"Sylar!"

Sylar was here. Sylar was here!

For a moment fear clouded my mind, throwing it into disarray.

How did he get here?

I immediately mentally slapped myself.

Stupid question. Of course it was because of me.

I left the door open to the holding cells, I led the police to the company.

But what happened then, I did not intend.

Sylar escaped, probably posing as a victim.

I thought he would have been recognised, that Agent Hansen would have taken my advice and looked up Gabriel Gray, the watchmaker, connected the dots and reported to federal authorities.

Too much, I knew now. I expected too much of her.

Perhaps it is true as they say.

Can't visit heaven without dying yourself.

If you want something done right.....

I looked around at three terrified adults and one very confused boy and made a decision.

I looked back up at the window to find the eyes had disappeared behind the curtains, and I knew time was short.

Agent Hansen was the first to come to her senses.

Agent Hansen pulled out her gun, as she made her way up the stairs, slowly.

"Walker, I'll go arrest Sylar. You need to take the children amd call the police. Parkman, follow me. I'll need backup!" She ordered.

Parkman nodded, handing Molly to Mohinder, and pulled out his own gun, when I held him back.

"Are you an idiot, Parkman? You know what Sylar is capable of! You're walking to your death!" I cautioned, "Don't be a fool! You're no longer a policeman. Not to mention you're about to be a father. You don't have any obligation to do this!"

Parkman shook his head, escaping my grip.

"I have an obligation." He said, looking at Molly, "To Molly. The day her parents died, I swore to her. I'll never allow anything like that to happen to her. To anyone, ever again."

"And what about your own son, Parkman? You're going to let it happen to him? Your own blood?" I pushed, only realising too late as the words left my mouth, and Parkman's face scrunched up.

"That doesn't matter." He growled with indignation, as he pushed me away, climbing up the steps.

Of course! Parkman's wife cheated on him just before the pregnancy. No wonder he thinks it doesn't matter. From his point of view, the child isn't his at all.

But that didn't change the facts.

Parkman was a telepath. If he dies at the hands of Sylar, it will be impossible to take Sylar by surprise in the final confrontation. No. Sylar can't be allowed to get his power.

I stepped forward to stop him, by force if necessary, when Micah grabbed my hand, scared, bringing the bigger picture into perspective.

Hana was gone. And I needed a technopath.

So Micah cannot be allowed to die here.

For that matter neither can Molly.

Her power was just as bad as Parkman's in the hands of Sylar.

A clairvoyant Sylar meant nowhere to hide, nowhere to run.

But killing her meant turning both Micah and Mohinder against me.

No. I can't kill her, yet.

I turned to Mohinder, pulling him back.

Mohinder was necessary for the creation of the serum, and given he also had the cure to the Shanti Virus in his blood, he can't be allowed to die either.

"Mohinder! Take Molly and Micah, get to the car. I'll bring Parkman back. Go go go!" I shouted, waking Mohinder from his shock, as he nodded, grabbing Micah by the hand.

"Mr. Hero! No! Come with us." Micah begged, grabbing the hem of my suit.

I gently plied his hand off it, patting his head

"Don't worry, Micah. If something happens to me, Mohinder will take you home. Besides, heroes don't die! So don't worry. Now go!"

Mohinder nodded, hoisting Molly onto his shoulders like sack of potatoes, as he turned to run.

"Don't die, Walker." He said, somewhat sincerely, "We'll wait for you."

"You better. I don't plan on dying either." I said, sending them running, just as a loud creak sounded out.

We all looked up to see Sylar, opening the window, gently pulling aside the curtains, file in hand.

He crept out the window with a relaxed gait, as if he were taking a stroll.

Then leaning on the railing, he saw the kids and Mohinder escaping, with no concern, instead focusing on Parkman, and smiled, amused.

"You must be Matt Parkman. The telepath. I thought I was going to have to hunt you down." Sylar remarked, looking at the papers in his hand, "But you saved me the trouble. What a nice prey, you are!"

"Sylar! You're under arrest! Put your hands beh-" Agent Hansen shouted, interrupting Sylar, who looked down at her as if she were a bug, the sheer apathy in his eyes shutting her up with fear.

He stood back straight, and without a word, stamped his foot upon the stairway.

"What is he-" Parkman asked, as I rished to pull him back, dragging him to the ground.

Not a moment later, the stairway crashed straight down, like a trash compactor, right on top of Agent Hansen, crushing her into mincemeat, leaving Sylar alone, unharmed, floating mid air.

Parkman on the other hand fell back on his butt, shook at the carnage, Hansen's blood, leading a stream to his feet.

He looked down at his feet, boots staining with blood, holding his hurl, and scampered back terrified.

Finally. About time he got se sense knocke dinto his sorry little pea sized brain.

Sylar on the other hand, looked at the sheesh kebab he'd made Hansen into with mild appreciation and utter inanity, raising but an eyebrow.

"Some bugs, just like to chatter on and on..." He said, swiping the rust off his shoulders, descending from the air, gently, landing on the ground below.

"Stop right there!" Parkman shouted, emptying his clip at the man.

Sylar in response, raised but one finger, stopping the bullets mid air, and with his other, he swiped, throwing the gun out of Parkman's hands, and Parkman at the stairs, maiming him in the process.

He relaxed his left hand, letting the bullets fall to the ground as he turned to look at me.

A chill ran down my spine as I subconsciously took a step back, the shot shoulder and ribs sending a sting of pain across the length of my torso.

"And who are you?" He asked, "What is your power? I didn't see you in the catalogue."

"That's because I'm not in it. I have no powers." I shrugged, trying to distract him, as I pulled out my laser pistol.

"Then you're of no use to me." He said, lifting me up telekinetically, in a force choke, causing my forcefield to flicker violently, this time for real.

"Liar! You do have a power. What is it? Tell me. Show me. I want to understand it!" He said, eyes wide with excitement, straining himself.

Veins popped on his forehead, his telekinetic grip tightening the noose on my forcefield.

Now that fear had died down, it did feel curious, how odd it felt to be floating, of only due to my forcefield covering me from all sides, even below.

My stomach tickled at the novel feeling, as I paid attention to the method of Sylar's instruction in the use telekinesis.

He could very well use telekinesis past physical blockades, even energy barrier, like he did to the invulnerable warlord in Haiti in the third season, wringing his brain out through his nose to kill him when he found out that his skin was impenetrable.

Yet he held onto the forcefield, almost adamantly, when he could have killed me instantly if he deigned to bypass it.

Was his drive to learn and understand so primal and overpowering that he would overgo his survival instincts?

Just to understand what made me tick?

How interesting! It seems as if his power forces this mindset of eternal curious hunger upon him, deluding his brain, kinda like how men become dumber when they're horny.

I stemmed the butterflies in my stomach from the sudden experience of zero gravity, focusing on the problem at hand. No time for hypotheses.

The forcefield was flickering something fierce.

At this rate it won't last long. My forcefield will break and I'll be crushed.

I can't let that happen. And I had a plan. A final one that came at great cost. The destruction of the Aegis Mk1.

But there was no choice. I could always build another forcefield generator, but my life, I had only one.

I reached to the generator on my hip and opened up a secret hatch, flipping the power on the modulator, reversing the polarity of my field.

Instantly, it began to thrumm and vibrate, destabilizing violently, as it contorted into wild shapes, swinging about until finally, it burst, sending a shockwave outward, with such force that it shook the earth itself, causing a mini earthquake.

The buildings around me wobbled on their foundations, the backstreet cracking and partially caving under the pressure.

Sylar, his grip broken, clung desparately onto the floor, but to no avail as even he was thrown off and across the street, lodged into a brick wall on the other side, like a looney tunes character, still alive by virtue of his telekinesis.

The generator thankfully had a short circuit installed in it and didn't implode on me, and I fell to floor, worse for wear but soundly, alive.

"Akhu!" I coughed, swingong away at the dist cloud the shockwave had raised, as sirens approached on the distance, alerted by my activities.

I looked at the stairs, where Parkman had fallen and saw him turned to mush by the shockwave, his brain, putty on the floor.

But just for good measure, I double tapped him too.

You never know, after all, and I am a man who takes no chances.

I stood back up, rubbing my shoulder, and looked at Sylar, thoroughly knocked out and raised my laser pistol at him, furious.

For a moment, I considered killing him. I could end his reign of terror, right here, right now.

But if I killed him now, there would be irrevocable changes in the course of the future, maybe even destroying the one I desired. The one where Hiro is thrown into the past.

A past where Hiro helps Takezo Kensei ascend to the heights of legend.

The same Takezo Kensei who would later found the company and create the superpower serum formula.

Hiro would return, and become the CEO of his father's company and granting me easy access to the other half of the formula.

If I kill Sylar, Hiro never goes to the past, Takezo Kensei dies a drunk sailor, and the superpower formula disappears from history.

Nope. Not happening. Sylar can't die before his fight with Hiro.

Sure, I could just go and steal the formula, right now, from the safe in his father's office. But that had it's own share of risks. His father was a member of the illuminati equivalent of this world. I had little doubt he made that safe tamper proof. More likely than not, if I tried to obtain the formula forcefully, the safe would be built to destroy it.

No. No chances.

I will leave Sylar alive, for now. It wasn't as if he was going to live long. The day after tomorrow, was the day of the final confrontation.

The day after tomorrow, Sylar dies.

And I will be there to make sure of it.

I turned around, and walked away, back to the car, where Mohinder was waiting for me.

As I took a seat, Micah smiled, tearfully, and gave me a hug.

Silently, I returned it, comforting the boy as Mohinder drive us away, escaping the oncoming police sirens.