Sylar couldn't stop thinking about her, no matter how hard he tried. He tried to remain focused on the task at hand; tracking down and stripping people of their abilities. Maya, how he missed her. He remembered her laying there, bleeding to death, just after he had shot her. He remembered feeling sad at having shot her; masking that fact in front of the others. Even using the guniea pig excuse as a way of saving her. He believed Mohinder had the cure, he just wanted to make sure Maya was saved too. When had he become so vulnerable?
Perhaps it was when he awoke to her concerned face, looking down at him in the hot sun. In that moment, he thought he had died, and by some miracle wound up at the wrong place. She was a vision, and for as naive as she was, he couldn't help but adore her.
As Sylar left Solomon's apartment and city behind, he had but one desire; to visit Maya.
As he approached Mohinders apartment, he thought about what to say. He had waited until everyone had left, wanting to be alone with Maya. He knew she had been staying with Mohinder, as she knew no one else in New York. Sylar wondered if she had been cured yet. He knocked on the door, then turned and focused his ability on flowers. A bright bouquet bloomed to life in his hands.
"Hello?" Maya called out, unable to see past the blocked peephole.
"Please open the door, Maya," Sylar said. "I promise I am not here to hurt you, I just want to see you."
"Gabriel?" she asked cautiously. "You shot me!"
"Maya, I'm sorry," he said as soothingly as possible. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I knew Mohinder would bring you back. I had to save everyone from you, you were about to kill us all."
"Go away!" She shouted at him. "You killed Alejandro!"
"It was in self defense," he lied. "He attacked me and threatened to have me arrested."
"Dr. Suresh has told me all about you, Gabriel. Or should I call you Sylar?"
"I couldn't help myself, just like you Maya. You showed me that I'm not all alone in this. Please, let me in so we can talk."
"You just want my power!" she hissed. "Well, I have news for you, it's gone! Dr. Suresh has cured me, so I am no good to you."
"That's not why I'm here, Maya. I miss you, I mean you no harm."
Something in his voice must have assured Maya he was telling the truth because he heard the chain unhook. A second later, the door opened. She stared up at him, tears in her eyes. She really had been cured. She opened the door and allowed him to enter.
Sylar took her in his arms, hugging her close as he shut the door behind him. "Come with me," he said quietly. "I need you."
She shook her head and pulled away. "No! What you have done is unforgiveable."
He handed her the flowers and took her free hand in both of his. "I know. I want to change, but I need you for that."
She stared at the flowers, then at him. Her tears flowed freely now and she made no attempt to fight them. "You mean that?"
"Yes."
She nodded, leading him to the couch. "I have missed you too, Gabriel." She sat down, pulling him next to her. She leaned against him for comfort. "I am all alone now. You took Alejandro away from me, but I took everything away from him before that. I love you."
He held her close, cringing a little at those last words. Did he love her too? Was he even capable? "We have to go," he told her. "Before they return. They want me dead."
She nodded. "I will come with you, Gabriel. But you have to promise me you are going to change."
"I promise," he whispered. "We can start a new life."
They entered Sylar's apartment, and Maya's nose wrinkled in disapproval. "Just needs a woman's touch," she teased him lightly.
He smiled. "Do whatever you want to it, this is your home now," he told her.
She moved in to him, kissing him passionatly for the first time in weeks. Sylar hesitated, then returned the kiss. She wrapped her arms around him, and he moved with her to the bed. They fell unto it together, her giggling softly as they bounced.
Chapter 2
It had been two months. Not much had changed, Maya just didn't know it. Sylar told her he had an honest job, and left daily to go to "work". Work for him was another apartment he rented soon after she moved in. Here he spent eight hours, using that time to track down others with abilities.
He had made a few visits during "office hours" as well, and scored a few new abilities. One allowed for him to change anything liquid; able to make it freeze or evaporate within seconds. Another allowed him to change his voice, which worked great over the phone, but not very believable in person. The last ability was his favorite, speed. So fast, in fact, that he could outrun light itself. This was one he was sure would come in handy someday.
Sylar also picked up a great new trick with his cloning ability. Able to perfectly mimic anything he could visualize, he took to making money. Since it usually stayed in form for around an hour, he was long gone before cashiers ever realized he had anything to do with their drawers being short. It had proved to be much more useful then he could have ever imagined.
Sylar entered the small apartment he shared with Maya, preparing himself for the onset of lies he was about to inflict on her. "How was work?" she asked, greeting him happily. Her smile warmed his soul and made him feel guilty for not being the person she saw.
"Good, the usual," he said. "How was your day?" This part of playing house bored him. In fact, most of it did. He wasn't sure how much longer he could play along.
"Good. I finished hemming the new curtains," she said proudly, aiming her hand towards the living room window. "What do you think?"
Sylar looked at the floral pattern that surrounded the once dark and dreary window. The whole apartment, in fact, was much brighter and more colorful then before. It was disgusting. "I like them. You worked very hard." She smiled. "What's that amazing smell coming from the kitchen?" He knew it was spaghetti, but he liked complimenting her all the same.
"I made your favorite," she gushed. "Spaghetti and garlic bread. It is ready."
It wasn't his favorite, but she didn't need to know that. It happened to be the first meal she had cooked for him, and in an attempt to be nice, he had told her it was his favorite. She made it weekly now. Not that it wasn't delicious though. He followed her into the kitchen, sitting down at the small table that was nicely set. He waited while she served him, then sat to join him.
"I have some news," she began to say, a forkful of pasta halfway to his mouth. He paused, lowering it. She seemed nervous.
"What is it, Maya?"
Her eyes avoided his and she hesitated. "I..." She reached down and pulled something out. "I'm pregnant." She showed him the positive test. His mouth must have dropped as her eyes grew more worried. "Gabriel? Are you upset?"
He hesitated, then shook his head. "No."
She smiled, her whole body relaxing. "I am so excited! This is good news, right?"
He nodded, biting into his pasta. Somehow, it tasted bitter tonight.
Chapter 3
As the months passed, Maya's belly grew, and Sylar felt more and more trapped. He had tried to be a better man. Tried to stop killing others. He even went a few weeks once. A realization grew the more the baby did; he was never going to change. He was who he was, like it or not. Maya was the only person who had ever believed in him, and it just wasn't enough.
"I need to see a Doctor," Maya interruptted his thoughts. He looked up at her from the book he was pretending to read. She was sitting across from him on the couch, crocheting a blanket for the baby. "I am getting close to having this baby, Gabriel. Who is going to deliver it?"
"I will," he told her. "No doctors. You know it isn't safe."
"But, Gabriel, they don't know I am with you! I won't tell them anything!"
He shook his head. "Of course they know. Other then Mohinder, I'm the only other person you know. They probably they I kidnapped you. Or killed you."
She looked down, returning to her needlework. "I'm scared," she said softly. "What if something goes wrong?"
"Nothing will go wrong, I'll be right here."
Chapter 4
Maya's screaming awoke Sylar out of his sleep. He sat upright, quickly realizing she was not next to him in bed. "Maya?!" he called for her.
"In here!" she yelled from the bathroom. "My water broke!"
He rushed to her, finding her toppling over the sink, holding her stomach. Her gown and the floor beneath were wet. "Let's get you into the bed," he said, helping her walk back.
"We need towels."
"Let me worry about that, you lay down." He eased her back onto the bed, pushing several pillows behind her back. He ran to the closet to grab a bunch of towels, returning quickly. She was already pushing. He raised her gown and shoved the towels beneath her, covering the sheets around her. "I can see it's head!"
She moaned, gripping the sheets tightly.
"Push," Sylar said soothingly, holding her legs apart as he watched the baby crown. She grunted, pushing as hard as she could. "Breathe, Maya, it's alright." She pushed again, the baby's head moving out. Sylar reached out, preparing to grab it. "One more time, Maya." Once more, she put all of her energy into it, and pushed as hard as she could. The baby came out and into Sylar's waiting arms.
'Tick, tick, tick.' He could hear it. He tried to push the noise away, but it seemed to grow louder with each passing moment. He looked down. "It's a boy!"
"Oh!" Maya exclaimed, reaching for their son. Sylar cut the cord and began wiping him down. 'Tick, tick, tick.' He wrapped a dry towel around him. 'Tick, tick, tick.' With every breath his son took, the ticking grew louder. He handed him to Maya, turning to wash up.
She held him close, kissing his soft, pruny head. "Hello, Gabriel Junior." Sylar cringed, then smiled, stopping to look back at them. A sense of pride began to wash over him. 'Tick, tick, tick.' He started to turn again.
"No!" Maya yelped out. She began breathing hard again. "I think there's another!"
He turned back to her, moving her legs to look again. Sure enough, a second head was beginning to crown. 'Tick, tick, tick.' "Push, Maya, you can do it," he encouraged her. She began to push again.
"You have to take Gabriel Junior," she told him, trying to hold back the second baby as she handed him back. Sylar took him, lying him down in the nearby bassinet they had purchased. 'Tick, tick, tick.'
"Push, Maya," he said again, turning back to her. She grabbed at her legs, stifling her cries and pushing down again. Gabriel Jr. began to cry for the first time, finally drowning out the ticking in Sylar's ears. The second baby came out and Sylar grabbed it carefully. A girl. 'Tick, tick, tick.'
"What is it?" Maya asked, wanting to know the sex. 'Tick, tick, tick.'
"A girl," he answered, looking down at her soft little face. She opened her mouth to cry, but baby Gabriel wailed instead. 'Tick, tick, tick.' Her brain ticked much louder then his. 'Tick, tick, tick.'
"Can I see her?" 'Tick, tick, tick.' He fought it, tried to shut it out. He began to lift his daughter up for Maya, then paused. 'Tick, tick, tick.' He grabbed the scissors and cut the second imbellical cord. 'Tick, tick, tick.' "What's wrong?" Maya asked, sounding worried. 'Tick, tick, tick.'
Sylar couldn't resist anymore, the ticking was too much for him. Gripping the scissors in one hand, and his newborn daughter in the other, he gave in.
Maya was struggling to sit up now, sensing something was very wrong. She tried to see, but her body wasn't working with her after everything it had just gone through. "Is she ok?"
"No," he answered so quietly she barely heard him. He looked down at the blood that covered his shirt, not from Maya, but from their unnamed daughter. She lay lifeless in his arms, and for the first time in his life, he felt remorse. He set the bloody scissors on the bed and covered her damaged head with his hands. How could he have done this? His own child? This was a new low, even for Sylar.
"What's wrong?!" Maya screamed at him now, the tears coming forth.
He wrapped the baby in a towel, covering her completely. "I'm sorry, Maya. She was stillborn."
"No!" she screamed and wept, and baby Gabriel began to cry with her.
"I have to go for awhile," he told her. "I need some air."
"Can I see her?" she asked between sobs.
"I think it's best that you don't." He set the corpse at the foot of the bed, walking to the bassinet. He picked up the other baby, and brought him to Maya. "He needs you right now." She took him close, still weeping for the loss of the other. The ticking that had plagued him had quieted down, for now.
He covered them both, then took the bundled towel back in his arms. "We should name her," Maya insisted.
He looked up at her, feeling guilty. "Whatever you want."
"Name her Angel."
Sylar nodded, leaving the apartment with the dead baby. Once outside, he used his super speed to quickly and invisibly run to the nearest funeral home. It was late, and he planned to cremate her without anyone ever knowing. He couldn't have his or Maya's dna showing up.
In the weeks following baby Gabriels arrival, a sense of peace washed over the small family. Maya all but forgot about Angel, focusing all her love onto the surviving baby. While the ticking still haunted Sylar, he was able to avoid temptation and focus on this little version of himself. He may not be able to change, but he planned on being a better dad then his had been to him. He found himself growing quite fond of his son and hopeful of their future.