Brain's Notes:

Hi all! This is our shortest chapter so far, but I think it's totally worth it. One of my faves, actually. We're really starting to see our boy blossom. I'd like to give a heartfelt thank you to everyone who reviewed, you guys keep us going. Also to those who added us to your story alerts/favorites, we're totally honored!

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Juliette wrenched her hand away from Nathan's.

"What…" she tried to think of a suitable question. She drew a deep breath, taking a moment to sort out her thoughts. Okay, was the one thought in particular that found it's way to front and center, you have two options: Stay with the freakshow or leave and pretend this never happened. Staring at the broken, sobbing man in front of her, she could not find the power within herself to stand. "…do you mean?" she asked finally.

"I mean," Nathan, or whoever he was, whined, "I can't do this. I don't heal. That's not my power." His chest heaved in an agonizing breath, and Juliette clenched her fists. How to reassure this stranger, when she herself had no idea who he was? Or why he looked the way he did all of the sudden? This man looked nothing like Nathan. But he acted like him, for all that she could tell. She was at a loss, but she tried anyway.

"I… don't understand anything that's going on right now," she spoke slowly, unsurely. "Nathan," she said, almost as though it were a question. He winced at the sound of the name. At least he recognized it. She continued, "Nathan, I don't know who this Sylar person is but- you're a good person," she offered meekly as a conclusion.

"There's things about me you can't even begin to understand," Nathan spat. His wounds had all healed completely now; his fingers loosened on the blade in his hand until it dropped to the floor of it's own accord. "I can't remember. I mean, I can. I remember what happened last week, last month, two months ago... but before that it's all fucking confusing." Angrily, he slammed his fist into the wall next to him, baring his teeth. Juliette jumped despite herself.

She stood up again, legs shaky, and inched her way to the desk Nathan was leaning against. "We can talk about this," she half-whispered. "Let me help you." With trembling hands, she reached for the light switch on the wall next to her and flicked it on. Both she and Nathan closed their eyes against the sudden onslaught of bright light. Juliette's eyes temporarily lost focus, and she took a moment to get her wits about her.

She slowly opened her lids, and again looked down at the man she had only clearly seen once before. His eyes were still closed, his head leaning against the desk exposing his slender neck. She gasped despite herself, again fighting against the fear that racked through her chest. This man's frame was taller and slimmer than the senator's. His lips were thinner and his face longer; his hair slightly more dark and wild.

What was that in her eyes? Tears? Was she crying? She couldn't help herself. She was scared, worried, anxious, confused… all those emotions had to manifest themselves in some way, no matter how hard she tried to suppress them. "Please." She stated in a semi-steady voice. "Help me understand what's going on."

Nathan opened his eyes, his dark orbs burning into her with a fiery intensity. "It started with the eclipse," he muttered. "I know that much. My brother and I discovered that we had," he hesitated. "Powers."

Juliette was positive that whether or not this was the truth, Nathan believed it was, so she listened intently.

"My brother kept saying that we were all in danger. Of an explosion. I didn't listen. I almost destroyed New York. He almost destroyed New York. Thanks to Sylar."

There it was. That name again. Morbid curiosity gripped her, and she sank down next to him again. "Who is he? That Sylar person? You think that you're him?"

"I sure look like him," he said bitterly, raising his hands to touch his own face. "He's a murderer. A psychopath. He killed people for their powers. But he's… dead. My brother killed him. I… killed him." He looked reflective for a moment.

"Killed people for their powers? What do you mean?" Juliette asked quietly, almost afraid to break the spell of calm that had washed over the man in front of her.

"He desperately wanted to be special," Nathan was speaking so low she had to lean closer to hear him. "Wanted to make his mother happy. Wanted to be somebody. He had a power; intuitive aptitude. The ability to know what makes things tick. He could look inside someone's brain," he moved his hand out like he was grabbing for something, then turned his palm over. "And voila, he knew how their power worked. How they worked. The hunger for more powers consumed him."

Juliette looked him over uncertainly. "You sure know a lot about him." Nathan was speaking as though he knew this Sylar person's inner most thoughts. A sudden thought of her own crossed her- maybe Nathan had multiple personality disorder. But did people with multiple personality disorder change the way they looked as well as their personalities? No… it was impossible to do that. Or so she had thought before.

"They told me," he whispered as though she had not spoken "they told me that while I fought Sylar, I was knocked cold. He would have killed me if my brother hadn't stabbed him in the head." He stopped, and wiped at his eyes with a blood encrusted palm. Juliette took off her scarf and handed it to him silently. Without acknowledging her he took the cloth and buried his face in it.

"I saw his body," he moaned. "I saw it burn. I saw the fucker die."

Juliette made a move to stand up, but he grabbed her suddenly wrist suddenly to stop her. "Why am I like this?" he demanded. "Why am I that psycho?"

"You're not," she tried to assure him, although she was beginning to loose circulation from the tight clutch he had on her wrist. It wasn't threatening, just… desperate. "From what you tell me of this Sylar character, he's evil. You're not an evil person," she coaxed soothingly.

"But," Nathan began. Juliette cut him off, placing her other hand on his.

"What else could this Sylar person do? Aside from heal?" she asked in what she hoped was a calm voice.

"Shape shift."

Juliette nodded slowly. Heal and shape shift. So far she wasn't doing so well in dissuading him from the idea that he was Sylar.

"Fine. What else?" she inquired.

"He could move things," Nathan said, "with his mind."

"Telekinesis?" she asked. Nathan nodded.

After a night like tonight, she was willing to believe anything was possible. Still. Telekinesis was a long shot. Her heart began to race, causing her to place a hand on her chest. She hadn't taken her meds in four hours. Bad. But she had to stay here. She had to be strong… Nathan needed her. And no matter what her mind said, she still cared for him. So deeply it was almost scary.

"Well… move something then. If you really think you're him," she challenged. She made a move to stand up again, and this time he let her, relinquishing his grasp on her wrist. She placed a pencil in the center of the desk and gestured to it. "Move it."

He sat still for a moment, gazing at the pencil. The only sound in the room was that of his shallow breathing, and Juliette's own heart pounding in her ears.

"Nathan, move the pencil," she commanded.

He reached to pick the pencil up from the desk. She clamped her hand over his gently, almost smiling. Almost.

"Move it with your mind," she said softly.

He looked up at her, fear and question in his eyes. "What if I can do it?" he whispered.

Juliette didn't answer right away. Instead, she folded her arms and thought about an appropriate response. She didn't think he could do it, hell, she hoped he couldn't do it. But what if he could? "Well. You won't," she said finally. "Because you're not Sylar. You're Nathan."

She glanced away from his eyes, unable to bear the agonizing fear that shone through them. "Just try. Then we'll know and we can go and get this sorted out." Get you to a shrink, she added in her mind.

He sat up straight, and spoke loudly as though trying to convince himself. "Okay. Nothing to fear, because I can't move things with my mind."

"Right," she agreed, only half believing her own words.

He raised his left hand and extended two fingers towards the pencil, the way he remembered seeing Sylar do it countless times before. He paused momentarily, and glanced again at Juliette, who held her breath.

"Just try to do it," she urged.

Oh God, Please DON'T do it, she thought

He focused his mind on the pencil, and shut his eyes.

For several moments it was as though time stood still. Juliette was hoping against hope that the pencil wouldn't move. She watched both the pencil and Nathan, her eyes flicking back and forth, her shoulders tensed.

After a minute or so, he finally opened his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. The pencil was in the exact same spot it had been before he tried to move it. A cheerful smile spread across his face and he laughed. Juliette couldn't help it. She smiled as well. "I told you."

He dropped his hand to his side, chuckling. Juliette's expression abruptly fell.

His eyes widened and he looked up at the pencil. But it was no longer there. He swallowed hard. Hardly daring to allow himself to hope it was not so, he turned his head to look in the direction he had waved his hand just seconds before.

The pencil was embedded in the wall across from him, hardly visible save for the eraser.

Silence.

"What does that mean?" Juliette choked on her own words.

He did not answer. He was frozen, gaze locked on the pencil.

"Nathan! What does this mean?!" Juliette demanded, crossing the threshold to stand in front of him, tears finally escaping the confines of her eyes.

"I'm not Nathan," he whispered.

"What?"

I misheard him. Oh, please let me have misheard him.

"I'M NOT NATHAN." He rose, grabbing her shoulders, almost throttling her. She squeaked in surprise.

"Natha-" he cut her off, eyes cold and hard, and shouted:

"My name is SYLAR!"

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Brain's Notes: Kitten just couldn't help herself with that last line. :-D Hope you enjoyed! Please review. Love you all!