Claire sat on the couch, slowly consuming the bag of chips she found in the pantry. Her mom was preparing dinner in the kitchen and Lyle sat beside her playing one of his video games. She had been invited over for a family dinner, and she eagerly accepted the invitation. It had been far too long since her last visit and she needed a welcomed distraction from all things involving her father. He had been checking in more and more lately, unconvinced that Sylar would stay away. Claire was surprised that he hadn't moved his shit in to her apartment yet because he was practically living there already.

Claire reached the bottom of the bag and she made a small grunt of protest. Hopefully dinner was ready she thought annoyingly. She left the couch and walked casually over to the kitchen, discarding the empty chip bag in the garbage. Her mother looked at her questioningly, but Claire simply shrugged it off. Stress eating wasn't really a problem for her, seeing as she could eat anything and everything and not gain weight, one perk of her ability. "How long until dinner?" she examined the contents of one of the pots on the stove, inhaling the wonderful aroma.

"About ten minutes. Can you stir the sauce pan honey?"

"Sure," Claire grabbed the spoon and began stirring aimlessly. Satisfied that she had completed the job she returned the spoon back to its place on the counter and went to stand beside her mom.

"Everything okay Claire?" She said in her deep southern accent. When Claire tried to avoid the question, she asked again, knowing full well that something was bothering Claire.

"It's dad. He won't leave me be to make my own-decisions," Claire revised her sentence at the last second. Gabriel could never be a mistake and she would never say it.

"I'm sure he's only trying to keep you safe. Does it have anything to do with what happened at the carnival because he made sure that everyone believed it was hoax?"

Lyle walked into the room still enthralled in his game. He smiled as he commented on her mother's question. "Yeah we have the 60 Minutes episode recorded if you want to see it again."

"Shut it Lyle," Claire said angrily.

"Very funny Lyle," she turned to Claire. "Don't worry we got rid of that months ago."

"I made a copy," Lyle couldn't help but gloat. Claire childishly stuck out her tongue, but he simply laughed and situated himself on a stool retreating from the conversation having said everything he wanted to say.

"No, it's about Sylar. Dad thinks he's up to something and has taken it upon himself to take up residence in my apartment." Claire said through clenched teeth. He was making it disturbingly difficult to spend any time with her fiancé.

"Well your father's always been a stubborn ass. Once he gets himself set on something he just won't give up," she said this with a small smile in sympathy of her daughter's woes. Although, that was not the sort of thing Claire wanted to be reminded of in this instance. When would she finally get some peace from all the drama? Her life had been one major catastrophe after the next. Was there some semblance of a normal life in her near future, or was there always something bond to come and fuck everything up? You think after surviving this long she could deal with her father, but he was perhaps the scariest of them all.

Sandra made her way to the stove, turning the burner off and quickly depositing the sauce to the already prepared noodles. Claire felt the tiniest bit better after the prospect of food. "Claire, Lyle, go set the table." Lyle sighed in annoyance and put down his game.

Claire joined him in the dining room, setting out the silverware on the other end of the table. Nearly done with her job, both Lyle and Claire jumped at the sound of the doorbell. "Mom did you invite anyone else for dinner," Claire yelled into the kitchen. Sandra appeared with a bowl of pasta and placed it on the table. She shook her head no. She left them to answer the door. Claire could barely make out the muffled voices coming from the other room.

When her mom finally re-entered the room with their new guest, Claire's jaw clenched. Was there no escape from him? There he was glasses himself, the man she's been trying to avoid, her father. He gave Lyle a quick hug then approached her. Claire accepted the hug but remained stiff in his arms. If he noticed it didn't show.

"Dad," Claire said calmly. "What are you doing here?"

"Well this is a family dinner and I just assumed you all forgot to tell me." If by forgot he meant purposely did not mention, he was absolutely correct. So much for her welcomed distraction. One of these days she was just going to explode from all her pent up rage for him. He seriously needed to back the fuck off.

"Well, let's make the most of this night. Noah, have a seat; it's time to eat," Sandra seemed resigned to the sudden appearance of her ex-husband. He smugly sat himself at the head of the table already serving himself a good helping of Sandra's cooking.

Claire was the last to take her seat, all the while staring at her dad. "So, dad," she drew it out "Any progress with the whole Sylar thing?" Good luck trying to find him.

"His fork paused and was lowered back to his plate. "Not at the moment, but sooner or later he's going to make a mistake and I'll be there to put a bullet in the back of his head."

"Noah," Sandra scolded.

"What? I'm simply telling Claire the truth. She's old enough to hear it."

Claire looked at her dad skeptically. "Oh, now I'm old enough; when it's convenient for you." She stood up knocking over her chair in her rush. "Sorry mom, but I have to go now. We should do this again." Claire gave her mom a quick kiss then smiled at Lyle. Ignoring her dad she quickly grabbed her coat and exited the house. She retrieved her phone and dialed Gabriel's number.

He picked up on the first ring. "Hey."

"Can you come pick me up? I need to see you." Claire didn't mean for her voice to be so harsh, but she hadn't had enough time to cool off yet.

"Sure. Be there in five." Claire put her phone back in her coat pocket, starting to walk down the sidewalk, staring at her feet as she went. It seemed like hours before he dropped down in front of her, worry creasing his brows. "I thought you were spending the evening with your mom?"

"That was the plan before my dad showed up."

"Are you alright?"

"No I'm fucking not alright," she yelled. Gabriel took a step back. "Sorry I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just so—ugh," there seemed to be no words to explain the mood she was in. Claire closed to gap between them and wasted no time encircling him with her arms. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "Let's just go."

Gabriel nodded and held her closer as he lifted them up into the sky.

Noah followed his daughter out of the house. He was confused by her attitude towards him lately. Sure he had been a bit smothering with his attempts to protect her, but wasn't it necessary? He knew Sylar, and that man would never stop going after what he wanted and he wanted Claire. As soon as Sylar was gone for good, he'd let Claire live her own life, free form him if she so wished.

Noah saw Claire stop and was shocked to see the man that appeared before her. "Sylar," he whispered, concealing himself behind some brush. It took great effort on his part to not withdraw his gun and start shooting. He needed a plan.