Dropping In

It was warm and the sun stood high above the ocean. Juliet had eaten her lunch but she was not ready to drive back to the station just yet. Something about the sight of the ocean just didn´t let her go. It was such a nice day. Unbelievable what it could have been if that night two months ago had gone out differently. What this man from Japan had told them about this could-have-been-future was still scaring her. It scared her enough to let her shiver even in this warm sunlight.

It had been here at this cliff. Here it had been decided. If the world should drown in darkness and coldness or if it was allowed to keep existing the way it had always existed. And it had been Sylar, the murderer, who´d taken the decision. And now the world was as warm and shiny as always. The beach was occupied with people who enjoyed their lives just like always. Juliet could see them from where she was. The ocean was blue and peaceful, just like always. And they all could be sure that the next day would be as save as this one. Just like always. Things were still good. The world would keep being here tomorrow.

Juliet hugged herself and shivered again. It was scary to know that all of this was not to be taken for granted. At least not for her. Because she knew what could have been. And that it didn´t happen was because Sylar had sacrificed himself. She had seen it. She had seen him die. But on the other hand … she had seen him fly into that black hole. Did this mean she saw him die? Two months ago she had been convinced about that. But that had been before this last victim.

The sound of a motor made her turn around. The motorcycle had stopped at the curbside and Shawn just hung his helmet on the handle. He waved and walked over to her.

„I got your message." he said and kissed her quickly.

„Thanks for coming." she said, still feeling that cold shiver on her skin.

Of course he felt that tension when she hugged him, much tighter than usual, as if she needed to hold onto something to not to get dragged down by the mighty stream that ripped on her.

„What is it?" he asked her.

„I don´t know." she admitted and that was the truth. She really wasn´t sure what the problem was.

Deep inside she knew that this woman couldn´t have been killed by Sylar. That it of course had to be this Nobody, Mary had told them about. All things were pointing that way and it was the reasonable thing to assume. But just the fact that her brain had been removed … It was like being confronted with a nightmare you´d thought to be forgotten. And then all the sudden it jumped at you from out of a dark corner or grabbed your foot from under the bed in the middle of the night. Juliet shivered again and turned away so Shawn wouldn´t see it.

„I can´t stop thinking …" she tried to explain herself but wasn´t sure how to put it in words.

A tear threatened to slip out of her eye but she suppressed it. It was ridiculous to be scared by something that was long gone.

„You know …" she started over again. „This woman … with her removed brain …"

She had to stop once again and Shawn lay his hands on her shoulders to let her know that she wasn´t alone. At his touch her facade finally broke and she let out a sob. Tears didn´t quiet fall but she was close anyway.

„You think he could have survived it after all?" she asked him, at last speaking out her fears.

„I dunno." was all he said, knowing exactly who she was speaking about.

„You are not … feeling anything?" she looked at him, her eyes full of hope to get at least some sort of an answer to this question, that was nagging on her soul.

„Maybe that black hole is working on another sphere." Shawn said with a shrug. „Or there is some kind of an area with no reception in it."

„That´s not really funny." Juliet replied and lowered her gaze.

It wasn´t meant as an accusation and he knew that. But she really didn´t feel like laughing no matter how good he meant it. She looked out at the ocean again, rubbing her elbows.

„I just know that I don´t know anything." Shawn told her, now serious again. The next second he frowned and cocked his head. „No wait." he said. „That´s not true. I do know something. I know that the woman who was killed had no ability. So it´s out of the question that it was Sylar. Sylar only removed brains when he wanted an ability."

„Did you see that in a vision?" she asked him. „That she had no ability?"

„No." he shrugged. „Gus called me and told me that the test results were negative."

Juliet nodded. But this only confirmed what she had known all along.

„If you ask my opinion." Shawn went on. „I can´t think of any possibilities that it could be Sylar anyway. We saw him die. That is … you saw him die."

„I know." Juliet said, her eyes again fixed on the horizon.

„You … would wish him to still be here?" Shawn asked and she could clearly hear the uncertainty in his voice. When she turned to him he was looking at her carefully.

„I just wish that there would have been another way." she said frankly. „I dunno. A way that would have … given him a chance. I know you´ll probably think I´m crazy but I really think that he would have changed. I mean … I know there are many people that don´t buy that pleading insanity stuff … Carlton for example … but things like that exist, we know that. Yang was insane, wasn´t she? And she was treated respectively. She got therapy."

„Only that she never killed anyone." Shawn recalled. „Not herself."

„Yeah, I know and Sylar has." Juliet nodded. „But still … what he had … this hunger. It was something that came from within him and it sort of drove him to kill, even if he didn´t want to. For me that´s the definition of a mental illness. Isn´t it?"

„I guess so." Shawn mumbled unsure. „But he´s dead. It doesn´t really matter anymore."

„No." Juliet agreed and sighed. „I know. But that also means that there is a very mad and very dangerous man out there. And we don´t know how to find him."

„We will find him." Shawn assured her and for the first time since he´d arrived, she felt better because of what he´d said. Maybe because he was so genuinely convinced about it. It gave her some new strength and that was something she really needed right now.

„I hope so." she said gratefully.

Shawn squeezed her shoulder a little more and nodded at her to underline how much he believed in this. She looked into his eyes and felt better. So much better than she´d felt when she came here. Her cell phone started to ring and she threw him a regretful gaze before answering it.

„O´Hara." Lassiter said on the other end before she could even say hello. „There has been another murder. Get Spencer and Guster and come to Ludlow Avenue on the double. I meet you there."

...

The newest victim was in many ways just like the last one. The main thing that was the same, was of course the removed brain. This time it was a guy, not a woman who´d been killed but otherwise the difference was not that big. He lay in an alley just like the last victim. Only that this time it was the allay of his own appartement house and not a random allay he´d passed on his way home. What was also the same was how they all stood around the body with this gloomy but clueless expression on their faces.

„Dammit." Lassiter growled and that was pretty much all he knew to say.

„At least we can make out a pattern." Mary commented. „He kills his victims in dark allays in the night."

„How is that supposte to help us?" Lassiter asked as if that was the most stupid comment he´d ever heard.

„It tells us that his killings are indeed completely random." Mary explained. „There is no reason for these murders, except for the process of killing itself."

„And the message." Bennet added, looking down on the open skull. Mary just nodded, following his gaze.

„While you guys were busy chasing leads that turned out to be wrong, he was busy finding a new victim." Gus spoke up rather fiercely all the sudden. Everybody turned to him in surprise.

„You were the one who brought us to the lab guy." Lassiter recalled slightly irritated.

„I know." Gus replied. „Because I wanted to help. But obviously this was a waste of time. We should have done some real investigation instead."

„Dude, calm down." Shawn spoke up, not less startled over his friend´s reaction. „What´s the matter with you?"

„What´s the matter with me?" Gus cried. „There´s a psycho out there that kills totally randomly. Everybody could be his next victim and the way it looks, he has a schedule to kill one person every night."

„We don´t know that." Shawn said, chuckling nervously. „This could be a coincidence."

„You think so?" Gus snapped. „I´m not so sure. I´m just glad that my folks are not in town right now. So could we please stop screwing around and start to actually hunt this mad man?" he addressed the whole group again.

Shawn turned to the others as well and saw startled faces everywhere. „You heard him." he said with raised eyebrows.

Lassiter looked at Gus with a surprised but understanding intensity. At last he nodded determined. „All right." he said. „Then let´s roll."

...

Night was settling down over the mountains of the Jura and the street was abandoned. Frank Wieland liked it to drive through the mountains at night. It was peaceful and he always felt as if the sphere was much more open at night, so his mind and fantasy could travel almost everywhere. Especially when he had his music on. Right now it was playing a song from Linkin Park, Let it Go. The sound of it combined with the wide area and the clear sky, made Frank´s imagination sour while he drove the streets.

He didn´t know why but he´d felt like driving around a little. Maybe it was the knowledge that his last tests had shown that he truly was cured and that he couldn´t be any danger to anyone anymore. It was a good feeling. But if he was honest he wouldn´t even need a reason to go out here and drive around. It was one of his hobbies and to do that he didn´t need any reason, except maybe for a lungful of the nights atmosphere.

He took another bend and saw a car parked at the curbside ahead. Frank slowed down and put the music down as well. Maybe someone needed help with his car. When he came closer, he recognized the car. It was the Nissan Mohinder had rented. And then he saw the driver, leaning against the hood.

Frank stopped behind him and got out.

„Doctor." he cried. „What are you doing here? I thought you were gone by now. Is anything wrong? You have problems with the car?"

„No, nothing like that." Mohinder replied surprisingly calm. „I just … needed to get my mind clear." He shrugged.

Now Frank got an idea of what the geneticist was doing here. Of course. He should have guessed something like that. The past events had shaken him as well and he had been in that for only one encounter. Mohinder on the other hand knew all of that for so much longer. He´d known the people involved for so much longer.

„Understand." Frank said therefor and he did. „You know … they say that the mountains have the tendency to clear things much better than other places." he mentioned. „Because they are closer to the sky."

„Who says that?" Mohinder wanted to know.

Frank shrugged. „I don´t know. Some people? I thought that sounded good."

Mohinder chuckled and that was a good sign. It told Frank that the Indian had gotten to some terms with himself already. He counted back in his head for a moment. When the geneticist had left for the airport it had been early afternoon. Now it was almost nine p.m. That meant he was here for at least six hours now. A long time to think things through. But those things were not the usual kind either. So, yes, he could understand it. The need to be alone for a while to just … think.

„Don´t you miss your plane?" he asked the geneticist anyway.

„I´ll take the next one." was all Mohinder said.

Frank nodded again. Of course. Well, that was surely not what he´d expected when he´d set off from C.E.R.N. but it was also a way to satisfy his graving for nights air. Talking to a friend out here to help him figure out a way to live with a shadow that hung over his mind, was something Frank could handle. Especially since this kind of shadow was his speciality.

He was just in the process of opening his mouth to say something, when he spotted something in the distance. It was on the other side of the valley the road was rounding. Somewhere at the slope but it was too dark to be sure. He saw it only in the corner of his eye and it was gone so fast that he couldn´t be quiet sure if he´d even really seen it. But he was sure anyway. Either he´d seen it or he saw flashes dancing before his eyes. And since he hadn´t been drinking, he figured that was not the case.

„Wow." he said slightly confused over that unexpected detection. „You saw that?"

„Saw what?" Mohinder turned around and looked but of course there was nothing left for him to see.

„I´m not sure." Frank admitted still searching the spot on the other side of the valley, where he´d seen it. „It was like a light." he tried to explain. „But no headlights or anything … electrical. It was more like a lightning."

„Maybe it was one." Mohinder shrugged.

„Without clouds?" Frank doubted this.

He looked at the geneticist for one more moment and then back over to the other side of the valley. The spot where he´d seen this flash of light was easy to reach. The street went that way, all around the hillside of this valley. Yes, he was pretty sure that it had been just there.

„I´ll go and check that out." he decided and was back in his car even before Mohinder could wonder what he´d just said.

He drove off and looked in the rearview mirror if the geneticist would follow or just stand there, dumbstruck over his behavior. And if Frank was honest, he wouldn´t be surprised. He didn´t quiet understand it himself. But something about this light he´d seen – and he was sure he´d seen it – seemed so urgent that he couldn´t wait to find out what it had been.

A minute later he had the headlights of Mohinder´s car in his back. So he hadn´t scared him off just yet. Frank smiled. That was a good sign. Most of his other colleagues would have filed it under one of Frank Wieland´s moods and let him go there on his own. Tomorrow he´ll be normal again. But not Mohinder Suresh. He knew that some things looked crazy at first sight but were totally real at closer examination. Crazy things like people with superhuman powers for example.

He reached the point that lay opposite of the place where he´d started and stopped his car. So far there was nothing to be seen around here. He got out of the car and looked around. Following an intuition, he reached back into the car and switched off the headlights, so his eyes would not be irritated because of the extrem difference between this light and the semi darkness that was everywhere else.

Behind him, Mohinder had done the same thing by now and slowly approached him. He was looking around too but mostly he looked irritated at Frank.

„Maybe what you saw was something like a ghost light." he offered an explanation.

Frank shook his head. „Doctor, you might have taken from me that I attract those shadows and black holes." he said. „But something else I still have and that is my experience. I just know that there was something here. Something just cracked open here and it was not a reflection."

„Cracked open?" Mohinder repeated. He wasn´t quiet sure how to understand this statement and if he was honest, Frank started to disturb him. What did he expect to find here? There was nothing here. Everything was just quiet.

He was about to tell Frank that when a shuffling sound made them both turn around. Something had just moved in those bushes at the curbside. Frank threw the geneticist a glance and then carefully moved back to his car. He never let the spot where the sound had come from out of his sight, while he slowly reached into the side pocket of his door. When he came back out he held a flashlight in his hand.

Together they started to approach the suspicious bushes. Frank switched on the flashlight and started to sweep them with its light. So far they couldn´t see anything. But there was another sound of something scratching over the ground (a foot) and then the branches ruffled again.

„Who is there?" Frank asked out loud. „Hello? Ist da jemand? Kommen Sie raus." When no one answered he went back to English again. „Come out and show yourself." he demanded.

Mohinder threw a quick glance at the physicist and wondered if he would have been that brave too if he´d been alone out here. So far the person that was hiding there (if it was a person) didn´t show himself.

„Maybe it´s an animal." Mohinder whispered.

„No way." Frank insisted. „This is not a groundhog and it´s no ibex either. That thing over there is bigger than that."

„Thing?" Mohinder started to feel very uncomfortable by now. What was Frank expecting to find? A werewolf? Or a Swizz version of the Chupacabra?

„Maybe we should just go on and leave the … animal alone." Mohinder suggested.

„It´s not an animal, doctor." Frank insisted still training his eyes on those bushes. „Come out of there." he called out one more time and this time his call was answered.

Something came out of there. It broke through the branches of the bush and lunged forward and right at them. Big eyes stared at them and teeth were snarling, reflecting the light of Frank´s flashlight. The two men skipped back in shock. Mohinder´s foot got stuck on a rock and he fell. A sharp pain shot though his elbow when he collided with the ground. He could feel something rush past him and somewhere Frank was shouting a startled: „Wow!"

Mohinder looked up and after the attacker. It was a man. His clothings were dirty and ripped open on many places and he was bleeding. He was missing a shoe and limped badly. Looking at this Mohinder couldn´t understand how they could have been so scared by this man – except maybe for the fact that he had startled them in an already tensed moment.

But the real shock was still waiting for him. It happened when the man turned around. He´d crossed the street, obviously in a blind try to run away from them. Now he´d reached the end of the street and with that the edge of the slope. The ground fell off very steeply and in this darkness, it must look like a bottomless abyss.

The man tried to stop, to not to run right into it and swirled around. His arms were swaying in his try to find a hold somewhere. But there was none. Mohinder could hear the sound of earth giving way and then the man just slipped. It looked as if the earth just swallowed him. And then he was gone.

For a moment Mohinder didn´t know what to do. He had seen the face of that man only for a second when Frank´s flashlight had rushed over him. The whiteness in his eyes had seemed to glow for a second an then it had been gone. The whole man had been gone. And Mohinder just sat there thunderstruck and waited for the feeling to return to his body.

The sounds that came from ahead, the sounds of the man sliding and falling down the hillside, finally brought him back around and into the real world. Next to him Frank had managed it to get back to his feet by now.

„Mein Gott." he breathed. „Was that …? That was …"

„Sylar." Mohinder finished the sentence. He had recognized him as well. Of course. But he´d needed to hear Frank´s reaction first, to truly accept that what he´d seen was not a hallucination.

He struggled to his feet and hurried over the street and looked down into the valley. Frank appeared next to him and shone his flashlight down. The slope showed a trace of disturbed earth and ripped out plants. The way Sylar had taken on his fall down there.

„How is it possible that he´s here?" Frank asked out of breath.

„I told you he´s not a normal person." Mohinder heard himself say.

He didn´t look at Frank. Even though he couldn´t see anything in that darkness down there, he just couldn´t take his eyes off it. Somewhere down there Sylar had landed. The monster had slipped down in the dark once again, maybe to heal down there and to return when it got hungry. If he wouldn´t know that it was impossible, if he hadn´t heard him slide all the way down, he would expect Sylar to lure in the dark only a few feet away, waiting for them to turn around so he could attack.

Mohinder shook his head. How could he be here? That was impossible.

„Mohinder?" Frank addressed him.

The geneticist wet his lips and tried to focus. He needed to do something. Even though he wished that all of this was just a nightmare and that he would wake up later on, finding that he´d only fallen asleep on the hood of his rental, he knew very well that he was fully awake. And that meant that this situation had to be handled somehow. Sylar had to be handled.

„How deep is this valley?" he asked Frank.

„Dunno." the Swizz answered. „Somewhat about a hundred meters? But it´s so steep, we can´t climb down there. Not in the dark. I call a rescue team. They can send a helicopter."

„We can´t call anyone." Mohinder objected. „We don´t know in what condition he is. If we send people after him who have no idea what he is, he will most probably kill them."

„Are you serious?"

„I am serious." Mohinder shot. „You never saw what he can do."

Frank stared at him for a moment. „All right." he said at last. „But … we can´t just leave him down there."

„No." Mohinder agreed, looking into the pit grimly.

„So?" Frank asked but he already seemed to guess it.

„I can get down there." Mohinder decided. „Do you have a rope?"

Frank threw him a reproving glance but went back to his car and got the rope anyway. Mohinder wound it around his waist and made sure that Frank had the other end.

„You ever did something like that before?" the physicist asked him while handing him his flashlight.

„Not exactly." Mohinder admitted. „Don´t worry. The rope is not for me."

„Be careful." Frank advised him. „The mountains can be like the desert. When you get lost you stay lost."

„I´ll keep that in mind." Mohinder replied. „Don´t hold the rope too tightly. I might be forced to jump a few times and I don´t want to drag you down with me."

Frank nodded and Mohinder started to climb down the slope. It wasn´t the easiest thing to do, especially to find some hold for his feet. He really had to jump a few times in order to avoid a fall just like Sylar´s and he was glad that he didn´t feel any resistance at the rope when this happened (or that he didn´t hear any cries from above for that matter). A few times the ground gave in beneath his feet and he was practically surfing down the slope.

Following Sylar´s path was easy, since he´d broken though a lot of vegetation on his way down. Mohinder expected him to lie unconscious at the end of this path but when he finally reached the bottom of this valley, there was nothing. Sylar must have healed by now and stood up. But that only meant that he had to be extra careful.

Mohinder looked around, shining with the flashlight, but he couldn´t spot him. There were too many possibilities for Sylar to hide. Too many dark corners. Mohinder wound the rope of himself, never leaving his surroundings out of his eyes, his ears always strained in case Sylar should try to sneak up on him.

„Mohinder!" Frank called him from above and the geneticist jumped.

He looked around, expecting to see Sylar lunging for him from behind, but there was no one. He looked up at Frank and saw his silhouette against the sky. The physicist was pointing into a certain direction.

When Mohinder turned to look, he could already hear the sounds of slipping rocks again. His flashlight found the foot of the other side of this thin valley. It was only a few dozen feet ahead. The light illuminated a cloud of dust. Some earth had just slipped down from farther up. Mohinder shone the light that way … and there he was. Sylar. He was in the process of climbing up the slope again. When the light brushed him, he swirled around like a jailbreaker that suddenly found himself in the middle of the spot light. His expression was respectively that of a hunted man.

Mohinder just couldn´t believe it.

Sylar turned back around and kept climbing, now increasing his speed frantically. It almost looked as if he was scared.

„Sylar!" Mohinder called and went over to the foot of this hillside. What the hell was he doing?

„Watch out!" Frank shouted from above and then Mohinder saw Sylar´s foot loosing its grip on the ground. A second later the killer was sliding down the slope.

Mohinder skipped back to avoid to be run down by the loose rocks and dirt that accompanied the falling man. After the avalanche had stopped rolling, Sylar lay on the ground. His eyes were closed and his chest was rising and falling quickly. When Mohinder´s flashlight fell on him again, he jumped up and skipped back.

Like a haunted animal, it shot through Mohinder´s head.

„My god." he breathed at the sight of Sylar crouching before him.

It was still unbelievable that it was really him. It really was Sylar. Alive. But this … thing, barely looked like Sylar. His gaze was suspicious and his eyes so wary as if he expected to get shot any second.

„Can you hear me?" Mohinder asked. „Can you understand what I say?"

Sylar only skipped back and tried to back up the slope again. He slipped and slid back down, coming to a rest in a very pitiful pose. His face showed the desperation he felt about his inability to get away. When Mohinder approached him, he flinched.

„No, no." the scientist held out his hand to calm him down. „Don´t worry. I´m not your enemy."

Sylar halted. Mohinder could still not believe what was happening here.

„Do you know who I am?" he asked the killer before him. The look he got from Sylar was confused. „Do you understand what I say?" the scientist kept asking.

Sylar frowned but nodded slowly. At least something.

Mohinder stood there, totally clueless for a moment. He looked around and up to Frank for mental support. But the physicist was only a silhouette and by now it was hard to even recognize that against the dark sky. Mohinder sighed. He´d come down here to find Sylar and he had found him. Just not quiet the way he´d expected. What the hell was he supposte to do now?

Sylar was still eying him with the wary eyes of a trapped animal. But at least he didn´t try to run away anymore and he seemed to have calmed down a little. Trusting his instincts Mohinder lowered the shine of the flashlight and made a half step towards Sylar. The killer looked after the light for a moment and then up at Mohinder. He seemed uncertain what to expect. Mohinder held out his hand.

„I´m Mohinder." he told Sylar. „Remember? I will to help you."

Sylar frowned as if he wasn´t sure what those words meant and looked at the offered hand with uncertainty. When he looked into the scientist´s eyes again, his mistrust decreased though. At least a little. Now he looked interested and curious. Mohinder nodded at him reassuringly. This situation was so weird he didn´t even know how to compute. By now he was acting on pure instinct. If he had tried to think this whole thing through, he probably wouldn´t have done anything, overcharged with the lack of logic in all of this.

Sylar on the other hand, didn´t have that problem. He didn´t look as if logical thinking was an issue for him right now. At last he seemed to overcome his fear and he reached out his own hand and allowed Mohinder to help him up.

...

„All right." Lassiter said, after he´d closed the door of the conference room.

There were five people in the room who were supposte to know what there really was to know about this case and other than that, no one else needed to be let in. Literally and figuratively.

„Let´s go over this from the beginning." the head detective demanded.

„We know the woman who was killed had no ability." Juliet summarized. „So it definitely wasn´t Sylar or anyone with Sylar´s ability of stealing powers, who killed her."

„What means that it was truly a copycat killer." Bennet finally admitted to that theory.

„Right." Lassiter said and he would have been lying if he´d denied that he was relieved to hear him think in his direction. „Your Nobody seems to be one of these crazy serial killer fans." he addressed Mary Lightly and shook his head. „Dammit. I hate those people."

„So he might be looking for Sylar with those killings." Mary agreed. „Maybe imitating Sylar´s MO is his way of writing fanmail to him."

For a moment no one said a word. Everybody was just thinking this last comment through, each of them in their own way. It was Bennet who finally broke that silence again.

„What do you think he´ll do when he learns that Sylar´s dead?" he asked them all.

The following lack of answers was striking. Not even the always talking fake psychic seemed to be in a hurry to come up with a possibility of what would happen in that case. Probably a wise decision.