I just want to give a special shout out to my reader Bushimon who always makes me smile with lovely reviews! Thank you!!

MOHINDER & SASHA

NEW YORK

"You know, I've been thinking."

"That sounds a bit dangerous," Mohinder told her.

Sasha rolled her eyes and continued. "We've been working together for a while now, and I still don't really understand anything about this virus that we're curing."

"You've never showed much of an interest in it before," Mohinder reminded her. "Usually you simply direct me to the patient, I administer the cure, I pray that it works, and we leave."

"Well, things change."

"Why now?"

"Because I'm curious," she explained. "And bored of doing nothing but locating the patients and giving you orders."

"Oh? I didn't think you'd ever tire of bossing me around."

"Very funny," Sasha grabbed for the file he was holding and starting flipping through it. "Tell me about this patient."

"Hold on," Mohinder took the file back and closed it. "If I'm going to start giving you information about what I do, then I want information about what you do."

She laughed. "What's that supposed to mean? You know exactly what I do Dr. Suresh. We work for the same people."

"The difference is, you know who you work for," he told her. "I work for an invisible group known to me only as 'the Company'. What does that mean to me? As far as I know, you could be the only boss that I have, just parading under their name so I will follow your orders."

"What do you want me to do for you?" She asked. "Would it help if you were to meet the Company?"

"Maybe," he shrugged. "I don't know—I doubt it. I'm just trying to make a point. Why should I be doing any favors for you?"

"It's not about doing me favors," Sasha corrected him. "It's about sharing responsibility. We are both working on this virus, and yes technically you are the doctor in charge, but I should at least know how it works."

"What do you want to know exactly?" Mohinder asked.

"I want to know how it works," she repeated. "How does a person catch the virus in the first place? And once they're infected how fast does it spread? Does it attack their immune system or is it carried through their blood?"

He frowned. "You weren't joking. You really do want to know about it, don't you? Though I don't understand why now. After being so unconcerned for so long, what has suddenly sparked this great curiosity?"

She pursed her lips and shrugged. "Call me crazy, but I can't help it. I'm just so intrigued by all the complex details of the virus and…"

"All right," he cut her off. "I am really not interested in your reasons. I'll tell you what you want to know about the virus, but you have to do something for me."

"What?"

"I want you to tell me the truth about what happens after I cure my patients."

Sasha hesitated only for a moment before nodding at him with a confident smile. "Of course. If that's what you want, I'll tell you."

"You will?" Mohinder was a little surprised. He had expected her to protest because he assumed she had never told him the truth because of her employers, but clearly she didn't care much about that.

"Absolutely."

"Forgive me, but I am a little confused right now. I had thought you were under some sort of vow of secrecy or something…"

She shrugged. "Sort of, but this is clearly important to you and I have faith in you Doctor. I know that you believe in the good that you are doing, and regardless of what I am about to tell you, I am confident that you will continue to do your job diligently."

"I am committed to my job," he assured her.

"Fine," she took another pause before answering. "We take them."

"You take them?" He echoed.

"Well, not me personally, not usually anyway. Once you cure them, I call my employers and they send someone to retrieve the patient once we have moved on to our next location."

"And what happens after they are taken?"

"Then the company is in control."

Mohinder shook his head. "That's not a satisfactory answer, I'm afraid."

"Well, that's the only answer I have for you."

"Sasha, we had a deal," he reminded her. "If I'm going to tell you what you want to know about the virus, then you have to tell me everything you know about the company and what they do with my patients."

"Unfortunately, I don't know much of the details."

"You don't know?" Mohinder didn't believe her. "You must know. You have been working with them for a long time now, haven't you?"

"Yes, I have."

"And you are always talking to them on the phone," he pointed out.

"Yes, I know…"

"And you're a terrible liar," he concluded.

"Liar?"

"Yes. Sasha, I know you are lying to me right now. I know that you are completely aware of what the Company does with my patients once I am through with them, and I know that you are not telling me because you believe it will make me abandon my assignment." He paused. "Now let me remind you that no matter what you tell me, I cannot abandon this job. Your employers, whom you are so faithful to, have me trapped. You yourself constantly remind me of that by threatening the safety of Molly Walker. I can't forsaken this job without forsaking her."

Sasha smiled. "Very good."

"So…"

"Sorry, but I still don't know the details of what they're doing. I know that they conduct experiments, and I know that sometimes they recruit the patients to their team."

"Recruit? To create more employees like you?" Mohinder asked. "Well that's just marvelous, isn't it?"

Sasha rolled her eyes. "I'm tired of your cynicism, Dr. Suresh. It's my turn now. Tell me how the virus works."

NATHAN & HEIDI

NEW YORK

"Did you enjoy yourself tonight?"

Heidi's ear picked up Nathan's voice, but she didn't turn her head. For a moment she pretended to be asleep so she wouldn't have to respond.

"Because I did," he continued, clearly not caring whether she was asleep or not. "Tonight was the best time I have had for a long time. I think it should be Valentine's every day. Of course it might have been better if we'd had a date alone…without the boys." He kissed her neck and worked his way up to her ear before speaking again. "We could ask Claire to watch the boys tomorrow if you wanted to go out, just the two of us."

Heidi finally acknowledged him. "Nathan…" she sat up so her back was to him.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" His hand moved to her back and starting rubbing automatically. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Stop." She pulled away from him and he stopped suddenly. "I'm leaving you Nathan."

"What?" He laughed a little, clearly not understanding what she was saying—he thought she was teasing him. "Sweetheart, come lay down, you're not making any sense."

She shook her head. "I would be making sense if you were listening to me." She glanced over her shoulder to look at him and gave him a sad half-smile. "I love you Nathan, I have ever since I met you, but I'm leaving you unless you can explain to me who the blonde woman was in Vegas."

"The blonde?" Nathan repeated.

"Yes, the woman you met in Vegas. You said she was a doctor for Peter, but he was never sick so I know that was a lie. Tell me the truth Nathan."

Nathan sighed. "I don't know what to tell you Heidi."

"Tell me the truth!" She repeated, more loudly than before. "I deserve to know. Don't you think I deserve to know the truth?"

"I'm sorry I lied to you about her being a doctor…" Nathan started. "Peter created the story to cover my ass in front of that reporter, and I thought it might just be easier to leave it that way."

"Easier for who? You?" Heidi laughed. "The only person that got anything out of that lie was you. It might have been nice for me at first when I could believe it, but deep down I never believed it. And now it's only worse for me to realize that you lied to me just to protect yourself from the truth."

Nathan sat up as well, trying to see her expression. He knew the time had come to confess the truth, and he feared what the result would be once she heard. "The truth is, I felt guilty and I hated it. Ever since the accident, I have been blaming myself for what happened to you and I hated myself for it. I couldn't look at you or touch you without remembering that night and it made me sick."

Heidi's eyes watered, but she looked away so he couldn't see.

"I didn't know how to be your husband anymore," he confessed. "I just needed to be able to be with someone without feeling so guilty."

"So you slept with a blonde woman in Las Vegas," Heidi filled in. "Did that make it better for you? Did it help? Did sleeping with her cure your guilt?"

"No," he shook his head. "It only made it worse, but you shouldn't have even had to ask. You have to know how much I love you and how much I have regretted it ever since…"

"Oh really? Should I know that?" She shook her head and climbed out of bed quickly, flinging the blankets aside. "All I know is that you are the only reason this marriage failed. I have done everything I could to make you happy. I know how hard it must have been for you to not be able to sleep with your wife after the accident, but I would have liked to believe that I could trust you to remain loyal to me anyway—for our family."

"Heidi, if I could take it back…"

"Don't even go there," Heidi snapped. "You can't take it back so there's no point even pretending that things could ever be different." She located her robe at the foot of the bed and slipped it on. "You cheated on me, you lied to me, and most of all you broke my heart." She looked at him harshly. "I never stopped loving you Nathan. No matter how much I put with for you, your family, and your candidacy, I stood by your side unconditionally. I loved you unconditionally."

"And now?" He watched her walking toward the door of their bedroom.

"I don't know anymore," she answered bluntly. "I could forgive you for having a daughter and never telling me, because it was out of your control and you thought you were doing it to protect me, but this is different." She opened the door. "I don't know if I can forgive you for this."

"Heidi…"

"No."

"Heidi please…just think about this…" He jumped out of bed and chased her to the door. "You can't leave me—we're a family. I love you and nobody but you."

"That may be so, but how will I ever be able to trust you again?"

"Please don't leave," he begged again.

"I'm staying for now, because I don't want the kids to have to deal with it until we've figured out what we're going to do." She pulled the robe more tightly around herself. "You will be sleeping in the guest room though."

HIRO, CLAUDE, & GROUP

NEW YORK

"Hiro?"

"Ando!" Hiro squealed in delight at the first sound of his best friend's voice when he finally got a chance to call him.

"Hiro!" Ando repeated, still in shock at finally hearing from his friend again. "You're alive!"

"Yes, I am alive, and I have so much to tell you about. I met Takezo Kensei!"

Only silence came from Ando's end of the phone call.

"I did," Hiro restated. "I traveled back in time—accidentally—and met Kensei in the 1600s! He was so cool. And he trained me and I rescued his princess from the enemies…"

"Where are you now?"

"I am in New York again," Hiro told him. "The princess had an ability too—she can see things, like Mr. Isaac did, but without painting. She told me that I needed to return to my own time to save the world."

"Again?"

"Yes, it is very important for me to save the world or else many people will die."

"But why you?" Ando asked. "Why does it always have to be you?"

"I don't know," Hiro confessed. "It's my destiny and I can't change that."

"Are you sure it's really your destiny? Couldn't your destiny maybe be to just come home and be with your family?"

Hiro knew that Ando was only feeling lonely, and he couldn't blame him. Hiro missed having his best friend at his side too, but this was his destiny, which was something that Ando couldn't understand. "Maybe one day, but not until the world is saved."

"I could help…"

"No," Hiro cut him off. "Not this time. I cannot put you in danger again. I must do this on my own."

"But…"

"Ando I must go now," Hiro decided. He didn't want Ando to talk him into bringing him along on his mission, which he knew he would try. "I'll call you later and tell you more about my time in the past and also about my mission here."

"Be safe Hiro."

"I will," Hiro assured him. He didn't hang up yet though. "Ando, how is my father? And my sister?"

"I don't see much of your father. He has put your sister in charge of the company. No one really knows what he does anymore with his time. He is always gone."

Hiro frowned. He knew how important his father's business was and even though his sister was more than capable of being in control, his father wouldn't leave her alone unless absolutely necessary. "Will you tell Kimiko that I am safe, and if you see my father, send him my regards?"

"Of course," Ando promised. "Goodbye, Hiro."

Hiro listened as Ando clicked off the phone and then hung up his own as well. He slid open the glass door that opened from the patio back into the house and joined the others were once again gathered in the living room—they gathered quite frequently.

"Have you heard the latest?" Sarah asked Hiro as soon as he had shut the door and taken an open spot on one of the couches. He shook his head and she explained. "Ray has a lead on one of their employees, right here in the city!"

"Do you have a name yet?" Hiro asked.

"No," Sarah shook her head and glanced at Ray. "Why don't you tell him what you've learned?"

"Supposedly the Company has their sights set on one person in particular—I don't know who—and this employee is in charge of bringing that person in."

"So we find this person and stop the Company?" Hiro asked.

Jake and Troy started to laugh, but Sarah just smiled and shook her head at him. "I wish it was that easy," she told him.

"What else do we have to do?" Hiro asked.

"This person that they're after is just one part of their plan. We don't know what their long term plan is yet," Sarah explained. "Until we know what their mission is, I don't think there's much we can do…"

"Way to be an optimist Sarah," Claude commented as he walked through the front door of the apartment.

"Claude…you're home…" she looked a little embarrassed. "I missed you." She smiled up at him and he shook his head.

"You've got to be careful with that one Hiro, she's a damn good sweet-talker," Claude laughed. "She's nothing but well-meaning, though." He crossed the room and patted Sarah on the head like a father would to his daughter.

"Where have you been?" Hiro asked.

"Out," he replied curtly.

"He does that," Sarah told him, pretending to whisper, but speaking loud enough for Claude to hear. "The boss likes his secrets."

"What is the mission?" Hiro asked bluntly.

Every one looked at him.

He shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "I mean, how do we accomplish our mission. How do we save the world?"

"Well first, we're going to need a lot more allies, mate." Claude told him. "We need someone who's strong enough to take on whatever the company sends after us."

"Who is strong enough for that?" Hiro asked.

Claude was quiet for a minute and then sighed. "I've already asked him. He doesn't want any part of our mission."

"Who?" Hiro repeated.

"Peter Petrelli."

PETER & CLAIRE

NEW YORK

"You're home!"

"Oh my!" Claire tried not to lose her balance as Peter nearly knocked her off her feet in his enthusiasm to greet her with a hug the moment she had stepped into the apartment. "Do I dare ask what I've done to deserve this greeting?" She laughed as his arms tightened around her waist and he lifted her an inch off the ground. "Okay…"

"I'm just happy to see you…" Putting her back down, Peter took a step back, but he staggered a little.

Claire scrunched up her nose as she caught a deep whiff of his breath. "Oh god…that's disgusting."

"What is?"

"Peter, you're drunk!"

"No…" he grinned at her, but when he tried to take another step he tripped and landed on his knees. "Ouch."

"Peter, what is wrong with you?" She removed her jacket and dropped it and her purse on the ground before kneeling beside him and trying to help him back up to his feet.

"Nothing!" He exclaimed, still grinning, and slurring a little. "I just had a little bit to drink…" Now he was laughing.

Claire shook her head. "I've been living with you for almost four months now and I've never even seen you drink, let alone get drunk! What's going on?" She managed to help him onto the couch, and he slumped down.

"I was thirsty," he told her.

"You're an idiot," she replied.

"Me?" He forced himself to sit up so he could yell at her. "I am not the idiot! He's the idiot…that stupid idiot…"

Claire frowned. "Who are you talking about?"

"That idiot!" He repeated.

She sighed. "You've mentioned that."

"He's an idiot!" His voice grew louder and his eyes narrowed at her. "He's just using you…"

"Oh my god," Claire gasped. "You're talking about Jaden, aren't you?" She walked away from the couch for a minute, trying to control herself from the lecture she wanted to give him. When she returned to him she hadn't calmed down. "You have no right!"

"He doesn't deserve you!" Peter persisted.

"It doesn't matter whether or not he deserves me, Peter!" Claire was nearly yelling at him now, but she couldn't stop herself. Peter would never understand her emotions because he could never know how torn up she was feeling inside. "It doesn't matter if he really cares about me or if he's just using me. What does matter is that he's my boyfriend and it's my life. You don't have a say in it!"

"I do…I do have a say…" Peter started to stand, but Claire pushed him back down.

"Don't get up, you'll just hurt yourself," she told him. "And why do you think you have a say? You're not my dad, you're not even my brother, so what role exactly do you think you have in my personal life?"

"I…" Peter spoke in a loud voice, but it was still very shaky. "I love you…"

Claire sighed. "I know Peter, I love you too."

"No!" He shouted at her. "No, that's not…you don't get it…"

"Then why don't you explain it to me?"

Without saying another word, Peter forced himself to his feet crossed the gap between them.

"What are you doing?" Claire asked when he put his arm around her waist.

Still he didn't say anything. When she started to push him away, he just held her tighter, lowered his head to her height, and pressed his lips to hers.

"Peter!" Claire pounded her fist against his chest, forcing him to let go of her. "What the hell are you doing?" She instinctively covered her mouth with her hand as she backed away from him. "You…"

"I had to…" he told her. "It's all…you're all I think about…"

"You're drunk!" She reminded him. "You don't know what you're saying…you don't know what you're doing!"

"I know exactly what I'm doing," he insisted. "I am drunk…" he agreed as he staggered towards her. "But I am also in love with you…"

"You can't be in love with me! It's wrong! You're wrong."

"Claire…" he reached out to her again, but she moved out of his reach and he stumbled, once again landing on his knees.

"No!" She grabbed her jacket and her purse and opened the door. "It's wrong Peter. It's wrong and you know it! I know it…" she started to cry.

"Don't go!"

She didn't answer him, but instead just ran as fast as she could down the hall and away from him—away from all the emotions that she had been trying to ignore for so long. Outside the apartment, Claire tried to control her tears long enough to flag down a cab. Luckily the streets were still littered with yellow cars, even though the sun was close to rising. It only took a moment for a cab to pull up to the curb, and once she was settled in the backseat her tears started again and she could only just barely mumble out direction to the driver. Ten minutes later the cab pulled up to her destination and she shoved the money through the open divider, still crying.

"You okay, Miss?" The driver asked curiously as she gathered her jacket and purse and fumbled with the handle to open the door.

She shook her head, sniffling, and finally managed to open the door. She mumbled a "thank you" through her sobs to the driver and let the door close with a slam. The driver watched her, still a little curious, as she staggered up to front steps to the door of the mansion that he had driven her to. When she rang the doorbell, he drove away.

Claire waited for a few moments before ringing the doorbell again, and then she knocked as well. She knew it was late, and they were undoubtedly already in bed, but she didn't know where else to go. Peter had been her safe haven for so long; she had never needed to rely on anyone else.

A light above the door snapped on and Claire heard the door being unlocked from inside. She fidgeted with one of her long curls as she waited for the door to open.

"Claire?" Nathan opened the door and stared at her. She could tell he was confused.

"Hi…" she tried to stop crying.

"What are you doing here?"

"I…I didn't know where else to go," she told him.

"What's wrong?" He asked, opening the door wider still and beckoned her inside.

"I just need some place to stay," she explained. She stepped into the house and turned instinctively toward him, falling against his chest and wrapping her arms around him, begging for a hug.

Nathan let his arms close around her and held her, a little awkwardly, for a moment without speaking. "Claire, please tell me what happened."

"I can't," she decided quickly. "I can't. I just need to be somewhere different tonight. Can I stay here tonight?"

"Of course you can," he assured her. "You know you're always welcome here." Nathan motioned her further into the foyer and closed the front door. "Heidi and the boys are asleep, but I know they'll want to see you in the morning. I'm sleeping in the main guest room tonight, but the room my mom made up for you the last time you stayed her is free for you."

"You're sleeping in the guest room?"

He nodded. "Heidi and I had a little argument…sometimes it's just easier to not share the same bed."

"It's none of my business," Claire decided quickly. "But I hope you two can get everything worked out."

"Yea, me too." He smiled and kept his arm around her as he directed her towards the stairs. "Do you need anything?"

"Just a bed."

He walked her up the first flight of stairs and then pointed her towards the second that would lead up to the bedroom she had used when she had first come to New York—it was the only bedroom on the third floor.

"If you need me at any time, I'm just down this hall, the second door."

"Okay," she smiled and held her head up as he gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Thank you so much for letting me stay."

"Of course." He gave her a quick hug. "Sweet dreams."

PETER

NEW YORK

"Dammit, dammit, dammit," Peter cursed loudly and repeatedly slammed his fist against the carpet in front of where he was kneeling. "What was I doing? Dammit!" His head felt light and he shut his eyes for a moment. Watching Claire run away from him had been a quick way to sober him up. The moment she had slammed the front door, realization struck and his self-loathing settled in.

As soon as he had gotten himself to his feet and managed to walk across the living room without stumbling or vomiting, he found his cell phone and dialed automatically. He leaned against the wall to keep his balance as he counted the phone rings anxiously.

"Hi…"

"Claire, hi! I'm so sorry…"

"…you've reached Claire's cell."

Peter sighed as he realized he was trying to apologize to her answering machine. He heard it through anyway and decided to try and leave a message conveying his sentiments, even though he doubted she would actually listen to it.

"…leave me a message and I'll call you back, if you say please! Okay, bye!"

"Claire, it's me…I know you probably don't want to talk to me, or listen to me, but I am so sorry for what happened. I was stupid and drunk and I hate myself for hurting you…please call me back and give me a chance to really apologize to you." He paused for a second and wondered how much longer he had until her answering machine cut him off. "Well, okay, please call me. I'm sorry. Please call." He hung up and let his phone fall the floor as he felt himself getting sick again and raced to the bathroom.

Once his vomiting ceased and his head felt level again, he started silently yelling at himself again.

"I've got to do something." He told himself. "I have to make her understand. I have to explain…I can't lose her."

First, he changed into fresh clothes without any vomit residue. Once he had dressed, he thought about trying her cell phone again, but figured stalking her by phone probably wasn't the best tactic for apologizing.

I just need her to be happy…I need to make her happy…he knew firmly that it was all he truly wanted, no matter how miserable he was, as long as she was happy that was all that mattered. How can I make her happy? How will I ever fix this? He sat down on the edge of his bed and let his head drop. Taking three deep breaths, Peter didn't even know how it had happened, but a moment later when he lifted his head he was no longer in his room, but standing in the middle of the city.

He knew instantly that something was wrong—everything was different. It was wrong. The city was obviously New York—the distant point of the Empire State Building proved that. Still, something was wrong and for a reason he couldn't explain, he felt uncomfortable being out in the open, so he darted off the main street and ducked into an alleyway. The next moment a group of people marched through the street, dressed uniformly in black; guns were holstered at their waists.

Peter watched them curiously for only a brief moment before mentally telling himself to turn on his invisibility. What is going on? Where am I? He knew that the people he was seeing were not military, not any form that he had ever seen before at least, but they were so openly militaristic that he couldn't understand.

He took a couple steps further back into the alleyway a knelt down behind a large dumpster, because even though he knew he was now invisible, he still felt much too exposed. As his knee brushed against the pavement, he noticed an old newspaper wrinkled beneath a collection of garbage. Instinctively, Peter glanced at the heading of the paper to check the date: March 16, 2012. Dammit.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! There's been a lot of questions about Molly and Micah, I'm expecting the next update to clear that up for ya'll. The next update, as you've probably guessed by how this one ended will take place in the future. I'm not sure if the future will take more than one update yet, so we'll just see how that goes. I'll try to update sooner rather than later, but I'm going on vacation the day after tomorrow and I don't know how much free time I'll have to write. Unfortunately after that I'll be heading back to school, which will mean even less time to write, but I'm hoping to do weekly updates, probably on a regular day, so ya'll can know when to expect them! Thanks again for all the marvelous reviews. It makes me so happy to see how much everyone is enjoying this story, because as much as I love writing, this is called "fan" fiction for a reason and I love writing for all you other fans who enjoy the show as much as I do! Okay, I'm done rambling now. XOXO.