A fax came this morning, addressed to Hiro and Ando. Someone named Rebel. Who? Just an address in Los Angeles and the words "Save Matt Parkman". 'I've been here before. I remember.' Mommy! 'He killed my mother.' Where are you going? To find my father, and I want him to die. Why are you doing this? Saving your life or trying to save the world? Bye, Nathan. Pete! Trace? Don't come any closer. Better get used to the heat because you're never getting out again. Your friend is back. Rebel? Something he wants us to see. That's the entire operation. They've got the whole thing on tape. Go, go, go! Don't do this. Go! To me, you look exactly like a terrorist. No! You! Hey, Barbie. I got a message from someone named Rebel. Said you could help me. I need your help, Barbie. Rebel promised. Well, he lied. Now get out! Please. I can't go back out there. Claire? You OK? Oh, my God! Mom! It's all right. Mr Doyle here was just leaving. No, please, they'll catch me. Rebel said you could help me start over, and that's all I want - to go back to being a puppeteer, making people happy. And you thought I would help you, after what you did?! You should know there are agents parked outside this house. Actually, they're not. Rebel sent a fake call, which they'll figure out any minute now. But if there were agents outside, why aren't kicking in the door looking to collect a comes-back-to-life Barbie? They gave me... a free pass. But they would come after me if I tried to help anyone. So you'd turn your back on your own kind, while we're all out there being hunted down? They burned down my theatre while I was still inside. And you tried to kill us! You and your free pass! You have no idea what it's like to be hunted, to live on the street, to break into the home of the last person on earth you'd expect to help you, because she was your only hope. I thought... Well... I'm not gonna force you to help me, Claire. That's not who I am any more. DOOR CLOSES Where the hell have you been? Dealing with the mess your brother left us. Wouldn't have been a mess if you'd released Parkman and Millbrook like I asked. I made the right choice. Peter just got lucky. I wonder...how many people knew he was on that rooftop? PHONE RINGS Petrelli. What? ..Yeah, I'm on my way. I thought Parkman was in your custody. He was, last time I checked. Then what the hell's he doing in front of the Capitol Building with a bomb strapped to his chest? SIRENS WAIL No. No, no, no! No, no! Deactivate the device now, then lie face down. No, no! I didn't do this! I was set up! Hey! Senator Nathan Petrelli. This is a very dangerous situation. We can't let... I know that man. I can get through to him. You got five minutes. Parkman. Son of a bitch, don't you come any closer! Everything's gonna be all right. No, it's not! You turned me into a terrorist. I didn't sanction this. That was Danko. You're lying. He's got an agenda. You're lying! Believe me. Use your power, read my mind. I'm telling you the truth. I can't! I can't! They drugged me. You're gonna have to trust me, Matt. Parkman's vest is ready, sir, though we may have a problem here. Petrelli? How'd he get there so fast? Is the device armed? We're all set. If the senator wants to play hero... But in a stunning turn of events... ..he can be a martyr to his own cause. Take them out. Code confirmed, sir. Do it. Take him out - now! I don't know where this came from! I'm gonna blow up! We've been kicked out. Get it back - now! ..Though there are those who believe that he may know the bomber personally. What's going on here? Come on, we're losing our window. Running through a different server. Matt, if we don't disarm you, they're going to shoot you. There are a lot of bomb techs around here. I'm sure one of them is thinking about how to disarm that. Get inside his head. The drugs are starting to wear off but I don't think I can... What's he thinking? 'Red wire...' Red wire, red wire! Red wire? 'Why would a suicide do it with a dummy wire?' Don't touch the red wire! I'm not touching anything! Senator, we have to take a shot. Just hang on! It's all right, Matt. Take your time. 'Black wire's the key.' Black wire, black wire! Black wire. Do I pull the black wire or is that the one I don't pull?! I don't know. He's not thinking directly about it. I've got to dig deeper. Hold on! I've got it. Back up. Weapon armed, sir. Senator! Matt, I'm gonna pull it. Right, do it. Danko... I said, do it. No, wait! Damn it! Sorry, Matt. I can't have you using your power. It's open! HE COUGHS Almost got the order ready. You have a lot of pick-ups today? I'm not here for a pick-up. No? It's me... Gabriel. Your son. Is that so? That is so. What brings you all the way out here? I had some questions about myself, who I am, where I came from. But then I remembered... you abandoned me... ..and killed my mother. So...what now? Now... I kill you. Go right ahead. HE COUGHS AND WHEEZES You kill me... or the cancer does. Either way... I die. I haven't got all day. Anything? This guy's good. There's no sign the system was even breeched. I want to know how the hell he's getting inside... Me too. So we can thank them for saving us from this disaster. Of course. As the safety of your friends and family trumps national security(!) Parkman wasn't a threat until you strapped a bomb to him. Parkman and your brother exposed our operation so I handled it, put a face to the terrorist threat. People could've died. People HAVE died, Senator, or don't my men count?! I was brought in to get this job done. I'd let go of that if I were you. You're relieved of command. I answer to the President. You try to get rid of me, he's gonna want proof, and right now it's my word against yours. Good luck getting any of my people to turn on me. We'll see. Excuse me. Bennet, you have a minute? Not sure how much I can tell you about what happened. I know what happened last night. I want to talk to you about putting a team together once Danko's gone. You're gonna head up... 'You're one of us, Nathan! 'You're one of us! 'You're one of us, Nathan!' Do you have a point? Maybe this operation has been compromised from the start. The Petrelli family has a lot of skeletons in their closet, Senator. I think we both know what yours is. So...looks like we're both building a case against each other. Let's see who gets there first. 'You're one of us, Nathan! 'You're one of us!' Son of a bitch went over my head. You backed a wild dog into a corner. I had to act. All you did was show Danko your hand and put both of us at risk. I have a plan, Noah. Nathan, listen to me. He's pushing your buttons so that you'll make a mistake. Take a play from your mother's book - keep your head. Sorry about all this. I find that hard to believe. The man who transferred you back here is going to come in in a few moments and ask you some questions. I was wondering when that was gonna happen. I still care about you. Well, that makes one of us. Come on. You're smarter than that. You might not realise it, but I have been helping you out all along. You and everyone else. And doing a fabulous job of it. You remember when you jumped off the bridge, I was there? I'm still the same guy. You sacrificed me for your own personal gain. You don't have to lie to me, but you do have to understand that I am your last hope. DOOR OPENS That's my prisoner. You got a soft spot for this one, Petrelli? Wanna make sure I don't get too rough with her? No, no. Knock yourself out. I want to know everything you know about Nathan Petrelli. He was lousy in bed. I want to know what you meant when you said he was "one of us". Does Nathan have an ability? An ability? I have no idea what you're talking about. You want to talk about it? Should I have helped Doyle? That puppet man is a sick and twisted individual, Claire. You did the right thing. I have a free pass for a reason. I should be using it to help people. Rebel seems to think so. Yes, well, this Rebel, whoever he is, can't send psychopaths to our front doorstep. I don't think I can take any more surprise guests. Right, which is why I was thinking... that I should have a cover job. With Alex gone, they'll probably need someone to fill his job at the comic-book store, and I could help whoever Rebel sends and no more surprise guests for you and Lyle. Boy, Claire, I don't know. I guess so. If it's what you wanna do. Thanks. So you don't have any retail experience? Um... does a cheerleading bake sale count? Er, you're a cheerleader? Yeah, I was. All right, let me ask you a few questions. Can you work Wednesdays? Wednesdays? Wednesdays are when all the new comics arrive. Wednesday, uh, is good for me. Flight or invisibility? I'm sorry, what? Do you throw caution to the wind and fly off to save the day, or do you take the more calculated approach, and learn the whole picture before you act? What's the answer? There isn't one. That's why it's THE question. Put simply, what type of hero are you? I don't know. Hey, hey, you're not gonna cry, are you? It's OK, really. They're only comic books. I'm gonna stop bothering you. Thank you for letting me interview, anyway. What are you talking about? You got the job. I did? Yeah. Every guy in the store's been staring at you since you walked in. You will absolutely sell comic books. And the other stuff, we can work on. Oh, you're still here? HE COUGHS This is pitiful. What's that? What you've become. You used to be a killer. Now look at you. You're pathetic. Oh, you want a fight. Is that what you were expecting? Son kills his father, epic battle, huh? That's a myth. Hell, life... ..life never gives you what you want. Give me a hand with this, maybe I can explain it to you. When I open the trap, he's gonna bolt, so grab him from the back. HE COUGHS You have an ability? Got lots of 'em. Don't know what I've got left. It's been years since I used them... You have the same thing, taking people's abilities. Am I right? I guess the apple didn't fall too far from the tree. I'm not your apple. You don't know anything about me. I have some idea. You and I can't be all that different. From where I stand, we have exactly nothing in common. Well, we pick easy targets, like that rabbit - weak, helpless. Not fair, really. Are you really drawing a moral line? Morality? Doesn't figure into it. Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly. You have to kill. It's who you are. But you do choose your prey, and yours never had a chance, not against you. Not really. Easy pickings. Small game. They had something I wanted. It isn't my fault if they weren't strong enough to fight back. And those agents that have been coming after us recently? I handled them. No, you ran away from 'em, just like I did. I could wipe them out with a thought. But you haven't. Why? There'll come a day, maybe tomorrow or next week, maybe next year, when you realise the...hunt... ..your entire life... is meaningless and disappointing cos there's no challenge in it. No, all the power in the world doesn't matter if you've lived an unsatisfied life. But I think you know that already, don't you? You wanna know more or... ..you gonna kill me now? What do I do? Gut him. When you were at Primatech, did you come across anyone who could fly? Plenty. But you know that. It's in the files. I'm guessing a few are missing. The facility burned to the ground. Who knows what was lost? That must've been tough for you. 20 years on the job. I'm sure you'd have grown close to the Petrelli family. The Petrellis were never exactly a warm and fuzzy bunch. You adopted the Senator's daughter. I didn't know she was his at the time. And neither did he for that matter. We both know Nathan Petrelli is hiding something. You know a question you should be asking yourself? Who would want to save Peter? His mother, Angela? You want to know what's missing from the files, who can fly... She'd never betray her own son. A long time ago, I gave up trying to figure out what Angela Petrelli would or wouldn't do. PHONE RINGS Go ahead. Got a problem. Nathan's made a power play against Danko and he's stirred up a hornets' nest. Nice to know a mother still has some influence over her son. Things will be better for us with Danko gone. Of course they will, but Nathan's on thin ice, he's moving too fast, and Danko's unpredictable. The man nearly killed Peter. It had to be done. Be prepared then, cos I've pointed him in your direction. Be careful. He does his homework. So do I. Homework. Thank you. See you tomorrow. See you, Claire. Bye. Claire. Are you all right? Everything OK at home? Yeah. That's not what this is about. I have a question and I really need you to answer it. OK. How did you lead two lives for all that time? I can't always be myself and I just don't know who I'm supposed to be. Honestly, Claire, I'm the worst person to ask. So how am I supposed to decide which path to take? Which answer do you want? The one that's going to make you feel better or the truth? I don't know. Then my answer is neither do I. Thanks(!) I miss you, Claire bear. PHONE BEEPS TYRES SCREECH PHONE RINGS Doyle! Freeze! Put your hands over your head. HE PANTS Whatever you say. When are you gonna learn? I have this effect on women. Doyle... I'm giving you a chance to surrender. I should kill you... but I just want to go back to the way life was. All right, Doyle. Barbie! Mrs Petrelli. My name is... Mr Danko. I was hoping you could help me. Well, everything I know about the people you're after is in the Primatech files. I'm not interested in files. Elle Bishop, Hiro Nakamura, Matt Parkman, all inherited abilities from their parents, as did Peter and Claire. Well... genetics is an extremely complex topic, Mr Danko. Did you know that two blue-eyed parents can sometimes have a brown-eyed child? So...Nathan... ..was the misfit? Sometimes these things skip a generation. I don't believe you. I've met many men like you, Mr Danko. My company employed dozens of them. No family, nothing to hold you back, operate in the shadows, doing all the awful things other people just refuse to do. That's what makes you useful. And expendable. Really? That incident in Angola. 1997, I believe. All those civilians lost. Tragic. I'm surprised you survived, actually. You're a very... resourceful woman, Mrs Petrelli. A man needs a hobby, something to occupy the hands, to stop the mind from thinking so much. I fix watches. Watches? Thought it would make my father happy. How did that work out for you? You're still clinging to that need for connection, huh? The only thing people are good for is... disappointment. Is that why you killed my mother? Why you abandoned me? I don't even remember. Didn't matter to me. So few things do. Well, now what? Cut the thread. Go on. Ow! How did you do that? It's just an ability I picked up from a cheerleader in California. I guess not everybody gets old. Not everybody dies. Then you just have that much longer to suffer, don't you? HE COUGHS Get that over there on that cabinet, if you don't mind. Sure. What the hell are you doing? It's amazing how it comes right back - that desire, that hunger. You think this is gonna stop me? You think you can beat me? I want that power! WHISTLING I thought you'd given up. Yeah, well, me too. Then why bother? What's the point? Immortality. You're my second chance. At what? Killing again? You said it was meaningless. It was. Then why make the same mistake twice? Because I'll get it right this time. Do more, BE more, take every challenge. Fight hard, risk it all. Take real power, real authority. Change everything, the world, just to see if I can. Oh...! You can move. I can. You're the hunter - I thought you would know when someone was playing possum, when the prey isn't so weak... ..so easy. HE GASPS Please! I need...that power. I don't wanna die. No, no, no, of course not. Of course you don't. It won't kill you if I...take it. You'll heal. You'll be fine. Yeah, but so will you. No...don't...leave. Like I said, I came here to kill you. I got the answers I wanted. Now I know exactly what I need to do. Kill me. Oh, you're gonna die - slowly, painfully, and alone with your sickness. Please! Don't. I'm sorry. You're just small game. Turns out the President didn't really need that much proof after all. It's a signed document. You're finished. You lose me, you lose the whole team. That's a risk I'm prepared to take. In fact, anyone who's not on board can step out now. You're heading a reset on the whole operation just because of me? I think it's time things were done correctly. You may have friends now, Petrelli, but one day you're gonna find yourself all alone. You went to the President? Mm-hmm. And he is eager to meet Danko's replacement. Coming? So you're the man with the plan. I sure hope you have something good to share with the President. It's a bit unorthodox but it's tested. Look, it's over. Just let it go. When are you going to understand? Bureaucracy, oversight, rules of conduct - none of it applies in my world. I don't know what your world is, but it ought to be shut down. Danko, take it easy! I've seen what these people can do and it scares me. The thing about you, Senator, is that, through all this, you've never once shown an ounce of fear. I wonder...why is that? I don't have time for this. Tell me you didn't know about this. This is it. Your new identity, everything you need to start over. Rebel's erased any trace of Eric Doyle. You saw me spare that agent's life. Is that it? Have I earned your help? This isn't about you. This is about me, about who I need to be right now, and I don't... Just take it. Thanks, Barbie. Did you mean all that stuff you said, about how you'd changed? TRANSLATED FROM JAPANESE: Finally! I quit, and it takes the service two hours to find a replacement?! Well, don't just stand there. Come in, I'm desperate! Excuse me, please. We are looking for Matt Parkman. No, duh(?) Anyway, he's a mess. Here you go. Diaper's clean but that won't hold. Take it. Take it! No, thank you. Now! Whoa, hey, wait! We are here to save Matt Parkman. Uh-huh. You're holding him. Matt Parkman. Lots of luck. You're gonna need it. And by the way, this babysitting service bites! Generations unfold, father to son, mother to daughter. Where one leaves off, the other follows, destined to repeat each other's mistakes, each other's triumphs. For how do we see the world if not through their lens? The same fears, same desires. Do we see them as an example to follow or as a warning of what to avoid? Choosing to live as they have, simply because it's what we know, or driven to create our own identity? And what happens if we find them to be a disappointment? Can we replace them, our mothers, our fathers? Or will destiny find a way to drive us back, back to the familiar comforts of home? INAUDIBLE Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air.