MOHINDER & SASHA

AUSTRALIA

"Is it the virus?"

"Can you give me just one moment?" Mohinder was exhausted with Sasha's unyielding questions. Every time he turned around she seemed to appear with a whole new set of interrogations. All he wanted was a moment to himself so he could quietly discern what his tests were telling him, but she clearly wasn't going to give him that peace.

Sasha folded her arms and raised one of her perfectly plucked eyebrows. Mohinder hated it when she did that. He never understood how people could raise just one eyebrow. Whenever he tried, both would go up; it didn't seem natural for them to perform separately.

"Sasha, I can't think when you're hovering like this!" He told her. "Please give me space."

"We're partners, Dr. Suresh. That means that whatever you know, I know. So spill. Is the kid dying?"

Mohinder tried not to wince at the frankness of her question. "Yes, he has the virus, but he is not going to die. That's why we're here, isn't it?"

Sasha nodded. "That's right. So…what are you waiting for?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Heal him already!"

"It's not like I snap my fingers and he's all better!" Mohinder told her sharply. "It takes quite a while. Why do you think I was in Seattle for so long?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe it's because you were screwing your patient's sister…"

"We had an agreement." Mohinder reminded her. His tone was bitter; he was losing his patience with Sasha. "You promised me you wouldn't discuss my relationship with Madeline and in return I wouldn't pry into your personal life."

Sasha nodded, "I know."

"So, would you like me to start prying?"

Sasha thought of Jaden. It would be horrible for Mohinder to learn the truth about Claire's boyfriend. "No. I'm sorry. I won't mention her again."

"Thank you," Mohinder appreciated it, but at the same time he wondered what Sasha was so eager to hide of her own life.

"How long do you think it will take before he starts to recover?"

"It will take a couple of days before I can be confident enough to leave him on his own." Mohinder started prepping a needle for the patient's injection.

"Okay," Sasha flipped open her cell phone to check her calendar. "We've got to be in China by Monday."

"That only gives us three days."

"And you said you only needed a couple," Sasha pointed out. "Look, just do what you can and then we've got to go. Don't worry, he'll be taken care of and if the virus starts to reemerge, we can always return to him."

"When you say 'taken care of' what exactly do you mean?"

"Dr. Suresh…" Sasha shook her head. "I thought I had covered this. Do you need a reminder about what I could do to all the people you care about?" She scanned the area around them and spotted a little boy a few feet away. She got his attention and motioned him to come over, which he did obediently. Sasha placed her hand over his heart and concentrated. Only a moment later he collapsed to the ground, grabbing his chest with his hands.

"Stop it!" Mohinder shouted. "Don't hurt him!"

"Dr. Suresh, you have the power to heal a virus. I have the power to kill with just one touch…or I can heal…" she touched the boy again and he recovered instantly, seeming as normal as ever. "Do you want me to exploit my power on Molly? I think she's a little young to have a stroke, but if you continue to question me about things you know I can't tell you…"

Mohinder shook his head. "No! I'm sorry! I won't ask again, just please leave Molly out of this."

"Good choice," Sasha glanced at her cell phone as it vibrated. "This is our employer. Should I tell him that we will be on track with our schedule?"

"Yes," Mohinder gave in. "I will be ready to leave for China whenever you say."

"Good boy." She turned away from him as she answered the phone. "Good afternoon, Sir."

"Hello Sasha, how's the progress coming with Dr. Suresh?"

"Excellent. He's a very obedient doctor." She glanced over her shoulder to make sure that Mohinder wasn't trying to listen in to the conversation. He was obediently administering the antidote to their patient.

"And this man that you have found in Australia, have you learned anything about him yet?"

"Yes, I have. I think you're going to be very pleased with this one. I obviously haven't seen it myself, since the virus is pretty advanced, but from how he described himself, it's something to do with controlling the weather…"

"Lovely," Mr. Okenberg said. "He will make a nice addition."

"I thought you'd be happy." Sasha smiled to herself; it was always a good day for her when she was able to give her boss good news. "Should I expect someone to meet us here before we go on to China?"

"No, I don't think it would be wise to let Dr. Suresh see what happens next. You two should go on to China, and I'll have someone come to retrieve your patient."

"Okay," she agreed obediently. "May I ask who's going to retrieve him? Are you going to have Sylar come?"

"No, Sylar is being a little temperamental right now. We're having to keep a closer eye on his activities." Mr. Okenberg paused. "I think it's time we bring the Haitian out of his cell. I've missed having him on active duty."

"Do you think he'll cooperate?"

"He will. He knows what's at stake. Besides, Angela's always been good at persuading him."

"True," Sasha noted that Mohinder had finished with the shot and was now looking curious about her phone call. "I should go. Dr. Suresh is waiting for me."

"Very well, I'll send you your next assignment after China."

"I'll be waiting."

HEIDI & NATHAN

NEW YORK

"Sweetheart, have you seen my car keys?" Nathan called to his wife as he searched his office frantically.

"Did you look on your desk?" Heidi responded, also shouting.

"Of course!" Nathan double-checked the surface of his desk just to make sure.

"How about the hall table?"

Nathan sighed. He had checked all the normal places, which is why he asked for her help. "I've checked everywhere!"

"What about your jacket pocket?"

Nathan frowned. He didn't remember wearing a jacket when he was last using his keys, but he might as well check. He located his jacket in the hall closet and slipped his hand into one of the front pockets. Soon enough his fingers touched the cold metal of his keychain.

"Thanks!" He shouted back to her. "I'll be home in time for dinner."

"Okay!" Heidi rounded the corner just in time to give her husband a kiss goodbye before he rushed out to the office. "Love you."

"Love you too." He kissed her again before leaving.

She stood in the open door until he had driven away, and then she shut it and also shut the closet door, which he had left wide open. Then she made her way into his office to inspect the mess he had made while frantically searching for his keys. When she saw the disaster, she had an urge to laugh.

"He is such a boy," she commented to herself as she started straightening up the files and paperwork scattered across his desk. She knew that if she weren't around the whole house would be a sty; that's just the way things were with her three boys. Sometimes she did wish she had a daughter, which is perhaps the reason she had resented Claire at first—she was the daughter that they had never had together.

It wasn't that she didn't like Claire. Quite the opposite actually—she was starting to love Claire. It was practically impossible to know that girl and not love her. She had bonded with the boys instantly, which helped Heidi like her even more, and she was always overly helpful whenever she came for a visit. Last time she had come for dinner, Heidi caught her helping the maid with the dishes.

If only she was my own daughter…Heidi had this thought often. Sometimes she pretended that Claire was her daughter—their daughter—and not Nathan's and some strange woman. She would convince herself that they had had Claire first, but she had been sent to boarding schools as a child, which is why she was only around recently. But then, Heidi would realize how foolish she was being for making up such a silly story, and she would remind herself that Claire was simply a new part of her life, one that didn't actually belong to her.

Heidi moved on to the bookshelves in an attempt to create some sort of order. She never could understand how Nathan could tolerate such disorganization. Habitually, she began to alphabetize one of the middle shelves. Nathan wouldn't mind, he probably wouldn't even notice. Her hand paused on a book that she had never read, but she had heard a lot about.

"Activating Evolution," She read the title out loud and pulled it from the shelf. It was the book that supposedly explained all the details of what was happening with her husband and Claire and all the others like them. Maybe this will help me understand better…taking the book with her, Heidi retreated to the living room and curled up in her favorite reading chair.

After over an hour of reading, Heidi knew she had questions that the book would never be able to answer for her—neither would her husband. Giving it only a minute of consideration, she returned to Nathan's office and searched through his address book until she found the number she was looking for.

After two rings, Heidi realized she had been holding her breath. She started wondering if she had made the right decision, but didn't have time to change her mind before the other line was answered.

"Hi Nathan!"

"Oh…umm…actually Claire, it's Heidi."

"Oh, hello!" Claire didn't hide the confusion in her voice.

"I know this is a little random, and you are probably very busy with school and everything, but I was wondering if we could have lunch together sometime…" Heidi spoke quickly before she could take any of it back.

Claire paused briefly before answering. "Lunch? Like just the two of us?"

"Yes," Heidi confirmed. "I thought it might give us a nice chance to get to know one another. When you come over here you're always so busy with Nathan, I just don't feel like we've had a great opportunity…" She started to panic. Maybe all of Claire's friendliness had only been a cover-up because she didn't know how to act around Heidi. Maybe she wasn't interested in getting to know her at all. "If you don't want to, I'll understand of course…"

"No, of course I do. Lunch would be great."

"Really?"

"Yea, absolutely, whenever you want."

"Okay…how about I pick you up at school tomorrow during your lunch break?"

"Perfect. I'll be waiting out front at eleven thirty."

"All right, I'll see you then." Heidi smiled at how well it had worked out. "I really appreciate this Claire. Oh, and I know it probably wouldn't matter, but he can be so weird sometime, so if you don't mind, maybe we could keep this a secret from Nathan, just for now."

A/N: I'm not actually going to show the lunch scene with Heidi and Claire. Just imagine that it went well, because they will be having lunch together frequently, just getting to know one another, but I don't feel like writing it word for word, unless I get a lot of reviews telling me that they'd like to read it. So at this point, not going to happen, but like I say, it's up to you! XOXO