Fourteen

As his fingers ran over the short hairs on the back of the other man's neck, Peter reflected on how glad he was they both finally got haircuts. The longer hair was nice to play with but in the end was more of a hindrance. He felt Sylar shiver under his attention and smiled against the taller man's lips. They were together for a year and a half now, if he were to count that time in their world, and Sylar still desired him. Peter's temporary death seemed to make the feeling more potent.

"God, I love you, Gabriel," he whispered breathlessly.

"I love you, Peter," the other answered. "And as much as I'd love to have sex with you right now, we need to concentrate."

"Sorry, it's just… when I touch my thimble necklace…"

"I warned you not to take that one," Sylar chided him. "If you're not going to use it the right way, you need to take something else." Peter let out a sigh but obediently let another ability flow through his body. After his torture he probably could never do this with another Activate, but Sylar was so familiar it didn't bother him at all.

He knew Sylar was going to be curious about which one he chose this time, so Peter lifted a hand and sent litter scattering out of the alley. They only paused here to catch their breaths after yet another hospital raid. Peter felt they were finally getting the message across that those places weren't safe for Activates, even if the danger was the two of them. He was using Sylar's psychometry to learn what he could about the hospital and plan their next move. But then his fingers touched the thimble around his neck, and… well, those memories were very erotic.

"You keep picking that one," Sylar noted. "I wish you would stick to healing."

"I'll work on that." Maybe once things settled down he could keep healing, but at the moment he needed a more offensive ability. Besides, this one just came the easiest for him. Even before really connecting with Sylar, Peter could always control telekinesis with better skill.

They got back on track and took shelter in an abandoned building to discuss their next move. The memories they gleamed proved that Peter wasn't the only case of Activate testing. None fo them were tortured but it did carry an unsettling parallel to the Company. Peter wished they could contact Noah Bennet and get his take on this, but the memories also told of how that man was closely monitored.

Speaking of being monitored, private doctors were now calling in all their patients for blood samples and keeping records of which ones showed up as Activates. All Activate blood was being handed off to Mohinder, who would then test it and determine the ability. No doubt he thought he could help them understand these powers, but to Peter it just felt like one step closer to places like Coyote Sands and Level Five. After his talk with Claire he doubted reasoning with any of them would do good.

They bought a pre-paid cell phone. Not for communication, but to send a message out to Rebel. Sylar encountered the young man once and knew he would still be willing to help. A text conversation later had Rebel agreeing to help wipe out any electronic data on Activates. He couldn't do anything about physical records, but that was where Peter and Sylar would come in. Of course the wipe would only put Rebel on their radar; Peter and Sylar promised to make enough noise to put the focus back on themselves.

In a way, Peter sometimes felt like they were back in front of that wall. They continued hammering away trying to make a difference yet the wall stubbornly stayed up. Even knowing that things progressed too far to turn back, Peter couldn't help but hope. Not for anonymity, but at least to keep back from segregation and locking up the "dangerous" ones.

They still could save the world.