urgent. "You've been to her apartment right?"

Another long drink of her bottled water and Cass is watching the whole scene unfold. She doesn't like the idea of Elena getting injected with something they don't know about. And she certainly is nervous about messing around in people's heads. But an idea comes to her and she says quietly, "It's not easy for a man to just get Gonadotropin vials, I don't think. Maybe we can try and track him down through where he's getting his drugs. You said you had his name? Maybe someone could pose as his wife and find out where he's been getting them and where he's been getting them shipped. Or picking them up. Track him down." It's an idea, right?

PHONE: You overhear Peter saying, "George has dropped me off and picked me up from here a few times, so see if he's available." And the driver should be able to keep Heidi out of some trouble, right? "No, nothing's broken," he finally cracks a hint of a smile, which carries in his voice. "I'll see you soon, thanks." into his phone.

As he hangs up the phone, Peter pockets it and says, "She's on her way. It might take a while. She has to get someone to watch the kids." Probably a poor maid, or one of their nannys who hadn't been working today. "Looks like I'll take that drink after all, Elena. Got any orange juice?"

She looks so proud of Cass, Elena beaming at the older woman. Because she's smart. She didn't go to Columbia for nothing, you know. "Cass, you're brilliant!" she exclaims. Either Dezi or Cass can do it, though probably Dezi is the best bet. "It's a fertility drug, right? Maybe….I don't think there's -too many- clinics that specialize in fertility in the city, and….there are really only two major hospitals around that carry that sort of therapy. I think. I have to check my notebooks from class, and even then there's Google." Oh the Internet. What would she do without you? Glancing over at Peter, she smiles at him. "Yeah, I'll get you some," she says, heading into the kitchen to yank out the pitcher and a few glasses. Her father might want some too, after all. And Dezi.

"Once," Ramon answers with a sour grimace and a darkening of his eyes. "Not field tested. But it's better than leaving you here as sitting ducks." But he nods to Cass. "You /are/ brilliant," he says. "I don't know what I'd be doing without /all/ of you right now." Screwing this up, most likely. His mouth gives another sour twist. "He's always been a step ahead. I feel like that whole set up was talking to us, personally. I just don't know what he was saying."

"Yeah, you got a good idea there," Desiree bobs her head to Cass. "Unless someone's a doctor or got some other kinda easy access to drugs, he's gonna have a extra hard time. Yeah, we could go 'round to fertility clinics first," she says to Elena in agreement. "They're more likely to have somethin' like Gonadatropin." After a moment, pensive, the woman drifts away from Elena, concern in her eyes as she looks back over her shoulder. Not just for Elena and Heidi. It's Ramon that she steps to, brushing up beside him. She doesn't say anything at first, just looks notably apprehensive, likely about his schemes, and hold onto his arm with both of her hands. "… You think he expected y'all to find the files hidden? There in the floor? 'Cause that don't make no sense."

As his boss is the brain of the opperation, Peter just nods as he catches on to what they'd been discussing while he was dealing with the phone. He does follow Elena into the kitchen for his orange juice, and to offer a hand at carrying most of the glasses. It's Desiree's question about if they were meant to find the files that actually gives him an idea. Perhaps a bad one. But it's something he /could/ offer… There's one way he could check the files— it doesn't involve tracking down paperwork, and since he's staying for a while anyway… "I have an idea, it won't track down where he got the stuff, but it might give us some information." There's a downside, there must be. "It'll knock me unconsious for a while. Maybe as long as two hours." And there's a glance at Elena, as if he hopes she figures out what he's talking about.

"Thanks," Elena says softly after she pours the glasses, with Peter helping her in the kitchen. She lets him carry the ones for Ramon and Dezi, but she doesn't give the younger Petrelli his glass yet - because he's proposing his idea, and knows EXACTLY what he means. She gives him a concerned look. "Are you sure?" she says. She doesn't know how that particular power works, the effects - all she knows is that he CAN use it, and sometimes he gets lucky. "I'll keep the juice back then - you're going to need it, with what you're going to do." She looks apprehensive though. Curious, sure, but more apprehensive than anything. She knew that he tended to absorb whatever feelings he got from those visions, light….and dark. What if he saw something horrible?

"I think he expected us to tear the place apart, and find our boy, yes," Ramon says. "Maybe he only likes his pets as part of a matched set." He lets Dezi calm him down though, and he does sound calmer with her hand on his arm. "I'm not going to try to talk you out of it, I'm just going to go with respecting you for doing it," he says evenly.

"Yeah. It's a fertility drug. It's best…" But they already have it. "Desiree could probably pull it off. Pretend like she's the wife, ask for some information. We could could do this. Make some fake IDs for her to show proof of ID." Smiling at Ramon, she shrugs, embarrassed about the idea of being called brilliant by two people she respects. "Nah, it's nothing." Then, she studies Peter. "Are you sure?" she echoes Elena's question. "I mean, I want this guy to be free any more than you do, but I don't want you to hurt yourself over it." As for the set up, she sighs. "I know it's something. I can just /feel/ it. I just don't know what it is. Or what he planted for us."

Ramon's answer just causes Desiree's brow to furrow all the more, her mouth a stern line as she thinks about that. It's… unnerving. It goes back to that whole 'it's a trap' feeling nobody can shake. "Pose as his-uh, well I'm not very good at… um. Well sure, whatever it takes. Where're we gonna get us fake IDs? God, sounds like we're teenagers tryin' to sneak into a bar." Clueing in in a belated fashion, she looks to Peter and tips her head to the side. "What can you do that'll help and knock you cold…?"

Not even a sip of the orange juice first? Making sure that the others get their glasses, he shakes his head, "It won't hurt me, unless I don't sit or lay down before I do it. Just— could take a while before I wake up and can tell you what I saw. It's…" This is for Ramon and Desiree's sake. The other two already have been told about this ability. "I can read the past of an object, get visions of things that happened involving it, around it— to it— or with it." And more than that, but…
"Could be all I'll see is us finding it." That would be the worse case scenerio, "Or I might see him putting them together. But I'm unconsious while it's happening." Even if he has evidence that he could go completely blind and see it happening instead of being knocked out. That part is not as fun, from what he saw. Unconsious works better, even if it worries those around him. "I'll be fine. I haven't done too much today." …Just… okay, he has done a lot today, but surely he'll be fine? Moving to settle into a chair with the files, he reaches out to touch them again. Since it didn't hit him the first time he touched them, he actually has to consentrate. And as soon as it happens it's pretty clear, because he slumps forward and looks as if he just passed out in his chair.

"….Gene can probably make very convincing fake IDs," Elena says, glancing at Cass and Desiree. She won't explain how. "He fitted me with this." She fingers the watch in her wrist. "He got a little paranoid after Elle, so….as long as I'm in the state of New York, he'll be able to find me. If he can do something like this, he can certainly generate a couple of those." She looks over at the rest, and then she falls quiet when Peter uses Mara's power. And then…..he's gone. She shakes her head absently. God only knows when he'll wake up. She -could- wake him up, give him a jolt of something, but…..he just explained that he -dreamt- the past while he was like this, if she woke him up too soon…..they might miss something.

She sighs. "We should move him." She closes her eyes for a moment, and tilts her head back. When she opens her eyes - the amber flecks have bled completely into the dark irises, changing its color entirely. And with that? She manages to sling Peter's arm around her shoulder, and….actually -lift him- from the chair to half-carry, half- drag him to the couch.

Cue Ramon: "…………………………………………………………………….."

It takes awhile for Heidi to reach the apartment, though she gets there a lot faster than would be anticipated at this time of the day. Still looking as if she's recently rolled out of bed - jet black hair pulled into a ponytail, wearing a t-shirt and jean shorts - she heads up to Elena's apartment. It takes her a little while to properly locate which one it was… Last time she was here, she was under a whole lot of stress, and can't quite recall. Eventually, though, she takes a gamble and knocks on the door that just happens to be the right one! Or, at least, the people inside the door (who happen to be the right people) will hear the soft knock from the other side.

Desiree, glass of orange juice in hand, forgoes such question as 'who's Elle?', 'what's in the watch?', and 'did Peter hit his head on the counter?' in favour of echoing Ramon while staring at Elena. "…" At the soft knock on the door, however, she jars out of her daze of shock and scurries around Ramon to get the door. She looks out the peephole before actually opening it, but when she does, she has a friendly smile for the woman she finds. "Hi Missus Lion," she greets. Still sticks. Despite Desiree's warmth, the tense atmosphere of the apartment is palpable and the Southerner's smile fades after a moment. "Come in," she says, making way. "And—thanks for comin'. …I'm sure Peter would say that is he was…. uh. Awake. He's fine! He jus' passed out a second ago. …but he's fine! Do you want some orange juice?"

Ramon looks up as Heidi enters. "Get her in," is his greeting, tense and low. As soon as Heidi is in the man is going to set the security system again. He's breathing too fast, adrenaline spurring him on, at a rate that's going to give him another heart attack if he keeps it up. Full of nervous, restless energy and the need to get something done.

She manages to get Peter on the couch, unfolding his taller body lengthwise on it. Lifting a hand to rub her forehead, Elena still holding onto this particular facet of her abilities, her head can't help but turn to look at Heidi. "Heidi…" she greets softly. The worried look is back, and the golden color winks back into dark when she lets go. But abruptly. She sits heavily on the side of the couch, a spasming shake running down her spine and tucking her arms in around themselves to grip her sleeves to keep her fingers from twitching. She really….really should learn how to fade it a little more gradually. It was getting easier, however. She looks at her father. "Papa, this is Heidi Petrelli. Heidi….this is my father, Ramon Gomez." He's the only one in the room Heidi hasn't met yet.

The moment that Peter passes out, Cass pushes herself up from the table quickly, ready to help him to the couch. However, Elena seems to have that covered somehow, and she watches the woman drag/carry him with eyes widened in surprise. "Wow." That girl has some strength. Then, of course, the door is knocking and Desiree is getting it and Ramon looks like he's about to keel over. "Hey Heidi," she smiles in greeting to Nathan's wife. Then, she turns to Ramon. "Ramon," she warns, not liking how he looks. "Be careful."

Ah-ha-ha. Heidi has to roll her eyes at the greeting, offering a return smile before stepping into the small apartment. Said smile vanishes completely, though, at the revelation that Peter is unconscious and passed out, and — "Pete?" she says, worry evident in her voice as her eyes travel over toward where Elena is carrying her brother -in-law to the couch. "He— " Cass knows. Elena knows. Desiree knows. What about the guy she hasn't met before? She can't just go worrying out loud about Peter's abilities and how they kick his ass on a fairly regular basis. And when she looks at Elena to ask the silent question, she can only state the obvious. "/Your eyes./" …Are scary. Pot, kettle, etc. The statement doesn't mean she's not worried, with Elena practically falling over and Peter already unconscious, she looks to Ramon, but the greeting, for now at least, is only a very brief upturn of her lips. "What's going on?"

"You haven't sat down since the car," Desiree tells Ramon quietly while they're still near the door and Heidi is well inside. Obviously, Dezi follows the same line of concern as Cass. "And that don't count 'cause your drivin's like flyin' a fighter jet which I've always presumed is high stress. Let's go sit down while we all chat this out," she encourages with a smile. It's a hopeful smile! Please come along and don't keel over and/or explode, Ramon. "You can have some orange juice."

"…..what about them?" Elena doesn't know they change. She's never seen herself in the mirror while she's in the state she's in. Exhaling softly, she sets the glass of orange juice next to the table so Peter can sleep off his abilities, so to speak. It was a handy power to have, but she has to figure out how to minimize the side-effects. She had -just- discovered it, after all….and she really hasn't had the time to get herself tested or have a second person observe her. Perhaps it was time to talk to Cass about that. Still, she sags further into the couch, and she sighs. "I…..I think you better sit, Heidi," she says. In fact, they could ALL sit down.

Ramon plunks down. "Hi. I'm Elena's dad." He scowls and sort of nudges Dezi forward. YOU explain it, honey. I don't do talking. His power, being communication based, really is the ultimate sort of irony.

What about them?? As the colour returns to normal, Heidi frowns. It must have just been some sort of trick of the light, and because it sounds silly to say 'I thought they were yellow for a second there!' Heidi just shakes her head and looks away, back toward Ramon. What more can she say to /that/ greeting, except to reply with something awkward of her own. Which is essentiall 'Hi, I'm— " Pause. "Friend of Elena's. Peter's sister-in-law." The 'Petrelli' part of her name should make that at least slightly obvious. The entire situation has her uneasy, and she's not really happy about it, especially when it's suggested that it'd be better if she was seated. So… She takes a seat in the nearest available spot, blue eyes glancing over toward Peter again. "He /just/ called me…" she mutters, the frown deepening.

"I-what—!" Desiree stumbles forward with an unintended 'oof' and pads, on automatic, toward the living room where Peter is passed out. She sits on the arm of Ramon's chair, careful not to slosh her orange juice, and just sort of stares, wide-eyed, at Heidi for several drawn out seconds before she attempts to smile at the woman. Why, no, this isn't awkward at all. "He passed out tryin' to…" She looks around at the others; Dezi, for one, has no idea how much Heidi knows. "…anyway, he's okay. Point is why he called you here and that's 'cause, well," the Southerner pauses. Her smile disappears. For good reason. "We think you might be in danger. Maybe. Probably. Sorta. See, there's this man…" She looks to Elena reflexively, fidgeting by twirling her glass around in her hands. "Maybe you should get the file. Is' still on the counter over there." By Cass! Hi, Cass.

The young Gomez girl reaches out to squeeze Heidi's hand when she sits near her. She can't hug her without getting up and already she's exhausted. The consequences of the boosting ability has left her a little fatigued, and prone to crashing. But Elena does smile a little faintly at Heidi. "Hi. Sorry for the short notice, it's just that…" My father and his crew committed a felony and I have absolutely no idea how to tell you that without looking at all of us like we're lunatics. She WOULD have said that too, but Dezi makes a good point. She stands up, slowly, and moves towards the kitchen counter, taking the file and walking over so she can hand it to Heidi. "They found this in the apartment my mother's killer is supposedly staying," she informs Heidi softly.

When someone tells you that you might be in danger, there are a whole bunch of various reactions one can have, and Heidi has them all. First, she looks at Desiree as if she's crazy. Then, after a moment's thought, her expression turns to worry. Surely these people can't be joking with her, right? And if they're not, even if they're legitimately concerned, they /must/ be mistaken, and so she shakes her head in denial. That stops abruptly when Elena returns with the file and the extra little tidbit about the fact that these people were hanging out where murderers live. As she takes the file, that look turns to something close to 'oh /shit,/' but it's not until she opens it that the colour drains from her face. "This was…" Confidential. Not even /Nathan/ knows. Surprise, Heidi has a dark secret! But she doesn't finish that statement, because… There are lots of pictures of her and the boys in this file, and she has no idea /why./ Not only that, but it appears that she's not alone. "Why would someone have this? Why would /he/" have this? The last question is directed at Elena.

Ramon is perfectly happy letting /Elena/ be the one to explain. "I don't know how much you told her," he grunts at his daughter. He scratches at his beard and leans back, closing his eyes. He takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself enough for what he wants to do. He probably should be friendlier for when these ladies get to the punch line, but…well. He's friendly the way really huge guard dogs are. He doesn't bite her.

Dezi frowns faintly at Elena, suddenly guilty for asking the girl to be the one to get the file. "You look exhausted, poor thing," she says quietly. She has a similar expression for Heidi, but her transparent concern is deeper. After a glance over at Ramon to find him typically stoic, she says to Heidi, "Well… none of us really… we don't unnerstand what's really goin' on yet. We just found this this mornin'."

"Heidi we don't know. It's really weird. We all thought he was just…you know. Crazy," Elena says, and she smiles warmly at Dezi. No worries, present Papa's Girlfriend/Future Stepmom! She takes a seat on the edge of the couch again, by Peter's unconscious body. "Papa found a voicemail from the last victim that said he was after these women because somehow he believes killing them can make him immortal somehow. He was concentrating on women with families. Women with children. Women who are religious in some way." And Heidi fit all of those. "….but then Papa and everyone else finds that file with medical records. -Scientific- records. It doesn't add up. We're just as confused as you are. Peter called because he got worried, because you were in it. Out of….everyone in the file, only you and one other one are still alive."

Heidi stares at her picture for… She couldn't even say how long. Minutes? Just trying to make sense of it and figure out why the /hell/ she would have been targetted. Whether or not she fits the description - and she does - there are perhaps /millions/ of women who would. And maybe there's still some disbelief there, as if she's learned from Nathan's policy that denying Bad Things makes them go away. What really hits her, though, is that last statement, which really drives home the fact that she /really is in danger./ When someone tells you that you're pretty much doomed to die, you can really only have one reaction. Weakness sets in and the folder falls from her fingers as her vision starts blackening around the edges, and before she knows it, she slumps right out of the chair and onto the floor. As she pushes herself up on her hands and knees, she has no real memory of how she even got there, and her eyes remain focused on a picture of her sons, still visible in the open file.

"Um," Ramon says, not entirely sure what to do about this show of feminine distress. This woman isn't one of his, after all. But he decides, after a moment, to just act like she is. So suddenly this man is on his knees next to her, rubbing her back like he'd rub…little Nita's. "Hey," he says. "You think we gonna call you over here without a plan?" he says gruffly. "Just to scare you and shit? Fuck that. Breathe."

Dezi is off the arm of the chair without thinking the second Heidi looks like she may topple; she's at the woman's side in no time, opposite Ramon. Hopefully, they don't overwhelm the woman - Desiree isn't thinking along those lines at all, however. She just wants to help. Her tactic is a little different from Ramon's. "Yeah, so don't worry too much!" she says with a sincere dose of optimism as she tries to steady Heidi around the shoulders, smiling. "Weeee are gonna stop anythin' bad from happenin'." Pause. "'Cause, well, we are." Pause. "… uh, Ramon, care explainin' your plan?"

Elena is up in a flash, and is about to move over and comfort Heidi - but her 'parents' seem to have that in the bag. "….Heidi, do you need anything?" she asks softly. "Water, or juice or…?" She looks concerned, and her throat constricts a bit seeing the Petrelli lady's reaction. She can't help but rub her face a bit. Why? Why is it always THEM? People she knows. People she -likes-. It wasn't fair!

Ramon opens his mouth for full disclosure. Then shuts it. Since when did knowing everything make a lady feel better? Hmph. He says, gruffly, "He bends brains. I got a way to protect against it." Maybe. Untested. But she doesn't need to know that either. "I'm just gonna need to touch your head a minute." Its easier, he's found, with touch.

Heidi's eide eyes turn upward as Ramon speaks, because she's not exactly sure how to take the comfort. His vocabulary is certainly colourful, at the very least.

Though she's still kneeling, one hand raises to rest across her legs, while the other remains bracing her against the floor. She still feels a little dizzy, and the thoughts running through her head are distinctly unpleasant. "You just told me the women in this file are dying," she states, omitting the stronger word 'murder' in an attempt not to panic herself more. Reaching back toward the file, she looks through the others, shaking her head when Elena asks her if she wants anything. Maybe when she doesn't feel like she's about to pass out. Besides, Ramon is— Is going to— "What?" Information in small chunks, please! She's still stuck back on the 'Hey, you might be next!' scare.

"Oh… that plan," Desiree says as she slowly lowers herself onto the coffee table, more or less in front of Heidi. She doesn't sound particularly thrilled about this plan, and in fact, the woman's glinting hazel eyes regard Ramon nervously. To Heidi, however, she smiles gently. "Issokay," she says. "The man who kills these women, he like— makes people do things they wouldn't normally. That's how he gets in their head and gets close enough to do it. Like mind control. I know it sounds crazy, and I dunno how es-perienced in crazy you are, but… Ramon here, he can, uhhh…" She side-glances at Ramon. "…I don't really get it. But he ain't gon' hurt you. It could help."

"…I don't know how Papa does it either," Elena confesses to Heidi softly. "He can put some sort of override against things like that. It's just that I'm not quite sure as to the mechanics, otherwise I'd be able to explain better." She remains in her seat, slumping tiredly onto the couch and rubbing the back of her neck a little bit. Her concerned eyes focus on Heidi, her lips in a grim line. While everyone was getting more and more interconnected, she wasn't sure…..maybe this was meant to happen. If they didn't take the initiative who knows what would've happened to the lady Petrelli later down the line?

As everyone is working on explaining things to Heidi and trying to feed her information in only smaller than brain -breaking chucks, there is a quick and rapid knock on the door. Should said do be opened, one would find on the other side a tired looking Eric Walker, wearing his casual outfit. Yes. Dean Winchester style. Leather jacket, faded jeans and t-shirt with black workboots. Under one arm is a briefcase, and on his face is a worried look as he taptaptaps his foot in waiting for the door to open.

And where he's laying on the couch, Peter Petrelli still dreams, but his eyes are moving quickly behind his eyelids, and he's not making a big fuss, so it must not be too unpleasant. In fact, for someone asleep? He looks extremely calm, while voices play about inside his head.

Experienced in— crazy. Aaah. Heidi chuckles, though the sound is uncharacteristically sour coming from her. "You have an ability," she says matter-of-factly. Shifting her position, she sits on the floor, leaning back against her chair, looking to Elena again. There's a moment of thought there as she remembers the girl's explanation as to how her mother died. Her fingers move the other pictures aside until she reaches the one of Catalina Gomez, and as pale eyes stare down at it, she says, "She was very pretty," quietly.

But, Ramon. Heidi can trust him, because he's Elena's father, and that's good enough for her. Anyone who can manage to raise such a good person must also be good themselves. "All right. Okay. If you think it'll help."

Ramon scowls as he almost breaks the lady's brain again, and he makes this sound very like a grunt. He mutters something in Peter's direction, something along the lines about the easy part. But when the knock comes, he tenses. He pauses for a moment, his eyes unfocusing, then announces, "It's Eric." And then Heidi speaks, and his eyes tighten considerably. "She was. Elena looks just like her." He turns his head aside for a moment and just…sits very still.

A small, sad smile is flashed to Heidi, but Elena appreciates the compliment on her mother's memory. There's a concerned glance at her father, and then at Dezi. When her father identifies the person on the other side of the door just as Peter's eyes start rolling around behind closed lids, her hand reaches out to touch his forehead to test his temperature. ………just a normal dream, then, and not the feverish nightmare ones she's seen him have one time. Assured of that, she stands up, and walks over to the front door, opening it up. Elena looks tired, but she smiles at Eric. "Hi, what are you doing here?" she asks quietly, looking over her shoulder. "It's a full house, just to warn you."

Desiree looks at the file as well, what she can see of it from here - but although she does glance up with some surprise at the knock on the door, soon she's watching Ramon pensively. She reaches out to touch his shoulder, hesitates for a moment, then squeezes it firmly. After a few beats: "Who's Eric?"

Heidi doesn't know Eric, actually, in that she's never spoken to him. She doesn't even look up when he enters, though she's starting to look just slightly less lost than she was when she first saw the file. What if Peter called Nathan? It's not something she wanted her husband to know, though as secrets go, this one isn't particularly terrible. All she can think about at the moment is… What if she can't be there for her sons? Even if she's not too thrilled about the whole situation, she has to do something to try to prevent something bad from happening, and so she looks at Ramon. "Is it going to hurt at all?" Whatever he's doing… Heidi isn't used to having abilities used on her, even if she's learned first-hand what Peter and Elena can do.

Eric…dosn't seem to hear her at first, relief floods his face and impulsively he reaches out to wrap her in a quick hug. "Your alright!" Is the first thing that he says, before launching into full babble. "I've been trying to call you for weeks, did you ever get any of my messages?" He asks before he shakes his head. "I mean I thought something happened to you, but of course nothing happened to you and your safe and sound if a little bit tired. I never got a message back so I didn't know if anything happened or what…so I came over as soon as I got back in town but…"

Then he finally slows his words down at that little warning voice pounds the 'STOP TALKING YOU IDIOT' button that is in the back of all guys heads. Sometimes that button has a lag time though, thats what gets you into trouble. He blinks once before glancing past her for a moment. "…er…is…this a bad time?"

"It shouldn't," is Ramon's gravelly response. "You shouldn't even feel anything at all. Don't ask how you'll know its happened though. With any luck, you'll never even have to test it, and if you do, you'll know its happening when the man with the funny Evolved hypnotic voice tells you to stab yourself and you tell him to go…" he seems to realize that there /are/ ladies in the room, "well." And then he nods to Eric, man to man. "Eric."

GLOMP.

Elena looks a little surprised, but then she hugs him back. "I'm okay. And no, I didn't get any of your messages." She pulls away and furrows her brows at him. "Where -were- you?" she asks. "Overseas? That would explain the technical difficulties…" Her eyes drop to the briefcase in his hand, looking up at him curiously. Was he in some sort of business trip? Probably doing something for his father, maybe. The merger between Lancaster Electronics and Evosoft hasn't finalized yet after all and he's told her before about how much he respected his dad. "And….it's sort of….it's about…." She gives him the quick version of what happened, and opens the door wider to let him in. She'll introduce him to Desiree and Heidi later, after Ramon is done conferring with Heidi. When he enters, he'll find….Desiree, and Heidi, who he's never met, and Peter, who he has, unconscious on the couch.

Beside Ramon, albeit sitting on the coffee table instead of proper sitting furniture, is one of those two women Eric is unlikely to recognize. Desiree waves, in the process of drinking from a tall glass of orange juice. She sits it on the table beside her and, quiet for the time being, leans ahead with her knees on her elbows.

When Eric speaks, Heidi does allow her attention to wander a bit, with a look toward him. An uneasy smile is offered, though at this point, looking as if she's been slugged (or told a very scary story) she doesn't have it in her to be polite. How is she going to sleep at night knowing that she really could be in danger? If it's not going to hurt, and this ould save her life, what has she got to lose? Her consent is a nod, as she turns and looks back toward the floor.

Ramon? Knows…women? Wow. Eric dosn't think that though, and the mere presence of Elena's father seems to calm the young man down as he steps into the room. "Boss," He returns the nod and the greeting. Even though technicly he isn't his boss anymore, Ramon is still 'Boss' its…just how things go you know. "I was…" He shakes his head. "…I explain later…I think I know what happened." He looks minorly annoyed by it for just a moment before he wipes the look off of his face. Yes. He has no clue who Desiree is, but he smiles and nods at her all the same, even as his brain tries to process all the information. As for Heidi, well he knows /who/ she is. I mean his parents live 2 houses down from the Petrellis. He just never has been introduced. He can always wait though. "…is Peter alright?" He finally asks as he glances towards the man on the couch.

"He's busy, don't touch him," Ramon says. Then he reaches out towards Heidi's head. He just puts his hand on her forehead, like he's checking to see if she's sick. He closes his eyes. "Everyone shut up for two seconds," he says, and then he goes through the process of trying to find his way into her subconscious. (OOC: Feel free to not shut up. He'd just say that. But that's no fun).

"He's….being experimental," is Elena's explanation, hoping that Eric catches on what that means. She flashes him a sheepish smile. However, when Heidi nods her consent, she looks serious. She walks over to Desiree, and picks up the glass of orange juice she left there for herself. She gives this up to Eric - he looks tired, and he mentioned he did just step off a plane (probably his father's private jet….those rich people ._.). "Desiree, this is Eric," she murmurs. "He's a good friend." Who she's gone on a couple of dates with. "And a classmate at NYU. Eric, this is Dezi. Papa's….girlfriend." She hopes she's not getting that wrong, but by the way the Old Ones were acting earlier it was probably a safe title to use. And yes, Eric. While you were gone, Papa was being a pimp.

Desiree's widen perceptively when Elena says 'girlfriend', and the smile she has in place for the newcomer becomes just a little tense (more than it already was given the strange morning everyone is having). Tense or no, she still manages to shine some cheer. "Hey-a!" she says in a hushed little greeting to Eric - then she shuts up, watching Ramon and Heidi as intently as if they were an action-packed TV show. The reality is less interesting. If only there was some way to tell if it was working.

Her eyes remain fixed on the floor, though they narrow for just a second when Ramon's hand contacts her forehead. As he told her, Heidi feels nothing, can't even tell anything is happening, but she's hoping that whatever's going on is actually going to help in the long run— If Ramon is doing anything at all. That the action seems to be harmless causes her to relax a little, the tenseness leaving her shoulders enough so that she no longer looks hunched. Eventually, her gaze leaves the floor, finding Ramon's eyes instead, but while she's wanting to ask if it's working, or what he's even doing, she remains silent. Maybe if she says something, her brain will leak out her ears or something, and that would be bad.

"Experimental…right," Eric catches on quickly enough, keeping his voice low before he follows Elena across the floor towards the table. Raising a hand up to cover a yawn he shakes his head to clear it. It has been a long day, and it /was/ a private jet, with most of the family actually. At least most of the trip he got to talk shop with his father, he enjoyed /that/ part of the trip at least. Some minor part of his brain winces at the 'friend' word she uses to introduce himself, but he dosn't let that show on his face. "…nice to meet you." He says, politeness overcoming everything else for a moment before he smiles a genuine smile towards the woman…then lets his eyes stray back towards Ramon and…whatever little bit is happening to Heidi.

That's the word Eric uses to describe them! Don't MAKE me get the logs, bucko. XD Elena smiles - there, one introduction done. But then she slides her hands in her pockets, and looks over at Heidi and Ramon. She can't help but take a few steps closer, looking concerned, and, she knows she can't help it, curious as well. When did her father get this idea? That he could somehow override implanted suggestions? It was fascinating, really. But….she can't really see anything visible. She doesn't see any visible effect on Heidi, or any on Ramon either. Then again, Telepathy she found was a tricky subject to study, because the effects aren't visible at all.

She can't really be calm in a situation such as this one, but she's doing a good job of trying. After all, she isn't going to protect herself by worrying constantly, nor is it going to solve anything. All she can do is attempt to remain on her toes and hope that whomever is killing these people decides she's not worth the effort. Of course, given some of her luck lately, Heidi isn't about to play the 'that can't happen to me' game. And then—

Her eyes widen, she utters a loud syllable that's fairly close to a shout, though she's seemingly frozen in place for a moment before she quickly pulls back, shaking her head and pressing her hand to the bridge of her nose. It's not that it /scares/ her, it's that the feeling that came with it, the sense of the voice in her mind, is distinctly strange. She's experienced something similar before, with Peter's voice cutting through the ringing in her ears; that didn't exactly end well, but at least this time, Heidi doesn't slug anyone. See? Progress!

Her hand returns to the floor, and she leans back against the chair, sighing. If it works, if whatever Ramon did prevents her from dying, then she's grateful. But she has no idea how to show that gratitude, except for a very brief, very weary smile.

Eric leans against the table, and since Ramon told everyone to be quiet…he tries to be quiet, heck he even tries to quiet down his racing thoughts. Not that it does all that much good there. His mind is making up for his body being tired. He'll…just try to keep his thoughts quiet. Or something. He isn't really sure if thats even possible…but he'll try dangit!

"I'm done," Ramon announces, as if it weren't obvious. He stares around at the ladies, as if trying to decide _who is next_. Its a quick decision. He's going to come stalking after Elena. Not that he doesn't love Dezi, but there were no pictures of Dezi, so he's going from largest danger to smallest here.

When her father walks over towards her, Elena stands really still, blinking at her father - and having forgotten for a moment that she was next. "……..oh," she says softly, and then she closes her eyes. She doesn't hesitate, this was her father after all. But she remains where she is, exhaling a breath. She was…disturbingly used to this, there's no apprehension on the young woman's face at all when the father goes to plant the same sort of protection on his daughter's mind.

It's done? It's done. Whatever it is; Dezi still isn't sure what, exactly, Ramon is doing. "Y'alright?" she prompts Heidi, peering at the other woman curiously with raised brows. It's at that point that a distant musical tone drifts in from somewhere in the vicinity of the hallway, or rather one of the bedrooms. "… that's mine," she murmurs. Cell phone. "Is' probably the kids. I'ma go see what they want. I'll just be…" Over there. She stands and cautiously sneaks around Ramon and Elena, practically tip-toeing so as not to interrupt the process, and disappears for awhile into one of the bedrooms.

Eric will once more just keep watch, though he will glance towards Heidi with some concern plainly read on his face. He smiles once towards her before taking a hesitant step towards her. "Um…hi…" Pause. What do you ask a woman that has just been mind melded? "…can I get you anything? Something to drink?" When in doubt fall back on politeness! Though he has no idea where anything is, he can still ask!

"M'fine," she says, blinking as if dazed, before she finally regains her bearings. It was just /weird,/ really… Nothing painful or truly disorienting. As Ramon stands to head over toward Elena, Heidi slides across the floor until she's leaning against the couch where Peter's lying, and she reaches up to rest her hand on his. She hopes he's okay…

Now that the whole thing is done, she's able to offer a genuine smile to Eric. "Hello," she states, holding up her free hand to shake his. "Actually, I'm fine for now. Maybe just some water? I— " She could get it, but she still feels weak from the revelation. "Please, if you would. Sorry." Water should be easy enough to find.

With the hand on his own, Peter actually twitches. A few moments later his eyes open and he stares up at the ceiling. That calm, almost deadly certain expression that had decended upon him while he "slept" still hasn't left, and when it does start to fade until he blinks a few times. Then it turns towards confusion. He looks down at his hand, then up at the arm holding his hand, then towards a face with blue eyes staring out at him. "Heidi," he whispers in a light tone. Not because he knows he should be quiet. "What— how long was I out?" This wasn't a short one, it would seem. He starts trying to sit up, looking around for the man of the house and his oldest child, not realizing that something important may be happening. "I think Cass was right." It was Cass that said they were being fooled, wasn't it? Only the trap may not be what they thought.

"Eric Walker…or Lancaster, whichever you prefer," The young man says with a smile as he reaches out to shake Heidi's hand before standing again and glancing towards Elena and Ramon. Hrmmm. Right. They seem to be busy, and he thinks he remembers at least where the glasses are…and how to get water out of a fridge that Gene hasn't modified.

If its a fridge that Gene /has/ modified, just remember…don't press the red button.

A nod though towards Heidi and he walks quietly off in the direction of the kitchen to collect some water for her. "Its no trouble," He adds towards her before he dissipears out of the room.

Ramon finishes up with Elena and goes tight around the eyes. "I need to sit down after that one," he grunts, which from him is as loud as a shout of difficulty. He sinks back down, leaning his head back. "Welcome awake, Peter. What did you see?" He digs the palms of his hands into his temples and rubs.

The loud booming voice of her father inside her head causes her to stagger back a bit. But Elena manages to shake it off. She isn't aware that Peter is awake already, or that Eric had approached Heidi. She looks a little disoriented - until her father starts looking a little weary. Both hands come up. "Here….sit down," she murmurs, helping her father on his seat. And then, she glances over to Heidi and Peter, and then Eric in the kitchen. Her head was still a little foggy. For some reason, she feels ill. Her head throbbed like a bastard, and she lifts her hand to rub her face.

Shaking her head, she eases herself away from her father and moves to the kitchen. She pours out two glasses of orange juice. Eric was taking care of Heidi's drink, after all. So she emerges - one to give to her father, and one to Peter. "Here, drink this," she tells the latter, inspecting him with her eyes. It looks like he's going to be fine though, so she lets him be. She ventures over to her father and gives a more thorough examination, starting with her father's eyes, and his pulse. Peter can come back from the dead, her father doesn't have that luxury and he's already had one heart attack.

She manages to look as calm as ever when Peter finally wakes up, and as Eric heads off to get her a glass of water, she turns toward him. "Hey, Piglet," she says, her smile coming easily considering the fact that she's quite relieved that he's awakened from this one. And… she doesn't know what to say, because he's seen the folder, and now she knows that in order to have children, she had to go to a clinic. It's why it took her and Nathan so long. She rests her chin on one of the cushions, eyes staring upward at her brother-in-law almost like a hurt puppy. "Peter," she says quietly. And even though this isn't the most dire issue at the moment, and even if telling him is going to make her entire 'we have to tell each other the truth' argument with Nathan void, she says, "Nathan doesn't know." It might hurt him if he did, even if it wasn't really his fault.

"See?" she asks, turning away from Peter as her attention is diverted toward Ramon again. Of course, Mara's ability is a bit of a sore spot for her, but she doesn't know that's what Peter was doing.

So her and Elena have both heard Ramon's voice in their head now. And… The look Heidi gives the younger woman is akin to 'is this really going to work?' Because she's not familiar with the scope of Ramon's abilities. However, she's likely to believe Elena, since this is her father, and she probably has a decent idea of whether this is a cure for the potential problem. "Are you all right?"

Erick comes out just a moment later and walks over towards Heidi as she stands talking to Peter. He simply hands her the drink with a slight smile before he nods in greeting towards Peter, and adds. "Good morning," towards the slightly older Evolved. A glance then full once more of concern is directed towards Elena and Ramon as well. "…why don't you both sit down." He adds with a smile towards her. After her, it looks like it took a bit of out of the both of them.

There's a little time to rest for the older man, because Peter's definitely got something important to say to Ramon— but he gets a little distracted by the women in the room. Heidi's words about Nathan earn a small nod, one that's a little calm, still. Understanding. "It's yours to tell him." He'd said that with his brother's secrets, but this… isn't quite as hurtful a betrayal in his opinion. He's not going to needle at her until she caves. Instead he squeezes her hand, before taking the drink that Elena's offered. "Thanks."

When he turns back to regard Ramon, he begins to explain, "I think I saw him. Carter." He gives some basic descriptions, baldness especially, but it's more important what this man, Carter, had been doing. "He was on the phone. Talking to someone. I could only hear his side of the conversation." Because that's all the object he touch heard? Who knows. "I don't… the man isn't just some maniac serial killer. The people he's killed— the ways he's made it look— he's using it to hide what he's really doing. What him and whoever was on the other side of the phone is doing."

There's a small pause, as he finally takes the drink, and looks towards Eric who just entered… and the room starts to darken. Sounds like there's more, too. He doesn't notice the light, and keeps explaining. "He was concerned… about who was leaking information to you, Mr. Gomez. Saying that they needed to find the… the mole and quiet them. And he was talking about a… …crop. One they could deal with— a girl, and one he felt was a… threat. A boy."

"A…crop?" Ramon shakes his head. He'll say nothing about his source, who he thinks can take care of himself in any event, but this crop thing…"Elena and Manny," he says at last. "He got Elena's blood sample somehow, and he stuck Catalina. Alternatively, the Minister's Kids, but I don't think they're Evolved. They're all too…normal. For that." He sucks down the orange juice, frowning deeply.

"I'm okay," the Latina tells Heidi quietly, with a small smile. "I'm more worried about you," is the soft confession that follows. But she doesn't linger with them for long, her father needed attention, and that's where she goes.

"……….what…?" Elena whispers softly, staring at Peter from where she's hovering over her father. And then the room starts getting dimmer, and dimmer, and dimmer. She knows this isn't natural - it was a sunny day outside. Eric was in the room, it was easy for her to put two and two together. Not to mention the fact that Elena's trained Eric in his darkness manipulation, and she's also been studying -what- he could be wielding, which is at present in its theoretical stages. But what the younger Petrelli brother says is ….confusing, and she can't help cold fingers running up her spine. She didn't know what it was, but—

Her eyes snap back to her father. His pulse was getting erratic, the same bad look was entering his eyes. She knows the signs, so she touches her fingertips lightly on his forehead, to calm his heart and slow the pressure, give some relief on his spent arteries. "….I'm pretty careful about my blood, Papa," she says quietly. "Unless he's able to break into the hospital where I get my check-ups, he doesn't have access to it." Even if it's possible. Peter knows, he's seen her ball up the shredded cloth she used to stem the zoo-wound with and stuffed it in her bag.

She's going to have to tell him now, especially because of the fact that her life is apparently in danger. It just wasn't an issue before, and after she became pregnant with Simon, there was no more need to worry about whether or not she'd be able to have children, or what extent she would go to to ensure that she was able to. After taking the glass from Eric, she stares into it for awhile, one wrist resting against the cold bottom. The reason she did it was /for/ Nathan, really, though Heidi badly wanted children, too.

'The people he's killed…' That causes the blue-eyed woman to shudder, because as far as she knows, she could already be targeted. It can't be as bad as that, right? She'll just have to be careful. Of course, the fact that the killer was talking about a 'crop' while killing people doesn't sit well with her, nor should it with anyone. Notably, this still hasn't quite sunk in, yet, the information is just coming in too quickly.

Wait. Wait. The folder is still on the floor, so she looks through it again, now that she's gotten over the initial shock. All these women have similar notations, which she hadn't looked at before, including Elena's mother. And so they're all connected through whomever it was that helped them have children.

So in summary… She still has no idea what's going on, but at least she's crawling up to speed with the others. Right now, Heidi would love to be able to cry, or to be sick, or something… She needs to talk to Nathan as soon as possible.

"She never told me about going to a fertility clinic," Ramon says roughly, his face strained even under Elena's attentions. He lapses into a quietly anguished sounding Spanish. "We told each other everything. Why didn't she…" And then something inside of him spins out of control. He's not having another heart attack, but the man's not well either. Like the first time he overloaded, a trickle of blood starts out of his nose. His eyes roll back in his head, and that hits the back of the chair. Out cold. Between the stress of the information and the strain of a trick that's not as easy as it looks, he's done more than his body can currently take.

Listening quietly to Peter speaking, Eric begins to slowly frown. What it sounds like is that this man /is/ a lone killer…he is working with people. Powerful people, with an agenda. This makes it much worse, and multiple different levels. The first level is because he's not working alone, and the next is…well…its even worse because all thease killings were thought out and planned. Thats just disgusting.

He dosn't notice the dimming of the lights, mostly because with his eyes he dosn't even realise its happening. He just continues to think about it. A crop. That just sounds disgusting. "…a crop of…what?" He says quietly with a shake of his head. What the heck would do that? WHO the heck would do that? He sighs for a moment and shakes his head, leaning against the wall he rubs at his face thoughtfully. "…I think your experiment created a whole lot more questions…" Most Experiments usually do though.

Of course, then Ramon passes out and Eric blinks in suprise, leaping forwards to try to catch him before he falls right off his chair and ungracefully onto the floor, his hand going to check his pulse. "…he'll be alright…I'll help you get him to bed." He says quickly towards Elena to forstall her loosing her mind.

"Crop could mean a lot of things," Peter tries to say, when the older man mentions Elena and Manny as possibilities. But it's Heidi he's also looking at. If Ramon is right, then this man— might not be out to kill her. But out to do /something/ to her children. That has to be the most terrible thing a mother could ever be told. It's Ramon hitting the floor— or the chair, that makes him stand up, immediately moving forward as if to heal the man. But Elena would know that he's used a lot of abilities today— and using another one right now. Calling up a second could leave him laying on the floor just like her father is now. And now he really starts to notice Eric, and he pauses… slowing down. He'll be okay. And she already has help, in the form of an old friend.

His eyes shift towards the floor. That darkness in the room gets heavier.

Moving back towards his sister-in-law, and the papers, he kneels down to help gather them up. Like Eric, he doesn't notice the room getting darker. He can see just fine. "You should get home— make sure that the boys are okay— and talk to Nathan, if you think you can do it. It might be a good idea to… get them out of the house. Move them somewhere else— where it wouldn't be as easy to find any of you."

"Papa…" Elena breathes, and she's about to reach out for her father, when Eric manages to snag him before he drops off the chair entirely. She watches him check his pulse - it should be normal, she made sure of it. "I need to get him to bed," she says, reaching out to stroke the sweat out of her father's forehead in a loving fashion, her face scrunching up a bit. This was one of those times where she questioned if it was wise to let her father do it. His pride spurs him on, she just wasn't sure if he had the physical fortitude to. This entire thing was shucking bits and pieces of the one, dominant male influence she has in her life - she was afraid there'll be nothing left at the end of it. If she sees the end.

The room gets darker. She notices it, even if no one else does. She's perceptive like that, but she looks at Eric and she nods. "He can take my bed for now." Because Ramon doesn't have a bedroom, he's given up his own comfort for his children. The apartment was just a three-bedroom, with four children. Now it's four children and a girlfriend. She wipes the trail of blood from her father's nose, before she lets Eric take him.

She stands up, and glances over at Heidi, a small nod to her at what Peter says. She thinks it's a good idea, to move the boys someplace safe or at least beef up the security around the mansion. But how does anyone be prepared for someone who can literally talk his way into anything, or plant enemies in one's own home?

As Peter speaks of the 'crop,' Heidi's eyes narrow. Is it — "Is it getting dark in here?" she asks quietly, using one hand to push herself to her feet. She can't miss the fact that Ramon has passed out, though, and while she starts to step toward him… it seems like he's already being well-attended. And considering that Elena's much more medically inclined than she is, her 'help' consists of asking, "Should I call for help?" Bleeding noses plus the use of abilities equals trouble.

Hm. Maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her before, but now she's sure they're not. It's not as bright as it was before, not by a long shot. It's like the sun has set, even though it's still daytime. "Uh— " she starts, but that thought trails off. "No, Peter. I'm not doing that to them again." Even if it'd be the smart thing to do, last time she listened when someone told her to take the boys away, it was months before she was allowed back home. And even then, no one called her. "I'm not running away. If this man thinks he's getting my boys…" Open-ended threat. But… Heidi'll kill him.

It'll be ugly.

"He'll be alright," Eric repeats for Heidi's benifit before he steadies Ramon's body before bending his legs slightly to heft the older man up in both arms. He seems able bodied enough to carry him at least to the bed. "…alright." He says quietly towards Elena before he turns to start toting off Ramon towards her bedroom. he knows the way…though its nice not having to come in through the window this time. "…eh? Dark? I don't notice anything…but…" He grins slightly sheepishly. Yeah. He wouldn't notice anything, though his eyes have that slight shine they get when he's seeing in the dark. He wonders off then, dissipearing down the hallway.

He'll be back for the end of the conversation and the parting of ways, but right now he's trying to make sure that the Boss is comfortable. After all, the man deserves some type of relaxation after pushing himself so hard, and doing it all to help everyone else.

"I wasn't meaning take them out of state, Heidi— I was meaning to a hotel, or— maybe pretend it's a vacation. Just until— nevermind." Peter's just worried, and now he can somewhat understand why his brother might have sent her and the boys away. Only it's not to hide from what he is— it's to protect her from what could happen because of something she did. Not a bad thing she did. Her sons may not have been born without that.

"I'll stay over at the Mansion for a while— hopefully your puppies won't eat my puppy…" It's said with a smile, and he'll leave it there. If that man thinks of going after his family— yeah, Heidi may have to beat him there. Then again, he may let her. He hasn't had much success killing Sylar. There's hesitation, but it seems everyone might be gearing up to leave. He glances towards the bedroom, where Ramon disappeared to, and then his eyes slide over the young woman in the room.

At this point, for no reason, the light returns.

While her mouth opens to protest Heidi for staying in New York when it's clearly dangerous, Elena shuts her mouth with a soft click when Peter, he of a gazillion abilities, offers to stay at the mansion for a while. With that added protection, she relaxes a little bit. She lets the two family members discuss things, while all the while she's glancing at the hallway where Eric disappeared to with her father. She has to see to him, her fingers are twitching a bit in an unconscious effort to do something to make him feel comfortable. He'll be HORRIFIED waking up on his daughter's bed, but he's in no state to rest in the couch right now.

She glances over at the Petrellis, and falls quiet - though she blinks when the room looks normal now. Oh, hey! Let there be light. She exhales quietly - but she doesn't interrupt important family discussion time. Though when Peter glances at her, she gives him a small, encouraging smile. Yes, she approves of Plan.

She waits for Eric to exit her room, and then she rakes a hand through her hair. She doesn't know what it was, but her head feels like it's about to break open. It hurts so much - and the pain was distracting her concentration to try and kill it. She'll have to deal with it the old fashioned way and stick some excedrin in her mouth. But once Eric is out of her room, she turns to all three of them. "I should….go see to my father. Eric, you just got off a plane, Peter you've been with Papa since early this morning, and Heidi, your children…" In short, get some rest. She reaches over, so she could try and give Heidi a hug. "It's going to be okay," she murmurs.

Peter does have a point, but even so, Heidi is hesitant to just leave. She'll talk to Nathan, she'll see what he thinks, but she's not leaving for months on end again… Not this time around. Just because she has no ability doesn't make her less willing to defend her children… Though having /something/ would certainly help.

Peter being at the mansion will put her mind at ease, though, and she nods to the suggestion. "Well, they leave Spica alone. Snowy should be fine." She hopes. The puppies are getting pretty big now.

When she hugs Elena, the younger girl might notice that Heidi is actually shaking, despite her attempts to appear calm. It's just not something she can accept without feeling a little frightened. It's not like this guy is waiting outside for her to leave the apartment, but still… "We should talk soon," she says Elena, giving her a quick sqeeze before turning toward the door. "Thank you." Now? She just has to figure out how she's going to tell her husband.

Walking back out slowly, Eric sighs slightly. He made Ramon as comfortable as possible, though he didn't tuck him in. Something about tucking a man into pretty pretty girl sheets is slightly…wrong. Besides, Ramon would eat his soul if he found out he did anything like that. "Alright Elena," He murmurs coming back in the room. "…your right, I've been on my feet all day." He didn't expect all this seriousness and stuff to happen when he poped over tonight.

A glance at Peter and then at Heidi before he smiles towards the both of thim, a crooked little expression. "…I know you don't know me that well," He says slowly. "…but if there is any way I can help, just tell Elena, she knows how to get ahold of me…" Pause. "…at least she will once I have a little talk with my family." He adds under his breath before shaking his head and looking at the three of them.

Reaching out though he touches Elena's arm gently, smiling towards her. "Take care of yourself too alright? Promise me?" He asks of the girl before he turns to gather up his case and turn towards the door. "…nice meeting you Heidi, and good too see you again Peter…I…guess I might see you around then." Walking towards the door after Heidi, he pauses looking back towards Elena.

"…its good to see you again," He adds after a moment with that same crooked smile. "I'll come over after everyone has had some rest and explain what I was working on with dad. I think you'll like it."

"Then I'll bring Snowy and stay the night for a while," Peter says, planning to do such a thing, for very important reasons. Protecting his family. That's important. However— his eyes shift to Eric as the younger man addresses him. It has been a while. Not since the incident with Heidi's kidnapping. "…I know you'll help— you and an entire army of robotic governors." And he means that in the most literal way possible. It's said with a hint of a smile, that seems forced, and fades quickly.

Eyes train on the floor a little longer than they should, before he moves to follow Heidi out, and see her to the waiting driver. He won't get in the cab with her, though. Instead he says, "I'll catch a cab. I need to take care of something, and then I'll be back at the house before it gets dark. I promise." And it gives her some time to talk to Nathan without hovering younger brother.

She squeezes Heidi back, and then lets her go. "We will, I'll see you soon," Elena promises, watching the blue eyed woman head for the door. When Eric touches her arm, she looks over at him and she smiles. "Came back from a hopefully nice vacation to this, huh?" she banters. "I'm sorry." And she does look extremely apologetic about that. When he mentions working with something….and his dad, she tilts her head curiously. "Really?" She smiles at him a little more cheerfully. "Sure. Besides, Papa hasn't seen you in a while. And…..just to warn the apartment's been pretty crowded lately, we're shacking up Dezi's twins too." Brady Bunch: The Evolved Version. Luckily Luis and Juanita are at her grandmother's. If they started living there too…

Well. The Company might just go and firebomb the house Ramon's been eyeing upstate.

"Later, guys," she says exhaustedly, walking up to see them to the door, and then closing it. For good measure, she locks ALL THE locks on the door, and leans against it. And her head is KILLING HER. She heads for the kitchen to get a bottle of aspirin, and then towards her room where her father is.

Later….

With Heidi off in the car, Peter pulls out his phone and checks for messages, and then puts it on silent. He should still get the calls, in case Heidi has an emergency, but in this case… He moves around towards the fire escape, remembering a few conversations they'd had about her best friend, Drake, and he climbs up the stairs until he finds the right window. There's a long pause, as he hesitates, and then he knocks on the glass. Lightly, so as not to disturb the neighbors, but loud enough someone inside should certainly be able to hear. Assuming of course they are conscious. One should certainly be. The other? Not so much.

Her head.

Elena presses her back against the wall, before she gets into her own bedroom, clutching at the side of her head and shaking it hard. Hopefully the Excedrin will kick in. She could feel heat on her nose, and when she reaches up to rub it, blood is smeared away on the golden tone of her skin. Maybe….a side effect of what her father did to her? She didn't know, but she'll bear it. She trusts her father to know what he's doing. So she closes her eyes, rolling her head back to rest into the wall, feeling the ridiculous pounding hammer at the back of her head…

Tap tap tap.

Her eyes fly open. The window? Her first thought is Drake, stepping inside her room to head for the window to her bedroom, and pushes the drapes aside. When she sees Peter, her eyes widen a bit in surprise. She reaches to push the window up, and step to the side to let him through. "I thought you….?" she prompts, looking at him baffled.

Yeah, it's Peter. It's not dark enough for him to be mistaken for anyone else. Of course as soon as she opens the drapes and sees him, he's blinking suddenly and looking back towards the sky. There's a slow breath, before he steps inside, with her moving out of the way to allow it, and he catches the hint of blood on her nose. "What happened?" he asks, reaching up with his own hand to touch her face, thumb brushing over her upper lip, where the blood is still vaguely visible.

"I was going to offer to heal your dad— see if I can help him recover faster. But— are you okay? Do you need anything?" Healing? Anything?

The raised hand slides lower, thumb remaining on the line of her jaw, close to the chin, while his fingers brush her neck. He's looking into her eyes, as if checking for certain medical signs that would need immediate attention. And the fingers on her neck? They may just be subtly taking her pulse.

"He's resting…" Elena says. "I was going to see if I could detect anything off about him but his pulse is normal - I saw to that. I think all he needs is to sleep, whatever he was doing is pretty untried. New. I've been helping him with his abilities for a few months now but even I don't know his full potential." Her dark eyes fall on her father's sleeping form, forgetting her pounding headache for a moment. "But if he thinks he's found a way to keep Carter from getting in people's heads, I believe him."

She keeps her voice soft, so as not to wake her father, but when his hand comes up to touch her face, she looks up at him. She closes her eyes and exhales. "My head is killing me," she confesses. "I think it's some…sort of side -effect. But Heidi looked fine, maybe it was because he was already straining. I don't know. I'm hoping the aspirin I just took would kill it."

Her head tilts slightly to the side, into his fingers, as if magnetized to the warmth eminating from there. Her eyes open partway. "I…..is Heidi going to be okay?" she ventures quietly, hesitantly. "She was shaking a bit….when I hugged her." Her eyes look lucid, and her pulse is normal. It was just a headache.

"Could be— yeah. First mind reader I had experience with caused me one of the biggest headaches of my life," Peter says softly, but he's still checking her pulse, and her eyes anyway. When he's sure that she's in no immediate danger, the hand falls away, even though she's apparently welcome to the gesture. It does drop to her shoulder, so as not to move away completely. "It could work— but if— Cass and Desiree are smart and I'm sure they'll figure it out better than even me, but if what I heard is right and he's really after… something else entirely…"

Heidi could be in danger still, yes. But she had been a high profile wife. Would they risk going after her? Drawing attention to themselves. Since it's not one man anymore— it's definitely one man and an accomplise. But…

"Heidi'll be okay— she's with George. He's pretty dependable." And he's had plenty of opportunities to whisk Heidi away from a deranged lunatic— who's far too calm for his own good. But it's… the crop that's got him worried.

"Elena. This man wasn't some kind of… maniac. I've… felt the emotions of a deranged individual— and this man was completely different. He's… calculated. I'd never felt so… cold before. So calm. If— if you father is right and— if he's going after you and your brother…"

Take care of yourself? Be careful? …No. The hand slides down her shoulder and to her upper arm, grasping at the muscle very briefly. His eyes slide away for a moment, towards her unconsious father, "Elena, I…" He trails off, only to take a slow breath, and look back, "I know I can't stay here— but— I'll take care of you." Somehow. As much as he can, at least.

With Peter's verification considering he's been through the same thing before, Elena nods, convinced. "That's what I thought," she says, her hair brushed aside when his hand falls on her shoulder. But her eyes do look worried - though it's certainly not for herself. It's for her father, whose health is being chipped away by this, and Heidi, who had two sons…..and who had a treatment that no one knew about. And her -mother-. Why did her mother go on and do that? Ramon was right. They told each other -everything-….

Or maybe because she was ashamed? That she couldn't bear him children without help? She was a proud woman herself. And she had wanted children so badly….and when she had her first, she only wanted more. She could remember those memories, every time she let her hold a new sibling. 'I would give your father a dozen babies if I could' she told her once, in the hospital when Luis was born.

What he tells her, about what he sees, she only grows more confused. "….Peter, I don't understand…..what we heard….he -sounded- deranged, but…" But why was he cold? Calm? Maybe he really was that sociopathic. Or was he something else? What was going on? Peter said Cass was right, there was something that wasn't adding up….

Her arm grasped, she watches him as he tries to convey….what. It wasn't anything too unusual. She knew Peter cared about her. She was practically his best friend. They talked almost every day, visited each other often. He was one of the few people she saw regularly, whenever she had the time… "I'll be okay," she says determinedly. She gives him a small smile. "Worrying this much isn't healthy you know," she chides - but she is sensitive of what she sees in his eyes. While she can't really discern the emotions there correctly, she knows he isn't happy about this. But to take care of her….she spent so many years taking care of everyone else that—

She steps forward, her arms wrapping around him in a hug. She doesn't say anything else. It was a gesture mostly to try and soothe away his worries, or that she appreciated the thought. The care. Everything.

Unfortunately most of those places work to protect the rights of the women who seek help there. Consulting of the spouse isn't always required. Apparently with this one, it hadn't been at all. Peter keeps his hand near her arm while they talk. Considering the topic, he may just be worried about her. After everything that keeps happening to them— another thing is creeping up after her. "I just know what I felt. That's all… He felt… calculating. Like someone playing a game of chess." Not that he plays often, or anything, but it seems almost fitting. The man makes pawns, and—

She tells him not to worry, and then all of a sudden she's stepping forward to hug him. Arms move to accomidate and join in the hug, pulling her close against him, as he closes his eyes and breaths slowly. Voice an audible whisper, he sounds a little tight again, tension grasping at his throat when he speaks, "Only worry because— because you're too important. Not just— far more than they make you sound." Crop is hardly flattering. And the other alternative that they had file on her because she's of child baring age? That's even worse. "And I won't let it happen. Any of it."

And he's not letting go, either.

Patient confidentiality. Perhaps this was why Cass and Dezi decided on what they did - it was much easier for one of them to pose as a wife. Granted she has absolutely no idea what he was talking about, she didn't see the visions, he did. But with her arms around his neck, she could feel the hard tension on his shoulders, the faint constriction in his throat. His voice is tight, and a little hard. She knew the signs, and he repeats words that take her back to the baffling moment back at the Petrelli mansion after the rhino incident.

When he draws her closer, the grip tightening a bit, she squeezes back in turn. Her chin, resting on his shoulder at the hug considering he's taller than her, shifts, her face turning to bury face and forehead at the crook of his neck. She doesn't say anything - she didn't know what to say, or if she ought to say anything at all. Part of her also feared what might come out if she -did- say something. But she takes in a deep breath. He smelled like the outside world - she hasn't ventured out today yet. After this morning she probably wouldn't, she had her father to see to.

Her eyes close, her fingers clutching at the fabric of his shirt.

"I believe you," she whispers back. "But I'm not letting you do all of that alone." She pulls back just enough so she could look at him.

"Of course not," Peter whispers, though a lot of the tension is beginning to fade out of his throat, giving his voice a clearer sound. The closeness also helps it resonate, as his arms hold tightly to her. "Not alone." Not in this. It's a difficult thing to agree to, since his instincts often tend to be to keep everyone out of harms way, but… she wouldn't let him do it alone even if he tried to make her stay out of it. Finally he adds on a gentle, "Makes it easier to take care of you if you're with me."

Her lashes lower over her eyes, and a rueful smile tugs up the side of her mouth. Elena drops her forehead into his shoulder, exhaling a breath and resting there for a while. She doesn't move, but that doesn't keep her from talking. It's kind of what she does - the chattiness was inherited, after all. "Life's hardly ever that simple," she says, a chuckle in her voice. She sighs again, softly, tension bleeding out from her shoulders even as his grip on her remains tight, her fingers reaching up higher to splay over the back of his neck gently. "We lead two different lives….no matter how closely intertwined they are."

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