6 months later, Gretchen finds herself watching yet another battle between Claire and Gin, at the end of another long day of training. Since the beginning, every night has ended in such a battle. But, where they were brutal and hard to watch at first, Gretchen now stares open-mouthed in awe, riveted to the action. And, where before Claire has always lost, she now stands a chance to win.

The training, the sound sleep, and even the forest and Gin… it has all helped Claire to focus like never before. And the payoff is evident, and in view, as Gretchen watches Claire duck, and counter-punch, and roundhouse kick Gin right off her feet. Gretchen is torn- between watching this fighting, and getting sidetracked by the ever-increasing sinewiness under Claire's jumpsuit- when she suddenly feels someone standing next to her, and looks over. The sight of Hiro makes her jump.

But he puts a finger to his lips, and smiles, saying, "Shhh. Not yet. I don't want to interrupt them."

"But… she has waited months for you," Gretchen whispers back. She looks back at the fight, but neither party seems to have noticed Hiro's appearance. Gin is back on her feet, and now seems more focused herself. But, neither one is making a "hit"; both too evenly matched to do so often, with Gin in human form.

"She has improved more than I thought possible," Hiro then says, pushing his glasses up in a giggle.

Gretchen smiles acknowledgment, and in pride. She feels that pull again; to let her eyes fog over, missing the fighting entirely, just to indulge her baser instincts instead.

Don't fault yourself too much, Berg. After all, it HAS been a long time, and you're only human…

And, as usual, she can't hide her thoughts either, and feels Hiro's eyes on her. He is smiling, and looks unusually bashful. She looks back, regarding him queerly. "What?" she asks.

"I… uh… take it that one thing has Not improved?" he replies.

Now, she feels her own face flush. But after a moment of processing his question, she shakes her head. "That obvious, huh?" she laughs, half-heartedly.

Surprising her again, he takes her hand, and squeezes it. "I wouldn't worry," he whispers. And then, he looks down at her protruding belly, which is now round and plump. "Claire will return to her old self soon enough."

But before Gretchen can ask him to elaborate, they both hear Claire yell out, "Hey, that is NOT fair! We agreed you wouldn't turn into a gecko anymore, just to avoid losing, you slimey little reptile!" And when they turn around, said gecko perches on Claire's shoulder, only to be knocked off with a roll of her eyes.

As her gecko self skids across the floor of the temple, Gin morphs back into human form, and giggles. Meanwhile, Hiro walks into the light, with Gretchen beside him. He applauds Claire. And, seeing him, she smiles broadly, and bows.

"I am impressed!" he exclaims, opening his arms for a hug.

Claire wipes her brow, panting for air, and laughs, extending a hand instead. "Might want to wait until after my bath. Just sayin'"

But he just laughs back, and pulls her into the hug anyway. Over his shoulder, Claire shoots Gretchen a look of sudden awkwardness, as if begging for her assistance, but it only makes Gretchen smile and shake her head.

"Good to see you again too, buddy," Claire says, "What the hell kept you so long?"

Hiro separates the hug, but keeps his hands warm on her arms. And ignoring her question, he says instead, "You Uncle would be so proud of you, Claire. I know I have never been prouder of you."

Claire smiles sweetly back, but lowers his own arms to his sides, and then pats them condescendingly. "Hiro, I love you… I really do. And, I'm sure I will appreciate all the flattery later. But… I have waited six months to hear from you. And… Speaking of my Uncle… Where IS he? And why isn't he with you yet?"

Gin steps forward, sensing Claire in another terrible shift of mood. "Careful, Claire," she says, "be mindful of your impatience."

But, Hiro smiles back at Claire knowingly, and says, "No. She is right to be impatient this time. Have you tea in your bungalow?"

Claire nods, but her own face remains blank now. She will not relax until she gets more answers.

"Good," chirps Hiro, pushing his glasses up one more time. "Then let's sit down and talk about it over tea. Bending space and time can be thirsty work."

(break)

As usual, Claire waits no time in drilling her guest with questions. Gretchen is still pouring the water over the tea bags, when she hears the latest one: "But I don't understand. Why can't you just blink in, grab Peter, and blink out?"

Hiro's patient voice comes back: "Because, Claire… like I've been trying to explain, Peter is being held in a containment facility which also holds hundreds of other innocent evolves. Some are only children. In some cases, Elle and her organization have even found entire families…"

Gretchen enters as he is stammering to finish, and she sees the confusion and frustration growing on Claire's face. And, as cute Gretchen finds this look, she can't let the two of them suffer any longer. She puts down the tray with the steeping teacups, and looks them both over, sighing.

"He's trying to say, that if Peter suddenly goes POOF, then, Elle will kill all her prisoners," Gretchen explains. Then looking at Hiro, to be sure: "Right?"

Hiro lets out a breath of relief and nods. "Yes. Thank you."

"Elle knows not where Claire or Gretchen reside," Gin adds, nodding as well, from her usual dark corner. "Neither the time, nor the place. And as long as she remains without this knowledge, she will use Peter as leverage."

Claire looks back and forth between all three of her educators, and her eyes narrow more and more, as she starts to puzzle the picture together. "Leverage for What?" she asks.

Hiro and Gin exchange glances, and then both look at Gretchen. But, for once, she is actually glad to be the one giving Claire bad news.

After all, you're just being stubborn, Bennet. You already know…

"She wants our son, Claire. It's what she's wanted all along," Gretchen tells her simply, standing like a statue over her. "But she will NOT get him."

Hiro looks at Claire sympathetically, nodding agreement. "She doesn't even ever need to know where he is, or where you are," he adds. "There are options, Claire. And one is just taking your family, and hiding them forever."

Claire's eyes stare hard back. "Peter is my family," she reminds him. "And I want our son to know him. So… what are the Other options?"

Hiro shrugs, and steals a glance at Gin, who also shrugs. "Well… there are only two other options, that we've come up with. One I've told you, which is… I blink Peter out, but I sacrifice hundreds of innocent lives…"

Claire nods. "And Option C?"

Hiro hesitates, shifting. But as Claire's eyes threaten to narrow again, he stutters out, as best he can, "Well… Basically… we wait until the child… your son… is old enough… and, well… we let the painters' vision come true."

"Which version of their vision?" Claire asks next, snarling.

Oddly enough, Hiro seems to brighten at that, and he stands up, crossing the room.

"Well… let me show you something," says he, digging in a bag he has brought along. He pulls out a large portfolio, and brings it to Claire with a smile, handing it to her. As she takes it, he begins to explain, "The painters are still seeing the same vision, but… with time, it has sharpened. Zoomed in, so to speak. Look. Look for yourself."

Curious, Gretchen and Gin also lean in to see. And after some hesitation, Claire opens it, and begins to flip through the different prints. Like always, each one is in a different style- the style of whoever painted it. But they all show exactly the same scene. There is a blond-haired boy, about 4 or 5 years old, with his hand held up. Upon seeing his image for the first time, Claire pauses, and traces the shape with her finger. Behind him, stand herself and Gretchen, looking surprisingly fearless. And ahead of him, at least 30 people, maybe more. And they are all wailing in apparent sorrow, as shadowlike shapes of them leave their bodies. Of those people, Claire instantly recognizes more than a few faces.

But it is the first time Gretchen has seen those people's faces, and she gasps. "I couldn't tell who they were before," she says out loud, not meaning to.

Hiro nods. "That's what I meant, by zoomed in."

Standing front and center, just on the other side of her son's extended hand stands Elle. With Becky beside her, and Peter right behind. Closer to the rear, they can all also spot the Haitian. And, Sylar.

"Jesus Christ," Claire finally breathes out.

Gin giggles. She is the only one unfazed by the newer information. "No Jesus Christ here," she tells Claire. "Only Gin."

Hiro rolls his eyes at that. But Gretchen goes one step farther and says, "Not Only Gin. We are ALL in this together." And she squeezes Claire's shoulder gently in reassurance.

Claire looks up at her, flashes a grateful but tired smile back, and then focuses back on the prints in her lap. "But what are we in, exactly?" she asks, to no one in particular.

Hiro takes his seat back across from her and leans forward, almost as if he has a prepared speech ready. Gretchen even wonders if maybe he does.

"There is disagreement, in my camp," he begins to explain next, pushing up his glasses again. "And I admit, my camp is dwindling, as it is. I have managed to pull about two-dozen of us together in Nebraska, where we are safe. The rest, I have lost to Elle already… Some of us, including Gin and myself, believe that your son is actually healing emotional damage in these images, and that the shadowlike figures…"

At this, Hiro leans forward some more, and points to the dark shapes leaving the people's bodies. "… We believe that those shapes are merely bad energy, which humans tend to have a hard time parting with, for whatever reason. I'm not a psychologist. Just one of many interpreters."

Claire looks up at him, intent on knowing more. "And the ones who disagree with you? They think he's the soul-sucker, come to destroy us all?

Hiro nods, solemnly. "Yes. In fact, Gin and I hide you from our own people, as much as we do from Elle's."

"Great," says Claire with a smirk, shutting the portfolio suddenly. She leans back in her seat then, and chews on a nail. Gin begins to speak, but Gretchen catches eyes with her, and makes a slashing motion across her own throat, silencing her. Hiro already knows better himself, and leans back in his own seat, waiting.

Then, Claire stands, and begins pacing. Gretchen steps back to get out of her way.

"You have nothing else to go on, except for these images," says she, thinking out loud, "but yet you are sold on the blond-headed soul-healer bit. Why? I get that part of it is Gretchen's uncanny ability to detach from what happened to us in Elle's bunker. BUT… that could just as easily be this forest, since it seems to have weird effects on people anyway."

Again Gin begins to protest. Again, Gretchen silences her with a menacing look.

"So," Claire says next, spinning to face them all. "What is it you haven't told me yet? Wait… let me guess first."

Hiro's face falls, like a puppy who's disobeyed it's owner. But Gretchen isn't sure why.

Whatever they haven't told Claire, they haven't told me either…

Claire however, is pretty sure she's solved the puzzle, and puts her hands on her hips, eyes typically narrowed. "One of the people in your camp right now. One of those people who agrees with the soul-healer theory… it's my Grandmother, isn't it?"

Hiro stands up too, taking a defensive posture. "Yes, but… Claire… listen to me, please…"

Gretchen hears herself suck in air, afraid for Hiro's life, and thinking the last thing on Earth Claire wants to do right now is listen to him.

But oddly enough, Gin is the one who steps in, and she brings a surprising calm with her. Even her voice is unusually even and steady, as if for the first time truly demanding Claire's full attention.

"Your Grandmother Angela, is unique, Claire," she begins by saying. "As are you, as is Peter, and as your son shall also be. Have you never wondered, why there are so many painters? So many telepaths, and speeders, and fliers? But there is only one empath, Peter. There is only one physical healer, you. There will only be one emotional healer, your son. And, in over 200 years, our kind has never seen the likes of your Matriarch- the woman who's D.N.A. made the rest of the Petrellis possible."

Complete silence falls over the room. With the exception of Gin, the majority of this information is too fresh for them. It is incomprehensible.

"What do you mean?" Gretchen finally asks, breaking the silence, "In over 200 years? Are you saying…?"

Gin nods, grinning in amusement again. "Angela Petrelli is over 200 years old, yes. Much like Peter, she is, yet… even more evolved. Claire's abilities she also has. And like her Grandmother, neither she nor Peter will age normally."

Claire falls back into her seat, unable to stand. Gretchen hurries to her side, offering silently to make the other two leave; give them time to process this alone. But Claire waves her off. "And our son?" Claire asks Gin next, locking eyes with her. "Does Angela have his abilities too? If so, you would have thought she'd have used them on herself YEARS ago."

Gin giggles at that, but shakes her head. "No. But she has seen your son, in her own visions. And her visions are easier to interpret, because they come from him."

"Come from WHO?" Claire and Gretchen both ask at once, horrified.

Gin nods. "The boy, of course. Your son. As he's developed over the last few months, Angela has been able to see His visions."

"He has visions?" Claire asks, standing back up.

Gin smiles, looking strangely sympathetic. "He is a Petrelli. He will have everything."

Gretchen looks even more horrified. "What do you mean… everything?"

Hiro sighs, becoming brave again, and steps forward too. "She means he will be like Angela, Peter, and Claire, all rolled into one, and with his very own emotional healing power as well. He will be like… like a…"

"God…?" Gretchen finishes for him, swallowing hard.

Claire glares at Gin. "But you said he would be no messiah. You said he would be no different than any other evolve."

Gin shrugs. "Doesn't have to be," she tries to explain. And her eyes begin to twinkle, her grin firmly in place. "Are you missing the larger point Gin is making? All Petrellis the same. Same make-up; same possibilities. Only thing different is environment. Nature. Nurture. No Petrelli a messiah before. Why this one be any different?"

"Because of us," Claire gasps. "Because of Gretchen and I."

Gin shrugs again. Close enough, her look says. "And because of Peter, and Hiro, and even Gin! And because of the choices we all will make on little boy blond's account. Everything makes a difference."

But while Claire is completely focused on their son's future, Gretchen can't get past the idea of this Petrelli legacy. And she's really not sure if Claire quite gets what Gin is saying, but can see the look on Hiro's puzzled face, as his mind catches up with her own.

"So… wait a minute…" she says to Gin, "I want to make sure I'm deciphering your drunken speech patterns correctly…"

Gin giggles, and nods for her to continue.

"Are you saying that Claire could become an empath? That Peter could become a healer? Like… do you literally mean they are the same?" Gretchen asks.

"Hmmm… In evolve terms, yes. Very much so," Gin replies, and she places her hands behind her back, as if in deeper concentration. "The D.N.A. that makes their higher powers possible is exactly the same, in each Petrelli. But… obviously not the rest of their D.N.A." and she giggles madly again, but no one else is laughing.

Claire looks up at Gretchen, weary and confused. "Why didn't we know this before?" she asks, and not just to Gretchen.

At that, Gin pulls back her hood. Shocking them all, her eyes are suddenly very human looking, and full of a warmth no one knew she possessed. She bends down on one knee, in front of Claire, and takes her hand. The squeeze she gives makes Claire jump, and makes Gretchen tense up at first. The behavior is so unlike Gin, that none of them know what to expect next.

But especially not, Gretchen thinks 20 or so seconds later, what really Does come next.

"Gin is also over 200 years old," she begins to explain. "Gin is not of your blood, but… is similar to your blood. And there are more of us. Not many, but… several. A dozen perhaps. No one is sure anymore. Time has stolen some of us, in one way or another. But at one time, we all knew each other, and we all worked together, to hide this secret; to keep our families safe, Claire. Like you want to do, right now. And your Grandmother was one of us. And she had hoped, like Gin had hoped, that you would never have to know this secret. Because… secrets have kept you and Peter alive."

And, daring Claire to speak differently, Gin then lets go of her hand, patting it, and stands back up. Gretchen notes that Claire does indeed look like she wants to speak, and maybe even break a few items close-by, but she remains silent. She waits to hear more, too shocked to interrupt, as are Gretchen and Hiro. All eyes are on Gin, as she begins pacing too, just as Claire had before.

"Those of us born first- those dozen or so- not all of us as ageless as others," Gin continues to explain. "Depends on environment, like Gin said. You, Claire… Noah Bennet had his flaws, but he made you feel safe. And he raised you to be confident; unafraid. Was his greatest gift to you. It's the reason the healing ability came first to you. Otherwise, may have been an empath, like your Uncle. Or, even just a flier, like your biological Father… Choices are endless in your bloodline. And, evolution, always ongoing."

Then, she simply stops, turns, and nods towards the front door of the small bungalow. "Come, Hiro Nakamura," she bids. "We have given Claire and Gretchen more than enough information for one night. Let us leave them. They have Much to discuss, and must do so alone."

Claire nods, distractedly, her head bowed deep in thought; her left hand on her shoulder, holding Gretchen's tight.

Hiro stands with a sigh of frustration, saying, "Quite right." And he bows to the two women, and then follows Gin out the door.

But as they disappear up the temple steps, Gretchen can hear Hiro, whispering loudly: "And you couldn't have told me all that BEFORE we talked to the girls?"

Then their sounds fade away, and Gretchen and Claire are left alone in the silence.

To Gretchen's surprise, the first words Claire finally speaks are: "Oh my God… I'm going to live like a thousand years. How morbid is that? No wonder Angela is… like she is."

Gretchen kisses the top of her head, and smiles weakly for the first time in over an hour or so. Then she walks back around to the sofa, sits down next to Claire, and takes her hand again, letting Claire lean against her. "It's not actually uncommon in the universe, believe it or not," she tells Claire, "Lobsters, in fact, are kind of like you… Not that they are unbreakable, of course, but… They don't really age, and they will only die if someone does "break" them, so to speak. And, they can go on reproducing until they do die."

Claire fixes her with a mean stare. "Would like to keep our son an only child, thanks… if that's okay with you. I think the one is already bringing up enough questions."

To her surprise, and despite the fatigue and confusion of the night, that makes Gretchen chuckle. "Agreed," she replies. "Uhm… and… speaking of questions…"

"NO," Claire interrupts, leaning back against her. "We have 4 to 5 years before those images are even a possibility. I've had enough for one night, Gretch… I'm sorry. I am just SO super tired, and… it feels really good here… just relaxing… with you…"

And then, Claire falls asleep on Gretchen's shoulder, as if to prove her point.

Smiling, Gretchen carefully detaches herself, and moves to gently lay Claire out on the sofa. Normally, she would actually try and pick her up, and move her to the bed, because she always sleeps better herself with Claire next to her. But she knows better at the moment, given it's her sixth month of pregnancy, and Claire's additional muscle weight lately.

So instead, she finds a blanket, covers Claire up in it, and kisses her forehead. "I know it's a lot, Claire… but we've come this far. And I'm not afraid anymore."

Then she turns out the light, and goes into the bedroom. But she doesn't sleep. Not at all. Their son keeps her up all night, shifting and kicking inside her.