"The more you lose the less you see,

so close your eyes and start to breathe,

Oh you said yourself, this wasn't easy. "

- Imogen Heap ~ Canvas

Nathan Petrelli pretended to work. He pretended only for the fact his eyes continued to stray from the important documents that he needed to read. His eyes strayed to focus on the broken pieces of clock that lingered in a pile on the corner of his desk. It had been two weeks since the incident. He refused to call it anything else. At the time he thought he was just delusional from lack of sleep, or worse going insane.

That night alone in his office Nathan had thought he had heard Sylar speaking to him. But it was only a thought, or a delusion, and he refused to think of it has anything more. Well he tried, but something kept clicking inside of him slowly, as if waiting to burst out and tell him he was in denial of the truth right in front of his eyes.

Especially the nightmares, if that meant that anything. They had just started recently, but he would wake up upset and confused. They caused a deep fear within him, an unexplainable fear. Nathan was driven to the point where he would wake up with his skin boiling, dripping with sweat and the urge to weep. His eyes filled with bewilderment quickly scanned over his body, his shaking hands running over his aching flesh. Just to be sure.

Just to be sure he was all there; that nothing was out of place. And finally he would stare hard at his hands, making sure blood did not stain the tips.

"I'll be leaving for the night Mr. Petrelli is there anything else you need?" Amelia, his secretary, watched him from the door with a hint of concern in her deep blue eyes. "Are you alright?"

Nathan looked up at her, feeling a bead of sweat roll down his neck. He turned towards the mirror against the wall. He was pale under his fake tan, and a light sheen of sweat covered his face. He looked unhealthy. Nathan turned back to Amelia and smiled.

"I'm feeling great. Have a nice night." his smile grew wider, and his face felt like it would chip into pieces.

Amelia smiled back, "Well don't stay too late, sir. And if you don't mind me saying, I suggest you head home. You look as if you may have picked up the flu. Especially with this weather, I wouldn't be surprised." She nodded towards his window gesturing at the early layer of snow that was beginning to settle upon the city.

"I just may head home after I finish reading these last few pages. Thank you for the concern, I'll see you tomorrow." Nathan smiled faltered the second her back had turned with one last good bye.

Nathan sat back in his chair, his eyes closed, trying to clear his mind. But slowly, that almost silent ticking he heard entered his mind. It was constant and overwhelming once he realized its existence. His eyes shot open and almost automatically drifted to the broken clock.

He had wanted to throw away the damaged clock. The clock no longer worked after what he had done to it. He also got rid of his watch, and any other faces of time that he could discard. It was a distraction, a constant reminder of what stress, fatigue, and possible insanity can do. Nathan wanted to forget it ever existed. But something made him hesitate from throwing it away.

A part of him still believed he could fix it.


Nathan sat in the back of the heated limo. His head rested against the firm leather seat, as his eyes stayed squeezed shut, until finally he called out to the limo driver to pull over. He needed out. Terribly. He wanted the cold. As the limo parked beside the curb, Nathan roughly swung the door open, and jumped out. He began walking away after calling inside to inform the driver he could go on without him.

The cold air that filled his lungs felt so good. Yet he still felt so constrained. Nathan adjusted his expensive gray winter jacket for he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable as he walked the chilly streets of New York. It was close to 20 degrees and he felt unbearably hot, if that made any sense. The jacket that served decently well at times like these caused him to feel worse. So rather then look like a fool for taking off his jacket in the middle of a snow storm, he decided to pull off the scarf that was tucked within.

Still as it hung uselessly around his neck, the heat didn't subside. Instead it steadily grew higher. Nathan walked faster now. First a creak came from his left knee and then a resounding snapping noise came from the opposite leg. It sounded as if something had broken. Nathan felt panic, and could only think of two things. All he wanted was to find a bench and sit down to investigate his legs. All he wanted to was to take off the thick jacket. He limped his way into one of the deserted parks, nothing but the half moon and the snow for company. After all it past one by now, and a snow storm was under way.

He sat down and ripped open his jacket, the buttons popping off, and dropping into the thick white snow. He sighed in relief.

But it wasn't enough.

Next the suit jacket came off, then the tie, and finally his white collared shirt. He shredded it with no other care but to be free of it. He took a deep heavy breath. The heat that radiated off him caused the snow that fell to never have a chance. It melted an inch before it could even touch his bare skin.

Then slowly it began the overwhelming pain. Blood pumped in his ears, and the ticking grew louder with each pump. With every twitch of pain his head pounded again and again. But he could still hear his bones creaking. Cracking. Breaking. Rebuilding. The agony he felt was unbearable, and all he wanted to do was black out. To run, to forget what he was watching his body do. It was morphing. Slowly, painfully, morphing into something he wasn't.

As it began to end, the ticking dimmed, and the convulsions slowed. So finally Nathan could hear him. He could hear the inner monologue that was not his own going through his head.

"I figured I might make an appearance. After all...I've been feeling a bit...hungry."

Then everything finally went black.


A/N So not a whole lot of Sylar exactly. But I can't wait to keep going. The two reviews really made my day. Thank you. Especially Voldemort- Coolest Badguy EVER since you motivated me to continue. I'm really one of those people that adores getting reviews in order to feel that the story is worth continuing. So not to sound like a R&R wh*re, but please…R&R. And thanks!!

P.S: I love ZQ too! =D