Recollection
Peter’s POV
I had been ecstatic when I’d burst into Nathan’s study, quickly telling him about my ability miraculously returning to its original state, bringing all of my old abilities back with it. I had demonstrated by allowing a small ball of electricity to crackle to life in my outstretched palm…and everything went to hell.
I watch as my brother’s eyes go from genuinely happy for me to wide-eyed shock. It doesn’t last as pain replaces shock and he drops to his knees, clutching his head and clenching his eyes shut.
“Nathan! What’s wrong?!” I cry, moving to step towards him.
I stop short as an agonized scream bursts from his lips, sending a chill down my spine. He is shaking, clutching the sides of his head so tightly that I can see his knuckles turn white.
My heart is racing as I wait for the paramedic side of me to kick in and release me from my frozen horror. The screams intensify in volume and pain and I can see tears beginning to stream down Nathan’s face.
It’s those tears that break the spell I’m under, and I rush forward. I reach out to put a steadying hand on his shoulder…and recoil as his skin begins to ripple.
The ragged yell that issues forth brings tears to my eyes, even as I gape at the transforming figure before me with sinking dread.
I am now staring at the shuddering form of the supposedly dead Sylar.
Despite this twisted turn of events I feel my heart wrench at the choked sobs coming from him as he repeats over and over,
“Make it stop. No more. Make it stop.”
I know all too well what this man before me has done in the past, the blood that is on his hands. But looking at the tears that are still falling and the pitiful pleas coming from the shaking form before me, I can’t stop myself from wanting to help him.
Whether or not it was my empathy kicking in, the suffering and desperation in those eyes as they meet mine snap the last of my resistance.
“Please…” he begs. That voice, so ragged and different from the smooth confidence I know, tugs at me like nothing else. “Help me.”
I barely make it in time to catch him as unconsciousness takes him, his body still shivering in my arms.