Leaving her English Lit class a week later, was Claire's favorite part of the day; it was her final class. She rolled her eyes to see Peter surrounded by the typical young women. He pushed politely passed them to her side, as soon as she was free from the classroom.

Together they started walking to the dining hall, but unable to stop herself, Claire turned into an empty classroom.

"Where you going?" Peter trotted back up to her and followed her into the room. The blinds were closed, as did the door as soon as they were both inside.

"Noah had his chance. There was no need to involve you in this any further."

Sylar allowed her to spin and face him. "I told you he wouldn't stop."

"You did. Didn't he at least send you some extra protection?"

"She's got plenty," Peter interjected.

"Really?" Sylar sounded doubtful, crackling lightening in his hands. He looked Claire straight in the eye and tilted his head. "Ready or not, here we come." His eyes flashed to her left before zeroing in on Peter, who charged forward. She saw Peter crumple under the electricity but turned to her left just as a heavy book flew at her.

The invisible hand lost its grip on the text as Claire ducked just in time. She waited patiently for a clue as to where the unseen attacker, she was guessing Becky, had gone. It came in the form of a sharp letter opener hurtling towards her head, obviously going for her shut off switch. She knew she was too late to stop the blade but hopefully Peter would be able to escape.

A sudden bolt of electricity shot towards her. The girl screamed right beside her; a heavy thud told her that the invisible woman was out. Looking for the source, she found Sylar's hand still outstretched in her direction, Peter grasping his wrist.

Fearfully, she waited for another attack. Instead, Peter went suddenly stiff, and flew back against the wall.

"No!" Claire screamed and ran towards Sylar.

"Stop." One word and he forced her to obey it. He stalked towards her, making her heart thunder. Sylar circled her once, brushed a hand lightly over her hair when he was behind her causing her to shiver. Standing in front of her again, he dipped his head down to whisper in her ear, "You shouldn't linger." He brushed past her and picked up the invisible girl, throwing her over his shoulder carelessly. "See you soon." He exited through an office door and Peter dropped to the ground, unharmed.

"We gotta go." Claire rushed to help him up, careful to not touch his skin. He would need Sylar's powers in the days to come. "Hurry!" Already footsteps were thudding in their direction; people were pounding on the door trying to help the girl who had screamed.

"Door, go!" Peter shoved her towards the same door Sylar had escaped through.

"Dad, this is ridiculous." Claire sighed, looking at the men surrounding her. Noah hadn't wasted any time before he sent a few 'old friends' to help Peter protect her. She was trying to reason with him that she should just go stay with him until things settled down, but he wouldn't listen. Whatever he was up to, he wasn't going to be around enough to keep her safe. "There is no way that they can all stay here in my room; Gretchen is going to have a fit! Plus there's no room. Besides, what am I supposed to tell people about all these guys following me around to classes? Peter is hard enough to explain."

"Claire, we don't have much choice here. You have to stay in school, surrounded by ordinary people is the easiest way to keep you safe. It limits their options."

"They have Sylar, limited options doesn't really mean much to him."

"Claire," he warned in a finalized tone. The disagreement was apparently over because he wasn't going to discuss it anymore. She hated that tone, especially when she was right.

"What are you doing that they want you to stop?"

"Don't concern yourself with that. Focus on staying safe and keeping your grades up."

"Grades? You're worried about grades? Dad, I-"

"Claire, that's enough. Any more problems and I'm going to have to call the Haitian to wipe memories. He's on an important assignment that we can't afford to pull him away from."

She closed her eyes as she hung up the cell. "He changed his mind, you're all free to go."

"Nice try," Peter grinned.

She surveyed the crowd again; three new guys had joined them, one of which was excessively large. "Great." She looked at the tiny room and two twin beds. The door knob wiggled and eventually opened to reveal a surprised Gretchen.

"Hey Gretch, meet my new friends," she faked enthusiasm. "This is Eric, John, and Tirak. They're here to help with the…uh…situation." When she received no response from her roommate, she continued. "John and Tirak have abilities that should come in handy. And Eric has lots of experience with, uh…"

"Bagging and tagging those individuals who manifest significant abilities," Eric supplied.

"Yeah."

"Claire, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course." She was still falsely chipper. They stepped out into the hallway, the only place where there was room to talk. "What's up?"

"Where are all these guys supposed to be sleeping?"

"Well, I'm told that John doesn't sleep. He doesn't get tired. Ever. So we don't have to worry about him."

"And the big guy?"

"Oh. Him. Tirak, he's extremely strong."

"Yeah, I can see that."

"Right. So that's settled."

"No, it's not. Where is he and the other guy sleeping?"

"On the floor," she winced.

"I can't handle this. First Becky tries to kill me, now our room is overflowing with weird men. It's just too much."

"Gretchen, please. It's not going to last much longer."

"How can you know that?" Claire didn't have an answer for her. "Look, I'm going home this weekend. Again. If they're still here when I get back, I'm going back to my old room."

"No! You-"

"Then have them gone!" Gretchen stomped off towards the stairs.

Claire sighed, there was very little chance that they'd be gone by Monday. What a mess this was turning out to be. She really wanted to know what her dad was up to. It had to be something big. The idea of Sylar wandering around her college was seriously disturbing. She knew no matter who was with her, if he wanted to reach her, he could. What was worse was that she knew he could force her to go quietly as well.

Which made her wonder why he allowed Peter into the room where they fought just a few hours ago. Why not grab her and go? Maybe he didn't want to take her. That could explain why he seemed to be warning her and not just destroying Peter while he had the chance. Or, Becky was going for her off switch. Maybe they really intended to kill her, permanently.

She went back into her room and flopped onto the bed, ignoring the guys snooping around in her and Gretchen's stuff. Above all things, she was sure Sylar didn't want her dead. His plans turned her stomach, but they did contain a certain measure of comfort. That could be it then; they wanted her dead dead, and Sylar didn't want to comply. That would explain his warnings, and his lack of enthusiasm.

Well, if he disagreed with them, why was he still helping them? Were they powerful enough to scare him? She nearly laughed out loud at that thought. He had taken on Peter at his strongest in addition to how many others with extremely powerful abilities. He hadn't even flinched. It must be something else, then. His original ability was figuring things out; maybe he had a plan and needed to participate with the carnies to reach his goal. Yes, now that sounded like the Sylar she knew.

She wasn't even aware that she passed out, obsessed as she was. Her thoughts converted easily into dreams filled with a plotting Sylar who was the one really keeping her safe.

When she woke, hours later, she shook her head at the insanity that was her subconscious. Getting out of bed, Claire nearly screamed when she saw John looking out her window. He was creepy just hovering there, staring out into nothing, or at least she hoped it was nothing. It was still dark out, which didn't surprise her as early as she had fallen asleep.

Peter was perched on the end of her bed, sound asleep, leaning against the wall. Tirak was taking up almost the entire floor all by himself and Eric was snoring on Gretchen's bed. Claire shook her head, it's a good thing she couldn't see him there, she'd flip. Tiptoeing carefully around Tirak, she grabbed her small shower bag and took some clothes to the bathroom.

She was halfway there before she realized John was following her. She cast him an annoyed glance over her shoulder. She hoped he didn't think he was going to be coming in the shower room with her. Well, apparently he did; he was only two steps behind her and reaching for the door to go with her. "You can't go in there."

"Let me check it out first, then you can have your privacy."

"Ridiculous," she grumbled, watching him disappear through the door. She didn't have to wait long before he exited the bathroom and motioned for her to go ahead. She was still muttering to herself as she entered and headed straight for the showers.

A couple minutes later when Claire started feeling nervous, she laid total blame with John. He'd gotten her all worked up and expecting the worst. Really, what would Sylar be doing in her shower? He wouldn't, it's not his style. Despite knowing that, she couldn't overlook the feeling of being watched. Peeking out of the curtain, she quickly grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her wet body. She could tell already that this would be a lousy day.

A/N: Yes, I just made up John, Eric, and Tirak. Hope you don't mind. I almost used Ando, but decided to go with Tirak instead. Sorry Ando fans, I didn't want to write him if I couldn't do him justice.

Otherwise, how're you liking it? Much thanks to everyone who read and especially those who reviewed!