Siren

by Halcyon Dementia

Has Sylar finally met his match?

They thought they could keep Sylar out of existence and keep Nathan alive. Though all of Nathan's memories were kept within Sylar, and even though his appearance could fool the world, Nathan was dead and Sylar was still alive. The man, no the monster, that they had fought so hard to destroy. Well, it only was a matter of time before Sylar found himself through the folds of all the memories and lies and dug himself out of the wreckage. The night he discovered it, he had been feeling quite ill for some time. He felt something was wrong or out of place but could never pinpoint the problem. Meanwhile, all talk was of Nathan Petrelli becoming the next president. But he could never feel comfortable in his own skin. He wanted to escape and be someone else. Little did he know he was someone entirely different.

He awoke one morning with the worst headache. He pulled at the skin on his forehead, and rubbed his temples but there was no relief. He went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. His eye color seemed a bit different than before. He was so agitated that he slammed his head into the mirror, cracking it slightly. Blood trickled down from his forehead, and he watched as the skin healed itself and the blood stopped. He stood confused. He knew he could fly, but he could never regenerate before. He slammed his head on the glass again, harder this time. Suddenly, his face changed entirely. He was no longer Nathan Petrelli. He was Gabriel. All his memories returned. For months he had been living under this guise. He had had peaceful family dinners with Peter and Angela Petrelli. It made him sick. They had deluded themselves into believing Nathan was still alive and well when he had, in fact, been burned on a funeral pyre long ago and his ashes scattered by the wind.

Sylar was confused, angry, and hatred once again burned within him. And that thirst. That hunger for power had returned with his reawakened self and for a moment he almost regretted not remaining as Nathan, because during those times the hunger was gone. However, he knew what he had to do now.

He disguised himself as Nathan once more, he swore afterwards he would never take on that hideous form again. Even if he was to become president of the United States, he could no longer stand being anyone but himself. He found it ironic because for most of his life he wanted nothing but to become someone else, and now he opted to be Sylar.

He went into the office for the FBI and found a list of people with abilities that were nearby. He found one he liked and decided he would pay Maria Lunairis a visit. She had the ability to see very far and very accurately. He already had super hearing, and this would go along quite nicely. He left the office immediately and shifted back into his own form, trying to forget the feeling of Nathan's skin and once again remember his own.

Maria did not live too far from Washington D.C. She lived in a town in Virginia. He found her home easily enough and walked in without knocking. He could smell a home cooked meal and he smirked.

He walked into the kitchen and said, "Well, well, well, if I had known you were cooking all this for me I would have arrived much sooner." His low, sinister voice slithering over the word "sooner".

The woman at the stove looked to be around the age of thirty, as she turned quickly to face the stranger in her kitchen.

"Who are you?" She asked, fear showing vehemently on her pale yet clear face. Her dark hair hung to her shoulders, and her eyes were a dark emerald. Sylar found it a shame he was going to have to kill her.

"You have something I want." Sylar said.

"I don't even know who you are!" She screamed, as Sylar approached her slowly. As he did, he forced her body into the wall beside her with his telekinesis. She struggled against the wall, as he drew closer.

"You have a sister, where does she live?"

"I don't know!" She panicked.

"Wrong answer." Sylar started to cut open her forehead as she screamed the address which Sylar committed to memory. When he had looked at Maria's file, it said her only remaining relative was a sister that also had a power yet no one had been able to locate her for years. She had to have something good, he thought. But now he knew where to find her, and as he cut the rest of Maria's scalp off, he laughed in anticipation.

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As he walked the streets of a town outside of LA, he tried to become accustomed to his new sight. He could see for almost a mile with such clarity he thought a sniper would hold no match for him. This pleased him, as he walked up to the door of a beautiful, beachside home and let himself in.

He heard music instantly. He had never been very fond of instrumental music, but this music moved him in such a way that he nearly melted to the floor. He walked into a very large living room, with another room off the side where someone was sitting playing a cello, with their back towards Sylar. The music was coming from that instrument, and it was absolutely superb. He walked closer, not as to threaten the person's playing, but to hear better. Even with his super hearing, he felt he was not close enough to really grasp the beauty of the song. Then, he suddenly was captivated by a scene where he stood in a large field, with flowers blooming all around him, and all his violent thoughts were driven away. His hunger seemed so distant and childish, and he wanted nothing more than to hear this music forever and giggle idly like a child. Then the music stopped and the scene disappeared. He stood in the room behind a figure with long, dark hair as they stood up and put the cello down.

He heard the figure speak, "So you have come for me." The voice was soft and lilting, and like silk. It was also much lower than Sylar had expected.

The figure turned and he saw it was a young woman, she looked to be in her early twenties, and she wore a white dress to her knees, and a black flower pinned into her hair. She appeared more like a fragile doll than a woman.

"You were the one who killed my sister. The one named Sylar." She said blankly, not afraid to look directly into Sylar's eyes.

"How did you know?"

"I have my sources." She held no expression in her face, only sternness that almost made Sylar feel ashamed of himself.

"So you have come for me."

"Yes. What exactly is your power?"

Very calmly she stated, "I can hypnotize people with music, and put them in certain emotional states. I once accidentally killed a small group of people during a performance because the song I played was so somber, everyone in the audience committed suicide. That was how I discovered this ability."

"Interesting." Sylar moved forward towards the girl and she did not budge. He was amused because she was nothing like her sister. She was calm and collected, even though Sylar had the intent on killing her.

Sylar stood right before her, she was tall for a woman but Sylar still stood much taller. Still she did not budge.

He held his hand in front of her forehead, preparing to kill her when she closed her eyes and said, "Kill me if you wish. I will not fight you. You are far more powerful than I."

Sylar did not like this. He liked toying with his victims, making them panic and scream, it filled his black heart with joy, yet she stood there awaiting her death as if it was no big deal.

"You are truly unafraid?" He asked.

"I am not afraid of people like you." She said, and he knew she spoke the truth because he had the power to detect lies.

He hesitated, wondering why the hesitation. She opened her eyes again and he saw how green they were. She was more beautiful than her sister, and even more innocent looking than Claire. Her skin, her hair, her body, her nature, she appeared more like a goddess than a human. But something about her seemed very strong. It was not necessary in her limber arms which he could see a hint of muscle, but it was a certain confidence in her face which confused him.

After a few moments he said, "I have decided not to kill you. Your power is worthless to me."

She challenged him with her eyes and held his gaze, then she smiled. Sylar found her smile to be as perfect as the rest of her.

She said, "You came all this way, let me at least play you another song. I felt a dark tension and confusion in you, and perhaps I could calm you down if only for a little while."

Without waiting for a response, she sat down at her piano.

Sylar could not help asking, "You're really not afraid of me?"

She turned and said, "I fear those that have no special powers more than I fear those like me. They have been ruining the world long before we came into existence." She sighed quietly and began to play.

Sylar sat in a chair behind her and let her music take him away. Normally he would never let his guard down, however, this was the only way he had ever been able to quell his hunger, to soothe his agony, and he was sure she could not harm him. He thought somewhere in the back of his mind that perhaps she had been using her powers this whole time, lulling him into a ball of clay, persuading him not to kill her somehow.

After her song ended, he stood and said, "Your file, it did not say your name, only your sister's. Who are you?"

"They know me as Siren."

"As in, the Greek myths, women who sang and lured men to die at sea?"

"Yes, something like that." She smirked.

"If anyone asks, don't tell them I was here."

"No one can find me here."

Sylar turned to leave but she said, "Oh, and Gabriel, you are welcomed here any time you like. I will play for you again if you come back."

Sylar stared at her. There seemed to be much that she was not telling him. She seemed innocent, yet there was something mysterious about her, something that made him sure that despite his judgment, he would return to see her again, if not to merely calm him for some time. Or to kill her for the sake of killing.

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Sylar was once again looking through FBI files. He had snuck into the building as himself, no longer willing to pretend to be Nathan. He found more powers he wanted and he was brimming with excitement when he heard the click of a gun's safety being turned off.

He turned to see Noah Bennet. So many times he wanted to kill this man, but he just felt that he was too good a fighter, to powerful a man without any special powers, for him to want to kill him without an equal fight. He might be his worthiest adversary.

"You killed Mary Lunairis."

"So?"

"Did you go after her sister?"

Sylar smirked and said, "No, I haven't gotten around to it."

"I would quit while you're ahead." Noah said sternly.

"Why are you trying to give me advice?"

"That woman, her name is Aella Lunairis, code name Siren."

"And your point being?" Sylar was getting annoyed and thought about blowing Noah's head off with his mind.

"She is the most dangerous one of you."

"What do you mean? More dangerous than me?" Sylar said sarcastically.

"She may be the only one who could ever defeat you. She most likely has more powers than you do or ever could dream of having. She was a part of the company, way back when, we started to train her to defeat you before the company fell apart, and her lover was killed on duty, her partner who had no powers, and she quit soon after, never to be seen or heard from again. She was one of our top agents. If you know her whereabouts, you should let me know, and you should stay the hell away from her."

"Why are you telling me this? Don't you want me dead?"

"I was hoping you had located her. She is dangerous and we would like to know her whereabouts to keep tack of her."

"You people. You just never get it do you? We don't want to be hunted down like animals. You have made this mistake before, and it ended horribly last time. I understand going after me, I can see how my existence is bothersome to you, but what has she done? What happens when you piss her off and she decides to wreak havoc on the world?"

"She is not like you. She has seen her fair share of battles, but she has never gone around killing people for sport. Also, I wanted to find her to ask if she would join our fight against the government. But I assume you didn't find her or else you would be dead."

Sylar laughed and said, "I found your precious Siren. She is just a woman pretending to be a little girl. Her only power is playing her music."

"You found her? You killed her sister, and found her yet she let you live?" Noah seemed shocked.

"What's the big deal? She didn't seem very powerful to me."

"That's how she gets you. Where is she?"

"I think that I would like to keep you and your friends out of this one." Sylar threw Noah against the wall and walked out of the office. He found Siren far more interesting all of a sudden.

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He flew back to the house where Siren lived. He stood by the door, but heard no music. He walked in and looked around the house. She was not at home. Yet she did not seem to understand the purpose of locks. He walked into the backyard, which lead to the beach, where he saw a shadow standing by the shore. He followed the pathway and found Siren facing the ocean.

"I knew you would come back. Have you come to kill me this time for real?" She said, without turning to look at him. She had felt his presence even without turning.

"I was told you were keeping things from me. If you are truly as powerful as he said you were, then let's fight, so you can prove it to me."

She laughed condescendingly, "I don't have to prove anything to you." As she said this she turned and gave him a look that could scare a grown man.

Sylar tried to use telekinesis on her to twist her around and hold her in his grasp, but she was too fast for him. Before he could do anything, he was already on the ground on his back, with the power of a strong man choking him as she stood a few feet away. She let go and stood over him.

"You see me now as I have appeared for quite some time. Like you, I have the power to live forever. When you were here before, during the song I played, I not only put you in a trance, I opened your mind. I delved in and had the chance to take all your powers, but you didn't have any that I didn't already have or that I wanted. My hunger is much like yours, only I do not have to kill to quench it. I will keep you alive because you showed me compassion, and because I find you interesting. No one has ever matched me before, but you may be able to kill me someday, and relieve me of this life."

Sylar stood up and said, "I will not kill you out of pity. I want a fair match."

Her whole demeanor totally changed from a psychotic killer back to a shy young woman. She smiled and said, "Come in, and I'll play you a song to ease your troubled mind."

Sylar found it hard to disobey.

After she played a few songs she turned to face Sylar. He sat in a chair, staring at a clock on her mantle. It was forty-five seconds fast and it was bothering him.

"Bennet said you were bred to kill me."

Her expression seemed pained, as if recalling old memories.

"It's true. What the company did to me was top secret. Most people were forced to forget it entirely. And once I left the company, and the company disbanded, I was no longer needed. They would do anything to find me a keep those secrets quiet."

"What exactly did they do to you?"

She gave him a questioning look. "Why do you care?"

"I hate those people. I would like to know what they were planning to do in order to kill me."

"I can show you." She started to play the piano again.

Instantly, Sylar saw a scene from within the company. Siren looked the same way she did now, except her hair was to her shoulders, she wore more modest clothing and she was a bit younger. She stood in a room, with a guard behind her back, and seats filled with people. She turned to face Noah Bennet and asked, "Is this really necessary?"

"You have a duty to fulfill as a member of this company, this may be the only way."

"But we still don't know what could happen."

"But if it does work, we can finally kill Sylar."

"What makes you so sure I won't become a more terrible monster than him?" She asked, looking into Noah's blue eyes, past the horn-rimmed glasses. She appeared quite frightened.

"We trust you. And we trust you can handle this. Or else we would never ask this of you."

Without another word, Siren hesitated, but then sat down at the piano behind her. The audience members were all special people, with abilities hand picked by the company. Abilities they thought she should have. She began to play and not soon after she was visibly suffering. Sylar watched as her face and body convulsed yet she continued to play her song. Everyone in the room was in a trance. Noah had left the room and was watching from a one-way mirror. She continued to play even when her whole body trembled and she screamed from the overload of all their powers entering her mind at once. There were over a dozen people. Suddenly, the whole piano bench flipped over and she collided with the floor, her body experiencing seizures and her eyes rolling into the back of her head. Noah ran in with a few doctors, picking her off the ground while the audience looked on confused after coming out of their trance. She was lifted onto a stretcher and brought to an infirmary. After she had woken up and could walk on her own, she was put into a cell, much like the psychotic killers, much like Sylar had been in, and he watched as she sat in the cowering in the corner. They claimed it was for her own safety, but she knew better. She knew it was because they were afraid of her. She could accidentally explode, or worse, she could decide to destroy them all intentionally.

This went on for quite some time. She had to play for many audiences, collecting their powers, and every time her mind would go under terrible strains to keep itself from falling apart. Sylar could feel her suffering through the images, he could feel the cold of the cell they locked her up in. He watched as Noah would come in and ask how she was feeling.

"I hate you. I hate you and this whole company. I never wanted to be your guinea pig. Just because I'm special I have to risk my life time and time again to save people I don't know or care about." She walked closer to Noah, standing right beneath him she said, "You have no idea what I have been through."

"Listen, I know it's hard, but hang in there. Only a few more and we can start training you to get back in the field."

She screamed and said, "I don't care about the field. I don't want to go back. You have no idea what you have done to me, how it has messed with my mind. I don't even know what is real anymore. I feel like an animal locked up this way! I just want to be free of this responsibility. I want to walk out of here knowing none of you will hunt me down."

"You signed a contract. You knew the risks involved." He yelled. He stood by the door, ready to leave, to lock her back into her cage.

"I bet you would never let this happen to your precious Claire." She spat at him,
"You would never ask this of her, and the moment she showed any signs of pain you would stop."

Noah stared at her in silence. He sighed and said, "You're probably right." Then he closed the door behind him.

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Back in her living room, Sylar looked at her from the mantle he was standing at. He quickly fiddled around with the clock but he did not have his tools so he quit and put it back on his shelf. He stared at her again.

Her face was down as she said, "I've never showed anyone that."

"Then why did you show me?"

"I thought you might…understand." She looked up at him, hoping to meet his eyes, hoping to confirm her idea. "I've seen your memories. I saw what they did to you. They made you this way."

He thought for a moment, still irritated by the clock, then said, "How many powers do you have?"

"I have no idea. I have so many it's hard to count." She said, rubbing her head.

Sylar walked over to her, she still sat at the piano, but now she looked away from him. He kneeled beside her and said, "I want nothing more than to make those people pay for the things they've done. They think they're so innocent, but they don't even realize the evils they've committed. We could work together to destroy them. Noah is out there right now looking for you."

She stood up suddenly and said, "You think I should become a killer like you? I had let go of these things. I had tried to start a new life, I tried to forget about what they made me."

"Well then you're a fool. You don't even realize how special you are. They may have done terrible things to you, but you can find retribution. How ironic would it be if they were destroyed by the monster they made?"

"I am not a monster!" She screamed, and he flew back into the mantle as he heard her scream shattering his eardrums. When he regained focus, she stood there wide-eyed with a hand over her mouth. Sylar smirked and got up.

"I don't think you see your own potential."

"I think you have a skewed sense of reality."

"You wouldn't be the first to think so."

He stepped towards her, but she backed away.

"Stay away from me!" She looked like she was about to have a mental break down.

"What? I'm not going to kill you. You are far too useful and magnificent."

"I will not be a slave to anyone."

"Fine. Stay here for eternity and waste your mind away. But don't think they won't find you. Sooner or later, this little peace you've built for yourself will fall apart and you will have to choose a side. All I'm saying is; you should choose mine."

He walked to the front door, opened it, and slammed it shut with a flick of his wrist.

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Noah Bennet had been able to track Sylar down as he flew to Siren's house due to Peter's ability to fly. He owed him a lot of doing it, but now he was at her house and he stood before the door, ready to knock, when it opened on its own. Siren sat in her living room, drinking a cup of tea. She looked similar to how Noah had remembered her. Still young and beautiful, but with very wise eyes. But now she wore a very fine dress, and her dark hair seemed to go on forever.

She spoke first, "Noah Bennet, I know why you are here, and before you begin, I must tell you I am uninterested in what you are going to say."

"Well, I will say it anyway. I want you to help us defeat Sylar. You were trained for this."

"If I were to destroy this man, I would do it on my own terms. Not for your sake, or humanity's. I no longer feel that I have ties to humanity. Especially after what the company turned me into. Gabriel and I are very similar, we are full of power and no place to explore our capabilities. We also have a hunger for more that is never satisfied."

"Are you saying you are on Sylar's side now?"

"No, I do not take sides. That is the problem with humans; you constantly have to make everything black and white. Well, nothing in life is ever so clear-cut. I may not intentionally go out and harm others just because I have the power to, but that does not mean I do not seldom wish for it. Gabriel is more daring and knows what he wants. Someday, we may fight against each other, and whoever wins will decide the fate of humanity, as we know it. I would suggest staying out of the way to be safe. You often forget that you are merely human and take on the roles of a hero."

"Are you saying that people with abilities are no longer human?"

"When you obtain as many as I have, you begin to feel like a god. I feel very ashamed for these thoughts and someday I wish to die. However, I would rather choose when and where and to die with honor. Please, stay away from Sylar and stay away from me. We are too dangerous. Even I admit I do not always play with a level head."

"There is nothing I can say to change your mind and help us save the world?" Noah pleaded.

"I don't know if the world is worth saving, Noah."

"I see, then I'm sorry for your time. I won't reveal this location to anyone else."

"Thank you. It was good to see you anyway." She smiled and watched as he walked out the door.

Later that night, she had a job singing at a small club in LA. She knew how talented she was but at the risk of people finding her, she remained very quiet. She sat in the dressing room, preparing for her number. On stage, she always felt free and full of passion. She felt no pain from her past, and stopped thinking of the future and lived only in the moment. Tonight, as she sang her second song, she glanced out into the crowd and saw him. Sylar sat in a booth alone, watching her, drinking a tall glass of wine. The way he watched her, it was like she was naked on stage. She felt uncomfortable on stage for the first time in her life.

Meanwhile, Sylar thought about every detail he could see of her dress, and the way he could see even the smallest goose bumps that rose on her arms as his eyes bore into hers. He felt that she was singing to him and only him. He had gotten so used to her power that he felt no one else had the right to see her this way. He got jealous of all the men in the audience, drooling at her every word. He wanted to control her, he wanted to own her. She was more of a challenge than Claire. Claire was just a little girl and would always be, but Siren was a woman, and she was absolutely captivating.

After her performance, Siren went to her dressing room and changed quickly. She walked out the back exit to avoid seeing Sylar. When she got home, she knew he would be there, and she felt nervous for some reason. She went straight to her bedroom and did not turn on the light. She knew he was there, watching her. She went out onto her balcony, her short, black, satin dress flowing behind her, and she gazed up at the moon. She felt him approach her.

"Why are you watching me?" She said.

"Your power soothes me. I want it for myself."

"Well, once again, I am not your slave."

Sylar smirked.

"I keep having the urge to kill you, right here, right now, but I hesitate because then I think maybe I don't want to kill you, but I really want something else. I've watched you sleep. It would have been so easy to kill you then. You probably have a whole collection of powers that I would love having. And I would actually make use of them."

Sylar lunged forward, and at the same time, Siren leaped out of the way and used her telekinesis to cut off Sylar's left arm. She knew he felt pain, and she was not afraid to give it to him.

He gave her a look of extreme rage, "You little bitch. Now I have no choice but to make you pay for that."

Sylar yelled and cursed at her and used his other arm to throw her throw the glass doors into her bedroom. She felt a sharp pain in her side and pulled out a large shard of glass from her body and dropped it onto the floor. When she looked back up, his arm had regenerated and he stood above her. He electrocuted her whole body, and as she writhed, she managed to shoot fire at him through her own hands, burning his legs.

She heard his laughter and stared at him.

"Now this is fun." He said, he tried to shock her again but this time she engulfed his whole body in flames. Her dress was tattered and his clothes mostly burnt. She ran up to him and punched him in the jaw with the force of a truck. His body flew into a wall and fell onto the ground. She used her telekinesis to open a draw beside her bed and pull out a large hunting knife. She threw it at Sylar and it caught him directly in his jugular. She watched as he pulled the knife out and threw it on the floor.

She lifted him up against the wall using telekinesis, and kept him there for a moment and said, "Now you will feel what all of your victims have felt." She started to slice his forehead open, he felt the blood dripping down his face, but then used his own powers to slam her body into the floor.

He got up and said, "You are very good. I am impressed."

She lifted herself off the floor, feeling her ribs fix themselves.

Both of them stood there panting.

"I can't kill you. You are far too beautiful a creature." Sylar said, and smiled devilishly.

"I wouldn't kill you because then I would destroy all hope at finding someone to play with." She smiled back, her eyes full of darkness. She had the smile of a mischievous child, but the body and face of a grown woman. Her hair was a mess, hanging around her face and he watched as she spit out a tooth and wiped the blood from her face.

Sylar could barely contain himself, he had not been this excited in his entire life. His hunger for this woman was no longer the carnal hunger of seizing power, but the seizing of a different kind of power. He wanted her to submit to him as a woman submits to a man. But at the same time he knew how strong she was, and he would have to work for it.

"Well this has been fun." He said, as he stepped out onto the balcony. Tonight was not the night for him to make his conquest. He would have to wait.

"Wait" She said.

He turned back to see her step out of the shadows into the moonlight.

"What if we disappeared?" She said.

"What do you mean?"

"What if we went where no one could find us?"

"I find that no matter how far you run, the past will always haunt you. The only way to be free of the scum is to destroy them ourselves."

"I don't want to kill anymore."

Sylar abruptly turned his head to look at her.

"You are so weak. You have so much power yet you cower away from it."

"I am not weak. I merely have a conscience." She said.

"Same thing" Sylar laughed. He pulled her into his chest with his power, and held her there as he tried to understand her memories. They were a jumbled mess, no wonder she was so strange, he thought.

She quickly pulled away from his grasp, as if disgusted by the mere touch.

"You are right. We are much more similar than I realized. That's why I know you will eventually see things from my perspective."

"What if I could make your hunger go away?"

He stared at her. "Why would I want that?"

"Because maybe then you could live on in peace. As long as you keep killing people they will search for you. And now because of you, they have found me and I have to leave this place."

"Where do you suggest we go then? Have you even thought this through?"

"I know where I'm going. You can join me or you can stay here and keep playing these games with those people."

Sylar smiled and said, "I have an idea."

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Siren stood before Noah Bennet in a hotel room he was staying in. Her appearance was unexpected.

"What is the meaning of this pleasant visit?"

"Sylar is dead." She said flatly.

"Are you sure?"

"I never leave them alive. Not only did I cut off his head, I ripped it to shreds, and burned the whole house down. There's no way he's coming back from that."

"Well then, I'm relieved. Thank you for doing that."

"I didn't do it for you, I did it for the sake of a good kill."

"Of course."

"This is the last time you will see me. I promise you that. Don't come looking for me or I will kill you."

"Yes, I understand."

"Good."

Siren walked out of the hotel room onto the balcony and flew away to the top of a mountain to meet Sylar where he stood waiting with a devilish smirk.

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A year passed, and Siren and Sylar managed to stay under the radar. They lived on an island in the Atlantic most of the time, where no one knew their real names. Sylar no longer thought of killing people for their powers but it was only due to his constant need of Siren's music to calm him. Every time he started to feel the urge coming on he forced her to play. This tended to strain their already unbalanced relationship with each other. He had grown soft, he felt. He could never imagine killing her and these thoughts confused him. Sometimes they fought for fun, but neither one of them ever had the intent on killing the other for good. It was more like training just in case. There were nights he stood over he bed as she slept, watching her chest rise and fall like waves. So many times he had his fingers laid gently on her forehead, wondering what nightmares she was having, and if he started to slice her forehead open, would she notice? Many nights he awoke in a cold sweat, he would run and wake her and she would have to pick up her guitar and play for him. Except the more she had to play for him, the less it did to calm him down. It was like he was reaching a new tolerance level and he thought soon that this vacation would have to end and he would have to kill someone.

One afternoon, Siren walked into their small home by the beach and Sylar did not bother to look up from the clock he was fixing to greet her. He knew it was her by the sweet scent she exuded. It smelled like strawberries and vanilla. He had her scent memorized. She went into the kitchen and put the food she bought away. She started to make dinner. She was descent at cooking, most of the time it was edible, but Sylar thought his own cooking was better. He was just too preoccupied with his own thoughts to try cooking.

"Gabriel." He heard her calling a while later. He usually hated it when people spoke that name, but the way it sounded in her voice made him feel warmth from within. Of course he never told her that. Her voice said it so innocently that he allowed it. Sometimes it almost felt like they were friends, and not just two people with a common enemy. He put down the watch he was holding and walked into the kitchen and sat down by the small circular table. She passed him a plate of chicken and rice without saying anything.

He heard the clocks ticking. He had quite a few all around the house. It was so quiet.

"Sometimes, I get the urge to break every single one of those clocks." She said, staring at her food.

"I think they sound soothing." He said, trying to get on her nerves. Most times when they did speak, it was verbal assaults. He kept trying to warm up to her in his own way, but she refused him.

They were quiet for the rest of the meal. Sylar would have found it awkward but by now he was used to it.

Exactly one hour later, he sat on the couch fixing a clock, while she sat by the large window reading a book.

Sylar felt the hunger returning. He could feel that burning in his throat creeping up into his mouth, making him feel sick. He needed to kill someone. At this point it did not even matter if they had a power or not. He looked over at Siren. She sat there so innocently reading her book, but in his thoughts all he could see was her head on the floor and her brains scattered in his hands as he sifted through.

He inhaled deeply and she finally looked up.

"Is something wrong? Do you need me to play for you again? I don't even know how much energy I have left to keep playing for you." She said.

Sylar clutched his head as he felt the heat rising in his temples, then he extended his hand and stopped her body from moving.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't take this anymore." He said. He started to cut her forehead open out of instinct but she somehow shot laser beams out of her eyes.

"Woah, I didn't know you could do that." Sylar said, laughing hysterically.

"I've never had to use it before."

He stood there in agony, never having had hunger this bad before. He fell to the floor as she pinned him there for his own good. He saw her legs first, and then slowly looked up at her face, his eyes traveling slowly across her body and he remembered suddenly why he agreed to this arrangement. He thought maybe there was another way to relieve him of his hunger. Or maybe this was the true nature of his hunger.

He pushed her away with his mind as he found the strength to stand up. Then he pulled her closer to him. She was not expecting it as he pinned her against the wall. But she did not use any powers to resist, perhaps she found her powers useless after the back of her head had hit the wall a few times. Her breathing was heavy and it made his desire all the more persistent. He could hear her heart beating, not because she was tired, but because she was scared.

He put his hand behind her neck, and slowly grazed her cheek. She looked away from him, but he took her chin in his hand and forced her eyes to look at him.

Her eyes were unfocused; she could barely keep them open since Sylar was using a power he took a while ago that made his victims fall asleep. She whispered, "I've never felt this powerless before."

"Get used to it." He laughed.

He could not help but smirk as he took her wrists and used telekinesis to keep them pressed against the wall above her, as he used his hands to touch her body. He could feel everything through her small cotton dress, as he caressed her waist and gently touched her collarbone. Then he lifted her chin and softly kissed her lips. She resisted, then he deepened their kiss and she tried to escape his hold but felt too weak. He traced his fingers across her arms and met her hands still hanging above her and pulled her away from the wall. He forced her into the tiny bedroom made her face the bed, as he stood behind her. He used his telekinesis to keep her from moving at all. He touched her hips, and slowly pulled the straps of her dress down from her shoulders, until her dress fell to the floor. He unbuttoned his own shirt and pealed it off his skin. He kissed her neck, as he cupped her breast through her bra and lightly touched her hipbone. She thought about how gentle he was compared to a few minutes ago. Or compared to every other time she saw him. She thought about how she sometimes watched him fix clocks when he thought she was not looking. He was so gentle with those clocks. She felt like he was opening her like a clock, ready to fix whatever was broken. Then she thought he would not fix her at all, merely break her even more. She could not help but melt in his arms. Then she remembered how disgusted she was with him.

He walked in front of her, her eyes following him.

"You can't stand to feel this powerless. You said there was no way I could defeat you, so I sought another way to bring you to your knees." With this, he moved his hand and forced her to fall to her knees. He grabbed the back of her head and brought his face close to hers. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but instead she blew some sort of acidic gas into Sylar's eyes, making him draw back.

As he was struggling to regain his vision she got up from the floor and waited.

"You are making this harder on yourself, Siren. What I want can't be satisfied by our powers."

"I know what you want." She said, standing in front of him, barely clothed and not feeling ashamed at all.

"You have no idea how much I want you. How long I have been waiting for someone like you, how much I want to conquer you. I will conquer you."

"I'm not just another clock you can take apart and put back together." She said in an angry voice.

"No, you are far more fun to play with."

He moved his hand and threw her onto the bed behind him. He stripped the last of his clothing and joined her. She struggled to move under his control. She was confused as to why her powers did not seem to be working anymore. Perhaps he really was more powerful and she did not stand a chance. They fought each other telekinetically; his hands trying to push her down, while hers were trying to push him away. Finally, he pushed her down onto the bed and she stopped struggling. He took his hand and traced her legs, and her side all the way to her neck. Goose bumps rose where he touched and she hated him for making her feel so weak.

"You are much stronger than I thought. You could kill me if you wanted to." She said.

Sylar laughed and said, "Oh no, I won't let you get off that easily. I'm going to make you suffer for all eternity with me."

He lightly touched her collarbone with his lips and she whispered, "I don't know if I would call it suffering."

He stopped what he was doing and looked into her eyes. He grinned. He whispered in her ear, "It seems I've already conquered you."

Her body rose to meet his as he put his body on top of hers. He used his powers to cut the rest of her clothing away and so they were naked together, Sylar kissing and touching her more intimately than he had ever done with any woman.

Sylar touched her and all her memories and dreams flooded into his mind once again and he saw a few things he would never have guessed just by looking at her. Her past was a dark and disturbing one, yet she was still a kind person. Her life seemed far worse than his, yet she was not a killer. He felt like a fool, or a child for becoming what he had become simply because he had found his life so dull and meaningless. It made him respect Siren even more that she had this self-control. The only times she had killed people were out of self-defense or to save somebody else. It almost made him sick in a way.

He wanted to torture her for as long as possible. He wanted to punish her for being so arrogant and thinking she could resist him. First, he kissed her inner thigh, going higher and higher. Then he stopped. He wanted to taste her, but he decided it was more torture for her this way.

"You can't stand being so powerless." He said as she felt his hardness at her inner thigh. He took her hands and held them above her head.

"What? You have nothing to say now?" He said.

"I saw this happening in my dreams and still I couldn't stop it."

"Because you wanted this."

Suddenly, he entered her body forcefully, and she made a slight gasp. His ecstasy was mirrored in her own. She felt her body shiver every time he thrust in deeper and bit her ear, and his own body showed his pleasure when she clawed at his back. She drew him in more and more, and he wanted nothing but to please her, which was the most unselfish he had ever been. She was so vulnerable in this moment, but instead of the desire to kill her, he had the desire to make love to her as passionately as possible. He wanted to hear her scream his name, "Gabriel". When she said it, it sounded like an angel calling. He wanted to feel her body convulse beneath him as their bodies met and held on to each other one last time before they both fell into the abyss of pure elation.

He got what he wanted, yet he did not feel selfish because she was satisfied. He did not pull away from her immediately. He stayed with her, holding onto her body, admiring how beautiful it was, rummaging through her memories. He knew that she had seen all of his memories as well, and in a way it almost felt like they were one person. He had never felt like he related to anyone more than when she was in his arms. He could die happy, he thought. Then he thought that perhaps her thoughts were rubbing off on him. He usually did not think this way. He shook his head trying to get them out of his mind.

Near dawn, her body turned away from him, with his hand around her waist, she said, "We should leave this place soon."

Sylar knodded then said, "I feel like we have changed. I don't like having to hide from the world."

"Neither do I. But until everyone of them passes away, we can't risk it."

"But Claire will never die."

"But they all think you're dead. She won't keep looking for you." She said.

"I don't like this. I don't want to hide anymore. I don't want to have to hide my own face. I feel my hunger returning and it's getting harder for me."

Sylar felt his anger rise and suddenly a mirror flew across the room.

Siren got out of bed, holding onto covers, and said, "Please calm down. Let me play you a song."

He pushed her away and said, "No, music won't help me right now. We need to make some changes. I have been thinking about this for a while."

"Gabriel, what are you planning?" She asked, fearful.

"It doesn't concern you. Don't get involved. I have to go." He quickly found clothes and got dressed. He walked up to Siren, reached his hand out as if he was going to touch her face, but then walked out the door and flew away.

That night, Siren had a dream. She saw Sylar killing Noah Bennet and Claire, also Peter and Angela Petrelli. She saw their bodies mangled and a smile on his face as he walked away from them.

She awoke sweating and panting. She quickly got dressed in whatever she could find first and hoped she wasn't already too late.

--------------------------------------------

She found Noah Bennett. She was very good at tracking people she already knew, it was one of her powers. However, when she tried to find Sylar, his presence was missing. She could never tell where he was, and this worried her.

It was early morning now and she found an open window in Noah's apartment, still in the Washington area. He was awake, getting ready to leave when she came in.

"Siren."

"Noah, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important."

"Yes, I understand that."

She took a deep breath and said, "Sylar is going to kill you and Claire, and Angela and Peter. And probably many more, if I don't stop him."

"You claimed Sylar was dead."

"I know, I lied. We have been living in hiding together for the past year."

"Why did you protect him?"

"I…don't know. At first it was because I hated you and the company and he did, too, but now I think he is more dangerous than ever."

"You trusted him enough to stay by his side?"

"He never tried to kill me." She said, feeling tears well up in her eyes. This was uncommon because she had not cried since she was a little girl. Even when her boyfriend James was killed, she did not cry.

"Last night, he said he couldn't stand living in hiding anymore, and he left without telling me where he was going. And then I had the dream. I fear he may be out collecting powers as we speak, getting ready to kill you all."

"I will alert the rest, we will track him down."

"This is all my fault. I won't ask any of you to fight. This is between him and me."

"Do you have any ideas how to kill him?"

"I may be able to take all his powers away and leave him with nothing. However, I have never done this to someone with so many powers, and it is possible that it will kill me. I fear fighting him though, sometimes when his hunger was very strong, I would let him take my powers. Now he is certainly stronger than me."

"Are you willing to risk your life for us? For the people who used you?"

"I know what is right and wrong, Noah. I know when to take responsibility for my actions"

Noah went over to the counter and handed her a cell phone.

"Keep in contact with us. If one of us finds him, we contact the other, okay?" Noah said.

"Right. I will begin searching for him now."

"Wait. Where were we in the dream?"

"I'm not sure. We were on a tall apartment building I think. Possibly New York."

"I know where that is. I will go get help, we will meet there in a few hours." Noah grabbed his coat as Siren walked to the window and flew out.

-------------------------------------------------

She flew around the city, trying to sense Sylar, but felt nothing. She thought if anyone died by him it was her fault. She should have killed him when she had the chance.

The cell phone Noah had given her rang. She picked it up and Noah told her the address and she went there immediately. He said only Claire and Peter would come with him. She told him to let her go in first just in case.

She found an open window the second to last floor from the top. She walked through the apartment and walked up the staircase to the last floor. She walked into the penthouse apartment, and noticed how quiet it was. Too quiet for her to feel comfortable.

Suddenly, she saw Noah on the floor, bleeding from his shoulder. There looked to be an iron rod sticking all the way through. She knelt down beside him and asked what happened.

"He's through there. Please be careful. Don't worry about me."

Siren got up quickly and walked to the glass doors. She saw Sylar holding Peter in place, while Claire stood back, not knowing what to do.

"Claire, please get back and help you father. Let me take care of this."

"Who are you?" She asked.

"I'm an old friend of your father's." She nodded but then Sylar spoke,

"Not so fast, Clair Bear. I think you should stay and watch as I destroy the woman who betrayed everyone."

"You're the one who lost control, Gabriel." Siren yelled.

"What are you doing here, Aella?" he asked with no amusement in his voice.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm doing what you don't have courage to do."

"Courage? You think that killing people is courageous?" She asked.

"When it's for the sake of another person. I recall you saying those words when you were in the company."

"And who are you doing this for?"She said.

"I'm doing this for you. Why else? You said you wanted to stop feeling like a fugitive."

"Gabriel, listen to me. I did not ask for this. I practically drained my whole mind away trying to prevent this from happening. The reason for us goin into hiding was so that I could keep you from killing anyone else."

"Oh really? That's seems too selfless of you. Are you sure it's not because you're infatuated with me?"

"No, I think that was the reason why you agreed to come with me. You're the one who is obsessed with me. Following me, watching me in my sleep."

"You are really pushing it, Aella."

"Why can't we forget about them and disappear again? I don't care about the company anymore, and neither should you. You should find it in yourself to overcome the hunger and live a happier life."

"No! It's either you're with them or me. But either side you choose, you will have to run."

"You can't keep killing people. If they promise not to go after us, we could keep living that peaceful life."

"I don't really want to go back to that. This is way more fun. Beside, I don't trust them, and they don't trust me. And now I'm not so sure I can trust you."

"Gabriel, are you going to kill them?"

"Yes."

"There's no way I could change your mind?"

"No."

"Then I will have to fight you myself." She said.

"No, Siren, don't do this." Peter yelled.

She turned around and saw their solemn and worried faces.

"If this is the last thing I can do for humanity, to destroy this man, I will do it."

Sylar slit her throat with his power before she even turned around.

He walked up to her and said, "You can still change your mind, Aella. You know, I was really starting to enjoy your company, I may have even started to love you, so much and it kills me that I will have to put you in your grave."

She took a deep breath as her neck healed itself, and she used her power to break a part of the side of the building and throw it into him.

Claire ran up to Siren and said, "You can't do this alone."

"Please, it must be done this way."

"I will distract him." And Claire ran over to Sylar as he lifted the heavy concrete from his body and through it directly at Claire.

"Stay out of this!" Sylar screamed.

Siren could hear Claire's skull crack as it hit the concrete floor, but she knew she could not waste a moment when Claire could heal herself.

He focused his attention back on Siren. She ran forward and threw a massive ball of fire at him. It hit him in the chest and threw him into the rubble. As he fell, he was impaled on a sharp piece of metal and seeing this made Siren feel horrible. She did not wish for this but she would not back down.

"Stay back!" She screamed at the other three that were watching this epic battle ensue.

She walked to Sylar's side as he struggled with the metal pole sticking through him. He looked so frail at the moment, but she knew not to let her guard down. Just as she was thinking that, she felt a sharp sting at her thighs. She fell onto the ground, realizing that her legs had been cut off above the knee. She pulled herself towards him with her arms, not letting the pain faze her. She felt pieces of rubble slice her stomach as she pulled herself across the floor, and felt the blood oozing from her legs. Sylar at this time finally managed to pull himself off the metal pole and was standing above her.

"You look absolutely pathetic." He said coldly.

She looked up into his eyes. Then she started to sing. He was confused for a moment so Siren slammed Sylar's body onto the floor, face up. She crawled to his side, her legs slowly growing back, as she put her hand to his forehead. Still singing, she began to suck all the power out of Sylar's mind.

He screamed and writhed. Claire, Noah and Peter ran to her side and held him down as she continued to take everything that made Sylar Sylar.

She could feel her own mind getting full, and almost brimming with all the power overload. Her head felt like it could explode any minute.

She opened her eyes, seeing everything and hearing everything the way Sylar experienced the world. Her legs had grown back, and she stood up now, with the weight of her own mind feeling almost too heavy to bear.

Sylar stood at the edge of the building, with the banister gone, she lunged towards him and both of them plunged off the side of the building. Her hands around his neck, and his hands around hers, he remembered just before they hit the pavement that he could fly. He shot up with her in his arms, and once he got to the top of the building, he threw her body down, and she fell through the floor into the apartment below.

Before the dust even settled, Siren was back on her feet, crawling through the rubble. Sylar standing on what was left of the balcony, she quickly got a hold of his neck with telekinesis. Then she extended her hand out and once again held his throat, tighter than human possibly could.

Then she began to sing. It was the saddest song that Clair, Noah and Peter had ever heard, but they were not put into a trance because Siren had all her energy focused on Sylar.

Siren spoke to Sylar, "You're right, there was something about you that I liked. Maybe it was that you were never afraid to take what you wanted, or that when you wanted revenge you would stop at nothing to get it. Or maybe it was just that we have so much in common. Whatever it is, I actually enjoyed the time we spent together."

Flashbacks burst into her mind. The day they moved into that home on the island, and Sylar complained about all the clocks, and the furniture and the lack of good books. Or the time he made her dinner, though it rarely happened, but it was delicious and when she complimented him he got embarrassed and said he did not try very hard. He never made dinner again after that. She even enjoyed the nights when they sat in silence together, or even when he woke up in the middle of the night and he needed her to play for him or he would lose himself. She enjoyed it because she thought that he needed her. She never felt that if she disappeared that anyone would miss her. She never felt like she had a friend. Sylar was the first friend she ever really had.

Sylar was staring back at her, "Well, it took a long time but you finally warmed up to me. You took it. You took my hunger. Why?" He asked through his delirium.

"I wanted to save you. But this is the only way."

She started singing again, and she knew what she had to do. She sang a song so melancholy; Sylar could hardly stand existing anymore. The both of them held each other's necks, and extended one finger out. Without any hesitation, Sylar and Siren decapitated each other.

Claire's scream ran down Peter and Noah's spines.

Claire ran over to the bodies and yelled, "What did she ever do to deserve this?" She tried to put Siren's head back on her body to see if she would come back to life. She held it there, and hoped. Nothing happened.

Noah came up behind her and put his uninjured hand on her shoulder.

"Honey, I don't think there's anyway to come back from that. Come on, we'll have other people take care of the bodies."

Peter took Claire in his arms and hugged her as she cried.

"She saved us all." She said.

"Yea, so let's not waste anymore time over the past." Peter said, as they walked out of the apartment.

------------------------------------------

Everything was black. And cold. Reaching a hand up, she hit something hard. It took her a while to realize she was in a coffin. She pushed the lid open. Her coffin was in the ground already. She was wearing a black gown. It seemed that some generous people even gave her a funeral. She thought how nice of them. Her skin was extremely pale. She had no idea what had taken place since she died, or how long it had been. The sky was gray, and it would be nighttime soon. She flew out of her grave, her body still feeling a bit weak. We turned to see her own tombstone. Aella Lunairis it said. Artist, warrior and most importantly, a good friend. She would not have picked out those words. But this was not really her tombstone.

The gravediggers seemed to be on break. She made sure to close the coffin and throw some dirt on it to make it look undisturbed. Then she walked out of the graveyard as if she had never died.

She found his body easily enough. The government had him. When she found his body, it was about to be taken to a crematorium. She was lucky they had kept his body lying around, dissecting it, running tests on it. She dressed up as an employee and informed the man running the autopsy that she would take the body for him to incinerate it. She brought it there, cut off his legs, and threw them in the fire. She picked up the body, threw the pieces in a bag and walked out.

-------------------------------------------

A week later, she sat by the window, watching the waves crash on the shore. She heard the clocks strike four. The sun was still bright, and the whole house felt warm. She was lost deep in thought when she heard a breath from behind her.

"Gabriel?" She asked, as she stood up.

He stood there, wearing just a pair of shorts, since that was all he could find while still in a fit of confusion about where he was or what happened to him. Hearing his name again made most of the confusion disappear and he focused on the figure before him.

"You never told me you already tried decapitation." He said.

"There are some things in my mind not even you can see."

"Aella, why did you save me?"

"Who else could I spend eternity with?"

"Are you admitting defeat? Have I finally conquered your precious heart?"

"I wouldn't say conquered, that implies I was fighting against it."

He smirked.

"You planned this all along."

"They trained me to kill you, but I think that only made me all the more interested in you."

"You even cut off your own head."

"I had to make it look convincing." She said, with a smile.

"You are so perfect. I think you may have actually beaten me this time. I still can't believe you took my hunger away."

"I don't feel the hunger anymore thanks to you. I don't want or need anything else." Now that I have you, she said in her thoughts. He almost heard it as if she had said it out loud. And he thought maybe that was what had always been missing. Someone to fill that void. Either way, he felt freedom which he had not felt in a very long time.

They were both quiet for a moment.

"So what do we do now?" She asked.

He smiled deviously, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her.

"I think…we should have a fight. That fight on the rooftop had me going. It was the most fun I've ever had." He said.

"Well, only if you can catch me," She said, as she flew out through the open window and he quickly followed after her into the sunset.