PETER & CLAIRE

PETER'S APARTMENT

"Well, that could have gone better." Claire pulled her boots off with effort before collapsing back on the couch.

"I knew they weren't going to be ready." Peter admitted, handing a mug of hot tea to Claire as he sat beside her. "They aren't going to be ready to find their purpose until they accept the good of their abilities. I've been working on Nathan for weeks and he's still rejecting it."

"I can imagine how difficult it must be for him being in the public eye so much. He's probably constantly afraid of everyone finding out. Especially considering everything that's happened…" Claire tried to reason.

Peter looked at her skeptically. "He's just avoiding his destiny…"

"Destiny? Peter, I'm not too positive about destiny myself."

"How can you say that after all you've seen and everything you've been a part of?"

"All I've been a part of is stopping a twisted scheme created by a group of evil morons. That's not destiny. That's making a responsible decision."

"To save the world!" Peter reminded her. "Claire, if it weren't for you, I would have exploded the city!"

Claire glared at him fiercely. "You promised we wouldn't talk about it anymore."

"I know. I'm sorry." Peter sighed. "I don't mean to upset you…I just need you to admit how much you did. You saved me Claire!"

"Maybe you forgot, but you still exploded Peter!" Her voice rose automatically. "I couldn't stop you."

"Claire, maybe it's dumb, but I don't hate you for not being able to shoot me. I'm not sure if anyone's ever shown me that kind of love before."

"Love?" She hadn't thought of it that way, but when she took time to reflect on why she had frozen, she realized he was right. In that split second at Kirby Plaza, Claire had frozen due to how much she cared for him. Shooting him would have meant eliminating the one person she trusted and cared for more than possibly anyone else in her life. Her eyes moistened as she let herself dwell on the loneliness, she would have felt if she had gone through with it.

"Claire, it's okay. Don't think about that." Peter jumped into her thoughts quickly. "It didn't happen and that's what matters. I'm here, with you, and New York is fine, because of you. You not only saved me and the city, but you saved Nathan by showing him the right direction." He smiled. "It's an amazing ability to be able to get through to him."

I was so scared.

"I know." Peter pulled her into his arms. "I'm so sorry I put you in that situation. If I had listened to you in the first place and not gone to Nathan we would have left the city together and prevented the whole thing…"

Claire's thoughts cleared up suddenly. "Maybe it was destiny…all of it…"

SYLAR & EMILY

LONDON

"Is everything all right?"

Sylar focused on Emily as he reentered the gallery. "Yes, everything's fine."

"Mr. Mendez, I don't want to sound rude, because honestly, I'm delighted to finally meet you, but what are you doing here…in London?"

"I thought it was time for us to meet. You've been such a faithful seller of my work for so long…I wanted to know you in person." He paused, analyzing her expression and listening to her heartbeat to pick up on her emotions in that moment. "Should I not have come?"

"No, not at all…I mean yes…" She stopped herself and smiled. "I'm glad you came. I've been wanting to meet you for months."

"Same with me." Sylar moved toward the painting, still half-covered by brown wrapping. "Do you like it?"

"Oh…I haven't really had a chance to admire it yet." She admitted, joining him as he removed the rest of the covering. As the paper fell to the ground her eyes lit up curiously. "That woman…" She frowned. "It sort of looks like me."

Sylar analyzed both the painting and the woman standing beside him. He agreed that the similarities were remarkable, though he couldn't know for sure.

"I've never seen you before…" He stuttered. "How could I put you into one of my paintings?"

"I don't know…you wouldn't I suppose." Emily agreed. "It must be a coincidence." She smiled, but her eyes remained glued to the painting. "It's good. Brilliant really." She told him at last. "The color is extraordinary…and the detail…" She reached out a finger, but pulled back before she made contact. "The detail is more vivid than any of the other paintings…"

"Yes, I know." Sylar didn't know what to say.

"I mean the subject is a bit disturbing…" Emily frowned, letting her eyes trace the action between the two people portrayed on the canvas. There was a man dressed darkly with no detail to his face. His arm was raised, fingers outstretched towards the woman that Emily thought similar to herself. The woman was crouched with her arms out defensively and her face contorted in terror. Her wild red hair twisted around her face and neck and her green eyes were wide. Emily tried to ignore their similarities, and focus on the skill behind the painting.

"It also feels more rushed, perhaps more urgent…were you rushing for some reason?"

Sylar paused. He didn't know how to respond to something he knew nothing about, though if his boss's estimation of when Isaac painted it was correct, then it would have been only a day before Isaac met his fate at Sylar's own hand. Perhaps Isaac's rush had something to do with the fact that he had predicted his own death and knew he was running out of time.

"I might have rushed a little…it's strange, but I don't have much memory of this painting." He noticed her expression and quickly started making a story. "My girlfriend and I were going through a bit of a rough patch…actually we were dealing with a bad breakup…"

"You broke up?" Emily couldn't help smiling. "So, you're single now?"

Sylar heard her heart start to race and he felt an urge to smile and the excitement she was feeling. "Yes, I am. Are you?" He heard her heart skip a beat.

"Yes."

"Good, then I won't have to worry about any jealous boyfriends if I ask you to join me for lunch."

"Lunch?" Emily found herself nodding before she managed to vocally respond.

"Good, then it's a date."

NATHAN & HEIDI PETRELLI

NEW YORK CITY

"Are you going to be coming to bed anytime soon?" Heidi rapped her knuckles on the door to her husband's office. "I've been waiting for you."

Nathan looked up from his paperwork as his wife stepped into the room. "I'm sorry sweetheart. I've been so swamped trying to catch up on everything since all that's happened…" He glimpsed the lace lingerie hidden beneath her silk robe and realized that she had more on her mind than simply going to bed.

She saw him admiring her and untied the robe so he could have a better view. "It's been days since I've had my legs back in full function." Heidi reminded him. "It's been nearly seven months since we've made love…"

Nathan smiled. "I am well aware."

"I was thinking that tonight we could do something about that."

"You read my mind, honey. Just give me a couple more minutes down here to finish up, okay?" Nathan smiled. "I'll be up soon, I promise."

Heidi nodded and left the room, leaving him to his work.

Waiting a moment after she had left to make sure that he was alone, Nathan reached for his phone and dialed out on his private line. It rang four times and he almost gave up, but finally she answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi…" He paused. "Umm, is this Niki?"

"Yea…who is this?"

"It's Nathan, Nathan Petrelli."

"Oh…hi. It's kind of late, isn't it?"

"I know, but I have to talk to you about something. It's important. I've been thinking about it all day and I didn't want to bring it up earlier tonight at the meeting, but I can't move on until I've talked to you…"

"I think I know what you're talking about Nathan."

"Then you understand why it's weighing on me so much."

"Look, what happened in Vegas was…unexpected. I didn't know what I was doing…"

"But I did." Nathan almost whispered it out. That's what had been bothering him so much. Niki had explained to him about Jessica and how she wasn't always in control of her own body, but that only made it worse for Nathan. Niki had been strong enough to say 'no' and to do the right thing, but Nathan hadn't. He had slept with another woman, knowing full well how wrong it was to do that to his wife, who loved him so unconditionally and who had been paralyzed because of him…

"Nathan, I don't know what to say. What do you want from me?"

"I don't know." Nathan sighed. "It's just with you living in the city now and with everything that's happened, we're bound to see each other again some time…"

"I'd say there's definitely a possibility. But there is definitely not a possibility of anything ever happening between us again, so I think we should just put it all behind us and move on."

"Niki, I need to be sure that you'll never say anything…" Nathan took a breath. "To anyone. I have a reputation to live up to now that I've been elected…it puts me in a very vulnerable position and I can't risk…"

"Don't worry." Niki cut him off. "I won't tell anyone. Your image is safe, and so is your marriage."

"Thank you." Nathan sighed with relief. "I'm sorry to have bothered you."

"It's fine. I'll see you around."

"Bye." Nathan hung up the phone, feeling safer, but perhaps even a little guiltier than before. He had been debating with himself for days about telling his wife the truth, but this phone call with Niki tonight finalized his decision and as he trekked up the stairs to the bed where his wife was waiting for him, he knew that he would never confess his transgressions.