Redemption is a Process CH-14
Title: Redemption is a Process
Verse: Heroes
Characters: Sylar-centric, ensemble cast
Pairings: Sylar/Claire, References to Sylar/Mohinder, Sylar/Elle
Rating: Mature, may contain adult situations, language, violence, sex
Plot: Story picks up midway into the idea that Sylar is trying to live the straight and narrow working for the company.
Sylar has been hunting specials. And according to the rules, that's a nono. So he's back in Level 5 to dry out while Noah is wondering what else Sylar hasn't been telling them.
Sylar, Level 5
He rolled to the side on his small slab/bed. It was barely big enough to accommodate his long lanky frame so he drew his knees up and pulled the blanket up around his head. He felt like shit.
It was about one in the afternoon he knew, though, there was no clock in the concrete cell. He still just wanted to sleep. He’d allowed them to give him sedation to help take the edge off but he refused to allow them to insert the shunt that would hobble his powers. Suppressing his abilities with drugs didn’t really suppress his intuitive aptitude. Not much anyway. The hunger was always there, ever present, ever greedy. But he’d had three years to learn to deal with it on his own. And despite what the company thought, he was capable of restraint.
Angela had backed off on the issue of the shunt, knowing that she would have a fight on her hands. So long as he stayed put and promised not to use his powers, she promised not to try and drug him into submission. Of course, they had doubled the detail of guards on the level just in case he changed his mind. Sylar actually found the whole thing rather amusing. They seemed to think that they had control over the situation. They didn’t. He would stay put only so long as he wanted to stay put and if they pushed him or pissed him off, they would all find out just how much power he really had.
Sylar rolled over again. The drugs made him tired but not sleepy enough and he was bored out of his mind. He wasn’t allowed to use the Level 2 rec room. They wanted him to stay as far away from other specials as they could keep him, which meant they had basically confined him to Level 5. At least for the first week of his latest stay. He wasn’t going to last a week at this rate.
Tossing off the blanket, he sat up and looked over at the large glass window. This was the same cell that they had kept him in the first time he’d been captured. That had been more than two years ago now. How things had changed, he mused. How he had changed… was changing. Sometimes when he looked back at his life, pre-ability, it was like watching a movie of someone else. He couldn’t relate to Gabriel Gray anymore. Had he ever been that person really? Or had Sylar always been there waiting just below the skin, waiting to be set free. It was hard to tell sometimes. Sylar was the person he had always wanted to be. Powerful and strong, a force to be reckoned with… special.
And now he was the most special one of them all. He had created a brand new ability, not taken it from another, not incorporated other abilities into something new… no, he had created a new ability within himself. He smiled. Whatever his destiny, he felt that all that happened, all the pain and confusion he’d felt about the things he’d done, had been leading him to this. He wasn’t just the killer.. the monster.. the others liked to tell him he was. He was something new, something good.
Sylar closed his eyes. Now he just had to figure out exactly how he did, what he did, and how he could replicate powers at will. He knew he’d be able to recreate the red energy spheres again but the initial effort had drained him. There had to be a way to draw energy into himself so that he could be self-generating. Sylar sighed, he still had a long way to go. But now, for the first time in a long time, he didn’t feel like just a murdering freak. There would be an end to the cycle of death he was caught in. He would have a brand new life.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Noah waited rather impatiently in Angela’s office, his mind turning over the events again and again. Sylar had an un-cataloged ability, probably more than one, the bastard. Why should that even surprise him? For all they knew, he was hunting regularly right under their noses.
But that didn’t sit well with him.
He had taken it upon himself to make sure that Sylar’s every move was monitored to the best of his ability. The killer was definitely slippery, but all in all, he had a good network of surveillance that covered Sylar most of the time. So either he had lied about the extent of his abilities when he had initially listed them for Angela or.. he was hunting. Either or both answers were possible and likely, considering whom they were dealing with. So who had paid with their life for Sylar to have that ability?
Noah tried to remember back in his encounters with specials over the years and couldn’t remember ever running across someone that had the ability Sylar had exhibited. Whatever the orb energy had been, it looked to be quite deadly though Sylar didn’t have a chance to demonstrate its’ full potential.
Then there had been his eyes. His eyes had seemed to light from within. Sylar had always been different from the rest but this was something new. It was like a self generating furnace of energy pouring out from him into the orb. Did that mean anything? It had to mean something. But what? What was he missing?
Noah leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hand across his face. They had known from the beginning that Sylar’s ability had potentially limitless implications. God knew that he had tried repeatedly to warn the company of what that would mean but no one wanted to take the threat seriously. No one could seem to wrap their minds around the idea that Sylar had the potential to become for all intents and purposes, omnipotent. It was just so much science fiction as far as they were concerned. But once you accepted the fact that humanity was evolving then it shouldn’t be a leap to wonder exactly what they were evolving into… how far might they go? There were already people breaking the laws of physics why should omnipotence be any more unbelievable?
The door shutting brought Noah out of his contemplation.
“Noah,” Angela acknowledged. “Something I can help you with? And please don’t say killing Sylar.”
Noah gave her a small grin, “You know me too well.”
“Indeed. What can I do for you?”
“He still hasn’t told you where he got that ability has he.” It wasn’t a question.
“Not much of a surprise is it? But if it makes you happy, he did admit to withholding information on his abilities. So you don’t have to worry that he’s been hunting specials.”
“He admitted that did he?” Noah nodded slowly, “You believe him?”
“I think it far more likely than him feeding on abilities without us knowing, yes.”
“Uh huh.” Noah questioned, “Did you ask him how many other abilities he forgot to tell us about?”
Angela smiled, “Come on Noah, did you really expect that he wouldn’t have something in reserve? This is Sylar we’re talking about.”
“Which is my point, how many others are there? Because you know this isn’t the end of it. He broke the rules. Twice. First he’s out there hunting and second he lied about what he can do. Neither of which surprises me, but call it gut instinct, I think there’s something else we’re missing.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. You know I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out where he might have gotten that ability but I’m drawing a blank. What about you? You remember anyone with that red energy?”
“No, but that hardly means anything. We have no idea how many specials are really out there and how many will manifest. While he wasn’t very… discrete, there may be many kills that we’re still not aware of.”
“I just have this strange feeling that it’s important that we know who he got that ability from.”
“Why?”
Noah shook his head and sighed, “Again it’s just gut instinct but there was something about the way he wielded that power. I can't put my finger on it. It.. just.. seemed different, if that makes sense.”
“Not really. You don’t always see clearly when it comes to Sylar,” Angela admonished.
“Neither do you,” Noah shot back. “I think sometimes you take that mother role a bit too seriously. He’s not your child Angela and you can't mold him into your ideal.”
Angela’s expression hardened, “You're the last person that should be lecturing me Noah Bennet.”
“I know. And that’s not what I'm doing. Sylar has a way of getting under your skin. Be careful. That’s all I'm saying.”
“Is there anything else?” Angela dismissed.
He had overstepped with that last comment. “No, I guess not.”
Noah closed the door quietly. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was missing something important. Angela might be right, he was obsessed but when came to Sylar but his paranoia was more than justified in his opinion. He couldn’t relent, not until the bastard was dead… for good.
He came to a decision and headed down to the levels.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Sylar threw the book across the room. He was going stir crazy and he’d only been on the level two days. If he requested a television they would probably have one brought to his cell. But therein lay the crux of the problem… his cell. He didn’t like to be confined. It wasn’t that he was claustrophobic. It was boring and just plain annoying.
“Did I come at a bad time?”
He knew that smug, self satisfied tone well, “Not at all. I just thought I would do a little redecorating.”
“I have to say I love what you’ve done with the place. It’s very… you. I think you should consider making the relocation permanent.”
He turned to the window and smirked, “I’m sure you'd like that.” Sylar stood and made his way over to where Noah gazed in at him. “But it’s a little cramped. And I know Claire prefers a view.”
That elicited the desired response. Noah’s eyes narrowed and Sylar’s smile grew wide. “Of course when she’s here, we find other things to do. You know how it goes, young love and all that.” Sylar motioned with his hand, “You just missed her actually. Or maybe you didn’t. She might have been avoiding you… again. I tried putting in a good word for you but she’s just.. not.. ready to forgive you. It’s tragic really. I know how much your family means to you.”
Noah gritted his teeth so tightly he thought he heard one crack in protest. He couldn’t.. wouldn’t.. let the son of a bitch get to him. “You might want to get used to the lack of view.” Noah stepped closer to the glass. “You broke the rules Gabriel, Angela isn’t likely to forget that anytime soon. In fact, I’ll make sure she doesn’t.”
“I'm not worried. I'm far more valuable to her bringing in other specials than I’ll ever be as a lab-rat.”
“Bringing in? Killing you mean,” Noah scoffed.
Sylar shrugged, “Tomato..tom(ah)to.”
Noah crossed his arms; he knew an opportunity when he saw one. Sylar was obviously bored and wanted attention. If there was one thing that they did well together, it was play each other. Maybe he could get a few questions answered if he played well enough. “It’s a shame we didn’t get to finish the game we started back at that woman’s apartment. I was just getting warmed up.”
“Really? Looked like to me you were about ready to get toasted. Extra crispy.”
Noah smiled lightly, “That was rather impressive I have to admit. I've never seen anything quite like it. So now that your secret is out, how about a demonstration? What can you do?”
Sylar returned the smile with just as much sincerity, “I've never been one to brag.” He leaned back casually against the wall. “So how’s Sandra these days? Oh wait, you’re separated aren’t you.”
“Don’t,” Noah took a deep cleansing breath, “Don’t talk about my family. Do you understand me? I don’t want to hear their names come out of your mouth.”
“You want to talk about my personal life but I can't ask questions about yours? Hardly seems fair now does it?” his words were venomous.
Noah was now nearly standing face pressed to the glass, “You don’t fool me. I know there’s more. And whatever it is.. I’ll find out.”
Sylar cocked his head, “You know you should really consider treatment Noah. They have some wonderful doctors here. They can help you with those delusions you seem to be having.”
“What I saw you do was hardly delusion.”
“I'm special, that’s hardly news to anyone.” Sylar locked eyes with Bennet, “You're obsolete Noah. Without ability you don't have a place in “our” future. Just like you don’t have a place in Claire’s future. Your Claire-bear is a woman now, MY woman. All mine… to do with what I want.”
“Shut the hell up!” Noah seethed.
“When I want.” Sylar smirked, “Which is frankly… all the time.”
Noah threw himself against the glass, “I said shut up you son of a bitch! So help me God…”
Sylar laughed, “Well, well, isn’t this an interesting turn-about to the first time we talked through this glass. Who’s taking who apart now Noah?”
They both turned to the sound of the secondary steel door swinging inward. Claire stopped up short, turning from one man to the other. Seeing the expressions on their faces she put her hands on her hips, “Am I interrupting something?”
.Chapter 15