Jed couldn't help but think of how he first discovered his power. Reid beat it out of him. Literally.

"Fight back!" Reid roared as he threw punches at Jed. All Jed could do was avoid them and hold his arms against himself.

Reid kicked him, making Jed crumble into a dark corner. "You have a power in there somewhere! I'm going to get it out of you, no matter what it takes!"

Finally, Reid out of patience, Jed crying hysterically, Reid grabbed a shovel from the corner of the shed they were in and lunged at Jed.

Suddenly, a bright pink light shot out from the darkness and cut through the metal scoop of the shovel. Petrified, Reid just stared at the wooden handle he now held in his hands.

The light was coming from Jed's finger. Shaking, he pulled the digit into his chest and cradled it like a baby.

Finally Reid came to his senses and tossed the remnants of the shovel aside. Slowly he walked over to Jed and reached out his hand to clasp his shoulder. Jed shuddered and pulled away.

"I'm not going to hurt you, bro," Reid said gently. "I'm sorry I scared you. But we finally found your power! And it's given me an idea." Reid now sat himself down next to his brother, grasping his bended knees.

Before this breakthrough, after months of collecting all available information about this "Sylar," Reid had determined what they needed to do.

"We need to bait him somehow," Reid proposed. "He looks for people with powers. Somehow, we need to make him aware that we have something he wants. When he comes after us, we'll be ready."

"How do we do that?" Jed asked.

"Well, Sylar killed a girl in Texas after she came forth and admitted she'd saved a man from a fiery train wreck. Perhaps…we need to make ourselves known as heroes, then we'll get his attention."

"So…we need to do something heroic?"

"Yes," Reid told him. "But until we know what your power is, we can't do jack shit."

Now, with Jed revealing his heatless laser energy that shot from his finger, Reid realized that they didn't have to be heroes to get Sylar's attention.

"We're going to be Sylar's protégés, Jed," Reid told him, putting an arm around his still shaken brother.

"Wha-what do you mean, protégés?" Jed asked dumbly.

"Your power can simulate something Sylar loves to do. That's how we're going to get his attention. We'll bring him right to us."

"You don't mean," Jed whispered in terror, his eyes wide and searching. "You don't mean….we—we kill people, do you?"

Reid was afraid of this. Jed was always weak. And now, when he needed him to understand, he was worried about the minor details.

He put both his hands on his brother's shoulders. "We have to do what we have to do, Jed," Reid said, looking him in the eyes. "We've got nothing to lose. Our brother was all we had, and he was taken from us. You know, that if it had been one or both of us that died, he would have done whatever was necessary to avenge us. I need you to be strong, Jed. I need you to look at the greater picture. I need you to think of how much we loved our brother, and how much we hate the man who killed him. Nothing else matters, you understand me?"

Jed gulped. "Yes, Reid. I understand."

That was his first and last lie to his twin brother.

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Molly opened her eyes to the feeling of Mohinder shaking her gently. He smiled. "Sweetheart, we need you to find him again. Can you do that?"

"I just need the map," she said groggily.

Her request was postponed when they all heard the phone ring in the other room. Claire answered it. "Yes?" she said quickly.

"Is this the lovely lady that's been traveling with the Great Killer?" a raspy voice said on the other line. All the blood drained from Claire's face.

"Claire? What's wrong?" Matt asked. Claire looked at him in terror, but turned back to the phone.

"Who is this?" she asked.

There was a chuckle. "Oh you know who it is. You've been trying to find me. Well, I'm tired of running. I'd like to meet that special man who has made all of this possible."

Sylar was at her side in an instant. "Give me the phone," he directed. Claire put it into his hand.

"You've got me. Now what the hell do you want?" Sylar asked.

"Tsk tsk, friend. Is that any way to speak to me? I'm such a great admirer of yours."

"You've been killing people just to get my attention. How should I talk to you?"

"Like someone you would have respect for. I-I feel such a kinship to you, Sylar. Like a protégée would feel to his master. I think that if we met, we'd have such a lovely time. In fact, that's why I'm calling. I'd like to meet the man who made me what I am. I figured the polite thing to do would be to call and make a date."

"You're all heart. When do you want to meet?"

"Well, it's been a long day for all of us, what with you just arriving in town and then having to investigate a murder. Why don't we meet tomorrow, just you and me?"

"Where?"

There was a pause. "Why don't you use that lovely little tracking system of yours to get my location? At seven am tomorrow, have her find me. And I promise, I won't harm any other innocent people before we meet. After we meet…well, that's a different story."

Sylar hung up the phone and turned to his allies. "He wants to meet me tomorrow," he told them.

"Where?" Claire asked.

Sylar shook his head. "Somehow, he found out about Molly. He told me to have her find his location tomorrow morning."

Matt sighed. "It looks like we have no choice but to meet him then. We're just going to have to wait."

"It's getting late anyway," Claire said. "We should all try to get some rest."

Mohinder then entered the room and Matt pulled him aside and explained it to him. Claire looked at Sylar. "Are you ok?" she asked.

"Of course," Sylar said, somewhat puzzled. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know," she replied, almost shyly. "This guy seems to know you so well…I didn't know if it unnerved you."

"Claire," Sylar began. "I'm going to face him tomorrow, and that will be it. Then we'll be on our way. There's nothing to it."

She nodded. "Right." Then she thought of something else. "I think…as far as sleeping arrangements go, I'll stay with Molly and Mohinder. Molly and I will bunk together."

Sylar raised a brow. "All right. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Right! Tomorrow then." Claire walked back to Mohinder and Molly's room.

After the young woman left the room, Matt walked up to Sylar. "You know I'm not going to let you face this guy alone," he told his former enemy.

Sylar smirked. "All of a sudden you're concerned for my safety, Parkman? I didn't know you cared."

"I don't," Matt snapped. "At least, not as far as you're concerned. I want to make sure everything goes down the way it should. That nothing…gets corrupted."

"Corrupted? Oh, I get it. You think that I'm going to meet this guy and he's going to coax me back into being a murderer."

Matt shrugged. "It's not impossible."

"You really think I would do that, even though you saw into me and know how I feel?"

"Better men than you have betrayed those closest to them."

Sylar shrugged and nodded. "True enough. I'll see you tomorrow."

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Reid hung up the phone and prepared to leave. "You know what to do," he told his brother.

Jed stared at him. "And—and you're sure this is going to work?"

"Will you stop doubting me? It's perfect! The son-of-a-bitch's little girlfriend is also his tracking system! Not only will he lose what he cares for the most, but he'll be lost without her! Now I have to go," he said, then, thinking, he turned back and put his hands on his brother's shoulders. "You're all I have left, Jed," Reid told him. "You're the only thing I care about. I need to know that I can count on you."

Jed swallowed. "You can count on me, Reid. You're all I have too."

"Good. I'll be back soon with our guest. Make sure we have everything ready for her."

With that, he left.

Jed sighed and prepared what Reid wanted. The table with restraints. The surgical tools—knives, scissors, drill. The drugs, labeled neatly in the bottles. The needles for injection. They were going to enjoy this. And the best part was, Sylar couldn't do a thing to stop them.

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Molly couldn't sleep. Truthfully, she had slept for a good part of the day. But that wasn't the whole reason. She also couldn't sleep because the Boogey-Man, the old Boogey-Man, was close by.

She didn't know what to think of him. Mohinder had always told her he'd keep her safe from the Boogey-Man, and now he had to work with him. Matt too. She knew they didn't trust him and didn't want to have to work with him, but she knew that they had to.

She turned over in the bed and saw Claire lying there, fast asleep. Molly liked the older girl. After they had agreed to stop for the day, Claire went to MacDonald's and got her a happy meal, then played with her with the toy that came with it. She wondered if this was what it was like to have a big sister, someone who played with you and slept next to you when you were scared. She had been an only child and didn't really know what it was like to have a large family. Now, she realized, all she had was Matt and Mohinder.

Niki and D.L. had offered to take her in after the whole thing with the exploding man. Micah was especially excited about it. But then Molly saw the look on Mohinder's face and she knew she had to stay with him. He was very lonely.

At last she couldn't stay in bed any longer and she crept out of bed, careful not to awaken Claire. She tiptoed past the room where Matt and Mohinder were; she could hear their voices inside, trying to make sense of all that had happened to them in the last few hours. She was rounding the corner of the outside porch of the hotel when she stopped in her tracks. The old Boogey-Man was standing there, looking down at the parking lot from the balcony.

She was about to walk away, but she heard him say, "You might as well stay. I heard your heart beat as loud as a drum." He turned around, then seemed shaken. He hadn't realized it had been her.

He swallowed. "What are you doing here?" he asked, in a surprisingly kind-sounding way.

Molly stared at him with a mix of awe and fear. She tried to speak, but no words came out. After several seconds had past, he groaned and turned back to the railing.

Finally Molly found her voice. "Are you scared?" she asked.

He looked back at her. "Of what? Of you?" he scoffed.

"No," Molly said, rubbing her big toe on the ground. "I mean, of the new Boogey-Man."

Sylar smirked and walked a little closer to her. "Boogey-Men don't fear anything."

Molly's eyes widened. "Even other Boogey-Men?"

"Especially other Boogey-Men."

"Get away from her!" a voice called. It was Mohinder, who ran up to Molly and swept her into his arms. He glared at Sylar, then looked at his young charge. "What on earth are you doing out here?" he demanded.

"I couldn't sleep. I'm sorry Mohinder." Molly looked down in shame.

Mohinder put Molly down and said. "It's all right, love. Go back to bed now." Obediently Molly scuttled away.

Mohinder now looked at Sylar. "Stay away from Molly. We may have to work with you, but there's no reason why you need to speak to her."

"She came up to me and spoke to me, Mohinder. If you want her to keep her distance, you'd better talk to her, not me."

Mohinder opened his mouth to argue, but then stopped. "Fair enough. I will." He turned to walk away.

"Mohinder…Molly's parents wanted to "fix" her," Sylar called out. This made the Indian geneticist stop in his tracks and turn back around.

"What do you mean, 'fix her'?" he asked coolly.

"I followed them for days, trying to figure out what their powers were. It turns out that it was only Molly who had powers that had manifested. Her parents were horrified and were trying to find specialists who would tamper with her DNA and get rid of her abilities."

"Even so. That was no reason for you to kill them," Mohinder argued.

"They had no right to take that away from her!" Sylar cried. "She was born an extraordinary child, with so much potential. She was going to be mutilated because her parents were fearful, silly fools!"

"How dare you judge the Walkers," Mohinder hissed. "You were going to kill Molly yourself, just to get her power!"

Sylar shook his head in frustration. "I was never going to kill Molly. I infiltrated the police station where she was being kept so that I could take her with me and make her my…protégée," he explained, using the same word their copy-cat killer had used on the phone. "I killed her parents because I knew they were going to rob her of an incredible gift, one that I knew I could cultivate in her."

Mohinder was silent for a while, then came to a realization. "You were going to use her to find other people with abilities so you could kill them and steal them!" He backed away. "You're despicable. I hope this is all over tomorrow so that I never have to see you again."

Sylar chuckled. "You're not going to get rid of me that easily, Mohinder. We're always going to be linked through your father."

Mohinder glared at him. "I'm my father's son. You're my father's murderer. Don't get on your high horse too quickly."

Sylar frowned. "You think because I killed Chandra that I didn't care for him; I did. And after he was dead, I mourned for him, just like I mourned my own father."

Mohinder grimaced and shook his head. "You murdered him and then mourned him? You're unbelievable."

"He gave me hope!" Sylar exploded. "He walked into my store and gave me the one thing I had wanted all my life: the knowledge that I was special. And then, just like that, he took it away from me, no compassion at all. So I made myself special. And when I convinced him, he treated me like his son. He—he filled the gap that was left after my father died," he turned away and looked into the night. "But I couldn't stop after I had killed once. The possibility of having all those powers… Well, Chandra found out, and wanted nothing to do with me. I lost him. It was like losing my father all over again. So, I killed him. He had given me this great hope, and then took it away. I couldn't forgive him for that."

Mohinder couldn't believe it, but he actually felt a twinge of compassion in his heart for the tall dark murderer. There was none of the self-assured sarcasm, snide remarks, or taunts that were usually part of Sylar's personality. There was just…an honest confession. Even so, Mohinder wasn't sure that would be enough for him to ever forgive Sylar one day.

He sighed. "When you find the copy-cat tomorrow, try to capture him alive. I'd like to do some research on him." With that, he walked back to his room.

As he opened the door to his room, a ghastly sight met his eyes. Molly was lying face down sideways on the bed, Claire was missing. He ran to the child and held her in his arms, trying to wake her.

"Help! Matt! Sylar!" he cried. The two men were in the room in a second.

"Where's Claire?" Sylar demanded.

"I don't know. I found Molly facedown on the bed," Mohinder replied, now lightly slapping the little girl's face.

Matt looked on the wall and found, to his dismay, splatters of blood. "I don't think Claire walked out of here willingly."

Sylar looked at the wall in horror, then turned to Mohinder. "You need to wake her up," he shouted. "We need her to find Claire!"

Mohinder gently turned the child's head, only to find a puncture wound at the base of her neck. He sighed. "She's been drugged. And depending on the type of drug and the amount, Molly might be out for hours."

Sylar yelled in frustration and telekinetically sent a lamp flying across the room and against the door, shattering its ceramic body into pieces.

The former police officer and the geneticist looked at each other. They were both feeling a sympathy they never thought they would be capable of.

CCCCCCCCCCCCC

Her eyes slowly opened to a bright light shining painfully into them. She shut them again tightly and winced. She then tried to move her arms, finding that they were shackled to the table she was lying on. A test of her legs revealed the same condition.

She exhaled sharply and closed her eyes. She tried to remember exactly how she had ended up here. She remembered waking up and finding Molly gone, and, feeling a weight on her bladder, went to the bathroom. When she returned, the little girl was lying on the bed facedown, a drop of blood beginning to form at her neck. Before she even made it to her she felt something heavy slam the back of her head, and then it was all darkness. She realized then that her head felt wet right now, most likely the blood from the wound.

She was cold. She couldn't see anything else in the room, because the light was shining so intensely in her face. She wondered if she should call out to someone, or just keep her mouth shut and pretend to still be out. The choice was taken away from her when she heard a voice say, "Ah, you're awake. I would have thought you'd be out for hours. You must be tougher than you look."

Claire heard footsteps getting closer, until there was a face in front of hers. It was a man with blond hair, who appeared to be in his early twenties. His blue eyes crinkled when he smiled. "So. You're Sylar's only weakness."

Claire pulled at her bonds, knowing it was futile. "What do you want from me?" she demanded.

Then another voice spoke, this time from the darkness. "From you? Nothing. We merely want Sylar to pay, and, unfortunately for you, you are our method of torment." The voice grew closer, until Claire saw another man with the same face as the first. His smile was just as disturbing.

She swallowed. "He's a killer. We've only been thrown together on a journey. I mean nothing to him," she tried to convince them, but knew that it wouldn't.

"Oh, I don't think so. You see, my brother Jed and I have been following you two for the last few weeks," the second man told her, "and from what I've seen, you're trying to reform him."

Claire rolled her eyes. "That doesn't mean it's working."

"Well, he may not care about the rest of the world, but he certainly cares for you," the first man, called "Jed" told her, gently stroking her cheek. "That's all we need to make him suffer."

Claire pulled her face from his grasp. "Why do you hate him?"

The two men laughed simultaneously. Then the second man spoke up. "Surely you must realize a man like Sylar would have plenty of people for enemies. People who have lost loved ones due to his selfish crusade of self-betterment. Our loved one happened to be Zane Taylor. Sylar pretended to be him for a while, after brutally murdering him, of course." Claire could see both faces of the men darken with emotion after that admission.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Claire said. "But why are you killing innocent people? Shouldn't you be going after Sylar?"

"You should know better than anyone else that Sylar is all but invincible," Jed told her. "It took us months to form a plan of revenge."

"But then, we realized that Sylar had all of a sudden stopped killing," Jed's brother cut in. "We couldn't understand why. So we followed the trail."

"And we learned that the Great Killer was traveling with someone—an attractive, young girl who had the power to find anyone in the world. There was finally someone he cared for. We finally found our revenge."

Claire stared in confusion. Did they think that she had Molly's tracking abilities? They must have. She couldn't let on that they were wrong and possibly endanger Molly's life. She'd keep up the pretense.

"So you think that keeping me prisoner will prevent Sylar from finding me. Very clever," she told them.

"Thank you," they said together. "So we committed the copy-cat murders so that Sylar would try to track us down. And it worked! Now here you are, and our plan is complete."

"But you're harming innocent people in getting your revenge. You're no better than he is," Claire pointed out, hoping they'd listen.

The nameless one chuckled mirthlessly. "What does anyone else matter to us? The one person we loved most in this world is gone. You are merely a pawn in the game, a piece of collateral."

Claire's eyes widened in fear. "He'll kill you for this," she said softly.

The nameless brother held her chin tightly in his hand. "Maybe so. But at least we'll make him hurt." He then turned to Jed, who had been standing in the corner, his arms crossed. "Do what you do best, brother," he told him.

Jed walked over to the table, and gently pushed up her pajama shirt. Claire gasped as she saw his finger turn from a natural peach color to a bright, almost blinding, neon pink. He aimed it at the smooth plane of her stomach, and a bright stream of light emerged.

The room was soon filled with the gut-wrenching cries of a young woman.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Mohinder handed a paper cup of water to Matt, who gratefully took it and gulped it down. He looked out the open door and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "He's been gone for three hours," Matt told his friend. "He doesn't think he's going to find them that easily."

"Sylar is no ordinary man," Mohinder said quietly. "If he wants to find someone, he'll find them."

Matt shook his head. "This is all his fault. If Claire gets hurt, it's because of him. What the hell is she doing with him anyway?"

Mohinder sighed and went back to the bed where his young charge was still working the drugs she'd been given out of her system. He took her little hand in his. "She's looking for hope," he told Matt. "I—I don't know what's happened between the two of them, but I know that she's given him all she could, more than anyone could, I think. I just hope that he gives her all he has as well."

"I just wish he had let me go with him," Matt sighed. After Mohinder told them that Molly would need time to get the drugs out of her system, Sylar rushed out of the hotel. Matt ran after him, only to get a look so menacing from Sylar that he turned back.

Mohinder looked up at Matt, and smiled bitterly. "He doesn't need anyone. He's Sylar."

"You're right, Mohinder," a voice said. They turned to see Sylar, standing in the doorway. "Has she awakened yet?"

Mohinder shook his head. "We're going to have to find another way to locate Claire."

Sylar slowly walked to one of the beds and sat down. "I know a way. But I've been afraid to try it."

Matt held up his hands. "Sylar, if it's the only way…you have to."

Sylar shook his head. "You might not like what you see."

"It doesn't matter," Mohinder said, walking to him. "Look. If Claire was in your place, would she do it? If it meant saving you?"

Sylar chuckled mirthlessly. "She's already saved me."

Matt nodded. "Do it, then."

Sylar sighed. "I'm going to need a piece of paper and a pencil."

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Jed and Reid stared in amazement. "I don't believe it," Jed whispered. They were looking at the girl's stomach, which at that point should have had a nasty third degree scar, but was instead as smooth and honey colored as before. She didn't even seem to be in pain. She seemed to be more frustrated than anything else.

Reid took her face roughly in his hands. "How did you do that?" he demanded.

She stared at him closely, then took a deep breath in and, without warning, spit in his face.

In thoughtless retaliation, Reid wrenched Claire's head until he heard a sickening crack. He had broken her neck.

"You killed her," Jed said, almost in wonder.

Reid let go of the golden colored head and exhaled sharply. "I guess I did."