Chapter Eleven: Moving Home

May 12, 2007

Sylar stared in shock as medical technicians continued to work on Peter and Candice, cleansing the former to free his airway from the sticky venom that had penetrated his nose and mouth and slowly cleaning the slashes from the back and arms of the latter. He stared down at Ava as she cried in his arms and shook his head. "I'm out." He whispered.

Bennet turned to him. "Excuse me?"

Sylar stepped away from Ava as he began to shake his head again. "I'm OUT! I'm not fighting this Kane freak! He spits venom for crying out loud! He turns into mist and blocks out all noise, I'm NOT going anywhere near him."

"Sylar." Ava stepped towards him and stopped as he held out his hands, backing away from her.

"Forget it!" He turned as Peter began to cough in the isolation room. "You see what Kane did to HIM? And HE'S able to heal! He's able to heal and he was down with that venom for HOW long? Forget this!"

"SHUT UP!" Angela hissed as she stepped towards him, her eyes blazing angrily. "Just shut up!" Her face twisted into a snarl as she looked up at him, shaking her head. "The fearsome Sylar," she laughed softly "I never thought I'd live to see the day when someone would scare HIM!"

"I'm not scared." Sylar looked away. "I just don't care."

"No, you're scared." Angela nodded. "You're nothing more than a big bully who has suddenly realized there's someone who might actually be bigger and more bad-ass than he is, and how do you respond? You respond the way ANY bully would, by running away."

"I'm NOT a bully!" Sylar glared at her.

"Yes you are." Angela raised an eyebrow as she smirked. "You've become the person you swore you wouldn't be when you were a young boy, haven't you? You've become the one who picks on the weaker and more innocent, and just like any bully, you're running at the first sign of trouble."

"I'm NOT one of those people!" Sylar shook his head.

"You were bullied quite a bit as a child, I'll bet. In fact, I won't bet on that at all, because I already know. I've read your file, Mr. Gray. I know how you were teased and beaten and bullied every day of your life until you became an adult, and then continued to be henpecked and bullied by your mother. The first chance you got to lord it over someone weaker, you jumped at it, even though you swore as a child that you'd NEVER treat anyone the way you were treated."

"You don't know me." Sylar looked away. "I'm not a bully."

"Then PROVE it!" Angela snapped at him. "Stop standing here sniveling and whining all 'I'm so scared of Kane, he's bigger and meaner than me!'! Kane really IS a bully. You've seen what he's done, unchecked for the last three hundred years. A prophecy has stated that you, and ONLY you can be the one to lead all of us against him. You can help us stop him, stop him from bullying and hurting other weak innocents. So here's the question, Mr. Gray: Are you going to be the bully you swore you'd never be, or are you going to be the hero you wanted to be in Kirby Plaza?"

"I don't know if I can do it." Sylar stared at the floor. "It's not going to be easy."

"Nothing in this world that's worth doing, that's life-changing is ever easy, My Dear." Angela walked to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "If you truly want to be a hero, you'll stand with the rest of us and fight Kane. You'll help us to change the world. What will it be?"

Sylar looked up at her, then looked away. "Change the world?"

"Be a hero." Angela smiled softly.

Sylar nodded. "I'll stay."

"Good boy." Angela patted him on the shoulder before stepping past him to stand beside Niki and Matt and look into the window of the isolation room. Peter was slowly sitting up, pale and shaky as technicians in biohazard suits continued to clean his face and torso. He looked up and caught his mother and girlfriend's nervous looks and smiled softly back at them, giving them a weak thumbs up. Angela turned to a technician as he walked out of the room, pulling off the hood of his suit. "How is he?"

"We've almost got him cleaned of the substance. A sample of it's been taken to the lab. He's doing really well, for someone whose airway has been compromised for the last half-hour. We thought he wasn't going to make it at first, but he surprised us."

"When can we go inside to see him?" Niki asked, her voice shaky.

"We'll be letting him out of isolation as soon as the substance has been tested. We should be getting the results back within twenty-four hours."

"TWENTY-FOUR HOURS?" Angela glared at him. "I will NOT be kept from MY son for that long!"

"Mrs. Petrelli, we don't know what he was sprayed with. We don't know the level of its toxicity or the effect it could have on you or Ms. Sanders if you were to go into that room right now without protective gear."

"Then bring us BOTH some protective gear immediately." Angela placed her hands on her hips as she stared up at him, her expression stern.

The technician nodded. "Yes ma'am." He turned and quickly ran down the hall.

Niki turned to Angela. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Angela studied Niki. "You know, when my son first told me that the two of you were seeing one another, I thought it would be disastrous. I knew about the dalliance you had with my eldest son and I worried that you would hurt my youngest by seeing him so soon after the death of your husband."

"I know." Niki nodded as she stared at the floor. "But I really do care about Peter. This isn't a fling or dalliance and it's not a rebound relationship. I lost D.L. so suddenly, and I never in a million years thought I'd ever be seeing someone less than six months after his death, much less be in love with them but-"

"-Say no more." Angela's eyes narrowed as she studied Niki closer. "Your reaction to his injuries today, the way you've been pacing outside of this room since he was brought in, the tears you've been crying, I know that the two of you aren't going to be ending things any time soon. You both have my blessing-"

"-Thank you." Niki's eyes widened with surprise as Angela held up her hand.

"But if you dare hurt my youngest son, I swear to God above that no amount of super strength you pull out of your ass will protect you from me."

"Yes Ma'am." Niki nodded. "I love him."

"I can tell." Angela turned to the technician as he returned, carrying two biohazard suits. "Well, this won't be part of any couture collections any time soon, but I suppose it will do for now." She smirked as she began to put her suit on.

Bennet walked over to Sylar. "So, now you've seen what all of the excitement's all about, mind telling me how you got out of your cell THIS time?"

"I melted the door." Sylar shrugged. "No one would answer when I asked what was going on." He smirked. "You know, for a high-security detention facility, you guys are seriously lacking in the security department."

Bennet glared at Sylar, then turned to Ava. "Get him back to your area, get packed and take his ass back to the farmhouse." He walked away, shaking his head.

"Sure thing, Sir." Ava sniffled as she wiped at her eyes. "Come on, let's go." She stopped by Claude and smiled softly. "See you later?"

"Love to, Luv. I'll swing by for dinner."

"Good. I'll want the low-down on how everyone's doing." She sighed as she walked past Claude with Sylar following behind her. They went to their rooms and began to pack their things. After a few minutes, she looked up as Hiro entered the room. "What do you need?"

Hiro bowed to Ava and frowned at Sylar. "Father told me that you will need to be teleported back to the farm house. Your car will be sent over later by another technician. Father says that Kane may be watching the building and he doesn't want you followed by him. He says that if Kane were to attack the both of you before you're ready, you could be-"

"-Killed?" Sylar shook his head. "This news just gets better and better." He grumped.

"Everyone who is included in the prophecy will be teleported here and back to their homes every night, to keep Kane from following you. It is to protect you, and in the case of Niki, Bennet and Parkman, their children. We will probably teleport Mohinder as well, in order to protect Molly Walker." Hiro nodded. "Are you both ready?"

Ava shouldered her bags and grabbed Sylar's as he tried to lift them. "Don't bother, I don't want you sre-injuring your sprained wrist."

"Good idea, I'm going to need it as long as I'm around you." Sylar smirked.

"Really?" Ava laughed softly. "I turn you on that much, huh? Grab Mac, please?"

"Fine. And no, you DON'T turn me on that much." Sylar called to Mac and smiled as the puppy ran over to him, his tail wagging happily. Sylar picked up the dog and turned to Hiro. "So how do we do this?"

"Hang on." Hiro placed a hand on Ava's shoulder, then reluctantly placed one on Sylar's. He closed his eyes as Sylar and Ava did the same. Moments later, they opened them, nodding in appreciation to see that they were standing in the farmhouse.

Sylar grinned. "Cool way of transport. VERY cool!"

Hiro frowned. "You can't have it! Try it and I'll stab you again!"

"I'm not going to take your damn power, jeez!" Sylar rolled his eyes. "Excuse the shit out of me for wanting to pay you a compliment."

Hiro fidgeted nervously for a moment. "I must return to Primatech." He held out two necklaces. "For you both."

"What are they?" Ava took hers and put it on. "It looks like one of those Life Alert necklaces."

"Cool. I can use it when I've fallen and can't get up." Sylar smirked.

"Is similar to them, yes." Hiro nodded. "They are panic buttons on a chain. There are still panic buttons throughout the house, but these are in case of emergencies when you can't reach the buttons. Hit this and Primatech's tactical teams will arrive quickly."

"Thanks Hiro." Ava smiled at him.

"You are very welcome." He bowed to Ava again and spared one last, nervous glance for Sylar before closing his eyes and disappearing from the room.

"He's a little scared of me." Sylar shrugged. "Can't say that I blame him."

"Well, you DID kill his girlfriend and threaten to kill his best friend. I wouldn't say he's scared as much as he is nervous that he'll have to run you through with his sword again."

"You know, I was the one who was stabbed. You'd think I would have more to fear from him than he does from me."

"True." Ava looked around the living room. "So what are the sleeping arrangements going to be?"

"You're in one room, I'm in the other, of course."

"Of course." Ava glared at him. "Do you want the master bedroom or the guest room?"

"I don't care." Sylar shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me."

"Fine, you'll get the master, I'll get the guest."

"Fine." Sylar snatched a bag from Ava and shouldered it as he walked upstairs.

Ava sighed as she looked down at Mac. "This is going to be so much fun." She rolled her eyes as she followed Sylar up the stairs to put her things back into the guest room.


August 3, 1999

Claude sat behind the wheel of his car in the parking lot of Primatech, willing himself and his car as invisible as he waited. As the sun began to go down, he spotted Ava walking out of the building and approach a car. He waited as she climbed into the driver's seat and drove away, heading towards Lubbock. He started his car and followed her, avoiding traffic as he attempted to stay as close to her as he could for the over two-hour drive. He frowned as he glanced in his rearview mirror and spotted Thompson's car. Gripping his steering wheel, he fought the urge to run the bastard off of the road. Instead, he directed his eyes forward and concentrated on Ava's car, following it until it pulled up at an apartment building on the outskirts of Lubbock. He parked his car near hers and watched as she stepped out and walked to the building, letting herself in. Claude got out of his car and continued to make himself invisible as he walked towards the building. He waited beside the door, reading the name A. Reese beside the buzzer for apartment 5A.

A few moments later, his blood boiled as he spotted Thompson pulling into the parking lot. Fighting the urge to hit him as he approached, Claude watched as Thompson pressed the buzzer for 5A.

"Yes." Ava's voice sounded weary.

"You know who it is. Let me in." Thompson rolled his eyes.

"Look, I'm really not in the mood tonight-"

"-Did I ASK what YOU were in the mood for? You know what I'M in the mood for, that should be the only thing you should give a shit about. Now let me in before I get especially cranky." He sighed with frustration as the door buzzed and let himself in.

Claude slipped in behind Thompson and watched as he stepped onto an elevator, a self-satisfied smirk plastered across his face as the door closed behind him.

Claude rang for the next elevator and boarded that one, arriving at the fifth floor as the door to 5A closed behind Thompson. He walked over to the door and pressed his ear against it, listening. After a few moments, he tested the doorknob and cursed under his breath to discover that it was locked. "I can wait." He muttered angrily as he sat beside the door. "I can wait to beat the shit out of him for what he's doing to her."


May 12, 2007

Sylar walked into the master bedroom and looked around, realizing that Ava had cleaned everything up after their fight two days previously. Looking around at the room he'd shared with her for the last few months, he began to get angry again, remembering the nights they'd spent together in that room. He sat on the edge of the mattress, then jumped back up, almost as if he'd been burned. Glaring at the comforter, he snatched it off, then pulled the sheets off of the bed and wadded them up, tossing them to the floor before he pulled a clean pair of sheets from the linen closet in the master bathroom. He quickly remade the bed, stopping as he put fresh pillowcases on the pillows to inhale the scent that continued to cling to two of the pillows on the bed.

They were Ava's pillows, and even without their cases, they still smelled like her. Sylar closed his eyes as he thought of the nights they'd spent together in that bed, making love, cuddling and later sleeping, their limbs tangled together after they'd worn themselves out. He'd been happy with her until he discovered his true identity, and hers. Gritting his teeth angrily, he snatched up the two pillows and carried them into the guest bedroom. Ava looked up from her bag as she unpacked, frowning as he threw the pillows on the bed and picked up two from the guest bedroom, sniffing them before nodding and marching out of the room without a word.

Ava sighed and turned back to her bag, continuing to unpack her things. After a few minutes, she walked into the master bedroom and spied the used sheets wadded on the floor. She glanced over at Sylar as he furiously made the bed, snatching the comforter back onto the bed as he glared at her. She rolled her eyes and walked to the chest of drawers, pulling her clothes out of them before turning and walking out with an armload of clothes.

As she re-folded and put away those clothes, she looked up as Sylar marched into her room, another load of clothes in his arms. He tossed the clothes onto the bed and stomped out, returning a moment later with more clothes. He made a third and fourth silent trip into her room, depositing the clothes that were in her closet. His fifth and sixth trips included her shoes and his seventh and final trip into her room was to bring the toiletries she'd kept in their bathroom. Glowering at her, he turned on his heel and stomped out a final time as Ava placed her hands on her hips and finally spoke. "THANKS A LOT, ASSHOLE!"

"YOU'RE WELCOME BITCH!"

"Great!" Ava rolled her eyes. "What set him off THIS time?" She turned back to her clothes and quickly refolded and re-hung them, placing them in drawers and in the closet.


August 3, 1999

Thompson whistled to himself as he let himself out of Ava's apartment, smiling with self-contentment as he pressed the button to the elevator. As the doors opened, he yelped as he felt invisible hands grab him and shove him into the conveyance. He turned as the door closed behind him, glaring as Claude appeared in front of him, pressing the button to stop the elevator's descent. "You." Thompson snarled. "I knew that stupid little bitch blabbed something!"

"She told me nothing, you little bastard!" Claude lied as he took a swing at Thompson, his fist connecting with the side of his face. "She didn't have to!" He punched Thompson in the stomach. "I've had a feeling that something has been wrong with her for quite a while now, a little over a year to be exact!" He grabbed Thompson by the front of his shirt, shoving him against a wall. "You've been forcing yourself on her, haven't you? It's been going on for a while."

Thompson sniffed angrily, his nose bleeding as he glared at Claude. "I haven't been forcing anything. She likes it, she loves it, actually."

"Then why, when she found out that you knew that she was getting closer to O'Rourke, did she beg me to keep you away from her and beg me to hide her somewhere? That's when everything really began to fall into place for me."

"You should have hidden her then." Thompson laughed. "Like you did with Tomas Diego." He nodded as Claude's eyes widened. "I knew about him. I knew what you were up to with him, and so many others. You've been helping them hide and helping them deactivate the isotope in their skin. You know what will happen to you once Kaito finds out what you've been up to."

"And you know what Kaito will do when he finds out that your disgusting, sleazy ass has been practically raping Ava! His daughter Kimiko is Ava's age, you know. I think he'll take it rather personally that you're using his company's time and resources to live out your sick, twisted school girl fantasies!"

"You're not telling Kaito ANYTHING!" Thompson smirked. "You see, I've already set something in place. I knew you were onto me, I knew you had found out what Ava and I were up to-"

"-Don't you DARE include her in this! She's a victim, YOUR victim!"

"If anything happens to me, anything at all, evidence of your little extracurricular escapades will be sent to Kaito and to other leaders of our group." He nodded as Claude slowly shook his head. "Oh yes, there ARE other members, members that you have no idea about. I have a feeling they're not going to be too pleased about what you're doing, even more displeased than they'll be about me having a little fun with one of my employees-"

"-FUN?"

"They'll probably even bury what I've been doing with Ava under the rug long enough to have me terminate you, permanently. Hell, to keep quiet what's been going on here, they'll probably decide to terminate Ava as well. Permanently."

"You disgusting, sick, delusional-"

"-Tell you what, I'll make you a deal, Claude. You keep quiet about what I'm doing and I'll keep quiet about what YOU'RE doing! Hey, and to sweeten the pot, I'll even let you slip up here to 'visit' Ava if you want. She's a beautiful girl and I know you've probably had an impure thought or two about her as well. We could even schedule nights, so we don't double up, even though that could be fun as well-" He yelped as Claude punched him in the face again.

Claude grabbed him, his face inches from Thompson's. "-You ever try and offer her to me that way again, I'll fucking kill you. She's like family to me, I've never thought of her as anything more, or less."

"Whatever gets you going." Thompson winked. "Fine, then we'll make THIS deal. You keep your mouth shut, or not ONLY will the board of directors find out that you've been hiding specials, but you'll be killed, Ava will be killed and Noah Bennet will be killed. Before I kill Noah however, I'm going to make HIM watch as I kill his wife and son and have his daughter taken away. It's only a matter of time before she manifests anyway. I think she'd make a great addition at OWI."

"You're sick."

"She's a pretty little girl. She's going to grow up to be beautiful, even more beautiful than Ava. Without you or Noah or Ava around, I don't know how I'll be able to contain myself around precious Claire." He raised an eyebrow as Claude lifted his fist again. "Hit me again, and I'll start that ball rolling regardless." He smirked as Claude lowered his fist and backed away, slumping against the wall in defeat. "We have Tomas Diego in our custody. He's already sold you out to me. One word from me, and he'll sell you out to the board of directors. Just keep your mouth shut and go along with what I'm doing, or you and your 'family' will regret it, understand?" He hit a button on the elevator, studying Claude as he stared off into space. As they reached the lobby, Thompson stepped out of the elevator and turned to Claude. "Have a good night Claude, I certainly did." He walked away and reached his car, climbing inside and checking his reflection in the vanity mirror. "Asshole." He glanced at Claude as he slowly walked to his car, his shoulder slumped. "You're outta here, you're causing much too much trouble for me."


May 12, 2007

Sylar came downstairs an hour later, sniffing the air as he walked into the kitchen. Ava stood at the stove, sautéing chicken as she stirred a pot of Spanish rice and salsa. "What are you doing?" He asked.

Ava raised an eyebrow at him. "It's this little technique where you mix different food ingredients together over heat to make them more palatable. It's called cooking."

"No shit." Sylar glared at her. "I usually cook."

"I felt like cooking tonight, okay?"

"What are you making?" Sylar leaned against the counter, his eyes widening as Ava chopped up peppers and threw them into the skillet with the chicken.

"Tex-Mex. I'm making salsa chicken."

"I hate spicy foods." Sylar looked away.

"No you don't, you cook your fair share of it yourself."

"I hate your cooking."

"How the hell would YOU know? Up until now, you've dominated the damn kitchen!" Ava rolled her eyes as she stirred the food. "And I don't recall inviting you to eat what I'm cooking anyway! If you want something to eat, you can make it yourself, I'm not cooking for YOU!"

"If you're not just cooking for yourself, then who is going to eat all of that shit? Not that I'd want it anyway."

"Sure, right." Ava smirked. "I'm having a friend over for dinner."

"Claude." Sylar growled.

"Yes. He LIKES my Tex-Mex."

"Oh, I'm sure he does." Sylar turned and stomped out of the kitchen into the living room. He sat on the couch and grabbed a remote, turning on the television. He settled in on the couch as Mac jumped up to sit beside him to watch a Yankees game.

After a few minutes, the doorbell rang. He turned and stared at the front door for a moment, then shrugged and turned back to the television. Once the doorbell rang again, Ava walked into the living room, glaring at Sylar as she walked to the front door. "Oh no, let ME!"

"Not my fucking guest." Sylar muttered as Ava answered the door and let Claude in. She smiled as Niki followed him inside with Micah.

"Do you mind?" Niki hugged her. "Hiro picked up Micah from school and I realized that we were both getting hungry as hell. Claude said he was coming here and said that you'd be cool with us coming over for dinner."

"I made plenty!" She held out her hand to Micah. "I'm a friend of your mom's from work. I'm Ava Reese."

"Micah Sanders." Micah smiled up at her, then turned to see Sylar sitting on the couch in the living room. "Mom? How do I know him?"

Niki looked sad for a moment. "He was in Kirby Plaza the night your dad was shot."

Micah's eyes widened. "HE was the guy hitting Peter with a parking meter!"

Sylar turned, frowning. "You know, your mom hit me with that thing too!"

"I know, she has super strength." Micah walked into the living room and perched on the coffee table in front of Sylar as the adults watched nervously. "So what can you do? How did you get that parking meter to come out of the ground like that?"

"Telekinesis." Sylar cocked his head to the side.

"REALLY? COOL!" Micah grinned. Sylar found himself smiling despite himself. "That's REALLY awesome!" He shrugged sadly. "My dad had a cool power too. He could phase through walls and stuff. He died after Kirby Plaza though. Mr. Linderman shot at Mom and instead of letting her take the bullet, he jumped in front of it and got shot instead. He could have phased the bullet through, but he didn't want Mom to get hurt." He stared at the floor. "He was hurt pretty bad. He developed an infection in the hospital and died the next week."

"I'm sorry." Sylar studied the boy. "My dad died a few years ago."

"It really sucks, huh?"

Sylar nodded, his heart reaching out for the small boy sitting Indian-style in front of him. "Yeah, it sucks."

"I have a power too!" Micah nodded. "It's pretty cool. I can manipulate computer stuff to do what I want it to do. I can hack into anything computerized, just by touching it."

"Really?" Sylar nodded. "That's a pretty cool power itself."

"It has its uses." Micah laughed.

"I'll bet it does." He glanced up as Niki stood next to him, glaring down at him. "What? I wasn't thinking-" he sighed "-stop glaring at me like that, damn!"

"Mom?" Micah looked over at his mother. "What's wrong?"

Niki shrugged as she studied Sylar. "Nothing." She leaned down to Sylar, her lips inches from his ear as she began to whisper. Sylar nodded and turned to Micah, rolling his eyes. "You like the Yankees?"

"The Yankees are COOL!" Micah jumped off of the table and sat on the couch, laughing as Mac jumped into his lap and began to lick his face. "Your dog's cool too! Mom says we're going to get one soon."

"They can be fun." Sylar laughed as he turned back to the television.

Niki watched them for a moment before following Claude and Ava into the kitchen. "Figures the one he'd bond with fastest would be a kid."

"Probably because they're on the same maturity level." Ava muttered. "Actually, I think Micah's probably more mature than Sylar. As soon as we got here, he got all pissy again and started acting like a five year old." She sighed and turned to Niki. "How's Pete?"

"Feeling MUCH better!" Niki grinned. "He's getting a little antsy being stuck in the isolation room, but he's feeling like himself again finally."

"Good." Ava raised an eyebrow. "And Candice?"

"She's been stitched up to hell and back." Niki leaned forward. "Did you know-"

"-About her and Mohinder?" Ava laughed. "I had NO idea! They're pretty damn good at keeping it a secret, huh?"

"Tell me about it!" Niki grinned. "I asked Mohinder about it later and he said they've been seeing each other for a couple of months. Apparently it started out as just a" she glanced towards the living room and then leaned towards Ava, whispering "sex thing. He told me that he caught her walking out of the A/V room late one night and when he asked her what she was doing there, she tackled him. They've been carrying on in secret since then and it started getting serious a couple of weeks ago."

"Wild." Ava's eyes widened. "Wait a minute. She was coming out of the A/V room?"

Niki giggled. "I know. I think she got overheated watching you and Sylar giving a live show or something. I wonder if Mohinder knows?"

"If she's hitting it right, I wonder if he even CARES!" Ava laughed as she turned off the stove and began to set the table. "So Hiro brought you guys here?"

"Yeah." Niki shrugged. "I think he's going to be busy as hell the next few weeks, teleporting us back and forth to work to keep Kane off of our tracks. I don't envy him."

"Me neither." Ava brought dinner into the dining room and set the food down. She looked up as Micah walked into the dining room with Sylar behind him. "Decided to join us for dinner?"

Sylar shrugged, not meeting her eyes as he sat down. "I'm hungry, even if it's for slop." His eyes widened as a knife flew at him, landing embedded, point first in the table in front of him. "HEY!" He glared at Ava.

Micah's eyes widened. "COOL!"

Ava leaned forward, her eyes blazing at Sylar. "If you're going to eat my cooking, you will NOT insult it again or the next time, that knife will be aimed at" she glanced at Micah "the Little Gladiator. Got it? We have guests, so behave yourself."

Sylar frowned at her as she sat down and began to eat. "Behave myself." He muttered. "Which one of us is throwing knives?"

Claude looked around at everyone, grinning as he began to eat his dinner. "This looks like it's shaping up to be a fun dinner!"