RP: Lost Sons
Summary: Simmons wasn't lying when he said the Government had aprehended Samson Gray. Sylar gets a bare minimum of information out of him before the man goes for his gun and is microwaved into a puddle by Luke. Sensing a common spirit in the boy, Sylar baits Luke into following him with the bonus of stealing Mom's woodpanel station wagon. So begins the roadtrip toward Washington, D.C., and the answers both so desperately seek.
They had been traveling south on the I-95 for about a hour, mostly in silence in the dark of early evening. They had passed exits for East Brunswick a few minutes ago and the station wagon was still quiet, nothing but the sound of vehicles passing in the opposite direction on the other side of the divide. Sylar hadn't bothered to take his eyes off the road in some time now, except to check the mirrors, leaving his young companion in ambiguous solitude even though they were sitting side by side.
Truth be told he was intensely curious about the boy, but he was also exceedingly patient. He'd learned better about rash judgements and actions recently, charging ahead too quickly on assumptions of people's character. It was easier, now that no one could possibly deceive him, verbally anyway, but he was circumspect nonetheless. Not to mention he was savoring this. Like his trip with a certain foreign geneticist, he was letting Luke Campbell reveal himself naturally. He'd make a more honest observation of him like that. (Nevermind the small powertrip of making him wait with baited breath. And Gabriel could use such an ego boost after being used the way he was.)
Silence was something he was used to so he wasn't exactly eager to break it himself. It was going to be a long drive, sure but hey if this guy, this Gabriel wanted to know something about him he could just ask. He didn't need to know that Luke was bursting with questions about where he came from, how long he's known, what all he can do since--for one thing that coffee didn't leave a mark on him. Shifting under his seat belt he looks at the dashboard clock. Hm. Wonder how long before sirens show up in the rearview mirror. His mom must have called the cops...doesn't she get it that he doesn't need her? Especially not now. She couldn't answer the types of questions he has about what's happening to him and why. He leans forward and turns on the radio, an idle gesture if anything. People aren't supposed to be so comfortable in a silent car right? There should be something droning on in the background. He leans his head against the seatbelt, staring out of the window as he replays the scene at his former home in his mind again and again. That military guy didn't stand a change against what he can do. It felt good even when he watched his flesh had turned into--a boiled mass of soupy remains-- seep out from his fallen body. He did something, he acted, he wasn't a victim like the so-called bullies at school tried to make him. So what if he started the fight that landed him in that joke of a 'detention facility'?
NPR. Probably the mother's choice, but Gabriel approved. News without the sensationalism. They'd hear about politics, art, and certain catastrophes, but probably not Luke's 'abduction', and everything with a subdued dignity about it. Even some music, which was generally relaxing in nature. Which was good. He was about ready to flatten his foot to the floor to get to the address Simmons had divulged before he died. After a bit though, the older man's brandy eyes drifted to the mirror and this time caught they boy's reflection in it. "Which do you think she'll miss first?"
"The car. She'll file the report for that and then for me if she remembers. She hates public transportation." He knows that and it was probably a factor in why he did it. "It's why we even ended up with this piece of shit." His eyes flit over to catch Gabriel's looking over at him. "She's going to be pissed that you got all that blood on her clean, new carpet, she just had that put in like a month ago. I wandered through the living room with a soda in my hand once and you would have thought that I'd tried to burn the house down with how she yelled at me to stay out of the living room with that."
"Ah, I only made a little mess, now you... She'll have to go all the way down to the floorboards to get that out," he chuckled softly, liking Luke's answer. He didn't even have to plant the seeds of discord and resentment in this boy's mind. Get him out of earshot of Mom and it all just came pouring out. A sympathetic ear probably helped, and wasn't that just rare? That Sylar would ever be a sympathetic ear. He wondered how well the kid would hold up. Granted, Gabriel hadn't fixed up that noose until it all got out of hand and it wasn't just strangers dieing any more... But Luke was so much younger. Vestiges of an artificial conscience might still be eating at him.
Turns to him again, the softest chuckle coming out of his lips as well. Yeah...she will. He turns to look over at the man in the driver's seat a little more . "Who was that guy anyway? You made it sound like he was after you first." He'd like an idea of who he so instinctually erased from the world. It's not guilt he's feeling right now, it's curiosity. Gabriel seems like he's really a part of 'something big' and that's exciting for Luke. That pacemaker line for one, was not a joke or a lie. Something he learned when his mother forced him to visit his asshole grandfather in a nursing home. It was the day he first thought maybe something was 'off' about him. But his attitude has since changed, he really likes whatever this thing is he can do.
"To be perfectly honest with you? I don't completely know. He was the last one left of the men who tried to abduct me from the house down the street from yours, Samson Gray's," he didn't figure they were Primatech men. Not the Company's style. Perhaps the soldiers of Pinehearst, but Aurthur was dead and on his way through Jersey Sylar had seen the building had burnt to the ground. "I think they're military, and they're after people like us, people who can do things, special." And they had Samson Gray. That was all Gabriel really needed to know. He was confident he could handle anything thrown at him. As valiant as Luke's 'rescue' was, Sylar had stopped bullets headed his way before, and he'd be going in knowing the guards would be both specially trained and armed. They still wouldn't be ready for something like him.
"Ah yeah, old man Gray...The cautionary tale down the street. My mom would always use him as some sort of bad example for me. I talked to the guy once or twice. Kinda weird, but he's harmless. Do you know him or something?" He hadn't ever seen anyone hanging around Gray's place so it was weird that this guy came out of nowhere and cared so much about him. And military...that was not what he expected would happen when he found out what he could do. "Are there alot of people like us? I guess there has to be if there's military involvement."
They had been traveling south on the I-95 for about a hour, mostly in silence in the dark of early evening. They had passed exits for East Brunswick a few minutes ago and the station wagon was still quiet, nothing but the sound of vehicles passing in the opposite direction on the other side of the divide. Sylar hadn't bothered to take his eyes off the road in some time now, except to check the mirrors, leaving his young companion in ambiguous solitude even though they were sitting side by side.
Truth be told he was intensely curious about the boy, but he was also exceedingly patient. He'd learned better about rash judgements and actions recently, charging ahead too quickly on assumptions of people's character. It was easier, now that no one could possibly deceive him, verbally anyway, but he was circumspect nonetheless. Not to mention he was savoring this. Like his trip with a certain foreign geneticist, he was letting Luke Campbell reveal himself naturally. He'd make a more honest observation of him like that. (Nevermind the small powertrip of making him wait with baited breath. And Gabriel could use such an ego boost after being used the way he was.)
Silence was something he was used to so he wasn't exactly eager to break it himself. It was going to be a long drive, sure but hey if this guy, this Gabriel wanted to know something about him he could just ask. He didn't need to know that Luke was bursting with questions about where he came from, how long he's known, what all he can do since--for one thing that coffee didn't leave a mark on him. Shifting under his seat belt he looks at the dashboard clock. Hm. Wonder how long before sirens show up in the rearview mirror. His mom must have called the cops...doesn't she get it that he doesn't need her? Especially not now. She couldn't answer the types of questions he has about what's happening to him and why. He leans forward and turns on the radio, an idle gesture if anything. People aren't supposed to be so comfortable in a silent car right? There should be something droning on in the background. He leans his head against the seatbelt, staring out of the window as he replays the scene at his former home in his mind again and again. That military guy didn't stand a change against what he can do. It felt good even when he watched his flesh had turned into--a boiled mass of soupy remains-- seep out from his fallen body. He did something, he acted, he wasn't a victim like the so-called bullies at school tried to make him. So what if he started the fight that landed him in that joke of a 'detention facility'?
NPR. Probably the mother's choice, but Gabriel approved. News without the sensationalism. They'd hear about politics, art, and certain catastrophes, but probably not Luke's 'abduction', and everything with a subdued dignity about it. Even some music, which was generally relaxing in nature. Which was good. He was about ready to flatten his foot to the floor to get to the address Simmons had divulged before he died. After a bit though, the older man's brandy eyes drifted to the mirror and this time caught they boy's reflection in it. "Which do you think she'll miss first?"
"The car. She'll file the report for that and then for me if she remembers. She hates public transportation." He knows that and it was probably a factor in why he did it. "It's why we even ended up with this piece of shit." His eyes flit over to catch Gabriel's looking over at him. "She's going to be pissed that you got all that blood on her clean, new carpet, she just had that put in like a month ago. I wandered through the living room with a soda in my hand once and you would have thought that I'd tried to burn the house down with how she yelled at me to stay out of the living room with that."
"Ah, I only made a little mess, now you... She'll have to go all the way down to the floorboards to get that out," he chuckled softly, liking Luke's answer. He didn't even have to plant the seeds of discord and resentment in this boy's mind. Get him out of earshot of Mom and it all just came pouring out. A sympathetic ear probably helped, and wasn't that just rare? That Sylar would ever be a sympathetic ear. He wondered how well the kid would hold up. Granted, Gabriel hadn't fixed up that noose until it all got out of hand and it wasn't just strangers dieing any more... But Luke was so much younger. Vestiges of an artificial conscience might still be eating at him.
Turns to him again, the softest chuckle coming out of his lips as well. Yeah...she will. He turns to look over at the man in the driver's seat a little more . "Who was that guy anyway? You made it sound like he was after you first." He'd like an idea of who he so instinctually erased from the world. It's not guilt he's feeling right now, it's curiosity. Gabriel seems like he's really a part of 'something big' and that's exciting for Luke. That pacemaker line for one, was not a joke or a lie. Something he learned when his mother forced him to visit his asshole grandfather in a nursing home. It was the day he first thought maybe something was 'off' about him. But his attitude has since changed, he really likes whatever this thing is he can do.
"To be perfectly honest with you? I don't completely know. He was the last one left of the men who tried to abduct me from the house down the street from yours, Samson Gray's," he didn't figure they were Primatech men. Not the Company's style. Perhaps the soldiers of Pinehearst, but Aurthur was dead and on his way through Jersey Sylar had seen the building had burnt to the ground. "I think they're military, and they're after people like us, people who can do things, special." And they had Samson Gray. That was all Gabriel really needed to know. He was confident he could handle anything thrown at him. As valiant as Luke's 'rescue' was, Sylar had stopped bullets headed his way before, and he'd be going in knowing the guards would be both specially trained and armed. They still wouldn't be ready for something like him.
"Ah yeah, old man Gray...The cautionary tale down the street. My mom would always use him as some sort of bad example for me. I talked to the guy once or twice. Kinda weird, but he's harmless. Do you know him or something?" He hadn't ever seen anyone hanging around Gray's place so it was weird that this guy came out of nowhere and cared so much about him. And military...that was not what he expected would happen when he found out what he could do. "Are there alot of people like us? I guess there has to be if there's military involvement."