I don't own Heroes, or am I doing this for money, etc.
It means that you will collect a lot of powers. You will kill many people. You will become strong. The strongest of them all. But in the end, it won't make any difference. We all gather to stop you. You're alone. No one will mourn your death. No one will shed a tear. No one. I wish I could change fate, but you must go on your path.
-Hiro to Sylar in 'Once Upon a Time in Texas'
A moth might love a flame/ But how shall they join their souls, silly moth?/ Asked the flame./ Very carefully / Said the moth / But it can be done /If we have love.
- Bert Byfield , 'The Moth to the Flame: A Love Story'
Lounged.
Sylar lounged on his bed, while swinging a foot back and forth like a clock's pendulum. He smiled rakishly. A few days of dark stubble covered his handsome face, while his dark eyes stared piercingly at her.
Elle struggled against the unseen force that pinned her against the wall. She was helpless with her hands pressed against her stomach, and her feet several inches above the ground. As she struggled, Sylar smiled arrogantly, which had the unexpected and infuriating effect of making her want him so very much. The sheer power of the man fascinated her. Sylar was more powerful than Adam, than Daddy, than another special she had ever met. Elle needed him. Needed him to want her, to have him look at her like Gabriel did in his Queens apartment. She needed him to love her again.
Finally he spoke, 'What's the game this time Elle? Some elaborate plot to shoot me while I escape?'
She stopped struggling. 'No, game. I want things to be like they were in Queens. I couldn't save you then, but I can now. I can save us both.'
He laughed. She hated that he laughed. How could he laugh at her? After all she was giving up for him? She gave up her Daddy, the Company, really everything she ever had, for him, all for him. So how could he laugh?
'Fuck, you then,' she told him.
The laughter stopped. His expression became serious. Sylar said, 'You already did, remember?' He paused and seemed to consider something. 'Actually, I've always wondered how much of that you faked. If you really enjoyed our time together or if it was all an act.'
She shook her head. Pain radiated from the base of her skull. Her vision swam for a second, and then refocused. Elle felt like vomiting. Instead, she tried to piece some words together that might make him love her.
'It was real,' Elle assured him. 'I loved you Gabriel. I still love you.'
He remained quite. His face was blank as he watching her, while his foot continued its metronome.
She prompted, 'Remember how you said you loved me?'
He answered hurtfully, 'I never said that. Gabriel did.' He smiled before continuing, 'I'm not Gabriel anymore. You saw to that. I'm Sylar now.'
Elle did not know how to respond to that. She felt like someone had run a steel girder through her chest leaving a gabbing weeping wound. Things were not supposed to be like this. Why would he not just leave with her? Could he not see that she was doing all this for him? That she loved him?
Elle knew that they had to hurry. Eden might wake up soon, or someone might notice that the security camera was out and come charging in to 'rescue' her. She decided on another approach.
'We have to hurry, or we'll never make it out of here,' she told him.
He smiled wider. 'I can leave anytime I want.'
'No, you can't,' Elle answered. 'Soon someone is going to notice the camera doesn't work. And then they will see Eden lying in the middle of the hall.'
He shrugged.
She insisted, 'If you don't come with me now, you're going to die in here all sad, and cold, and alone, and even I won't love you then.'
The smile fell. His expression changed as he jumped off the bed. His long legs quickly closed the distance between them. Dark eyes searched her face like some truth would reveal itself if only he looked harder.
Sylar demanded, 'Who told you that?'
Bewildered Elle replied, 'No one told me that. They don't need to, because it's true.'
His breath beat against her cheek. Elle squirmed against the wall. He smiled at her. God that smile made Elle want to do things, very bad, very dirty things. The power that Sylar so carelessly displaced made her shiver.
He scared her. He thrilled her. Perhaps those annoying doctors Daddy made her see where right? A normal girl should not feel this turned on by a serial killer, right? In this moment, with Sylar's warm muscular body pressed so close, Elle really did not care what he was, only if he would let her be with him forever.
'What was that?' she asked. Sylar said something she missed, because she was too distracted by the closeness of his body.
Annoyed and with an expression that reminded her a little too much of how Daddy looked at her, Sylar repeated, 'I have some trouble trusting you, Elle.'
'I know,' she answered quickly, 'but you can this time, really. You can trust me.'
He remained silent. His head tilted to the left like the weight of his considerations unbalanced his mind. She could barely hold his intense gaze. Elle was almost down to the last thing she could offer him. This was supposed to be his reward, but this whole situation was completely different from the fantasies that kept her awake at night.
'I'll give them to you,' she whispered.
He leaned closer, with his moisture inviting lips scant inches away. Sylar asked, 'Give me who?'
'Specials. People with powers, I'll give them to you. I've got the Company's files. You can have whoever you want. Just please take me with you, please,' the last word ended in her needy little girl voice.
Sylar remained quite. She could tell her offer tempted him. Elle deiced to offer him the very last thing she could.
Blue eyes closed as she leaned forward. Their lips met. At first Sylar was still, his mouth firmly closed. Then suddenly he kissed her. Muscular arms pin her to the wall. The force that held her disappeared. Elle wrapped her slender arms around his strong neck. She pulled him close, as his bulk pressed against her. His tongue was in her mouth. It brushed and teased against hers. Elle moaned into his mouth.
She did not know how long they stayed like that. They kissed, groped and ground against each other through the irritating impenetrable barrier of clothes. What Elle did know was that the world moved. Somehow the world managed to shift, to dissolve and reform itself into something else, something other than it was moments before.
Sylar broke the kiss and nuzzled her neck. He kissed and nipped at the exposed tender flesh, while her fingers raked through his hair. Only a few months had past since the last time they did this, yet to Elle it had felt like an eternity. At that moment, crushed between the cell wall and her lover, Elle swore she would never let stupid Daddy or the Company keep her away from Sylar ever again.
An involuntary shudder ran down her spin as he nipped her throat. She hated herself for what she said next. 'Stop.'
He did not.
'STOP.'
A mixture of fury and confusion marred his handsome features. Gently she cupped his cheek. Then she told him, 'We have to leave, now. We've taken too long as it is and we have to hurry.'
He was about to protest, when she pressed a small finger to his lips. Elle leaned forward and whispered, 'Tonight, I'm all yours and you can have anything.'
She leaned back a little. Their eyes met. Elle said softly, 'Anything.'
He smiled. Elle kissed him on the cheek, before breaking his grasp. Her feet were on the ground now, and she led him quickly to the open cell door. The click of her heals mixed with his bare foot slap as the hurried towards the exit.
An Unlucky Shoe Store- Odessa, Texas
'Why are we stopping?'
'Because you need shoes,' Elle responded.
Amazingly, Sylar appeared unconvinced at her response. As funny as watching him half hobble and half hop across the Company parking to the car was, he would need shoes. Plus, Elle knew they had to ditch the Company car.
Smoothly she parallel parked, just like the Company driving instructors taught. Elle had the door open and was about to step out, when she noticed that Sylar had not moved. Impatiently she turned to him. His dark eyes stared down the street.
'This again,' Elle asked.
'Yes.'
'I've told you before, there wasn't time, or I would have let you kill her,' Elle answered.
When she finally got him out of his cell, Sylar started drooling the moment he saw Eden's unconscious body. His eyes took on a feral needy aspect that reminded her of the time he killed Trevor. Elle had to plead with him, and had even shocked him before she dragged a protesting Sylar away from the other woman. Even now, with the Company miles behind, he remained stuck on his lost snack.
Her blue eyes watched him. In the passenger seat, Sylar remained silently brooding. Deep brown eyes fixed on the various storefronts across the street. He reminded Elle of a kid from the movies she watched, little Sylar throwing a hissy fit because he did not get a toy from the toy store.
Well, Mommy could make it all better. In fact Elle knew of a better toy she could give Sylar. She knew what toy he really, really wanted, and it was far better than stupid Eden.
'I know where she lives,' Elle said.
'Hmm,' he responded still distracted.
'Claire, the Cheerleader, I know where she lives.'
His head snapped around. Dark eyes alert and hungry. 'You do,' he made the words more a question than a statement.
'Yes, I do. But first you need some shoes,' Elle responded.
He glanced at his bare feet. Sylar nodded like realizing his feet were bare was a revelation. He turned to her with a smile Elle found unsettlingly. In an overly polite tone that reminded her of Gabriel, he asked, 'You'll get them for me, right Elle?'
'Sure,' she responded already feeling like there was more to his request than her paying for his shoes.
They left the car, with Elle leading Sylar across the street to the chain footwear store. There were only two people working on what looked like a slow afternoon. Even better was the momentary lack of store customers.
Elle looked around for a second trying to figure out how best to do this. Then a slightly overweight store employee named Cyndi gave Sylar a weary look before asking how she could help. Since she did not have a plan, Elle decided to go with it.
'Hey, my boyfriend needs some shoes. Can you help?' Elle asked all blue eyed innocence.
Name Tag Cyndi gave the couple a tight smile. Elle knew what the problem was. Sylar was dressed in a white T-shirt, white slacks, and shoeless, with dark stubble on his cheeks. All of which combined to make him look like an escaped mental patient.
Despite her obvious reservations, Cyndi did her job. She guided them to the men's section. The couple sat on a bench running between racks of shoes, while Cyndi retrieved a marginally clean pair of socks for Sylar to try on shoes with. He gave the socks an offended look before slipping them on.
Then sounding like he was ordering lunch, Slayer requested, 'Docs, size ten and half, black.'
Cyndi turned to the shoe racks. Cyndi perused the racks as she muttered something nearly inaudible. Finally, she stopped and turned back to Sylar.
Politely Cyndi said, 'Looks like I'll have to get some from the back. I'll be just a minute.' Then she quickly walked behind the counter and disappeared through a door Elle assumed led to where more shoes were stored.
Elle sighed contently as she snuggled against Sylar. Her arm wrapped around his trim waist. Elle liked holding her boyfriend close. She was so happy that her first real date with Sylar included shoe shopping. Things were going to be perfect between them. Elle knew it.
The door chimed. Elle turned her head. A brown suited delivery man walked in carrying a package. She ignored him, while slipping her other arm around Sylar.
'Elle,' Sylar's voice amused.
'Hmm,' she responded, annoyed that he was running the moment.
'I need to be able to trust.'
'You can,' she assured him, with a gentle squeeze of his waist.
'I was thinking you could do something for me,' he said with a widening wolfish smile.
Elle would gladly do something for him. In fact she looked forward to doing many things for, and with, and to him. However, the middle of a shoe store did not seem like the place.
'This isn't the place for that,' she said. 'Not that I don't want to but it's kind of public…' she trailed off as her hand slide from his waist to his crotch. She squeezed him gentle, while kissing his cheek.
Sylar pulled her hand away from his crotch. His dark eyes seemed to consider her hand, before he met her gaze. In a arrogant tone he said, 'That wasn't what I was referring to. I need you do something so I know that I can trust you.'
Elle sat up a little at that. She could not figure out what he meant. Then Sylar pointed at the other employee and the delivery man. Turning her head to get a better look, Elle felt him lean in behind her.
Gently he whispered, 'Kill them.'
Elle supposed that his words were supposed to shock her. The Elle she pretended to be in Queens would have been shocked, but not the real Elle. She turned to look at him. Sylar tilted his head, with one eyebrow raised in question.
Shoe shopping and murder. This was by far the best date ever. Electricity hummed to life in her hands.
'What the?' the confused female voice startled Elle.
Cyndi had returned. The shoes clattered to the floor as Cyndi stared at the blue white electricity humming in Elle's hand. Elle smiled reassuring at the other woman.
'Bye, Cyndi,' Elle said as lighting arched from her hand. Cyndi slammed into a rack of shoes, which scattered across the floor. Then Elle turned to the surprised delivery man and store employee. The latter turned into a blacked husk with a flick of her wrist.
Elle coughed as the smells of ozone and charred meat assaulted her. She loved her sparks, but the aftereffect of them was a little nauseating. Still, she supposed it was worse for the delivery man, because he just vomited all over the floor.
Elle turned in Sylar's muscular arms. With a sweet innocent smile, she said, 'All done.'
'What about him?' he asked.
'Nope, he's yours.'
Sylar looked confused. He seemed puzzled that she had not killed the delivery man.
This time she whispered to him all school girl innocent, or what Elle imagined as school girl innocent, because she ever actually went to a school. 'You need new clothes, and he's about your size.'
His dark hungry eyes held questions. Elle raised a hand, and sparked a lithe finger against his noise. Sylar flinched.
She could hear the heavy fast footfalls of the delivery man running to the door. Again she whispered, 'If I do it, I'll mess up his clothes.'
Suddenly the footfalls stopped. A scream sounded behind her, masculine at first and then high pitched girly. The sound of cracking bone was followed by something heavy hitting the floor.
The entire time Elle watched his eyes. She supposed they were like hers, except darker. Sylar seemed to enjoy the violence, and the release of getting his way at the expense of others. Elle did, and he was like her. That was why she loved him so much.
Their gazes met. She smiled. He smiled.
'Trust me now?' she asked.
He did not say anything. In fact, he barely moved. However, his slight movement was everything to Elle, because he kissed her.