DISCLAIMER: I own nothing!
... Arriving in her bedroom, he laid her gently down on the bed and removed her running shoes. He removed his own shoes before heading into the bathroom to get a damp cloth to get rid of the dried blood on her face.
Returning to her side, moments later, he gently wiped the congealed blood from her face, gazing at her again. Watching her eyes flutter inside their eyelids, he suddenly felt protective of her, not because of his need to covet powers, but because he was starting to feel a small connection pulling him closer to her.
His eyes fell on her swollen cheek and he rubbed his fingertips across it. He watched her face contort in pain and immediately traced his fingers along her jawline. There were unanswered questions forming in his mind in regards to her relationship with the Neanderthal boy and he was curious about that situation.
Remembering his ability to know the history of things that he touched, he touched her work shirt and focused, letting images and sounds swirl in his mind until he found what he was looking for.
Sighing, Amber bent down to pick up her clipboard. Regaining her composure, she turned around to face Jason, her ex of 6 months.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed, glaring at the semi-gorgeous blonde man in front of her "I told you it's over. I don't want to see you around here anymore"
"Why do you have to bust my balls like that?" he demanded, his cerulean eyes flashing angrily with a slight glimmer of hurt "It's a free country. I can come and go as I please"
"If I didn't know any better, I think you've been stalking me" she hissed "Don't think I didn't see you drive by my house last night. Or following me at the mall yesterday afternoon"
"You're my girl" he said menacingly, grabbing her arm "It's my business to know what you are doing and who you're seeing"
"You are a psycho" she hissed, wrenching her arm from his grasp "Like I said earlier, it's over...I don't want you to come near me ever again"
"We'll see about that" Jason growled, gritting his teeth as he lunged at her...
Sylar focused harder, trying to get more.
Amber stood at her bedroom window the night before, noticing the familiar car parked in front of her house. Only Jason drove a white'92 Dodge Stealth with the blue headlight covers. Seeing him made her blood run cold. She hoped he would eventually leave...at least before her random encounter began. If Jason saw the man at her door, things would only get ugly from there on...
Sylar hissed, digging deeper.
Amber walked through St. Albert Centre before her shift, heading for Ricki's to find a cocktail dress for her friend Victoria's birthday party at the L'aronde restaurant at the top floor of the Crowne Plaza. She knew there had to be a few decent single guys there, even if they were a temporary thing.
As she walked past the gaming store next to the Dentist's office, she had the feeling she was being watched. Slowly turning around, she could have sworn she saw Jason sitting in one of the nearby chairs, reading the latest issue of the Edmonton Journal.
Her breath hitching in her throat, Amber quickly made her way to Ricki's, hiding behind racks of clothes. Much to her chagrin, Jason passed the windows, peering in as he walked by...
Sylar's eyes flew open, widening in anger. The bastard had been stalking her for a while...No wonder she was so agitated... Jason treated her like a caged animal and she understandably snapped.
He then recalled something he had read in her files earlier...a news clipping he had found in her file. The news report was about a freak car crash that occurred right outside of Jasper. The deceased both had the same last name as Amber.
He then wondered where her parents were. Surely she couldn't have afforded the payments on a split level house like hers on what was most likely a pitiful salary. Then, it hit him...she was orphaned...and all alone.
A single tear slid down his cheek as he looked at Amber. With everything he had just learned about her, he realized that they had quite a lot in common, especially when it came to the hard knocks of life.
Sylar grew up not fitting in...never belonging anywhere. He always felt he was destined for something better. All he had was his adopted mother to love him and support him and for the last brief moments of her life, she had deemed him a monster and tried to kill him. After he had killed his mother, he felt the same emptiness Amber seemed to feel in his recollections.
He lay down on the bed beside her, pulling her closer to him. Even then, he could feel a single invisible threat binding her to him.
"I may be a monster to the rest of the world, Amber" he whispered in her ear "But I swear from now that I will always be there for you, no matter what"
With that, he fell into an exhausted sleep...
... Amber awoke to sunlight filtering in through her vertical blinds. She slowly sat up, noticing that Sylar had fallen asleep holding her close.
Not wanting to disturb his somewhat peaceful slumber, she gently lifted his arm off of her and slid off her bed. As she passed her full length mirror, she noticed she had fallen asleep in her work uniform. Frowning in distaste over her wrinkled clothes, she felt a dull pain on the right side of her face.
Moving in for a closer inspection, she noticed her right cheekbone was badly bruised, the swelling having gone down. She gingerly touched the wound and memories of the night before flooded her subconscious. She closed her eyes.
"Sylar" Amber called out, slowly standing up. She caught his attention briefly, lowering his guard for the moment.
Soon, the echo of a gunshot filled the air. Sylar slumped to the ground, bleeding as Amber screamed.
Jason stood behind him, pointing the gun at his head.
"Jason...NO" Amber screamed, causing Jason to aim the gun at her.
"Sorry, babes" he said, smiling cruelly "If I can't have you, nobody else should"
Amber stood there, not knowing what to do. Her anger rose, consuming her with hatred. She felt her power manifest in a different way that she hadn't felt before...
Her eyes flew open and she screamed, waking Sylar up. He practically jumped off the bed to comfort her.
"Amber" he said, his face full of concern as he held her shoulders "Amber, what's wrong?"
Amber turned to look at him, tears streaming down her face.
"I had a dream that I had a mysterious power...a mysterious power that killed Jason" she sobbed, burying her face in his chest "It seemed so real"
"Amber" he said in a gentle tone, embracing her "That's because it actually happened last night"
Amber pulled away from him in disbelief, still crying.
"Are you trying to tell me that I killed Jason last night?" she demanded, her voice rising several octaves "I killed him?"
"Amber" he said tenderly, putting his hands on her shoulders gently "It was in self defense...he was about to shoot you after shooting me. All you did was defend yourself...you saved my life"
"I'm a monster" she sobbed, burying her head into his chest again "A complete monster"
"No...you're not, Amber" he said, trailing off "I should know"
Amber pulled away to see the look of pain in his eyes...