Heroes Fic: Fire and Ice (Angela, Others) PG-13
TITLE: Fire and Ice
AUTHOR: Kay
FANDOM & PAIRING: Heroes (Angela and someone from her past.)
RATING: PG-13 (Violence, some language.)
WORD COUNT: 1352
PROMPT: Kermit the Frog, 'It's Not Easy Being Green'
SUMMARY: When death arrives, its face is familiar.
DISCLAIMER: Heroes is owned by NBC and a myriad of other people. I am not one of those people.
NOTES: Thank you to kasuchi for the extension! And thanks to frogmajick and phdelicious for helping me sort through it.
Fire and Ice
Angela found the idea of a last meal foolish.
There would not be much dignity in death, that she knew for sure, but at least she wouldn't be covered in the regurgitated remnants of an overcooked steak or some supposed comfort food upon taking her last breath. And the concept of looking for a last moment of pleasure escaped her as well. What would it really matter?
How could anyone choke it down in the first place?
But her throat was dry from the brutal winter air outside, and she took her coat off and made her way into the kitchen, absent-mindedly grabbing a pitcher from the back of the refrigerator and pouring herself glass of lemonade. When she brought it to her lips it was warm, and the sugar cloying on her tongue. Her lips pursed as she swallowed her first sip, and she stared at the glass with no small amount of disdain, her reflection warbling as it returned her gaze.
She set the glass down on the counter. Nathan must have left the fridge's door open again -- which she found somewhat surprising, as she would have figured he would be beyond the point where he bothered to get some ice or a splash of water for his drinks by now. And it wasn't as if he was eating with any regularity.
But then again, she had not had a day's worth of proper meals lately either.
She glanced quickly around the room. Something she probably should have done upon entering the apartment -- checking under bed frames and in closets, behind the shower curtain and the long drapes in the dining room. But she didn't bother. She had not been the one of her bloodline cursed with the power of prognostication, but she could still see the inevitable when it was written in a familiar symbol across her face. There was no point in ripping a hole in a perfectly good pair of pantyhose looking for a bogeyman that would find her first.
For the moment, however, the coast appeared to be clear, and she brought one long finger, shaking slightly, to the rim of her glass. The weak condensation frosted immediately, crystalline patterns etching their way through the fog, as the lemonade chilled to somewhere just above the freezing point.
She'd broken a lot of glasses, when she first came into her power, but she'd achieved a high level of precision long ago.
Picking up the glass again, she almost spilled the contents down the front of the blouse when a voice boomed out from the archway entrance at the far side of the room.
"I would have figured you for a glass of wine, a nice Burgundy maybe." Footsteps approached her, but Angela didn't look up. "Aren't you going to offer an old friend a drink?"
"You can help yourself on the way out."
"Good to see you haven't changed," the man replied with a cheery lilt to his tone, and she finally took her eyes off the counter and looked the intruder in his eyes.
"Thomas," she greeted him with a faint nod of her head. "Or what is it you're going by now? Takezo?"
Kenzei smiled at her brightly.
"Either is fine. Japanese is an absolute bitch of a language to pick up, by the way. Next time you banish a bloke, do them a favor and at least send him to Australia."
"I'll keep that in mind," she said dryly, and Kensei laughed.
"I assume from your oh-so-pleasant and lovely greeting that you got my message?"
Some of her lemonade kicked back into her throat.
"Kaito?"
He shrugged. It was done.
"And that's how you got back, I assume. That idiot son of his. Did you kill him as well?"
"I'll have you know that I did not," he said a bit haughtily as he took another step forward. "I've got plans for him. Shame that your son's still not around, I'm sure I could have used him as well. Terrible about what that bastard Sylar did to him. Of course, I'm more upset that he tried to steal my act."
"You son of a--"
"Hey now. You can't blame me for that one, I wasn't even here. And if that thieving little twit hadn't killed James Walker, I wouldn't even be here bothering you."
"If you know so much, why Kaito then?"
"Oh, that. Well, I'm just lazy, and he was a bit of an asshole. So stern, could never take a joke. The only one out of the whole lot of you that did was Linderman really, and he seems to have fallen off the grid already. Although he's always been a bit of a bad penny, I'm expecting him to reappear. But once I kill this Sylar nuisance, I don't think I'll have a problem with dear old Daniel."
"Sylar's dead."
"No, love, he's not. Neither is your son."
Her mouth fell open, and she quickly shut it again, but the moment of vulnerability had been laid bare all the same.
"You mean Nathan. I know he's not dead, not yet anyway."
"No, I meant the pretty one. You know, he would have been handy to have around these past few years, a gorgeous little nurse like him could have made me a lot of money. Ancient samurai warlords really are filthy perverts of the worst kind."
Angela stopped for a minute, swallowing hard at the flush of hot tears at the corners of her eyes. There was no time for sentimentality now, now that there was a strain of hope to fight for, foolish as it was. With Kensei standing just behind the corner of the kitchen island between them, she lunged forward, but the hard edge of the counter top just caught her side, and she only caught one half of his body, her hands missing his neck and instead latching on to his upper arm. The tissue immediately froze, and he howled out in pain, but quickly spun and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her up from the floor and with two quick steps pinning her, by the neck, to the refrigerator door.
She made a few involuntary choking sounds, as he stared into her eyes, mirth still glimmering inside them despite the darkness of their reflection.
"Ouch," he deadpanned.
She had a few choice words for him then, but they were cut off by the pressure on her windpipe. Her arms flailed around, trying to grab any part of him that she could, but when she realized she somehow couldn't touch him, she realized Kenzei had already gotten to more than just Kaito Nakamura. If he had killed the entire council, what hope was there left?
"Fine, fine, have your last words," Kenzei said as he pulled his hand back just slightly, and she half-swallowed a massive rush of air as her lungs burned and her eyes finally did tear.
"Peter..." she choked out. "Don't..."
"I said I would kill Sylar first at least, lord, Angie, always such an ingrate." At the flash of pain in her eyes, he smirked. "Tell you what, I'll give you a choice. I can either kill Peter, and let Nathan live -- of course, he'll die soon enough anyway along with everyone else -- or I can reunite them and kill them together, what do you think?"
Last meal or no, she was distinctly close to vomiting, still struggling to breathe and beginning to lose the battle of consciousness. She jerked her body one more time, hard, but Kenzei slammed her back against the door, and she knew it was the end. She looked him right in the eyes, nestled on the same baby face from years ago -- and in his eternal youth, there were all the mistakes of her own, the struggle of her life and the others played out to endgame right in front of her. There was no other answer.
"Together," she wheezed, as Kenzei tilted his head and smiled.
"It's a promise," he whispered into her ear.
Then with one swift move, he broke her neck.
So it would be done.
AUTHOR: Kay
FANDOM & PAIRING: Heroes (Angela and someone from her past.)
RATING: PG-13 (Violence, some language.)
WORD COUNT: 1352
PROMPT: Kermit the Frog, 'It's Not Easy Being Green'
SUMMARY: When death arrives, its face is familiar.
DISCLAIMER: Heroes is owned by NBC and a myriad of other people. I am not one of those people.
NOTES: Thank you to kasuchi for the extension! And thanks to frogmajick and phdelicious for helping me sort through it.
Fire and Ice
Angela found the idea of a last meal foolish.
There would not be much dignity in death, that she knew for sure, but at least she wouldn't be covered in the regurgitated remnants of an overcooked steak or some supposed comfort food upon taking her last breath. And the concept of looking for a last moment of pleasure escaped her as well. What would it really matter?
How could anyone choke it down in the first place?
But her throat was dry from the brutal winter air outside, and she took her coat off and made her way into the kitchen, absent-mindedly grabbing a pitcher from the back of the refrigerator and pouring herself glass of lemonade. When she brought it to her lips it was warm, and the sugar cloying on her tongue. Her lips pursed as she swallowed her first sip, and she stared at the glass with no small amount of disdain, her reflection warbling as it returned her gaze.
She set the glass down on the counter. Nathan must have left the fridge's door open again -- which she found somewhat surprising, as she would have figured he would be beyond the point where he bothered to get some ice or a splash of water for his drinks by now. And it wasn't as if he was eating with any regularity.
But then again, she had not had a day's worth of proper meals lately either.
She glanced quickly around the room. Something she probably should have done upon entering the apartment -- checking under bed frames and in closets, behind the shower curtain and the long drapes in the dining room. But she didn't bother. She had not been the one of her bloodline cursed with the power of prognostication, but she could still see the inevitable when it was written in a familiar symbol across her face. There was no point in ripping a hole in a perfectly good pair of pantyhose looking for a bogeyman that would find her first.
For the moment, however, the coast appeared to be clear, and she brought one long finger, shaking slightly, to the rim of her glass. The weak condensation frosted immediately, crystalline patterns etching their way through the fog, as the lemonade chilled to somewhere just above the freezing point.
She'd broken a lot of glasses, when she first came into her power, but she'd achieved a high level of precision long ago.
Picking up the glass again, she almost spilled the contents down the front of the blouse when a voice boomed out from the archway entrance at the far side of the room.
"I would have figured you for a glass of wine, a nice Burgundy maybe." Footsteps approached her, but Angela didn't look up. "Aren't you going to offer an old friend a drink?"
"You can help yourself on the way out."
"Good to see you haven't changed," the man replied with a cheery lilt to his tone, and she finally took her eyes off the counter and looked the intruder in his eyes.
"Thomas," she greeted him with a faint nod of her head. "Or what is it you're going by now? Takezo?"
Kenzei smiled at her brightly.
"Either is fine. Japanese is an absolute bitch of a language to pick up, by the way. Next time you banish a bloke, do them a favor and at least send him to Australia."
"I'll keep that in mind," she said dryly, and Kensei laughed.
"I assume from your oh-so-pleasant and lovely greeting that you got my message?"
Some of her lemonade kicked back into her throat.
"Kaito?"
He shrugged. It was done.
"And that's how you got back, I assume. That idiot son of his. Did you kill him as well?"
"I'll have you know that I did not," he said a bit haughtily as he took another step forward. "I've got plans for him. Shame that your son's still not around, I'm sure I could have used him as well. Terrible about what that bastard Sylar did to him. Of course, I'm more upset that he tried to steal my act."
"You son of a--"
"Hey now. You can't blame me for that one, I wasn't even here. And if that thieving little twit hadn't killed James Walker, I wouldn't even be here bothering you."
"If you know so much, why Kaito then?"
"Oh, that. Well, I'm just lazy, and he was a bit of an asshole. So stern, could never take a joke. The only one out of the whole lot of you that did was Linderman really, and he seems to have fallen off the grid already. Although he's always been a bit of a bad penny, I'm expecting him to reappear. But once I kill this Sylar nuisance, I don't think I'll have a problem with dear old Daniel."
"Sylar's dead."
"No, love, he's not. Neither is your son."
Her mouth fell open, and she quickly shut it again, but the moment of vulnerability had been laid bare all the same.
"You mean Nathan. I know he's not dead, not yet anyway."
"No, I meant the pretty one. You know, he would have been handy to have around these past few years, a gorgeous little nurse like him could have made me a lot of money. Ancient samurai warlords really are filthy perverts of the worst kind."
Angela stopped for a minute, swallowing hard at the flush of hot tears at the corners of her eyes. There was no time for sentimentality now, now that there was a strain of hope to fight for, foolish as it was. With Kensei standing just behind the corner of the kitchen island between them, she lunged forward, but the hard edge of the counter top just caught her side, and she only caught one half of his body, her hands missing his neck and instead latching on to his upper arm. The tissue immediately froze, and he howled out in pain, but quickly spun and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her up from the floor and with two quick steps pinning her, by the neck, to the refrigerator door.
She made a few involuntary choking sounds, as he stared into her eyes, mirth still glimmering inside them despite the darkness of their reflection.
"Ouch," he deadpanned.
She had a few choice words for him then, but they were cut off by the pressure on her windpipe. Her arms flailed around, trying to grab any part of him that she could, but when she realized she somehow couldn't touch him, she realized Kenzei had already gotten to more than just Kaito Nakamura. If he had killed the entire council, what hope was there left?
"Fine, fine, have your last words," Kenzei said as he pulled his hand back just slightly, and she half-swallowed a massive rush of air as her lungs burned and her eyes finally did tear.
"Peter..." she choked out. "Don't..."
"I said I would kill Sylar first at least, lord, Angie, always such an ingrate." At the flash of pain in her eyes, he smirked. "Tell you what, I'll give you a choice. I can either kill Peter, and let Nathan live -- of course, he'll die soon enough anyway along with everyone else -- or I can reunite them and kill them together, what do you think?"
Last meal or no, she was distinctly close to vomiting, still struggling to breathe and beginning to lose the battle of consciousness. She jerked her body one more time, hard, but Kenzei slammed her back against the door, and she knew it was the end. She looked him right in the eyes, nestled on the same baby face from years ago -- and in his eternal youth, there were all the mistakes of her own, the struggle of her life and the others played out to endgame right in front of her. There was no other answer.
"Together," she wheezed, as Kenzei tilted his head and smiled.
"It's a promise," he whispered into her ear.
Then with one swift move, he broke her neck.
So it would be done.