Easier to Run
Shawn raised his hand, waving when he spotted Gus´ blue car in the traffic. His friend pulled over and stopped to let him in. Shawn had to use the doorhandle twice before it obeyed his grip. When the door was finally open he literally dropped into the seat.
"Dude." Gus said, giving him the once over. "You look awful."
"Thanks, dude." Shawn replied. "Exactly what I wanted to hear."
"I meant you look tired out. I thought you slept until now."
"Yeah, but it feels as if I haven´t slept at all." Shawn admitted and tried to stretch his tensed torso. "I don´t know. Feels as if I performed a prison break tonight."
Gus threw him a startled glance. "Why would you compare it with something like that from all in the world?" he asked.
Shawn looked out at the street and shook his head, but Gus´ stare was intense. He just wouldn´t let go of the question.
"I had a bad dream." Shawn told him at last.
"Was it about Sylar?" Gus immediately guessed, catching Shawn off guard.
"How do you know?" he cried.
"I too still dream of him from time to time." Gus explained. "We all do."
"Well, yeah." Shawn said. He was about to say some more but decided against it. He didn´t want to talk about it. What for? "So what´s this case about?" he asked instead.
"A double murder." Gus informed him. "The chief said it looks like a crime of passion. You know, he cheating on his wife, she teaching him not to the hard way."
He parked the car in front of a house, that was surrounded by the familiar yellow crime scene tape.
"If they already know that, what do they need us for?" Shawn wondered, getting out of the car.
"The dead guy is working for a technology enterprise who delivers for the government." Gus explained while they headed for the front door of this new crime scene. "The chief just wants to make sure, that nothing is overlooked."
"Dude." Shawn now cheered. "Did she say anything of potential spy activities?"
"That´s very unlikely, Shawn." the voice of Juliet O´Hara answered the question before Gus had a chance to do so. She was standing in the door of the house, a notepad in her hand. Shawn´s face lit up when he saw her.
"Jules." he greeted, smiling. "Sun of my life. Say something that makes my day."
"All right." she looked down on her notepad. "Two dead bodies. One male, one female. Both of them shot. So far it looks like a crime of passion."
"Not what I had in mind." Shawn commented with a side glance at Gus.
"Lassiter´s first suspect is the wife." Juliet went on. "And I agree with him."
"Well, maybe I can divine some more for you in there." Shawn said and raised his hand. The second his finger touched his temple, he felt tired and had to close his eyes for a second.
"Is everything all right?" Juliet asked, frowning. "Sure." he claimed.
"He didn´t sleep very well." Gus explained.
"I never sleep well without you." Shawn hurried to turn the worried talk into a joke. It worked. Juliet smiled, sheepishly, but didn´t give a response. She didn´t get a chance anyway. From behind her there came the loud voice of her partner.
"Spencer!" Lassiter called. "Are you going to do some work here, or are you just here for some sweet talk? If that is so you may leave again."
"Au contraire, my dear detective." Shawn replied, entering the house. "I was just about to get started. On the way to save the day."
Lassiter just shook his head and turned around. "If you can tell me where I find the wife, go ahead." he said. "Otherwise we have everything well covered without you."
"Well, we´ll see." Shawn said.
"No, we won´t." Lassiter objected. "It´s the simplest case one could ask for. The guy cheated on his wife and she killed him and his mistress while they were meeting."
"He met with his girlfriend in his own house?" Shawn asked. "Man, that is pretty much asking for his wife to find out."
"Yeah, well. People act stupid." Lassiter said. "You should know."
"Touché. But I´m afraid you´re wrong anyway."
"Ah, yeah? How so?"
"Because there is more to that case than just a simple jealous wife."
Lassiter snorted. "A jealous wife is never simple." he stated. "Always accusing and whining `You spend more time with your job than with me!´ and when you do what she wants for a change she just …" In this moment he realized, how Shawn and the others were looking at him. "I meant …" he cleared his throat. "How do you want to know?"
Shawn smirked and raised his hand to his temple, getting ready to tell Lassiter how wrong he was. But in this moment he just couldn´t remember what he´d wanted to say. What had been his clue again? Or … had there even been one? He hadn´t even looked around so much.
"Now what?" Lassiter demanded, crossing his arms. "What makes you think that there is more to this case?"
Shawn hesitated. "I … I don´t know." he finally admitted.
Lassiter´s first reaction was to make a face, as if to ask `what the hell, Spencer?´ But then he saw the confusion in Shawn´s face and frowned.
"I can´t tell you what exactly is off about this case." Shawn went on, trying to find his balance again. He was sure he would find the clue again, if he could just stall a little. "My psychic Juju is a little vague today."
"He didn´t sleep well." Gus blurred out once again and made Shawn curse in silence.
"But I sense that there is more behind the case." he insisted, still trying to save his dignity.
"All right." Lassiter said. "What?"
In this moment Shawn finally spotted it. The clue he´d been hoping for. Only that it was less than a clue and more like a hunch. Nothing he could present Lassie as anything right now. Not before he´d checked it out himself. It could as well turn out to be nothing.
"I´m not sure yet." he said therefore. "But I´ll tell you as soon as I know."
"And when will that be?"
"After I got a coffee." Shawn replied. "And … maybe some chocolate cookies? Gus?"
"You know that´s right." his friend agreed.
Lassiter just rolled his eyes. "Knock yourself out." he said. "But I´ll go for the wife. O´Hara. Initiate a manhunt for her."
"Strange." Shawn commented. "A manhunt for a woman? That … somehow sounds … odd, doesn´t it?"
"You may leave this crime scene." Lassiter informed him.
Shawn waved for him, smiling widely as he walked out with Gus at his side.
"Dude." he whispered at him. "We need to check out this rich guy. What´s his name? Eddy? Freddy? Something."
"Frederic Roth?" Gus asked startled.
"Right."
"Why that?"
Shawn was about to answer, when Juliet called his name and made them stop. "Can I talk to you for a second?" she asked him.
Shawn exchanged a glance with Gus. "I wait in the car." his friend said, leaving them alone.
"What can I do for you?" Shawn asked, but this time she wouldn´t go along with his wit. She looked at him with worried eyes.
"Shawn, are you feeling all right?"
"Sure." he claimed. "Why shouldn´t I?"
"Don´t play with me." she demanded. "I know when something troubles you. Tell me."
He sighed. "It´s nothing. Just … a bad dream, that´s all."
She nodded. "Yeah, about Sylar. Gus told me."
"Wha …? Then why do you ask, when you already know?" he cried.
"I wanted you to tell me on your own." she said. "Shawn. It´s no shame to have those dreams. I used to dream of him every night after what happened. In some of these dreams I saw him kill you. In others he killed me. But I got over it. And so will you."
"I dreamed that I was him." he told her, not exactly sure why all the sudden. "And that he escaped. I mean, I escaped. I mean …"
For a moment, her comforting gaze was gone and she looked just pale. "Do you think …?" she stuttered. "You think it could be a vision? That he really escaped?"
"No." he immediately cried, chuckling nervously. "God, no. That´s not what I wanted to say. I just …"
"But you had psychic dreams." she recalled.
"Yeah, but … I know how it feels when a dream is supposed to be a vision and when it´s just a dream. Believe me. This one was just a dream. It only proves that I shouldn´t eat cold pizza before going to bed." "Are you sure?" she asked, uncertain.
"Absolutely. Don´t worry about it. Sylar is safely locked away from daylight just like Hannibal Lecter. Only that he won´t escape."
Juliet nodded and he quickly kissed her. He just wanted to end this talk and go back to his normal life. "I see you later at the station." he told her and she nodded. Her gaze was still thoughtful when he left, to join Gus in the car.
"Everything all right?" his friend asked.
"Dude, I wish people would stop asking me that. It´s not the first time I had a bad dream."
"I know." Gus said, reluctantly dismissing the subject. "So why do we have to check out Frederic Roth again?"
"Ah, yeah." Shawn remembered. "There was a picture of him in the living room, how he shakes hands with our dead guy."
"And? Frederic Roth supports a lot of organizations and enterprises like his. It was probably a ceremony where Roth shook a lot of hands."
"Yeah, probably." Shawn agreed, looking out of the window absent minded.
"You want to check it out anyway?" Gus asked him.
"Yeah." was the sleepy answer. "Just to make sure. If you´re right, then Lassie is probably right too. Wouldn´t be the worst that could happen. I really don´t feel like investigating right now."
"Dude, now I´m sure that you´re sick."
"No." Shawn denied weakly and suppressed a yawn. "Only sleep deprived. Know what? I think I´ll close my eyes for a few minutes while we drive."
"Okay." Gus agreed and entered the gear. "You seem to need it."
...
It was dark outside. He´d killed the engine a while ago. So far the only sound audible was the ticking of the cooling car. And the excited breathing of his girlfriend in the passenger seat. She was probably wondering why they´d stopped here. Or why he didn´t try to make a move on her. But he didn´t bother to explain himself to her. She was not the reason why he was here. The reason why he was here, was still on the way. But he would be here any time now.
"Maybe we should go on." the girl suggested, obviously feeling uncomfortable.
He just smiled and didn´t say anything. Instead he looked in the mirror. Soon, he thought. Just a few more minutes. He knew the cops were coming. Of course he knew it. He could feel him coming closer. And then finally he saw the headlights approaching. It was about time. The old man was getting slower every year, hm?
"Someone´s coming." the girl exhaled and looked around. "We should go."
"Don´t worry." was all he said.
He didn´t even think about starting the engine again. He´d come here to do this and he would go through with it. Her pathetic whining was annoying but he could stand it. It would be over very soon anyway. The cop got out of his car now, carefully approaching them. He was holding his flashlight up instead of his gun. Stupid. As always.
"He´s coming." the girl whispered, trying to make him drive away. He didn´t move.
The door got torn open and the light shone inside. The girl gasped while he was just smiling. "Whoops." was all he said, not even looking at the cop.
The old man looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Whoops." he echoed.
"It´s my neighbor´s car." the girl hurried to explain. "We were going to put it back. It was just a dare."
God, how pathetic she was. She really still thought that she was the reason why he´d done this.
"Is there a problem here, officer?" he asked, a mischievous smile on his lips.
"You wanted my attention, Shawn." the cop said. "You got it, buddy."
"Wait." the girl said startled. "You guys know each other?"
"Yeah, he´s sort of my dad." Shawn told her, giving her a look that was full of dismissing amusement. She had fulfilled her part in this act. Now it was time for act two.
Of course his father would let her go with just a slap on the wrist. He was the one he wanted to teach a lesson. But that was okay. That was exactly what he was counting on. Act two was on the way.
They reached the police station and his father led him in. Handcuffed of course, as if he was afraid he could try to run. That was the treatment he got after eighteen years of playing father and son.
"I´m afraid I´m gonna have to ask for that „World´s Greatest Dad" mug back." he said teasingly while they walked in.
"You just keep talking, Shawn." the old man replied.
"You keep talking." Shawn replied right back.
"Don´t worry, I will." Henry promised. "Like when I read you your rights."
"Oh, I have rights. That´ll be new and fun." Shawn said, smirking provokingly.
Their walk came to a sudden stop when his father grabbed his arms, making him face him. "What am I gonna tell your mother?" he asked him.
Now finally there was the cue Shawn had been waiting for, to start with act two. "I don´t know." he said. "You think you can get hold of her new phone number?"
His father´s face was stern as always, but Shawn just knew he had hit the mark. He could feel it. He knew what made his father tick. It was as if he could hear it work behind his forehead. As if he heard a clock ticking.
"I hope it was worth it, smart-ass." Henry said, his voice low. "This officially ends your chance of being a cop."
"Let´s be honest." Shawn replied, preparing for the last hit. And this time he would hit him where it really hurt. He said: "I gave up wanting to be like you a long time ago."
The reaction was almost better than he had expected. "That´s it." Henry yelled. "Somebody book him. You, beanpole!" he addressed a young officer, standing nearby. "Get over here. Fingerprint him now."
The rookie, completely startled by the fact that he´d been addressed in the first place, straightened and looked around for a moment. "Oh, I´m … I´m sorry." he stuttered. "Me?"
"Never mind, rookie." Henry grumbled, his mood getting worse. "I´ll do it myself." He grabbed Shawn´s arm again and dragged him along. Oh, yeah, act two was fully started by now.
"You still can´t let go, can you?" Shawn asked him, now grinning almost from ear to ear.
"I can´t let go?" Henry yelled and swirled him around again to look into his face. "You are the one who can´t stop fooling around. I tried to make something out of you, so you could use this gift that you have for something important. And what are you doing? You throw it away."
"Maybe I will use my so called gift for something else." Shawn said. "You´re not the only one who can decide what is important."
"You think you know what´s important?" Henry snorted. "You can´t even fulfill the simplest responsibilities."
Now Shawn´s smile faded. "Stop that." he demanded.
"Oh, I´m just getting started." Henry replied. "You could have been something, Shawn. You had the potential to be something special."
"Stop it."
"Now look at you. You are a disappointment from top till bottom."
"I said stop it!" Shawn yelled. Behind Henry another rookie reached over her desk for some big scissors.
"You are not the son I tried to raise." Henry shouted at Shawn and finally made him snap.
He jumped forward and punched his father in the face, with both of his cuffed fists and Henry stumbled backwards, his eyes wide with surprise. When he saw Shawn coming after him, he reached for the rookie, grabbing the scissors and pointed it at Shawn, to make him stop. But Shawn grabbed the scissors, started to struggle. Their hands that fought over the scissors went down, between them. And then all the sudden Henry flinched. He looked up at his son in shock.
The young officer screamed when she saw Shawn´s hand covered with blood. Henry´s blood. The big scissors stuck in his chest right where the heart was located. Shawn could only stand there and stare at his father wide eyed. No, that was not the way it was supposed to happen. How could this happen?
All around him, people started to shout and talk over each other, heatedly. The room started to spin around him. He could only see his father´s eyes, fixed on him, while he slowly broke down to the ground. The accusation in his eyes was cutting deeply. Almost as deep as the scissors had cut in his chest.
"You are a monster, Shawn." he said and his teeth were bloody. "A … A monster. Shawn. n. Shhhhaaaaawwwwnnnn."
"Sylar!" someone shouted. A door fell shut so loud that he thought it had been crashed against his skull. His eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright. What happened?
He looked around. He was in a small room, in which the only furniture was an old rusty bed and a tiny nightstand. He was sitting on a squeaking chair in front of the window, his elbow still on the sill. Mohinder stood by the door, eavesdropping for sounds from outside. His eyes were haunted.
"Get up. We need to go." he urged and then seemed to notice for the first time the confusion in Sylar´s face. "Don´t tell me you fell asleep." he said in disbelieve.
Sylar looked around one more time and his brain switched back into gear. "What´s going on?" he asked, getting up.
"They found us." Mohinder told him, making his way into the bathroom. "We need to sneak out through the back."
Sylar threw a glance out of the window but couldn´t see anyone – yet. "What happened?" he asked.
"I was out front." Mohinder´s voice came from the bathroom, followed by the sound of a window being opened. "I believe I could shake them for the moment, but they saw me. We´ve got to hurry."
Sylar followed him into the bathroom and found him already halfway outside. "How could you let this happen?" he hissed at him.
"Me?" Mohinder replied. "You were the one who fell asleep on your watch."
"That must be the drugs you gave me." Sylar defended himself, climbing out of the window after him.
"I only gave you the formular to restore your strength."
"Well, obviously it was the wrong dosage."
"Don´t you tell me how to dose a medication. You would be dead by now if I wouldn´t know how to do that."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot. Thanks for that. You took so good care of me. I´m sure my condition has nothing to do with the treatment I got from you over these last three months."
"You have no right to complain." Mohinder hissed back at him. By now they both were ducked under the window, whispering at each other. "After all that you did to other people, I call that poetic justice."
Inside they heard the door to their room getting busted.
"Maybe we should delay this clarifying conversation until we have a little more time." Sylar suggested and then they just ran.
They rounded the building and came to the parking lot. Sylar headed for the first car that was reachable, unlocked it with a simple motion of his hand and jumped in. The engine came to life almost instantly.
"Get in." he shouted at Mohinder when the scientist hesitated.
Someone shouted behind them and then there were shots ringing out. Mohinder swirled around and flinched when he realized that they´d been shooting at him. A moment later he wondered why he wasn´t hit. When he looked back, he saw five bullets standing in the air before him. He threw a look over his shoulder and saw Sylar, hand stretched out. A moment later the murderer spread his fingers a second time and sent the bullets back, at the men who´d shot them.
Mohinder stared at the result wide eyed. One of the men got a bullet through his head and was killed instantly. The second one got only hit in the shoulder, twice, and was thrown to the ground.
"Get in the car!" Sylar shouted again and finally Mohinder moved.
He could see the wounded agent getting up again. He was holding his arm but he seemed to be tough enough to keep going. And he did. He headed for a black car that was parked in front of the motel. Sylar turned their own new gained car around and then stopped. Instead of driving away, he reached out his hand. Mohinder guessed what he was doing just a moment before it happened. The black car and the agent that was about to enter it, went off in a bright fireball.
"What are you doing?" the scientist shouted.
"Calm down." Sylar replied, annoyed over his behavior and drove off.
"That wasn´t necessary." Mohinder argued when they were on the street.
"Yes, it was." Sylar insisted, giving him a look. "You would have preferred a car chase?" When he got no response he lay his head askew. "Face it, Mohinder." he said. "That´s the reason why you took me with you. Because you knew I could do these things. Don´t complain now, that I´m actually doing it." He looked ahead at the street again. When he got no response from Mohinder whatsoever he asked: "Did you at least get what you went out for?"
"What?"
"Dude." Sylar was slowly loosing his patience. "The reason why you went out, remember?"
"What the hell are you talking about, Shawn? I didn´t get out yet. We just came here. Shawn! Are you listening to me?"
Shawn opened his eyes with a loud gasp. His heart was thudding in his chest. He looked around and found himself sitting in the car, just where he´d fallen asleep. Gus was sitting right next to him, looking at him as if he were totally crazy. And who knew. Maybe he was. Damn, what the hell was happening to him?