Niki woke only minutes after Peter had left and knew that it was something about the explosion. She didn't want Peter to be involved with it anymore; It was 5 years ago. The damage was done. Nevertheless, she was never a heavy sleeper, and often woke before Peter. She rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed, slipping on her bathroom slippers. Niki then left her bedroom and walked into the kitchen, as she started making coffee. Niki hated that Peter left her alone; it reminded her of how she felt all the time in her head. She took the coffee out of a box and put it into the coffee maker, as she slumped into a kitchen chair. Niki rested her head on her hands as she thought about Micah. The thought made her smile, but only for a brief moment until her thoughts turned into the explosion.

He would've been such a good brother. Niki thought to herself. He didn't even know Niki was pregnant. She hadn't had the time to tell him. But he would have, Niki knew it. If only he was here, right now. . .

Then she lost it. As the coffee machine was working, Niki started sobbing, except this time, Peter wasn't there to help her. Whether it was a matter of minutes, or an hour, Niki didn't know as she cried for her son. She felt as if she failed his as a mother, by letting him die. If she had just done something different, one little thing, she could have saved her son's life.

All of a sudden, her cell phone, which was subsequently on the kitchen table, starting buzzing. Niki picked it up, and saw it was Mohinder calling. She quickly tried to pull herself together as she wiped away her tears and picked up the phone. She tried to sound relatively normal in mood as she said a mere, "Hello".

"Niki? Oh, Peter told me this morning he was leaving. . . I would only call if it was an absolute emergency, and. . . well, it's Grace. Something's happening to her-" Niki was in utter shock, and wanted more than anything to know more. She stood up from the kitchen table and went into her room to find clothes. She ran into her room as she talked, sounding worried.

"What! What happened! Is she okay?"

"She seems fine, health wise. She's crying for you. It's…. hard to explain. You may the only one she'll let through." Mohinder said quickly. Niki looked solemnly out the window as she pulled on her boots and hung up her cell phone. Something was dreadfully wrong. Mohinder rarely called them. Something was happening to Grace, and Niki knew it wouldn't be good.

.

In less than 20 minutes, Niki found herself at her daughter's hospital, racing franticly to the elevator. She winced instead of looking at the mirror in the elevator. She became filled with anxiety to see what happened to Grace, and she was angry that Peter wasn't here. Niki knew he would have been the calm one. But he wasn't here. He was off saving the world for everyone else, when he couldn't even save his family.

Niki walked nervously down the hallway in which she knew she would find Grace. Instead, she saw Mohinder and other doctors and nurses with their arms folded on their chests, staring out the glass window that Niki knew so well. Mohinder turned his head and looked to her, as he nodded side to side, returning his glance back to the window. Niki stopped in her footsteps at what she saw through the window.

What she saw was her nearly 5 year old daughter sitting on her bed, staring back at them through the large window. Her forehead had beads of sweat strewn about and her clothes were tattered, like they had been frayed. Her brown hair was in a messy ponytail on the top of her head, and her eyes were red from her crying. But that wasn't the half of it. All around her the walls of the room were peeling off. The handles on her bed were melted off, and all around her was steaming goop that must have been things around the hospital room. The IV machine was melting to the ground, as were the chairs and medicine cabinets. Niki stared at everything; the room looked like it had been through a terrible fire, and all that remained was debris. But she knew that not to be the case. Grace, hers and Peter's daughter, had caused it. She had an ability, and it was all their fault. Niki knew life because of this would be hell. Nathan Petrelli, Peter's brother, banned those with abilities to "breed", and it was because of this very reason. She knew Peter could keep Nathan away, but what would this mean for all the other Sylars out there? He was dead, they were all sure of it. He perished when he blew up New York City 5 years ago. But there were others like him, and they emerged because were now targeted as a minority. All of them. Not Peter, nor Grace, or herself, because they were given what was called a 'pass' from Nathan once the laws started passing 5 years ago. They were not to be bothered by government officials, Nathan was to make sure of it. After all, he was Peter's brother. Grace stared back and Niki started sobbing, coming closer to the window. All the doctors stepped farther away from the window, but Niki approached it. Grace, in her small height, stood on her tip-toes, and put her hands on the window. Niki saw the fog on the glass as she smiled weakly as Grace continued to cry outside. She said something, but Niki couldn't hear what it was.

Niki's instant reaction was to open the door. She had to help the little girl, trapped inside her own confusion in the deteriorating room. Niki reached for the doorknob, but no matter how she pulled or pushed it, it wouldn't open. Locked. She thought. Niki looked to Mohinder as he shook his head.

"She's dangerous, Niki." She looked at him, not believing her innocent little daughter could be harmful in anyway.

"She's upset and she needs help. She needs her mother, and I have to get her out of there. That building will bury her alive." For the first time since the Explosion, Niki within seconds pulled off the doorknob and the door swung open. Mohinder and the others looked at each other in awe.

"Momma?" Niki heard, as she walked into the room. It smelled terribly of burning tar or rubber, as she walked over to Grace, whom was cornering herself as she looked nervously to Niki. "Momma…. What's happening to me?"

Niki whispered, wanting to cry as she came closer step by step to Grace. "Baby girl… we're going to talk about it later. But I'm going to take you home now." Grace looked like she wanted to smile, but she was so shaken that she just stood there. Niki came closer to her and picked her up. Grace wrapped her legs around Niki's waist and put her small arms around her neck. Niki held onto Grace as she walked out of the melting room. She closed the door behind her with her free hand, and walked to Mohinder. All the doctors and nurses stepped farther away in terror as they stared at Grace in Niki's arms. Mohinder staid in place, remembering when all this seemed interesting to study. Niki spoke softly, but loud enough for him to hear.

"Our agreement is finished. I thank you for taking care of her these past 2 years, but we won't be needing your services anymore." With that said, Niki turned the opposite way, with her back turned to them, and walked quickly away with Grace in her arms. Grace looked sadly to Dr. Suresh as she laid her head down on Niki's shoulder. They were going home, but Peter wasn't here for them. This moment was supposed to be different from now. It was supposed to be with excitement and happiness, with Peter here to lead the way home. But Niki took Grace alone, because leaving her daughter there would mean leaving everything good in her in that room as well. What the near future held for their broken family was opaque, and Niki couldn't see smooth sailing in the picture.