A/N: This one's not that long, but there is some info revealed that I hope excites you all! I'm trying to get it going faster, but I'm running into some irritating brick walls with my writing. Hopefully my muse will whisper some inspiring thoughts into my head this weekend! Thanks for sticking with me.

NIKI, DL, MICAH, and MOLLY

NEW YORK

"Baby? Are you home?" DL made his way through the small apartment until he reached the back bedroom that he shared with his wife. He stepped in and looked around, but not seeing her there, he moved on into their master bathroom. "Niki?"

"Hi!" She turned from the mirror quickly as he entered. "You're home."

"Yea, I was calling for you, but you didn't answer."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't hear you," she hugged him and kissed his cheek.

"Is everything okay?" He looked around the bathroom anxiously.

"Yea, absolutely," she put a hand on his cheek and shook her head. "Don't look so worried all the time."

He smiled a little and nodded. "Where are the kids?"

"They were supposed to be doing their homework," Niki told him. "Aren't they in the kitchen?"

"I didn't see them."

Niki and DL walked back out into the living room and then peered into the kitchen in search of the kids, and when they still couldn't find them they went into Micah's room, where they found the two of them huddled around his laptop computer.

"What're you two up to?" DL came around behind them and gazed at the screen.

"Working on school stuff," Molly answered.

"School stuff huh?" DL frowned. "You have a school assignment that requires you to access government information?"

"Government information?" Niki rushed to her husband's side and peered over his shoulder at the screen of the laptop. "What are you two doing?"

Molly cowered away quickly, but Micah looked up quite calmly. "I'm just testing my abilities."

"Testing your abilities?" Niki repeated loudly. "I thought we had discussed this. You two are not allowed to practice without supervision, or at least permission."

"Yes ma'am," Molly spoke meekly.

"But you'll never give us permission!" Micah whined. "We've asked before."

"That doesn't mean you can go behind our backs…"

"Niki," DL stopped her calmly. "Let the kids have their fun. It's good for them to know how much they can do. It might be useful someday."

DL was too busy watching over the kids' shoulders to notice his wife's vicious glare in his direction.

"Can I talk to you in the other room, please?" Niki motioned for her husband to follow her out into the hallway.

"You kids keep on playing, but don't dig too far. I don't want to feds to catch on to anything you're doing," DL grinned and ruffled his son's hair before following Niki out of the room. "What's up?"

"What's up?" She was still glaring. "What's up is, I don't appreciate having my authority undermined in front of the kids."

"Undermined?" DL laughed.

"I'm not joking, DL."

He analyzed her expression for a minute and started to feel a little uncomfortable by the seriousness in her face. "Babe, come on…"

"No," she snapped. Suddenly she blinked and shook her head as though trying to clear herself from a fog. "I'm sorry…I…I have a headache…"

"A headache? Niki, what the hell just happened?" DL stopped her as she tried to escape to their bedroom.

"What?" she didn't turn to him. "Nothing. I just have a headache. I think I should lie down for a minute."

"Niki…" he held onto her tightly.

"Let go of me."

"Not until you explain yourself."

Without answering, Niki spun around, grabbed DL's arm and forced him to release her, purely by strength. He took a few steps back and stared at her in shock.

"I told you to let me go."

"We need to talk."

"Not now…"

"Jessica."

Niki shook her head. "It's me DL. Don't worry."

"You aren't acting like yourself though. You're acting like her…"

"I know," she covered her face with her hands and began to cry.

DL led her into their bedroom and shut the door to block the sound from the kids. "Talk to me, babe. Tell me what's going on." When Niki couldn't stop crying, he sat down on the bed and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly as she cried. "She's coming back, isn't she?"

When Niki had gotten her crying under control, she nodded. "She's been coming back for a while, but I've been trying to ignore her. There's just so much going on, I didn't want Jessica to become a problem."

"But she is a problem. And if she's back, she's not just your problem. We all have to deal with her."

"No, if I ignore her, she'll go away…"

"You know it's not that easy, Niki," DL insisted. "We have to take measures to prevent her from coming back. We can't risk it. Not after everything she made you do last time."

"I know! Especially now with the kids, with Molly…" she sighed. "Claire brought her here to be safe. If Jessica comes back, it won't be safe for Molly. Maybe it isn't already."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I don't think Molly should stay here any more," she stood, suddenly decisive. "I'm going to call Claire."

"And then what?"

"I don't know. We'll have to deal with things as they come up, but I want to make sure that Molly's safe, first."

"Okay," DL stood to leave. "And what should I tell them about the blow-up you just had in the room?"

Niki shrugged. "I don't trust our abilities DL. Not just mine. I don't understand where they come from, or why we have them. And even though yours and Micah's seem innocent, they could become dangerous quickly. Look at Molly! Her ability is torturing her. I don't want the kids to be messing around like that. Not when it could be dangerous."

DL nodded, trying to understand. "I'll talk to them."

"Thank you," Niki smiled.

"I love you babe, you know that right?"

"I know."

"No matter what happens, we're in this together."

MATT & JANICE

NEW YORK

"You're sure about this?" Matt clarified. "I mean, absolutely positive?"

"Even if I'm not, isn't it a little too late now?" Janice smiled. "Matt, calm down. When I agreed to this, I knew what I was doing. I'm not going to change my mind."

"You know how much I appreciate it, right?"

"I do," she accepted the kiss he gave her. "Besides, I think it could be a good idea. You know, it will give me a taste of what's coming for me—motherhood and all that."

The doorbell rang and Matt jumped up to answer it, leaving Janice to waddle a little more slowly behind him. He pulled the door open and revealed Claire and Molly standing on the doorstep.

"Hi girls," Janice greeted them as her husband stepped aside and motioned them in. "It's good to see you both again."

"You too Janice," Claire quickly gave the older woman a hug, having to keep some distance because of her very pregnant stomach. "It looks like you're about ready!"

"You'd think so, wouldn't you? But I still have a couple more months." Janice looked around Claire at Molly. "Are you girls hungry? Or thirsty? I think I have some juice or lemonade…"

"Something to drink would be great," Claire answered and looked at Molly who nodded in agreement. "How about lemonade." Again Molly nodded and Janice went to retrieve to glasses for the girls.

"Here, take a seat," Matt indicated the couch and the two girls sat down obediently. It was obvious that without discussing serious matters, he didn't have much else to say.

Janice returned and handed a glass of lemonade to both the girls before sitting down beside her husband on the opposite couch.

"Thank you so much for taking Molly," Claire smiled at both of them, though she was mostly speaking to Janice. Niki had mentioned that she had been hesitant about the idea. "It won't be forever, but until we can figure out what's going on with Niki…" she stopped when she felt Molly's hand slip into her own. "Thank you." She said simply, and scooted closer to the girl. She didn't want to upset her any more than she inevitably already was. The poor thing had been transferred from house to house, never finding a place where she belonged.

"We're pleased to have her with us," Janice assured her.

"I've been wanting to spend some more time with Molly," Matt grinned. "Her living here will make it easier. Though I have to admit I'm curious…why isn't she going to be staying with you and Peter? I had thought that when she was done at Niki's she would go back to you two."

"I'm not living with Peter anymore," Claire told him quickly. "I've moved in with my dad, with Nathan. And even though I'd love to have Molly with me, I think there are enough kids in the Petrelli home for now. And obviously Peter would never be able to take care of her by himself…" her throat fell dry just thinking about Peter, so she stopped talking.

"You're not living with him now?" Matt repeated.

She shook her head, and avoided eye contact with him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know…" Matt focused on Claire, briefly debating whether or not he should invade her mind. He desperately wanted to know why she and Peter were no longer roommates, but he felt rude jumping into her thoughts without permission.

Claire looked at him and took note of his serious expression. She shook her head. "We had a fight Matt. It's personal though, and I'd rather you not pry."

His eyes widened, surprised that she had realized what he was thinking, but then he remembered that she had lived with Peter for a long time and he had undoubtedly tried to get into her head on more than one occasion.

"Sorry."

"It's okay," she sighed. "Actually, I should go. I've got to get back to school…I skipped a class to take care of this."

"Do you need a ride?" Matt offered quickly.

"No," she refused, knowing that he would only want to press her for information again. "I'll get a cab."

"Are you sure?"

"Yea, you should be settling Molly in."

"Okay, then I guess we'll see you later?" Matt and Janice both stood to walk Claire to the door.

"Please don't be a stranger, Claire," Janice encouraged. "I'm sure Molly will want you to visit. I know I could do with your company a little more."

"Thanks," Claire gave her another distant hug. "I'll try to visit as often as possible."

Molly hadn't released her hand yet, and she didn't seem interested in doing so. Claire knelt to her level and brought her little hand up to her lips for a kiss.

"Sweetheart, if you need anything, you know you can call me anytime. Right?"

Molly nodded.

"I'm so sorry things didn't work out with Niki…I know you enjoyed living there…"

"I want to live with you and Peter again."

"I know," Claire pulled her into a hug. "I wish you could. I wish we could all be together, but it's impossible right now. As soon as things get settled though, I promise you can come back and stay with me again."

"Promise?"

"I promise," Claire kissed the top of her head and left.

"Well then," Matt shut the door behind Claire as she exited and turned back to Molly with a welcoming smile. "We don't have much space here, but until the baby's born you'll have a room all to yourself." He started leading the way down the hall towards the room that would be used as the nursery. "We didn't have much notice, so it isn't fixed up very well for you yet, but just give us time…"

"It's not important," Molly interrupted. "Trust me. I've been sleeping on the couch at Niki's, and I was sharing a bed with Claire when we lived with Peter. I'm used to not having a room of my own."

Janice couldn't help feeling her heart break for the young girl. She imagined everything that Molly must be feeling after all that had happened in the past year. First the death of her parents, and then almost her own death, and now being shuffled from place to place without anyone to belong to.

"Don't worry sweetheart, you'll have a bed here," Janice assured her. "We'll take care of it first thing tomorrow."

"I don't want you to go through any trouble for me…"

"It won't be any trouble," Janice told her. "For tonight though, I'm afraid the sleeping bag will have to do."

"The sleeping bag's good," Molly smiled. "Umm…where's the bathroom?"

"The door just before the kitchen," Matt pointed and Molly headed that way.

When they were alone, Matt lowered his voice to a whisper so only his wife could hear him. "You're okay with this right? I mean seriously. You're okay with her being here?"

Janice nodded. "It will be like preparation for my own child."

"You're amazing," he kissed her quickly. "You really are. The best wife ever. And you know, maybe if things go well with Molly she can stay around for a while with us and the baby…I mean she doesn't have anyone else…"

"I know," Janice smiled. "It might be nice to have her around. She could be like a big sister to our baby…maybe. We'll see how things go."

SYLAR & EMILY

NEW YORK

"I have great news!"

Emily didn't look up from the book she was reading on the couch.

"Emily, did you hear me?" Sylar knelt beside the couch and covered her book with his hand. "I said I have great news!"

"I heard," she tugged the book away from him and tried to continue reading.

"Well?"

"Well what?" She looked up at him finally. "We've been looking for my daughter for two weeks, and almost every day you've come running in here with some great news—a lead, or a possibility…" she sighed. "And yet, we haven't found anything! I'm no closer to knowing who my daughter is now than I was two weeks ago."

Sylar's enthusiasm faltered for a moment, but he shook it off quickly. "I talked to a nun today from a church in California."

"And?"

"She remembers a young girl almost eleven years ago who brought a baby to her for assistance."

"She does?" Emily's book dropped from her hands and she sat up intently.

"She remembers me? Do you think it's me?" She grabbed his hands anxiously. "Do you think I am the girl she remembers?"

"Well, it would be a little ironic if there was another girl at the same time."

Emily smiled and put her arms around his neck. "Thank you Gabriel! Thank you!"

"Emily, we haven't found her yet…"

"I know, but it's a start. It's the first one we've had yet! Did the nun tell you how to find my daughter?"

"She gave me the address of the family that your daughter was adopted by, but that was a long time ago, and there's no guarantee that they haven't moved since then," Sylar told her.

"An address?" Emily squealed. "That's brilliant!"

"Emily, have you thought this through?"

"Thought what through?"

"What's going to happen if you do find your daughter?" He asked. "You said before you do not intend to raise her, to take her away from the family that has given her a home, so what is it that you intend to do?"

Emily was silent for a moment. "I have to know that she's all right. I've spent the past ten years thinking of her, and what has happened to her," she bit her lip, refusing to cry. "I have to know."

"And you will," he assured her.

Her tears started to fall and he held her close.

"Gabriel," she spoke quietly.

"Yea?"

"I'm ready."

"Ready for what?"

"I'm ready to start to trust you again," she explained.

"In what way?" He was too afraid to hope for too much.

"I've put you through a lot since you told me the truth about you, but I never stopped loving you, despite it all," she explained. "And I knew that it would just be a matter of time before I was ready to forgive you."

"You're going to forgive me?" He grasped her hand tightly. "Emily, are you sure?"

She smiled. "Don't be difficult."

"Can I kiss you?"

"You're asking permission?"

"I thought it would be the safest…" he hesitated.

Instead of answering, Emily leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. He returned the kiss deeply and when they pulled away, both were smiling.

"Now, let's find your daughter," Sylar stood and pulled Emily to her feet.

"Do you think we really will?" Her eyes glistened with hopeful tears. "Is it really going to happen?"

"I think there's only one way to find out," he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "This is the address I was given. The family's name is Walker."