(A/N – Elliesmeow, another question, although not one I ever gave thought too. The question, is there a current love interest for Claire? The short answer is yes, although neither of them have made their intentions known. It will come up in the next arc.

Keep the questions coming if I leave something out or you think of something I might want to add. Love, Traumedy101)

Claire Bennet

Outside Los Angeles, California

She was running out of steam after healing from a hundred or so minor wounds. Grant showed no sign of injury or fatigue as he swung his long sword, teaching Claire how to wield the cutlass he'd bought her three days ago. Still, she couldn't even get close to hitting him, let alone winning one of his little duels.

Finally, as the sun started to sink, he slowed. "There is something you have to understand, Claire," he said. "All your life, you will be a victim if you don't learn to defend yourself."

"What are you talking about?" she asked. Again, Grant was going off on his own little tangents. She still remembered the last one, where he spoke of heroes.

"You really need to pick up some comic books or something," Grant said, sheathing his sword. "You're the niece of one of the world's most powerful mutants. He's going to have enemies. Just like Gwen Stacey, their going to come after you. Gwen died, unable to fight for herself. You have a head start; an ability of your own."

Claire was lost. She didn't know who Gwen Stacey was, but she had a guess that it had something to do with comic books. She looked over at the others still with her and asked Gavin, "Who is Gwen Stacey?"

He looked up, nearly asleep. "Spider-Man's first girlfriend. She died after being captured by the Green Goblin. Why?"

"No reason," Claire said, turning back to Grant. "What do you want from me? I'm giving it my all, and you have to go and through in your random little lessons about stuff I don't know about. I'm just a cheerleader…"

"Quiet!" Grant said, nearly screaming. His voice had taken an edge to it, much sharper than his sword could ever have. "It's time to drop that cheerleader bull crap and deal with the real world. You haven't been a cheerleader for a long time and you know it. You are so much more, and if you don't face it now, than you'll never be ready in time."

"In time for what, Grant?" she said, letting her own voice convey her frustration at such a hard-headed man. "If you can't tell me that, then you're just wasting your time with me. Deal with that!" She stormed over to Gavin and the others.

There was a general malaise among the people. Noel and Emily seemed to be the most lethargic. There just wasn't any thing to do but wait for the sign that Grant said would come. There was no guarantee that it would, just his word. There was no more time.

She glared at them. "It's time we decide where we're going next. Any ideas?"

Gavin and Gabriel looked up, feeling fire in their veins for the first time in a long time. "Maybe we should talk about Rhodora first," Gabriel said.

"What?" Claire asked.

"You know, that's what you were thinking when the All-Gift left me and entered you," he said, getting shy."
Claire rolled her eyes. Rhodora was a kind of flower. She thought someone she knew liked that kind of flower. "It's a waste of time."

"Your little act of defiance makes it worse," Grant said, from behind her. She turned. He was standing there, his sword back in hand. "If you really want to face your future so fast, then come and do it."
Claire's blood boiled in her veins and she threw herself into the fight.

Will Stone

San Francisco, California

Time wore heavily on his heart as he walked the hills of San Francisco. Who was responsible for Mackenzie's death? Will was quick to blame Gabriel; he was a known killer after all, and that made him the most likely to do the deed. Besides, how did he know Mackenzie? Just what the hell did he miss in New York?
Then, there was Peter, who came to Will in New York, asking for him to leave Mackenzie and enter a fight that Will had no idea about. And Will, who was star-struck by the appearance of his personal hero, jumped at the opportunity to help. It raised the issue of vengeance, though, and Will stood no chance against Peter in a fight, so Will was loathe to point the finger that way.

He most blamed Gavin. He'd left his cousin there to keep an eye on her, to protect her, and Gavin left to be with the blonde. As if Mackenzie wasn't important.

Oh, there was thought. Claire. It all went down hill once Claire came to Seattle. It was for her they went to New York in the first place. Even better, he could take out all the revenge he wanted on her, let her heal, then go again. He smiled.

Will turned a corner and walked into a nest of Agents. He blended with the crowd, looking at the van the Agents came out of. He saw a number of pictures of wanted Mutants. He was surprised to find that Gabriel was no longer among them. Instead, he saw pictures of the good guys. There was Peter, Hiro, Nathan, and Claire.

His mind stopped, and he saw before him the path he was on. It was a dangerous one, one where every action meant a fall from grace. Mackenzie would spin in her grave. The world slowed as he looked around, finally getting what was going on. The Agents were doing tests to find Mutants. He remembered the stories of Blueberry Hill.

If this is what it means to be a good guy now, he thoughts, turning around, then I will be the greatest villain this world has ever seen.

"Hey, you!" one of the agents shouted at Will. He glanced over his shoulder to see a man in a white coat running, bringing the blood-test kit. "You need to be tested first!"

"Let me save you some time," Will said, nearly blind with clarity. He spun, swinging his hands out. The first shock waves struck the van, sending airborne. Will loosed another sonic blast into the group of armed Agents, throwing them through the glass window of some shop.

He ran as the opened fire. If they were after Claire, then he needed to help her, if only for Mackenzie. He wanted her to be proud of him.

Oliver Sterling

El Paso, Texas

The FBI agent stood in the center of the carnage. Fifty people in and around a small hotel just outside El Paso, all dead of the same, inexplicable disease. Sterling frowned. Who could do such a thing without so much as an alarm raised?

"This look familiar to you, Agent Sterling?" one of the local officers asked.

Sterling nodded. "I heard rumors of something like this happening down south, near Hondouras. The person was ID'd, though."
The local nodded. "So you know who you're looking for?"

Oliver shook his head. "We found the two suspects dead in Mexico City." He stepped over the bodies, letting the officer stew with that information. Sterling knew exactly what he was looking for. The same person who did the Mexican job did this. He was loathe to admit, but they just might have another Sylar on their hands.

"Agent!" a local cop called out. "You have a phone call."

Sterling made his way to the van which he operated out of. Since his little excursion to Mexico City, he'd been made the FBI's official mutant handler. They gave him a van, but little else, so they didn't draw the attention of the Mutant Agency. He took the phone from the local with a grimace, knowing that a call like this could only mean one thing. They finally decided to interfere with the Agency. "Agent Sterling speaking," he said.

"Is this line secure?" a woman's voice asked, his superior, one Ms. Natalie Woods.

"In this brave new world," Sterling said, "who the hell knows."

"It'll have to do," Ms. Woods said. "We've received a tip that Claire Bennet is around Los Angeles. As I'm sure you know, she's fourth on the Agency's list of most wanted. We want you to bring her in. We have plans for her that don't involve that blood mill agency."

"I'm on it," Sterling said, knowing full well that they wanted to find out why she was so dangerous. The girl was sixteen, going on seventeen; she was a cheerleader back in high school; and she had no criminal record or criminal tendencies. It made no sense. Hanging up, he turned to local official. "A case file on this has been opened, and we'll look into is as soon as we can. Right now, we have more pressing matters at hand." Oliver turned his back on the cop and crawled into driver's seat of his van. LA was a ways off, but he knew he could be there in about two days, if he hurried.

Nathan Petrelli

Blueberry Hill, Nevada

The light burned its way through his one good eye. He sat, tied to the chair with dried blood on his face and in his hair, his right eye swollen shut, with that frikin bright light shining directly in his open face.

Sitting before him was ex-Senator Armstrong, with a fat grin on his face. Nathan knew they believed he would break soon.

"Are you ready to tell us where Peter is?" Armstrong asked, showing his teeth in his wide grin. Nathan pulled his head back, pulling all the spit, blood, and snot he could muster and spit it directly in Armstrong's face. The former senator's face turned red, and he slammed his fist into the side of Nathan's head. The world swayed from the shock of the blow.

Another voice threw in their two cents from the darkness of the corner. "Play nice, you two." It sounded familiar, but Nathan couldn't put a face to the voice.

Armstrong responded with anger, grabbing Nathan's hair and yanking. "Tell me where he is, or so help me God, I will kill you!"
Nathan laughed, again and again. In his mind, though, he cried out. Run, Claire! Be safe!

Claire Bennet

Los Angeles, California

She sat alone with Gavin on the roof of their hotel, starring up at the night sky. "Have you heard what their doing?" she asked.

"About the random tests, yeah, I heard."
"It's madness," Claire said. "It's only a matter of time before we walk into one of those. Then what? We get shipped off to a place like Blueberry Hill? I'll fight, Gavin, I swear to God, if it comes to that, I will kill them."

"You won't have to," Gavin said, trying to calm her. "Grant can see these things coming a mile away. He won't let that happen."

"What about Nathan? What do you think is happening to him?"

Gavin sighed. "I suspect that he's having a harder time of convincing Will to come back than he thought. Why else would we still be here in LA, when we could be in some small town, waiting for these random blood checks to fade out?"

"Grant says were waiting for a sign of where to go next."
"Do you believe him?"

Claire nodded. "I have to believe in something, and he seems so sure of himself. Do you know what he told me today? That to become a hero, we must give up things we hold most dear. It's a sacrifice, he said. Just like Gwen Stacey had to go to give Spider-Man the will to fight. If that's true, what will be taken from me?"

Gavin shrugged. "I don't know."

Jeremy Maddox

Somewhere in Nevada

The burning in his legs distracted him so much that he couldn't teleport anymore, leaving him stranded in the desert. He was lost, with no sun to guide him. He missed Las Vegas, by some fluke, and now, God only knows where he is. Worse, the desert sun was tearing his time buffer to shreds. By morning, the itching would be in his feet.

Looking up through the chilly night air, he spotted the facility and sensed what was inside, waiting for him. It was the feast he promised himself. He'd heard it mentioned in the facility in Mexico City. Blueberry Hill. Maddox pushed himself to his feet, licking his lips. It was time to change.