The Beauty Underneath
Summary: 'Where others have shunned me, you can see the beauty underneath.' Sylar wants to get his game back. Can Gabriel and Peter stop the demon within before he kills again? Multi-chaptered, crack with angst.
Pairing/characters: Peter/Sylar (Gabriel), other Heroes characters.
Author's note: Part One is mostly crack, as in the cross-dressing Sylar kind of crack, with some serious bits. Part Two focuses on an angsty, internal Sylar versus Gabriel battle culminating in a boss fight, with some humour and a bad romance with Peter. Oh boy, yes.
This story is set post Season 4, and is dedicated to petrelli heiress and queenoftheoutlands, who encouraged me to write this.
Warnings/spoilers: Split personality Gabriel and Sylar, creepy, cross-dressing Sylar, angst, crack, medium level violence and slash in Part Two.
Disclaimer: This fan fic is based on Heroes. Title is a song from Phantom: Loves Never Dies. Cross-dressing Sylar inspired by the fan fics 'Mistakes, Regrets, and Pleasant Surprises' by SarahSupaStar, 'To Boldly Go' by petrelli heiress, and the film 'Just Like a Woman', starring Adrian Pasdar as a transvestite. Yes, really. I don't own any of the above.
Part One
She was so beautiful. Sylar stared at the Primatech surveillance footage, enraptured by the young woman's beauty and her deep, dark secret. Soon, she would be his, and he would steal her power.
Nikita Longgren, 22. Finnish. Political science student, and national beauty pageant winner. Ability: Persuasion.
That was what the Primatech file said. Persuasion was Eden McCain's ability, but unfortunately he had been unable to study her brain due to its extensive damage. But now he had a new toy to play with.
Gabriel thought he had won, but turning himself towards the good side, but Sylar could not have any of that. He broke down Gabriel's defences, day by day.
Now Sylar was in control, back to creating a perfect world for himself.
He could trap Nikita in a quiet place and let the true face of evil be the last thing she ever saw. But a particularly sadistic side of him wanted to have fun. He would shapeshift into another beauty queen, and get close enough to her to absorb her ability. Then he might kill her just for kicks. No one would ever see it coming.
In the secrecy of his Den of Supervillain Kickassry, he shapeshifted into a 22 year old woman. Hmm, too blonde. Eyes are too big. He tried many different looks, but finally settled on brunette, brown eyes, a round nose and heart shaped lips. Except for the thinner eyebrows, longer hair and feminine jawline, the new look was the perfect female version of himself. When you were the most handsome man in the world, why mess around too much?
Azaria Quinto, 22. Paralegal from New York City, aspiring to become a hot-shot lawyer, among the best in the world. Look out.
Sylar always liked the name Azaria, so it was natural choice for his cover. Quinto was taken from the side of a packet of biscuits, being the product's manufacturer. Admiring his female form in the full length mirror, he wondered if he could legally marry his female self. He tipped his head back and laughed at the absurdity. Mother would be so proud! He became sad briefly, thinking about how she died, before he smiled and pouted cutely.
Suddenly, a tiny figure of himself wearing white, complete with a halo and angel wings appeared above his right shoulder. 'Don't do this, Gabriel," Miniature Gabriel said. 'This isn't you. You're one of the good guys. You look pretty, but if that beauty is only skin deep then you haven't found redemption at all.'
A figure appeared above Sylar's right shoulder, dressed all in black and possessing devil's horns. 'Very good, Sylar. Let the Hunger consume you. One more victim. Just one more victim.'
Sylar stood up, and shapeshifted back to his natural appearance. He glared at the mirror images of mini Gabriel and mini Sylar. 'Shoo, both of you. I have work to do.' They both disappeared in puffs of smoke.
Over the next few months, Sylar taught himself to apply makeup and to walk in high heels. It wasn't easy at first but his intuitive aptitude eventually kicked in to make his learning much easier. He tried on many different dresses (as Azaria) at the shops, and the sales assistants always complimented Azaria on her beauty and her 5'11" figure. The plan was coming together.
Azaria won the regional, then the national Miss Harmony beauty contest by a landslide. Excellent. Shortly, Azaria would be off to Los Angeles for the international contest, and there would be Nikita Longgren, all wrapped up nicely for Sylar to claim. Sylar rubbed his hands in nefarious glee, and bought a plot-growing-in-a-pot, only $14.95 from Green Garden. That was a bargain. After shopping, he went back to working on his evil plan to take another ability.
A cross-dressing Sylar scares me a lot, just so you know. Please review, even if it is just to tell me that I deserve to be locked in a padded cell. LOL.