A/N: *I creep slowly out from my shameful hiding and plead forgiveness* I also plead for you to keep on reading, enjoying (hopefully), and reviewing!! I know it's been ages since an update, but I'm finally getting my life under control a little, so that means my writing can become a bit bigger of a priority.

SASHA & JADEN

VANCOUVER, CANANDA

"Could you be anymore useless?"

"Useless?" Jaden stood and crossed the room. "Useless?"

"I gave you one task and you screwed it up," Sasha lectured.

"I didn't screw it up," he protested, "she did."

"You tried to force a teenage girl into having sex with you before she was ready!" Sasha recapped sharply. "Umm, newsflash, that's like rape."

"I did not rape her!"

"You might as well have." Sasha picked up a pillow from the bed and squeezed it tightly to suppress her anger. "She'll never trust you now."

"That's not true," Jaden argued. "She just needs times to come around."

"You were thrown out of the house."

"By Peter," he reminded her. "If Peter hadn't have come…"

"Then you would have raped her."

Jaden glared at his girlfriend and moved towards the bed swiftly, leaning over her. "Do I need to remind you that this was all your idea? You were the one who told me seduce the cheerleader! If it weren't for you, I never would have been in this situation!"

"I thought we were in this together," Sasha snapped.

Jaden sighed and sat down in the armchair across from the bed. "I'm sorry babe. We are, of course. I just…" he shook his head. "I think I'm in over my head with Claire."

Sasha's anger instantly turned to sugary encouragement, and she slid off the bed to kneel in front of him. "Don't give up on me now," she pleaded. "You have done so well. I overreacted about all this. Claire will calm down, you'll see." Sasha pressed her lips against Jaden's knees. "She just needs to grow up a little. Like you said, she's just a cheerleader."

Jaden touched his bandaged nose gently, remembering the fight.

"Does it still hurt?" Sasha sat up taller to kiss his nose.

"Of course it hurts! He broke it."

"I know," she sighed, "I'm sorry."

"How did he know?"

"I told you we had been compromised. Mohinder must have called Peter," she mused. "I wonder how long they've been on to us."

"If they really are on to us, it won't be safe for me to return to Claire."

"You have to," Sasha insisted.

"It could be dangerous…"

"I don't care how dangerous it is!" Sasha stood and moved away from him again. "This is too important Jaden, and you know it. We have come too far to lose it all now. Without Claire…" she sighed. "We need to keep her away from them or else they win."

Jaden nodded.

"You don't want them to win do you?"

"No," he shook his head. "They can't win."

She smiled victoriously and perched on the edge of the bed.

"Sasha, if we've been compromised by Peter and Mohinder, there's a chance that they know too."

"No," she disagreed. "Absolutely not. How could they possibly know?"

"They have spies everywhere."

"Trust me, Angela Petrelli is a brilliant woman, but her biggest flaw is her conceit. She thinks way too highly of herself to ever suspect that one of her most valued employees would be working against her." Sasha smiled. "They adore me."

"It better stay that way," Jaden reminded her.

"It will, as long as you can regain your influence over Claire. We have to convince them that we've got this under control or they will send someone else, and then we'll never succeed."

"Don't worry. I'll figure it out."

"I know, babe. I have faith in you," she smiled. "You really should get back to New York now though. What if Claire tries to contact you."

"If she does, I can get there in a flash. I want to stay with you."

"Fine, but if Mohinder comes back, you have to run." She noted his expression. "Just in case we're wrong, and he knows nothing about you."

Jaden promised, and she permitted him to stay.

MOHINDER, MADELINE, & MICHAEL

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

"How much longer will you be working with them?"

Mohinder didn't like the expression on Madeline's face when she asked the question, so he looked away when he answered. "I cannot predict that."

"It's been months, Mohinder," she complained. "I hate your job."

"I know," he sighed. "I do too."

"Then why don't you just quit already?"

Mohinder glanced at Michael and then back at Madeline. "You know I can't."

"No, I don't know that," she argued. "You keep saying that, but you won't explain why. It seems so ridiculous. They can't force you to work for them. That can't be legal."

"I don't think they're very concerned with what is legal or not."

"Look Mohinder," Michael spoke up, "I know you sort of got tangled up with them when you were working on me, and I appreciate what you were willing to do, but I'm better now. You don't have to keep it up."

Mohinder smiled at him, but shook his head. "It may have begun that way Michael, and I am indescribably relieved that you have recovered so completely, but unfortunately they are much more inventive than I anticipated."

"Inventive?"

"They can be very convincing."

"This is about the girl, isn't it?" Madeline frowned. "Molly. You don't talk about her much, but when you do, you're always worried. They're using her to keep you working."

Mohinder nodded. "As long as I am compliant, they promise to leave her alone."

"What could they do to her if you didn't comply?" Michael asked.

"I don't even want to consider those possibilities!" Mohinder covered his eyes with his hands. "They've had her in their grasps before. I gave her my word that I would never let it happen again."

"There have to be other ways to protect her," Madeline decided. "I'm sure we can think of something…" she adjusted her position on the couch, so she was more comfortably situated with Mohinder's arm around her shoulders.

"She doesn't have family," Mohinder explained. "She is very cared for by Matt and myself, and even Claire and Niki, but she has no family—no legal protection." He shook his head. "I am not even convinced that legal protection could do anything. If the Company wants something bad enough, they will succeed."

Madeline and her brother were silent. Neither had any words of encouragement for Mohinder, though they wished they could help in some way. Michael still felt that he owed Mohinder his life, not to mention the doctor had become even more important after falling in love with his sister. He hated not being able to help Mohinder in this situation. At the same time, Madeline wished she had an answer that would help him leave his career, but continue his research with the virus, and be with her, and take care of Molly. She didn't like feeling useless.

"There's more to my obligation to the Company than simply protecting Molly from them."

"Oh?"

"As much as I would hate to rely on them, if Sylar came back, they may be the only ones who are able to stop him," Mohinder explained. He had told the siblings about Sylar's previous tyrannies and they were both appropriately concerned about his potential return. "If he does return, it will only be a matter of time before he comes after Molly again. I may need the Company to help me protect her."

"That's twisted," Michael decided. "Having the bad guys stop the other bad guy…"

"I know," Mohinder agreed, "but I fear I may have no other options."

SYLAR & EMILY

NEW YORK

"You have to stop beating yourself up for this, Gabriel." Emily placed her hands over the paper Sylar was scribbling on. She leveled her eyes with his and frowned. "You're driving both of us crazy."

"I've got to get it done," he insisted, removing her hands from the paper and continuing to write.

"I don't expect you to fix everything over night," she reminded him. "I don't expect you to fix everything at all, actually. You know that."

"I have to."

"Gabriel…" she sighed and moved around behind his chair, wrapping her arms around him and placing her chin on top of his head. "I told you that all was forgiven. I'm not holding your past against you."

He stood suddenly, pulling away from her. "Stop that."

"Stop what?" Emily frowned.

"Stop pardoning me as though this were something so simple!"

"Gabriel…"

"No! This can't be forgiven like that," he insisted. "You can't just make up your mind to forget everything and think it will be over just like that. Everything I did…it's too much. You don't have that power."

"For the stuff concerning my daughter, I do," she told him. "You're not that person anymore. I know that, and if you gave yourself a chance, you would know it too."

"I do know it…" he whispered. "I just can't…I don't know how…" he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to control the confused anger bubbling up inside of him. "I don't know what to do to make this right."

"I know," she approached him slowly. "I told you it would be difficult."

He let her embrace him again and he folded his arms around her. "How can you be so forgiving?"

"We all have pasts," she reminded him. "We've all done things we aren't proud of."

"Some of us more than most."

"True," she pressed her lips against his chest, "but it's never too late to start over."

"You're too good for me. I don't deserve your mercy, and I definitely don't deserve your love." He tried to pull away from her again, but she held on tightly.

"I know," she told him. "Believe me, I've tried to stop…" she smiled. "It's not as easy as you'd expect."

He kissed her deeply, passionately, and desperately. At that moment, he could think of nothing except for how much he loved Emily and how much he cherished all she had come to mean in his life. She returned his kiss with equal vigor for almost a full three minutes before he finally pulled away.

"Okay…"

"What now?" she asked.

"I do have to get back to work, Em," he told her. "We have a lot to do if we want to help save your daughter and her friends from those evil people who ruined our lives."

"I know, you're right." She glanced down at the files on the table. "Tell me what to do."

NIKI & JESSICA SANDERS

NEW JERSEY

"New Jersey?" Niki nearly screamed. "What the hell am I doing in New Jersey?"

Niki moved away from the window in her motel room and walked over to the floor length mirror against the wall. Jessica's reflection smirked from inside the mirror. She crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow at her twin.

"Jessica, what did you do?" Niki placed her hands against the mirror and glared at the reflection.

"What you wouldn't. I told you I would take care of things."

"What does that mean though? What did you take care of?"

Jessica smiled.

"Jessica. What did you do?" Niki nearly screamed.

"Don't worry sweetheart, I knew that you would be curious, so I made sure to document it for you." Jessica pointed towards her pocket and Niki quickly pulled out a small digital camera.

She turned on the camera and started flipping through the pictures. The more she saw, the more scared and disgusted she became. From what she could understand, Jessica had murdered two men and buried them in some unidentified location in New Jersey. When she had seen all she could handle, Niki looked back to the reflection, fighting the urge to cry.

"Who were they?"

"They were a threat to our son."

"Micah?" Niki gasped.

"Remember the guidance counselor who didn't exist?"

Niki nodded. "I was following up on that."

"Not quickly enough. Things were getting out of hand, so I took over. I followed him and found out he wasn't working alone. He and his partner have been following both Micah and Molly. They were asking too many questions."

"And so you killed them?" Niki glanced at the picture evidence on the camera again. "My god…they're in pieces…"

"Like I said, I knew you wouldn't be able to handle it."

"You can't just take over my life and kill people!" Niki protested. "It's still my life. It doesn't matter who's consciousness is in charge—when I come back, I'm still the one who killed them. I have to deal with the consequences…Micah has to deal with them…"

"There won't be any consequences," Jessica assured her. "The people these men worked for wouldn't want the authorities involved with their death. Trust me."

Despite herself, Niki felt her curiosity rising. "Who did they work for?"

"You remember The Company, don't you?"

Niki shook her head.

"Come now, it wasn't that long ago, though you may never have heard the proper title…Linderman and his associates go by that."

"Linderman…" Niki gasped.

"Yep. Just because the old bastard's dead doesn't mean all his friends are, and they are just as interested in Micah as he was."

"No…"

"Let's face it, our boy's special." Jessica glared sharply. "And they're not going to stop until they've got what they want."

"No, they're not."

"Well, can you take care of it then?"

Niki started to cry. "I want to be strong for him, but I can't…I don't know what to do…"

"And?"

She continued to cry for a moment and then slowly looked up and stared firmly into the eyes of her reflection. "You have to be strong for all of us."

"Really?" Jessica smiled.

"I can't do this alone."

"No, you really can't. Don't worry, I'll take care of everything."

Niki closed her eyes and when she opened them again she was looking out from behind the mirror and Jessica was busily admiring her new physical body.

PETER & CLAIRE

PETER'S APARTMENT, NEW YORK

"Can I get you anything?" Peter peered into his refrigerator hopefully. "Umm…well, all I have is water actually."

"I'm fine," Claire assured him. "I don't need anything."

He straightened up and looked at her. "Are you sure?"

"This isn't really a social call," she reminded him. "I mean it is, but not like that…you don't have to entertain me."

"I just want you to be comfortable," he told her. "I feel like food can sometimes ease the awkwardness of situations."

"This doesn't have to be awkward," she insisted. "I'm just here to talk."

"I know." He finally stopped searching through his kitchen and joined her in the living room. Claire was sitting on the long couch, and so he took the chair across from her. "Okay, let's talk."

"First I wanted to say 'thank you'."

"Claire, you don't have to thank me for that. I just wish…" he stopped himself and shook his head.

"What?" She asked slowly. "What do you wish?"

"Honestly, I wish you would break up with that jackass once and for all. He's no good for you Claire!"

"Jaden's not a bad guy," Claire argued. "He has flaws, sure, but so does everyone else. And deep down I know he cares about me."

Peter had a momentary urge to shout at her and tell her what an idiot she was being, but he refrained, not wanting to scare her away after only a few minutes of her visit; her visits to his apartment had become far too rare, and he wanted to enjoy every moment.

He had been silent for a few moments, and Claire instantly assumed the worse. "Please don't judge me for this."

"Judge you?"

"You must think I'm pathetic," she sighed.

"I don't think you're pathetic."

"Sure you do. You hate that I'm with Jaden. You don't understand why I let him into my life, but you don't know him like I do," she explained.

"Seriously, it's your decision to make." He placed his hands on his knees and took a deep breath, but Claire could see that he was digging his fingers into his leg slightly. "If you think there's a legitimately decent human being there, then maybe you're right."

Claire was silent.

"But if not…" Peter shrugged. "Why would you waste your time?"

She still didn't have an answer that she could be proud of.

"Look Claire, I know I'm not your dad or whatever, but I think I have a right to give you some advice. You're a truly amazing girl, and I just think that any guy would be unbelievably lucky to be with you. Therefore, I just don't like you with guys like Jaden. They don't even begin to deserve you. You need to be with someone who deserves all of you."

"Oh?"

"Yea. Someone who recognizes you for who you are, and would be willing to do anything to make you smile, and someone who would give their life for you without a flicker of hesitation. Someone who…"

"Someone like you?" She spat the words out before she could stop herself, and the moment she did she regretted it. They both grew very silent. "I should go."

"You just got here."

"I think it was a mistake for me to come here." She stood.

"I don't want you to be afraid of being around me. I thought I had proven myself to you. I'm not ever going to do anything stupid like that again…"

"We promised never to talk about that, Peter."

"I know, but when you won't let yourself be alone with me for more than a second, it's difficult to forget about it."

"I'm sorry." Claire headed towards the door, passing close enough to Peter's chair to touch him. She let her fingers brush against his arm just slightly, and they both tensed. "I don't think I'm going to be coming here alone anymore."

He just nodded.

She opened the door and looked back at Peter, but he hadn't turned around. "Goodbye." She left quickly before he could respond, and she galloped down the staircase and outside. When she reached the sidewalk outside his apartment, she sat down on the steps and fought her urge to cry.

"Claire."

She looked up instantly as she recognized the voice. Jaden, who had been across the street, was now crossing towards her quickly, smiling widely, though clearly a little nervous.

"Hi," she greeted him as he stopped in front of her.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine."

"Really?" He gazed down at her and nudged her foot with his toe.

"How are you?" She pointed towards his nose. "Did you get it fixed?"

"Yea. It hurts like hell still though."

"I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault. You didn't tell that psycho to come and attack me."

"I know, but he's my uncle…"

"He's an idiot, that's what he is."

"He's protective."

"He's tearing us apart!"

"He worries about me," she defended quickly. "That's all."

"Well so do I. I worry about how much he worries. He's your uncle, not your boyfriend," Jaden reminded her.

"I know that," she snapped.

"Yea, but does he?"

Claire hesitated and Jaden feared he might have pushed her too far.

"I'm sorry. That was out of line."

"You're right," she agreed, "it was out of line."

Jaden sighed. He couldn't afford to anger her with anything he said, but it was so difficult to keep her happy. "About the other night…"

"Yea, about that…Jaden, if Peter hadn't…interrupted us, what would have happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb," she snapped. "You know what I mean."

"I think it was pretty obvious what I wanted that night, and until you let that bastard knock me down, I thought you wanted it too."

"And I thought I made it pretty clear that I didn't want that."

He looked away from her momentarily. "I must have misunderstood. I thought you really loved me, but…"

"Love and sex are two different things Jaden," Claire stood up, suddenly over her tears, and tried to stare him down.

"We've been dating for months. Usually when people care about each other, like I thought we did, sex comes naturally."

Claire shook her head. "Well maybe not for me. The truth is I'm glad Peter stepped in the other night. I don't think you would have stopped if he hadn't."

"That's not true," he protested.

"Really?" She sighed. "I'd like to believe you, but…"

"How can I prove it to you?"

"I don't know if you can."

"Please let me try."

Claire hesitated.

"Please babe." He reached out to her and pulled her into his arms.

She gave into the hug a little reluctantly, but she didn't pull away.

"So, we're good?" Jaden kissed the top of her head.

"I wouldn't say that quite yet," Claire corrected him, "but I'm giving you another chance. I need to know that I can trust you though Jaden. Don't disappoint me again."

"I won't." He kissed her quickly. "Now, let me run you home."

"Not tonight."

"What? You love it when we run."

"I just feel like walking tonight," she told him.

"Oh, all right. We can do that."

"Actually, I need to walk alone." She stepped away from him. "Call me later."

"Okay." He didn't look at all happy about her refusal to run with him, but he waved and ran off on his own.