Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes. NBC does, thanks to Tim Kring.

A/N:I know it's short but hey--it's an update. Classes have been crazy and inspiration lacking--but here really are no excuses.

Please let me know what you think b/c I can't fix anything in the future if I don't know what's wrong. So leave lots of reviews.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Next

"What do we do now Peter?" Chase asked, Daphne by his side.

Everyone looked at Peter in the frozen silence.

"I don't know," he whispered. He looked around at the frozen scene.

"Peter," Hiro said. "Now is not the time to freak out. What do we need to do?"

Peter looked around him. There had to be something that they were missing. He had to figure out what it was. "Unfreeze Sylar. I need his help," Peter said softly.

Hiro nodded obediently, even though he didn't want to do it, Sylar now moved. "Sylar, use your power to figure out how all of this is happening. We're missing something—or someone."

Sylar closed his eyes and listened. Everyone was quiet. "I can't." He moved around the people. "I can't pick up on anything. You have to unfreeze them."

"What's the plan? If we unfreeze time then people will die. We can't go into it blindly," the speedster said as she crossed her arms.

"We're not. Sylar will figure out what we're missing. We'll keep battling. Make sure everyone stays away from that machine. We'll keep them away," Peter said. "I'll tell Kat to create a barrier—maybe that will prevent the machine from working. Sylar, can you listen to one thing while there's more than that going on?"

Sylar nodded. "It's not a problem."

"Now, Hiro."

Hiro closed his eyes and his cheeks shook. Everyone was moving again. Matt and Wes told everyone what to do and the team moved away from the machine. Peter looked at Kat, who shook her head.

"What if it doesn't work?" Kat asked.

"Let's hope that's not an issue."

She didn't say another word as she moved closer to the bald man called Mr. Connors. He didn't see her from behind as she closed her eyes. In a matter of seconds she opened them and they were now a blue film. She moved her head and a transparent blue film covered the area surrounding Mr. Connors and his machine. She followed him as he moved around. He was trapped in Kat's bubble shield, unable to penetrate it—he just didn't know that yet.

Sylar stood in the middle of chaos. A ticking in his head. He listened to it with everything inside of him and fought off all the urges. Never before had he desired power than in these moments. He wanted it, needed it and here it was, so easy to take. The ticking was louder as he moved around the crowd. He had a mission and he couldn't ignore that. He'd worked so hard to gain their trust and he wasn't about to break it for any instinct.

Sylar gasped. That wasn't what he expected to find out. He looked up. Peter was staring at him. Sylar nodded and they moved toward each other.

"What is it?"

Sylar shook his head. "You're not going to like this." Peter raised his eyebrow. "I found a few things. The Haitan was here. He wiped away all the memories. These people only know that they are supposed to kill all of us." Sylar took a deep breath. "In order to kill this man, someone should attack while that field is up. If you could make him use that while he's in the force-field, he'll kill himself. And Kat's getting tired; it needs to be soon. Or now."

Peter closed his eyes and told Matt to send someone. Seconds later, Peter watched Jenna, Leon and Meredith moved toward Kat. He looked at Sylar. "What else? You know something that you aren't saying."


"Kat, when I say go, we're going to make him use that thing on Jenna," Leon said.

"Okay…"

"Then we're going to kill him," Meredith said.

Kat nodded her head. "Hurry. "

Jenna moved to the front of the Mr. Connors. "Hey bald guy! I bet you think you're scary with that big tube thing, huh?"

Mr. Connors didn't reply. He just stared at Jenna.

"If you think you're so strong and scary, why don't you try to just take me down with that thing." She teased.

Mr. Connors lifted the machine.


"Peter, I know who's in charge of this. It's the part that you're not going to like." Peter looked at him. "It's your mother, Peter."

"What?"

Sylar nodded. "She's in a car down the alley. It's all a trap for you and Nathan—and Claire." Peter looked at him. "She wants to use me. If she gets to me… It's not safe, Peter."

Peter looked at his former enemy. "Use you?"

"I want it so badly, Peter. I'm fighting so hard to ignore this, not give in. It's part of me. She can use it if I'm not careful. And there's one more thing she can use," Sylar looked across the lot toward Elle. "You're not the only one with a weakness…"

Peter followed his gaze toward Elle and looked past her toward Claire.

"I know how it feels now," Sylar said. "When you came to me last year and asked me to kill you so she would live, I thought you were crazy. I couldn't imagine that. Now, I know exactly what you mean. I've hurt her already; I would do anything to never do it again."

Peter spoke up for the first time. "Then, we won't give her the chance to do that. We're going to stop her. Together."


Mr. Connors pointed the machine at Jenna "Any last words?"

Jenna crossed her arms. "Well, I'd say it was nice to meet you but it'd be a lie."

"You think you're funny?"

"Oh, I'm hilarious."

Mr. Connors shook his head. His finger inched toward the trigger on the machine and it cocked into place like a gun would. Jenna smiled. Mr. Connors pulled the trigger and a silent shot of what sounded like electricity poured from the gun. It caught the shield that Kat created and was captured on the lining of the shield. It encompassed Mr. Connors and he looked worried for the first time. It floated around him like a lion waiting to attack. He turned and looked at Kat.

"Now!" Meredith yelled as she and Leon sent fire his way. Kat dropped the force-field on cue and the fire met the electricity in a blast, all of which fell down on the man called Mr. Connors. He screamed as he fell to the ground in convulsions.


Sylar and Peter looked toward the man on the ground. "I guess he's not a problem anymore," Sylar said. The two men watched the scene amidst the chaos.

"Peter," Nathan said as he approached the duo with the other team leaders.

"What do you want us to do with the weapon?" Rachel asked their leader.

"Tell Hiro to take it elsewhere. He can take Vic and Crocker. They'll know how to destroy it. Tell him I don't want a trace of anything," Peter instructed. Rachel nodded and went to Hiro.

"Peter, what happens now?" Claire asked softly.

"Monica, make sure as much of our team gets out of here as possible. Fly them out, teleport them—whatever we have to do. Claire, if you can help them when it's over, do it. Mohinder's got preparations ready for the arrival."

"Do you want us take them all down? They are trained to kill us now," Elle asked. Peter looked at her as the screaming around them finally stopped.

"No. If you can, then just take them and lock them all up. We'll figure out how to restore their sanity later."

"I don't know how smart that is," Nathan said. "We should kill them."

"They're people too," Peter said.

"I can do it," Matt whispered. Everyone looked at them. "I can change their minds, make them not think like the company."

Peter nodded. "Do that. Let's lock them all up first. Go…there's a lot to do." Claire grabbed Peter's hand and he kissed her softly before she walked away. Nathan followed behind Claire. "Nathan, wait—not you. We have something else to take care of."

Nathan stopped in steps and looked at his brother. "Sylar found out who's behind this. And we have to make sure there's no more threat."

Nathan looked at Sylar skeptically and crossed his arms. "And how do we do that?"

"We talk to the right people," Sylar said.

"Who would the right people be?"

Peter inhaled and looked at Nathan. "Our mother."