"I need to leave..." Sylar looked up at the big bright-colored structure and ran a hand through his hair. It was over. The deed was done. He had saved Emma and thousands of other people. He was a hero.
He had never felt anything like it. For the first time in his life he was actually proud of himself, of what he did. Thousands of people who should have been dead, were instead on their way home. Home, to their friends and families, and that was all because of him.
It felt good, a different kind of good than he was used to, but good nonetheless. The only downside was that he had no idea what to do or where to go next. He didn't have a family. He had no one and nothing to return to. In the eyes of everyone who knew him (except Peter) he was still a coldblooded killer. Even Peter had his doubts, he was sure of it.
Peter was keeping an eye on Sylar. He was afraid that Sylar would suddenly leave, seeing as there was no reason for him to stay around. But Peter also wanted to see how Sylar would react to this new development. He seemed to be fine with the whole thing at first, Peter even detected a hint of pride in the man's voice. But then, all of a sudden, Sylar completely panicked. He started pacing back and forth and kept going on about wanting to leave. It was like he couldn't wait to get away from everyone.
It was understandable if he needed time to adjust to being around other people again. He had gone from being the only man alive to being surrounded by hundreds if not thousands of people in a very short period of time.
Peter's only hope was that Sylar wouldn't go back to his old habit of hunting and killing people with abilities. Sylar said that he had changed and Peter believed him when he said it, but that had been under totally different circumstances. They were back in the real world now, with real people and full of triggers that may or may not tempt Sylar into killing again. There was no way of knowing what he was going to do next.
"She shouldn't have done that..." Sylar said as he turned to face Peter again. "You're right. Every single soul on this planet will know what we can do. Remember the last time someone tried to out us? She can't just decide something like that on her own."
The last time. Peter knew that Sylar was referring to Nathan's attempt to tell the world about abilities, and to the fact that Nathan got shot before he had the chance to do so. Sylar had no right to use those memories, but he did have a point. Peter's future self had stopped Nathan from telling the truth. He was the one who shot Nathan in the chest, to make sure that their secret stayed safe.
Claire had done exactly what Nathan had tried to do. She had revealed her own ability to the world and it would be only a matter of time before they found out about the rest. What if the outcome was the same? What if Claire's actions had created a future that was unbearable for them to live in?
But if that was the case, wouldn't someone from the future have tried to stop her by now?
"They are going to locate the most dangerous of us first," Sylar rambled on. "And what then? They will lock us up. They can't lock me up, Peter. They've tried and they have failed every single time. What are they going to do to the ones they can't keep locked up? They will kill them!" He waited for Peter's response but the nurse just kept staring at him with glazy eyes. He pointed his finger at his own chest and emphasized, "They will kill me!"
Peter took a step back. As long as Sylar wasn't using his powers, there wouldn't be any reason to do the same. He lifted his arms slightly, palms towards the serial killer and took a deep breath. "Sylar," he began carefully, "there is no reason to panic just yet. Nothing is going to happen to you. They don't know anything. Besides, you can't be killed."
"They'll find a way." They always do. Sylar looked away and sighed. Peter was right, he knew that. He still had enough time to prepare himself for what was to come. He closed his eyes and felt a bit more reassured. He had to come with a plan and he had to do it fast. Getting out of Central Park was the first step, the rest would have to come later.
For a moment it seemed that Peter's words had done the trick, but then Sylar opened his eyes and his heart sank. "They don't know anything, you're right about that." He lifted his arm and pointed his finger to the left, towards the carnival's exit. "But he does." This isn'tgoing to end well.
Peter turned his head to see what Sylar was pointing at and saw immediately what the problem was. Noah was still far away, but Peter recognized him because of his unique glasses.
Sylar dropped his arm to his side again. "What do we do now?"
Noah, looking furious and filled with hatred, made his way towards the two men on the other side of the field. But as he was getting closer, he began to realize that he needed to be cautious. Sylar could kill him within just a few seconds. The man only had to point his finger and Noah was finished. It meant that he had to act fast. Faster than Sylar.
Peter walked in Noah's direction and stopped in front of Sylar. He turned his body ninety degrees so he could keep an eye on both of them. He knew that Sylar had no reason to kill Noah and he knew that Noah had every reason to kill Sylar, but none of it mattered at that point. Both men were more than capable of killing each other, so Peter wasn't going to take any risks. "Noah!" he shouted. "Wait!"
Noah just kept walking, ignoring Peter's warning. He was too far away to talk to Peter, so he shouted back, "Stay out of it!"
Sylar wasn't interested in another confrontation with Bennet. The man wanted him dead, no question. But Sylar didn't really feel like dying at that moment. "You know how this is gonna end," he said to his younger companion.
Peter turned his head and saw Sylar holding out his arm to him. It took him a second to realize that Sylar was desperate to leave and that he was allowed to take flight if he wanted.
"I'm getting out of here." Sylar spoke a little louder this time. He really needed Peter to understand that staying was not an option. "What you do, is your decision."
"Just wait." Peter shook his head. He wasn't just going to run off like that. "He doesn't know that you were the one who saved those people."
Sylar dropped his arm to his side and took a deep breath. He wanted to leave so badly, but on the other hand, after everything that Peter had done for him it would be like stabbing him in the back to suddenly leave him behind like that. And also, being on his own again wasn't exactly something he was looking forward to. "Fine," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets.
Peter focused on Noah again, who had gotten a lot closer, and held out his hand in the form of a stop sign. "Noah, wait," he repeated. But Noah didn't stop until he was only a couple of yards away from Peter. It was only then that Peter noticed that Noah was holding a gun in one hand, and a syringe in the other. "There's no need for that."
Not only Peter noticed. Sylar was standing behind him, hands out of his pockets. His eyes weren't fixated on the syringe, but on the gun. The syringe would do a lot more damage than any other weapon could ever do. But if Sylar got shot (somehow) and if he didn't heal fast enough he could get injected with who knows what. Then Bennet would be able to do anything to him. That's why he needed to keep his eyes on the gun, to make sure that that didn't happen.
"Get out of my way, Peter."
"Just listen."
Sylar was glad that Peter had taken his side, but it made him wonder whether Peter would help him if the whole thing escalated. Bennet was probably going to shoot him first and if Peter interfered there would, without a doubt, be an extra bullet for him. So what if he was Claire's uncle? Bennet had proved over and over again to be merciless when it came to the safety of his precious little girl.
Peter thought about his only weapon, the one he was currently possessing. It was Samuel's ability to manipulate earth. He wasn't planning on using it against Noah, but it was better knowing he had the option if the situation got out of hand.
"You do realize that you're protecting Nathan's murderer?" Noah asked. The idea that Peter would do something like that was insane. It was more than that. That man had tried to kill Peter several times, had killed his brother and after everything Sylar did to Claire and the rest of his family he still chose to defend the son of a bitch. It made no sense.
"I'm not protecting him, Noah. We both know he doesn't need it."
"Then why are you standing there like some kind of human shield?"
"I'm standing here… because I don't want things to get out of hand."
"Things are getting out of hand if you don't step aside."
Peter kept his ground. His eyes went from Sylar to Noah and from Noah to Sylar. He was trying to read both body languages. Sylar wasn't moving at all. His eyes were on the gun in Noah's right hand. Noah wasn't moving either. Peter knew that Noah could shoot at any moment. The man only had to aim and Peter didn't question his precision.
He looked back at Sylar and wanted (now more than ever) to have telepathy so he could read the serial killer's mind.
Sylar dropped his focus on the gun to look at Peter. He lifted his arm slowly and without raising suspicion he gestured for Peter to take his ability.
Peter didn't need telepathy anymore to know what Sylar wanted. Sylar still wanted to leave, but Peter shook his head. He needed to explain the situation to Noah first. "I'm not going anywhere. Noah, listen to me. Everybody is safe because of Sylar. He stopped Doyle and saved thousands of people." He then realized that it didn't seem very likely that Sylar would do something heroic like that. He had to tell Noah the whole story in order to make him understand and Noah had to be prepared to listen.
Noah narrowed his eyes as he looked at Peter. Hiro and Ando saved everyone. He hadn't seen Sylar anywhere during the chaos. Is he making fun of me? He didn't know what Peter was getting at, but it wouldn't hurt to listen, so he nodded his head. "Go on."
"I've seen it happen in the future. This, the carnival, Samuel, everything." He paused. Noah had no idea who Emma was and it probably wasn't very useful to tell him that side of the story.
"Hiro?" Noah asked. Hiro Nakamura was the only time-traveler as far as he knew.
Peter shook his head. "My mother." He didn't need to explain more. Noah knew that Angela Petrelli had the ability to dream the future. "She saw what was going to happen here… She tried to warn me… I didn't listen and took her ability. That night I dreamt the same thing. People were going to die here in Central Park, tonight." Peter felt ashamed, ashamed for the way he acted. First he took his mother's ability without asking, then he took Matt's ability without asking. But if it wasn't for his rude behavior, everything would have been different now. So many people would have died.
"Okay." Noah waited for Peter to continue his story. He still wanted to take Sylar down, but he was also interested in what else Peter had to say. He really liked to know why Peter wasn't on his side instead of Sylar's, because that would have made more sense. That Peter was helping Sylar was absurd to say the least.
"The same night I had a second dream. This time Sylar was in it. He…" Peter looked at the man in question. "It was hard to comprehend… In the dream he was the reason why everyone got away."
Hard to comprehend? Yeah, imagine me helping for a change... Sylar thought as he rolled his eyes.
"I went looking for him and I found him at Parkman's place." Peter hesitated again. He didn't know whether to tell Noah about what happened at Matt's house. Matt had locked Sylar away in some kind of mind prison, which turned out to be Sylar's worst nightmare. He was living in an abandoned New York City, doomed to live the rest of his life alone with his immortality.
Matt had dragged Sylar's body to his basement and had literally tried to build a wall around him. When Peter arrived, Sylar had already been in that prison for three hours. But in there, time worked differently. In the nightmare, time went by a lot faster (or slower, depending on how you looked at it). It still felt the same as time always passed and that... that was the real torture. When Peter entered the nightmare, Sylar told him he had been there for three years. That was when Peter realized that one hour in the real world was probably about the same as one year in there.
He glanced at Sylar. The serial killer shook his head slowly. The nightmare slash mind prison was something personal for him and only he, Peter and Matt were the ones who knew about it. Peter understood that Sylar didn't want anyone else to know about it. It would be the same as telling Noah that that was in fact Sylar's greatest weakness.
"Matt had done something to him… Sylar was trapped in his own mind… like a prison. I went in there and told him about my dream, about Samuel and the carnival and about his part in it. It took a while, but we managed to escape eventually." Peter had to lie a little and leave some information out, but it sounded credible and this way he wouldn't need to explain more.
"Let me guess," Noah mocked. "He couldn't wait to be a hero and save everyone's life. He makes people think that he has changed, but it won't be long before he starts killing again. That's the 'hunger', Peter." The same hunger that terrorized my Clairebear.
"You're wrong. Sylar didn't even believe me at first. I had to convince him that he was able to do this. I trusted him to do this. I had seen him do it."
Sylar felt the situation becoming more and more awkward for him. Peter and Bennet didn't even seem to notice that he was still standing there, listening to them talking about him. He knew better than to open his mouth and interfere, because that could screw up everything for Peter. He was very grateful that Peter was giving him a chance to prove himself. Grateful, yes. But also a bit disappointed. By standing between Noah and himself, Peter was risking his own life. Sylar had the ability to heal, Peter didn't.
"I'm sorry, Peter. I can't let him get away, not after what he did to Claire." Noah lifted his right arm, the one with the gun, and pulled the trigger, thrice.
Sylar saw it coming and used telekinesis to push Peter aside, but he was too late to stop the bullets from coming at himself. He got hit, three times, in the chest. And then he just stood there, looking down at his gunshot wounds. That hurt...He lifted his head to look at the man who shot him. "Oh, Noah," he said, sounding somewhat disappointed.
Noah aimed for Sylar's forehead and pulled the trigger once more. For some reason Sylar didn't stop him and got hit by the bullet, right in the middle of his forehead.
He blacked out.
Peter had grazed his knee on a rock when he fell to the ground, which had ripped a hole in his jeans and damaged his skin thus bad that it began to bleed. He coughed and groaned as he tried to get up. When he looked up he saw that Noah was making his way towards Sylar, syringe at the ready. Peter sat up, reached out with his hand, grabbed and pulled the earth away from under Noah's feet.
Noah lost his balance and fell backwards.
Peter saw his chance and started to manipulate the earth so a big cloud of dust appeared around Noah.
Noah coughed and tried to get back on his feet but he couldn't see anything and there were cracks in the ground everywhere.
Peter crawled towards Sylar, who was starting to come back to life. The gunshot wounds in his chest and forehead began to spit out the bullets. There was a thick red line halfway across his forehead, from where the blood had dripped to the side and his whole body was covered in dirt.
Peter didn't hesitate, grabbed Sylar's arm, closed his eyes and concentrated. He had so many options, but he focused on the most efficient one, flight. He immediately felt a sensation of weightlessness fill his body and got to his feet easily.
Sylar began to wake. He got up leaning on his elbows and Peter helped him to stand.
"Follow me," Peter said. He jumped and shot into the night sky.
Sylar followed quickly.
It took a while for the dust to clear away, but Noah already knew that two of them had escaped. "Well, that was interesting." He sighed and got to his feet, carefully trying to avoid the holes in the ground. He turned around and saw that his confrontation with Peter and Sylar had drawn some attention. There was a small group of people standing, looking shocked, in the middle of the field.
Noah sighed and walked towards them. "Nothing to see here. Come on, go home." But then he saw that one of them, a teenage girl, was holding her cellphone in front of her. He went to her and looked down. She was obviously not feeling safe after what she had just witnessed and took a few steps back. "Were you filming that?" Noah asked as he pointed to the spot where he just came from.
The girl only nodded.
Noah had two options. He could either destroy the video (and make sure that no one would ever find out about what Peter and Sylar had done), or he could use it to support Claire. It didn't matter to him what would happen to either Sylar or Peter at that point so the second option seemed a lot more interesting. If people considered them to be dangerous, all the better.
He looked at the girl. "Listen to me." He looked around at the other people. "Listen to me, all of you. Make sure that that video goes viral. The whole world can… no, must see what just happened here."
He gave the girl a friendly smile before he started walking towards the exit. He still had to settle a few things before going to the press conference.
Next chapter: Just Visiting