Part VIII: Say goodbye to yesterday

Sylar regained consciousness, but barely. He noticed that the pole was no longer in him, it had been removed. He was alive again. Next to him, he saw none other than Sparrow, once again treating his wounds. Her face was red and her cheek was filled with tears. In the corner he could just barely make out the form of his dead son along with the bloody pole that remained skewered into his skull.

Sylar got up and coughed out blood. Sparrow was startled, but she was frantically relieved.

"…You're alive!" exclaimed Sparrow. "I thought I lost you. I thought my powers wouldn't work. I thought my reason wasn't strong enough and…and…I'm so sorry!"

Sparrow just dropped herself on Sylar and gave him a big hug, but it just made him cough out more blood.

"Shit sorry…" said Sparrow.

"That's the first time I've heard you swear," commented Sylar, "don't do it, it's bad. But, you're here. You came back for me."

"Yes, I did; I had to. I couldn't have lived with myself if I hadn't…Well let's get out of here, the Haitian's waiting outside. This place is going to blow up."

"…Wait, he let you come in here alone? Looking for me? Even after what I said to you?"

"I told him that if I did die, I deserved it. If I don't show up in half an hour, I told him to blow up the place and just leave."

"How long has it been?" asked Sylar.

"Fifteen minutes." answered Sparrow.

"We have to leave, and we have to leave fast. We'll talk about everything after." said Sylar "Ugh… it's still pretty bad, I can barely sit myself up."

"I'll help you." said Sparrow.

Sylar put his arm on her shoulder to stop her.

"I...I do need your help this time." said Sylar as he gave her a little smile, his first friendly smile directed to her.

She smiled back and attempted to lift him up under her to support him. They limped towards the other elevator across the room, leaving their ill-fated relatives behind.

The elevator ride was lengthy as usual. They talked as they waited for the lower floor.

"I'm really sorry I made you go through this," said Sparrow, "I'm not much better than my father."

"You know your father actually loved you right?" said Sylar.

"He did?"

"Yeah, he did. I wish mine could, but he never really did..." said Sylar.

"I'm sorry to hear that. But I saw… I could have sworn I saw clones of me!" said Sparrow.

"…So I guess you did see them after all. I had hoped you'd never had to discover them. It's a sick thing. But he knew he could never get you back, that is why he made clones of you. He was never successful though, they all contained a flaw. In fact, I was tested against three of his specimens. I admit, they were pretty good, but I was able to outsmart them. The last fight, I had to fight… you. Well it wasn't you, but it looked like you. She was the only one who didn't try to kill me. She was blind too, and she made me realize something."

"Heheh, did you have a hard time killing her or did you plow right through her no problem?" joked Sparrow.

"Actually, she was the only one I didn't want to kill. I hesitated at first when I saw her. It was even worse after I learned more about her. In the end, I had to kill her in order to move on."

"I see…" said Sparrow. She was flattered that Sylar had hesitated to attack her clone. It made her feel a little more comfortable.

"Well I take it you saw your father as well right?" said Sylar.

"Yes, I saw what remained of him. What happened to him?" asked Sparrow.

"He was killed by my son."

"How? The death looked rather gruesome…"

"He had the ability to manipulate water. He killed your father by dehydration through the pores. You may have seen the puddle of water under him."

"I see. If you don't mind me asking, what happened with you and your son? I know you told me you had to kill him. I don't see why though. And to kill him like that…"

"Originally, I had thought that my son would not know me, would even try to kill me. I figured your father would have made him into some ultimate weapon, one who knew nothing but murder. When I encountered him myself, I was rather surprised by the affection he showed me; after turning against your father anyways. I remained hopeful after, but I knew it was too good to be true. He talked about ruling the world. It was too late, your father's influence had already corrupted his young mind. And with his ability, he would become very dangerous. Who knew what kind of monster he'd grow up to be? He'd be worse than me, that's for sure."

"I'm really sorry my father did this to you; sorry that I did this to you…"

"It's ok… It made me realize some very important things. This whole thing you put me through finally made me realize that the evolutionary imperative is nothing but an excuse to deny your weakness. In the end, you'll never be satisfied. It becomes an addiction and you can't stop. The more you prove yourself, the more you acknowledge the fact that you didn't have what other's had. You are no longer human when you set your mindset to this. It's a horrible fate…" Sylar stopped himself.

"Ahem, perhaps I am talking a little too much. To answer your question, I simply killed him when he showed me affection. He was distracted with all his ideas for our future. While he talked, I quietly prepared to strike him with that metal pole you found lodged through both of us. Before he died, I told him that the world did not need people like us. And then, I did it, I killed him, killing myself in the process. I felt that it would have done me a bit of justice, but you came back for me and saved me again."

"…You've changed… you've evolved," noted Sparrow.

Sylar gave her a nod.

"Why are you so alone?" asked Sparrow. She had wanted to ask him for a long time.

"I've never wanted to be alone. It's just that when you're alone, you don't have to be afraid of rejection." said Sylar. "You try to be significant, but no body cares or acknowledges it. You finally achieve it, but you never win their approval. If you're alone, you don't have to prove anything to anyone except yourself."

The elevator stopped. They were finally on ground floor. The doors opened up to the lobby. Ahead, they could see the exit. It was daylight out. The whole escapade had lasted for over a day. Sylar and Sparrow limped outside into the warm atmosphere of the tropical island. Outside the Haitian was waiting for them in a helicopter. The Haitian and Sparrow helped Sylar get into the back of the helicopter where there was room to lie down. Sparrow herself requested to sit with Sylar; she had more things to talk to him about. The Haitian understood and went back to the pilot seat and lifted the helicopter off the ground.

When they were high above the ground, the Haitian fired the helicopter's missile into the tower. It exploded into an awesome pillar of flame and imploded on its own unstable structure. It became nothing more than large pile of debris.

"What was that sound?" asked Sylar.

"That was the sound of us saying goodbye to yesterday," replied Sparrow.

The helicopter turned and sped away towards the sun, leaving the wicked island behind forever.