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Claire lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She could hear her mother talking to Lyle downstairs. It sounded like he had failed a test. She sighed.

She felt sorry for Lyle. He had a normal life before, and she had screwed it up, with this stupid no healing thing.

And her dad?? He had messed it up even more. The weird thing was, she didn't have to specify which dad. They both had.

But Claire had to admit, they had also stopped her from getting taken with everyone else.

But then again... They were the ones taking everyone.

Her phone rang, interrupting her thoughts.

'One New Text' her phone read. 'Open your door, Claire. –Rebel.' Read the text.

Claire furrowed her brow, then her door bell rang.

She ran downstairs to open it, but her mother opened it first.

As Claire got to the door, she saw a girl about the same age as her, smiling at her. Then she went to hug her.

"Uh... Who are you?" Claire asked. "Not to be rude."

"I'm special. Don't worry, the Agents aren't here right now. They got a very urgent call saying that Sylar is a mile away. He needs more Agents." She said, walking in.

"Sylar?" Claire asked, her blood running cold.

"Yeah... Don't worry, he's not real." She said as she saw Claire face. "Illusions. Lots of fun." She said. "But after they realize he's not real, they're gonna come back here. So, you might want to come with me."

"I don't even know your name, why should follow you blindly wherever you want me to go?" Claire asked.

"Because you don't want all the Specials to be killed. And my name is Amanda." Amanda said.

"Killed?" Lyle asked, coming towards the stranger.

Amanda glanced at Lyle. He stared at her as she saw her entire face. She was quite a beautiful girl.

"I know a girl. She kills, with a single brush of her fingers. She had a van full of fugitives, some of them I think you know, and they got stopped by Danko's men. She took care of them. Danko's pretty mad now. So mad he tortured a prisoner pretty badly." She shook her head.

"This is getting bad." Claire said.

Amanda looked at her. "This rebellion- it's turned into a war."

Line.

"We just have one stop, Claire, then we'll go to Rebel's headquarters." Amanda said.

Claire and Amanda were driving calmly out of town. Amanda had convinced Claire that it would be safest for everyone if she came with her, leaving her mother and brother alone. Claire didn't know if this was true, but she didn't seem to have many people to trust these days.

"A stop?" Claire asked.

"We have to pick someone up. It might be a bit dangerous, which would be why you're here." Amanda explained.

"Who are we picking up?" Claire asked slowly.

"Mr. Gabriel Gray." Amanda said.

Claire's blood went cold. "Sylar."

"Hopefully not. I'd much rather deal with Gabriel." Came a voice from the back seat.

Claire jumped and spun to look behind her. A woman sat in the back, smiling gently, her hair falling gently down her back.

"Hello, Claire." She said.

Claire turned to Amanda. "Who is that?" she asked.

"My mother. She's not real, though. Illusion." She explained.

"I'm here to deal with Gabriel." She said. "My name is Amna, by the way." She smiled at Claire with warm eyes.

"Umm... I don't know how comfortable I am talking to someone who's not real." Claire said to Amanda.

"She's real, Claire. If my mother was really here, she would be doing exactly what that one would be doing." Amanda explained.

"Where is your real mother?" Claire asked.

Amanda squinted out a window, suddenly very focused on the road.

"I'm dead." Amna said.

"Claire, my eyes suck. What does that sign say?" Amanda asked.

Claire looked at her. "My mother died too. And the sign says 'restaurant 23 next exit'."

Line.

Sylar sat alone in a booth. His father was such a disappointment.

That oxygen tank, that pathetic look on his face when Sylar left him to die, slowly.

It was so final now. His adoptive mother was dead. His adoptive father was just living his life, having to care for the son he left behind. His birth mother was dead. He was surprised at how much that hurt.

And his birth father was, all in all, pathetic.

He liked it better when he thought he was the son of Angela and Arthur Petrelli.

You searched for answered not questioned before, the curse of awareness, no peace anymore.

Sylar looked around. He knew that voice.

When he looked out the window, into the parking lot, he saw her.

He got up and walked out to her.

As soon as he was a few yards away, she turned, walking slowly behind the restaurant, where no one in the restaurant or on the highway could see them. Then she turned to face him.

She looked exactly how he remembered her. This caused him to think of how much different he must look to her.

As if reading his mind, she said. "You're not wearing glasses."

He smiled nervously. "Uh... no. I'm not."

She nodded. "Long time no see."

"It's been a really long time."

"So, who am I talking to? Gabriel or Sylar?" She asked, raising a brow.

"My watch?" he asked, faking not knowing.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Gabe. Sylar. Whoever the hell you are." She pointed out.

Sylar flinched. "I'm not the same person." He said quietly.

"I know, dear. I'm not either." She said, smiling sadly.

Sylar took a step forward and tried to touch her shoulder, but his hand went right through her.

His eyes went wide, as he bared his teeth. "You aren't real. Someone's trying to mess with my head." He looked around.

"I might not be real, but this is all that's left of me. Besides Amanda." She said.

Sylar turned. "What do you mean." He asked bluntly.

"I'm dead, Gabriel." She said sadly. Sylar stared, shocked. "Amanda is Special, just like I always thought. Remember? I never knew how special..." she shook her head. "She's making me be here. She makes Illusions. Isn't that wonderful? Don't even think about hurting her."

"I wouldn't ever-" he started.

"No. Listen. You owe me, Gabe. And I know I lost a lot of the stuff you owe me after I did what I did, so many times."

"Wasn't your fault..."

"But you must still owe me at least one. And since I'm dead, you now owe Amanda. And she needs you, Gabriel. You need to help her."

"You can't be dead."

"I am. Amanda and a friend are sitting in a car on the other side of the highway. Go to them. Gabriel."

Sylar, Gabriel, whoever he was, looked into her face. Then he turned, and walked towards the car.