A/N: This is post 'A Brave New World' but sorta AU. In this, Peter never had his powers taken from his dad, so he's still got the same power as in season 1 where he just absorbs everyone else's powers. :) Enjoy my lovelies and as always, review! xo


CHAPTER 1

Peter Petrelli pulled out the small golden compass from the pocket of his jeans. He watched it spin around the face of the compass until it finally stopped, pointing North. He heard the sound of guns cocking and leather-clad footsteps coming his way. Peter ran down the road and ducked behind a large warehouse. He saw an abandoned sports store a little down the street and decided that it would be a good place to stop and get some supplies. Peter hid as the Executioners inched closer and closer towards him.

Executioners are what the Specials call the American army. And the British army. And the French army. And basically every other army in the world, all of which were now hunting down 'Specials' all around the globe while the 'Normals' were free to roam. It was only two years since the carnival incident, and the world had gone down the toilet.

The world was fine and ready to accept the Specials for about six months, before it all went downhill. Bennet was right; all it took was one Sylar before the Normals stopped trusting the Specials. One Special hurt a Normal and the next thing, all there's a war raging between the Specials and the Normals. Well, there's a war raging against the Specials, all thanks to the Normals, but all the Specials want is to be left alone to live in peace. So, the Normals banded together against the Specials, banishing them to live on the run until they find Utopia. The Specials have spent the last year and a half on the run, either finding Utopia, or being caught and killed or 'cured' on the way.

Once Peter heard that the Executioners were gone, he made sure the coast was clear before he made a dash for the abandoned sports store. Even though the Normals were free to walk around, a lot of them felt threatened by the Specials and hid out at a place they call Safe Haven, leaving the rest of the world, practically free from Normals – except of course, for the Executioners.

Peter ran into the sports store, and looked around for anything even remotely useful. He spotted a backpack, and thought that it might be a good idea to grab it. He took the bag off of the shelf and frantically looked around for anything else. He took three small first aid kits and two Tasers; just in case. His next stop was the supermarket, since he was running low on food and water. He snuck out of the store and cursed under his breath as he saw that there were Executioners scoping out the store. He used the power he got from Claude and was suddenly invisible. He closely, and quietly, followed an Executioner into the store and then broke away from his trail once they were inside. Peter slowly shuffled along the aisles, still freezing when an Executioner came closer to him, even though they couldn't see him. They left the store eventually, and Peter became visible again, knowing it was safe to. He was shoving some bottles of water and cans of Spam into his backpack, when he noticed a glowing light coming from the bathrooms. The dim orange light shone clearly from the bottom of the girls' bathroom door. He knew he probably shouldn't, but his curiosity got the better of him. He pushed open the door slowly, and saw a girl huddled in the corner of the bathroom – glowing bright orange.

"Hello?" Peter asked warily, taking a step towards the girl. Her head shot up and it started to look like she was giving off heat waves.

"Are the Executioners gone?" she asked; the fright in her voice evident.

"Yeah." Peter wiped his forehead with his sleeve; only just realising he was sweating. "Look, are you okay?" he went to step forward again, but the girl jumped up to stop him.

"No, stop!" she said loudly.

"What, why?" Peter asked. She gestured around them, and Peter saw that there really were heat waves coming from her and the entire room. Everything in the room that was made of metal was also white-hot. "Are you doing this?"

"I-I can't help it." She fretted. "It's my power, I can't control it."

"Hold on, what's your power? Uh, heating things up?" Peter asked, absolutely clueless.

"Sort of. When I get scared, or sad, basically whenever my emotions are running high, my blood boils and I heat up to sometimes over two-hundred degrees and then I glow. I burn white-hot." She explained, feeling more relaxed and starting to cooling down.

"Well, my names Peter. I'm a Special too." He told her.

"What's your power?" she asked, and knowing she was in the presence of another one of her kind, her temperature shot straight down to the normal body temperature.

"I, well, I absorb other Specials' powers." Peter explained. "I'm on my way to finding Utopia and you look like you could use some help, so do you wanna come with me?"

"Why would you take a chance? You don't even know me plus I could accidentally hurt you." She pointed out. Peter shrugged and gave her a lopsided smile.

"I guess I just have a lot of faith in people. Now why don't you tell me your name?"

"My name is Ashleigh." She told him with a small smile.

"Well Ashleigh, do you want to find Utopia with me?" Peter asked and held out a hand for her and after a few seconds of silence, she took it.