Buliding 26, 3x16, Part 2
There were things falling apart in her head. Claire felt like pummelling her fists on his chest and screaming at him. Why had she saved him? She hated him. He had almost killed her. Tried to kill her family. Kissed her. She blindly touched her fingers to her lips, tasting the salt of her tears. Her shoulders tensed. She knew it had been a pretense... It hadn't felt like in those romance books, where when the girl kisses the bad boy and the fireworks exploded or anything like that, god no. It had just... It had been different. It had felt a bit like a fire being lit in her stomach and on her lips. They stilll tingled. She dug her fingers into the leather seat, trying to vent out her frustrations. And she was extremely frustrated.
They had outrun the agents three hours ago, but Claire would still turn her head at the sound of every passing car. Luke had silenced himself, and that was of great comfort to her right now. Sylar, their defence strategy, however, hadn't budged from his position on her lap. He had been hit pretty badly, and for some reason, he wasn't recovering as fast as he should be. She didn't know why, but she wasn't that worried. He had her power after all. What she was worried about was how they were going to get well, anywhere, with the gigantic bloodstains on her shirt and almost his entire body. He was literally covered in blood. She toyed with his way-too-long-for-a-guy fringe, thinking. Not just about that, but about other stuff too. When was she going to see her mom again? When was she going to see her dad? When was she going to see Nathan? Peter? And what were they all going to do about Nathan's big plan? She closed her eyes and let the world blur. She needed to stop thinking.
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"Sylar?" There's a voice calling his name. It sounds like Claire. "Sylar!" A fist hit him in the chest. He groaned, opening his eyes. There wasn't any light anywhere, except for Claire, who seemed to be glowing from the inside out, like the proverbial angel she already resembled. Her eyes were angry, as usual when they stared into his, but he felt mesmerised by the colour of them, a glittering green that was interrupted by flecks of blue.
Every part of his body ached. He couldn't sit up. Hell, he didn't want to.
"Sylar!" Claire hit him in the chest again, and he yelled as the abused area throbbed. Geez, she really was strong.
"Claire, stop that." He grumbled, pushing himself up.
"You have to stop them!" She yelled. Her eyes were wild, crazed and he'd never seen her look so scared. Then, out of the darkness came Nathan, with an army of agents.
"Their going to take you away." He glanced back at her, and was surprised to find her eyes brimming with tears.
"And here I was thinking you'd be glad to be rid of me." He smirked, trying to get her to smile.
She didn't, she just stared at him with an undecipherable expression. Then she moved forward, pressing her lips to his. His brain froze, his eyes closed, his heart stopped. There were a million reasons why he should stop her, why he couldn't let her distract him like this. He felt like he couldn't let her pull away and that was already too dangerous... He gave up and let his hands come up around her, pulling her to him. This felt right. It was right.
Costa Verde, Sam's Comics...
Lyle walked into the store, looking suspiciously around him. Hmmm... Alex, huh?
"Do you know a Alex?" He asked the guy at the counter, glancing at him suspiciously. The guy glanced around before giving him a grin.
"Yes... I'm Alex. Is there something I can help you with?"
Lyle took a deep breath, knowing full and well he sounded absolutely nuts.
"Is there something you can do? Something special, and it shouldn't be possible but it is?" The guy's face went white, and Lyle knew for sure he had the right guy. Claire used to get that look on her face all the time.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Alex's eyes narrowed as he looked the boy up and down. Had he seen him at the swim club or something and somehow tracked him here? His heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. He couldn't know... He couldn't.
Lyle leaned over the counter, glancing nervously over his shoulder. "Look, I'm not here to hurt you.. I'm here to tell you that someone is after you and you need to come with me if you wanna live." He thought he sounded pretty damn badass.
"I..." The door jingled and Lyle looked up just in time to see his dad walk in. Shit.
"Get down!" He forced Alex's head down and behind the counter, before crouching down himself. Alex crawled down on his knees until he was next to Lyle behind the counter.
"Look, I don't know what's going on but..." Lyle clamped his hand over Alex's mouth. "Dude, you talk way too much." He glanced over at his dad, who was circling the 9th wonders collection, and looking around suspiciously.
Lyle jerked back to reality. "I'm going to distract him, and you're going to run out front and get in the grey SUV." He stuffed his keys haphazardly into Alex's hands. "When I run out and get in the car, we're gonna take off, okay?"
"Why should I even believe you?" Alex asked, expression stoic.
"I don't know, and I can't prove anything I'm saying, but I'm here for a reason, right?" Before Alex, could reply, he shoved him. "Now, shut up and stick to the plan."
Lyle stood up and walked steadily toward his dad.
"Hey dad, what're you doing here?" He grinned at his dad and randomly selected a comic book from the shelf next to him.
Noah jumped, his hand planted firmly on his gun.
"Lyle?" His dad's brow furrowed and his expression was incredulous. Lyle's smile didn't falter.
"No dad, it's Claire." He joked, flipping through the comic blandly. Then he noticed the pictures.
There was a girl in a cheerleading costume that said Union Wells, who looked exactly like Claire in her cheerleading days, splattered with blood. He flipped a page. His dad, in comic form, stared up at him, holding a gun to someone's head.
"It was written by a man with abilities. Like your sister. He could paint the future." He turned to his dad, who gave him a wry smile.
"Sure..." He put the comic back on the shelf. "..Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you about that."
"What?" His father asked blankly, glancing around, his attention elsewhere. As usual.
He took a deep breath, "About Claire."
In an instant, his attention was back on Lyle.
"What about her? Has she called you? Emailed you?" His voice was alert and hopeful.
"No. But someone sent me a text." He turned to look his dad in the eye. He wanted to see the look on his face when he lied to him. Again.
"And the text said," he continued, "to help this guy who works here. Apparently, he's like Claire. I texted back and asked if Claire was okay. And this person said I should talk to you about it." He folded his arms. "I'm talking."
Noah frowned. Who...Who had known...Who could've... He sighed. It didn't matter, though he was quite sure it had something to do with a teenage boy with curly hair.
"Claire's in New York, with her grandmother. This...Whoever he was, obviously had his information wrong." He said impassively.
Lyle shook his head. "Then why are you here, dad? To read comics?" He heard a screech of tires outside and glancing out, he saw Alex in the driver's seat of his mom's SUV, glancing nervously around. Time to go.
"I..." He couldn't think of anything.
"Yeah, dad.." He patted his father on the shoulder, moving past him and towards the door, "..Keep thinking about it."
"Lyle, don't do this. Don't get involved." Lyle's eyes flashed and he turned back to Noah.
"I am involved. Mom is involved, we're all involved because Claire and you are our family. You act like it's only you and Claire, some little secret that you share, but it's not. We all know, we all go through it. And by keeping us out..." Lyle ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know what you think you accomplish."
"I wanted to protect you!" Noah argued, moving towards him.
Lyle moved out of reach, one foot out the door.
"Well, you can't do it forever." He turned and ran onto the street dashing into the car. Noah watched, feeling... Proud.
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In India...
"I've been feeling so lost and confused." Her voice was still shaking. Ando wondered what could possibly be so horrible about her husband. Did she have someone else that she loved? Was he abusive? Having an affair? And if she didn't love him, why was she getting married. Ando felt like there were a lot of questions to be answered.
"I've asked the heavens for a sign whether I should marry or not." She continued, looking a him unsurely.
"A sign..." He mulled over this, thinking it over. He was supposed to stop Annapoora from getting married. She needed a sign. A sign...A sign. What better sign was better than red lightning shooting from his hands.
"Yes, a sign." He repeated, waving his hands for emphasis. He breathed, bringing his hands up and visualising his red lightning flowing from it. It didn't work. He exhaled, trying to focus. He focused on Hiro, and how much his destiny meant to him. He focused on Daphne, and what she told him about being a hero. These words seemed to flash in his mind. That's what a hero does. They put their life on the line to save the people...People they... Care about.
Heat flooded in his hands and he felt it spark and his hands lit up as red sparks flooded the air around them, shooting straight up into the ceiling. It slashed through a red cloth, and he watched in amazement as the cloth caught fire, and slowly extinguished after a few moments. He could start fires! He hadn't known that! He was like... He can't actually think of a superhero right now, but he's awesome! He can start fires.
He briefly hears Hiro's voice in the background, but he doesn't really hear what he's saying. There's this look of utter amazement on her face, and it feels really good. Like he's not a sidekick anymore. He's the hero.
"You are the sign.." She breathes, a huge smile spreading across her face. "You're the one I've been waiting for."
He hears Hiro talking saying something like he's the sign, but Annapoora isn't even paying attention. She's just looking at him like he's saved her life. Like he's amazing.
"That's it." She proclaims happily, not heeding Hiro's words at all. "The wedding's off!"
The wedding is off! He's just completed the mission! By himself! He looks from Annapoora to Hiro, feeling the shock running through his body. He's done something without Hiro. Something good. Hiro looks like the world has been ripped from him, but he can't care less right now. He's a hero!
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"Turn right." Lyle instructed Alex. His house seemed like the safest bet for now. He doubted his dad would come there and try to get them. Plus, with Claire gone, if people were really after Specials, their house would be presumed a special-free zone.
Alex pulled into the driveway. He paused in the seat, took a deep breath, and turned to Lyle.
"Who are you?" He asked, his voice shaking.
Lyle grinned and extended a hand. "Just call me Superman."
Alex took the hand, but his face was unamused.
"I am not going to call you 'superman'."
Lyle's grin faltered. "It sounded better in my head." He admitted.
"I'm serious. Who are you? How did you know about me?"
Lyle pulled out his phone and brought up the text, passing it to Alex. Alex stared at it, his eyes narrowed and brow wrinkled.
"Rebel? Who's Rebel? What are they rebelling against?" Alex tossed the phone back to him.
"I don't know, but whoever it is... I'm pretty sure they saved your life."
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Ando grinned and picked out a brown cake-looking thing out of the tray the nice Indian lady held out to him. It smelled good.
"The house specialities; rasmalai, kheer, halwa and jamun." She announced, retracting the tray with a slightly miffed look when Hiro didn't pick anything. Ando ignored Hiro's troubled look and turned back to Annapoora. He was making it so obvious that he was jealous.
"So this is your place?" He asked, taking a bite out of the... He wasn't sure if it was kheer or jamun.. It tasted sweet and crunchy. It was too bad- Hiro would probably have loved it.
Annapoora nodded, smiling. "Yes, with Shaila." She looked over at her friend, her smile seemingly growing wider. "We opened to years ago," she continued, sitting down across from them." A slight cloud passed over her face. "Against my grandfathers wishes."
"You're grandfather?" Ando took another huge bite out of the cake/biscuit.
Annapoora shrugged, seemingly uncomfortable with the subject. "He believes in tradition. He thinks that women should be at home, raising the children, not starting up businesses. That's why he arranged my marriage to Deepak." She fiddled with her rings.
"But you don't love Deepak." Ando wondered about this.
Annapoora shook her head, getting a dark look in her eyes. "He is a powerful and dangerous man, above the law." Her voice was laced with fear.
Hiro's eyebrows peaked. No one was above the law!
"My grandfather was too frightened to deny his request to marry." She shuddered.
"You must be hungry, my hero." She shook herself out of it, getting to her feet. "Let me bring you more." She moved back towards the kitchen.
Ando turned to Hiro, who was staring morosely off into the distance. Ando sighed.
"What's the matter with you?" Hiro refused to look at him.
"We came all this way, and you stole my chance to get my powers back." Ando didn't think he'd ever heard him so upset and disappointed before. Not even when he didn't get to go to Comic Con when they were 10.
Ando sighed. "I only stopped the wedding, like the drawing said!" He argued back in Japanese.
Hiro looked at him, looking more than a little sulky. "The drawing wanted me to stop the wedding!" He turned away from Ando again.
Ando rolled his eyes. "Hiro, I have a power now. I wanted to help that girl, so I did."
Hiro's reply was almost instantaneous. "Well you did it wrong!"
Argh. Ando' brows knitted in frustration. "No, I did it my way." His ego kicked in. "And that's what really bothers you. That I have powers and you don't!" He crowed the last sentence triumphantly. "You can't stand the fact that you're now my sidekick!"
Hiro couldn't explain how much the last sentence hurt him. He knew he wasn't supposed to be jealous, but it bothered him. Ando... He hadn't wanted powers. He didn't buy into the idea of heroes, not like Hiro himself did. He crushed the feeling irritably, his eyes falling from Ando's face. How could Ando say that to him? He had brought Ando into this life. Ando wouldn't have powers without him. But he was also right. Deep inside, he did feel like that. He sighed.
Just then, an Indian man in a well-tailored suit burst into the deli, started speaking in Tamil to Shaila, who's eyes flashed with something that Hrio didn't like. He watched as her hands clenched at her sides, and she, albeit reluctantly, flicked her eyes to the room behind her. The man's eyes sparked angrily and he swung into the room, talking loudly in Tamil.
Shaila's eyes met their inquisitive gaze. "Deepak." She grimaced. "The groom."
Ando, looked over at Hiro, who looked defeated in a way Ando had never felt possible. "Go on, 'hero'." Hiro smiled half-heartedly. "Save the day." He repeated in Japanese when Ando didn't move. And it was the way he said it, without any sarcasm that made Ando truly regret what he had said.
Ando stood, moving into the room Deepak had just entered. He was towering over her, shouting as Annapoora's eyes glinted with unshed tears and she spoke back in fast, rushed Tamil.
"Excuse me." Ando's voice rang confidently through the kitchen area. "Is everything okay in here?"
Deepak didn't reply, his eyes just swept disdainfully over him before moving back to Annapoora, who seemed to have calmed slightly at seeing him.
"Who the hell is this?" He demanded in perfect English.
"This is Ando." Her eyes met Ando's anxiously. "He is my friend."
"I see." He seemed to pause for a second, as if connecting the dots. "So you cancelled the wedding because of him?" He screamed suddenly, and both Annapoora and Ando flinched.
"No, no sir you are mistaken I'm just a guest, sir!" Ando panicked as Deepak reached behind him, grabbing a metal pan and raising it over his head and waving it around.
"NO, sir, calm down sir!" Ando yelled as he moved towards the agitated man, trying to diffuse the situation. It didn't really work out very well. Annapoora's screams seemed to blend in his head as Deepak brought the frying pan down on his head with a resounding crash. Everything shook, and then, slowly, faded away.
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Luke pulled up at a motel. It was half-past eight, and he was tired of driving. He glanced back at the two of his... "Friends". Sylar had twisted in his sleep, his face in her arms. Claire's mouth was hanging open, her eyes closed and her right hand wrapped halfway around his neck and her left around his stomach. His lips quirked up at the side. They looked like such an odd match, but there was something about them that just seemed to fit, in a way he was sure didn't happen in a whole lot of couples. Definitely not his mom and dad.
Maybe it was the way they looked like utter opposites, his hair dark and splayed all over her lap, his mainly black clothes set against with her white sweater and pale blue jeans. She was small and blonde, he was too tall and dark. And even in his house, when she was tied up, no one could have denied the sparks of (angry) fire that had flown between them. There seemed to be a connection, no matter what Claire said about them.
He sighed. One more girl he (probably) wouldn't be getting. Oh well.
"Wake up." He whispered, tapping on Claire's shoulder. He didn't dare touch Sylar. Who knew? Maybe he had some "touch me and I kill you" rule. Either way, waking up Claire was a safer bet. Let the indestructible girl wake up the serial killer.
"Huh..." Claire slowly opened her eyes, seemingly having forgotten where she was. Her eyes froze on him, then slowly moved down to Sylar. She let out a sound that was a cross between a snort and a squeal and pushed Sylar off of her lap in a panic, and he fell to the car floor in a heap. He stayed there for a moment, and Claire and Luke stared at him, tensed up. And then, a low groan filled the car, and he rolled over, eyes closed.
"I'm going to kill both of you. And it's going to be extremely painful." He murmured, and Claire rolled her eyes.
She reached under the seat, grabbing a pouch and tossing it to Luke. "Get a room and pay the guy extra money not to say anything about its blood covered occupants, and no questions, got it?" Luke nodded wide-eyed as she tossed him a huge wad of notes. He had no idea being a serial killer paid so well.
Claire kicked Sylar in the ribs, and he growled at her. "Get up." She said, refusing to look at him.
Grudgingly, Sylar pushed himself up, moving toward the door. It hurt. Everywhere hurt.
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In India...
"Ando!" Hiro burst into the room, waving the French loaf he had haphazardly picked up around threateningly. Annapoora was huddled in the corner, weeping, but there was no Ando.
"Deepak hit him with this." She held up a frying pan. "Ando collapsed." She sobbed harder.
"And then?" Hiro moved towards her, his heart beating faster.
"Deepak carried him off!" Her tears fell faster. His heart clenched. Ando... He steeled himself. He was going to find him. And he would be the hero.
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Ahhh... Claire fell back on the bed, exhausted and refreshed after her shower. The bed was huge, enough for two people and she had claimed it first so... She hugged the pillow to her chest, grinning. No couch for her. She was just about to drift off when she felt someone lie down next to her. Slowly, she opened one eye, peeking at the intruder. Sylar smirked back at her. Her eyes narrowed, and she shoved him away.
"Get. Off. My. Bed." She grit her teeth.
"Our bed." He verified, smirking at her.
"It's not ours, it's mine." She protested. "I was here first."
"Did you really think me and Luke were going to share the couch?" He gave her a dubious look.
"You could sleep on the floor." She refuted weakly, looking down at the grubby looking carpet and those...She squinted. Tiny looking... things moving around in them.
"So could you." He argued. Claire bit her lip, looking back down at the floor.
Fleas or Sylar?
She considered it. Fleas would take hours to get rid of... She was stuck with Sylar either way. Finally, she groaned and fell backwards, rolling over away from him, the exhaustion in her bones getting the better of her.
"Touch me, and I will gouge your eyeballs out with a spoon." She warned him.
"And I wanted to spoon." He whispered back into her ear as he flicked his hands and the lights went off. She snorted and kicked at his long legs beside her. He chuckled, and she covered her head with a pillow.
"Hey!" Luke yelled from... Claire didn't really know where he was. "I'm not do-" He was cut off and she heard a thump from somewhere in the room. Whatever.
She closed her eyes and let the sound of the too-loud air-conditioning lull her to sleep.
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In India...
Annapoora fussed with her earring, glancing at Hiro in the mirror. "Deepak will let Ando go if I follow my commitment to marry." Her voice was thick with tears that she was too tired to shed, and a hard determination.
"And if you don't?" Annapoora paused at Hiro's question, her shoulder's sagging and her gaze wavering. And then she was back, and avoiding his eyes.
"I must prepare for the wedding." She said briskly, her voice suddenly cold. Her sari glinted in the sunlight as she moved away from him.
"I can save you, you know." Hiro said quietly. "I can be the hero."
Annapoora stopped, before turning slowly to face him. She was smiling, but her eyes were sad.
"I'm tired of waiting for heroes. There are too many villains in this world for all of us to outrun." She gave him another sad smile, and gently squeezed his hand. "But thank you, Hiro. For trying."
Hiro watched her go, a plan hatching in his mind. He would save her. Heroes, no matter how unlikely, would always win. These last few years had taught him nothing, if not that.
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The priest had already started the ceremony when Hiro arrived. Hiro raced forwards, bursting through the crowd.
"Stop!" He yelled. "This wedding cannot go on." He paused, stepping forward so that he was closer to the both of them. "Annapoora is being forced into this against her will."
Annapoora's eyes widened, and she looked at Deepak with pleading eyes, as if begging him to let her go.
"You are making a mistake." Deepak's voice was laced with menace and anger.
"You have kidnapped my friend!" Hiro shouted louder. "I want him back. He is being held hostage!" Hiro reached the stage, and stood next to Annapoora. He had faced guys like Deepak before, back when he had had no control over his powers. He had still won.
Deepak leapt to his feet, clearly wanting to defend his actions. "It is not I who broke our engagement." He looked at Annapoora accusingly, who shrunk under his gaze.
"She does not want to marry you." Hiro said in a clear, even voice. Now Annapoora was standing too, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.
An old man in the front row stood, and Annapoora's eyes immediately met his. "Anna? Is this true?"
Annapoora felt like her heart was breaking when she looked him in the eyes. She had already let him down so much... She didn't want to have to do it again, but... She glanced at Shaila. There were important things, things she really wanted to do. She stepped forward, twining her hands with his.
"All my life I've tried to please you, grandfather." Her eyes flicked to Shaila's once more, who smiled at her encouragingly. "But if I marry Deepak, I will be giving up what matters to me most." Shaila's smile grew wider. "Perhaps a traditional marriage is not my destiny." It was like a weight was lifted off of her chest. Finally... She sighed in relief. She didn't have to lie anymore. She gazed at her grandfather, hoping he'd understand.
"I just want you to be happy, my child." Annapoora grinned, pulling her grandfather into a hug. Hiro smiled. The moment, however, was broken by Deepak, who pulled the two apart.
"We had a deal, and you broke it." He grabbed Annapoora roughly by the wrists. "The woman and the bakery belong to me." He dragged her with him as he moved through the crowd. Hiro's anger flared. He hated men like him. They were horrible, mean people who undervalued all around them in favour of pleasing themselves.
He pushed through the crowd until he reached them. "You leave her alone." He punched with all his might at Deepak's face and watched with pride as he fell. His father really had been a good teacher. He grabbed a knife, holding it up as Deepak pushed his upper body off the ground, clutching at his nose.
"Give me back my friend." Hiro demanded. Deepak's eyes scanned the crowd of onlookers, his expression slightly panicked. He seemed to come to a decision.
"That's it! The wedding's off!" He announced. "You're too much trouble, I don't want to marry you. And you can have your lousy friend back." He rose to his feet angrily, before marching off in the other direction.
A wide, childlike smile crossed Hiro's face. He did it! And then it clicked. This was the moment... The moment in the painting! The words tumbled out of his mouth and he only half registered Annapoora's curious gaze on him. "This is me, being the hero! Yatta!" He raised his hands, that wonderful feeling coursing through his body. He was a hero... Without his powers.
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Tracy groaned, her eyes flickering open. The heat was unbearable... Again. The chains clinked behind her and she felt the familiar metal burning her wrists. Her eyes focused on the dark figure in front of her. Nathan. Her lips drew into a sneer.
He pounced the minute the agents fixing her chain back into place left. "Tracy, I don't know how you did it." He paused, making sure she was looking at him. "But you better get used to the heat, because you are never," He emphasised each syllable, "getting out of here again."
She smirked, tossing her hair out of her face. "We both know what you did, Nathan." Her voice became hard. "Broken chain, unlocked door." She moved against the chains so that they were a hairsbreadth away. "I may be a blonde, but it doesn't take a genius to add things up." She fell back against the chair, watching him.
His mind worked at a furious pace, trying to process the information. "You wanted me to escape." She continued. Her smile was almost delirious when she said, "And you know what? Next time, I will."
He moved out of the room without another word.
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"You were right, Hiro. I should never have interrupted the course of destiny." Ando smiled at him, relieved to be back with his friend.
"No apologies, my friend..." Hiro's eyes were sparkling again. "I realised why I was sent to India, and it wasn't to get my powers back. I was sent here to realise that I can be a hero. Without my powers." He grinned at Ando happily.
Ando smiled, nodding slowly. He was right. He had saved his life; without powers. Annapoora drew up at their table, clutching a paper.
"I finally figured out why your names are so familiar." She said, smiling, and Hiro felt a deep seated satisfaction with himself. He doubted she'd be smiling if she had married Deepak.
"A fax came in addressed to Hiro and Ando, see?" She held out the paper with the neatly typed English words.
Hiro squinted. "It's from someone named, Rebel." He held out the paper for Ando to see.
Ando scanned the paper quickly. All it said was... He drew in a sharp breath. "Save Daphne," he read, "She's alive..." He jumped up, grabbing the paper from Hiro. "It gives us an address, somewhere in Washington, Hiro, we have to go, now!"
He moved so fast he didn't have time to roll his eyes as he heard Hiro cry, "It's a message from destiny!"
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The bed was shaking. Claire groaned, rolling over and pulling the pillow over her head. The shaking stopped and she heard a whimper, then a soft but unmistakable, "I didn't mean to!"
The bed dipped, and Claire opened her eyes. Sylar's shadow loomed over her as he moved away from the bed. She sat up, rubbing her eyes as she blinked, looking for the serial killer. He was sitting against the wall at the end of the bed, in his jeans with no shirt on, and even Claire couldn't deny how normal he looked. Approachable, as his shoulder's shook from the force of his nightmare. He had nightmares. Like an actual guy.
Slowly, Claire got out of the bed and moved towards him. His eyes lifted toward her, guarded and shrouded by the darkness. And then, in the dim lighting she noticed the tears that shone on his face. He was crying. She didn't know why, but sitting like that, he reminded her of Lyle, a very long time ago. When he used to be afraid of the dark. Somehow, Claire thought that for Sylar, maybe it was the opposite. Maybe he was afraid of the light.
She watched his tear-track lined face carefully as she cautiously made her way over to him. His hand lifted as if to stop her, but she spoke.
"I know we're supposed to be enemies and everything," she said as she came up beside him, "but maybe," she got to her knees, "just this once, we could forget about that, and I could be Claire, comforting a nice, random guy." She couldn't help but notice the way he was looking at her, like she was an angel heaven had sent down for him. It felt kinda good actually, even though it was Sylar.
"What's wrong?" She used a lilting, pretty voice that Sylar imagined she had used for her little brother once upon a time.
He knew he should be pushing her away, laughing in her face but... A part of him wanted her comfort. Probably his Gabriel acting up again.
He shuddered, turning away from her. "It was my mom." He said finally.
"What about her?" Claire asked, in that same, flowery tone.
"I was dreaming... About her death." He cleared his throat, not liking how weak and needy he sounded. "I killed her."
And then again, in a horrified voice, "I killed her."
Her voice rang in his ears. "You're not my son!"
Sylar kept his gaze straight, not daring to look at her face, to see the malice and disgust that was most likely there. The mocking. Sylar, the monster, crying about his mother? Even he had to admit, that was slightly pathetic, considering the fact that he had stolen so many mothers from their children.
They sat in silence for a few moments, and then she spoke. "It's okay." His shoulder's tensed.
Claire didn't know why she was telling him it was okay. There was no way it was okay. Killing your mom was not okay. But this was the first time she'd seen him express any sort of remorse for his victims, and somehow that made it... Sort of okay.
He was still shaking, and Claire couldn't help it, seeing him like this. She felt like the old Claire again, just helping out a guy in need.
Slowly she reached out, her hand gently cupping his cheek and turning him to face her. She could feel his stubble on her palm, his uneven shaken breathing and the heat of his gaze that threatened to burn her alive when his eyes met hers. His stare reminded her of the dining room table, like she had something he wanted really bad.
"It's okay..." She repeated, her voice quivering.
He turned to face her fully, and all of a sudden they were too close and Claire regretted coming over here. His eyes were shining with that familiar darkness, and Claire felt her breath catch. Momentarily, his eyes shifted to her lips, but in a second they were back to her eyes and all the vulnerability she had just seen vanished. Her hand was still on his cheek.
Slowly, oh so slowly, his left hand moved up hers, tracing a path from her elbow to her wrist until it rested on her hand, atop his cheek. His eyes burned her as he spoke.
"Maybe we should just stay in our assigned roles." His voice was hard, cold and just slightly more than a whisper, but it rang loud and clear in her ears."You know," his eyes trailed over her disdainfully, "Monster and his..." His lips quirked into a sneer. "Everlasting victim."
Claire felt her stomach drop, and her throat clenched tightly with anger, frustration and...Hurt.
He was a bastard with no heart and no soul, and she was never going to speak to him again. She had given him a slight the tiniest bit of sympathy, which was a whole lot more than anyone else would have ever given him, and he had turned it away. He didn't need sympathy, she realised. She was never going to be so stupid again. He needed darkness, hurt and pain. Unwelcome tears sprang to her eyes as she withdrew her hand as if it had been stung, and raced back to her bed, pulling the covers over her head.
Sylar stayed where he was, watching the shadows she made as she walked away from him.
HELLO HELLO! So haha, Daphne's not dead! WOOHHOOOO! So, I'm really sorry I took like *checks date* three months for this chapter, that was just horrible of me...But if you don't mind, REVIEWWWW and tell me what you think and if there are any story plots you would like to see happen, because *dundundun* ITS AN AU!
Okay, and you already know what my recommendations are, julyisfree, Purple Lex, cerberus angel etc. so I will recommend xReaderx to you because I was reading her oneshots today and they just made me cry and cry and cry with all the angstiness! It's just amazing, seriously, especially 'I Know Well'. Also, thank you to Latios963(she's an amazing fanfic writer too, not for this fandom, but for Harry P. and assorted others), and my friend Kiwi(she writes the most amaze poetry on tumblr) for helping out with this, you two are SOOO AMAZING it's just not possible. TATA FOR NOW!
And as for the short, random, Sylaire scene up there in italics, all will be revealed soon*jazz hands* Love, kisses, and psychopathic hot serial killlers;)