"The worst part about Sylar is that he enjoys killing," I heard Claire say to Lyle when they thought I wasn't listening, "That's what makes him scary."

"That's what makes him psycho," Lyle agreed.

And she's right about one thing. Sylar enjoys it.

I've seen it in his eyes. During and after he kills. It's a rush for him. A deep surge of relief and release. A flame of pleasure. For Sylar, it's better than sex.

For me it's different. It's not something I need. It's just a cold burst of satisfaction. And if it's someone who deserves better than to die bloody, then I don't enjoy it all.

But if it's someone who has it coming....

Of course Sylar likes playing with his victims. He loves to mock. I've concluded that he wants people to loathe themselves as they die.

Though I'm not above a few games myself. For strategic value only, of course. The games I played with Sylar, for example.

I probably know more about what makes that monster ticks than anyone. I've tracked him the longest, I've spent a lot of time with him, and my judgment isn't clouded by idealism, by the strict lines between good and bad, the way it is with someone like Peter or Mohinder.

And besides, they've both been seduced at some point by Sylar's nice-guy act. Whereas with me, it was Sylar who was fooled by my act.

Which technically makes me a better liar than Sylar. But I can live with that.

I can live with all the things I've done.

Sylar, on the other hand, is weak. He's torn apart by what he has done. He's always been easy to manipulate by holding out the promise of redemption. Even at his most blase, it's clear he is being crushed, ripped at, by his guilt. But of course, whenever he can't live with the burden of his guilt, he seeks some kind of rush to make him forget. So it's another kill, another power, another day he gets to feel something other than the weight of his past.

See, the only thing more dangerous that a sociopath is a pathetic sociopath.

Of course, Sylar thinks that it bothers me when he mocks me for my moral failings. When he mentions my crimes and my kills. He thinks that he is subverting my beliefs when he acts like I am the villain.

But it actually couldn't bother me less. I know that when I kill him, it's not going to be a triumph of good over bad. It's going to be a triumph of my side versus his. And that's fine with me.

He thinks he is the supervillain, and he can outwit me because I'm just another hero trying to save the day. He imagines that he's the only one who understands that power means a heck of a lot more than being morally in the right. But I get it: I have power, so I get to protect what I love, and I get to destroy what I hate. And that's that.

I understand power. I understand that its purest expression is standing over the body of a man who thought he could resist you. And this is why I'm going to beat Sylar some day. Because he misunderstands the situation terribly.

I'm not his opposite. I'm his competition. And he had better be ready, because I certainly will be.

Author's Note: Originally written for comment_fic on livejournal. Prompt was Bennet/Sylar, who's the villain