2007-03-14: Where In The World Is Peter Petrelli?

Starring:

Elena_icon.gif Eric_icon.gif Cass_icon.gif Lachlan_icon.gif Jack_icon.gif

Guest Starring:

Jane_icon.gif

Date It Happened: March 14, 2007

Summary: Eric stops by the Gomez Apartment's fire escape to crawl through Elena's window to check on her before heading to East Village. The Jack Pack, called by their agreed upon "Bat Signal," meet at Enlightenment Books at a meeting called by Jack. Before they get down to business, however, first thing's first: Shenanigans.

Where In The World Is Peter Petrelli?


Gomez Apartment, Queens, New York

She was studying. Elena is on her belly on her bed, books strewn out in front of her. She twirls her pen around, nibbling at the end of it as she writes something on the margins. She shakes her head slightly, crossing out what she wrote and writing on the top of it. These all look pretty heavy reading, journal articles published by the American Medical Association, large texts on biological life and chemistry, even some books on physics…though that stack has a post-it with the initials "KJ" on them.

The meeting isn't until later, so she decides to take some time to tackle some extra schoolwork so she could remain ahead. She's clad in a tank top, and a pair of black, slim-fitting yoga pants. Her hair is spooled around a pair of chopsticks, with strands of hair framing her face.

A soft tapping at the window would be the first indication that someone would be wanting in. Yes, even in times like this, even when he's coming in though a /window/ Eric still has to knock. Its just something in him he can't just walk into some girls room without being invited. Call him a vampire if you like.

Standing outside, crouched there in the darkness, the young man seems perfectly comfortable there with little to no light. Mostly concealed by the shadows and the darkness as he waits patiently for an answer. His hair is slightly mussed from the wind, and it seems he's gone casual with a midnight blue shirt and jeans.

She doesn't seem to hear it at first, so engrossed she is in studying…but then the taps become insistent, Elena looks up, and her heart suddenly leaps to her throat at the shadow at the window. She…she didn't even hear him come up! Those metal stairs were rickety! She would've heard something. She woke up whenever pigeons landed on the thing. The fact that some guy as big as Eric managed to get up quietly startles her. She stands up, and walks to the window barefoot, and slides open the door. "Eric," she murmurs. "What are you doing here? The meeting isn't going to be in a couple of hours." At least she's hoping she saw the symbol on the park bench today.

She takes a step aside, and blinks up at him as a new side of him once again comes to the light. She's never seen him worn jeans before. Save for that one time in the gym, she mostly saw him in business casual clothes. And then she turns away to distract herself into tidying up her room some. It's not very messy, but there are some clothes on the floor. She remembers the other night and losing herself kissing him - but that was the adrenaline. She can't help but feel a sudden bout of shyness around him.

"…I just came by your place early, see how you were doing," The young man replies slowly as he ducks his way into the room. He's graceful and quiet when he slings himself into the room, glancing around. He seems to have a bit of a hard time just…looking at her though. She's not the only one that must remember the other night and have a little bit of a shy spell from it.

…not that he's complaining about the other night. Far from it.

He just doesn’t want to get shot by her telepathic dad.

He just smiles though finally before he chuckles. "…I wanted to make sure you were alright, I know it sounds lame…but…"

"You're sweet," Elena murmurs softly at him, turning around to face him and giving him an earnest expression. Since he's looking away from her, she touches his arm softly. "I learned a few more things but I'll cover that with the rest," she says softly. "But it's important and….oh god, Eric. Last couple of nights. You won't -believe- what happened to me. I think I saw a sign. And I'm not just being super religiously catholic either, I think…I'm starting to believe there -is- something with all this. For real."

She glances to the side. "To tell you the truth I was hoping I could still walk away from it. The disaster at the facility just wanted me to go, you know? But after the last couple of nights I couldn't. It's too late for me. It might not be too late for you though. I know you want to help but….you might not after I say what I found out to the rest of the gang."

She pauses, and she quirks a brow, a teasing smile on her lips. "…so…what does that mean, Scarlett?" she jokes, bringing up reference to that night where she threw the Clark Gable line at him. "You were thinking about me?"

"…so it was you that put up the sign?" Eric asks before he turns finally towards her to watch her as she speaks. He seems to be concentrating, listening, curious about what she has to say. A pause then before he shakes his head. "After the past few days, I'd believe a whole lot." He says with a slightly amused shrug.

He tilts his head slightly to the side though as she gives him the option by now. Then he just blows a slight sigh and shakes his head. "…don't you know by now that I'm way to curious and stubborn to just give up and you and the rest and run right now?" He smiles once. "No, I'm not backing out. What would Jack call me /then/ eh?"

He rolls his eyes though at the last tease. "…when you look like that its rather hard to /not/ think about you. You know that?" He mutters towards her as he ruffles his hair a moment, before turning back to her. "So yeah, maybe I was."

"No it wasn't me. It was Jack, I think. He has something to tell us, but it looks like I've got other bits to share too," Elena says, turning around to pull her jacket off her chair and start shrugging it on. She'll pull the chopsticks out so her dark, chocolate-brown hair tumbles down in a wavy, glossy mass, so she could slip the hood on more comfortably. She's been taking advantage of wearing her hood these days, simply because it was harder to peg down her description if she was wearing something nondescript which could hide her features easily.

She looks up at him, stunned at the declaration and her dark eyes widening. Another side revealed. She knew he was a stand-up guy, but to be this noble? "…Eric…." she murmurs, her voice stunned.

And even more so when he says the last. She's still gaping at him. All this was new to her, really. She never came across anyone who said things like that to her before - unless you count the bums in the New York subways who said around the same things, but in dirtier and raunchier ways. She gives him a small smile, the hand on his arm squeezing gently and feeling hard muscle under skin. "….I was only teasing," she tells him softly, tilting her face to him so she could meet his eyes. "You don't need to humor me about anything."

"Well it'll be and interesting ni…ght…" Why did she have to go and do something like that. Like…taking her hair down. It has gone and distracted the poor boy it seems. He watches her shake the mass of tangles out a moment in silence before he seems to shake his head. Focus Eric. Focus. Save the world, not kiss the girl. Save the world first.

"…oh come on don't look at me like that, I'm just to stupid to back out," Eric says with a smile. "Besides, this is the most interesting thing that’s happened to me, I can't let it pass me up. Like my dad told me before, opportunity is what you make of things."

At the smile and the light touch against his arm though he blinks and glances down at her hand. So small and soft. He blinks slightly for a moment before he turns his face towards her, easily meeting her eyes. "…I'm not humoring you." He replies softly. "…now come on. We'll be late…"

…he makes no move to go though. Not yet.

She seems oblivious to that moment of distraction, Elena's mind already coursing through just how she was going to break this to the rest. She could be so focused, determined. Though she could feel his stare burning at the side of her face as she prepares, zipping up her jacket and turning to look back at him. She couldn't help but laugh. "You get straight-A's," she points out. "Otherwise you wouldn't be a TA at NYU. You're not exactly dumb, Eric," she points out. At the last, she GROANS. "What are you? Some closet daredevil? You're going along with certain pain and possibly death because it's -interesting-?"

Yes. This was a totally different side of him.

When he tells her he's not humoring her, all the teasing falling away. She looks at him, as if unsure as to how to respond to that. What does a girl say to something that honest? It was never this forthcoming in chick flicks. She lifts a hand up, fingertips brushing a tangle of dark hair back from his forehead, and she gives him a rueful smile.

"….okay…" she tells him softly. "…but you asked for it."

"Ugh you got me, my dirty little secret is out…I get good grades," Eric hangs his head in mock shame for a moment before he just looks up again and smiles towards her. "That’s not to great a sin is it?" The man asks with a smirk before he shakes his head. "That must be what it is, I'm a closet daredevil. Hrmmm…I never knew!" He sounds so cheerful, though his eyes are just a little bit on the serious side.

He blinks slightly as she runs her fingers against his hair and his forehead. A slightly curious tilt of his head before he raises a slight eyebrow towards her.

"…just what did I ask for?"

Her hand falls away, and Elena smiles ruefully. "Hard times," she tells him. " 'The path of a true martial artist is fraught with peril,' " she says, quoting, of all things….Tatewaki Kuno from Ranma 1/2, a show she managed to watch and love when her brothers had been younger and were still interested in that stuff. And once the words were out, she GROANS inwardly. She hopes he didn't catch that. That would be embarrassing. And if he laughed at her? She'll kick him.

She glances to the window, and clears her throat. "We should get going," she tells him, taking a slow step away and moving to the window.

"…if I'm Kuno, does that make you Akane or Nabiki?" Eric quips with a smirk towards her. He doesn’t laugh though, its an act of will, but he doesn’t laugh. His eyes are though, even as he shrugs on a coat that he had under his arm.

He can't be the Pig Tailed Goddess, cause…that’s just wrong. WRONG I say.

"…yeah…lets head on out then…" He adds finally, even opening the window for her to climb out of. Mock bowing as he does so.


Enlightenment Books, East Village, New York

The bat signal has been sighted. Or, well, the helix symbol they've adopted as their bat signal. Though it's not really the best for business, Cass has made sure that the last of her customers where heralded out of the store a little earlier than normal so that the shop would be empty by the time people might show up. The door is already locked to dissuade any curious shoppers and Cass has just flipped the sign to say, definitively, 'Closed'. She sighs and turns around to try and figure out what she's going to do with her time until the others show up.

Here's an idea: mollify a pouty Scotsman. After his little run-in and embarrassment with Elena at Au Naturale Market, Lachlan has not been in the best of moods. Munching on imitation crab back at the hotel helped, but he's still a bit grumbly when he arrives at Enlightenment Books. He saw that Signal thing on the bench (y'know, the one with Nikiboobs), so he knows he's supposed to be here sometime around now. Upon finding the door locked and the sign flipped, he peers in the windows and taptaptaps on the glass. Helloooooo?

Cass has just flipped off most of the lights so as to not attract more attention and started toward the back room when she hears the tapping. Turning around, she sees Lachlan with his sad puppy dog face and heads back to let the man in. She flips the locks and opens the door for him, quickly closing it again once she's inside. "You're early. No one else is here yet." Once again she starts for the back room. "Do you know who called this meeting? Or why?" The symbol doesn't exactly come with a signature.

It's warmer in the bookstore. This is good! Lachlan stands around like the lump he is while Cass closes the door, and he only moves when she starts heading for the back room. Then, he's not too far behind. "Yeah, was Jack," he responds offhandedly, hands stuffed into his pockets. "Dunno wha's up." But hey, if there's nobody else here … A mischievous sort of smile twists his features. "So, uh, think we've got 'nough time fer a quickie?" Gringrin.

"Jack." Cass frowns at that. Despite the sorry note, she's not quite sure how she feels about the Irishman. Heading to one of the office shelves, she picks out a notebook and flips through it to make sure that it's the one that she wants. She goes through one or two before she finds the one that she wants and drops it on the table. "Very funny, Lach." No, she doesn't realize that he's not joking. Her minds wrapped up in other things.

No, he wasn't joking, but he's not deterred either! He's also totally cool with Jack, as he was never really mad at the ex-magician to begin with. Jack's given him free scotch and a reason to brawl more than once; it'd take something spectacular to get him on Lachlan's Bad People list. The Scotsman watches Cass search for her notebook and once she's found it, he moves up behind her and attempts to wrap his arms around her waist. "C'monnn," he pleads playfully. "Won' take but ten minutes." He can be fast!

When Lachlan attempts to put his arms around her waist, Cass doesn't attempt to move away. In fact, she whirls around and wraps her own arms around him. What with everything going on lately, it's nice to just be holding him. Even if what he wants is a little bit more than that. "Oh, I know," she whispers teasingly to him, bringing her face up just close enough to his without actually kissing him.

Teasing is like a "yes" to Lachlan. Then again, anything that isn't a flat "no" and a slap to the face is considered a "yes" to Lachlan. He's just /that/ persistent. He doesn't even realize that he's been dissed as he moves in to fix that whole "not-kissing" thing. Soon, however, Cass' words actually sink in past the horny haze in his brain and he breaks the kiss with an inquisitive frown. "Wha' d'ye mean by tha'?" he questions, one eyebrow rising. /Hey/.

"That you're quite good at what you do," Cass responds with a smile. While before she might have thought this was a silly idea, now they're kissing and she doesn't want it to stop. But Lachlan's pulled away from her and that's not what she wants. In fact, she's not having any of that. Taking a hold of his shirt, she tugs on it to bring him in closer to continue where they left off.

And then….as adults get horny inside, two people approach the bookstore, not 30 minutes before closing time, but -forty- minutes before closing time. The subway took them faster than she even thought. But Elena is walking side by side with Eric. A close, yet platonic distance. She looks over at him. "I wonder if they're there yet?" she asks her classmate. And UNLIKE certain irresponsible adults, the two teenagers who ought to be even more hormonal and obsessed over this stuff are keeping their hands to THEMSELVES after their post-traumatic lip lock. You people ought to be ashamed of yourselves. u.u

Still, she frowns, seeing the door of the shop closed for some reason. "…what the hell? We're not late, we're early," she murmurs, checking the time on her new, but similar cell phone. It's still red. It's still got a ninja. Throw-away phones are great like that. So she tries the knob, and finds it open….but there's no one at the counter. There are noises from the back though…

"Oh good, they're here," she tells Eric, and she strides to the door, and flings it open. "Jack! Cass! Lach! You won't believe what I—OH MY GOD!"

She throws her arm over her eyes, backpedaling. "Sorry! Sorry!" Elena cries, her foot catching on the side. She flails, pin wheeling one arm, her back bumping into the counter. She rolls to the side, and -crashing- behind it, papers flying up from where she's landed.

Yes. Eric was walking with her, and he really did have to keep his hands in his pockets to keep his hands off Elena. He was trying to be a good boy though! They told him to save the world, make out later, save world now and all that. Thats like a mantra that he has to repeat to himself every time he's alone with Elena.

He frowns though at the closed shop. "…maybe there here early too…" He says as he peers at the closed shop. "The door works though, they must really be here…hope everything is alright." He seems concerned though, hands sliding out of his pockets. He's ready for a fight he is.

Poor poor fool.

He relaxes though as Elena bounds in and nothing leaps out at them. Noises, that works. Lets go see!

"What?!" All concerned. "Whats wrong did something happen?!" And Eric, all worried, bounds to the door to find…scattered office supplies and…horny scotsman.

Pause.

"OHGOGWERESORRYWE'LLCOMEBACKINAFEWMINUTES!"

All said in a rush, all in one word as he slams the door and turns…

…and trips over the sprawled from of Elena. "AHHHHHH!" THUDD.

"…ow."

By the time Elena and Eric arrive, things /have/ progressed a bit further in the back room. There are hands up shirts and shirts halfway off and jackets tossed on the floor and a Cass on the desk where office supplies /once/ were, but now they've also wound up on the floor. However, it's not /too/ traumatizing; both adults are still clothed (aside from the half-off shirt, that is, which thankfully belongs to Lachlan, as well as the hand that is up the /other/ shirt). When the door is flung open, the Scotsman turns his head to blink and stare at the intruders — until they disappear as quickly as they arrived and there's crashing noises at the counter. He's only /slightly/ perturbed, but he has the presence of mind to holler, "Better make it ten!" He does not attempt to extract himself from Cass and indeed is all prepared to just continue.

While Lachlan may not be ready to stop, Cass /is/. They've already scarred the poor children enough. "Lachlan," she scolds. Pushing him away, she attempts to pull her shirt down so that she's decent again. If a little red in the face and tousled. Giving Lachlan a quick peck of a kiss - not what he's hoping for, she's sure - and then goes rushing out into the main room to go see what damage has been done. With clothing rearranged to be properly in place, she doesn't seem all that embarrassed about the situation, just apologetic. "I'm really sorry guys. I thought I locked the door. Are…are you two hurt or anything?" Reaching over, she holds out a hand to help them up.

The girl is struggling to get up from behind the counter, Elena's hand sticking up to grope for the edge even as Eric rushes forwards to neutralize a non-existent threat. "Ugghhhh…" she groans, and starts to pull himself up….but Eric panics. Clearly, he saw the same thing she did, and he backpedals, and turns around…and trips on her sprawled leg. She shrieks, his full weight slamming into her, and she goes back down on the ground, sprawling painfully on her back and the spine of a book jutting against it. She groans, rolling her head back.

Eric -looked- lithe. He had the build of a swimmer thanks to his martial arts. Unfortunately that -also- made him heavier than he looked. His weight was crushing her. "Eric…" she croaks, lifting her head to look up at him. "…good….lord….just how heavy are you….?"

Her hand reaches underneath her and with a grunt, yanks it away from her. She lifts up the book, the bold title staring at her in the face:

Sex, Magic, and Spirit: Enlightenment Through Ecstasy.
Bonnie Johnston.

She groans, dropping her head back and tossing the book to the side. "Oh my God, I so quit." She gropes around for Cass's hand.

Eric, black belts in two martial arts, has just been pwned by his own embarrassment. He face plants, thankfully /not/ into Elena's cleavage…that would just have been too much. He nearly does, but saves himself at the last moment, ending up simply sprawled across her like he just tackled her to the ground. He was…um…trying to protect her! Yes! That was it! Saving. Yeah. Everyone will believe that won't they?

"…its…all…muscle…" Eric manages to reply one hand coming up to slowly push himself off of her. Of course he's not watching where he’s putting his hands. Down he reaches…and comes so close to groping his classmate that he turns a bright red when he realizes it. "Sorry! Sorry!" He finally apologizes as he spins off of her and puts his back against the counter.

…which he bumps, ending a cascade of books down on his head. "…I quit too." He finally mutters. "…ugh…the only way this could get worse is if Jack saw all that…" He adds after a moment.

"What the /bloody/ hell?" Amused, Jack slips through the still-unlocked door and peers around the store. "NEARLY MALE!" he tosses out his first-class mock yell. "ARE YOU VIOLATIN' MY INNOCENT LIL' SCRAPPY?" Won't smile. Or laugh. Must. Maintain. Intimidating. Demeanor. His artful scowl is marred only by his rosy-cheeked, post-coital glow. At least someone is getting laid around here. "Ahh, screw it. My girl's back, and I'm too damn happy to mock any of you." The scowl pulls into a wide, toothy grin.

When there is no /continuing/ of desktop antics, Lachlan emits a sound that is a mixture between a groan and a whine, but he doesn't make any major attempts at keeping Cass in the back room. He instead straightens and starts to pull his shirt back on, voicing his complaints quite clearly: "Just tell 'em ta come back in ten bloody minutes. 'S no' like they dunna have the time ta spare, an' fuck, mebbe they'd learn a thing 'r two!" Bitch, bitch, bitch. He soon appears in the doorway of the back room with shirt askew, just in time to catch Jack's entrance. Well, damn it. Now that everyone's /here/, he doesn't get to do anything. "'ll tell ye, I was tryin' ta get in a bit o' violatin' o' m'own b'fore all ye bloody numpties waltzed in." Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch.

"I know, Eric. -Believe me-, I know," the latina groans from underneath her classmate, and when he pushes off her, she manages to let Cass help her into getting up. Oh god. That hurt so much. She rubs the small of her back a touch when she finally straightens. But in getting up……Jack arrives. And at Jack's voice, Elena….blanches. She stares at 'Uncle Jack', as he yells what he says in the middle of the empty bookstore, with the door wide open…..and people loitering outside -gaping- at him. At the stares from the outside, the comment echoing within, her jaw drops. There is a horrified expression on her face. All semblance of any hope of teenage normalcy EXPLODES, leaving nothing but an empty Normalness Crater. Look what you did, Jack! You CRATERED her Normal!

"OH MY GOD THAT IS SO NOT EVEN FAIR!" Elena cries, in a typical teenaged fashion.

And then? Come the whispers from spectators outside.

"Scrappy? Like Scrappy-doo?"
"What's a Nearly Male? A transsexual?"
"Eewwwwwwww -that's- going on in there…?"
"Damned kids these days. Always got -that- in the brain. Shame on them…"

Propping her elbows on the counter, Elena drops her head helplessly in her hands. "Oh god. I have to go to confession this Sunday now," she laments.
"Lachlan!" Cass is even more scolding now. She helps up Elena and then reaches out to help up Eric. However, as she stretches out her hand, Jack comes bursting into the store with his good mood. Everything is kind of going to hell in a hand basket. It's possible she may drop Eric if he's actually been fool enough to trust her. "I…what…/what the hell/. You are much too young to be doing naughty things on the floor," she tells Elena and Eric. Not that she should really be talking what with what was happening just moments before in her office. "Someone….someone just lock the door. Please. And make sure it's actually locked."

"I…JACK?! What no I didn't mean…touch…I HAVN'T VIOLATED HER YE…I mean at all! I mean…oh god I just fail…" Eric just…stutters and if he wasn't half buried under books he would flail. Flail allot. "WAIT TILL I DO SOMETHING BEFORE YOU ACCUSE ME!" He finally replies to the man before picking books off of his head, trying to regain some kind of…of…normalcy.

Of course. Then he blinks. "…did I just answer to that?" He asks out loud. "I'M NOT NEARLY MALE!" He pauses. "…wait…that…didn't come out right. Let me try that again…"

At that moment he just hears the words from outside and he hops up and dashes over to the door. He looks outside at the group. "…were…um…practicing for a new play!" He explains in a rush of words before slamming the door, and locking it many times…or at least as many times as there happen to be locks. Then he turns back towards the store, and sags against the wall.

"…well…I think I've burnt out my ability to blush…thank you."

As Jack crosses the room, he favors Eric with a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "What's wrong? Not enough time? Sorry I interrupted, boy-o. That was plumb unsportsmanlike of me. Maybe next time," he murmurs under his breath. Then he tips a roguish wink in Elena's direction. "Dirty girl. I thought Uncle Jack told you to wait until you were married."

"We weren't doing anything!" Elena protests. "The big lug TRIPPED ON ME." She shoves at Eric's arm and gives him a look. That Look. That 'I Don't Know Why And I Don't Know How But Since You're The Guy This Is So Totally Your Fault' Look. Oh lord. Oh god. How many times did she wish during this week that she drank? Remembering her father she understood it now. Come to think of it, given how Jack and Lachlan are when it came to the hooch, she -definitely- understood it now. And then Eric dashes off to lock the door.

She pauses, and she GLOWERS. "What do you MEAN YET?" she rages, splotches of temper burning in her cheeks. "Why y—" And then Jack decides to double-team her. She stares at him, her jaw hanging open. "-WHAT-?!"

The player doesn't even need to pose at her reaction to this. Instead, her player will insert black-and-white stock footage of an atomic bomb blowing up Nagasaki in lieu of posing her head exploding.

"Well excuse the fuck outta me!" Lachlan snips flippantly when he's scolded, crossing his arms and slumping against the door frame of the back room's entrance. "Canna have a bit o' fun without a buncha clowns runnin' in ta spoil it." Grumble growl whine grunt. He scowls — nay, /pouts/ — and peers none-too-happily around at all present (except Cass. It's not /her/ fault these people have awful timing). "So let's get this bloody meetin' over with so we can get back ta the fun part." Which, of course, only involves two people, and their names start with L and C.

As Jack pats Eric on the shoulder, the younger of the two really has no idea what to stay. Between Jack's comments at Elena's glower he just stares. "I…er…" Apparently he has /not/ burnt out his ability to blush, because that’s exactly what he's doing. Blushing. A lot. Did he really say yet? Did he? Paaaaaaause.

"…wasn't there something about a meeting?" Eric finally says, almost squeaks.

"Yes. Meeting. Let's stop with the inappropriate touching of all nature for now." Since no one else has made sure that the door is locked, Cass moves to do that. "So, Jack called us all here. Maybe he'd like to start." He's certainly in a good enough mood so that should mean something. She can assume to know why, too from what her father told her.

Since they're all just standing around, Elena manages to shift, hopping on the counter and turning around so she faces Jack, crossing her legs in an indian-styled posture. She tucks her ankles under her thighs, and she looks at Jack expectantly. She falls silent now, waiting for Irish to say his piece. And then when everything's all settled she could contribute her own stuff.

"Right. Meeting. There are a few reasons I called you all here, and I thank you for coming." Suddenly, Jack is far more somber. "I owe you two an apology," he admits. His glance flickers first to Cass, then lingers on Elena. "You've both trusted me, and I tried to cut you out of what we're doing. Why doesn't matter. It was wrong." What? Jack is apologizing? He /must've/ gotten some touch. "That said, here's the big one. Peter Petrelli is alive and free, from what I've heard."

This news means jack to Lachlan, no pun intended. However, he doesn't question it; he simply files it away as "one of those things that is Important but I don't give a damn about it okay" and starts patting himself down in search of cigarettes. He kinda wants one right now. "Great," he utters, though he lacks much enthusiasm. It takes a moment for him to realize that his cigarettes and lighter are in his jacket, so he disappears into the back room briefly to retrieve his jacket from the floor. When he returns, he lights up unceremoniously and listens to what's being said.

During Jack's news, Cass listens, though she keeps silent. "I got your note," is all she adds to it at the moment. While it's a little neutral, she's not angry about it. "Good to hear about Peter, too." She eyes Lachlan lighting up in her store, as she normally has a 'no smoking' policy. Fire plus lots of flammable books equals danger in her mind. But for now she lets it go.

"He is," Elena says after a pause. She doesn't know how Jack got the information, but she has more to add on that. "I ran into him the night we all walked out of the Den. I was closing up shop in Starbucks." She frowns slightly. "Apparently what happened was they knew we were coming, that was something we already knew, but the reason why the second team didn't find him was that they were moving him all around the facility. He wasn't allowed to stay in one place for more than ten minutes. And then? One of his guards helped him escape. The Haitian was also there, he was in play before Peter could double back and try and figure out what happened to the second team, so he fled with the agent who helped him escape." She sighs as she rakes her hand through his hair. "He's keeping low. But he's not without backup. He also explained to me what happened a few months ago. The bomb that was supposed to destroy New York was apparently him. I'm guessing the reason why he's so important is…" She pauses. "Well. His ability is….on the scale of one to ten, pretty damned huge." He'll probably meet this crew eventually so she'll let him explain his abilities. "But the reason why the Company was able to keep him so long is that he voluntarily checked in. At first. Until he realized they were keeping him as a prisoner while they devised some….sort of -cure-. A cure to take away people's abilities. They had pills to suppress what he had. He had to take it regularly so it's a temporary measure at best while they come up with a more permanent measure. I think this might be how they're keeping Hiro."

She takes a deep breath. "He also called me the other night. His brother is free. And so is most of the other team. Peter said he suspects the only person they're really keeping is Hiro. Last he checked, he was still there. I don't know how he was able to confirm it. He says there was a system to track people that his agent-friend knew of. He also told us to lay low and watch our backs. He wants to meet with me again at some point, we haven't set the time yet because he has to take care of a few things his end, and a few things my end."

She pauses. "…..also…..Gabriel Gray. Sylar. He's out. I don't know HOW he managed to get away from the cops. But he's out. He's -free-. And the first thing he did was apparently go to the Petrelli house and attack a relative of his. I don't know which one. It can't be Nathan because according to him, this happened the night he escaped and went back to see his mother."

Jack blinks owlishly. "Uhhh…" Apparently, Elena's got access to far better sources than he does. "Well, I feel like a wanker," he admits. "If I hadn't tossed you out on your ear, we'd probably have Hiro out by now. You want to go ahead and brief us?"

"Actually it's -because- you tossed me out on my ear that I got access to said information in the first place," Elena remarks with a smirk to Jack. "Which is why I'm forgiving you." She winks at her Uncle Jack. "But seriously that's all I know. I know what happened from -Peter's- end, but that doesn't really tell me who the rat is and how they found out about the plan in the first place. Not to mention I have absolutely -no damned clue- as to how we can get Hiro out of there."

More information that practically goes in one ear and out the other for Lachlan. He /tries/ to retain most of it and he's starting to at /least/ get a good picture of things, but for now, he continues to smoke silently. Cass is offered a "what?" glance when she looks at him and his cigarette. What'd he do?

Whoa. Jack, meet brainbreak. Brainbreak, this is Jack. The Infodump(tm) steamrolls right over the Irishman, but he manages to hold tight to the more important chunks of Elena's explanation. "Well… I've got a number I can use to contact Peter's family. It seems like we're lined out pretty well. For now, I need to get back to Eli." Grinning, Jack heads for the door. Apparently, it's time to renew that rosy-cheeked glow.

"It is," Cass replies softly to what Elena has to say about how they're keeping Hiro put away. "It's the only way they can keep people with abilities like his. Otherwise he'd just teleport right out of there." Sighing, she moves over to lean up against the desk where Lachlan is. Sidling over so that they're basically right next to each other. "Eliana and Jane were released, though." That's the information she's willing to interject for now. "But…yeah. As far as I know, they still have Hiro."

"Jane's out?" Elena says, looking up, her eyes snapping to Cass as she offers that up. Peter didn't know her friend's name, so he wasn't able to use his system to find her. "And it is…? But how…?" She shakes her head. "How long have they've been trying to develop this? Who's working on the project? How could one even….I mean…I thought Dr. Suresh's book said these things we can do are encoded in our genes? How can they manage to find a cure that shuts part of our physiological foundations down? Won't that….kill us?"

"Slow down Elena," Eric finally speaks up, he's been listening it seems if not offering much of anything constructive to say. However now that Elena goes rapid fire with the questions the techo-geek looks up and blinks. "I'm as curious as you are, but we don't have any way to answer any of that right now." He hrmms a moment though before he looks down at his hands in thought. "…why did they release those people though."

Hmm. Does Cass smoke? Only one way to find out: Lachlan offers his cigarette to her, tilting his head to one side inquisitively. "Dunno," he responds to Elena's questions, "but I'm no' too keen on givin' up wha' I can do." He /likes/ his abilities. Probably because he likes dogs.
"It's not really a cure," Cass corrects, grabbing that notebook that she pulled down earlier before she was interrupted by Lachlan. Flipping it open, she flips to a certain page so that she can refresh her memory. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure Jane's out. But…I was warned not to try and bring up the Company around her. Same about Eliana. I don't know why." She frowns, thinking that through. It'd probably be a good idea to find Jane, now, and figure out what her father meant by that. "It's…it's a dicey thing. That's the exact same question I had about this whole process, Elena." When Lachlan offers her his cigarette, she takes it from him absently, like she doesn't even know what she's taking from him. It's possible she doesn't because all she does is gesture with it in her hand. "Apparently there's this….virus that can target the genes of someone with abilities and it shuts off their powers. I think the drugs are kind of like that. Only biochemical and not viral. But, they're also temporary. I'm not sure if the virus or the chemicals kill anyone. It didn't sound like it. Honestly, I don't understand it." She pauses and finally realizes that she has something smoking in her hands. Blinking she looks over at Lachlan and then down at her hand again. Where did she get this? Oh well. Shrugging, she takes a drag and then hands it back to the Scot.

She slows down when Cass offers more information about what they're doing. More biochemical? A virus? "…I guess that could make sense if it was some sort of intelligent virus….or a virus that could be programmed. That might mean the Company's scientists actually managed to isolate what bits of code stimulate….these." She waves her hand vaguely to the side. "To develop. These abilities. And if it's not it's possible that there could just be -one- root. One common block for all of us that they managed to identify. In which case targeting would be easy." Elena can't help it, but she looks extremely impressed. But worried too. There's a dark look in her eyes. She looks over at Cass. "You're a genius, Cass. I don't know how you got the info, but you're a genius," she says admiringly. Elena gets her information by luck. Cass, being a talented researcher, knows -who- to talk to and to get them to talk. That required more skill than sitting around being a coffee girl. "…..but….why can't we talk to Eliana and Jane about the Company? Did your source say?"

"…they have to have a hell of a research staff working on all this," Eric murmurs half to everyone else, half to himself as the listens to Cass and Elena. He's able to even follow /most/ of it at least. "Ah if I could only get into their computer systems…" A slight sigh of disappointment. He could have done it when they were inside last time, if Captain Anders MacHappyPants hadn't gotten flash grenade happy at them all. Ah well. Can't win them all. At the question from Elena though, its the same one he was thinking, and he just blinks and perks up waiting for an answer.

WHOOOOOOSH! That's the sound of half this conversation going right over Lachlan's head. Rather than ask questions or try to wrap his never-graduated-high-school head around it all, he takes his cigarette back from Cass … and smokes. Inhale, exhale, smoke. Blink. His attention starts to drift again, first to the wall, then to the floor, then to Cass' chest. Hmm. That last one gets pondered.

At the moments when she's spoken of, Doctor M. Jane Forrest is somewhere in the East Village, sitting on the sidewalk near a building. She's got her guitar out and is playing with something close to her normal skill. The headaches have gone, all that remains of her ordeal is the occasional craving and twitches from hands which so recently shook severely. The music she plays is bluesy metal, a piece she apparently wrote herself. The voice, at mezzo-soprano and currently with a Janis Joplinesque rasp, sings the lyrics. "Brunette canary's course, took her through the dark. But she made it out alive. Brunette canary wrestled the demon drugs down, broke their hold, though it nearly broke her. She woke up surrounded by pills in Jersey swill, somewhere south of AC, that's where canary's course commenced."

Cass looks wary of being called a genius. Especially in this circumstance. Cass' source of information comes just as much through luck as Peter Petrelli walking into a coffee shop. It just happened to be who she was the daughter of. "It's all a part of the mapping the genome project. Mohinder said that his father actually started to be able to tell who would develop abilities based on their parentage. It's something that's identifiable." Frowning, she shakes her head at Elena. "No, I'm not. None of this is my research. I'm just telling you what others have told me." As for Jane, well, the frown deepens and she finds that she wants another drag of Lachlan's cigarette. That last time she had a cigarette was years ago, but this is the kind of conversation that needs one. "Mind if I steal one of those?" she asks of him. "A light, too." That asked, she returns to their conversation. "I'm not sure. He didn't say. I don't know. Something was mentioned about rooting around in brains. I…didn't want to know the elaboration."

"….wait. Mapping? You mean the Human Genome Project?" Elena says, looking startled, and even more impressed with Dr. Chandra Suresh. How he was able to do it when the project mapped thousands and thousands of genes and gene combinations in a human body wasn't just amazing work. It was amazing, brutally painstaking work. And then she nods. "It does look hereditary. I know a father and daughter who have abilities. But they don't necessarily develop as the same or similar ones." Her abilities were different from her father's. And now that she knew that? She wondered if Manny, Luis, and Juanita had a chance of that too. "I haven't figured out yet whether it's enough to have just one parent in the mix who has these gifts, or if it has to be both. If it just requires one parent, it's a dominant gene, if it requires both, it may very well be latent. Recessive. And even then I don't know the required combination of dominant versus recessive base pairs…" She chews on her bottom lip. It's certainly something to look into. But she nods. "Alright Cass. If it's a warning, I'm not going to take any risks and not follow it. I won't….say anything to Eliana or Jane about the Company."

She slides off the counter and she looks out the window apprehensively. "It's getting late," she murmurs. "I should be heading back, or my father will get antsy."

As his thoughts are somewhere in the vicinity of Cass' upper torso, Lachlan doesn't quite catch that he's being addressed until a moment or two passes and he glances up more in the area of Cass' face. A blank stare follows, then: "Oh. Sure." He rummages around in his jacket pockets and produces a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. One of the cigarettes is unceremoniously poked between Cass' lips whether or not she likes it, and then he clicks the lighter on and holds it up.

"I don't think anyone else in my family has anything like this," Eric says slowly. "I scared one of my sisters half to death when she caught me practicing when I was a kid." He adds after a moment with a slightly rueful smile on his face. He shrugs lightly though before he nods. He hasn't met Eliana or Jane yet, but he won't talk Company to them if he does. He nods towards Elena though. "I'll walk you home then?" He offers towards the younger girl before he grins. "Yes, I know, crazy as that is to risk your dad’s ire."

"Ye'd better walk 'er home," Lachlan grunts in response to Eric's offer. A pause, then he digs around in his jacket pocket again before producing a small plastic, flat square wrapper. This is tossed toward the boy. "Here. May come in handy." Everyone should have safe sex.

"That's what Mohinder said, too," Cass smiles at Elena. "It's complicated. Just like any science I've ever heard of. It's possible for kids without powered parents to be powered or kids with powered parents to be unpowered. It's…weird." She shrugs her shoulders at Elena. "I'm not going to tell you what to do or not do. That was just the advice I was given. I'm not sure I'm going to follow it myself." She opens her mouth to add something else, but a cigarette is jammed unceremoniously into it, making it hard for her to say anything intelligent. There's a moment of confusion, but then, she regains some sort of composure and inhales while she leans forward to light that cigarette up. Mmm. Sweet nicotine. She remembers this taste. His antics to Elena and Eric earn him a smack against the chest, but she is barely keeping back her giggles. "Be safe," she tells the pair. And she means that in whatever way is applicable.

"It sounds like sound advice," Elena says slowly. "….besides….if they were wiped I wouldn't want to traumatize them further. God knows what they did to them over there." And when Lach does what he does, furrowing her brows as he tosses Eric a plastic wrapper….she realizes what it is belatedly. Her eyes widen, her jaw dropping. It flaps open and closed much like a fish for a couple of seconds, before she whirls on Lachlan. "Oh my GOD, you guys, that's so not even funny!" she says, groaning as she pulls her hood up. To Eric, she nods. "Yeah, let's go home." She heads for the back door, and mutters under her breath. "-Honestly-…" Grumblemuttermuttergrumble.

Eric's hand snaps up automatically to snatch the square wrapper out of the air. He blinks once at it before he realizes exactly what it all is and at that point he just…well there isn't much he can do. "Er…thanks…" Pause. "But I…no…" Then he just finally throws up his hands, looking around for something to throw at Lach, he snatches up a book and halfheartedly and teasingly launches it at his head. Same book that Elena landed on earlier too. "I can't win!" He declares before he shakes his head and stalks out the door behind Elena. Maybe if he doesn’t /say/ anything, then Elena might not eat his soul on the way back.

Whuff! goes Lachlan when he's smacked in the chest, and he frowns at Cass in a somewhat bewildered and hurt way — but it's a bit playful, as evidenced by the twitching corners of his lips. "Wha'?" he whines. Then, deciding that she can't /possibly/ be berating him for encouraging teenagers to have safe sex, he stuffs his hand into the pocket of his jacket and produces three more contraceptives, which are held up for display. "Dunna worry, I've got plenty fer us ta use too." Because that's /totally/ the reason she'd be mad at him for giving Elena and Eric a condom from his precious pocket stash, right? Right. And then there's an airborne book flying at his head, and the Scotsman ducks in time to avoid it (though really, there's not much difficulty in doing so). He stares flabbergasted after Eric. "Oy! See if I ever help ye again!"

"Wiped?" Cass can't help but interject. It sounds like it has some sort of significance other than just the meanings she knows. Finally, she sounds serious for now, pulling the cigarette from her lips and letting the smoke disperse slowly into the air around her. "Yes, because /that's/ really what I was worried about." The playful smile is back on her lips. "And /no/ throwing my books around unless I'm the one chucking them."

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