[b]Danny - Cabin - Alex/Rob[/b]

"Not a woman," Shannon said. "A little girl. And there's no choice for me here... I'm going after her no matter what."

Danny let out a laboured sigh, staring at her. He could feel the tension in the room starting to rise. Shannon alone seemed to hold all the power in the world at the very moment, her very stare making him feel tense and electric. Perhaps Shannon had always been his world, and it had been foolish of him to think for a second that she had truly ever left him. They'd been brought back together not just once, but twice now, as if a magnetic force was pulling them together, forcing them through the cracks left behind by this apocalyptic world.

Danny couldn't possibly deny this force any longer, even as Alex reminded him of Outpost's predicament.

"Okay," Danny said, his voice low. He took a breath, trying to collect himself. "I'll go too." Looking to Alex, he shrugged. "I'd hate to ask, but we're going to have to. There's always the Watchers to defend Outpost, but supplies... Well, I remember when the Scouts consisted of just six damn people." Danny blinked at this memory, feeling as if it was suddenly banging against his chest. Myriah was gone. Reggie was gone. Matt turned out to be the worst of them. This moment-- this decision-- felt like the final time Danny would say goodbye to what had been his home these last six months.

"You and I are gonna have to ask, Alex. With Sylar gone, well... I'd say Luke should be the leader now. Maybe you. Maybe Gerry. That's your decision, anyway." With a look toward Shannon, Danny swallowed the lump in throat. He directed everyone in the room to follow him into the next room where everyone was waiting. Luke saw them first, instantly standing to meet them. He looked tired and worn out, more so than even after Reggie's death. The others looked just about as bad off. Finch, the older man that he was, just looked sick.

"We have some bad news," Danny began. "Enrique didn't release all his hostages. He took one, a girl named Emma. She's not much older than this kid here--" He pointed to James, who had taken to hiding behind Shannon. That Danny called him a kid didn't get a response this time. "Her brother was killed by Thomas... Or Tyler I guess, back in Haywood. I don't want to say that it was our fucking fault, because it was mostly mine, I think." Lucas looked ready to argue, but Danny didn't let him. "I'm indebted to this girl in a way. But, fuck, it's more than that. My friend Shannon and I, we're going after Enrique. We're not dumb, we're not going to rain fire we don't fuckin' have on them, but we're going to find a way."

"All of you, Rob, Finch, my friends from Outpost, you can choose where you go from here. I won't say Emma needs you more than Outpost because it just isn't true, but right now she means everything to [i]us[/i], so it's up to you if you... if you come with [i]us[/i]."

Almost immediately, James stepped from behind Shannon. "I'm going!" he yelled, though Danny doubted a kid's presence would do much to convince anyone else. Finch followed soon after, muttering that he wanted to help as well. As they had established back in the other room, both Elliot and Richard wanted to go as well. Danny had to admit that the thought of Elliot being with him made him feel relief.

Soon, it was just the scouts who had to make a decision. "Sylar would want to go after them," Cody muttered, the tone of his voice unclear. Whether he meant that be a reason for them to go or not was beyond Danny.

"I'd feel better if you came back to Outpost," Lucas admitted, looking down at his glasses. He was cradling them, rubbing the lenses with his thumbs. "But... I don't know."

---

[b]Tyler - Baton Rouge/Apartment - Scarlett/Liam/Katie[/b]

George had been counting on the kids to vote his way, so no one was surprised that Liam voted to go get Jacob. However, Katie's vote to stay brought an uncomfortable tension to the situation. Beyond that, Scarlett's vote and her accompanying speech was certainly the final nail in the coffin for George. Already leaning toward letting him go, Caleb, Tina, and Jace all voted to let Jacob go. They then all turned to Tyler expectantly, waiting to see what his vote would be. "Jacob helped save my daughter, so it'd be noble of me to say we go after him." He closed his eyes. "But... that's also why he left. He doesn't trust us. He's scared. And going after him isn't likely to change his mind."

Moving toward the living room windows, Tyler took a peek outside. "I don't know what you're expecting. That we find him in danger, rescue him, and then he trusts us? What do you think this is? This is [i]real life[/i]. Grow up, George."

With that, Elyse and Adam hesitantly voted to let Jacob go, leaving George deflated and upset. He nodded, looking like he wanted to argue. "I, uh..." Instead, George went for one of the bedroom doors. "I'm going to look through the supplies we got." When he was gone, Tyler sighed.

Tina looked around the room. "Look, it's been rough. Let's just all... relax for a while, okay?" She looked down at Katie. "... Anything in mind, Katie?"