Author's Note: Obviously, copius apologies for having left it so long since the last update. I lost the groove for writing this fic and became distracted with other fics in between (one of them still continuing). I've been touched by all the inquiries I've gotten about Salvation and believe it or not, I've found my groove! So Salvation is officially back from unintended Hiatus!

This is a small part, but hopefully it will tie you over until the next update.

Chapter Nineteen

"End Game"

Part I

To call what erupted in the wake of Sylar's appearance as pandemonium would have been an understatement. While some like Nathan, Audrey, Hana and even Niki and Hiro reacted by reaching for their weapons (and almost firing or using them), the rest visibly blanched, cautiously taking a step or two back.

Claire's only concession to shock was to grip Peter's hand harder; he in turn reacted by tightly squeezing her hand. This wasn't her first encounter with Sylar over the past few days of course; their last conversation in Odessa after Peter's collapse was actually something she was really proud of. First for surviving intact, and secondly for actually thinking he had been coherent and understandable from a non-psychotic murderer point of view.

"Let him sleep." Sylar had said as he easily deposited Peter onto the bed in the motel. His presence was enough to make Claire's skin crawl and not in a good way. She had wanted to get away from him as fast as possible or failing that, stab him in the neck with the Odessa Motel pen, then run away as fast as possible. A part of her recognised that having Sylar on their side helped their chances against Linderman a huge deal. But actually having to deal with him was a whole other matter. "He'll need the rest for what's ahead."

Claire had glared at Sylar across Peter's unconscious form, hating the fear rolling off her. She was a 20 year old woman trapped in the same motel room as a known homicidal maniac – entirely by choice. Only her feelings for Peter had stopped her from screeching at the top of her lungs or making a panicked call to Nathan or Hiro for help.

"You're right to fear me." Sylar had said, still with that obnoxious calmness pervading his every word as he crossed to the window, absently peering through the blinds.

His calm acceptance had infuriated Claire, who bit back rather harshly. "Thanks for your permission. You only murdered a bunch of people by slicing their heads open. And oh yeah – you wanted to do the same to me. So forgive me if I'm not happy you're standing three feet away."

"My time will come." He spun suddenly, his eyes glinting. Despite the temperate climate, Claire's blood had frozen momentarily seeing the darkness and evil lurking just underneath the surface. "Don't you worry about that. My time will come."

"What does that even –"

"We don't have time right now." Sylar strode forward and it had taken every ounce of Claire's courage to not back away. "I'm going to leave. We need to know what they're planning next. What their next move is."

"How?" She forgot momentarily who she was talking to. "My father's in a coma, my parents are dead. You – you blew up their warehouse or lab or whatever. Where are we going to start?"

"You leave that to me." Their eyes had met in the dim room, afternoon sunshine having yielded to dusk. "You need to make sure he's safe. He's the key."

"Wait, you –" She had been about to ask why Sylar didn't think he mattered, but stopped at the last second. She had remembered who she was talking to and putting aside disbelief she was actually having a conversation with Sylar – every second that ticked by they were becoming more enmeshed in chaos. She needed a tether, a purpose – and Peter was both.

"I'll track them down." Claire hadn't needed to ask who he meant by 'them'. Sylar was the perfect choice to track down the people who had attacked them, those who had almost succeeded at burning them all alive at the warehouse.

Sylar had opened the door to go but Claire stopped him at the last moment. "Wait." She blinked, hardly knowing what she was doing. "When you find them –"

"You'll know." Was all he said, before disappearing from view.

With this conversation still fresh in her mind, Claire hurled herself in front of Sylar, ironically making it easier for him to slice her head open if he had been so inclined. Luckily for her, he wasn't. She knew if she didn't intervene Sylar would be pumped full of bullets before the words "I'm here to help" or some variant of them came out of his mouth.

Not that she was overly keen to save the life of the man who had murdered Jackie three years ago. But with the odds stacked against them in a fight to the death with Linderman, she was going to make the others take all the help they could get, even if it was from someone who had tried killing them all before.

Unexpectedly – or maybe expectedly, Claire wasn't sure why she was surprised any more by how in sync she and Peter were – Peter had jumped in along at the same time, effectively blocking Sylar from harm. They stared mutely at the others as they squared off, Claire having to avert the looks of disbelief being hurled at her.

"Get out of the way Peter." Niki gritted, the blade of a really, really large knife gleaming in the harsh sun. "This bastard almost killed my family, he's not doing to be drawing another breath." She strode forward, knife gripped firmly until she was almost nose to nose with Claire. "Get out of the way." Claire didn't move. "I mean it Claire. I'll do it."

"No!" Claire and Peter cried in unison. She spun around and their eyes met, set in mutual determination. "We need him." She gazed around, spying Matt at the periphery shielding his eyes from the sun. "Matt, you can read his thoughts. Is he going to hurt us?"

Matt looked nauseous at the thought of reading Sylar's mind, but Claire took the firm nod he gave her as agreement. Sylar stood calming, his eyes barely flickering in the silence.

"He's … I can't see anything." At Peter's confusion, he elaborated. "I mean, I can't see anything to be worried about. He hates Linderman just like the rest of us." He sounded surprised and oddly relieved. "Maybe even more."

"How do we know he's not going to come after us after Linderman's taken care of?" DL asked pointedly, glaring while clutching his side. Claire remembered it was the side that had been badly hurt by Sylar in their last encounter in New York.

"I don't trust him as far as I can throw him." Nathan gritted, casting a furious glance at his brother, then Claire. He looked livid; she wouldn't have been surprised if he started gnashing his teeth in anger.

"And believe me, I can throw him a hell of a long way." Niki murmured darkly, almost channelling Jessica.

"Enough." Surprisingly, it was Hiro who halted hostilities. "That's enough." As if to emphasise his words, he drew his sword. The blade gleamed brighter than Claire had ever seen it. "We don't have time for this. If Peter and Claire vouch for him, we have to trust them. We are a team – we are family. If we cannot trust each other, we will all be dead by the end of today." He glared at Sylar, somehow encompassing Claire and Peter in that glare. "Peter, you and Claire are responsible for him. If he hurts any of us, it will be your responsibility. Do you understand?"

Claire swallowed and nodded, noticing Peter's Adam's apple likewise bobbing. They rarely saw this side of their friend but when his ancient samurai heritage shone through, everyone knew it was wise to stay out of Hiro's bad books.

"Good. And you four." Hiro had not bothered to re-sheath his sword yet, pointing it grimly at Niki, DL, Nathan and Audrey. "You will not sow dissension. That will guarantee the failure of our cause."

Hiro didn't let up until everyone – including Nathan – reluctantly murmured angry agreement. Nathan and Audrey in particular looked furious enough to tear Sylar limb from limb with their bare hands and a part of Claire empathised with them. In many ways, the rest of them relied on Nathan, Audrey, Niki and DL to express the rage and fury of the rest of the group. It absolved them of the responsibility to do the same.

"Good." Hiro finally re-sheathed his ancient sword, muttering a string of what Claire imagined to be expletives in Japanese. Only Ando was able to understand and true to their friendship, the usually amiable duo strolled off together, their gait betraying their intense annoyance at what they clearly considered to be petty antics of people who were not focused enough at the task at hand.

Claire glanced at Peter with wide eyes, who in turn stared awkwardly back at Nathan, Audrey, Niki and DL. Hana and Claude, who had shimmered into view during the tense encounter, shrugged their shoulders and walked back to the car, followed by the other non-New Yorkers.

Claire, Peter and Sylar were the last ones to get into the remaining car, with Nathan and Audrey still fuming in the front. Clearly, they were all going into battle with the worst possible energy.

Although Sylar was close to 6'4" and Claire was barely 5'0", she wasn't intimidated by him anymore. At this precise junction they were almost equals, allies in the coming war. Even if there was a very real possibility that said ally would turn around and murder them all right after achieving their goal at hand, for now, it was okay to trust. For now.

There was blissful – if extremely cold silence – in the SUV as the Nevada desert rolled past. Fortunately, Sylar didn't feel the need to express any kind of gratitude. This was lucky because Claire got the feeling if he'd tried doing anything of the kind, Peter would be irritated enough to phase and leave Sylar through solid rock. Which would kill him and render what they had just been through a complete waste of time.

TO BE CONTINUED ...