Where the hell is he? They had been searching for Samuel for a while, but there was no sign of the man. Sylar even tried to look for him from above, while flying, but to no avail. It was like the man had gone up in smoke. Or dust. The fact that there were trees as far as the eye could see didn't help much either.

So, eventually they decided to go back. They had to go back to the company, because that's where they expected Samuel would go. That's where the people of the carnival were, where Claire and Bennet were. They couldn't risk letting Samuel get there first. Even though it was just a hunch. Nothing was certain, but if they guessed right and Samuel's destination was indeed the Company, they would be there first and all they had to do was wait for him.

Sylar was back in the van again. He refused to go back in it until they found Samuel, but he didn't mind it just as long as they were still searching for the man. This time he felt good about it. He had a goal, just like he had a goal after leaving Matt's basement. He had another chance to prove that he had changed and it felt so good. Helping felt so good.

Something was bothering him, tough. He couldn't see the agents in the front seats and he had a question he wanted to ask them. So, he used his ability to cut a hole in the part that divided him from them. It wasn't even a big hole, just big enough to look and talk to those agents. The blonde female agent was driving the car, he noticed. The other agent, the one who tried to shoot him earlier, was sitting on the other side.

"What the hell?" the man said when he realized what Sylar had done.

"Oh, don't be such a baby. It's just a hole. I'm sure you can fix it." Sylar turned to the blonde. "You. What's your name?"

"Does it matter?" she asked back.

"Well, you seem to be the only one who knows what she's doing, you've got guts and you don't scare easily. I like that. How long have you been working for the company?"

"I'm not working for the company anymore."

"Right." Anymore. Sylar had seen many agents during his time in company jails cells, but he couldn't recall having seen this one before. "So, what's your name?"

The other agent gave her a warning look, but she ignored him. "Lauren. Lauren Gilmore."

"Nice to meet you Lauren Gilmore. I'm Sylar, but I'm sure you knew that already. I'd like to shake hands, but then I'll need to cut a bigger hole and I don't think your colleague would appreciate that."

"Cut the crap."

Sylar raised an eyebrow at the man. What was that guy's problem? Sylar just tried to be civil. "Okay, I'm sorry. How rude of me. What's your name?"

"Owen."

"No last name?"

"Of course I have a last name. There's just no way in hell that I'm gonna give it to you."

Sylar had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "I'm not going after your family if that's what you're thinking…" He wasn't that person anymore, but these agents didn't know that. They still saw him as the cold blooded killer he used to be, someone who would go after their families for no reason at all. "You know what? Never mind. I'm done talking to you."

"Just sit back and stop talking at all," Lauren ordered.

"Oh, come on. You're gonna lock me up eventually. The least you can do is give me something to keep my mind from it for a while." Until they found Samuel and he had to go back again. "There are other things we can talk about. We must have many things in common. Right? As a former company agent you must've killed people. I know that that's how they used to do it back in the old days." There was no response from both agents. "No? Something more positive? I... can tell you how many ways there are for me to crash this van..."

Lauren kept her eyes on the road, ignoring Sylar's attempt to scare them. She knew that his threats were harmless. Owen on the other hand was not as brave as her and turned his head to face Sylar.

Sylar saw the fear on the man's face, chuckled and shook his head. People were always going to be afraid of him, no matter how much he changed. He might as well have some fun, while he still could. "Don't worry, I'm just kidding."

Owen gave him a look filled with hatred and sat back in his seat again. "Sick bastard," he muttered.

"Thanks. So, they know we're coming?"

"Of course they do," Lauren answered as she kept her foot on the gas.

"Let me rephrase that question. Do they know that I'm coming?"

"Yes."

Sylar wondered how that bit of news would be received back at the Company. He was coming back and Samuel had escaped. What a day. "So, how did you manage to let him escape?"

Lauren glanced over her shoulder at Sylar for just a second. "He had help," she said when she turned her eyes back on the road. "Someone pulled the tubes out from his nose. He couldn't have done that by himself, while unconscious."

"Do you have any idea who it could've been?"

Lauren nodded her head. "We think-,"

"Lauren! You're not seriously going to tell him that?"

"Why not?"

"Yeah, Owen. Why not?" Sylar asked. Seriously, how did this guy become an agent?

"He might kill her and take her ability. He," Owen looked at Sylar from the corner of his eye. "He can't have her ability," he whispered to Lauren.

"I can hear you. What ability?"

"I thought you were done taking abilities," Lauren said.

"I am. You're just acting so mysteriously about this… girl, was it?"

Lauren and Owen exchanged a look. "You're right. We can't tell him."

"Can't or won't?" What ability? Sylar was getting more and more curious by the second. What was so special about that girl's ability? All abilities were special, but this one was different. Sylar couldn't have this one. Why? Why couldn't they just tell him what it was? I'm gonna find out eventually. "How am I supposed to find Samuel if I don't know how he escaped?"

"You're not supposed to find him at all. That's our job."

"Your job was to transport him. Your job was to make sure he wouldn't escape, but that didn't really go as planned, did it?" Sylar sat back and ran a hand through his hair. Those idiots couldn't even stop Samuel at the carnival, without his or Peter's help. What made them think they could stop Samuel this time? They should let him help. He was going to help, with or without their permission. With or without knowing how Samuel escaped. All he had to do was sit and wait, until they were back at the company. Then he'd be able to take matters into his own hands again.

"I've told my parents."

Claire turned her head in surprise. "You did?"

"Yup." West leaned back on his elbows, his legs dangling over the side of the roof. "After we saw you on TV."

"How did they take it?"

"They said that it explained a lot. Why I'm always on time and stuff."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Claire said while staring off in the distance. She was sitting cross-legged next to West. Talking to him had calmed her down a bit.

"Their first reaction was that just because some girl on television said that her father could fly, didn't mean that I could. That according to 'that girl' you had to be born with it. I told them I was born with it. I actually had to show it to them first, before they believed me."

"Did you?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

West exhaled, with a smile on his face. "Mom started crying, dad was speechless... Both in a good way."

"You're so lucky. When I told my dad, it turned out that he already knew, that he had known all along. I didn't even get the chance to tell my mom. She had to see me get shot first." That's how it always went. Decisions were made for her, instead of getting the chance to make them herself.

"At least it's all out in the open now."

Claire simply nodded her head, because she wasn't sure how else to react to that statement. The only abilities that were out in the open were those of her, Peter, Sylar and Edgar. How long would it take for the rest to come forward? What if nobody wanted to come forward? "Maybe others will do the same..." Her voice sounded so fragile. "Maybe they will tell their friends and families about their abilities after seeing me."

"I'm sure they will. It might take a while, for some, but eventually they will. You're giving them the courage to do so, Claire. You did a good thing by jumping off that Ferris wheel."

Claire turned her head for a second to smile at him, then looked back again. They'd find out soon enough if that was the case. When Peter returned from the future, they would know if what she did really was a good thing. If he returned. "Remember Peter, my uncle?"

"The guy that took my ability a little while ago. Yeah, of course. Why?"

"He's gone to the future to see what it's like when people know about abilities."

"Whoa. Isn't that like… dangerous?"

"Tell me about."

"No, seriously." West sat up, folded one leg under the other and looked at Claire. "He's risking his life just to have a look at the future? Who does that?"

Claire pursed her lips and nodded slowly. "Peter does."

There were voices coming from the other side of the building. Claire and West looked at each other quizzically. He stood and gave her a hand to help her get up. Together they walked to the other side of the roof where they saw people gathering at the entrance.

"Are they leaving?"

"No, they can't. There's nowhere they can go." That's what they told Claire. They were supposed to stay at the company for the time being, until they found another solution.

"Then why are they all outside?"

"I have no idea."

Claire and West almost lost their balance when the whole building started shaking all of a sudden.

"What's happing?!" West shouted.

Claire fell forward and clung to West. "It's Samuel!" It was the only reason she could think of for the sudden earthquake.

"Who?!"

Claire shook her head. "Never mind! We need to get off of this building!"

"Okay, hang on tight!"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and together they descended to the ground, between a huge crowd of agents and carnies and not a second too late. A couple of windows began to shatter and there were loud noises coming from the inside of the building.

"Get out of my way!"

Claire turned her head. Her eyes widened when she saw Sylar pushing people aside to get to the entrance. What the hell was he doing back at the company? Was he the reason why everyone was outside? But then why was he going inside? She turned back to West. "Don't follow me."

"What? You're going in there? But the whole place is falling apart!"

"You know I can't get hurt," she said. "Just promise that you won't follow me in there."

West looked up at the building with a worried look on his face. He knew that Claire couldn't get hurt, but that didn't mean that he liked to see her get injured. He couldn't stop her from doing what she wanted, though. "I promise," he said when he looked back at Claire.

Claire smiled at him again, turned around and ran inside the building, after Sylar. She hardly saw a thing through all the dust. Several people still tried to get out. Some were suffering from serious head wounds, others tried to help and something kept rushing past Claire. Eli.

Big chunks of concrete had fallen down already and the floor was constantly moving, which made it difficult to get through the first corridor. Claire went straight to the big hall. Why? She didn't know. It was just an inkling she had.

She was coughing heavily by the time she reached the hall. Another chunk of concrete fell down from the ceiling, creating a loud noise and another cloud of dust. Her eyesight got obstructed again, but she was still able to see one human shaped figure on the other side of the hall. "Sylar!" she shouted.

Sylar groaned and coughed as he tried to get some space from a massive pile of rubble. He had been hit by something heavy that had fallen down from the ceiling. It was painful, but he had healed almost instantly. He combed his hair back with his hand and looked up to whoever had called his name. They shouldn't be here. It's not safe.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Claire asked when she was close enough to see his face. She noticed the blood on his head and realized that he had been hit by the fallen rubble.

Claire... Sylar wasn't expecting to see her, but as he thought about it, it kind of made sense. Of course she would go after Samuel. She couldn't get hurt either. "Samuel..." he tried to say, through all the coughing. "I'm looking for him."

"Why? Wait, don't tell me. You're trying to be a 'hero' again, aren't you?"

"I'm just trying to help." Sylar narrowed his eyes at Claire's passive-aggressive posture. "Are we really gonna do this now?"

Claire had a lot more she wanted to say to him, but he was right. It wasn't the right time. Some people had already gotten hurt and many might follow. "He's not here. He can't be."

"Well, he's not outside either. I've checked." Sylar's eyes widened when he noticed another piece of concrete falling down. "Look out!" He pushed Claire backwards with telekinesis as fast as he could.

Claire fell on the floor and covered her eyes with her forearm. She had been almost an inch away from being crushed by a massive block of concrete.

Sylar coughed, stepped around the rubble towards Claire and held out his hand.

Claire narrowed her eyes at his hand. "I don't need your help."

Sylar took a step back and raised his hands a bit. "Suit yourself."

"Why is he taking the building down piece by piece?" she asked as she got up from the floor. "Why not all at once?"

"Why do you think?"

"He's buying time..." Claire realized.

Sylar nodded his head slowly. "He's here somewhere in this building. He has to be. Do you have any idea where he could be?"

"Oh, no…" Dad! Claire hasn't seen him outside and that meant that he was still inside the building. And if Samuel was also inside the building... "No, no, no..." The last time she and her dad tried to stop Samuel, they ended up buried in his trailer fifty feet beneath the earth. Samuel's plan was to trap them in there, knowing that Claire would survive, but her dad wouldn't. She was supposed to watch him die.

"What?" Sylar asked, but Claire didn't give him an answer. She just ran away from him, without another word. He watched as she ran through a doorway on their right and he decided to follow her, because... what else could he do?

Claire ran in the direction of the room where she, her dad, Peter and that woman, Abby Collins had talked earlier that day. It was the only place she could think of, the only place her dad might be. Once she was there, she tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. She slammed her fist on it instead. "Dad?! Dad, are you in there?!"

"Claire!" Noah shouted. "Yes, I'm in here with Abby! The door is blocked!"

"Is there another way out?!"

"No!"

Shit. Shit, shit. "I'll get you out of there!" she shouted, but she didn't sound as convincing as she wanted to. There was no way out, he said, but Claire had to do something. She had to get help.

Sylar finally found Claire and was all out of breath by the time he got there. He had a bit of a coughing fit and had to lean against the wall to catch his breath. "Where the hell did you go?"

"It's dad," Claire said, still slamming her fist on the wooden door. "He's trapped in there."

Sylar tried to swallow, but failed. His mouth was all dry and he almost ended up choking his lungs out. "Let me," he said, gesturing with his hand for Claire to move away from the door.

Claire stepped aside, making room for Sylar to do whatever he needed to do to get that door open. She didn't know if she could trust him, but she was out of options.

The plan was to break the door loose with telekinesis, but when Sylar held out his hand he heard footsteps behind him.

The building stopped shaking.

"You weren't supposed to bring any guests, Claire."

Sylar exchanged an irritated look with Claire before he turned around. "Samuel."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Claire asked Samuel.

"The big finale, of course. I promised a show and this is it. This all for you, Claire. I just wasn't expecting to see you here, Sylar."

"What's going on out there?!" Noah shouted. "Claire?!"

"It's Samuel!"

"What do you want, Samuel?" Sylar asked.

Samuel held his hands out in a grip and made the building shake again. "Revenge! That's what I want. You, Claire, her father, Hiro, Edgar, Eli, Peter, all of you. You've ruined everything!"

Claire had to lean against the wall to stay on her feet. "Do something," she hissed to Sylar.

"Claire! Are you okay?!" Noah was losing his mind. He had no idea what was going on, on the other side of that door. Claire was out there with Samuel and Sylar, but he couldn't help her. He felt so powerless.

"Do something!" Claire shouted as she began to panic.

"I thought you didn't need my help!" Sylar snapped, but turned to face Samuel anyway. He was about to hold out his hand again when something solid hit him hard on the back of his head.

"What are you doing?!" Claire shouted when Sylar fell face forward on the floor. There was blood on the back of his head, but it was just a matter of time before it would heal. She looked around and tried to find the source of his sudden head wound. It didn't take her long to find it. Footsteps in the dust. Becky.

Sylar lifted his head and groaned. He didn't even know if he had died or simply passed out. What reason could Claire possible have for hitting him on the back of his head? She had every right to hit him, the timing just seemed a bit off to him.

"Ready to die?" Samuel asked.

Again? Sylar thought as he tried to get up from the floor. He wanted to get as much distance from both Claire and Samuel as possible, because he didn't know who was the more dangerous one anymore.

"Sylar, watch the floor. There's an invisible girl here somewhere."

Oh, that makes sense. All that fuss earlier in the car was about invisibility, apparently. That was the ability they didn't want Sylar to take, but they were wrong about him. Again. He didn't want to take that ability, not intentionally anyway. Sylar stood and took a deep breath. "Invisibility, huh? Let's see how long she'll stay invisible after some electrotherapy..."

"No!" Samuel shouted.

Sylar and Samuel both used their powers at the same time with great force. Samuel's power brought cracks in the walls and ceiling and even the floor started to give way. Sylar's ability covered the entire corridor with electricity, hitting every single person in it, including Rebecca Taylor.

Samuel took the most damage and fell on the floor. Sylar turned around to have a look at how Claire was doing, even though he knew it wasn't necessary. She was okay apart from having her clothes scorched. He turned around again and went to have a look at Samuel's burned body. The man was still breathing. Rebecca was lying a couple of feet away from Samuel, facing the other direction. It seemed like she tried to get away at the last moment, but failed. She was also still breathing.

Sylar ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He sat down on one knee, next to a half conscious Samuel. "Some people never learn," he said and pointed his index finger at Samuel's throat.

Claire moved closer to Sylar and Samuel and saw what he was about to do. "Do it," she encouraged him.

Sylar's gaze moved from Samuel's throat to his own finger, to Claire, who was standing behind him. "No."

"What do you mean 'no'? He wanted to kill my dad!" Claire pointed at Becky's body, "she wanted to kill my dad!"

Kill them first, then kill myself while I'm at it? "No," he repeated.

The crack in the ceiling suddenly grew bigger. It wouldn't take long before the entire structure broke down, crushing all of them under the concrete.

Sylar stood, forgot about Samuel entirely and went to the door. He blew it wide open, just like he did with the wall in Matt's basement. There were two people lying on the floor, Bennet and some woman. Both were buried under big piles of rubble.

"Sylar," Noah was lying on his back on the floor and looked up at the serial killer towering over him.

"Dad!" Claire pushed Sylar aside and knelt down next to her father. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's Abby we need to worry about. I think she has a concussion."

Claire frowned. He sounded everything but fine to her. She nodded her head nevertheless and went to see how Abby was doing. The woman was still breathing, but barely conscious. "We need to get you out of here!" she yelled at both her dad and Abby.

"You need to help her, Claire."

"But what about you?"

"I'll take care of him," Sylar offered. He didn't know if Bennet would let him, but it was worth a try. "You're not strong enough to support him anyway."

Claire looked from her dad to Sylar and back to her dad again. "Dad?"

Noah groaned, more from frustration than pain. He didn't like the idea of being helped by Sylar at all. "He's right, Claire. Get Abby."

Claire gave Sylar one distrustful look before she turned around and got Abby to lean on her shoulders. Together they walked towards the doorway. "Please, hurry," she told Sylar before leaving the room with Abby.

Sylar went to Bennet's right side and knelt down. "Ready?" he asked as he looked at the man from the corner of his eye. He knew that it wasn't easy for Bennet to accept his help, but there was no other option.

"No."

"We're running out of time. Come on, get up."

"I can't," Noah said through clenched teeth.

"Is this about principles? Cause if it is, I don't think this is the right time or place."

Noah shook his head. "I can't." The pain made him gasp. He threw his head back, closed his eyes and made a sound in the back of his throat. "It's my leg... I think it's broken." He had been suppressing the pain, because he didn't want to worry Claire, but she was no longer there and he didn't care about what Sylar would think of him.

"Right." Sylar wasn't expecting that. The man who was usually in control, who could outsmart anyone, probably the best agent the Company has ever had was suddenly so... vulnerable. "Do you want me to help you?" He emphasised the helping part to make sure that Bennet understood what he meant.

Do I have a choice? It didn't feel right for Noah to lie at Sylar's mercy, but he had to get out of the building somehow. Sylar was his only way out. "Yes."

"Okay." Sylar took Bennets arm and placed it around his own neck. "You don't have to do anything. Just… let me." He was no expert at bone fractures, but he knew that Bennet shouldn't be leaning on that leg if he didn't want to make the injury worse.

Noah nodded his head. He felt sick with the feeling of being helped by this man. This man who had sliced Claire's head open. This man who had murdered both of Claire's birth parents. This man, so powerful that he... was moving Noah with only his mind... Sylar was moving him. Sylar helped him to stand. Sylar helped him to walk towards the door opening. Sylar didn't even need to use his hands to direct Noah's movements, his mind was the only thing he needed. Very impressive.

When Sylar and Noah left the room and turned around the corner they saw Samuel lying on the exact same spot where he was before. Becky however, was gone.

"Damn," Sylar said with little volume in his voice. It almost sounded like a whisper. He had to keep going, he had to get Bennet outside before it was too late. The girl was no threat to them as long as she was still injured.

"What?" Noah felt grateful for not having to walk by himself, even if it meant that Sylar was using his ability on him again. He still had to jump on his right leg, but Sylar's ability made it easier and less straining. It was like walking on the moon. No gravity at all.

"There was an invisible girl," Sylar said as he and Bennet stepped around Samuel's body. "She could still be here, somewhere."

"Rebecca..." The next two jumps made Noah groan with pain. He didn't know if Sylar was losing focus or if he simply did it on purpose, but he didn't like it either way. He didn't want to be this close to Sylar. He felt a strong desire to shove the man against a wall and continue his way without the serial killer's help.

Sylar saw the entrance when they turned another corner and almost smiled. So close. "We both seem to have a lot of enemies." He was hoping to distract Bennet from his pain by talking to him. It seemed like the obvious thing to do in that type of situation.

Noah ignored Sylar's statement and kept his eyes on the exit. There was light on the end of the tunnel, just a couple of steps left. He could almost smell the fresh air.

When they got outside, Edgar was there first and he took over from Sylar immediately. He rushed Noah to the rest of the people, who were standing far off in the distance. The only problem was that Edgar didn't know about Noah's leg and as soon as he let go, Noah fell on his side with another grunt of pain.

"Oh, fuck!"

Claire was there by his side and so was Lauren. West followed soon after and more carnies came to see what was wrong.

"Give him some space!" Lauren told them.

"What's wrong?" Claire asked as she looked at her dad from head to toe, searching for injuries. There were scratches on his face and he was covered in dust, but that was it.

Noah rolled onto his back. "It's my leg," he breathed the words out of his mouth and looked down his body, at the leg in question.

Claire couldn't see anything wrong with his leg, but that could mean anything. "Help is on the way," she told her dad. "We're gonna get you to the hospital. I can give you my blood once we're there. Please, just hold on."

Noah nodded his head. He was never ever going to let Claire give him her blood again, but didn't want to argue about it just yet. He was in a lot of pain. His mouth was dry and his voice hoarse, but he still managed to say, "Sylar".

Claire lifted her head to look at the building, just when it started to collapse. "Is he still in there?" she asked as she watched the place fall apart. The roof and the walls started crumbling away, windows shattered and that noise... The noise was so loud. The first, the second and the third floor all disappeared in a giant cloud of dust and all that remained of the new Company headquarters was a massive pile of rubble.

"Don't know," Noah said with his eyes closed. Could Sylar survive tons of concrete falling on top of him? What if it had crushed his head? His brain? Did it mean that Sylar had died? Was he finally out of their lives for good? Probably not. The man always kept coming back, no matter how many times he died.

Claire stood and turned around. She saw the looks on the faces of every single carnival worker. The place they thought to be the safest was gone, but so was Samuel. There was no way he survived all that. It didn't matter, though. They were definitely better off without him. "Lauren, could you stay with my dad for a while? I need to… check something."

"Of course."

"Thank you." Claire turned around and walked towards what was left of the building. There was nothing much she could do. She wasn't strong enough to lift anything, but that wasn't her intention anyway. She just wanted to see… even if she couldn't find the bodies of Samuel, Becky and Sylar.

Sylar. He had saved her, he had saved her dad and he had saved thousands of people at the carnival (according to her dad and Peter). Sylar was doing a lot of saving lately and Claire finally realized how it must have been for Peter to deal with that. Of course he would help Sylar, if that meant that he could save so many other lives.

Claire climbed on top of the rubble and went looking for… anything really. Any sign of life would do. And that's exactly what she got. Something started moving a couple of yards away and Claire didn't hesitate to find out what it was. She walked over the blocks of concrete carefully, jumping every now and then, to avoid the steel rods sticking out everywhere. When she got to the part that moved only a minute earlier she noticed the rubble was different there. It had been pulverized.

Claire sat down on her knees and started digging the pulverized concrete away with her hands. Was someone still alive under there? Was it Becky? Samuel? Or was it Sylar? She jumped and fell on her back side when a hand suddenly emerged from the rubble.

Next Chapter: Good Riddance