All usual disclaimers

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Translations:

Hola: Hello

cómo estás: how are you

bien: good

hijo: son

Naturalmente: naturally

The street market was in full swing and the dark haired young man maneuvered between the various shoppers before finding the carts he was looking for. He picked a few oranges and a melon before going to the next cart, searching for the requested items he was sent to find. The wave of a yellow scarf caught his attention and he inwardly sighed. He really didn't have time for this, but he fixed a smile on his face and turned.

"Hola, Gabriel." A statuesque woman in her 60s waved the young man over.

He raised a hand in acknowledgement before sliding two mangos into his bag and paying the vendor.

Sylar, or Gabriel as he was known here, walked over to the woman known to all as Doña Julia.

"¿Hola Julia, cómo estás?" He asked politely.

"Bien, bien, I am well, Gabriel." She smiled. "And how is our little Clarita?"

"Umm…good. Fine." He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

"Good and fine?" She chuckled.

"She's miserable." He confessed as his straight posture slumped.

She motioned to the empty chair next to her and Sylar sat down with a thump.

"Talk to me, hijo." She patted his hand.

"Ah Doña Julia," Sylar released as deep breath, "one minute she's so excited and happy, she says she could never live without me. The next, she's crying and wishes that I was dead and that she never met me."

Julia chuckled. "Naturalmente, mi hijo. You are the one who planted his seed and she's the one who must now labor to produce the fruits of your love."

"That's quite poetic, Julia." Sylar snidely remarked.

"Ah, I see the cynic has retuned. But just you wait, hijo, when you hold those two bebes in your arms your world will change. That cynicism will lift like a fog in the wind." She chuckled. "Very poetic, yes? But very true, I promise."

Gabriel had to smile. He really liked this woman. He and Claire had become close to her as the Doña was the town mid-wife. She had been a doctor back in the day, but she had married a local man and settled here.

"I'm sure you're right, Doña Julia." He glanced at his watch. "I need to get back to Claire, she was pretty sad this morning…"

"She misses her mama, si?" She asked, knowingly.

"Well, yeah. But there isn't much we can do right now." Sylar shrugged. Doña Julia knew part of their story. People were after them, they wanted to take their babies, they had to leave the country and cut off all ties with family and friends.

"Maybe you could bring her mother for a short visit? The woman deserves to know she's about to be a grandmother." She looked pointedly at Gabriel.

"You know we can't" We couldn't risk getting caught at the border or at the airport." He explained.

"Aye, mi hijo, who said anything about the airport?" She tilted her head to one side and smiled.

Sylar licked his lips nervously. "What…what are you talking about?" He groaned inwardly. He didn't want to have to kill Julia, but he would if it meant protecting Claire and his babies.

"Sit down, Gabriel, we must talk." Julia insisted.

Sylar was still reeling from Doña Julia's revelations. He insisted she return home with him so she could relate her tale to Claire. He wasn't sure he'd get it right and Claire would have a million questions, of this he was sure.

"Claire?" Sylar called out to her as he entered their home. They'd been here almost eight months and in that time Claire had turned the house they'd rented into a home. It was filled with warmth and love. Although neither of them had ever said it, love was a part of their life together.

"And where the hell have you been? You were supposed to be back an hour ago!" Claire stormed into the living room.

"Hey, hon. Look who's here." Sylar went into the kitchen while Julia went to embrace Claire. He had to shake his head at the domesticity he enjoyed with Claire, 'hon,' he called her hon, babe, sweetie and any other number of pet names. Wouldn't Noah just shit his pants at the idea? He smirked his signature smirk as he began putting their food away.

"What a nice surprise! Did you have a dream? Am I gonna finally pop these two little puppies outta me?" She laughed.

When she and Sylar first found out they were having twins, Claire panicked, she immediately demanded Sylar take her home. She wanted her mommy! But once she calmed down, and once Sylar stopped hyperventilating, and once the shock wore off, Claire couldn't stop grinning.

"Wow," she smiled at Sylar, "when we get to work, we really get to work."

Sylar scratched his head. "Yeah, I guess we really do." He had taken Claire into his arms. "Two, we're gonna have two kids. Claire, what if I'm not good at this? I mean, I come from a long line of loser parents, not to mention psychotics."

"You're gonna be great. You'll learn from their mistakes." She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. "I know you can do this, Sylar. I know you'll love these babies, you already do. That's all we can do."

He took a deep breath and sighed. "I'll do my best, I'll try, Claire."

Doña Julia smiled down at Claire. "No, mi hija, no dreams. Just wanted to catch up with my favorite mother-to-be." She sat down on the couch.

"I'll be right back. Need to grovel a little bit." Claire winked at Julia before she waddled to the kitchen.

"Hey." Claire came up behind Gabriel and wrapped her arms around his lean waist, laying her head against his back.

He laid his hands over hers and sighed.

"Hey yourself. You hungry?" He asked.

"Nope." She slid around his body until she was facing him. "I'm sorry I've been so grouchy today. Forgive me?" She batted her eyes at him and stuck her lower lip out in a cute pout.

He chuckled at her ability to play him. "Nothing to forgive. I'd like to see how I'd fare carrying around two watermelons in my belly."

"Uterus. Those watermelons are in my uterus and they are situated right over my bladder." She laughed as she pulled him down to kiss him hungrily.

"I love you." She sighed against his lips. It was the second time she had told him that and it made his heart stop for an instant.

"Thank you." He whispered. "Let's get back to Julia, she has a story to tell us."

"Okay." She smiled. Claire realized how uncomfortable it made Gabriel when she told him that. The first time he'd gone into town and come back totally shit faced, which considering their recuperative powers wasn't all that easy. But she was okay with it because she knew he did indeed love her back. He never remembered, but in the throes of his orgasms, he always told her.

"Okay, so what's the story?" Claire set down a pitcher of iced tea.

"This story begins many decades ago. Over four actually." She picked up the pitcher and poured a glass for herself. "Claire? Gabriel? Would you like a glass?"

Both declined with a shake of their head.

"Anyway, a young girl named Angela Shaw approached me at school. I was pre-med at Columbia University." Claire gasped and put her hands over her stomach. "Don't worry niña, I only want what's best for you and yours." Julia reassured her.

Claire never-the-less moved closer to Sylar, who in turn, put his arm around her.

"As I was saying, she approached me, she was doing her dissertation, she told me, on woman in the medical profession. She wanted to interview me. I was intrigued, we, woman, were still second class citizens when it came to upper echelon professions. We met for lunch several times, we discussed many things." Julia paused as she drank her tea.

"Our conversations began to deviate from her original focus. Angela began to talk about people that were different. That had powers, abilities. It frightened me. You see, as a teenager, I had begun to exhibit…umm, how should I put this? Unusual talents."

Sylar spoke up. "It usually manifests at the onset of puberty. But not always." He was sure she knew this, but he had to say something. He could feel Claire's tension building.

"Yes, not always." Julia agreed.

"What abilities did you manifest?" Claire asked.

"I could find things that were lost. I just knew where they were. Things and people. And I began to have dreams that would come true." She answered.

"Like Angela?" Sylar's eyes narrowed.

"Like Angela, but different. Where as she had to figure out what hers meant, mine have always been pretty literal." Julia sighed.

"I'll bet Angela and Arthur were wetting their pants to get you to the Company?" Sylar sneered.

"Indeed. But I bargained with them. I wanted to finish medical school. I agreed that once I was done, I would come willingly. I would not expose my ability. And I would work for them in whatever capacity they wanted." She put her glass down on the coaster.

"And they let you?" Sylar was skeptical.

"They did. You must remember, this was four decades ago. Not many of us were really known. Angela did have her dreams, but they were elusive at best. My dreams, well, I knew what they were going to do. So, I finished my education and left in the night." Julia smiled a sad smile. "I left my family and friends and I came down here."

"Did you always live here? In Costa Rica?" Claire asked.

"No, at first I lived in a remote village in Nicaragua. There were no doctors and an epidemic was sweeping through the small villages. I stayed there for about ten years. They were searching for me, so I moved. I lived in various places, I married. My husband died not long after, but for the last 8 years I've been here." She shrugged.

"Why here?" Claire asked.

"Because I knew you would be coming here and I wanted, no I needed, to be here for you." She looked over at Sylar, who in turn nodded.

"You and your husband…"

"We are not married." Claire interrupted.

"You and your lover, the father of your children, you have the ability to save our kind." She leaned closer to them. "There will be a war, niños, one that cannot be won without you." Julia's eyes went to Sylar.

"And Angela knew this, which is why she put the two of you together. You are…connected. The way in which you took her ability, it bonded you. Literally and figuratively."

Sylar swallowed and took Claire's hand in his.

"It's what I am…what I was, I don't know…I feel as if I should say I'm sorry, but…" He began but didn't know where to take it. He was Sylar, killer, taker of abilities. And if he wasn't, he wouldn't be here with Claire right now. How could be sorry for that?

"If you hadn't, where would we be right now? It's kinda sick, but I'm not sorry. Jeez, I hope we don't totally screw up our kids." Claire shook her head in confusion. "But I'm okay with that Gabriel. I love you for who you are, I love you as Gabriel, as Sylar. If you hadn't taken my ability I'd be spending the rest of eternity alone instead of with you." She shrugged.

"It doesn't matter, you are here now, and this is what is meant to be." Julia took Sylar's hand in her own. "All things happen for a reason, all the abilities you have accumulated, they make you the warrior you must be to end this war. For if you do not take up this mantle our kind will come to an end."

"What Nathan Petrelli has put into motion, if not stopped, will cause a huge division in the world. There will be the people who believe we are merely another aspect of the human race and wish to let us live our lives in peace, to live in harmony. But there will be the ones, and most of these are powerful influences, who want to eradicate us. Wipe us out." Julia paused to let what she just said sink in.

"Kill us, like another holocaust?" Claire rubbed her stomach.

"Yes. Most people will see this as an outrage. Will find it abhorrent. But those with power to lose, they will see us as a threat and as such will do all in there power to eliminate us."

"What does this all mean, Julia? Do Gabriel and I have to go back? Do we need to risk the lives of our children to save our kind?" She had to fight back her tears.

"No, not yet. But there will be a war and you are to be the major warriors." She move forward and placed her hand over Claire's. "Remember, hija, you and your man will live forever. This is a part of our dreams as well."

"But my babies…" Claire bit her lower lip.

"You and all your children will bring in a new world order." Julia declared, she turned to Gabriel.

"Now you, contact that friend of yours and have him get in touch with Claire's mother. She should be here when her grandchildren arrive."