Peter and Sylar walked out back and as soon as Simon saw Peter he called out, "Hi Uncle Peter!"
Monty followed and both ran over to give him a quick hug. Peter returned the hugs and then said, "Hey guys, I want to introduce you to someone. This here is Gabriel, and he's going to be staying with me for a while."
"Why?" Monty asked.
"Because his parents aren't available, and he's too small to live on his own."
This answer seemed to satisfy the kids for now, and Simon asked Sylar, "Wanna play horse shoes with us?"
Sylar grinned remarking, "Sure," as he followed Simon and Monty back to the area set up for playing. There was also a net set up for badminton with a few racquets not far off from the horseshoe area. The sun was starting to go down by now, but the back yard was well lit with iridescent poled lamps that surrounded the property.
When the kids had walked off, Nathan turned and walked over to the grill lifting up the lid to check the coals progress. Seeing the coals were ready, he began placing the steaks on the grill. When he'd finished the task, he turned back to Peter and said in a low rumble, "Now tell me honestly, are you really okay with this… this set up you've got going? You know I trust you Peter, I'm just worried you might be spreading yourself a little too thin here."
Peter gave Nathan a knowing smile and said, "You trust me, but you still think it's a really bad idea for me to let him live with me."
Nathan snorted, "I'd be lying if I said no. Like I said, I trust you, I just don't know if you can continue to handle such a responsibility by yourself. There's only one of you. That brings me to what I wanted to discuss with you, you remember that old cabin mom and dad bought out in Georgia?"
"Yeah; what about it?" Peter asked curiously.
Nathan flipped the steaks as he continued, "I've taken the liberty of digging the key up for you. I figured since I knew you'd be too stubborn to ask for my help, if things got a little bit overwhelming, you might take him out there to get your head straight. It's pretty well secluded, so you shouldn't have to worry about him causing any trouble since there isn't another soul around for miles."
Peter smiled at Nathan and thought about all the times his brother had been there for him throughout the years. He said with sincerity, "Thanks Nathan, it's good to know you've always got my back. I don't think I'll need it, but I'll take the key just in case. Gabriel and I are getting along better then I would have thought possible. Some of that is due to me having faith in his ability to change, but most of it is due to Gabriel wanting to change himself."
Peter's phone rang before Nathan had the chance to reply. Peter saw the number and said, "It's work. I've got to take this."
Peter answered, and after a short conversation he hung up. He saw Nathan looking at him questioningly and Peter said, "One of the other nurses called in sick. I've got to fill in for her tomorrow morning. How's the food coming? It smells great."
Nathan poked the steaks and their juices sizzled onto the coals below; satisfied, he lowered the lid on the grill as he answered, "About eight minutes should be good. Did you want a drink? There's some red wine already out on the kitchen counter, and there's some soda and juice in the fridge."
Peter said, "I'll grab myself a soda." He turned to Sylar and called out, "Gabriel, do you want something to drink?"
Sylar who had just taken his turn was standing on the sidelines watching Monty throw a horseshoe when he heard Peter call out to him. He turned shouting out, "Sure, an ice water would be great!"
Peter grabbed them both a couple of drinks and went back out to watch Nathan finish cooking. Soon they were all eating, and the kids kept the conversation going so there were no awkward moments between Nathan and Sylar. Nathan gave Peter the promised key as Peter and Sylar were walking out the door to go home.
..............................................
Noah clicked his phone shut, turned to Matt and Mohinder, and said, "It's all set. You guys want to go over the plan once more, to make sure you know what's going on?"
"I think that's a good idea." Matt said.
Noah nodded and said, "Peter's already agreed to fill in for someone at a house that's new to him. I'll have my people undercover and ready to meet him at the front door. Sylar will be with him, but we're going with the assumption that Sylar's powers are still gone, so Peter is the only threat. As soon as Peter crosses the threshold of the bedroom, he'll trigger the automatic sprayers which will put him to sleep almost instantly. Then we can come in and take over custody of Sylar."
Matt said, "You have to make sure your people understand that Pete reads minds, the fewer people in the house the better. It would help if they sang a song in their head whenever they aren't talking to Peter. It's distracting while trying to read someone."
Noah nodded and said, "Thank you for the advice." He turned to Mohinder and said, "Do you have anything to add?"
Mohinder shook his head no, "I'm just ready to get Sylar off the streets once and for all."
Monday morning followed with a regular visit to the Paulson's where Maddie over excitedly hugged Sylar hauling him off to show him her new board game, and by mid afternoon Peter and Sylar had eaten lunch and were heading over to a Mrs. Akrin's where Peter had informed Sylar they were visiting as a favor for Karen a fellow Hospice nurse that was out sick for the day.
The apartment was located in one of the many ghettos of Brooklyn in a run down building in need of some serious pressure washing. The two climbed out of the car and walked across the street towards the apartment's entrance. Sylar's eyes traveled up the length of the tall building as he remarked, "Thank gods this client is on the second floor; I somehow doubt this building has an elevator."
Peter laughed at that and teased, "I could always carry you if you get too tired." He held the door open for Sylar to go into the building.
Sylar scoffed lightly as he walked through the front door responding with a smile, "Aren't you just Mr. Funny man with all the jokes. Better be careful, I might take you up on that offer."
His smile faded as he took in their surroundings; the place looked like a crack head hideout with dingy yellowed walls and scuffed, chipped, stone floors leading to a zigzagging stairwell which was covered in office carpet that had several spots where the carpet had been worn so thin you could see the concrete slab beneath. From looking at the edges of the carpet, Sylar could tell the original color of the carpet was a sky blue, the rest of the carpet was stained a tar black from the traffic it had seen. The railing leaned slightly and looked as if someone had thrown a refrigerator down the stairs or something equally as heavy and the railing had somehow managed to survive the attack. The stairwell was too small for the two to travel side by side, so they made their way up the steps single file with Sylar in the lead.
Sylar's lip curled in disgust as he watched the roaches scurrying for cover. He put his hands in his pockets not wanting to touch any of the hallway's unpleasantness as he spat snidely, "No wonder this lady is dying; it's unhealthily gross in here. You'd think with the state of dilapidation this place is in, the fire marshal would have boarded it up as a hazard by now."
Peter was equally as disgusted by his surroundings, but didn't like Sylar's tone. He put a hand on Sylar's shoulder to stop his progression up the stairs, and when Sylar turned to look at him, Peter said, "I agree that it's gross in here, but that's not a good reason to make light of someone dying. We're here to make her last days better and easier then they would be without us. Understand?"
Sylar lost eye contact at Peter's words feeling slightly guilty as he responded, "I wasn't meaning it like that you know, but yeah, you're right, I should be a little more considerate."
"I know you didn't mean it like that. I just wanted to make sure you knew how it sounded." Peter patted Sylar's shoulder once and then said, "How about tonight we go out flying for a while? Help both of us forget that people actually live in a place like this."
Sylar gave Peter a half smile responding, "You know, all things can't be fixed by going flying… but, I guess it's a good start." His smile broadened into a cheesy grin as he thought absently, 'How do you always know how to make me feel better after pointing out I'm being a big jerk?' Sylar turned back to continue climbing up the stairs as he asked, "So, what apartment number is she in?"
Smiling to himself at Sylar's thoughts, Peter said, "224."
The two of them continued to climb the stairs to the second floor. Once they were in the dimly lit hallway, Peter commented with disgust, "Smells like cat pee mixed with rotting trash up here."
Walking side by side they went down to the end of the hallway and found the correct apartment. Peter knocked on the door, and a couple of seconds later a black man in his late twenties opened the door. Peter said, "Hi I'm here from Hospice care to see Mrs. Akrin."
The man opened the door wider and said, "My mom is in the first bedroom on the right."
Peter and Sylar walked into the apartment, and both were pleased to see it looked reasonably clean, and didn't smell nearly as bad as the hallway had. The man had a Kanye West CD playing, and Peter could hear him singing along in his head to the words. As soon as the man shut the door behind them, he went back to washing dishes and ignored them.
Peter thought this was strange, but shrugged and headed towards the bedroom with Sylar following closely behind. Peter knocked once on the bedroom door and called out, "Mrs. Akrin?"
Getting no response, Peter opened the door and stepped in, only to have a fine mist sprayed in his face. He was too startled and confused to react at first, but the instant the spray hit his face, he started to feel dizzy. He heard someone in the room thinking, 'We've got him now!'
Peter felt himself falling, and he turned to Sylar and slurred out, "Run!" before collapsing onto the floor unconscious.
Sylar stared at Peter as he fell; Peter's words did not really register as he shouted, "Peter!" Sylar had not noticed the mist that had sprayed Peter, and his first reaction was to race up to Peter's side in a panic as he thought, 'Oh God, oh God, Peter! What the heck?' It was then that Sylar noticed the faint mist and coughed feeling slightly lightheaded. He quickly placed the sleeve of his jacket over his mouth and nose as his eyes traveled up to the ceiling pinpointing where the toxins had leaked from.
Sylar looked back down at Peter worriedly as he thought, 'I can't leave him here! Maybe if I can get him away from this mist, he'll snap out of it!' Sylar grabbed a hold of Peter's leg and dragged with all his might to pull Peter away from the doorframe. It took all the strength he had to pull him a few feet away. He dropped down beside him shaking Peter in a desperate attempt to wake him as he shouted out, "Peter! You've got to wake up!"
Peter's head lulled limply to the side. About that time, Sylar spun around on his knees to face Noah, Mohinder, and Matt barreling into the room. Sylar's jaw dropped in shocked surprise.
Noah had a taser pulled and aimed on Sylar ready to fire it into either Sylar or Peter if they had presented a threat, Mohinder followed his lead into the room, and Matt followed to wrap around to cover the other side with a similar taser. Mohinder didn't stop in his stride as he reached Sylar roughly snagging him up off the ground by his bicep as he spat, "Say goodbye to your little friend; it's the last you'll ever see of him."
