Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes.

Chapter Four

Alejandro slammed his hand on the table and came striding across the kitchen to him. "Can not help us, why not?"

Sylar looked away, smiling to himself. If they only knew why it would be disastrous for him to go see Mohinder again–

"Mohinder and I don't get along very well."

"Why not?" Alejandro asked, somehow making the simple question sound like a grievous insult. "You know his father."

"Yes, well, that would seem to be the cause of all our problems."

They both stared at him, waiting for an explanation, Maya looking confused and hopeful, Alejandro just looking angry. Sylar liked being in control of others' emotions and fates like this; he had control over so very little else.

"Mohinder is deeply jealous of me. He was in India while I was here with his father. I was more of a son to Chandra than Mohinder was. And that," he said, "hasn't endeared me to Mohinder one bit. He blames me for a lot of things that I didn't do."

"You are so sure you're not culpable," Alejandro said under his breath.

"Yes, that's right," Sylar snapped back, his annoyance threatening to take over.

Alejandro seemed to gain courage from this. "I don't think you want to help me and mi hermana. You really want to help us, you take us to the doctor–"

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe I am trying to protect her?" Sylar snapped back. Alejandro leaned back, thrown for the moment off balance. "The son is nowhere near the level of the father; it would be more dangerous to take her to him than to help her learn how to control her gift."

Maya opened her mouth, closed it, said quietly, "Gabr–"

"I was against this from the start," he said quickly. "This is too dangerous, bringing her to him – for all we know, he might decide to turn her in, and then where would we be? What help would she receive in jail? They will kill her, Alejandro, and they will probably kill you, too."

This touched a nerve. Alejandro looked away, backed down. Maya's eyes widened, and her trust in him was restored. "What do we do, Gabriel?"

He lowered his voice soothingly. "You need to learn how to use your power first, to make sure that you really want to get rid of it. It's not like a cold, something that will go away without leaving any vestige of its presence. This is part of you, and you should treat it as such. It's a gift; you're blessed, Maya."

Maya looked over to her brother imploringly, wishing he had the answers.

Sylar took her face in his hands and turned her to look at him. "Maya?"

Her breath hitched, and she couldn't look him in the eye. "I would like to see the doctor." When she saw how Sylar drew away, disappointed in her, she surged forward and said eagerly, "Maybe he can help me, help me–" She searched her memory for what he had said to her before. "–help me achieve my full potential. It might help."

Sylar felt the primal hate that a predator feels when its prey is allowed to escape. He had been letting her talk too much to Alejandro, she'd absorbed some of his ideas, his defiance. He made her question.

But he couldn't let any of that show on his face, had to stay calm, or else he would further frighten the little birdies away, and then what would he feast on? What would he feast on then? He smiled at them, toothy, calm, condescending. "Maya, now, have you been listening–"

"Yes, I have," she said emphatically. "Please, Gabriel. I think this is best."

He pursed his lips and tried to appear as though he had her safety in mind – not a hard feat, because what if whatever cure Mohinder might offer would eliminate her ability? Well, he decided, I haven't heard of any major developments where cures are concerned. His abilities would probably be back long before Mohinder could even get near to his Maya with that needle.

He nodded, once. It was hard to smile, his mind calculating the possibility that he might be wrong.

Maya hugged him, impulsive like a child. She looked up at him. "Do you know where he lives?"

"It won't be hard to find out."

"Thank you! Thank you!" She was between laughter and tears.

Sylar rested his chin on her head, eyes closed and smiling blissfully, tracing the circumference of her skull with his fingers. It wouldn't be long that he would have to wait; it wouldn't be long.

It was a few days later that Sylar proposed they go see Mohinder. His address hadn't been hard to find at all; his apartment wasn't listed, but his laboratory was. Sylar was surprised and amused to see the same address as the painter's loft. So that's what became of murder victims' property.

He made the mistake of telling them a few days in advance; there was little else that Maya talked about, and she wandered around the apartment, happy and forgetful. Even Alejandro was friendlier to him, although 'friendly' in Alejandro's case meant that he insulted him less and didn't glare at him for as long.

Maya woke him up the morning of the visit by climbing into the pullout bed next to him and generally behaving like an unruly five-year-old who has been promised to go to the zoo that day. He had to physically push her out of the bed before she would leave him alone to catch a few more hours of sleep.

Around noon, they were all getting ready to go, standing at the door and pulling on sweaters against the early spring chill.

Alejandro approached him before the set out and pulled him aside. "Thank you," he said seriously, soberly. That was all. He walked over to Maya and her infectious enthusiasm brought a smile back to his face.

Sylar watched the twins, taking a bit longer than necessary to tie his shoelaces. He began having doubts about the whole taking them to Mohinder idea. What if, on the off-chance, Mohinder had created the cure? Maya couldn't know better; she didn't know her full potential, she didn't know her full power yet. Of course she'd want to get rid of it: it frightened her, this part of her she couldn't understand. Had his powers developed in the same way, Sylar was sure he would have been frightened as well. But, as it were, he'd had to fight for what he had, and he couldn't understand why anyone would want to just give everything up.

"Let's go," he said, tightening his laces.

The best thing about New York in Sylar's eyes was how forgiving it was. Criminals walked the streets everywhere, passing civilian and saint alike, but no one knew it, nor could they ever know it. Maya and Alejandro were not an unusual sight, and no one paid them much attention. Sylar himself looked just like any number of people they passed by.

He walked quickly. They had a lot of blocks to cover and not enough money to take the bus or a cab. He pushed his way through the current of businessmen, mothers, children, delinquents, teachers, lawyers; Maya and Alejandro did their best to follow.

Maya pushed her way up to him during one of the lighter onslaughts of pedestrians, towing Alejandro behind her, and gripped hard onto his arm. "So many people," she said, laughing nervously.

"Welcome to New York," he said.

She laughed again, faintly, shrinking closer to him as they passed a leering gang of teenagers. One cold glare over his shoulder, and the children turned their attention to more fruitful opportunities.

"Do you think that doctor Suresh really has found a way to cure me?"

"No," Sylar said, mentally adding, I sincerely hope not. "If he had found the cure, we would have certainly heard about it, somehow. These things don't go unnoticed. Scientists live for the attention that accompanies such a discovery."

"Oh;" she said. "How much longer?"

"A few blocks."

"No, I mean– for the cure."

Sylar said, "Ah. That's a harder question to answer."

Alejandro pulled Maya back and they held a rapid, low conversation of which Sylar was only to distinguish snippets. He stopped in front of Isaac's run-down apartment building and wondered why Mohinder would have chosen this place of all places for his laboratory. Cheap rent, he guessed. No one wanted a flat where someone had been brutally murdered, no matter how convenient the location or how large the floor plan.

"We're here," he said. He caught Maya's arm before she could bound up the steps. "I won't go in with you."

"What?" she said, her face falling slightly.

"I've told you about me and Mohinder. He wouldn't be too pleased to see me."

"Just– just show us where to go? Come in, but not to the door?"

He frowned, remembering the glass walls that not only allowed passersby to look into the apartment, but also for the resident to look out and see who was in the hall. If Mohinder saw him, he wouldn't hesitate to shoot him, and what with his stab wound still healing, being shot was the last thing that he wanted to do.

But he followed her anyways. He would just stop before he got to the windows. Who knew what he might see up there?

To his relief, the walls had been covered with some kind of canvas on the inside. He walked the twins to the door, staying a few feet back in case Mohinder should peer out at the sounds of visitors. "Good luck," he said quietly to them. He crossed his fingers behind his back.

Maya approached him tentatively. She took his hands and leaned up, kissing him on the cheek closer to the mouth than was socially acceptable. All gratitude that Alejandro had been feeling towards him earlier vanished. "Thank you," she said, her voice throaty and quiet.

Alejandro stepped forward and grabbed onto his sister's arm. "Maya, come."

She smiled up at him again, the reverence written there undeniable. She allowed herself to be pulled away, trailing her hand across his shoulder until Alejandro had dragged her too far away. Her eyes never left his, until her brother had knocked several times hard on the door.

The door opened, and Sylar spun around, sauntering easily down the hall.

"Er, hello," Mohinder said. "Can I help you?"

"Doctor Suresh," Maya said. "Please, we were wondering if you can cure me?"

Author's Note: A bit longer this time. Please read and review! I thrive on your comments!