Heroes Episode 1.03 One Giant Leap

In the barren wasteland that is the Nevada desert, Niki digs up a skeleton wearing a bizarre ring. "DL, you son of a bitch," she says under her breath, "You actually did it." Then it's all business as she attacks the true task at hand: burying the two dead bodies stuffed in the trunk of her car.

Moral, mental, and social advancement for good deeds. That's the philosophy Jackie lays out to Claire's dad as the political platform she hopes to ride all the way to school president. Claire winces at her co-cheerleader's lies about rescuing a man from fire and at the way she flirts with her father.

Two days have passed since Hiro was last seen in the offices of Yamagoto Industries of Tokyo, Japan. Back at work, he fails to convince co-worker Ando that he transported himself five weeks into the future were he saw a nuclear blast obliterate New York City. To prove this seemingly impossible feat, Hiro reveals the "9th Wonders" comic book, which even includes a panel depicting the conversation he's having with Ando at this very moment.

At Nathan Petrelli's campaign headquarters, Peter tries to speak with his brother about his inability to fly again, but Nathan wants him to keep this to himself as busy staffers bustle about shoveling paper and false sincerity. Nathan is even less interested in a book that Peter shows him, a book on human genetics by Dr. Chandra Suresh, which claims that an undiscovered human gene may contain the potential for human flight.

Eden finds Mohinder tense and sweaty and desperately in need of sleep. For days, he's stayed awake trying to crack the strange code found on his father's portable hard drive. In a fit of frustration, Mohinder throws the laptop to the ground. With a crunch, the laptop spits out a secret: hidden inside is a small book with a key and an address for a man named "Sylar."

Simone wants to sell Isaac's paintings so she can get him into rehab with the money, but he refuses on both counts. All Isaac knows is that he must stop New York from vaporizing in a nuclear holocaust, and if Simone doesn't believe in him, she has to leave. She takes him at his word and storms from the apartment just as Isaac receives a call from a stranger in Japan.

Hiro finds a spot indicated in the comic book where a truck is about to smash into a young girl. Ando doesn't believe it, but then a group of girls approach, including one with a red bow in her hair, just like in the comic. Ando races into the street to warn off the truck, but it's Hiro who saves the day by stopping time and removing the girl out of harm's way while the world stands still.

Niki stops at her mother-in-law Paulette's house to confront her about calling social services to take Micah away. Niki defends herself by throwing DL in Paulette's face, but Paulette insists that "DL is a good man." Niki has evidence to the contrary. She shows Paulette the strange ring worn by a man that DL and his crew murdered. Paulette stands firm in her belief that DL was framed and is glad that he escaped from prison. Niki doesn't care. She wants Paulette out of Micah's life and threatens to tell the cops where the bodies are buried if she calls social services again.

Police officer Matt Parkman fails to convince Audrey that voices in his head revealed the name "Sylar." To prove his claim, he reads the thoughts that are going through her mind. Now believing him, she invites him to work with the FBI to help track down this psychopath. Audrey briefs Matt on the mysterious Sylar as they go to interview the girl he found earlier.

Sylar isn't home when Eden and Mohinder arrive, and Mohinder breaks in to have a look around. Eden notes that Sylar doesn't have any photos, but he does have a lot of books on philosophy, including a copy of Chandra's book. Mohinder stumbles into a secret room containing a map similar to Chandra's but with even more locations marked. In yet another room, the walls are scrawled in psychotic writing with the words "forgive me" smeared in blood.

Audrey walks Matt toward a saferoom where the little girl is being cared for. As they near, gunshots scream out and a man — Sylar, perhaps — drags the girl from the room. Audrey and Matt find the guard brutally murdered, and Audrey runs off to chase the man. Matt stays behind to look after the girl, who wonders silently to herself how he "found her," her voice reverberating in Matt's head.

Audrey corners the man in a utility corridor, but he uses the power of his mind to force her to put her gun to her own head. Matt arrives before she is forced to kill herself, and he fires at the man, hitting his target. But it does no good. The man heals in seconds and then is gone, vanished into the unknown.

As Hiro and Ando wing their way to the United States, Matt argues with his wife, Janice, and storms from their house. Arriving in Los Angeles, Hiro and Ando rent a car and head for Las Vegas, which is indicated on the final page of the comic book as their next destination.

Peter tells Simone that he's quitting his job as a nurse. Simone wants him to stay on to care for her father, but he feels that being a nurse is not what he is supposed to do, that he's meant for something bigger. Simone gets misty eyed as he walks away, hoping they'll meet again.

At a bonfire party after a victorious game, football quarterback Brody woos Claire to some out-of-the-way bleachers for a clandestine make-out session. When he goes too far she tries to stop him, but he won't take "no" for an answer. He throws her off the bleachers and onto the ground where he muffles her screams as he tries to rape her. She breaks from his grasp, but there is one thing from which she cannot escape. Falling backwards, Claire stumbles and is impaled by a wooden post that plunges through her neck, killing her on the spot.

On the way home, Micah wishes that his mom would believe that his father is innocent. She thinks that he'll be caught soon, but he disagrees. A siren interrupts their conversation. They're pulled over by a police officer who says that "Mr. Linderman" wants to see her.

At a fundraising event for his brother, Peter runs into Simone and confesses that he's been in love with her since the minute they met. She's dumbstruck, but their moment is interrupted when Nathan starts his speech, shocking everyone when he reveals that Peter's "accident" was really a suicide attempt in an attempt to spin this into political gold.

Thoughts from the bar patrons plague Matt's mind as he tries to drown his own sorrows, but when he focuses on a man sitting alone, the voices instantly silence and Matt crumples over to the soiled barroom floor. Meanwhile, in New York City, Mohinder brings the police to Sylar's apartment only to find it empty.

Outside the fundraiser, Peter takes a swing at his brother. Nathan explains that he had to take control of things before the press did, but Peter isn't buying his brother's machinations. Moments later, Simone finds Peter bleeding and stumbling away from the fight. She intuitively knows that he didn't try to kill himself and they head off together, kissing in the rain.

In the cold, lonely dark of the morgue, Claire coughs back to life. Her eyes blink open, she sees where she is, the slab she's resting upon, and looks down to find her chest ripped open, her ribcage exposed in a bloody gash.