A/N: thanks for all the reviews! I hope everyone is enjoying reading this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. I know it's lame to ask, but please reviews! Reviews are always very encouraging for new stories. And any suggestions, criticisms, etc. I also enjoy hearing. Anything to make me a better writer! Thanks!

NOAH & CLAIRE BENNET

HOTEL, NEW YORK

After the pizza and in-room movie that Mr. Bennett had insisted they watch, still in an attempt to calm down his daughter, he had finally drifted off to sleep and she had pretended to do the same. Claire had spent the past couple of hours perfecting her plan and sleep was not a part of it. She let her father sleep for forty solid minutes before she dared to slip out of her bed. She couldn't risk him waking up and stopping her; he wouldn't understand.

At a quarter to one, Claire finally had worked up the courage to climb out of bed. When she and her father had come to the hotel, they hadn't taken the time to return to the Petrelli's house to pack her stuff, so she didn't have any luggage. She had been sleeping in her clothes, which meant all she had to do was pull on her boots and jacket, sneak some cash from her dad's wallet, grab her purse and creep out of the hotel room as silently as possible. She had already prepared a note for her dad, which she placed beneath his wallet on the table beside his bed. Hopefully he would at least try to understand what she said before he attempted to chase her down. It was unlikely, but she needed him to let her go.

Outside the hotel, Claire scanned the dark city streets for a taxi. When she didn't see any immediately she started running down the sidewalk, hoping she could figure out where she was and how to get to where she wanted to go before her father woke up. The heals of her black leather boots pounded rhythmically against the pavement as her long curls whipped into her face, but her breathing was steady, which she contributed to the excellent shape that cheerleading demanded of her. She didn't slow down. She didn't have the time.

She heard a car approaching from behind and Claire spun around hopefully. She smiled when she realized it was a cab and started waving to get the driver's attention. The cab pulled over and she hastily climbed into the backseat, happy to be off the street. Even if she was basically unable to die, she didn't want to risk any number of other things that could happen to girls out alone after dark in a big and unfamiliar city.

"Where to, Miss?" The driver questioned with a heavy Brooklyn accent.

"The nearest hospital to Kirby Plaza." Claire instructed.

"Right away. That's not too far from here." He glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "Isn't it kind of late for you to be out roaming by yourself, little lady?"

"I'm tougher than I look." Claire muttered.

"Is there some kind of emergency? What're you heading to the hospital for?"

She rolled her eyes at the cabby's over-curious personality. "I'm visiting a friend."

"At one o'clock in the morning?"

"Yep." She spoke shortly, hoping he would get the hint and stop talking to her. He did, and she was able to spend the rest of the drive in silence.

When the driver pulled up in front of the hospital, Claire paid him quickly, thanked him for the ride, and then darted out of the cab and into the lobby of the ER. It was the only place she could think about going. Claire wasn't certain of her long-term plan, but she knew she needed to find someone who could be on her side. He was the only person she could think of.

NIKI & MICAH SANDERS

HOSPITAL, NEW YORK CITY

"Hey little man," DL Hawkins turned his head slowly in the hospital bed where he was recovering after his emergency surgery.

"Hi, Dad." Micah grinned at his father, who had come out of surgery surprisingly well. The bullet in his shoulder had been removed and the doctors said he would recover fine, though it would take a couple of weeks before he felt up to his old self again.

"How's your mom doing?" DL asked his son, as if his wife were standing right beside him. "Are you taking good care of her?"

"I'm trying." Micah replied seriously.

Niki smiled. "It's only been a few hours, DL."

"Yea, but we all know how quickly you manage to get into trouble." DL started to laugh, but it turned into a harsh cough.

Niki frowned and anxiously leaned over her husband, pressing her hand to his cheek gently. "Should I call the doctor?"

"No, I'm fine." He reached out for her hand and she gave it to him, squeezing reassuringly. "Really, you and Micah should check into a hotel and get some sleep. Don't worry about me."

"I don't want to leave you." Niki felt tears burning in her eyes, but she blinked them away, determined to remain strong for her son and her injured husband.

DL understood the fear behind her eyes and he tugged on her hand, motioning for her to lean down towards him. "I'm going to pull through this, and I'll be fine. Your focus needs to be on Micah right now." He had lowered his voice to a whisper, and Micah stepped away, realizing that his dad didn't want him to overhear. "God knows what he's been through the past few days. He needs his mother to be strong right now."

Niki nodded, forcing herself to be brave. "I love you so much." She buried her head against his good shoulder, pressing her forehead into his cheek.

"I know. I love you. You know that I do, and you know that I would like nothing more than to be with my family right now, but Micah is the priority." DL hesitated. "Also, we should start looking into this whole Linderman thing a little more; figure out what he had to do with what happened tonight…"

"That can wait." Niki insisted. "Just focus on getting better right now."

"I will." DL turned his head so he could kiss her cheek. "Take care of our son."

"I will." Niki pressed her lips to his briefly before straightening up and turning to her son. "Say goodnight to your dad."

Micah moved forward and gave his dad a careful hug.

"I love you son." DL grinned at the boy as he stepped back beside his mom.

"Love you too dad." Micah's grin was full from ear to ear, but his big eyes expressed concern.

"We'll be back in the morning." Niki assured him.

"It's almost morning now." DL told her. "Come back after you've gotten some sleep, okay?" Niki and Micah nodded obediently and took hands as they left the hospital room.

"Mom," Micah started talking once they had walked the corridor and rounded the corner, putting enough distance between themselves and his dad. "What happened tonight?"

"I don't know Micah."

"Who were all those people?"

"I don't know."

"Did that guy really explode?"

"I don't know Micah." Niki snapped a little more than she had intended to and instantly regretted it. Regardless of the stress of the situation, she would not take it out on her son. "I'm sorry baby." Niki stopped walking suddenly and knelt to be eyelevel with her son. "I wish I had answers for you, but I really don't know what happened tonight. Trust me, I wish I did."

"It's okay, mom." Micah gave her one of his encouraging smiles and placed his hands on her shoulders. "We'll figure it out later, with dad."

Niki smiled at him, feeling that if she tried to speak, her emotions might win over and she would break into unstoppable tears. Rising to her feet again, Niki placed her arm around Micah's shoulders and directed him out into the ER waiting room. "Wait here and I'll go hail a cab, okay?"

Micah nodded and prepared to take a seat when he realized who was already there. He tugged on his mom's sleeve. "Look!"

She stopped at the door of the hospital and turned to the waiting area, following her son's gaze. "Dr. Suresh, right?"

Mohinder glanced up at the blonde and her son with a surprised smile. "Yes, and you are Niki, correct?"

Niki nodded and approached him. Micah tagged behind eagerly, glancing curiously over at the sofa where Molly had finally drifted off to sleep.

"How is your husband?" Mohinder stood politely to greet the woman.

"He came through surgery fine." Niki told him, motioning for him to take his seat again. "He's resting now, but the doctors say he should heal fine."

"That's good news." Mohinder smiled sincerely as Niki took a seat beside him. "Are you going to stay here for the night?"

"Actually, no, we were just heading out to find a hotel. It's been kind of a rough couple of days for Micah…" She glanced at her son who had taken the seat next to her.

Mohinder wanted to press the matter, but again felt uncomfortable questioning a stranger about her personal life when she may not be ready to share. "Perhaps I will see you tomorrow then, when you return to see your husband."

Niki nodded. "Will you be here?"

"It depends."

"I'm sorry, I never asked, who are you here for?"

"Oh, a man who was injured at the plaza. His name is Matt Parkman." Mohinder informed her. "The girl is rather attached to him, and she won't leave until she is certain that he is going to recover fully."

Niki smiled. "I hope for her sake that he does then." She paused. "Parkman…that sounds familiar." She shook her head, ignoring the familiar tick in her mind. "Anyway, I need to get my son to a hotel, but I'll look forward to maybe having that chat with you tomorrow."

He nodded. "Absolutely…"

Their attention was drawn to a conversation at the front desk. It had started rather abruptly as a young blonde had rushed through the front doors and spoke, rather loudly to the receptionist, asking to see Mr. Matt Parkman.

"I'm sorry, but he is still in surgery." Came the receptionist's soft reply. "If you like you may wait with the others."

"The others?"

Mohinder and Niki watched as the girl hesitated and then glanced slowly over her shoulder towards the chairs, seeming a little afraid of who she might find waiting there. When she spotted them looking back at her she offered a nervous little smile.

"Wasn't she at the plaza earlier tonight?" Niki asked quietly.

Mohinder nodded. "She is the cheerleader." Ignoring the confusion on Niki and Micah's faces, he stood quickly and offered her a warm smile, hoping she would take it as an invitation to approach. She did.

"Hi…are you Mr. Parkman's family?" She asked tentatively. When everyone shook their heads, the blonde seemed to let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I mean, he should have family here, but I hadn't really thought of what I would say to them if I ran across them. I just really need to see him…" She stopped, realizing that saying this much to strangers wasn't necessary. She frowned suddenly, scrutinizing Mohinder with her eyes. "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

He nodded, "Probably earlier tonight."

"You were at Kirby Plaza too?" She thought about it for a minute and then nodded. "I saw you with my dad…"

"Yes, I do know your father, Miss Bennett."

"You know who I am?"

"I actually know more about you then you might think. I know you are special." Mohinder continued.

"Special?" The girl shrugged. "I'm not that special."

Micah smiled at her. "Don't worry. We're special too."

Her eyes widened. "All of you?"

"Well, not me. I am a geneticist. My name is Dr. Suresh…" He held out his hand quickly and she shook it.

"Dr. Suresh?" She nodded. "I think I read a book by a Dr. Suresh."

"That was my father's book."

"It was interesting."

"Did you find that you could relate to any of it, Miss Bennett?"

"Call me Claire." She corrected him. "And yea, I did actually. How do you know about me though?" Claire was quickly realizing that a lot more people were involved in the complex conspiracy of special 'abilities' than she ever realized.

"I have been following my father's research to discover many people with special gifts, such as yours." He motioned to Micah and Niki. "And theirs."

"Yeah? So what can you guys do?" Claire asked the mother and son.

Micah glanced up at his mother who nodded approvingly before he answered. "I talk to machines."

"Talk to them?"

"I can tell them what I want them to do." He smiled a little.

"Cool." Claire grinned.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but may I inquire as to why you were looking for Mr. Parkman?" Mohinder asked.

"It's sort of complicated. I don't really have anywhere to go right now. There are some things that I need to do that my dad doesn't understand…I can't have him tagging along right now. It's not safe for him…" She thought of her dad that she had left alone at the hotel and wondered what his reaction would be when he discovered her note of explanation.

"What's not safe?" Niki spoke up.

"I don't really know how to explain it to people that don't know me…but my life's been a little mixed up the past few weeks. My dad wants me to return to Texas and try to settle back down with our family, but I can't leave, not now. I have to do something and he doesn't want to accept that I don't belong with him anymore." She stopped herself again. "I'm sorry. This really isn't your problem. I don't mean to put it all on you or anything."

"I asked." Niki reminded her.

"Why do you think you do not belong with your father?" Mohinder pressed.

"Like I said, my life's a little complicated." Claire couldn't continue the conversation right now. She needed a plan. Originally her plan had been to contact Matt, someone who she knew was special like her and might be able to help her more than her dad could, but now that he was so crucially injured she didn't know what to do. What could a sixteen-year-old do on her own in this situation?

"How would Mr. Parkman be able to help you with this complication?"

"I don't know if he could, but he was the only person that I knew of who was special like me, other than…" She stopped, hoping the others wouldn't make her continue that thought.

"Other than who?" Clearly they weren't paying attention to the emotional shift in her mood.

"Peter." She barely spoke the name out loud. It was hard to say. "Or Nathan."

"Who's Peter?" Niki piped up.

Mohinder noticed the pain in Claire's eyes and spoke to Niki softly. "Peter was the young man at the plaza."

"The one who exploded?" Micah asked.

"Yes." Mohinder winced at how bluntly the child phrased it, but he couldn't understand the situation.

"Anyway, I need someone who can help me figure out what to do now, because I'm not ready to give up on him. He's special. He's a survivor." Somehow talking to these people, rather than her father, had given Claire a stronger need to believe optimistically about Peter's survival. It was as though she was just realizing that she hadn't actually given up on him. It was actually very opposite. She had in some small way known that by coming to find someone to help her, what she really needed was someone to help her find Peter.

"Claire, I know that Peter is more than capable of coming out of difficult situations, I've seen it happen a couple times now, but he did explode…" Mohinder tried to reason with her.

"He's different. You don't understand."

"I know that he is special. And I have seen that he is clearly somehow able to recover from death because a couple days ago I brought him home, dead, but tonight he was alive again…"

Claire gasped. "That's where I saw you; at the Petrelli's house, the day that Peter died."

"You were there?" Mohinder questioned.

"I was on the stairs when you brought him in. I was supposed to be up in my room packing, but I heard the doorbell and thought that Peter had finally come home, but it was you, bringing him in." She smiled. "Everyone thought he was dead, but it was just the glass in his skull."

"Excuse me?" Niki was not following the conversation very well.

"Once I pulled it out, he regenerated." Claire explained triumphantly.

"Regeneration?" Mohinder gasped. "I wasn't aware he had acquired that ability. I wonder who he picked that one up from…"

Claire cleared her throat a little awkwardly. "Umm…he got that from me. The first time we met he saved my life at my homecoming game, and then I guess I saved his because he fell off a building and survived. He said it was because I was there."

Mohinder nodded, a look of recognition lighting his eyes. "You heal."

"I do." Claire confirmed, leaving Niki and Micah staring in amazed shock. "And that's how I know that he's going to survive this explosion. He has the power to heal himself. If I can live through Ted's nuclear explosion, then Peter can live through his own."

Mohinder didn't question her optimism again. Instead he just smiled at her, nodding slowly. "I am certain Peter would appreciate your faith in him."

"I can't do this alone." Claire murmured. "I don't think Mr. Parkman's going to be able to help me."

"I wish I could help you Claire, I do, but I already have so many things requiring my attention…" Mohinder glanced at Molly who was still sleeping soundly. "Your father's company was keeping her locked up for a purpose, which I still must discover. She's my responsibility. She has no one else."

"Neither do I." Claire stated.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The man who you refer to as my father…he's not."

Mohinder frowned. "I'm sorry, I don't understand. All this time he has been so insisted on keeping you safe."

"He loves me." Claire agreed. "He's taken care of me for the past fourteen years, but he's not my real father. He only took me in so his company could keep a close watch on me to see if I ever developed any abilities, then he was instructed to return me."

Mohinder's jaw dropped a little.

"My real father most likely is dead. You know him actually. He was there tonight." Claire paused and then continued. "Nathan Petrelli is my father."

"Which makes Peter your uncle…"

"They're all I have. I'm dangerous to my other family, which is why my dad must go back to Texas without me. I need to stay here and find out the truth behind what happened tonight and why." She paused again. "Peter's explosion wasn't a coincidence. It's been planned from the beginning by a man named Linderman."

"Linderman?" Niki snapped to attention.

"Do you know him?"

"He's the one who kidnapped my son two days ago." She explained.

"He is also the man behind the company that was keeping Molly." Mohinder added. He looked at Claire seriously. "It seems we all have a lot more in common then we realized."