Kate smiled. "Hello, Sylar. Recognize me now?"

"How could I not, Kate?" Sylar replied. "What happened to you?"

Kate sighed. "Too much, Sylar. Too much." She shook her head slowly. "At least you haven't changed."

Sylar raised an eyebrow. "I thought that was what you wanted. For me to change."

Kate snorted. "The dreams of my younger years. I gave up on that hope when I turned fifteen."

The other eyebrow joined the first. "I thought you would never give up."

Kate shrugged. "So did I. And then something else happened." She looked at him. "I didn't change you, Sylar. You changed me."

Sylar looked at her. "What?"

Kate sighed. "I'm a trained assassin. You and I work together, and have worked together for… must have been about fourteen years." She shook her head. "A lot has changed."

Sylar's eyes narrowed. "Maybe you should explain."

Kate nodded and sat down. Sylar followed her example.

"A few months from now, some idiot hero will let his power go to his head. And he ruins it for all of us." She sighed. "The Company is reinstated when the public finds out about us. Heroes are taken away from their homes, killed, tortured, you name it, it's been done." She snorted. "People were scared, Sylar. And they thought they had reason to be." She sighed. "Telepaths got the worst of it. People don't like the thought of someone being in their heads."

Sylar listened carefully. Not a single word had been a lie. Kate was telling the absolute truth, no matter how difficult it was to imagine.

Kate looked at him. "I was fourteen when they caught Jonathon. Fifteen when they took away my will and made me shoot him in the head."

Sylar's eyes widened.

Kate looked down. "They did everything possible to make sure my brother couldn't come back. Bullets, poison, knives, you name it." She smirked. "Three days later, they were found dead. No one had any idea who the murderer was. They couldn't find any fingerprints."

Sylar looked at her with a mixture of admiration and horror.

"That was the first time I ever killed anyone." She looked at him. "It wasn't the last." She smirked. "You want me to show you?"

Sylar raised an eyebrow. "Show me what, exactly?"

She smiled. "When we became a team again."

Sylar looked at her for a long moment, before nodding.

Kate's smile widened, and she closed her eyes. Sylar followed her example.

Suddenly, he was somewhere else.


Sylar was washing the blood off of his hands when the door opened. He turned around. "What do you want, Kate?"

Kate's eyes narrowed. "Read my mind. You can."

Sylar raised an eyebrow and did as she asked. He smirked. "They finally pushed you over the edge, eh?"

Kate snarled. "That's a mistake they didn't live to regret."

His eyes widened. "You killed them?"

Kate smiled. "No fingerprints, Sylar. Sound familiar?" She tossed something towards him. He caught it expertly.

Sylar glanced at the newspaper quickly. "Saw it this morning." He raised an eyebrow. "It was you?"

Kate looked at him, a smug smile across her face. "Who else, Sylar?"

Sylar sighed and set the paper on a table. "All right. What do you want?"

Kate looked at him. "I've been watching the heroes. All of them. Some can get actual jobs, Sylar, and they're the only ones that survive."

Sylar looked at her. "What kind of job?"

Kate smiled darkly. "I was thinking… trained assassin?"

Sylar raised his eyebrows. "You?"

Kate shrugged. "Why not? Think about it, Sylar. It's perfect. Normal people wouldn't stand a chance against the two of us. And heroes… well…" She smiled.

Sylar looked at her, and a small smile crossed his face. "And I'd need YOU, why, exactly? If you haven't noticed, I'm doing fine by myself." He pointed in the vague direction of the bloody towel that was draped over the faucet.

Kate smiled. "You don't." Her eyes grew cold. "But think about it. Heroes can still beat you, Sylar. But never the two of us. You and I, we've taken down The Company itself. Any normal person would be dead in a second. Heroes…" She smiled. "I'll leave that to you." She shrugged. "When that happens, I'll watch your back." She sighed. "People know too much about us now, Sylar. They know our weaknesses. Together…" She smiled darkly. "We don't have weaknesses."

Sylar looked at her for a long moment, as though trying to figure out exactly what happened. "They killed Jonathon, didn't they?"

Kate spat. "No. I did."

Sylar's eyes widened.

"They took away my will and forced me to pull the trigger." She looked at him. "So are you in, or not?"

Sylar looked carefully at Kate. For a long time, no one said anything. Kate had changed so much. Her eyes held an unnamable darkness, a deep shadow of fear and hatred. Everything about her screamed of a dark, horrible power.

Sylar considered what she'd said. He DID have a weakness. One way he could die. And Kate had one as well. Fire. The one thing she couldn't control.

But he could.

He smiled darkly. The two of them really WERE invincible.

Kate held out a hand, and Sylar looked at it for a long, tense minute. Finally, he shook it.

"I'm in."


"Hello?"

Kate listened in to Sylar's conversation in the other room.

"That's me. Kate? She's… busy."

Silence.

"Look, is there something I can help you with, or can I hang up now?" Sylar spat out the words.

Kate smiled. She had a feeling she knew exactly who was on the other end of the phone.

Sylar listened for a long time. Finally, he spoke up. "Nine o'clock?"

Silence, and then. "We'll be there."

"Trouble?" Kate asked, calling to the other room.

"Nothing we can't handle." Sylar replied, standing in the doorway. "Why do we need that?"

Kate continued to polish the small gun. "Insurance."

Sylar raised an eyebrow.

Kate shrugged. "People don't need to know we're heroes." She smiled darkly. "Yet."

Sylar nodded slowly. "Well, that doesn't matter anyway. It worked. He called."

Kate looked at him, her eyes alight with a dark flame. "I had a feeling he would."

Sylar looked at her. "He wants us to meet him at the park. Nine o'clock tonight."

Kate smiled. "How do you think he's going to react to a fifteen-year-old assassin?"

Sylar looked at her. "You're not having ANY doubts about this?"

Kate shrugged. "The man wanted someone gone. We got his attention, we have a job." She shrugged again.

Sylar's eyes locked on hers. "That's not what I meant."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Oh. Moral issues." She snorted. "I'm over that, Sylar. Can we just move on already?"

Sylar raised an eyebrow. "No second thoughts?"

Kate's eyes grew dark. "Sylar, I've killed my three-year-old brother after I'd spent my life trying to protect him." She glared at him. "Do you really think there's ANYTHING I wouldn't do?"

Sylar looked at her for a long, tense moment. Finally, he nodded. "Just making sure, Kate. You've had a problem with that in the past."

"That was then." Kate responded darkly. "This is now."


The man refused to give his name.

He said, quite simply, that he wanted to remain anonymous. Kate and Sylar held that idea as well, keeping to the shadows.

For now.

"This is him." The man held out a picture, along with a few small paragraphs of information.

Kate wanted to laugh. It seemed so… old fashioned. So… fake. Like a scene from a bad detective movie.

Sylar took the picture. "Hero?"

"I…I don't think so." The man replied.

"I wasn't asking YOU." Sylar snarled. "Kate?"

Kate emerged from the shadows. "Not this time." She replied, looking at the photo. "I know this guy. Real charming. Compared to a shark."

Sylar snorted.

The man looked at Kate with wide eyes. "YOU'RE an assassin?" Kate could see the doubt in his face.

"You have a PROBLEM with that?" Kate snarled, electricity dancing on her hands.

Sylar placed a hand on her shoulder. "Easy."

Kate let out one last snarl, and the electricity died. The man looked at her, his face pale.

"When?" Sylar asked, his tone dark.

"By Friday." The man replied, not taking his eyes off Kate.

"Done." Sylar replied. He disappeared into the darkness, and Kate followed.


That's him?

That's him.

You sure?

Oh, look. Serial killer Sylar is making sure he gets the right guy. Since when do you care?

Since when DON'T you?

Oh, shut up and concentrate.

Sylar looked at the picture, and then at the man. Kate.

WHAT NOW?

You were wrong. He's a hero. He took a deep breath. I can feel it.

Oh boy. Ok, you're covered. Any way you can get him alone?

Sylar smiled. Definitely. Just give me a moment.

Done. Just hurry.

It was a small place. The man obviously wasn't very successful; just another journalist who'd stumbled onto more than he should have.

Sylar followed the man into the house. He kept to the shadows perfectly, blending in like a dark nightmare.

Where are you?

Right outside. Kate's thoughts came back to him. Just keep it quiet. There's more than one person out here, and they could get… suspicious…

Meaning?

Meaning that guy better not scream too loud, or I'm holding you personally responsible.

Sylar didn't reply, simply traveling through the house silently to make sure they were alone.

You're clear, Sylar. Listen. No Telepathic Fingerprints.

Heroes stick with other heroes, Kate. If there's a defender in here, they could be invisible to us.

Ah. Carry on, then.

Once Sylar was sure there was no one else in the house, he smiled. He carefully walked around the corner. The other hero had his back turned. He didn't stand a chance…

"I figured as much."

Sylar wasn't too surprised; it happened from time to time. People knew he was there.

"My power's not that special, you know." The man turned around. His eyes were that of someone who had been running for a long time. They were blank, hollow. He looked… tortured. As though he'd given up on everything.

"I'm just another ordinary person." The man's voice was harsh. "I just have one thing different." His eyes locked on Sylar's. "Is that really so wrong?"

Sylar chuckled darkly. "Believe me. I know."

The man sighed. "Ah. You're one of THOSE." He shook his head slowly. "Another hero, eh? What's your power?"

Sylar shrugged. "It doesn't matter."

The man smiled without humor. "Oh…" he sighed. "I guess it was inevitable. No one survives these days, eh? No one but the really powerful." He shook his head again, keeping his eyes locked on the floor. "I guess I'm not strong enough."

Sylar looked at the man. He was the perfect picture of someone who had given up all hope. He was emotionally dead.

The man sighed. "I should have known not to draw attention to myself." He looked down. "I just… can't HELP it. I'm a JOURNALIST. It's what I do."

For a long time, no one said anything. Finally, the man spoke up again.

"There's really nothing I can do, is there? I'm not a defender. I'm not a speedster. There's just… This." He raised his hand, and ice began to creep across the floor. He sighed. "I suppose I shouldn't have shown you that." He kept his eyes locked on the ground. "Not that it matters anymore."

"You're right." Sylar replied, speaking at last. "It doesn't matter."

Sylar flicked his hand, and the man flew into the wall. Sylar raised a single finger, level with the man's forehead.

The Death Scream rang out, and the crimson line grew larger…

Shut that guy up! People are looking this way!

Sylar pinched his fingers together, and the man could scream no more.

But the telepaths heard it. His cry rang out across the world, calling for help. A call that no one would answer anymore.

Kate listened to the man's Death Scream with a cold heart, saying nothing. Her dark eyes shone with a cold fury, and the shadows themselves seemed to cower in fear. This was no longer Kate Mendez.