𝐔𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐀

𝐕𝐈𝐈

Ashleigh just sat there, her eyes wide, her heart burning, letting Peter kiss her. She was in so much shock that she couldn't even move. The last time someone kissed her, they were hospitalised. It was that thought that snapped her out of her daze and made her realise what was happening. Out of fear of hurting Peter physically, she tried to break the kiss and push him away, only making him grab her hips and pull her closer.

"Peter," she whispered onto his lips "I might hurt you."

"I don't care." He mumbled in return, pressing his lips onto hers again.

"I-I don't want y-you to get hu-"

"I won't." he pecked her lips quickly. "Ashleigh," he looked her in the eye, "do you like me?"

She sighed. "It doesn't matter if-"

"No." he shook his head. "No buts, no ifs. Yes or no answer only. Do you like me?"

The brown-haired woman looked down at the floor. "Yes." She breathed out, barely a whisper.

"Good. So will you just trust me that I wont get hurt and let me kiss you?" he smirked and without letting her reply, he brought his mouth back to hers. It took a moment, but she responded to the kiss. Their lips fit together perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle. Asheligh's body was burning and glowing brighter than ever, no matter how hard she tried to stop it. The kiss ended just as suddenly as it began. Ashleigh opened her eyes and was shocked, yet pleased, to see that Peter was glowing and burning just as bright as she was and wearing a proud smile.

"Now, I think we should go find Sylar." He said; his smile never faltering. Ashleigh just nodded in response. Peter grabbed her hand and took out the compass. "This way." He muttered and they started their chase again.

It didn't take them long to find Sylar. He was, as he said, in an abandoned cinema.. They entered the theatre and Ashleigh looked at her surroundings; ripped movie posters, shattered windows, popcorn buckets and candy wrappers strewn across the floor. She had to note that it would've been cool to look around properly if they weren't running for their lives. They found their friend in one of the empty theatres. The seats were torn and the lights were smashed and there were even some blood stains on the carpet.

"Hey," Sylar stood up from his sprawled-out seat on the chairs and went to greet the two. "Sorry I ran off but I didn't have any other choice. They hit me with one of their lead darts. My powers will be down for a while."

"It's fine. We're just glad you weren't caught." Peter smiled.

"Did you lose them?" Ashleigh asked cautiously. The executioners weren't stupid; they're experts.

"For now. I want to leave as soon as we can, though. It wont take them long to find me here." The ex-villain explained.

Peter nodded his understanding. "We should probably leave. You've already been here too long."

Sylar and Ashleigh agreed and they left the cinema. The compass pointed them west, so they followed the road heading down that way. Sylar walked in front of them, leading the way, while peter walked behind him, Ashleigh's hand still firmly in his.

Ashleigh had to admit, all of this running and hiding and barely sleeping was starting to take its toll on her. She was so tired, she felt like she could fall asleep at any moment. Her feet were getting blistered from constantly running. Her back was sore from never having any comfort. She endured it though. She had to stay alive, especially now that she had something – or rather, someone to live for.

Suddenly, a noise broke Ashleigh's train of thought. A low, rumbling sort of like...

A car engine.

"Guys! There's a car coming!" Ashleigh panicked. The only people that had cars were the Executioners. Big black vans that haunt the nightmares of every Special.

"Shit," Sylar cussed "if we get caught on this road, there's nowhere to hide."

Peter and Ashleigh looked at the road ahead of them. He was right. It was just a long stretch of pavement with nothing but grassy fields on either side.

"Damn it!" Peter rubbed his face with his forehead. "Do you know how long until you're at full strength again?"

Sylar shook his head. "Who knows. Could be minutes, could be days."

"Well, we'll just have to come up with a plan." Ashleigh said. "There's some pretty long grass over that way. We could hide there."

Peter shook his head. "If you freak out it could start a fire."

"Well, there's no time now," Ashleigh said with scared eyes as she saw headlights coming towards them "they're here. Run!"

The three of them took off at full speed. They couldn't outrun a car, it just wasn't possible. Panic started to take over Ashleigh's body. Her mind became clouded and she couldn't even tell what she was thinking. Her feet hurt more and more every time they slammed into the hard ground. Fatigue from lack of sleep and starvation was taking over her. Her vision started going blurry and she was just able to hear Peter's scared cry of "Ashleigh! No!" right before she was pulled into the van and it all faded to black.