Chapter 21- The Great Debate
"The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed for lack of a better word is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind."
- Gordon Gekko "Wall Street"
The conference room on the bridge was packed with all parties concerned and a few who weren't. Sylar had been allowed to pass through the bridge so long as he kept his eyes forward and moved quickly enough not to have time to observe the ship's functions, which he thought was patently ludicrous. He took a seat between Noah and Spock and patiently waited for Jim, Claire, Nathan, Mohinder and McCoy to file in.
"So, you have some news on Peter?" Jim prompted anyone who would answer to get the ball rolling.
"We do." Mohinder tentatively replied. "Mr. Spock has discovered the cause of Peter's condition although the cure will be anything but simple."
"What's wrong with him?" Nathan asked swiveling in his chair testily. He couldn't fathom how he could have spent every second at Peter's side and not have this most basic bit of information. He felt as though he were being kept out of the loop and it pissed him off seeing as how he was the next of kin responsible for healthcare decisions.
"We were hoping that you might tell us." Mohinder smiled nervously. "We can only guess as to what exactly was in the cocktail contained in the darts, but it does appear to be neurotoxin along with an immunosuppressant or a substance that acted as such in his case."
Nathan scoffed and rested his elbows on the table. "Well, don't you think that if I had the answer to that question I might have mentioned it by now rather than watching Pete suffer?"
"I don't know," Noah deadpanned, "would you?"
Nathan shot him a weary look and wished he had the energy to fly across the table and throttle him for even questioning his loyalty to Peter. "Regardless of what the substance is," Spock interjected to diffuse the situation, "it has rendered his genetic code in disrepair. The issue at hand is time. We can continue in our attempts to isolate the gene the substance disrupts and formulate an antitoxin, but in my estimation the process could take weeks if not longer."
"And you are saying he may not hold on that long." Claire summed up trying her best not to stare at the man's pointed ears. She knew a bit about feeling like a freak and she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. It was disturbing how much he reminded her of Sylar- all except the psychotic murder vibe that he seemed to lack.
"What we are trying to do is put all of the options on the table." McCoy spoke up. "We can keep at it until we come up with a cure, but that will take awhile and as far as Peter goes, I can always place him in stasis if his condition worsens. The problem with that is I can't be certain he would be completely out and not awake but unable to respond."
"Why's that Bones?" Jim asked trying to suppress his horror at the thought of what that would feel like.
"His regenerative ability didn't completely switch off." He explained with an exasperated sigh. "That is why he is in a semiconscious state rather than a deep coma. His body is still trying it's damndest to recover, but it can't. It is like some hellish vicious cycle."
Nathan sighed and let his head fall into his hands. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. It was one thing for his brother to be unaware of his surroundings, but quite another if he was at times lucid and trying to scream for help although there were no outward signs. He didn't want to believe his baby brother could suffer such terror because he knew that he was sensitive and that experience would scar him deeply. Peter didn't deserve this and he cursed himself because it always seemed that Peter paid for his mistakes and it wasn't fair.
"So what other options are there?" Noah asked. As soon as the words left his lips, everyone slowly turned to Sylar- the only person in the room without an obvious vestment in Peter's wellbeing.
"Oh hell no." Nathan muttered when he met the killer's icy eyes. "I don't want that maniac anywhere near my brother!"
"You are the one that attempted to kill us all and I am the maniac?" Sylar scoffed. "That is the epitome of hypocrisy."
"God so help me, Sylar, if you go near him I will…" He growled.
"You'll what?" Sylar smirked cocking his head. "Fly me to the moon? Kill me? I don't think so, Nathan, but the sentiment is touching. Look, we all know that I am the only one that can figure out what is wrong with him and fix it in an expedient manner. That is unless you want to waste your time doing it the conventional way while he rots." He leaned across the table to face Nathan and added in a low tone, "Which is exactly what he is doing down there as we speak."
"I find it hard to believe that you all of a sudden grew a conscience." Noah stated slyly. "Why would you save the one man that is your true equal now?"
"For his powers." Jim observed folding his arms. "He can't take Peter's powers when he is awake, but now he is defenseless to stop him."
Sylar kept a dead smile on his face as he slowly clapped. "Well done, Einstein. Now I see why you get to be the head honcho of this tin can. It has been no secret that I have always wanted to pop Petrelli's skull open ever since I found out he was like me."
"He is not like you, you sick son of a bitch!" Nathan hissed. "He is better than you."
Sylar gave him a petulant look for being interrupted and continued, "It is the evolutionary imperative in action, is it not? Dog eat dog? Survival of the fittest? Greed is what moves the species along, acquiring whatever will give you an advantage. By all rights I should let Peter die for his folly, he is the weaker of us. By aiding him I am preventing nature from taking its course, diluting the gene pool if you will. However, I am willing to help him if I stand to gain and further my own development."
"I don't suppose you could just do it out of the goodness of your heart." Mohinder suggested darkly.
"He doesn't have one." Claire sneered.
Sylar pretended to be crushed by her comment. "Claire, everything comes at a price. I never repaired watches for free, why would I work for free now? My time and skill are worth something. But if the price is too high for you, I suggest you go to another watchmaker. And let's face it- if I really wanted Peter's powers that bad there is nothing and no one stopping me from just waltzing down there and taking them this minute."
"We could shoot you with phasers." Jim suggested. "Your powers don't seem to do squat for that."
"Yeah, it stings like a son of a bitch." He admitted with a growl. "But that is about it."
"There are few abilities that they do not share." Spock observed. "Would gaining them be inadvisable?"
"I can think of one that he has wanted for a long time. Isn't that right, Sylar?" Noah asked warily. Jim and McCoy exchanged confused looks.
"Time travel." Claire droned.
"Ok, this is insane." Nathan declared. "I can't believe we are even discussing this. I think Peter would rather die than let you root around in his skull." He shot Sylar a hate filled glance. "And once he gets the ability to time travel we will all be screwed. No way. I would rather lose my brother than let this psycho have free range." He rubbed his temples in exhaustion.
"Let's ask him." Claire stated. "Let's ask Peter what he wants. If he is at all aware of anything, Matt should be able to read his mind."
"That's a great idea, Claire." Noah smiled. He was proud of his little girl for figuring out a solution to the sticky mess and he didn't care who knew it.
Out on the bridge, Matt paced to try his best not to eavesdrop. The moment he saw Sylar on the bridge he knew something major was going down. Ando had joined the party and filled everyone in on Hiro's whereabouts and his current condition before everyone settled back in to work.
Rather than work with Chekov, Ando chose Uhura after she agreed to allow him to sit next to her. He had nothing against the young Russian man, but he looked rather sad and Ando would never turn down a chance to work with a beautiful woman. "So," she said lightly, "Matt asked me to find the article from yesterday about Peter and it was gone. Do you have any ideas why that might be?"
Ando had in fact heard every word that she said, but he was temporarily caught up in the way her lips moved to give a prompt answer, causing her to shake her head and laugh. Embarrassed, he looked away and mumbled, "Hiro went back and got Peter. Maybe he changed the future because Peter didn't have a chance to go back to New York. The future that we read about never happened so the article was never written."
"That sounds plausible." She complimented in a soothing tone to let him know she wasn't offended. "I wonder what Peter would think about the future that he missed."
"Sometimes it is better not to know." Ando said with a sincere smile that made her curious. "Hiro once went into the future and saw us having an argument. He told me he watched me use my power against him…to kill him. You don't know how it feels to be held responsible for something you haven't done and something you swear you never will do. Trust me, it better that he doesn't know."
At the front of the bridge, Scotty kept glancing at Chekov's sorry mug until he couldn't stand it anymore. "Ah, buck up lad." He tried his best to console. "The captain's too old for her, it's just a fancy."
"Yeah." Sulu repeated getting up to give him a pat on the back. "Don't give up yet. Once she sees how charming you are, she'll forget all about the captain."
"Really?" His blue eyes sparkled hopefully. "Do you think she vill?"
Sulu looked away and bit his lip before giving him another hard pat. "Probably not, but you can try." Scotty snickered despite his best efforts not to, but at least it brought a smile to Chekov's face.
"Matt!" Noah called as the stream of humanity flowed from the conference room to the lift making sure Sylar got on first. "We need to ask a favor of you."
Matt looked down at Peter with awe and disbelief. He never thought he would see him in such a condition what with his healing ability and all. He watched him blow up over New York and survive for God sake! Yet there he was, face relaxed and somewhat pale, perfectly still except for the slight rise and fall of his chest as he took each breath.
As uncomfortable as it was to see him like that, looking at the way Nathan hovered over him was worse. Matt wondered how close Peter was to fulfilling his destiny as a floater in the East River and he wondered about Nathan's capacity to kill his own brother. Nathan was a complete mystery to him, but it wasn't entirely inconceivable that he would do away with Peter if he became too inconvenient. As he watched Nathan, he inadvertently picked up his thoughts. Please be there, Pete. Don't make me decide this on my own. I just want what's best for you.
Matt quickly looked away and focused on Peter. He listened hard, but all he could get were wisps of fragmented thoughts, incoherent and a tinge frightened. He sighed. "It's all just nonsense."
"Pete?" Nathan called softly. "Pete, can you hear me? If you can, you have to wake up a bit. We have something very important to ask you."
"He heard you!" Matt cried excitedly. "Yeah, Buddy. It's me. I can hear you too." He added apparently answering some unheard query. Matt noted the confused and expectant looks in the room. "He is a little slow and not completely there, but he knows we are here. He is only speaking one word sentences right now." Claire, Nathan, and Mohinder instinctively rushed forward to place their hands on him as though it were a miracle. "Uh…guys." Matt said wincing somewhat. "He doesn't want you to touch him."
"Did he tell you that?" Mohinder asked lifting his hand as though he were touching a hot stove.
"Not in so many words, but he was screaming…he says…uh, contamination." Matt reported.
"Are you afraid you will make us sick if we touch you?" Claire asked with a smile. "You won't. You aren't biohazardous."
"Guys, you might want to hurry, I think we are losing him." Matt warned.
"Pete, listen to me." Nathan said hastily, "You are very sick. We can wait and find a cure that might take a long time or Sylar has…volunteered to try to fix you. If he does, Pete, he will take your powers. What do you want us to do?"
Matt squinted and shook his head. "He just keeps saying 'trapped' like he is panicked, he…Sylar? You want Sylar to try?"
Nathan swallowed hard and glared at him from across the room while Sylar stared back with a small smirk.