A/N: as always thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate it when readers tell me what sort of particular things they like about my story, or what they're hoping for in upcoming chapters. It's like audience participation of sorts, and honestly I take into consideration what people to have to say! For instance, if there are certain characters you would like to see more of, or certain character interactions you'd like to see, let me know! The next section will be more Hiro, which I'm having a difficult time with so it might take a little while, but I'll try to have it up soon! Please continue to read and enjoy! THANKS!

NATHAN & HEIDI PETRELLI

NEW YORK

After being somewhat rejuvenated by three glasses of water and a half a turkey sandwich, which Heidi eagerly made for him, Nathan had began the difficult process of explaining things to his wife. He had decided to start at the beginning and do his best to fill in all the important details of the past few weeks. Heidi had taken the shocking news rather well, considering the outrageous nature. Of course, when he had finished telling her most everything that had come to his mind leading up to what happened tonight, she had more than a couple of questions to further clarify her growing disbelief and confusion before he continued.

"So…Peter was never in a rehab facility for depression?"

"No." Nathan shook his head. "Peter was never suffering from any sort of depressive disorder and he never tried to commit suicide."

"Then you lied to everyone…to the press and to your family…" Heidi's bright eyes watered with tears, though Nathan couldn't tell if she was sad or just frustrated. "Poor Peter. I can't imagine what he must have been feeling knowing that everyone thought he was mentally ill, when really his brother was just lying to make himself look better."

"Peter understands what it takes to be a part of this family." Nathan stated.

"And I had thought that you understood what it takes to be in charge of this family." Heidi retorted. She began to pace in front of the couch. "People look up to you. They respect you and expect that you will do the right thing for not only your family, but for the city! You are a politician Nathan, and I understand that you must make some sacrifices for your chosen profession, but don't forget that you are first and foremost a husband and father."

"I know, Heidi." Nathan stood, catching his wife by her hands and pulling her back to the couch. "I agree that the lie I told about Peter may not have been in his best interest, but you have to understand why I did it."

"Because you were trying to save yourself from public humiliation." Heidi filled in for him. "You were afraid that if people learned the truth, they wouldn't vote for you in congress."

"Yes." Nathan confirmed what she had said. "Can't you understand that?"

Heidi was silent.

"I can see in your expression that you understand exactly why I didn't tell anyone the truth. I'm a freak!" Nathan exclaimed, rather loudly.

"Keep your voice down." Heidi scolded. "You'll wake the children."

"Sorry." He lowered his voice quickly. "It's just, aren't you scared of me? Or disgusted with me or something?"

"No."

"Heidi, I just told you that I can fly, like a bird, or superman or something. Please have some sort of response!"

"Fine, yes I am upset with you. I am disappointed that you never trusted me enough to tell me the truth about you and Peter. I am still confused about how this is all possible, but Nathan you are my husband. I love you more than anyone else on the planet, and nothing about you could make me change my mind."

I doubt that. Nathan briefly let his mind contemplate everything that he had neglected to tell her, including his one-night stand with the blonde woman in Las Vegas, and the illegitimate daughter who had suddenly shown up after fourteen years of thinking she was dead. He considered telling her the whole truth right then and there, but seeing the expression of complete trust and adoration in his wife's eyes he decided against it. "I love you too."

"Okay, I know there's more you want to tell me, so I'm going to try and ignore all the questions I have and let you finish." Heidi sat back on the couch, giving her husband complete focus.

"There is a lot about what happened tonight that won't be able to be explained easily. I'm just going to tell you the important points and the rest I will fill in for you over time." Nathan decided. She didn't argue, obviously trusting her husband to tell her everything when he was ready. "First of all, you have to understand about Peter's special ability."

"You already mentioned that he has more than one…"

"Well, in a way. His ability is that he absorbs the abilities of others. So he really only has one ability of his own, but then he has numerous others that he has obtained from other people with abilities."

"How many people are there?" Heidi interrupted.

Nathan looked confused.

"How many other people have special abilities like you and Peter?"

"I don't know. There are only a few that I know about for sure. The point is, Peter has multiple powers from each person he has come in contact with. Most recently he met a man who had some sort of radiation power, which Peter was unable to control."

"Oh my god…what happened?" Heidi could tell by the heavy tone in Nathan's voice that something awful had occurred that evening.

"A couple of weeks ago Peter had a vision of himself exploding like an atomic bomb." Nathan began diving into the tricky details of his brother's explosion. "He has been working on trying to control this power, and his others, so that the explosion would not happen. A couple of days ago, however, I learned that his vision was part of an insane plot created by Linderman."

"Linderman?" Heidi echoed.

"Yes. He wanted my brother to blow up the city so that after I was elected I could unite the city…or something ridiculous." Nathan shook his head. "To be perfectly honest, I considered it."

"You didn't!"

"I did."

"You couldn't actually have considered letting your own brother explode just to save your political standing?" Heidi shook her head. "I can't believe that."

"I know, it was a horrible thing for me to even think about, but I did, for a short time, but then I realized how wrong the entire scheme was and abandoned it. Unfortunately, I was still too late to prevent the explosion entirely. By the time I arrived, his hands had already begun to burn and he was not going to be able to control it in time to save the city, so I did what I had to do…I flew him into the atmosphere, far enough way not to cause harm to anyone."

"You did what?" Heidi was on her feet again. Nathan wasn't quite sure what she was upset about at this moment, but the next minute she cleared up her shock. "Nathan, you could have been killed!"

"You're upset because you're worried about me?" Nathan smiled.

"Of course I'm worried! How could I not be? Were you even thinking about what you were doing?"

Nathan nodded. "Yes." I thought that I was going to die. "Saving Peter was all that mattered. How could I live with myself, knowing that I had let my brother murder thousands of people? He would never recover from something like that and it would be my fault."

Heidi took a seat again. "I suppose that makes sense."

Thank you Claire. Nathan remembered the speech his daughter had given him before she jumped out the window to escape from him. He realized that she was the main reason he had gotten the courage to go after Peter. He really needed to talk to her.

"So, how did you survive? You said that Peter exploded. Shouldn't you have exploded then too?"

"Once we had passed the bounds of the atmosphere Peter started shoving me away. I didn't want to leave him, but he insisted that he was strong enough on his own and so I left. I flew as fast as I could and didn't look back. I just abandoned my brother…" Nathan felt himself tearing up and wished he could be stronger at this moment, but after everything that had happened, all he wanted was an excuse to cry and not be considered pathetic.

"If you had stayed, you would have died." Heidi reminded him. "Peter wouldn't have lived with himself if that had happened either."

Nathan smiled at her slightly for attempting to cheer him up. "Anyway, I flew straight here to see you. I didn't know what else to do. Everything just feels so hopeless right now…everything that I have been trying to do with my campaign…"

"Nathan stop." Heidi took her husband's hands and held them firmly in her own. "You have been elected to be a part of the United States Congress, and you are going to serve wisely and make me and this city proud."

"How can I be a congressman if I can't even take care of my family?" He gave up resisting the tears and let himself cry.

"You do take care of your family. You are a loving and responsible father, and the most considerate husband a woman could ask for, not to mention you almost gave your life for your brother tonight." Heidi moved closer to him and embraced him, encouraging him to rest his head on her shoulder as he continued to cry. "Things might seem impossible right now, but we're going to get through this, together, as a family."

"Are you sure you want to be a part of this? I don't know what's going to happen next Heidi. It could be dangerous for you and for the kids…"

Heidi kissed him softly on the cheek. "I can handle it. I may not have any sort of super powers, but I am strong and I am determined not to let my husband suffer through anything alone." She was quiet for a minute. "As for the children, perhaps we should send them to stay with your mother for a little while…"

"No." Nathan snapped, quickly lifting his head from her shoulder and staring at her firmly.

"What's wrong?" Heidi's perfectly shaped eyebrows slanted knowingly. "What haven't you told me, Nathan?"

"My mother cannot be trusted right now."