~Chapter One~

Of all the people I could think of, he came to my mind. Not my parents, not my friends, not even the others I'd met that had abilities. I think the reason I thought of him was because we really are more alike than I wanted to admit, but also because he's never lied to me. I realize now after all this time spent waiting to die, the memory I had of him was nothing compared to this. This place, these people, they were even more monstrous than him, and I wished that someone, anyone even him would come and find me. Save me from this prolonged torment.

No one ever came, the faces I saw everyday were the same. One doctor would inject me with the same drug every three days and during those days, two men in white and one woman would use the many different cutting tools and cut through my flesh. At first I was glad that I could feel pain because it was what reminded me that I was still human, until I began passing out from the pain. I hated it, I hated the people, I hated where ever I was, and most of all I hated that no one seemed to care I was missing.

"Remove her restraints, I want her brought to the lab." I'd been in and out of it until a bright light was right in front of my eyes. I tried to push it away and that had resulted to restraints once more. "Hold still." As groggy as I'd ever been, I knew the doctor was examining me. "She's good, put her in a new room though." Once again I was moved by hard rough hands and put in an all white room, What's with all the white? My head and my body seemed to be fending off the last of the drugs they'd given me and I managed to pick myself up. I walked to the window and looked through it.

Literally everything was white, althought I could see a calender that stood out. It couldn't be right though, if the date is correct then that means I've been here for three months. I wanted to cry, I lost three months of my life to these asshole experimenting idiots. Angrier than I'd ever been, I wanted to break the window, I wanted to be able to hurt them so badly that they would never recover. Because then they would know how I felt. But I couldn't, I wasn't that person. I would never stoop to their level.

I couldn't take this anymore, finally I broke down. Crawling onto the bed I began to cry. Cry for the people I would never see again, cry for myself because I have become the one person I never wanted to be. Just when I was close to falling asleep, a horrible sound rang in my ears. Covering my ears, it only got louder. But how? unless the door behind me was open.

Before I had the chance to roll over and look, a pair of hands touched me and I tried to make them let go of me. "Claire!" In my struggle, I stopped at the sound of the voice I heard. There was no way, but as I looked up into those warm brown eyes of his I knew who it was. Sylar. His hands held my shoulders firmly and he looked right back at me. This had to be a dream, maybe this wasn't really happening. "Can you walk?" I shook my head without a second thought and in one quick movement I was in his arms. I'm dreaming, it's just a dream. Come on Claire, wake up. "This isn't a dream Claire, I'm getting you out of here."

Did Sylar just read my thoughts? But there was no way unless he killed Matt. "No, I didn't. Lydia shared her ability with me and now that I have it, I don't have to kill people." Don't have to kill people? Or don't want to anymore? I was seriously confused and decided to just stop thinking about it. Sylar was here and he was saving me. I was getting out of this hellhole after three long, exhaustingly painful months. All of it was literally fading behind me as Sylar walked right out of the building.

"Claire." I must have fallen asleep, rubbing my eyes to see Sylar looking back at me. Everything was coming back to me, it felt like a dream but I knew that it wasn't. "Where are we?" "Somewhere safe." "How do I know you're not going to cut my head open again?" "I would never do anything like that to you again. I'm not that man anymore." "You really expect me to believe that?" "Just ask your uncle Peter. He played a major part in helping me." "What did he do that helped you so much?" "He forgave me."

"Where are we, the Appalachian mountains?" "Close enough. We're about fifty miles west." Well who would have thought, Sylar has surprised me with the beauty of Pennsylvania. Maybe in a shorter time than I thought, he may just have my forgiveness. I was slowly liking the changes I saw in Sylar. But he was still the man I'd known who killed my parents, and hurt me in more ways than I can count. Although when he'd come to me back at college, the words he'd spoken I had taken to heart.

Sylar did want to be different, I could hear it in his voice. He needed something, more specifically someone to be his anchor. Was it possible that when he said he needed a connection, needed a friend, that I was that very person? If indeed I am, he would need my forgiveness sooner than later. Which meant that I needed to keep an open mind in the time I was spending here with Sylar.

I woke to the smell of food and the light of the sun that pierced my eyes upon waking up. Getting up, and heading downstairs, I saw Sylar in the kitchen, he was cooking and it smelled delicious. "Good morning Claire." "I wasn't sure you heard me." "I have enhanced hearing, a pin could drop from over a mile away and I would hear it. Are you hungry?" I found it funny that he asked me after putting the food onto a plate. "Yes, thank you." I sat down at the table and he put the plate down in front of me. One bite and I was in heaven.

After I'd finished eating, I cleaned up. "Sylar?" He'd diappeared. One minute he was in the kitchen with me and the next he's just gone. "Sylar?" I searched throughout the house, not a trace of him. "Oh my god, Sylar!" Out of desperation I dropped to the ground and started to cry. I wanted Sylar back, and didn't care about anything else. He'd saved me from that place, and now it was happening all over again. This was how it starts, a special goes missing and you never see them again.

"Claire? I heard you calling me, I was just out getting wood for the fire place. Claire?" I was numb, did I really just hear his voice? or was I dreaming? Lately I feel like I've been dreaming everything. Dreaming that Sylar saved me, fed me, clothed me and gave me a place to live. "Claire, where are you?" That was his voice, I knew it. But I was stuck, I couldn't move. That was when I realized I was feeling pain. The drugs hadn't fully worn off, I wasn't numb. I was cold and freezing. "Oh my god, Claire!"

Sylar once again came to my rescue, I was now sitting on a thick fur rug by a roaring fire with a blanket wrapped around me and I had a cup of steaming hot chocolate. I'd been leaning against the bricked side of the fire place and sipping from my cup when Sylar came over. "How are you feeling?" "Luke warm." "I'll go get some more blankets." He left the room and came back in less than two minutes with two really thick, but soft blankets. Sylar wrapped one around me and I didn't feel much warmer.

"These were the only other two I could find." Just as he'd let go of the blanket, his hand barely touched mine and he was radiating so much heat. The little heat I felt in that small touch was more than the blankets and fire and hot cocoa combined. I looked up at him as he sat back. "What's that look for?" Without thinking I set my cup down and shoved off the blankets all to reach my hand out and touch him. My hands warmed up quickly. "I know how this must sound, but would you just hold me?"

Sylar certainly looked confused. He sat with his legs open, so I sat myself in front of him and leaned my head on his chest. Much like before when he'd carried me. I could tell he'd gone stiff for a moment, but then he relaxed and wrapped his arms around me. I wouldn't trade this moment for anything else. After so long of hating Sylar for the things he'd done, he was making up for it and I had to give him that. He was indeed slowly gaining my trust, and soon my forgiveness.