Title: Connecting Roses
Author: Bunny
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. But man, I wish it was.
Summary: Post- Let it Bleed. Sylar leaves Claire a trail of breadcrumbs so she will discover what he needs.
A/N: Holy cow, seriously, I am sorry. I've had this done for well over a week and a half, but just had no internet. I finally have it back for the day though!
Anyhoo, here's the end of my fic! A huge thank you to all those who read and all those who took the time to review! *Hugs* to you guys! :-D
The remaining members stood, not moving to attack unless approached. Turning his back to them, Sylar addressed Emma with a hushed voice. "Does your power work in reverse?"
Brow furrowing, she questioned, "What do you mean?"
"Samuel had you summon people by playing cello and thinking of them coming to you. What if you thought the reverse?" Realization dawned in her eyes as she nodded, rushing into a still standing house behind her. Without glancing over to Peter, Sylar held a hand out. "Choose your poison." Hesitating momentarily, he clasped the other man's hand accepting the power transfer. Sylar smirked. "No surprise there."
She reemerged with a cello case setting it in the dirt. As she flipped open the latches, Peter covered his hand over her uninjured one. "Are you able to play?"
Weakly smiling, she assured, "Well enough. You'll be able to get past."
As Emma pulled out her weapon, the ringing phone in Claire's pocket made her jump. Answering it, Noah informed, "Just to let you know, you have sniper eyes watching your back."
Pointlessly looking around in the darkness she asked, "How did you get here so fast?"
"Our friend Edgar gave us a hand." She mentally catalogued that Lauren must be with him. "Samuel is too far for my shot line, but I can reach the ones near you."
"No, don't!" she exclaimed. Peter glanced up and Sylar raised an eyebrow at her outburst. "They're just confused."
"I won't shoot to kill, but I will fire if they attack."
Emma settled down on a broken beam preparing to play. Observing Peter's worried gaze she instructed, "Protect Emma, the woman with the instrument. We can't stay with her, but she'll need help. Especially if she can't keep up the pace."
"Alright," Noah agreed. "Be careful. I love you, Claire-Bear."
"Love you too, Dad." Hanging up Claire inhaled a shaky breath, desperately hoping that wasn't the last time she would hear his voice.
Casting her gaze over to Sylar for reassurance, her gut instead froze cold. Head tilted down, he looked over the small crowd. His gaze was completely blank as he watched them intently. Claire knew his mind had switched to the hunt, his way of preparing for what was going to happen with Samuel. But that didn't make it any less terrifying.
Emma's fingers moved along the strings of her instrument. Though the agony in her fingertips had to be intense, she was wincing at something just above the cello. The sound that emanated screeched like nails on a chalk board, sending a sharp shiver down Claire's spine.
As unsettling as the noise was to her, the lingering carnies clenched onto their ears in pain. Three collapsed to their knees while half of the group ran down the hill to escape the incessant noise and associated agony. Eli attempted to multiply himself and another woman tried to conjure a water ball, but the tone washing over made them unable to do so. "Go!" hissed Emma, teeth clenched in pain.
Sylar stalked forward moving his hand as someone approached, sending them flying. Claire began to follow, but had to stop to grab Peter's arm. Forcing him to look forward, they headed after the taller man. Though he had cleared a path, a few people rushed to stop them. Their actions were slow and sloppy due to Emma's playing. Eli grabbed onto Claire's arm, but he was half bent over and distracted by the noise. She wrenched it away and used both hands to slam his head into her knee. Feeling satisfaction as he fell, she glanced towards Peter watching him punch one man in the face and elbow another in the side. Seeing no one else approach as the rest were on the ground in agony, they ran to catch up with Sylar.
The closer to the graves they moved, the more the earth trembled. No words passed between them, but the tension was thick and mounted with every step. This plan was a gamble as it was. The screeching music stopped abruptly and three gunshots rang out behind them. Out of the corner of her eye Claire saw Peter stop momentarily tempted to go back, but instead set his jaw and went on.
Samuel came into view seconds later, kneeling in front of a cross grave marker. His shoulders were slumped and he appeared completely focused on the grave.
"Stop there," ordered Samuel without turning. A small wall of earth shot up not allowing them to come closer.
Holding a cautioning hand out to Sylar so he wouldn't use any abilities, Claire stated, "We just want to talk to you for right now."
"Have you come to accept your defeat? Ready to join my family properly?"
"Your family is gone, Samuel," informed Peter. "You drove them away."
"They'll return," he said confidently. "They'll return if they know what's good for them."
"What happened to Vanessa?" interjected Claire. At the mention of her name the ground cracked. Before they fought she had to know for sure why he lost his mind. "How did she die?"
"I killed her," he murmured, completely defeated. Small whirlwinds of rock and dirt blew up around him, growing in intensity the more he thought. "Vanessa rejected my way of life, my way of thinking. I became so angry with her, I didn't realize the earth had swallowed her before it was too late." The little tornadoes dropped away as Samuel set a heavy hand on the wooden cross in front of him. "Now she lies here."
"It was an accident, like with Joseph?" she inquired stepping forward, Peter matching her footsteps. Sylar remained to her left still holding his hand up ready to attack. A sob tore through Samuel as the land once again cracked making them stumble. "So why are you making your family suffer?"
"I'm preparing them," Samuel faced them. The ground pulsed as he clenched and unclenched his fists. It was becoming difficult to stand, let alone walk the more he continued. "We are going to join those who have passed before us. We'll gather together and all become one with the earth."
Claire's stomach dropped in disgust as she realized the depths of his craziness. "Why?" questioned Peter when she couldn't speak.
"To prove that they love me."
She swallowed the dry patch in her mouth feeling nauseous. "You're willing to force your family to die with you in order to prove that they love you?"
"Exactly, yes," the light that flashed on his face was pure madness. The ground started to roll in waves the more excited he became. "You finally understand my purpose. And now you can share with others how wonderful this sacrifice was." He looked to Sylar, "You understand too. The yearning to feel love. That you would do anything to achieve it, no matter the cost. You and I are the same."
Tilting his head in thought, Sylar slit his eyes. "Not even close." With that he released a bolt of lightning at the Carnie. Samuel lifted his hands so multiple boulders lifted between the two of them. His lightning was able to break through three of them before they flew towards him. Pushing the rest to the side with his mind, Sylar flung another batch of electricity.
The streak of blue caught Samuel in the shoulder breaking his concentration allowing Peter to fly the distance to the insane man. As he was distracted by Sylar's attacks, Samuel didn't notice him until he was nearly upon him. Bringing a fist up more boulders flew up into the air, one knocking Peter down. Claire stumbled to run up to her uncle, but the rocky and ever trembling terrain made it all the more difficult. Reaching him, he lifted his head up and she knew he was alright.
The crackling of electricity and blue light kept flashing and the smashing of boulders were non-stop. Once again Samuel used his power to bring up large rocks, only this time Claire noticed his fists were in a different position. Just as Peter prepared to take flight again, she pulled him down. Samuel's fingers flicked out quickly and the boulder splintered into various directions. Shards riddled Claire's body, but she somehow managed to stay in a position to keep them away from Peter. Collapsing to the ground she gulped for air as the rocks begin to leave her. She noticed things had become very quiet. Frantically looking behind her, she couldn't see Sylar.
Samuel began to flex his hands with no effect. He looked at them in confusion. "What's wrong with me?" He tried again to no avail. Screaming in frustration, he somehow found a burst of power within himself as the entire hill rumbled.
Samuel's focus was on the town down below where the other carnies escaped to. With one more roar the earth rolled violently, causing a sinkhole path down the hill and through the place he had once called home. Peter once again flew to Samuel, knocking him down. Samuel rolled back up, attempting to continue the sinkhole to the more inhabited area. Having absorbed his power, Peter remained kneeled and was more able to keep the destruction towards them. The hill was cracking and crumbling under the sheer force of the power struggle.
Peter held his fists in midair as he stood, using the energy to cause the other man to stagger. As soon as his knee hit the dirt, the ground cracked. Giving another push, Samuel sunk even deeper.
Laughing, Samuel yielded. Holding palms down, he sunk himself into the ground, welcoming everything it offered. With a smile on his face he buried himself in dirt and rock. As awful as that man had been, Claire couldn't help but feel pity at his demise.
Turning her attention back to Peter, she watched as he worked to stabilize the sinkhole below them. Though the community The Carnival had set up was almost completely ruined, the other town was saved. He then attempted to do the same where they stood.
"Claire!" exclaimed he, clenching and unclenching his fists. "I can't control it anymore!" Fearing this would be a problem, she had tried to remain close to him during the fight. She sprinted towards him as best she could, having difficulty finding her steps with the hill falling all around them. Slapping his outstretched hand, her power transferred into him as the land beneath them collapsed. The last thing Claire remembered, besides the crushing rocks, was wondering where Sylar was.
***
Mind groggy and limbs unresponsive, Claire tried to figure out what was wrong. Under piles of rock, she opened her eyes. Senses flowing back to her little by little, she could see hazy daylight filtering through the rocks. Attempting to shift up towards it, she found herself pinned so she couldn't move anything. Noticing her thick breathing, Claire realized the weight crushing her chest must have punctured a lung. Panic ignited in her core momentarily, fearing she would be trapped forever.
A distant yell caught her attention. Concentrating on the sounds, she heard multiple voices calling. Ears still fuzzy, she couldn't make out what they were saying. Opening her mouth Claire tried to yell, but only succeeded in coughing up blood. Spitting as much out as possible she tried again. She was able to rasp a scream for help. None of the voices came closer, so she again screamed. This time voices became louder as she once more screamed for help.
Fresh air reached her face and more light poured down. Blinded by the sunlight, Claire blinked rapidly as the stones were lifted off. When the large one on her chest was removed she gurgled a long gasp, feeling her ribs stitch back into place and her lung re-inflate. "Oh, my God," uttered a voice she knew to be Gail Bowman.
"I'm fine," she moaned, vision returning properly. Struggling to sit up, she saw her legs to be a bloody crushed mess and her right elbow shattered. Straightening her legs out to the correct position, Claire looked around while waiting for them to knit back together. In addition to Gail, Lauren and four other carnies had helped dig her out. Others stood around anxiously, waiting for news that she was fine. In the glare of the early morning, she saw all the carnies that had elected to leave were here digging around.
"Are you sure you're alright?" questioned Lauren, brushing hair out of Claire's face.
Standing slowly, she nodded. Almost collapsing, a carnie with tiger print pants held her up. Thanking him, Claire snapped her right leg, now able to stand on her own. "Where's Sylar? Peter? Dad?"
"Peter was already out of the rubble when we approached. We found Emma at the edge of the sinkhole and he took her to the hospital." Lauren held her hand up at the worried question that was going to be asked. "She's fine. Eli was going to kill her, but she ran while Noah shot him. So she was a good distance from the sinkhole. Beat up, but she'll be fine. Noah's poking around, looking for you." Taking a glance behind she added, "Some of the others here are digging up dead bodies of those who remained behind."
When she didn't elaborate further, Claire asked, "And Sylar?"
"We haven't found him yet." Her stomach jumped up into her throat and remained stuck. Out of all of them, she figured he would be the first found.
"Claire!" Noah ran up, squeezing her so tight she couldn't breathe. Leaning into her father's embrace thankful, Claire barely registered his presence. Her body and mind were numb with the knowledge that Sylar hadn't been found. He had her power so he should be fine, but a twisting in her gut said otherwise. Dazed, she pulled away and started digging away at stones and dirt. Noah took her arm gently, "Claire, you're covered in blood and dirt. You need to rest."
Tugging her arm back, she continued with her work. "I'll rest when Sylar is found." Once again he held her arm, but she yanked away absolutely infuriated. "No, Dad! No!" Claire stood to face him, anger bubbling in her chest. "I need him! I love him! I realize you're not happy with that, but quite frankly; I don't care!" Nearby carnies heard her yelling. They came forward, some flashing their abilities in a threatening manner to back her up. Claire held a hand up so they would not attack. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she uttered, "So either you can help out, or leave."
Giving her father an ultimatum nearly crushed her fragile heart. If he turned and left, she was certain she would break down. Noah set a soft hand on her shoulder and had a sad smile on his face. "Of course I'll stay."
He walked away preparing to move rubble. Head cleared for the moment, Claire requested, "Wait, don't dig." Her dad turned around perplexed. Glancing around, she called for Lydia. When the empath came nearer, she introduced them. "A few people here need new identities, if you could give them that. You can use the trust left to me after Nathan died, just ask Angela for the accounts."
"Of course, sweetheart."
"Lydia, could you help Dad identify which ones would like the option."
Nodding, she began to lead Noah elsewhere. "Once we find Sylar, I would like to talk to the two of you in private."
Though she appreciated her optimism, Claire closed herself off in her mind, not even aware of the pair walking away. Dropping once more to her knees, she began to dig. Moving from place to place she repeated the same actions in a desperate attempt to find Sylar. Hours must have passed, because when little Jennie Bowman touched her shoulder the sun was straight up in the sky. Jennie handed her a bottle of water which Claire accepted gratefully. When she drank her fill she handed the bottle back. The little girl looked at her with bright eyes for a moment before throwing her arms around her neck. "Thank you," she mumbled, in a small voice that fit such a young girl.
Returning the hug Claire scanned the ruined field, watching all the people helping her. She would need to be sure to thank each and every one of them personally for their hard work, whether or not Sylar was found. Pushing that ugly thought to the side, she released Jennie when Chris came to fetch his daughter. Placing a hand on Claire's shoulder, he gave a supportive smile before moving on.
More hours crawled on until it was nearly sunset, but everyone continued searching in shifts. Claire sat herself down on a rock pile wiping sweat from her dirty forehead. Just two nights ago she and Sylar were together, promising each other eternity. And now here she sat facing the prospect she would never see him again.
Eternity never seemed so long.
A startled scream from Amanda jolted her into action. Sprinting thirty feet, Claire slid next to the girl moving more stones while her dad and Edgar rushed over to assist. Underneath was definitely a male body. Every movement she made felt like it was going through molasses. Her heart beat loud and slow in her head as she attempted to process what lay in front of her.
Uncovering the last of the rocks revealed Sylar's broken and bloodied body. Limbs were smashed and twisted in wrong directions. His face was barely recognizable crushed and dirty. "No, no, no, no, no." Noah tried to have his daughter leave, but Claire insisted on looking over the injuries.
Shards of earth had lodged themselves throughout his body from Samuel's burst. Some were deeply buried so they couldn't be pulled out. Others were shallow and could be pulled out by hand, which Claire did with one in his shoulder. "Come on, you have to wake up." The wound didn't shut up. "Open your eyes." She opened his right eye, ignoring the cold skin she felt, and saw it was glassy and glazed over.
Claire remembered when Peter's eyes looked like that.
Frantically, she lifted up his right arm to find a stone sliver imbedded where his kill spot was. Crying out in joy, she looked to her dad. "We need to get this out!"
Confused, he shook his head. "His entire body is riddled with these shards, what good would getting one out – " He stopped himself, realizing the implication. "Sylar told you where his kill spot was?"
"I told you, Dad. We trust each other," she explained, becoming excited. "Can you get it out?"
Noah inspected the gory injury, shaking his head again. "I don't think any average person is going to get this out. Even a trained doctor could permanently damage the area."
"That's not the answer I'm looking for."
"I suppose if someone could telekinetically rip it out –"
"Aviv!" Claire called out, standing. Frantically looking from group to group, she spotted his burly figure. "Aviv, come here!" Jogging over, the Israeli man blanched at the corpse at his feet. Pointing to the stone sliver impaled in his side, Claire instructed, "Use your telekinesis to pull this out."
He shook his head, still very pale. "I haven't been in control lately, you know that. Have John Lee do it. Something this delicate, I can't be sure what would happen if I tried."
"I asked you, because I know you are more than capable." She actually had wanted to ask John Lee, but he was currently buried in the sinkhole, most likely dead. Standing, Claire desperately grasped onto his arm, forcing herself to not panic. "Please, you have to try." Aviv's gaze was still stuck on Sylar's prone form, mind not being changed. Mind racing to convince him, she remembered his son. "Pretend he's your little Jack. If something was wrong with him, you would do anything to fix him." Seeing him start to come around, she added, "There's no need to rush. Plus, he's already dead. So what's the worst you could do?"
She knew that the sliver could explode like a gun, ruining all chances of saving Sylar, but she kept those fears to herself. Watching Aviv close his eyes to focus, she held her breath and held her hands over her mouth. Amanda wrapped an arm around Claire's shoulder, adding just enough comfort to keep her from going mad. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was aware of all the people watching, but all she could concentrate on was her bloodied lover on the ground.
With every exhaling breath, Aviv mentally tugged the shard. The agonizingly slow pace revealed the rock to be much longer than she expected. Not sure of how much time passed, the stone piece was finally removed.
Though Sylar didn't show any immediate response of living, Claire still felt hope light inside her. As Noah bent down to check the gaping injury, she went to Aviv to give him a hug. "I knew you could do it." Giving a big smile he hugged back, relishing the new confidence when it came to his power.
"Claire, take a look at this." Kneeling next to her father, she watched as the wound closed itself with a suction sound. Clutching onto his broken hand, she didn't dare breathe while waiting. Seconds ticked by with no other movement, all eyes watching and waiting for some sort of change.
Suddenly Sylar's glazed over eyes cleared and he gasped for air. All stress and tension snapped inside Claire as she broke down crying. Burying her head in his stomach as her other hand grasped onto his shirt. She could feel the bones in his hand mend back together and hear his body rejecting the rocks.
Sighs of relief and cheers erupted all around as Sylar coughed violently. Claire looked up just as the last of the stones left his body. He let out a throaty chuckle while attempting to sit up which only made Claire punch him in the chest as hard as she could. When he fell back appearing confused, she shouted, "Don't you ever do that again!"
With a grin that reached his eyes, Sylar sat up pulling her into his arms. Closing her eyes and burying her face into the crook of his neck she felt the weight of everything fade away.
***
"Sorry, could you say that again?"
The reunited couple was currently sitting in Samuel's old trailer listening to Lydia's proposal. When she had finished her say, Claire gripped onto Sylar's hand tighter. She hadn't let go of him since he reawakened.
Smirking knowingly, Lydia pulled her hair back over her shoulder repeating, "After talking with the family, we would like you two to stay permanently."
"If it's money you need –"
"That's not the reason," she assured. "We will need money, but we've always managed just fine with what we could get. Our family feels that your judgment saved us all. Your instincts are spot on, and we could use that. And, this place could be your home." Lydia brushed flowers in a vase elaborating, "I know the both of you want a place to be accepted and be yourselves. We are what you're looking for." Heading towards the door, she hovered adding, "Take the time you need to think about it. You're more than welcome to the trailer. It's not exactly occupied anymore."
Lydia closed the door after her exit. Claire plopped her head onto his shoulder sighing, absolutely worn out. Mind racing a million different directions she wasn't sure where to start thinking. "I guess I could use my trust to help rebuild this place, but the money is going to run out eventually."
Eyes ticking towards her, Sylar pointed out, "I thought she said not to worry about money."
"Oh, come on," she said, rolling her eyes. "You know as well as I do that they can't even start rebuilding without any funding."
Standing, Sylar went to the small counter that held the vase of flowers. Picking up one of the roses, he presented it in front of her. "Then it's a good thing I can do this." Starting from the stem where he was holding on, the entire rose turned to gold.
Claire furrowed her brow as she accepted the rose. Tapping on the petals to confirm they were gold, she laughed in disbelief. "I had no idea you could do that."
Giving a moment, Sylar stated, "You want to stay, don't you."
"I don't know," she murmured, attention still on the rose.
"Yes, you do." Her heart skipped several beats as he took her chin, making her look at him. "This is something you've wanted for awhile. Just like Lydia said, this is a place to be accepted –"
"What I want to be with you," sighed Claire, exhausted. The events of the past few weeks caught up with her and showed in those seven words, but they never rang truer than in that moment. "I don't care where that happens to be."
Lip quirking upwards Sylar pulled her into a hug, propping his chin on her head. "That is a very good answer." Claire melted into him, smiling as she felt comfortable for the first time in almost two days. "Should we go make nice with our new family?"
Catching his wording Claire's smile broadened, but she shook her head. "Not to be selfish, but I'd rather just stay with you tonight." Biting her lip, she brought her hand up to stroke his cheek. "I thought I lost you."
He pressed gentle kisses on the pulse points of her wrist. "Not going to get rid of me that easily."
Swallowing to resist the tingles running along her arm, she shook her head becoming upset. "But you were dead. And you would have stayed that way if it wasn't for a bunch of random, stupidly lucky situations. I don't know how I could have –" Her worried ranting was cut off as Sylar pressed his lips to hers. Inhaling into the kiss, she felt every muscle from head to toe relax.
Pulling back before passion could build, Sylar wiped away her tear with a thumb. "Here I am alive. I'm not leaving, Claire."
More than accepting that little reassurance, Claire pulled him back into a tight kiss that burned with the cut off passion from before. Needing her presence as much as she needed his, his hand lifted her leg urging her to hook her knee around his waist. At the suggestion, she jumped up wrapping both legs around him. In between heavy pants, her breath hitched as he caught her lip in his teeth. When he released it, she muttered her new favorite words to him. Adoring the effect they had on him, she giggled as he attacked her mouth again.
As Sylar carried her to the back of the trailer, Claire tossed the golden rose onto the table; fully losing themselves in each other.