Coping Process

The cell phone started to ring, just as Peter closed his locker, ready to start his shift. Cursing, he opened the locker again. Damn, he hated it to be delayed for work.

"Petrelli." he spoke, impatiently.

"Hello, Peter." an accented voice answered him and Peter closed his eyes.

"Mohinder."

"Listen." the geneticist started, sounding reluctant to even go on. Peter threw a glance at his watch and begged in silence Mohinder would talk faster. "This might sound a little odd." he finally did. "But … Sylar´s regular call hasn´t happen yet and I was wondering if everything was all right."

Peter frowned. That was odd. Not totally unexpected but … still odd. How the hell was he supposed to know? Sylar slept on his couch for over a week, but that didn´t mean he knew everything he was doing, at any given minute of the day. And was it a surprise? Ever since the two of them had arrived in New York, Sylar had been strangely quiet. Usually he was a very talkative person, always eager to catch up and share ideas and feelings. But this time … nothing.

It had been Mohinder who´d told them all in detail what had happened, with all of them, and of course Peter understood that this had left a mark. But still. This was Sylar. The guy dealt with things like that in his own way. One of them was this said regular call, everyday at the same time in the morning, to make sure everything was okay over at the Petrelli house with Mohinder and Molly.

Peter had not questioned any of this, he´d just accepted it, knowing that things like that needed time to find their own ways. There would be water under the bridge eventually. But obviously that time wasn´t now. Not when Mohinder kept track on those calls too.

"It´s eleven a.m." Peter pointed out.

"I know." Mohinder replied. "And he usually calls at ten. You know how accurate he is about that."

Peter sighed. That was very true. "You tried to call him?" he asked.

"Of course. He seems to have switched off his cell phone."

Now that really didn´t seem to fit. Or maybe it did? He hurried to think fast about the whole subject.

"All right, listen." he said. "I don´t know it for sure but he went into the church on Battery Park a few times. Maybe he switched the phone off to not to disturb people."

There was a brief stunned silence on the other end. "A church?" Mohinder repeated.

"Yeah."

"What is he doing in a church?"

"A confession? Listen, Mohinder …"

Peter had to make himself look away from the clock. This was not some random time wasting chat. It was about Sylar and when Mohinder was troubled about the former killer´s state of mind, he would have a reason. And thinking of Sylar´s behavior over this last week, Peter thought he might be right.

"Maybe you should talk to him." he suggested therefor. "He seems … I´m not sure. He´s not himself lately. He´s barely talking and practically never left the house. I thought it would settle down after a while but …"

"I see."

"I tried to talk to him but he doesn´t seem to … you know. He doesn´t want to."

"What makes you think he´ll talk to me then?" the scientist asked.

"Because you were there, Mohinder. In that bunker. I wasn´t. I didn´t even know about it before you got here and told me about what happened. … I don´t think he´s completely over it yet."

"None of us is." Mohinder stated, matter of factly. "That´s the point."

"Exactly. So talk to him. Molly is fine for the time being. She had a good start at her new school and she has Mom and Heidi to look after her. You take care of Gabriel."

Again there was that brief hesitation in the line before the geneticist spoke again.

"All right." he said. „I will."

"Good." Peter was barely able to hold himself in this room any longer. He was already two minutes late. "My shift starts." he told Mohinder. "I´ve got to go."

"Okay." the geneticist said and Peter was already in the process of hanging up. But then Mohinder cried out again: "Wait. Did your mother reach you?"

"No." Peter frowned. "What does she want?"

"She wanted to ask you to come over this weekend." Mohinder informed him.

The young paramedic sighed. "I see what I can do." was all he would promise. "Gotta go." And with that he hung up, before he would lose even more time.

...

When Mohinder entered the church it was like leaving one universe behind and entering another. The noises and smells that were so strong outside in the streets, were locked out completely, exchanged by that all surrounding quietness of the cathedral. Only a few people were there, sitting quietly along the benches, each of them totally within his or her own prayer. Sylar wasn´t among them though. Had Peter been mistaken, after all?

But then Mohinder spotted him, standing halfway down the side aisle, before an altar. He was lighting a candle, his gaze deep and his brows furrowed, as if he was thinking about something very important. Or someone very important. As far as Mohinder knew, those candles were lit for the dead and he couldn´t help but wonder, who Sylar was lighting them for. But then again, this question offered too many possibilities to even start thinking about it.

He slowly approached the altar, meeting Sylar´s surprised eyes.

"Hello." he greeted and caused an amused smile on the other man´s face.

"Hello." Sylar replied. "How´d you know I was here?"

Mohinder couldn´t suppress the smile that crept over his lips, thinking of all the possible answers he could give now, most of them inspired by a certain fake psychic from Santa Barbara. But of course he wouldn´t do that. That was just ridiculous.

"Peter told me." he said, simple and plain. "He said you came here a few times."

Sylar nodded in silence, this expression of deep contemplation back in his features.

"Is everything all right?" Mohinder asked.

"Sure." Sylar claimed but one look into his face and Mohinder knew it was a lie. A totally obvious one. Sylar knew that too. He shook his head. "I just … needed to get out." he revealed the truth, adding a quiet: "… at last."

"Out?"

"Of the apartment. You know, facing … home."

Now finally Mohinder understood what all this was about. How could he have been so blind, so oblivious? This was New York. The place where it had all begun.

"I know what you mean." he told Sylar. "I came across some familiar places too. It felt odd to see my old apartment building again. Hell, it feels odd to be in the Petrelli house again. In these streets."

"Kirby Plaza." Sylar completed the listing.

Mohinder looked up. Careful now.

"You were there?"

Sylar nodded, his gaze, dark and gloomy, was on the candles in front of him. "I could have sworn, I still saw the blood on the ground." he said, throwing him a brief side glance. "I´m still not sure it wasn´t there."

For a moment Mohinder saw that scene again before his inner eye. Sylar bowed over, paled by Hiro´s sword, blood on his lips, shock on his face, before he broke down, seemingly bleeding to death on the cold ground of Kirby Plaza. The place where it had all ended … seemingly. Only that in their lives nothing ever ended that easily. These past few years were proof of it. The fact that they were standing here together now, was proof of it.

"You shouldn´t do that." he finally spoke again. "Do what?"

Mohinder hesitated. How was he supposed to go on here? His eyes found the candles on the altar again, so many of them and he wondered how many of them had been lit by Sylar. Because now he understood for whom he´d lit them. Dear god.

"Maybe it wasn´t a good idea for you to come along." he said after a while. "To New York, I mean. Maybe it was too early."

"You mean to face what I´ve done?" Sylar asked bitterly. "I already knew that, thanks a lot. Besides." he threw him another glance. "You don´t really think I would let you travel halfway around the world all on your own, do you?"

Mohinder immediately understood the hint, of course. He nodded, returning Sylar´s smile and raised his hand to lightly pad his shoulder, just the way it was supposed to be between them. The way it had always been, disregarding the circumstances.

"I hope you´re baptized, young man." a harsh voice spoke up behind him and made him turn around, surprised.

An old woman stood there, her blue eyes looking very dark in the light of the candles, her skin pale, her features almost furious.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, I hope you´re baptized." she repeated.

A wary frown appeared on Sylar´s face. "Why?" he asked, already guessing the answer.

"This is a Christian church, if you haven´t noticed." she told them.

"And?"

"Pagans and idolaters are not welcome in this church."

Sylar chuckled in utter disbelieve. "Lady, are you kidding?"

"Do I look as if I was kidding?"

"I assure you, I didn´t mean any harm." Mohinder spoke up, trying to ease the tension but Sylar raised a hand, to stop him.

"No, Mohinder, don´t apologize." he said, never leaving the woman´s eyes. "You have the same right to be here like everybody else."

"And God the lord said, you shell not have another God but me." was her fierce response. "Idolaters like you are with Satan." she spat at Mohinder.

"Okay, that´s enough." Sylar stated angrily. She performed an angry cross with her fingers, an expression of determination on her face, when he walked in on her.

Mohinder´s hand shot forward, grabbing Sylar´s arm, to stop him before this would get out of hand.

"Gabriel, don´t." he demanded. He´d been about to suggest that they should rather leave, to ask Sylar to be reasonable, anything to put an end to this. But the other man´s startled eyes just made him realize what name he had used.

For a moment he was just stunned. He surely hadn´t intended to call him by that name. It had just happened.

"Gabriel." the old woman spoke, reminding him of her presence. "It´s blasphemy to carry the name of an archangel, when you seek the company of idolaters. You don´t deserve the name of God´s angel of death."

Ladie you have no idea, Mohinder thought frantically.

"Let´s … just go." he said loud and set a good example by walking away at once, heading for the door with fast strides. It took Sylar only a few seconds to catch up with him.

"You never called me Gabriel before." he mentioned, sharp as he was.

"No." Mohinder affirmed, never slowing down. "Sorry, it slipped out."

"No, it´s all right." Sylar replied. "Really."

Mohinder threw him a glance, meeting expecting eyes. "It´s not the first time I used that name on you." he recalled with a shrug, signaling indifference. "I did it before."

"Yeah, but back then it was just a tool, to make me forget I was a killer." Sylar argued. "This was different."

"Why that?" Mohinder reached for the door to push it open.

"Because this time it was real." Sylar answered and made him halt. What did he mean with real, for god´s sake?

"So what am I supposed to do now?" he asked him. "Call you Gabriel from now on?"

"Maybe." Sylar shrugged. "You can call me whatever you want. It´s just a name, why should I argue about that?"

He was about to follow Mohinder outside, when the geneticist stopped in the door one more time and looked back at him, as if he´d just remembered something.

"Especially since you had so many of them over the years." he mentioned before walking out at last.

For a moment Sylar just stood there, frowning, properly confused, just like Mohinder had intended it.

"Wow." he said at last. "That was a real low blow."

Mohinder only nodded and finally left the church, returning to the outside world. Mission accomplished.

"Thanks a lot, buddy." he heard Sylar call after him and responded with a demonstratively indifferent: "You´re welcome."

Eventually, on the sidewalk, he stopped, meeting Sylar´s gaze again. There was an affectionate glowing in those eyes, one that was only too familiar and too much Sylar. Mohinder seriously doubted that he would ever be able to call him Gabriel.

"Sorry that I wanted to take her head off in there." Sylar said and didn´t realize the poor choice of his words, until he saw Mohinder´s reaction. "Metaphorically." he hurried to add.

Mohinder couldn´t help the chuckle that escaped him. In his pocket his cell phone started to ring and claimed his attention.

"It´s Noah." he found after checking the display and answered the call. "Hello."

"Mohinder." Noah´s voice greeted him. "I´m sorry for calling you so out of the blue. But I need your help."

"Why am I not surprised." Mohinder replied with a smirk. "What can I do for you? Any mutilated body I can identify for you as a Special?"

"I hope not." was the answer and the seriousness in Noah´s voice made the geneticist halt. "Mohinder." the Company man said heavily and increased that bad feeling even more. "It´s Matt. He´s gone."

"Gone?"

Mohinder felt as if someone had knocked him over the head with a hammer.

"Means he´s missing." Noah explained. "So is Hiro Nakamura."

Mohinder felt still dizzy. "Hiro?"

Sylar blinked, looking almost as confused as Mohinder felt himself. The geneticist quickly took the cell phone down and pressed the speaker button, so he wouldn´t listen to these confusing revelations all on his own. He doubted that he would be able to repeat them later.

"The two of them are missing for three days now." Noah explained as if he knew that he now had two listeners. "We don´t know any details yet, we only know that Matt called Hiro for help on something before they both vanished. We tried to find them but … to be honest we are at a dead end with our search. That´s why I call you."

Mohinder understood it right away. His mind was still recovering from the shock he´d gotten from the words "Matt was gone". Dammit, what a poor choice of words. Did this guy never think of what he said and how? And now he wanted Molly to help them find him.

Mohinder met Sylar´s gaze and he´d understood as well.

"I know you´re against the idea of making her use her powers for the Company." Noah spoke now. "But this is not for the Company, Mohinder. It´s for Matt. And Hiro. They could be in danger."

Mohinder was still in the process of computing. Matt was missing and Molly was supposed to find him. He was supposed to tell her that Matt was missing. That he might be in great danger. Right after they´d all managed it to cope with what they´d been through. Right now when Molly was supposed to go back to her normal life.

Mohinder felt a hand on his arm that dragged him out of his frantic musing. When he looked up, he met Sylar´s asking gaze. No, not asking. Assuring. It´s all right, this gaze said. I´m right here. Mohinder blinked, feeling confused and relieved, all at once.

"Mohinder?" Noah Bennet´s voice asked into the silence.

"I´ll talk to her." he answered. "I´ll call you back."

"Thanks Mohinder." Noah said and then the line was disconnected.

Mohinder closed the phone with both hands, keeping it there for the moment, as if he needed the feel of it between his palms to know that this call had not been a bad dream. The hand on his arm squeezed, even shook him, to gain his attention.

"Hey." Sylar said, looking at him as if he was afraid he would faint.

Stupid, Mohinder thought. He was far from that. He was just … confused.

"I haven´t talked to Matt in months." he recalled. "But Hiro. He can teleport. How could someone possibly kidnap him and hold him against his will?"

"We´re going to find that out." Sylar assured him and after another moment he asked: "When´s Molly coming home from school?"

Mohinder threw a look at his wristwatch. "In two hours."

Sylar nodded. When Mohinder still wouldn´t say anything, he shrugged demonstratively. "Maybe there´s a way to ask her for her help, without telling her that Matt´s in danger." he suggested.

"No." Mohinder shook his head. "She would know. No, I … I have to tell her."

Sylar only nodded. "You want me to come with?" he asked.

"I´d appreciate that."

...

Juliet didn´t know for sure why she´d left her desk to look for Shawn but when she found him at the front door, he was holding his cell phone to his ear, a frustrated expression on his face. When she reached him, he shook his head and gave it up at last.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, though she could already guess it.

"Trying to lure Gus here." he told her. "But he´s not answering. I let it ring for five minutes now. He put it on silent alarm, I´m sure of it."

Juliet frowned, thinking. "Is it really that necessary that he comes here at once?" she asked.

"Yes." was his frustrated answer.

"Why?"

"Bec …" he stopped himself and sighed, his frustration easing up a little. "I can´t explain that." he said. "You´d only think me crazy."

"I´d never think you crazy." she replied and she meant every word of it. No matter how ridiculous his reason might sound, she would understand it. Because she understood him. She understood how he worked. In this very unique and special way his mind was set. Something she could see so clearly every time he looked at her. Just like she saw it now in his eyes, how he regarded her in that musing way.

"I´ll explain it later." he promised. "If I can. But first I need to get Gus here. Dammit."

"Why don´t you just call at his office line?" she suggested. "He can´t ignore that one."

"No." Shawn denied. "He´ll be on his route by now." At this he suddenly halted, looking ahead with this typical gaze he always had when he´d had one of his ideas. "Wait a second." he mumbled and then a wide smile spread on his face. "Jules, you are a genius."

"I am?"

"Sure. I know his route. Of course. That´s it. Why didn´t I think of that earlier?"

"I don´t know." And that was true. She really didn´t know. Why was she a genius?

He stopped in his celebration and thought this over for a second. "I need a phone book." he said at last.

"I´ve got one in my desk." she said, pointing over her shoulder.

"Sweet." he cheered and was on his way at once. She got the book out of her drawer and gave it to him. He immediately started to flip through it.

"What are you looking for?" she wanted to know.

He kept looking until he´d found it. His finger tipping down on the number that was listed there, he picked up the phone on her desk.

"I need to call a few doctors." he said.

...

The pen scribbled over the paper in quick elegant moves, slim beautiful dark fingers holding the pen almost like an artist. When the young receptionist handed Gus the form back, he smiled at her his best and smoothest smile. She smiled back at him, mostly polite, but she smiled.

"Thank you." Gus said, ready to add some more but she´d already turned to the ringing phone to pick it up.

"Dr. Armagosi´s office." she said. "Um … yes, he´s here. What did you say your name was?"

Gus watched her for one more moment, before he reached for his suitcase to keep going with his route. He had four more of these deliveries to make and no matter how pleasant this one had been, he had to finish his schedule. He was about to turn away when the melodic voice of the receptionist called him back once more.

Gus turned back to her, expecting a question like when his shift might be over or something similar. But instead she was holding the phone over to him.

"It´s for you." she said, making him frown.

"What?"

"Burton Guster." she nodded, whipping the receiver a little.

There was a guess lurking in Gus´ mind when he took the receiver and brought it to his ear.

"Hello? Burton Guster speaking."

"Dude, don´t hang up on me." the excited voice of his friend cried into his ear and Gus had to suppress a groan.

"Shawn."

"It´s really important." his friend insisted. "I know what the case is about."

"I don´t have the time now, Shawn." Gus told him and was about to hand the phone back to the receptionist, when he heard Shawn shout on the other end.

"Hiro is missing."

At this Gus´ movement came to a halt and he hesitated, bringing the phone back to his ear.

"Say that again."

"Hiro Nara … pumba is missing."

"You mean Nakamura." Gus corrected with a frown. "Are you kidding? The guy that …" He realized just in time that he wasn´t alone in the room and lowered his voice. "The guy that could teleport?"

"Exactly. And another Special too. A cop. Dude, you won´t believe what he can do."

"What happened?" Gus wanted to know.

"We´re in the process of figuring that out but, dude, therefor I need you here at the station. No one knows more about these things than you do. You´re chatting with these people and I need you here, right now."

Gus hesitated. He hadn´t want this to happen, to let Shawn distract him from his work again, but then again it was about something he would have never expected. When someone like Hiro Nakamura went officially missing, something big must have happened.

"I´ll be there as quickly as I can." he promised at last.

"Yes." Shawn cheered. "That´s my man. See you in ten minutes."

Gus snapped some air, his initial response being shredded with this.

"Half an hour, Shawn." he corrected this unrealistic demand of his friend.

"Also very good." Shawn replied. "See you."

Gus didn´t give another answer but hung up. He needed to hurry now.

...

Juliet quirked an eyebrow at Shawn as he put the phone back into the cradle.

"No one knows more about special people than Gus?" she asked teasing and glanced at Bennet. "What about him?"

Shawn threw a look over to Lassiter´s desk and smiled. "Sometimes it´s better to leave some minor details out, when you want to strike Gus´ ego." he said.

Juliet smiled, knowing exactly what he meant. Of course she knew. There was nothing she´d learned to understand better over the years than the way these two guys were working. The only other thing that came close to her understanding was the way her partner´s mind worked.

"Oh crap." she heard the voice of exactly that partner growl now, making her and Shawn exchange a frown.

"What is it?" Bennet wanted to know and leaned over Carlton´s shoulder to have a look at the screen. "Oh, this isn´t good." he commented what he saw there.

That at last made Juliet move, walking over to them, unable to contain her curiosity any longer.

"What is it?" she asked, surprisingly reaching the desk after Shawn.

Carlton only turned the screen around a little, so she could see the newest information they´d found.

"Our case just took a new level." he commented it and Juliet could only agree to what Bennet had said earlier. This surely wasn´t good.