Title: Frenemies: Connections
Rating: NC-17
Characters/Pairings: Peter, Sylar, cameos by Angela, Noah, Matt, Hiro.
Summary: Time passes and things happen in Peter's life. The next chapters in this series would be Lornrocks' two fics.
Warnings: Slash, explicit sexual content, some swearing, generic violence, rough sex, unbeta'd.
Notes: Written in present tense. I have no idea why. It just seemed right. First time I've ever written that way.

Sylar must have decayed the body, Peter thinks, because all the team finds when they go back to check a few hours later is a small pile of dark, loamy soil where the corpse once lay. No one even considers the timeline, or that Peter's story doesn't really make sense. He told them he'd gone to check on her, seen movement in the greenhouse, had a fight with Sylar, and then the monster ran off.

They don't ask him what ability he has now or why Sylar would leave him alive. They don't think about him at all, which bothers Peter. A lot. He's just a resource to them, but not even one they're paying much attention to. They're all angry that Sylar "won" this round and they talk about it like it's some kind of game with winners and losers. He scuffs his shoe through the rich humus Sarah left behind. I haven't lost. They haven't lost. She's the only one here who lost. He sighs and hates Sylar for all the confused feelings he's having.

He rescues the succulent that was knocked off the bench while he and Sylar had sex. He restores it to a new pot and puts it back up in the light, giving it some water. Ando is laughing in the background about how dirty his shoes are now and how he is a 'man of the earth'. None of them know what it is they're standing in. Peter decides not to tell them.

They're fucking again, which is wonderful. Sylar squats above him, having declared that he really likes the position. It gives him control, which he wants. He's obsessive about it. Peter doesn't mind. He came home to find Sylar poking around in his bedroom and when confronted about the home invasion, Sylar reminded him smugly (nearly everything he did was smug) that Peter had told him not to wait outside.

Peter got angry at being wrong and he didn't really care if it was hypocritical of himself. He let it out on Sylar and hit him. Sylar hit him back, an open-handed slap, which strangely reminded Peter of how differently Sylar had fought the team Peter was part of and how he'd fought Peter himself when he had regeneration. Peter still had the red mark on his face. The other side was still decorated by the stitches for the cut Sylar had given him last time.

They'd come together after that exchange of blows, grappling and fighting. Shoved backwards, Peter had tripped, falling on the bed. He'd started to get back up, but his jeans came undone by themselves and he froze. He'd been planning on kicking Sylar's ass good and hard. But… then Sylar was jerking his own clothes off and Peter just sat there on the bed dumbly until the other man climbed over him.

At that point, all he could think was that yeah, fighting in the bedroom probably isn't a good idea… might break something. The next thing he knows, they're fucking and it's awesome. Peter puts back his head and basks in it, letting it happen, loving it, thinking this is way better than fighting. His face still stings - both sides. He reaches out and touches Sylar, feeling the tingle of ability transfer.

Sylar must feel it too, because he groans and his head comes up. He looks at Peter and pants, grinning, "You're going to use me as a fucking power bank while we're having sex? Oh my God, Peter. That is so sexy and fucked up." He laughs and falls back again, bracing himself on Peter's thighs so as to take him all the way in.

Peter's face heals and then he swaps again for telekinesis. Sylar comes this time, as if from that sensation alone.

Peter is sitting in the Petrelli mansion, listening as his mother tells lies about his father to some executives from Yamagato Fellowship. Hiro sits across from him, reading a comic book, of all things. Important decisions are being made and Hiro isn't paying any attention at all. Peter watches as his mother extracts the promises of assistance and information that she wants, getting permission for containment facilities to be operated in Japan and offering cash from the Company's extensive coffers of gold.

Peter sighs, thinking about how Hiro's little team has become no better than a bag-and-tag group at the disposal of the Company. Hiro finishes his comic book and pulls out his iPhone. He begins playing a game on it. He glances up at Peter's growl of displeasure, but he doesn't see what Peter is upset about. He goes back to his amusement.

At various points in the past, Peter had trusted Noah Bennet. He seemed like a good father, or at least well intentioned. Sometimes he gave people breaks. Today Peter watches silently from the doorway as Noah checks for a pulse on the young woman he just shot, probably fatally. He shot her for the crime of having Intuitive Aptitude - Sylar's ability.

Harmless little clockwork toys litter the room, on shelves and across the floor. She's collapsed on at least three. Noah nods, satisfied with his work. "She's dead."

In a quiet voice stripped of emotion, Peter asks, "Why didn't you tell me we were coming here to kill her?"

Noah looks at him blankly, as if surprised Peter would even ask such a thing. "Would you have come?"

"No."

Noah shrugs and gives him a gesture that says, 'well, that's why.'

Peter can hardly believe it. "Why did you have me come at all?" He doesn't know why he asks that, as he's pretty sure he knows, but he needs to hear it.

Noah shrugs. "We didn't have any proof she'd gained any abilities, but it seemed possible. If she did, it seemed most likely that you'd be able to borrow them and turn them against her. You're our most flexible asset in that regard. One of these days we're going to catch up to Sylar…" His voice trails off wistfully and Peter winces. He feels like there's a knife twisting in his gut.

Noah sees his expression, but misunderstands the cause. The older man tells him, "We'll get him one of these days. He can't run forever. We've got him isolated, so on the run that he can't form connections, can't make any ties. Every time he gets an ally or a friend, we strip that away. People can't stay sane when they're being hunted like that. He'll make a mistake eventually."

Peter nods.

They run through several positions in the empty stockroom, starting with Sylar bent over some boxes of metal parts and ending with Peter sitting on a box while Sylar holds the shelves on either side of them, raising and lowering himself on Peter's shaft.

Peter kisses his back and runs his hands up and down the smooth expanse of skin. He snakes his arms around Sylar's front, tweaking his nipples and getting a virtual chirp out of Sylar. Or maybe a squeak, but it sounds weirdly bird-like. Peter grins and does it a few more times to hear Sylar's noises.

"I love the sounds you make," he murmurs.

"Fuck you…" Sylar says and he falls silent, made self-conscious by Peter's comment.

That pisses Peter off and he starts working Sylar hard to force sex noises out of him. He manages it only at the end, where what starts as a choked whimper turns into a groan and then Sylar gives up and yells. His cum splatters across the dusty floor. He starts to get up, but Peter grabs him. They struggle for a moment:

Peter: "I'm not done."

Sylar: "I am."

Peter: "Get back here. Come on."

Sylar: "Use your hand."

Peter: "God-damnit! Just because you're-"

Sylar: "Let go of me!"

Peter trips Sylar intentionally and he falls, hitting his head on the industrial style metal shelving as he goes. He's too rattled to stop Peter from shoving his head down and yanking his ass up, then burying himself inside the man again. Sylar grunts as he comes to, his face smeared with dust and his own cum, being fucked vigorously by Peter, who has taken telekinesis again and pinned him to the floor with it.

Sylar could fight him. He could. Instead he croons softly and uses what mobility Peter has left him to push back rhythmically, meeting his thrusts. Peter calms down, but he still fucks him hard.

Peter is staring at Matt Parkman's face and everything is suddenly crystal clear. Parkman's mouth hangs open in shock as he realizes that Peter just took his ability, apparently just for the hell of it. Which is a pretty good summation of why, though there's a little more to it today. Peter's an ability whore. He likes taking different ones and Matt's ability has always been amusing. While he's touching Matt, he has instant insight to his thoughts and that's what he really wants today.

Matt runs and suddenly Peter wishes he still had telekinesis. He dashes after him, chasing him through the house. Thankfully it's empty - Janice and little Matty are elsewhere. Hiro is waiting outside, engrossed in some new game on his iPhone. Peter doubts he'll notice that Matt and Peter are fighting like mad just a few score of feet away.

Matt's going for a gun. Peter saw that much in his mind before he broke contact. He can't read him casually unless they're touching. What he saw motivates Peter a lot. Matt had called Angela, telling her he had painted the future again and had information that was vital to bringing in Sylar. She'd called Hiro and asked him to go by and pick the paintings up, because Matt wouldn't give her details over the phone, saying it was too sensitive. Peter volunteered to go along, curious about what Matt had found… and concerned.

No one told Matt that Peter might be there. He'd called Angela because she'd need to know if they were to use Peter's relationship with Sylar to catch the man. Now they are in Matt's bedroom and Peter rams his body into the bigger man, slamming him against the wall and making it impossible for him to get into the nightstand. It also puts them in contact again. Matt can't hold up the mental barriers against direct touch.

Peter's not as good as Matt is at using the ability, but he's a lot more invested in the outcome. Matt hates Sylar. So does Peter, and Matt sees that. It confuses him.

Why, Peter? he asks him mentally, not understanding even though he can see more than he wants to.

You will never tell anyone or I swear, I will get Rene's ability and erase every memory of everyone you've ever loved. Peter doesn't know why he picks that particular threat. He doesn't contemplate how parallel his feelings for Sylar are for Matt's love for his families and past lovers. All he thinks is that it's a threat that will frighten Matt and it's one he's willing to carry through on if he has to. He'd push a thought of mental command or compulsion if he could, but Matt would only unravel it later. The threat is real. Matt sees that. It's suddenly not so important to bring Sylar in.

At least… Matt thinks to him, Sylar must never touch me or my family in any way. Ever. If he so much as shows up where he's not supposed to be, the deal's off. Got it?

Got it. Peter lets him go. Thinking that Matt is willing to sell out any number of people he doesn't know in order to protect the few he does. Peter can't really blame him. His own moral compass is spinning out of control. "Where are the paintings?"

"In the basement."

Peter goes with him, scowling at the wall, wondering what's bricked up behind it now, if anything. He doesn't inquire. Honestly, he doesn't want to know. He watches while Matt slathers paint all over a rendering of Peter and Sylar having sex and another of the two of them facing off with what looked like agents of Homeland Security. A figure that might have been Noah Bennet was in the background with a cell phone held to his ear.

"There's only the two?"

"Yes," Matt answers. Peter puts out his hand in a simple gesture. Matt looks away a few times, then takes it. Peter checks. Matt was telling the truth.

"Okay," Peter says, releasing him. "I'm going to tell my mother you had a painting of Sylar in a greenhouse turning a woman's body to dirt and another of him facing off with some agents. Nothing about me."

"What are you going to tell her about the paintings themselves? She wanted to see them."

"How old is Matty? Four?" Parkman nods so Peter continues, "Fine. Tell her he got down here and painted over it, ruined them. That's the story."

Matt nods again. The two of them stand silently watching the paint dry. Matt asks quietly, "Why Sylar, Peter? Does this have something to do with Nathan?"

Peter's teeth grind together, but he before he says anything, he looks hard at Matt Parkman. Matt never trusted Sylar at any stage, though honestly he was probably right in that. Even now though, there's no understanding in his face, no sympathy, not even really curiosity. He's looking for something to validate his own opinions. All of Peter's empathy, all of these years, just makes him really skilled at telling how shallow and prejudiced people really are, how eaten up with hate and fear and selfishness. Not that he's any different. Sylar isn't different either, except that he admits to it. There's something refreshing in that honesty.

After a long moment pondering Matt's question, Peter says, "Nathan has nothing to do with it." He turns and walks out. Hiro doesn't even question the explanation. Angela doesn't either, but the look she gives Peter makes him wonder if she already knew. He doesn't ask and even though he has Parkman's ability, he doesn't check. She doesn't get to sit in judgment over him. It was her orders that made Sylar, after all.