Title: Picking Up the Pieces

Summary: Written from Emma's POV, she thinks about her life before and after meeting Peter Petrelli. Spoilers for "Hysterical Blindness" and reference to "Ink"

I never thought I would love again.

After Christopher's death, I quit my residency at Mercy Heights, transferring to a desk job as a file clerk. What good was my medical knowledge and training, I wondered, if it hadn't allowed me to save the man I loved?

Despite my mother's periodic attempts to get me to open up and do more with my life, I remained set in my course. I got up, went to work in the file room, and came home to my apartment, no longer greeted by Christopher, but only by my cat.

That went on for six years, and as the time passed, my grief lessened. I no longer blamed myself for Christopher's passing. It had been an accident. Still, I kept to myself, and didn't let anyone else into my life.

I didn't want to be hurt again, to deal with the loss of another love.

But then, when I least expected it, I met someone, a man who didn't judge how I lived my life or treat me with scorn or insensitivity.

He was kind and gentle, and though I tried to stay distant, it was a losing battle. From helping me pick up the pieces of my broken coffee mug, to saving me from being hit by a bus, to explaining that there were others like us with abilities, his compassion was evident in everything he did for me, whether big or small.

And one day, I realized I loved him for that.