Meeting His Match

by WhenIWasANewb

Sylar has been captured by Federal Agent Jack Bauer and is running out of time to come up with an escape plan. Perhaps he has finally met his match.

Title: Meeting His Match
Characters: Sylar, Peter Petrelli, Mohinder, Jack Bauer, Chloe O'Brian
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Heroes belongs to NBC. No money is being made, just for fun.
Contains: Violence, 24 crossover.
Summary: Sylar has been captured by Federal Agent Jack Bauer and is running out of time to come up with an escape plan. Perhaps he has finally met his match.

He's serial killer Gabriel 'Sylar' Gray, and today has been the longest day of his life.

It all began early that morning. A simple kill and steal of a newly rumored ability turned into something much more.

A trap.

Not just any trap mind you, when the bait was revealed it turned out to be one Peter Petrelli. How could Peter alone defeat someone as skilled as Sylar?

He wasn't alone, he had help.

Again, not just any help. Peter was working alongside Jack Bauer.

The Jack Bauer.

Sylar had heard the legends. This man had saved the world countless times. He was serious business. If this man had abilities, he would be unstoppable. There would be no place for evil to hide in this world if Jack Bauer were a special.

And now, Sylar was inches away from this man. Handcuffed and sitting in the backseat of a black SUV, powerless. His heart beat loud in his chest. His mouth dry. His blood boiled as he watched Peter sitting in the passenger seat, grinning like an idiot. How cute, he's playing sidekick to his hero. That's fine. It just means it will be easier to kill them both after his powers return. A two-for-one special. He smirked.

"Wipe that look off your face. I guarantee you won't be smiling once we get to CTU." Jack was eyeing his captive in the rearview mirror.

Sylar snorted with arrogance. "We'll just have to see about that, won't we?"

Peter turned around with a braver-than-usual face. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" He leaned in toward Sylar and tilted his head sideways, bangs flopping over one eye. "He's Jack Motherfuckin' Bauer!"

This was not happening. It just couldn't be. Being captured with the help of Peter was humiliating enough, but now being talked down to by the little runt! It was too much.

Sylar lunged forward and sank his teeth into the sides of Peter's nose, hard.

"OW!" The empath's arms flailed as he tried to pull away.

In a split second there was a gun cocked at Sylar's head as the car came to a screeching halt. "Let go. Now."

Sylar released Peter, eyeing Jack with a defiant look.

Jack smirked in return which made the killer's face go blank and his eyebrows rise. Jack put away his gun and replaced it with a cellphone.

"Chloe, yeah, prepare the deluxe interrogation room, please. We have a live one."

Sylar swallowed hard and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He had heard about these interrogations. They ended in one of two ways; the person either talked or died, sometimes both. He did not feel like dying today. His head began reeling trying to think of a strategy to get out of this mess. He watched as Peter wiped the blood from his face, his wounds already healing. It may not have accomplished much, but tearing into Peter as though he were beef jerky sure made him feel better. It was satisfying to ruin his flawless complexion with teeth marks and bloodstains. He deserved it for being so perfect, so heroic, so… caring. That's right, Peter was caring. In fact, he cared too much. These details could be more useful than he first thought.

"I'm sorry, Peter," Sylar said softly.

Peter turned around, a look of shock overtaking his anger. "Oh, you will be."

"I'm serious. I'm having a very bad day here, alright. Cut me some slack, please." As his voice started to crack, he lowered his head and sniffled a little.

Peter's expression softened.

Jack glanced from one man to the other. "Alright, that's enough. Peter, ignore him."

The rest of the trip was uneventful except for Sylar's quiet sobbing in the back seat. He could tell it was affecting Peter. Every now and then the empath would peek back as if checking on him. This was almost too easy. Now he just had to hope that Peter had some authority over his fate.

The SUV pulled in front of CTU with a squeal. There were armed guards waiting at the entrance along with a small, mousy brunette.

Jack got out and pulled Sylar from the backseat. "Chloe, what are you doing away from your terminal? They need you in there."

She shrugged and made an awkward, shy expression. "I was worried. I read the file on this guy and…" She took a double-take at Sylar. "He doesn't look like a serial killer. In fact, he looks kind of… familiar." She stepped a little closer to get a better look at the man's face, almost standing on her tiptoes. Sylar growled softly and she retreated. Jack jerked Sylar's arm in reprimand.

Peter walked around from the passenger side. "As you can see, we're perfectly fine. No need to worry." He smiled in reassurance.

"Peter, you have blood on your face. What happened?" She rushed over and taking a tissue out of her pocket, started to clean his face. He tried to shake her off but she persisted, holding his chin still with the other hand.

"I'm alright. It was nothing." Finally giving up the struggle, he let out a huff that made his bangs flutter. He looked over at Jack, eyes big with helplessness.

Sylar gritted his teeth and shook his head. He had a very hard time believing this was the guy who helped capture him. He would never live this down if anyone else found out.

"That's enough, Chloe. We don't have time for this." Jack escorted Sylar by the arm as they began to walk past the guards, through the front doors, and down the main hall. Peter and Chloe followed.

When they passed one of the rooms Sylar heard an unmistakable, familiar voice.

"Well, hello there. Fancy meeting you here."

"Mohinder," he snarled, spinning around to find a curly-haired man smirking at him from a door way. Could this day get any worse?

Mohinder stepped forward with a confident stride, stopping a mere foot in front of the killer. "Do you know why your powers don't work?"

"You're pretty brave now that I'm powerless, in handcuffs, and surrounded by armed guards," Sylar replied with a scowl. He remained calm though. He was not about to get himself into more trouble and undo any progress he had made with Peter's sympathy.

"Alright, I'll tell you then. That vial they injected you with didn't contain Curare. Have you heard of nanotechnology? Well, basically we've injected you with nanobots which we control with a remote. We can turn your powers on and off like a light switch." Mohinder was beaming, his smile practically lit up the corridor.

It was all Sylar could do to keep control of himself. His heart beat fast in his chest and Mohinder was lucky looks couldn't kill. It was hard to resist the urge to pounce and rip the scientist to shreds. "Mohinder, you talk way too much, has anyone ever told you that? Also, your scarf is god-awful ugly."

Mohinder clutched at the cloth around his neck and scoffed. "You're headed to the interrogation room with Jack. I would rather be wearing a hundred ugly scarves than be in your shoes right now."

Jack stepped between the two men, herding Mohinder back into the room he had emerged from. "Thank you for your hard work, Dr. Suresh. I'll let you know how the questioning goes."

Mohinder nodded, gave Sylar one last gloating glance, and shut the door.

"Do either of you need anything before I head back to my desk?" Chloe looked back and forth between the two.

"Just make sure," Jack eyed his captive, "we're not disturbed."

Chloe nodded, gave Sylar a May-God-have-mercy-on-your-soul expression, and scurried away.

As they walked down what seemed like the longest hallway in history, Sylar began to sweat. He could hear his own pulse drumming in his ears. He glanced over at Peter, giving him the most pitiful, pathetic look, urging him to speak up and do something, anything.

Peter's eyes met Sylar's and he sighed. "Jack, I was thinking. Why don't you let me try talking to him first before you unleash the big guns?"

Jack raised a brow and let out a chuckle. "Peter, no offense but you would be terrible at interrogation. I can just imagine your kind of tactics and right now we don't have time to wait while you try to extract info by tickling him with feathers or something."

Peter seemed to pout at this indignity, lowering his shoulders. "That's okay; I'm used to people underestimating me. It's the story of my life."

Jack smiled and reached over to tousle Peter's hair in a roughhouse manner. "You can get the next interrogation, deal?"

Sylar narrowed his eyes, carefully studying their interactions. Even though he didn't have his intuitive aptitude, he could tell there was something here. Something he could probably use to his advantage. He'd just have to wait and observe.

They arrived at their destination. As they went through the doorway, Jack stopped Peter. "You should stay out here."

"If I'm going to be a viable part of the team, I have to learn. I can handle this, trust me," Peter pleaded.

Jack sighed and let him pass. He retrieved some files and made sure the room was fully prepped while Peter strapped Sylar to a chair.

"I'm scared, Peter." He was not ready to give up and decided to stick to the same plan until a better one came along.

"It's very simple. You answer all of Jack's questions, and you won't get hurt. I personally promise." Finishing his task, he patted Sylar on the shoulder and sat down on the end of the table.

Jack walked over to Sylar in a casual manner. His face appeared darker under the harsh lights. Hard, angular shadows lined his face. His gaze was piercing and his demeanor was dead serious. He spread out some files in front of the killer. "We're going to forget about your murders for the moment. What do you know about a bomb rumored to go off in New York on November eighth?"

Sylar managed to keep a poker face through his surprise. He looked from Jack to Peter. They didn't know. They already had the bomb right here and they had no clue.

"Why do you think I know something about this bomb?"

Jack opened some of the folders and pointed at various pages. "With the help of Peter, Dr. Suresh, an officer named Matt Parkman, a Japanese citizen named Hiro Nakamura, and a few various crime scenes you've left behind, we have evidence that links you to it."

Sylar glanced over the files, skimming the info until something caught his attention. This Matt Parkman guy had telepathy. Interesting. He continued to skim from page to page, the evidence was pretty solid. He would remember to be more careful in his future endeavors.

"I'm going to level with you. In addition to this bomb, there have been recent terrorist threats in Washington. Intel says it's going to get much worse. All this responsibility lies on my shoulders." Jack stared at Sylar with an all too familiar glare, full of obligation and determination.

Sylar glanced at Peter. So it appears the puppy has taught the bulldog a few tricks. No matter. He had a new piece of information. Jack was desperate. And desperate times call for desperate measures. Jack seemed like the kind of guy who would be comfortable with morally gray. It wouldn't hurt to find out.

"Fine, I'll tell you about the bomb. Hell, I'll even take care of those terrorists for you."

"And you want your freedom in return, right?" Peter guessed.

"Not exactly, no. I'd prefer to speak to Jack alone about this."

Jack nodded for Peter to wait outside. After he shut the door, Jack turned his attention back to Sylar.

"What do you want?"

"You know how powerful I am. I could take down those terrorists without even breaking a sweat."

"And why would you do that? Get to the point." Jack's tone was changing to one of agitation.

"I need a few more powers to add to my arsenal in order to accomplish it though. You look the other way while I get them and we'll call it even."

Jack scoffed. "You're insane."

Sylar leaned in. "Is it really that crazy to sacrifice a few lives in order to save possible… millions?"

Jack paused; his eyes began to search Sylar's face. Then for several minutes he made a slow pace around the room.

Sylar could see the inner struggle going on. He could feel it. It was… delicious.

He finally replied, "Even if I were to say yes to this, I couldn't keep watch over you like I would need to. I'm not going to just let you out unsupervised."

Sylar nodded toward the door. "Have Peter keep an eye on me. Make him my permanent partner if you like."

Jack sighed and turned away. "Ever since he began working with us a few months ago, I've started to think of him like a son. I can't send him out there like that, it's too dangerous."

And there it was. This was the final piece of the puzzle that would insure Sylar's victory. He could barely contain his amusement.

"The bomb, it's Peter. He can't control his powers and this will cause him to overload and explode."

Jack closed the gap between them fast, shoving the table aside and getting up into the killer's face. "Don't lie to me!"

Sylar flinched. This was more like it. This was the Jack he had heard so many stories about. He really didn't want to see any more though.

"I can teach him to control his abilities and keep him from blowing up New York, but only if we have a deal." Sylar attempted to look as humble as possible.

Jack glared at him as he spoke; seeming to analyze Sylar's every word. He then turned around with a huff, walked over to the table and leaned over it, palms down. After a few minutes he came back to life with full force, banging his fists on the cold metal and then flipping it over with a loud growl. He eyed Sylar as he strutted out the door.

Sylar smirked.

A few minutes later they reentered the room. Jack stood back, leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

Peter walked forward and untied the captive. "So I hear we'll be working together. I'm glad you agreed to cooperate."

Sylar stood up and put a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Oh yes, Peter. We're going to accomplish so much together." A feral grin spread across his face.

He wasn't lying. He planned to keep Peter from exploding, all the while taking out any and all terrorists that he could find. Only, he left out one little, critical detail. One of the specials he would kill would be Matt Parkman in order to take the most powerful of gifts, telepathy. With that ability, both men would be under his total control to command like puppets. With Jack and Peter by his side, he would be an epic, unstoppable force. He would wield more power than a god. Just thinking about it made him high with adrenaline.

The world would be his hostage.

Anybody.

Anytime.

Peter responded to the gesture with a sweet smile.

Sylar placed a palm to Peter's cheek and cupped it softly. So innocent. So naïve. I'm going to have so much fun breaking you, Peter.

Peter outstretched his arms and grabbed the taller man into a rough embrace.

Sylar quirked a brow but allowed the invasion of his personal space. He needed to play along with Peter's senseless shenanigans, at least for now.

Cheek to cheek, Peter whispered softly, "By the way… I've got Parkman's ability."

Sylar froze.

The empath's lips inched closer. "I heard… everything."

A thumb began stroking Sylar's cheek. "So naughty. So dominating."

Peter's hot breath caressed the serial killer's ear, his tone deep and husky, "I am going to have so much fun breaking you."