The Siren & The Pendulum

Disclaimers: I don't own anything except the boxset of all four seasons on dvd!

AN: For YouTube user 'AudioFic' who has started reading my "Harry Potter & The Passion Year Memoirs". I had once promised them a Sylar/Peter fic a few years ago in a fanfiction group, so this is it.

For AO3 user 'Catstaff' who is also a Nightwish fan, like me.

So, two things: I know Zach Quinto said a long time ago that the mother of Sylar's son is Claire & most of the evidence points to her. While most of my Heroes fics use her as the mother, this one will not. In the "Fight Or Flight episode, Peter's passport has an F instead of an M. When I saw that, I got boxed in the head by yet another damn bunny! This is the result.

Eventual Sylar/Peter, with Peter as transgender F2M & a brief, non-detail mention, of being transgender pregnant with the canon character Noah Gray ... since ya know, we KINDA need him for the sake of Sylar's sanity & all that jazz.

Secondly, while the general consensus on how Peter gets his facial scar is via Hiro's sword (which I do use in all my other Heroes fics so far), again, I am trying something different here with Peter's ambulance instead.

Summary: Escaping Matt's nightmarish telepathy, Sylar & Peter have to re-adjust to life in the real world. Despite what seemed like years being trapped together, both still have secrets. Peter is desperate to keep Sylar sane, but his only hope lies in someone who does not exist. Sylar is drawn ever closer to his new-found friend, but guilt holds him back.

(1) Brave New World

(Finale episode title. Lines in bold are taken from this episode, not by me.)

Emma used her monotone voice instead of her fingers to speak to Peter since he was still learning her sign language. Her words were soft & slow as she enunciated each one, feeling them out, for she could not hear anything, not even her own voice, only feel it. "Your friend took care of him."

Those words filled Peter with dread. Just hours before, he & Sylar had been arch enemies. But they had just come out of a telepathic nightmare Matt Parkman had trapped them in. What had been mere hours to the outside world, felt like almost ten years stuck together with Peter's most hated man on the planet. A vicious brute known as Sylar. But in those dreamy years, he had seen the killer slowly revert back into the man Peter had once seen in a different timeline as Gabriel Gray. Could their strange friendship forged over years in la-la land stand the test of time that a mere few hours had given them, or had the killer gone back to his blood thirsty ways now that he was let loose among others with abilities once more?

Peter wondered what he would find as he entered the carnival tent with Emma close behind him. He expected blood, a scalped head & a loosened brain. He hoped to find both alive. He did not expect to find Eric Doyle wired up like a Christmas tree as he walked in the moment Sylar plugged in the lights that usually outlined one of the carnival tents but were now holding Eric securely.

"What do you think?" Sylar snickered as he noticed the pair was staring at him in complete confusion. Eric rolled his eyes in defeat, being tied between two poles. "I like it!" Sylar went on, smiling wickedly.

Peter could do nothing but look over the whole scene. His face said it all as he just stared at Sylar: so done with his shenanigans. Just so done! Well, alright. At least Sylar didn't kill Eric. It was the first time in a long time Sylar had been left alone with someone who had a power & had managed to not kill anyone. Emma turned & walked briskly away, giggling loudly. Peter sent Sylar the 'pissed Petrelli' glare: hands on hips, a slight head tilt & a massive eye-roll while the corner of his mouth slipped sideways, indicating his disability. "Gabriel!" He ground out at last.

"What?" Sylar walked upto Peter & slapped his shoulder. "Why so serious?"

"What is wrong with you?" Peter shook his head.

"At least I didn't kill him," Sylar shrugged. He leaned closer to Peter & said in a lower voice. "I've run into Eric Doyle before. He isn't much better than I was back then. Yesterday. Whatever."

"Yeah, this is a bit weird," Peter said as he turned to follow after Emma with Sylar by his side. "For everyone else, it's only been a few hours. Half a day maybe. Matt's telepathy has become quite powerful. I picked it up earlier while we were still at his place."

"You don't have it anymore, do you?"

"No, I picked up Samuel's earthquake power to defeat him," Peter said. "But now I have Emma's power, again."

"She sees sound as colored light & can use it to call others to her," Sylar said.

Peter nodded. "But it can do more. I've seen it. In a rage, it can compress & rip through walls."

"So I have to be careful not to make you mad," Sylar teased.

"You not making me mad for once; is that even possible?" Peter finally managed to laugh. As they followed down the pathways of carnival tents, the great Ferris Wheel came into sight & Peter saw something that almost made his heart stop. His niece was climbing up its side & he had a bad feeling all of a sudden.

"It was amazing, Peter," Sylar went on.

"What is?"

"When I saved her. I didn't have a thought for myself. I could have killed Doyle, but I didn't. It felt good. It felt right."

"What the hell does she think she's doing?" Peter was only half-paying attention. He was filled with a sudden rush of nerves as he realized what Claire was about to do. No no no! This would force the timeline to shift into the one he was avoiding. The one when she would turn Villain. The one where she would murder him! "She's going to change everything."

"That's right," Sylar watched as Claire threw herself off. She couldn't die. Sylar had ripped her in two barely a year ago to become immortal & at that time, he had shut off her pain receptors. She never felt pain again. Her body slammed into the ground & horrendous cracks could be heard. She stood up a moment later, cuts healing. Sylar smiled softly. "It's a brave new world." He watched the news crew press in around Claire, begging answers. She had finally exposed abilities to the world like how she had always wanted. He didn't know what Peter knew yet. "Hey Peter?" Sylar glanced around but the medic was nowhere in sight. He ran back the way they had come & caught up to Peter near the gates of the fallen, half-destroyed carnival. "Something wrong?"

"E=Everything, Gabriel," Peter was slightly hyperventilating, almost panicking. He leaned over, hands on knees. "Absolutely everything. I wish my power wasn't broken. I could stop this." He slowly stood up & looked at Sylar. "Yours or mine?"

"I think we are closer to yours at the moment," Sylar said as he quickly glanced around. He held out a hand. "Take the flight ability. We can fly together."

At any other time before this weird strange day that lasted almost ten years for them, Peter would have struck Sylar down for offering flight, of all abilities he had, to him. That had been his brother's power & Sylar had taken it moments before he had cut Nathan's throat & laughed about it as the blood had flowed down Nathan's limp body to the floor. But now? While the pain was still there, Peter was no longer alone in his grief over his brother's murder. Sylar had finally shown remorse & unlike nearly everyone else, besides Matt, who didn't know yet about the nightmare world they had been trapped in, Peter believed Sylar, not only because of their time together, but also because he had witnessed it before, in that other timeline. The one that might become this one despite all his attempts to avoid it. Something had happened to Sylar then that had changed him & Peter hoped that one thing would happen here to keep Sylar sane.

Peter took Sylar's hand, copied flight & both took off for the night sky over New York City. They landed on Peter's balcony. Sylar used his telekinetic force to open the lock on the sliding door & both went inside. Sylar's own apartment was a few streets over. Manhattan had been his main stalking grounds, like a modern day Jack the Ripper; though, Sylar had killed people all across America & even down into Mexico. It wasn't exactly his fault. The power he had been born with made him do it. He had a hard time controlling it & most, including Sylar, believed he never would. Only one saw him differently even though they battled each other many times. Peter had seen Sylar's redemption but had told no one, hoping to not interfere with time & Sylar's life so he would be able to right himself some day. But Claire betraying people with powers had changed everything.

"What Claire just did," Peter began as they sat down on the couch. Or so they thought. Both landed hard on the floor with their feet in the air. "What the hell?" Peter moaned.

Sylar slowly sat up. "Peter, this is reality, not the nightmare." He rubbed one shoulder, then the other. "We moved stuff around in both our apartments in the nightmare world. We were alone there for a long time with no one else on the planet."

Peter sighed. "I think we forgot how we actually had our apartments set up." He pointed to the left. "There's the damn thing!" He glared at it as if it was the couch's fault. Sylar just groaned as they both got up & limped over. They carefully sat down again.

"Regen?" Sylar offered a hand.

"Yup." Peter grabbed it, swapping abilities once more.

"We've got to get your power fixed," Sylar said. "You used to be like me, but without the killing sense."

"I did kill someone, but not right away. I was never fully connected to it until later," Peter said. "I'm more empathic than you. That was brought out even more by me becoming a nurse, a paramedic. You're more about cold hard logic & stats. You grew up around watch makers, learned how to fix things. That unlocked that side of your power. I just soaked abilities up by standing next to someone. Now, I have to touch someone & consciously think of copying the power, but I can only hold one power at a time."

Sylar took a long moment to look his 'frienemy' over. "What do you mean, until later?"

Peter closed his eyes for a moment. "After what Claire just did, it's time we had this conversation. I've been trying to figure out how to tell you for years, well I mean, since last year. I don't have all the facts but what I do know isn't good for the rest of us. You're the only one that turns out all right."

"Really?" Sylar stared in disbelief even though his lie detection power didn't go off.

"I've told you before," Peter said. "I've seen you make it. Overcome the blood lust once & for all."

"Peter, I've tried many times," Sylar shrugged. "I do beat it but only temporarily. What happened today? It's the best yet, but how long will it last?"

"Forever," Peter insisted. "Remember when you were incarcerated in the Primatech facility?"

"Don't remind me," Sylar scoffed. "I had to work with the man who ruined my life & turned me into Sylar. He kept testing my ability, exposing me to more powers to see what I would do. Back then, I wasn't sure who I hated more: you or him. Never mind the fact he is also Claire's father, by adoption but still. I had to face her again after what I did to her. I only left him alive for her sake."

"Yeah, you do have a bit of a perverted crush on her," Peter complained. "She's barely seventeen. Still a minor to you." He playfully tapped Sylar on the chest with a finger.

"In a hundred years, will that matter?" Sylar smirked at him before going serious. "What about a thousand? A million?"

Peter rolled his eyes. "I know."

"Why'd you bring that up?" Sylar asked. "You were acting very weird while I was stuck in Primatech."

Peter laughed nervously as he got up to start pacing. His disability showed up, drooped lips on one side as if he had suffered a stroke. He had been born with dead nerves in his mouth so the Regen never picked it up to heal. His stutter he tried so hard to control appeared out of nervous energy. "I-It's because ..." He held his hands up, trying to focus. "I ... met a future version of myself," he began. "He was five or-or six years older. Had a large scar across his face ... from the top left d-down to the bottom right." He paused to take a break. Sylar waited patiently. He was used to this by now. In fact, he had been used to it for almost a year, an actual year, since he had Nathan's memories shoved into him by Matt Parkman. Peter needed to calm down before going on slowly in a steadier voice. "The mimicry was fixed. Oh, but he was fast & strong & had a lot more powers than either of us. He showed me a really messed up timeline. It's one where abilities were exposed."

"Like what Claire just did?"

Peter nodded. "People went crazy for powers. Synthesized them. Sss-uh-old them on the black market." He waited a moment before going on, hoping the stutter would settle. "It eventually causes the planet to explode into three pieces. We all die. Not even someone with Regen could survive that I think or if they do, what a miserable life it would be, floating aimlessly through space for all eternity." He ran one hand through his hair. "I can't believe it was Claire who did it. I thought maybe it might have been you. I never dreamed it would be her! She ... She ends up ... killing me."

"You can't die if your powers are fixed, which you just said they will be."

"She used the Haitian to block my powers," Peter said. "Shoots me in the back of the head where that s-spot is which usually just knocks us out, but he held back my powers for her so I ... died."

Sylar stood up & put his hands on Peter's shoulders to stop him from pacing. "I've heard some things," he started. "Whispers of you with a facial scar. You're not the only one who has met him, I think. I haven't met him yet but from what I have heard, I hope not to. Few things scare me, Peter. He's one of them."

"He was a bit ... bit unnerving for me too," Peter admitted. "But you are probably the only one who doesn't have to fear him. From what I saw, the two of you were good friends." He had said that last bit easily, without stuttering. Complete assurance.

"Is that what we are, here?" Sylar asked. "Or did we just make nice with each other since we were stuck in a dream world together?"

"From what I have seen," Peter replied, still without halting. "I think our friendship is real, strange as it is, but real."

It wasn't a lie. Sylar let his hands fall as he stepped back. "It is strange seeing as how we've been trying to kill each other these past four years. But the problem is, you aren't lying."

"Uh, how is that a problem?"

"Your mother once told me I would never be sane again, never get my life back," Sylar said. "She never saw me recover in her visions. She wasn't lying, either. You both can't be right but somehow, that is the way it is."

"Mom can't see everything," said Peter. "Her visions are very loose & open to many interpretations. She can only tell you what she can see, not what she does not see. But I was there, Gabriel. Okay? Not in vision. I was literally there when my scarred self transported me into the future. I saw you. I saw how you'd taken control at last. How you fought it every minute & had your own control over yourself. You're like a pendulum."

"Pendulum?" Sylar raised a brow at that comment.

"Yeah," said Peter. "Gabriel Gray on one side. Sylar on the other & you were able to find a perfect balance. I think part of it has to do with your glasses."

"I only wear glasses as Gabriel Gray," Sylar admitted. "But as Sylar, I never wear them. I don't technically need them anymore since I have Claire's power, but before I caught her, I was blind as a bat. I always had glasses, even as a kid."

"So where are they?" Peter asked.

Sylar held up an index finger, halting before he answered. "I have to think about that. Might be in my apartment."

"Right," Peter said. They shared a look before both spoke at the same time: "I hate Matt."

Both suddenly jumped like spooked cats as a crash of thunder sounded outside the window. Looking outside, they saw the rain start pouring down. The nightmare they had been stuck in was dry, dull & leaden. It had seemed to be a long time since either of them had last seen rain. Sylar lifted a hand towards the balcony's sliding door. Simply twitching his finger, the door slid open. They stepped out into the rain, letting it fall over them until both were drenched. They stood there until the storm passed. It only lasted a few minutes but rain had almost become a foreign concept to them. They went back inside as a few stars reappeared. Both were dripping all over the floor but neither cared. They had felt rain again, seen the colors of a storm. The steely drab colors of nightmare memories were slowly fading.

"Peter, you should just copy my mimicry," Sylar said. "We were born with the same power."

"I already tried," said Peter. "But my synthesized power still counts it as one ability. So if I try to take another, I will lose yours, regardless."

"Then maybe these advanced synthesized abilities that will show up eventually will be the way to get you fixed," Sylar said.

"Probably," Peter opened the fridge, finding it empty as usual. "My father had started that work a long time ago. It's the only reason why I have any power at all since he destroyed mine. I had to use that experimental drug, not knowing what I would get. I was lucky to get any type of copying power at least." He stared into the still empty fridge a moment longer, as if willing it to fill up on its own, then let the door close with a soft bang. "Some things don't change whether it's dream or reality, I guess."

"We should have gone to mine," Sylar shook his head. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Shut up," Peter turned away, embarrassed grin on his face. He was well known for not bothering to keep any food in his apartment. His mother usually had to still deal with that for him.

"I think my wallet is back in my apartment too," Sylar said.

Peter stared at him. "You went all the way to Matt's place without your wallet? Are you sure?"

Sylar blinked, then slowly felt around in his pockets. He pulled it out. "Talk about a reality check."

Both glanced around as a sudden loud beeping sounded. They looked for whatever was causing the incessant noise. Peter picked a small black thing off the coffee table. "It's the hospital."

"Do you even remember how to drive an ambulance?"

"Guess I have to figure it out as I go!" Peter ran for the door. He looked back at Sylar. "Sorry but dinner's going to have to wait. Go get your glasse—UNF!" Peter had turned back a moment too late & face-planted into the door.

"Keep doing that, you'll get your scarred face!" Sylar doubled over in laughter.

"Shut up," Peter whimpered as he stumbled out & left.

It was several moments before Sylar composed himself. He went outside & looked over the railing into the neighbor's balcony that appeared to be comprised of dead gardens. He turned his eyes towards the stars before flying up to disappear into the night sky. He dropped down onto his own street a few moments later, not even thinking it would matter. Cars on both sides came screeching towards him in an attempt to stop. Sylar's eyes went wide as he jumped sideways like a frightened deer out of the busy intersection. He pressed back against the wall of the nearest building, out of the way.

"Hey dumbass!" One driver shouted at him. "Watch where you're going! You could kill someone out here!"

"Wouldn't be the first time I killed someone around here!" Sylar shot back. "Or the second, or the third for that matter!" The driver stuck up a middle finger before speeding off. He was probably the first & only idiot in the world to flip off the greatest serial killer in history that humanity had ever witnessed & not even notice. Ignorance really was bliss. Sylar sighed & made his way to his own door. It was weird having cars in the streets again. "Freaking New York City drivers!" Sylar muttered as he went inside. "Should have picked a few of those off back in the day." Looking around, he soon found the case on the nightstand next to the bed where he had left his glasses such a long time ago yesterday morning.

Sylar opened the case & lifted the glasses out of it. He looked at the tiny neat rectangular lens, how they sat in the framework. Everything perfectly symmetrical. He could take them apart & put them back together again & no one could tell the difference. He could do that with anything so long as it wasn't alive. That's what his birth power, Intuitive Aptitude, was supposed to do. Study. Learn. Understand. Copy. The problem was, to study a human brain where the ability would lie hidden & nestled in folds of gray matter, he needed to cut in to see it, resulting in death for all but one victim. Claire could be put back together. She healed.

Sylar moved into the washroom & stood before the mirror. Once more, he was going to bury the killer under the façade that had become all that was left of Gabriel Gray. He had been here before. Frequently. Always trying to get his old life back before that damned eclipse showed up & messed with everyone. Before the powers showed up with it. Would this truly be the last time he would put Sylar to rest? How was this time going to be any different? Peter seemed to think so, but since when did Sylar ever care about what Peter had to say? He knew murder was a crime, but he loved the hunt, the screams of terror, the feeling of the blood & the prize: the new ability. He could copy like Peter but where was the fun in that?

Before his power had shown up, he would never have dreamed of killing anyone. He had been the nerd in the back of glass. The picked on kid for wearing glasses. The aspiring player for his school's team. He had hoped to amount to something special some day & had grown up learning to fix anything & had been good at the job. It wasn't until he was a young adult when he suddenly knew why. It was an ability trying to develop which quickly took over & destroyed his own life when that eclipse occurred. It ruined everything.

Sylar finished trimming his hair, smoothing it back, before slipping the glasses on. The awkward nerd looked back to him from the mirror's reflection. Would he stay? Sylar rubbed the bridge of his nose for a moment, shoving the glasses up a little. It had been so easy being trapped under Matt Parkman's power. Sylar had felt no powers of his own then. No lust for blood. But now? It was all back! He wanted to run out & kill that driver simply because he could after such a long dry spell. Peter was right. He had to fight the urge every single minute.

"Oh Peter, I don't think I can do this," Sylar sighed, looking away from the gaze of Gabriel. "How long can I keep this under control?" Though he was alone, though he could dimly hear the wail of Peter's ambulance out there in the heart of the city, it was almost as if he could feel the soft cadence of the medic's warm breath on his ear in that moment, whispering the word forever into it. Sylar half-laughed. "Yet they call me crazy. Forever, indeed." How could he keep this up for the rest of his life? Eternal, at that?

He went out into the living room & picked up the glasses' case. He noticed something about it then. It had blood stains on it. Blood from his hands when he would switch his look with a simple thing as removing the glasses in the past. He rarely touched his victims which had made it hard to catch him as he had left no fingerprints. But there had been a few times where it got messy. Claire was a real mess & lived through it. Claire. An immortal being. Just like how he was immortal. What was he supposed to do about his power in a hundred years? A thousand? A million? He understood then, what Peter meant by forever. He would eventually move beyond the killing sprees. It was inevitable. What would he be doing in a million years? Would he even remember what Sylar was?

Sylar dropped the case & pressed both hands to his face for a moment. "I'm still going crazy." The ability he had copied from Claire was suddenly becoming his new curse. It would force him to walk this Earth down through the epochs of time. Knowing Claire & possibly Peter would be there with him brought a little comfort, but the reality of the situation was sinking in even though he knew what having Regen would mean since he first got it. Glancing around his apartment, he wondered how long even this would last. He soon walked out & returned to Peter's place that was closer to Mercy Hospital in downtown New York.

Standing on the balcony, looking into the night sparkling with color from the busy city's lights, Sylar could still hear sirens in the streets. Knowing Peter would be gone for several hours, he eventually made his way back inside & stretched out on the bed to go to sleep. It had become commonplace for them now to share both their apartments with each other. While telepathically locked together, New York was the place they had ended up in as it was the most familiar to them. But New York in a mind warp was very different to New York in reality. No one else had existed in the nightmare but now the city was its usual busy self & Sylar realized he was no longer used to the noisy excitement at all hours, the unceasing manner of a large city. He rolled over to stare at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep for a long time. It was almost dawn by the time he went to sleep & Peter had yet to return.

A woman's voice woke him a short time later. "Oh Peter, you are ho—AHH!"

Sylar sat bolt right up in bed, blinking hard as he pressed the woman against the opposite wall by his force power. They stared at each other for a long moment. "Angela?" Sylar gasped, letting her go. "I literally just went to sleep."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Angela demanded. "Where's my other son or did you kill that one, too?"

"Angela ... " Sylar sighed tiredly. "I really am sorry."

Angela glared at him. "That doesn't bring my eldest son back, now does it?" Sylar buried his face in his hands as he moved to sit over the edge of the bed. She glared at him. "So what did you do with Peter?"

Sylar let his hands fall. He looked up at her. "He got called out. Probably pulling a double shift. You know him & work. I'm amazed he ever found time to fight me with all the work he puts in."

"So you're lying in his bed waiting to pick a fight?"

"No," Sylar shook his head. "Yesterday was really weird for us."

"Define weird?" Angela ordered. She knew better than to run. Sylar had attacked her once before. Almost killed her. She had to stay calm & keep him distracted until Peter returned, hopefully with a useful power to dispatch the psychotic killer.

Sylar rolled his shoulders & stood up. "Peter & I got tangled up with Matt Parkman, yesterday. To the world, it was only a few hours but an hour was like a year for us in our minds. I'm not that killer you fear anymore, Angela. You can go."

"You expect me to believe you're changed now?" Angela said. "My last vision of you told me you'd save Emma, but you've played Hero before. Usually, you want something."

"I want my life back," Sylar replied. "Before all this. When I was just Gabriel Gray. I am trying, Angela."

"You'll never make it. I've told you before."

"Peter says I do, he has seen it. He told me your visions don't see everything & are open to interpretations."

Angela narrowed her eyes, glaring at him. "It doesn't matter if you do change or not. You killed Nathan. I will never forgive you for that!"

"I will never ask," Sylar said in a low voice. "But Peter has."

"Peter is a naive little boy," Angela retorted. "He can be stupid at times what with that overachieving Hero complex he has."

"Peter is a couple years older than I am," Sylar pointed out. "You don't give him enough credit."

"You're not his mother!"

"Thank God!" Sylar stated. "Between you & me, he can be a pain in the ass. We can agree on that at least, can't we?"

"That is the only thing we can agree on," Angela tersely replied.

"What are we agreeing on?" Peter asked as he came in at last.

"Careful," Angela put a hand on her remaining son's chest & pushed him back a bit. "Sylar is in your room."

"He's been there for years as far as I'm concerned," Peter pushed his mother's hand away. "I would like to talk to you about something. Can we go out for lunch later?"

"Is it about him & what happened yesterday?" Angela shot another glare at Sylar.

"Yeah."

"Peter, how could you? He killed your brother," Angela reminded him. "Don't forget what he is!"

"Just let me take you out, okay?" Peter insisted. "In a few hours. I need to sleep a bit. Did two shifts."

"I came here to talk to you about Claire," Angela said. "But you do need some sleep. I will join you for lunch to discuss what is to be done about her." She turned & left without another word.

"Ugh, I can hardly wait," Peter muttered before casting a nervous look at Sylar. "Are you alright?"

"I killed Nathan," Sylar shrugged. "I got what I deserved. You & I had a long time to work things out but for everyone else, the last time I killed someone was just a week or so ago."

"They're looking for you for that one," Peter warned.

"Of course they are," Sylar said. "I'm not in the habit of hiding bodies ... so everyone knows when I make a kill."

Peter noticed the hesitation. There was one body of Sylar's no one ever found. At least, it was assumed Sylar had killed Elle Bishop. She had been with him for a while, but then suddenly just vanished. Sylar glanced at him, catching his eye. Peter sighed before asking, "What happened ... with her?"

"She's not my murder," Sylar said.

"You didn't kill Elle?"

"I did," Sylar admitted. "But she wanted me to. We were both suicidal. I was supposed to lie down & die beside her, but I already had Claire's power."

"So that's why you hid her," Peter gasped. "No one ever knew for sure, but we all assumed you had something to do with her disappearance."

"I cremated her & left her ashes on a beach," Sylar said. "I will never reveal where that is. It's between me & her only. But yes, I am responsible for her disappearance, as people say. One of few times I didn't kill for an ability as I already picked up her electricity by just being with her."

"You know, in those last few days in the nightmare, you mentioned about being suicidal," Peter said. "I never knew that about you."

"Ever since I made my first kill & picked up the telekinetic force," Sylar said. "I didn't know what was happening to me then. But it was my ability developing after an eclipse. Most people still don't realize I did it to collect more powers or that Sylar & Gabriel Gray is the same man."

"That might change," said Peter. "I think I know why Claire jumped. It's to get rid of you. If she can explain abilities to the world, she can then explain how the killer known as Sylar really works & she is one of us, a Special with powers, which means she knows your real face & name."

Sylar took a moment to think that over. "Claire declared war on me. I attacked her, took her power. Killed her biological father & mother. She has a lot of reasonable hate for me."

"Yup."

"Well in that case, I'm glad I copied her power," Sylar said. "I'm immortal now. What are they going to do to me whether I change or not?"

"Claire is immortal too," said Peter. "As will I be whenever I get my power fixed. This war could go on for hundreds of years if we're not careful. We're stuck with each other."

"I hope not," Sylar said in playful mockery. "One decade was hard enough with you."

Peter just laughed as he lay across the bed without bothering to change or get under the covers. "Get out! I need to sleep."

"Good luck with that," Sylar said. "You might find you're not used to the noise any more." He looked down on Peter who was already passed out on the bed, curled up on his side & breathing deeply. "Ah well, that's not fair." He poked Peter's shoulder but the medic was down & out.

The first rays of sun shone across Peter's body, slightly illuminating the white triangular patch on his right shoulder of his dark blue jacket that had the word 'paramedic' in blue letters written in it. Peter's current power was still Emma's siren call, so there was nothing to stop Sylar from killing his arch enemy right then & there while he was sleeping. He could get a bonus prize of that awesome power which would call others with abilities to him ... & then he could get more abilities.

But after four years of trying to kill this medic that had challenged Sylar on more than one occasion, the urge to kill him was no longer there. Or at least, it hadn't returned yet. Had they really become friends?

What a bizarre day. Sylar snickered softly to himself as he left the room & closed the door.

Peter woke up a few hours later to find himself alone. For a split second, he thought he was stuck back in the mind warp with Sylar somewhere but hearing the sounds in the street, he soon remembered that they were back in the real world. Peter wondered what Sylar was up to now that they had control of their own minds again. Would Sylar disappear for a while or would the trail of blood begin again & if so, how would anyone be able to stop an immortal murderer? It was almost impossible to even knock Sylar out now since he had moved his weak spot to who knew where. Claire & Peter could easily be taken down by pressing something into the base of their necks, but even that could be temporary so long as a certain Haitian man who could block all powers stayed away. The Haitian could be used to hold Sylar by blocking all his powers but unless anyone knew where his spot was, it was pointless to try.

But that was an outcome Peter wanted to avoid. Most people seemed to forget that Gabriel Gray was his own worst victim of his own power. He wanted the man restored & the power destroyed. It was possible to separate ability from person. Peter was proof of it, but he had lost his own power from a mere touch of his father who drained powers from others, not just copied them, but who was now dead. He had helped Sylar take Arthur Petrelli down, a man more dangerous than Sylar.

"What a convoluted mess," Peter said aloud.

Peter found himself in a restaurant with his mother about an hour later. Angela barely let him get a word in edgewise. It was clear she did not want to talk about Sylar. She kept the topic firmly on Claire, how she needed to be watched now, guarded, made sure she would stay safe now that people knew she could not die.

"I'll stop her," Peter finally said in a loud voice.

"You'll stop her?" Angela looked her youngest son over, mentally shaking her head. "How?"

"I'm going to call Hiro," Peter said. "Get his power & go back in time. None of this will ever happen."

"But it already has," Angela said. "It's too big of a butterfly to squash. Too many people have seen her. Too much time has passed."

"It's just been a day!" Peter exclaimed, cursing the butterfly effect. Changing one thing in time now could ruin a lot of things later.

"A day, a minute, a second? What difference does it make?" Angela stated. "It's already too late."

"I've seen this timeline," Peter tried.

"I know you have," Angela snapped at him. "If I ever encounter you with a scar on your face again, I'll give you a whopping you won't soon forget." Peter scoffed into his coffee cup. His mother had never hit him, wasn't the type. Plus, he had been her favorite even with Nathan around. Peter could probably get away with murder under her nose! "Ohh you don't believe me?" Angela cooed at him. "Trust me, I will! You need to stop messing around with time, young man. I'm glad you lost your original power. You can't always time travel any more now, can you?"

"Mom," Peter whined. "Look, if this is the timeline I think it is, then it only works out for Gabriel, but I want the one that can work out for all of us."

"I couldn't care less about any timeline involving Sylar," Angela insisted on using the killer's alias. "There is nothing for him & that's final."

Peter pushed some long bangs out of his face. He understood suddenly why his mother couldn't see Sylar's redemption. She had blocked him out of her visions, refusing to see the poor shy man buried beneath the fearsome killer. She could only see him in vision if the dream was about someone else & he just happened to be a part of it, like the last vision she had to save Emma at the carnival from Eric. "It's not just him," Peter said. "There's ... uh ... someone else involved if we fix him. Someone very, very special." His voice was hushed. He had never spoken about that other person he had seen to anyone until now.

"Well find some other way to get this special person of yours," Angela ordered, leaning forward towards Peter as she held out her plate. "You really should try these oysters. They're quite fresh."

"Mom, you know I'm lacto-vegetarian," Peter moaned, rolling his eyes.

Angela reached out to touch Peter's face. "Pity. You miss out on a lot of great dishes. You ate plenty of meat before you transitioned, but never afterwards."

"You know I had to go on a strict diet when I was doing the surgeries for transition," said Peter.

Angela continued to gaze into her surviving son's face. After a moment, she tapped Peter's face with her fingertips. The love taps used to annoy Peter but now, he realized, he was the only one who would get them. Never Nathan. Peter really was the favorite one. Angela sighed & sat back again. "Now, back to Claire ..."

Peter inwardly groaned. He had his own plans for his crazy niece & hoped he could get out of this conversation sooner than later. But it was a while before Peter found himself alone on the streets of the city. Now without the adrenaline rush of trauma control & speeding down busy streets driving an ambulance, he heard the city as if it rushed at him. It would take time to adjust to a full city once more, no longer sharing space with just one other person. The streets were full again. The sidewalks were crowded. Peter was soon hurrying down an old familiar back street & quickly ducked into Sylar's own apartment, shutting the door against New York.

"Are you alright, Peter?"

Peter yelped & turned to end up almost nose to nose with Sylar who took a step back from him. He was wearing the black-rimmed rectangular Polo Ralph Lauren glasses. Peter went to the nearest chair & sat down. "This is going to take some getting used to."

"I told you that earlier but you had passed out on me," Sylar said with a short laugh. "How did it go with your mom?" He asked. Peter just looked at him. Sylar dropped into the couch. "That bad, huh?"

"You have to understand it's only been a day for everyone, even for us even though it felt much longer."

"I get it," Sylar said. "But I doubt your mom will ever want to get to know me as Gabriel."

"I'm sure she'll come around some day," Peter said. "I mean look how long it took me. We just did it through a mind wrap but it still seemed like a long time. It's Claire that's worrying me. I think you should keep a low profile for a bit. Few know where Sylar lives, not even her, I don't think. We need to separate the man from the power even if it's just figuratively."

"Peter, I don't even know if I can hold it back for long," Sylar replied. "My nightmare was not having any powers & being stuck alone so Matt trapped me in it. Now that we are away from him, everything is back. There were a few people I passed by today I would have liked to take."

"But you didn't?"

"Not yet."

"You won't."

"Why are you so sure?"

"I told you, I've seen it," Peter said. "You're just going to have to trust me, like how I trust you right now. I know what you go through. I have had your power before, too."

"You're not a killer."

"I dunno," Peter began. "There are a few people I'd like to throw under my ambulance instead of in it." They stared at each other a moment before both started laughing. "Especially this one doctor at the hospital," Peter went on after a moment. "Most of us can't stand working with him but the patients love him."

"One of those?"

"Oh yeah, big time!" Peter moved over to the couch to sit beside Sylar. "When I had your power, there were times I felt it, too. I see someone with an ability & I get an urge to go after them to study them."

"But unlike me, you don't give in to it."

Peter looked at the floor. "I wasn't force-fed powers by Noah Bennet like you were. He made your power develop faster than it should have, before it was time. He was studying you, testing you. Basically turned you into a loaded gun & you went off. He doesn't know I have had your power before which means he won't know I would have it again if I ever get this broken ability I have sorted out. In fact, I don't think anyone knows except you. If I ever get it back permanently, I can let it develop naturally."

"That should be the next step for you," Sylar said. "Get your ability fixed. Do you have any idea how to do that?"

"I'll have to wait since he's in India for a bit," said Peter. "But probably go see Mohinder when he gets back to America. He was working with my father to develop a way to give people powers. I hope he has done enough so I can pick the power I want. In fact, I know he does, if he hasn't already."

"This other timeline you saw?"

"Mhm." Peter sighed. He leaned over a little, putting one hand over his stomach as he groaned a little.

"Is something wrong?" Sylar asked.

"I kind of forgot that this would be back, as well," Peter said. "Never did get rid of the uterus." He looked at Sylar. "You wouldn't happen to have a box of tampons lying around, would you?"

Sylar's lips twitched. "No. I was born designated male to begin with."

"Mm," Peter groaned. "Lucky."

"Why didn't you get rid of the uterus?"

"First it was a money issue, then it was a Regen issue," Peter said. He pulled out his phone to check a text. "The hospital wants me to pick up a shift in an hour."

"Are you up for the task?" Sylar asked. "You've told me in the nightmare world how painful periods are for you."

"One good thing about being stuck in there," Peter managed a laugh. "Didn't have to feel my body betraying me, reminding me of the female parts I'd like to reject."

"Then do it," Sylar said.

"What?"

"Get your transition completed," Sylar said.

"Do you have any idea how much money that is?" Peter replied. "I had enough to change my chest & then I had to save again for the next surgery to build up the testicles. On top of it all, I had to keep some aside for the hormones. I had only just started saving again for the final surgery but then I picked up the Regen power. It accepted what healed surgeries I already did & fixed the hormone problem for me, but it didn't allow anything new. Now, I need the hormones again since I can't keep Regen. They cost a lot."

"You've told me before how you wished to have a full transition," Sylar said. "In the nightmare world, you said more than once how good it felt not to be feeling that p.m.s. again. Money isn't a problem anymore, Peter. I have Bob Bishop's power, remember? Which means, so can you at any time."

Peter paused as if frozen in time, an odd sort of excitement creeping up his spine. He had wanted to go fully male ever since he could remember. His family wasn't poor, but they weren't the richest either. He had always planned to finish the transition later, saving whatever he could from being a paramedic, but then he had encountered Claire. At the time, once he picked up an ability, he kept it & Regen forbade any new cuts or injuries & no surgery would ever work on him again. But his own ability was currently broken & he could no longer hold on to multiple powers at a time. He was no longer immortal unless he grabbed Sylar's hand to copy the Regen, but it would only be temporary until he copied something else. At the moment, Sylar—his most hated enemy-turned-friend—could actually kill him, right here, right now.

But at the same time, with a broken ability & no Regen, there could be a chance to go through with the rest of the surgeries before he got fixed again. "You really think so?" Peter finally spoke.

"With both of us using the Midas touch, we could instantly create enough to finish your transition," Sylar pointed out.

Peter felt a rush. Could he really finish this transition, already? "I would really like to complete it," he said. "It would be nice to be completely male. One of my biggest fears is getting pregnant right now. I think I really would be suicidal if that ever happened."

"Well, let's make sure it doesn't," Sylar said. "We just need to find a lot of metal to turn to gold. That shouldn't be too hard. Besides, now is the only time you can before you get fixed again. You do say that you get your original power back some day."

"I get scarred on my face first," Peter said. "Everything heals up before I get Regen again. It doesn't pick up scars or ... " He glanced down at his flat masculine chest. "Or elective surgery that had healed up." He looked up at Sylar again. "This would be the best time."

"So ... we doing this?" Sylar said. They stared at each other, both feeling rather excited. This was happening!

"We are!" Peter agreed. "First things first. Do you have Motrin, at least?"

"I should have that behind the bathroom mirror," Sylar said as he went to check. "But, I should warn you, it's been a while since I've used or replaced it. I have Claire's power so I don't need this stuff any more."

"Good thing stuff like that has a few years before they expire, then," Peter said as he went to the kitchen tap to fill a glass of water. He took two pills from the bottle Sylar handed him before saying, "I will go back to my apartment. I've got some tampons there for now & maybe sleep for half an hour before heading back to work."

"Alright & then we can start on finishing your transition."

Peter pulled open the door to go out. Glancing back at Sylar, he said, "I'll come check on you after this next shift, but I think you'll be fine on your own for a few hours." He turned to leave.

"Peter?" Sylar put a hand on the medic's arm to hold him back. "If I slip up ..."

"You won't."

"If I do!" Sylar cut Peter off. "We all know it needs to end, one way or another. I want you to come for me. You should be the one to take me down."

"Gabriel, stop talking like this!" Peter ordered.

"Listen to me!" Sylar grabbed Peter's hand & held it close between his own hands. "I want you to do it, not Claire. Alright? My spot is right here."

"Gabriel! NO!" Peter yelped but Sylar had already pulled his fingertips to the area & pressed them close. In all their time together in the nightmare world, Sylar had never mentioned his spot or where he had shifted it to. Not until now!

"Anyone else & I'll put up a bigger fight," Sylar went on. "A lot more will die. But you can do it. After what we have put each other through, what we've been through yesterday, you're the only one who's earned that right."

"Gabriel, you'll be okay," said Peter, pulling his hand out of Sylar's grip, away from his heart. He copied the flight power as his fingers slipped away & took off.

Sylar closed the door, then leaned back against it. "I know, Peter," he said softly, sliding down to sit on the floor. "Either way, I know, if you're handling it."

(AN: Ok so I did a thing, then built up on that thing & finally, in edits, I added a bit more when I realized what happened. The band Nightwish inspired the title of this fic, borrowed from 'The Poet & The Pendulum" & during edits, I noticed a few more randomly placed lyrical lines I had used without thinking. So then ... I added a few more, deliberately. In this chapter, 3 are referenced: The Poet & The Pendulum/Cadence (loosely)/Dead Gardens.)