-2004-

He had to do it. She wouldn't understand why but that didn't matter anymore. He had to keep her safe just as he'd promised he would so long ago. If they found her, it would be the end of everything. He loved her and if they used her against him that was it.

She answered the door only a few moments after he knocked. She hadn't changed and hardly protested when he pulled her outside and around the corner. Thankfully she had been wearing trainers, having arrived back home mere moments before his call.

'Gabe? What the heck are you playing at?' Her voice was a low hiss, as though she could detect the danger. He answered in kind.

'I'm saving your life.'

'What?-' the rest of her question was never said as they watched a van pull up outside her house and armed soldiers race towards the door. He had been lucky to get here before them. Turning back to Meg he noticed that she had backed away, shocked and scared.

'I'm sorry about that.' He whispered as he walked towards her. She didn't flinch away from him when he pulled off his own coat and wrapped it around her shoulders, it was cold out and she was only wearing a thin jumper.

It also covered up any bright colours she was wearing, like the rest of his attire, it was black.

'Why are they doing that? They have no right.' She was getting angry now; he could hear things smashing inside the building. Carefully and quietly he pulled her with him, away from the house. It was dark but it wouldn't stop them being noticed if they got too close.

'This is my fault.' He told her and he steered her towards the car he had arrived in. 'You can get some stuff once they're gone but you'll have to be quick. Then you have to leave.'

'Leave to where?' She questioned as they sat in the car and waited. Her unwavering trust in him both unnerved and comforted him.

'You'll have to go somewhere safe, where they can't find you.' She nodded, remaining incredibly detached from her feelings.

'How far away will that be?'

'I don't know.' It was the truth and the silence after the statement made him even more nervous than he had been when he had found out what the company was planning to do if they found her.

'You said it was your fault.' Meg said quickly, her gaze fixed on a crack in the windscreen, 'What did you mean?' He wanted to be honest, but how could he?

'I'm in trouble, with the authorities that is. They want to get to me through you.'

'What are you in trouble for?' She was concerned now, worried.

'I've done something they don't like, it goes against their ideas.'

'But it was for the greater good?' No, it was murder, but he did it so he could fix the world, just like he fixed clocks.

'Yeah, I suppose it was.' They heard shouting and saw the men retreating to the van. They were clearly annoyed that they had found an empty house.

When they had gone Sylar led Meg back into the house and she collected a few personal items, food, clothes and money. He noted that the book of photos he had given her at the turn of the millennia was safely tucked into one of the bags.

He took her to the airport and paid for her ticket with stolen money in his wallet. It was a one-way flight to England. He gave her some more money so she could set herself up.

'Keep a low profile,' he told her as they headed towards the terminal, 'stay quiet, change your last name and whatever you do, if someone comes asking questions about me, you say we've never met. It may save your life.' She didn't look upset, she didn't show any emotion.

But when she was on the plane and no one else could see her, she cried herself to sleep.

-2008-

A month went surprisingly fast when you were busy. Meg hadn't really noticed the passage to time before, but now she woke up every morning and gave a sigh of relief when she saw Gabriel tucked up beside her. Contrary to popular belief around town, he wasn't an early riser.

They hadn't found them yet. She'd taken precautions of course, telling everyone that they were best friends, planning to marry and that her full name was Megan Jasmine Night and he was Gabriel King. She still worked at the café but now as a waitress whilst Gabriel was busy building his reputation as the odd jobs man.

As first people had been wary, but once they'd stayed for a week or so Gabriel began to fix people's cars, then bikes and now whenever something broke they called him to fix it. He hadn't liked leaving her, partly because he didn't want her to get hurt and partly because he was afraid that the hunger would return if he got too far away.

It hadn't happened yet.

'Wakey, wakey sleepy head.' Her cheerful voice pulled him from his sleep and he had to squint against the early morning glare to see her face properly. He was beginning to wonder if he really needed glasses.

'I was enjoying that lie-in.' He complained as he dragged himself out of bed. Using their combined incomes they'd managed to rent a small flat in the centre of town. It was better than the hotel room but it wasn't much.

'You've got to be at the Brook's by ten.' Meg insisted, placing a bowl of cereal and a mug of coffee in front of him.

'What did they need fixing?' He asked, blinking the sleep out of his eyes and waiting for his brain to catch up with everything else.

'Their television won't pick anything up.' Meg reminded him, pouring out her own tea. England had made her many things, optimistic, weather-conscience and a tea drinker. He didn't mind her change in beverage preference, or her outlook on life.

He was beginning to accept that they could live here some time. He had found himself making friends at the bar, some of the blokes new him from jobs he had done for them, strangely he didn't mind the attention, or the friendship. After so many years of loneliness it was welcoming.

He phone buzzed in his pocket. She raised her eyebrows as he pulled it out.

'Is it work?' She asked but he shook his head, rereading the message just to be sure. He handed the phone to her.

'This is a warning, they know where you are, and they're coming for you, rebel.' She read aloud, 'Who is rebel?' She asked simply.

'I've no idea, but they want to help us.' He responded, taking the phone back. How did they get the number? He had a thought, but quickly dismissed it, how could the kid be rebel? He replied with a quick 'thanks but who are you?' and left for work.

When he got home he hadn't had a reply, but he didn't mind. If they were coming, they'd have to go through the town first. He hadn't realised until today, but the town was a family that looked after each other.

Now they had become part of that family.