Chapter Three: Memories
May 7, 2007
"Tell me again about the day we first met."
Alexandra murmured sleepily as Aaron cuddled against her, kissing her shoulder as his hands massaged her naked body. "Again? Baby, I'm tired. You've worn me out."
Aaron laughed softly as he pressed against her. "Really? I was ready for another round. Tell me, please."
Alexandra sighed. "We were both starting out freshman year at Tulane. My roommate was Miriam Brooks, her twin brother Martin was your roommate. Martin unpacked everything as quickly as he could and convinced you to come with him to our dorm room to help Miriam unpack. I was carrying an armload of boxes and I ran into you when I walked into my dorm. A box of books landed on your head. You laughed at me as I grabbed an ice pack and made you sit on my bed. You said you'd always heard of being struck by the written word, it had just never happened to you literally before. I offered to take you for coffee to make it up to you, and you said you wouldn't hear of it. You said that someone as beautiful as I was shouldn't ever have to take a man out, it should always be the other way around. We went to the movies that night-"
"-What did we see?"
"We saw 'A Time to Kill' because you had a thing for Sandra Bullock, I was developing a thing for Matthew McConaghey and we both thought Samuel L. Jackson was truly the shit. We talked about the movie all through dinner and on the walk home afterwards. You walked me to my dorm and we stood outside of my room together, trying to make small talk."
"Because I was scared to kiss you." He nibbled on her earlobe. "Thank God I got over that."
"I know." Alexandra sighed. "And I was scared to make the first move. You kissed me on the cheek and started to walk away, then finally said 'Oh, to hell with it!' and turned around to me."
"And that's when I first kissed you."
"And we've been together ever since."
Aaron smiled as he let his hands roam over his wife's body. "Tell me about the first time we made love. I like that story."
Alexandra turned in his arms. "Which time? The time we really first made love, or the time you first remember making love?"
Aaron laughed softly as he placed his hand on her thigh, draping it over his as he began to kiss her passionately. "Actually, I'd rather build on my memories, now that I think about it." He smiled as he let his hand slide up her thigh, feeling her shudder with pleasure. "I can't get enough of you." He whispered.
"So I've noticed." Alexandra kissed him as he rolled over on top of her. "Good thing though, I can't get enough of you either."
April 8, 1998
"Does Geneva seem a bit off to you, today?"
Noah Bennet glanced over at Claude, shaking his head. "You know that's not her name anymore, just like 'Claude Raines' isn't your real name."
"Sorry." Claude rolled his eyes sarcastically. "So anyway. Does AVERY seem a bit off to you today?"
"Define 'off'."
"You know what I mean. She's usually laughing and joking with us. Today she seems a bit withdrawn, out of sorts. You've noticed that, right?"
"She's a teenaged girl, they have mood swings." Noah shrugged.
"Fine father you're going to make." Claude shook his head. "Just wait until that little one in your house becomes a teenager, then you'll have no choice but to notice when they seem off. Mood swings my ass! Something's bothering that girl, something big."
"Then go ask her about it."
"I tried! She looked like she was going to burst into tears and then ran off!"
Noah finally put down the paperwork he was reading. "I know what's wrong with her, okay? Thompson told me about it this morning. She had her first assignment last night." He frowned. "She had to cause a man to have a stroke, apparently someone who was a pedophile and child pornographer."
"Bloody hell." Claude leaned against his desk. "Poor kid. I know that what she did was good, actually, but it still had to be hard on her, doing something like that."
In his office, Thompson shuddered and collapsed on top of Ava, panting hard. "Now that's what I call a lunch hour." He smiled as he stood up, pulling up his pants. Ava sat up and climbed off of his desk, her face a mask of revulsion as she buttoned her shirt and pulled her skirt back down. Thompson looked up, smiling as he rearranged his desk. "Don't look so glum, you'll enjoy it after a while, I promise you. I've been told that I'm very good and you need an education in everything." He winked at her and held out her panties. "Don't forget these." Ava snatched them out of his hand, shivering with disgust. "Now, let's discuss your next assignment."
Ava sat in a chair, glaring hatefully at Thompson. "So I wasn't just sent in here to get you off?"
"No, that was just the bonus." Thompson smirked as he opened a folder. "You're going with me to Las Vegas. You're going to meet the big man himself, Mr. Linderman."
"Who's that?" Ava looked away, refusing to meet Thompson's eyes.
"He's the man who truly runs everything, and I DO mean EVERYTHING!" He leaned forward on his desk templing his fingers under his chin. "Claude and Noah have no idea he's the person who provides the cash for their paychecks and YOU aren't going to tell them, are you?" His eyes narrowed as Ava continued to look away. "LOOK AT ME!" He smiled as Ava finally turned to glare at him. "Get used to keeping secrets, little girl, that's your whole life now. You're not going to tell Noah and Claude anything about Mr. Linderman and you're also going to keep your mouth shut about last night and what just happened in here."
"What if I DO tell them? What are you going to do, kill me?"
"No." Thompson laughed softly. "I'll kill THEM." He nodded as Ava's eyes widened and began to fill with tears. "Your two best friends out there, the men who are like your big brothers? They'll die if you open your mouth and breathe one word to them about this, any of this. You're also going to keep your mouth shut about our relationship to Mr. Linderman. He looks down on people dipping their pens in the company ink, so to speak. If you talk to him, I'll place a call to kill your pals in there and then I'll kill you before Linderman tries to retaliate against me. You're screwed, kiddo."
"Literally and figuratively." She muttered.
"Right." Thompson studied her. "So get used to it and start acting like you enjoy it, even if you're just faking. Anyway, tomorrow, we're going to Las Vegas where you'll show Mr. Linderman your special powers. How does that sound?"
"Great." She looked away again.
"Good." Thompson closed the folder. "That's all for now. Come back around six. I think I'll need something before I have to go home to the wife."
Ava glared hatefully at him again as she stood. "You realize you make me want to puke every time you come near me, right?"
Thompson's smile faded just a little. "Just for that, I think I'll need you to stay in here and take care of me more than once before I go home. You WILL learn to like what we do in here, Ava, or at least learn to pretend you do."
Ava closed her eyes as she walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. "Bastard." She muttered under her breath. "If I didn't think I'd end up terminated, I'd blow your brains with my mind right now." She walked back to her room and pulled off her clothes, tossing them aside as she stepped into the shower and started scrubbing herself until her skin was almost raw.
May 8, 2007
He moaned in his sleep, jerking and thrashing as he dreamt. He dreamed of bullets flying towards him and stopping them with his hand before sending them back to his shooter (Matt? Lexie's coworker? How could it be?) with the flick of his fingers. The scene dissolved in front of him to find himself standing in an art studio, a man lay at his feet, impaled by paint brushes. He stood over him, pointing a finger at him. "This is usually the part when people start screaming." He said as the man's head began to bleed.
"NO!" Aaron woke up, breathing hard as he clutched the sheets.
Alexandra sat up and turned on a light before turning to him. "Aaron? Are you okay?"
Aaron looked around the room, realizing he was in his home in Texas. "Yeah." He gasped for air. "I'm okay. It was just a bad dream, that's all."
Alexandra stared at him, concerned. "What did you dream about?"
Aaron shook his head. "I don't remember." He lay back down, his heart pounding. "I'm trying to think about it now, but I don't remember the dream."
"Okay." Alexandra lay beside him, her hand on his chest. "Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure." Aaron snapped at her. "I just want to go back to sleep."
"Fine, you don't have to bite my head off about it!" Alexandra rolled over, turning her back to him.
"Lexie, I'm sorry." Aaron rolled over, spooning against her. "I don't know why I just acted like that. I don't know what got into me." He nuzzled her neck. "Want to help me have sweeter dreams?"
"Why? Screwing you to sleep earlier didn't help!" She shook him off as she climbed out of bed. Aaron sat up and watched as she put on a robe.
"Where are you going?"
"The guest room!" She turned around, glaring at him. "Sweet fucking dreams, asshole!" Aaron lay back against the pillows as she stomped out of the room with Mac behind her, slamming the door in their wake.
"Shit." He muttered under his breath.
He woke up that morning when he heard her come back into the bedroom. He sat up, watching as she pulled off her robe and grabbed running clothes out of the dresser. "Can I please apologize?"
"I'm still pissed, so no."
"Look," Aaron took a deep breath "I know I was an ass, when you were just trying to comfort me after a nightmare, but you didn't have to be such a bitch about it!"
"No, YOU look!" Alexandra turned around as she pulled her sports bra on over her head. "NO ONE snaps at me the way you did last night, do you hear me? NO ONE! And what's with you CONSTANTLY putting your hands all over me? Sometimes I just want to sleep, okay? I don't have to have it twenty-four seven like you do. You're like a nymphomaniac or something."
"Actually, nymphomaniacs are women, for men it's called satyriasis."
"Whatever, would you mind not pawing me every chance you fucking get?" Alexandra rolled her eyes as she grabbed her running shoes.
"What is WITH you?" Aaron shook his head. "I'm serious, here! One minute, you're telling me you love me, the next minute you're pushing me away and withdrawing, then you're telling me you love me and can't get enough of me, and then you're stomping out of the room to sleep in the guest room. I can't WIN with you, Lexie! What is WRONG?"
"Nothing." Alexandra started to leave, glaring as Aaron grabbed her arm. "And there you go, touching me again."
Aaron snatched his hand away, his eyes filling with tears. "Lexie, something's wrong. Please tell me what's going on with you. I want to help, I want to understand, please."
Alexandra shook her head. "Nothing's wrong, I just overreacted, that's all." She stared at the floor. "I'm going for a run. I'll be back soon."
Aaron started to speak again, then shook his head and turned away as Alexandra headed for the door. He stared down at Mac as the little Pomeranian waddled into the room. "I bet you'd tell me what was wrong, huh?" He smiled sadly as the dog sat up in his hind legs and barked at him. "Yeah, yeah. Let's make you some breakfast."
Alexandra mind raced as her feet pounded the pavement. What did he dream? Why did he snap at me like that? He just changed, on a dime. One minute he was Aaron, the next minute, I didn't recognize him, then he was Aaron again. What in the hell did he dream? Is he becoming Sylar again? She shook her head, trying desperately to push the thoughts away, to run away from them. If he became Sylar again, she knew what she'd have to do to him and she didn't want to think about it. She groaned as she saw a car pull over to the curb ahead of her and watched as Noah Bennet stepped out of it. He waved to her, waiting as she ran over to him and leaned over to catch her breath. "What do you want?" She snapped.
"I got a call from our audio visual techs early this morning. I understand you and Aaron had a fight? A fight that continued until just a few minutes ago when you came out here to run?"
"Yeah, we had a fight." Alexandra looked away, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "He's remembering, I know it."
"Do you have proof?"
Alexandra glared at him. "Besides my gut feeling? No, I don't have proof! What do you want? You want him to rip someone's skull open first?"
Noah sighed. "We can't just terminate him on your gut feeling, Avery. You know this. We have to have actual proof. What happened last night?"
"He had a nightmare." She paced the road beside his car. "It was a bad one. He was thrashing around yelling 'no'. When he woke up, he was different for a moment."
"Different how?"
"When I looked into his eyes, for a split second I didn't see 'Aaron', okay? I saw something else, SOMEONE else. I saw someone sinister and dark. That's when he snapped at me and I got scared. He changed back right away, started acting like the man I've been living with again, but" she shook her head "what I saw in that split second freaked me out. I realized that I was lying in bed with a stranger and I didn't like it, Noah. I didn't like that one bit, so I went to the guest room to sleep."
"And this morning?"
"He's 'Aaron' again." She shrugged. "He wanted to apologize, wanted to talk things out, and I freaked out on him."
"I got the transcripts of the conversation sent to me over my PDA while I was coming here. I'd say you definitely freaked out on him. Avery look, I know this is difficult for you-"
"-DIFFICULT?" She laughed "Try impossible. This is London all over again, Noah!"
"I know-"
"-You promised me, you PROMISED me after London that I wouldn't have to do an assignment like this again! You, Thompson, LINDERMAN! You all fucking promised me that any assignments I had after that would be quick. I go in, I take out the target, I haul ass! I can't do here what I did in London, Noah. I can't take it again."
Noah slumped against his car. "I remember, Avery. I remember promising you that. This is important, though."
"I don't care!" Her voice broke as she leaned against the trunk of the car, burying her face in her arms as she started to cry. "I can't do this anymore, Noah." She lifted her head to glare at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I can't sell my soul and my heart again, not even for you. Not even for everything you've done for me."
"Avery-"
She sniffled and held up her hand. Noah noticed how it shook. "-You have one week. Get with whoever is in charge of this bullshit, tell them that I've given you and them ONE WEEK! At the end of that week, either you send The Haitian in there to totally hollow him out, or I'm walking AFTER I've taken him out! This isn't a request, it's an order."
"Fine." Noah stared at the ground for a moment, his expression filled with guilt. "Can you play nice with 'Aaron' for another week?"
"With an end in sight?" She smiled sadly. "I'll give him the best week of his life. By the way, I'm taking the day off to 'play nice' with my husband."
She turned and started running again, heading down the road back towards her house as Noah watched her sadly. He pulled out his phone and dialed it. "Kaito, it's Noah. We need to have a meeting regarding Agent Reese and her assignment. She needs to know now just WHY we're keeping Sylar alive. She needs to know everything."
Sitting in the living room, he heard her footsteps on the porch and heard the door open. He stood as she walked into the living room and nodded to her, not meeting her eye as he tried to step past her. "Aaron, wait." She reached out and touched his arm.
"And now you're touching me." He looked into her eyes for a moment, then looked away. "Be careful, you might turn me into a sex-crazed lunatic just by touching me."
"You wanted to apologize this morning and I wouldn't let you." Alexandra looked at him as he stared at the floor. "You're not the one who should be apologizing here, I am. I was worried about you last night and I was clingy and then I lost my temper for no good reason. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I left our bed last night, I'm sorry about snapping at you this morning and I'm sorry for ever making you feel like-"
"-Like shit?" Aaron looked up finally, his eyes meeting hers. "Like I repel you in some way just by wanting to be near you?"
Alexandra nodded. "I lied to you about something, okay? When we first-" She closed her eyes "I wasn't a virgin when we first got together, but I wanted to be. I was your first lover and I wanted so much to be yours, and I would have been if-" She shook her head.
"-Why would you lie about something like that?"
"Because I was ashamed." Alexandra stepped past him into the living room. "When I was a teenager, there was a man I trusted, an older man. He was a friend of the family, a friend of my dad's. He seduced me and used me. I hated the idea of him ever touching me and the idea of him even coming near me made my skin crawl, but I let him anyway and I'm ashamed to even admit that I let him-" She closed her eyes feeling the tears start. Hell girl, if you've got to tell him something, at least this is something that's actually close to the truth. She turned to Aaron. "-He told me that if I told my parents, that he'd hurt them and that no one would believe me anyway."
"Oh Honey." Aaron stepped towards her, then stepped back, putting his arms behind his back. "That explains a lot. It explains why you get bothered when I touch you and why you seem so sad with me."
Alexandra nodded. "It went on for a long time. It finally ended when I went to Tulane and met you. I never went home again after that. I told you that my parents and I had a falling out when I went to Tulane, but I never told you why. We fell out because I refused to return home where HE was. I was scared that if I went back, he'd try to start things up again and hurt me or my parents if I refused him."
Aaron nodded, his brow furrowing angrily. "So that man abused you, molested you, and made YOU feel guilty about it? That son of a bitch! Where is he? What's his name?"
"He's dead. He died a few years ago. I kept tabs on him, kept a watch out online for news about him. I celebrated the day I found out that he died."
"Good." Aaron nodded. "I'm glad he's dead. If he weren't, I'd kill him myself." He stepped towards her again, then stepped back once more. "Bastard."
"That's why I get weird around you sometimes. That's why I got worried last night when you snapped at me and then did that 180 and started touching me and wanting me again. He used to do that. He'd hit me or yell at me one minute, then he'd be forcing himself on me the next." She stepped towards her husband, reaching out to touch his shoulders. "So don't apologize to me, this was my bad, my baggage. I pushed it away for so long, tried to forget what happened, but I couldn't and I freaked out and took it out on the wrong person, you. I love you, Aaron. I love your hands, I love your body, I love your mind, I love the way you look at me, I love the way you love me, I love the way you make me feel and I don't want to EVER make you feel the way I made you feel this morning ever again." She started to cry. "You are, without a doubt, the best thing that has ever happened to me and I'm so sorry I tried to push you away."
"Oh Baby." Aaron pulled her into his arms, kissing her cheek. "Why didn't you ever tell me any of this before, huh? You can't keep something like that from me. I'm your husband."
"I know. I was just so ashamed of everything. I was ashamed that I let it happen and that I let it continue and now I'm ashamed that I almost let it mess up what we had."
"Don't you EVER feel ashamed of that. He took advantage of you. He used you." Aaron looked into her eyes. "What happened to you wasn't your fault."
Alexandra smiled softly. "Say it again."
"It wasn't your fault, Baby."
"Once more?"
Aaron kissed her in between each word. "It. Wasn't. Your. Fault."
Alexandra nodded. "I want to make love to you."
"You have to work." Aaron smiled teasingly.
"I'll call in sick." With an arm still wrapped around him, she grabbed her cell phone from the coffee table and dialed it. "Matt, Alexandra. I'm sick. Give my regrets." She hung up and smiled at him. "I'm all yours, all day."
"I'm all yours too." Aaron winked at her. "Do what you want to me."
"Oh, the possibilities." Alexandra giggled as she playfully pushed Aaron onto the couch, before pulling off her tee shirt and sports bra and tackling him.
Late that evening, Noah paced in his office, waiting. He looked up as Kaito Nakamura entered the room, followed by Angela Petrelli. Kaito frowned as he took a seat, Angela sitting beside him. "What's going on with Reese and Gray?"
They lay together on the floor in the living room, a throw blanket tossed over them. Alexandra smiled softly as she slept, Aaron wrapped around her, his mouth against the back of her neck, his lips curled up into a contented smile. His smile began to fade into a frown as he began to dream. Once again, he dreamed of throwing bullets back at a man who was shooting at him, a man who looked like his wife's co-worker Matt. He dreamed of the man impaled on the floor of his art studio, screaming as blood poured from his head.
"That's important to you, isn't it? Being special?" He heard a man's voice talking to him as he stood in a cell, a shunt sticking out of the back of his skull.
"It's important to everyone." He told the man who was speaking to him, a man with horn-rimmed glasses, watching him behind glass.
He saw a woman falling forward, scissors sticking out of her chest.
"That's enough!" The man's voice rang through his head.
He saw a blond in a cheerleading uniform pinned to a row of lockers, blood pouring down her head as she cried out.
"I SAID THAT'S ENOUGH GABRIEL!" The man's voice yelled at him.
He saw a petite red-haired woman fall to the floor, blood pouring from her forehead as he knelt over her, his mouth watering.
"MY NAME IS SYLAR!"
Sylar woke up with a start, his mind racing as he looked around the room, trying to get his bearings. He tried to control his breathing to keep from waking his wife.
His eyes widened. WIFE? He stared down at Alexandra as she slept beside him. He smiled softly as he studied her. Wife indeed. He got up and began to walk around the room, almost as if he were seeing it for the first time. He smiled to himself. Aaron Abbott, huh? With a wife who happens to work at Primatech. Good one. He turned back to watch as Alexandra slept on the floor. She shivered for a moment, pulling the blanket around her. And why would they put me with her? What do they want from me? Would they put me with someone normal or- He grinned as he turned to look at her again. Would they put me with someone who they think could take me on in a fight if I remembered? What do they want with me? He paced the room, staring at how meticulously they'd decorated, to make it seem lived-in, like a couple who had been married for seven years had lived here. They could have let me die in that hospital, why didn't they? Why have they gone to all of this trouble? He picked up a picture from an end table, a picture of them supposedly on their wedding day. She was dressed in a simple white gown, no veil and he was in a tuxedo. Both of them were barefoot on a beach. He laughed to himself, remembering how she'd told him about their wedding in Hawaii, a week after they'd graduated from college. Whoever had doctored that picture had done a good job.
"Aaron?" He turned to see Alexandra sitting up, watching him. "What's up? Did you have another bad dream?"
He remembered how he acted as Aaron and smiled gently at her. "I didn't want to wake you."
"What did you dream about?"
He laughed softly as he walked back to her. "Oh who knows? You know how nightmares are, you forget them as soon as you wake up." He held out his hand. "I think I was also getting a little stiff sleeping on the floor. I'm not that eighteen year old kid you fell in love with anymore, remember?"
She smiled up at him. "Neither of us are." She took his hand and stood up, letting the blanket fall to the floor. "Want to go to bed?"
He stared down at her naked body, his eyes roaming over every inch and curve of her. I can play along for now, have a good time while I'm at it, and she IS a good time. "I definitely want to go to bed."
She grinned. "I don't think sleeping on the floor is the only thing that's made you stiff."
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "No, it's not." He pulled her close, his heart pounding as he felt his body pressing against hers. "Are you ready for more?"
"Always." She kissed him passionately as he picked her up and carried her up the stairs.
He kissed her back, letting the feelings he'd had for her as 'Aaron' return, pushing away the anger that the last six months had been a lie. As he placed her on the bed and slid on top of her, moaning softly as he felt her legs wrap around his waist, he smiled at her. 'Aaron may have loved you, whoever you are, but Sylar is going to use you, enjoy you and toss your ass away when he's done.He kissed her as they began to move together, feeling her nails dig into his back. At least they had the sense to put me with someone good. Life is definitely good right now. He moaned softly. And it's only going to get better.
