Chapter 46

Around four p.m., Elle returned from one of her many bathroom trips to find her keys sitting on her desk and a quickly sprawled note telling her that her car was parked on the street around the corner. While she appreciated having her car back, she was disappointed that she had missed Peter. His having the keys meant that there was a very good chance he had talked to Sylar, and Elle wanted to hear everything that had happened there. She also wanted the opportunity to find out more about what Peter was planning. She had a feeling that he was being cryptic on purpose because he did not think she would like whatever it was.

She went home with a plan of her own, a plan that hinged on Sylar being there. She tried not to worry about what might have happened at his father's house after she left. She told herself that Sylar loved her and was committed to their family and that it was just silly for her to think that one conversation with his father would change any of that. She understood, on a rational level, that he was not his father, but that did not stop her from being nervous as she opened the door to her apartment.

It appeared that he was not there, although she could never really be sure of that. She set her purse on the counter and sighed. That did not mean anything either. It did not mean that he was not coming back or that he had decided that he could not be with her. It just meant that he might not be there right then.

She looked around for some sign that he might have been there, because again, her mind refused to listen to reason. Until she knew something for sure, it would just keep assuming the worst. It took her longer than it should have to notice the post-it note on the television. It said that Nathan had bugged the apartment and told her to put on a DVD, something she had seen before in case Nathan asked about it.

Elle did what the post-it note told her to do because she thought these instructions might have been written in Sylar's handwritting. If not, then she would at least get to find out more about the plan. Since she was fairly certain there was an invisible man there, even if she was not sure which one, Elle prepared herself for anything that might startle her.

The first sign Elle had that someone was actually there was the sound of the floor creaking. Just like the time before, when Noah was there, Elle knew that Sylar had made the floor creak on purpose. She watched the spot as Sylar became visible. Before she could do or say anything, he held his finger up to his lips. He went around her and turned the volume of the television up several more decibels. Then he took her hand and pulled her into the bedroom.

Sylar closed the bedroom door very gently behind them. "Peter swears that he took out all bugs in the bedroom, his and Nathan's," he whispered. "But he had to leave the ones in the living room, otherwise Nathan would wonder why he was getting no sound at all."

In that moment, Elle did not care about any of that; she was just glad he was there. Nathan was an issue that needed to be dealt with, but it was much more important for her to know how things had gone with Sylar's father. She tried to be optimistic. Surely they would not be going through all this trouble if he had decided that he could not stay with her. "What did your father say after I left?" she asked, still bracing herself for the worst, just in case.

Sylar sighed, and Elle knew before he even spoke that she would not be getting details. "He did not really tell me anything I wanted to know, but I found out everything I needed to know."

Elle could have obsessed about what exactly that meant, but he was there, and she decided to let that be good enough. She did not ask if he killed his father because she was sure that she knew the answer. Peter would have told her if Sylar had done anything like that.

There were a lot things they could talk about, but Elle did not feel much like talking. She kissed him urgently, pulling at his clothes and guiding him to the bed. She felt so strongly that she needed to be with him. It had only been a few hours since the last time she saw him, but it felt like so much longer. They had just had sex the night before, but it felt to Elle like they had not been together in ages. She realized then how afraid she had been that he would not be coming back. It felt like forever because she had been unconsciously preparing herself for forever. Now he was back, and she needed to send him away again.

She had thought of a way to make it easier for Sylar to feel empathy for one of his victims, but it required him to leave her, and she hated the thought of that. Pressed close to Sylar with him stroking her hair, it was so comforting and comfortable. Elle did not want to say anything to ruin it, but they only had the span of a movie for talking. "I think you should go to Texas."

Sylar was confused by this reaction, just as she knew that he would be. "What's in Texas?"

"Nothing now, but there used to be a waitress in Midland with an incredible memory. I don't know what Peter told you about his plans, maybe it was more than he told me, but he wants me to be ready to go into hiding with you in a week. And I think that waitress is your best shot at getting one of your abilities back."

He ducked his head down to look her in the eye. "I thought the waitress in Midland was dying anyway."

Elle nodded. She could have taken that as an out and told him to stay, but she needed to focus on the objective, not the distance. "She was, but you were right about her being nice. People loved her, and I bet if you go back to that diner, you'll find the people there are still hurting from the loss. I bet if you mention that you were in town about a year ago and ask if that friendly redhead still works there, they'll let you know exactly what was taken from them. And it'll be a lot more effective than reading reports."

Sylar nodded. "Okay, I'll go to Texas." He was still looking at her face. "You look sad," he observed.

Elle did not mean to look sad. "It's just that I hated it every time you left, and now I'm telling you to go two thousand miles away when you were finally getting used to the idea of staying."

"Actually, I wasn't going to--" He checked himself. "I am used to the idea of staying with you, but with Nathan doing surveillance, I can't stay here for this whole week. So this is good timing. I'll spend a few days in Texas, and for once, you'll know I'm coming back. Although I don't know how I'm going to prove to you that I have an incredible memory. Are you just going to take my word for it?"

It was not that Elle did not trust him, but this was their baby's welfare they were talking about. "You'll find a way to prove it. Learn a language in three days."

She was exaggerating, but he did not bat a lash at the request. "Do you want to choose the language to make sure that I'm not cheating?"

She thought he might be kidding, but it sounded like a good idea. "Sure." She got up from the bed to find her Russian phrasebook. As soon as she located it, she handed it to him. "Come back as soon as you can hold a conversation in Russian."

Sylar flipped through the book. "You speak Russian?"

She sat on the bed. "A little. Ivan taught me."

"Who's Ivan?" There was a false casualness in this that made Elle smile.

"A Ukrainian friend of mine." She was going to leave it at that because she liked making Sylar jealous, but then something occurred to her. "Hey, there's one father figure you didn't kill. Bennet got to him first."

There was a silence as Sylar tried to determine what to make of that. Elle listened hard to figure out how much of the movie was left, but she could not really make out the dialogue. "So you talked to Peter. What did he tell you?"

Sylar blew out his breath. "Not much. He told me about the bugs, about Nathan trying to draw me out, and that we needed to be getting ready to go into hiding. How did everything go for you today?"

Elle was disappointed that he had not told her anything that she did not already know, but she put that aside to answer his question. There was very little that happened with Nathan that was worth repeating, and Peter had probably related the gist of that conversation anyway. She tried to think of something else to say. "Well, John Celiano called me a slut."

Sylar shook his head and rolled his eyes. "One of these days, I'm going to kill that guy."

Elle smiled. She did not really want John to die, and she certainly did not want Sylar to jeopardize everything by killing someone so inconsequential, but she loved hearing him say that he wanted to kill John just to protect her honor. "No, you're not. Think about it from his point of view. He's only heard Nathan's version of the story, so it seems that I had a one night stand with the man who killed my father. That kind of requires me to play up the slut angle." She paused, but she felt the need to make something clear. "Seriously, don't kill him. That's not an appropriate response, and Peter would--"

"Peter." Sylar repeated the name. "He likes to pretend that he's our friend, but he's really...." Sylar did not finish that thought, which was fine because Elle did not need him to. "I think I could take him."

Elle opened to mouth to disagree. Thinking like that would not do Sylar any good. He continued before she could say anything. "I know all the reasons that I can't, but I just find it so hard to believe that he's stronger than me." He shook his head. "I didn't stop killing for Peter anyway. I did it for you and the baby."

She put her hand over her belly, really wanting to move the subject away from Peter. "And we appreciate that. We also appreciate that you haven't mentioned that the weight we've gained is starting to show in all the wrong places."

He set aside the phrasebook. He looked at her carefully, running his eyes over every inch of her, making her very aware of just how naked she was. It made her feel beautiful and self-conscious at the same time. He was just as naked, but he had the sheet to hide behind. Finally he said, "I don't see it."

She ran her hand back and forth over her stomach. "I've just been a little--" She was going to say bloated, but she stopped herself. If he did not see it, why point it out? The weight gain would be undeniable soon enough, and that was not really what she wanted to talk about with her remaining time. "When are you going to leave?"

"When the movie ends." He gently pushed her onto her back and moved over her. He rested his head closed to her stomach so that he could talk to the baby. "Hey there, I told you I could fix everything and make it so that your mother wasn't mad at me anymore. Now, I have to go to Texas, and when I get back in a week, we will be a family."

Elle really liked the sound of that word, family. "Well, I wanted to have sex, but now it's just awkward. It's like baby's right here."

Sylar kissed her stomach. "The baby was always right here." He moved his lips up her body, and soon he was able to make her forget all about it being awkward.

–

Elle returned to work on Monday morning, trying to put the events of Friday behind her. Sylar had gone to Texas, and she was just counting the days until she could expect him back. Nathan was gone too, back to Washington, which made Elle's workday a little less stressful. She knew that it was not any safer for her to talk in her own home, that she could not even call Sylar, but she felt better knowing that Nathan was not personally listening in.

About midday, Noah poked his head into her office. "Hey, Elle, I've been hearing some rumors around the office, and I was wondering if we could talk about them, partner to partner."

She was kind of happy to see him, although she did not know why. "Oh, are we still partners?"

Noah came all the way in. "Not really, but these rumors involve missions we ran together. Specifically the ones having to do with Sylar."

Elle could not imagine anything he could have heard through rumors that he did not already know, so she figured this little conversation was just for show. "You know, I don't know how much I can tell you about Sylar."

Noah was unfazed by this. "That's okay. We can still talk. Want to go to lunch?"

On a normal day, before Peter's secret plans started, Elle probably would have said no to doing anything even remotely social with Noah Bennet. Today, she was not sure if she should accept or not. She looked out the doorway to see if there were any people milling about, but she did not see anyone. She lowered her voice considerably. "Do you?"

"Sure," Noah said in an uncharacteristically amicable way. He gesture at the doorway. "Let's go."

Even after all this time, it still made Elle uncomfortable when Noah was nice to her. She got out her purse. "If you were going to kill me, you would have called it a security breach, right?"

Noah smiled. "Well, you're not working field assignments anymore, so that wouldn't make sense. But I don't know if the company would really go so far as to kill a pregnant woman."

"Even if I'm breeding another Sylar?" Elle had never been able to find the limits on what the company would and would not do. She did not think there was anything the company would do that would surprise her. She understood though that it was the individuals who made up the company, what her father, Arthur, Linderman were willing to do. Thinking about that, she wondered what her father would have done about this if he was still alive, whether he would have been disappointed in her or seen it as an opportunity. She realized that none of this would have happened if he had not died, if Sylar had not killed him.

Noah's response to her question took her by surprise. "Especially if you're having another Sylar. One we could raise in the company, control from an early age. That's what the company has always wanted."

Now Elle saw something they needed to talk about, and she felt much more inclined to have lunch with him. She stood. "You're paying."

In the car provided to Noah by the company, they chatted about pointless things like the weather and Claire's upcoming graduation. Both were aware that company cars were not the safest place to talk.

The ride took forever because Noah drove to the next town over, probably to avoid running into other agents. When they finally got to the restaurant and were seated, he said, "So, I hear you're leaving sometime this week."

When Noah said what he did about her child being raised in the company, Elle had forgotten that she was leaving, that the company would never get the chance to do that. She did not think about the differences between the company she grew up in and Peter's newer, nicer company. She just had a knee jerk reaction. She was relieved to realize that her child would be safe from the company. "That's the plan," she said, without really knowing the plan. "Is that what you wanted to talk about?"

"No, I guess I just wanted to let you know that I talked to Nathan over the weekend. He wanted to hear a firsthand account of what happened between you and Sylar on that first mission. I told him what Peter wanted me to say, which was a slightly different take on it than the one you gave."

Elle was not sure what he could have said differently. "How so?"

Noah shrugged like it was not that important. "Just little differences that would make it seem like you were more attached to him than you let on."

Elle knew better than to ask for details. If he wanted her to have them, he would have volunteered them. It seemed a little extreme to drive for a half hour just to say that. She figured there had to be more. She thought about what she knew of Noah to determine what it could be. "Does it bother you that you don't get to... eliminate him after everything he's done?" The restaurant was crowded and loud, but Elle wanted to err on the side of caution with her word choice. "I mean, why should he get a free pass when he's one of the worst we've ever seen?"

He sat back and sighed. "I've never really understood it, but the company's always been willing to give him a free pass. At least you and Peter are keeping him from killing any more people. Angela gave him one of her own agents to feed his hunger. Arthur gave him you. Sure, he wasn't supposed to kill you, but if he wanted to, no one would have gotten there in time to stop it." Apparently, Noah was not as worried about being overheard.

What he said evoked memories of that day at Pinehearst, which led to memories of a few days later when Sylar did kill her. That seemed so long ago. She thought about it a lot, especially since getting pregnant, but they were really just words at this point. It seemed like a rough spot in their past that they had gotten over and moved on from. As she thought about it, before she came back from the dead, their relationship was mostly rough, but none of that seemed to matter anymore. She wondered what the chances were that they would not just end up hurting each other again in the future. "Do you think I'm making the right choice?" she asked Noah.

"No," he answered quickly. Then he thought about it. "You're not making the choice I want you to make, but it might be the right one for you. And I can see that Peter's way might be the best way to deal with Sylar. It seems to be working better than anything else did."

"What about Nathan's way? Taking him out completely. Isn't that what you've always wanted to do anyway? Why are you following Peter's orders when Nathan's are much more aligned to your vision?"

Noah was quiet for a while, considering this. "I don't like anything about taking orders from Nathan. I don't... I know he's Claire's father, but he's not. I'm her father. I was there... In fifteen years, I want you to think about how you'd feel if another woman showed up and decided that she wanted to be a mother to your child and you had to let her." He shook his head. "And then you have Peter, who is the only one in that family who really... To answer your question, if I had it my way, I would never stop trying to take out Sylar, and I'd probably get myself killed in the process. Peter's way is better, as long as it keeps working."

Elle was a little moved when he talked about Claire and about Nathan showing up out of nowhere, which made her even more uncomfortable. She was finally able to recognize this lunch for what it was, a good-bye. That was when it became clear to her why she was glad to see Noah in her office. Without realizing it, she had wanted the opportunity to say good-bye to Noah, and he must have wanted that too. She wanted to hear him say it. "So why did you really ask me to lunch?"

"Well, you're going to be going into hiding soon, and I've known you since you were..." He held out his hand to demonstrate the height.

"And before I disappeared you wanted me to know...?" she prompted.

Just then, the waiter came with the food. Noah took that as an opportunity to avoid the question. "Just eat your food."

Elle unrolled her napkin and took out her silverware with a smile on her face. Even if he never said good-bye or that he actually did kind of like her, she would know that was the point of this meal, and that was good enough for her. She was not sure whether she would even want to hear the words from him. If he tried to say anything like that, she would probably stop him. There were some things that were better left unsaid.

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Author's Note: Believe it or not, this story is almost over.