Chapter 10:

Sylar pulled away from Elle. "You handled Bennet, but is there any other way the company could find out that it's really me here with you?"

He could try to change the subject all he wanted, but Elle was determined to keep things on track. She pushed him onto his back. "Well, Matt Parkman won't let us—them—use the Walker system anymore. So..." She peeled off her shirt. "Short of them bringing the Haitian to this very room, I don't think so."

Sylar tried to sit up, but Elle pushed him back again. "I think it would make things easier for me if you were a little bit angrier about what I've done to you."

Elle did not understand that. She could tell that he was feeling some kind of guilt over killing her, but this was Sylar; he killed people all the time. If she could get over it, it really seemed that he should be able to as well. She straddled him. "It would make things easier for me if you would just have sex with me. I can get angry later."

He sighed. "I don't see how sex is going to make anything better."

As far as Elle was concerned Sylar staying away from her to keep her safe was not a fair exchange for the list. She had worked hard on that, and she wanted more out of this partnership that just protection. She did not want to say any of that though. She did not want him to have sex with her because he thought that he owed her that for the list. "You're just going to have to trust me. It's going to make things better. And you know I'm not lying about that."

He smiled in a way that told her his lie detector had not gone off. Emboldened by that, Elle continued. "But I don't want to have sex with this guy," she said, waving her hand over the body that still looked like James. "So if you could change back... Oh, but maybe have your hair combed down and maybe with a cardigan..." She was kind of teasing him, but she did miss the old Gabriel sometimes.

He changed back so that he looked like Sylar, but not Gabriel. "That's part of the problem. You want me to be him, and I'm not. I don't want to be him; he was weak."

Elle did not understand why he wanted to continue making problems where there weren't any. She unbuttoned his shirt. "I know who you are. And don't talk about him like that. Gabriel was special. He could move things with his mind. What can you do?" she asked dismissively.

Sylar shook his head, and Elle could tell that he was conflicted as to what to do next. He sighed, seemingly resigned. "I can do a lot of things," he finally said, and he flipped her onto her back.

--

Although he still could not comprehend Elle's forgiveness, Sylar was glad she had talked him into that. She was lying against his chest, content, and it occurred to him that this was much better than holding onto tortured grief. He could go back to having his nightmares when he left in the morning. For now, he might as well try to enjoy being with Elle.

Elle raised her head. "Is it okay if I still call you Gabriel, or will you feel like I'm trying to stifle you?"

"It's fine." Normally, Sylar did not like being called Gabriel. Bennet, in particular, would mock him with that name. But it had never bothered him that Elle used it. That might have been part of why he felt stifled by her, but he realized that he did not want her to stop.

Elle traced her finger around on his chest. "I know that, in a lot of ways, I'm just your crazy ex-girlfriend. One you went through extremes to get rid of. I can recognize that I'm kind of like a stalker."

Sylar smiled down at the top of her head. "Where is that coming from?"

"The way you were before, I get it. I get that you killed me, and maybe you don't want forgiveness for that. I think I forced you into this partnership. So you got your list, and I got my... sex. If you want to leave me behind and go it alone, I'm not going to beg you anymore."

Sylar was not sure that Elle had ever begged him, but he knew what she meant about forcing him into the partnership. When he thought about it, he was going to leave her behind. "See, if you had just said this before we had sex... I think I've decided I do want your forgiveness now."

"But still, we were so dysfunctional. I'm sure that things were so much easier with Maya."

It sounded to Sylar that she was trying to get rid of him, but then she mentioned Maya. He remembered when she had mentioned Maya before, in the car. Once he realized the Elle was jealous, he knew she was just fishing and not trying to get out of their partnership. "Yeah, Maya was great. Really just perfect. Of course, I also killed her and her closest relative. The woman you should really be jealous of is this one I knew before I became Sylar, the only one to ever break my heart."

Elle lifted her head, looking very annoyed. "I don't think it's necessary for you to--"

Sylar cut her off. "She made a peach pie that was so good it tasted store bought."

Elle laid her head down again. "Maybe I do want to hear this. And I didn't realize that you knew."

"Yeah, I didn't say anything because I just liked her so much, and she brought me pie. But like I said, she broke my heart. It turned out she was lying about some things, and it ended badly."

"That's too bad. She sounded great." Elle leaned over the side of the bed and picked up the list from where it had fallen. "I think it's time to decide who you should kill next."

Sylar appreciated all of Elle's help, but he still was not comfortable having her be a part of the killing. He took the list from her and laid it on the bed next to them. "I can handle that on my own, but thanks."

Elle got up on her knees and sat against her heels. "I have been thinking about a few things, and I think you should kill Angela. You know, go on the offensive, take out the head of the company. That's the only way to stop them."

He could see the logic in what she was saying, but it did seem a little flawed. "There'll just be someone else to take her place. I can't kill everyone who works at the company."

Elle shook her head. "No matter who takes her place, it won't be the same. Angela is the last living founder. Any successor won't be as powerful or as respected. One of the reasons I'm no longer loyal to the company is because it not my father's company anymore. There are others who feel that way, people who were loyal to Linderman or Arthur or whoever. And there are people who are only sticking through the changes out of loyalty to Angela. I'm not guaranteeing that the company will fall apart once she's dead, but whatever the company becomes, it should be easier to deal with. You need to kill Angela."

He could tell that she had put a lot of thought into that. He did not know why he continued to underestimate her. "I know you want to prove to me that you can handle my lifestyle, but--"

She pressed her hands against his chest and slid her legs out from under her so that she was sitting sideways. "When you said I was never going to change, what did you mean? Why am I damaged goods? It's because I can do this, because I am sadistic and sociopathic enough to help you kill them. I created you, Sylar. Forget about my orders. I brought you someone to kill and turned you into a monster."

While sociopathic Elle was turning out to be really convenient for him, Sylar did not like thinking that he brought out the worst in her. He had enough to feel guilty about when it came to her. "You tried to stop me."

"That was before, when you had..." She trailed off. "I swear I won't stop you again."

Sylar sat up. "When I had what?"

"A soul," she said, sounding a little embarrassed. "Back when you could have been saved. I think at this point, you're beyond redemption. But as one of your victims, I might be biased."

Sylar nodded slowly. He himself had decided that redemption was out of the question the night he killed Elle. That was part of the reason he killed her. He wanted to get rid of Elle and all thoughts of becoming a good person. It was intended as an irrevocable act of rejecting that life, but, thanks to the company, it had been revoked. So he understood where Elle was coming from, but it seemed a little harsh to say he did not have a soul. "What about your soul? Can't you still be saved?"

"No." She shook her head. "No, I'm just damaged goods."

He wished she would stop reminding him of that. Although, he reminded himself, he had wanted her to get a little angrier. "I don't think that you understand what it's like when--"

"I've killed people, Gabriel. You know that, right? And if I remember the first time correctly, I didn't feel the kind of remorse that led you to hang yourself. It was an accident, I felt kind of bad, but I just moved on and let it get easier. You tried to stop and have a normal life eating ziti and seeing performance art. That's what I'm trying to tell you. I'm the monster here. I never wanted to changed, and I never tried to. Don't worry about my soul; it was gone long before I met you."

Sylar was aware that she had killed people before, just like he was aware that Bennet had killed people. But he had never connected that to her diagnosis as a sociopath. He thought of her killing as strictly business, but the way she was describing it now was something much darker. He was finally starting to understand. "You're a sadistic sociopath who has killed people."

"Yes." She handed him the list. "So kill Angela."

He remembered being powerless in Mexico and the way Maya made him feel. She was like a shiny toy to him. If it wasn't his fault, if Elle was going to be a sociopath anyway, then she was a much better toy. "Out of curiosity, do you want me to kill her because it's in my best interest or because you're upset at the way she treated you?"

Elle hesitated. "It is in your best interest; my reasons don't matter. She's a precog. You don't want one of those running the company."

Sylar waved his hand. "You don't have to talk me into it anymore. I'll kill Angela."

Elle's eyes lit up. She grabbed his face and pulled him toward her. She fell back onto the bed, taking him with her.

--

Author's Note: I thought about having Sylar say, "There was this one girl. She was blonde, petite. Smelled of marshmallows and promises." But that wouldn't have been in character.