Author: Mancha.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the 4400 characters. But I do own: Will, Jamie, Peter and other characters that come up in later chapters. Date Started: 3/31/08. Date Finished: 10/1/08. This chapter is from Nina's point of view. Hope you will all enjoy! Thanks so much!

Rated: T (PG-13)
Fandom: 4400
Characters: Nina Jarvis, Maia Ruteledge-Skouris, Diana Skouris, Tom Baldwin. (And maybe a few others down the line...)
Timeline: Set in 2007, war that broke out between the 4400 and regular people. Alternate Universe. (Storyline they never prusued, but gave us glimpses of at the end of season 3)


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Intro:

September 2nd, 2007

Riots have been going on for weeks here in Seattle. Peter and I and our son Will have been hiding during the day, and only going out at night. It isn’t safe to be out in the open during the day. During the day we hear bombs constantly falling. Peter said something about trying to escape Seattle and flee to Portland, we’d be refugees, but Portland is safer than Seattle at this point. It’s only three hours from here. There are no riots in Portland. Not yet anyways. It’s a virtual safe haven compared to this place at this point. But Peter is worried about me.

It would be fine if we only had Will to worry about, but you see, I’m nine months pregnant. Peter preferred it if we stayed here at least until I had the baby. But I say we should just flee to Portland anyways. There are some really nice suburbs of Portland that we could settle in. The riots get worse daily. I fear that the hospitals may close down soon. I hear that some are fleeing as far south as South America. Some say Mexico is safer. It is my hope that I can keep my children safe.

But this city, this very state is falling apart. NTAC ceased to exist months ago, and a virtual madman has taken over Seattle. He said he was a political candidate for state governor, but every chance he’s getting, he’s throwing 4400’s and normal people alike into internment camps. He’s raided almost every home in this city. Now I understand why my husband wants to flee to Oregon, because it is much safer.

As much worrying as I’m doing as of late, I might have this baby in a day or two. The curtains of our apartment are drawn shut, they are never open. I watched as my son Will played with his toy fire truck on the carpet here in the living room. He was so oblivious to what was going on in the world around him. In a way, it’s almost better if he didn’t know anything. My son is four years old. He won’t be old enough to remember any of this. That I’m glad of at this point in his life.

I felt Peter’s hands on my shoulders for a moment. That felt good. I needed a little massage, and maybe a little something on the side as well. No, I can’t think like that. Not good for me. Now is not the time to be thinking of such things. I smiled at Peter, and then put one of my hands up to his left hand and squeezed it. I saw him remove his right hand from my shoulder and place it protectively over my stomach. Sometimes when wars raged like they did, life prevailed, and I was more than willing to give this baby everything. I was willing to give her a fighting chance, even if it meant risking my own life for hers. As any mother would for their children. I spoke up.

“Peter, I’ve been thinking about what you were saying about fleeing to Portland and I think we should do it. I mean, it’s much safer, and its only three hours from here. Think of the baby Peter. I don’t want her to be born in the middle of a war zone. We have to do something about this. I don’t want to raise my kids in a dangerous place. Please just think about this honey”.

Peter looked as if he were thinking on the decision, but I knew that he wasn’t going to give me an answer right away. This was something that couldn’t just be decided in two minutes, it had to be thought over carefully. I shifted my weight a little to get comfortable again. Peter gave me a look of concern for a moment. I listened as he spoke up.

“You okay Nina? If you’re back is hurting you, maybe you should go lay down”.

I shook my head no at him; my back wasn’t hurting at all. I think the baby was just kicking me. She was already two weeks late. This didn’t help that I was being kept on extra vitamins and other things needed for me still. I closed my eyes for a second; I focused on my breathing to keep myself calm. And for a moment, I could almost hear my baby’s heartbeat. I opened up my eyes and smiled.

“I’m okay Peter. For a minute there, I felt like I could hear the baby’s heartbeat. Peter? What if she’s born tonight? Or even tomorrow? How is she going to survive, we hardly have any food as it is. The stuff we do have is getting old quickly. We have to find more food. Will is getting paler and thinner every day. He can’t survive if we don’t get more food. It’s hard enough as it is to find food in this city these days with rioters everywhere during the day, and some scavenger’s at night”.

I moved a little more, the baby was leaning on my bladder again. I stood up as best I could and waddled my way over towards our bedroom and slowly went into the bathroom. I felt better once I emptied my bladder. As I made my way out of the bathroom and into our bedroom, I felt a wave of nausea hit me suddenly; it knocked me to the ground hard. I tried my best to get up off the ground, but it hurt. I called for Peter.

“Peter could you please help me”?

I could see Peter come into the room from where I was laying on the floor by the bed. I sighed in relief when he came over to me. I couldn’t seem to move very well. I tried my best to move myself into a sitting position. But Peter put his hand up against my shoulder.

“No Nina, stay still. How did you fall? No, don’t move”.

I was very stubborn when it came down to my husband babying me. He always did this to me. But more because I was pregnant. Well I’m allowed. Having a baby was hard work. If only men could experience what we go through daily. Then they would understand what we truly go through. If men had children, then they would understand the pains of labor we go through. Peter looked at me carefully for a moment; I looked into his warm and caring eyes and spoke up.

“Peter, this is getting ridiculous, how much longer am I going to have to go through this”?

I think I may have confused Peter a little. He was always so understanding, he always got what I was trying to tell him. But at the moment, he looked lost. He put his hand up to my cheek and caressed it a little. I sighed and moaned a little. Then I interrupted him.

“Peter now is not the time. You know I love you don’t you? Even though doing that would greatly improve my chances of having this baby sooner, not a good idea. Our son is in the other room; we don’t need him seeing that. And besides, I can’t even get to the bed, let alone move. I fell pretty hard when I came out of the bathroom. I haven’t felt the baby move for a few minutes. Is she alright”?

Peter quickly went over to the hall closet outside our bedroom door and grabbed for his bag, he hadn’t used it in a few months. He doesn’t make very many house calls anymore, so he stores his things in the hallway closet. I watched as he came back. I saw him set his bag down on the bed. He fumbled through it for a moment until he found what he was looking for in it. I saw him take out the fetal heart monitor and looked at me concerned. I listened as he spoke up.

“Stay still I’m hoping that this will work. I’m sure the baby is fine; she’s probably just a little shaken up. She got a good jolt from the fall you gave her. If my assumptions are correct, this should only take a minute to tell what’s going on. From what I can tell here, strong heartbeat. She’s alright Nina. She’s moving around, can you feel it”?

I nodded my head and smiled with tears in my eyes. I had never felt happier in my entire life than I did then. My little Jamie was alright. Maybe this whole war would end soon, and I could raise my family in peace. I dreamed of the day when this may happen, but it may be a long time from now. I felt Peter place his hand on top of my stomach and massage it gently. I was comfortable. But I needed to be in bed. Peter had suggested that I get into bed for the time being.

I hadn’t been sleeping all too well the past few days, and it worried Peter terribly to know that I wasn’t getting as much sleep I could get my hands on before I brought this baby into the world. I needed all the strength I could give this little girl. I would bring her into the world safely. I would. If it was the last thing I did. Peter helped me climb into bed as carefully as possible. I listened as he spoke up.

“Nina, I’m going to get you some sedatives, they’ll help you get some sleep. In the mean time, I want you to just lie back and relax. I know you will. You’ve been the tough cookie throughout this whole pregnancy. You’ve gone through so much; you’ve risked your life so many different times. This baby is going to be strong, I know she is. If her mother’s any indication”.

I smiled at Peter knowingly. I was now lying in bed comfortably. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I looked over at the clock; it was now nearing nine o’clock. Will was supposed to be in bed in about ten more minutes. I saw Peter pull two sleeping pills from his bag and hand them to me. I quickly popped them into my mouth and swallowed them down with water.

I saw Peter look at me for a moment. He sat down on the bed next to me and looked into my eyes. He shined his pen light into my eyes. I squinted a little. When he shut it off, he looked deeper into my eyes. I saw him shake his head satisfied with that. I saw him go over towards the bedroom door and shut it. When he turned back to me he spoke up once more.

“Nina honey, I need you to relax and just trust me on this. Trust me on what I’m going to say. I need you to relax for a minute. I have a bad feeling about something. But don’t quote me on it honey. Relax, it’ll be alright. I promise”.

I watched Peter’s reactions for a moment. He seemed even more concerned about me than he had a minute ago. Tears of despair poured down my face like a cascading mini waterfall. I saw him pat the inside of my thigh for a minute. Then he looked at me and spoke.

“Nina, sweetie, I’m going to need you to stay in bed for the rest of the night. You’ve seem to have dilated caused by the fall you took a little while ago. Two centimeters might not sound like much, but it’s just enough to cause labor to occur early. I’m sure it’s not going to be the case with you. You’re two weeks late. Baby was supposed to have been born on August 21st.

It’s now Sunday September 2nd. And tomorrow’s Monday. If something doesn’t give by tomorrow afternoon, I’m going to have to take some drastic measures here and have your water broken. I don’t want to do that, but I might if nothing happens soon. Just keep that in mind honey. Those sleeping pills should be kicking in any minute. They should help you sleep better. I’ll put Will to bed, and make sure he’s asleep. I’ll read him his favorite story. It seems to calm his mind when he’s worried about you. Get some sleep. I love you”.

I felt Peter’s hand caress my cheek for a moment, I smiled and welcomed it, closing my eyes. I was getting sleepy. My entire body felt heavy. I felt Peter pull the covers over me. I wouldn’t lose that man for the world. When I fell in love with him five years ago, I didn’t imagine the heartbreak we might suffer later. Or the other’s to come still.

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September 3rd, 2007

When morning came, the bright light blinded me. I felt groggy. I swallowed, and for a moment, I almost didn’t remember where I was exactly. I looked over at the empty spot next to me in the bed. Peter was nowhere to be found. I looked towards the bathroom. It was shut. He must be taking a shower. I tried to lift myself into a sitting position, but as I tried, I found that every limb in my body ached and felt like it was on fire.

I hadn’t the slightest clue why though. I yelped like a hurt puppy, and I saw Peter come busting out of the bathroom, his hair halfway dry. As he rushed over to me, my vision began to get fuzzy. My hearing was becoming obscure. I didn’t know what was happening to me, and I didn’t like it one bit. I could hear Peter, but his words were a bit scrambled at the moment.

“Nina, can you hear me? What’s wrong? I won’t know what’s wrong with you until you tell me. Are you in trouble? Is the baby in trouble? Or are you both in trouble”?

I didn’t know, but I was feeling my eyes rolling in the back of my head. I was so warm right now, it’s not even funny. I felt Peter put his hand up to my forehead for a moment. Suddenly, I could see clearly once more. I could hear again too. I spoke up, but my voice didn’t sound like me at all. My speech was slow, and it sounded slurred as if I had some sort of speech impediment.

“W-was gon on? Was wrong wit me”?

Peter looked even more alarmed when he heard me speak. It wasn’t my fault I was sounding like this. I didn’t know what was going on. I knew Peter could help me; he worked with children who had speech impediments greater than mine at the moment. I heard him speak up.

“I don’t know honey, but you’re starting to scare the s… Or scare me to death… I cannot help you unless you tell me what’s wrong with you. That sedative couldn’t have done this to you. It’s something else. Now, I want you to lie back for a minute. Let’s see how you’re doing. I would hope you would be able to get out of bed today. Well, the good thing now is that you’re not dilated anymore. This means, you can walk around if you’d like, but I do advise you not to take on too much”.

Suddenly, I could hear, and see again. I swallowed for a moment and looked over at Peter. He had the strangest look on his face. Whatever sensation that had just come over me was gone in an instant. How could something like that just go away so quickly? I hadn’t a clue, but it didn’t really matter at the moment. I could speak normally now, which was strange.

“Peter I’m alright. I wanted to check on Will. He’s getting weaker. We’re going to have to find more food soon. But it’s not safe to go out during the day. You know that”.

Peter had a glint of hope in his eyes. I knew where his crazy schemes got him... They usually got him into trouble. I didn’t want him to get hurt for it. I only gave him a look of pleading. I didn’t want him going out into the open. He might get shot. I listened as he spoke up.

“Nina, I’m going to go out there and find some food for us. Don’t worry, it won’t take long. There is still one supermarket open on 10th. I’ll be in and out like that. I won’t be long. Make sure you lock the door when I leave”.

I shook my head no at Peter. I wasn’t going to let him go out of this apartment. He had a son, and a wife that was expecting to take care of. So, in a way, he had to go out and find some food. Even if he had to give his life for us. But I didn’t want that. I didn’t want him to leave us at all. I spoke up with tears in my eyes.

“Peter, you don’t have to do this. Really you don’t. I don’t want you to go. What would you tell your son? He’s going to be begging for his father...”

When Peter began to walk away from me, I quickly grabbed for his hand and placed it on top of my swelling abdomen. I wasn’t going to let him forget where he was, and who he had a duty to protect. He had three people to protect.

“I’m sorry honey, but I have to go. If we’re going to survive this, we’re going to need food. There’s nothing more in the world that I’d like more than spending all my time with you and Will. But I have to go. I won’t be long. Lock the door. Will’s going to be out of bed in a while, and I know he’s been asking for pancakes. Just stay put, I’ll be back in no time I promise”.

As Peter left the room, I let myself cry as if I were a grieving widow. What if Peter never came back? I didn’t want to think that way, Peter would come back. I knew he would. I lie in bed until I was sure I could hear noise coming from my son’s room. At first, I thought I heard him crying, as if he were having a bad dream. Maybe he was. He had so many nightmares these days.

I slowly made my way from my bed over to the door of my bedroom. My movements these days aren’t exactly graceful. I opened it and went down the hallway a little ways towards my son’s room. When I entered his room, I found him thrashing about and calling out for me.

“MOMMY! Help me! Please! Mommy! He’s going to get me”!

I had no idea what Will was talking about, but I’d get to the bottom of this. I pulled him into my arms and he stopped thrashing about. But he was still shaking terribly, and he was pale and sweaty, and all at the same time, he was clammy. He was also soaking wet down to the bone, as if he had just been through a rainstorm. I looked at his blood sugar meter around his wrist for a minute. His blood sugar was already down to 25. If it got down to about 15 he’ll go into convulsions and he’ll fall into a coma and never wake up again. I didn’t want that.

“Will, look at mommy. I want you to look at mommy. It’s okay. It was just a dream. Who’s he? Who’s going to get you baby? No one’s going to get you. Mommy and daddy won’t let ‘him’. I promise”.

Will kept shaking his head at me. He was still convinced that someone was going to get to him. Or rather, maybe it was me he was talking about. I cradled him in my arms for a moment. I heard his crying get louder. He just kept on crying. I listened as he spoke up frantically.

“No mommy! The man! He’s going to try and hurt my baby sister! Don’t let him get you mommy! Please”!

I was naturally terrified by this idea, but it was probably just some crazy nightmare he had. I needed to get something in him, and fast. I looked back at his meter on his wrist and let out a loud gasp and cursed myself. It now read 18 as it beeped twice. I began to think to myself. I’ve got to get something with sugar into him. He’s going downhill and fast. Banana’s always seemed to help him. But that’s when he’s only at 30. He’s already at 18. He needs something with more sugar in it. Peter! Where are you!

I wiped away the sweat from my son’s forehead and was trying to keep him as calm as possible. When I heard his meter on his wrist begin to beep three times, I began to panic. It now read 15. I saw his eyes roll into the back of his head and his whole body began to shake violently. I cursed under my breath and brought him out to the living room with me. I set him down near the couch and held his head in my lap. I spoke up, but to no one in particular.

“No! Don’t do this to me! Not now! You can’t take him away from me! Please, just let him stay with us just a little longer! My son means everything to me! Please”!

This war was costing my husband and I everything we had. Even our four year old son for crying out loud! I silently let tears fall down my face. I was afraid that I was really going to lose him. I wished Peter would come back sooner rather than later. I heard an explosion outside suddenly. It shook the apartment violently. I nearly threw my body over my son’s to protect him.

I shielded my eyes from the dust that came from up above. I coughed a little when I looked up. The dust was falling on us, like a snowstorm. That stuff if it settles in your lungs could kill you, or just cause breathing problems later. I held my son’s head in my lap once more and this time, I began speaking to him as if it would help any.

“Come on baby, you can get through this! I know you can... Mommy doesn’t want to lose you for anything in the world, and neither does daddy. I won’t let you leave me Will! Please”!

Then as if my prayer had been answered by the lord himself, my son finally stopped convulsing. I was ever so glad that I had my son with me. I wouldn’t know what to do if he had left me. I knew he wouldn’t open his eyes. His breathing was labored also. My baby was slowly slipping away whether I liked it or not.

Suddenly, I heard glass crunching on the ground just outside in the hallway. I immediately froze. I didn’t know if it was Peter, or someone else. But one thing was for sure, I was so scared and whoever was out in the hallway, I wasn’t prepared for whatever they were going to do.

I saw a young girl step into the apartment just then. I could only look at her for a second. Then I realized who it was. It was Maia, Diana’s daughter. But how had she gotten here? Of all places?

Hope you all enjoyed the intro! Chapter one up soon! Thanks so much!