Two Years, Six Months
Title: Two Years, Six Months
Author: hihielmo
Pairing: Sylar/Luke
Rating: PG- 13
Disclaimer: Heroes belongs to NBC and Tim Kring. Not me.
Word Count: 1,449
Warnings/Spoilers: A small reference to attempted non-con, slash, swearing. Spoilers up to 3.18.
Summary: Two years and six months since he left Luke in the diner. The world has changed and so have they.
Notes: Written for Challenge #4 at lukexsylar, totally ignoring the season finale.
“And this,” the superintendent droned, blood shot eyes flicking strangely over Luke, “is one of the rooms we have open -“
“I’ll take it,” Luke snapped, uncomfortable under the disgusting man’s leer. The man look at him at like warily.
“What did you say your name was?” he asked and Luke pursed his lips, annoyed before digging out the $200 dollars he had stolen from that old couple in Vermont.
“Look, this place isn’t exactly the plaza, kay?” Luke snarled, trying to imitate the glare he had seen on one man’s face so many times before. “So when I say I’ll take it, you should probably just nod, take my money, and go back to watching your kiddy porn.”
The man glared as expected but reached out, eyes greedy, and took the crumpled bills from Luke’s hand. He then left, slamming the rotting door with its rusted hinges behind him.
“Welcome to New York,” Luke said under his breath before dropping his lone back pack on the floor.
~*~*~
Luke has changed in the two years since Sylar left him alone, bleeding in a dilapidated diner. Luke has changed and so has the world. Specials had been rounded up and horror stories of internment camps had surfaced.
Luke, for the most part, had ignored these stories. What did he care? As long as the government didn’t catch him and throw him away, Luke could care less.
Two years of moving around. Two years of hiding under false names and grocery store hair dye. Luke had adjusted, painfully, to the new life Sylar had begun of him the day he left him.
He learned how to scope out the seedy apartment building that wouldn’t ask for ID. He learned how to play the innocent kid card a little too well. He also learned how to hide a body after one time the innocent kid routine got a little too real and scary for him.
The world had changed. But not nearly as much as Luke had.
~*~*~
Luke had hardly come to New York on accident. It was a place he had skirted in his running during the last two years. But courage, or something a little more reckless, had finally driven him here.
Sitting in his new and disgusting apartment Luke knew without a doubt that Sylar was here, somewhere. Somewhere in this city, skulking around, stealing powers, and taking other stupid kids under his wing only to spit them out later.
It was two in the morning when Luke finally set out, wandering the city in vain hope he would see that familiar face. He didn’t. Not that night. Not the next.
Three weeks past. Luke got a job waiting tables at a nearby Italian restaurant where the owner’s daughter flirted with him and he always got free food at the end of the night. Then one night, he stopped looking. His apartment, with its crumbling walls and rusted sinks started to feel like home. The only other home he had ever cared about. The other, of course, being motel rooms, tucked away in Sylar’s arms.
~*~*~
When he finally saw Sylar again, it wasn’t because he was searching for him. In fact, in the six months Luke had been here, he had just about given up on finding the serial killer.
And now, standing across from him, pen poised, about to take his order Luke couldn’t say who was more surprised.
“What are you doing here?” Sylar asked, eyes wide under untamed eyebrows.
“I work here,” Luke muttered, shifting slightly in disbelief. In all his dream of finding Sylar he never thought it wouldn’t be in the restaurant he was working at during dinner rush.
“David!” the owner called out the kitchen window, “Table seven’s food is getting cold. Hurry it up!”
“Hold on!” Luke yelled in a daze over his shoulder before turning back to Sylar.
“David?” Sylar asked, voice taking on a cruel but amused edge.
“That’s my name now,” Luke said, gripping his pen tight enough to hear the ink boiling and steaming inside of it.
“Well,” Sylar said, sneering, “David, you better get back to work.”
“Do you want anything?” Luke whispered, his body half turned away from the sight bombarding his eyes and memories.
“Some wine. You know what I like, David,” Sylar smirked, long legs sprawled out under the booth and Luke nodded before walking away, eyes still widen and shaken.
“Hey, kid, you okay?” Paul, another waiter asked him as he passed by carrying Sylar’s wine. “That guy bothering you?”
“No, I’m okay,” Luke said. Paul just patted his arm before heading off to actual work.
“Thanks,” Sylar smirked as Luke handed him the glass with a shaking hand he tried so hard to hide.
“I…” Luke struggled for words when Sylar’s eyes met his. Sylar’s smirk faded and he set the glass down.
“You came to New York looking for me.” It wasn’t a question but Luke nodded anyways. Sylar would know if he was lying anyway. “Well, you found me.” Luke stepped away from the booth where Sylar sat, staring.
“I have work,” he muttered. Part of him wanted to run in the opposite direction, the other wanted to sliding into the booth opposite him. Part of him wanted it to be the way it used to be, laying in motel beds, whispering to each other.
“Well,” Sylar said, a strange look crossing his face. “I’ll guess I’ll have to wait until your shift is over.”
~*~*~
Luke knew Sylar was following him back to his apartment even if he couldn’t see him. Sylar had finished his wine, left a fifty on the table, and swept out of the restaurant only moments after their little exchange. He was gone before Luke could say a word.
But he had to following him, right? He said he would wait. He wouldn’t abandon Luke again, would he?
But upon unlocking his door and entering the one room apartment Luke could clearly see Sylar perched on a chair. He sat in it like he owned it. Like he belonged there.
Luke headed over to the skin, determinedly ignoring Sylar and began washing his hands, cleaning the seven hour shift away.
Finally, Luke looked up and caught the serial killer’s eyes in the mirror above the skin, watching him.
“Why were you looking for me Luke?” Sylar’s voice snaked through the air, cold and curious. Luke just shrugged, focusing on his hands running under frigid water.
“Wanted answers,” Luke mumbled, not lifting his eyes. Behind him he heard a disbelieved snort.
“And what burning questions did you so need answered?” Luke bit his lip at the belittling and cruel tone. However, the spark of indignation and fury growing in the pit of his stomach forced him to speak.
“Why did you leave me?” the words were harsh and hung in the air, heavy.
Moments passed without an answer and Luke didn’t dare look up into the mirror. It was stupid, he knew, but he was afraid of what he might see on Sylar’s face. Would he be angry at the outburst? Or worse, disgusted?
Behind him, the floor boards creaked as Sylar stood and Luke’s head finally jerked up only seconds before Sylar’s lean body pressed against him, forcing him against the old, still running sink.
“I left you,” Sylar growled into Luke’s ear, “Because you were a dumb kid in way over his head.” Their eyes were locked, warring, in the mirror and emotions raced in them that made Luke’s skin prickle.
“You were the one that put me there,” Luke hissed, his anger flared and the water that still sprayed in the sink began to steam, heated from touching Luke’s glowing hands. Sylar’s own hand shot out and jerked the faucet off, his eyes still not moving.
“You wanted to come with me. You begged. For more then just a road trip I might add.”
“Fuck you, I was seventeen. I didn’t know what I wanted!” Sylar chuckled against him and Luke bit his lip angrily and tried to ignore his pounding heart.
“You’re not seventeen now Luke,” Sylar’s lips brushed closer to his ear and Luke couldn’t suppress the shiver that ran through him. Sylar smirked, “Do you know what you want now?”
“I don’t want you,” his voice was faint and unbelieving even to his own ears. Sylar’s smirk widened and Luke felt his hand land heavy on his hip.
“You’re lying,” Sylar whispered before jerking Luke’s head back and crashing their lips together.
And as it turns out, Luke learned he hadn’t changed nearly as much as he hoped he had in that two years and six months.