Tracy Strauss - Plot - Redemption

Redemption

As the fifth volume is introduced in the episode "An Invisible Thread", Tracy is revealed to have survived Danko's attack. She now possesses the ability to manipulate and even transform into water. This allows her to become virtually invincible. She is now hunting down and killing former agents of Building 26 by drowning them; she can be attributed at least four victims.

In "Ice Queen, Part 1", it's revealed that Tracy convinced Micah to find the whereabouts of former Building 26's agents so she can make them pay for everything they have done to posthumans, especially her after remembering how she survived Danko's shot by melting to the sewers and emerging from dirty river water. Apparently her first victim would be Wade Winslow, whom she approaches with ice fists freezing his cigar while in the hot tub. In "Ice Queen, Part 2", Tracy feels remorse while remembering how she drowned and froze to death former HLS agents, revealing other victims, Bob Yuleberg and Dan Albertson. By the time she attacked agent Harper, the fourth victim, she had to constantly convince herself she is doing the right thing. Next target, Noah Bennet, whom she watches from afar as he struggles inside his car while it fills with water.

As seen in "Orientation", Tracy, in her water form, attempts to drown Noah Bennet in his car only he is saved by Emile Danko. The water quickly goes down the drain. She later intercepts Noah in a sushi bar in her human form, where she clearly states her need for revenge and her hatred towards Danko. Noah tries to convince her to join the New Company and states that he would arrange for her to have her life back, but she doesn't believe him and leaves. Later, at Danko's apartment, Tracy notices Danko doesn't remember her at all due to the fact that the Haitian erased any trace of her from Danko's memory. After this, Tracy realizes it's not worth killing him now. Edgar enters the apartment and swiftly kills Danko after a brief discussion. When Tracy approaches, Edgar quickly turns on her. She is unharmed by Edgar's rapid knife attack as every part of her body that Edgar strikes momentarily turns into water instinctively. She then proceeds to freeze his arm but he runs away.

In "Jump, Push, Fall", Noah arrives at Danko's place where Tracy is watching his corpse. She immediately denies the fault for that crime. After inspecting the body, they find a key Danko kept inside his chest, which was the reason he was cut to death. After Noah is attacked by Edgar and sent to the hospital, he calls Tracy to visit him. She realizes what he really wants is her company as he is now on his own, so they share food Peter probably brought for Noah earlier from Boston.

In "Acceptance", Tracy attempts to resume her old life as a political liaison to Governor Robert Malden, though with less satisfaction then she originally anticipated. In conversations with Noah Bennet, he encourages her to try to start again, because this is what she had been fighting for. She tries this, to the best of her ability, but finds that in a moment of extreme stress (when the Governor sexually propositions her) her powers begin to manifest. Knowing that she cannot turn her back on the new part of her life by immersing herself in the old one, she again turns to Noah Bennet for advice. Drawing on his daughter's advice from her visit to his apartment, he consoles Tracy that she may need to use this experience or glimpse of her past before settling the terms of a new life.

In "Hysterical Blindness", Lydia mentions Tracy when talking to Samuel, implying that the Carnival is setting its sights on her as well, in addition to Peter, Hiro, Claire, and Sylar.

In "Amanda's Journey, Part 2: Thank Goodness for Tracy Strauss", Tracy finds in a road a runaway Amanda, who is in the search for her mother, Lydia. She gives Amanda a ride so she can catch the bus she missed earlier. Later, Amanda uses her ability to stop two robbers in a car, but her power gets out of control and nearly kills them; in that moment Tracy returns and freezes the fire. Tracy agrees to teach her how to control her ability while she takes Amanda to her destiny, the "Sullivan Bros. Carnival".

In "Strange Attractors", Noah calls Tracy to Cainan, GA to act as Jeremy's aunt and get him out of the police station. There she talks to Jeremy about her ability and how it became dangerous while she was angry or frightened, leading her to kill, which also happened to him. After the sheriff found Jeremy's diary, he decides to keep him in jail because in it Jeremy refers himself as "The Bringer of Death", which leads Tracy to rely on a contact to achieve his release. At the street, she meets Samuel Sullivan, who introduces the carnival to Tracy; when the "Sullivan Bros. Carnival" appears all around her, Samuel shows her many carnies displaying powers and explains the freedom she will get if she joins them, and also ensures that Jeremy will be safe among them, but Tracy feels outraged about this and decides to leave. Samuel gives her a compass so she can find her way to the carnival again, and then Lydia returns her to the street. Tracy and Noah return to the police station to get Jeremy out, but the townspeople refuse to let Jeremy walk free after knowing he used to kill animals; one of them approaches too close and Jeremy kills him in fear. After seeing this, the policemen take Jeremy in custody again, away from Tracy and Noah. When they find him again, Jeremy is already dead in a street after being dragged by a truck. Both Tracy and Noah feel they let Jeremy down, then she tells him not to call her anymore, and watches her compass pointing a specific direction as she wants to be free to use her abilities.

In "Brother's Keeper", Tracy struggles to maintain control of her ability, which seems to be overpowering her. She uses her powers to force her way into Noah Bennet's apartment where she accidentally freezes his visiting daughter Claire. A hysterical Tracy tries to thaw her out in the hot tub only to have her frozen foot break off in her hands; Claire heals seconds later, surprising Tracy. In their ensuing conversation, Claire suggests that Tracy's loss of control over her ability stems from the fact that she is conflicted about leaving her old life behind to join the Carnival and start over. They talk about how Samuel Sullivan had visited them and offered to have them join the Carnival. Tracy is happy and relieved that she is able to confide in Claire because they both have an ability, and that night at the bar, Tracy meets with Samuel, where she reveals that she has decided to take Samuel up on his offer and join the Carnival.

In "Prodigals, Part 1: Immersed", Tracy is sent by Samuel to the southwestern coast of Africa, where she is out to meet a guy named Eli. Once in a cruise, Tracy accidentally reveals a thief who then takes out a gun; she recognizes this armed guy as Eli, but he gets angry and distrustful to hear she knows him, and many of his clones surrounds Tracy. Not knowing what she meant about the carnival, "they" shoot Tracy, but her abilities allowed her to survive and attack back. The original Eli is already in a boat escaping, and Tracy knows she must follow him to the open sea.

In "Prodigals, Part 2: Witch Hunt", Tracy is tracking down the root Eli at Cape Town and in the process ends up killing many of his clones. After understanding how Eli and clones move around Tracy goes to find a diamond mine where Eli surprises her. Instead of killing her when having a chance he decides to receive her and show her the place where his clones work.

In "Prodigals, Part 3: Parched", Tracy is seen fighting against a horde of clones while the root Eli stands quietly. After learning Samuel is the actual leader of the carnival, he agrees to return, as it was Joseph who exiled him but always was loyal to Samuel. Tracy, on the other hand, has second thoughts about Samuel's intentions, and decides not to return to the carnival.

In "The Art of Deception", Tracy receives a call from Lauren, who states Noah asks for Tracy's help once everything went wrong at the "Sullivan Bros. Carnival".

In "Reaching Out, Part 1", Tracy has settled in Savannah, GA, where she created a shelter for posthumans kids along with some Eli's clones. Tracy tries to avoid another Jeremy situation by teaching the kids how to use their powers freely. Later she meets Angela Petrelli and convinces her to give money to the cause reminding her what happened to her sister Alice; then she receives the call from Lauren. Once back to the shelter, she finds out Eli-clone was recruiting a boy named Ricky to join the "Sullivan Bros. Carnival", so Tracy confronts Eli, while someone invisible approaches behind Tracy with a knife.

In "Reaching Out, Part 2", Ricky shoots his green energy towards the flying knife, revealing Becky to be the attacker; she then fades away again while Eli's clone tries to escape. Tracy follows him and easily takes the clones down, and then summons freezing air to stop the invisible Becky just in time to save Ricky from her attack. Later, Tracy asks Ricky to watch over everyone else as she must leave to help Noah. She then meets Lauren at the site where the carnival was.

In "Brave New World (Heroes)", Tracy turns into water to reach Noah and Claire 40 to 50 feet underground just in time when oxygen was running low. She then turns into a large mass of water to carry them to surface by "swimming through her". Once Noah and Claire reunite with Lauren at the surface, Tracy doesn't come out the pond she created. They then leave to New York City without Tracy.