A/N: I have been without internet for far too long and now I am realizing how painfully addicted I am to it. Hmm…probably unhealthy, but I'm okay with that. Anyway, I'm back at school now and this year am living in an apartment with my delightful roommate, so there has been much of the settling in and very little of the writing unfortunately. And even more unfortunately, with school now starting up again, the writing time will only become more scarce over the next few weeks. I will try and be faithful, hopefully updating weekly, but please bare with me if I am unable to update for a while! All my readers are so amazingly faithful and it makes me so eager to write more because I know you all are waiting, so I will do my best not to disappoint you. X's and O's.
MOHINDER AND SASHA
NEW YORK CITY
"So this woman…" Mohinder double-checked the name attached to the photo in his folder. "Miss Sato has been infected for only a month?"
"That's right," Sasha confirmed.
"I'm impressed that you were able to find her so quickly."
"Well, I have impressive contacts."
Mohinder knew Sasha would never give him completely satisfying information, and he had given up prying. When they were first starting out together, he would ask her questions until she got so fed up with him that she would yell and storm away like a child, but now he just gave up after the initial questioning.
"Her symptoms can't be very advanced," Mohinder mused, mostly to himself, as they walked down the sidewalk towards the apartment address they had for the woman.
"They're not," Sasha answered.
Even though he had promised himself to not pry anymore, the situation was too curious for him to ignore. "How can you be sure that she has the virus if she's not exhibiting symptoms yet?"
"It's in her blood."
"Her blood? You have managed to acquire a blood sample from her?"
"Yep."
"That's remarkable. How could…"
"Dr. Suresh…" Sasha cut him off with a warning spark in her eyes.
"Right…" he surrendered. "Never mind."
They finished their walk in silence and at the door to the apartment, Mohinder allowed Sasha to go first, deciding that she was much too fond of being in control. She knocked on the door and he waited silently beside her while they waited for the door to be answered. After a moment they heard a slight bustling inside and then the doorknob twisted and the door was opened.
The young woman that stood in the doorway gave them a brief look and then her soft brown eyes contorted in terror and she screamed, quickly trying to shut the door again. Sasha, however, though momentarily stunned by the girl's reaction, stopped the door with her foot and pushed her way in, motioning for Mohinder to follow. He did, but not at all as eagerly as Sasha.
"What do you want from me?" The girl asked with a trembling voice.
"What do you think we want from you?" Sasha asked.
"I…I don't know…"
"Then why did you scream?" Mohinder questioned her earnestly.
"I…" she hesitated and a tear slipped down her cheek. "I don't know."
"Yes you do," Sasha insisted. "Do you know us?"
She shook her head, but her eyes told a different story.
"You are Kyoko Sato aren't you?"
She nodded.
"We're not going to hurt you," Mohinder told her gently. "We're here to help you."
"Help me with what?" Her body was still tense and her eyes showed that she was still terrified. "I don't need any help."
Before they had a chance to say anything else, the door opened and a group of people burst into the room. Mohinder instinctively took hold of Kyoto and pulled her aside, but he could see Sasha's eyes burning with a plan and he feared what she might do. One of the people who had come in was a very muscular young man who had a knife out and was moving towards Mohinder and the girl he thought he was protecting. Sasha turned herself in his direction and grabbed hold of his arm with both hands. Mohinder knew that her powers were hard at work the instant the young man started gaping for breath.
"Sasha, stop!" He abandoned his guard of Kyoko and dove forward, forcing Sasha to release her grip on the man as Mohinder pinned her to the ground.
The man collapsed forward, clutching at his chest in pain, but the rest of his group rushed toward the girl and took hold of her quickly, forcing her to follow them back out of the room.
"Ray, you okay?" A girl from the group helped the man to his feet and out of the room as Mohinder continued to restrain Sasha.
"Are you insane!" Sasha screamed so loudly at Mohinder that he had to back away.
"No! Are you?"
"How could you let her get away?"
"You were trying to kill that man. You would have, if I hadn't stopped you."
"Yes, I would have," she agreed. "If that's what it took for us to complete our assignment."
"We're not murderers, Sasha!" Mohinder glared. "Or at least, I'm not."
"You don't understand what you've done."
"I just saved a man's life."
"But at what cost?" She jumped up and headed toward the door.
"Sasha," he ran to catch up to her. "Look, she's barely infected. She'll be okay for a while. We'll find her again."
She shook her head, still glaring at him. "I thought you understood the mission, Dr. Suresh. Clearly you still have a lot to learn."
NATHAN & CLAIRE
PETRELLI HOUSE, NEW YORK
"Where're the boys?"
"With Heidi. She took them to soccer practice."
"Oh…" Claire hesitated with one foot on the last step. "So, there's no one else here with us?"
"Nope." Nathan clearly did not pick up on Claire's nervousness. "It's great, isn't it? We haven't had much alone time since you've been here. I feel like you've been spending most of your time with Heidi and the boys, and no time at all with me."
"Yea…it's too bad…" she started backing up the stairs.
"So, what should we do? Lunch?"
"Umm…"
"Claire, is something wrong?" Nathan realized that she was trying to move away from him. "Have I said or done something?"
She shook her head, but he wasn't convinced.
"Sweetheart, please tell me what's wrong? You're clearly uncomfortable right now and I need to know why! What's happened?"
"Nothing's happened," she told him. "I just have a lot of homework."
"Really? You haven't finished yet? It's already Sunday."
"I know, but the teachers love giving out homework…" Claire continued backing up.
"Claire, stop. Please."
She stopped as requested and waited for him to continue.
"I've been doing the best I can to make everything here as comfortable for you as possible. I know it can't be easy for you to adjust to having a new family, but I have been hoping that you would eventually feel at home here, with us…"
"I do!" She told him suddenly.
"You do?" He didn't hide his surprise.
"Of course I do." She took a couple steps back down towards him. "I didn't realize you still had your doubts, but I do like being here Nathan. Your sons are great, and Heidi is amazing…" she stopped again.
"Then what's the problem?"
Claire looked away for a moment and then she looked back at him with tears in her eyes. "I know why you and Heidi have been fighting for so long."
"You do?" He tried to cover his surprise quickly with a smile. "We aren't really fighting Claire. It was just a little disagreement…every couple goes through difficult patches at some point or another."
"This is more than just a difficult patch," Claire insisted. "This is a serious problem."
"You don't know what you're talking about…"
"Niki told me."
Nathan was quiet.
"I'm sorry." Claire murmured quietly. "I was never going to say anything. I don't think it was right of Niki to tell me in the first place, but she did and I can't pretend any different. I know what happened and I know that Heidi knows and now I know why you have been sleeping in the guest room for a month."
"You have to understand that what happened between Niki and me was not planned. I love Heidi with all my heart and I never wanted to hurt her."
"Then you shouldn't have slept with another woman."
"Trust me, I never meant to…"
"That's not comforting. Just because you don't mean to do something, it doesn't change the fact that you did it."
"I know that."
"And it doesn't change the fact that it was wrong."
"I never claimed it did. I know it was wrong. It was very wrong, and if I could take it back I would, but I can't. Heidi means everything to me, Claire. My family means everything to me. I want to make things right, but I don't know how."
Claire stared at him for a moment, wondering if he was actually going to cry. She thought that he was close, but she didn't feel very bad about it. She was angry at what he had done. She was angry about the situation, even though she wasn't exactly angry at him; she was just angry.
"Claire…" he spoke quietly when she wasn't saying anything. "Please don't hate me."
"It's not my place to hate you," she told him. "This is between you and Heidi."
"But it's clearly affecting you."
"It surprised me," she corrected him. "And it upset me, but nobody's perfect." Her mind flashed to Peter and the mistake that he had made. She wondered if he was feeling the guilty remorse that his brother was feeling about his situation. Heidi hadn't forgiven Nathan, clearly, but she hadn't kicked him out of her life either. She was at least giving him a chance—time to make up for his wrongs. Claire hadn't even given Peter a chance to apologize. She shook the thought from her mind, unable to think about it at the moment. "She shouldn't have told me."
"What?"
"Niki shouldn't have told me about the two of you," Claire decided. "It was wrong. She knew it wasn't any of my business."
"I'm actually surprised she did tell you. How did it come up?"
Claire thought back to the conversation she had had with Niki. "It was weird actually. One minute she was asking how I liked living here and the next she was telling me all about the two of you. It was very sudden and not at all necessary…"
Nathan looked concerned, but he just shrugged. "Well, now you know."
"I wish I didn't."
"I'm so sorry, Claire."
"Stop apologizing," she told him. "I've already forgiven you, but it's not my forgiveness that's important."
"Speaking of forgiveness…"
Claire frowned. "Don't go there, Nathan."
"Have you heard from him lately?"
"Actually no. It's been almost a week, which is the longest he's gone without trying to get a hold of me since I moved here."
"Maybe he's given up."
"Maybe…" Claire fell quiet as she thought about Peter finally giving up on her. The moment she let herself considered it, she realized how much she didn't want that to happen. Even though she had been ignoring him so far, she had gotten used to his daily phone calls and she knew that one day she intended to answer them. If he had given up, she was afraid she had lost her chance to forgive him.
"You could call him, you know?"
"Yea, I could…" Claire smiled at Nathan slightly. "Maybe later I will. Did you still want to get some lunch?"
"Yea, sure," he was hesitating now. "I just need to make a quick phone call. Let's leave in about ten minutes?"
"Okay." Claire went back upstairs to retrieve her shoes and jacket and Nathan went to his study to make his phone call.
"Hello?"
"Niki…" he spoke slowly. "It's Nathan."
"Nathan?"
He could hear the surprise in her voice.
"We need to talk."
"About what?"
"I think you know what."
"I thought we had decided it would be better never to talk about that…"
"Yea, so did I, which is why I was so confused that you were talking about it without me."
"What do you mean?"
"Claire told me about your lunch the other day."
"Yea?"
"Why did you tell her? Why the hell would you tell my daughter that I slept with you?"
"What?"
Now he heard shock and fear in her voice.
"I know you told her, Niki. She just confronted me about it. I thought we had a deal. I thought I could trust you to keep it a secret…"
"Nathan I didn't…"
"It's a little immature to lie about it now, isn't it?"
"You don't understand…"
He was surprised when he heard the tears catching in her voice.
"I don't understand what?"
"It wasn't me…I mean, I didn't mean to tell her…I didn't know…"
"What are you talking about Niki?"
She was crying almost too hard to speak anymore.
"I'm so…sorry…"
"Niki, calm down, please!" He couldn't help feeling concerned about her.
"I never meant to tell her…I'm so sorry…"
"Niki, seriously, what's going on here?"
"It was Jessica."
"Oh God Niki, not this again. The last time you were talking about Jessica you said she was going to kill me."
"She would have."
"I really wish I could understand what you're talking about." He hesitated. "All I know is that you broke my trust when you told Claire about us. I'll never be able to trust you again, and I don't think I want you to see my daughter anymore."
"Please Nathan, you don't understand…"
"That's exactly the problem."
"I'll tell you everything, I promise. I'll explain everything…just please…don't tell DL."
"About us?" Nathan laughed. "Don't worry. You can trust me. I don't want your husband to be involved in this. Enough people have been hurt already."
"Thank you…" she was crying again. "Can we meet later? We need to talk in person."
"Fine."
"I think Claire should be there too."
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"No, please, she needs to know the truth about me. If I told her about you and me, who knows what else I said…"
Nathan wasn't any less confused, but she sounded so sincere, he couldn't argue. "Fine. We're going out for lunch now. Can you meet us?"
"Yes."
"And you'll explain everything?"
"Everything. I promise."
MATT & MOLLY
MATT'S APARTMENT, NEW YORK
"Good morning sunshine!"
Molly rolled over in her bed, which had been set up in the baby's room only a day after she had moved in with Matt and Janice. Matt stood in the doorway of the room, holding the telephone in his hand.
"I didn't want to wake you up, but it's Claire, and I know how you hate to miss her phone calls." He waited for her nod of permission before entering the room and crossing to the bed to give her the phone.
"Hello?"
Matt tried not to look like he was hovering, but he was curious to listen to the girl's conversation. He didn't care so much what she talked about, but more how she sounded. He had been kept up half the night listening to her screaming and crying, but every time he came into her room she remained soundly asleep. He hated knowing that she was suffering and being unable to help her.
"I'm fine…"
Matt looked at her briefly and noticed that she had her eyes shut, which he had realized she often did when she was lying and hoping no one noticed.
"No really Claire, I'm fine." Molly glared at Matt suddenly and he turned away, pretending not to be listening. "I do miss you though. When are you coming to visit? Really? Promise?"
Matt could hear the relief in the girl's voice.
"Okay, I'll see you later then!"
When he was sure she had hung up, Matt turned back. "How's Claire?"
Molly had other matters on her mind. "You told Claire I was screaming last night?"
He nodded. "Of course I did. She cares about you as much as I do. And, when she brought you here she made me promise that I would keep her updated about your nightmares."
"Now she's all worried."
"She should be," Matt told her. "I'm worried! Janice is worried! I tried waking you up last night, but you didn't even stir."
Molly's eyes clouded and she looked away.
"Molly, talk to me. What were you dreaming last night?"
She shook her head. "It's over now."
"That doesn't matter. It will come back. It always does, but if you talk to me about it, maybe I can help you not be so afraid."
"I don't scream because I'm scared."
"Why do you scream then?"
She was quiet.
"Molly, please talk to me…"
"I scream because I can't get out. I don't like being trapped like that."
He sat down on the edge of her bed, but she pulled up her knees and hugged them tightly, keeping herself at a distance from him.
"You were crying last night too," he told her. "Why do you cry?"
"I cry because I'm scared."
"What were you scared of last night."
"The boogeyman."
"Sylar?" Matt sighed. He hadn't heard her speak of him for a while now and he had hoped that the dream she had had of him a while ago would only be a one time thing—like a memory. "Is he back?"
"He's not here right now," she explained. "I know because I looked for him. I wanted to make sure."
"Well that's good then…"
"He's coming back though."
"He is?"
"He's coming back very soon, and he's not alone."
"Who's with him?"
"I don't know who she is, but I'm scared of her too."
"Nobody is going to hurt you Molly." He moved closer and pulled her into his arms for a hug. "I promised you that I will protect you. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Sylar will never find you again and neither will anyone that is with him."
She cried a little into his shoulder and he held her until the doorbell rang.
"It's Claire," she told him. "She said she was on her way over here."
"Okay," he pulled away from her gently. "Why don't you get dressed and I'll go let her in. Come and join us when you're ready."
Molly nodded, and he left her to answer the door.
"Hi!" Claire stood on the doorstep with a nervous smile. "I should have asked to make sure you weren't busy, but after you told me about Molly's screaming…I just had to come and see her."
"It's fine," he stood aside and motioned her in. "Janice is still sleeping, but Molly is getting dressed and she'll be out here soon. Are you hungry?"
"No thanks, I had breakfast early with Nathan."
"How about some orange juice? Or coffee?"
"Orange juice sounds great," she agreed, and followed him into the kitchen. "So, did you talk to Molly about her nightmare? Would she tell you anything?"
"She said she saw Sylar again, but this time he was with a woman."
"Was he hurting the woman?"
"Molly didn't make it sound that way. She made it sound like the woman was with Sylar voluntarily, because Molly is now afraid of the woman as well."
"Great, he's got himself a sidekick…or a girlfriend." Claire shook her head. "Molly must be so scared if she thinks Sylar is coming for her."
"What I don't understand is why she's seeing him at all."
"What do you mean?"
"You told me that this man, the one who can see her, the one who traps her in these nightmares, shows her bad things that he can do to people, or that he will do to people when she finds them for him."
"That's the best way I understand it. To be honest, it's all a little confusing."
"Then why is she seeing Sylar?" Matt puzzled. "What does this bad man have to gain by showing Molly Sylar? How does he even know that she's afraid of him?"
Claire shrugged. "Maybe they're working together?"
"I never got the impression from Sylar that he had a boss. He seemed pretty self-serving."
"True, but things could have changed. It has been almost a year."
"I just feel like there's something more…something we're missing."
After he had been quiet for a moment, Claire spoke up again. "What are you thinking?"
"I don't know…I guess I'm thinking that we should talk to the others."
"You're not seriously suggesting another group meeting, are you?" Claire shook her head. "That didn't go so well last time."
"It didn't go badly though. We just didn't get much accomplished, but that's because we didn't know what were trying to accomplish. This time we'll have a purpose. We need to figure out why Sylar is coming back to New York, who this woman is, and how they are connected the bad man controlling Molly's nightmares."
"That's a lot to figure out at one meeting."
"Claire, I promised Molly I would protect her. I can't do that if I don't know what I'm protecting her from." He glanced down the hall to make sure Molly hadn't come out of her room yet. "Please. Help me arrange a meeting with everyone."
"I can't."
"But I need you! You know everyone better than I do."
"I can't be at the meeting if Peter's going to be there."
"You two still haven't made up?"
She shook her head.
"Do you think you ever will?"
She shrugged. "I hope so."
"Then why not make up at the meeting?"
Claire laughed, but was saved from answering as Molly came bounding down the hallway and leaped into Claire's arms.