Chapter 2, in which three months have passed

The first power that Spencer's power had figured out was his mother's. It had started to learn her as soon as he was old enough to see the world and know it, and know her. Diane Reid was a woman with an amazing memory, Reid copied, learned, and understood that memory from her, making it his own power and feeding the hunger that he didn't understand, and feared to understand even as he was urged to understand himself. He understood also, that his mother's brilliant, special ability of memory was compromised. As he grew and taught himself, he knew that what compromised his mother was her paranoid schizophrenia. Up until he was eighteen, Spencer did his best to try and fix her, had an urge to fix her, unwilling to except that he couldn't, because he knew deep, deep, down that he should be able to fix her.

Though he went on to study Mathematics, Chemistry and Engineering, earning terminal degrees in all three subjects in record time, showing an aptitude for understanding the logic behind all of those disciplines. It satisfied the hunger in him, somewhat, but he still had an interest in psychology, how people's personalities were formed. He wanted to understand everything, he could. He wanted to know, to understand, to analyze and make his own, that dark ringing echoing in his head, urging him on.

The hunger got worse every year, getting deeper and darker and ringing more heavily, conquering his thoughts with that urge to know and understand and take for his own, hoarding as much as he could in his head. It was terrifying and comforting at the same time, because it was a part of him but it was also something that he didn't want to be a part of him. There was nothing he could do about it except to try and hold it back enough so that he didn't do anything rash. So that he himself wasn't carted off somewhere where he couldn't satisfy the hunger on his own terms and end up doing something rash anyways.

Spencer turned his interest in to more degrees, Psychology and Sociology, and he had joined the BAU, even though some special modifications had to be made for him because of his utter ineffectiveness with physical skills. Understanding the criminals that he hunted down was the one way that Spencer could think of where this hunger of his could be put to good use while it was still satisfied in its… in his hunt for knowledge and understanding.

It worked too. It worked for a long while. The hunger was managed, still there, a ringing dark death knell in his head, but it was hidden and put under wraps. The only one that may have guessed early on was Gideon, but Spencer expected that. Gideon was one of the best profilers that the BAU had. Interesting how Gideon encouraged the hunger in positive ways, so maybe he didn't know after all. Again, not surprising.

Though… there were times where his other friends said things that made him freeze up inside, wondering if they knew. Like the OCD arsonist case. Elle had said "Arsonists are socially incompetent. This guy doesn't go on dates, doesn't go to parties, doesn't feel comfortable in front of groups." Then the look that she had given Spencer after that, the look that they shared, because she realized that she was describing Spencer to a "T" and Spencer felt his heart freeze and his hunger raise looking at her with such an intense want to know if she knew, if she guessed. Elle then had continued with, "And of course, he's a total psychopath." Spencer had responded in kind, confirming that she didn't know.

It wasn't until Georgia, the Hankel case, being captured and drugged and tortured. The only way to calm the hunger after that was to take the drugs, because then the hunger was suppressed completely, and the dark ringing stopped of a while, delivering blessed silence and a lack of mental pressure. But in between… between when the drug would wear off and when he took the next hit, belt around his bicep and needle in his elbow again, it came back, taking over until Spencer wrestled it back into place where he could hold it for at least a few moments.

Just as he was wrestling with it now and considering taking out the Dilaudid from his messenger bag and taking it. He had been clean for three months now, barely… He had stopped taking it after he had gotten asked by Mr. Bennet to be the FBI Liaison to The Company. Somehow he had known that Spencer's enhanced memory was more than what it seemed. He had been rather convincing too, though that wasn't why Spencer agreed to it. Spencer agreed because he wanted more contact with Mr. Bennet wanted to figure him out, and this was a perfect way to get to know him, to get to understand him.

Again, that was three months ago. Since that first meeting, (that same day that he had met Gabriel, the man that he had only figured out a fraction of and wanted to know more about him too, and did meet up with him, after that day) he had only talked with Bennet over the phone, updating him on the Sylar investigation, letting him know just how close, or rather, not close, the FBI's investigation was.

Which brings Spencer back to why he was considering breaking his good streak of being clean. Agent Audrey Hanson was going to be the death of him really, considering that exactly how many people she was arresting, claiming that they were Sylar. And none of them fit the profile of Sylar that Spencer had created. Such as this Officer Matt Parkman of the L.A.P.D. Audrey was not earning herself any points with this in his books. Spencer had just come back from his coffee break, again meeting with Gabriel, the fact that Gabriel was always in the same town as Spencer was on various Sylar investigations hadn't been lost on Spencer, just ignored in favor of the fact that he liked meeting with the man and had no real solid evidence anyway, when he heard about the latest case of Audrey being hand-cuff happy.

"Let me see if I have this straight ," Spencer sad, forcing down the want of Dilaudid and the burning ring of the hunger as best as he could. Evidently, he failed in that endeavor given how Audrey flinched then stiffened in defiance. "You arrested a police officer. A police officer that found the daughter of the victims alive and who knew the word Sylar. That's not enough grounds for an arrest to stick and you know it."

"But only you, me, and the four other people working on this case know the name Sylar," Audrey snarled, pushing back her hair in an agitated gesture. He mouth opened to continue her reasons, but Spencer cut her off before she could say anything.

"Sylar is the name of a brand of German watches that were popular in the early 20th century. The brand would have been lost after the First World War, if not for the intervention of American soldiers bringing a few watches back to the states and having American watchmakers make copies. Every timepiece collector and restorer would know the name Sylar. I even own a Sylar watch." Spencer flashed his left wrist at Audrey, displaying that, yes; he was indeed wearing a Sylar brand watch. What she wouldn't know was that Spencer had only owned it for a month. Gabriel had given it to him as a gift. "Are you going to arrest every timepiece collector and restorer in the country as well as myself because of the knowledge of the name Sylar?"

"No! But–"

"And, knowing you, you were probably shouting that the Walker family murders were committed by Sylar."

"I wasn't–"

"Fervently insisting then. In any case, your record on arrests for this case is shot and when we do finally get the unsub called Sylar, let someone else cuff him. If you do it there will be a lot of doubt, no matter how much evidence we have that points to the unsub's guilt."

They had reached the interrogation room where Officer Parkman was being kept, so Audrey couldn't bite out a comment in response to Spencer's statement. She had to remind herself that she shouldn't say anything too out of line any way because, as much as Spencer looked like a teacher's assistant with a gun, and the fact that he was only twenty five years old, he was still her superior, and he could cut her down with a few more well placed words. It also didn't help that she knew that he was right.

Audrey Hanson was a good agent, and passionate about bringing law beakers to justice. The fact that she was a female agent meant that she had to work twice to four times as hard as her male counterparts to get the same amount of recognition. But that passion was being used against her and turning into an obsession for bringing down Sylar, and her credibility was constantly taking hits on this case. She was destroying her career even as she tried to prove her worth. It was truly a pity, in Spencer's mind, but it was also her own fault. She couldn't see how she was sabotaging her career.

The confused glare that Parkman was sending him as the two FBI agents entered the room peeked the interest of the hunger, the half thought, half felt urges to know, to understand, to control echoing over Spencer's thoughts and covering any other thought that he might of tried to put together.

Audrey was speaking, "This is Special Agent Dr. Reid."

Parkman looked like he was about to ask something, but he seemed to think better of it, though he still glanced at Spencer warily, roving his gaze between Spencer and Audrey and back.

Spencer decided to break the silence first, "I know that you've been here for a while, so we'll try to make this quick so you can get back to your wife." He took the chair across the table from Parkman, while Audrey stood, leaning against a wall, her arms crossed over her chest. "Could you explain to us what happened at the Walker house today?"

Parkman sighed, running his hands over his head in a frustrated manner, "I don't know how else to explain this. I heard a little girl call for help. I went to her, That's all that happened."

"So you just waltzed right in, and found a kid hiding in a wall, then pull the name Sylar out of your ass when only a hand full of us know that name," Said Audrey from her spot on the side of the room, her voice dripping with disbelief. Spencer threw a glare over his shoulder at her, that she looked away from, arms crossed over her chest.

"It's like … It was like someone was talking to me. Except it was in my head."

That perked Spencer's interest, before Audrey could ask more sarcastic questions, Spencer spoke, "Voices? What kind of voices? Do they just talk or do they give orders?"

"No," Officer Parkman seemed to be searching for words to describe what he heard, "…It's more like I can hear people's thoughts…. Or something, I don't know."

"The thoughts, what do they sound like?" Spencer pressed, leaning forward eagerly, hungrily. "What happens when you do hear them?"

"there's… sort of a small echo, like it's coming from a long way off, but still being said right next to my ear. And my actually hearing gets muffled slightly. But like I said, it just happens, I can't control when I hear, but not hear, the words…." Spencer felt a click in his head while Parkman trailed off, giving Spencer a suspicious look.

Why is he asking those questions? What does it have to do with anything?

Parkman's voice echoed in Spencer's head. It was exactly like the man had said. Thoughts sounded like an odd echo, because the sensation was of a voice coming from both a great distance away, and also from right next to him. It was odd, it was exhilarating and able to satiate the black hunger that was also in Spencer's mind. Content, Spencer tried an experiment and sent a thought deliberately to Parkman's head.

Because I can do the same, Officer Parkman.

Parkman's jaw dropped, flabbergasted, yet also somewhat… relieved maybe? The sensation that he wasn't going through this and dealing with powers alone was so astounding and amazing to him.

Audrey interrupted the moment, with a portion of mulish disbelief. "Can you tell me what I'm thinking? I'm wide open carnak," she said as she stepped up to the table.

Parkman glared at her. "You think I'm nuts, or stupid," he growled.

"Great trick. Stop wasting our time."

Parkman looked like he was about to refute that statement, but Spencer shook his head, silencing the statement before it could become more than a thought. So Parkman sighed, but went rigid as her thoughts were caught by his power.

C'mon Parkman, I need this more than you do. I need this. Nobody believes me…

"Nobody believes you…" Parkman said slowly out loud. "I know what that's like." That he muttered, but it seemed that Audrey heard him as she gave Parkman a sharp look. Parkman sighed again, "How much longer do I have to be in here?"

Audrey and Spencer traded looks, with Spencer giving her a little nod with a small smile. She looked over to the two way mirror, back to Spencer then over to Parkman again. "Depends," she said with a deliberate slowness. "How would you like to work with the FBI?"

Spencer was having just a little bit of fun with this new power of his. Well, the power that he borrowed off of Parkman permanently. Though, admittedly it was a little hard to get used to that odd echo of thoughts that occasionally came his way. It was also easier to control than he expected it to be. Because really, telepathy, every comic book incarnation of the power exhibited it as being this massive crush of thoughts on the untrained telepath. Not so in real life. Which was good. No need to worry yet about going insane.

"You want to tell me why I'm still here?" Came Parkman's annoyed voice from behind Spencer and Audrey. "Or am I just going to follow you around?"

"We need you to talk to her, to know what she knows," said Audrey shortly.

"To who?"

Spencer took up that question. "Molly Walker, the little girl that you found. We're keeping her here until it's safe and relatives can be found to take care of her. Since she's been through the severe trauma of seeing her parents murdered in front of her she hasn't said a word to anyone since she's been brought in."

"What makes you think she'll talk to me?"

"well, if you're really a mind reader, then she won't need to," Audrey's voice was a touch heavy on the doubtful side, but she was beginning to believe that Parkman truly had the ability to read minds, and wasn't just a crazy shmuck.

Parkman nodded once, then asked "Who is Sylar? What's he doing?"

Spencer answered this question, saving Audrey from making a speech, "He's a serial killer that has left a trail of bodies across twelve states His usual MO is to impale people on household objects, but he also has broken bones. What's odd is that there isn't any sign of physical contact. Plus, some of the victims have had their head and neck mutilated, again, without any sign of physical contact or tool marks. Because of the disparity between what he does to the victims, most can't see the connections between the murders."

"And you two think it's all him."

Spencer nodded once while Audrey said, "And it's going to get a whole lot worse if someone doesn't go after him."

The elevator doors dinged once, opening to let the trio out on the basement floor of the LA FBI office and they stepped through. The short ride down had been somewhat tense, each person stewing in his or her own thoughts. "We're keeping her in a safe room down here," said Audrey as they turned a corner.

A high-pitched scream broke the air.

"It's him! It's Sylar!"

Audrey's shout spurred them all to go faster than they had been running, Audrey in front, with Spencer in the middle and Parkman bringing up the rear. Down the dim hall they could see the silhouette of little Molly struggling against a tall, thin man wearing a large jacket and a baseball cap.

"Freeze!" Audrey shouted, prompting the man, Sylar, to run down the hall, leaving Molly where she was. Spencer followed after Audrey and distantly heard Parkman stop to make sure that Molly was all right.

After many turns in the bowels of the building, and finally getting out his gun, Spencer fully caught up with Audrey in time to hear her say, "Show me your hands! Do it or I'll put you down!"

So Sylar did show her his hands. At the flick of his fingers, Audrey was suddenly pushed against a nearby crate and her hand brought up her gun to her head, perfectly poised to shoot.

He could hear Audrey's panic, words tumbling over themselves in her head, and now his own, about how she wasn't going to die, not here, not now, not when Sylar was right there, and definitely not with her own gun. Another thought cut through it all though, a single word, a name, which made Spencer look over at the man, at Sylar, in surprise.

Spencer

Their eyes met over the barrel of Spencer's gun, Spencer was sure of it even though the baseball cap that Sylar was wearing shadowed his eyes and face. Spencer felt his mouth move, making the motions to say "Gabriel" without voicing the name aloud.

Parkman then came on the scene, taking in the situation of Audrey having her gun to her head and Spencer staring, seemingly stupefied, at Sylar. He took in the situation and made a judgment about what to do with the speed of a beat cop that should have been a detective. Shots fired, and Sylar crumpled. Spencer half moved forward, wanting to reach for Sylar, for Gabriel, but staying in place, his mind purposefully blank. He wasn't going to cause questions for himself.

When Sylar went down, having been shot in the chest, his concentration was broken, so Audrey no longer had to struggle against the force wanting her to pull the trigger.

"You okay?" Parkman asked the collapsed Audrey. Spencer would have been next to Parkman, making sure that Audrey was all right, but his gaze was glued to Sylar and watched while he stood, despite having semingly taken several bullets to the chest. Spencer must have made some sort of noise, because that was when Parkman and Audrey both made simultaneous gasps of surprise. They wathed in awe as Sylar lifted himself up and out of the dead end.

Spencer kept watching, long after Sylar had disappeared, because he couldn't really grasp the evidence that was laid before his eyes. Now he knew, with out a doubt in his own mind, though there wouldn't be any evidence to show in a case file, that Sylar was Gabriel Gray.