Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes or any of the characters.

"What do you mean there is no other way?" Noah said through clenched teeth.

After the phone call, they decided to meet up immediately. Angela expressed that they didn't have much time.

"Who else is going to stop him, Noah?" Angela asked him, sitting back in her chair in her office. She had invited him to take a seat in the chair opposite from her, on the other side of her large desk. How had she forgotten that when it came to Claire, he didn't waste time getting to the details.

"We couldn't defeat Sylar when he was around, being himself. What makes you think we can take on his father?" He opened his mouth to interject, but she held up a hand, continuing. "We don't what abilities he has stolen over his long life time, we don't now how evil he may be. All I had seen was Claire's head chopped off her body, and him picking through her brain. Then he walked off, carrying her head off with him."

Noah bent, spreading his palms on her desk, his brown eyes boring down on her.

"And when we awaken Sylar, what if he doesn't decide to help us? What if turns on us? What in the world makes you think he'll protect her?"

Angela's dark eyes were hooded, and she didn't meet his gaze. There were a lot of things she'd done wrong in her life. A lot of decisions she came to regret. She just hoped she wouldn't regret this one. No, she had to believe this wasn't a mistake.

"We can fix these things, Noah. We've made a lot of mistakes, ruined a lot of lives. You of all people know what it's like to regret something and have no choice but to look back on it and say 'What if?'"

She knew she was digging open an old wound, but if guilt was the only way she could convince him, she'd have to do it. She'd already seen so much of her family suffer, Claire still had a chance.

"You may very well be the reason he turned into a monster. Who knows, maybe if you and Elle had stayed out of it, he would have stayed a boring, watchmaker's son." Her words stabbed into him, and he drew back from the desk. "And then Claire wouldn't---"

"That's enough." He interrupted her, turning away from her, hiding the pain that he felt, the guilt.

"Call Parkman, it's time we right these wrongs."

---

Claire had been going to college for the past year. She didn't live on campus; she couldn't bear to leave her family. A few months after Sylar died, the Bennett's had all gotten news that Lyle had terminal brain cancer. No matter how many times they injected him with Claire's blood, any amount, the cancer grew back within weeks.

After months of trying, Lyle had accepted his fate. The tragedy brought Noah and Sandra close again, and this time Noah decided his job was to be there for his family. He got a real job, this time working as a Staples Assistant Manager. He dedicated himself to his family, but it wouldn't make up for the loss of their son.

Claire couldn't help to think of Sylar's last few words to her.

"Don't give me that look. Everyone dies sometimes. Mama Bennett, Papa Petrelli. Mr. Muggles." He grinned, and then tilted his head to the side, "What's your brother's name again? Larry?"

"Lyle." She said tersely.

"Lyle." He repeated, smiling. "He's gonna die too."

Lyle was still alive, but the doctor's estimated he'd only be around, at best, for a few more months. Her green eyes closed, and she leaned back against the plush chair she was sitting in. She considered dropping out of college, to be able to spend Lyle's last few months with him. Her father wouldn't have it, Nathan wouldn't even hear of it.

It brought her mind back to the present, thinking of Nathan. Angela had called her there to talk about her father. Claire didn't know why, but over the past few years, she'd noticed Noah's uneasiness whenever she mentioned going to see her biological father. Was he getting jealous, she wondered?

"Hey."

She jumped from the couch, whirling around to see Peter facing her. A half crooked smile was on his face as he stared at her. "Peter." She whispered, placing a hand over her heart to steady it.

"You…okay?" He asked, walking around the chair to take a seat next to her. She smiled, letting herself relax. "I've been better." She answered honestly, and then rolled into a discussion about the newest updates about Lyle, the newest drama in school, expressing her worry about Noah and Nathan.

She breathed, and Peter chuckled quietly. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" He asked, looking over to her as he leaned back in a seat that matched hers. A sad smile tugged at her lips as she pressed her back into the chair. "Yeah, you've been busy." He nodded in response. Lately, Peter had been taking as many shifts at the hospital as he could. He reminded her of her father when he was a 'Company Man'.

"We'll have to make it up somehow. Maybe after this, we could go get some coffee. Or a bite to eat. I took the whole day off." A grin widened from the soft smile, and the clicking of heels made them both turn to see Angela, Noah, and Matt come in the room.

Claire could have sworn Angela said this was a family meeting, what was Matt doing here?

As Claire stood up to ask what was going on, the serious looks on their faces gave away the tone of this discussion. This was serious. Her eyes narrowed as she looked back and forth between Noah and Angela. "What's this about?"

"No point beating around the bush, Angela. You want to make this all right; you can be the one to explain to Peter and Claire that we've been lying to them for the past two years." He let his eyes linger on Claire for a moment, before flicking his gaze to Angela.

She glared at him heatedly, pursing her lips together firmly. Turning her gaze on Claire and Peter, she held her shoulders back, ready for the onslaught of questions.

"Nathan will be here shortly, but before he gets here, there's something we've got to tell you. The truth has been buried for too long…" She breathed, the air in the room thickening as the tension built.

"Sylar isn't dead."