This is a sequel to "For want of a friend". I wanted to let it rest for a bit, but Selene had other ideas. I'm not sure how long this story will be, but I hope the readers who enjoyed the first stages of the friendship and romance between Sylar and this Special woman, will like this one too.

Sylar has a dream.

I do not own Heroes.

For love of a friend returned

Part 1

Sylar lay on his bed, thinking thoughts he had not had for 4 or 5 years. His mind sifted through layers and layers of memories, until he fell asleep. Then Sylar had a dream. Sylar never dreamt. But tonight, he did, and in his dream, he saw someone he hadn't seen in a long while~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Selene woke up on a beach, a small, white-sand beach surrounded on three sides by high cliffs. In front of her lay the ocean, vast and blue. She stood, and shook the sand from her white, sleeveless dress. Feeling warm sand beneath her feet, she looked down to see that she wasn't wearing shoes.

She walked up to the cliff behind her. It was made of solid rock, vertical, and very much unclimbable. She wished that one of her abilities was flight. She turned to her right, and headed for the far end of the beach, where she found the rock face reaching all the way out into the water. There was no going that way.

Placing her hand to her forehead to shade her eyes against the sun, she scanned the area. No matter which way she turned, it seemed to continually blind her. She ran to the other end of the beach. Disappointment filled her as she saw the same as was on the other side. There seemed to be no escape from this damn beach. She looked up at the sky, and cried out, "Sylar!". Running a few feet, she spun around, the sand grating beneath her feet, as she yelled out again. "Sy-lar!" There was no sound save for the waves.

Selene sat in the sand, grabbing a handful of the coarse crystals, and letting them filter through her fingers. She stared at the ocean, watching the waves repeatedly crash on the shoreline, only to be sucked back out to sea. The one way out of this trap apparently was that way, the ocean. But she had no boat, and no way to even build one.

She had an idea. Maybe it was crazy, maybe it was deadly, but it was all she had. Selene pulled the dress over her head, and walked toward the waterline. She felt the waves swirl around her feet, as she headed out into deeper water. When it had reached her waist, she started to swim. She swan further out, fighting the waves and the currents, until at last she was able to turn and see what she had swum from. It didn't even appear to be an island. There were just the cliffs and the beach.

She continued swimming, further and further out, until she could barely see the beach any longer. Her abilities seemed to have left her, and she felt herself tiring. Selene tried floating on her back to rest her arms, but the waves were getting rougher. Her arms began to ache, her legs to tire. She had not felt such pain, since before Sylar had taken that feeling away. Now the pain bit at her body. She swam as far as she could, until the current began to drag at her feet. It pulled her under several times. Selene fought it, physically and mentally. She railed at the ocean, her anger giving her additional strength. But it wasn't enough. Selene felt herself being pulled beneath the waves, deeper and deeper, until the light was all but gone. Fear finally left her, as she let her body fall into the depths, and darkness enveloped her.

No! By all that was sacred to her, Selene was not going to let go of life without a fight. She was immortal. With what little power she had left, she summoned the energy to swim back to the surface. Her feet kicked hard, as her hands grabbed at the water. Soon, light was visible, shimmering through the moving water, and she aimed straight for it. With one last, powerful kick, Selene broke through the surface.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sylar awoke, sweat beaded on his forehead. He sat upright in bed, and ran his hands through his dampened hair. He was surprised that after all this time, Selene had invaded his mind. He hadn't forgotten her, but so much had distracted him the last year or so, what with his angry rampage against, well, ...everyone. Then there was his mind being separated from his body, the arrival of the carnival and the subsequent life he had experienced there. Eventually his partnership with Peter Petrelli, of all people, resulted in the two preventing the carnival leader, Samuel Sullivan, from bringing down destruction on the people of New York City.

Sylar was just beginning to understand how unsatisfactory his life had been when his only desire was to steal abilities from unsuspecting Specials. Using his abilities to do something positive had felt good. When Claire had tried to expose the existence of their kind, all hell broke loose for awhile, before many of the Evolved people had gone "underground". Some had gone for help from Noah Bennet. Others simply disappeared. The carnival folk had done that, with Edgar leading them to a safe haven.

Sylar had gone back to New York City, and reopened his watch repair shop. He and Peter talked often, both trying to understand their new relationship, one Sylar didn't care to lose just yet. Peter hadn't quite forgiven Sylar for killing Nathan, but the anger was less of an obstacle to any attempt of theirs to be friendly. In fact, Peter understood Sylar better than anyone now, and was helpful to his former and most bitter enemy.

So much had changed in his life. Yet the one thing he missed had now resurfaced. It was just a dream, he told himself. Sylar lay back on the bed, pressing his palms against his forehead. It was only in his mind. Or was it? He still had the mental power to sense thoughts. But Selene was dead. She had no thoughts. Dead brains can't think.