Why do I get these ideas when I should be studying for tests? Oh well. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. I don't intend this to be a series, but I have another exam next week so you never know.

Disclaimer:

"About the most originality any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgement" -Josh Billings

BEFORE YOU READ -- Don't ask where Peter got this power, assume that he's taken from someone, remember that he has the same hunger Sylar had. I didn't want to go into detail about it as it is not pertinent to this story.

It all started with Peter.

He was messing with all the strings, trying to find the one to cut out. It wasn't quite as simple as that. If you took one out, others would follow in a cascade effect. Peter needed to stop meddling. Because his string was pulling very tight against everyone else's.

Sylar dragged his fingers across the wall as he wondered down the hall. Noah Bennet was trying to kill him. No surprise there. So was Peter Petrelli, with his own damn ability. That one threw a wrench in his plans. Can't go cold turkey with such an unyielding show of raw power staring you down.

He stopped walking at that moment, letting his arm drop to his side. Peter was standing at the end of the hall...staring him down. He decided to go with his best offense: the truth.

"You can't keep changing the future Peter." His voice echoed through the hall. He slowly walked closer until he was almost nose to nose with Peter.

"I think I can change your mind." Peter grabbed Sylar by the shoulders and in the blink of an eye they were standing on a patch of scarred earth that went as far as the eye could see. Sylar turned his attention back to the man in front of him.

"Where are we?" He could smell the salt in the air, somewhere near the coast.

"Costa Verde. Four years in the future." Well that certainly got his attention.

"What happened?"

"I'm glad you asked," Peter's voice was hard and angry. "Let me show you." He put his right hand on Sylar's head. Thumb on his temple, his other fingers curving down under his ears, just like Nathan used to do when he didn't have an answer.

Wait. What?

Something was off, but before he had time to ponder further he felt his feet grounded. Memories, he realized. He saw his arm raise to ring a door bell. He couldn't control it though and when the door opened he gave a jolt of surprise, or he felt it.

Peter. Peter was showing him his own memories. But why would he want to change this? He had family, control over his powers, and a nice house. The Bennet house to be exact. That was a kicker, he couldn't wait to see how that happened.

Things went downhill after that. He wanted to scream at his future self not to give Peter his ability. What good could come of that? The conversation went on. There was nothing he could change. Then everything got worse. He tried to clue into everything. Claire was trying to kill Peter and when she pointed the gun at his soon to be son, he felt his blood boil. Everything happened so fast and quickly stopped with his future self holding his dead son.

He saw Peter knock out the blonde woman and when he turned back, he saw himself ablaze with fury. He could feel the heat and the light in his eyes. He quickly remembered that it wasn't his own arms burning from the radiation, it was Peter's. Just like it was Peter's voice that screamed out to him in that last second, "GABRIEL!"

The force of the memory coursed through him as he and Peter collapsed onto the scorched earth. Peter was shaking from head to toe and he realized quickly that he was too. How could this...why did this happen? They had to stop it. The future wasn't set in stone, he knew that. They could change it for the better. Couldn't they?

He heard Peter retching and then take a few deep breaths. When he spoke his voice seemed distant, like he was trying to separate himself from his words.

"Do you see now?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Do you see why I would want to change the future? To save your son, you, and Claire and..." He stopped, choking on his words. Sylar waited.

"I killed him.." Peter broke down, his sobs echoing off the vast nothingness around them. Sylar finally spoke up.

"Who?"

He thought Peter wasn't going to answer, but he finally took a deep breath between sobs.

"Nathan." Peter choked out. "I killed him, in the future without even hesitating. I killed him, Gabriel. My own brother."

Before Peter collapsed again, Sylar grabbed him and pulled Peter against him while he tried to contain his own emotions. First Claire had softened him up and now this. Oh, yes. He was most definitely telling the truth about that. The girl...-his niece, had tried to kill herself exactly one thousand and sixty-four times and he felt the pain of every one of those attempts when he took her ability. And not just the physical pain.

Peter got handle of himself and finally looked up.

"I have to fix this." He stood up, brushing the soot off himself.

"I'll help you."

Peter gave him his hand and pulled him up and in the blink of an eye they were in Nathan's office. They had all the time in the world to fix this, but they weren't going to waste a second of it.

Nathan was looking out his office window and turned when he heard their footsteps. He froze when he saw who Peter was with.

"Peter, what's going on?"

Gabriel stayed where he was while Peter walked up to his eldest brother and placed his right hand on Nathan's head.

"I have something to show you."

Gabriel watched as Peter showed his brother the same memory as well as Nathan's own death. Nathan took a moment to collect himself. When he looked back up, there was a resolve in his features and Gabriel and Peter knew that he would help them.

It all started with Peter.

But Gabriel would damn well make sure that it didn't end with him.

AN: Please let me know what you think, good or bad!