A choice to the Left

by evil older sister

A simple choice and a bargain was all it took to shift everything slightly to the left of what we know. AU as of mid season 1 and the itroduction of an OC. This is my longest story yet

Hey everyone, I know that there are a ton of stories that I should be working on. But this hit me and wouldn't leave me alone. At first it started off as one scene but then I had to at how we got there and where we're going and this is what came out. If anyone cares enough to try, can anyone figure out what the scene that started it all was? Oh small note before you begin, in my world Peter's empathy is more like mimicry and is completely different from the Empathy of my original character. While it may seem at times that she had more than one power it really is just one. I also tried to create a character that wasn't a Mary Sue, I am not entirely sure I succeeded but you can let me know. Also another quick note, I know that Hiro came 5 weeks into the future but I decided to stretch the time frame out. And now for what you came to see.

A choice to the Left

Marie glided through her home with the ease that comes with living there for most of her life. Moving easily to the front door, and opening it cautiously, she looked out at the two men standing on her family's doorstep. The man knocking was tall and dark skinned, very attractive; her gut said he kind hearted and searching for something. The other was slightly shorter and swarthy, attractive and her type, but her gut said he was not to be trusted and dangerous. Outwardly she smiled a polite if somewhat distant smile, inwardly she was checking to make sure the two, and specifically the second man, couldn't see inside from where they were.

"Can I help you?" She asked, the picture of well mannered young woman, save for the fact that she had barely opened the door.

The strangers didn't seem to notice her behavior as strange as the knocker introduced them with a charming smile and a British accent. "Hello, my name is Dr. Mohinder Suresh and this is Zane Taylor; might I speak to Marie Collins?"

"I am Marie Collins, what can I help you with?"

"We would like to speak with you for just a few minutes, if that is alright."

Her smile never changed as slipped carefully from her house, closing the door behind her and she said, "Sure, I've got a few minutes, we can sit over here on the porch." She led them over to a few lawn chairs at one corner of the wrap-around porch. The two men exchanged slightly surprised glances before following her. Once seated she turned to them with the small vapid smile she maintained for polite company and asked, "Now what can I help you with?"

"As I said, my name is Dr. Mohinder Suresh I am a geneticist from India, did you get the message I left on your answering machine?"

"Hmmm, I didn't but I'm not the one who picks up messages for the house. So you can safely start from scratch"

"Well, we came to see you because when you donated blood last you allowed some of it to be used in the Human Genome Project, is that correct?"

"Yes it is."

"Your blood has shown to hold a very specific set of genetic markers that my father," a very brief moment of pure grief, quickly suppressed washed over Marie, "theorized may be the next stage of evolution." He handed her his father's book, which she began to skim the back cover of.

"You have my condolences for you father." She said in a soft voice, barely looking up from her the book she was looking at, causing both of them to blink in shock.

'Zane' was the first to recover, "I don't think he said anything about his father being dead"

"He said he father 'theorized' meaning for some reason he doesn't theorize anymore, and given the brief moment of grief that he felt I made a logical guess."

"How did you know what I was feeling?"

"I'm good at reading other people and I love to study others" She said with a shrug, 'Zane' actually found himself interested at the slightly dreamy smile that passed across her face while Mohinder actually found himself suppressing the urge to hurry her up, "it's always so fascinating to see how people connect together how their emotions tie them in ways they can't even imagine, if you watch closely you can almost see…" She suddenly stopped, flushing, "Sorry, I didn't mean to bore you, uh, you were saying about genetic markers?"

"Why did you think you were boring us" Mohinder asked, gently reaching out toward her only to have her flinch back slightly. He drew his hand back, causing her to relax a bit.

"Sorry, I don't like to be touched; it's a control issue. I can tell when my stories have become boring; most of the time no calls me on when I just stop talking."

"How could you have read us, you've barely met us?" Mohinder asked

"It's just something I've always been able to do," She turned to 'Zane', "and while I do appreciate being thought of as attractive and interesting please stop leering at me in your head, its distracting. Now you were saying something about genetic markers?" She prompted.

Mohinder shook himself from his shock, "These particular markers tend to denote an extra ability, it could be anything from levitation or regeneration to telepathy or seeing the future. I even met someone who may have been able to mimic the powers of others. There are also talents like Zane's here." He gestured at Zane who pulled a jar of nails any focused, liquefying them. Marie's eyes went wide with surprise.

"That was awesome. Can you do that with just metals or do other materials work too? Can you solidify it again? Do you absorb the heat or release it into the atmosphere? What property did you change? What does…?" She stopped again, suddenly, the animation left her face and she flushed again. 'Zane' had to work to keep from finding it appealing. "Sorry again, I'm afraid that you have the wrong person, I can't do anything like that"

"No you can't, but I think you talent may be much more subtle than that. Your ability to 'read' people may be a small part of that"

"That, no anyone who pays attention to those around them can do that, I am just better at it than most. That's not special"

Mohinder actually looked shocked "Of Course it is special, whether it is a power or not, just by virtue of the fact that it is a talent makes it special."

Marie could feel the shock and amazement 'Zane' hid at Mohinder's words, as well as the briefest of regrets. Looking down at the table of contents of the book in her hand she said. "From the looks of it your father didn't agree" nodding toward the 3 pages for empathy and seeing the future opposed to the 20pgs a piece for talents like levitation or telepathy.

A small frown crossed Mohinder's face, before it passed and he asked, "Would you mind if I conduct some tests?"

"Sure, how long will it take?"

"Maybe an hour or two, we could come back tomorrow."

Marie bit her lip pensively "I am working a day shift tomorrow but if you are willing to come by after four PM I should be available."

"That would be fine; we'll see you about 4:30 then. Oh, I also wished to warn you, you may be in danger."

"What, how?"

"A very dangerous man, who goes by the name Sylar, is hunting and killing the people from my father's list. You need to be very careful about who you trust."

"How dangerous is he?"

"He is already a multiple murderer, he killed the last woman we spoke to and also murdered my father."

"Oh, that's not good." She got a pensive look on her face, "I'll be careful. See you tomorrow then, oh Mr. Taylor could speak to you for a moment, privately?"

'Zane' looked at her for a moment in confusion then shared a glance with Mohinder, "Alright"

Mohinder moved off toward the car and after he was out of eye and earshot the pleasant, if somewhat vapid, smile dropped off Marie's face. "Mr. Sylar, I would like to ask you a few favors"

Sylar actually froze for a moment in pure shock, but tried to hide it "I don't know what you're talking about, I'm not Sylar"

Her tone was business-like "Don't play stupid with me, please. Your name is not Zane Taylor, I could feel the deception coming off of you when you were introduced, but Dr. Suresh didn't know. There are very few reasons why you would keep your identity a secret from your traveling companion, and only one of those would leave you feeling smug when his father's murder was mentioned. Now before you act listen to what my favors are and you may get out of this with you current identity in tact"

All he could do was nod dumbly; still flabbergasted that he had been so easily discovered.

"Stop freaking out, you're not that easily seen through, I have a bit of an advantage of knowing what you feeling and so I can compare it to what I am seeing and hearing. It just comes down to logic after that. Now my favors, first I would like you to wait until after Dr. Suresh completes his research and says his goodbyes before you kill me."

Sylar scoffed "So you can tell him who I am, I don't think so"

"If I wanted to expose your identity I would have asked a few well placed question and he would have figured it out, now I think I asked you to stop playing stupid. No my reasoning for that is Dr. Suresh is a gentle soul, as my mother would say, there is no need to burden him with the guilt of leading you to the people he is trying to protect you from, at least on my account. My second favor is that you leave my family out of it; that means you don't touch them, you don't leave me where they can find me, it's going to be hard enough for them to cope with my death without the visual"

"What do you know about the visual?"

"I got that it would be gruesome from Dr. Suresh, like I said my family is going to be traumatized enough without adding finding me to the list."

"I could just kill you now and be done with it." He loomed over Marie, ignoring his curiosity, looking menacing.

"You could" Marie stated without the slightest ounce of fear, "You could even get away with it this time, but next time, or the time after Dr. Suresh is going to get suspicious. At first he'll think that you are merely following him, then the thought will get into his head and he'll trip you up. You'll lose access to that list, which is your true goal here."

Sylar thought about it briefly then asked, "Any more favors?"

"Only one, that before you kill me you tell me your real name"

"What!"

"Sylar is the name you chose for yourself but it isn't your real name, and I think it is only civilized that a person know the name of their killer. So what's your choice?"

Sylar sighed, there really was only one choice "I agree to those favors, and the understanding that by abiding by them I will get to kill you."

"Then it's agreed my life for those three conditions." She held out her hand to shake his hand and after a hesitation they shook on it.

Surprisingly they stayed nearly three weeks. Marie's 'subtle' gift seemed to provide mountains of testing for Mohinder's research and he wanted to observe her in all manner of situations, even going so far as to contact her work place and get permission to observe her for two days. Sylar, still disguised as Zane Taylor, marveled sometimes at how different Mohinder was from his father. Where Chandra wanted tangible provable results, abilities like levitation or telekinesis, Mohinder seemed more excited by less obvious talents like Marie's. When he brought it up Mohinder laughed a little and said that with things like levitation, or his melting talent, there are only so many ways you can test it, only so many ways it could be applied. But things empathy, which is eventually what they decided to call Marie's gift, the applications are much less limited and much more challenging to discover. It actually made him wonder if things could have been different if the younger Suresh had been the one to meet him in the first place.

But finally it came time to pack it in; they did have other people to find after all. On the last day Mohinder spent his time saying goodbye to Marie's family, who had grown fairly close to both men after Marie's mother had personally threatened to castrate them both if they hurt her gentle soul of a daughter. Sylar, having heard Marie mention the term before actually asked the woman what she meant. The answer surprised him. "A gentle soul is a person who is almost completely non violent and kind; they are very giving to others and would think nothing of giving anything they could for their loved ones. Gentle souls are not easy to anger but when they are they show no mercy, so I wouldn't go getting my daughter angry either."

After he thought about it that description made sense, she had essentially sold her life to him, and at the same time dooming anyone who came after her, in order to protect her family. As Mohinder was saying his goodbyes to the family, Sylar took Marie on a short walk toward the nearby graveyard. As the weeks passed the two found themselves spending quite a bit of time together, partly because Mohinder and Marie's younger sister were trying to play matchmaker, and partly because for the first time Sylar wanted to remember everything about his soon to be victim. His problem was that the more he got to know her the less he could think about killing her; her honest curiosity intrigued him, her very belief structure drew him in. He found that he could go for hours on the look on her face when she talked about the connection between all things. He even started telling her about his real life story, the people he killed, the talents he acquired; even the watches and clocks he used to fix. Now it was getting down to the final hour and rather than feeling excited he felt reluctant, and even afraid.

As they reached the graveyard and the silence of twilight settled around them Marie turned back to him, smiling slightly. She still showed no fear of him despite knowing what could be coming. If it had been anyone else, he would be sure it was because she knew he was having second thoughts. With her though he knew it was because that was simply how she was. She broke the silence, gently.

"What happens now? I obviously need to make an appearance tonight but we need to plan when and where to meet up so you can kill me," Sylar was sure that she knew that some part of him flinched at the word kill, "I also need to decide if I want to be found, or just go missing. Either has its advantages and dis…" She stopped at the touch of his finger on her lips and just looked at him.

"Let's stop pretending you don't know that I won't go through with it and move on, yeah."

She smiled slightly as she leveled an almost playful look at him, "I know nothing of the sort; I can see possibilities based on peoples feeling, your feelings for me still left a fifty/fifty chance"

"Well, I can't kill you, if that is what you want to hear. I won't take your life or the lives of your family."

"Will you still tell me your real name?" her voice was uncertain for the first time since he had met her.

"I thought you just wanted my name so you would know your killer." He said, heart pounding just a little bit with hope.

Her smile shifted to shy, also a first, and she looked up at him "Maybe I want your real name for another reason now." She took a deep breath, "Maybe I want to have that part of you with me, now that you're leaving"

It took a moment for him to find his words, even as he was pulled closer to her finding it in him to murmur, "Gabriel Gray" just before touching her lips with his in a sweet first kiss. She quickly responded and he felt the first quakes of happiness mixed with sadness as they pulled away from each other, his super hearing telling him that Mohinder was going to come looking for him soon. He dipped his forehead to touch hers as he whispered, "I wish I could ask you to come"

Marie smiled sadly, "and I wish I could ask you to stay, but we both have paths to follow." Her eyes shined in a mixture of happiness and grief as she added, "But we can still talk every night and after I am done with my last year of college I can join you."

"I would like that very much, and I should be able to visit, Mohinder is going to catch on eventually. Then I should be free of this portion of my life." They headed back the way they, stopping just a little ways away from the circle of light that they both knew was Mohinder's rental car. Gabriel couldn't help but drop his forehead lightly onto hers again and whisper, "I'm really going to miss you Honey heart"

"I'll miss you too," there was a beat then, "Honey Heart?"

"Because sweet just isn't sweet enough"

They both entered the circle of light laughing a bit, they embraced quickly before Gabriel went to the car and Marie rushed inside. Both felt like they were leaving part of themselves with the other but knew it necessary.

Inside the car Mohinder turned to 'Zane' and said, "I wouldn't hold it against you if you stayed here"

'Zane' Smiled tightly to hide how tempting that is and said, "I know but we both know this is something that needs to be done."

'Zane' and Mohinder continued on their road trip toward New York, it took another 5 weeks and they met six more 'talented' people on the way. Surprisingly 'Zane' felt the need to kill only one, and that particular one was pretty badly abusing his wife and young daughter. He didn't even try to take his power, as it was something inconsequential. 'Zane' and Marie spoke every night falling more in love every time. 'Zane' never told Mohinder he was keeping in touch with Marie, feeling that it was private. Marie only told one person; Elena Dorel was a woman around her age that she worked with. She swore her to secrecy and told her about the man she was falling in love with, neglecting the serial killer part but telling about her powers. Elena kept her promise and didn't tell a soul.

After making it to New York Mohinder quickly figured out that 'Zane' was really Sylar and poisoned him with curare, he got some answers, some more questions and after shooting at Sylar found himself pinned painfully to the ceiling with Sylar looking up at him smirking. Before either could say anything there was a pounding at the door. Just before Peter Petrelli entered the small apartment Sylar looked at Mohinder and, still smirking, put his finger to his lips in the universal signal for quiet and faded back into the shadows of the room. The resulting fight was quick and Sylar quickly felt the hunger for another power, just as he started to cut into Peter's skull Marie's face flashed into his mind causing him to pause for just a moment. That moment was enough for Peter's head to begin to heal and the fight to resume, this time ending with Peter on the floor with a shard of glass in his head and Sylar running from the apartment.

He immediately began to travel back the way he came, heading back where his heart resided. In the mean time a psychic painter is taken from his loft and switched with an illusionist and a telekinetic, both waiting for a Japanese man-boy with a rather specific sword. Gabriel, ignorant of the horrors being committed in Sylar's name, quickly rejoined Marie and honestly began making plans for settling down with her. Two weeks into his second stay he took her on another walk at twilight. They reached 'their' spot quickly just making small talk before Gabriel finally worked up the courage to broach a subject that weighed on his mind.

"Honey Heart?"

"Yes, Gabriel"

He took a deep breath and said "I love you, with all my heart"

He was rewarded when her face lit up like the noonday sun, even though she felt it hearing the words made her feel that much better she could only respond with, "I love you too" pouring all of herself into the words and never meaning any words more.

His eyes lit up and his hands slid quickly into his pockets. Before she could even think about what his action meant he was on one knee and her hand, the one he wasn't being held in his warm grip, flew to her mouth with a small gasp. He smiled up at her; his angel, his goddess and asked, "Will you marry me?" holding out the ring that he had shaped with his own two hands.

Now her smile could put the brightest day to shame, her grin stretching from ear to ear. She answered, "Nothing could make me happier, and of course I'll marry you"

Gabriel surged to his feet and swept her off of hers, actually swinging her around in pure delight. Placing her down gently they kissed before setting back toward her house, to break the happy news. The duo were so wrapped up in each other and their own happiness that they didn't realize they were being followed until two jolts of electricity hit them in the back causing blackness.

A week later, at Kirby plaza Peter Petrelli faced off against the villain Sylar; Sylar, the man who murdered his own mother, the man who killed the painter Isaac for his gift. Dressed in Dark clothing he looked the part of the villain. At the edge of the Plaza Officer Matt Parkman lay slumped, four bullet wounds in his chest, Mohinder Suresh trying desperately to keep the man alive long enough for help to arrive. Scattered around them were people he did and didn't know, yet something connected the injured and uninjured alike. And through Matt's head were all of their thoughts and more.

…Not strong enough/ of course we are… The woman Nikki

…Oh god, Oh god can I really shoot Peter… Claire

…heroes… A little boy's voice

…Nikki, Micah… D.L Hawkins

…Don't hurt me, please… Little Molly

…Such a fool, come on stay with me… There was Suresh

…must protect Claire… Bennet

…Can I control it?... Peter Petrelli

…What's going on?... These thoughts were sluggish and sounded like… Sylar?

…Bomb… …fuse… …plan… three separate male voices he didn't recognize

…… A woman's voice, terrified. She sounded young he managed to think through the pain.

He blamed the four bullets in his chest for the fact that it took precious moments to realize that there were several more voices than he could see. He just managed to get out a, "Something's not right" To Suresh before a Japanese guy appeared from nowhere and stabbed Sylar in the chest. Then everything went all to hell.

Echoing across the plaza as the Japanese guy slid the sword from Sylar's chest was a scream of "NO, GABRIEL" from a seemingly empty space that was full in the next second as the scream shattered the illusion hiding them. Suddenly Sylar wasn't dressed in dark clothing as blood spread and stained his ruined white scrub top as he fell toward the ground. The seemingly empty piece of ground now had a group of people, several of which were grabbing their heads in pain as a young woman, also dressed in white scrubs, tore across the plaza and slid to her knees next to Sylar. She gently turned him over as he gasped for breath. She touched his face tenderly with tears in her eyes as she whispered, "Gabriel". He voice carried across the now dead silent plaza. He managed to get a few more thoughts.

…according to plan…

…fuse…

…bomb…

…Shield… This thought was a Child's thought

That was all he managed to get before the first wave of fury/sorrow/pain hit them all.

Gabriel Gray had never been in this much pain. It wasn't the hole in his chest caused by a sword of all things; it wasn't even his powers going haywire with his pain, though being able to hear everything within a mile would at any other time be agonizing. No it was the look on the face his angel, his fiancé, that truly hurt. His Marie had always been collected; because of her particular gift she had always held her own emotions in check. He never had any doubts that she felt as deeply, if not more, than everyone else but as she was constantly bombarded with other peoples feeling she couldn't help but keep hers under wraps. That wasn't the case at the moment; all control had been stripped away leaving raw anguish on her face. Burning fury lingered at the edges of her eyes. The hand that was touching his face was trembling and a part of his mind wondered what had been done to her in the time they had been forcibly separated. At the edge of his perception he became aware of a whispered conversation that Mohinder Suresh was having with the officer that had been shot earlier; he only caught a few sentences before his super hearing failed due to blood loss. His Marie, the fuse to a bomb, her fury was to set off a man who could explode. Just beyond her he could see Peter Petrelli glowing and a flying man landing.

"Honey Heart…" that nearly exhausted the amount of air he had available, damn that meant he had likely had a puncture lung.

"Gabriel, don't speak, it'll be okay" there was tears in her voice but the man was still glowing and he didn't have much time.

"They're… using… you"

"Gabriel, love, you need to just keep calm. We're going to get you to a hospital."

"No, listen… your Power… explosion… Nuclear… look", he managed to make a half gesture behind her. He could see the wheels in her head turning with her back turned after she got a good look at the glowing Petrelli. When she turned back to him her face had closed off. Her eyes took on the faraway look that she got when she was scanning the emotions of those around her to find how they are connected.

"They're using me, and all of us even, that won't do at all." Her voice was mild and her eyes were hard, though her hand was still gentle on his face. To the surprise of nearly everyone present as abruptly as Peter Petrelli began to glow he stopped. Marie didn't look up, and was the only uninjured person who didn't flinch in surprise when a young man in the formerly invisible group suddenly began to choke in terror and an older woman of the same group began to whimper in pain. Both fled leaving behind a boy of about 5 who hadn't moved from where he was told to stand, no expression on his angelic face, plus two executive looking people and what appeared to be two security guards.

"You executed my family before my eyes, tricked some poor sap to stab my fiancé, my Gabriel" there was the briefest of pauses, as the slightly battered face turned to look at the group "right in front of me so that I would help make New York explode. All those lives, well you will regret it." She looked around at the people scattered around the plaza, her eyes falling on Noah Bennet, D.L Hawkins, Matt Parkman, and her own Gabriel in turn. She turned to the four men a grim, ugly smile on her normally gentle face, "You better hope these people survive or you'll never escape their pain." She turned back to the others, "Ms. Bennet, Ms. Sander, Mohinder you may need to remind the injured that they are injured despite the lack of pain; they will have to be careful." As she spoke the first security guard clutched his shoulder in silent pain as Noah Bennet sat up, every move bringing tears to the guard's eyes. The second also clutched his shoulder, but he actually screamed in pain as D.L's pain faded. One of the executives jerked four times in quick succession and gasped for breath while Mohinder tried hard to get Matt to stay down so he didn't bleed to death. Gabriel breathed easier as the pain faded, barely noticing when the final executive collapsed. His angel was still looking down on him, not smiling but sending him her love for him silently.

Nathan Petrelli, showing a faux calm that only a New York Politician can have, approached Marie and Gabriel, "What's going on here? What did you do to them?"

Marie never looked up as she spoke, her voice still blank, almost toneless, "Shouldn't someone be calling for help, we have four people down, three of which are bleeding."

"Peter's calling 911 as we speak, now what just happened?"

She looked up at him still blank, in complete control of herself "I am gifted with empathy; I'm guessing that your brother will be too after this. Apparently these people decided to increase their chances of you brother losing his control by trying to strip me of mine and placing me here. They will remain in pain until wounds that pain is connected to heals, if the person dies they will never escape the pain." There was a sound of sirens in the distance growing closer.

At the hospital Peter Petrelli, who had insisted that he and his brother accompany the others, made his way over to the figure in dirty white scrubs that sat in one of the plastic hospital chairs, her arms wrapped around her knees. He had found that if went more than a few rooms away from her he found himself feeling like he was going to be crushed under the weight of the emotions around; luckily all of the heroes, despite not knowing each other in most cases were put in the same waiting room, a little off to the side of the main waiting room. Peter had made it his mission to at least meet all of the people who he was brought in contact with tonight through sheer circumstance. He had already introduced himself to Nikki and Micah. He spoke to Claire and introduced her to Mohinder and Molly. Hiro Nakamura had vanished somewhere along the line and now Peter was approaching the strangest addition to their small group. She had refuse treatment for her scrapes and bruises until she knew what was going on with her fiancé.

"Hi, uh, I don't think we got to meet before. I'm Peter Petrelli" He held out his hand to the strange woman, only to be caught and held by dead eyes. He felt as though he was being measured, judged. He only hoped that he measured up.

"It's kind what you're attempting to do; but let's cut back on the pleasantries, you don't have a chance on earth of easing my mind. What you do have is the possibility of going nuclear after leaving my sphere of influence. What you need is control, particularly for the gift you received from me. I can teach you that, and will because you are a danger without it. The way I figure it the only choice you have in the matter is how badly control will stunt you emotionally."

Her bluntness was a punch in the gut even as it reminded him of Claude, only without the cynicism. He could only respond in one way. "You're going to teach me control. What, now?"

He got a level stare in response, "Taking control is easy, it's keeping control without crippling yourself that is the challenge."

"Ah, Okay. When do we start?" This had to be one of the most surreal moments of his life.

"As soon as I finish with this. Hello Mohinder" She looked up at the approaching Indian, who had left Molly with Claire.

"Marie, it is good to see you again." The tall man began to reach out his hand but pulled back before he was even half way to the woman, Marie. "How is everyone, I'm afraid I fell a bit out of touch."

"They're dead"

"Oh, Marie, I am so sorry. What happened?"

"We were abducted; they were brought in front of me one at a time and shot and killed, and now my Gabriel," from the briefest of moments Peter thought he felt something other than blankness coming from Marie but before he could get a handle on it the feeling disappeared, "was stabbed, and may not make it."

Mohinder hesitated slightly and Peter found himself wishing that the dark man wouldn't bring the subject up that he knew was coming. "The man that you call Gabriel, Marie, he's a killer; he's-"

"Sylar, I know." There was no change in her voice; it was like she was being told the weather outside.

"What? How? How long have you know? How can you stand to…?"

"Love him, quite easily you'll find. I have known since you first mentioned the name Sylar to me. Now if you excuse me I to some control to teach, it won't take long." She turned back to Peter, ignoring the gaping Indian standing next to her, "Now, like I said this will likely stunt you emotionally for several years, luckily by the time your emotion right themselves you'll have found your own method for control. Do you understand?"

What else was there to say, he did need control "Yes"

"Good, now whenever something upsets you, or even causes an emotion more negative than pleasant, I want you to tell yourself not to smile."

"What?"

"Try it"

Peter tried, Don't Smile, immediately his mouth tugged into a small smile and most of the frustration he was feeling disappeared. He blinked and found that he couldn't wipe the small smile of his face. "Okay what now"

"Now I want you to understand, if you lose control for even a moment you run the risk hurting and killing all the people you love" Jaws all around the room dropped at the blunt and tactless statement. Nathan Petrelli stormed across the room to give the woman piece of his mind.

"Now see here."

"Nathan its fine" Nathan turned to look at his baby brother, who would usually been a mess of guilt for weeks after such a pronouncement, to find that he still had that small smile on his face; he looked completely unaffected, "Strange as it sounds, that helps; I have no idea why."

"And likely you never will, something about how my, and now your, emotions work." She gave soft, unladylike snort; a sound of pure bitterness before addressing Peter again, "The hollowness you will feel will remain as until you can release you own emotions. Just to warn you I was 12 when I first used this method, I was 18 before I could so much as shed a tear again. It took another 2 years after that before I was even sure I was feeling my true emotion."

Any more questions were forestalled by the arrival of a doctor; everyone looked at him sharply as he cleared his throat. "Can I have family for Gabriel Gray?"

Marie stood, the scrapes on her face still standing out vividly against her pale skin, "Gabriel is my fiancé." The doctor led her from the room. Peter abruptly turned invisible and followed; his curiosity, even muted as it was, was too much to ignore. He tailed them through several hallways until they stopped just outside a seemingly random room. A look into the window revealed Gabriel Gray, his face as gray as his name.

When they doctor spoke it was with the distant conciliatory tones of a professional used to dealing pain with words, "I'm sorry Ma'am, there was too much long standing damage. Likely even without the stab wound he wouldn't have survived the day."

"How long does he have?" Her voice didn't betray her but there was another moment of… something that passed through Peter.

"An hour, maybe two. We stopped the bleeding but the internal damage…" The man trailed off.

"Can I sit with him, until the end?"

"Of course" With that the doctor left and Peter watched as Marie paused and then entered the room, he focused and let himself slide through the wall, still invisible. He stood in one corner and watched as Sylar, no Gabriel, opened his eyes and saw Marie. Now Peter had only encountered Sylar twice, and both times they ended up with Peter being close to or at Deaths door, but even in that limited scope he would have sworn that Sylar was incapable of loving anyone. When the bedridden man saw Marie however, Peter found himself being proven wrong. Though the gray of the dying man's face never changed a smile spread across face that lightened his feature.

"Honey Heart?" The man in the whispered.

Marie sat gently on the edge of the bed "I'm right here, Gabriel and I'm not leaving. Are you in any pain?"

"No, you took care of that."

A teary smile; and at once Peter found his control tested as Marie's shields dropped and the full weight of her emotion bore down on him, on the plus side it still muted out everyone else. "I did at that, and you'll be pleased to know that there are four people three floors down being sedated because physically there is nothing wrong with them and mentally they are undergoing intense surgery. One of them will cycle through the pain of these last few hours until his death" She suppressed a sob.

Gabriel's hand raised to touch her face "Honey Heart, don't worry; I know it seems bleak now but eventually things will get better. You'll grieve for your family but you dad will help you and you'll be able to move on. Not to mention you're better off without me anyway, I know it hurts but it will be okay."

"Don't you get it, Gabriel, I Love you and I will never love anyone else. You're right I will move past my family eventually but you, I will never move past you. I don't know what to do!" Gabriel pulled her in closer with some of his remaining strength, holding her close as she cried. "I don't know how long we've been missing, what's happened to the bodies of my family, how am I going to explain this to my work. Will I be a suspect to the police when I get back home, I can't explain any of this in a way that doesn't sound crazy in my own head. And now I'm being horrible because I'm thinking all of this and you're dying and my families dead, Lady above I must be the most selfish person in existence."

"Shhh Shhh it's alright, Honey Heart. You've been through a lot; I think you have a right to be selfish this once. I Love you too, there you go. Don't worry, I'm here." Gabriel continued to soothe the distraught woman in his arms even as he began to think at Peter.

Peter Petrelli, I know you're there. I can hear you. You don't like me, with good reason; I'm not a good person. Marie Collins is a good person though and for her sake I need to ask you a favor. Please take care of her after I pass. She is going to be in a bad state for a long time and you'll likely be the only person will be able to see through her shields. Please, I beg of you.

The message began to repeat as Peter slipped from the room, resolved to abide by his enemies last wish. He slid back into the waiting room and became visible again gathering the adults in close to tell them what he heard. While there was some satisfaction that Sylar was going to die there was also agreement from everyone present that they should help the innocent victim that was Sylar's fiancé.

Another three weeks passed and Marie Collins found herself standing in the parking lot of the hospital kitchen she worked at. Standing next to her leaning on the car that brought them both to this place was Peter Petrelli, who kept his self made promise to Gabriel Gray to look after Marie.

"You don't have to do this yet, we can always come back" Peter offered, knowing that today was going to be trying as it was her first day back in her home town in nearly a month. Their to-do list included letting Marie's father, her remaining siblings, and the police, know that she was safe. Despite the press conference that Nathan held two weeks ago, few people believed that Marie was unharmed after her ordeal. That was the first piece of help the Petrelli family gave to the grieving woman. They also had to move her into the apartment the Petrelli's insisted on renting for her, finding out if she had a job to come back to really could wait another day.

In the end Nathan, with Claire's help surprisingly, decided that a sanitized truth would be given. Mr. Linderman was portrayed as a well meaning crackpot who hired Codename: Sylar, a dangerous criminal who remains unidentified, despite having his dead body. According to the press conference Mr. Linderman assigned Sylar to create as much havoc in the FBI as possible to cover a scheme to bring the world to 'peace'. His addled brains somehow started to believe that if they absolutely destroyed one woman's family, killed her fiancé, kidnapped her and dumped her in front of Nathan's little brother Peter that a nuclear explosion would somehow occur. Gabriel Gray was listed as Sylar's final victim before he was killed by the brave actions of an officer who took a six month suspension to track the killer. With no mention of special power but with plenty of drama the world ate it up.

"No, I have to do this. I need to see if there is any possibility…" to get back some of what she had lost, she left unsaid.

"Okay, I'll wait here, but if you're not back in 15 minutes I am coming in to get you" his joke was met with the same weak smile that all the others had been, sometimes Peter doubted Mohinder knew what he was talking about when he described a fun loving, easy to laugh Marie.

Marie took a deep breath and steeling herself walked to the kitchen door, no one noticed as she punched in the code and opened the door slipping into the familiar sights and sounds of the kitchen. Sheer happenstance had her at the busiest time of the day, right after lunch, so it was moment before she was noticed. One of her few good friends, Elena, caught sight of her first. The woman blinked twice in shock and called out her name. All six heads in the kitchen turned as one to the young woman and suddenly there was a stampede toward her. Marie, still recovering emotionally, jerked back away from people who came about as close as she currently had to family; that stopped them dead in their tracks. Jack, her boss, approached her cautiously after he shooed the rest of the kitchen back to their jobs.

"Marie?"

She smiled, as close to genuine as she could, at the real concern in his voice. Jack had always been a bit paternal to all the younger girls that worked there. "Hello, Jack, I know I have no right to ask, because of how long I've been gone, but I was wondering if there was an opening here."

It took Jack a few seconds to comprehend what she was asking, and when he did his jaw dropped in pure shock.

"Marie, of course there is a place for you here; you were kidnapped, even if you were the worst worker in the world, and you are far from the worst worker, there would be a place for you to come back to. Just tell me when you're ready to come back and we can put you on the schedule."

The relief she experienced almost eclipsed the grief she still felt. "When does the next set of schedules go up?"

"Two weeks" meaning they just put up this schedule.

"That should be fine"

"Good now that that is settled, how are you?"

"Getting better, slowly. It's, uh, a lot to process"

"I bet, now… who is that?" Marie turned around to find Peter knocking on the door to the Kitchen.

"That's Peter Petrelli; his family has been helping me." Marie could tell that all the girls in the kitchen were checking out Peter and finally felt like she might survive this.

Six months later very little had changed for Marie. Peter visited on a regular basis, to the delight most of the girls she worked with; who had decided that she and Peter made a cute couple and was forever trying to convince her to go out with him. Only Elena didn't participate, to the rest of the girls' surprise, as she was the only one who knew about Gabriel. Marie had sat down with her one day and told her everything, even the things that she left out before, so Elena was one of the few people who knew just how close to destruction they all came and how much Gabriel still meant to her; she was also the only person that knew what the ring she wore around her neck on a necklace meant. Because of this she was also the only one that wasn't extremely concerned about Marie. She wasn't the constantly happy girl she had been before; she was quiet, almost invisible at times. Rather than slow her down, though her mood has actually made work improve. Elena was often strongly reminded of how the girl was when she first started.

It was towards the end of the day when Peter stopped by for a visit this time bringing Mohinder Suresh and Matt Parkman. Peter was on good terms with everyone in the kitchen so he greeted Jack by name; he was slightly surprised when Mohinder was able to do the same. Marie would visit regularly with all of the 'heroes', with the exception of Hiro Nakamura who had disappeared; though even before his disappearance she hadn't been able to look at him because even if he was tricked, he still stabbed her fiancé.

"Jack, I know that you don't like people visiting during work hours but it really is critical that we talk to Marie right away."

Before Jack could answer Sara, one of the girls in the dish room that day came out and saw Peter. Seeing a chance to play matchmaker she grabbed Marie's arm, ignoring said girls flinch at the contact, she dragged her out of the dish room toward the three men.

"Well it looks like the choice has been made for me" Jack said slightly sarcastically.

Marie saw the three men and blinked in confusion, "Peter, Matt, Mohinder what's going on? Is something wrong?"

The three exchanged a glance, uneasy with the news that they had to share with this woman. Finally Mohinder spoke, "Marie, you may want to sit down for this." When she stubbornly remained standing he sighed, "Marie… you know who I work for, correct?"

"Yes" drawing the single syllable out for a full five seconds. Mohinder flinched; he had forgotten how much Marie hated the company that had been responsible for the death of her family.

"And you remember what Molly could do, right?"

"Yes" the four of them ignored the look of confusion that was bandied about by the small crowd of curious people.

"Well Molly found out, and I was able to confirm that…" Mohinder trailed off suddenly losing his nerve.

"Mohinder, tell me"

"Gabriel is alive"

"What?" Marie breathed, her legs beginning to buckle beneath her as she sat on the stool that was suddenly right behind her.

Now Mohinder was talking fast, knowing he had to get most of the information out quickly, "Molly found him, and I did some discreet digging. But Marie, they made him forget. He remembers who he was but they made him forget you," her colorless face snapped to look at him, information processing and connections being made at the speed of light.

Marie suddenly leapt from her seat, racing toward the schedule, muttering about finding coverage. "Three days should be enough right? When do we have to leave? Do you know precisely where he is or will there be searching?" The entire kitchen stared as this was the most animated anyone had seen Marie since before her kidnapping. She suddenly spun on her heel and locked eyes with her closest female friend her face splitting in into a smile no one had ever seen, her eyes lighting up. "Elena," she breathed, "Gabriel is alive. My Gabriel is alive." She turned back muttering about days and coverage.

"Marie," Jack said gently getting her attention, he cut her off before any of the explanations could come, "Who is Gabriel?"

She abruptly focused on him, "He's my fiancé. My Gabriel, I thought he was gone. Jack I have to do this, I will quit if I have but I need to go get him…"

"Whoa, whoa there is no one saying you need to quit. We'll take care of the schedule, take the entire week." He smiled at her, only to gape in surprise when she hugged him murmuring thank you over and over again. Marie had never so much as initiated a hand shake, she hated being touched; that more than anything else told them all that he was making the right decision. She let go quickly, looking like she hadn't even realized she had hugged him and made her way over to the three men. Silently they left, no one realized that as soon as they were out of sight Peter teleported them to Marie's where she showered and changed; then he teleported them to New York.

Hours later the quartet was walking quietly and quickly through the halls of the Odessa Primatech factory, Peter had made them invisible but they didn't know if there was any other way of detecting them. Now that they were close and Marie knew that he was alive, she could feel her Gabriel; he was so close. They stopped at one of the cells; Mohinder quickly opened the door saying "I don't know how much time we'll have, so we'll have to hurry."

They entered and there he was, strapped to a gurney, her Gabriel. Peter dropped the invisibility and Gabriel noticed them. "Well, well, well Mohinder Suresh have you come to try and kill me? And you brought back up this time, in case you failed. How thoughtful" Mohinder flinched slightly, wishing he could kill his father's murderer, but Marie ignored them moving closer to her Gabriel.

"Gabriel" She breathed, almost entranced by being able to see him again.

"That is not my name, my name is Sylar. Who are you to call me that?" he snarled. Marie moved closer, a smile still on her face because she could feel it, buried so deep even her Gabriel couldn't feel it, was the love he had for her, it was still there.

"Very well, if you want I will call you Sylar" her tone was dreamy as she reached him then to the surprise of everyone else in the room she undid the restraints holding him to the gurney. In a flash she was restrained to a wall with Sylar advancing on her. Her smile never faltered, her eyes never wavered. The other three were pushed back by the telekinesis the swarthy man was beginning to be known for to the edges of the room.

"Aren't you a stupid one, letting me from my restraints? I would have thought dear Mohinder would have taught you better, I do have to thank you it will be so much easier to find people not tied to a gurney." He turned to smirk at Mohinder and Matt, "They have kept me up to date while I've been in this hole. Maybe I'll pay a visit to little Molly, after of course," He turned back to Marie, "I take your gift, this may hurt. Because you have been so helpful I'll even let you have a few last words, but make it quick."

She looked at him, still no fear in her eyes "I hope that after my death you never remember."

He couldn't let that one alone, "Why?"

Her brows came together, the look on her face somehow said it should be obvious, "Because it would hurt you to remember me after you kill me."

"As interesting as that is," the disbelieving sarcasm in Sylar's voice could be felt even by those who didn't have extra abilities, "I am in a bit of a hurry." He began to cut into her forehead, squashing a strange feeling of unease as blood began to flow down her head. He hadn't done more than break the skin before he was picked up and sent crashing into a wall, dazing him and releasing all four of his prisoners. As soon as her feet touched the floor Marie rushed to Sylar's side, glaring at Peter.

"What was that for?" Marie all but growled as she checked Sylar over for injuries.

Peter blinked, he knew better than to expect a thanks but he was still surprised. "He was going to kill you."

"And your point?"

"What!"

Marie spoke as if to a toddler, "I sold my life to him over a year ago, and if he tries to collect I am not going to stop him" None of them realized that Sylar, while dazed, could hear them. He wondered briefly about when she sold her life to him, and why couldn't he remember it.

"I promised your Gabriel that I would look after you, and I will. If and when he remembers your deal and still wants to collect than I will let him but until that point I will keep you alive."

Mohinder spoke next, "not to mention you are the only reason I didn't kill Sylar outright when I found out he was still alive, if he kills you my one reason for keeping him alive goes away." Sylar was sure that Mohinder did know that he could hear them all and that was for him specifically. His eyes opened and with help of a slightly bleeding Marie he was able to get back up and stand on his own.

"I think you'll find that his death has no part of my current plans, at least not immediately" a cultured voice from behind, and slightly to one side of, them spoke. The trio of men twirled around, and Sylar and Marie quickly moved to the hallway, to face Angela Petrelli along with 6 guards and the Haitian standing about 5 feet down the hall.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Marie was surprised that she felt a bit of disgust well from Angela when Peter spoke. She had never met the woman at both Peter and Nathan's insistence; they both felt that for Marie, who had been fragile for a long time after the death of her family, meeting someone who could have had some hand in planning what had happened and having to face those feelings would be horrifying. She never argued because she didn't want to deal with anyone for a long time.

"Peter, did you honestly think that I had no idea what you were doing. Now I am going fix this mess that you have managed to get yourself in and you are going to start behaving." Connections were beginning form before Marie's eyes like a spider web, creating possibilities of things to come and showing her what had come before. She didn't like what she was seeing.

"My mess? Mom, they locked this man up, making his fiancé believe he was dead."

"I know, I was the one who ordered it."

"What?"

"You are still too much of a bleeding heart to see the whole picture, it is unfortunate. Here's what's going to happen, Sylar is going back into his nice little cell. You Son" Marie could feel the deception rolling off the woman at the word son, coupled with indignation and more disgust, "have obviously been on far too long a leash, you will come home; help your brother become president by any means necessary, that is your destiny. Detective Parkman, unfortunately, will be listed as dead in the line of duty; he will prove his usefulness or he will meet with Sylar again. Dr. Suresh, you have become a liability, you will be going back to India with no memory of the last year and a half. We will need Molly Walker back, you understand. And you," She looked at the still Marie; Sylar actually couldn't resist pushing the woman behind him somewhat protectively, he reasoned that he was the one who got to kill her and no one else. "You should have left well enough alone, we were done with you, but you had to drag all these people back in with you. You will be a comatose Jane Doe, if you're lucky you may wake up but you will never get your life back."

With a gesture from Angela the Haitian stepped forward. In an instant Marie saw what was happening. "You were the one who stole Gabriel's memories. You would take what is ours, knowing what it would cause?"

"I do as I must, to survive"

Marie smiled sadly at the man knowing he was no more than a pawn, "You'll forgive me if I do the same." With the barest hint of concentration she brought the feeling of being burned to mind tying it effortlessly to the man's skin. He fell back, shaking, a low moan of pain bursting from his throat before his mind shut down to protect itself. There were several stares as she looked at Angela, her smile turning sharp as she faced the woman she now knew orchestrated the death of her family and her separation from her Gabriel.

"You will undo you, handiwork, on my employee and submit to being erased" Angela said clearly and with the full power of her voice, her massively persuasive voice, behind her. There was such power behind it that everyone around Marie could feel the pull; it was made slightly less impressive by the fact that she was unmoved.

"A good try I suppose," Marie's eyes had gone flat again, controlled, in a way that scared even Sylar. Mentally she was asking Matt to keep a mental ear out; with the Haitian out of the picture they may learn something interesting. "I have to know my own emotions and motivations far too well though to fall for false instructions."She stepped closer; head tilted, measuring "I wonder what that sliver of doubt is about. Not this I can tell"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He voice betrayed nothing but her emotions couldn't lie.

"Don't you? It's there, buried deep. Something so horrifying that it would even cause someone like you to feel doubt, the slightest unease about a plan. A secret", at the word secret, a name involuntarily flashed across Angela's mind. Matt, who had been listening closely, picked it up.

"Who's Adam Munroe?" He asked, more to Peter and Mohinder than anyone else. The name said aloud brought roiling emotions to the surface, emotions that told more to Marie than anyone realized; Lust, Hate, Anger, Glee, Smug superiority and that tiny sliver of doubt. All these things came to the surface, caused by Adam Munroe

"Where did you get that name?" Angela's voice had gone sharp with audible anger, plus a whole mess of silent emotions.

"It' doesn't matter where he got the name, does it? But there is a secret there, something shameful something you've done. What happened, Angela, did he refuse you? You weren't enough of a hero for him?" She could feel herself getting closer. Marie stared hard at the now steaming woman, feeling which buttons to push to make her lose control. "You took something from him, wanted to destroy him, didn't you, Angela? What did you do?"

Matt had his head tilted to one side in a gesture he hadn't needed in over a month, trying to make sense of the rush of thought, focusing in on Angela. "An affair of some kind, not consensual; She's still making him do something. There is a plan of some kind, something he didn't agree to but she is somehow forcing on him. There is something about Adam Munroe being locked away, there is something else there I can almost hear it… damn I lost it again"

"And you won't get anymore from me" Angela sneered drawing what's left of her emotions around her, fortifying herself, "no matter which buttons you push, girlie".

Marie was now smiling placidly but to the now fuming woman the smile looked more like the grin of a shark coming in for the kill. "But that isn't the only secret you keep is it? I can feel them trying to get out; the deception in your mind is like a neon sign. Do they know, Nathan and Peter?" Peter blinked in surprise at his name, and the feeling of apology from Marie.

Matt gasped slightly, information flowing into his mind almost involuntarily into his mind. He looked Peter, "You and Nathan, together? You are siblings" Another look of shock directed at Angela, and then he turned to Marie, "You cannot tell him here, now. This is not the time for that kind of dirty laundry to be aired"

Pale eyes in an even paler face looked at Matt, "is there ever a good time for that kind of revelation? Should it just be left alone, let her" Marie gestured at Angela, "get away with what she is planning, what she has done?" The blond haired, blue eyed empath calmed slightly when the back of her hand brushed against Sylar's.

"No, but don't you think both of them should find out at the same time. Look, I got how to find Adam Monroe from her in that last burst. We can get out of here, get Nathan Petrelli, and you can figure out how to tell them while we track down Kaito Nakamura."

"What makes you think you'll be leaving here of your own power?" Angela tried to gather control again. At her gesture the guards moved forward their guns pointed directly at Marie, "All of these men have been hardened to pain and terror, and you won't get passed them."

"I am an empath, do you really think that pain and terror is all I can deal out." Marie, whose face began to turn a pale green and a look of nausea spread across her features, began to radiate a feeling of safety, security and happiness. The guards all lowered their weapons slightly, Marie then focused on the two closest guards. No one knew what she did but those two guards suddenly brought up their guns back up, pointing them at Angela. The other four guards didn't seem to notice as they relaxed further, one going so far as to falling into a light sleep. Marie moved a few steps closer to the two guards and asking in a small voice, "Will you help us?"

One guard answered while the other continued to hold Angela Petrelli at gun point. "Don't you worry little one, we'll get you and your friends to safety. They won't hurt you again" To the surprise of everyone but Marie the first guard began to gently usher the group of them down the hall toward the exit, the other following behind keeping his weapon pointed at Angela Petrelli.

"Stop; put your weapons down" Angela's voice had an audible echo, power radiating from her. Even Marie stopped and the two guards dropped their weapons looking at each other in confusion.

Marie sighed softly and closed her eyes for just a moment. When she opened them there was resolve in her eyes. "Peter you might want to block your senses," even before he could ask she and answered, "There are some things that no one should every experience, and no child should ever have to feel the pain of their mother being shot." This stopped him up short and all he could do was follow her instructions. Marie locked eyes with Angela Petrelli, held the woman still with her gaze alone. "You should have just let us leave" Angela felt pain explode in her left knee, causing her leg to collapse. "It's etched in my memory, you know, when they dragged my mom in" Angela's other knee felt like it exploded, "she tried so hard to keep me from feeling the pain, as they shot out her knees, her elbows , and her shoulder blades." As Marie spoke Angela, jerked as pain exploded in all of those places, "By the time it ended I may have been a bit out of it but I do remember the man saying that he had a message from 'the Lady', now what was it" Peter had to look away, Angela had not made a sound but it was clear she was in pain, "oh yeah, he said 'this is for your sister' just before he blew a hole in my mother's head" Angela's head actual smacked into the tile floor as it jerked, "I had wondered what that message meant, in my calmer moments in the last seven months but I think I know now." She turned to a wide eyed Mohinder, a surprised yet calculating Matt, an intrigued Sylar, and a white faced Peter. She offered a feeling of apology to Peter and said quietly, "We need to get out of here; the pain will only keep them down for a little while."

They quickly rushed out and as soon as the group was out of the building Marie began to throw up and then to sob, the consequences of her powers catching up to her. Sylar was shocked to find himself next to her rubbing her back as she vomited but wrote it off as being the closest to her when it happened. In short order it was decided that the whole group would go collect Nathan, at Peter's insistence, then find Kaito Nakamura. Matt dreaded both events because sharing any of what he just learned was not what he wanted to do.

At the Petrelli mansion there was a flurry of activity, despite the late hour. Half an hour ago Mohinder Suresh, Matt Parkman, Marie Collins, Gabriel 'Sylar' Gray, and Peter Petrelli showed up to find a mad house. Heidi Petrelli, Nathan's wife, was packing to leave with her kids and had actually begun to lose her composure; she began swearing at Nathan or Peter whenever she caught sight of them. Nathan was trying to calm her down, something he had almost succeeded in doing before the aforementioned group arrived, while simultaneously trying to find and calm his terrified children who had rushed off to hide when the shouting began. The two live in servants were also trying to find the children but kept being pulled back whenever Heidi left a suitcase in the front hall, they had been instructed by Nathan to take the suitcase and unpack it. It took nearly six trips for Heidi to catch on and then the explosions began anew.

When the odd group arrived it was Matt that was able to make sense of what was going on, his years as a traffic cop actually serving him well in instance. He sent Marie, as both the only female and an empath, to try and reason with Heidi. Sylar, Mohinder and Nathan were sent to sit in the study, Sylar had been warned that any attempt to kill them would be met with deadly force, promise to Marie aside. Nathan started to freak out a little that he had a known serial killer in his home but there really was nothing for it. Peter, the two servants, and Matt himself were going to find the two children and bring them back to the study, where hopefully there would be no massacre.

Marie approached the bedroom cautiously, making sure to announce herself so as not to be attacked by a terrified and sad woman "Heidi?"

"Marie" Marie was treated to a slightly bitter smile, "I suppose you came here to convince me I really do love Nathan, that our marriage hasn't really been a sham. That the fact that I can't remember meeting before our first date despite the fact that it wasn't a blind date. That it's okay that I can't remember him ever touching me except for the two times that resulted in our children, and even those times are fuzzy."

"No I'm not, given what I've found out tonight I am only surprised that it took this long to boil over, I just want to know why the anger? I know you aren't really angry."

"You're right, I'm not but it is easier if everyone believes I am. That I found out about the cheating, about working for the FBI against Linderman after what happened the last time. Let the press think I am tired of being a trophy wife. I'm sure Nathan will figure it out." Heidi was defeated, tired.

"You know Nathan has no idea of what has been going on, right?"

"How could he not? The two times he was with me he called me Peter." That explained a lot.

"Angela Petrelli has a great deal to answer for, not the least of which is what she has done to you and to both Nathan and Peter. Neither have any idea of what she has done; they both are right now trying to figure out why you are suddenly so angry with them. I am going to have to explain to them, and everyone else what is going on and all I know are possibilities based on who connects where."

Heidi gave a soft, slightly watery, snort, "I know most of what happened, at least on my end, I have been Angela Petrelli's puppet for far too many years. Her measure for keeping my memories from me has been failing so I know more than she realizes."

"Then let's go see if the others have found the children." The duo made their way to the study where the entire group had gathered, the two boys being held and comforted by their father. Everyone looked up when they entered. Noting Heidi's determined expression, Nathan gently got the boys to go to their rooms, after many promises that both their parents would still be there in the morning.

After the children left there was a brief uncomfortable silence with no one really knowing where to look. Nathan was the first to break it asking Heidi tentatively, "Will it set you off it I ask, what set you off like that?"

Heidi actually laughed a little, "I do owe you an apology for that, I guess. I really just wanted to make Angela's job harder and let out little of the anger I have at her"

"Mother? What's she got to do with this? "

"You really don't know? You had no idea even after all this time?"

Marie interrupted, gently, "Remember Angela is very good at covering her own tracks" Heidi noticed Matt wince slightly in remembrance and wondered about it briefly before remembering that he is a telepath.

"How do you know that?" Mat asked Heidi in surprise.

"I know a great deal more than I am supposed to, a perk of spending so many years as Angela's puppet."

"Okay, would someone let the rest of us in on the big secret?" Peter asked, unable to be truly frustrated but asking anyway.

Marie spoke first "Angela Petrelli has a plan, forty years in the making. Adam Munroe had refused her; he said he was waiting for a time traveler, a Hiro. I can't get the details but I can see where everything branches out from her connecting Jonathon Petrelli, Arthur Linderman, another man I can't name but connects to Matt, Adam Munroe and ensnares them in a horrific web. I can see a connection between the unnamed man, Adam Munroe, and Angela that connects to Nathan and a completely different thread that I can only see through Peter that connects Jonathon Petrelli and a woman I can recognize as my aunt, Victoria Pratt. I can see where the true connection between Peter and Nathan comes to light and where Angela tries to break it by ensnaring Heidi and connecting everything to the Haitian. I can see Angela's hand in the birth of both the boys and her latest actions. She has so many actions that she could take that I can't get a handle on what she could do next, but we fortunately have a bit of time. None of her potential actions are immediate."

Matt started speaking; having been able to fit the information he had gain in the web Marie described. "She does want to destroy the world, at least in part. Despite what she wants to protest she really is doing this to utterly destroy Adam Munroe and the 'hero' he was waiting for. She had never been turned down before; from what I got even her voice of persuasion didn't help. I do recognize the person she eventually got to help, he's my father Maury; he abandoned me and my mom when I was thirteen. He somehow controlled Adam Munroe's body while she used her powers to implant orders into his mind. She effectively raped him in this way, and made him a walking bomb intent on releasing some virus. He was caught by Kaito Nakamura and locked away." He looked at Nathan and then at Peter knowing what he was going to have to reveal. "Nathan, you are the result of her rape of Adam Munroe. She knew you were not Petrelli's son because they never consummated their relationship. He didn't know because she persuaded him otherwise. Peter, you are also the result of an affair; but not Angela's. Your father broke from Angela's control briefly and had sex with Victoria Pratt, his long time lover. You were the result. Angela planned to kill you off, and has been trying for many years, blaming you for destroying the world became one of her plans. She found the two of you the first time you acted on your attraction to each other and made more plans,"

"She has also caught you every time since." Heidi interrupted, "I was one of her plans, the way to get you, Nathan, back on track. Every time she caught you with Peter until she found me she got you another girlfriend, breaking it off with the current one. I believe she had a scare when you ran off with one of the girlfriends she picked for you, the one before me I think, a Meredith something; but you called to tell her she would be a grandmother and that you would be marrying a girl from a trailer park. She was able to persuade you to leave the woman and your baby. Because I seemed to hold your attention for more than a couple of weeks, and I was acceptable, she decided that we would be married and she would get grandkids; legitimate ones this time. You probably don't realize it but in the entire time we have been together we have slept together precisely twice, and you called out Peter's name both times" Nathan and Peter turned a dull red at this; Heidi was unaffected due to years of exposure. "The only other time you have slept with a woman was that woman in Vegas, and I would not be surprised if Angela arranged that as well."

Nathan blinked in shock, "You know about that?"

"I know a lot more than I should, but I have been Angela's main puppet since before I met you"

The entire group had to sit back for a moment and digest everything; though many had some of the information to have it laid out before them all was a little daunting. Even Sylar, killer that he was, was a bit flabbergasted at the lengths this woman had gone to. He had not problem taking life, and often did so for fun, but to ruin lives without taking them and to kill so many innocent people at once was even beyond him.

It was Mohinder that finally spoke, "It seems like we must speak to Kaito Nakamura and find out if he is under Angela's influence. We also have to find Adam Munroe and try and break Angela's hold on him." Heidi decided to remain with her children but Nathan, who still looked a little shell shocked, opted to go with them. Sylar was curious enough to decide to keep with them instead of trying to escape; he could almost believe that it had nothing to do with the blond empath who occasionally looked at him like he was everything. They started to get going before realizing it was somewhere around 2 in the morning and as such they decided to wait until morning, after assuring themselves through Marie, Peter, and Sylar that Angela wouldn't be making a move before then.

By the next afternoon they had found Kaito and after assuring themselves that while Angela's machinations worked around him she didn't directly influence the older Nakamura, they told him everything. He, along with Hiro's friend and brother in all but blood Ando, personally brought them to the cell holding Adam had inhabited for the last thirty years. In the meantime Nathan and Peter had rediscovered themselves and would turn bright red whenever they caught each other's eyes or saw someone noticing the hickeys decorating Peter's neck. They also tended to be in physical contact whenever possible, making Marie occasionally smile wistfully at them; she wished that she could do the same but Sylar wouldn't come anywhere near her. Matt and Mohinder also were more affectionate toward each other than the day before, the revelation that someone had so badly screw with another relationship had upset them both and with Molly away for the week at camp, they were able to settle into their own new relationship more easily.

The group entered the cell holding Adam Munroe, he looked up at the group as they entered a charming smirk on his face, "Have I been paroled, officer" he said, sarcasm soaking through his British accent. That is what he said aloud, however Matt heard something very different. No, no you can't let me out. The world is safe with me in here. I don't know if I can get myself caught again. Leave me here. Please.

"Calm down a little, before you hurt yourself." Matt said soothingly to the visibly calm but mentally distraught man. He got a few strange looks from everyone but Marie.

"I don't have any idea what you talking about." But Mentally Matt heard what you can hear me? Oh thank goodness, you're Maury's boy right, a telepath. Listen you have to tell them, they cannot release me; She'll make me do it. I can't stop myself from releasing the virus. Tell them that the Shanti virus must be destroyed and I need to be kept in here. I'm not strong enough to break free, Hiro was the strong one. My Koi, he must never come she'll make me kill him.

"I can hear him, in his head." Matt told the others, "He's saying that the Shanti virus must be destroyed and that he cannot be released." He felt more than saw Mohinder jump at his sister's name but had no more time to say anything more before Marie stepped forward.

For a moment she did nothing but stare at the sitting man, "I see what they did now, tied you all in knots bound it around your dear Hiro" Kaito started.

"What does my son have to do with this?"

Adam's face contorted into a snarl at the mention of Hiro's name, "Your son, that little Carp betrayed me. I will destroy everything he loves." What Matt heard was slightly different my carp, my koi, I never told him and then he found someone else. I am sorry my koi, please keep him safe from me I am going to be forced to kill him.

"That's not what your feelings tell me, I can see them wrapping around him. You love him" her voice was soft, almost hypnotic.

"I hate him" Adam snarled a soul seer?

Marie smiled, "Not even the part of you that is being controlled believes that, because when you picture his face, when his name is brought up you can't bear to think of the eyes dull can you? His face, the face you memorized slack and gray with death; his life's blood pouring from his mouth while you hold the weapon that killed him." While Marie spoke describing horrifying images to the silent man Matt heard inside Adam's head a soul seer, what are you saying? What are you describing? No, not my Koi, my carp. Shut up Shut up Shut up….

"Shut up" Adam suddenly leapt up a crazed look in his eyes the guard with them pulled his gun, but Adam didn't lunge. Instead he stood a look of wonder on his face, "How?" he breathed before a look of panic replaced it.

Marie surged forward, determination showing on her face. She didn't touch him but when she spoke it was with a fierce sharpness that cut through Adams panic, "Keep control, and hold that image in your mind. The one that horrified you back into control. Youare in control of you of your body; you will keep your control. " Slowly the panic faded to be replaced by matching determination and finally calm.

"Thank you, my lady" he said with a formal bow. Something in Sylar's gut twisted at this charming man claiming that Marie was his anything.

"I am no high class lady, there is no need for such formality" there was a small smile in her voice and on her face.

"You are a Soul Seer" Kaito blinked in surprise at the ancient reference, looking at Marie with new respect, "one of great power, if you were able to help break Maury Parkman's control. As such you are owed my fealty as one of the revered. You have also done me a great service and so I owe you a double fealty, hence you are my lady"

"If you insist" Marie said mildly, "but, please do call me Marie"

"Very well, Ms. Marie, I am at your service." Adam turned to Kaito, "I going to guess that Angela's little scheme was found out. What else have I missed?" Between the all of them they quickly brought Adam up to speed. At the end the immortal was fuming. "She used a Soul Seer, one of the revered, in her plots. Stole the memory of my Lady's chosen. Say the word Ms. Marie and I will destroy her." He forced himself to calm before he peered at Sylar, "And you have had no flashes of memories?" At the man's negative response Adam frowned pensively. His eyes flicked between the two before he nodded once to himself in decision. Moving quickly he grabbed the gun of the security guard and fired two shots directly at Marie. The first tore through her shoulder causing her to cry out. The second would have gone straight through her forehead if it hadn't suddenly stopped and reversed the way it came slamming Adam into the far wall and tearing through his chest. Marie found herself crumpling slightly then being caught in the strong arms of her former fiancé.

Sylar's worried face swam into view above her, his eyes sparking with concern that she thought she would never see again. "Are you alright, Honey Heart?" She gasped sharply at the term Honey Heart, causing his eyes to widen, "Does it hurt? Stupid me of course it hurt, don't worry someone had better be calling the doctors now, just hang in there okay."

Pain, what pain, "it's not that, you called me Honey Heart." She smiled up at him, incandescently.

"I did?" Sylar, no this was her Gabriel, said before thinking a moment, and smiling "I did, because sweet just isn't sweet enough." He touched his forehead to hers.

"It's coming back then?" a British voice from close by spoke, Adam was standing by them holding a syringe of blood. Before Gabriel could use his powers he spoke again, his hands raised in surrender. "Hold on there I have something to heal her, just inject her with my blood and she will be fine."

"It had better" Gabriel growled before reluctantly injecting Marie with the blood, before their eyes the wound in her shoulder healed. As soon as it had healed enough she leapt into Gabriel's arms, never wanting to let go.

Marie turned back to Adam, still encircled in Gabriel's arms, and said with all of her poured behind it, "Thank you"

The entire hallway blinked, with the exception of Adam, none more so than the former watch maker himself, "what are you thanking him for he shot you."

"Yes he did, because he rightly assumed that if my life was truly in danger and I was in pain you would remember me at least a little. I presume that if it had failed a vial of his blood would have brought me back even if I was dead." She looked to Adam for conformation, which he freely gave.

"I still don't like that you now know what it's like to be shot."

Marie looked at him, sadly "Gabriel, I already know that. It's almost nice to be able to have my nerves block most of the pain because it is physical" Gabriel was confused for a moment but then realized what she was talking about and promptly felt like an ass. To disguise it he gently helped her up, and kept his arm around her, needing to be close to her. Marie glowed with the attention.

Marie was about to speak, to suggest that they had completed their goal and that it is time to go home when around the corner ran Maury Parkman, who looked slightly panicked, followed by another half dozen guards. Seeing Kaito he skidded to a halt, "Kaito, we just got word, Adam isn't in his cell. We need to find…" He noticed the group with Kaito, more importantly he noticed that Adam was with them. Marie had to give the older Parkman credit where it was due, he knew the jig was up and didn't fight it. He turned to the guards and dismissed them, deflating a little after they left. Marie couldn't help but look into him; she wanted to know what made him help Angela, what his reasons were. She blinked in surprise when she saw the connections spread before her, saw his decisions.

"She broke your deal, you know" She spoke to the defeated telepath; he looked up at the young woman in surprise.

"What?"

"Angela broke your deal; as soon as you son manifested she had him tagged"

"No that's not possible. I made sure they all thought Matt and Maureen were dead."

Matt blinked in surprise, "What are you talking about?"

Maury turned to him, "and who are… Matty? Is that you?"

"Yeah, now what the hell is going on?"

"Wow, your all grown, now. I missed so much."

"Well that's what happens when you disappear for nearly 20 years" there may have been a bit of bitterness in Matt's voice.

Maury winced, "I always thought I'd be able to explain it but when you put it that way, nothing seems like enough."

Marie spoke, "For what it is worth, Matt, he did do it for you."

"For me?"

Maury sensed this was his one chance, "I did, I screwed up in that but it was for you."

"I think that Matt and Mr. Parkman need somewhere quiet to speak." Mohinder spoke up, earning a grateful look from his lover. Kaito was quick to offer a conference room to the trio, when it became apparent that Matt was going to insist that Mohinder stay with him. Kaito, Ando, and Adam opted to return to New York, hoping that Hiro would reappear there. Kaito also began making preparations to destroy all vials of the Shanti virus that still exist. Kaito and Ando were grilling Adam for his intentions toward Hiro as they left; they chose to return via private jet, being somewhat tired of the whole teleportation thing. They also left instructions for the same treatment to be given to Matt and Mohinder when they finish with their talks with Maury.

That just left Marie, Gabriel, Nathan, and Peter. Peter was quick to teleport the four of them to Marie's apartment. Marie gave Peter the last address she had for her Aunt Victoria and he and Nathan left to find his real mother; as well as pass on the news of current events to the other heroes. That left Marie and Gabriel, standing in her apartment, staring at each other.

"You should know I don't remember everything yet" Gabriel said with a slightly embarrassed frown.

Marie smiled softly, "You remember the most important part, and the rest can come later." She reached up and undid the necklace holding the engagement ring he gave her all those months ago, letting the precious cargo fall into her palm. She offered the ring to him with a glint in her eyes, "I know you already put this on me once, but would it trouble you to do so again?"

Gabriel took the ring with a smile and dropped to one knee once again, determined to do this right. "Will you marry me?" Even though he knew the answer his heart pounded with nervousness.

She smiled at him and he forgot to breath, her simple "with pleasure" the most beautiful sound in the world. For the first time in more than half a year Marie was completely content, her family was still decimated, there were still extra concerns about money and bills and a job for Gabriel, not to mention that Angela was still out there; less influential but still dangerous. But in that moment she knew with the certainty that only a soul seer could have that everything was going to turn out alright.

Wow, that was a monster of a story, over 15,000 words, 28 pages, and nearly two weeks later. I may be writing a sequel of sorts, plus several off shoots that popped into my mind while writing this. No guarantee at length, this story is over 5 times my usual story length. A small note here at the end. In the months between Gabriel's 'death' and Mohinder finding out Gabriel is alive, Gabriel gains the ability to paint the future. When they find him his memories basically reflect as if the first season happened as written, rather than my AU.