He knows his decision to go after Sylar alone is reckless, but the possibility that the serial killer could kill Ando drives him to take him on alone.

[Set in Shelter. Michael is feel_theburn and Dean is silvr_moonbeams. Set after THIS and THIS.]

“The problem, of course, was that people did not seem to understand the difference between right and wrong. They needed to be reminded about this, because if you left it to them to work it out themselves, they would never bother. They would just find what was best for them, and then they would call that the right thing. That's how most people thought.”

Bela didn’t use her given name for a lot of things.

Her professional aliases were more than adequate, but if there were situations when she wanted to distance herself from Bela the thief, just to avoid attracting undo attention to things like her children and her family. Abigail Westen were on all her legal papers when she was need of a clean background check, and she didn’t have any fingerprints to worry about, but the name Bela Talbot still had quite the reputation attached to it. And when it came down to it, fact of the matter was that Bela Talbot was still a very dangerous woman, especially when it came to her family. Even more so when it came to her husband.

For the longest time, Michael was her everything. He had become her world based solely on the fact that she didn’t have anyone else, at all. Now, thirty years down the line, someone had tried to take him away from her, and that was a situation she wouldn’t abide. Add to the fact that he had hired someone, and pretty much assured himself that the police would never get to him, and she was even more determined to take care of matters herself.

Dean had already came and went with the package in question, taking the time to question her to make sure that she knew what she was doing, but there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that this was the right thing to do. People deserved to pay for the pain they caused. MacMillian was no different. But Dean had made her promise him that when this was over, certain arrangements would be made, and she would stand by that. But for right now, she needed to take care of business. And to be honest, she was surprised at how easy it was.

( *** )

800 words

For arobinhoodtype, who requested All These Things I've Done by The Killers.


Another head aches, another heart breaks
I am so much older than I can take
And my affection, well it comes and goes
I need direction to perfection, no no no no

( The baby, the former model, and the criminal. )

There are thousands of moments in a person's life that helps to define them as a person. It could be something so completely mundane, or a passing thought. A ridiculous realization that would only make sense to that person alone. I honestly resent having to list just ten. I've got too many onion-y layers, and too many passing thoughts going on in my brain. These may be by far the most important ones; but they aren't the complete reason I'm who I am today...or why I like to go to the Ice Capades.

Yeah, big moments can change your life. This is a list of the big ones. The ones that changed my life.. not the only ones that changed me or completely define me. There are hundreds.

1. The moment I was approached by Merrick, my first watcher sitting on the steps at Hemery High. I'll remember the feeling I had when he told me I was the slayer for the rest of my life. I'll never be able to describe it in a way that actually fits.

2. I watched my first vampire turn to dust at fifteen by my own hand. That single moment told me I could never really look back. That cheerleading wasn't going to be the most important thing in my life. Surviving was. Protecting was.

3. Watching the Master (Kool-aid Mouth) die. It was a moment of joy, but it was also a moment of realization. Prophecies can have loop holes. They can't be unwritten. They can't be walked away from; and the world needs someone to stop Hell unleashing, to save it. Luck of the draw picked me.

4. The moment I looked behind newly souled Angel and saw my world ending. It was right there where I had to make a choice to kill the love of my life and save the world or to help destroy it. I learned from that moment that my choices can destroy everything, or save it... on the count of pain. I understood why I stood out from the rest. I knew where I stood. What it meant to be a slayer, and to make the rules. To do what no one else would be able to.

5. When the paramedics told me my mother was dead. That moment changed me forever. It's also one I'll never forget, one that I would never want even the person I hated the most in this world to ever feel. It was almost like an out of body hell. Everything was moving around me so fast. I was the only one stationary. It wasn't real.

6. As much as it hurt to hear the words that my mother was dead, I can't compare it to the way I felt when I watched her casket get lowered to the ground. When they covered her casket with dirt; when everything that moved so fast around me stopped moving. When that out of body hell became a reality. When screeching halt, painful impact hit me dead on. Everywhere. I couldn't scream, cry or talk. I don't even remember what that preacher said. I don't remember anything but the sound of the dirt hitting solid wood. I remember being a lot of things at that moment. Terrified and alone being the most prominent.

7. I was going to say when I was putting a book away, and realized that I was going to lose against Glory. But, no. It all stemmed from when I was told that death was my gift. When I was expecting something more happy, something that I thought I could use against her. Getting told that death was my gift scared the hell out of me. I didn't want to tell anyone, because I thought that was the omen to letting my sister die, and in turn, being okay with it in the future. Allowing people to die, killing them myself. As wrong as I was about reading between the lines (as I usually am), I still consider this a moment. It hardened my skin. A lot more than I'd like to admit.

8. This coincides with seven. Why? Because as I stood on that structure, watching the portal open, and realizing that Dawn was created from me -- I knew what my gift truly meant. I knew what was right, and I knew that we'd win. That my friends and my family whom I'd worked so hard to protect were going to be safe. It wasn't a sad moment for me. It was probably the happiest moment of my life. It wasn't because I was going to die. It wasn't anything like that. It was because I finally felt accomplished, and my sister was going to be fine.

9. The moment Xander stood up for me when no one else would. When the potential slayers... when everyone didn't believe in me, and I heard Xander speaking from his heart about what he believed. How he believed in me, and how he trusted me with more than his life. He'll never know how much that meant to me. How much I owe him. How empowered I felt. If I thanked him every day for the rest of my life, that still wouldn't be enough.

10. Dawn asked me what was next after we watched the dust rise form Sunnydale imploding on itself. We'd defeated The First Evil. We survived the Hellmouth, of which had given us grief for more than seven years. There were slayers that had been awakened. The weight of the world felt a hell of a lot lighter, and the flood of ideas that went through my brain brought about nothing but a single smile. A genuine, real smile. I wanted to go swimming. The war wasn't over, and it'd never be over. I knew that. But for that moment? We were on top of the world, and I granted myself a moment of pure unhindered happiness.


Buffy Summers
Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Comment Here.

We're going to keep this short and sweet (Frank and birthday vgifts will be back next week). You've probably seen the updates to our main menu. Don't be alarmed. You'll find everything you need, just in slightly shifted format. Just so you know, we based these changes on input from both experienced and new users who were not familiar with LiveJournal. Our goal was to reduce barriers to usability and make LiveJournal more accessible and easy to navigate. Please note that this is a work in progress. We welcome your detailed suggestions in feedback. We thank you, in advance, for helping us improve your LiveJournal experience.

We've updated the global navigation menu:

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We've got your fix:

• UPDATE: Rolling several updates into one listing here -- 1) Scrapbook should be back and working again. 2) The problem with the Update Journal page in IE6 and IE7 should be fixed now. 3) The problem with the userpic add-on package pricing has been fixed and refunds issued to anyone who was overcharged while the erroneous prices were in place.
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Thanks again for joining us. Frank and company will be back next week!

He unlocked the door of the currently vacant shop and stepped inside, holding the door for Peter and locking it again behind them. They didn't want anyone wandering in, after all. He crossed quickly to the back room and turned on the lights. Then he returned to survey his new domain.

The leases were finalized, paperwork signed, licenses obtained. All that was left to do was to set up the storefront and get merchandise in. He made a grand gesture, sweeping the large, empty room, and smiled at Peter. "Well, love," he said softly, "what do you think?"