Note: Please remember that I started to write this story before the second season. Any and all information from season two should be considered null and void. And as always, I do not own these characters.

Chapter 11

The first thing he was aware of was the light, tiny and unfocused. It seemed to penetrate his eyelids, so he tried to open them, but his vision didn't change. He tried blinking. Nothing. He tried again. Deep in his brain, in the backwards spot that understood the impossible, a place that had been working overtime lately, he realized that he had no eyelids at all. And the fact that his vision was so bad meant that his eyes themselves must not be all there either.

The stars, Peter realized, he was looking at the stars.

"Pothole!"

There was a large jostle and Peter awoke by knocking his head against the glass of the car window. Claire giggled, "Do you always fall asleep in the car?"

He looked over at his niece, sitting cross legged in the bucket seat of the van next to him. "When I sleep on the couch the night before, yes."

"What were you dreaming about? You kept twitching."

"I don't remember." Peter glanced back at Grace, who was sitting with Molly in the row behind him. She looked at Peter with hard doubt. On her lap a hand twitched as if it might rise in some gesture of comfort or explanation. But it didn't, and Grace simply turned to look out the window at the grey world.

No one talked for the rest of the ride.

XXXXXXXXXX

The mall was reasonable busy for a Friday afternoon, and Suresh and Noah argued about a parking spot. Peter was glad that Hiro hadn't come along, who had opted instead to jump back to Japan and pick up a suit there. It would have been too many spoons stirring the pot. They finally settled outside of a large, five story department store.

Once inside, it became apparent that the shopping duties would be divided by gender. Granted, Suresh did volunteer to do the fatherly thing and take Molly, but Claire interceded. "Look, I know you're only trying to do the right thing, but my question to you is how many dresses can you watch Molly try on?"

Suresh looked at her big eyes as he thought. "Three. Max."

"And how many do you want to try on Molly?"

"Lots!"

"See, you don't have the skills for this mission. Plus, you guys will get done way before us. Go and look at big screen TVs or something. We'll call you when we're done. OK?" Claire's eyes were pleading.

Suresh acquiesced to the idea. "Fine, but I want to leave before rush hour traffic."

Claire nodded and the trio of girls began to walk away. "Grace, wait," Bennett called. Grace dropped Molly's hand and trotted back to the men. "Watch out for Claire for me. She seems to be better, but… and if Sylar…"

"I will," was all she could think to say before rejoining Molly and Claire.

Peter waited until they were way out of ear shot before asking the question. "I'm surprised your both letting Claire and Molly go on their own so soon."

Suresh huffed good naturedly. "I suppose we could ask you the same thing of Grace."

"I'm not her keeper."

"Look," sighed Noah, "I'm not overjoyed with this, but Grace raised a good point to me once. At some point you have to continue on with life. Besides, can you see Sylar attacking in a crowded mall?"

"I suppose not."

"Right. So let's go and get this over with." Bennett and Peter began to walk away. "You know, my wife used to by all my clothes. I never knew how nice that was until…Suresh? You coming?"

The man was standing in the middle of a busy foyer, his eyes still looking at the place where his daughter had left. "You said Peter, that Grace doesn't like to be touched?"

"Yeah."

"Then I wonder why she holds Molly's hand."

Peter stood next to his friend. "That's because Molly has good thoughts, happy memories, from being here with you."

"Grace told you this."

"More or less, yeah."

Suresh smiled. "That's something special, isn't it?"

XXXXXXXXXX

The curtain swished open. "What do you think of this one?"

Grace stuck her head out of her dressing stall. "Honestly?"

"Honestly."

"Lady of the night-ish."

Claire stepped up on a pedestal near the three-way mirror. "A vampire?"

"Try again."

Claire thought for a second before, "Oh."

"What's a lady of the night," mused Molly. They'd already spent a great deal of time picking out her dress, and now as Molly sat patiently as the big girls shopped she kept taking peeks inside the bag where her garment was, making sure it had not disappeared.

The women looked at each other, Grace's mouth opening and shutting once before saying, "It's…never you mind." Molly shrugged, digging into her purse for her DS and starting it up.

Claire turned back to the mirror. She smoothed the tight blue number on her legs. "Come out and take a better look. I don't think it's so bad."

Grace immerged, but picked her words carefully. "Well, it's a nice color on you, sure, but…"

"Yes…"

"Well…"

"Oh just say it."

"I'm afraid that your boobs might pop out, aren't you?"

"Oh I don't know," Claire looked at dress from many angles, turning to see her back. "Well, there's only one way to tell for sure. My mom taught me this trick. Always lean forward and see if…oops, yeah, you're right Grace. Not the dress for me." She turned around. "But that might be the one for you."

Grace climbed on the vacant pedestal. The dress was simple, a rich purple satin, relatively high in the front, but dipping low in the back. She smiled a bit. "I like it. I'll take it." Grace stepped down quickly and went to go and change.

"Really? Do you want to try on any more?"

"Not really."

Claire retreated to her own room, and began to get into another garment. "Come on. I'll feel weird trying on things while you wait."

"I can be an excellent helper. I'll hang stuff up."

"OK." Claire handed a dress and hanger through the velvet divider. "I've always liked shopping for clothes."

"Me too." Grace began to hang up the dress.

The sound of a zipper was heard. "You shop fast."

Claire opened the curtain, but Grace just shook her head, and Claire gave a bit of a huff.

"I do shop fast," Grace admitted. "Habit, I suppose. When my dad and I were moving around so much, he didn't like being in places with security cameras, or standing around when I was trying on stuff so I learned to be fast. I guess it stuck."

"That sucks."

Grace shrugged. "It's normal for me. Plus, we also stole most of the stuff we got, so we had to have the least amount of time in and out."

Claire opened the dressing room again, a look of genuine concern on her face. "That must have been really lonely."

"I like that dress Claire."

The blonde chose to ignore such a blatant brush-off. "Ya think?"

"I do."

The dress was a simple dark blue, with a full empire waist. "So do I." She paused, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Doesn't this seem like…" she adjusted a strap that was fine before, "like something that I should be doing with my mother."

"I don't know."

"She loved this sort girly beauty thing. I grew my hair out for her, so she could brush it. I hated doing that, you know. Didn't want to sit still. And now…But maybe one day things will change."

"Sure," Grace tried, but it was unconvincing.

Claire looked in the mirror. "No," she said firmly to the reflection, "no this is the way it is. No going back. It's funny; I never thought it was a very hard decision until now."

"The important things sneak up on us all."

"Yeah." Claire's three images jumped off the pedestal. "Who wants lunch?"

XXXXXXXXXX

"I mean guys, do you see the pixel quality here." Mr. Bennett put his hands on his hips. "It's phenomenal."

"Really Noah, it looks just like the other ones to me," Suresh sighed, rubbing his neck. They had been waiting for the girls at the electronics part of the department store for half an hour. Or, according to Peter and Suresh, forever and a day.

After the third HD television comparison, Peter leaned over and said quietly, "He's such a geek."

"I'm not sure how you can be saying that as an insult considering the present company."

Bennett adjusted his glasses. "I hear both of you, you know."

Now Suresh was splayed out on a couch, listening to Noah and an employee discuss… well he wasn't entirely sure. Peter tapped him on the shoulder. "The girls just called, they're upstairs having lunch. I'm going to check out the video games again."

Suresh could only half heartily wave and tilt his head back to rest on the couch. Shopping with Molly could be a pain, but was it any worse than this? Seriously?

He had only closed his eyes for a moment when the first scream irrupted from a short distance away. His eyes opened. Another and concerned voices. He and Bennett didn't even stop to share a comment before rushing to the disturbance.

Peter was lying on the ground, rocking fiercely, a syringe next to his feet. Noah tried to touch his shoulder, but Peter jerked back suddenly. "Stay away…must control…away." He had a faint glow.

"Who did this too you?"

"Who… do… you… think…"

Suresh picked up the syringe. "Fuck, I think he gave you enough of an upper to make an elephant go nuts."

"Call the girls now, tell them they're next." Noah demanded, taking off for the parking lot. "Bring Peter to the car. I'll get the shot guns."

XXXXXXXXXX

They sat in a corner booth of a dark and exclusive restaurant on the top floor of the department store that they had entered the mall through. A piano player sat taking orders even on a Friday, and everything was covered in worn leather.

Grace looked around with delight. "I went to the elevators and called the boys to tell them where we were. Apparently your father is torturing them with electronics. I can't believe we got a table here."

"The Petrelli name will get you far in this city," Claire said between the straw of her soda.

"It sounds like a dinosaur. Can we have cheeseburgers?"

The older girls tried not the laugh. "Sure, cheeseburgers for us all," declared Grace.

They ate ferociously and laughed easily with one another. A woman all wrapped in fur and pink lipstick stopped by their table, asking "Are you sisters?" This only made the trio laugh even harder.

Claire opened her mouth to speak to the woman, but was interrupted by the cell phone. "You just got saved by the bell." She flipped open the phone as the woman stalked away. "I hope you guys found some real nice tuxes because…"

"He's here. Peter's down for a few. Start walking toward the car. Stay in public places."

She closed the phone quickly, dropping it into her lap from nervousness. "We need to go."

"But I'm not done."

"Shut up Molly," Claire blurted before she could stop herself. She locked eyes with Grace. "We need to go. Now."

Grace nodded. They rushed as fast as they could without causing much commotion out of the restaurant. They made it without incident to the elevators and began frantically pressing the buttons.

"Shit!" Claire kept repeating under her breath, jamming the buttons over and over. She could feel her breath coming hard and fast. Don't panic, don't panic.

Grace touched a plant next to them and her eyes widened. "He heard when I called them, and now he's…" Grace quickly opened her purse and took out a small black device, then got down on one knee to see eye level with Molly. "Listen, when you get in the elevator, press the close door key and go to the lobby. Go to the car. Tell them we're taking the stairs."

"But…"

The elevator dinged.

Grace put Molly behind her in front of the door, Claire still pushing the buttons. "Stand close."

The doors opened.

"Hello lover." He smiled a bit, stepping one foot out of the box. "Going down?"

Grace grabbed his lapels and pulled him close. "Not yet." She jammed her stun gun in, and Gabriel shook violently. He fell to the carpet in a heap, and Grace shoved Molly into the elevator. "Push the button." Molly was crying, but she did as she was told, and disappeared behind the shiny doors.

"Come on," Grace tugged at Claire's arm. They ran toward the stairs but paused once they got inside, staring down all five flights to the concrete below. "Claire, you need to…" The door to the stairs flew open, sending Grace down the first half flight, making her bruised and disoriented, while Claire skidded into a near by wall. Undaunted she got up, ready to ram Sylar.

"Your hair, it really is beautiful." The comment only made her pause for a second, but that was enough. Sylar was upon her then, one hand choking her against the wall, another holding her stomach. "I've been doing some traveling Claire." His hand lit on fire, and the smell of delicious burning flesh filled his nostrils. "Met your biological mother. You two really do look alike. I wonder if you beg the same way." Sylar could see his hand disappearing into Claire's flesh. "Do you think you could do that for…"

There was a great ripping sound, and Sylar turned just in time to see the detached piece of railing that broke his cheek bone and knocked him to the floor. He looked back to see Grace's out stretched hand and arm turn purple and bruised from the effort of throwing the metal. Claire scampered towards Grace on hands and knees, still unable to speak. "Claire go." Claire shook her head. Grace helped her to her feet, putting Claire's back against the railing. Using her good arm she shoved as hard as she cold, and Claire went tumbling down the center well, hitting her legs repeatedly, before landing square on the concrete below.

"That was selfless." He was right next to her then.

"You would know."

Sylar grabbed Graces injured arm harshly and tisked at the scratch marks. "I see we are still having some bad habits." He twisted the appendage harshly, creating a clean break. Grace screamed. "You should stop doing that. People will think you are crazy. Let's go to the roof." He hugged her close as they mounted the stairs. "I'll update you on what I've been doing since we last saw one another." Grace tried to concentrate on the pain in her arm, but Sylar memories invaded her senses.

XXXXXXXXXX

Noah Bennett's heart was beating fast, but his training was making his brain move faster. He gripped the gun tight enough to nearly snap the barrel as he wedged open the door to the stairs, just in time to see his daughter's body tumble and crash to the ground. She seemed dead for a moment, and then let out a large shuddering breath. Noah could hear voices above, and peak his head around the stairs to see Grace and Sylar heading toward the roof.

"Dad?"

He turned and knelt immediately. "Honey?"

"Help…Grace…"

"I…"

"Go…"

Without another word he began to climb, three steps at a time.

XXXXXXXXXX

Suresh figured out the hard way that Peter was extremely heavy. He got the young man under one arm and lugged him to the parking lot, not bothering to utter an explanation to the other confused customers. They somehow managed to get to the car. Noah was already gone, the trunk wide open.

Suresh dumped him into the back seat. "Peter? Come on now, it's time to heal."

Peter leaned his head against the headrest. His eyes were still screwed tightly shut. "Gonna explode."

"No." Suresh shook Peter's shoulders violently. "No exploding Peter. You must be stronger than this."

"Can't…"

"Dad!" Molly came running across the parking lot. Suresh collected into his arms and held her tight, before setting her down carefully. Besides the tears, she appeared unharmed.

"Molly, are you alright …"

"She pushed me into the elevator, and then I ran."

Suresh put his hands on Molly's cheeks, smearing her tears. "You did exactly what you needed to do."

"I could have helped."

Suresh shook his head. "No, there is nothing you could have done. Nothing."

"Is he going to kill them? Why is this happening again?"

"I…" Suresh couldn't answer. He looked back at Peter for some answers, but all that was left was an empty seat.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Do you remember the first time we met?" Grace didn't respond, as Sylar opened the door to the roof and cool air blew on the pair. "I do. You came into the shop and I thought to myself, isn't that something special." He touched her cheek. "And I was right. Though you kept your real specialness from me for a long time." His touch became more forceful, a thumb digging into her face next to her eye. "Why was that?"

"You're not the only one who has great perceptive. You couldn't handle it, you crazy asshole."

Grace felt a sharp knee to the gut, before being shoved to the ground. "And Peter Petrelli can?" She an invisible force quickly dragged her across the ground, scrapping her forehead. "Well, is he?"

Grace managed to get onto her knees, cradling her injured arm. "He certainly is handling it better than you."

"Ah, what is that I hear? Is that hope? I so thought you would have learned better." The door behind Sylar creaked open and Bennett stepped out. "Some things just can't be killed."

Mr. Bennett raised his gun. "I couldn't have said it better." He could feel his finger begin to press on the trigger, but before he could depress the thin metal his gun was wrenched from his hand and clocked him in back of the head. Noah fell to his knees hard, and looked up at the barrel of his own weapon.

"You're almost as stupid as she is," Sylar sneered, turning back to Grace. "You are stupid. And weak. You can stay with these people for as long as you like, think that they care for you. But how long before it all goes away? Before they realize that…" Suddenly Sylar stepped out of the way. Claire went hurtling past. She had obviously been trying to ram, but he'd figured it out. Her momentum kept her going and it looked like she was going to stop before the edge, but suddenly Claire was lifted off her feet, like a gust of wind had pulled her, and she went tumbling over side of the building, but no crash.

Sylar turned back to Grace. "You can end all this, just like we tried before," He took out a knife and threw it at her. "Or I end him."

"Grace, don't," Bennett pleaded.

"Save one family, one father."

Grace picked up the knife.

Noah thought of Claire, recovering on the floor of the ally behind the store. Claude had been so right all those years ago. "You're father sacrificed everything for your safety. Don't give up this easily."

She raised the knife to her throat. "Have a little faith."

The knife began to go in.

To Be Continued…