Once she was calmed down and more like herself, Claire would probably feel a bit awkward from the hug. Anyone who knew of their history wouldn't blame her for that either. However at the moment, she felt nothing more than gratitude. She didn't want to admit it, and truly felt that by keeping everyone out she was ultimately protecting them, but she needed comfort at the moment. She needed to know that her fears weren't coming true and that she wasn't some sort of monster that everyone wanted to bring down.
Just like Sylar used to be.
"You're not like that anymore." The words were soft-spoken but no less true. She peered up at him with a small, stubborn frown that refused to consider an alternative to what she was saying. What she knew to be true. "You've changed."
The only problem was that if he could change for the better, what was keeping her from changing for the worst? It was a question she didn't have an answer for and it was one she had been terrified to ask. Now, though, she knew. Nothing. Absolutely nothing was keeping her from turning into the very thing she feared. Nothing was stopping her from losing touch with humanity. And eventually, when enough time had passed, the thought of shooting herself wouldn't even cross her mind.
"What if you're wrong?"
Her voice sounded small. Frightened. She hated it, hated sounding as weak as she felt. Clearing her throat, she tried again. It wasn't much better the second time, though. Just a little less of a waver and a whole lot more trepidation.
"I don't feel pain. I don't even remember what pain used to feel like. I-I look around at everyone and I know that there's a part of them, a part of living, that I can't experience anymore. So what if the... whatever it was that I experienced turns out to be true and I lose the rest of what it means to empathize with others? It isn't like it didn't happen to some other version of me, already."