Previously on Heroes:

-CLAIRE AND GABRIEL-

"Gabriel." Claire tried as she waited for a response, "Don't move so much. You don't know what bones might be broken."

"I'll be fine…" He replied with difficulty. He managed a quick smile, "It's probably just a couple of cracked ribs. They'll heal up in like two weeks."

"What was your family like?" Claire posed, sitting on the floor next to the glass.

"I was sold to my uncle for a couple hundred bucks when I was six. I didn't learn that until last year when I was out looking for my real dad. My father killed my mother in front of me that day. Not even a year after that, my uncle walked out on me and my "mom". She stuck by me, and she loved me, just like a real mother, but she always wanted me to be more. She always told me I was meant to be special. Watchmaking wasn't really good enough for me in her eyes. When my uncle left us, it was just me and her until…"

"Until what?"

"Until… I killed her."

-HIRO AND N-

"How do I know you are not a villain?" Hiro questioned, eyeing the stranger.

"I can show you. "Take me to Costa Verde, 20 years and 107 days from now. The address is 26008 Briarwood lane."

Hiro hesitated, then reluctantly placed his hand on the man's shoulder, squinted his eyes, then vanished. Hiro opened his eyes to reveal a destroyed neighborhood. The two men stood outside a ransacked home. N started up the walkway, and to the front door. Hiro followed N through the unlocked front door. The house was full of dust and cobwebs. Hiro looked around, then spotted a dusty picture frame sitting on an old shelf. He picked it up, wiping away the dust. He was shocked to see Claire smiling in her cheerleader uniform,

"The cheerleader?" Hiro asked, looking to N. N pulled open the pantry doors in the kitchen,

"She's not a cheerleader anymore." He said with a grin. N motioned for Hiro to follow, then entered the pantry. Hiro set the picture down gently, then scurried after him. N bent down on all fours, pulling up a panel below the bottom shelf. He then gestured for Hiro to get in,

"Is it safe?" Hiro asked, staring into the black hole,

"It's not bad, just watch your footing, you've got to feel around for the ladder." N replied. Hiro gulped, then slowly lowered himself inside. He touched the first step with his foot, then carefully continued down the freely ladder. After a few long seconds, Hiro's foot met solid turned around, and was met with a giant room filled with about 50 people. All of them were silent, except a few who whispered to each other. Hiro looked around the room, seeing no familiar faces. N passed by Hiro, and walked to a brunette woman sitting on a rickety wooden stool. Hiro watched him tap her shoulder; she turned at the sudden contact. Hiro recognized her instantly.

"Hiro?" Claire asked, not believing her eyes.

Hiro smiled shyly, waving his hand, "…Hello."

-INMATE 349-

Sam stood, dusting himself off. He looked down at Molly's dead body. There was not a scratch on her, "Let's see just how well this works."

Sam took out a manila folder from the inside of his overcoat. He opened it to the first name and picture then read the bio information. Sam concentrated on the young girls face after he was finished. He memorized her face, and then closed his eyes concentrating on her. He saw a vision of the earth, and felt his brain begin to narrow down closer to the exact spot.

"North America. West coast. California. Stewart point." The vision of the girl's location then disappeared before his eyes.

He took a long drag of his cigarette, "It looks like I'm heading to California."

-REFUGEES-

"I was wondering if anyone had seen Claire or Gabriel? I want to make sure their okay." Peter asked, meeting everyone's eyes.

Jed sneered, crossing his arms, "Well I saw your murderer friend get shot down by an agent.

Emma shook her head at him, "He saved my life. Doesn't that mean anything?" Peter patted her leg, now trying to calm her down. He smiled down at her and signed, "Thank you."

"I saw Claire. She got caught." Johnny stated.

"This is all my fault. If I hadn't made them leave, this wouldn't have happened." Peter thought, putting his head in his hands.

Tracy placed her hand on his back,

"Don't blame yourself Peter. We can get them back." Peter looked to her hopeful face, and smiled back.

-MATT PARKMAN-

"Listen Parkman, were going to hand you over to the pilot and a few other agents. They will take you to Primatech." Rene bit his lip, questioning what he was about to do. He reached into his pocket, "Here." Rene said quietly pulling out a white band, "Hold out you wrist. The Company designed it. It's an ability blocker. I have to put it on you."

"It's not too sturdy." Matt stated, observing the band,

"When you get to Primatech, you will be able to remove it, and then when the moment comes, do what you must."

Rene nodded to Matt as the plane began to inch forward. Matt took the long silence as an opportunity to think about what would be happening. Was his dream just a dream?

"The last one wasn't entirely accurate, but it was still technically right." He reflected, "Should I trust this one? It is Sylar we are talking about here." Matt continued his contemplation, "I guess time will tell." Matt mused. One of the agents came from out of the cog pit, "Williams said we gotta go through a big storm. He's gonna be takin it nice 'n slow. If it gets too bad, he says we'll have to land her until it blows over." He said taking his seat,

"And it looks like I've got plenty of time to spare."

-NOAH AND MOHINDER-

Bennet stood out of Mohinder's way as he worked on the body lying in a hospital designed bed. Early the day before, the body wasn't even recognizable. It had hardly looked like a body at all, but thanks to Mohinder's research, a serum was injected into the corpse allowing it temporal cellular regeneration abilities. The only thing left for her body to be fully functioning again was regaining cognitive function, and Mohinder had already noticed signs of that process beginning.

Noah stood by, astounded at the sight of her. He marveled at the process in which she had returned. A sudden noise from the brain scanner stopped his staring,

"What does that mean?" Noah asked as he stared at the machines screen,

"She'll be waking up any minute. Noah, I'm not entirely sure how she will react after being dead for so long. I don't even know if she will be the same person. Everything that's about to happen could overwhelm her."" Mohinder answered. In an instant her blue eyes flew open wide. She sat straight up, gasping loudly. Bennet adjusted his glasses and grinned slyly at her. She turned to him with a panicked expression. He saw recognition pass over her face as she did so,

"Welcome back Elle."

Elle shook violently, her eyes wide in shock, "Holy Sh-"

-Present-

"Primatech Medical Ward"

-NOAH, MOHINDER, AND ELLE-

"Elle you need to calm down. Expending too much energy at this point could make your vitals become extremely irregular!" Mohinder vocalized, wrapping his hands around her arm, trying to pull her back down into a laying position. She ripped her arm away from him, her eyes the size of golf balls,

"What's going on!? One minute I'm getting my skull ripped open on the beach, and now I'm… Where am I?!" Elle growled, ripping the wires off of her head and chest. Noah just smiled calmly down at her,

"It was much more than a minute Elle. In fact, it was almost a year. You were dead."

Elle began to hyperventilate. Her breathing was rapid, and she felt as though she was going to pass out. Mohinder placed a firm hand on her back to support her, and another above her knee,

"Just breathe. Everything is okay." He insisted gently. She complied, breathing deeply. Her eyes moved back to Bennet's. His cool demeanor irritated her,

"How am I here?" She asked, her voice displaying her nervousness. Noah crossed his arms, continuing his staring,

"About nine months ago, someone reported a body found burned, and mutilated on a rocky beach in Costa Verde. It was too destroyed for any police forensic tests to be ran, so it was sent here. Mohinder managed to ID you with the little that was left, and I had him test a serum he had been developing on you."

Elle glanced between Bennet and Suresh, "But why? Why would you bring me back after what I did to Claire?" She murmured pleadingly. The memory of Elle shooting Claire during the eclipse ran through Noah's mind. No one spoke for a moment,

"I know you Elle. I know about everything that has happened in your life. It's been hard on you, and what you did, was a result of all of that. You were lost." He replied emotionlessly. Elle felt anger rising up, and her eyes began to water,

"How stupid do you think I am?" She snarled, her voice hushed, "You don't do things like this unless it's part of your agenda."

Bennet smirked slyly. Without a reply, Noah looked back to Mohinder, "Make sure she get's plenty of rest. We'll move her to her cell tomorrow morning."

Elle's rage became uncontainable. She lashed out at Bennet, raising her hand. The usual blue electricity did not appear as she expected. She looked at her hands in dismay, "The Haitian… again?"

Noah snickered and shook his head, "No not this time. Unfortunately, Renee can't be everywhere at once, so we've designed an ability blocking bracelet." He motioned to the white band on her wrist, "Another one of Mohinder's helpful inventions."

Mohinder turned away from the two, not wanting to be involved. He pretended to check the IV again. Noah's cell phone rang suddenly. He pulled it out of his pocket, placing the screen next to his ear as he answered,

"Barbra. Good news?"

"No. I'm right outside the building. He got away."

Noah sighed, "I put you on this because I thought you could handle it. We have no record of this guy. We don't even have a name." Noah held his pointer finger up to Mohinder, signaling he'd be back in a second. Noah turned walking out of the room,

"Well, I did manage to get part of a name. He said it was Sam." Barbra added, moving a piece of hair out of her face as she walked to the entrance of the Primatech building, "He's one cocky guy. I think we underestimated him Noah. He's not just some level four status special."

Noah rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I think your right. We're missing a lot of our files, and the last time I saw them was two nights ago when he escaped. Our best agent's were in California that night. Either it was just lucky timing on his part, or he had a thought out plan, and it worked." Noah paused, thinking, "This doesn't seem like a one man job. He had to have had help."

"He did say he was in Oregon to meet someone."

Noah shook his head, feeling overwhelmed, "Meet me in my office in ten. I'll get Angela. We need to figure this out." He hung up the phone and placed it back in his pocket. He opened the door to the medical room and peaked his head in to talk to Mohinder, "I've got to do something," Noah glanced at Elle before leaving, "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Somewhere over Ohio"

-MATT PARKMAN-

Matt's feet were numb, and his back ached like crazy. The cramped aircraft was dark and dreary, not to mention silent; or at least the people in it were. Thunder and lightning sounded like crazy outside. Matt was surprised by how little turbulence there was during the storm. There was only a few bumps here and there, so it looked like they weren't going to have to land.

"Where the hell are we? We've been flying for hours?" Matt thought to himself, trying to see out of the foggy window. He gave up his efforts, sitting back further in his seat. He couldn't stop thinking about Janice and Matty. His biggest fears were being realized: His son would grow up without a father, no one could protect Matt Jr. and Janice, and the only way to "fix" it was apparently Sylar. Matt clenched his jaw, "And that's just based off of a stupid dream." Matt closed his eyes, shaking his head. He desperately wanted to jump out of the window; He had no game plan, and no help. Matt opened his eyes, knowing even that would be impossible; what he saw nearly launched him out of his seat. Usutu sat across from him in the plane. Matt rubbed his eyes and blinked, "Great. More pointless dreams."

"This is no dream Parkman." Usutu replied, reading Matt's thoughts, "Don't actually speak out loud. These men may think you are insane."

Matt sat slack jawed, "I must BE insane! This isn't possible."

Usutu shook his head, "I will be your guide Matt Parkman. I will help you achieve your goal."

"Oh and what is my goal!?" Matt asked in his mind, giving Usutu a dirty look, "Saving Sylar!?"

"To save your family, yes."

"Do you have any idea who we are talking about here!? This man hurt my family, why would he save it?"

"In what way did he hurt your family Parkman?"

Matt was caught off guard. He didn't think he'd have to explain this to an imaginary dead guy,

"Well, he threatened to hurt them when he was trapped inside my head. And when he came back, acting like he wanted to change, he almost killed Janice!"

Usutu moved his walking stick in front of him, placing his hands on top. He then rested his chin on his knuckles, "He came to you Matt Parkman, seeking help. He wanted what you possessed."

"That son of a bitch didn't get a chance to take my ability, and I won't let him even try again…"

"Not your ability Parkman. Your way of life. He thought that if he could remove his power, he could be like you. A man with family and friends that care about you."

"He's a psychopath! They are pretty good liars!"

"You are holding a grudge Parkman. No one was hurt that day, and he's left you and everyone else alone ever since."

"I don't hold grudges…"

"You are lying to yourself Parkman. You looked inside of his mind, and you know the truth."

"Like I said, he's a psycho. He could make you believe anything! The mind can be persuaded, trust me I know."

"Then what should we make of the dream you had two nights ago? What happened. Do you think I would lie to you Parkman?" Usutu asked, cocking his head. Matt folded his arms,

"You know, I liked the turtle a whole lot better. He talked a lot less."

"Costa Verde, 20 years in the future"

-HIRO AND N-

"But, how!?" Claire exclaimed, rushing over to him,

"Before we were found, our Hiro sent me back to get help from his younger self." N smiled joining her side. Claire touched Hiro's face with her pointer finger. Hiro held awkwardly still, feeling extremely uncomfortable,

"I can't believe how young you look…." Claire said in aw to herself. She snapped out of it quickly turning sharply to N, "Why did you bring him here? Are you sure you're not going to mess anything up?"

N shook his head, " I think we'll be okay."

"You think?" Claire raised her brow, placing her hands on her hips,

"Claire, I'm no time traveler. I honestly don't know."

Claire pursed her lips, " This would be a lot easier if you would have just taken his power." Hiro's ears perked up at this,

"Claire, you know why I don't want to do that." N replied, exasperatedly,

"Take my power!? What do you mean?" Hiro interjected, covering the top of his head. Claire and N both looked at him, remembering he was still there. Claire smiled at him sweetly, placing a hand on his shoulder,

"I'm sorry. It's hard to say things that make sense when we are from such different times. It's not like what…" Claire paused, thinking before she continued, "He's not like what Sylar was." Claire down casted her eyes,

"Claire I need him. I honestly could use all the help I could get. I don't know anything about what 20 years ago was like." N smiled down at Hiro, running a hand through his blonde hair, "He's the only chance we have."

Claire looked between the two of them, feeling very conflicted about the entire plan. She then nodded, giving them consent, "Okay. Just don't do anything stupid, and don't get yourself killed." She smiled sadly, embracing N again. She pulled away after a few tender moments,

"Where's Rene? I wanted to talk to him before we left." N asked, searching the quiet place.

Claire pointed to a man across the room. Hiro recognized him as well. The Haitian nearly looked the same as he did twenty years ago; just a little bit of graying hair. N left Hiro and Claire alone as he went to speak with Rene.

Hiro's head spun with all of his question's. It was clear to him now that N was one of the good guys, but there was so much Hiro couldn't know,

"May I ask a few question's?" Hiro asked bluntly. Claire stared at him, a conflicted expression on her face. She finally nodded, "Just as long as they aren't butterfly smashing ones."

"Who is he?" Hiro questioned, glancing across the room at N,

" I can't answer that." She replied blankly.

Hiro sighed, "I'm about to go on a mission, that I know nothing about, with your boyfriend so he can change the world, but you can't tell me anything about him?" Hiro pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, then folded his arms,

"Boyfriend?" Claire was taken back by his assumption, "No Hiro you've got it all wrong. It's not like that." She grinned, shaking her head. N came back over to them with a questioning look,

"Did I miss something?"

Claire tried to conceal a laugh, " Hiro thought we were together." N furrowed his brow, chuckling quietly,

"Definitely not. Claire's my mother."

Hiro's eyes went wide, and his mouth fell open slightly,

"Well, she's not my biological mother, but she adopted me. My real mother passed when I was really young." He added. His smile faded away,

"Oh, I am sorry." Hiro said to him with a small bow of his head.

N looked at Claire with a sad smile, "It's fine, I never knew her."

"And what of your father?" Hiro murmured. Claire shook her head at N, giving him a meaningful look. N nodded his head once, then joined Hiro's eyes again,

"16 years ago, He and Peter Petrelli went to Primatech to try and stop what was happening." Claire turned away so they couldn't see the tears forming in her eyes, "They never came back."

" Peter Petrelli…" Hiro stated in a hushed tone,

"Hiro, we need to go." N said turning back to Claire. He embraced her one more time,

" Keep him safe." Claire enunciated to Hiro,

"I'll be fine." N reassured her, " Alright Hiro, take us to the past, Primatech."

"Hold on. We need to play this smart. I know someone who can help us." Hiro replied, smiling brightly. He placed a firm hand on N's shoulder. Hiro closed his eyes tightly. Claire watched silently as the two disappeared.

"Level 5, Present"

-CLAIRE AND GABRIEL-

"You killed your mother?" Claire stared at Gabriel with an unreadable expression. Gabriel couldn't look at her, but he knew exactly what she was thinking,

"It wasn't on purpose. I went to her apartment, asking her for advice. I showed her what I could do, but she thought I was a monster." Gabriel stopped, looking back at Claire sadly, "She was so afraid of me. She pulled out a pair of scissors. I tried to take them away from her, but…" Gabriel hung his head. He couldn't continue on, and he didn't have to; Claire knew what he was trying to say.

"I'm sorry."

Gabriel couldn't believe his ears, "Did she just say 'sorry'?" He furrowed his brow at her. Claire just gave him a small smile, "Why don't we change the subject?"

He smiled back nodding, "Fair warning, my entire life story is probably a complete downer." Gabriel cautioned trying to lighten the mood

Claire rolled her eyes, "You're so dramatic…" She whispered, "Actually there is something I've been wondering." Gabriel nodded to her with a quizzical look, "Remember after the Eclipse was all over, and you and Elle came into my house?"

Gabriel sighed, knowing where she was taking this conversation, "That's also a long story."

Claire shrugged her shoulder's, "We've got nothing but time."

Gabriel tried to avoid the subject, "What about you? You still haven't answered my first question?"

Claire crossed her arms, "Trust me, my life isn't that interesting."

"Okay, I don't even need powers to know that was a lie." He grinned smugly,

"C'mon!" Claire pleaded sarcastically. Gabriel threw his hands in the air carelessly, a grin still painted on his face,

"Why do you wanna know so much about me anyway?"

Claire held her breath for a moment, trying to find the best way to answer. An idea popped into her head. She smiled evilly at him, tilting her head downwards, and pointing her finger at the glass, "I want to see how you…tick."

"That's not funny." Gabriel said straight-faced,

"Oh, don't even go there, that was spot on."

"Mm Mm. Nope." He shook his head,

"I'm sorry. My eyebrows just aren't nearly big enough to do the trick I guess." She replied with dead-panned expression.

Gabriel instinctively touched his dark brow, "They aren't that big…"

Claire tried to keep a straight face, but failed. She managed to cease her giggling, going back to her question, "Seriously though. You and Elle…?"

"All this is going to do is make you like your dad even less."

Claire looked at him sharply with a defensive expression, "What does my dad have to do with it?"

"See! That's exactly why I shouldn't talk about it."

"No, you don't want to talk about because we're exactly alike; just like you said, remember?" Claire replied smoothly,

"What are you saying?" Gabriel asked, feeling defensive himself,

"I'm saying that you won't talk about that for the same reason I won't talk about what happened at the carnival, or what happened with Gretchen. In all honesty, I haven't really ever talked about the day you took my power, and it's because we are both afraid of vulnerability. We don't like to admit when we're weak."

Gabriel looked away from her, and down at the white band on his wrist. He listened as Claire continued, "I've been so afraid of getting hurt by you again, and that's why I didn't answer your question, and that's why I avoided you at the reservation, and that's why I've hated you for so long." She paused, wrapping her head around everything she had said to him. She hadn't even thought about if what she was saying was smart," But I don't think I can hate you anymore."

Gabriel lifted his head slowly, meeting her gaze. She saw the surprise etched on his face,

"I think I realize now, that Peter was right about you. It feels so strange; just admitting something like that after a few hours, but I was just prolonging the inevitable."

Gabriel smiled, feeling over joyed, "You have no idea what this means to me Claire."

She smiled back genuinely, looking down at the floor,

"I think that this was the defining moment for us in this new world." Gabriel stated, "I don't feel so…" He searched his mind for what he was trying to say. When he found it, he looked back at Claire, "I don't feel so afraid of being human anymore."

Claire's smile widened, as she spoke softly, "Me too."

"I am so sorry Claire, for everything." Gabriel said wholeheartedly, feeling compelled to continue,

"I forgive you Gabriel." Claire replied, equally sincere.

The two suddenly heard the hallway door open loudly. They looked at one another with concern. Claire stood quickly, hopping onto her bed, and turning away from the glass. Gabriel slowly got to his feet, wincing at the sharp pain in his abdomen. He stepped over to the glass, trying to see who was coming. Some of the other inmates wolf whistled at the beautiful blonde woman walking past them. Gabriel couldn't see her face clearly,

"Shut up Phelix!"

Gabriel's subconscious recognized her voice from one of Nathan Petrelli's memories. She finally walked past his cell. Unable to stop himself, Gabriel spoke out to her,

"Tracy?"

She froze, just short of the hall door. Claire turned, surprised by what she had heard. The woman faced Gabriel, cocking her head, "I'm sorry?"

Gabriel continued, squinting his eyes at her, "Tracy Strauss? You and I-" He shook his head, trying to organize the two separate memories, "You and Nathan Petrelli…" Gabriel cleared his throat, sending a sub textual signal, "Worked together?"

The woman shook her head, giving him a blank look, "I have no idea what you're talking about. My name is Barbra, and I certainly never worked with senator Petrelli. I think you've got the wrong girl."

Gabriel furrowed his brow, feeling a little disoriented, "Sorry. You just looked a lot like Tracy."

Barbra eyed him, but left without another word.

Claire and Gabriel watched her leave. Once the door was shut they glanced at each other,

"You know Tracy?" Claire asked. He pursed his lips,

"Not exactly. It's-"

"Complicated. Am I right?" Claire grinned smugly. Gabriel raised his brow with a smile,

"You got me."

"Stewart Point Woods"

-REFGEES-

Peter's smile faded away from Tracy. He stood, turning back into the woods,

"Where are you going?" Tracy asked furrowing her brow. Peter turned, walking backwards,

"I just, wanna be alone."

Emma stood, following him, "Peter, wait." Peter ignored her, he just kept walking deeper into the forest, "Peter! Talk to me!"

Once they were no longer in ear shot of the others, Peter faced her so she could read his lips,

"I know that you and Tracy don't want me to blame myself, but it's hard to do that when it was my fault!"

"Peter, all I am saying is, thinking that way won't bring them back. Doing something about it will."

Peter rubbed the bridge of his nose, shaking his head, "It's always the same thing. I can't be there, then someone I care about is hurt! That's just how it is for me."

"Peter, that's not tr-"

"Don't tell me it's not true! It happened with my mother, it happened with Claire, it happened with you." Peter paused, trying to stop his eyes from watering, "I lost my brother that way Emma. The only people I have left are you, Claire, and Gabriel; now they're gone too."

Emma stepped over to him, grabbing his hands, "Peter, I promise we will get them back." She then lifted her head, kissing him softly. Peter let the kiss linger, hoping to keep the bliss going, but fate had something else in mind. Peter jumped away when he heard a familiar voice,

"Oh, sorry! We'll come back later." Peter turned, astonished. He eyed the two men who appeared from thin air,

"Hiro?"