2007-09-05: What Not To Do In A Company Man's House

Starring:

Noah_icon.gif Peter_icon.gif Sandra_icon.gif MrMuggles_icon.gif

Summary: List of things not to do: Don't try to break in. Don't actually break in. Don't scare his wife. Don't threaten his wife's dog.

Date It Happened: September 5th, 2007

What Not To Do In A Company Man's House


Bennet House

In between lunch and dinner leaves Sandra with little to do. Now that the kids are doing things with school and after school activities, she's a little at a loss. Always industrious, though, she manages decides to have a special 'you survived your first week back to school' sort of dinner by making her kids' favorite meals all in one meal. It requires a lot of prep work and cooking and the desert is a special New York Style Cheesecake she got from store called Junior's which is supposed to be the best. When in New York…! With the chicken marinating, the housewife goes about chopping up greens and carrots and tomatoes for a nice, fresh green salad. A sweating glass of iced tea is left out on the counter - September has yet to give way to the cooler New York falls she's heard about. Humming a little, she looks once behind her and then kneels down to slip Mr. Muggles at her feet a little snack to keep him happy.

—-

Noah's work day started roughly at 4am. What was he doing? Considering that his suit is ripped in two, it's likely better off not to ask. He knows that Sandra will though. It used to be he would lie. She would either believe it and they'd move on (considering she would have no reason to disbelieve him due to the memory loss), or she would get in a hissy about it and the Haitian would solve anything. These are the days of a true Company marriage and they have been far from simple. At least one good thing came from working earlier and having a rough day… He got to go home earlier than usual.

"Sandra? You around?" Noah asks, just throwing the torn jacket behind the umbrella stand. It's not hiding, it's a tactical discard. If she finds it, he won't lie about it, but if she doesn't see it, well, it wouldn't be horrible for him to just not bring it up, right? His suitcase is put down by the stand as well, placed in a way that mostly hides the jacket. Most of his work equipment down, the Horn-Rimmed Glasses Man moves toward the Southern Accented Woman's most likely place at this time… The kitchen (but because she WANTS to be there. Noah's not sexist, <3 you, Sandra, don't leave me Noah don't know how to do his own laundry).

—-

One of Peter's many stops since he came back to the present would be the home of his niece. Luckily, they haven't moved since he last visited on her birthday in April. It's been quite some time since they last had a true niece-uncle moment, though he'd called to keep in touch and make sure she was okay. She'd been one of the first people on his list for a meeting— whether she knew it or not.

Probably would have been a good idea to call ahead. Coincidentally, he shows up at the front door of the Bennet house minutes after Noah has stepped inside, hidden the evidence, and moved on to the kitchen. Unfortunately, he doesn't just ring the doorbell, he decides to step around and look first. Her father's still with the Company as far as he knows— he's not on the best of terms with the Company— better to be safe than have a memory hole. People need his brain intact. There might be a hint of a shadow pass by one of the windows, a rustle of a bush outside, and then he's moving around to find the teenager's bedroom window, if it's the same one he remembers it being. Is she even home? Lurking near a Company man's home after a botched assignment? Not a good idea.

—-

Seeing as Sandra is busy in the kitchen, she thankfully doesn't see the discard of the jacket by the umbrella stand. Instead, she just keeps chopping, only pausing for a moment when she hears him enter. "Noah?" Clack, clack, clack. That's the sound of her finishing up the last of the carrots. Picking up the chopping board, she slides the carrots into the large bowl that already has the other greens begging to be mixed up. "Hon?" Those Southern tones are indeed coming from the kitchen. "You're home early." Of course, he left early so that sort of makes sense. "Kids aren't back yet."

—-

For now, Noah doesn't notice that his house has an intruder. If Pete was a man that knew Noah, he wouldn't try something as foolish as break in. Sadly (or thankfully), the two have not had much in the way of 'bonding time'.

"It's me. Yeah, I figured I spend enough overtime this week, so I wanted to come home and spend some extra time with my beautiful wife." Distracted with his better half, Noah smiles as he moves up to give her a kiss on the cheek… But as he does, she might notice that he smells a bit more of perspiration than usual. He has on his usual aftershave and such, but it can only do so much when you're running around in the late summer heat chasing down people. "What lovely dish are you making for us tonight?" Hopefully, it'll be some nice old fashioned southern cooking. Low sodium cooking is just evil.

—-

The plan? Climb up to the window (or possibly fly). Knock on window. Say hi to niece, should she be home. Tell her they need to talk about something important. Get invited inside. Talk for an hour. Leave. That's the plan, right? Peter's going to do this, he really is. It's easier than dealing with Company agents who might no longer have orders to leave him alone since he broke up with the boss' daughter. Though he trusts Noah a little more than most— he's had a Haitian tail the last few times, and he's not sure exactly where that man's loyalties lie. Getting up to the window isn't that difficult, really. Knocking on it is easy too. No kid there to hear knock throws a wrench in plan. Mmm. Maybe she's just not here. He could at least leave a note and tell her to call him. But getting it open— less easy.

And he's not very good at crime. There's a little noise upstairs, and that's when everything goes wrong— at least for him. His hand slips while trying to push the window up, and it breaks.

Crap. Um— he'll pay for that, really. And niece isn't home, is she? He gets back down to the ground. He should knock on the door and apologize.

—-

Just like she does always, Sandra offers her cheek to Noah when he enters the kitchen. She may notice the perspiration, but she chalks it up to the summer air. It's so much more humid here than the dry Texas air. "Now you're just sweet talkin'." Of course, Sandra doesn't seem to mind at all. "Chicken, salad, cheesecake. Trying to figure out what Lyle may like. But he seems to either just about like everything or nothing. Teenage boys." What are you gonna do? She doesn't hear the window breaking upstairs and she doesn't seem to notice that there may be an intruder in their home. Even if she did, Noah's here and he's pretty good at the whole protecting thing. "What've you been up to all day? Working up a sweat? I don't think I'll ever get used to these New York summers. It's just so humid. And they say that Southern summers are bad. These Northerners don't know what they're talking about."

—-

The crash gets a faint glance toward the stairs from Mr. Bennet, but it swiftly goes back to his wife when she starts talking with a winning smile. "Sounds like you're making some tasty stuff. If Lyle doesn't like it, that's HIS loss. It just means I'll have stuff to take in tomorrow." Let the kid eat cheap pizza bites, Noah figures. As long as Lyle gets his food pyramid and takes his vitamins, the father doesn't mind what he consumes for dinner. "Though speaking of Big Apple's humidity, I really should change into something more comfortable, I'll be right back." He gives Sandra's shoulder a light caress with his hand at the mention of heat and keeps it there until he finishes speaking.

As soon as he turns to make his way toward the stairs, the smile drops into a neutral expression. His Company face on, Noah makes his way toward the stairs, his hand reaching for the gun holster behind his back as soon as gets out of Sandra's sight. While he goes up the stairs, he is making his way toward the room where he heard the glass shatter, planning in making sure it was a bird or a rock. While he is sure a dumb animal or kid is to blame, Noah has learned the price of letting down his guard.

—-

There's a price for everything. The culprit who broke her window is neither an innocent kid, nor a bird. There's no rocks for breaking it inside the room, so nothing had been thrown. Sure, Peter might not have been the smartest person ever in his attempt to break into his own niece's house, but… not a kid? Back on the ground below the window, he moves slowly towards the back door, barely visible in the shadow of the house. His hair grew out a little during his month in the future, and he still favors black colors. And he's heading around towards the kitchen, oddly enough, just because that's the direction he ended up going. Closer to the back door, than the front, but her bedroom window had been on the side.

—-

"Alright, hon." Boys will be boys, men will be men. All that running around and stuff sometimes makes them need to change their clothing. And she'll keep making dinner and cleaning up. "I moved the hamper!" she calls out after Noah as he heads up the stairs. "It's on the other side of the closet now!" Not that he couldn't have found that out on his own, but she doesn't want there to be any confusion. Mr. Muggles, though there is food in the kitchen, decides that what Noah is doing is very interesting as well and goes click-clacking after him up the stairs. Someone to play with? Someone to pet and adore me as they should?

Back in the kitchen, oblivious to the fact that Noah has suddenly turned into his work self and not his home self, Sandra turns on the oven and goes to prepare the chicken.

—-

"Awwwww, someone broke the window!" Noah exclaims in tone that is clearly upset as he seems to have gotten up the stairs. Noah's tone hinges on angry, but Noah has too much steel in his nerves to have his day disrupted by broken glass and loss of a few hundred dollars. After grabbing Muggles to make sure he doesn't walk through the glass like a moron, Noah moves over the broken shards to look for the source of the breakage. Still pretty sure it's just a kid in the neighborhood, Noah looks out the window to see if anyone is there as well. "I guess they left or something," he points out before sticking his head back in. Moving back toward the kitchen, Noah sighs. Muggles is dropped off at the foot of the stairs to go on his way. "I'm gunna check and see if there's some sign of who did this around the house, I'll be right back." And with that, Noah moves toward back door. His hand moves to the holster again, but this time it's merely to push down the gun instead of readying to pull it out.

—-

Just some stupid kid, right? That's the way it could look— but there's few coincidences. There might have been a shadow of movement, but otherwise, Peter's making his way towards the kitchen. There's a quiet thump as his foot catches on a rock in the yard, that slows him down a moment, but then he makes it to the back door. That's not the location most people would normally choose to know on a door, but that's where he's going to do it. There's a little bit of dark hair curled on his forehead, but, otherwise, he looks like a relatively harmless young man. At the back door.

—-

The knock on the door startles Sandra. Especially since it's coming from the back. "Noah?" Noah wouldn't knock on the back door. He'd just come in. Not to mention the fact that he's supposed to be upstairs investigating a broken window. Warily, she goes and grabs the knife she was just using to cut up vegetables. It's not big by any means, but it's sharp and should be a good deterrent until help can arrive. Slowly, she makes for the door. She can't imagine a bad guy actually knocking, but, well, there we have it. When she opens the door just a crack, the knife is held so that Peter won't be able to see it. She's never met Peter before, so she just gives him a very wary look. "Yes?"

—-

Finally entering the kitchen, Noah notices that Sandra isn't making dinner, but she's just opening the back door and holding a knife in her hand. He doesn't say anything, just tense as all get out. Odd how the simple act of his wife opening a door can make him nervous these days. He takes a small solace in the fact that she's being careful though. He doesn't draw his gun yet, but those that know Noah know that he doesn't need much time for that.

—-

"Uh— hi, this is still the Bennet residence, right?" Peter can't help but ask. Unfortunately, he never actually met the wife of Mr. Bennet, or the mother that raised his young niece. "I— sort of broke a window upstairs and I— I'll pay for it, I promise, I didn't mean to. I was just trying…" She has a knife? That— doesn't bode well for him, but he doesn't really know what else to do besides ask the important question, "Is Claire home?" This important question may not help his position as a not good guy. He's far too old to be a suitor.

—-

Sandra just watches Peter. Not in a predatory or even mean way. Instead, she's trying to figure out who this man is. She doesn't remember Sylar coming around to ask about her daughter, but anyone who comes around asking for Claire in her hyper protective state is bad news. The knife, it should be said, isn't held in an entirely weapon-like fashion. More like she just brought it with her to the door when she came to open the door. "No. She's not." She turns on the Southern Charm, though, because it just wouldn't do to have this poor young fellow under her glare. Especially when she can figure out who he is easier if he's at ease, too. "Now, you could leave her a message if I knew who it was who came calling." Glancing over her shoulder, she takes note of Noah and relaxes a little. Noah can take care of things.

—-

"Mr. Petrelli." The name is given a nice neutral tone as Noah moves to be beside his wife. "Sandra, you can let the man in, we've worked together in the past before." Waiting for Mrs. Bennet to let let Pete into into the house, HRG doesn't speak until the back door is closed once more. "Peter, while I am thankful for what you have done for this family in the past this will be the LAST time you ever try anything other than knocking on the front door like a polite man or woman, am I clear?" Noah offers a stern tone. Savior of his child or not, Noah has to make sure that his wife is not frightened yet again.

Meanwhile, a simple UPS truck pulls up in front of the house.

—-

"I'm…" Mr. Petrelli. That works. Peter winces mildly, but nods, stepping into the house should he be allowed and reaching into his pocket to get his wallet out. He just replaced a whole balcony door and window, he has a pretty good idea how much he's going to have to pay to replace what he broke. "I know, I should have knocked, I just— sorry. I was hoping to talk to Claire alone and…" Avoid as much contact with the company as possible. "Sorry we had to meet like this, Mrs. Bennet." He's sheepishly polite now, but— there it is.

—-

Petrelli. Sandra isn't exactly frightened. She's confused and not quite sure she knows who this man is. Or if she should know. The name sounds so familiar. If Noah's worked with him before, does that make him part of the Company? Wait. No. She knows the name Petrelli. Noah's mentioned it before. "Well. Come in, then. I was just cooking dinner for Claire and Lyle." There's no hint of possession there, none at all. "Would you like something to drink?" Let it be said that the Bennet's are always hospitable when possible. Letting her grip on the knife loosen, she steps back and allows the door to open wider. Enough to allow Peter inside. There's still an edge to Sandra's demeanor, but it's sure to lessen as time moves on. Or as she continues with her cooking.

—-

As Sandra offers Peter something to drink, Noah sighs and remains standing. Hard to be a jerkface while your charming wife is offering the target a drink. Arching his brows at Peter's reason for being here, he simply repeats, "Talk to her alone?" It's clear that Noah wants an explanation. After all, the man was sneaking around to talk to his daughter; the head of the Bennet household figures it's his damn right as a father to know.

—-

"Mr. Bennet— it's nothing…" Well, okay, it's important. End of the world and all that. Possible death. But it's definitely not a topic to be brought up in front of the wife, so Peter just turns to her and says, "Thank you, Mrs. Bennet, I'd really like a glass of juice or tea or water— whatever you have." That isn't soda. That's not really his thing. "There's a few things I needed to tell her about, it can wait a little longer. It might be best if I tell the both of you about it anyway." Part of it. It's the protective father face that's made him decide to open up. And the lack of Haitian shadow helps.

—-

Going for the fridge, Sandra pulls out some of the iced tea she had poured for herself either. Getting a glass, the housewife quickly pours some of the drink out for Peter and sets it in front of him. She gives him an appraising eye, but she allows her husband to do the talking. He's the one that knows Peter. At least from a working stand point. Or any standpoint for that matter. "Here you are." Then, she goes back to preparing dinner, keeping an ear open for the conversation. She'll interject when she feels the need to. Whenever that may be.

—-

"I see. I have tomorrow off… So, baring any emergencies, We'll talk then. Claire I'm sure will have no problems making time for this." She fangirls Peter, so he's sure she'll come. Besides, he will ensure they don't get a chance to talk alone. After all, he doesn't want Peter to inspire her to acts that would get her in trouble. While Peter has been spared from the Company's wraith, it won't be long before his connections and powers cause him to be on their bad side… And when that happens Noah does NOT want his lovely Claire caught in the crossfire, Mrs. Petrelli be damned.

Before Noah can say anything else, there is a knock on the front door It's enough to get the head of the Bennet household's attention. Who would be knocking at the door in the afternoon? Maybe a salesperson or the like. Considering he wants to have a brief word with his lovely wife, Noah turns toward Peter. "Can you get the door? It's likely one of Claire's friends wanting to talk and I need a quick word with my wife." Waiting for Peter to go, Noah moves in to whisper into Sandra's ear. "Do NOT talk with him about any sensitive topic we discuss in private unless I say so."

While it might be harsh to give such an order to his wife, he has his reasons. Peter is far from reliable in his secret keeping and if Noah wants to be transparent to his special honey bun, they both have to be in agreement to keep things to themselves. Claire will likely get the talk as well, but he won't tell her as much as his wife. After all, teenage rebellion still causes her to do foolish things. Poor impulse control, a good heart, and the damning knowledge can make for a dangerous cocktail. He's seen the fruits of it in the man right in front of him.

—-

"Thank you, Mrs. Bennet," Peter says in response to the offered glass of iced tea. He only gets a few sips, nodding at what Mr. Bennet says about meeting tomorrow, when the doorbell rings. That surprises him, but he puts the ice tea on the counter. "Tomorrow would be fine— I'll make the time. Thank you, Mr. Bennet." And it looks as if he's going to do exactly as he told, with little hesitation, because he moves to walk through the house and answer the door, not listening in on their whispered conversation. "Hello?" That's what he intends to ask once the door is opened all the way.

—-

It goes against everything that Sandra knows as a hostess to allow Peter to answer the door. Even if he's suspicious, he's a guest in their home. And so therefore, that means he's exempt from any sort of chore. Getting drinks, putting glasses in the sink, as well as opening doors. The order from Noah gets a downward turn of her lips. "Of course I won't. I'm not about to go talking about our family matters in front of some stranger." Even if he's a blood relative to their daughter, she doesn't know him. Her response is in the same sort of hushed tone that Noah whispered to her. Taking the salad bowl, she goes to stick it in the fridge so it won't wilt in the heat. It's her only kind of defense. "Now, really, we shouldn't be letting someone else open our door. It's rude." Anxiously, she looks over toward the hallway that Peter just walked down.

—-

When the door is answered, there is a man that appears to be in his upper forties or fifties, judging from the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes and the crew cut of salt and pepper hair. Dressed in a standard UPS uniform, the man has a large square box that seems to be a foot in length. "Package for Noah Bennet from Primatech Paper." Using one arm to keep his hand on the package, he uses the other one to offer Peter the digital signature tablet. "If you could sign here, that would be great," the UPS man offers with a large smile.

"I'm just making sure. While he did save our daughter, I wanted to make it clear that any information I share to you is kept between us, even if it…" Why is he explaining himself? Sandra's a smart woman; she knows why he did it. "Just had to make sure," he repeats as if defense for being rude and telling his wife things she already knew. Something that does take Noah back is the comment from UPS man. That isn't right at all and even Sandra would know it. After all, work has NEVER sent him anything. He prepares to walk over and see what's going on himself.

—-

Primatech Paper. "Oh— All right," Peter says, accepting the digital signature tablet, and not even thinking of signing anything other than his real name. Peter Petrelli. Usually UPS doesn't care who signs for the package, as long as the person can be verified as over eighteen years of age— just proof of who actually got it, right? Once it's all signed, he hands it over, and reaches to accept said box. "Thank you." Despite Noah's worry and skepticism, he doesn't seem to share it. He feels bad enough about the window already— And he doesn't know what mail the man does, or doesn't, receive.

—-

No more secrets between them. That's what they agreed to when they started this new life. That doesn't hold for others though. It seems there's a whole mess of secrets they need to keep from the general public. That matters less to Sandra, though, when her family is on the line. She's quite willing to leave the rest of the world in the dark if it means the safety of Claire and Lyle. There's a reassuring smile for Noah as Sandra closes the fridge door. "Don't worry. I know how to play dumb, remember?" She's unassuming and it's not hard. The UPS guy at the door, well, that is weird. Noah doesn't get packages at home. Especially not with the Company that he works for. As Noah starts to make for the door, Sandra is right on his heels. See, this is why guests aren't supposed to open the door. They don't know who they're letting in.

—-

"Thank you, Mr…" The UPS man pauses to read the name as best he can. "Peprelli, please make sure this gets to Noah. Careful, it's heavy and takes two hands." With that, the UPS man hands over the box to Peter. It's odd though once Pete takes it. Why? Because it seems to be nothing by metal weights inside, the box likely fifty pounds or so. Should it drop down to Pete's feet, a foot will be flying for his gut. If he actually holds the package and bends down from the sudden weight, a knee will snap up to the nose of Peter Petrelli. If he just holds it without faltering, the UPS man will be impressed and then try and smack him in the head with the digital tablet. The reason why the guy was able to hold the box with easy is soon made clear as it seems like there's someone else around with Niki's fearsome ability. Hopefully the power empath can avoid or deal with the attack or he might be in a world of hurt. As the attack is unleashed a simple cry of "NOW" is given by the UPS man, yelling toward his phone which is by his side.

"Moving in!" comes the swift reply from the Motorola walkie talkie phone. As if on cue, two other people can be heard racing toward the back door.

Noah only has time to offer a nod toward Sandra, opening his mouth to say something before work comes crashing in on the Bennet family. Again.

"Sandra, keep down!" HRG exclaims as he realizes what's going on. Two people come in the same way Pete did, the door unlocked thanks to the earlier exchange. The first intruder is a woman who seems to be in her thirties and right behind her is a young man in his twenties. Both are dressed in black sweats and ski caps, clearly meant to be the sneaky types of the raid.

Noah's reflexes snap into action as he pulls out his gun and turns toward the kitchen. Noah trusts if the guy was able to stand toe to toe with Sylar he can handle a guy with super strength. Hopefully, Noah's trust isn't misplaced.

—-

The package surprises him, that's for sure. Peter's stronger than his frame might give him credit for, but he still bends down just a bit due to the sudden weight. He's even opened his mouth to make a comment about the weight of the package, when a knee hits him squire in the nose. It knocks him back, causes him to drop said heavy package, but he's barely even bleeding, and not very winded at all. That man definitely had more physical strength than a normal man, and he can tell that pretty fast. Not an ability he needs to absorb, but it certainly does draw his attention. Noah's yelling for his wife to stay down, and he decides to deal with this particular man, with sparks of electricity bouncing off of his fingers. It would be best if it actually flew towards the man, but it's just charging right now. Physical contact will discharge it, and he's holding his hand in a threatening manner.

—-

Even as she starts for the door, Sandra isn't sure what's going on. All of the sudden there's violence and yelling and it's just much too much like the time when Ted and Matt pushed their way into their lives and shot Claire. Before she know that she could regenerate. Sandra only has enough time to be thankful the kids are at after school activities or not at home before she drops to the floor. It's not instantaneous, or as quickly as she's sure that Noah would like, but she can't help it. When faced with intruders intent on force and blood, she freezes a little. Mr. Muggles is still skittering and yipping and Sandra quickly reaches out to snag him and curl him up protectively along with her.

—-

The bullets are soon flying when it's revealed that two people in the back are carrying pistols. Moving through the kitchen with intent to kill, the woman is the first to train her gun upon Noah. Thankfully, his wife has three or four seconds before the firefight begins so she is able to get down. Mrs. Ski-mask fires a couple of shots toward Noah. No stranger to battle, Noah is able to get out of the way of, weaving to the side out of the way of fire. He would take cover behind a coffee table, but his wife is still in the hallway. So instead, he just returns fire, offering what is considered the 'sure shot'. Three shots hit 'center mass', the chest area. Unfortunately for Noah, the woman is protected by a bulletproof vest. The force is enough to cause her to slam against the table and fall to the ground, struggling for consciousness. The front ceramic plate is shattered, so this second-chance vest has lost its usefulness. Oddly enough, Peter might be able to get an idea of what the woman can do as might get the same kinda interference he got from Matt. Hurry for telepaths.

Meanwhile the third person has taken position at the doorway of the kitchen, behind the wall with his pistol. He cries out to Noah. "You bastard! You shoulda known better than to mess with us!"

"Your mother's abilities are unstable… She needs help. Put down the gun!" Noah calls back.

Meanwhile, UPS guy is faced with a man that has a lightning hand. "You're in my way," he states in a rather low tone before he tries to swat Peter in the head with the tablet. If it hits, it will shatter on impact, tablets not meant to be used as killing devices. Hopefully, Peter will take some bullets to the back… Or Mrs. Ski-Mask might pull an Isaac on the UPS guy.

—-

The static is enough of a distraction that Peter loses control over the electricity. It hurts, for one. Telepathic feedback always does when it first starts— but it may cause her some pain too, so there is that much. Telepath. Super strength. What did Mr. Bennet get himself caught in. He's about to raise his hand to call up an ability he has more sure-fire control over, when the tablet shatters against his head, stunning him for an instant— and then two bullets right in the back tear through his clothes and lodge in various locations of his upper body. He reaches out, attempting to grab the man by the ankle and lift that one part of his body upwards, hoping to send him flipping onto his own head— but at the same time he's falling to his knees, bleeding heavily, woulded. Doesn't look good for him at all. But he's not quite dead yet. Takes more than two to the back to do the job, and the wound on his face has already started to heal over.

—-

After dropping down to the floor, Sandra clings to Mr. Muggles and tries to just keep out of the way of any stray bullets or powers that are being flung around. Though she's terrified for her own life and that of her husband, she doesn't scream or whimper or make any other sound. She's been through a man exploding their family home with his nuclear ability. While gunfights are just as deadly, she just resolutely presses herself against the counter and tries to make herself as little of a target as possible.

—-

UPS man blinks to see that Peprelli is still fighting. The man is a beast. The two p's must stand for POWER. Flipped on his head, the man groans as he tries to get up. He's a bit on the dazed and confused side as he tries to get his bearings. While Pete is in bad shape, he's granted what he usually needs to best use Claire's ability… A short reprieve.

As Peter gets nailed with the bullets, the ski-woman shrieks in pain as if it was happening to her. Ironically, her thoughts are similar to that of Sandra's despite the pain. She wants her family to be safe and come out in one piece. The means to that end seems to be right around the counter. She begins to crawl toward Sandra across the floor, merely drawing a K-bar knife from her belt as she does.

Noah prepares to finish what he started, but he finds that the Third Man goes out from cover and gives a couple of shots. Noah takes cover behind a table, easily dodging the shots that take out a vase on top. He is only able to squeeze off one shot during the fighting which manages to lodge itself into the arm of the man. The Third Man pulls back to cradle his wounded limb, his gun dropping to the ground. Mrs. Ski-Mask cries out again but keeps going toward Sandra, desperation urging her on. Along the way, she gets the dropped gun of the Third Man. That leaves one gun on the ground, one gun with Mrs. Ski-Mask, and the shiniest of the guns… Noah's. "Peter, are you with me?" inquires over the gun fighting. They have to get this done quickly as there is no telling when the police will come and EVERYTHING will go to hell.

—-

Pop goes a bullet, sliding out of his back. It falls to the floor with a mild sound— the second one is still working it's way out. There's blood dripping down the side of his mouth, showing that it probably punctured a lung. But Peter still manages to get back to his feet, turning towards the Bennets, who don't have the benifit of his regeneration ability. The wife especially, huddled around her dog, draws his attention. The stray shots that missed Noah? Two of them plant themselves in various locations in his chest. Luckily none find their way in his skull, or there might be an issue. Yeah— yeah, he's with you, Mr. Bennet. Though from the way he practically falls over when he starts moving to get closer to the man's wife, so he can protect her better, it's hard to tell that. There's no electricity sparking between his fingers, the woman doesn't go flying like the man did, and whatever he thought he was going to do by reaching his hand out at air— it doesn't seem to have done anything. It's amazing he's on his feet still.

—-

There's a bunch of things going on at once. Bullets, fireworks, yelling. Though she doesn't know it, she and Mrs. SkiMask have a lot in common and if they actually just sat down over a glass of iced tea they might actually be able to resolve their problems. However, that' snot how this is going to go. The woman who cries out is given a look, but what Sandra is really focused on are the weapons that she has in her hands. And the fact that she's coming right for them. There are bullets flying and the housewife doesn't really feel safe running one way or another. Either way could get her killed. Seeing the gun behind Mrs. SkiMask, Sandra makes a split second decision. She can't just stay behind the counter while she's approached on. The intruder is crying out and looks weak as she's crawling. And there's a gun right behind her. If she can overtake her she could get the gun and from there perhaps force a standstill. She's from Texas, she knows how to hold a gun. Still cradling Mr. Muggles protectively she keeps low and the counter between her and the rest of the fight and goes for the gun.

—-

Pete gets filled with lead and doesn't say much. According to Noah, this counts as not with him. This leaves Noah with his best teammate in a firefight… Noah. Not Mr. Muggles, that's for sure.

Noah prepares to take out the rest of the people when Sandra dives for the gun. She manages to get it, but soon a gun is aimed right for… Mr. Muggles? Trying to press the gun against the dog's side (who is against Sandra's side), the woman cries out, "EVERYONE STOP OR THE DOG GETS IT." There is a short pause before she figures she should add. "AND THE DOG WOMAN TOO."

Noah tries to looks out and see if he can get a good shot in on the woman, but with Sandra having gotten the gun, she has effectively blocked Noah's shot. Mrs. Ski-Mask and Sandra are low to the ground, making it hard for Noah to get anywhere from a crouched position.

Noah frowns as the situation turns bad. UPS man begins o get up slowly, figuring it safe to get up in the lull. The wounded gunman pushing against the wall to get himself standing. Hopefully, Sandra is at least pointing the gun back at the woman, Pete can do something, or Noah might have to do something drastic.

—-

Threatening the dog. That's— actually pretty bad. Peter owns a dog, not too different from Mr. Muggles. Whiter, female, fluffier, turned under tail, different shaped face— but about the same size! And with the woman threatened at the same time, he reaches out one last time, grasping for the weapon in the woman's hand. Not with telekinesis, but with something different. Pulling a weapon away with Sylar's gift wouldn't give him an insurance that she'd not pull the trigger anyway— this ability literally plucks it out of her hand, and puts it into his.

And with the gun in hand, he can't even lift the weapon in an attempt to fire it, because he's falling to his knees and barely keeping his hand wrapped around the firearm. There's a couple more bullets falling out of him by this point, but he's really not looking so well. The regeneration might not be able to keep up much longer.

—-

Having grabbed the gun, Sandra aims it right for Mrs. SkiMask. And she doesn't look like she's playing around. Even with a fluffy dog in her arms, she knows how to hold a gun. Maybe she doesn't know how to fire it, but she sure knows how to hold it. "Alright. Now, just stop it. Get out of here." And she can also talk business. The gun suddenly relocating out of Mrs. SkiMask's hands doesn't change the grip or aim of where Mrs. Bennet points. If these two are willing to point a gun and threaten her life and Muggles' life, well, they can have a taste of their own medicine. Keeping her focus on the woman, she doesn't notice the UPS man starting to get up.

—-

"You took my gun! You're one of us, but you work for HIM?" the woman proclaims with the tone and fervor of a true Zealot to Peter. While she lacks a gun, she still has a fighting spirit. "We wanted to take down the Man and we got our chance. Puppets like you will never pull our strings!" Mrs. Ski-Mask rants, even with the gun against her head.

Third Man just remains still. He doesn't want to push the woman getting shot.

However there is one willing to risk it all. UPS MAN! Standing up, he moves behind Peter, trying to get him in a choke hold.

"Peter!" is all Noah will be able to warn before the move goes through. Surprise, surprise, Noah was distracted with the dangers befalling his wife.

UPS Man'll try and squeeze the neck's airways shut if he can, hoping to immobilize the man. The final gambit for… whatever these three are trying to achieve by killing everyone here.

—-

Considering how damaged he'd already been by this point, Peter lets out a strangled gasp and drops the gun that he pulled out of the Mexican standoff (with a trick he learned from the Irish?). His hands attempt to grab at the arms around his throat. It's a struggle just to remain conscious, between blood loss, bullet wounds— and now crushing suffocation. Though he's not strong enough to break free, not with he whole… super strength pushing down on him, he does get manage to get a breath in. With that breath, he clamps his fingers down on the UPS man's arms— and the super strong man now finds himself holding an electrical conduit. Tactile contact actually works against the man in this case. And it's a good thing no one slashed water on him, or this would be just as bad for him.

—-

When Noah calls out to Peter, Sandra quickly looks over in that direction. She doesn't know who this Peter person is, but he was fighting to help protect Noah, so he's okay in her book for the moment. At the very least, she would prefer to not witness his windpipe being crushed or seeing him killed in any other manner. With Muggles tucked under one arm and the other still holding the gun on the other woman, she's not quite sure what to do. There's strangling and electricity and how is she supposed to fight against all these powers? "Noah…!" Figure out how to end this!

—-

The UPS man falls to the ground after a couple of moments of fruitless attempts to kill Peter.

The woman is still on the ground, held at gunpoint. The other man is down. This leaves one other man. The wounded gunman. His gun is in Peter's hand. Noah is covering the hallway, ready to take him down in a shot. He can't leave. Can't do much. The only option he is to be desperate.

"Don't shoot my mom!"

There is silence as the mother looks up to the gunman; her son. She looks to Sandra with a determined look in her eyes. Fear and sadness turn into icy resolve. "My family is staying with me. No matter what." And with that, she reaches for the gun, despite it being aimed right for her. The question of the day: Will Sandra let the gun go over or will she pull the trigger?

Noah waits, just watching until the woman grabs for the gun.

"Sandra, pull the trigger!"

—-

Switching between abilities actually kinds sucks. Peter's healing has slowed down considerably, and when the man finally falls to the ground and lets go of him, he drops to his knees again. There's another stand-off. Only it's one of those moments where a woman is being asked to do something to another one— someone who seems determined to save her family. In many ways, he disagrees with some of the things the Company does, so he doesn't particularly want to be helping them, but… his hand raises. This time he's not reaching for a gun, but for the woman— the mother— Not to strangle her, or crush her, but trying to pull her away, mentally— shoving her against a wall if he can. No need to kill someone who is immobilized. That's the idea— because he'd rather no one die here, if it can be helped.

—-

Mom? Family? Keeping a family together, that's something that Sandra can certainly identify with. It's what she's been trying to do for the past few months. And even longer when she didn't even know that's what she was doing. Shoot her? The indecision freezes Sandra. Holding a gun to make her stay is definitely different from actually shooting a mother in front of her child. The hesitation is all the other woman needs to get a hold of the gun. And the extra push from Peter sends the two woman toward the wall. Neither one is letting go of the gun very easily and, as they are connected to it, they both go toppling - backwards in the masked woman's case, forwards in Sandra's - toward the wall. A shot going off, sideways into the plaster.

—-

While Pete has been amazingly helpful as of now, the final push against the wall forces Noah to figure out what to do. One shot has already been fired. But the time that he gets up there, another shot will be taken. A mother will likely die. There has to be a solution that gets this entire family safely to the Company and gets his wife out as well. The 'right' solution is hard to find. Thankfully, Noah is still somewhat comfortable with morally gray. Noah stands up, and swiftly fires three shots. Where do they go?

Right for Peter's gut.

Why would he do such a thing? As usual, Noah has a plan. What would he have to gain from killing Peter? The woman feels pain empathically. While it seemed to be not there for the shocking pain, the sharp pain of bullets seemed to pierce her rather badly. If graze wounds and arm wounds caused her damage, a pain capable of killing will be capable of taking her out. It's a solution that pisses off everyone involved… So Company Man in Noah knows it's the best idea.

—-

Considering how much pain he's already gone through, three new shots to the stomach actually seem to surprise him. At first Peter glances down, the hand that held the woman in place against the wall dropping, and then he folds down right there as well. Between all the bleeding and power usage, regeneration can't keep up— and the new injuries stack on. It might take a while for him to realize why that just happened, but he's not really thinking all that much anymore. Give him a few minutes, though. As soon as he goes down, the woman gives a scream and falls unconscious as well.

When the shots ring out, Sandra is certainly unsure of what is happening. Suddenly, though, the woman she's struggling with to keep a gun shrieks in pain and goes limp. The sudden change in balance causes Sandra and Muggles to go toppling backwards, hand still firmly holding tight to the gun. Dropped to the floor, she quickly looks back to make sure that it wasn't Noah that was shot. Seeing Noah still standing, she lets out a terrified breath. But, there's still the son to worry about. And Peter. She's not seeing Peter standing anywhere. For now, she'll just stay out of the line of sight of the son, holding on tight to her dog.

—-

"What the hell did you do to my mother?"

Noah lowers the gun, moving toward Sandra as he ignores the 'son's challenge'. Thankfully the son has lost the will to fight when he sees that both of his parents are defeated, but still breathing.

Kneeling down, Noah rests his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. "Honey, are you okay?" Noah knows the answer to this, but he needs to check the same. He's distracted with Pete, but first things first… After all, Sandra is his wife.

—-

There's a sudden cough. The wife is more important, but it doesn't take Peter long to return to the land of the living. A couple more bullets start working their way out of his body, but one of them gets coughed into his hand. "What did— why…?" He chokes out, not quite understanding why the man did that, before he looks around. The dust has settled, but now— there's a lot more in the house that needs replacing besides the window upstairs. He does check and see that the Bennets are okay— the attacks too, while the wounds heal over and he starts to repair the damages. The longer he's not getting hurt by anyone, the better that works out.

—-

From her spot on the floor, Sandra finally lets the gun drop to the floor now that it seems the whole fight is over. The son is still walking around, though, so she doesn't trust Muggles to be alone on the floor. Who knows what he'll try to do. "Y…yeah." There's a pause there for so many reasons. Surveying the damage of the family still on the floor and the bullet holes in the wall, she finally looks over to see Peter healing. Much like she saw her daughter heal over. It's odd, an eerie sort of echo of that past time. One that they're still living through every day. "How…" did that happen? Is Peter able to do all those things? What just happened? There are a lot of questions, but right now doesn't seem to be the time to get them all answered.

—-

"The woman is telepath with inclinations toward mental links. Not sure if she's empathic or not," the Company Man offers. "In short, she felt other people's pain. By attacking you, she would feel the pain that came from serve wounds But without the bleeding and death that would follow. I don't pretend like it was the greatest choice, but it was the one I saw everyone coming out alive. If you're upset with my decision, that's fine and within your right. I only regret I couldn't notify you before doing it." The man in the suit offers up his hand to help up Peter. "If you want to talk about this more later, we can… But you need to leave now. People from my work are coming soon. You don't want to be here when they arrive. Unless you no longer want to meet, me and Claire will see you tomorrow." He just looks toward Sandra and mouths out 'Later'. Explaining Pete in front of other people is a bad idea.

—-

That explanation might still make him a little angry, but Peter looks over at the condition of the woman. Without that, they might have been forced to kill her, which he doesn't think he could have on his conscience. "I get it… not much a choice." What was he going to do, shoot the dog? With a groan he pushes himself to his feet. His clothes and too bloody, and he doesn't look completely recovered yet, but nothing a shower and a change can't wash away. Could be worse. He could be pale and sweating under all of that. "It— was nice to meet you— Mrs. Bennet." Not the best circumstances, though. "I'll… I'll see you and Claire tomorrow." But if the Company is on the way, he's going to sneak out the back— and try to get to his apartment without being seen. Thanks to a former partner of the man who just killed him, that shouldn't be too difficult.

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