Chapter 2: Confidential
"Stop!" Noah echoed. Even with Claire close and Peter able to absorb her ability, the former company man could not risk the Petrelli's life. And while all weapons remained trained on Sylar, Lauren's verbal approval of the "seize fire" she also recounted out loud, convinced the agents to refrain from shooting for the time being.
Sylar staggered forward, wheezing, bullets and tranquillizers aggravating his exhaustion. The movement would've naturally triggered further action from the elite team of huntsmen, but the killer sagged right into Peter's arms. The paramedic eased Sylar to the ground as his head rolled back, all the while covering targeted man's body as closely as possible with his own.
Peter has used his kinesis directly against Samuel's grandiose scheme for a grand total of two minutes the most and he was feeling like he had been running half a marathon at least. Fatigue washing over him, he paused a few seconds in front of the still overanxious gathering of people. Then again, it was rather uncomfortable lazing there in the puddle of Sylar's blood under him.
He noted to himself that the black coat his companion wore inside the walls for five years and managed to keep in a reasonable condition, was now unusable for the amount of holes, dirt and gashes on it. Blood soaked through, staining Peter's overused clothes to an extent they became unsavable too.
Minding the agents' itchy fingers, Lauren stepped closer and into the Petrelli's vision to lean down towards him and inquire about the mystery of him protecting his otherwise arch enemy. She raised both hands to hopefully prevent everything from moving when she saw something else move as Emma ran towards the gathering alarmed, seeing her rescuer's lifeless body on the ground.
Peter grabbed for her hand to make her look at him, "it's ok. He's special like us. He will regenerate. He just needs some time," he looked the fallen man over, "and…probably a paramedic bag if possible?" He looked up at Lauren, who shrugged bewildered, but gave the sign to the men ordered there by her to grant the request.
Noah wasn't so generous. Rather annoyed that he wasn't the one in charge, he gruffly grabbed Peter off Sylar. Emma's gentle hands cared for her liberator now as she unbelievingly assessed his injuries after finding a weak, but impossible pulse.
"What do you think you're doing?" Noah asked him irately, but not without any incredulity himself.
"I'm not going to stand here and let you waste the result of five years I spent locked up together with Sylar. Besides, does it count for nothing he had just saved possibly millions of people's lives?"
Noah paused and started at him for a moment in a manner that let the other man know the ex agent thought he was mad and Peter could not blame him for it. Surely it sounded nuts before he could explain it.
"Either that, or Sylar did not like Samuel's contention for world domination," Noah gave another explanation for the killer's seemingly altruistic actions.
"All I'm asking is for you to call Parkman and listen to his account," Peter pleaded. Perhaps it was the quickest way to resolve the situation.
"What's going on here??" Claire's penetrating voice interrupted. She had made sure the carnival people were safe and was now trying to catch up with what else has went down.
"That's what I'm trying to find out," Noah said sternly and finally dialling a number on his cell at Lauren's pointed, urging raise of her eyebrows.
Claire remained a few feet away, blinking at the bloody mess of a man on the ground. A blond woman had removed the shreds of clothing that were still attached to his torso and she could clearly see the oozing wounds on his side, stomach and chest. She pursed her lips a bit bewildered, but mostly captivated. Is that what happens when you got enough tranquillizers in you to stop you from regenerating properly? She had to laugh though when she saw how the woman by him attempted to handle him, searching for vitals, holding down to stop the blood flow, desperately trying to get Peter's attention.
The college student was more befuddled however, when he reached out for a medical bag handed to him by one of the men in tactical jackets and passed the woman an intravenous pack and some dressings from it. And it was not the oddness of Sylar needing such treatment that puzzled her the most, but the care that her uncle took tending to the fallen anti-hero's wounds.
Lauren, who was still closest to the action, addressed Peter on a probing, yet uncritical tone, voicing all of their' obvious question, "what's the need for any of that?"
"The more blood he looses, the harder and longer it will take him to regenerate," Peter answered, not looking up from filling a syringe with some drug Emma had pointed at previously.
"Perhaps," Lauren gave taken aback, "but it would be a matter of minutes the most for him, here or there."
"I don't know," Peter admitted, then gave a glance at the woman trying to question him, "I just don't like to see him suffer, all right?" He retorted.
"Why?" Claire asked baffled.
"It's a long story," Peter shrugged, looking up at Noah for possible confirmation, given that the older ex agent had finished his phone conversation with Matt by now.
"If what you two claim, is true," Noah started, "I'm sure Sylar would not mind being taken to a company cell till his story checks out," he established.
Lauren cleared her throat, "that would certainly be the preferred course of action, Noah, but these are old company agents as you know, or have you forgotten? Neither of us have the power to call the company in, unless you want to get Angela involved."
Her boyfriend looked around himself as if he was looking around for a solution, but eventually he had to frown, "you can get your men to aid us for a while longer, right? We need to get Sylar out of sight before the emergency workers arrive," he started shouting over the sound of sirens, "one of the tents or trailers must be intact?"
"The medical tent is one of them I think," Emma made her suggestion.
Noah nodded and aided the group of Lauren's agents lifting Sylar up. "Do as you wish, but I'm not letting him out of sight. With as many people available just now, we can keep him almost under as much surveillance as we would've had the possibility at the company's facility."
Tbc