It´s a long way into the White House
Hiro was sleeping in the armchair right next to Molly, a woollen blanket Henry Spencer had given him, neatly pulled around him. His spectacles were still on his nose, so he´d probably fallen asleep without wanting it. When Mohinder touched his shoulder, Hiro jumped, shouting some quick words in Japanese.
"Shhh. Hiro." Mohinder hissed, squeezing his arm to help him come to, back from the dream. "It´s me. You need to wake up."
"Oh." the young Japanese sighed, sinking back into the armchair. "Dr. Suresh. Uh-what happened?"
"We need to get to Washington." Mohinder told him, moving over to the couch, to sit down, next to Molly. He lay a hand on her shoulder and shook her, gently but firm. They needed to hurry.
"Washington?" Hiro murmured, shoving his glasses back up his nose. Mohinder didn´t respond.
"Molly." he whispered urgently. "Molly, you need to wake up."
The girl opened her eyes, almost instantly, blinking against the sleep. "Mohinder?"
"Sorry to wake you." he whispered. "But I need your help."
Molly was awake at once, sitting up as if she´d never slept. "What is it?" she asked, instinctively adapting to his whisper tone.
"You need to tell me where Sylar is. And quickly."
She was fully awake at once.
"Why?"
"He and Shawn went to Washington and we need to go after them. You need to tell me where exactly they are. Especially Sylar."
"He´ll do something bad, won´t he?"
Something inside Mohinder felt tight for a moment, regarding the fact that she´d assumed that right away.
"We don´t know." That was as far as he was willing to go in admitting anything. "That´s why we need to find him. Quickly."
She immediately closed her eyes, determined, and started searching. An expression of shock rushed over her face, only for a second.
"He´s in the White House."
"Where exactly?" Mohinder probed for details.
The frown on her forehead deepened with her concentration.
"Second floor." she specified, professionally. "In an empty office room. West side of the story."
Mohinder was on his feet in an instant.
"Hiro, you need to bring me there. Right now."
The younger man touched his shoulder, ready to go. And was stopped the very next second.
"You didn´t forget about us, doctor, did you?" Noah Bennet stepped forward, scrutinizing them both, in disbelieve. "I thought your trip to this other reality taught you your lesson." he asked.
"It did. And that means that Sylar´s my responsibility." Mohinder was desperate, to make the Company man believe him, to let him go, before it was too late. "If he should really try to take over Presidency again." he said. "It´s my responsibility to stop him."
The scrutinizing gaze intensified some more. "It´s too dangerous for you to go after him alone." Bennet spoke, eventually. "We´ll come with you."
But Mohinder shook his head. "If you attack him, he´ll fight you. He won´t fight me."
"And you know that."
"Yeah." Mohinder ignored the obvious doubt in Bennet´s voice. He couldn´t afford to discuss this now.
"In that case," Juliet spoke up, interrupting the argument before it could get started. "I should go with you." she decided. "He won´t fight me either."
Mohinder met her gaze, determined like his own, and nodded. They understood each other.
"O´Hara."
"It´s all right, Carlton." she turned to him, calm and professional. "If Sylar should try what you expect … I will not let it happen."
"Neither will I." Mohinder agreed.
"Neither will I." Gus added, much to everyone's surprise. But not one of the asking faces could startle the young man. "It´s my best friend out there." he explained himself, almost fiercely. "I´m coming with you."
Bennet regarded the three of them, for a long moment, studying their faces, determined and unwavering and eventually he gave in.
"All right. You go after Sylar then." He turned his head, to face Lassiter. "And we take care of Nathan."
The detective nodded in agreement.
"Stay in contact." Bennet demanded, his eyes fixed on Mohinder, only for a moment. "Come back as soon as you dropped them off." he ordered Hiro.
The teleporter nodded, determined and took Mohinder's arm, at last. The geneticist took Juliet´s hand, while Juliet joined hands with Gus and barely three seconds later, they were gone, only thin air left behind, where they had stood.
Lassiter turned to Noah, eyes burning.
"You really let them go after this bastard alone?"
"Depends on." Noah would not be intimidated by the detective´s anger. He turned around to the girl on the couch. "Molly. Tell us where Nathan is right now."
...
Shawn smiled to himself. Man, he was so good. Better than he´d expected himself. The computer before him just showed him the information he´d wanted to find, exactly what he needed. The visitors list of the White House. And it said that senator Petrelli and his acquaintance Miss Shana Stockwell had entered the building – in fact just a few minutes ago, seems he and Sylar´d had a perfect timing.
"Cleared to Visiting Dignitary Suite" Shawn mumbled to himself, still smiling like a maniac over how good he was. "Sweet." he cheered. "I´ve got him." A second later he halted, blinking. "Who am I telling that?" he asked into the empty room, but of course he got no answer.
Eventually he shrugged and turned back to the computer. Now all he needed to do was wait for Sylar to come back here and he could show him his triumph. How long was he gone by now? He looked at his wristwatch. How long could it possibly need to knock out a guy and come back here in his disguise?
A strange sound came up behind him and Shawn turned around, expecting to see Sylar standing in the door. Instead he faced four totally unexpected people.
"Shawn." Jules and Gus cried out, simultaneously.
"Jules." Shawn stood up, startled over the hug she gave him. "Gus. Guys what are you doing here?"
"Saving you, of course." Gus cried.
"Saving me? From what? I´m perfectly save."
Mohinder shook his head, very serious. "Where´s Sylar?"
"Oh, he´s right back." Shawn told them, pointing a thumb at the door. "He went outside to get a disguise."
"And you just let him go?" the geneticist cried, rushing to the door, to peek outside.
"Why not? He´ll be right back."
Mohinder shook his head, after he´d checked the hallway. "We need to find him. Before it´s too late."
Shawn spread his arms, totally lost by now. "Too late for what?"
...
Molly´s eyes were closed once again, the frown on her forehead deeper than ever.
"He´s in the White House." she told them Nathan Petrelli´s location, her voice even and professional, almost like a computer that put out data. "They just entered. They are at the reception in the big entrance hall."
Noah nodded. "They won´t stay there for long." he decided, glancing at Carlton. They had to find a way to get there, before Nathan and Shana reached the President.
"Come on Hiro." he murmured into the room. "What are you waiting for?"
...
"Shawn, I need you to stay put, okay?" Juliet demanded, peeking out the door, gun at the already.
"Put?" Shawn cried. "Why does everybody want me to stay put? Do you really think I would get caught in an instant?"
"Yes." Juliet, Gus and Hiro answered him unisono. Shawn frowned, mostly at Hiro, who at least had the decency to react with shame.
"Dude. Really?"
"We need to hurry." Mohinder urged and with that he was out of the door.
"You guys stay here." Juliet repeated her order. "Let us take care of this. Gus. Make sure he stays here."
Gus nodded.
"But Jules …" Shawn wanted to object but she was already gone, following Mohinder outside.
"I need to leave too." Hiro told them. "The others are waiting for me." And with that he shut his eyes, disappearing into thin air.
...
"Finally." Noah cheered, when Hiro reappeared in Henry´s living room and grabbed the teleporter´s shoulder. "We need to go now."
"Where?" Hiro asked, eagerly, looking at the detective, who grasped his other shoulder.
"The White House."
"To where Shawn and the others are?"
But here, Noah shook his head. "No."
"No?" Lassiter echoed.
"We don´t know where Nathan´s heading. The try to go after him can only end in a disaster. Trespassing in the White House? We´d only get ourselves captured and charged for treason. No, we have to go the same way Nathan went. Through the front door."
Lassiter understood at once and so did Hiro. He nodded and smiling shoved his glasses up his nose.
...
"Dude. This is not gonna work." Shawn shook his head, walking up and down the small room. "Not at all."
"We´re staying here, Shawn." Gus insisted, stubbornly blocking the door. "You have no idea what´s going on."
"Oh, I know what´s going on. I know that Petrelli is already in the building."
"What? How do you know? You saw him?"
"No. But he´s listed."
Gus frowned, cocking his head in confusion.
"Look at this." Shawn waved for him, to see the computer and Gus followed him, tentatively. When he saw what was on the screen, he stared at Shawn, wide eyed.
"How did you get access to this system?" he cried. "That´s the most classified computer system in the world."
"I had the codes." Shawn told him proudly and earned himself a scrutinizing gaze from his friend. "I worked for this government, okay?" he cried, suddenly feeling defensive. "In this other … version … of our life. Listen, it doesn´t matter. What matters is that Petrelli is already in the building and probably in the process of killing the President right now." he pointed at the ground, bobbing, to emphasize the urgency of his words and finally, finally Gus understood.
"Oh, my god." he breathed. "What do we do?"
"We need to get there." Shawn told him. "To the … visitor´s … waiting lounge."
"The what?"
"The … waiting room for visitors?"
"Shawn." Gus raised a brow. "You have no idea where this room is, do you?"
"Unfortunately I was never invited into the White House." Shawn crossed his arms, defensively.
"Fortunately," Gus gave him a patronizing smirk. "I have studied the plans of the White House for years. I know exactly where we have to go."
"You don´t."
"I do. It´s in the second story on the left side."
"Dude, sweet." Shawn held out his fist and Gus bumped it. "Let´s get to it."
...
"Don´t you want to understand us?" Lassiter cried, slowly losing his patience about this stubborn receptionist. "I just told you, the President is in danger."
"I understood you very well, sir." the young woman, responsible for the White House´s entrance hall replied, one eyebrow cocked upwards. "But this is not a TV show. And if you noticed, this building is a hundred percent secured."
"Did senator Petrelli walk in here earlier?" Bennet asked, before Lassiter could yell at her. "He did, didn´t he?" he confirmed his own guess, regarding her reaction. "You must not let him come near the President. He´ll try to kill him."
"And how´s he going to do that?" the receptionist asked, back to her arrogant self. "With his long nails? Neither the senator nor his company had any kind of weapon on them and they left all metallic objects with me before they entered. Just like everybody who enters this building."
"But …" Hiro cried. "We know he will try to assassinate. The man you let in here is dangerous."
"Lady, I´m a police detective." Lassiter took over again. "Not some crazy guy that tries to imitate Jack Bauer. So if you´ll just listen to us …"
"You are a colleague of detective Parkman?" she interrupted him, with a frown, making him halt.
"Yes." Bennet affirmed after a moment of shock. "Why, is he here?"
"He came in a few minutes ago." she confirmed with a nod.
"And he was just allowed to get in?" Lassiter cried scandalized.
The eyes of the woman before them dropped, in uncertainty.
Bennet threw Lassiter a brief side glance.
"I´m sure you had your reasons to let him in, Ma´am." he said. "But the fact that we´re colleagues of detective Parkman, should tell you, that what we´re talking about is a very real and a very present danger. You need to call in and tell them to keep Nathan Petrelli away from the President. Right now."
...
Shawn hurried to stand behind Gus, at the corner. The fourth or fifth one by now, or so it seemed to him. When had they left that tiny office to find their way through this building? An hour ago? He attempted to look at his watch but let it be.
"Dude." he hissed at Gus instead. "I thought you know where we´re going."
"I do." Gus insisted angrily. "We just have to …" He peeked around the corner again and jumped back, facing a gun.
Shawn gasped but his shriek died in his throat when he realized that the two people before them, were not Secret Service but a blonde detective from Santa Barbara and a dark geneticist from India.
"I told you guys to stay put." Juliet hissed at them.
"We don´t have the time to stay put." Shawn hissed back at her, more urgent than actually necessary. "The President´s life is in danger, dammit."
"Shawn." Gus spoke but Shawn ignored him.
"We can´t just hide in a closet." he went on with his performance. "We need to go out there and do what´s necessary."
"Shawn."
"What?"
"You´re aware of the fact that you´re not Jack Bauer."
"I know." Shawn finally dropped the act, smiling. "But, dammit, it feels good to get into that guy´s head." he exhaled. "There´s so much energy, it´s … liberating. Seriously, you need to try that."
"I´d rather not."
Mohinder peeked back around the corner, making sure no one was alarmed by their banter – and promptly spotted a Secret Service Agent at the far end of the hall. He skipped back, in shock, but the agent was not even paying attention. Not to them at least. In fact he seemed to be very much lost in his own world, one hand gently striding over the top of a bureau.
Mohinder frowned, watching the guy idly walking on, vanishing behind the corner.
Of course Mohinder had no confirmation whatsoever about this man´s identity, but something in his guts just screamed that this was, had to be Sylar. He slipped around the corner, to follow him.
"Guys." Juliet was still trying to end the useless banter about Jack Bauer´s behavior on 24, which was starting to drive her crazy. "Would you just … Guys, you … Just stop it!" she shouted, making them both look at her, startled. "This is exactly the reason why I told you to stay put."
Shawn and Gus looked from her to something behind her, and their eyes went wide.
"Is there a problem here?" a male voice asked and Juliet jumped, swirling around to face the placid face of a Secret Service Agent. Her mouth dropped open, in a silent gasp.
Shawn raised his finger.
"Indeed there is." he answered the rhetorical question. "It seems we lost our way. Could you tell us where we find the visitors waiting laundry?"
The Secret Service man frowned and Gus smiled, apologetic.
"He means the Visiting Dignitaries Suite." he clarified. "We´re looking for senator Petrelli."
"And you are?" the agent wanted to know.
"Shawn Spencer. Psychic detective. And sometimes …"
"How did you get in here?" the man interrupted him, getting more and more suspicious. "Can you show me your clearances?"
"I´m sorry." Juliet finally found her voice again. "My name is detective Juliet O´Hara." she introduced herself, doing her best to keep up her usual and oh so desperately needed routine as a figure of authority. "We have strong reasons to believe that senator Petrelli or someone else might plan an attack at the President." she explained. After she´d finished she needed to take a deep breath, to steady her nerves. God, that was intense.
The agent before her only eyed her with hard and wary eyes. "I repeat my question." he said. "Who gave you clearance?"
"Did you hear a single word we said?" Shawn cried impatiently. "The President is in danger. You need to do something, right now."
The agent regarded him with this cold stare of his and raised his arm, speaking into his sleeve.
"This is agent Tanner in sector seven." he spoke one hand on his gun. "I have three unidentified people here without clearances. Please, send backup immediately."
"What?" Shawn cried. "No. It´s not us. Someone else is after the President."
"Please, step back and take your hands behind your back."
"It´s Petrelli." Shawn kept on trying to convince the guy. "He´s the one who …"
He got interrupted by the sound of at least a dozen guns being cocked all around him, and swirled around, to the circle of Secret Service Agents.
"Right now." Tanner demanded.
"All right." Shawn cried, admittedly impressed. "All right, my hands are up. Here. You see my hands? Gus, show them your hands."
"That´s what I´m doing, Shawn."
"Take them into custody." Tanner ordered.
...
Mohinder had no idea what was going on behind him. All he could think of right now was the man ahead of him, in the hallway behind that corner. The man that was not a Secret Service Agent.
"Sylar." he called and the man halted, turning back to him, startled.
A smile graced his lips.
"Mohinder." the strange voice called, and he came walking back, eagerly. "What are you doing here?"
A moment later he got thrown against the wall, pushed by Mohinder's angry grip.
"I could ask you the same." he hissed into his face. "You told Shawn you´d come back to get him. Now I find you here, disguised as Secret Service, heading for the Oval Office. Tell me what I´m supposed to think."
But before Sylar could answer him, there were sounds from behind the corner, that made them both turn around.
"Search the perimeter." someone shouted.
Mohinder only felt a hand grab his arm and drag him behind. A door he hadn´t even noticed, opened and then he was in the dark, sounds of people in the hallway, sounding faint through the closed door. Secret Service was looking for them. Oh, god. Shawn and the others.
Mohinder stayed quiet, holding his breath, until the voices faded away again.
"What are you doing here?" he hissed at Sylar.
"Shut up." Sylar hissed right back at him. "They´ll hear us."
Mohinder grabbed his arm and Sylar fended him off. He halted, listened, but it was silent outside. Eventually he huffed and switched on the light.
"Stop this charade already." Mohinder hissed at the false Secret Service Agent before him.
Sylar glared but turned back to himself after a moment. "You didn´t come here to help me after all, did you?" he asked, as if he had a reason to be insulted by that fact.
"I came here to stop you." Mohinder said.
Sylar stared at him. "You honestly think I came here to …" he gaped. "I´m not the enemy here. Did Bennet tell you this?"
"I don´t need Bennet to tell me what to think. I know you long enough."
"Then you should know better than that."
"Should I?"
Sylar´s jaw was clenching. "Yes." he rasped.
"Okay." Mohinder raised a brow. "Why did you come here? What was your plan when you headed for the President of the United States, Sylar?"
"I came here to set a trap." Sylar answered, after a moment of glaring. "For Nathan."
"And then?"
"What do you mean, and then? I´d stop him."
"So you wanted to wait for Nathan. How? As the Secret Service Agent?"
Sylar didn´t answer.
"As the President?"
Still no answer. Mohinder nodded.
"See. That´s exactly what I´m talking about."
"You have no idea what you´re talking about."
"What did you plan to do with the real President?" Mohinder demanded to know.
"Not killing him." Sylar grumbled. "I would have thought of something."
"And then what? What would have happened after you stopped Nathan and saved the day? Who guarantees me, that you won´t be tempted to just keep that place you took? I believe it would be easy to convince the world that the real President is the impersonator."
Sylar´s eyes were dark, darker than Mohinder expected it. "That was not my intention." he rasped.
"Doesn´t mean it wouldn´t happen." Mohinder insisted. He had to. "I know you, Sylar. I know how much you liked it to be President. Don´t try to tell me otherwise."
There was something in the killer´s glare, something that made him look as if he were actually pouting.
"You´re right." he admitted, at last. "I can´t guarantee it. That I won´t be tempted. Because I would. Of course I would." He took a deep breath. "But I still wouldn´t do it."
"You wouldn´t?"
"No. Because you guys would know who I really was. So what would I gain by taking his place? You´d never allow it, would you?"
Mohinder stared at him, surprised, just a little. "No." he answered and Sylar nodded.
"See. So what would I gain by doing it?"
"If that is supposed to make me trust you, you fail." he told the killer, skipping back a little, but Sylar made up for his retrieve.
"Then come with me." he urged. "Let´s do this together. You can keep me in line, like you always did."
Mohinder was taken aback, just for a moment. He shook his head. "I never kept you in line. I only found you your victims."
He could see anger flash up in the killer´s eyes. "You´re stuck in a past that didn´t even happen." Sylar cried.
"It did happen. Don´t deny what we both know is true. Just because no one else remembers, doesn´t make it undone. You killed people that I found for you and the fact that I was there with you, didn´t change any of that. No one could ever stop you if there´s something you want."
After this, it was Sylar who seemed taken aback, ever so slightly. His eyes were still hard, full of anger, but he gulped.
"You´re wrong." he said, voice cracking and he smiled, weakly, shaking his head. "So wrong."
Mohinder frowned, uncertain. "Come back with me." he said at last. "Peacefully. Let Bennet and Lassiter take care of Nathan."
But Sylar shook his head, stubbornly. "There´s no time."
"They´ll make time." Mohinder replied but Sylar only gave him a face. Yeah sure.
"Don´t make me fight you." the geneticist spoke, far too quiet to sound threatening. "I don´t want to. But I will."
Sylar seemed shocked, only for a moment. Eventually he smiled.
"You know what´s the worst part?" he asked and Mohinder couldn´t help but want to hear the rest of it. "I actually understand you." Sylar told him. "Why you hate me like that. Because it´s easier to hate than to forgive, right? It feels more real, more … right. Doesn´t it?" Sylar studied his shocked face, nodding as if Mohinder had agreed. "Especially considering who we both are. But there was a time and a place where you had forgiven me. Even though I don´t know why. We were friends once. Once upon a time you trusted me. I want you to trust me again, Mohinder."
Mohinder stared at him, swallowing dryly. "What if I can´t?"
"Please, don´t say that. There´s always a chance. I know there is. We didn´t go through all this just to end here."
"You´re talking like in a soap opera, Sylar. Wake up. This is not a game. We´re in the White House and Secret Service is looking for you."
"Then help me get this done."
"I can´t let you do this. I´m sorry."
Sylar´s expression didn´t change. "Because you can´t trust me." he spoke it out. "Right?"
Mohinder didn´t answer. He didn´t need to.
"Come back with me." he demanded instead, offering him his hand, hoping that this would put an end to this at last. "I´ll help you." he promised. "Just like before."
But Sylar shook his head. "Only it wouldn´t be like before. Would it?"
Mohinder looked into those inscrutable eyes of the killer before him, and didn´t know what to think. Sounds from outside in the hallway made Sylar turn his head, as if considering.
"Sylar." Mohinder spoke. "Don´t do it."
But Sylar already made up his mind. "I´m sorry, Mohinder." he spoke, turning back to him. "But you don´t leave me a choice."
"What do you m …"
He tried to fend off the killer´s hand but it was already too late.