A/N: This is a companion piece to my other Heroes story "My Gabriel, Not You." This story takes place during Five Years Gone. If you read my other story, Sylar says to Irene Barlow (my OC): "I don't know if I could make a good president unless I had you as my First Lady." That gave me an idea: what if Sylar had taken Irene as his First Lady when he became President as Nathan Petrelli?

Keep in mind that this story is intended to read like you're watching an episode.

Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes, but Irene belongs to me.

XxxXxx

Isaac Mendez's loft, Manhattan, November 6, 2009…

Irene Petrelli gently pushed open the door to the loft. "Hiro," she called into the dark room. She hugged her khaki jacket tighter around her to shield herself from the chill and descended the small set of stairs in front of the door. She liked her jacket, tee shirt, blue jeans, and ponytail; it was a nice break from the stuffy suits and tight-pinned buns she had to wear in Washington. Today, she just wanted to be Irene, not First Lady Petrelli. "Hiro Nakamura," she called again. "It's Irene."

"Were you followed?" Hiro's solemn voice wafted through the loft. He emerged from the bedroom on the left side, dressed entirely in black and sword slung across his back.

Irene shook her head. "What is so important that I had to lie to everyone in Washington so I could come see you? Do you know how difficult it was for me to get away from the Secret Service?" She stood near the stairs, out of the way of the large map of strings spanning the room, and planted her hands on her hips.

"I simply thought you should be informed of my progress."

"It had better be good."

Hiro plunged into the midst of the string map and beckoned her to follow. He pointed to several points of convergence in the map. "In our past, I tried to kill Sylar, but he was able to regenerate because he had taken that power from Claire Bennet, the cheerleader from Texas. I believe that if she can be saved, then we will have some chance of undoing what has happened. In order to do that, however, I need to find the right person at the right moment in the past who can save her. So far, I've narrowed down the list of dates to merely a handful, and I believe Peter Petrelli to be the one we need."

"That's all good for me to know, but how do I fit in to all of this? What's the real reason you dragged me up here?"

Hiro slowly paced a few steps back and forth, trying to find the right words. "I know that Dr. Suresh is working for the President for a way to reverse our condition. I need you to keep an eye on him so I can focus more on taking care of this mess." He gestured toward the strings around him, particularly to the black string—Sylar's string.

Irene unconsciously fiddled with a strand of brown hair from her ponytail, while Hiro waited patiently for her to say something. She was still skeptical. It seemed like a ray of sunshine in these dark times, but the actual plan was shaky at best, not to mention vague. She didn't understand much about the physics of time travel, but she did understand that the consequences of changing the flow of time could be disastrous. In fact, even collaborating with a terrorist such as Nakamura like she was doing right now could be disastrous. If Nathan ever found out…Irene hardly wanted to think about it. All she could do now was hope that she was doing the right thing.

"All right, I'll do it," she said quietly.

"Thank you." Hiro managed a small smile, a thing Irene had rarely seen in the few years she had collaborated with him.

Irene turned to leave. "Hiro," she said as she went to the door of the loft. "You've killed lots of people. You're a terrorist and an enemy of the State." She looked over her shoulder to him. "I'm only helping you now because I believe you can fix this. Don't disappoint me." She left without looking back to see his response.

XxXxXXx

A/N: In case you're wondering about the timeline of this story, Sylar married Irene about a year after he became President. She's been working with Hiro Nakamura ever since then. If you read my other story, you're probably thinking, "Why did she marry Sylar after what he did?" Well, you'll soon find out.

A/N (5/16): Okay, I've written all of the chapters and revised them. I'll be posting the completed story shortly.