A/N: Hello there! Rogue Requiem is back with yet another story rattling around in my mind. I've had this idea since I watched season one of Heroes this past summer, and I cannot shake it. Plus, I've never seen a story quite like this in the archives, so I figured I'd give it a shot at writing it. Then again, I haven't looked extensively through it... So if there is a story like this already, then...my bad. Haha.

Now! Some story info:

Yes, this is an Alternate Universe fic. It is based on two episodes of season one: Five Years Gone and How to Stop an Exploding Man. Should you need a little refresher, Five Years Gone involves Hiro and Ando accidentally traveling five years into the future to find that Peter Petrelli blew up New York, though Sylar was widely blamed for it. Future-Hiro has been labeled a terrorist by Nathan Petrelli (who is really Sylar with a shapeshifting ability) and is being hunted by Matt Parkman, among others. Micah, DL, Ando, Isaac, and Nathan are dead. Niki/Jessica, Mohinder, Matt, Claire, and HRG are all alive. In the end, Future-Hiro reveals that the reason that they failed was because they didn't save the cheerleader from Sylar... And that idea is where this fic spawned from. Because, really, let's think about this: In that episode, Claire had obviously been saved because Sylar still didn't have her power. That's why he lured her to him as Nathan and killed her if I'm not mistaken. He was the reason why she was in hiding. So, clearly, there must have been some other reason for it, right?

Using How to Stop an Exploding Man, I have incorporated several elements about that episode as the background of this fic. Basically, this story starts right after Peter and Sylar confront each other. Hiro, sensing that one of them is going to explode, has gotten Claire to safety. Hiro is a bit mistaken about the future he has seen and the future that is going to come because of it. If you remember from the finale of season one, Peter, Sylar, HRG, Matt, Niki, DL, Micah, Molly, Hiro, Nathan, and Claire were all present at some point at Kirby Plaza. I have twisted this around a bit. Nathan does not come to the scene, for instance, to save Peter and thus New York, obviously. Since I've had the explosion take place, everyone besides Peter, Sylar, Claire, and Hiro have been killed out of those present at Kirby Plaza at the time. I have also had Ando be present and killed, too, instead of Hiro teleporting him back to Japan before the confrontation. So, yes, he's dead as well. And obviously, Hiro did not arrive and stab Sylar. The reason for all of this will be revealed as the story goes on.

I hope that made sense, but if it didn't, message me and I'll try and clear it up.

Also, this will be a ClaireXSylar fic eventually... Or maybe a ClaireXGabriel Gray fic; I haven't decided yet, and YES, there is a difference. And, yes, I understand perfectly that they are not split personalities of each other, so you don't have to worry about that. And, no, Hiro will not be shoved to the side once that relationship starts, when it starts. He has a big part to play in all this, too, which actually leads me to my next point: if there are any characters you wish to see in this story, either before the season one finale or after to the other seasons, please let me know, and I'll see what I can do. Only, keep in mind that most of them, like Matt or Peter, probably won't have any powers until later. After all, a year ago, none of them suspected that they were special; most of their powers didn't manifest until the solar eclipse. If it's someone like Angela, however, then of course she'll have her gift. She's had it for decades before the show even started after all.

Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes. I'm stopping at that before I imply something inappropriate and probably objective concerning Sylar and Mohinder, and no, it has nothing to do with them being a couple.

Agents of Destiny

Prologue

"We all imagine ourselves the agents of our destiny, capable of determining our own fate. But have we truly any choice in when we rise? Or when we fall? Or does a force larger than ourselves bid us our direction? Is it evolution that takes us by the hand? Does science point our way? Or is it God who intervenes, keeping us safe?"-- Mohinder Suresh

Hiro Nakamura was running like a man possessed. Sure, he could have teleported, but he had already gotten them far enough away from the disaster. The disaster they were supposed to stop. Instead, they failed. Now... Now, he just had to run. Run until he couldn't any more.

Why? Because Hiro Nakamura's soul was aching. Not just aching. Crying horrendously with no signs of stopping. His best friend in the world was dead: Ando Masahashi. He had let it happen, but there had been no choice. He could only save one person, and if it wasn't her... Then, they would all die anyway, and nothing could be changed.

For that was the mantra he kept in his head and his heart, the mantra that started his journey in the first place. As long as he continued to think it, say it, live it... It would happen. It had to.

Save the cheerleader, save the world.

And that was who he was running with, well, more like dragging behind him now: the cheerleader, Claire Bennet. Strange. He had gone so long trying to save her, protect her, and this was the first time they'd ever met. Well... They still hadn't met yet. All he had had time for was to grab her arm and teleport away to safety before it happened. Before New York became the next nuclear holocaust. What he couldn't say for certain was who had done it: Peter Petrelli or Sylar the boogieman? Both had the capability. Neither really looked like they had the want. But if his future self was to be believed, then it must have been Sylar. ...Right? He wasn't sure. He knew one thing, though. Sylar had been the catalyst for it all, the cause for everything! Why couldn't he have killed him when he had the chance? ...He imagined Claire must be very confused and scared right now.

That made two of them.

"H-hey!" he heard behind him. Claire. Trying to get his attention. She sounded like she was crying. All of that registered very fast but very numbly into his brain. That's when he realized he really should explain himself. He stopped abruptly and turned to face her, not relinquishing his grip on her hand.

"My name is Hiro Nakamura," he introduced hurriedly in slightly broken but understandable English. "I am here to save you. I am the one who told Peter Petrelli to save you earlier, too."

"O-okay?" He could tell that she didn't really understand, or maybe it was all just a little too much to handle right now. He could sympathize. Just as quickly as he had stopped, he turned back around and continued running again, grateful that Claire was quick to catch on this time. The last time he had darted off, she hadn't been expecting it, and the both of them suffered through an embarrassing whiplash effect that had almost sent them both to the ground. He was glad she was no longer trying to resist him and pull back towards the disaster as well, screaming for Peter, for her father, for anybody at all.

He needed to get someplace quiet so he could speak plainly. He couldn't think through all the screaming and the sirens. For while he had teleported them away, they had not gone very far. They were currently fifty-three miles from the explosion at Kirby Plaza, just enough to escape the damage but not enough to escape the sight of it. He couldn't manage any farther if truth be told, for his mind wasn't thinking clearly at all.

A giant mushroom cloud of smoke, rubble, and whatever else was destroyed could still be seen spanning monstrously over the horizon behind them. As Hiro and Claire ran away from it, many others were stopping their cars and getting out to stare at the sight in horrifying disbelief. Even though a dark night sky was out, it was still impossible to miss it, the signs of destruction. Some dropped to their knees and sobbed. Cellphones were going off madly everywhere they looked, of people calling 911 (unnecessarily so as more and more ambulances, fire trucks, and cop cars were trying to head toward the sight by the minute) and their relatives to let them know that they were alright. Nearly every language of the world erupted from the mouths of the citizens around them. Screaming and crying could be heard and seen everywhere; it made Hiro sick the more he looked at it, the more he realized how utterly he had failed.

He pulled Claire as far away as he could from the sight, a hard task to accomplish since they had to run against the crowd that were marginally flocking towards the catastrophe. Misery loves company after all, and people's curiosity often catered to it, despite the horror it could sometimes contain.

Finally, he directed them towards a small back alley, turning the corner into it sharply and stopping before they descended in too far. Even at the end of the world, alleys like these were still immensely dangerous places, he knew. Fortunately, the explosion was now hidden from them both because one of New York's famous skyscrapers blocked the view, and the cries of the New Yorkers and tourists themselves were reduced to quieter echoes of pain and fear. It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough to work with.

He rested his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath, finally realizing how painful the stitch in his side was. Claire, though clearly being more athletic, wasn't fairing much better. Since the blonde was suffering mentally and emotionally right now, it only made sense that she do so physically, too. Eventually, though, Hiro got his breathing under enough control to be able to speak efficiently. Standing straight, he pushed his glasses back up his nose from where they'd slid down due to sweat and gravity. He stared at Claire with eyes of sadness but determination, slightly out-of-breath. The teen in turn stared back at him, waiting, her eyes mirroring his sadness but lacking all determination. In fact, she looked like she'd given up; she was so lost.

"My name is Hiro Nakamura," he said again.

"Ah, y-yeah, I got that."

"Oh, I see. Gomen," he apologized at the repetition, slightly taken-aback and giving her a little bow. At her confused look at his last word, he winced. Right. Keep the Japanese to a minimum, if he could. He'd have to remember that. After all...there wasn't any Ando around to understand and humor him anymore.

Now, that thought hurt.

Pushing back the painful grip in his heart, he continued on, "I know you have a power. I have a power, too. I can bend time and space. I, or actually, my future self was the one who told Peter Petrelli to save you. I also traveled to the future and saw... I saw a nuclear explosion destroy New York. We, that is...Ando and I, traveled here to New York to save it. Only...we failed." He looked down, shamefaced before he was able to shove it aside and begin again.

"But, even though we have failed now, we can still save it. You and I. I know we can. We have both lost so much, we... We have to."

He paused then. Yes, he had lost much here, but...he knew she lost more. He knew Peter Petrelli was her uncle, making Flying Man, Nathan Petrelli, her biological father. While he knew from the future that Peter would remain alive, he would still change into a cold man, and Flying Man had showed his true colors for being a bad person. He, of course, must have escaped the explosion... And if that other future was to be believed... He shuddered at that train of thought. Things would really begin to grow terrible if they stayed here.

And then of course, she had lost her real father, the one who'd raised her, in the blast if he'd gathered correctly that the man in the horn-rimmed glasses was her father.

There was also that police officer who looked strangely familiar and the blonde woman, her dark-skinned husband, and their little boy and the girl they had with them; none of them had gotten away in time, either, he didn't think. Nor did millions of others. This was so wrong! They had to fix this! Claire was quick to voice the question of the hour, though.

"But... How Hiro? How can we just undo something like this? It's not like we can have a do-over---"

"But we can!" Hiro interjected adamantly, taking Claire by the shoulders as he emphasized his point. "We can have a second chance! I am the master of time! I can go anywhere I wish, forward...and back. That's what we'll do. We will go to the past and stop this from happening."

"Wasn't that what your future self was trying to do, though? 'Save the cheerleader, save the world,'" she shook her head sorrowfully, her voice low with hopelessness. "You, or he, or...whatever thought that that would fix everything, but it didn't. How will this be any different?"

"You have still been saved, Claire Bennet; therefore, there is still hope. I think that your destiny has you being a lot more active in saving the world than you have been. Maybe that was what went wrong this time. We saved you, yes, but we didn't give you much chance in helping us save the world, did we? That is what will be different. You will be given a chance to shape the future and save us all.

"Listen," he stated uncertainly, suddenly afraid of what he was about to say, "I've seen this future. I've seen what will happen now that New York has been destroyed. The world will become a very different place, full of fear and anger. They along with hate will rule the world and our hearts. Those of us who have been spared change for the worse. I... I become a-a terrorist o-or a...freedom fighter. Either way, I am hunted. Peter Petrelli...well...he will come to be very different, too. I never want to see that future again. You should never have to see it, either. That is why we will travel to the past--a year should be enough--to stop the Exploding Man."

He held out his hand to her then and waited politely but nervously for her to take it. In the end, it was her choice. He knew like a sixth sense that she was the key to changing everything, though it wasn't entirely clear to him yet. If she refused... If she didn't want to come... Well, needless to say, he would be close to useless on his own. He really didn't want to think about the outcome of that.

She seemed to hesitate for awhile, no doubt trying to think everything through and try to get some sort of semblance of what his plan was. With confusion and doubt still written all over her face, she cautiously took his hand.

"Alright," she spoke in a voice that was more sure than what he knew she felt, "I'll help you. Right now...I don't really have anything to lose, do I?"

Hiro gave her a kind, confident smile, if only to make her feel better. "Don't worry, Claire Bennet. Though a hero's journey is always laid out on a path covered with mist, as long as the hero continues striding down it, he will eventually come to its end and its final meaning."

She returned a smile, her ice-blue eyes regaining some light in them from her amusement. "What does that even mean?"

"It means that no matter what happens, we must never give up, even if we can't see what result will come of our actions! We must keep moving forward through all adversity and see our mission through until the very end."

"I see," she laughed shortly as they moved to stand beside each other, hands still clasped together. As Hiro was preparing to teleport a year into the past, Claire interrupted him briefly.

"But... I still don't understand how."

"Oh. We are going to save Mr. Sylar."

With the look of fear, disbelief, anger, and pure loathing she shot at him at that confession, it was a true wonder she didn't wrench her hand from his grasp and declare that she never wanted to have anything to do with him again. It truly must have been Fate at work here, Destiny's calling. For a moment after she gave him that look, she snapped her head forward again before nodding in stunned affirmation. With quick concentration and a sharp nod of his head, they vanished in thin air, Hiro wanting to get as quickly to the past as he possibly could.

The grip Claire now had on his hand was almost bone-crushing. She must really hate him right now for revealing that his big plan revolved around saving their worst enemy.

He didn't blame her. Not in the slightest. He knew for a fact he'd feel the same way if he were the one Sylar had tried to hunt down and steal power from, after all.

Maybe Ando had been right... Destiny should lose all their numbers.

A/N: So, how was it? Not too terrible I hope. Please let me know! Read and review!