A Capable Woman 6/28 Adam, Charles Angela/Kaito, Arthur, Victoria, Linderman, Maury, Bob & The 12

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Chapter Six

 

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Charles’s Apartment

1975

 

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Next they met Harrison, "call me Harry," Fletcher. Charles ran into him in a jazz club, then a walk in the park or shopping in the same stores. What they all didn’t know was that Harry had already crossed paths, ten years before, with Arthur and Angela on their honeymoon. Harry had briefly asked the Petrellis for directions. There was no way either of them could have remembered it. Harry wasn’t from New York, but he said he had always felt drawn to the city his entire life. He was a very tall man with light brown hair and easy eyes. He hadn’t told anyone of his ability until he met Charles. An ability Harry had discovered at a very young age – younger than anyone else in the group. He had joined the peace corp right out of college, but had moved back to the states shortly after. Harry was a man who gave a firm, strong handshake.

When Harry met Charles he told him, "We all thought we could change the world, but then they shot Kennedy." He was a happy-go-lucky guy who secretly longed for hope.

Harry was the one who met Bob first. Harry kept running into him at an underground card game. "The man never seemed to run out of money," Harry remarked. But it was Linderman who first saw what Bob could do – who took the boy into the fold. And Bob was only a boy, the youngest of the group, out ranking Angela and Suzanne. Now it was time for Bob to show his worthiness – what he was capable of.

Robert Bishop stood in the middle of Charles living room; his home had become a meeting place of sorts, for the group was now in their "official" second year of "healing the world." Usually they all met on Charles rooftop, but a chill was starting to enter the air. It was beginning to become too cold to meet outside for long periods of time, so they had all ventured indoors for this particular get together.

The group watched as Bob took a small flowerpot and placed it on an end table he had already moved to the center of the room.

"Now, this is a trick, look at this one..." Daniel cooed. "It’s quite brilliant," he spoke with authority. Linderman stood in the doorway of the room."Which we know from me, is a lot." He smirked with the confidence that being one of the group had provided him. He had grown a lot in the few years since Arthur first met him, even since the war had ended. Yet, Daniel had leagues to go toward the man he would one day become.

The group laughed at Linderman’s remark in pockets of noise that ebbed and flowed like music. They all enjoyed each other’s company. Charles stood while Adam sat on the couch with Suzanne’s bare feet on his legs. Maury lounged in a chair next to them. Harry sat on a desk in the corner, smoking a cigarette with Angela sitting on a chair in front of him, her legs crossed under her stylish red dress. Harry leaned forward, putting his arm on Angela’s shoulder. All of them were friends, they were all close. It was a welcome friendly gesture.

"Well, if Danny says it’s brilliant." Harry leaned back and kept his arm on Angela’s shoulder. This I gotta see."Daniel hated to be called Danny and Harry just loved ribbing him.

Robert Bishop looked nervous. He had a full head of hair back then and already wore his signature glasses. Bob took hold of the pot with his left hand and slowly, but effectively, turned the flower pot into gold. Daniel was right, it was a sight to see.

"Oh... Well, look at that!" Harry started to applaud. "Bravo, old boy. Bravo," he joked in a fake British accent, his cigarette falling out of the side of his mouth as he spoke."Bloody brilliant."

"Is that it?" Angela spoke up. "Is that all he can do?" She had a morose flat tone to her voice.

The group laughed.

Arthur tried not to laugh himself as he walked out of the shadows, where he had been watching the proceedings. "What my wife is trying to say is, she’s not impressed..." He smiled with a glint in his eye.

"Little impresses, dear Angela..." Adam cooed.

Suzanne angled her head toward Bob. "Don’t let it sway you, she’s seen a lot...sees the future. Kind of hard to trump that one." She looked at Angela. "I kid, my love. I kid."

"He’s a damn, mint - I say that’s impressive," Daniel spoke up.

Angela stood. "I’m not saying it’s not impressive. But, it’s a parlor trick." She crossed toward Daniel and addressed the group. She played with her bracelet for a moment, looking quite disinterested.

"Don’t worry, " Maury quipped. "She said that about me when I first came in, but all I could do was read minds... Then... He smirked and Suzanne let out a loud chuckle.

"So, I ask you, what else can you do?" Angela sat back down in the chair she had been previously sitting in. "Harry, please get that cigarette out of my face, the smell is getting in my hair." She moved her head slightly and slid a thin piece of hair behind her ear.

"Touchy, Touchy..." He kissed her on the cheek and walked away.

Angela took Harry’s hand as he passed her and squeezed it to show she meant no harm.

Harry walked backwards for a moment and looked at Angela. " I tell ya, Angela, the more confidence you get the more attractive I find you," he told her in a cheeky manner. He then pretended to growl in Angela’s direction. "Susy, come and sit on my lap." He sat down on a stool next to Charles and patted his leg.

"No. Suzanne said flatly with an arch to her eyebrow.

"And here I thought it would work this time," he remarked sarcastically. Harry crossed his legs and took a drag off his cigarette.

"Let the man finish his presentation," Charles threw in. "We’d all want the same courtesy given to us."

"I agree." Adam nodded his head. "But, Angela is right, what else do you do, Mr. Bishop? Just out of curiosity – because that talent sir, believe me we can find a use for... I’m sure of it." He grinned his huge smile. Adam ran his hand along Suzanne’s leg as she started a cigarette for him.

Bob looked at Adam and put his finger up, as if to say one moment, and walked over to Angela. "May I?" He reached toward her shoe.

Adam took a cigarette from Suzanne while never taking his eyes off Bob.

"Oh, Angela. I get it," exclaimed Harry. "He’s gonna turn your shoe into a pumpkin...bloody brilliant. Bloody brilliant. Gold and vegetation. This kid’s going places." He rubbed his thumb against his index finger, sending cigarette ashes to the ground.

"Oh, Harry just shut up..." Oscar Mendez spoke up in his Spanish accent. "You’re driving us all insane. Please!"

"It’s not my fault you still have a hangover." Harry grinned and took another drag off his cigarette.

Angela, a little bewildered, stood and took off her shoe. She handed her shoe to Bob, but instead of taking it, Bob asked Angela to hold the shoe in front of her with both hands. Angela wasn’t sure what was going on, until within moments, the shoe became as heavy as a rock, causing Angela’s hands to fall as low as her waist – Bob had turned her shoe into lead.

"That was a pair of four hundred dollar shoes," Angela said crossly..

"That’s unfortunate for you," Bob smiled impishly.

And the group cracked up as spurts of laughing emanated from the lot of them.

"Oh...." Arthur laughed. "He’s one of us for sure."

Everyone laughed except for Angela. But, it was very funny. Angela just couldn’t see the humor in it. Not at her own expense.                                                     

                                                                           ~

The last three people who joined the group came into the fold very quickly after each other. There was Charles’ college friend Richard Drucker who kept mostly to himself; he was a shy man who seemed to like electronics more than people. He hardly came to meetings and was never really considered a main part of the group – by 1977 he was gone for good.. There was the woman that Angela, Charles, Kaito and Arthur each had run into on several separate occasions, but who Suzanne brought into the fold – her name was Paula Gramble. Paula was a slender woman with skin the color of dark caramel. She was wary of the group at first, but soon found herself at home after only weeks of knowing them.

The day Paula was introduced to the group, that lovely spring day, she walked onto the roof dressed in a female version of a man’s suit, a vest, a tie and long bell bottom pants. She took off her large brimmed sun hat as she entered the doorframe causing everyone to turn toward her as she made her entrance.

"This is Paula Gramble...," Adam introduced her. "For those who haven’t met her. Paula has a gift for us..."

Paula grinned largely at them. "I think I’d love to see what you all can do first," she said with a gleeful forcefulness. "Show me yours and I’ll show you mine."

~

Victoria was the last to enter the group. She met Kaito first at a lecture hall, even though they were both there for different lectures. Somehow they had still found each other. What were the odds of that? But, by now so called coincidences, fate and destiny was not something the group took lightly – it all had a universal purpose. Kaito and Victoria ran into each other outside of the lecture hall – she was a scientist – perfect to round out their group. But, it was only when Angela finally met Victoria that she knew this red head was special. The group brought Victoria on board for many months before revealing themselves to her.

Until that fateful day when Angela came to Victoria, with Adam in tow, and told her, "I believe that Adam and I can help you. Help you the way he helped me."

Victoria never trusted Adam from the start, but she had no reason not to trust him, so she brushed those feelings aside. Besides, like all of them, Victoria too wanted to share what she was going through with someone. Victoria didn’t want to feel alone. And like Angela said, the group helped her. And soon Victoria Pratt understood what she was capable of. There were now twelve – thirteen counting Adam.

~

Life is hard when you live a normal run-of-the-mill life, but when you’re not normal, life is crushing. In the short years since the group had come together they had never worked harder in so many respects. They were in a war and they knew it. And as Daniel Linderman had once said, "war is hell." But they all understood what they were getting into, at least they all thought they did. For every foe they beat and every disaster they stopped, there were a million others around the next corner and thousands more they weren’t able to prevent.

They were learning it was an emotional and physically trying job, saving the world, especially when it took so much work to move time just a few inches. That even with the hardest work, not much seemed to change – the larger picture never altered much. For even when they changed things for the better, for the greater good, it didn’t mean time didn’t try to re-heal itself and move things back on its path. For every action has a reaction; and there was no way of knowing how one act, one change, could set off the line of time like a set of fallen dominoes. One could only live in the moment and do what one felt was right – move forward in the name of a higher purpose. The group met regularly on what should be done, using Angela’s dreams as a road map – it all started in steps. What else could they do, but move forward?

 

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 Angela & Kaito

Kaito’s Kirby Plaza Office

 

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Kaito and Angela stood in his office. It was not unusual for them to be alone together late at night, early in the morning, late into the afternoon. It was commonplace for any of the thirteen to be in random groups together in their Kirby Plaza offices or in Charles’s Apartment – wherever they met.

It had been a little over a year since Kaito and Angela had that fateful lunch. They had been doing a wonderful job at being friends and it was as if that time in their life had never happened. There was for sure still a spark, it was just something they danced around, pretending it wasn’t there, as they grew closer and closer as friends and confidantes.

Kaito unrolled a set of blueprints over his desk to show Angela. It was for what looked like a large facility with the words Odessa, Texas written at the bottom in white letters."It will be a facility equipped with a lab for Victoria, offices and--"

"Prison cells," Angela interrupted him.

"If needed..."

Angela wrung her gloves between her hands, and walked around the plans, to get a better look.

Kaito followed her. "We will teach them, help them, and yes, perhaps eliminate them if need be... We have to protect our own, we have to protect mankind from this, we can’t leave this to normal people—"

"Then we’ll be the one in cages," Angela gestured with her head. " Please, I know. If people knew what we were capable of they’d lock us away and throw away the key. I know how people react to us. We’re protecting our future and our families future – for generations." She took a small coin off his desk and spun it like a top. "I heard Victoria was starting research for a cure." She looked up at him.

"A cure? Yes, she is looking into a way we can perhaps take away someone’s abilities, if needed. Right now it’s only a theory." He felt she wasn’t just asking for asking’s sake. "Why do you ask, Angela?"

"No reason..." She shook it off, but there was, of course, a reason. There is a reason for everything. Angela set her hand on Kaito’s desk .

"You look tired, Angela." He checked in with her. "Have you been sleeping?"

"No," she shook her head and looked away. "I don’t want to sleep."

Kaito put his hand on hers. "You must talk to someone about this --you must talk to Arthur about this."

Angela took his gaze. "He doesn’t want to hear it. Facts only. Nothing else."

"Angela." Kaito stepped closer. "Your husband does not treat you the way a woman of your caliber, should be treated."

Kaito took his other hand and caressed her face. She knew she shouldn’t let him do it, but she said nothing. And before Angela realized it, she had leaned in and kissed him. She lifted her lips off his, shocked with what she had done. They just looked at each other, not saying a word. He sent the side of his hand along her cheek and away from her face. On the table his other still laid on top of hers in a loving gesture.

Suddenly the door burst open and Angela quickly flicked Kaito’s hand away from hers. She didn’t even have to do it, they were all friends, it proved nothing, except it showed Kaito how scared she was. It showed him her true feelings.

Arthur walked in. "There you are, " he said to his wife. "Kaito." He nodded his head toward Kaito. "We’re leaving now." Arthur left the room and Angela started to follow.

Kaito grabbed Angela by the arm lovingly and whispered in her ear.

"I’m leaving for Japan in the morning. Once there, I will be gone for four months. I will be home for rest of the night. It is your choice."

Angela didn’t know what to say, she just looked at him with uncertain yet calm eyes and then exited.

 

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 Angela & Arthur Petrelli

Manhattan

 

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Nathan heard his parents fighting downstairs in his father’s study, but he didn’t know why or of what. He just covered his ears and put his pillow over his head. It was only four o’clock in the afternoon, but the sky was dark with rain clouds.

"I’m tired, Arthur, "Angela declared.

"Then sleep for god’s sake. Sleep!" he demanded.

"Don’t make me do this. I can’t take it anymore... I need a break!"

"We need to know, Angela."

"I can’t turn on and off what I dream..."

"Take the sleeping pills – you know they bring them on, just take them and be done with it.." He slammed the bottle down on the mantel of the fireplace.

"Don’t make me do this –I just need some time. Time to breathe."

"We don’t have time, Angie."

"I told you not to call me that anymore." She tore away from him.

He grabbed her arm to stop her. "I’m not playing games here. Don’t make me."

She darted away from Arthur and out of the study. She grabbed her white raincoat as Arthur followed her into the living room. 

~

Angela careened through the foyer. She took hold of her red umbrella and took long strides toward the door as Arthur chased after her.

"You’re nothing, but an ungrateful child, Angela, it’s time you grew up!" And Arthur heard the door slam as he entered the empty foyer. "We’ve all had to grow up, it’s only fair." But she was gone. All he could hear was his own silence and the rain falling against the outside windows.

~

When Angela reached the apartment Kaito was renting she went directly to the penthouse. No one questioned her as she walked across the marble hallway and into the elevator. She was determined and ready to take the consequences of her own actions.

When the lift reached the penthouse Angela took a moment before exiting. She walked toward the door, unsure if she had made the right decision. Angela could hear nothing but the sound of the rain rattling against the roof of the old apartment building. It seemed to echo off the ceiling and through the hallway.

She shook her umbrella hard, taking her emotions out on it, before leaving it in a stand next to the door. She was surprised he opened the door so quickly and he was even more surprised to find her there.

"I didn’t think you would come," he said walking backwards into his apartment as Angela entered and closed the door behind her.

"Neither did I..." she said with determination. And in one move Angela had her hands on Kaito’s face and her lips on his lips, kissing him hard and long. It felt cool, like a drink of water in the desert. It didn’t at all make Angela feel bad or wrong like she thought it might, it in fact made her feel good. Kaito didn’t pause for a moment, kissing her back.

"You don’t know how long I have waited for this," he told her, but she wouldn’t stop kissing, and touching him as she took off her rain coat. Angela kicked off her shoes and he whispered in her ear, as she hung off of him. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

And she whispered back, "Yes."

He started to unbutton her dress, which was a little wet from the rain. She looked up at him with doe eyes causing him to stop.

"I’ve only ever been with my husband," she confessed to him like a child.

He nodded his head understanding. He understood what a big choice this was for her. And then he took Angela Petrelli into his bedroom.

~

After it was over Angela laid in Kaito’s arms as the sun set, turning the murky day into a dark night. The rain hit the window and trailed down the slanted frame like small rivers and streams. Somewhere deep inside of her, Angela felt happy and content. She was starting to remember what it felt like to feel alive again – it had been a long time. She was only twenty-eight years old.

It was then that Angela caught sight of Kaito’s curtains, hanging along the side of a large window, and it dawned on her that they were, in fact, the same curtains from her dream a year earlier. And she flashed back to what had just transpired between her and Kaito, moments before, and she knew she had in fact dreamt their encounter, after she had met him that second time in the park. And it was also at that moment that Angela wondered --- had she come to Kaito because of her dream or was the dream telling her in the future she would come to see Kaito. Was it all just a self-fulfulling prophesy calling her to him? Had she made up her mind or had her mind been made up for her? Was it just all inevitable? Or by trying to change it all had Angela created the outcome she was trying to avoid?

That night Angela left Kaito’s apartment and Kaito left for Japan the next morning, both having no idea what the future held for them. It was a new feeling for Angela or at least something she hadn’t felt in a long time. She really wondered if their encounter had been just that, an encounter, never to happen again, but she was wrong. Four months later, when Kaito returned back to the United States they picked up right where they left off. This went on for a year. And there was no way they could not become close. They taught each other things, lessons the two would remember for the rest of their lives.

He told her the stories of Kensei, children’s stories of course, but when Kaito taught her, "Sometimes to protect what is most important, one must cut out their own heart," she demanded to know where it came from.

It was something Angela understood and knew was important, but had not yet learned to live by. Adam was teaching her, Arthur was showing her, but Kaito really made her understand what only experience would solidify. She would soon learn that she had to think of herself first, for no one else would, but when it came down to it the greater good, the larger piece of the pie – sacrifices had to be made. And that meant her own thoughts and feelings had to go to the wayside. It was the only way to save the world. But first she had to learn the message, before she could put it into practice.

Whenever Kaito was in town, Angela met him in the afternoons in his apartment. Sometimes she would stay all day before returning home at night to see her family.

And in that year Angela felt passion she had not felt since she was eighteen. It was a way for her to escape. When she was with Kaito, he looked past what she could do for him, with her ability or as a wife and a mother – he looked past what she represented. He saw her and not her caesarian scar or the fact that she could not give him children – It all didn’t matter. With Kaito she was selfish, and it felt good. With Kaito she could be Angela and not just Angela Petrelli. With Kaito she felt power, she felt in control.

One would say that if you looked deep into the heart of Angela Petrelli, in a place she would never have looked herself, she was, at that time in her life, in love with Kaito Nakamura. The only problem was... she was also in love with her husband.

 

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 Charles & Angela

The Deveaux Roof

1976

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Angela and Charles sat on his roof together. It was back when it was a beautiful sight and in top condition. Back when it had flowers and beautiful out door furniture. The roof, along with his greenhouse/hothouse, was Charles pride and joy.

Charles watched Angela, looking off aimlessly at everyone else, through the large window doors that separated the house from the rooftop. A tea service had been set up. Through the doors Charles and Angela could see Suzanne, Kaito, Linderman, Adam and Arthur talking passionately in Charles’s living room.

Charles looked over at Angela; she was off somewhere and Charles knew it. "So..." Charles leaned back. "How long do you expect that to go on..."

"What?" Angela was caught. Did he mean what she thought he meant?

"The fighting..." Charles continued.

"How can you tell they’re fighting, we can’t even hear what they’re saying. For all we know they’re having a very passionate discussion." She stirred her tea.

"Noo." Charles said in all his confidence. "Look at the body language," he motioned with his head. " It always gives people away. You don’t have to be Maury to know what people are thinking," he chuckled to himself.

"What do you mean?" She looked off.

"Well, look...." He leaned in and pointed to the people in the room as Angela turned toward the big window. "Arthur. Now he stands straight, full, watching, but you can see the burden he carries, the stress -- he holds it all inside."

"You know that from just knowing him, " she retorted.

"Not all of us know him the way you do, Angela." He caught her eyes and he saw she wanted him to continue. "Daniel. Now, he’s a puppy. I suspect he’ll grow up to be a tiger, but right now he looks up to Adam too intently, he’s a follower right now --yet strong and secretive – he carries himself with strength, but inside he’s not fully found himself and it shows in his eagerness. Look at his hand. It’s tapping his knee, up and down. Nervous energy he can’t let go of yet. But, he will. He wants to be as powerful as Arthur... he just doesn’t know how yet and it’s killing him." Charles laughed for a moment.

"What about Harry?" Angela inquired, wanting to hear more of Charles’s game.

"Harry. Well... Harry deflects with his humor. But look at his eyes sometime, there’s sadness in there, mixed in with the blue. He is a deeply feeling man. Look at his hands, his legs, steady as a rock." Charles fixed his eyes on Kaito next. "Kaito. Kaito so wants to be a good man, but he knows being good is a double-edged sword. He seems content with doing what needs to be done for the sake of a greater good."

"Like us all..." Angela stood and walked away from Charles. She looked at the window of people who spoke with nothing but silences and she saw words for the first time. "I see it...," she said. It would be a lesson Angela would soon become adept at putting into practice.

"Body language says a lot, Angela. Like you and Kaito. You’re obviously close."

"We’re all close."

"But, something in that dynamic has changed. He touches you just a little longer than before, your laugh projects across a room at a quicker velocity, your hands avoid each other when people are looking. So, again Angela, I ask you. How long do you except that to go on?"

Angela lowered her head before turning around and sucking in her tears. She walked closer to Charles and they stared each other down.

"What about Kaito, Angela?" Charles asked with a stern kindness.

"What about him?" she snapped. But, her body language gave it all away as Angela shifted her weight from her left leg to her right and fidgeted ever so slightly with her fingers in front of her.

"Angela," he scolded her without any condescension. He always treated her like the adult she was. "How long?"

"Almost a year...," she played with her ring for a moment, but caught herself fidgeting and stopped.

"Do you love him?" he asked.

"Love?" she scoffed. "We’re just having fun," she retorted.

Charles didn’t seem to believe her. "Do you care for him, then?"

"I am fond of him, yes." She tried to deflect the issue with a lower tone in her voice. She sat back down next to Charles.

Charles wasn’t fooled. "Fond of him..." He tried not to laugh. "Yeah...," he leaned back in his chair. "It’s hard I know. All of us together. That connection flowing around. I can see how it can be confused for love. Harry over there, he thinks he’s in love with Suzanne, but then who knows what blonde with an ability would make his head turn. We all feel like we understand each other, who says that’s not love? That we all don’t love each other."

"Maybe that’s all Arthur and I were? Maybe we were confused into thinking we were in love."

"Do you really believe that, Angela? That man loves you. Desperately. He just doesn’t know how to show it to you anymore. I know you’re lonely and you feel abandoned. And you’re both consenting adults, but you need to not give up so easily."

"Easily...?" She didn’t like that.

He took her hand. "I know you love Arthur, Angela. I’m just saying, look into your heart. Look deep into your heart and then you need to make a choice. You can’t have it both ways. If anything this world has taught us, and you know that – is you can’t live two lives, you need to live one life and commit to that – no matter the cost. I just want you to have your hope back, Angela. I see in your eyes, you’ve lost your hope."

Angela stood again turned her back on Charles. She caught sight of Arthur in the window.

Angela didn’t want to hurt Arthur, but he had hurt her so many times, maybe he deserved a little hurt in return, she thought. It wasn’t a kind thought, but it was an honest thought; it was human.

"Do you think Arthur knows?" Angela asked with concern.

"No. I don’t think he does. As you know..." Charles shifted confidently in his chair. "When it comes to you he’s not very good in the paying attention department." He took a sip of his tea.

Angela turned and smiled at her friend. Charles smiled back.

"Speaking of paying attention." Charles put his hands out for her.

Angela came forward and took his hands

"I feel like I’ve been neglecting you lately, myself – Dear friend." Charles smiled large.

"We’ve all been busy."

He all of a sudden got serious. "I really am worried about you, Angela."

"Don’t be. I’ll figure it out," her voice was calm and sure. Charles could make her feel that way.

"It’s not just Kaito. You and Arthur, Linderman – the way you are with Adam... you look to Adam too fiercely, you look to him like a god. Like he has some kind of hold over you – and not just you three – I see it in some of the others. This hero worship."

"He’s helped me so much. All of us. Understanding ourselves. His ideas, his outlook on history --it’s helped us all."

"That doesn’t mean he’s your savior, Angela. You shouldn’t look for someone to save you." He held onto her hands tightly and shook them. "Only you can save yourself."

Suddenly the door burst open and loud noises were heard from within the apartment. Charles and Angela turned toward the noise instantly.

Suzanne was at the other end of it of the open door. "Come quick! They won’t stop fighting," she urged.

Angela and Charles came running.

~

"Arthur, be fair on him, come on!’" Harry yelled from the corner of the room, blood dripped from his mouth from trying to intervene. "You outmatch him."

Arthur grunted. "Maybe we need to do this the old fashioned way then," Arthur took a swing at Kaito who was already on the ground, right in the jaw. "My wife!" It looked like a vein would pop out of his head. He grabbed Kaito and kicked him in the stomach.

Everyone was afraid to use their powers to intervene, in fear of hurting one of their friends.

Adam and Charles held Arthur back as Angela stood horrified in the doorway. Somehow a statue broke, sending shards of it toward Angela’s feet; she jumped back.

"You sleep with my wife!" Arthur bellowed. "After everything we’ve done for you!" Arthur pulled away from Charles and Adam. "Don’t you have anything to say for yourself!?" Arthur demanded.

Kaito rose slowly, taking a breath before speaking. "I have nothing to say, " his head was lowered and his breath was heavy. He looked up into Arthur’s eyes ashamed, but with a sense of calm. "I knew it was wrong. I just couldn’t help myself."

It was then that Adam looked into Kaito Nakamura’s face and knew that this man was Hiro’s kin.

Arthur punched Kaito in the face and again Kaito fell to the ground. The crowd made a fuss for them to stop. Kaito lifted himself up off the ground and charged after Arthur, getting in a few hard jabs, before taking hold of Arthur’s body and slamming his back against a table that held a porcelain vase – the vase cracked over Arthur’s back. The crowd again yelled for them to stop as the two men continued to fight. Daniel and Harry had to pulled Kaito off of Arthur and were now holding him back and calming him down.

Arthur fell to the ground, emotionally and physically exhausted . He collapsed there on his knees dazed and confused, breathing heavy from the fight.

"Take him home, Angela!" Charles bellowed. "Just take him home."

"Not with her." Arthur took two deep breaths. "I won’t go home with her. "

Adam put his arm out and Arthur grabbed hold of it to lift himself up. Adam eyed Angela, she only reminded him of every woman who had done him wrong in the same way. Angela said nothing. She may have not known of Adam’s past, but she understood what that look meant.

"I’ll leave myself." Arthur pushed off any reaches for help he was offered. "I wasn’t gonna kill him..." He wiped a spatter of blood from his lip. "If I wanted to kill him..." He looked directly at Angela. "I could kill him." And Arthur left.

Everyone took a breath almost literally and figuratively. Angela, remaining as regal as a queen, with her humiliation just showing under the surface, stepped over the remains of Charles living room and followed her husband home.

 

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 Angela and Arthur Petrelli

Manhattan

 

 

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That night, the sounds of the Petrellis fighting could be heard in their bedroom. This time Nathan wasn’t home to hide under his pillow.

"Why him?" Arthur ranted.

"I don’t know...," she stammered, yet still strong and in control.

"Why him!?" He was directly in her face. He downed his scotch and set it on the lip of the fireplace.

"Because you weren’t an option, anymore! I missed you, I was lonely. I don’t know?!" Her mind was spinning – it was all such a disaster.

"You need to end it, Angela," he demanded.

"I know that now –" she was firm yet her voice was filled with pain.

"Him or your family - you can’t have both," he snarled.

"I know that! I choose you, I always would have, you know that. I choose this family. What’s left of it. I didn’t do this to hurt you!" Well, at least at first she didn’t.

"We never do, do we." She had hurt Arthur more than any blade could..

The door to their bedroom opened and Adam, Maury and Daniel walked in.

"What’s this?" Angela wasn’t pleased and she knew something was up - they were all in a group.

"I think there are a few things you’re not telling us, Angela..." Daniel cooed. He showed Angela her little black book of dreams.

"What are you doing with that?" Angela felt violated.

"Who knows what other secrets you haven’t told us," Maury’s voice was a gravelly whisper.

Adam looked at Angela with disappointment. "I kept telling them, no, Angela, wouldn’t do that. I kept telling them, no, Angela doesn’t keep secrets. I guess I was wrong."

Arthur walked away from Angela as Maury got closer to her.

Angela looked frightened out of her mind. "Noo, noo don’t do this. Arthur..." She tried to get Arthur’s gaze, but he wouldn’t take it. "Don’t do this!"

"It’s for the greater good, Angela." Adam looked her dead in the eyes. "You understand."

Adam, Arthur and Daniel all turned toward the door to exit, while Maury stayed. Adam and Daniel walked out first, before looking back toward Arthur, who had paused in the doorway, his left hand holding the doorknob. Adam and Daniel flanked Arthur from behind; like the two all knowing Iago’s that they were to him.

Arthur wouldn’t give Angela his eyes. He looked at Maury. "While you’re in there, take out anything else we might need." And he closed the door behind him with a crack.

Adam patted Arthur on the back; he knew it wasn’t easy.

"Please don’t–." Arthur’s heart skipped a beat and his body seemed to shorten.

Adam pulled his arm away. "Nakamura men.." Adam shook his head. "They always steal your women."

"What do we do about him? With Kaito?" Daniel questioned.

"We need him right now," Adam answered. "Tell him Arthur forgives him and we move on. What’s done is done. We’re all men here. Make one of the Primatech facilities his pet project. Should keep him busy for awhile. He’ll be going back to Japan at some point. Maybe he’ll find himself someone else’s wife," he retorted.

"If you’ll excuse me." Arthur wouldn’t look at the men. " I don’t want to talk about this just now." He took a breath. "Come get me when it’s done." Arthur walked to the edge of the staircase and stopped. "And just make sure he’s finished before my son gets home." With that, Arthur went to his study to sit by the fire and drink a glass of scotch. 

                                                          ~

Hours later Angela laid across her bedroom floor, tears running down her face and blood dripping from her nose. The fire burned in the fireplace, sending shadows across her face, while at the same time she ripped her notebook in half and threw the pages into the fire. She watched it burn. She just watched it burn.

                                                                       ~

The events of time do a lot to a person. They do a lot to a person’s soul. And the founders of the company had struggled and pushed against time until it almost broke, until it broke them. And still, just like it always had, no matter what they changed it took grueling and back-breaking work to do so. And as much as they wanted to save the world and at times did save it, they discovered something new. That as much as the world says it, the world does not want to save itself. No one changes their ways, people lose their faith, their will -- they do selfish things. When they can’t beat them, they join them. And again, after every villain you defeat, another one comes right around that same corner, with even worse intentions. They would protect themselves and others – no matter what the cost – that’s what they decided. But protection isn’t pretty. There is always a loser. And even if someone wins, they are very seldom a winner themselves. For the world is not black and white, it is filled with many grey and murky tones that start out as the best laid plans.

                                                                        ~

Daniel spoke to the group, downstairs in the Petrelli living room. Kaito and Angela were absent."That is what this company will do. It will help those like ourselves...our own kind, protect them. Make a better place for our children. This is how we can continue the great work we are doing." The group agreed and Primatech would officially be born, the die was cast and they all signed off for the first brick to be laid. Arthur made his apologies for his, "sick," wife.

~

That night Arthur found Angela asleep on the floor next to the fireplace. He lifted her like a baby in his arms and set her on the bed. He could see her eyes moving rapidly under her lids -- she was dreaming. He wiped the blood from under her nose and softly set her head on the pillow. He used his fingers to dry the tears that had not yet dried.

"I am sorry, " he said. His eyes were filled with emotion. Arthur leaned in and kissed Angela on the forehead, lingering there for a moment. "In so many ways." And he let her sleep.

~

Arthur walked out of his bedroom to find Nathan standing there. "Let your mother sleep, Nathan." He ran his hand through the top of the boy’s hair. "She’s been through a lot today."

Little Nathan was always under the impression that his mother was a terrible sleeper, because when she finally did sleep, it was never at proper bedtimes and he was always told, "she needed it."

It wasn’t until recently, as an adult, that Nathan replayed all the times, over in his head, that he found his mother walking the halls late at hours. The hospital visits, the arrival of strangers at the door. Perhaps it all wasn’t just normal dysfunction, perhaps there was a pattern. Perhaps he had overlooked so much, as children tend to do, when it comes to seeing their parents as real people.

 

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 Petrelli and Linderman

Arthur’s Study, The Petrelli Home 

 

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That night Angela dreamed what would happen hours into the night, hours before it happened. It was one of her, "fly on the wall dream," as she called them. For instead of dreaming in dream-like metaphors, Angela watched the action as if removed from it, as if she was in fact a fly on the wall.

The fire was burning, almost crackling in the silence of Arthur’s study. He sat in a large red chair against his bright salmon colored walls.

Daniel entered the room slowly and shut the door. Arthur turned his head slightly toward Daniel, yet said nothing. The fire reflected through the glass of scotch Arthur held in his right hand, making the glass look illuminated like a giant ball of fire.

"We drew lots." Daniel let go of the doorknob behind him, sending him forward into the room. "Looks like I drew the short straw."

Arthur didn’t say a word, he wasn’t in a mood for speaking or jokes.

"She’s a very loyal woman, your wife..." Daniel rolled his eyes upward. "Considering."

"Is she, now?’ Arthur said sarcastically.

"I know, now isn’t the time..."

"It isn’t," Arthur stated harshly. He stood and walked closer to the fireplace.

Daniel walked over to him and mirrored Arthur next to the hearth. "Except for a few small things, private things Maury pulled out of her -- she hasn’t been keeping anything from us– nothing she hasn’t shared – except the...situation at hand," he tried to be delicate. "A few dreams she had as a child, I don’t think she remembered them herself – just more of those vague dreams about some unspecific bomb, again."

Arthur looked as if he was holding in about ten thousand emotions.

"She’s a loyal woman, that Angela, but she was weak, Arthur. Weak." Daniel leaned in. "But, now she’ll never keep anything from us again. It was the right thing to do. We had to know for sure."

What Angela learned that night was that her secrets could be used against her as a weapon. Her weakness had been her undoing and she would use all her power to never show them she was weak again.

As Charles would later tell her, "Linderman has been wrong before,’ and this was one of those instances. For this event in Angela Petrelli’s life, only made Angela keep her secrets closer to her chest and further from her mind. What Daniel Linderman thought would make the woman honest had in fact done the opposite. It made her closer to the woman she would become.

 

 Chapter Seven: Angela makes plans to put her past behind her and her families future ahead of her.

 (Click above to read on)

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