(5) A Second Chance

The rains came again, lasting over a week, then turning to snow. The white fluff barely lasted a month before the weather went back to dreary dampness. A few more mild quakes took out the main road & caused a section of the city to fall into the ocean.

Sylar had managed to avoid killing sprees but still had to take a few out if they came too close to home. One of them had time travel, so he instinctively took that ability but by now, he no longer had plans to go back. There was nothing in the past for him but a hate from the woman he now was about to have a child with & there was no point picking fights with Peter any more, either. Sylar had more important things to do now.

While Claire was coming along nicely with her latest pregnancy, Sylar on the other hand was becoming a nervous wreck. He fretted often about sinking back to his old ways & having an accident involving the child. His biggest worry was passing the Gray curse along. Claire had once told him that kids change a person, but he could only hope that was true.

They still went out in the night without any problem. Besides killing the few that came too close, Sylar was also closing off any holes leading underground. It was on one such occasion when Sylar's time for training himself on how to do a better job of keeping his power in check came to an abrupt end. He had left Claire for barely five minutes to close off another possible entrance to the underground of the old city & came back to find her with the baby in her arms. He could do nothing but stare at her for a long moment as she leaned back against a large rock she was sitting beside to feed the child.

"What?" Claire finally asked.

Sylar glanced around. "Uh, I expected screaming. Or something. For a long time. Isn't that how it usually happens?"

"I can't feel pain, remember?" Claire reminded him. "Labor & birth for me only lasts a few moments."

"Right," Sylar replied slowly. "Which is all my fault."

"Apparently," Claire carefully stood up & held out the child. "Would you like to hold him?"

"A boy?" Sylar gasped. "We have a son?"

"Mhm," Claire looked down at the boy. "All right little one, this is your father."

"Uh, I've actually, uh," Sylar was suddenly holding the baby away from his body rather awkwardly across his hands. "Never held one. Ok. This is ... happening."

Claire pushed Sylar's hands towards him. "Keep him closer to you & hold his head."

Sylar allowed her to help him hold the baby properly. Claire eventually backed away & watched them. Sylar looked absolutely terrified as he stood unmoving holding his son. "I'm afraid he'll fall to pieces in my arms," He whispered at last.

"He's ok," Claire tried reassuring him. "You're doing fine."

"I have literally no idea what I'm doing."

Claire petted the child's head with one finger. "Let's hope you don't grow up as clueless as your dad, ok?" she laughed.

"Let's hope he doesn't grow up like me, period!" Sylar corrected.

"He'll be fine," said Claire. "We should go home before he wakes up."

"Good idea," Sylar cast a quick glance to the starry skies before following her.

They walked in silence until they neared the house several minutes later. "I know you said I could come up with any name," Claire suddenly started. "Are you sure you don't want any part of that?"

"It's the least I can do," Sylar replied. "After what I did to you. I know you don't remember, but I do. I don't want to control your life like how I tried to do back then."

Claire opened the door & let Sylar go in first. "What was my dad's name?"

"Which one?" Sylar asked absent-mindedly, still unable to tear his eyes from his son's face.

"What do you mean, 'which one'?" Claire half-scoffed. "Whoever sired me. How can there be more than one?"

Sylar slowly raised his eyes to meet hers, silently berating himself for the predicament he had just put himself in. "Oh, I mean, well you were adopted. Noah & his wife adopted you. They had a boy a little while later & a dog."

"Ohh," Claire gasped in surprise. "I was given to another family?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Sylar needed to steer out of this conversation immediately. "So you want to call him Noah then?"

"Sure," Claire sat down on the couch & Sylar returned his attention to his son, hoping she wouldn't ask about the other father, the one he murdered. "Do you know why I was adopted? Were my parents dead?"

Ok, that was an easier question than he had expected. "It was a political thing. You were born from an affair."

"Great," Claire scoffed. "Did I ever meet them?"

"Oh yeah," Sylar answered. "Everyone eventually knew each other."

"So what was my real dad's name?"

"Nathan," Sylar eventually dropped into the arm chair still holding Noah, the fact that he had mentioned Nathan by name once before didn't occur to him.

But Claire remembered just fine. "Isn't that the one who could fly? Peter's brother?" Sylar could do nothing but silently look at her. "The one you said you killed?"

"Yes. Claire, that's the same one." He answered at last.

Claire rubbed her face with both hands for a moment. "Wait a minute. If Nathan was my father then ... then Peter—I'm related to Peter. He would be my uncle?"

"That's right."

"Wow! You weren't kidding when you said you had really messed up my life."

"I really am sorry, Claire," Sylar said. "It was a different time back then. We all hated each other. Sometimes not even Nathan & Peter got along & I think Peter was starting to pull away from you for some reason. But I was out of control then & the entire Petrelli-Bennet clan banded together against me so I pushed back fighting hard & a lot of people got hurt. Now you know why I am really trying to hold back."

"Perhaps it's best I don't remember," Claire began. "I mean, I know you now. I can see how you struggle with it but also how you restrain yourself."

"I tried it back then, too," Sylar pointed out. "It didn't work."

"But you had nothing worth fighting for then," Claire looked at Noah. "Now we have him."

"Yes & he terrifies me more than anything," Sylar petted the baby's head for a moment, then held up his free hand. "These hands have no business holding such innocence."

Claire moved towards him & put his hand back on their son. "Or maybe they do. This is your second chance. You can keep him safe." She watched them for a moment. "So Petrelli & Bennet are my family names? I know people have more than one name. That's how it is in the books I've read."

"Petrelli is your birth family & Bennet is your adoptive one."

"What about you?" Claire asked. "I know Sylar is an alias so that doesn't count. Do you have more than one name?"

"Gray."

She looked down at the baby. "So Noah for the one who raised me. Petrelli for the one who sired me. Bennet for me & Gray for you."

"That's a whole lot of messed up right there," Sylar managed a short smile. "How we all hated each other back then. Maybe it's a good thing he is born now."

"You'll get it right this time around."

"Claire, if I mess up again!" Sylar gasped. "Don't you leave me alone with him."

"One day at a time," Claire took Noah back as he had woken up again & was starting to fuss.

One day at a time become the motto for everything because now the two of them had to settle into the delightfully dreadful routine called 'parenting' & even with the Regen they both had, Noah still managed to do his job of exhausting both of them & seemed rather pleased about himself in doing so constantly.

Claire had found plenty of things for the baby in the children's section of the hospital & she settled rather quickly into motherhood, having done it many times before. Despite his worries, Sylar spent more time with Noah than he had planned & he was about as over-protective of Noah as Claire's parents had once been of her. Even a twig snapping would cause him to investigate & more than one poor wee bunny was blasted to bits before he finally acknowledged the fact that not everything was out to get his son. (Or perhaps the fact that Claire yelled at him to at least keep the rabbits in one piece instead of wasting a perfectly good cottontail so they could eat it.)

Sylar eventually settled down (as did the surviving distressed rabbits) & surprisingly took to fatherhood quite well. It was rare he would be seen without his son next to him & Claire often referred to Noah as his little shadow. In fact, Sylar rarely put him down apart from the times Claire needed to feed him. He didn't like letting the child out of his sight & felt that nothing could touch Noah so long as he was around.

But there was one thing that could destroy his new-found life & there was nothing Sylar could do about it. The tremors of the earth were becoming more frequent & both he & Claire had eventually decided to leave the area for less shaky ground. Sylar was loathe to move though for it meant a whole new batch of nightstalkers to kill which would mean giving in to his blood rage once more but there really wasn't much choice in the matter.

It had been three months since Noah was born & in all that time, Sylar had managed to keep himself under control (hapless lagomorphs not included) & for the first time in his life, he truly dreading having to kill.

They spent their last day at the beach. Claire had gone swimming while Noah passed out. Sylar had made a hole in the sand to place the baby in, then spread himself on a large flat rock so he could watch over him. He resembled a panther, lying face down with his wrists crossed, to rest his chin on. Sylar seemed almost asleep, but his half-closed eyes were focused downward on Noah. He didn't see the water suddenly pull back. He didn't see the wave rise up.

He felt a deep boom in the ground & heard the ocean itself explode. Noah screamed a moment later. Sylar wanted to jump down to him but had no need as the force of the quake threw him down on top of the baby. Sylar grabbed Noah then looked around for Claire, only to find a large gaping canyon where the ocean once was. Clutching Noah tightly, he flew down, looking for her. The cliff came down with him & Sylar had to choose between going after Claire or getting Noah out of there before a boulder knocked the child from his arms. He swooped upwards & headed for the sky. He wasn't too worried about Claire just yet for he knew she couldn't die, but it would be a hell of a chore looking for her in this mess.

But the magnitude of the quake was only realized when Sylar hit the atmosphere & looked down for a safe place to land. There was no safe place. The planet was disintegrating into at least three pieces, if not more.

"Claire ... " Sylar wondered if they could survive this. He stayed in the air as long as possible, watching the destruction, hoping Claire would show up somewhere. But it was getting harder to maintain flight as even the sky was disappearing & then Noah started gasping for air. Sylar looked at the baby who had yet to manifest any ability. Noah couldn't survive this, at least not right now. He had to get the child out of here now! "Claire, I'll come back for you!" Sylar took one last look at the exploding planet before transporting back to his own time.

Sylar landed in a very different New York from the one he had come from. This one was still above water, busy, loud & dangerous. He used to be the most dangerous thing on these old familiar streets but now it seemed almost foreign to him.

It was in the middle of the night but cars were still going through the streets & in the distance, the wail of a siren, possibly Peter's ambulance, was heard. Sylar found a newspaper stand nearby & checked the date. It was only a day after Peter had shoved him forwards in time but to Sylar, it seemed another lifetime ago. A literal lifetime, named Noah.

Sylar went to his apartment, cautiously approaching it from the back. He checked around often for Peter but no one seemed to notice him. He quickly entered but left the lights off. There was a ray of light from a street lamp shining in through the window. Sylar placed Noah on the floor in the spotlight & lay down beside him.

"It's ok, little buddy," Sylar held the baby under him. "You're safe now." Noah eventually stopped crying & lay there, looking up at his father as if to say 'Now what, genius?' Sylar petted Noah for a moment. "Alright, you stay quiet. I'm going to go get your mother. It should only be a moment for you."

Sylar stood up & attempted to move forward five thousand years, but he wouldn't budge. He tried beaming over to the opposite side of the room & it worked just fine. He tried returning for Claire once more but his power would block. "Come on, old man," Sylar berated himself. "I need to get Claire!" He tried moving again but ended up in the Bennet home all the way on the other side of America. He appeared right behind her but she was lying on the couch reading something, mercifully oblivious to his presence. He backed away into the kitchen. "Not that one!" Sylar muttered to himself. Mr. Muggles started barking at him but he was already in the process of returning to his son's side. After several more failed attempts, he lay on the floor next to Noah & stared up at the darkened ceiling. "I guess it's all gone. There's nothing to go back to." Noah made a small sound, indicating he was awake. Sylar rolled over onto his side. "Don't worry, little one. We'll get your mother back. I'll figure it out. That is my original ability after all. It'll just take some time." He laughed softly at the irony as he lay over Noah, holding the baby under him between his arms, making a sort of nest.

Dangerous though it was, Sylar slowly let the old Aptitude take over. He needed to see ahead, calculate the optimum time to return. But with the intuition came also the lust for blood. It was harder trying to understand without having something tangible to study but there was nothing of the kind for this. He needed more, but this time there was no more to be had.

Sylar almost gave in, almost got up to kill someone just for the fun of it. Noah was safe from him. He had no interest in an innocent baby & he was rather attached to his son. Literally, he suddenly realized, feeling an odd sensation at his left nipple. Noah provided a distraction that snapped Sylar out of his bloody-thirsty trance. "What the—wait a minu—hey hey! NO!" Sylar quickly pushed himself up & crossed his arms protectively over his chest. Noah had somehow managed to start trying to suckle off him. "Dude, I'm a guy. That isn't going to work." Noah looked up at him & made his first scowling face, tiny brow burrowed low in displeasure. "Don't judge me! It's just how I got born, ok? Same as you. We can't lactate. Ever! How'd you even find that through my shirt, hmm?" Noah was still scowling. "Right, I guess the first thing I'll be teaching you about is the differences of the sexes."

Blood rage completely driven from his mind, Sylar now realized that he would have to come up with a way to feed Noah. Claire wasn't available right now. The one with the milk was lost five millennia ahead in time & the one here hated his guts, didn't have children yet & was most likely still a virgin. Sylar blinked, then pressed his fingertips of one hand to the bridge of his nose for a moment. "Hang on, kid. Daddy's just having some really crazy thoughts about your mom right now." He stood up & went to the wall to press his forehead to it. "If she only knew now what is going on, she would really hate me. As if she doesn't have enough to hate about me already."

Noah started crying, causing Sylar to move away from the wall & into the singular beam of light. The moment he came into view, Noah fell silent & watched him. Sylar moved away & after a moment, Noah called for him again. Sylar returned to the light & Noah was instantly silent again, his eyes fixated on his father.

"Hmm," Sylar knelt down. "Good boy." Noah just stared at him; more like good daddy being well trained without realizing it, thank you very much! Sylar leaned over close to Noah's face, almost nose to nose. "Well, first things first. We gotta figure out how to feed you." He glanced around & in the dimness beyond the lit window, he saw something on the table that he hadn't used in almost two years, even though it was technically yesterday at the same time. His phone was lying there. He summoned it to his hand but then was stuck trying to figure out how to use it since Noah had grabbed his hair & he was now being held down close to the floor by a baby. "Come on, Noah! Seriously?" He sighed heavily. "Great. Ok. I'm getting my ass handed back to me by a three month ol—OW!" Noah had yanked on the tuft of hair & pulled it right out. Sylar cracked his head up & actually growled at his son. "Bad, bad baby!" Noah ignored him, now playing with the tiny handful of hair. "Whatever." He finally opened the phone, took a moment to remember his password, then called the nearest pharmacy.

He lay back on the floor close to Noah but soon realized it was a mistake as Noah made an attempt to eat the hair. Sylar sat up & began prying it out of tiny fingers. "No, don't eat that!" Was the first thing the pharmacist heard on the other end.

"Excuse me?"

"Not you," Sylar replied. "Just trying to pry my hair out of my son's hands." After making sure he had gotten it all away from Noah, he added, "Do you have any idea what to feed a three month old boy who is used to breast milk?"

"We have plenty of formulas for that," the lady began. "But it's usually best to try to get him to nurse again, if possible."

"It isn't. His mother just—" Sylar stopped himself. It was really weird saying that about Claire. "She just died."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," she began. "We are open for another hour so come right in. What's your name?"

"Gabriel." Once Sylar hung up, he looked down at Noah. "Now all we have to do is dodge that great-uncle of yours. He's probably out on the streets right now with his ambulance." He scooped Noah up in one arm & made his way to the washroom. As soon as he had closed that door, he finally turned on the light.

He looked at himself in the mirror. It was supposed to be Sylar looking back, no glasses & a look to kill, but there was something more wild now than just a stalker on the streets of New York. Sylar was now used to living in a feral world with no one else but Claire & Noah around. The streets there were filled with wild hares, overgrown with grass & the air had been cleaner with only the ocean & birds for sound. Now though, the streets were busy & unsafe even without him around & the city was large & loud. Sylar suddenly realized he was no longer used to modern day New York. On top of it all, he had to risk running into Peter while having his son with him. He suddenly realized he had a whole new reason to fight Peter, or anyone for that matter.

Sylar had something to protect which made him more dangerous now than ever before.

"Well, we do need to get to that pharmacy," Sylar looked down at Noah. "I'm not leaving you behind. My apartment has been raided before." Noah continued to silently gaze at him. "Oh don't judge me," Sylar ordered for the second time. "You look a lot like your mother when you do that by the way. I kind of deserved it back then, I guess."

He looked at Noah's reflection for a moment & it suddenly dawned on him. He couldn't stay here. He had to leave & take Noah with him. In this time, everyone was out to kill Sylar for what he had done. They wouldn't know exactly how much he had changed & some of them wouldn't care. Neither did anyone know about Noah yet & Sylar decided it was best they didn't. The entire family was against him. HIS family! Sylar was now related to the Bennet-Petrelli clan by actual blood through Noah. Then of course there was Claire. Here, she was a teenager still. Would she even accept Noah as her own? Not to mention what Sylar had done to her in this era as opposed to in the future, something he knew Claire would not like right now.

"We need to leave America," Sylar told Noah. "I doubt Peter would hurt you, but he would take you from me. They all would take you & your grandfather, Noah Bennet? Well, he is worse than I am & I won't let him mess you up like what he did to me. I can only imagine what the Company would do to a son of Sylar!" He paused to think it through, letting his own power work it out. "Yesterday, Peter threw me forward over five millennia. He probably gloated about that by now. He thinks I'm gone." He held Noah up a bit. "That was sheer dumb luck. We can stay gone. You really are my second chance, aren't you? It's just you & I now, little one. We have to leave it all." He glanced to the mirror once more. "And that includes you, Sylar. Only Gabriel can go."

He reached for the tap, turned it on, then off again. It was weird having water readily available. He was used to being in the ocean more often than not. He turned the tap on once more & watched it pour out for a moment before starting.

It was harder burying Sylar under the mask of Gabriel Gray for he only had one free hand. He didn't want to put Noah down in case someone showed up & he would have to run for it. At last, he slipped on the glasses & Noah instantly started wailing.

"Noah," Sylar pulled off the glasses & looked down at his son cradled in one arm. "It's alright. It's just me." Noah was quiet once more. He tried the glasses again but Noah wasn't having any of it. Sylar laid the glasses by sink. "Noah, believe me. You don't want it the other way. I'll make sure you never know Sylar. I have to protect you from everyone, even myself. Now," his hand slowly reached for the glasses. "Please let me put them on?" He tried again but no, it was not acceptable. "Alright." He put them down again then glared at his reflection. "I'm not leaving here without those glasses. You're staying behind, Sylar!" He switched Noah to his other arm & tried the glasses again but this time he didn't even have a chance to get them fully on before Noah loudly announced his dislike. "You scream as loud as you're mother when you want to & I'm not talking about in a good way, either." Sylar put the glasses down once more. "Believe me, I know. I hate how it happened, but it had to be done so I could copy her power properly. I knew she'd be fine but she still hates me for it." He looked Noah over. "What am I going to do with you?"

Noah no longer cared what was to be done with him so long as Sylar looked like the father he was used to seeing. Daddy's latest training session now over, Noah began tugging at the edge of the blanket wrapped around him, giving Sylar an idea. Noah could hear something softly banging, feel himself being moved around & suddenly everything was white. Sylar had dropped a white towel over the entire baby.

"You'll learn, kid," Sylar finally put his glasses on without problem. "Just listen to my voice, instead. You'll forget what I look like without them soon enough."

Sylar teleported close to the store. He took his time checking around & even instinctively glanced to the sky for the nightstalkers before remembering they wouldn't exist yet. Once he deemed it safe, he eventually moved forward. Someone ahead of him stopped to get a drink from the machine outside, slipping in a few coins. "Right," Sylar watched the man leave. "We are still using money in this millennia." He quickly transported back to the apartment. Using his force power he ripped open the wall between the sink & bedroom, then pulled out not one but two extra wallets. "Your dad wasn't a very good person back then," Sylar explained to Noah mostly to get him used to his voice more. "Grandpa Bennet had all my accounts frozen but it makes no difference to me. I have the Midas touch." He turned to leave. "Wait. I might as well, hmm?" Another blast of power & the top drawer of the desk opened & then an old golden gun flipped forward to his hand.

Pushing the glasses up into his hair, he pulled back the towel for a moment & held the pistol sideways in one hand & showed it to Noah. "You like how it shines? I killed someone for it & got the Midas touch from him, then I nailed his daughter, then killed her, too. Although for her it wasn't murder even if others think it is. Elle & I are both suicidal but I can't die thanks to your Mom." Sylar hid the gold gun under his coat. "I have her power, too." He held out a blue spark to Noah as it crackled in his palm. Noah watched the dazzling light as if bewitched. Sylar laughed softly & put the electric bolt away. He tapped his coat where the gun was hidden. "Not that I need the weapon. I am a weapon as you can see. But the gold is useful. Consider it the start of your college fund." He put the towel back over Noah & brought his glasses back down to his eyes.

Sylar left his New York flat for the last time, never to return. He headed back towards the store & found the woman he had spoken to. Her first question was about the towel over the baby.

"He doesn't like my glasses," Sylar began. "We had a huge argument about them a while ago. He cries when I put them on & instantly shuts up with them off. So now he can't see anything & he's fine until you take the towel off."

The woman laughed at him. "Well, I've handled many crying babies. Let's have a look." She took the towel off. Noah glanced up at his father while sucking his thumb for a moment before grasping the blanket with both hands, perfectly silent.

"Go ahead & make a complete ass out of me, why don't you Noah?" Sylar glared at his deceptive son.

"Ahh," was all Noah did.

"Whatever," Sylar gave up, accepting the items offered him.

"There is a list of instructions I put inside," the lady said. "But he might not accept it right away until he gets used to the idea of not having his mother. Just keep trying. He'll eventually be hungry enough to take it."

"I'm sure he's already scheming something," Sylar replied. "Sometimes I wonder if he's trying to train me."

"Oh he is!" the lady laughed. "He'll try to have you wrapped around his finger by his first birthday."

"Great," Sylar complained. A moment later, he almost dropped Noah as the baby had let out some sort of scream. It sounded happy. Sylar glanced down at him. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Actually, he just laughed," the lady said. "Was that the first time?"

Sylar blinked. "Yes!"

"Are you a first-time father?"

"Yeah."

"Good luck!"

"Thanks," Sylar gasped as he turned to leave. "I'm going to need it with you, aren't I?" He asked Noah as he walked down his old stalking routes but without really noticing this time. "Well, if you're half the trouble your mother is, I'm going to have my hands full & if you end up remotely like me, that'll be a nightmare." He paused as he came to the corner of the smaller street leading into the main thoroughfare running through the heart of New York City. He held up his phone & tossed into the middle of the road where it was instantly smashed by passing vehicles. He looked at Noah. "We can't have any tracking device on us. Now let's get out of here before Peter comes calling. We can't stay in this country right now & probably best not to be on the same continent." He held Noah up, earning another laugh. "When you're old enough to defend yourself perhaps but for now, we have to hide."

Sylar needed something unexpected. A place no one would think he would ever go. It would have to be a country he was never in either so that possibly no one there would have ever heard the name Sylar & would be more concerned with its own affairs & not bother him.

Knowing exactly where to go, he held Noah a little closer & disappeared on the spot.