A/N: Three updates in three days...I'm totally on a roll. Hope you agree. Enjoy!

Tracy Strauss' Home, Savannah, Georgia

"You owe me big now, Bennet, I hope you know that," Tracy told him as she lead him into the study.

"I will make it up to you, Tracy. I promise," he told her, closing the door behind them. "You have to keep her away from the news media. You know what's going to happen when the rest of them get scared."

"Yes, actually, I do remember what Jeremy looked like after the cops were finished dragging him through the streets," Tracy replied, folding her arms across her chest. "Where are you going?"

"Back to New York," Noah answered shortly. "The Petrellis aren't dealing with this situation appropriately, especially Peter."

"You guys all act like the Petrellis have all the answers," she said. "I hate to break it to you, but they screw things up about as much they fix them. As a matter of fact, have they ever actually fixed anything?"

"Peter saved Claire's life, and we wouldn't have had time to stop Samuel without him," Noah explained. "But, right now he's being very stubborn, and it could end up hurting a lot of people if this gets out of control."

"You guys have an awful lot of faith in a senator's wimpy kid brother."

Noah looked at her from over the rim of his glasses, smiling slightly. "Trust me, Tracy. You should have a little faith in him, too."

Claire shook her head as she watched her father drive away from a second floor window.

"You're just going to let him go?" Zach asked from the doorway.

"I think I'm done getting mad at him," she replied in resignation. "It's like fighting city hall."

Zach chuckled and sat down next to her on the window seat. "Why is he leaving?"

"To help my grandmother handle things with the reporter, I guess. He'll be a company man until the day he dies," she muttered. "It's one of his best and worst qualities."

"I'm just…worried about Peter," she confessed, tearing her eyes away from the window and looking him in the eye. "Nathan dying really messed him up. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't been there. He was going completely off the rails, and now he thinks Sylar has changed and he's not speaking to me, and I just left him in New York with…a lot of problems."

Zach leaned back and smiled knowingly. "Here's a crazy thought: call him."

"What?"

"Call Peter. Call Gretchen. Call your mom, or, hell call Lyle," Zach told her. "Just call someone. That's what people do when the world is getting shot to shit. They call their families and friends."

"What if they don't answer?" she asked, idly pulling at a loose thread on her jeans.

"Then they don't answer," Zach replied. "But you, sitting up here, staring out the window, doing nothing? That's not you. You've declared that you're done hiding from the world, Claire Bennet. You definitely shouldn't hide from the people that care about you."

He slipped a phone into her hand before he gently kissed the side of her face and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Lake Placid, New York

Elle was fidgety. This was partially due to the fact that she couldn't really do anything because her right side was still battered from the car accident, and partially because she was in a cabin in the woods with no one but Gabriel and Mikey.

Mikey was down for his nap in one of the bedrooms. There were four bedrooms and a loft in the cabin. It was definitely a Petrelli version of a cabin in the woods: rustic on the outside, all of the amenities essential to modern life on the inside. She was stretched out on one of the leather couches while Gabriel read near the fireplace.

She thought about what he had said the night before in the car about having doubts about his redemption. She wondered what happened when his doubts got the better of him. The last time they had, she woke up on a beach bleeding and about to be a meal for a pack of feral cats. And so, she fidgeted.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking up from his copy of The Pillars of the Earth.

"Sure."

He looked at her dubiously and set the book aside. "For a lifelong company girl, you're a terrible liar. What's wrong?" he asked, sitting down on top of the coffee table across from her.

She bit her lip and mumbled, "I'm an idiot."

"Huh?"

"I watched horror movies when my dad was out of town. I'm the idiot girl that willingly follows the serial killer into the woods to die," she spewed as Gabriel's eyes took on a hard edge that looked strange behind his glasses. She continued, "You know, if I have doubts, it's my own problem. I you have doubts, it's everybody's problem. It could be the whole damned world's problem!"

"Goddammit," he muttered under his breath. "Really, Elle? That's what you're worried about?"

"Why shouldn't I? You murdered my father. You nearly killed me twice."

"God, I'm such an idiot," he said, standing and running his hands through his hair. "How could I think you had actually forgiven me?"

"I have forgiven you. I forgave you a long time ago."

"You could have fooled me," he said, too-cheerfully, from across the room. "When did you forgive me? I honestly can't tell."

Elle struggled to an upright position and brushed her blonde bangs out of her eyes. "I forgave you because you gave me a reason to live."

Gabriel's brow furrowed and his stance softened as he said, "What?"

"Mikey," Elle explained, motioning toward the room where the child was sleeping. "I, uh, I was getting picked up on the streets, and then shock the bastards and take their wallets for money, and then I found out I was pregnant, and I knew it was yours and I knew you were out there in the world hurt and hurting others and it was my fault, and I was standing on a bridge and I was gonna jump, and…he moved. They're not supposed to move at that stage, but he did, and I wouldn't have him without you. He's saved me everyday since, and so…I forgave you. That doesn't mean I'm not scared of you."

Gabriel's body uncoiled and he sat down next to her. She didn't turn to look at him when he brushed her hair off her shoulders. She kept her eyes focused on her shoes as he spoke.

"Elle, what happened on the beach that night happened because you lied to me. You let me believe I had a family," he began quietly. "All I ever really wanted was a family, so I wouldn't be alone. What I didn't realize at the time, was that you were all the family I was ever going to have, you and Mikey. I know I don't deserve a second chance, but that's you are right now. You're my second chance, and, yeah, I'm scared too, but…I'm not going to hurt you, or our son," he said firmly. "I'll die first."

Tears rolled gently down Elle's cheeks as she smiled at him. "Kiss me," she said softly.

He leaned forward and tenderly pressed his lips to hers. A cry rang out from Mikey's room just as they moved closer and mouths opened to one another. Gabriel reluctantly pulled back and said, "I'll get him."

She smiled as she watched him go. Elle wasn't fidgety anymore.

Parkman House, Los Angeles

"Hey, can I come in?" Janice asked, lightly knocking on the slightly ajar door to Matty's room.

"Of course," Molly answered, setting her phone aside. "It's not really my room. Sorry."

"Well, it's your room for now," Janice assured her, sitting down in a chair near Molly's cot. "Can I ask who you were texting?"

"Oh, just Micah," Molly answered quickly. "He's bored. I'm bored. I guess I should probably come out of here and apologize to Matt and Mohinder."

"Apologize for what? Rebel saved their butts a bunch of times last year, and in weird way brought this family back together. They should be proud of you."

Molly smiled sheepishly and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "You're really nice," she said. "I didn't know what you'd be like. Matt never talked about you much because you'd just gotten divorced, and…"

"I understand," Janice replied. "He talked about you, though. He wanted to contact you, but he was never sure if it was safe, and…"

"I understand," Molly parroted.

"Well, we're both very understanding people, apparently," Janice joked back. "I get the feeling this lull in the danger won't last, so, while things are still normal, would you like to go shopping with me. I think the guys can manage on their own for a few hours and I noticed you didn't have much in the way of clothes."

Molly smiled back at her gratefully. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd love to."

Peter Petrelli's Apartment, Lower East Side

Taking a sleeping pill had been a horrible idea. Combined with his natural fatigue, the drugs seemingly only made his dreams worse. The last time, the smell of the blood had been so real he vomited as soon as he woke up. He took a cold shower, but it didn't help. He still felt nauseated and dizzy and very, very alone. At least with Gabriel in the apartment, the place felt fuller. Without him, it just looked like the collection of junk that it was.

He sat down on the floor, and leaned back against the wall, his legs stretched out in front of him. He suddenly wished he had a TV or a radio or that he hadn't destroyed his police scanner after waking up from that dream the second time. The only noise came from the clock Gabriel built him, and it was about to drive him insane.

He was grateful when his phone started ringing. "Hello."

"Peter?" the voice on the other end asked uncertainly.

"Claire," he stated.

A pregnant silence ensued before she said, "I, uh, I just wanted to let you know we made it out of New York without running into that Remy woman. I'm in Georgia, at Tracy's safe house."

"Good," Peter replied simply.

Claire took a deep breath and said, "I'm not sorry I revealed myself, Peter. I'm not. But I am sorry that it hurt you. Peter, you're the last person in the world I would ever want to hurt because you're one of the very, very few people that's never hurt me."

Peter sighed. "I know, Claire," he replied. "I know, and I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. It's just…I don't have that many people in my life I trust either, and I trusted you."

"Are you alone right now?" she asked. "No Sylar?"

"He went upstate with Elle and Mikey so they wouldn't run into that reporter."

"Why did he go with Elle and Mikey?"

"Mikey is his son. You do the math."

"Oh. Oh. That makes sense in a really weird sort of way."

"Doesn't it?" Peter chuckled slightly.

A more comfortable silence fell over the conversation.

"You're probably sitting in your apartment staring at the wall right now, aren't you?" she said finally.

Peter smirked slightly and replied, "Actually, I'm staring at my bed. What's your point?"

"You shouldn't be alone like that, Peter."

"Claire—"

"No, listen to me, I've had some time to think about it in the last few days," she began, cutting him off. "No matter what was going on, I've always had someone I could trust, someone I could confide in. You haven't. Your entire family has screwed you over at some point. You've had no one."

"Claire, I-I've had someone, okay?"

"Then why are you sitting in your apartment all alone?"

Peter glanced around at his sparse surroundings and stood to his feet. "Claire, I have to go. I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"Okay."

"Bye."

He slipped his phone back in his pocket and grabbed his coat before walking out his door.

Central Park

Emma found it necessary to take a walk by lunchtime. The new file clerk was barely twenty and a bleached blonde. She was smart enough, but she talked incessantly and she rarely ever looked at Emma when she spoke, even though Emma had asked her to repeatedly. Ariel, that was her name, also wore low-cut tops and flirted with every other man that walked into the office. Emma decided she was trained enough to last alone for an hour.

She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She felt an odd mixture of relief and trepidation when she saw it was Peter. He looked pale and dehydrated, but his attempt at a smile was genuine.

"Hi," he said simply.

"Hi," she replied, shifting uncomfortably and not meeting his eyes.

"I went by the hospital," he explained. "The new girl said you went for a walk. I know you like to come here."

"Oh," Emma replied, surprised to feel pangs of jealousy just because he met Ariel.

"I, uh, I should probably be asking why you kissed me, or why you ran away, but…I don't really care."

Emma's shoulders slumped as her heart sank and tears welled in her eyes.

"That's not what I meant," Peter said, reading her thoughts and taking a step closer to her. "I don't care why you did any of it because…I need you. Emma, I really need you in my life. I don't care why, but I'm begging you not to run away from me again."

She felt herself molding into his embrace as one of his hands grasped her jacket and the rested on the side of her face. She brushed a tear away with her thumb as it rolled down his cheek.

"I need you, too," she confessed.

He closed the gap and caught her lips in his. To his pleasant surprise, she pulled him closer. Neither of them cared that it was December in New York, or that people were watching.

Los Angeles

"Oh my God, you're kidding," Remy said into her phone as she got out of her rental car. "The saintliest Petrelli was making out with the little deaf girl in Central Park? God, this is so great. Find out everything you can on this Emma Coolidge. I want to know all her dirty little secrets. She's a part of this too. I should be back tomorrow. Talk to you then."

She stashed her phone in her purse and knocked on the glass door of the thoroughly modern-style house. A young, handsome Indian man opened the door and said, "Can I help you."

Remy flashed him her most winning smile. "I think you're exactly who I'm looking for."

A/N: I am actually quite proud of this chapter. I managed to fit at least some characters from all the different factions in, and it's not ridiculously long, and I also managed to move my ships forward. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.