Pam’s eyes widened at the small ball of fire revolving slowly in the palm of her bandaged hand. She flexed her fingers and the flames shot up a little but still remained controlled. She tilted her head to the side curiously and closed her eyes tightly, then opened them again.

Nope, the fire was still there.

She was shook out of her stupor by a loud banging on the door. She jumped and immediately closed her palm, extinguishing the flame that had floated there moments before.

She sat and stared at the door with wide eyes, her heart pounding. She stood up slowly as another frantic banging came from behind the solid wood.

“Ms. Beesly?” She heard a vaguely recognizable voice and peered through her peephole with caution. She was surprised to see a dark skinned man shuffling on his feet with a worried look on his face.

She bit her lip and opened the door, not realizing that there were still tears fresh on her cheeks and her hair was in a curly mass on the top of her head. The man took a half step back and looked at her with wide eyes.

“Ms. Beesly?”

“Yes?” She answered the question as if she were unsure herself. The man seemed to visibly deflate in front of her and he gave a small half smile.

“My name is Mohinder. I spoke with you earlier on the phone. It’s just; you have to listen to me. There are people who can cause you harm because of your gift. You hung up on me earlier before I could-”

Pam reached forward quickly, grabbing Mohinder by the wrist and pulling him in. He stumbled across the doorstep, letting out a small noise of surprise. Pam shut the door quickly behind them and turned to face Mohinder, her back to the door, her eyes wide and frantic.

Mohinder looked at her carefully, apprehension shining in his bright brown eyes. “Did something happen? Was there an attack?”

Pam looked confused for a moment, her eyes glazing over and then she rapidly shook her head, averting her eyes to the wine glass on the floor. She rushed over to it and closed her eyes, tipping her head back and draining the rest in a single gulp. She half turned to Mohinder on the way to her small kitchen.

“Would you like a glass?”

“No, Pam, actually, I don’t understand exactly what’s going-“

Pam stuck her head out of the small doorway that lead to the kitchen. “I have powers. Like you said.” She looked down at the floor for a moment, swallowed heavily and then whispered to herself. “I have powers.”

She let out a small, humorless chuckle and retreated back into the kitchen. Mohinder raised an eyebrow and walked over to the opening where he watched her bustle around, trying to find an open wine bottle.

“I mean, come on. I’m a receptionist for God’s sake.”

“Save the receptionist, save the world.”

Pam froze and looked over her shoulder at a smirking Mohinder, giving him an incredulous look.

“What does that even mean?”

Mohinder looked down, studying his fingers on the pale counter top. “You kind of had to be there.” He muttered half-heartedly.

Pam went back to her search for a wine bottle and soon found one in the top back corner of one of her cabinets.

“I answer phones. I can’t, I mean, this just isn’t even probable. I know, I am going crazy. And you, and this list, and these flaming balls of fire are all some freaky hallucination.”

She popped open the wine bottle and took a swig, closing her eyes and balancing herself with her free hand.

Mohinder leaned forward onto his elbows. Pam looked at his stance for a moment, slowly lowering her wine bottle and was instantly reminded of sharing secret jokes, his laugh in her ear, and his hands clutching hers.

“Flaming balls of fire?” He asked carefully.

She blinked her eyes and looked up at him, meeting his steady gaze. “Yeah, fire.”

She wiggled her eyes obnoxiously and smiled slightly.

He pushed himself up off of his elbows and maneuvered himself around the counter so that he could face her. She looked at him warily, clutching her bottle to her chest protectively. He searched her eyes for a moment.

“I know this is terrifying for you. This is all happening so fast and it is so,” He chuckled slightly and scratched the back of his head. “So unbelievable. I understand that. But you must know this is a gift. And there is no use in denying it because you will only hinder yourself. You can do remarkable things Ms. Beesly, you just have to let yourself.”

She looked at him and felt her chin wobble. “But I’m not special.”

He smiled and let out a small sigh. “Oh Ms. Beesly,” He whispered. “I think the universe thinks a little differently than you.”

She put down her wine bottle and wiped under her eyes, turning her back to Mohinder and reaching for a paper towel. She discreetly smoothed back her hair and turned back to face him. She cocked her head to the side and squinted at him.

“You drove four hours from New York?”

He smiled and leaned back against the countertop, bracing himself on either side. “Trust me, I’ve gone farther. I needed you to know what you could do. And I needed you to know the dangers. You didn’t exactly give me time on the phone.”

“Yeah,” Pam scratched her forehead. “Sorry about that. This is all a bit overwhelming.” She paused. “There are dangers?”

Mohinder opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by another set of frantic knocking at the door. Pam looked over his shoulder, her brow knit in confusion. Mohinder mirrored her look.

“Were you expecting someone?”

Pam stepped around him, biting her thumbnail. “I wasn’t even expecting you. Hold on a moment.”

She shuffled over the door and peered through the peephole. She saw a familiar set of shaggy hair and a pair of green eyes. She took a deep breath and swung open the door.

“Pam, oh thank God, I tried your phone like twenty times. Listen, I need to talk to you about-“

He was already stepping in but froze when he saw her appearance. Her eye make-up was smudged and her eyes were still puffy and red from crying. Her hair had managed to still fly away at awkward angles, even after her half-hearted attempt to smooth it down.

“What happened?”

He reached forward and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and she moved away at his touch, taking a step back. He let his hand fall by his side as she readjusted her sweater.

“Jim, this really isn’t a good time.”

“But Pam,” His eyes were pleading. “We can’t keep doing this. We can’t keep moving around each other like neither of us exists. We need to talk about,” He struggled to find the words. “Things.”

“Jim, I’m telling you, now isn’t a good time. I promise, we will talk, just not tonight.”

“Pam-“

Mohinder stepped out of the kitchen just as Pam was reaching for the door to let Jim out. Jim completely froze, his face forming a surprised ‘oh’. Mohinder looked at Jim’s blank stare, and Pam’s apprehensive glance, and took another careful step forward.

“Uh, hello?”

Jim’s neck tensed and his face formed a stony glance. “Hey.” He swallowed hard and turned to look at Pam. He nodded firmly. “Yeah, we will talk later.”

He turned and opened the door, grandly walking out, his hands shoved in his pockets.

Pam half rolled her eyes and followed him. She jogged to catch up to his quick pace and put a steadying hand on his forearm. He stopped, looking at the ceiling.

“Jim-”

He snapped his neck down to meet her eyes. “So, all of that stuff you said? None of it was true, was it?”

She searched his eyes and glanced at his tense jaw. She let some of her own indignation melt away. “You know I wouldn’t do that. Especially to you.”

“How can you mean what you said when you have someone already? How can you judge me and Karen’s relationship when you have your own? I’m not the only one trying to convince themselves of something that doesn’t exist, Pam. You know what, it doesn’t matter. You can do whatever you want.” His jaw tensed again and he refused to meet her eyes.

“It isn’t like that.” She said carefully in a quiet, deliberate voice. “And I’ve never judged you for being with Karen.”

He raised his eyebrow at her and she tried her best to bite back a smile but one forced itself out any way.

“I just don’t understand what you want, Pam. And every time I think I know for sure, you say or do something to prove me otherwise. Maybe, maybe we were both wrong.”

“Wrong about what?” She whispered.

He met her gaze and looked at her with intensity. She could see the months of pain, the months of wanting, the months of lies and hurt. She could see everything she felt intensified and highlighted with the green of his eyes. She held his gaze and felt tears build up in her own. He looked away, retreating to the elevator at the end of her hall.

“Jim-“ She reached out her hand and gently grasped his forearm. He froze, his entire body tensing.

“Please, Pam.” He looked down at the elevator floor. “I can’t.”

She backed out of the elevator and he met her eyes briefly as the doors closed on his face. She closed her eyes tightly and clenched her jaw.

She slowly walked back to her apartment and slid in, closing the door behind her. Mohinder was standing in the same position as she had left him. She kept her eyes trained on the floor in front of his feet.

“I think I’ll come to New York with you.”