Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Heroes whatsoever. So you can't sue me. P Nyah!

Author's Note: So, this chapter pretty much focuses on Peter. I wanted to kind of let you guys know what happened to the others, and I hope I did a good enough job. Next chapter I'll continue the Sylar storyline.


He couldn't breathe. There was almost no oxygen to breathe. It seemed like an eternity he spent just floating around the atmosphere before he eventually felt gravity pulling him back to earth. He felt nothing, remembered nothing, not even so much as thought anything until he saw the country below him like a map. Peter remembered now, and looked for Nathan who was no where to be found.

At first, Peter thought the worst: Nathan was dead, exploded into pieces. But as he began to make his descent back to Earth, he thought that maybe Nathan just had fallen already. Maybe Nathan was already safe and on the ground waiting for him to come down. He'd be standing there, with his arms open to give his brother a hug; they'd just saved New York- His fantasy stopped when he realized that he was plummeting head-first to Manhattan from about 26,000 feet in the air. His brother's face reappeared in his mind, and about 100 feet before he hit the ground, he stopped mid-air. Thank God for those lessons from Claude.

Slowly gliding down the remaining few feet to the top of a building, he scanned the area before collapsing. Nathan wasn't here. He ran to the edge of the building and looked down, but all he saw was a busy street. It was the same way with the other edges, only two of the sides displayed an empty alleyway. He looked back up into the night-sky, not that it would help at all to see if Nathan hadn't fallen yet, but he felt some kind of reassurance, and odd peace when he saw the few stars that dotted the sky.

Through the hatch, down the stairs, and out of the building he went. Recognizing street signs, he saw that he was a ways off from Kirby Plaza. Preferring not to fly, he called a taxi. The driver stared at him, though, wondering why Peter's clothes were torn and shabby while his skin seemed to be unscathed. The driver ignored it, however, and in a few minutes Peter stepped out of the vehicle. Searching his pockets, he realized that he had no money. The driver was nice, though, and let Peter go since they only went a few blocks and the mimic seemed like he was in a hurry.

Kirby Plaza was deserted. Claire, Hiro, Niki, even Sylar was gone. No sign of Nathan either. Peter scanned the area and scouted out the nearest hotel. That's probably where the families were staying for the night. Maybe they would know about Nathan or Sylar.

No one by the name of Bennett, Sanders, or Hawkins was registered in the hotel log. Where else would they have gone? The hospital. It seemed to click once he remembered Parkman, how he was shot by his own bullets. Peter cursed himself for wanting to fly, but he didn't have any other choice. He lifted off the ground and zoomed into the air quickly so no one would see him. The hospital was almost 30 blocks away, but Peter was there within seconds. Rushing into the E.R., he saw Niki, D.L., Micah, and a teary eyed Molly sitting in the waiting room. Niki looked over and noticed Peter first.

"H-How…?" was all she managed to say, wide-eyed with amazement, "How are you here? The explosion…"

"Claire," as soon as he said the word, she understood. "Where is everyone? Where's Nathan?" he questioned, but the look on her face was a grim one.

"Mr. Bennett's being looked at by a doctor, so Claire is with him. We," she motioned to the others sitting behind her, "are here because Molly wanted to make sure that Parkman was going to be ok." Peter looked at Molly; it was blatantly obvious that she had been crying. Micah was sitting next to her, talking gently and trying to calm her down. What a good kid…

"What about Nathan?"

"Peter, Nathan's dead…"

Peter didn't believe it. He couldn't believe it. Nathan… dead… This wasn't Niki… It had to be Jessica, playing some sort of cruel joke…

"He came down almost immediately after.. Well, you know…" she said, seeing the tears well up in Peter's eyes. "I'm so sorry Peter…"

Peter left without saying goodbye. He ran out of the waiting room and flew into the air, disregarding the people watching. He flew far and fast until he was out of Manhattan and on New Jersey turf. He kept flying, however, tears dripping down his cheeks as he did so. Nathan…

When he finally stopped, he was on the New Jersey coast, about 35 miles south of New York. He fell to his knees in front of the water and screamed. No one heard him. First Simone, now his brother. His own flesh and blood. Who would run the city now? And what would they say happened? 'Nathan Petrelli dead in freak car accident.' No one would ever know how he really died… How he died as a hero, saving New York from another 9/11.

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Peter awoke when he felt the cold sea water reach his arms. He'd fallen asleep on the beach, far away from New York in some little known town. Sitting up and sliding back from the water, he brushed the sand of off his arms and legs; he dreaded the thought of going back to the city, but he knew he'd have to. The others would be worried.

It took a lot longer to get back than it did to get away. When he did, the first thing he did was return to the hospital. Niki, D.L., and the two kids were no longer there, probably resting in a hotel. He went up to the desk and asked for a visitors pass to see Noah Bennett, which the receptionist gladly gave him.

When Peter walked in, the first thing he saw was Claire sleeping in one of the chairs next to her foster father's bed. He was awake, and addressed Peter when he walked in.

"Glad to see you," Noah said, picking up his horn-rimmed glasses from the bedside table and placing them on the bridge of his nose. Peter mumbled in return. "I'm sorry about your brother, Peter. It was a very... unfortunate loss. I can't do much to help, but I can tell you what happened to everyone else. Mohinder is in the lab where we kept Molly while she was sick. He wanted to do some research or something. Hiro… well, I don't think anyone knows what happened to him. And as for Sylar, well all we know is that he got away. We can't be sure of his exact location, but we're having the authorities look into it now." Peter thanked him in the most sincere way he could manage,

Claire stirred in her seat, and slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was her uncle. Am I dreaming…? She thought. There was no way Peter could have-

But it was really him. She leapt out of her seat and nearly tackled him with a death-grip hug. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes again. Claire did the same; almost in unison they both started sobbing into each other's shoulders. An overwhelming sadness had come over the both of them, but it was revived once they both felt each other's hospitality. It was nice to just relax for a bit…


A/N: Ok, so I wasn't exactly sure about how I wanted to end this, so I know it's not all that great. But thanks for your reviews, I hope you guys liked this chapter as much as the first! More to come...