fic: Sundog part 1
Okay I'm posting this one to my journal first, even though I'm not finished with the rest of the story. I hate doing it because I don't want to get ppl involved in something if I don't finish it. Luckly I'm no a roll, so it really should take too long for the others. The reason for the name Sundog is because last week we had one, its a naturally occuring atmospheric phenomenom where there is a ring around the sun- it usually means its about to rain. Everyone at work was freaking out thinking it was an eclipse.
Time frame for this is before Heroes first episode. So no major spoilers unless you havn't seen season 1 yet. I actually did so research on the time frame here guys, though it probably doesn't matter.
Title: Sundog pt.1
Author/Artist: ferretbaby
Pairing(s): pre-slash Sylar/Danny
Rating: pg-13 for language
Summary: Danny is saved by a stranger one random day, he is later questioned by the FBI for his connection to the man.
Notes/Warnings: season 1 spoilers only. Do not own, please don't sue.
The beginning...
Danny was walking down the sidewalk, ice cream in hand, talking to his little sister when he collided with a stranger.
“Shit!”
“What the hell!”
“Oh god, I’m so sorry,” Danny said, trying to wipe away the mess off the guy’s chest. “Did it get all over you or just your shirt?”
“Are you blind! Why don’t you watch where you’re going next time asshole.” The guy snarled, pushing Danny away. Danny stumbled back, slipping on the curb and falling into the street. The sting from skinning his palms on the asphalt was nothing compared to the abject humiliation he felt.
“You jerk,” Maria screeched. “Who pushes people out into the street, are you psycho!”
“Listen bitch, your pedophile boyfriend should watch where he’s going.”
Maria screamed and there was a grunt from the man like Danny’s sister had charged him. The sound of flesh hitting flesh, and the pedestrians gathered around them gasping out in shock.
“Maria,” Danny started to say, stumbling up.
“Watch out!” A woman screamed.
Suddenly a strong hand was hauling him up and into a tight embrace. The sound of a car horn blaring as a car flew past Danny, inches from where he was standing. The force of the wind made him gasp out, clenching him hands into the guy’s shirt as he buried his face into a warm neck.
Danny and his savior were both panting, chest’s press firmly together. Danny’s heart had to be beating loudly enough for everyone to hear, it was pounding against his ribcage in a desperate attempt to get out. Frozen in shock he clung to the man holding him. Everything was silent except for the steady beat of the other man’s pulse against his cheek.
“Oh my god, Danny!” Maria yelled, pushing through the crowd until she reached him. She threw her arms around him, half enveloping the other guy with them. “Are you okay? I’m sorry I wasn’t watching. Oh my god.” She was crying now, burying her face into Danny’s side.
The crowd around them was murmuring in an upset tone, he could hear some talking on their phones, explaining what had just happened.
“Hey where do you think you’re going!” Someone hollered. Maria gasped, pulling away from Danny enough to look behind her to see what was happening.
“That ass, he’s running away.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll get what’s coming to him.” A deep voice answered her, startling Danny with its conviction. He hadn’t heard his savior say one thing since all this had happened.
A large warm hand resting against the back of Danny’s neck gave him a squeeze, guiding Danny back out of the embrace. Danny’s hand spasm, while he could move away he really didn’t want to let go of the hold he had on the man.
“Hey, it’s okay.” A warm spicy breath breathed into Danny’s face. He could feel the guy move his face closer to Danny’s own, nearly knocking their forehead together. “You’re safe, you can let go now.”
Danny nodded, swallowing down the lump he still had lodged in his throat. Unclenching his hands he automatically folded his arms, holding onto his sides while he got his breathing under control. The incident had brought back memories of the time he tried to cross traffic to get to Leeza’s restaurant, reminding him of how close he had almost died then also.
His savior clenched his shoulder, not quiet letting go, but he turned to address someone who was asking him questions.
“God Danny, I’m such an idiot.” His sister moaned, hugging Danny tighter.
“It’s okay, I’m fine.” Danny’s voice was a little hoarse. “How about you, what happened after I fell?”
Maria snorted, “I pushed him back, and the guy backhanded me. Not too hard, I doubt I’ll even bruise.” She hurriedly said after seeing Danny’s upset face.
“The police are on their way sir,” Someone else said, bring Danny’s attention away from his sister.
“Hey I have to leave,” Danny’s savior said, “You’ll be okay though so don’t worry.”
“Wait! I didn’t even get your name.” Danny pleaded, one hand reaching up to hold the guy’s wrist as he drew away.
His savior hesitated, “Sylar. You can call me Sylar, Danny.”
“Thank you Sylar. You saved my life.” Danny said. He listened as Sylar expelled a breath, almost a chuckle.
“Yeah well, stop running into assholes and maybe we won’t have any more incidents like this okay.”
Danny gave him a depreciating smile in return, releasing Sylar’s wrist as he felt the guy step back. Their fingers brushing against each other as he pulled away.
“Is there any way I can return the favor?” Danny asked, desperate not to have the man leave him.
“Someday,” Sylar replied. Danny could hear sirens in the distance, but the only thing he listened to was the guy’s steps as he walked away, the crowd around him white noise as he focused on his savior leaving him.
“Man he was hot. Why can’t I ever have a knight in shining armor looks like that,” Maria asked, voice muffled somewhat by her face pressing into Danny’s side. Both brother and sister gave a sigh.
They both turned back to the crowd, listening as the cops made their way over to them to ask questions.
***
Four months later the FBI shows up at his house.
“Are you Daniel Valdessecchi?” she asked.
Danny leaned against the door frame, “Yes.”
“Hi, I’m Audrey with the FBI, I would like to talk to you about a incident four months ago.”
Danny nodded, “You mean about that traffic incident.”
“Yes. In your statement you said a man named ‘Sylar’ pulled you out of traffic. Is that correct?”
“Well yeah, some jerk pushed me into traffic and he pulled me out before a car could hit me.”
The agent tapped a pen against her notebook. “Are you sure he said his name was Sylar?”
“Positive. No last name just a first. Why is the FBI looking into this anyways?” Danny also wondered why they were asking so many questions about his savior but figured they might eventually get to that.
“Right, there has been a mass of homicides around the US perpetrated by a man named Sylar. Our computers ran a check for any other cases with that name mentioned and yours was one of them. We were wondering if you could give us any details of what this man looked like.” Audrey said, her voice sounding more excited the longer she talked.
“Sorry,” Danny tapped at his temples. “I’m blind, didn’t see a thing. Isn’t that in the file?”
“Oh.” Audrey rustled some papers around. “Your right, it does mention that. It says your sister was there also, did she happen to get a good look at him?”
“I dunno, you can ask her.” Stepping back into the house Danny yelled “Maria! The FBI wants to talk to you!”
There was a squeak and the sound of feet pounding against the floor. “What!?” Maria hollered back, her friend’s loud giggling coming from her room.
“Just come here for a minute.” Danny yelled back, turning back to the agent he smile at her, “Sisters.” He shrugged.
“Why do you and Larry have to tease me so much, it was just a…uhhh hello officer.”Maria’s voice said from behind Danny, she came to stand next to him. “What can I do for you ma’am?”
“Hello Ms. Valdessecchi, I was just talking to your brother about that traffic incident awhile back ago. I was wondering if you happened to see the man who saved your brother.”
Maria shifted, leaning against Danny’s side. “Not really, he was wearing a trench coat and a baseball cap. All dark clothes.”
“What about his face?”
“Not much,” Maria hesitated. “He was young, maybe around Danny’s age. White with dark hair, he was a little taller than my brother. Oh, he had really thick eyebrows though.”
“Do you think if we had a sketch artist come down here that you would be able to get a portrait?” The agent sounded really excited, scribbling something on her notebook.
“Well, it was so long ago. I guess I could try but I really don’t remember much. He was mostly looking at Danny so I only got a profile view of his face.”
Danny’s head snapped towards his sister. He hadn’t known that.
“Your brother? Because he saved him,” The agent asked, pausing in her writing.
“Well yeah I guess. But people stare at Danny all the time, he had that look that people give him when they think he’s hot.”
“Maria,” Danny said, scandalized. He had been holding onto Sylar like a limpet and the guy was eyeballing him the whole time?
“What! It’s true. It was like some scene out of a fairytale, you were a damsel in distress and he was all lovesick hero. Except he kind of looked like he wanted to eat you.” Maria giggled.
“Ms. Valdessecchi this is a serious matter. The man you are talking about could be a serial killer and if your brother has caught his attention he could be in danger.” Agent Audrey scolded, snapping her notebook shut with a ‘click’.
Both Maria and Danny straitened. “It’s been four months and there hasn’t been anything to indicate that Sylar had anything but a passing interest in me.” Danny mentioned, going into lawyer mode. “It might not even be the same man.”
“True.” Audrey sounded angry. “But truthfully this is the closest thing we’ve had to a lead in months. We already have agents looking into your case and interviewing the others at the scene. If you will I would like to make an appointment with a sketch artist as soon as possible.”
Danny was angry with the agent for snapping at his sister and accusing the guy, who saved Danny, of murder. “Maria has school tomorrow, and as a minor I think you should make those plans with our parents first. Sadly they’re not in right now so you’ll have to call them later tonight.”
“Right. Thank you for your time, I’ll be in contact.” With that Agent Audrey marched away, her heel clicking against the sidewalk.
Shutting the door, Danny leaned against it, breathing a sigh of relief.
“She was so rude. You should have seen the dirty looks she was giving you.” Maria said.
“Most cops don’t like it when you’re obstructing justice, Maria.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You said you couldn’t remember what he looked like but I remember you saying he was and I quote: ‘really hot’.”
“I didn’t lie. I remember in a general sense that he was cute, but I wouldn’t be able to describe him anymore. Maybe if I saw him again I would be able to pick him out but that’s about it.”
Danny ran a hand through his hair. “God, now they’re going to have someone tailing me. They think some serial killer is in love with me and I sounded like I was trying to protect him.”
“Do you really think your Sylar is the same guy they were talking about?” Maria sounded worried. Sometime he forgot she was only 14 and that the world was still so exciting and new to her that the idea of someone they might know being a murder must be so foreign to her.
“I don’t know. No one around town knows anyone named Sylar, so it might be.” Danny had spent weeks trying to find his savior. Asking around and even getting the news station involved, if only so he could thank him. Everyone had been quite bewildered when no one stepped forward saying they knew the man, and the other pedestrians at the scene couldn’t remember what he looked like. It was like the stranger had been in town specifically just to save Danny before leaving again.
“Well I don’t think so.”Maria huffed, “What kind of killer would save someone? Doesn’t that go against their killer-code of non-justice or something.”
Danny laughed, “Most serial killers don’t just kill random people, sometime it has to be a specific kind of person.”
“Whatever. I still don’t think they are the same guy.” Maria pulled him away from the door and into the living room. “So don’t worry Danny, your man crush isn’t going to show up one night standing over your bed with a knife, well…the knife would only be used to cut the clothes from your body.”
Sitting down in his usual spot, Danny started organizing his homework.
“What’s with all this homoeroticism coming out of your mouth lately? Is there something you want to share with the family.” Danny teased back. Truthfully, he wasn’t ashamed of his little crush on Sylar, his psychologist said it was perfectly natural to fall a little in love with someone you believed to be your hero. And really, he didn’t expect to ever meet the guy again.
“Shut it you. I just want you to know that I have no problem with your gay crush. And should one day you ever reunite with him and fall madly in love with each other, I am willing to stand behind you when you tell mom and dad you’re going to marry him. I just ask that you make me your maid of honor.”
Danny groaned, throwing a sitting pillow in his sister’s direction. Laughing she caught it and threw it back onto the couch. “Go away, don’t you have guest you have to entertain.” Danny said.
“Yeah I’ve got to text Traci that the FBI was just here, she’s never going to believe this.” Maria skipped away to her room, worries far from her mind.
Danny sat there, shuffling papers in no discernable order. Truthfully, the idea of his Sylar and serial killer Sylar being one in the same was likely. He had never told Maria but Jay had figured out who the guy was that pushed him was Joey Pastilles, a local drug dealer with small ties to the mob. Two days after the incident with Danny, Joey’s body had been found floating in a river 40 miles out of town. Since it was closer to one of the neighboring city it really hadn’t made the news in their small town, but most people assumed it was a drug deal gone bust.
He had no idea what he was supposed to do with this new information. If Sylar was this killer it didn’t necessarily not make him Danny’s savior. Part of him still yearned to meet the guy again, but the small part of him that had wanted to introduce his family to that same man was suddenly very quiet. No matter how safe Danny had felt around Sylar until he knew for sure he wasn’t the guy the FBI was looking for he could never risk his family like that.
Looking towards the ceiling he wondered what Sylar was doing right now, and wished God to keep him safe.
part 2