ladyfirestarter | (no subject)

"Yeah."

Her head lifts a little at that.

"A few times. The last major one was ... I think the arrival of the kids here. It changed everything."

"For everyone, I should think."

Thoughtful -- "You told me last time that taking care of the kids wasn't this place's original function."

"No. We had ..."

She stirs her cocoa thoughtfully, the spoon clinking against the sides of the mug.

"We were watchmen, I guess you could say. The staff here ... there were about a dozen of us then. Telepaths and precogs for the Tet Corporation."

He gives her an intrigued look. "The Tet Corporation?"

Charlie nods.

"I don't know if I can explain it, but ... I'm going to give it a try. The Tet Corporation was founded for three main purposes. Two, really, since two of them are essentially the same purpose."

She holds up two fingers. "Protect the two things that hold the worlds together. And work against the ones who would bring it down."

Charles is suddenly sitting up straighter, eyes very blue and very bright.

"You're fighters. You're fighting against the darkness."

The abrupt rise in intensity startles her for a moment, but she answers it with a lift of her head and a smile.

"That's about the size of it."

(and my, but it's a grand and exciting battle)

"And what are you protecting? These two things?"

"One of them's a person. And ... I don't think I can explain why he's important, but ... let's just say a lot depends on him, even things he's not consciously aware of."

Leaning his elbows on his knees, he nods for her to continue.

"The other ... this might make even less sense," she says, half to herself.

"Do you believe there's a center to the world?"

"You don't mean a physical center, do you."

He taps his fingers against his mug, considering. "I'm not sure. I've seen more than one world. I don't know that I ever saw a single center to any of them."

"Someday," she says with quiet certainty, "someday I'll take you to see the Rose. The other thing we protect."

". . . It's a rose."

His eyes are alight again.

"Someone told me once -- roses have the most purifying flame of all."

(and the fire and the rose are one)

"You could look at it that way," she says softly.

"All Heaven with its power," he murmurs, leaning back.

"Those are heavy tasks."

Charlie nods calmly.

"There's a lot of us helping to bear them. Lot of good people."

"Here in 2007." A grin. "Good. I'm glad."

Charlie takes another long sip of cocoa.

"It's like," she starts, and then tries again. "Have you ever done something that you look back on later and say to yourself, I must be an okay person, if I did something like that?"

"I think I know what you mean."

She nods.

And her smile fades a little, to something more sober. "I didn't want to ask before, with the other kids around..."

He sobers in response, eyebrows lifting. "What is it?"

"And if you don't want to talk about it, we won't, but --

"What happened with this guy Sylar?"

"Ah."

Frowning, he leans back. "He sounded -- he -- echoed. I think that's the only way I can say it. I could hear him -- sensing something? Seeing something?" He shakes his head. "He ticked."

A beat; another.

"I told him I was staying in Milliways by choice, because the alternatives might be worse, and he was furious."

Charlie frowns. Well, she's been frowning slightly since Charles said the word echoed, but it deepens.

"Furious how?"