Disclaimer: It belongs to Tim Kring and the bosses at NBC

Be My Escape

By Estelle Stafford

Beta: Eris Dea Disaccordo

Words: 6000 +

Post Date: 1/18/2010

Author's Note: Hiro is a few weeks in the future and the rest of the story is in the present. Hey, thanks to the reviewer who pointed the thing about my tenses, I'll try to fix it in future chapters. The Jackie and Claire confrontation scene might have some errors, because I rewrote it at the last minute. Oh and don't blink, you don't want to miss the last couple of sentences.

Chapter Six: The Things that are Important

Mohinder knocked on the door of the apartment, simultaneously avoiding the various cockroaches that roamed on the walls and floor. "This place is a disaster!" he said to himself as the door opened.

"Mohinder," his father stared at him with surprise, though it only lasted a second before returning his gaze to the paper in his hand, whatever it was about. "What are you doing here?"

The younger Suresh made his way inside the apartment, surveying the space with much disapproval. "Father, how can you live in these conditions?"

Mohinder's voice made Chandra withdraw his focus from the paper, but his attention returned to it, quickly. "It is satisfactory for the work I'm doing." He made his way over to the table and picked up his tape recorder. "I have concluded that patient zero has no ability," he said into it, then stopped the record and put it back down.

Mohinder followed behind him and sighed out of frustration. "Father, I believe it is time for you to stop this foolishness."

"Foolishness!" Chandra scoffed. "I just need to perfect my formula." He made his way over to his laptop, opening it. "Though I admit, I'm not sure what to fix. Mohinder, do you know what it could be?"

"Father," his voice was soft but forceful, "please, come home,"

Chandra ignored him. "This should have been right…" He began desperately going over all the numbers. Mohinder made his way behind him to examine the formula. The scientist in him took over, briefly.

"You are right," Mohinder put himself in front of his father and then took an even closer look at the equation, he found himself going over the numbers in his head. "This should have been right, what is this?" He began scrolling down to search the various numbers that formed some sort of symbol.

"This is my formula for finding those with abilities, it has taken me years to perfect it, but the first of my patients has turned out to have no abilities."

Mohinder suddenly realized what he was doing, and forced himself not to think of the equation any longer. He straightened himself out. "That is because that is impossible, Father. It would take hundreds of years to evolve to such a stage."

"Perhaps," Chandra agreed, "but what if our survival depended on us evolving faster? Would not that somehow affect our evolutionary process? I believe this is so, humans are living longer and growing taller than they have in just a mere century or two."

"Father, you need to come with me now and stop this!" Mohinder demanded as he stood. "And I will not take no for an answer."

"Stubborn boy! Can you not see I am on the brink of something great here?!"

"If any of what you say is true, what could you possibly do? What way can you assist them?" Mohinder stared his father down. He will never understand why his father gave up their decent life in India and his job, and then put the family name in jeopardy just to waste away in this god-awful place on the basis of a hard-to-reach dream.

"Hey." Both men turned their heads to see a young woman with a bright smile, her hands in her back pockets. "Am I interrupting something?" She glanced between them, and noted there was a distinct resemblance between the young man and the older professor.

"No," Mohinder said calmly, glancing at his father. "I'll come back later." He made his way towards the door.

"Good. Will you be joining us for dinner?" she asked with a smile.

Mohinder blinked quickly, surprised. "I…" He gazed at her, trying to see what in the world would make her invite him to join them for dinner. She was very pretty, he noticed. He thought about it for a moment, but remembered he had someone waiting for him back home. "I don't think that would be a good idea," he told her before he turned to Chandra. "I will be staying at the Holiday Inn when you are ready to talk, Father."

Then he left.

Eden waited for him to disappear before she spoke, "So…" She laced her fingers together as she slowly made her way over to the professor, "that was Mohinder?"

The professor nodded. "Yes. He wants me to go home."

A sudden thought came to her as she made her way to the aquamarine that held a lizard, "Like this Mohinder." She picked the small reptile up to give him a quick kiss.

"I did name the lizard after him, yes, but I find the lizard is more agreeable at times."

"Well, I hope you don't go, but I think you should try to work out things with your son," Eden suggested. It seemed like the right thing to say. Though honestly, Eden didn't know, as she herself could not work things out with her mom, which is kind of why the woman was dead now. She shook her head, willing the thought away as she put the lizard down.

"I have tried, but he doesn't believe in my work," he replied, slightly frustrated. It was shocking to Eden, as Dr. Suresh didn't often show emotion, besides excitement for his research. She couldn't say the same regarding Mohinder—he seemed to be more expressive then his father.

"I see. Well, maybe you could try again later. So… What are you going to do about Gabriel?"

"I have one more test, but as I said before, I don't believe the results yielded will be in his favor or ours."

Eden hesitated. "Be careful when you give him the news, okay? He really wanted this."

Chandra nodded. "I know, but I cannot lie."

"I know, but maybe something will show up," she said hopefully. She knew whatever it was, it was going to show up eventually. She doesn't know if it would be better for Gabriel's powers to be revealed now or later, but she had a feeling if it was later…there was going to be an explosion of some kind.

"I doubt that."

Don't hurt me.

Matt halted his movement. He had been on his way home when he heard a little voice. He turned around, looking for where the sound had come from. There was nobody there, but…that sounds like a child. He gripped his gun in his hostler, and began to follow the voice.

He wasn't sure how he was going to find the owner of the voice, as it was inside his head, but he knew it wasn't his. It didn't make sense! Maybe he was going crazy, but something told him he was not.

Please make the bad man go away! Please! He wandered around, searching for the voice. It really did sound like a child's voice. Please, someone! He found himself in front of a door, where the voice was getting louder. He rapped his knuckles on the wood.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" Nobody answers but he heard the voice again.

Help me, it said, and Matt got the impression that the child was crying. He tried the doorknob and found it unlocked, so he made his way inside, while he gripped at the gun on his belt.

"Are you alone?" He made his way across the front room with his guard up, and the voice got louder, stronger.

I'm scared and alone.

Dark eyes searched for any sign that something was wrong. He flicked on some lights and Matt took in the sight of the few scattered toys, a coat sprawled across the floor, and papers lying across the coffee table along with a couple cups. It seemed like a normal scene for what was probably a normal suburban home. If something was wrong, there were no obvious signs. The only indication there could be something amiss was the young voice he kept hearing.

He was started to rethink his earlier thought. Maybe he was losing his mind. But then he heard the voice again.

I'm so scared.

Following it, he found a secret door under the stairs. And when he pried it open, there was a small girl, her body shivering as she tightly gripped what appeared to be some type of stuff animal, but all he could see was white and green underneath the girl's arms. She had her arms wrapped around her legs, she brought them as close to her chest as possible, and her head was downward almost rested on her knees.

Don't hurt me.

"Hey, you're safe now." He put his gun in his hostler and then gently reached for her. Her eyes snapped open. At first she was frightened. "I'm a police officer," he said to soothe her as he holds his hand out for her. Surprisingly, her face expressed relief as she quickly throws herself at him.

"I've seen you," she declared, her voice reminiscent to the one in his head. But there was something ominous about her tone, something pulled at the back of Matt's mind. "You're a hero."

[In The Future:]

Hiro glanced down at the comic book again. It was the correct address, so he made his way up the stairs. When he finally found the apartment, the door is open and there are voices echoing inside.

"Isaac Mendez," he called in his Japanese accent, as he stepped across the threshold.

Suddenly, he found himself shoved up against a wall, held there by an unknown force. "Ah!" he exclaimed as the brown eyes of a killer gazed up at him.

"Hiro," he said. "Be a dear and stay there, won't you? I'll deal with you later." Hiro tried to move, but couldn't—the man was holding him there, even though he was several feet away.

"Sylar, someone is going to stop you!" The shout was heard from across the room and Hiro saw another man, also frozen in his spot. Hiro could only guess he was Issac Mendez, as there was evidence of paint on his hands and clothes. "You can still die."

Sylar crept closer, keeping his other hand pointed towards Hiro. "I don't care." He sneered, but there was a hint of sorrow underneath his anger. "You helped them take her away from me!"

"I didn't do anything! I tried to save her, too!" Isaac retorted, and then he added softly, "We all did."

Sylar shook his head as he yelled in a rage, as he made his way over to Isaac. "No, no, NO! You did no such thing. You," he brought Isaac closer to him, "helped them find me." He slammed Isaac back into the wall.

"I didn't have a choice!" Isaac yelled back. Hiro watched, waiting for an opportunity to escape and save the painter man. "But it doesn't matter anyhow. I don't care what you do now. I'm ready. Simone's dead and somebody will stop you."

"Nobody can stop me," he held his hand up. "Now that you have helped steal my future with her, I'll steal your ability to see it. Don't worry," he grinned sadistically, "This will only hurt a lot."

"You never had a future with her, Sylar. You are just a monster, going after a child like that."

"Shut up! It wasn't like that!" Sylar didn't know why even after all this time; he still felt the need to justify himself. He knows Claire would hate what he was doing, and sometimes that made him want to stop giving into the hunger. She would almost save him again, just as before, but then he would remember what happened to her, remember the sight of her lifeless body, and the rage would come back.

"She was only—Argh!" Sylar drew his finger slowly in a line that appeared in blood red on the artist's head.

"Enough talk." There is a slight satisfaction in revenge. The only time he seemed to be able to feel anything was when he took the life from someone, but it would only be a temporary sensation before the numbness washed over him again. A life without Claire could never have happiness.

All he has was revenge.

"You are a bad man!" Hiro shouted as he continued to struggle against the hold on him. Sylar pried his attention away from Isaac and strode over to the squirming Japanese man.

"Really, Hiro? All I'm doing is getting my well-deserved revenge. Though, I think she would have agreed with you." Hiro's eyes widened in surprise; this man could speak his language! Sylar saw the look and smiled wickedly, stating, "Oh yeah, just some ability I picked up along the way. Normally, I would kill you…"

"Revenge never gets a man what he wants and killing will never give you the meaning you seek."

"I know," Sylar agreed. "My only meaning in life is gone, so you know it shouldn't matter, but she really liked you." He lowered his hand and Hiro found himself on the floor, free. Hiro was confused. "Go, now…" Hiro does not understand. The man was bad, but he let him go. Sylar rolled his eyes, "You are boring me," He flicked his fingers and forced Hiro to back away.

That's when it hits.

Hiro watched in horror as a blazing fire came rolling towards him, and just before it engulfed them—and as Hiro closed his eyes to escape—he saw Sylar smile. "I told them it wasn't going to be me."

Claire tapped on the counter of the store. Only a handful of people had shown up and she was bored, as usual. She heard Gabriel working in the background and found herself making her way to where he was working. She knew she shouldn't go there, but she wanted to watch him work. It was actually neat to watch him, and it was better than doing nothing. She observed as he carefully placed a tiny metal gear inside the watch.

"You know…. I envy you." His shoulders tensed slightly as he turned his head and glared at her, but it has little effect. Honestly, how could she possibly take him seriously when he was still wearing that magnifying device over his right eye? She bursts out laughing. He pressed his lips tighter together, and still she could only see one brow, "I'm sorry, really! But if you're gonna glare at me, shouldn't you take that thing off?"

He removed it, still glaring, and she laughed again. "I don't appreciate you laughing at me, and I do not understand why you insist hovering over me and inquiring about ridiculous things?"

She tilted her head, grinning, and put a hand on her hip. The anger simmered to a low heat at the sight of that full blown smile, but still, she had been laughing at him.

I bet a lot of people are laughing at me, he thought to himself. His face faltered a bit, only showing a tinge of bitterness instead of annoyance.

"I'm sorry," she says, not sensing his negative mood, "but that thing is kind of funny looking, especially when you are trying to look mad at me."

"I need it to see the pieces, and I'm sure you were aware this. I don't believe this is the first time you have seen me with it on."

"No, but you look kind of cute when you are trying to be angry like that."

Gabriel is a bit flustered, a blush creeping across his face, and that makes him even more irritated. "I'm not a puppy or a kitten—I don't ever look cute. I must insist that you stop bothering me at once."

She sighed, placing her hands in her pockets as she says, "I'm sorry, but I'm so bored."

He rolled his eyes. "Claire, you're always bored."

"But not when I watch you work," she answered. "You are so good. I never thought I'd find watch-making so interesting!" It was strange to him that someone actually found his work interesting, even though he has been complimented on the pieces several times, but of course, as very few have seen him at work, nobody had yet to praise him on his actual work process. "I think it's so cool, how you manage to put watches together. I could never do that."

"And that is why you envy me? Because I can arrange some metal together?" It sounded like something his mother would have said to him, reminding how meaningless this work really was.

Her eyes widened and she pulled her head back a little in surprise. "You make it sound like anyone could do it."

"It is not difficult."

"For you," she countered. "But I couldn't do that. Are you trying to tell me I'm some kind of idiot?" She really was just teasing him, though sometimes she wondered if he really did think that. He was probably a lot smarter than her, with his ability to fix things so well.

Gabriel brought his lips once again to form that frown. She saw those often, and she believed she'd only seen him smile once. That was when she came back last weekend. He must have thought she was going to bail, as a matter of fact, she recalled him looking a bit surprised. He looks great with a smile, she thought. That's my next goal—to make him smile more.

He didn't know what such remarks would imply. Gabriel wasn't the best at socializing, because he had no friends. Then again, that was probably why he had no friends. It was an awful cycle, leaving him very lonely indeed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to suggest that you are unintelligent. I just don't see it as being very important, like being president or special in some way."

"Why would you want to be president? Everyone would complain about everything to you." She put her elbows on the table as she leaned over. "You'd stay up in the office with the world on your shoulders all the time. And you'd have to listen to some really boring things about politics. Of course, maybe it's because I always found politics kind of boring. It doesn't seem fun at all, sure I guess the president is special and everything, but there are better ways to be special, you know personally, I think…" He watched her intensely as he listened. He'd never heard someone discuss presidency in such a manner, and yet he couldn't disagree with her. "…I became a cheerleader because I wanted to be…well, not special…just popular, I guess." She pulled herself up and shrugged. She gestured with her hands, her mood somewhat somber, "Not that I'm complaining, but I don't know if it is what is cracked up to be. Besides, what is so great about shouting out loud and knowing a few moves? You can put a whole watch together! Believe me, not a lot of people can do that."

He thought about this for a moment. "I don't think it's that easy to be a cheerleader either, as I don't think I could jump like they do." Claire's smile lit up the room and he felt a little warm, which didn't make sense, but he liked it.

He liked her.

And at that realization, his face fell as he brought his defenses up. He puts the device on again.

"I have work to do," he says firmly and she frowned. He hates any looks of disapproval, but this is worse than the harsh expressions he's gotten from his mother. This is one is tinged with sadness and disappointment. This one isn't because of his failure, but because of…

What is it? Why does she appear to be so sad?

He sighed as he decided to appease her. "If you keep quiet and maintain a little distance, you may watch until someone shows up." She smiled again.

Claire felt like she was making real progress, though she didn't know why that made her so happy. She was going to have to quit showing up here soon. That—she did not understand why, maybe because it did not give her enough time to see him smile—sucked, and she let her smile fall. Gabriel didn't see it as he had already pulled all his focus back on the watch.

Janice jumped off the couch at the sight of her husband's arrival, tossing the phone aside. "Where the hell have you been?" She watched as he entered, but her eyes widened in surprise as she saw a frightened little brown-haired girl trailing behind him.

"It's okay, Molly. Come on in," Matt said soothingly, and the little girl stepped over the threshold and made her way over towards Matt, clutching a white fluffy stuff animal tightly in her arms.

He gazed into his wife's face that is still set in surprise. "Uh, Janice, I know I should've asked first," he said, slowly moving closer while holding Molly's hand. "But she really had no place to go. We kept her at the police station while everyone figured out what to do, and this what they came up with." He looked down at Molly. "I got permission to keep her for at least the night, while they try to find her parents."

Janice's face broke into a smile. It's moments like this I remember why I love him so much. Matt was only just coming into the realization he was reading thoughts, but he still did not believe it. "Did you say something?"

She blinked in confusion, but still smiled. "No," she answered, also coming closer to them.

"Oh, I thought…" He mumbled a bit. He thought I said what? "That you remembered why you loved me." How did he…he know? She shook her head.

"Of course, I love you, especially when you do something wonderful like giving a little girl a place to stay for the night." Janice leaned down and looks into Molly's eyes. "And you are welcome to stay as long as you need."

Peter found himself out in the rain, while his brother Nathan pretended to be nice to a crowd of people he thought actually gave a damn about him. He gazed up at the sky.

Why did he feel like he could fly? In his mind, he finally began to separate the dreams from the memories and he saw it was his brother Nathan who flew.

"Peter," a soft voice calls out in slight panic, he turns to see Simone standing outside, already wrapped in her coat, and an umbrella in her hand, "I want to…"

He sighed. "You should go back to the party."

She shook her head. "Why would I want to be with those jerks, when you're out here?" She smiled, but then her face falters a bit. "I was worried about you Peter. You were like a son to my father. It would have devastated him to know that you had..."

"Listen," he grasped her hands. "I did not try to commit suicide, I'm not sure what happened, but I would never do that."

She gave him a soft smile. "I know."

"You do?" He is a bit taken aback, and tilted his head in confusion.

"Yeah," she nodded as she brought a hand forward to touch his face. "You care too much about others to do that. Why would you want to kill yourself when so many people need you…when I need you?"

He was amazed by the sincerity of her words, finding himself bringing his head down, so his lips were closer hers. She stepped closer, also leaning towards him. Their lips meet. It was just a soft, sweet kiss, but it was exactly what they needed to start.

Gabriel knew they would soon tell him he had no powers. He knew it and dreaded it, just like he knew Claire was going to leave, that she was only staying out of duty. She will leave after her job is done, and he hated that he doesn't want her to go. Desperation was rising inside of him. It was only a matter time before he decided to do something drastic.

When the first part of his prediction came true, he realized that knowing doesn't ease the pain or make the desperation disappear.

"Are you saying I am broken?" Gabriel asked as calmly as possible, rubbing his glasses. "That I am supposed to be special, but something inside me is preventing it?" A tiny sliver of hope rises in Gabriel, but it quickly returned to the dark places of his heart.

"Not at all," Chandra shook his head. "Merely, that I must have made in error in calculations." Eden watched them both intensely, holding her breath. She wanted to reach out and touch Gabriel, but she knew he would reject her.

"Your calculations?" Gabriel almost snarls. "And who does your calculations say is special?"

"Mr. Gray, there is no need to get hostile."

"Hostile? You come in my life and tell me that there is something special about me, and then when it doesn't fit in with your calculations, you want to give up on me."

"Gabriel," Eden's voice was soft and tender as her hand stopped short of touching his face. "We won't give up on you. If something shows up, you can call us." Gabriel knows what that tone indicates: pity.

"Don't," he growls. "I won't stand for your pity. I don't need it."

"Mr. Gray, I request that you leave immediately," Dr. Sueresh said in a professional tone, hoping not to agitate him further. Angry, Gabriel is about to say something else when he noticed the folder, the one with all the names of the so-called special people. It was so near him…

He changed tactics, his entire demeanor cooling quickly now that he had a new goal in mind. "Fine, I'll leave."

Gabriel, who has tried plenty of things to sneak under his mother's nose, managed to swipe the folder right under Dr. Suresh nose.

Claire was currently thinking about what to do about the tutor thing. She had yet to think of anyone who was good in math and would keep their mouths quiet about teaching her. It was too tempting to have the opportunity to sell off Claire to Jackie, she knew that the evil cheer captain was just waiting for such a thing to humiliate Claire and remind Claire where she thought she belonged. So the choices were so far she either pays somebody or…nothi ng else.

"So," Melody asks, "Did you hear?"

"Here what?" Claire tilts her head as narrows her blond brows in confusion.

Melody smiles, "Well," She has her hands behind her back, playing coy, "You might want to run…now," Claire and Melody gazes over to where Jackie was stomping down the hall.

"YOU!" Jackie points at Claire—who just rolls her eyes--while yelling. Jackie makes her way down the hall shoving a couple poor students in the process causing books to scatter, people to retreat to wherever they could and many more staring while they point at the scene that has begun to unfold. "HOW DARE YOU!"

"What…?" Claire looks over to the other blond, "What is going on?" Melody has a fearful smile on her face and was trying to disappear, "Melody! Don't leave."

"You are one of the candidates for homecoming queen," She replies quickly as she vanishes into the nearest classroom, just in time to avoid Miss Jackie who has arrived. Claire just stands there, annoyed.

The Evil blonde huffs loudly, "I'm the one who is supposed to be queen. Now you get in there and tell them you don't want it," She points towards the office.

Claire shakes her head and disbelief, and then turns around, "What are you talking about?" Sometimes, it is best to play stupid even though she knows exactly what Jackie is talking about, though honestly she forgotten that she was going to be a homecoming queen nominee, but there was no way she was backing down. She is not going to let Jackie have way.

"Don't play stupid Claire you know that you are nominated for homecoming queen."

"Really? That's exciting."

Jackie grabs her arm, but Claire releases is, "You are going to tell the people in the office you don't want to be queen."

"But won't some people be upset with me, I can't disappoint them. And if I drop-out some people might think you didn't win fairly."

"I don't care, you are going to quit."

Claire sighs and rolls her eyes, "I can't,"

"You can and will!"

"I'm sorry but I can't besides it isn't like I'll win." Yeah, that's a lie, I can totally win.

"Probably not," Jackie agrees as she flips her blonde hair, "But hate for you to embarrass yourself." Right…Jackie; you are such a good friend. That's total bullshit.

"That's so nice," she smiles but quickly drops it, "But I'm not quitting."

"Yes, you are!"

"No!"

"You will." Jackie is getting even more tense, annoyed, and desperate. The truth is that Jackie doesn't want to admit it but a lot of people like Claire more. It is why the queen of popularity does everything she can to make things hard for Claire.

"I'm not going to, so let me go to class," with that Claire tries once more to leave.

"No!" Jackie suddenly forced Claire to face her and slapped her. Claire immediately touches her face, surprise that Jackie actually did that, but it doesn't take her long to regain her senses and her only reply to the other cheerleader is:

"You hit like a girl." Jackie was about to smack her again when they hear a voice.

"Miss. Wilcox," They both look up to see one of their math teacher's with a disapproving stare, "That will not get you your place as homecoming queen."

"But Claire started it …" Jackie put her hands on hips as she tries playing the innocent card, which for a girl like her it never works.

"I find that hard to believe as I just saw you hit her when Claire was going to class. I suggest you do the same before I give you a pink slip, and you know what happens if you get another one of those." She emphasizes her words with the shake of her head.

"Yes, Ms. Smith," Jackie growls.

"Well, thanks," Claire states as the Queen of Bitches leaves, "Like you said I better be getting to class soon."

"Yeah, well this is my planning period, why don't I give you a pass. Let's discuss a couple of things."

"Did I do something wrong?" She inquires.

Ms. Smith let out a laugh, "Oh no, I just wanted to know about how things were going with the t…"

"Okay, okay," Claire rushed her toward the math classroom. Ms. Smith lets out a slight chuckle as she followed behind her.

"So, how is the search going with the tutor? You'll need to start soon."

"I know, but I don't know anyone good in math,"

"Surely there is someone?" Madeline had to choose her words carefully, if she was going to push Claire in the right direction, "An older neighbor, family friend?" Claire shakes her head of course Mrs. Smith already knew the answers to those questions, "Maybe an acquaintance at work?"

"I…how did you know I had a job?" Ms. Smith has an answer prepared, she has several answers, for many possible questions Claire might have. She is playing a dangerous game and you cannot go unprepared in such danger.

"A lot of teens work Claire, it was just an assumption."

"Well… it isn't a real job," Your almost there Claire, just say the name…just say Gabriel, so I can... Ms. Smith stops that line of thinking. "I don't get paid, besides am the only one there except Gabriel who is…" Her eyes widen slightly as she realizes something, "Who I think," She is now wearing a smile, "is probably good at a lot of things…." She shakes her head in disbelief, "I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner…" She looks up at Ms. Smith, "I think he would be good at math! I may just kill two birds with one stone."

It is perfect. She will get to see Gabriel more and if she did have to pay she could just work it off, which meant more time at the shop. "Thanks," She grins at her teacher. "Can I have that note now?"

"Not sure what I did, but glad I could help," Ms. Smith replies with a well-rehearsed smile that does little to cover the small mischief dancing in her eyes--not that Claire notices because she is too caught up in her plans—as she makes her way over to her desk grabbing a pen and paper, quickly writing a note.

"Of course, I'll need to meet with him to make sure he is alright," She began writing out an excuse, "But I hope it works out for you," Ms. Smith cannot hide the warmth she feels. She is so close to meeting him again. She has not seen him since he was a child, and there is no way he would recognize her now, which is kind of sad, but at least she will see him again. After that, someday he will know who she is.

Issac Medenz stares at the picture with incredulity. This…this can't be real. The picture is a perfect image of Simone and a guy whom he has recently became acquainted with, Peter Petrelli. Simone loves me, I love her. This cannot be right, maybe I don't predict future, but…this looks so real, but Simone would never…

He takes the picture and tears it apart, as small as he can do it with determined anger. Simone has not given up on him, she can't.

Gabriel stares at the list, more specifically the top of it. There is a name of a person who he does not know and an address he has never seen; all in all, the person has no meaning to him. There really isn't a good reason for him to have stolen the list. His mother would never have approved of this behavior.

No, there was no reason, except one little thing, something that is rather foolish if you think about it. Somebody of Gabriel's intelligence should have never given into such a possibility, that extraordinary people exist, but here was the suppose list of those people.

He grabs his phone and dials the number, but after several tries during the day, he does not get a reply back. He slams the phone down. He is completely frustrated when Claire walks in.

"Mom," Claire looks at mother she appears to be a little disoriented.

"Uh, which way am I suppose to turn?" Sandra asks.

Claire's confusion is present as she says, "The same as always, just a right. Are you alright?"

"Yeah dear, just had a senior moment," her mom tries to brush it off as if it is nothing.

"But you're not a senior," She studies her mom for a moment, maybe Claire was overly concern, but something seems wrong with her mom, "You sure you okay?"

"I'm fine, look," She points at the shop as she pulls in the lot, "We're here," Claire pulls her purse from out the car and still stares at her mom, "I'm fine." Sandra rolls her eyes, "There is nothing to worry about." She looks Claire right in the eye, "okay…now give me a goodbye hug, dear and I'll see you in a couple hours." Claire indulges her mother before giving her mom one last look of concern as she enters the shop.

Claire immediately dives for the back of the shop were Gabriel is, so she can ask him about tutoring. She sees him hang up the phone as she makes her way over to him.

"Hello," She greets.

"You should be at the front," His voice, the one she like so much, sounds so…it is the same and yet it isn't.

"Um…I need to ask you something."

He takes off his glasses and pinches the bridge of nose, "What do you want?"

"Could you tutor me?" That question caught him completely by surprise and though there was no way he could have misheard her, he still feels as though he has.

"What?"

"In math,"

"Why? Don't they…" He looks at her and she is smiling again, and he likes but he does not even understand why she is asking him, "Have tutors at your school?"

"Yeah, but you are probably smarter than everyone in my school."

He shook his head, "No,"

"Why not?" Her face falters. He hates it when she does that and his confusion fades into irritation.
"Claire," his harsh voice is back, "I'm not in the mood for your pestering."

"I'm not pestering you, this is artful persuasion…well okay, begging,"

"Tutor me, please?"

"No,"

"It is not that big of deal, we are friends aren't we?"

"You just work here."

"But…" She was staring at him as her voice cracks, "You let me see how you make the watches…"

"Every time," He snarled, "I start to think I like you…," he begins staring at her, he wants to hurt, has to, and he does not entirely understand why. Perhaps, it was so she will not hurt him first, "I'm reminded as to why I don't."

She looked a little hurt, "You don't like me? I thought we were friends…"

"I don't have friends Claire. I never have and never will." He yells, "Friends are useless anyway."

"But…" She does not understand why it hurt so much, nor has she comprehend why she wanted him to like her so much. She thought about the people she called friends and knows they are not, because she has had a real friend. She thrown it away for what? Fear of what…the pain of being humiliate, maybe, the pain of feeling different…, "I don't have friends either." What is it that is so important that she...Suddenly, she feels tears pouring down and all she wants to do is get away from the pain.

She runs.

Her vision is blurred, and she was not paying attention to where she was going. She did not see it, until it was too late…

A loud, horrible, screeching sound was heard.

Author's Commentary:

To Reviewers: So every time I feel kind of down and think I should just quit and let the better writers take over, somebody writes an extraordinary review that makes me think for a little while that my writing does not completely suck.

SO THANK YOU TO ALL REVIEWERS!

Last Scene: That last scene was the hardest thing to write in this chapter, though so far not the hardest one ever. You know when you write something and it gets deleted, or misplaced, then you totally rewrite, it seems it is either more awesome or lame. The first time I wrote the whole ending scene it was good. Is this version awesome or lame, I do not know? All I know is that it demanded to be written, though it refused to tell me how. The plot bunnies are evil you know they give me all these ideas then run away, while I try to string them together.

Guess: Can you guess which scene in this chapter is my favorite? Do you guys know what is going to happen next? I left it at a cliff hanger, I bet some of you will get it right.

On Writing: The goal is always to hit at least five thousand words which I think is between 8-10 pages. If you cannot tell this story will be fairly long, not epic, but guessing anywhere between 20-30 chapters. I am passed 50 pages, and on my way to 40,000 words. I'm pretty sure this will be one of the longest story that I have written, once it is done. We haven't gotten to the second part of the story; I guess you can call the first part the Introduction. The Introduction leads into Discovery as we are introduce the characters as they are discovering each other and their powers. There are two more parts after this. So far I'm calling them the Runaway and Hero parts. Runaway, I believe will be mostly Sylaire action. The next two parts, I think will be relatively short, though the Hero part, which is just mainly where all our heroes try to save the world will be a few chapters leading into well…to the end. I won't say more than that, because then I'll give away the whole plot.

The Show: Yes, yes and yes, I cannot wait to see the new episode tonight!

Spuffy compare to Sylaire?

Hey, for those who were once upon a time watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Does anybody see the similarities in Buffy and Spike compared to Sylar and Claire? Spike was a badass vampire who was a great nemesis for Buffy. Sylar was the badass villain of season one. Buffy was in high school, Claire was in high school…ha and they were both cheerleaders at one time. Spike comes to seek Buffy's help, Sylar comes to get Claire's help. Spike becomes obsess with Buffy, thinks he is in love. I think Sylar is going to become obsess with Claire, if he isn't already. Buffy wanted a normal life, so does Claire. Yeah…lots of things in common.

Randomness: So a family friend calls me on the phone and is like I'm coming over at 3:30 to drop off some hamsters. I'm like…uh. Like I just happened to a have hamster cage and food, don't you know I just keep all this random pet supplies—that costs money—around just in case, somebody wants to randomly give something. Luckily, she brought things with her and it gave me a little time to get things for them. Anyway I love my new tiny hamsters. I can hold them, each in my hand. I just thought it was funny how got them. They are Bronson and Brayden, I spent all this time looking for names that reflects their personality and end up just picking those names because they sound nice.