PETER

NEW YORK – MARCH 16, 2012

Peter fled from the main street, seeking shelter in the shadows of a nearby alleyway. The fear he had been sensing while out in the open was legitimized in the next moment when a group of people marched the street. They were dressed head to toe in black with guns glinting from holsters around their waists. Peter turned on his invisibility quickly, feeling a need to be even more covered than the alley provided for him. The group marched ahead down the street, very well aligned as though they were in some type of military formation. Calculating with a guess, he counted perhaps fifteen people—both male and female. Backing further into the alleyway, Peter knelt by a large dumpster for even more coverage. An old newspaper on the ground caught his attention and he briefly scanned the headline.

March 16, 2012? Dammit! Five years? How the hell did I jump five years?

Peter had heard of Hiro's experiences with time traveling, of course, so he understood that it was possible, but he had never done it himself before. He had gotten pretty good at teleporting in the past couple months, but time traveling hadn't even crossed his mind yet. There was something about jumping into a different year that made him a little nervous. Doing it accidentally was even worse than he could have anticipated.

He started mentally running through all the problems that he could encounter in this unknown time. He didn't know where anyone was or what they were doing, or what he was even doing in this time. Also, the "military" party was making him very uncomfortable.

I have to get home. Even as he thought it though, he had an unmistakable feeling that getting home wouldn't be simple.

Suddenly, the people marching through the street halted, switched their formation, simultaneously drawing their guns from the holsters. When the guns had been unsheathed Peter noticed the difference from what regular guns looked like. The handles were longer and the barrel was thinner and seemed to be missing a piece of the metal—he couldn't understand what was wrong with them.

"Target, two o'clock!" One of the soldiers bellowed. All the people shifted their attention to the right and aimed their weapons. Peter couldn't see what they seemed to see, but they were aiming at the opposite side of the street, so he still felt safe. "Hold positions!"

"Nakamura, now!" Another man shouted and one of the soldiers stepped forward. Peter gasped as he recognized his Japanese friend. It wasn't the same Hiro Nakamura that he knew though; this man looked dark, cold, and angry. The cheerful optimism that was usually strong with Hiro seemed completely gone in his expression.

A moment later, Peter realized the soldiers were no longer moving—they had clearly been frozen. Peter briefly wondered if he should make himself visible to Hiro, but the next second he was glad he didn't. Hiro moved forward into the alley across the street and pulled a girl from behind a collection of half-broken crates and smashed boxes.

No! It can't be…Peter braved a few steps out of the alley he was hidden in, in order to get a better look at the girl who Hiro was no dragging back to the rest of the group—she too was frozen, but petite enough to be half-carried, half-dragged. He bound her hands in handcuffs before unfreezing everyone.

The soldier who seemed to be in charge approached Hiro and the girl. He nodded approvingly.

"You have given us quite the run around, Miss Walker. It's good to finally to have you in chains."

Molly struggled, but she knew she wouldn't get away from them. "They'll come for me." She told her captors fiercely. "Even now they are searching for me. You won't keep me for long."

"Oh we hope they come," he told her. "They'll be waling right into our arms."

"No!" Molly shook her head furiously and started to cry.

"Keep her quiet," the leader barked.

Making certain to keep up his shroud of invisibility, Peter crept after the group. He was determined to keep his eyes on Molly. Even though this was a different time and he didn't understand anything that was going on, he still felt a need to protect the girl that had been for a while in his and Claire's care.

The group marched boldly through the streets, clearly not concerned in the least with who saw them. Peter desperately wanted to know more; it made him crazy not to understand the details of what was happening.

Why here? He wondered. Why now? Of all the times he could have accidentally jumped to, he needed to know what brought him to this particular time.

He followed for eight blocks before the group halted suddenly again and turned uniformly to the right and headed down a new street. Since he had stopped briefly to wait and see what they were going to do before following again, he now had to jog a little to catch up. By time he rounded the corner that they had turned down, they were already sliding open the door to a warehouse and filing in. Peter noticed Hiro and another man forcing Molly inside. Peter started to move closer.

"You might not want to go that way just yet."

Peter instinctively whirled around and raised his arms, preparing for a fight. He found himself face to face with a young woman; he lowered his hands slowly, but still watched her cautiously.

"I didn't mean to scare you," she told him. "Really though, if anyone should be scared it's me." She frowned. "I thought you were dead!"

Peter hesitated. He had no idea who this woman was, but she definitely seemed to know him. He didn't know if he should play along or tell her the truth.

"So, two questions. No, three," she continued. "One, how did you survive? Two, where the hell have you been hiding? And three, what were you thinking going after them alone?"

"Molly…" He started to explain.

The girl's expression crumbled. "They found her? Shit." She sighed. "Micah's got to be going crazy. We should go. We need to tell the others and plan out our strategy."

He still had no idea what to do. Nothing made sense to him and he hated not having control of the situation or his own actions for that matter. The confusion drove him insane. He didn't know if he should stay and attempt to rescue Molly, or if he should follow this unfamiliar girl and see what she knew. Her mentioning Micah did ease his mind a bit; at least someone would be familiar to him. In the end he decided to go with her, though mainly because the people he had been following had already vanished inside the building, with Molly. He realized that he would have little luck in rescuing the girl when he didn't even understand the situation entirely.

"Come on," she urged him as she turned to the left and headed down a side street. She walked quickly, and he noticed for the first time that she wasn't wearing shoes—it explained how she was able to sneak up on him without him hearing her. She padded away from him on her curious bare feet, barely seeming to notice the hard pavement or small rocks that pecked at her skin. "Hurry up!" She commanded, turning her head only partway, using her peripheral vision to see how far behind Peter lagged.

As he sped up to follow her, Peter started calculating all the problems that could come from this choice that he had made. He knew nothing about her, but clearly she knew enough about him. If he was truly going to keep his time traveling a secret, he would have to be extra careful not to say anything that would inform her of his ignorance. Of course, his curiosity kicked in before his mind could catch up and he spoke without thinking.

"How could you see me?"

"What?" She didn't slow or turn.

"I was invisible. I know I was!" Peter started doubting himself.

"Yea so?" She picked up her pace even more; her legs were at least three inches shorter than Peter, but her feet moved so fast he had trouble keeping up.

"How could you see me?"

She stopped suddenly and turned in one fluid motion that caught him off guard. "What the hell are you talking about Peter?"

He realized he had slipped up. "Nothing," he muttered quickly.

Her dark, narrow eyes scrutinized him, clearly trying to interpret his expression. "Are you okay? You're acting sort of…different."

"I'm fine," he assured her. "It's just been a while…" he hoped that would be an okay thing to say without arousing further suspicion.

Her hard expression finally calmed and she actually almost smiled. "It has been a long time and you have to know that I'm dying to hear your explanation, but we should wait until we're with the others. Come on!"

She started to trot away again and he once again followed her, this time deciding it would be best to stay silent entirely in order to stop himself from jeopardizing his secret any more than he already had. A moment later she was daring down a side street and she came to a stop. Glancing around briefly for security, she then motioned for him to join her and together they pushed aside a large metal dumpster, revealing a small door, only large enough for a grown adult to crawl through, which the two of them quickly did.

"Can you move the dumpster back in place?" She whispered to him as she crawled first. Peter briefly wondered how he would manage that, but the way she was staring at him made him realize that she intended for him to use his abilities and so he did, and then he followed her on hands and knees through a short tunnel until they reached an open space where they could stand.

"What's the password?"

Peter's eyes widened when he spotted a man holding a knife to the girl's throat. She, however, seemed perfectly calm.

"Elizabeth," she responded.

The man removed the knife and now pulled her into his arms for a hug. "You had me so worried!"

"I wasn't gone that long!"

"You were gone for almost two hours. We agreed that we'd never be gone for more than one hour at a time."

"Well, I got distracted," she told him, and for the first time she motioned Peter forward, drawing him to the center of attention.

"Peter?" The other man's voice shook. "How do you know it's him?"

"Well, he was using his invisibility when I found him, and he just used his telekinesis to cover the door."

"That's it? That's your only indication?" The guy shook his head. "Jules, you know that's not enough anymore."

Jules. Peter made a quick note of the name. Could be a nickname for what? Julia? Julianne? Juliet…He needed to blend in and know them as well as they knew him, especially since they were already suspicious of him.

"Ray, come on! Why would they mimic him? They think he's dead too!" The girl protested.

Ray. Peter mentally repeated the new name so he could more easily remember it.

"We'll let Sarah decide."

Sarah.

"Fine," she agreed. "Where's Sarah?"

"I'll go get her. Stay here." Ray kept his knife in his hand, but left them alone as he disappeared into another room out of their sight.

"He'll get over it," she told Peter when they were alone. "You know he's always been the grumpy one. I guess he has reasons too. I mean, well, you know." She dropped off, but Peter wished she would explain herself so he could learn what he was supposed to already know. "I guess you noticed the password hasn't changed. We probably should change it again. Who knows what they'll be able to get out of Molly's head, but ever since you…" she smiled, a little sadly. "We just wanted to keep the password you created."

He smiled, because it seemed like the right reaction. I created? Why would I think of the name "Elizabeth" as a password? Who's Elizabeth?

"Here they come," she pointed towards the door that Ray had gone through a moment ago.

He was exiting out of it now, followed by a slender girl with light brown hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in quite a while. She had it pulled back in a braid to keep it out of her face. He assumed this was the Sarah they had mentioned earlier.

"Peter!" A wide smile lighted her previously sallow face and she bounded across the room towards him.

"Hi…" he mirrored her smile, again feeling it was the right response.

"Oh my god!" She reached him and only hesitated for the briefest instant before throwing her arms around his neck and holding onto him tight; Peter couldn't remember the last time he had been held that tightly. "You're alive."

He realized that she had started to cry and he started to feel a little uncomfortable.

"What happened? Where have you been? Why didn't you tell us?" She still hadn't released him.

"Umm…" he didn't know what to say. His faking would only go so far.

Suddenly she pulled away from him. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

Ray stepped forward, raising his knife slightly.

Sarah pushed him away. "Ray, leave him alone. It's Peter."

"Told you," Jules piped in quickly.

"Then what's wrong?" Ray asked.

"I don't know…" she stared at Peter with her face only an inch from his. "What are you so nervous about?"

He shook his head.

"Why did my hug make you so uncomfortable?" She paused and her smile fell. "Oh…well…I mean…obviously I didn't think about all that…I was just excited to see you…I'm sorry if I…" then she stopped. "No…it's not that. You're not nervous. You're confused." She took a step back. "He doesn't know me. He doesn't know any of us."

"It's not him!" Ray was back at Sarah's side with his knife gripped tightly in his hand.

"How can it not be?" Jules took a small step away from him.

"I don't understand…" Sarah sighed. "It feels so much like him."

"It is me," Peter spoke up quickly. He realized that he wouldn't be able to keep his secret if he intended for them to trust him.

"It's not though…" Sarah argued. "I mean it is, but it's not."

"Sorry Sarah, but that's not going to cut it for me." Ray stepped past her, nearer to Peter.

Reacting instinctively, Peter used his telekinesis to send retaliate against Ray's approach and sent him flying across the room. He hadn't meant to use so much force, but it was an automatic action. "I'm sorry!" He exclaimed, just as automatically, once his adrenaline had settled and he realized that he might have overreacted just a bit. Strangely, he noticed Sarah was smiling at him.

"He had it coming," she told him. "You know Ray…" then she stopped. "Actually no, you don't. That's very clear. I don't know what to think Peter. I want to believe that it's truly you, but you don't even know me!"

He shook his head. "I can explain, but I don't know if you'll believe me…"

"Try me."

"It's complicated."

"Well, maybe I can un-complicate it for you. If you can't convince me, and Ray, that you are Peter, then I don't think even your telekinesis will be able to save you." She gave him a slight smile, but he could tell that she was completely serious.

Before he had a chance to explain, someone new emerged from the other room. Peter recognized him instantly, just as he had been able to recognize Molly. He was five years older, but his features had only matured, not changed enough to make him unrecognizable. The young man also seemed to instantly recognize Peter—his expression showed shock.

Sarah was smiling wider now and Ray, who had returned to her side, noticed the change in her countenance.

"What is it? What do you sense?"

She stared at Peter as she answered. "Relief."

Peter ignored her and stepped past both Sarah and Ray, eager to meet someone he recognized. "Micah!"

"Pete?" Micah responded, clearly disbelieving his own eyes.

Peter took a moment to register hearing Micah call him "Pete" which usually was a nickname used only by his own brother. The Micah he knew was just a kid who half the time seemed tempted to refer to Peter as "Sir" and now this grown-up Micah was addressing him like they were best friends.

"Christ, Pete, I thought you were dead!"

Peter couldn't get over how grown-up Micah was. He knew he was no older than sixteen, but his appearance and manner was rough enough to make him seem much older than he really was.

"Yea, well, there's something I have to explain to you about that," Peter told him. The other three who had been hanging back politely as Micah and Peter reunited, now crept forward, eager to hear his intriguing explanation. "It's sort of complicated…and you might not believe me, but I swear it's true…"

"Hold on," Micah stopped him. "You know he'll want to hear everything too."

"He?" Peter questioned. He didn't know how many new people he wanted to have to explain himself to.

"Come on, let's go in the back. He's in the middle of working on another rescue mission for Emily—we told him it's useless, but he won't give up. Now that you're back though, we might have a better chance!" Micah led the group back through the door and into the back room, which Peter now got to see for the first time. And for the first time he realized how desperate their situation was.

The crawlspace entrance and the password clearly weren't just superfluous security measures. They seemed to now be in the main living area, but it was nothing more than an abandoned warehouse with bars and boards covering the windows, blankets for beds, and candles for lighting. He couldn't imagine what sort of event had forced them into this type of hiding. Then he saw him—the last person he could have ever guessed to run into in this time and place: Sylar.

Peter didn't even care to take a moment to process the situation before attacking. He wasn't going to give Sylar a second chance to achieve a victory. He wanted to release every offensive power he could bring to mind, starting naturally with his telekinetic ability to throw Sylar against the nearest wall and hold him up above the ground.

"Peter!" Sarah and Jules screeched in unison at Peter's unexpected attack.

Peter could hear a dozen thoughts pressing into his mind at once. Everyone was fearing him—him, Peter, not Sylar. The amount of panic and terror shocked him and made his abilities temporarily falter. He dropped his mental hold on Sylar and he fell to the ground. The strongest thoughts came from Sarah who was panicking about Peter's intense emotional hatred towards Sylar.

"It can't be him," she was thinking. "Why would he want to hurt Gabriel?"

Peter turned towards her. "You mean you actually work with that bastard?"

"What's gotten into him?" Jules wondered.

Peter noticed that she had again started creeping away from him. "You're scared of me? Why not of him?" He turned to Micah, expecting to at least get a clear response from the kid who understood the terror that Sylar had once created, though not specifically in Micah's life, but in the lives of most of his acquaintances. "Why is he here?"

Micah frowned. "What do you mean?"

Sylar stayed near to the wall, but bravely spoke up. "Sarah, are you sure it's him?"

She nodded quickly. "Yea, but he's different. He hates you. He feels fear and anger…"

"What do you mean I feel? Stop pretending like you know what I'm feeling!" Peter now gave up all pretense of playing along. He no longer trusted any of these people and he didn't care if they knew the truth about him.

"Peter, it's my ability," Sarah told him. "I'm an emotional empath. I can sense what you're feeling."

Her explanation calmed Peter down a little, but he still didn't trust her.

"How can he not know you?" Micah asked.

"He doesn't know any of us," she answered. "Well, he knows you. And he knows Gabriel, but not as you are now." She concentrated on Peter for a moment before speaking again. "He feels connected to you Micah, but you when you were younger—he feels a need to protect you. And Gabriel, he…"

"Hates me, yea I got that."

"What the hell is going on?" Micah spoke up again. "Pete, what's wrong with you?"

"It's not him," Sylar decided.

"It is though…" Sarah still protested.

"I mean it is," Sylar corrected himself. "It is Peter Petrelli, but it's not our Peter. He jumped."

"Through time?" Micah clarified.

"Yep," Sylar nodded. "That's the only thing that makes any sense. It would explain why he doesn't know any of us as we are now. When are you from Peter?"

Peter hated being addressed directly by Sylar, but since he seemed to be the one who knew what was going on, Peter decided he would have to talk to him eventually and so he answered, "2007."

"Wow," Ray sighed. "That explains a lot."

"Why did you come here?" Micah asked.

"I have no idea," Peter answered truthfully. "I didn't even mean to. I didn't even realize that I could. I mean I knew I had the ability, but I've never used it before."

"So you accidentally jumped here and you have no idea what's going on?" Micah shook his head. "Five years…wow…a lot's happened in five years as you might have noticed."

"Yea, like you becoming buddies with a murderer," Peter snapped.

"You don't understand," Micah told him. "He's not that person anymore."

"He killed people!" Peter exclaimed. "A lot of people. He tried to kill me. He tried to kill Molly and Claire…" he stopped. "Oh God…where is Claire?"

The group became uncomfortably silent.

"What? Where is she?"

Micah couldn't answer, so Sylar again made a brave choice in stepping forward and replying to Peter's demand.

"They got her," he answered. "She was one of the first ones to be taken."

A/N: Okay, I know this is a strange place to cut it off, but it was a long update and if I hadn't stopped here it never would have stopped. I'm not sure how long Peter will be in the future for. Hopefully no more than four chapters, but we'll see. There's quite a lot for him to learn before he heads back.

Secondly, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, but unfortunately my break is now over and I am back in school with a very full load this semester. I don't know if I'll be able to write as much as I'd like, but I am going to try to update once a week (probably regularly on Sunday or Monday).

Thank you so much for all the excellent reviews I have been receiving. As always, they are so incredibly encouraging. Please keep them up! I don't typically like to beg, but here I am begging!! XOXO