Redemption is a Process Chapter 22
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 given his freedom, tentatively, and things are going back to normal. Well, as normal as life can be for a power hungry, brain sucking, company agent who's trying to make a life for himself...
Sylar and Claire head for Vermont for a couple of weeks alone time while Noah decides to drag a resistant Mohinder further into his obssession.
.....
Mohinder and Bennet
St Johnsbury, Vermont
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Just one more ratty roadside motel. How many did this make? Mohinder surveyed his shabby surroundings. Twenty year old TV, check, lumpy mattress covered by a faded bedspread, check, air conditioning unit that wheezed and sputtered like an asthmatic, check.
And would they forever remind him of Sylar? ..the things that they had done together in places like this? The way they had laughed at the cheesy late night porn playing on the old television set, the way Sylar pretty much used him as a pillow always complaining there was a spring in his back. The other sounds that were burned into his mind that had nothing to do with climate control. He hated this place. He hated Sylar for making him love him.
Noah tossed his duffel on the bed.
“We’ve got adjoining rooms.” He motioned to the door near the bathroom. “These rooms give us a good view of both directions in and out of town. There’s a market right there across the street and pretty much everything runs along the main road through town. It should make recon fairly easy.” The Indian man looked a bit like a lost little boy. Whatever memories this place invoked it wasn’t good. “Mohinder?”
“Yeah, no problem. It’s fine. When do you want to start?”
“In the morning’s soon enough. They were only an hour or so behind us so we should probably grab food now in case they stop in for supplies before they get to the cottage.”
-=-=-=--=-=-
By the time Mohinder reached the counter to pay for his groceries he couldn’t even remember what he had picked out for dinner. He looked into the hand basket he carried and cringed when he noticed the Oreo cookies. Sylar and he had nearly made themselves sick one night gorging on Oreo’s. He had sent Zane.. Sylar.. to the mini-mart for something to eat and the man had come back with three packages of the chocolaty cookies.
Asking Sylar what he could possibly be thinking in buying all the super sweetened chocolate, the killer had mischievously replied that they would need the sugar rush as they would both be up all night. It had taken him a good ten seconds before the meaning behind the words registered and he had blushed furiously. Who would have thought such deep mocha skin could blush so prettily, Sylar had rasped in that low tone of his. Mohinder snatched the cookies from his basket and tossed them on a stack of fresh bread next to the counter.
Noah gave him a look. “Just dieting or did the cookies offend you in some way,” he tried to lighten the tone.
Mohinder ignored him, handing the cashier a twenty. “I’ll meet you back at the rooms,” as he turned the scientist put his hand over a small jar and dropped his change in with a clink.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Sylar and Claire
St. Johnsbury, Vermont
“On the road again... just can’t wait to get on the road again!!” Claire sang loudly and slightly off key.
“Ok that’s it, I warned you three miles ago if you didn’t stop with the singing you would have to pay!” Sylar yelled over the enthusiastic tempo.
“Yeah, yeah, big talk but there’s nowhere to pull off along here so your threats fall on deaf ears!” she shot back. “Life is a highway... I wanna ride it.. all.. night.. long!” she belted out. This trip was turning out to be a lot of fun, something she didn't have nearly enough of. Her husband actually had a very sharp sense of humor and could even be playful when the mood struck. She was relaxed and.. happy.
It surprised her a little to realize how comfortable she had become with him. Without any outside influences they seemed to connect. No company to remind them that they were different, no grandmother to manipulate them and their feelings, no father to accuse them... They were real.
“You asked for it,” was all she heard before there was a sudden sensation along her ribcage. Claire’s eyes went wide. “Oh my god!” she rasped as she felt fingers that weren’t really there.. dig in. “No fair!!” she squeaked as Sylar tickled her.
Sylar glanced over at where she writhed in the passenger seat, wicked smirk firmly in place. “Fair? You’re not serious. You expect me to play fair??”
“No stop!! Stop!” she choked out. “You can't do this!”
“I can't?” Sylar looked over at her incredulously. “I think I can... and will. Repeat after me, I will not sing obnoxious songs and annoy my husband.”
“ARH! Ok, ok, you will not sing obnoxious songs..” Claire giggled defiantly.
“You’ll never give up will you..” Sylar chuckled. “We’re a perfect match.”
Claire squealed and slid off the seat into a cramped heap on the floor. The tickling sensation stopped and she drew in gasps of air in a rush. “Nope, no intention.. of giving.. up.”. she smiled lightly, “Because imperfect as we are.. we are a perfect match.”
Sylar wouldn’t meet her eyes but a smile lit his face, “We’re here.”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
“Oh, this place is just beautiful isn’t it?” Claire enthused.
Sylar looked at the passing businesses and the old time village atmosphere with a disinterested gaze, “I guess. Looks like every other small town to me.”
“Don’t be so cynical. This place is really nice. We’ll have a good time together.”
That melted the hard carriage of Sylar’s face and he sighed, “You know that I'm completely out of my element here... and I don’t mean the small town.”
“I know. I’m not exactly a relationship expert either you know.” She slid over next to him and laced her arm around his. “Remember what I said, no expectations. We just.. hang out. Get to know each other better..”
Sylar smirked.
“I wasn’t referring to that but,” she leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on his cheek, “I’m looking forward to a lot of that too.” Claire smiled. “Hey, there’s a little market, there on the right. Let’s stop.”
Sylar slid the SUV into a space right in front of the doors. “Didn’t Mama P say the place would be stocked by the time we got here?”
“Yeah, but this is what average married couples do,” Claire informed him as she opened the car door. “And for the next two weeks we are going to be the most average people on the planet.”
Sylar trailed behind her, “Yeah, that’ll work out well.”
“Hush,” she admonished lightly and took his hand in hers.
“We’re going to hold hands?” he looked at her with a disbelieving expression.
“Yep,” Claire answered, tugging him towards the market.
“What planet did you say you were from?” Sylar quipped.
Claire gave him a light smack on the arm, “We’re allowed to be all silly and romantic about every little thing because technically we’re still newlyweds and this is a honeymoon so don’t rain on my parade Mister Gray or I will become very cranky.”
Sylar eyed the sky speculatively, “That’s one ability I haven’t acquired yet but weather control could be..” the rest of the thought died away at Claire’s expression.
“What’s your thoughts on fish sticks?”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
As they moved up in the line, Claire leaned into Sylar and finished, “I didn’t think I was ever going to live that one down.”
Sylar smiled at her, “The trials and tribulations of an uptown cheerleader.”
“Hey! Don’t be mean. I'm sharing here. It was a traumatic experience for a thirteen year old.”
“Uh huh, versus all the other things that have happened in your life that sounds positively devastating,” Sylar responded with little sympathy.
“Yeah well, those other things have become just as commonplace.” She sat the hand basket on the counter and turned to her husband, “Probably not such a good thing, huh.”
“I'm really not the one to ask.” Sylar added, “But I suppose you could think of it as a testament to our ability to adapt.”
The cashier began ringing up their items.
“Yeah, that’s true I guess. We’re still here.” Claire looked thoughtful.
“Together,” Sylar ventured.
She smiled up at him, “Yes, together.”
“That’ll be forty one eighty,” the cashier interjected. “Let me guess.. newlyweds.”
“Yes, we are,” Claire stated. “Are we that obvious?”
“Looks like love to me,” the cashier offered.
Sylar shoved forty five dollars at the kid, “Here.”
Claire started laughing.
“What?” Sylar’s brow furrowed.
“Why Mister Gray, if I didn’t know any better I would think you were blushing”, she teased.
“You sure you want to cross that line with me Missus Gray?”
Claire grabbed the bag of groceries off the counter. "We crossed that line a long, long time ago. Guess you’re just going to have to catch up huh,” and with that Claire turned and sashayed towards the door.
The cashier handed Sylar his change, “I'm thinking she’s a handful.”
The former serial killer turned back to the clerk. “Don’t think about my wife.. ever,” his intent quite clear. He leaned over and dropped the change into the jar, his hand brushing it’s surface. An image flashed across his mind like lightning.
“Mohinder.”