[center]ECLIPSED[/center]

[center]Chapter One: An Unexpected Reunion[/center]

Zeke appeared out of no where.

It wasn't every day that someone appeared out of thin air, although it had become more common within the past two years. Now that random individuals had been acquiring strange powers recently, Zeke's appearance wasn't a terrifying shock. Being a time traveler, this was nothing new to him. Jumping through time was his favorite pastime; it was a thrill. It did, however, frighten the two individuals that stood in the laboratory he had jumped into.

One of them, a curly-headed man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties, he didn't recognize. The other was an older man – the one he had come to find. They were both startled by Zeke's sudden appearance, but they recovered quick enough; both had seen worse. They worked with super-powered human beings daily. Zeke knew this already. He could have easily figured it out if he hadn't, he assured himself.

The dark, curly-headed man seemed just a tad bit more afraid than his older counterpart – he jumped and backed away from Zeke, eyes wide and hands held up in front of him as if to fend off an attacker. His protective stance was comical in a way. Obviously he was on edge, and Zeke couldn't necessarily blame him.

"Who are you? What do you want?" The man spoke with a thick British accent even though he appeared to be of Indian heritage. Reaching behind him, and knocking over several vials and bottles in his haste, he grabbed a gun, pointing it fearfully at Zeke with an unskilled hand.

"I can handle this, Dr. Suresh," said the older man, and he waved him off without a second glance.

The name Suresh rang a bell in Zeke's mind. Wasn't he some sort of well-known geneticist from India? Hadn't he started this whole mess? Locating powered individuals had been his goal in life. He had written a book about it, hadn't he? [u]Activating Evolution[/u]. Or maybe that was his father, and he was a nobody.

Either way, it didn't matter. Suresh wasn't the man he was after. Arthur Petrelli was the one he had been sent to locate . . . The man who stood before him now – alive and well. Oh, if only Zeke could keep him that way. But altering the future was extremely difficult. He had a low chance of success.

Zeke smiled a strange half-smile, his blue eyes looking especially mysterious in the dimly-lit laboratory. His friends would recognize the expression to be a friendly one, but Arthur may mistake it for a veiled threat. Of course, he may not. Zeke didn't actually know what Arthur was thinking; he wasn't a mind-reader.

"Arthur Petrelli. It's nice to officially meet you," he said, extending a hand. Arthur shook it, much to his surprise.

"Who are you?" Arthur questioned once he had taken a step back. His words were stronger and more commanding than Suresh's; he was used to being in charge. Zeke admired that in a man.

"Zeke Wilson, and that's all you need to know about me."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Blunt honesty. Straightforwardness. I admire that. I would introduce myself, but I suppose you already know me." The old man folded his arms. "Tell me why you're here."

Zeke grinned again. "I'm here so you don't die."

Arthur Petrelli was suddenly very interested to hear what Zeke had to say. It was apparent due to the way his brow creased, and the manner in which he let his hands fall loosely to his sides. Maybe the man didn't want to die. Zeke couldn't blame him.

"Die?"

"Yes. A man named Gabriel Gray is going to kill you in approximately twenty-four hours. And you can't really count on Nathan to run your company when you're in the ground, can you?"

Arthur would be surprised. How did he know that Gabriel Gray was going to kill Arthur? How did he know that Arthur was leaving his eldest son, Nathan, in charge of his company? Arthur's next words echoed Zeke's thoughts.

"How do you know this?"

"Oh, I know some things. The real question you should be asking is ' how do I stop it'?" Zeke pulled a vial out of his back pocket and held it up for Arthur to examine. "This little elixir here has the power to solve all of your problems. You see, it can bring anyone back to life with a single drop."

"You're going to bring me back to life?"

"No, not exactly," Zeke said matter-of-factly. "If I brought you back to life, it would raise suspicion. Everyone would know, I would be in trouble, and the elixir's secret would never be safe." The young man raised a hand to push back a strand of brown hair. "I figure if we bring Elle Bishop back to life-"

"Elle Bishop?" Arthur snapped, his small eyes narrowing. "What good is she to me?"

"I was just getting to that, actually."

God, was this man impatient. He wouldn't let Zeke speak, for crying out loud. Did he enjoy the sound of his own voice? Interruptions had always been one of his biggest pet peeves. That and forward text messages . . . But that was a different story. Perhaps Zeke was being impatient himself.

Zeke continued speaking, his voice as musical as ever. "I figure if we bring Elle Bishop back to life, we may have a chance of stopping Gabriel."

"I'm listening."

Dr. Suresh, who had since then put down the gun and taken up a position behind Arthur, suddenly spoke up.

"You can't be serious, trusting him! How do you now he's telling the truth?"

Arthur didn't bother to turn his head and look at him. Instead, he muttered a sharp reply. "I thought you would have learned to put your faith in me by now, Doctor."

Suresh closed his mouth quick enough.

"As I was saying," Zeke said, as if he hadn't been interrupted a second time, "we use Elle as a decoy. She attracts Sylar's attention, he leaves you alone. Simple enough?"

Arthur stroked his chin for a moment, studying the situation from every angle. It was a good plan, and it just might work. If Zeke was telling the truth, that is. And if he really was going to die, how else would he prevent it? It was worth a try.

"I always thought it would be Peter," Arthur muttered, speaking mainly to himself.

Zeke said nothing, instead tossing the vial without warning to Suresh. The doctor clumsily caught it and cast Zeke his darkest look.

Zeke returned his black-eyed gaze, smirking yet again as if it were a natural thing for him to do. "Go find Elle Bishop."

That was easier said than done.

[center]* * *[/center]

Today he would finally know the truth. No more lies. No more deceit. The truth.

All Gabriel Gray had ever wanted was the truth. But in this world of lies, the truth was hard to come by. Everyone had lied to him. Angela, Arthur, Elle . . . They had all deceived him, stabbed him in the back in their own special ways. Angela and Arthur had used him for their own selfish gain, manipulating him, telling him that he was their son. He doubted that. Elle had known the truth about his parentage all along, and she had never told him. That's what he had killed her. At least, he liked to think that was the reason.

And now, because of all the lies, Gabriel Gray was Sylar again. A murderer, a villain bent on revenge. That's who he was; he knew that. Now that he had acquired the power of lie detection from a rather unwilling victim, he would finally know the truth. If Arthur lied to him, then he would die.

The elevator let out a loud 'ding' and Sylar let his arms fall to his sides, stepping out when the doors slid open. After hours of ceaseless driving and thinking, he was finally at Pinehearst – Arthur's lair. Actually, it was more like a place of business, but a place of shady business could be considered a lair. And it seemed as if he had stepped out of the elevator just in time . . .

Peter and Arthur Petrelli were waiting for him. It took Sylar a moment to realize what Peter was even doing there. He had come to kill his father. Did the two have similar goals? Sylar was caught by surprise to see a gun in Peter's hand. Peter the Hero. Peter the Savior. Why was he doing this? Murder wasn't something that Peter Petrelli enjoyed, was it? Arthur could be considered a 'villain' but still . . . Killing his own father? Sylar pushed the thought from his mind and took a step forward.

Peter didn't even noticed Sylar's entrance. His brown-eyed gaze was locked on that of his terrified father. His companion, the Haitian, stood behind him, preventing Arthur from using any of his abilities against Peter. That was the Haitian's power – blocking abilities. Sylar had experienced it's effect more than once before. Taking his eyes off of the Haitian, Sylar studied Peter. The young man's face was beaded with sweat, probably struggling to pull the trigger. After a while of staring Arthur down, he managed it, and the bullet spiraled towards the man as if in slow motion. That's when Sylar made his presence known.

Sylar took another step forward and extended his hand, catching the bullet in mid-air. The Haitian was unable to block his powers; he was far too exhausted from holding Arthur in thrall for more than five minutes. The man's power came at a price. And now Sylar held Arthur's life in his hands. The bullet was held suspended in the air as if by magic. He could send it hurtling towards Arthur at any time if he wished. But first he would learn the truth. Was Arthur his father, or had Sylar been lied to the whole time?

He was just about to ask when Elle Bishop walked into the room, not at all like she'd been dead for a day. In his surprise, Sylar's brown eyes widened and the bullet clattered to the ground, unnoticed. How was she here, standing in the doorway? Was he dreaming, or was this real? Hadn't he killed her? Sylar couldn't distinguish reality from fiction in that brief moment.

"Elle?" His deep voice came in no more than a whisper. He was too shocked to speak clearly. Sylar's eyes were on her; he didn't notice the faint smirk on Arthur's face, or the puzzled expression on Peter's. "How . . .?"

"I came here to stop you, Gabriel," said Elle, walking towards him. Their gazes never drifted from each other. "We have to leave. Now." She reached up a hand and gripped his still-suspended arm, forcing it down.

Sylar stared at her for a long moment, relishing in the sight of her. However much he had wished to kill her, a part of him still longed for her. While the two of them stood there, having a silent reunion, Arthur disappeared. There was no explanation for it. He simply vanished. Peter and the Haitian were the only ones who noticed his absence; they ran out of the room in search of him, leaving Sylar and Elle alone.

As if suddenly realizing that this couldn't be happening, Sylar snapped out of his trance and jerked away from her touch. "I killed you!"

"I'll explain everything later. Trust me."

"Trust you?" Sylar snarled. "You lied to me! About everything. I could kill you again!"

When Elle didn't respond, Sylar spun around to look for Arthur. He was gone. Now he may never know the truth . . .

"Gabriel," Elle said gently, grabbing his arm again. "Please, just let me explain. I'm just as pissed as you are about this whole situation. I lied to you, yeah. But only because you were happy, and I didn't want to see you get hurt again." She paused, her voice growing softer. "You were changing."

Sylar gripped her wrist roughly, pulling her face close to his in anger. "I can never change. I don't want to." He studied the frightened expression on Elle's beautiful face – the face that he had begun to miss. "I wanted to kill you."

"I don't care about that any more," she murmured, the tone in her voice unchanged.

"You're scared of me! You think I'm a monster!"

"I made you that way!"

Sylar opened his mouth to say more and closed it just as quickly. There were still so many questions left unanswered; this was getting them no where. How was Elle dead one night and alive the next? What kind of twisted nightmare was this?

"Let's get out of here," he said, releasing Elle. She stumbled away from him like a wounded animal, pushing a stray blond hair behind her ear while trying to compose herself. It hurt him to see her like that – vulnerable and afraid. He burned those thoughts and feelings from his mind.

"And go where?" Elle finally asked after a few seconds of unbearable silence. "You're a murderer, remember? It's not that easy to blend in and go unnoticed."

"I was doing just fine before you showed up, actually."

Elle rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, and for a moment it was just like old times. It seemed as if she were no longer afraid of him. "And to think I thought you would actually miss me," she whined.

Sylar crumbled; a pain-filled look contorted his features, but it was quickly replaced by pent up anger. "I don't know why I kept you around before."

"Was it because you [i]liked me[/i]?" Elle asked sarcastically.

"Shut up," said Sylar harshly, turning away from her. Elle didn't say anything, so he continued. "I'm leaving. You can follow me, or you can find Arthur." With that, he began walking, heading towards the elevator.

Elle stood there for a while to take a deep breath and wipe the tears from her eyes. There was no other alternative. She had to follow him.