(27) Timeline Of Compromise

Peter beamed to his small apartment, still holding on to Claire. He pulled her towards the window where a small table with two chairs were & pointed at them. "Sit down!" He commanded. Claire silently did so. Peter held out one hand. "Your gun. Give it to me."

Claire could feel the uncomfortable force power caressing her. She hated that feeling. It reminded her so much of her first encounter with Sylar the day he had come to her to take her power. She slowly pulled out her gun & handed it over. Peter took it with both hands. An orange glow appeared around them. Nuclear power. He melted the gun into a small hard lump & threw it on the table.

"So," Peter planted himself into the other chair across from Claire. "Shall we begin?"

Claire looked away, closing her eyes. "You think I enjoy this?" She finally asked.

"I don't know what to think about you anymore," Peter angrily corrected her. "What the hell happened to you? The Claire I knew would have never gone rogue. Villainous." Claire finally managed to look into her Uncle's eyes, but had nothing to say. Peter slapped the table top, making her jump. The metallic lump skipped across & fell off. "Damn it Claire! What did I ever do to you?"

"It isn't about what you did to me," Claire replied. "It's what you did. Period."

"What I did was go all through time trying to find Sylar's son," Peter said.

"You kept changing things on whatever quest you were doing," Claire said. "People died or got wiped from existence. You're the marked Villain, not me. I was sent to take you out."

"How did you even know I was messing around with time?"

"Hiro," Claire shrugged. "He can see through time as well. He saw you kill certain people. You killed Nathan. Not Sylar."

Peter shook his head. "Sylar killed Nathan in this timeline. Cut his throat."

"I know that," Claire said. "But we are talking about more than one timeline now, aren't we?"

"What else did Hiro see?" Peter asked.

"He said in the timeline you killed Nathan, I killed you," Claire said. "I was told to take you out before you killed anyone else. Hiro said I should stop you before you started changing timelines. But you're too quick & I can't move through time. I wouldn't know what you did without Hiro telling me. He said you had gone Villain in that timeline & then had come here to this one."

Peter shoved both hands through his hair. "So all this time, you thought I was a different Peter or something?"

"Did you kill my father in another timeline or not?"

"Oh NOW you ask me that?" Peter snapped at her. "After all these years? You should have come straight to me in the beginning! How dare you ask me that question now?"

"Just answer it."

Peter stared at her. He shook his head. "Yes but NOT as a Villain. It was an accident! God! Claire you should have come straight to me! Hiro only saw bits. He didn't get the whole story. That's the timeline I first saw Gabriel's son. The one when I thought Noah died as a small child. The one that started this whole mess when I came back here to this one & lost track of Noah Gray for years."

Claire stared at him. "You admit to killing Nathan anyway? After everything that has happened?"

"You know Sylar & I have the same power," Peter began. "We are both mimics. In the beginning, I barely understood what was happening to me. I'm more empathic than Sylar & I was soaking up abilities just by being near people. Didn't even have to touch them. Sylar is more about practicality & logic. Being the son of a watchmaker, he grew up learning to take things apart & fix them. That manifested in the ability but you can't take people apart & then fix them so in his case, death was the conclusion of his mimicry whenever he used it. But it made him better at abilities than I was since he could see them, not just feel them. By now, both of us can see & feel the abilities. The Aptitude has gotten strong over the years. But, I unlocked the logic of it that day in the other timeline when I first saw his son. That made me crazy for a bit & Nathan died because of it. I was too young & forced my power to develop before it was time. Just like how your other father forced Gabriel's power out before it was time. It never should have happened, for either of us."

"That power is pure evil!" Claire seethed. "No matter what, you & Sylar both killed Nathan. Not to mention so many others, particularly in Sylar's case."

"We got born with it," Peter said. "Noah Bennet should have left Gabriel alone. I didn't know any better either. The ability itself is not evil. Used correctly, it is an awesome thing. I could look into Emma while she was pregnant & watch Natalia develop from in the womb because of this power. It was amazing!"

Claire smiled for a moment. "How is Natalia?"

"She'd be better if it weren't for you," Peter retorted. "You killed her mother."

"I know," Claire replied, letting a few tears escape. "That was not my intention! The bullet ricocheted & hit her."

"She was pregnant again," Peter stated simply, silently enjoying Claire's gasp of shock. "Not even Sylar would ever kill a pregnant woman! You're worse than him."

"Peter I didn't know!" Claire gasped. "I never wanted to kill her. It was you I was after."

"Don't even think about turning your screw ups onto me!" Peter glared at her. He leaned back in the chair. Someone knocked on the door. Peter lifted a finger to unlock the door & open it by force.

Natalia came running in. "Dad, I've been trying to—OH MY GOD! What is she doing here?"

"She's starting to atone for all her crimes," Peter said. "What do you want?"

"I've been trying to call you," Natalia said, keeping her eyes firmly on Claire.

"I lost my phone in Israel."

"Yeah, Israel," Natalia glanced at her father. "About that. Was that really Sylar?"

"Yup."

"He's back?"

"Been back for years," Peter said. He took Natalia's hand & pulled her close enough to hold her with one arm. "We'll talk about that later."

"But are you alright?" Natalia asked. "I mean...Sylar! The horror stories you told me about that monster! How did he get back?"

"Picked up his own time travel ability from the future," said Peter. He patted the top of his daughter's hand for a moment. "Don't you start fussing over your old man now. Sylar & I go way back. I've fought him before."

"I have an ability," Natalia gasped in a hushed fear. "He could come for me! He could come for us all."

"He won't," Peter said.

"Did you catch him?" Natalia asked. Peter nodded. Natalia put both hands over her mouth. "He's HERE then? In New York?"

"Technically, he's under it," Peter half laughed as he stood up. "Micah needs a break. I better go check up on Sylar." He looked at Claire. "I'm not finished with you. What about we go out for some coffee later?"

"Dad are you crazy?"

"I have Sylar's ability, so yes," Peter sent her a lopsided smirk.

Natalia smacked his arm. "Stop that."

Peter just smiled wider, deliberately using his disability to his advantage to make him look cute like a pathetic puppy. "Look you should go home," he finally said. "I don't want you anywhere near Claire right now until some things get sorted."

"I don't want her anywhere near you either Dad," Natalia said. "She got Mom killed. She's as bad as Sylar."

"Oh believe me, I know," Peter said. "I can handle her. I'll get a new phone later & call you." He gave her a quick hug, then gently shoved her towards the door before turning to Claire. "Like I said..." He let it hang.

"I'll see you later," Claire made as if to leave.

Peter grabbed her arm with his hand. "Don't even think about trying anything. I'll know. I don't know what I'm going to do with you yet, but one thing at a time." He let her go. Once she left, he transported directly to the singular prison designed especially to contain Sylar.

Jason woke up first the next morning. It was barely dawn. Noah was still fast asleep beside him but Jason was used to getting up this early for morning prayers & going to the synagogue for Sabbath services. He pushed the blankets down, then took a moment to look Noah over. It was a strange feeling, knowing what they had just done to each other mere hours ago, looking over that physique now. It would probably be a while before they did that again. Jason kept his eyes mostly on Noah's face, attracted more to the intellectual mind than the handsome features bestowed to him by his father.

Jason slowly rolled out onto the floor to avoid waking Noah. He rolled right on to Aviv. A lot of barking ensued ending with a shriek from Jason after being nipped. Noah sat up & threw his pillow at Jason. "Keep it down!"

"Your stupid dog was on my side!" Jason threw the pillow back before picking up some clothes to get dressed.

Noah yawned wildly. "I don't care." He lay back, rolled over & went back to sleep.

Jason stood up, cast a glare at Noah's bare back as he finished dressing, then went out the door with Aviv following him. "Oh no you don't," Jason shoved the dog back into the bedroom. As he closed the door, Aviv slipped back out into the hall. "Fine, but I'm not feeding you." They both silently went down stairs.

Morning prayers was a hard chore when one was ignoring a hungry corgi. Jason ended up giving the dog a few cookies to get rid of it. He got his own breakfast after finding some cereal in one of the cupboards & sat at the table to eat. Halfway through, he wondered what to do next. He had never missed going to the synagogue for Sabbath before & he didn't like the feeling of skipping it now. But if he went, he'd run into his own father & that was something he liked even less. On top of it all, if he did decide to go, he would have to leave within the next ten minutes or so to make it on time.

Aviv yapped & trotted across the kitchen floor. Looking around, Jason saw Noah stumble in, still half asleep. "Aren't you allergic to mornings?" Jason teased.

"Your mom woke me up," Noah complained, handing over Jason's phone. He dropped into the nearest chair & put his head on the table.

"Hi mom," Jason said. "Noah's not too happy with you right now."

"You better be at the synagogue by the time we get there," Tirzah said.

"I don't want to see Dad."

"It's Sabbath!" Tirzah didn't care. "Get your ass over here now!"

"You do know I'm with Noah right?" Jason reminded her. "It's a long drive into town."

"Why don't you bring him along?" Tirzah said. "It would be nice to see him again after everything's that happened. He might help with your Dad as well."

"I dunno," Jason began petting Noah's hair. "Sleeping Beauty's still out of it." Noah stuck up an elegant slender middle finger & shook his head to get out of Jason's grasp.

"Throw him in the back of the car," Tirzah laughed.

Noah lifted his head. "I HEARD THAT!"

"Good," said Tirzah. "Now both of you get moving!"

"Fine. See you later," Jason hung up.

"Great now I have to go!" Noah grumbled.

"Well you're converting someday," Jason pointed out. "Get used to it."

Noah stretched as best possible in the chair. "What was that protestant faith Dad mentioned that kept Sabbath as well? Maybe I'll join them instead."

"Adventists," Jason said. "They still go to church in the morning. I think everyone does."

"Whose dumbassed idea was that anyway to have morning services?" Noah finally got up.

"Hurry up," Jason ordered. "We leave in five minutes. I'll take care of Aviv while you get changed."

Seven minutes later, they were amazingly in the car & on their way. Noah soon fell asleep for a bit but was wide awake by the time they reached Haifa. Jason parked farthest from the synagogue in a corner of the parking lot. Noah got out first & headed for the door, but waited for Jason to catch up. As soon as they entered, they tried to duck into seats near the door on the right, but Jason's father had been watching the door. He beckoned to them to come forward. Jason rolled his eyes as Noah moved ahead towards Tirzah.

"About time you showed up!" Tirzah whispered as they sat down. "Just wait until the service is over Jason." She shot her son a dark glare before turning to Noah. "You poor thing," she ran a hand through his hair. "How are you?"

"Dad's in prison now."

"I know," Tirzah wrapped an arm around him. "We'll talk later alright?"

"Mhm," Noah grunted before falling silent for the rest of the service. He understood it all, the Hebrew language, the Sabbath customs, but his first attendance barely registered in his mind. It had been a rough time since his trip to New York. The shock of it was finally wearing off. Noah had spent his first night at home alone. Sure Jason & Aviv were with him, but his father who he had been with nearly every single day of his life, had not been there. He wasn't even in the same country any more & would not come back for a while. Noah kept his eyes downward into his lap. The fact that he was the son of the most famous killer in the world seemed to be broadcasting from his mind & he felt all eyes were upon him now. Noah knew it was a ridiculous sentiment, or was it? Had they all known? Why didn't anyone else tell him? He barely responded when Tirzah tugged on his arm a few hours later.

"Come on Noah," Tirzah said. "Let's go get something to eat."

Noah slowly got up to follow her as Nehemiah came to join them. "I'll deal with you later, young man!" He brushed Jason aside & took hold of Noah. "I was hoping to see you again. You must have a lot of questions."

"Just one," Noah said. "Did you know?"

"About your father being Sylar?" Nehemiah began. "Yes Noah. We all know."

"But you never bothered to tell me," Noah looked away.

"It wasn't our place to tell you!" Tirzah exclaimed. "Gabriel had spoken to us a long time ago. Just after Ariel died. He said he was planning to tell you himself. He had it all planned out."

"That's when he told you he was Sylar?" Jason asked. "Like he was practising on you or something?"

"That's what he thought he was doing," Nehemiah answered. "But we knew the moment we first met him in the playground. As soon as he said his name. That's why I took you & your mother home. I went straight to Shlomo Gordon about Sylar being in Israel, with a child no less! But all he said was 'Good. About time.' He didn't explain why but it was almost like he had been expecting Sylar to show up. I knew both of them had very strong magic so I suspected it had something to do with that."

"You met him in a playground?" Noah asked.

"He was bringing you out," Tirzah said. "Jason was there as well but you would be too young to remember. We acted like we didn't recognize his name & just simply left."

"I'm amazed you didn't run," Noah half-laughed out of nerves.

"Never run from a predator, Noah," Nehemiah said. "It entices them to hunt."

"Also we were really confused about you as well," Tirzah added. "We didn't know anything about him having any children."

"I'm his first."

"We know that now," said Nehemiah. "I had gone to Shlomo, expecting him to take Sylar on & rescue you or something like that. But he said not to worry about it. He would take care of everything. He didn't tell us how he would do that."

"So when your father brought you to our preschool, Shlomo had told me to send him upstairs immediately," Tirzah went on. "I thought maybe then he would do something about Sylar. He did. He invited him in to his Kabbalist group!"

"We never expected Shlomo to do that," Nehemiah added. "I knew he was incredibly gifted but it wasn't until much later that I found out he had the same power your father had, mimicry, so he knew how to use that ability properly. He was probably the only one in the world who could fix your father. Well, that is until the two of you ruined it."

"If we had known..." Jason shook his head.

"It doesn't matter if you knew or not," Nehemiah said. "Noah's father said not to go to New York. You should not have brought Noah to New York! End of discussion."

"Dad's in jail now," said Noah. "Because of me. It's all my fault."

"You & Jason both," Nehemiah said, before finally turning on his son. "As for you, when we get home later tod—"

"I'm not coming home today."

"Oh yes you are."

"No," Jason replied stubbornly. "I'm not."

"Jason—"

"Nehemiah?" Tirzah stepped between them. "Not right now. Let me talk to him." Nehemiah glanced between his wife & son for a moment before looking at Noah. Both left to get some food, leaving Tirzah alone with Jason. "Come on Jason. You need to come home sooner or later."

"Tomorrow."

"I think it would be best if you come home today."

"I can't," Jason said. "Noah doesn't have a car so he needs a ride to school. Rabbi Gray is no longer here so we can't leave the dog home alone. We have to go back there. Noah can get a new car tomorrow after school. For now, if I leave, he'll be stranded & in even more trouble with the school."

"You're not supposed to be with Noah for a whole year," Tirzah said. "What if Gabriel finds out?"

"He already knows," Jason said. "I was there. So was Noah. We both jumped on Peter & ended up in the jail. Peter brought us back home later. But Rabbi Gray said it no longer mattered. In fact, he sort of drove Noah away. He doesn't want us seeing him like that. He told Noah to stay with me. I think he left something with René about that. Besides, after last night, no one can separate Noah & me any more." At that, he turned & walked away.

Tirzah took a moment to figure that out. "Hey wait! You guys aren't even married yet?"

"Who cares?" Jason called back over his shoulder. "We can't get pregnant. Leave me alone!" He stormed off. Tirzah held up both hands & muttered something in Hebrew before following. Jason came up to Noah, keeping on the other side of him, away from his father. "You okay?"

"What's the time difference between here & America?""

"Depends where."

"I'm guessing New York."

"Seven hours behind us then. Why?"

Noah had a piece of his shawarma before answering. "I wonder how Dad's doing in jail on the Sabbath?"

"I'm this close," Peter pressed his fingertips together. "To killing you, Sylar."

"I'd like to see you try."

Peter put his hands on his hips, sending Sylar the old 'pissed Petrelli' glare: the eye roll with a slight head tilt & hands on hips. "Why won't you eat that?"

"I can't."

"WHY?"

Sylar just grinned. "Pig, Peter. It's pig."

"So?"

"Israelites don't eat it," Sylar finally explained. "It's unclean."

"You're American, not Israelite!"

"I'm actually both," Sylar said. "Noah's just an Israeli despite being born in New York."

Peter put both hands over his face for a moment. "You're just trying to be difficult!"

"So what if I am?" Sylar was thoroughly enjoying himself. "I'm not eating it & that's final."

"If you keep it up Sylar, I'll make you work for your food!" Peter snapped.

"I can't work today."

Peter took a very long breath. "Why?"

"It's Sabbath," Sylar laughed at Peter's frustration. "Can't work, buy or sell."

"You're...kidding me, right?"

"Wrong."

"I'm not buying it, Sylar," Peter said. "I know you're raised Catholic like me. You KNOW the Lord's day is tomorrow!"

"Spare me the Catholic jargon," Sylar grinned as Peter glared. "You & I both know the real story about that, don't we, Peter? The Church changed the day, not the God."

"Are you seriously getting into a religious debate with me right now?"

"How else am I supposed to fight with you?" Sylar stated. "I'm stuck in here. A battle of words is all I can do at the moment & I'm bored."

"I'm not defending the Holy Church against the likes of you!" Peter snapped. "Besides, last I checked, you're an atheist!"

"Peter, you haven't seen me in almost twenty years," Sylar said. "A lot has happened. You have several of my powers, including the lie detector one now. Did I lie?" Peter just groaned & marched away without another word.

"I'm going out to get some coffee," Peter paused by the door of the computer room where Micah was. "Think you can handle him for a bit?"

"I'll be fine."

"What are you reading?" Peter noticed an open book on the desk.

"It's a Bible," Micah said. "I'm looking through Leviticus for all those Jewish rules so he can't surprise us with anything else."

"Good idea," said Peter as he turned away. "Wait, what's that sound?" Both listened for a moment before Peter glared at the computer screens. Sylar was sitting cross-legged on the floor, back towards them & looking up at the ceiling. "Oh God, he's singing!" Peter exclaimed. "In Hebrew!"

"Not a bad voice though," Micah admitted. "OW!"

Peter had smacked him over the head. "What is he singing?"

Micah pulled up a tab. "Sabbath morning prayers."

"I'm out!" Peter raised his hands in defeat as he marched away, ignoring Micah's laughter.

Peter cautiously stepped out into the street. It was weird being out in the open in New York City now. He no longer had to watch out for Claire but he still had to be wary of others with abilities who were causing riots. He slipped through the shadows into an alley & beamed away. Landing in Manhattan, Peter hurried into a small coffee shop to find Claire sitting by the window. He watched her for a while before slowly approaching her.

"I hate him," Peter said as he sat down across the table from her.

"Don't we all?" Claire said. "Now that you have him, what do you intend to do with him?"

"My original plan was to have Mohinder permanently neutralize Sylar's powers," said Peter. "Make him mortal & have him executed."

"So why don't you?"

"We have Noah to think about & the planet itself," Peter said. "Sylar & I both need our powers for that."

"Mohinder doesn't remember him, can you believe that?"

"Yes," Peter nodded. "I looked into that a while back. Maya was a transferred sub-teacher in Israel for a term in Noah's school. Pretty sure Sylar stuck our Haitian friend on her & Mohinder."

"He didn't want his son finding out."

"Nope," Peter leaned back in his chair & sighed. "That's quite a mess now. From what I've seen of Sylar having a son, they were extremely close. It's ruined right now."

"Sylar did it to himself," said Claire. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm thinking maybe we should keep Sylar in prison for a while," Peter said. "One year for every known victim he killed. It's a bit over a hundred & we can literally do it since we're all immortal."

"It's hard keeping him secured though," said Claire. "He always finds a way to break out."

"It will take him a long time figure out how this time," said Peter. "He can't access the gas flow. He has no clue where he is. But it's still something I worry about. I can just see him working it out whenever I look at him." He drank some coffee. "Then there's the matter of what to do with you."

"Me?"

"You're not much better than Sylar," Peter said. "If I count all the timelines I've been through, you ended up a worse Villain than he ever did. You're actually lucky it all ends in this timeline now that we have Noah back. But Sylar is right. You're a traitor. Why the hell did you jump?"

"I wanted to live out in the open."

"Was it worth it?" Peter asked quietly. "You destroyed everything. Your family. America. Us. We used to be so close. You're the only niece I have but I feel like I don't even know you any more & I still can't forgive you for Emma's death yet somehow I can finally forgive Sylar for Nathan's. That right there is a problem."

"I told you, Emma was an accident," Claire said. "I was aiming for you & are you really picking Sylar over me?"

"I've seen his redemption more than once," Peter flicked up a brow at Claire. "I've never seen yours. As for Emma, it doesn't matter if it was an accident. The truth is, you were going on a false lead. You thought I had assassinated the President but I wasn't even in America at the time. I was in India with Mohinder working on that drug to remove abilities so we could take Sylar down if we ever found him again. I have all the proof, but you didn't want to listen. The President back then got killed by people rioting & showing off their powers they bought without thinking of the consequences. If anything, you're the one to blame, not me."

"I was told you were messing around with a way to synthesize abilities better," Claire began. "A lab had exploded near that riot, killing several people. The survivors went into a frenzy. Several people said it was your lab & accused you of weaponizing the synthetic powers."

"It was my lab," Peter said. "For a time, but I had left a long time before that happened. Someone else must have taken over. Like I said, I was in India."

"People claim to have seen you there," Claire said. "People saw you kill the President."

Peter shifted to look like Jason, shrugged & returned to his own form. "Really, are you surprised?" He shook his head. "Sylar & I can both do it. Sylar got it off someone else. We can't be the only shapeshifters in the world, especially now that our generation has produced children. Who knows what's out there?" He finished his coffee. "None of this would have happened if you didn't jump off the Ferris Wheel, Claire. Emma is dead because of you. Nathan is dead because of Sylar but I can't time jump any more. Noah Gray is back. He was the one I had been looking for. I wish I had found the optimal timeline with all of us together but I can't risk losing Noah again. This is a timeline of compromise."

"You jumping around in time caused quite a mess!"

"It isn't entirely my fault," Peter countered. "I fooled around with timelines. You jumped. Sylar somehow managed to end up with his son but only after a few years of non-stop murder. It's us, Claire. All three of us. We're immortal. It's unnatural but here we are. Now Noah Gray is thrown into the mix, a fourth undying being & unlike the rest of us, he doesn't have a spot to knock him out. Yet we all wonder why the planet explodes soon."

"Aren't you the one who put Sylar in the future?" Claire said. "You are responsible for Noah Gray's birth."

"In this timeline," Peter shrugged. "The first time I saw him years ago, he was living with his father in your old house in Costa Verde. I don't know how he got born that time but whatever. So long as he is here. He is the tether to keep Gabriel Gray sane, which in turn saves the rest of us from his lust for blood. It's a good thing Noah Gray can't die."

"Didn't he die in that other timeline you saw?"

"I used to think that," said Peter. "But from what Noah told me here, his power got activated by being run over. Some abilities need to be jump-started. I'm wondering if maybe he survived eventually in that other timeline, but we'll never know."

"I've often wondered what it would be like for someone like us to even have children," said Claire. "We are immortal if left alone but there's no guarantee any of our children gets the same power. Sylar got lucky, but you didn't. Natalia is mortal."

"You're NOT threatening my daughter now are you?" Peter stood up & leaned over the table, staring Claire down.

She leaned back in a feeble attempt to avoid his gaze. "What? No! She was never a target! Do you really think that about me?"

"We're mortal, or perhaps immortal, enemies now," Peter pointed out. "I only came here to make a truce, not be friends with you. I trust Sylar more than you & I do not trust him much at all! You have no idea the damage you've done. I will never trust you again & if you ever get into trouble?" He slowly shook his head. "Don't expect me to show up! We're finished Claire! Have been for a long time. I'm only here for the sake of all the children involved. Sylar's son, my daughter & everyone else born in the past two decades. In fact, the only thing that is stopping me from killing you myself right now is Sylar. He told me to be careful how I handle you. He's really quite attached to you."

"He always has been since I was fifteen. He was twice my age then. He's a sick twisted pervert!"

"No, it's different," Peter disagreed. "This isn't some lovesick creeper puppy hanging outside your college dorm window anymore. Age gaps won't matter soon, seeing as how we can't die. He is looking to the far future where it's not the same as here."

"Hey I'm still trying to wrap my head around that okay?" Claire finally snapped. "I'd rather die than get with him! I really would. I can't see how I'd end up with him."

"It's a long time from now," Peter shrugged. "Get over it. For Noah's sake."

"Get over it?" Claire stood up as well. "Have you forgotten what he did?"

"No, but unlike Sylar or I, you're not quite a parent yet," Peter said. "Sure, you're going to be Noah's mother but from your point of view, that is not for another five thousand years. You're not a part of his life right now. You don't understand what it's like to have a child that could get wiped out by time itself if we're not careful, let alone any child at all. The things we do for our children are indescribable."

"That may be," said Claire. "Look, I don't want Noah erased any more than you do. Children are innocent regardless of who their parents are. I really do feel bad for Noah. What he has to deal with now that he knows & I do hate that Natalia didn't grow up with her mother."

"Don't even speak about Natalia!" Peter shot back. "You seem just fine with her not having a father around! You don't get to feel sorry about Emma, after what you did! You don't know the first thing about Natalia! There is something about her that you should have known years ago but you turned your back on all of us."

"What happened?" Claire asked. Peter just crossed his arms, glaring. "Peter, what's wrong? Is your daughter—"

"She's not mine, she's Nathan's!"

Claire stared at him. "W-what?"

"Yeah you heard right," Peter said.

"Nathan died a few years before Natalia was born. How is that even possible?"

"Nathan was a donor for me," said Peter. "I don't have sperm."

"Um, you have my power," Claire said. "Shouldn't that clear up whatever's wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong," Peter said. "Although try telling that to the government back in the day. They always screwed up my passport until later on. It was really hard getting that F changed to an M on it.*"

Claire stared long & hard at him. "...Peter...are you...oh! OH MY! Seriously? Transgender?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Wow! I never knew."

"Well now you do," Peter muttered. "So I'd appreciate it if you stop accidentally killing off my family. I only have one shot left with Nathan's donor sperm."

"I've always seen you as a guy," said Claire. "When did you change?"

"I had transitioned when I was a kid," Peter began. "Between the ages of twelve & seventeen. Long before I met you & Sylar & got stuck with the regen. I was at first terrified it would revert me back, but I had plenty of time to heal from the transition so I guess the regen doesn't care. Just like my scar which I got during the time my power was broken. It was healed completely before I got fixed."

"How come the regen never fixed that paralysis you have?"

"I was born with dead nerves in my mouth," Peter said. "Regen heals, not resurrects."

"I guess," Claire said. "I've heard you still stutter at times even after absorbing my power. I often wondered why it didn't clear that up."

"The stutter is more emotional," said Peter. "As you can see, I had a lot of insecurities growing up."

"Yeah," Claire sighed. "I still can't believe you're transgender."

Peter just laughed at her. "Now you know why Nathan was always coddling me. Teasing me when I started on the road to become a nurse. I was still a girl when I started becoming interested in the medical field & mentioned I wanted to be a nurse. Then I transitioned but still wanted to be a nurse. Nathan had a lot of fun with that. But he was just being an over-protective big brother."

"I gotta sit down," Claire dropped into her chair.

Peter watched her for a moment. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Claire said. "Just a bit shocked. Of course I'm fine with it!"

"Good," Peter sighed. "'Cause I'm tired of fighting you. I don't need that on top of it."

"Peter." Claire started.

"Don't," Peter hushed her. "There is a lot of damage to repair. Sylar with his son. You & I. You & Sylar. It's going to take a lot of time."

"Well we have five thousand years."

"Thank God for that!" Peter declared. "I should get going. Hopefully we won't run into each other for a while." At that, he turned & left without another word or even a backwards glance. Claire sat at the table alone, watching him take flight outside the window before burying her face in her arms crossed over the table top.

* From "Fight Or Flight" episode.