Bricks in the Wall, Chapter 100: Power From The People
Title: Power from the People
Characters: Sylar, Peter Petrelli
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Word count: 750
Setting: The Wall
Summary: Sylar and Peter are sitting on the couch in the rec room, reading their respective books, when Peter sees something on page 286 of the biography of Muhammad Ali that he wants to show Sylar.
Peter pointed at a passage in the book he was reading. "That. That's my ability, my original ability. That's how it works!" He was excited and pleased to have found someone else talking about something he'd felt and not had the right words to express.
Sylar asked for the text with an outstretched hand. Peter gave it to him, rising and circling behind so he could not only indicate the passage, but also read it aloud. Sylar glanced up during the unnecessary narration with an annoyed expression, but then sighed and listened tolerantly.
"'He draws strength from the people,' wrote Richard Durham, one of Ali's biographers. 'They nourish him and he keeps what they give him. Some men cannot take from the people. If the people give to them, it doesn't get through or it just seeps away. He has the power to keep it. It strengthens him the way a parent's love strengthens a child. And when he has enough of that strength, he can do anything the people want of him.'"
Peter looked at Sylar with bright expectation. Sylar said, "That's … interesting." He shifted the book over so he could read the words himself rather than having them read to him. He skimmed the parts above and below while Peter continued wait (patiently) for a more substantial response. Another bit caught Sylar's eye, "As far as [Ali] was concerned, people were people, and all people were meant to be loved. 'I think it's his secret wish to be seen by every man, woman, and child on the planet earth.' … He believes God put him on Earth to be good to people." It fit Peter so well that he hedged, "If he did have an ability like yours, perhaps it was to replicate the athletic prowess of others - a lower-powered cross between muscle memory and empathic mimicry."
Peter's brows drew together. "Um, yeah? I guess. I wasn't saying that he had an ability necessarily. I was saying that the way this Durham guy wrote about Ali's power is the way I felt about mine. It … came from other people. It was about other people. And I couldn't use their power without that … emotional intensity, the connection, that I had with them."
The word 'connection' captured Sylar's attention, which had wavered during the touchy-feely part. "And here you are," Sylar said quietly, "learning to reconnect."
Peter took a half-step away from him and looked around. The world was vacant other than Sylar, as Peter well knew. "I just need to focus - get rid of the distractions." Peter sounded unsure.
"There aren't any distractions here. You know what you have to do to draw strength." Sylar handed back the book with a look of resignation. "That's why these passages speak to you so much."
Peter took the book, dipping his head in a nod. "Thank you." Still looking down, he added as if compelled, "I get it. I know. It's … hard, hard to let go of the past. For both of us, but maybe especially for me. I know what you're saying about how I know what I have to do." He looked down at the book, fingers rubbing along the spine and pages uneasily.
"That's not what I was saying, either." Sylar stood up. He reached over and grasped Peter's shoulder in Nathan's fashion. "The past isn't going to let go of us. I see no reason why we should let go of it." Peter looked up, his hair falling across the left side of his face. His smile at Sylar's humor was warm and genuine. Sylar suggested, "Make the past pay, Peter."
"What, beat the crap out of it and make it wish it never crossed me?" Peter looked amused.
"Use it. Channel it. Make it yours." Sylar tilted his head. "Like you've told me so many times - own it."
"Don't let my past dictate my future?" Peter looked doubting.
"Yes."
Peter nodded slowly, assessing Sylar. "That's … tough. Especially with you. But I'll keep trying." Peter stepped away, returning to where he'd been reading earlier. "You keep giving me strength and I'll keep trying." After opening the book again, Peter asked, "Do you really think Ali had an ability?"
Sylar settled back into his end of the couch. He shrugged. "He always did say he was the greatest. Perhaps he was right."