Matt Parkman was indignant when his alarm woke him at 6:45am the next morning. Five hours sleep was scarcely enough, especially after the day he'd had. He'd made no progress in the hunt for Nathan's assassin and was running out of leads. He hit the floor and punched out twenty painfully slow push-ups, every joint in his upper body clicking like a sheet of bubble wrap.

The milk in his fridge had started to sour but he figured a bit of sugar on his muesli would cancel it out. He was glad it was Friday; he needed a weekend with a few good action movies. Guys like Bruce Willis made the whole not-getting-killed thing look so easy.

Picking up the morning paper, he flicked straight to the Sport and checked the scores from last night's game. Quickly putting the paper back down, he wondered if it would be ethical to use his powers to rig a game. He decided the answer was an unfortunate 'no'.

Molly was awake, earlier than usual. Matt found it hard to believe how much a kid could sleep, feeling more than a little sorry for himself.

'Morning, Molly,' he said, trying to prompt a response.

'Good morning, Matt,' she replied.

'Did you have fun with Alice last night?' he asked, pleased that he'd managed to find a conscientious babysitter. Alice was so worried that Matt would find out she'd fallen asleep on the job that she could think about nothing else when he got home.

Molly gave no reply. She wanted to tell Matt that his father had visited last night, but she couldn't. Her fear of the Nightmare Man, fortified by his telepathic command, was too compelling. Matt resisted the temptation to simply read Molly's thoughts. He knew the pair had to have boundaries if she was to feel safe, and reading even a child's mind was incredibly invasive, diary reading to the nth degree. She took a bowl from the cupboard, checked the milk, and tossed it into the trash. Putting some toast on, she picked up the newspaper and began to read.

Molly had begun to have nightmares again earlier in the week. Since they seemed to be focused on her time at the Company, Matt hoped his father wasn't involved.

'Are you just going to eat that dry?' Matt asked Molly, a little concerned as she battled to chew the plain toast. 'You want some peanut butter or something?'

'Matt, we haven't had been peanut butter since Mohinder moved out. Why don't you ever shop?'

'I shop,' he asserted. 'I just don't use a list.'

'For someone who can read minds, you sure don't have a great memory of your own.'

'Watch it,' said Matt, playfully, but he could sense that Molly was just putting up a front. The nightmares must have been worse than he thought. 'Anything interesting happen here last night?'

'No.'

'You sure? Alice said she fell asleep really suddenly, and you know who that reminds me of.'

Molly, again, said nothing. This time, Matt couldn't help but find out what she was thinking.

… dad … gave me a picture … found a man

Molly's thoughts were a mess, but Matt pounced.

'My dad? He was here? Why didn't you tell me?'

i can't … controlling my mind Matt … i can't

Molly's nose had begun to bleed, and she wiped it with the sleeve of her pyjamas. Matt hugged her and tried to soothe her.

'It's okay, Molly, I won't let him hurt you. It's going to be okay'.