Las Vegas, Late Wednesday night

[izzyalienqueen]

As much as Isabel had wanted to dreamwalk Nathan as soon as she'd gotten back from New York, she waited, wary of any sort of security Angela Petrelli might have on him. It probably still wasn't enough time to be truly safe, but Isabel didn't like the idea of Nathan remaining injured any longer then necessary. Besides, for the moment it was only a dreamwalk to try and figure out where he was. The real danger would be getting in with Wyatt to heal him.

It took a little searching, but Isabel finally found a picture that had Nathan in it. She had to smile, remembering the weekend it had been taken, when both she and Peter had been weetiny.

Curled up comfortably on her bed, Isabel placed her fingers on the picture and closed her eyes.

Comments

[1petrelli1.livejournal.com]

Thanks to the drugs in his system Nathan spent more time unconscious than awake. After months of being like this, he was starting to get a pretty detailed dreamscape.

At the moment he was inside of a church. It looked like the church the Petrellis went to when they were in New York, though parts of it were made from various churches Nathan had encountered during the course of his life.

Nathan, dressed in a suit and looking much like he used to, sat on one of the pews and stared up at the crucifix as though it might have answers for him.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel took a moment to look around and get a sense of where they were before walking up the aisle and taking a seat in the pew next to Nathan.

"Hi Nathan. It's good to see you."

[1petrelli1.livejournal.com]

"Doesn't mean anything," Nathan said. He didn't look at Isabel. He figured she was all part of the dream. "None of it. Never did."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel wasn't about to get into an argument over religion with a man that was probably drugged to the eyeballs. "Don't let the voters hear you say that," she told him. "I'm sorry I didn't come here sooner. I didn't know you'd survived the explosion."

[1petrelli1.livejournal.com]

Nathan's appearance flickered, changing from as he was to how he'd looked upon hearing he'd won the election, to a monstrous image of himself burned and scarred over every inch of his body, then back to how Isabel had first seen him.

With something sounding like Nathan's usual dry cynicism, he replied, "I did?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

The flinch was automatic and Isabel closed her eyes, unable to imagine the pain Nathan must have been in for the last few months. She refused to let herself think about what caused those injuries.

"You did. From what I understand, you're tucked safely away in a hospital somewhere recovering."

[1petrelli1.livejournal.com]

"I'm here," Nathan replied. Lately his dreams had been more real to him than anything. Especially since reality meant facing the truth of what had happened.

Around then, voices echoed in the otherwise empty church.

"You've gotta let me go, Nathan!"

"You go, I go!"

Nathan didn't react, having heard those words many times before.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Here is in your head. I just stopped by for a visit," she told him.

Isabel had known this was probably going to be painful, but the voices brought the memories of that horrible night back in an unwelcome rush.

[1petrelli1.livejournal.com]

"I wouldn't stay long, if I were you," Nathan said. He didn't look at Isabel, even though this was the first time he'd said anything to directly address her.

"It's taking everything in me, all my power not to explode! Let me go!"

"Peter!"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

She had a pretty good idea of how this was going to play out, taking a deep breath, Isabel tried to prepare herself for what was to come.

"I'm not leaving. I'm here to help you."

[1petrelli1.livejournal.com]

The sound of Peter screaming echoed around them.

"I think I'm a little beyond that," Nathan told her. He actually turned his head to give her a wry look.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Not going to think about the screaming. Not going to think about the screaming. She owed this to Peter, she could handle it.

Isabel was a little pale, but she met Nathan's gaze. "I don't think so. You were badly hurt. You've been in the hospital for months. But Wyatt can fix that. I just need to figure out where you are so that we can get to you."

[1petrelli1.livejournal.com]

"I don't know," Nathan replied. He looked back up at the crucifix. "I've been here for as long as I can remember."

Angela's voice floated through the air. "He's gone, Nathan. You're lucky to be alive."

Softer, almost too soft to be heard, came Peter's voice again. "Keep him alive, okay? Do whatever it takes, you understand me?"

As before, Nathan acted as though he didn't hear any of it.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Stupid Angela and her pride and plans. It shouldn't have been like this, Isabel thought to herself, still furious at the older woman. Focused on the anger, she almost missed the soft whisper of Peter's voice, but Isabel heard enough to make her stare at Nathan in shock.

"Nathan, what was that? How?"

[1petrelli1.livejournal.com]

"You should go," Nathan said, still not looking at her. "Leave the nightmares for those of us who deserve them."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel really wished she could physically affect people in their dreams. Because Nathan and his martyr complex deserved a serious thwapping upside the head.

"That's bullshit. The two of you saved the city. You don't deserve any sort of nightmare." And that was doubly so if that whisper of Peter's voice meant what Isabel hoped it did.

[1petrelli1.livejournal.com]

"I deserve plenty," Nathan replied.

He might've said more, but out in the real world a nurse had come in to tend to his dressings. Even with the drugs it was still too painful for Nathan to remain unconscious. He was yanked out of his own dream world, and back into one that was no less nightmarish.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel blinked as she was kicked out of Nathan's dream. She hadn't gotten the information she wanted but what she had learned was possibly even better. Remembering the dream she'd had about Peter, Isabel wondered if it was possible, despite all the odds, for it to have been something more then a dream.

A quick search turned up the picture she'd had during that dream. Isabel stretched back out on the bed and closed her eyes.

An hour later, she finally set the photo aside, extremely disappointed. Maybe that voice was just some fevered figment of Nathan's imagination after all.