(no subject)
Title: Define Dangerous
Characters: Sylar, Claire.
Spoilers: Up to Season 2.
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3175
Chapter: 15/?
Previously: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14
Summary: While escaping the Company, Sylar meets up with someone from his past. Together, they must piece together some semblance of normality after years of captivity. Future AU.
Claire waited until three in the morning for Sylar to return to the hotel. She took a shower, perused the room service menu, watched some reruns on tv until finally shutting out the lights and starring at the ceiling, wondering where the hell he could be. The ceiling starred right back at her, offering no answers.
Something wasn't right. It tickled the back of her spine, setting off her intuition and making her unable to close her eyes and relax. She took a breath and counted up the minutes and hours it would have taken him to get to Kirby Plaza to Mohinder's apartment and back to the hotel. It wouldn't have taken seven hours, that's for damn sure.
She jumped out of bed, throwing the bed covers off of her and started pacing. Claire needed to move, to walk, to throw all her worried energy into something physical. And she needed answers. Then she spotted it a New York City White Pages phone book, sticking out of the nightstand.
She made a quick grab for it and spread the book out on the bed, flipping to the back of the alphabet. The pages brushed her fingers rapidly, as she made her way through the S-section. Sanders. Smith. Sulu. Her finger stopped on the page with the heading Sur-Sus and moved down the book, scanning until her eye came across the number Claire was looking for. Tapping the book, she nodded, “Suresh.”
The best chance she had in finding Sylar was tracing his footsteps. He said he was going to Mohinder Suresh's apartment; she would start there. It was the only clue she could go on. At least, if Claire talked to Suresh, she would at least know if Sylar had been there yet. Not that she really knew what to expect when she met Dr. Suresh, seeing as how she doubted the two men were all that close. At best, Suresh knew where to find him or could point her in the right direction. At worst, Claire sighed, Sylar and Suresh had gotten into an altercation of some sort and they were both dead.
She wondered, not for the first time that week, whether she ought to find a better traveling companion. Maybe there was someone out there she could share the road with who didn't go around hurting people and worrying her sick when they were out all night. Sylar was the one who saved her though. He'd been there for her when there was no one else, watching over her and making sure she didn't get herself killed. Claire owed him at least this much.
After making sure the address was the right one, Claire got off the bed and riffled through the nearby mahogany desk that was pushed up against the far side of the room. Lifting the room service menu from the stack of other papers on the desk, Claire found a pad and pen, both barring the logo of the Marriott Hotel. After rushing back to the phone book, she scribbled the address on the pad of paper.
Claire knew only the bare minimum about the city or how to navigate in it. Even though both her biological father and uncle were born and bred there, she nevertheless was a Texas, and then a California, girl. It didn't matter. She'd find the apartment, ask her questions and make sure that everyone was okay.
She starred at the clock and then the phone, wondering if she should call now and wake Suresh and his family up this late at night. It wouldn't do to barge in on them now. Plus, Claire sighed, she was probably worrying for no reason. Sylar was a big boy. He could take care of himself.
She looked over at the other bed as it lay empty. “I'll give you until morning.”
Sleep did not come easily that night. She knew he would only fault her for rushing into things and thinking he couldn't handle things on his own. Still, she thought of all the things he promised to do for her: keep her safe, talk to Suresh, find Peter. Guilt set in when she realized there was little she could do for him. He was so in charge of things, headstrong and powerful and she was.. she hated to think of what she was.
Claire tossed in bed, knowing it was the company that put those thoughts of her low self worth in her head. It was them who made her feel like she wasn't enough for anyone, even Sylar. Still, she couldn't escape those feelings, they clung to her and refused to let go.
Eventually she fell asleep and dreamed of tiny cells and laughing guards, needles and family members both missing and dead. She was always running in her dreams, always had to keep one step ahead and hide and get away. Primatech was always right behind her but she had a secret plan. She had a hero. He held her in his arms and she was safe and protected and loved.. and then he was gone. Gone like so many others.
In the morning, Claire woke covered in sweat as the images from her nightmare lingered within her mind. She'd dreamt this same nightmare before but she could never quite remember who her hero from her dream was once she woke up. Was it weird to have fallen in love with someone from her dreams, she wondered. People metaphorically did it all the time but literally was another matter entirely.
Claire pushed that thought aside and glanced over at the other bed. It was still neatly made, all corners tightly tucked in as only a professional hotel maid could do. It didn't look like Sylar ever returned to the hotel room at all. The time limit was up.
Once again, she was back in the waking world with all the troubles that it contained waiting to screw her over again. Mornings really sucked sometimes.
She frowned and muttered a soft curse.
On the way to the subway station, Claire decided to take a detour through Central Park. So much time had passed since she lasted walked around this city but this was the part Claire knew best. The trails of the park led straight to the Petrelli mansion, which lay just across the street from the western edge of the Great Lawn.
Claire didn't know that she would wind up there, staring up at the white brick building with it's ornate fence and warm light emanating from the inside. Her head was filled with too many thoughts to keep track of where her feet were leading her. She stared up at the mansion which once felt like a second home, feeling a sense of awe and bewilderment.
It was hard to imagine that there was a point where Claire could have walked through that door and have been welcomed by her biological father with a hug. Of course, that was after the brief year he spent denying Claire was his biological daughter. She didn't blame Nathan anymore. She'd popped back into his life unexpectedly. He wasn't prepared to come face to face with his past. Few people ever are prepared for that eventuality.
Peter made things right, somehow he always did. He argued and pleaded with Nathan to see the light. He made Nathan talk to her. After taking that small step, little by little, her father let her into his life. Things were great after that, for a little while at least. Heidi took Claire shopping in the city. Nathan taught her how to ski. Peter was always there to listen to whatever little insignificant troubles she had at the time. Such little troubles compared to now.
Claire had two families for those few years. One back in California, one in New York. Both loved her more than she felt she deserved. Both were now torn apart, lives destroyed and people murdered all because of the company's us-versus-them ideologies.
Claire reached her fingers slowly up to the gate, grabbing the bars in her tiny hands and wistfully thinking of the past. She shook the gate lightly, then more forcefully until she was screaming out in the empty streets of the early morning, railing against the end that had come too soon. “I want it back. I want my life back! Those bastards stole it. I want it back!”
A little boy pulled the curtains away from a room on the second story, probably his bedroom. That was where Simon and Monty always slept. He wasn't much older than the twins were when Claire first started visiting the mansion. She was scaring him, probably scaring the few people on the street this early in the morning too.
With a sigh, she left and continued walking quietly, avoiding stares from other pedestrians.
She didn't belong here anymore.
She never would again.
Claire starred up at the brick building and noted the number displayed above its door. She checked it against the address she wrote down on the hotel's stationary. This was the place.
Hesitation worked itself into her thoughts as she became less sure of her plan. A part of her told her to go for it, knock on the door, ask Suresh whether or not he'd seen Sylar last night and accept whatever he said. Another part told her that this wasn't right, barging in there unannounced and disrupting the geneticist's family once again. She was just another distraction from their happy home, one more issue to deal with after Sylar's intrusion.
That's what she was to people these days; an issue to be handled, an interruption of their easy-going life. She sighed, guilt had been driven into her during her days in the company. They sought to break her by telling her that she didn't matter, that she wasn't worth the time spent working on her case, that she should be ashamed of even existing. These feelings now clung to her like a black cloud over her head, impossible to ignore.
When she arrived outside of Suresh's apartment, Claire paused for a moment before knocking on the door. A dark-skinned man answered it, someone she had not seen since one memorable day down at Kirby Plaza years ago. It was the day her uncle exploded; you tend not to forget about things like that. Every bit of that day was etched on her mind, as clear as if New York City almost exploded yesterday.
“Claire?” He blinked at her sudden appearance at his door but recognized her right away. He opened his mouth to speak but was too astonished to attach words to his thoughts. Claire figured that was because of the company's cover story. It wasn't everyday you came face to face with a ghost. Moving away from the door, Suresh jumped back to the present moment and ushered her in. “Please come in, come in.”
The place was cozy. It had two bedrooms, a great kitchen and enough space to raise a daughter in while getting a little business done in the small office set up in the corner. If she hadn't been in the company for so long, Claire could have seen herself settling down in an apartment much like this one and living a normal life. Her life could never be normal though. “I hope you don't mind me coming over. I found your address in the phone book.”
“It's no trouble at all but I am rather surprised to see you, so you'll have to forgive my lax manners. I thought you were-- well, it doesn't matter what I thought. The important thing is that you're here.” Suddenly a pot of water on the kitchen stove boiled over and Suresh busied himself. He moved some pots around and lowered the heat, making sure the water wouldn't boil over again.“I was making some lunch. Do you want any? It's just rice and vegetables but Molly seems to like it.”
“No, thanks. I already ate today.” Claire relaxed a little. Thankfully, Suresh and his daughter both seemed to be alive and well by the way he was talking. That was half the battle. The other half was finding out where the hell Sylar went and broaching that subject with Suresh. “I actually came here to ask you something.”
Suresh turned his attention back to her. “Sylar told me you escaped with the company with him. If you've decided you don't wish to be around him anymore, I can't fault you for coming to your senses. You're welcome to stay here. You don't even have to ask. We have a pull-out couch and I can take you up to see Peter tomorrow.”
Claire stood there frozen. It was her turn to witness the impossible. All this time, she had followed Sylar not because she thought Peter was really alive but because she had no where else to go. Now there was proof. Proof that her uncle was out there somewhere, still alive. She swallowed happy tears and asked, “You mean.. but I thought-- oh my god.”
All other thoughts and plans fell to the wayside once Peter's name was brought up. As Claire found it harder to contain her emotions and her tears began to fall, Mohinder guided her to the nearby couch in the living room. She sat down slowly, still in shock and detached from the rest of the world. None of this felt real, she couldn't connect with a single sensation in that whole moment besides the happy numbness she felt as her one last hope became a reality. “Peter-- Peter's alive?”
“Sylar didn't tell you?” Mohinder asked, annoyance coloring each word.
She blinked away tears, remembering the reason she'd traveled out to Suresh's apartment in the first place. Sylar. She came back down to earth and, if only for the moment, focused on the immediate problem. Peter could wait. Nothing could trump her need to find Sylar right now. “That's why I'm here, Doctor Suresh. I'm worried about Sylar. He never came back to the hotel this morning. I was hoping you might be able to tell me what happened when you saw him yesterday.”
Claire watched as he held back, not speaking until he was sure what he wanted to say. “Claire, if Sylar is gone perhaps that's a good thing. You might not be able to understand the magnitude of the destruction he could cause in your life and the lives of others but you must know that he is not a man to follow or to trust.”
He wasn't telling her anything Claire didn't know. “I don't need to trust him. I need to find him.” Suresh only frowned, so she began again. “Look, I'm not a little kid anymore, I know how scary the big bad world can be. But I also know that Sylar has gotten me this far and I'm not going to leave him behind. Not until I know that he's okay.”
There was a pause in the conversation, neither side being able to compromise between such differing and strong viewpoints. In the doorway of the room a teenage dressed in fuzzy purple pajamas listened in. Molly appeared to be looking at something far away, something only she could see. “He's in a warehouse, Claire.”
Suresh was still unable to accept that this was the route this conversation was going to take. “Molly! If Sylar's gone, that's a good thing. Please don't make the situation worse by trying to find him for her.”
“It's her choice, Dad.” Molly crossed her arms and the tiny diamond nosering glinted in the light that shone from the antique south Indian bronze lamps. The teen would not take no for an answer, which explained to Claire how she was walking around with a nosering in the first place. Her defiance would hopefully pay off in Claire's favor. “If she wants to go off with some serial killer like an idiot with a death wish, that's her choice, isn't it?”
Claire narrowed her eyes at the young girl, taken back by the 'idiot with a death wish' comment.
Suresh looked unable to tell who to talk sense into first: Molly or Claire. His ideals of one's own self-determination and protecting those he cared about warred within him. Eventually, he came to his answer and sighed heavily. “You're right. I can't keep you from doing what you think is right, Claire. Even though your father asked me to take care of you after he passed, what you choose to do with your life is your choice. But, please, take some time to think over this situation with Sylar carefully before you go traipsing around the city searching for him.”
Molly stepped forward with a warning. “You can't wait that long, Claire. Not if you want to find him while he's still alive.”
The warning was all Claire needed to hear before making her decision. Action was needed, not deliberation. Whatever happened in their past, Sylar saved her life only days before and she couldn't walk away. Peter could wait; he didn't even know she was alive. Besides, Claire had no clue what to say to him when she did show up on his doorstep. Her voice grew frantic as her only option became clear, “Molly, where is he?”
“A warehouse in the Financial District. The corner of...” She closed her eyes, focusing on the map her mind drew for her. When she opened them again, she gave the rest of the answer. “Whitehall and South streets.”
“I need to go, Mohinder.” Claire said as way of apology, practically tripping over the coffee table as she hurried to the door. She would think about the philosophical ramifications of saving someone who had at one point tried to kill pretty much everyone in that room after she was done rescuing Sylar's sorry ass. The dark-skinned man followed her through the living room, one step behind as she tried to leave. This was her choice and he let her make it, even though Claire knew he disliked her answer. “I'm sorry.. I just have to do this. Don't ask me to explain. I'm not sure I could.”
“Claire?”
She stopped and sighed, afraid he might have changed his mind and was ready to force her to stay there. “What?”
He retrieved his cell phone from the kitchen table and handed it to her. “If you won't listen to me, will you at least take this with you? Call me later, so I know you're still alive. And if you need my help, any at all, day or night, call Molly's cell phone. It's listed in there under her name.”
Nodding in agreement, Claire took the cellphone and gripped it tightly in her hand like it would offer some protection, a shield against the forces she was going up against. There was one more person in the world to count on now. “I promise, Doctor Suresh. And thank you.”
..to be continued..
Characters: Sylar, Claire.
Spoilers: Up to Season 2.
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3175
Chapter: 15/?
Previously: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14
Summary: While escaping the Company, Sylar meets up with someone from his past. Together, they must piece together some semblance of normality after years of captivity. Future AU.
Claire waited until three in the morning for Sylar to return to the hotel. She took a shower, perused the room service menu, watched some reruns on tv until finally shutting out the lights and starring at the ceiling, wondering where the hell he could be. The ceiling starred right back at her, offering no answers.
Something wasn't right. It tickled the back of her spine, setting off her intuition and making her unable to close her eyes and relax. She took a breath and counted up the minutes and hours it would have taken him to get to Kirby Plaza to Mohinder's apartment and back to the hotel. It wouldn't have taken seven hours, that's for damn sure.
She jumped out of bed, throwing the bed covers off of her and started pacing. Claire needed to move, to walk, to throw all her worried energy into something physical. And she needed answers. Then she spotted it a New York City White Pages phone book, sticking out of the nightstand.
She made a quick grab for it and spread the book out on the bed, flipping to the back of the alphabet. The pages brushed her fingers rapidly, as she made her way through the S-section. Sanders. Smith. Sulu. Her finger stopped on the page with the heading Sur-Sus and moved down the book, scanning until her eye came across the number Claire was looking for. Tapping the book, she nodded, “Suresh.”
The best chance she had in finding Sylar was tracing his footsteps. He said he was going to Mohinder Suresh's apartment; she would start there. It was the only clue she could go on. At least, if Claire talked to Suresh, she would at least know if Sylar had been there yet. Not that she really knew what to expect when she met Dr. Suresh, seeing as how she doubted the two men were all that close. At best, Suresh knew where to find him or could point her in the right direction. At worst, Claire sighed, Sylar and Suresh had gotten into an altercation of some sort and they were both dead.
She wondered, not for the first time that week, whether she ought to find a better traveling companion. Maybe there was someone out there she could share the road with who didn't go around hurting people and worrying her sick when they were out all night. Sylar was the one who saved her though. He'd been there for her when there was no one else, watching over her and making sure she didn't get herself killed. Claire owed him at least this much.
After making sure the address was the right one, Claire got off the bed and riffled through the nearby mahogany desk that was pushed up against the far side of the room. Lifting the room service menu from the stack of other papers on the desk, Claire found a pad and pen, both barring the logo of the Marriott Hotel. After rushing back to the phone book, she scribbled the address on the pad of paper.
Claire knew only the bare minimum about the city or how to navigate in it. Even though both her biological father and uncle were born and bred there, she nevertheless was a Texas, and then a California, girl. It didn't matter. She'd find the apartment, ask her questions and make sure that everyone was okay.
She starred at the clock and then the phone, wondering if she should call now and wake Suresh and his family up this late at night. It wouldn't do to barge in on them now. Plus, Claire sighed, she was probably worrying for no reason. Sylar was a big boy. He could take care of himself.
She looked over at the other bed as it lay empty. “I'll give you until morning.”
Sleep did not come easily that night. She knew he would only fault her for rushing into things and thinking he couldn't handle things on his own. Still, she thought of all the things he promised to do for her: keep her safe, talk to Suresh, find Peter. Guilt set in when she realized there was little she could do for him. He was so in charge of things, headstrong and powerful and she was.. she hated to think of what she was.
Claire tossed in bed, knowing it was the company that put those thoughts of her low self worth in her head. It was them who made her feel like she wasn't enough for anyone, even Sylar. Still, she couldn't escape those feelings, they clung to her and refused to let go.
Eventually she fell asleep and dreamed of tiny cells and laughing guards, needles and family members both missing and dead. She was always running in her dreams, always had to keep one step ahead and hide and get away. Primatech was always right behind her but she had a secret plan. She had a hero. He held her in his arms and she was safe and protected and loved.. and then he was gone. Gone like so many others.
In the morning, Claire woke covered in sweat as the images from her nightmare lingered within her mind. She'd dreamt this same nightmare before but she could never quite remember who her hero from her dream was once she woke up. Was it weird to have fallen in love with someone from her dreams, she wondered. People metaphorically did it all the time but literally was another matter entirely.
Claire pushed that thought aside and glanced over at the other bed. It was still neatly made, all corners tightly tucked in as only a professional hotel maid could do. It didn't look like Sylar ever returned to the hotel room at all. The time limit was up.
Once again, she was back in the waking world with all the troubles that it contained waiting to screw her over again. Mornings really sucked sometimes.
She frowned and muttered a soft curse.
On the way to the subway station, Claire decided to take a detour through Central Park. So much time had passed since she lasted walked around this city but this was the part Claire knew best. The trails of the park led straight to the Petrelli mansion, which lay just across the street from the western edge of the Great Lawn.
Claire didn't know that she would wind up there, staring up at the white brick building with it's ornate fence and warm light emanating from the inside. Her head was filled with too many thoughts to keep track of where her feet were leading her. She stared up at the mansion which once felt like a second home, feeling a sense of awe and bewilderment.
It was hard to imagine that there was a point where Claire could have walked through that door and have been welcomed by her biological father with a hug. Of course, that was after the brief year he spent denying Claire was his biological daughter. She didn't blame Nathan anymore. She'd popped back into his life unexpectedly. He wasn't prepared to come face to face with his past. Few people ever are prepared for that eventuality.
Peter made things right, somehow he always did. He argued and pleaded with Nathan to see the light. He made Nathan talk to her. After taking that small step, little by little, her father let her into his life. Things were great after that, for a little while at least. Heidi took Claire shopping in the city. Nathan taught her how to ski. Peter was always there to listen to whatever little insignificant troubles she had at the time. Such little troubles compared to now.
Claire had two families for those few years. One back in California, one in New York. Both loved her more than she felt she deserved. Both were now torn apart, lives destroyed and people murdered all because of the company's us-versus-them ideologies.
Claire reached her fingers slowly up to the gate, grabbing the bars in her tiny hands and wistfully thinking of the past. She shook the gate lightly, then more forcefully until she was screaming out in the empty streets of the early morning, railing against the end that had come too soon. “I want it back. I want my life back! Those bastards stole it. I want it back!”
A little boy pulled the curtains away from a room on the second story, probably his bedroom. That was where Simon and Monty always slept. He wasn't much older than the twins were when Claire first started visiting the mansion. She was scaring him, probably scaring the few people on the street this early in the morning too.
With a sigh, she left and continued walking quietly, avoiding stares from other pedestrians.
She didn't belong here anymore.
She never would again.
Claire starred up at the brick building and noted the number displayed above its door. She checked it against the address she wrote down on the hotel's stationary. This was the place.
Hesitation worked itself into her thoughts as she became less sure of her plan. A part of her told her to go for it, knock on the door, ask Suresh whether or not he'd seen Sylar last night and accept whatever he said. Another part told her that this wasn't right, barging in there unannounced and disrupting the geneticist's family once again. She was just another distraction from their happy home, one more issue to deal with after Sylar's intrusion.
That's what she was to people these days; an issue to be handled, an interruption of their easy-going life. She sighed, guilt had been driven into her during her days in the company. They sought to break her by telling her that she didn't matter, that she wasn't worth the time spent working on her case, that she should be ashamed of even existing. These feelings now clung to her like a black cloud over her head, impossible to ignore.
When she arrived outside of Suresh's apartment, Claire paused for a moment before knocking on the door. A dark-skinned man answered it, someone she had not seen since one memorable day down at Kirby Plaza years ago. It was the day her uncle exploded; you tend not to forget about things like that. Every bit of that day was etched on her mind, as clear as if New York City almost exploded yesterday.
“Claire?” He blinked at her sudden appearance at his door but recognized her right away. He opened his mouth to speak but was too astonished to attach words to his thoughts. Claire figured that was because of the company's cover story. It wasn't everyday you came face to face with a ghost. Moving away from the door, Suresh jumped back to the present moment and ushered her in. “Please come in, come in.”
The place was cozy. It had two bedrooms, a great kitchen and enough space to raise a daughter in while getting a little business done in the small office set up in the corner. If she hadn't been in the company for so long, Claire could have seen herself settling down in an apartment much like this one and living a normal life. Her life could never be normal though. “I hope you don't mind me coming over. I found your address in the phone book.”
“It's no trouble at all but I am rather surprised to see you, so you'll have to forgive my lax manners. I thought you were-- well, it doesn't matter what I thought. The important thing is that you're here.” Suddenly a pot of water on the kitchen stove boiled over and Suresh busied himself. He moved some pots around and lowered the heat, making sure the water wouldn't boil over again.“I was making some lunch. Do you want any? It's just rice and vegetables but Molly seems to like it.”
“No, thanks. I already ate today.” Claire relaxed a little. Thankfully, Suresh and his daughter both seemed to be alive and well by the way he was talking. That was half the battle. The other half was finding out where the hell Sylar went and broaching that subject with Suresh. “I actually came here to ask you something.”
Suresh turned his attention back to her. “Sylar told me you escaped with the company with him. If you've decided you don't wish to be around him anymore, I can't fault you for coming to your senses. You're welcome to stay here. You don't even have to ask. We have a pull-out couch and I can take you up to see Peter tomorrow.”
Claire stood there frozen. It was her turn to witness the impossible. All this time, she had followed Sylar not because she thought Peter was really alive but because she had no where else to go. Now there was proof. Proof that her uncle was out there somewhere, still alive. She swallowed happy tears and asked, “You mean.. but I thought-- oh my god.”
All other thoughts and plans fell to the wayside once Peter's name was brought up. As Claire found it harder to contain her emotions and her tears began to fall, Mohinder guided her to the nearby couch in the living room. She sat down slowly, still in shock and detached from the rest of the world. None of this felt real, she couldn't connect with a single sensation in that whole moment besides the happy numbness she felt as her one last hope became a reality. “Peter-- Peter's alive?”
“Sylar didn't tell you?” Mohinder asked, annoyance coloring each word.
She blinked away tears, remembering the reason she'd traveled out to Suresh's apartment in the first place. Sylar. She came back down to earth and, if only for the moment, focused on the immediate problem. Peter could wait. Nothing could trump her need to find Sylar right now. “That's why I'm here, Doctor Suresh. I'm worried about Sylar. He never came back to the hotel this morning. I was hoping you might be able to tell me what happened when you saw him yesterday.”
Claire watched as he held back, not speaking until he was sure what he wanted to say. “Claire, if Sylar is gone perhaps that's a good thing. You might not be able to understand the magnitude of the destruction he could cause in your life and the lives of others but you must know that he is not a man to follow or to trust.”
He wasn't telling her anything Claire didn't know. “I don't need to trust him. I need to find him.” Suresh only frowned, so she began again. “Look, I'm not a little kid anymore, I know how scary the big bad world can be. But I also know that Sylar has gotten me this far and I'm not going to leave him behind. Not until I know that he's okay.”
There was a pause in the conversation, neither side being able to compromise between such differing and strong viewpoints. In the doorway of the room a teenage dressed in fuzzy purple pajamas listened in. Molly appeared to be looking at something far away, something only she could see. “He's in a warehouse, Claire.”
Suresh was still unable to accept that this was the route this conversation was going to take. “Molly! If Sylar's gone, that's a good thing. Please don't make the situation worse by trying to find him for her.”
“It's her choice, Dad.” Molly crossed her arms and the tiny diamond nosering glinted in the light that shone from the antique south Indian bronze lamps. The teen would not take no for an answer, which explained to Claire how she was walking around with a nosering in the first place. Her defiance would hopefully pay off in Claire's favor. “If she wants to go off with some serial killer like an idiot with a death wish, that's her choice, isn't it?”
Claire narrowed her eyes at the young girl, taken back by the 'idiot with a death wish' comment.
Suresh looked unable to tell who to talk sense into first: Molly or Claire. His ideals of one's own self-determination and protecting those he cared about warred within him. Eventually, he came to his answer and sighed heavily. “You're right. I can't keep you from doing what you think is right, Claire. Even though your father asked me to take care of you after he passed, what you choose to do with your life is your choice. But, please, take some time to think over this situation with Sylar carefully before you go traipsing around the city searching for him.”
Molly stepped forward with a warning. “You can't wait that long, Claire. Not if you want to find him while he's still alive.”
The warning was all Claire needed to hear before making her decision. Action was needed, not deliberation. Whatever happened in their past, Sylar saved her life only days before and she couldn't walk away. Peter could wait; he didn't even know she was alive. Besides, Claire had no clue what to say to him when she did show up on his doorstep. Her voice grew frantic as her only option became clear, “Molly, where is he?”
“A warehouse in the Financial District. The corner of...” She closed her eyes, focusing on the map her mind drew for her. When she opened them again, she gave the rest of the answer. “Whitehall and South streets.”
“I need to go, Mohinder.” Claire said as way of apology, practically tripping over the coffee table as she hurried to the door. She would think about the philosophical ramifications of saving someone who had at one point tried to kill pretty much everyone in that room after she was done rescuing Sylar's sorry ass. The dark-skinned man followed her through the living room, one step behind as she tried to leave. This was her choice and he let her make it, even though Claire knew he disliked her answer. “I'm sorry.. I just have to do this. Don't ask me to explain. I'm not sure I could.”
“Claire?”
She stopped and sighed, afraid he might have changed his mind and was ready to force her to stay there. “What?”
He retrieved his cell phone from the kitchen table and handed it to her. “If you won't listen to me, will you at least take this with you? Call me later, so I know you're still alive. And if you need my help, any at all, day or night, call Molly's cell phone. It's listed in there under her name.”
Nodding in agreement, Claire took the cellphone and gripped it tightly in her hand like it would offer some protection, a shield against the forces she was going up against. There was one more person in the world to count on now. “I promise, Doctor Suresh. And thank you.”
..to be continued..