Rachel Mills

Rachel Mills
Portrayed by	Taylor Cole
First appearance	Our Father
In-story stats
Known ability	Teleportation
Nickname	Rach
Gender
Place of birth	Newport, RI
Home	Lyneboro, CT formerly Calabasas, CA
Residence	Rachel's home
Occupations	Police officer, Member of LAWR, former Agent of Homeland Security, former U.S. Marine Private, former U.S. Marine Corporal
Significant others	David Sullivan (deceased), Volts
Parents	Leona Mills, Unnamed father (deceased)

Rachel Mills is the daughter of Leona Mills and a former Marine. She worked with Building 26, capturing people like her until she eventually came to accept herself and her ability. She is an evolved human with the ability to teleport.

About

Rachel was in the United States Marine Corps whose career came to an abrupt end following a disturbing experience while serving in Iraq. Initially, Rachel retained her place in the USMC, at a lower rank, and accepted recruitment into Pinehearst as part of their super soldier program. Ultimately, Rachel's career in the USMC ended when Pinehearst was destroyed; which proved a traumatic event for her as, not only was she discharged from the service, but she unintentionally discovered her ability. Since then, Rachel found work by joining Building 26; a task force agency set up by the Department of Homeland Security to hunt down and imprison evolved humans, at the behest of Senator Nathan Petrelli. Rachel, hiding her ability, served as one of Emile Danko's agents.

Initially, Rachel was uncertain of her abilities and her very identity, but experiences while a prisoner of Angela Petrelli (an old friend of her mother) ultimately convinced Rachel to accept who she was. To this end, Rachel joined LAWR and began working undercover inside the agency as LAWR's mole. This lasted until Rachel was forced to shoot and kill her partner and friend - Agent Jason Pierce - when he discovered her power; an act that set off a chain of events that led to her exposure and exile from Building 26. Rachel joined the fight against the U.S. Government until Building 26 was formally shut-down by The President; putting an end to the hunt for evolved humans. After defeating Jason's psychotic sister, Janey Pierce, in a pitched battle, Rachel finally gained peace when she reunited with her mother.

Character History

Our Father

Rachel trains with the other recruits at Pinehearst Headquarters in Fort Lee.

Webisode:The Recruit, Part 1

Rachel is interrogated by Angela.

Rachel is interrogated by Angela in an unknown Primatech facility in Tappen, NJ about the whereabouts of the formula and claims not to know about it. Twelve hours before, Rachel is talking with Ryan Hanover and David Sullivan when an explosion at Pinehearst causes the building to start collapsing. Rachel tries to help David move a beam that has fallen on top of him, but is unable to do so. She then walks over to search for something to pry the beam off David and winds up teleporting back to him when an air duct begins to fall on top of her. Rachel pleads with David to ignore what happened and that it was nothing.

Graphic Novel:Stuck in the Middle

Rachel takes a shower at Pinehearst, and remains unaware that Ryan Hanover has stumbled upon a miniature peep-hole, and is watching her, leering at her naked body while thinking about what kind of a person she is (privately, he considers her "a bitch"). Suddenly, Rachel hears a crashing sound, and leaves the shower wrapped in a towel. Rachel spots Ryan walking by, and asks him about the noise, saying that it sounded like someone fell or something. Ryan denies he heard anything.

Webisode:The Recruit, Part 2

Rachel helps David Sullivan to his feet as Ryan Hanover approaches, holding two doses of the synthetic formula. When she asks him where the third is, he tells her he injected himself in hopes of surviving a large wound he suffered during the explosion. When David starts to collapse, she steals a dose from Ryan, who draws a gun and orders her to give it back. She injects David and is shot in the shoulder by Ryan. They both look up as David's synthetic ability begins to manifest.

Webisode:The Recruit, Part 3

Rachel is still being interrogated by Angela. Rachel continues to flash back, this time she recounts what happened when David was injected with the serum. In Rachel's recollection, David keels over and leans on both hands while growling. Meanwhile, Rachel sits against the wall bracing her shoulder wound and Ryan continues to point his gun at them. David's ability manifests and he attacks Ryan and then tries to attack Rachel. She teleports out of his path to the other side of the room. David turns and again charges at her super fast, but Rachel has grabbed a pair of scissors and uses them to stab David in the chest.

After Angela asks what she did with the remaining serum Rachel says she destroyed it, then she flashes back to finding a remaining syringe on the ground then cracking it in half. Angela says she gave the wrong answer and leaves, Rachel then recalls that after destroying the syringe, she still had the vial of serum in her hands that had been inside the syringe.

Webisode:The Recruit, Part 4

Still in the interrogation room, Rachel sees Carlos and Angela coming towards her. Angela continues to question Rachel about the serum and her abilities, mentioning Rachel's mother, Leona. Rachel denies that she is special, but then has a flashback about how she got out of the Pinehearst lab - she used her ability. Even after the flashback, she denies her abilities, only for Angela to tell her that she doesn't believe her.

Webisode:The Recruit, Part 5

Carlos and Angela approach Rachel, who is still tied down to a chair next to a conference table in the Tappen facility. Angela tells Rachel that she underestimated her and is letting her go; and Carlos removes her IV, saying that the effects should wear off in a few hours. Angela then commends Rachel for being a fighter like her, but Rachel replies that she's nothing like her and just wants to leave. Angela says that there's a car waiting for her outside.

Later, Rachel parks next to a gas station restroom and heads inside. While staring at the mirror, Rachel recalls how at Pinehearst, she had taken the vial of serum out of the syringe she broke and hid it inside her shoulder wound. Back in the present, Rachel removes the serum from her wound and redresses the bandage using her shirt to tie it up.

Rachel then leaves the restroom and finds Angela and Carlos waiting for her on opposite sides of her car, blocking her escape. Rachel asks why Angela let her go if she knew Rachel had it all along, and Angela replies she wanted to give Rachel the opportunity to face herself and learn if she could be trusted. Rachel then says that she just wanted to find a cure, but Angela says that her ability is an integral part of her, like the loss of her mother. Rachel says that she hopes to see her again one day, and Angela says that will be up to God.

After giving Angela the serum, Rachel asks them what else they want and she says that they want to help her and Carlos places a covering over her head and drags her around the corner into the gas station's garage.

Trust and Blood

Rachel is one of the Marines working for Nathan Petrelli at Building 26. She guards a hooded Tracy Strauss in the back of a truck when Nathan arrives to talk to Tracy.

Exposed

Rachel and her partner watch the Bennets' house from a pool-cleaning van. The two eventually search the house, and Claire reminds Rachel that she's off limits. Rachel replies that a guy like Alex is just her type and that she's sure Claire is hiding him, but the two agents find nothing and Sandra tells them to leave. Later, Rachel and her partner take action when a car comes out of the Bennets' garage: they stop it, but find only Sandra and Lyle inside. They hear a loud noise from behind the house and pursue Claire and Alex. Rachel and Jason split up and Rachel checks a pool area, failing to spot that Alex and Claire are hiding under the water. Her partner then calls her on the radio, telling her he believes he has a lead.

Shades of Gray

Rachel is controlled by Doyle.

She and her partner visibly follow Claire around until they get a tip on Eric Doyle's location. Rachel manages to corner him, but he uses his ability to force her to point her gun in the air. Rachel offers him a chance to surrender, but he just forces her to point her own gun at her own head. She is visibly scared and crying, but Eric, who claims to just want to go back to having a normal life, knocks her out and doesn't kill her.

Graphic Novel:Puppet with No Strings

Prior to meeting Claire, Danko interrogates Doyle inside his theatre. Rachel and Jason Pierce stand with him, watching Danko's brutal form of questioning. After he receives the information he was looking for, Danko sets the theatre ablaze, trapping Doyle inside. On the way out, Rachel gets a message from Rebel, telling her to go rescue Doyle. Stealthily, she teleports inside and frees Doyle from his bindings, before returning outside and meeting up with her fellow agents.

Graphic Novel:Hanging By a Thread

Rachel Mills runs across a rooftop, chasing Howie Kaplan, a target of Building 26. When they get to an opening, Howie uses his ability to throw oil at Rachel's feet, causing Rachel to slip and begin to fall towards the ground. Rachel, with no other choice, teleports back onto the rooftop and whacks Howie, but accidentally knocks him over the edge of the roof. She grabs onto his wrist, and starts interrogating Howie while he holds onto her for dear life. Suddenly, Rebel sends her a text message telling her that she's starting to act like Angela Petrelli. Rachel realizes that Rebel is right, and then has a flashback.

Rachel recalls that Angela had forced her to embrace her ability, not letting her deny it and driving her to the brink. Eventually, when Rachel used her ability to escape Angela's grasp, she had let her go. Influenced by this, Rachel decides to let Howie go as well. Jason Pierce and a masked agent come running, and Rachel realizes that she must not let them witness what she is about to do. She deliberately throws herself over the edge, and then teleports both her and Howie to the ground. Howie realizes that Rachel is "special" too, and Rachel tells him that he should get away fast. Howie thanks her, and Rebel instructs Rachel to go back and make up an excuse.

Graphic Novel:Exodus

Rachel is at a shooting range in Building 26 when Danko enters with agents that hold her. Danko shows her a message sent to Janey from her brother Jason Pierce explaining that if anything happened to him to report Rachel. As the agents prepare to take her away she teleports into the hallway and runs to the room filled with evolved human prisoners. She searches for Eric Doyle and when she finds him releases two more evolved humans that were in the next beds before the agents return. Mary Krause is shot dead straight away while the bullets turn to sand when they touch Gordon Hovey. Gordon then touches an agent and turns him into sand. Rachel then teleports herself, Gordon and Eric through Building 26 to the roof where a helicopter is waiting. As the shooter shoots at them Eric hides behind Gordon and Rachel teleports onto the helicopter pushing the shooters off and then holding a gun to the pilot, forcing him to take them away. When they land in a field Rachel walks with Eric and mentions her life with Building 26 is over.

Heroes Evolutions

For a complete summary of Rachel's history in the iStory and Heroes Evolutions, see Rachel Mills: Heroes Evolutions History.

According to NBC.com's character reference for Rachel Mills, Rachel was born in Newport, Rhode Island, but grew up in Calabasas, California. She was raised solely by her mother, Leona, until Rachel was twelve and Leona committed suicide. Rachel's grandparents then took her in, but they struggled with little money and Rachel wasn't able to gain many friends. After graduating from high school, Rachel joined the Marines following her grandfather's footsteps. After spending four years abroad between Iraq and Afghanistan, Pinehearst recruited Rachel for their top-secret operation.

In Operation Bad Blood, a message from Rachel is available to view. In it, she leaves a message for her friend Amy and tells her about her life at Pinehearst.

After the fall of Pinehearst, Rachel tries to get another job. She remembers her time as a Private and recalls how she was betrayed by Ammar. After learning that she has been monitored for some time, Rachel managed to escape with the help of Jim and Sam. When Sam was killed, Rachel vowed to finish the mission and infiltrated the medical facility that Ammar talked about. She took a hostage and learned that the medical facility had been experimenting on people. Upon finding a prisoner, Rachel decided to free everyone in the facility. She started by trying to free the trappped prisoner but she was instead attacked by the girl. When officers came to capture the girl, Rachel fled. In her current job interview, Rachel learns that she has gotten the job.

In The Agent, Rachel begins her job as an agent for Building 26. One of her first missions is to monitor Claire Bennet following the fall of Flight 195. When Claire escapes, Rachel witnesses first hand how dangerous people with abilities can be when Matt Parkman gets inside the head of her friend. One night, Rachel is contacted by Rebel, who claims that he knows about her power. He blackmails her into working for him, which causes Rachel a lot of stress. She and Jason Pierce, her new partner, are sent to capture Alex Woolsly, but encounter some difficulties with the locals. They fail in this mission and are then sent after Eric Doyle, who also manages to slip away to them thanks to Claire. After another failed mission, Rachel and Jason eat at a diner and Jason reveals that he knows about Rachel's power. When Janey Pierce comes in and they try to capture Rachel, everyone in the diner suddenly goes brain dead and a teenage girl enters. Rachel kills Jason and then allies herself with Rebel and LAWR.

Rachel meets up with Anna at a fugitive hideout and together they meet Abe. When a large squad of agents shows up, Rachel makes her decision and teleports outside. She then single-handedly takes down most of the agents and she exposes herself as an evolved human. Rachel's sacrifice provides the others with enough time to escape, which they do. Rachel then returns to Building 26 and against all odds she manages to temporarily avoid Danko's wrath. This doesn't last, and Danko tries to capture her, prompting Rachel to escape with Gordon Hovey and Eric Doyle. Rachel tries to find Anna at the circus but is unable to, only finding zombified and old people. Rachel is captured by Janey and given the mission to kill Linda Niles by Danko, a mission that she accepts in exchange for Anna's safety. Upon learning that Linda is in fact her mother, Rachel is attacked by Janey and the two women have a show down. Rachel does not kill Janey, but instead teleports her to an unknown location. After returning, Rebel reunites Rachel with Leona.

In The Civilian, Rachel tries to lead a quiet life in Lyneboro. When her mother shows up and begins living with her, strange things begin happening in the town. After failing to recover a missing boy, Rachel begins helping some of Leona's old fugitives track down lost family members. Rachel then uncovers a dangerous gang war that is going on and vows to stop it before innocent people get hurt. As her investigation deepens, Rachel's nightmares become more and more vivid, causing her much grief. On the night of the gang war, Rachel reunites with Claire and apologizes for her mistakes as an agent. Together, Rachel, Claire and Store stop Kelly and save the town.

In Faction Zero, Rachel arrives at Costa Verde with the belief that Claire is in danger. Claire helps her find Mensen but he is killed before he can tell them anything important. More former agents show up with revenge on their minds and Rachel helps Claire protect former fugitives from them. After gaining some more information on the new faction, Rachel heads to their base and discovers that it is a group full of people with abilities. When Micah arrives to help them, Rachel and Claire go to investigate a family of fire breathers. Rachel becomes increasingly distant and after Eric Thompson, Jr. and Wildman escape, she leaves Costa Verde and follows the fire breathers to a carnival. After witnessing Sabine have her child, Rachel leaves.

Evolved Human Abilities

Rachel discovers she possesses the ability to teleport herself across certain distances. It is unknown what her range is, but apparently she can activate her ability subconsciously (as it first manifested when she was in danger of being crushed; and her ability sent her to safety). However, her range doesn't seem to allow her to travel everywhere like the teleportation aspect of space-time manipulation as she needed Ando to supercharge her to travel from Costa Verde to Florida.

Notes

• According to the casting call, Rachel is in her 20s. She is described as "ex-military, beautiful, athletic build, and mysteriously troubled."
• The video message of Rachel on Hulu.com was posted on December 9, 2008, and entitled The Recruit: Rachel. It was later added to a video feed included in chapter 5 of Operation Bad Blood. Chapter 5 was released on December 10, 2008, but the video feed was not posted until December 17, 2008.
• Rachel currently holds the rank of Private in the U.S. Marines. In the iStory, The Private, Rachel was called Corporal Mills during her last tour in Iraq during the previous summer. Whether Rachel was a Lance Corporal or Corporal at that time is unknown, however Marines normally do not refer to a Lance Corporal as a Corporal. This reduction in rank would have had to come from disciplinary actions towards her either way. (U.S. Marines ranks proceed from Private to Private First Class, Lance Corporal and then Corporal.)
• Although the episodes indicate the Pinehearst program Rachel was part of began and ended in 2007, Rachel's character reference at NBC.com refers to the year as 2008.
• In an interview, writers Jim Martin and Timm Keppler confirmed that Rachel's power is, indeed, natural. It was inherited from her mother.
• At the time of the Pinehearst explosion in 2007, Rachel was at least 23 years old. In an interview, writers Jim Martin and Timm Keppler said that Rachel's father died in 1983. Rachel was obviously conceived some time before that, and born in 1984 or prior.

See Also

• For other uses of Rachel, see Rachel (disambig).