Who: Nathan Petrelli, Claire Bennet, Brooke Dawson
When: Somewhere between 12:30 and 12:45 in the afternoon
Where: Brooke's apartment
What: Setting the record straight

She was just a kid, so why was he so nervous? He spent the majority of his time meeting with the top executives of all sorts of corporations, hoping they'd back him in this political race. He spent hours making promises about how he'd better the community and the city as a whole, even going as far as to make claims about what he could do for this country if he was given the chance to represent the grand state of New York by gaining a seat in Congress. He had a staff member for everything at his beck and call twenty four hours a day if he requested their assistance, and he was nervous about meeting with one teenage girl. It was unnatural and unacceptable. What frustrated him the most was that he knew he had to keep a level head. Claire would be emotional and confused, and Nathan would have to be the one to stand there and calmly explain to her that not only did they have no past, but they could have no future.

Compromising on this would be a fatal mistake. He'd already made up his mind about what had to be done, and yet his resignation could easily be shattered if he let what she had to say affect him beyond the surface. Usually that wouldn't be a problem. Peter was the only one in the Petrelli family with a huge heart. Speaking of Pete, Nathan was starting to realize that he might've come down a little too hard on the guy. This was his mess. Supposedly Ma had taken care of it, but even she hadn't seen this one coming. So why should Peter have suspected anything? It was just a highly stressful situation. Add that on top of the pressure he was already facing, and it was easy to become overwhelmed, which shortened his temper. Even someone as calm and collected as Nathan ran across rough patches, and this was one of them.

He'd made sure he wasn't followed before entering the building. From there, he began searching for the apartment number she'd given him. It didn't take long to find.

Once he stood just outside it, he removed his sunglasses and slid them into his pocket, then glanced at his watch: 12:42. Normally he was more punctual than this, but he'd had some last minute rescheduling to do. It's not like he was anxious to do this in the first place. At least he'd showed. But what choice did he have? He wasn't about to risk an infuriated Miss Dawson leaking this to the press out of spite. He didn't know her well enough to write off the possibility that she'd go through with something like that if he didn't speak to Claire. And perhaps a small part of him wanted to see his daughter one more time before he dismissed her from his life. Though eventually, she'd fly back to her home state of Texas and forget all about this: all about him. That's what he was counting on, anyway. Thinking along those lines made this easier.

He still hadn't told Ma. She always seemed to know what to do, but Nathan felt that he should personally deal with this one on his own. His mother couldn't shelter him forever, and she couldn't cushion the blow, not this time. It would hurt, but the pain would pass. Life would go on, and he'd continue doing what he felt he had to to keep his family going strong. Power and influence opened the door to a whole new world, and now that he'd gotten a taste, he couldn't let it go. The funny part about it all was that it wasn't just about ambition: it was about duty. He was the man of the house: the eldest son, the big brother, the husband. He had to take care of those already in his life. He didn't have the luxury of picking and choosing who he conversed with on a regular basis, no more than he could choose whether or not to embrace his only daughter.

After taking a deep breath to prepare himself for the task that lie ahead, he balled his hand into a tight fist and knocked on the door.