Whoa, had this one done sooner than expected.

Let me explain what I'm trying to do here.

Peter: I think the amount of time Peter spent with Sylar during 'the wall' has had a bad influence on his personality. It's like when you spend a lot of time with someone you start taking over their habits and a bit of their behaviour. And I think it gets even worse under the circumstances that they've been living in (the fact that they were in there for years and that it was just the two of them).

Claire: I'd also like to put a bit more emphasis on Claire's insecurities. She's been trying to figure herself out during season 4, but I don't really think she succeeded. She thought she could find her place at the carnival, but that didn't work out the way she wanted to, because of Samuel.

I wanna keep working along those lines.

"And this is Mrs Comey."

"I'm Peter." He reached out to shake her hand, but pulled away instantly when he felt a wave of intense heat coming from the woman's hand.

Mrs. Comey laughed softly and shook her head. "Oh. I'm sorry, dear. I can't help it sometimes."

Claire chuckled. "Mrs Comey has the ability to emit heat from her body. She was the cook at the carnival. Her blueberry waffles are actually the best I've ever had."

"Claire, you're such a sweetheart. Isn't she a sweetheart?" Mrs Comey asked Peter.

Maybe if she stopped plotting the murder of a certain serial killer, Peter thought as he looked at Claire. She just wouldn't stop talking about it. "She is."

Claire had to put a lot of effort in smiling back at him. "Well, thank you. How long are you planning on staying here?" she asked Mrs Comey.

"Oh, I don't know. This is just temporary, we know that, but we don't really have anywhere else to go. You should ask Edgar, though. He kind of took over after Samuel got arrested."

"Thank you, Mrs Comey. We will." She looked at Peter. "Come on. Let's find him."

"Sure," Peter said. "It was nice meeting you, Mrs Comey."

"You too, dear."

"That was fast," Claire said.

Peter turned around and narrowed his eyes when he saw the speedster with the knives standing in front of Claire. "You."

"You," Edgar said when he saw Peter.

"No need for introductions?" Claire asked. The two of them had obviously met before.

Edgar took a step towards Peter. "You're not going to steal my knives again, are you?"

Peter shrugged. "Only if you're going to use them on me again."

"I shouldn't have done that."

"No, you shouldn't have." The man held out his hand and Peter shook it. "Peter."

"Edgar."

Claire decided to lift the tension a bit. "He's the one I told you about," she said to Peter. "He got me and Gretchen away from Doyle this morning."

"Oh. So, that was you?" Peter asked Edgar. "It's good to hear that you're saving people now instead of cutting them to pieces."

"Peter!"

Peter ignored Claire. "You're ability, it's useful. Do you know how many lives I've been able to save when I had it? It can be used to save lives. I hope you know that now."

"That's enough, Peter."

"It's okay," Edgar said. "I've done some bad things in my life, I know that. I'm now trying to make up for the mistakes that I've made.

"Better late than never, right?"

Edgar nodded his head. "You really took me by surprise when you copied my power, Peter. I wasn't expecting that. You've got some pretty good moves. Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

Peter didn't know how he'd gotten better at fighting over the years. It probably had something to do with all the different kinds of abilities he's had, like enhanced strength. He ignored Edgar's question and decided to move on to something more important. "Have you seen Bennet?"

"Yes," Edgar answered, "I have. Why?"

"You sliced him up pretty bad."

"Don't worry, he gave me a nasty beating in return."

"Good."

"Okay…" Claire had no idea what was going on. Edgar had sliced up her dad, her dad had beat him up in return and Edgar had fought with Peter. She was always the last to know these sort of things and it was so frustrating. "Thanks, Edgar. For bringing Gretchen back to her dorm room."

"No problem, I owe your father a lot of favours. And you," he said to Peter. "I heard you fought Samuel and gave us the time to get away from the carnival. Good job, man."

"That's all I did though, buying time. It was thanks to-,"

"Peter," Claire interrupted before he could finish his sentence. "Can't you just accept the compliment?"

"I wanted to say that it was because of Hiro and Ando that everyone got away, Claire. But everyone's okay and that's what matters most." Peter turned around and searched the hall with his eyes, looking for a way out. He smiled when his eyes fell on a certain blonde. "Come on, Claire. There's someone I want you to meet."

Claire watched as Peter walked away. Things were so tense between them after the conversation they just had about Sylar. She didn't know what was wrong with him. He should be on her side, he should want Sylar dead as much as she did.

"Claire?" Edgar asked as he tried to make eye contact.

"Yeah? Oh, sorry. I wanted to ask what you and the rest of the carnies are going to do now."

Edgar breathed in through his nose slowly as he thought of an answer. "I think the real problem is money. We need it to start over, but I don't think we'll be able to get enough. Not even if we sell the carnival in its entirety."

"What's the alternative?"

"Going back to the carnival. Living our lives just like we always did."

"Is that so bad?"

"I don't know. I can't help but wonder why anyone would want to go to a carnival when they know what we can do… They already thought we were con artists, but now they have actual proof."

"I'm sorry. That's my fault, isn't it?"

"Don't worry about it. We'll find a way to make this work."

"Emma," Peter said when she saw him. He embraced her just like he did at the carnival. "You okay?" he asked when he pulled away, so she could read his lips.

She nodded her head and smiled.

"How did you get here?"

"I was looking for you and your friend at the carnival, but I couldn't find you anywhere. So I went with these people. Hiro brought us here."

Peter clenched his teeth. He didn't know why Sylar referred to him as a 'friend' to Emma, but he didn't like the sound of it. It could've been Sylar's way to explain to Emma who he was and why he was there to save her or he could've actually meant it. Peter hoped it was the first one, because he sure as hell never gave Sylar the impression that they were friends. "The man who saved you, he's no friend of mine."

"Then why would he say that he was?"

"Who knows…" Peter looked down at Emma's hand, took it in his own and examined it. Her finger tops were covered in bandages. How someone like Doyle could do that to a person, making them play an instrument until their fingers bled. It was horrible. "Does it hurt?"

"A bit."

"Are you sure? I mean I don't have my healing power anymore, but-,"

"I'm sure, Peter. It will heal on its own."

Peter smiled and nodded his head. "Okay."

Claire stood behind Peter and cleared her throat. She didn't want to interrupt anything, but Peter said that he wanted her to meet someone.

"Oh, sorry. Emma, this is Claire. My niece. Claire, this is Emma." He turned away from Emma. "Make sure she can read your lips."

"My lips?" Claire looked at Emma, but then realized what Peter meant. "Nice to meet you, Emma."

Emma smiled. "You too."

"Peter?"

Peter turned around. "Micah, hey."

"Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll be right back." They walked away from Claire and Emma, to a less crowded spot in the hall. "What is it?"

"Sylar, he wanted me to give this back to you." Micah handed Peter his phone back.

Peter frowned and took the phone reluctantly. "Oh, right." He didn't even know that Sylar still had it. "Thanks."

"I think he left something for you in there."

"Whatever it is, doesn't matter anymore. He made his decision."

Micah narrowed his eyes at Peter. "Seriously? I didn't know you could be so ignorant."

"Excuse me?"

"He's trying to be a better man and you're supposed to be helping him, like you were doing before you got caught. You are the only one who can. I thought you wanted to help him."

"Micah…" Peter began wearily. "He wants to punish himself for everything he's done wrong. That's what he wants and we have to respect that. What I want doesn't matter."

"But I'm sure if you tell him that-,"

"Enough, Micah. It's over. He's gone."

Micah pursed his lips, clearly not done with the topic. "I thought you were different than that."

Peter sighed. The kid was right, he knew that. He still wanted to help, but Sylar didn't want his help anymore. "What do you want me to do? You want me to find out where they've taken him? And then what? Break him out? I've already done that once, Micah. That's not going to work this time. He doesn't want anyone to break him out."

"That's not what I meant..."

"It was his choice, nobody forced him. He went with Bennet knowing fully well what he was doing. If I go after him, he'll just send me right back."

"I know. Please, just check your phone. It might change your mind."

Peter frowned at his phone as Micah walked away. Even if it did change his mind, he still couldn't do anything about Sylar's situation. Breaking someone out of prison wasn't the same as breaking someone out of a nightmare. Micah just had to accept that Sylar was a lost cause.

He opened his phone and saw that he had gotten another text. It was sent from his own phone this time.

It's better this way.

Peter breathed in through his nose heavily. He finally understood what Micah meant. I'm such an asshole. He was supposed to be helping Sylar, like Micah said, but not in the way of a rescue mission. He was the only one who knew how Sylar had changed, the only who had seen him change. Peter was the only one who could convince anyone that Sylar was never going to kill again. He had to start following his own instinct again, like he always did. Starting, by telling the truth.

"Did you say Doyle?"

"Yes. He was forcing me to play the cello. It's my ability, bringing people together by playing music. Samuel used me and my ability to lure people to the carnival."

"That's sick..."

"Claire," Peter said as he strode towards her. "I need to talk to you. Now."

"What's the hurry?"

Peter glanced behind Claire and saw Noah standing on the other side of the hall, talking to Hiro and Ando. "I really need to tell you something. Can you please come with me?" He turned his head to Emma. "Can I borrow her for a moment?"

Emma had no idea what was going on, but nodded her head nevertheless. "Sure."

"Thank you," Peter said and he led Claire away from the hall. They went through a door, into a corridor, where nobody could hear them. "I'm so sorry, Claire."

"About what?"

"Lying to you. I shouldn't have done that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Sylar. He didn't attack me and he didn't attack your father either."

"He didn't..." Claire just stood there, gaping at her uncle. "Then why would you say that he did?"

"Because I helped him, Claire. I helped him escape from his nightmare, I helped him when your dad shot him, I helped him when we went to see Matt again... I didn't think you'd understand."

"You're right! I don't. He's manipulating you, Peter. Why can't you see that? He's got you all wrapped around his little finger and you don't even notice it! Even now he's locked away, you're still defending him! He doesn't deserve to be defended by anyone, especially not by you!"

"He does!" Peter closed his eyes and sighed. "This is exactly why I couldn't tell you the truth. Sylar… he has changed and I'm the only one who sees it."

"What makes you so sure that it's not just all part of some plan he has?"

"He doesn't have a plan. It's like I said, Claire. I was closed off from the outside world with him for years. I think I know him better than anyone else ever did."

That's so weird. The person who knew Sylar best was the same person whose brother he killed. "How did you manage not to kill him in there?" Claire knew for sure that if she had been there instead of Peter, she would have tried at least.

"I've asked myself the same question every day since I first arrived there." Every time he took up that hammer… "There were too many reasons stopping me from doing it, though."

"Like what?" Claire asked curiously.

"Like I didn't know what it would've done to his unconscious body. If I killed him in there, would it mean that I killed him in real life as well? Would I be killing myself with him? I was trapped in his mind, Claire. The risk wasn't worth taking, but there was one reason that made the difference."

"What was it?"

"I couldn't do it." It was that simple. "I wanted to, but I couldn't. And you know what's even worse? I think he would've let me do it. I think he would've let me kill him if I tried." Every time he punched Sylar in the face, every time he lashed out... The man never fought back, he just let it happen.

"That doesn't mean that he's changed, Peter. Okay, maybe he regrets everything he's ever done, but that's only because he realizes that he's on his own if he keeps murdering people. It's only temporary. He'll start killing again, eventually. He will, I'm sure of it. He's still got that ability, that hunger. It's all still there." Claire looked away and had to take a deep breath. That manipulative bastard was going to get away with everything, again. Peter didn't know what it was like when someone was looking at your brain, touching it while you were still conscious. Being able to feel his fingers slither all over it, searching for that tiny spot... "You shouldn't have lied to me though," she said, trying to focus her mind on something less... disgusting.

"I know. I'm sorry. It's just... Your dad can be pretty persuasive."

"My dad?"

"Yes. Didn't he tell everyone that Sylar tried to kill me?"

"That's what he thought, but… Wait. If Sylar never attacked you, then why did my dad shoot him?"

"He-,"

"Peter Petrelli?"

"What?!" Peter snapped and turned his head. Oh. "Hiro... I'm sorry." He wanted to punch himself in the face for being so damn uptight. "How are you?" Hiro was sick the last time Peter saw him, very sick. It was worse than that. The man was dying.

Hiro smiled. "Much better, the tumour is gone."

"Tumour?" Claire asked. Hiro had cancer? Nobody tells me anything anymore!

"Yes, it was a brain tumour."

"It's good to hear that you're better now, Hiro," Peter said.

"I also got the control back over my abilities. That's why I'm here. I heard you want to go the future?"

"Yes, I do."

"Okay, Peter. If you want, I will join you on your mission."

"Wait," Claire said. "Is that really necessary?"

"We won't know if we don't go," Peter answered. "What's wrong with finding out what our lives will look like from now on?" Taking his mother's ability certainly wasn't going help this time.

"But what if you lose your ability? What if you can't come back? What if you get killed?" There were so many things that could go wrong, so many ways that would make it impossible for Peter to return and Claire saw them all happen in her head. She didn't want to lose him. She didn't want to lose the only real family she had left. Of course there was still Angela, but that wasn't the same.

"I'm not going to take another ability, Claire. That's something only I can control and I do. I can control it." He did have some trouble controlling it at first. He even took down an entire airplane on accident, because he couldn't control it. But that was no longer the case. "I'll be fine. I won't be going alone, Hiro is coming with me."

"I will not leave without him," Hiro reassured Claire.

"Shall we?" Peter asked. He didn't want to wait any longer. The sooner they went to the future, the sooner they could return.

Noah came running through the door. "Wait!" he said just in time. "You can't go just yet."

"Why not?"

"You can't go to the future unprepared. I may not know much about time-travelling, but I do know that you've got to be careful. It's different than going to the past, you won't know what's coming."

"Ah," Hiro said, "and don't forget the butterfly-effect. What we see, we must keep to ourselves."

"Yes," Noah agreed. "If you tell anyone what you've seen, it could change everything and your little trip to the future will be all for nothing."

"Then why bother going to the future at all, if you can't even tell us what you've seen?" Claire asked.

Peter placed his hand on Claire's shoulder. "We only need to know if the future is safe for us."

"I know." Claire sighed. She still wasn't convinced. Peter shouldn't have to go the future. Why couldn't Hiro go alone? Why was Peter so determined to go with him? It didn't make any sense to her.

"I've got this for you," Noah said. He gave both Peter and Hiro a bracelet. "They're GPS trackers."

"GPS trackers?" Peter asked. "Do we really need those?"

"We don't want the two of you to get lost in the future," Noah answered. "This way you'll be able to find each other if things turn sour. If you're going in there together, you better return together as well."

"Ando and I," Hiro said, "we have GPS trackers too and it is better."

Peter looked at the bracelet he just put around his wrist. "I guess…"

"It's a precaution, Peter." There were so many things that could go wrong and Noah didn't want to take the risk. Hiro had his time-travelling permanently, Peter didn't. "There's a chance that you'll lose your ability, that you're going to take another one. You need to be able to find Hiro when that happens."

Peter sighed irritably. Why was everybody so convinced that he would take another ability? "I'm not gonna take another ability… Okay, let's say that I do take another ability. What if this doesn't work?"

"Then you'll just have to find Hiro's older version. There's no other way for you to come back."

"Peter?" Claire asked.

"Yeah?"

"Please, be careful." She turned to the Japanese man. "You too, Hiro."

Hiro smiled and bowed. "Thank you, cheerleader."

"We'll be fine," Peter said. "Won't we, Hiro?"

"Yes, you'll be fine." Noah was getting a little impatient. "If you remember what we've talked about. Let's go over it one more time, just in case."

Hiro nodded. "We go to the future and see if it is good or bad."

Peter went to stand next to Hiro. "We'll have a look at our future selves and see how they're doing. If it turns out that they're having a hard time living their lives, we return and tell you about it. If everything's okay, we return and stay quiet."

"Remember, don't stay too long. An hour should be enough. You only need to know if the future is safe for people with abilities. Observe your future selves. Find out if you can live your life peacefully. If that's the case, don't change it. Don't talk to anyone, don't touch anything either. Try to be invisible."

"How far do we need to go?" Peter asked. It was the only thing they hadn't discussed yet. "About a year or something?" He was thinking about going four years into the future, because that's what he did the last time he time-travelled, but that was because he needed to change the future. This future might not need to be changed.

Noah frowned. "A year? No, no. That's way too far. I think a month or two would be enough."

"Two months? That's not gonna tell us anything."

"The less you find out about the future, Peter, the better."

"We won't find out anything, if we don't go further than that." Peter grabbed Hiro's upper arm, making the Japanese man jump a little from the sudden contact and took his ability almost instantly. It was so much easier to take Hiro's ability than it had been to take one from Sylar, who had a whole bunch of them.

Shit. "Peter…" Noah warned him.

Peter squeezed his eyes shut, focused on one specific date and teleported himself and Hiro away.

"What's wrong with him?" Noah asked as he moved to the spot where Peter and Hiro were standing, just seconds ago. "He wouldn't even listen to me."

"Has Peter ever time-travelled before?" Claire couldn't recall him having done it before.

"I don't know, Claire. But I hope he has. Who knows where they are if he didn't do it right."

Oh, god. "So, they could be anywhere? Even the past?"

Noah nodded his head. "Anywhere." If Peter had just waited, if he had just heard Noah out, Hiro could've used his ability instead. Noah saw the concerned look on his daughter's face and continued quickly, "but you know what? They went together. As long as they stay together, they will be just fine."

"Peter told me he lied about Sylar."

That's not good. Noah thought that Peter understood the importance of staying quiet about that, but the empath had changed his mind, apparently. That was not supposed to happen. "Did he now?"

"He told me that he helped Sylar after you had shot him."

"Well, that's just-,"

"What about you? You didn't see him attack Peter at all, did you? You lied to me as well, didn't you?"

"Claire…"

"Didn't you?" She repeated. He didn't answer her question, he just gave her that look. It was the same look he always gave her when he realized that he had messed up again. "I think I've got my answer." She walked away. Away from her dad, because she couldn't look at him any longer. She wasn't even angry at him. Disappointed, that's how she felt after another lie had been added to the list.

She went back into the hall where all the people of the carnival still were. The space had been cleared from desks, computers and other equipment, to make room for dozens of fold out beds. It looked more like a shelter than the new headquarters of the Company. She walked right past Emma, past Edgar, past Mrs Comey and all the other carnival workers. I need some air.

Claire left the building through an emergency exit and found herself on the parking lot behind the building. She was so angry. Angry with Peter, for leaving. Angry with Sylar, for existing. And she was angry with herself. She began to realize more and more, how selfish she had been when she jumped from the Ferris wheel. And what good did it do her?

College was no longer an option (not that she was interested in going back there), making friends with anyone was out of the question (she would only get them killed). She couldn't even imagine herself having a job, without constantly being recognised by customers. Her life was never going to be normal again.

"There you are."

Claire turned her head. "West? What are you doing here?"

"I came for you, obviously."

"How did you find me?"

"Hm." West raised an eyebrow at Claire and smiled. "It wasn't easy. I went to Central Park first, after seeing you on TV. I figured someone there could tell me where you were, but everybody was gone when I arrived. I waited and waited and waited some more until this huge group of people suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I asked them if they knew where you were and they said something about a press conference. Then when they wanted to leave, I went with them. I thought you might turn up here at some point and you did."

"You went through all that trouble just to find me?"

"Of course. I figured you could use some moral support."

"I do." She definitely needed some moral support. "West… What do you think about what I did?"

West shrugged. "I think it had to happen at some point."

"I'm not sure if the people in there," she looked at the emergency exit, "would agree with that. I think everyone's just beating around the bush in there. They're not telling me what they're really thinking, but I know what's going on in their heads. They're worried about what people will think, about what people will say. They're scared, West. I can see it in their eyes... They're even more scared of the outside world than they've ever been and it's all my fault..." Claire felt her eyes well up with tears and was too late to stop them from rolling down her cheeks. My fault, mine and mine only.

"Wow, hey." West pulled Claire in for a hug and held her as she cried into his shoulder. "You just did what you thought was best. Maybe it won't be so bad, maybe people will accept us for who we are. We'll be able to live out in the open and we will all know that it was you who took the first step."

"I hope you're right."

"I'm always right," West joked.

Claire took a step backwards and smiled when West started wiping her tears away with his thumbs. "Could you take me to the roof?"

"Sure…"

"It's just… I don't want to run into anybody at the moment."

"And with anybody, you mean the man in the horn-rimmed glasses?"

Claire nodded her head in silence.

"You will kill many people. You will become strong. The strongest of them all. But in the end, it won't make any difference."

"I guess Hiro was right after all."

"No one will mourn your death. No one will shed a tear. No one."

"Except for the dying part, of course." He wasn't going to die, he never would. But I'll be alone. Alone for the rest of my life and no one will shed a tear. It's better this way, he had to make sure that Peter knew that. Peter had to move on with his life and sending that text was the only way to tell him.

Living a normal life was no longer a possibility and Sylar had to accept that. The whole world probably already knew about him, what he looked like, what he had done. No one, not even the Haitian could change that. I've got no place in this world.

Sylar produced a bolt of lightning in the palm of his right hand and stared at it for a while. "Such a waste…" Such a waste of all these abilities. Peter was right. He almost never used some of them and that was wrong. He killed people to get these abilities. The least he could do was use them every once in a while. They could keep him busy in his cell.

It scared him, something he would never admit to anybody, but it did. The outlook of being in that cell, forever, alone. He thought it would be better than the telepathic world he had been living in for years, but started doubting it as soon as he stepped inside the van. He wasn't going to change his mind, because he had to go through with it. He had to pay for his crimes, he needed to suffer, to make up for the lives he had taken.

"Make a list," he told himself. A mental list. It was going to be a long one. He wouldn't even be able to finish it. There were so many people he had killed that he didn't even know the names of. That little girl, Molly Walker. Killing her mother wasn't necessary. She wasn't special, she was just in the way of getting to the girl. He had no idea what her name was, it wasn't on the list, but 'Molly's mother' would do. As long as he could remember them, that'd be all that mattered.

There was a loud noise, like something heavy crashing down on the asphalt outside. The car stopped.

What was that? Why did we stop? There were voices. People outside were shouting. Panic. There was a time when he enjoyed the sound of people, panicking. The fact that he was the one causing it, always made him shudder with excitement. It was a constant reminder of what he was. The most powerful man on earth.

But he was not the cause of it this time. The voices grew louder. What's going on? Sylar wasn't just going to sit around and wait. He stood and opened the back doors of the van with telekinesis. He was handcuffed, but that didn't matter. He didn't need his hands. He hopped down on the ground and went to the front of the van.

"What's going on?"

An agent, a woman with blonde hair, turned around and pointed her gun at his head. Other agents did the same thing. "Get back in the car, Sylar."

Sylar ignored her. "Why did we stop?"

"That isn't any of your concern."

There was another van, lying on the other side of the road, on its side with its back doors wide open. There was a huge crack in the middle of the road, like… an earthquake. Samuel, Sylar realised. "Where is he?"

None of the agents answered his question.

"Where is he?" Sylar repeated.

"We don't know," a male agent said.

"He escaped. Someone helped him escape."

"We're searching the area."

Why doesn't that surprise me? Sylar thought with a sigh. Samuel had escaped. That was bad, really bad. He could think of only one reason why Samuel would try to escape. The man wanted to take revenge and Sylar knew just exactly who he would be taking revenge on. "He can't have gone very far."

"Get back in the car," the female agent repeated. "We'll handle this."

"I can help." I want to help. "I'll find him."

"Last warning. Get back in the car."

"Or what? You'll shoot me? Go ahead. Shoot me."

The woman was smart enough to lower her weapon, but the man standing next to her wasn't and he fired his gun.

Sylar stopped the bullet in mid-air and dropped it on the ground. "Are we done playing games? Yes? Good. I'll tell you what. I'll get back in the car after we find Samuel."

Next Chapter: The Future