A/N: Just wanted to let you guys know that while I essentially see this fic as a follow up to "More Pain Than It's Worth," I'm attempting to write it so you don't have to read that to understand it. I just kinda felt like it wasn't finished, and this is what I came up with. It is slightly AU, and I have a feeling that some of the characters are going to seem a bit OOC at times (which I sincerely apologize for). I'm still hammering out a lot of the plot, so please, bear with me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes, nor do I own any of the characters in the TV show. This fic is written merely for entertainment purposes only. I do not gain any profit from it, and no copyright infringement is intended.

For the first time in over 100 years, the small city of Odessa, Texas was sent into pandemonium. Out of nowhere, alarms began sounding... alarms that hadn't sounded since the last world war. Were those... yes, they were radiation alarms. But, what could cause so much radiation without appearing on the radar?

Naturally, such an event was immediately reported to the president, who was currently in treaty negotiations with the European Union. Instantly, hostilities between the ever suspicious super powers flared, and the event was immediately called off, with each power going to red alert. Ever since the unstable peace treaty had been signed, they'd been looking for a way to get the other in trouble. Now, with the US accusing the EU of a radiological attack and the EU denying it, both countries were readying themselves for a possible war.

In the meantime, a swarm of soldiers and scientists had descended upon the city, cordoning it off. No one in or out until they could find out what was going on. People were ushered into houses, hotels and virtually and location where they could be controlled. Soon enough, night descended, and the military declared martial law. No one was to leave where they currently were unless it was an absolute emergency, and even then, they'd be escorted by a team of soldiers. It was around 0300 that a major discovery was made.

"Sergeant, we've got two people here!" a random soldier yelled into the radio in his helmet. "One of them looks like they're shot! And radiation readings are off the chart here!"

Within five minutes, the small street in front of a sleek, futuristic home was teeming with soldiers and scientists. Gadgets and gizmos were beeping and buzzing as data was taken. As scientist took a closer look at the two people, he made a shocking discovery.

"They're still alive! My word, they're still alive! Someone get them medical care!"

It was standard protocol in the hospital to scan for identification chips once a patient was stabilized and settled in a room. Therefore, it was only natural for doctors and nurses to be perplexed when they couldn't find a chip in either of the patients. It had been a global mandate issued in 2152. Everyone was chipped. So, why weren't they? What did they have to hide?

Thus, they moved on to more archaic and primitive methods of identification- dental records and fingerprints. Even if they weren't chipped, they'd be on file somewhere. True, it'd take significantly longer to compare them to all the records on file, but they'd get ID'd one way or another. While they waited, though, the nurses set to doing what they did best- gossiping about the patients.

"Did you see that man?" one asked. "He must be some sort of poor person, what with the state of his clothes, all the stubble on his face and the callouses on his hands."

"But did you see the tags on his clothes?" Another countered. "Designer labels. They were a bit out of season, but they had to be expensive."

"I heard the girl was found with a syringe near her. Didn't we eradicate all illegal drugs?"

"They found a strange bullet in the man... part of it was made of glass. The surgeons spent a ton of time trying to get it all out of him."

Of course, to them, a ton of time was any amount of time longer than 30 minutes, seeing as most surgeries were now done by robots who could get the job done in sometimes mere seconds. Such was the world of medicine, though.

"I heard their blood-work came back with some really strange results."

"I heard the same thing... something about a really strange virus that they'd never seen before."

Out of nowhere, the computer beeped and one of the nurses walked over to it.

"We've got the ID results for the male. His name is-"

She was cut off as it beeped once more.

"The female's just came in too. Her name is-"

Once more, the computer beeped as yet another result came in. Within a few seconds, the computer was beeping out of control as it was flooded with results tracing back to the 1900s. Immediately, the nurse summoned a doctor, who summoned a soldier, who in turn summoned a scientist.

"This is impossible," the scientist said, rapidly sifting through all the data as he spoke. "Everyone has unique fingerprints. For these two people to have records spanning over three centuries is just completely madness."

"So, what do you suggest we do?" the soldier asked, shifting his weapon unconsciously. The scientist looked up and pushed his glasses further up his nose before answering.

"I-... I believe we need to turn them over to a higher authority."

"Like what? The police?"

"No. The government."

Several hours later, two unconscious bodies were pushed down a long corridor on stretchers, followed by a large medical team and several armed guards. The corridor was one of many in a secret government base located under Washington DC. Though there were many theories about it, very few people definitively knew that the base existed.

A man in a smart suit stepped out of his office and met up with the large group. They got the two people settled in individual rooms and then convened in a large conference people. Immediately, the man made sure it was clear that he was the boss by standing at the head of the table. He leaned forward some, his fingers touching the cold metal surface.

"All right, people. Lemme hear what you got."

One man in a lab coat stood up and opened two files.

"We've got one male and one female, both of whom are exhibiting a strange history and interesting medical work."

"How strange of a history?"

"We're talking a history that spans over three centuries, Sir," a new woman answered. "Bank records, job history... hell, we've even got them on file."

"We've got them on file?"

"Yes sir. We do."

She reached in her briefcase and produced two large manila files and a computer disk.

"Everything we have on them."

The man took them, and turned to the large group of people in front of him.

"I want round the clock surveillance. Do not let either of them wake up... constant sedation. And for God's sake, don't let them get away." He paused, looking at each person individually. "This could be the moment we've been waiting for."

A couple of hours later, the man sat down at his desk and flipped open the manila files while putting the disk in his computer. An array of data and profiles was displayed before him. Sighing, he turned to his computer.

"Computer, read profile for file number one."

A pixelated image of a man with dark eyes and hair was projected in the center of the room.

"Subject Case File ID: Gabriel Gray. Known aliases: Sylar. Nationality: American. Date of Birth: Unknown."

The man tuned out as the computer continued to read through the basic information.

"Unique ability: Intuitive aptitude."

The man looked up as the computer rambled on, shock in his eyes. Where had he heard that before?

"Computer, stop read."

The voice fell silent, and the man flipped through the file before him. Was this... yes. They'd alluded to him when they'd chosen him for this position. Supposedly, he couldn't be caught. And yet, here he was, right in their base.

"Computer, read file two."

"Name: Claire Bennet. Known Aliases: Claire Butler. Nationality: American. Date of Birth: Unknown. Year of birth: 1990. Unique ability: Cellular regeneration."

Immediately, the man picked up his communicator and signaled for the director.

"Director, this is Bennet. We've found them."