"Central Park, New York City"

-HIRO, N, REFUGEES-

Hiro opened his eyes. It was dark, and the park was dimly lit by light posts. He looked around through the crowd of refugees to find N and Peter.

"Hiro!" N called, waving his hand above the group. Hiro jogged over. Peter stood beside N, holding his shoulder painfully,

"What happened?" Hiro asked, concerned for Peter.

"I think it's dislocated. I need to get it set. Where are we?"

"New York." Hiro replied, "Central Park I think."

Peter's blood was boiling after watching Tracy die before his eyes, "who was that guy?"

"He seems like another Sylar. Do you think they're doing this together?" Hiro asked.

"No. You've been out of the loop on that for sometime. Sylar is, well, I guess you could say he's dead."

"Dead?" Hiro questioned, raising his brow, "but he can't be killed."

"Physically, no. Trust me Hiro. What you knew him to be before is not who he is now." Peter hissed, grabbing his shoulder.

"Is there anyone in your group who can set a shoulder? We have to get moving." N furrowed his brow.

Peter scowled at N as Emma approached the three men,

"What the hell happened back there huh?" Peter asked, squaring up to N,

"What are you talking about?"

"You just stood there, watching him kill Tracy? Why didn't you stop him?" Peter spat, using his good arm to shove N. N was pushed back a couple steps,

"Listen, I'm sorry. I took his power, and- I couldn't control it- it felt like…" N trailed off, shaking his head. The feeling hadn't made any sense to him,

"Like what?" Hiro asked, stepping towards N.

"Hunger." N replied, sharing looks with the two men, "but it wasn't in the way that you'd think. It was this insatiable need-"

"For power." Peter finished, nodding his head, "I've felt it before. I almost killed my own mother because of it. So this guy really is like Sylar."

Peter winced, grabbing his shoulder again. Emma gently placed her hand on his bicep to steady him. She signed,

"Are you ok?"

Peter nodded,

"We've got to get your shoulder fixed." N chimed, "I don't know how much time we can afford to lose."

Hiro perked up, "we could take him to future Claire! He can take her power and heal."

"That'll save time." Peter interjected, looking to N.

"No, no-" N glared at Hiro, "you of all people should know what consequences might occur if you step on a butterfly."

"You wanted my help because I am the master of time and space. Let me do what I do best."

"He's got a point." Peter smirked,

"Fine. But Claire won't like it." N said, putting his hand on Hiro's shoulder. Emma stepped in front of Peter. She signed,

"What about the refugees?"

Peter looked around at the crowd, still standing, huddled together. He felt conflicted. They were in an unusual place, with no money, or shelter. Plus, what could he do with the children who had lost their parents?

Peter turned back to Emma, signing, "I want you to stay here. Keep them together, and watch the children. Hiro will bring us back after my shoulder is fixed."

Emma looked hesitant. She looked around at the group, then nodded, "stay safe." She said, staring into Peter's eyes,

"I'll be right back. I promise." He replied.

"Come on Peter." N put his hand on Peter's in injured shoulder. Emma kept her focus on Peter's eyes until he, Hiro, and N vanished.

"Primatech, Noah's office"

-NOAH B., ANGELA, BARBARA-

Noah Bennet, Barbara Pierce, and Angela Petrelli all stood around Noah's desk, staring at a case file. The picture inside was of Sam, otherwise known as "inmate 349",

"This is ridiculous. You didn't get anything more on this man except a first name?" Angela quipped, folding her arms and glaring at Barbara, "I bet it's not even his real name."

"Hey, I did what I could. He's smart." Barbara defended.

"I put you on this because you don't fail." Angela replied menacingly, "don't make me rethink that."

"Noah, back me up here." Barbara pressed, glancing at Bennet. He maintained his focus on the file in front of him,

"I'm sending Sanchez with you this time." He stated, still scanning the papers,

"No." Barbara argued, crossing her arms, "I'm not working with that guy, he's a pig!"

"He's the best guy I got, and he's second in command here." Noah finally met her eyes,

"This inmate will destroy Sanchez, there's no way-"

"Sanchez captured Sylar. I'm pretty sure he can handle this."

Barbara went silent. She pulled her eyes to the floor,

"What was his power?" Angela asked. Barbara could feel her glare penetrating the side of her head.

Barbara paused, "I don't know…" she said finally, shaking her head.

Angela sighed, "Of course you don't."

The door to Noah's office swung open. A younger man in a suit rushed in,

"Mr. Bennet!" He said, clearly distressed,

"What is it Hammerson?" Noah asked stepping towards him,

"You've gotta see this." Hammerson replied, heading out into the hall. The three followed behind him. They entered a large break room where dozens of agents and employees stood around a tv.

Noah pushed through followed by Hammerson, Barbara, and Angela.

The station playing was CNN news, a female reporter was live from a helicopter. She held a microphone and was sitting next to the open helicopter door. Her hair flew around her wildly,

"We're getting reports that this fire was caused by a cigarette, though the fire department doesn't see how it could have caused this amount of massive damage. The local and federal fire departments are working tirelessly to eliminate the remaining fire, but so far, it seems like it will still be some time before it is put out."

The camera then pans down to reveal the fire. Noah was shocked to see that almost the entirety of the reserve and forestry had vanished, leaving behind charred, barren, black rubble.

"Was this is one of ours? Did we do this?" Noah questioned,

"No sir. All of our guys are accounted for." Hammerson replied,

"It's him." Barbara stated, looking to Noah.

Noah and Angela turned to her, both narrowing their eyes,

"He was smoking when I confronted him."

"It would explain the missing files." Bennet suggested,

"He could have escaped the cell, and stolen the files before he left." Barbara added.

"Hey! We just got a tip from the police department!" An agent called, entering the room, "they got a call about a bunch of people appearing outta nowhere in Central Park! They want us to check it out!"

"Level 5"

-CLAIRE, GABRIEL, ELLE-

Gabriel knelt beside Elle. He looked her over. There was a small bruise forming on her forehead, and Gabriel was sure there was at least a bump on the back of her head. He placed his arms under her knees and upper back, lifting her up. He gently placed her on the bed slab.

"Is she alright?" Claire asked from her cell, her hands pressed on the glass. Gabriel scanned Elle once more,

"I think she's ok. For now anyway. Who knows what she was injected with."

"What both of you were injected with." Claire corrected, "are you feeling alright?"

Gabriel furrowed his brow, approaching the glass. He examined Claire,

"I'm not concerned about me. What did he do to you?" Gabriel questioned, a hint of fervor in his voice. Claire shook her head, her eyes still red and watery from crying, "I'm fine." She lied.

Gabriel saw a small pool of blood on the floor of her cell, "Claire, you're bleeding." He replied protectively.

Claire turned to see the blood on the floor. She touched the wound on her forehead, but felt nothing. She turned back to Gabriel, confusion etched on her face, "it healed…but the bracelet-"

"Your father." Gabriel suggested, "he's always looking out for his Claire."

Claire looked out into the hallway, up at the surveillance camera mounted on the wall, "not always."

Gabriel began to turn back towards Elle, but his head began to spin, causing him to nearly fall over. He caught himself, bracing his body against the wall,

"You're not ok." Claire insisted,

"I just- just feel slightly dizzy." He slid down to the floor, his eyes shut. He placed his hand over his forehead, "I haven't slept- we both haven't."

Claire hadn't realized how tired she was. There were so many things happening all at once, she couldn't even think about rest,

"You're right." She said hopping up on her bed slab.

Claire thought to herself for a moment "do you think we'll get out of this?" She asked out of the blue. Gabriel opened his eyes, glancing at her. He was silent for a moment,

"I don't know." He replied quietly,

"But you always escape. You've done it before, multiple times." Claire posed, lowering her back on the bed. She stared up at the ceiling, waiting for him to speak,

"Things are different. I've got no abilities…" Gabriel couldn't help but smile, "you know something?"

"What?"

"I don't miss them." Gabriel glanced at the bracelet around his wrist, "since they put this thing on me, I'm able to feel like myself again."

"As opposed to what?" She asked furrowing her brow.

"A monster. My power came with a price. This…. hunger for more. Even since I've sworn off taking powers, the hunger still lingers. The more I suppress it, the worse it gets. But with this…" he lifted his hand to eye level, the ability blocker shining under the fluorescent light, "it's gone."

Gabriel pulled his arm into his chest clenching his fist, "I'm afraid Claire…"

Claire sat up slowly. She looked at the side of his face. Gabriel stared straight ahead at the opposite wall,

"What could he possibly be afraid of?" Claire thought to herself,

"of what?" She asked,

"What happens when I can't control it? When Sylar wins?" He asked, seeking her help, "I don't want to hurt you, or Peter," he looked up to where Elle lay on the bed, "or Elle."

Claire reached her brain, trying to reason with what he had told her, "maybe you aren't supposed to repress your power…"

Gabriel furrowed his brow,

"Maybe you embrace it." She offered.

"I don't understand." He shook his head,

Claire tried to reinterpret what she had said, "I think instead of fighting your power...use your power to fight FOR something."

Gabriel took on what she said,

"You have these amazing abilities… use them to help others… like Peter. You can't isolate yourself, or you'll go crazy. You've been alone for a long time huh?"

Gabriel didn't answer. He turned his head away from Claire. His reaction answered her question. Claire wished he would talk.

Claire began to lower herself down on the bed when he spoke up,

"You wanted to know about Elle."

Claire sat straight up again, focusing on him,

"Yes."

Gabriel met her eyes again,

"She saved my life."

Claire listened intently,

"I had taken a man's ability or the first time, and i couldn't live with the guilt… so I tried to kill myself, but she stopped me. I thought she was…." Gabriel chuckled to himself, "I thought she was an angel. After that we continued to talk, and after a while… I fell in love with her."

"Sounds like something you'd see on TV." Claire remarked, amazed, "had you ever been in love before?"

Gabriel laughed, "no. I was never what you'd call a ladies man."

Claire laughed too, "but you're so… cocky…"

"Well, when you are literally the most powerful person on the planet, there's not much room to be humble."

"True. So what happened with Elle?" Claire asked, getting the derailed conversation back on track ,

"I had started to get my life back together, when I found out she was working with Primatech, specifically your father. Your dad wanted proof that I was a murderer, and was using Elle as bait."

Claire's interested expression became downtrodden, "there really is a lot about my dad that I don't know."

"He loves you Claire. Trust me I know. Are his decisions always right? no. But look at me… he's never going to be worse than me."

"At least you're trying to be better. It seems like he just gets worse and worse." Claire replied, fighting her emotions.

"People do crazy things when they're afraid of losing someone."

"Stewart point gas station"

-SAM-

An old gentleman sat behind the counter inside the gas station's convenience store. He was sipping some coffee, reading his newspaper. Sam sauntered in, limping. The clerk noticed him,

"You doing alright there friend?" He asked, folding his paper. Suddenly the man felt the temperature drop tremendously low, and his body went numb. Within seconds, the man was frozen solid. Sam stepped behind the counter, stealing three packs of cigarettes. Then he entered the back room. He picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Primatech"

-SANCHEZ-

"You wanted to see me Mr. Bennet?" Agent Sanchez asked, stepping into the doorway of Noah's office,

"Yes, come in." Noah replied, smiling.

Sanchez stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He noticed Barbara sitting in a chair to his left,

"Is something wrong sir?" He asked, slightly nervous after what happened earlier with Bennet's daughter,

"You know Barbara." Noah said ignoring him. Barbara avoided eye contact with Sanchez,

"Of course." Sanchez replied, smiling at her,

"I'm briefing you on a recent escapee. I'm partnering you two up to go after him." Noah said, holding out a file to him. Sanchez opened the manilla folder,

"That level four guy? I thought he was a nobody."

"Turns out we were wrong." Noah admitted adjusting his horn rimmed glasses, "Barbara, why don't you fill him in? I've got a few things to take care of."

Barbara sighed, standing reluctantly. She still avoided Sanchez with her eyes as she walked past him to the door. Sanchez followed, checking her out from behind,

"So, what're your plans for tonight? I could come over, we could get familiar-"

"Shut up."

"With the case! I was going to say case." He defended, walking by her side. Barbara halted, using her forearm to press him against the wall,

"I want nothing to do with you. We're going to find this guy, bag and tag him, and never speak again. Understand?"

"Whatever you say sweetheart." Sanchez smiled menacingly,

"We don't know much on this guy, or what his abilities are, but he's clever. He may have accomplices too. When reviewing our security footage, it lags during the time he escaped, so there's no way of finding out who's in on it. Several of our files had been stolen after his escape as well."

"We thinking it was an inside job?" Sanchez asked opening the file to look at it again,

"We're not ruling it out, but so far, no evidence to back it up."

Sanchez's cell phone rang loudly, echoing in the hallway. He reached into his pocket, and pulled it out. He squinted his eyes reading the caller ID, "gotta take this, family stuff." He said.

Barbara nodded, "I'll meet you in the lounge in 10."

Sanchez watched as she walked down the hall, eventually disappearing through the double doors. He flipped open his phone,

"Hello?"

"You liar." Sam growled through the speaker.

"Come on. You think I was just going to give her to you?" Sanchez laughed, "if you want her power you're going to have to do what I say."

"I could kill you. You're easy." Sam spat,

"Without me, there's no way you could get to her. I got you outta here, and I can get you back in."

"You told me she'd be at that reservation!"

"I know what I said. It was a test. I needed to know you were desperate enough to follow orders. I gave you a bunch of powers to collect, now isn't that enough for now?" Sanchez asked, getting agitated.

"It might have been, had they not vanished into thin air." Sam gritted his teeth,

"What do you mean they vanished?" Sanchez frowned, furrowing his brow

"I mean exactly what I said. They disappeared." Sam began to cough as he lit a cigarette,

Sanchez put two and two together, "I think I know where they are. Head to New York. I need you to do something here anyway."

"What now?" He asked bluntly, exhaling smoke,

"Kill my boss."