Butterflies And Clover

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b_kaylee_icon.gif b_valerie_icon.gif

Scene Title Butterflies and Clover
Synopsis Kaylee Thatcher relives the destruction of Midtown whilst saving the life of the younger sister she never would have met.
Date November 8, 2006

Grand Central Terminal — Subway Station


After events of world-wide importance, people often ask 'Where were you when it happened?'

The same could be said for November the Eight, when the Bomb ripped through midtown and destroyed the heart of New York City, and in many ways the innocence of the world and those with abilities.

Kaylee Anne Thatcher knew exactly where she'd been— she'd been on her way to a class at noon, one that was interupted by the rumbling in the distance, the smoke and ash flying into the air, and the inevitable panic that followed. What she hadn't expected, ever, is that she might have to live through it all over again.

The subway terminal for Grand Central Station has an important meaning for her, though she knew it mostly after the tragedy made it inoperable. The sight of people milling about, waiting for subways, hurrying to the train terminal to make a noon train, none of these are things that had happened in Grand Central in a long time— at least, not for her.

For the people moving about, this is exactly what they're used to. For many of them a daily commute. A Vote Petrelli poster hangs from a wall near where she was dropped off, with a smiling face of the future president in front of a patriotic symbol. Most people wouldn't imagine he would have became the president. Certainly not those who move along.

None of them expect what's about to happen.

Especially not a teenage girl, leaning against a wall, on one of the few benches, with a cellphone in her hand. One with a dangling clover.

When she let that morning, Kaylee made sure to kiss Joseph goodbye, just in case. She didn't' allow herself to see if the gentle Pastor was as worried as she was that she might not make it, before she let Hiro wisk her away.

To be honest, Kaylee is scared… more then scared. Terrified is the right word for this moment.

Standing there, just beyond a group waiting for their train to come through, Kaylee Thatcher seems to almost hesitate. The teenager was someone she always wanted to meet and suddenly she had butterflies.

"God Kaylee, what is your problem," she murmurs to herself, watching the blonde haired girl. "She can't be worse then Warren." No, no she can't. It's enough to get her to take a deep calming breath and take the first step and then another, until she's traveling towards the bench.

Once there, the telepath settles down on the other end of the bench from the other girl, blue eyes watching her. "H-" Her voice catches and Kaylee has to swallow. "Hi, you… look like your waiting for something… or someone." She tries to put a brightness in her tone as she talks, covering her jittery nervousness in knowing that a catastrophic event was on it's way.

Butterflies and crushed clover.

At the voice, the young teen opens her eyes, blinking against the sudden change in light, and then laughs a little, something that seems nervous in her voice. The blue eyes look familiar, quite similar to the older woman's own. Quite similar to the father they share. And even the crazy brother they have.

"I was supposed to meet somebody, yes— but now I'm just waiting on a subway train." Instead of glancing at her clock, she twists the phone around to check the time. It's too close to noon for comfort, but she looks surprised at the time. "I must have been day dreaming for longer than I thought— I need to get one of those watches with an alarm one of these days."

On the edge of those words outloud, there's a second thought, a loud one, Dad's gonna be so mad at me. He told me to go in person…

"I have to ask." Kaylee starts pleasantly enough, angling a look at her sister, "Who were you meeting?" Licking her lips, the telepath hasn't missed the time, but they have to move with caution. She glances at the other people on the platform, her heart almost goes out to them, but at this point it's like she's looking at ghosts.

Or that's how she tries to think of them, as the truth is too hard and she can't risk disturbing this point in time too much. Not if she wants to see Joseph again… or Missy.

"Was…" She glances back at the girl, deciding she doesn't have the time to pussy foot around. Fear of the looming explosion drives her forward, "Did it happen to be your sister?" Kaylee taking an even bigger risk now and holds out her hand to the youngest Ray, "Hi, my name is Kaylee Thatcher. I — I think you were meant to meet me or… the me of this time."

My sister.

The echoed thought happens just as she announces who she is. The teen doesn't seem to process everything very quickly. "Valerie," she says in soft ones, in a way that seems to not quite know what she's saying. "I— you were supposed to be somewhere else," she adds after a moment, as if she's accusing the young woman of not being who she says she is, but then, looks back down at the hand. But instead of taking it, she jumps up off the bench and wraps her arms around her, the phone dropping to the floor with a thunk and a small skitter, but not going more than a foot or two. The youngest Ray is also the tiniest one, only a minimal two inches over five feet in height, a definite difference there, even if there's some physical similarities.

"It's so weird, I just found out about you, yesterday— and dad said I would meet you today, that I had to meet you." Then she pushes back, tilting her head to the side in a curious expression, "What do you mean about 'this time?'"

Reaching into the pocket of the dark gray hoody she's wearing, Kaylee draws out the broken charm. "Because — and this is going to sound silly — I'm from the future. Today I'm headed to class in this time. I'll be there when —" she trails off with a pained look. "Just…. we have to go soon." She wants to say now, but she can't.

"I'm from the year 2010… and in that time this place… well… it's different and I found something of yours." Kaylee talks quickly and calmly. "It showed me you being here, when a person who can see the past touched it." Her voice lowers. "Your in danger and I want to get you to safety, but — we have to do this carefully."

Blue eyes flicker to the cellphone and she opens her hand to reveal the broken shamrock charm. "Momentarily, our father will call on the phone. I need you to say exactly this… 'She didn't show up' exactly like that… then… you need to drop the phone and we need to run." Kaylee gives her a worried look. "I can show you what I saw if you need proof." She leans a little closer as she adds softly, "I'm a telepath, special like Ray — our father is."

That's quite a lot to tackle, even for someone with a father like Edward Ray. But Valerie seems to take it in stride, more or less, eyebrows raising as she looks down at her already dropped phone, and then the broken and charm. The charm that isn't broken on the floor. It's not one of a kind, but it's hers. Always has been. Always will be.

"I— dad's classes had a lot of theories about time travel. It's dangerous, but the river of time will continue to flow, and sometimes it will course correct when necessary." It seems almost as if her tone is too grown up for her small size and youth, like she's quoting a lecture rather than speaking naturally. "But those were just theories," she adds, before bending down to pick up her phone. The screen still lights up, showing that she didn't break it, and ruin the time line more.

"Maybe this is what dad meant with having to meet you— he always seems to plan something when I'm in danger." She sounds as if that part is old hat for her. The phone begins to ring in her hand, and the ID of the caller shows up. There's a hesitant pause, as she looks up, before she answers the phone.

"…She didn't show up," she says, her tone almost the same. Maybe it hadn't been disappointment. Maybe it'd been confusion.

The phone falls from her hand, dropping toward the floor again— but that's when the shaking fills the air, the rumbling, the sound of concrete cracking.

Few people have the ability to say they were in two places when a big event happened. Now Kaylee Anne Thatcher can.

Now if she can only survive it.

Kaylee's stomach drops as the phone drops listening to it clatter, as she looks up and reaches out for Valerie's hand, to pull her to her feet. "Now we run and hope we can outrun an explosion." Kaylee knows she can't, but she's already rising to her feet. "Then we'll talk more about this."

She doesn't bother to cover the fear she's feeling at this moment, even as she closes her hands around that of her little sister's. If they don't make it, at least Kaylee can find peace in the fact she didn't turn her back on her family, when they needed her most. That she at least tried to save her sister.

Outrunning a blastwave— it isn't something a lot of people have the ability to do, and super speed wasn't one of the abilities the Ray family had been gifted with. In fact, Valerie stumbles as she runs, along, legs not only short, but also weak. The yells can be heard, the screeching of a subway train just before it slams into a collapsed roof and breaks off. That's where most the people in the subway station died— in the trains as they crashed.

The research didn't lie. There's a pained yelp, a cry, and suddenly the younger sister trips, rather than stumbles, falls to her knees, hand slipping out of her sister's grip.

Just as a large chunk of the ceiling comes crashing down. A moment later— with flecks of dust in their hair and clothes, the two find themselves somewhere much darker, much quieter—

And far more familiar to Kaylee. Grand Central Terminal of her own time.

"What happened?"

The only sign of the Japanese time traveler would be an impression of a hand around her wrist, a hand that's no longer there— but had been there a moment ago. And just in time, at that.


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