"Would you kill for me?"

The question is unexpected. So much so, that Elle needs to hear him say it again.

"Would you kill for me?" Noah draws out each word, a serious look on his face.

"Noah," Elle leans down to her son's level, "why would you ask Mommy something like that?"

"Because I want to know," the four-year-old replies, nothing but innocence in his voice.

She would, in a heartbeat, but Elle is throughouly confused. Where could Noah have hear something like that? She asks him.

"The man." Elle's heart rate rises as the panic begins to set in.

"What man, Noah?" She demands.

"I don't know. He doesn't tell me his name." Elle closes her eyes, trying to fend off the hysteria long enough to think rationally.

"You've seen him more than once?" She picks her son up and brings him to the kitchen, setting him on the island.

"Yup," Noah says happily. Elle holds out a cherry popsicle, which Noah eats greedily.

The popsicle is a bribe for Noah to be good and answer all of Elle's questions.

She knows what works with her son.

"Noah, I want you to tell me everything you know about the man."

Noah places a thoughtful hand on his face.

"Well, he has dark hair. Like mine, but wayyyyy darker." A knot grows in the pit of Elle's stomach.

"Go on," she encourages.

"And he has dark eyes. Like mine!" Noah's excitement adds to his mother's paranoia.

"Anything else, Noah?" Elle asks, leaning so they were eye-level.

"He said he loves me. I don't think I was supposed to hear him say that he loved me enough to kill for me."

The last sentence sets Elle into motion. She puts Noah back on the floor.

"Run upstairs and grab your favorite teddy and your favorite jacket from your room. Then go to Mommy's room, and -" Elle stops short when she sees her worst fear.

Sylar.

"That's him, Mommy!"

"Hi there, Elle. Miss me?" Sylar questions. Elle backs away slowly, pushing Noah behind her.

"Noah, run." Sensing that something's wrong, Noah complies, going to the safe spot - through the crawlspace in Elle's closet to the panic room.

"Sylar," Elle growls.

"Long time no see, isn't it?"

"What are you doing here?" A ball of electricity forms in her hand.

Sylar has no other objectives, so gets right to the point. "I love him, Elle. I have a right to see him."

The electricity fizzles out of Elle's hands.

"No, you lost that right when you walked out on us."

"I was scared, Elle."

"You could have come back."

"I tried! You wouldn't let me, remember? Said you deserved more."

Elle's voice lowers to a whisper. "I don't deserve anything, Gabriel. You know that."

"Elle," he coaxes, turning her to face him. "You deserve so much more than you allow yourself to have."

Elle's at a loss for words, so she opts to look around the room.

Gently, Gabriel turns her chin to him. He pushes her lips up, forming a smile on her face. Elle smiles for real, and Gabriel grins back.

"Now that's the happy Elle I want to see."

"Why did you leave Gabriel? I mean, really. I needed you. Noah needed you." Elle questions, smile lost.

"I was still Sylar. And Noah didn't need Sylar, he needed Gabriel. But Sylar's gone now. For good."

Elle's confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean my powers, Elle. The dangerous ones. They're all gone."

Her eyes widen in shock. "What do you still have?"

"Regeneration. But I've picked up a couple others. Helpful ones, ones that you'll like."

"Go on, then," Elle encourages. She's curious to see what he can do.

"Forcefield projection, healing, and teleportation."

"But those are defensive."

"I know."

"So, you're saying you've gone and left yourself with no offensive powers?"

"Pretty much."

"Why?"

"I want to be there for you and our son, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes, Elle."

Elle's silent for a few moments, comtemplating. If he really has gotten rid of his powers, just to be with her and Noah, she might be ready to forgive him. Because she still loves him. She always has. Elle just loves her son more.

Suddenly, an idea pops into her head. She grabs the broken clock from the wall - she kept it there, as a reminder of Gabriel - and sets it on the table in front of him.

"Fix it."

"Elle, I don't-"

There's a plead on Elle's face, so Gabriel drops the rest of his sentence and opens the back of the clock. The mechanisms are so complex, so foreign. He idly wonders if he ever really stopped to look at a clock, or if the power just took over and did all the work for him. Gingerly, Gabriel removes a gear. It's slightly dented and a little charred, probably from being thrown then sparked. Confused, Gabriel sets the piece back and takes out another one. This is more mangled than the first, most likely having taken the blunt of the damage. He sets the piece back in, then stares at the clock, wondering. How in the hell did he ever do this?

"I can't. I don't know how." Gabriel says. He thought he would feel even a twinge of remorse, but he doesn't.

"Oh thank God," Elle says, running to him and hugging him close. She kisses him passionately, then adds, "I missed you so much."

Gabriel smiles. "I bet I missed you more."

And, for the first time in three years, the Gray family spends an evening together, happy. Now the parents know that what they have is special. More special than either of them ever needed.

They know that the world's still a dangerous place, but they hope that, together, they'll be able to keep their son safe.

But nothing is going to keep their Noah safe from Claire Bennet. It's only a matter of time...