Hello, everyone! This is my first Heroes fic - well, ficlet, I guess. I'm sorry if there are some factual errors, but I have yet to see all the episodes of Heroes, and I can't possibly know everything about Sylar, can I? He's such a mysterious character. I became quite fascinated with him after I discovered he was a watchmaker. The idea of wanting to fix things with the instincts of a watchmaker intrigued me. And thus, this ficlet was born. Please enjoy! As always, reviews and feedback are loved!

Clockwork

Gabriel sat in his chair, staring at the watch. Not even the loud roar of thunder outside and the pitter-patter of the rain could drown out the soft ticking that seemed to pierce his mind like a needle. Tick tock tick tock... He could hear it, as gentle as the sound was; an imperfection in the gears. Could he fix it? Of course. He almost laughed aloud at the doubt he had heard in his customer's voice. He could fix any watch.

Imperfection. Flawed. Broken. That's what I am. I'm just like this watch.

He tried to turn his attention back to his work, but he couldn't get the idea out of his mind. Gabriel didn't want to be broken. He didn't want to be stuck in the dead-end watchmaker business of his father for the rest of his life. Ever since he came along, he could no longer ignore the hunger, the growing cravings for powers that most people only dreamed of. He knew that he had potential, he just knew it. But how could he become better?

Perfection. Powerful. Special. That's what I want to be... no, it's what I need to be.

The second the thought passed through his mind, Chandra Suresh's face appeared in his mind; his mouth was moving, but words weren't coming out. The only sound he could hear was the ticking of the watch, which was growing increasingly louder every second it ticked away.

You... you bastard... How could you?

Suddenly, above the ticking, he heard a familiar voice:

"I was wrong about you."

Gabriel jumped in his chair, dropping his tools. You! Why are you here?

"I must have made a mistake..."

A mistake?! He was immediately hit with an overwhelming surge of anger. How dare he mock Gabriel like that? How dare he entice him with ideas and fantasies of being something special, something unique? Chandra had offered it to him, tempted him with it, then pulled it all away at the last second. He had to be special somehow, he concluded. Otherwise, Chandra wouldn't have found him in the first place. As much of an annoyance the doctor had since become, Gabriel knew that Dr. Suresh was wiser than most people in the world. His findings on genetics were incredible. Why, then, had he searched for Gabriel, if he didn't have a purpose in the professor's world of theories and research? Was it all just a game to him?

I'll show you... I'll show everyone that I'm special. It's my destiny.

But how could he do that? He stood up, abandoning his work and staring out the window at the gray sky. Gray. Just like his name. Just like his life. And at that moment, he made a decision.

I will become perfect. I will become special.

His first step was to rename himself. After all, how could anyone with a name like Gabriel Gray be special? Sure, his mother claimed that he was named as such so he could be her "angel", but he never felt like an angel. He never felt like anything that majestic or powerful. He needed something worthy of greatness. Sighing, he glanced at the watch that still lie on the table, ticking quietly. A curious smile formed on his face as he realized the brand name. "Sylar." The word had a nice ring to it. He spoke aloud, repeating the word several times. Yes. That name was perfect. Perfect, like he was going to be. His hand made its way to his drawer and he pulled out a stack of notes that the professor had accidentally left behind. His eyes quickly scanned the list of carefully compiled names, and they stopped on a name that was circled.

Brian Davis. Gabriel studied the address and phone number, then made another decision. He reached for the phone and began to dial the number.

"Time to see what makes you tick, Mr. Davis..."