Ugh, it's been so long since I've updated. But you guys kept requesting I update so I found some time and here it is! Let me know what you all think because it's your guy's motivation that keeps me going!

Chapter 10

Sylar walked into the apartment to find a scene that didn't really surprise him. Peter was in Alter- Sylars face shouting furiously. Hiro stood behind Peter and was also shouting furiously in Japanese. Claire stood near the kitchen with her arms crossed over chest and was frowning with disapproval. Sylar meanwhile stood with his hands in his pockets and a smug smile on his face.

"What the hell happened?" he growled.

"This asshole knocked Hiro and me out so that he could have some alone time with Claire." Peter shouted.

Sylar felt like ice and fire were flowing through him at the same time. What had this bastard done to Claire? He could only imagine what a nonreformed version of him might do with a trusting Claire Bennett in his house. Before he even knew what he was doing he had thrown his other self into the wall and was in his face.

"How dare you. You think you have the right to touch her? To be near her?"

"News flash buddy, I am you."

"No, you are not."

"Oh yes I am. We've both done the exact same things. The only difference is you softened up. Me, not so much."

Sylar turned to Claire. "What did he do?"

Claire just rolled her eyes. "Nothing. I figured out it was him before we could get too far."

Sylar turned back to his other self. If it wasn't for his over powering sense of self-preservation he would just kill him right then and there. Instead he dropped him and stepped away. Alter Sylar smirked and brushed himself off. Sylar took a step away but made a quick decision and turned and punched the other square in the face.

"Ow!" he cried, grabbing his jaw.

Shaking his hand out he walked to Claire. "I've found a car and we will be leaving within the hour."

She nodded in understanding. As everyone began to gather themselves and prepare to leave she looked to Alter Sylar. He stood against the wall and watched them all with what looked like sadness. She realized this was probably the first time in a long time anybody had been near him without screaming or trying to kill him. When he saw her staring he quickly changed his features and smirked. Claire rolled her eyes and walked over to him.

"Can I talk to you?"

"Oh Claire, you don't have to ask if you want me to kiss you again. I'll do it gladly."

"Just shut up and come here." She said as she pulled him outside.

"I still can't get over you touching my hand without freaking out."

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

He raised his eyebrows. "Meaning?"

"Meaning I think you should go find me."

"Claire, I don't do well with the whole deep meaning thing. What are you talking about?"

"Go find the me in this universe. Because I know myself, and I'm probably just as lonely as you are. I love my Sylar and he loves me and like you just said, you are him. You can be him. You don't have to be this way. He is far happier now than he ever was before. I want you to be happy. You may have to do a lot of work and convincing, but maybe eventually this me will come to love you too."

"Look Claire, I'm not-"

"Don't say you aren't lonely because I know that is a lie. We need each other. I think that's how it always will be."

He stared at her for a moment. When he spoke his voice was low. "What if you have a boyfriend?"

Claire shrugged. "Then work around that. You're a smart guy. You may still be crazy here since you didn't have Peter to save you, but maybe I can save you instead. At least now you know it doesn't have to be this way."

The door opened and everybody walked out. Alter Sylar quickly straightened himself up.

"Yeah well if you ever want to ditch this loser at least you know where to find me." He smirked.

Claire smiled. "Yeah I guess so."

Sylar took her hand. "Come on, let's get out of here."

She followed after everybody and as she walked down the stair she glanced back once more. The look on Alter Sylars face surprised her. He had a look of sadness and when he saw her looking back her gave a small smile. It had none of the crazy or evil that it usually had and Claire knew at that moment he would be alright.

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When everybody had gone from his apartment Sylar sat alone on his couch. The silence that he usually enjoyed pressed in on him and made him feel suffocated. He found he didn't want to be there anymore. He leapt from his couch and walked to the window. He threw it open and leapt out, flying into the sky. He knew what he was doing was stupid but he couldn't stop himself. He flew for nearly two hours until he reached the apartment building. He landed on the balcony and peered through the glass. There she was. He had just seen her a few hours ago, but this Claire was different. She had a different haircut. She sat at her computer and was typing away furiously. She was facing away from him and she had earphones in, so he knew she wouldn't be able to hear him. He slid the door open and walked in.

He walked over to a chair that sat against the wall and sat down, crossing his legs. She continued to click on oblivious of the man sitting behind her. Part of him wanted to force the earphones from her ears and pin her to the wall. But another stronger part wanted to just watch her. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and sighed. This Claire didn't have anyone to protect her from him except, well, him. That was weird. He found though that he actually didn't want to hurt her. He wanted to protect her. Not that Claire really needed protection. He sighed. That damn alternate version of Claire had really messed with his head, giving him hope like this. But the way she had looked at him. She had truly loved him. The idea of Claire Bennett loving him was absurd, and yet he had seen it. Claire suddenly took her earphone out and sat back. Sylar mentally prepared himself for the confrontation that was definitely about to happen.

"Whatcha righting?"

Claire screamed and spun around and as she did she grabbed a gun from the table that he hadn't seen. She stared at him with wide eyes and pointed the gun right at his head. He could hear her heart pounding in her chest and her eyes were full of fear. He was surprised to find that her fear didn't please him, but rather saddened him. He held is hands up.

"I'm not here to hurt you."

"What the hell are you doing in my apartment? Get out!" she shrieked.

"I just came to talk Claire." He said as he made to stand up.

"Don't move!"

Sylar rolled his eyes. "Well which is it Claire? Get out or don't move? I'm talented but I'm not Hiro Nakomura."

"What do you want?" she hissed through her teeth.

"Can you put the gun down Claire? I can't die so it seems kind of silly."

"You can still feel pain."

"True, but there would be no point in shooting me. I promise not to hurt you."

"Then I'll ask you again. What do you want?"

"To talk."

"About?"

Sylar pressed his lips together. How to go about this without getting shot?

"Well, I was recently visited by some friends and-"

"Ha!" Claire laughed. "You don't have any friends."

"Firstly, rude. Secondly, yes I do."

"Oh yeah? Who?"

Sylar waved his hand. "Nobody you would know."

Claire rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, I was visited by some friends and they put some things into perspective. The first being your extreme loneliness."

Claires mouth dropped open. "I am not lonely!"

"My friend says you are."

"I thought you said I didn't know your friend!"

"That's neither here nor there."

"What are you talking about you crazy asshole! Who said I was lonely?"

"It doesn't matter because you are. They also brought up the fact that I… have a lot of time on my hands."

Claire narrowed her eyes.

"And I figured since we both have a lot time on our hand we could spend that time together."

Claire looked completely confused. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about doing stuff. Together."

Claires eyes widened in realization of what he was saying. "Are you asking me on a date?"

"Absolutely not. But if I were, what would you say?"

"You seriously are out of your mind. If you think I would ever go out with you then you are crazier than I had originally thought and I didn't think that was possible."

"Oh come on Claire! Who else can you be with forever? Why go through the pain of losing some one every seventy years when you can be with one person forever?"

"Um, because you are a psycho path!"

"What if I changed?"

"You can't change. Besides, why would you?"

"Because of you."

Claire was so surprised by his answer that she lowered the gun. "What?"

"I would change for you Claire."

"I don't understand. You love the things you do."

"True. But what if I stopped killing? What if I never killed again?"

"Well that's a lovely fantasy but it won't happen."

"What if it could? What if you could make that happen?"

"Oh no, don't you dare trying forcing me to date you. I won't do it."

Sylar stood and she raised the gun again. He walked around so that he was standing in front of her computer. He leaned over and looked at the screen.

"Really Claire? You've turned to online dating? What if we could be happy? What if everybody could be happy? It's inevitable Claire, you and me being together."

He walked towards her till he was close enough for the gun to be pressed against his chest. He leaned forward till their faces were only inches apart. "Think about it Claire. You'll find it's a great offer."

He moved away and walked to the window before turning back and smiling. "I'll be seeing you around Claire."

With that he flew out the door and left Claire standing with her mouth hanging open.