"Cosy..." Peter said as he stood in front of the entrance of a very old and abandoned warehouse. "Why this place?"

"It was the first place I could think of," Sylar answered as he looked up at the building.

"And what exactly are we doing here?"

Don't worry Peter, that thing about my victims' remains was a joke, Sylar thought with a smirk on his face. "Hiding, obviously." He had figured they could stay there for about a day and then move on to the next place. It was important to keep moving. He had learned that from being hunted by the Company for so long. "You wanted a plan, this is it."

"That's your plan? You want to hide?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

Hide... For how long? Days? Weeks? It was a coward's tactic, one that Peter wasn't familiar with. He always took the fight to them, not the other way around. But this wasn't about him. This was about Sylar and Sylar couldn't take the fight to them, because he was trying to prove to everyone that he had changed. Peter didn't have a better idea. He just felt so useless. "Let's get inside," he said when he felt raindrops falling down on top of his head. He went inside and Sylar followed him without another word. "You said you've been here before. When was that?"

Sylar looked around at the concrete walls and floor. "It was during the whole Building 26 fiasco. When I was working with Danko, we had to find-"

"You were working with Danko?" Peter interrupted.

"Yes. Nobody knew, except me and him. As I was saying, I helped him with this thing-,"

"Why?" Peter interrupted again.

Jesus!"If you'll just let me finish my sentences, I will tell you."

Peter and so many other specials had been hunted down and imprisoned by the government just because they were different. It wasn't easy, but they fought back to protect themselves. It seemed like a never-ending battle at the time and where was Sylar? He was helping the government, apparently. "Just tell me why you did it."

"Okay, easy." Sylar was going to tell him, but Peter wouldn't let him finish. It didn't surprise him. Peter had always been like that. He never listened, always got himself in trouble throwing himself off rooftops just to prove a point. "Peter?"
"I've been up here all night! Thinking about this… Thinking about my destiny!"
"Watcha doing, Pete?"
"It's my turn to be somebody now, Nathan!"
"Come on, Peter! Quit screwing around!"

"Sylar?"

"Yeah?" The memories were so clear, so vivid, it almost felt like Sylar was reliving them. But they were Nathan's memories, not his. He didn't mind having those memories (they were certainly better than his own), but Peter didn't need to know that. "Oh, right. When Danko was going after people with abilities I helped him, because," why did I help him again? Oh, that's right, "because I wanted him to succeed. It was a win-win for us both. He wanted to kill people with abilities and so did I. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to become the most special of us all."

You already were, Peter thought, but he wasn't going to stroke Sylar's ego by saying it out loud. "What changed? I mean, you don't want that anymore, right?" What if Sylar still did, but knew that it was wrong to be wanting it? What if 'being special' would become important to him again?

"You should know the answer to that question by now, Peter. I have no desire to take anyone's ability, anymore."

Peter needed to be sure. "So… You weren't thinking about taking Matt's ability, just then?"

"What? No… I admit that Parkman did a pretty good job at making my blood boil, but I wouldn't have taken his ability." Sylar narrowed his eyes at Peter. "I thought you believed me." He doesn't. Of course he doesn't. It's just pity. He's only here to prevent me from killing anyone. He broke me out of Matt's mind prison only because he needed my help. He still hates me. He always has. Everybody hates me. Why am I still here? "Shit..." His head felt like it was about to explode. He had not felt that insecure in a long time.

Wow… "I do believe you. I just wondered…"

"Wondered about what?"

"I just wondered if pushing you over the edge, would bring back… You know."

Oh, so that's what he's worried about. "You didn't think that Bennet shooting me, was pushing me over the edge? Or when Parkman said that he wanted to slice my head open? That didn't bring back the hunger, did it?"

Point taken. "So, why didn't you stop Bennet? You just let him shoot you."

Sylar shrugged his shoulders. "It didn't matter. I knew I would heal."

"Yes, but if I hadn't stopped Bennet, he would've stabbed you with his syringe." He knows that… Did he think he'd heal fast enough to escape? But... And then it dawned on Peter. "You wanted to know if I would help you..."

There was no point in denying it. "Yes," Sylar answered.

Sylar had been worried that Peter wouldn't help him. That he would've let Bennet do whatever it was he wanted to do to get Sylar. So… was it some kind of test? If I hadn't helped him, would he…

"Anyway, back to what I was saying."

Oh, right. His story about Danko.

"I was going after Rebel with Danko after he found out that Rebel was hiding here. Rebel turned out to be just a kid, named Micah. He was using technopathy to help people like us and tried to screw things up for Danko. All from this building."

"Just a kid, you say?"

"Yes. We found him here. Well, actually I found him here. I wanted to find him before Danko would."

"So, what happened to him?" and please don't say you've killed him. All that happened before Nathan's death and that meant that Sylar was still a killer at the time. It was a possibility.

"I helped him escape," Sylar answered with a shrug. "He stayed at my place for a while and then I let him go."

"That's... noble of you."

"Yeah, well. He's a good kid."

Nathan was a good guy, but you didn't let him go. Maybe Nathan had not always been 'a good guy'. He used to be a real jerk sometimes. Even so, Peter couldn't help feeling envious of Micah's free pass. "You don't think they'll find us here?"

"They'll probably start looking for us here, eventually, but we'll be long gone when they do. Trust me Peter, I'm quite experienced at playing 'hide and seek'."

I bet you are... Okay, so now what? Were they just going to sit here and wait?

"I'll show you where I found him." Give him a tour around the place. Why not?

"Alright," Peter looked around, uncertain, as he followed Sylar through the building and up a staircase. "What if he's still here?"

"Nah, Micah is a smart kid. He wouldn't go back to this place."

But you would? He's been here before. Wait a second… "Sylar, are you telling me that this kidis smarter than you?" Peter smirked.

Sylar turned his head in surprise. "No…" Oh. "Really funny, Peter. Maybe in some ways, he is."

"What do you mean?" Peter asked as they went up another staircase.

"He just said some things…"

"Like what?"

"Like," Sylar started, but instantly forgot what they were talking about when they entered the hallway on the fifth floor. "Like why is there light coming from that room?" he said as he pointed his finger at the other side of the hallway.

Peter looked at what Sylar was pointing at. "Not such a smart kid after all, I suppose." He began to walk towards the light source, but was held back by Sylar. "What?" he asked as he shrugged Sylar's hand from his shoulder.

"Quiet," Sylar whispered. "What if it isn't Micah?"

Seriously? "You don't have to be so paranoid. Nobody knows we're here. Not Bennet, not Parkman. No one." Mom might know. She's probably dreaming about it as we speak.

Sylar sighed wearily. I'm not being paranoid, I'm being careful. "Peter, I know that you like to be a hero at every opportunity and that's okay, but this impulsive behaviour you have is really starting to bother me."

Oh, really? "Okay, so what do you think we should do?"

"I say, we levitate. That way they won't hear us coming."

"You're crazy, you know that?" Sylar's idea didn't make any sense. What was he expecting, an entire army in one tiny room? "Micah!" he shouted as he raised an eyebrow at Sylar.

"Shit, Peter." Oh, I hate it when he's being cocky. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

They both turned their heads at the same time when they heard a noise coming from the room. Peter ignored Sylar and strode towards the light. He looked around the corner and saw a teenage boy.

Micah was hurrying to get his stuff together and leave, when he heard a man clear his throat behind him. He dropped the backpack he was holding and turned around. "Peter Petrelli?"

"Rebel, I presume?" Peter asked as he entered the room. The light that came from the room earlier, came from Micah's laptop apparently. The kid was putting it in his bag when Peter scared the living daylight out of him. Without the light, he could barely see anything.

"Yes. What are you doing here? How do you know who I am?"

Sylar appeared behind Peter. "I told him."

"No. Stay away from me." Micah continued getting his stuff together, even more in hurry than before.

"We're not going to hurt you," Peter tried to help. "We didn't even know you'd be here."

Micah laughed as he picked up his backpack. "I have to get away from him," he said as he looked at Sylar.

"What? Why?" Sylar asked. The last time he saw Micah, the kid tried to help him, wanted to help him and now he couldn't wait to get away from him.

"You told me that if you ever saw me again, you'd kill me."

Peter narrowed his eyes and turned his head to face Sylar. "You said that? To a child?"

Oh,Sylar thought as he remembered throwing Micah out of Taub's apartment. "I didn't mean it." That was when he had his first identity crisis. "I had some… issues."

"Issues? You mean, you were talking to your dead mo-"

"Enough!" Sylar suddenly blurted. He didn't want Peter to know all that. He didn't want Micah to find out about it either, but he did. That's why he had to threaten the kid. Micah had to keep his mouth shut.

"I'm getting out of here," Micah walked around Sylar slowly and towards the doorway.

"Wait," Peter said. He didn't have a clue about what had happened between those two, but it didn't sound good. "Where are you going?"

Micah turned around. "Doesn't matter, as long as it's far away from you two."

"What did Peter ever do to you?" Sylar asked.

"They're looking for the two of you, I don't wanna get in the middle of that."

Peter looked at Sylar and then back at Micah, confused. "Who's looking for us?"

"I don't know. Everyone probably. The police, Homeland Security, the FBI. Who knows. They've all seen the press conference and that video."

"What video?" Sylar and Peter asked at the same time.

Micah just stood there, frowning at the two men standing before him. "You haven't seen it yet?" He shook his head in disbelief and started unpacking his backpack again. He placed his laptop on the desk and sat down in front of it. "Just give me a second…"

Peter and Sylar looked at each other, neither of them having any idea of what was going on.

"Here it is," Micah said and pressed a key on the keyboard.

Sylar took a few steps closer to have a better look at whatever was going on, on Micah's laptop. It was a video in very bad quality that took place at the carnival. "Peter…" he said when he recognized himself, Peter and Bennet. Oh, shit.

Peter looked over Micah's shoulder and saw the video on his laptop. "They filmed the whole thing?" That can't be good… "How did you get this?"

Micah shrugged. "I didn't. It's all over the internet, anyone can see it."

No… Sylar didn't want people to see him. Especially seeing him using his abilities. It would only fortify the speech Bennet had given about him on television. "You can delete it. Use your ability, Micah."

"Why would I?"

"Because I'm telling you to," Sylar said through clenched teeth.

"Sylar!" Peter gave him a rough push against his shoulder to get some distance between him and Micah. "Back off! If he doesn't wanna do it, then he doesn't. You can't make him."

"Watch me!" He didn't care about what Peter would think of him anymore. That video had to be deleted, no matter what. Micah was the only one who could make that happen. "Do it!" he yelled at the boy.

Peter saw the terror on Micah's face and before he knew it he had punched Sylar on the left side of his face. Fuck, that hurt! he thought as he held his right fist in his left hand, but it felt so good at the same time.

Sylar staggered backwards. Shit! He held his index finger under his nostril and saw the blood on it. Oh, he should not have done that. Sylar looked up, ready to say something really nasty to Peter, but they weren't even paying attention to him. Peter was helping Micah getting his stuff together again. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Leaving. What does it look like?" Micah asked as he grabbed his backpack.

"You can't leave, you have to delete that thing first!" He was going to make Micah do it, even if he had to force him. It was too important.

"He's leaving," Peter told Sylar, "and there's nothing you can do about it."

Nothing I can… "I'll have to disagree with that, Peter." Sylar reached out with his hand and stopped Micah. The boy froze and wasn't able to go anywhere. He raised an eyebrow at Peter and grinned. "See?"

"Oh, I see," Peter said as he lifted his own hand and started choking Sylar using telekinesis. He squeezed tighter, making Sylar claw at his throat to the point that he was gasping for air and had lost the hold he had on Micah. "Go!" Peter yelled at him.

Micah nodded his thanks to Peter and ran through the doorway.

After a few seconds, Peter let Sylar go again. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't let you hurt him."

Sylar breathed heavily to get some oxygen back in his longs. "W-who said anything about hurting him?"

"Oh, so you're were just threatening him? That's okay then, is it?"

"He just had to delete that video, that's it." Why couldn't Peter agree with him? He was there, being filmed and on the internet for the whole world to see. He was even more recognizable than Sylar since he was standing closer to the camera. How could he not care? "Wait," he said as he realized something. "When did you take my ability?"

"When I gave you that push. I thought I might need it. Turns out that I did."

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Is that what he did to Angela and Matt as well? Peter was making a habit of taking abilities from people without asking first, but Sylar could not accept that kind of behaviour. "I'm not some kind of vending machine for abilities," he snarled.

Peter raised an eyebrow. Vending machine? "You better not be. I'd have to start paying money just to take an ability." It was meant as a joke, but then Peter realized how much it would suck if Sylar took it seriously.

Paying money each time he wants to borrow an ability? Hm, I like the sound of that. "That's not even such a bad idea, Peter."

"You're not being serious, are you?"

Afraid to lose your only supply of abilities, Peter? "Why not? It wouldn't even be a problem for you. It's not like you can't afford it, being a Petrelli and all that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you weren't exactly starving as a child, were you? I'm just saying, you'll never have to worry about things like money when you have a last name like yours."

What's he playing at?Sylar was wrong in thinking that Peter would turn to his parents, the minute he needed some cash. He's got Nathan's memories, he knows that I'm not like that...Sylar was clearly messing with him, but Peter had enough of it. He was done with the jokes, with the constant fighting and with Sylar's fucked up personality. He was done with all of it. He grabbed the chair Micah had been using earlier, sat down on it and sighed. What would Nathan think if he could see me? He'd probably ask me what the hell it is that I'm doing. What the hell am I doing? I'm here to make sure that Sylar won't kill again. He won't kill again. I think… He's had enough opportunities to kill again. He's not interested in taking anyone's ability, anymore. That's what he said. I can't just leave him. I'm all he has left.

Minutes passed by as Peter just sat there, staring at the couldn't help but wonder what he did wrong. It was probably what he said about Peter's family. He didn't think it was that big of a big deal. "What's wrong?" he asked as he sat down on the floor with his back against the wall.

Peter broke his gaze to look at Sylar.Everything's wrong. "Nothing," he said as he leaned back in his chair.

Sylar didn't need to use his ability to know that that was a lie."You're sure about that? Cause that look you just gave me," he whistled in a high tone, "not good. Not good at all."

Oh, so now I have to share my thoughts with him?"Just thinking about… stuff. That's all."I could just say I'm tired and find some place to sleep. He looked at his watch to see what time it was, but saw that it was broken. That must've happened either when Sylar broke down the wall in Matt's basement or when I fought Samuel. Peter sighed as he looked back at Sylar who was staring at his own hands. Or when Bennet almost killed me.

"I can fix it," Sylar said without looking up.

"Yeah, I know..." He has that ability that makes him see how things work. Peter stood and walked towards Sylar. He dropped his watch in Sylar's lap.

"Hey, careful!" Peter could have given it to him instead of dropping it like it was some piece of trash.

"It's just a watch, Sylar."

Just a watch? "It's so much more than that, Peter." He looked up at the nurse, ready to explain the importance of timepieces, but realized it was pointless. "Never mind. You wouldn't understand."

Actually… I would. Peter had Sylar's ability, even if it was just for a little while. He doesn't know how I got it, he thought as he watched how Sylar fixed his watch by moving the various parts with telekinesis. "I've always wondered..."

"What?" Sylar asked, still focused on what he was doing.

"Your name. It's not Sylar, it's Gabriel."

"I know what my name is, Peter." Where is he going with this?

Peter grabbed the chair he'd been using, placed it in front of Sylar and sat down. "It's the same as the one on your watch. You've named yourself after a watch? Or did someone else do that?" His future version called it a 'scar'.

Sylar sighed and looked up at Peter. "What is it that you want to know, exactly?"

"Why 'Sylar'?"

"That's personal."

"But you gave that name to yourself, am I right?"

"Yes."

"So, I can ask you anything, as long as it's not too personal?"

"What do you wanna know, that we haven't talked about already?" All those years he and Peter had spent together in Matt's mind prison, they had talked a lot. They mostly ignored each other for the first couple of months, but when Peter was working on breaking down that wall, they talked. Abilities even became their favourite subject at some point, as long as it wasn't about killing people.

There was still a lot that they hadn't talked about, though. "Well… Let's start with… What is it with you and watches?" Apart from knowing how to fix them.

"I used to restore timepieces for a living," Sylar answered simply. He doesn't know that?

Peter chuckled at the way Sylar referred to his former job. A watchmaker… Makes sense. "Before or after you found out about your ability?"

What's so funny about that? "Before…"

"When did you find out about your ability?"

This whole 'semi-interested' thing Peter was showing, started to feel like an interrogation and Sylar wasn't in the mood for one. What would his next question be? 'When did you kill for the first time?' No, thank you. He wanted to forget about the past and all Peter did was reminding him of everything. Two can play that game, Peter. "A few months before you almost destroyed New York City."

"Great. Thanks for reminding me."

"Wait a minute…" Sylar said as he thought about Peter's questions. "How do you know about my watch?"

Peter breathed out a puff of air. "Just something that happened in the future."

That got Sylar's attention. He's seen the future? "You know what's going to happen in the future?"

"No, no. That future is no longer possible." Thank god.

"Okay. So, you can just tell me."

"I guess…" Where do I start? It was a long time ago, but he would never forget what happened that day. "A future version of myself took me with him to a future where everyone had abilities…" I'm not going to tell him everything. He could skip the part about Claire killing him and Mohinder being some kind of monster. "He wanted me to change the future and the only way to do that was by taking your ability."

"And you took it." Sylar knew it the second Peter teleported into his cell, the need to know more, to understand more, Sylar had seen it in his eyes. "How?"

"By fixing your watch. That watch," Peter said as he pointed at Sylar's wrist.

Sylar handed Peter back his watch and pulled up his sleeve to look at his own watch. "You're sure?"

"Thanks," Peter said as he put his fixed watch back on his wrist again. "Yes. You told me that if I was able to understand the complexities of a watch, I could understand anything. Changing the future, for example."

That's when he got the hunger. "What happened then?" How many people did he kill?

Peter had to tell him more, otherwise nothing made sense. "People tried to kill me and my future version, they didn't want us to change anything. Claire was one of them. They found me after I took your ability, we fought them. Your son got killed, you got upset and blew up whole Costa Verde."

Wow. Wait, what? "Son? Costa Verde? Peter, slow down." I had a son and he got killed?!

"Oh, right. There was this little boy, he called you 'daddy' and me 'uncle Peter'. His name was Noah and I think you were living there in the Bennet house with him and a dog, that you called… Um, Mr… Mr. something. I can't remember."

"Mr. Muggles?"

"Yep, that's the one. How do you know that?"

You've got to be kidding me. The Bennet house, a son named Noah and that damn dog. Some fucked up future… "It's a long story."

"Right. Well, that's about it. You exploded, I woke up later in some kind of lab, Claire started torturing me, then Nathan came and I…" killed him… I'm not gonna tell him that. Peter had used the same method to kill Nathan as Sylar did with all of his victims. I killed Nathan… He killed Nathan too. We both killed him… The need to understand had been stronger than the love he felt for his brother. All because of his ability… He kept blaming Sylar for killing Nathan, but what if he wasn't to blame at all? What if his ability made him do it? "I have to ask you something."

Yay, another question… "Go ahead."

"It's personal…"

"I told you, Peter. I'm not gonna-,"

"To me," Peter interrupted. "It's personal to me."

Okay, that won't bother me. Sylar nodded his head.

Peter sighed as he thought of the right words to use. "When uh… When you… I mean, when… Uhm."

Sylar frowned at Peter who was having a really hard time getting his question out. He can't even say it. It better not be about…

"When you killed Nathan…"

… Nathan. Of course. "Yes?"

Peter took a deep breath. "When you killed him, was it because of your ability?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well, I've had your ability and it gave me this... urge, to kill. Was that what happened with Nathan? Was it the hunger?"

Hm, Interesting… Sylar raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. "You've killed someone, haven't you?"

"What? No!" He's changing the subject!

"Well, that Peter, is what I call 'a lie'."

Fuck. I forgot about that. "You'll have to answer my question, first."

"I killed him, because I wanted to. It had nothing to do with my ability." There, I've said it.

Damn! That wasn't what Peter wanted to hear. If Sylar had killed Nathan, because of his ability Peter could understand at least. That Nathan died, because someone wanted him to die, just wasn't fair. Peter stood up. He needed to be doing something. He started pacing back and forth as he looked at Sylar from the corner of his eye. He really is one crazy son of a bitch."Because I wanted to."No! That's no reason to kill anyone! He kicked the chair. "Nothing to do with my ability."He threw the chair against the wall with telekinesis as hard as he could. "Because I wanted to." He closed his eyes as Sylar's words kept echoing through his head. "Because I wanted to.""Why?!" he shouted as he turned to face his brother's murderer.

Oh, shit. Sylar got to his feet. He didn't feel comfortable sitting on the floor while Peter was throwing some kind of tantrum. He couldn't answer Peter's question either. It would only make everything ten times worse. "I told you I'm sorry!"

"Yes, you keep apologizing, but I want you tell me why you did it. Now." Sylar didn't say anything. "Answer me!" Peter just wanted to know, after all this time. Sylar owed him an explanation. He waited another couple of seconds, but Sylar just kept staring at him. "I should just take your fucked-up ability and use it to find the answer myself! I'd even have an excuse to kill you!"

Sylar narrowed his eyes. "You're beginning to sound just like me."

"I am nothing like you!"

"You're right about that, Peter. I've changed."

Peter laughed mockingly at Sylar. "You haven't changed. You were about to bash my head in before Matt heard your thoughts and let you go. He told me."

"I had to do something! Parkman had no idea what he was doing and I wasn't going to wait until he did. Anyway, I was going to give you regeneration..."

"Oh, so that makes everything better, does it?" He's not normal. "What if I died? I can't take your abilities when I'm dead, Sylar!"

"I know how to control my abilities, unlike you. I wouldn't have killed you." Why would he kill the only person who believed in him? Because I did it before, with Elle. It was different with Elle, she had lied to him. Peter never lied. Except when... "Who did you kill?"

Peter wanted to sit down, but saw that he had smashed the chair to pieces. So instead he went to the table, used it to lean against and sighed. "It doesn't matter. The future has changed."

"It matters to me." Everyone knew about the crimes Sylar committed because of his ability, but now there was someone else who had done it and he was curious.

Peter didn't want to tell anyone about killing Nathan, especially not him. He could either avoid the question or tell the truth. Lying was not an option. "Um..." But how would Sylar react? Ah, screw this. He dropped his head in his hands and murmured, "my brother."

I didn't hear that right… "What?"

"Don't make me say it again."

It was Nathan?! Peter killed Nathan?! Probably in the future… After taking Sylar's ability, Peter couldn't control it. He even almost killed his mother, afterwards. That's why Peter asked him if killing Nathan had anything to do with his ability. Peter knew what it was like to have killed someone he cared about, just like Sylar. What am I supposed to tell him, 'I'm sorry for your loss?' He decided not to say anything.

Peter was thankful for the silence. He needed to think about what Sylar had told him. "I'm gonna try to get some sleep." He left the room and went looking for another one, somewhere far away from Sylar. He really needed the distance after all those years they had spent together.

Sleep? Sleep where?But before Sylar could ask him that, Peter had already left the room. He looked at his watch again. I asked him to fix it?"He called you 'daddy' and me 'uncle Peter." It was a future where he still thought that he and Peter were brothers. Okay, that future is definitely not going to happen.Sylar sat down on the floor again and found a comfortable position. With Peter gone, he finally had the time to think about some things.

Next chapter: Good Company