A/N: Sorry for the long wait between updates. These chapters aren't pre-written so it's going to take me a while to finish and upload them. I've also got other stuff going on but I'm just so glad people are reading and enjoying this! So I hope you stick around, I plan on continuing this :D

"He's completely messed up. He's an angry, hurt kid. You shouldn't have left it so long to tell me about him."

Angela stared at him through cold eyes over the breakfast table. She inhaled and dabbed at her mouth with a napkin. "And what good would that have done? You were only a child yourself when he was born; you wouldn't have understood."

"I would have understood that I had another brother. What about Nathan?"

"Nathan is gone," she almost snapped. "It makes no difference; you know now. Besides, what would you have done? The boy had a mother, a life of his own. And you had your own responsibilities here."

"And what about dad? Did he not care about him either?" he glared.

Angela sighed. "Your father and I had an agreement. After the affair he swore to leave that part of his life behind."

"Including his own son?" Peter spat.

"He already had two sons to look after and support," she told him angrily, then questioned herself as to why she was protecting a man who had hurt and betrayed them all so badly. She felt her heart beat fast and she withdrew her gaze and sat back, trying to fight her emotions.

Peter was quiet then. He watched his mother guiltily, then looked down and asked her in a softer voice, "Did you know who she was? Alex's mother?"

She swallowed, taking a moment to reply. "She worked with your father for a short while and fell in love with him. Rose Greenwood." She looked up to meet her son's gaze and offered a tight so-that-was-that sort of smile. "They had their affair and I found out shortly after she got pregnant. I forgave him, though after everything that's happened I wish I hadn't."

He returned her sad smile with a sympathetic frown. He watched her take a sip of her coffee before he opened his mouth to speak again. "He needs help. Alex. I think he's in trouble."

She nodded without looking at him. "I hope you know what you're doing, Peter."

He smiled quickly before the anxious frown re-appeared. "Me too."

On Peter's arrival at the foster home later that day he was surprised to see, as he pushed open the stiff grey door, a large crowd of the children yelling and shouting at what appeared to be a fight taking place between two boys in the centre. He entered just in time to see Alex all but fly past him in to the edge of the front desk, the kids around him cheering and shouting. His fist tightened and he scrambled up, his face full of fury. Peter grabbed him. Where the hell were the staff?

"What is going on?"

"Get off me! Get off me, man!" Alex yelled at him, his face red and his lip cut as he struggled. But Peter was too strong. He tightened an arm around his torso to prevent him from rejoining the fight.

A woman ran out at that moment, her mouth open in shock. Her attention turned to Alex's attacker who was stood not far away in the middle of the circle, raging and unwavering. "Ryan, what is going on? What are you doing?"

Ryan swiped at the blood from his nose and looked at the woman defensively. The boy frowned and pointed accusingly at the younger Petrelli. "He called my mom a hooker!"

Alex struggled. "Well she is!"

The woman rolled her eyes. "Alright, everyone. Show's over! Go to your rooms! You two boys come here." Her gaze settled on Peter as the crowd departed. His hold loosened on Alex and he pulled away immediately. "Who are you?" she asked.

Peter straightened himself out and stepped closer. "I'm, uh, Alex's brother. I was here to visit before I had to break apart these two." He indicated to the two teenage boys who were stood near each other now, glaring at one another and mumbling under their breaths.

She just stared at him a moment before replying. "Well perhaps you better hear this too then," she suggested before turning to the boys. "Now, what's this all about?"

"Ryan's being an asshole, that's what," Alex grunted. Ryan nearly struck him when the woman gave him a warning look and he backed down. Alex glared at him. "Hey, all I did was tell it how it is, show him how HE'S got no reason to judge ME when mommy's in jail for prostitution and daddy's in rehab for overdosing on heroin."

Peter looked away uncomfortably, almost pretending that he hadn't heard the words coming out of Alex's mouth. But it was hard not to notice the glint of fury yet surprise that was on Ryan's face at that moment.

"How the hell do you know about that?" he fumed, leaning closer to the boy. Alex stepped back, his eyes locked angrily with Ryan's. Ryan poked him hard in the chest. "Huh? How do you know these things?" He turned to the woman beside him who was trying to create a barrier between them with her arm. "He does this to everyone, Karen! He's upsetting all of us. He's a freak!"

"Alright, enough," Karen spoke softly. Peter hoped this wound end soon.

"He's been reading our files, I know he has! He's reading all about our lives and using them against us, the son of a bitch!"

Alex raised his arm and tightened his fist to punch him when Peter caught him and held him back again.

"Enough," the woman named Karen repeated sternly. "Ryan, go back to your room and cool off. I'll talk to Alex alone and we'll get this all straightened out."

Ryan seemed happier then, waving a mocking goodbye and retreating to his bedroom. Alex lost all anger and seemed to be overcome with something else. He pulled away from Peter again.

"Why can't I go to my room?"

"Alex, that was a serious accusation he just gave. If it's true, you could be in big trouble."

"I know I could be in big trouble, but it's not true," he told her seriously. He shook his head as he tried to reason with her, a nervous smile on his lips. "He's making it up, alright?"

She tilted her head to one side. Peter watched curiously. "Alex," she said gently, "We'll talk about this somewhere private." She turned her attention to Peter, eyeing him suspiciously before adding, "Would you mind waiting?"

Peter looked hesitant but nodded and stepped back. Alex glanced from him to Karen. "No. No. I'm not gonna 'talk' about this, it's not true. Alright?" He glanced at Peter again. "It's not true."

Peter was beginning to get worried. "Perhaps I should go too?" he offered, noticing Alex was standing quite close to him now. But Karen shook her head.

"I'm afraid you can't, Mr. Petrelli. This is a confidential matter - the information in those files are not to be disclosed to anyone, which is why I'm so concerned over how your brother here seems to have knowledge of some of the content of those files." She took hold of Alex's arm and he winced slightly. Peter stepped forward again and watched somewhat anxiously as she dragged the boy round a dark corner and in to what appeared to be an office.

He sighed and sat down in one of the sofas. He supposed he'd have to wait.

Twenty minutes later, the woman returned and smiled apologetically, extending her arm to greet Peter properly. "Hi, I'm sorry about that. I'm Karen, I'm in charge here." She showed her teeth in a grin, dimples forming between the freckles on her cheeks.

Peter forced a smile and shook her hand politely. "Nice to meet you."

"You said you were Alex's brother? That's funny, I wasn't aware he had any brothers," she commented, readjusting her glasses and maintaining her tight smile.

"Well, yeah. I'm his half brother," Peter admitted, watching the woman carefully. There was something about her that made him uneasy. He wasn't sure why. She seemed normal enough; long black skirt, blouse, long brunette hair that rested neatly on her shoulders. Perhaps it was that unwavering, forced smile that sent a chill down him. "To be completely honest, I only found out about his existence a few months ago. When his mother died."

"I see." Her smile dropped and she glanced behind her a moment.

"Is there a problem?"

"No," she insisted, the tight smile returning. "It's just we've had some concerns with him."

"So I've heard," Peter frowned and he crossed his arms across his black jacket.

"He has trouble getting on with the other children, you see. And he treats the staff so terribly. He has a mouth on him - and he's been known to get physical at times. And now, there's the situation with the files."

His nose wrinkled. "He read them?"

"I'm afraid so. He must have broken in to my office during the night."

"But how can you be sure? He said he didn't read them."

"He's also been known to be quite the liar. He can be very convincing. But we know for a fact that he's been reading them. There's no other possible way he could have known what he did."

A line formed between Peter's dark eyebrows. There was always more than one possibility, he thought. "So where is he now? "

"Well, he's been punished." He seemed concerned that her smile hadn't faded so much at this point. "And he won't be allowed to leave his room for a little while."

Peter stared at her, concentrated, heard her voice in his head: He'll think again before doing something so stupid next time. He pulled away from her thoughts and felt himself frown again. Part of him wanted to run for the door but he knew he had to stay. For Alex. He wanted to help whether the young man wanted him to or not.

"I'd like to talk to my brother now, please."

As he knocked on the scratched door, a large frowning figure opened it to glare coldly in to Peter's eyes. His white uniform covered his broad shoulders and muscles, and suggested he was part of the staff there. Peter thought he could have used his help earlier during the boy's fight, but felt somewhat relieved to have not seen him as his threatening glare pursued his gaze and the big man thundered past him with an emotionless expression.

Peter dodged past him to see Alex sitting on the side of his bed, his head down and his hands fidgeting as they rested on his lap. When he looked up slowly, he could see that his eyes looked red and sore. For a terrible moment, Peter feared he had been crying. But his eyes were not watering, his cheeks were dry and pale and rather than sadness, the boy simply sat there frowning just as he had been the previous day. He was very still and very calm. He didn't say a word as he broke his gaze away from Peter's.

The door clicked shut and Peter sat down in front of him as he had the day before. Alex didn't acknowledge his presence. He seemed lost in his own thoughts for now.

"Alex?"

For a short while, Alex didn't respond. His eyes were focused in to nothingness, his dry lips remained in an unchanging frown. Peter opened his mouth to add something when suddenly, Alex beat him to it.

"Why are you here?" he mumbled quietly. "What do you want?"

Peter was hesitant to answer. No response he gave would be satisfying enough for the young man. He had already told him that he wanted to help and Alex hadn't wanted to hear it. What is his problem? Thought Peter. What is going through that troubled head of his?

It was then he remembered again that, thanks to Matt Parkman, he could answer that question for himself. He could almost sense the boy's thoughts communicating with his, so loud that a mind reader didn't even have to try to listen to them. They were quiet at first, distant, and Peter thought he could hear them repeating over and over, as if he were replaying a previous conversation in his head.

You know I didn't do it, what's your problem?

Peter wrinkled his forehead in concentration.

Okay, okay! I'm sorry!

His heart beat a little faster.

I said I'm sorry! Stop it, man! STOP!

He suddenly felt very uncomfortable, his palms sweating uncontrollably.

Don't touch me, don't touch me!

Peter broke away then, breathing in deeply for relief, as all he heard then were terrible screams that overwhelmed his senses. He wiped the sweat from his face and felt his head burn. He turned his attention to Alex who was now holding his head in his hands, his sleeves nearly covering his face. Why was this going on in his head? What was he thinking about? And suddenly, Peter felt even worse about this then he had at the beginning.

"You didn't take those files, did you?" he said after a few moment's more of speculation.

"Doesn't matter now," he replied coldly, his sore eyes staring through him.

He wrinkled his nose and leant closer. "Alex, what did they do?"

He sniffed and seemed to snap back in to reality then, leaning back and looking at Peter the way he had the previous day. "Nothing I can't handle. It's nothing."

He exhaled softly and nodded. "Nothing. Right."

Alex glanced away again to the cracks in his wall. "I think you should go."

Peter didn't move. He couldn't leave now, not when he believed Alex was being hurt. But the young man was persistent. His eyes shifted from Peter to the wall.

"Please. I just want you to go."

And Peter almost did what he wanted. He stood. But he couldn't let himself walk out that door. He wouldn't. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Look, you seem like a decent enough guy," he began, his voice becoming louder, "but I honestly don't know you, and you don't know me. I don't care if we're long lost siblings - maybe I woulda cared once but not now. I just wanna be alone, okay? I need to be alone."

Peter bit down hard on his lip, and at the moment he noticed Alex was doing the same, tasting the blood from his cut. He also couldn't tear away his gaze from the purple-green bruise that marked his upper-arm, as if someone had grabbed there with such a force it left a painful impression. He sighed and ran a hand quickly through his hair.

Alex watched as Peter grabbed a spare bit of note paper from the side and started to scribble down numbers on it. He handed him the paper, a serious expression on his face. "This is my number. I want you to call me if you need me."

Peter was worried that Alex might reject his offer. After all, why call a complete stranger when you were in trouble? Then again, Peter seemed to be the only one in Alex's life right now that was willing to help him. He needed him. He may not have admitted it, but it was the truth. Alex didn't move for a few moments, only stared at the paper with a frown. But to Peter's relief, he raised a hand and slowly took the number from Peter's grasp.

"Thanks."

The older Petrelli smiled and backed away. As he turned to leave and walk out the door, he passed the large frowning man from earlier, his expression as grave and menacing as ever. Peter only hoped, as he left the foster home for the second time, that Alex would be okay here by himself.