Fillmore 3
Title: Fillmore 3 (complete)
Characters/Pairing: Sylar, Sarah Ellis
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 4,486
Disclaimer: Do not own.
Summery: She's on his list
Note: Gen. Been awhile but here's the ending for anyone interested. Dialogue heavy.
Parts: 1, 2, 3
He doesn't waste any time. Shockingly fast he lunges at her, kicking the covers to the floor. Her eyes widen in surprise and she gasps as his hand slams against her chest and she's thrown back against the cabinet, head connecting sharply with the mirror. Before he can wrap his hand around her throat she speaks and it's his undoing.
"Stop!"
The word coming out of her mouth reverbs through the air otherworldly, taking him aback despite himself. It's deep and echoing but he can feel her whispering it in his ear simultaneously. He unwittingly comes to a stand still, chest billowing and eyes feverish. Before he can draw on an ability she's already commanding him in that eerie voice not harm her, to sit. And he does stiffly, watching her like an animal.
"There..." she says with relief, in control.
"You can't stop me," he barks, enraged.
"But I have." She smiles and moves away from the cabinet, rubbing the back of her head. His heart is racing but she appears unflustered, simply watching him with interest. "You're powerless Gabriel." Brown eyes seer with hate, unblinking and her smile grows wider. He's desperately trying to summon strength, to attack but he can't even move. Panic squeezes his lungs but he clamps down on it before it can show on his face. He settles a blank look over his features and relaxes his body.
"That is not my name. And you can't do this forever, you'll make a mistake, trip up and when you do I'll kill you," he assures disdainfully. Sarah shrugs, an oh-well gesture.
"Really? Well I think I've got this under control but thanks for the warning." She moves to sit in an armchair by the window, smoothing her hair around her ears as she does. "I knew you were coming, read the reports of these odd deaths all heading my way. You're sloppy and I'm shocked that you haven't been caught yet." She tilts her head, hands clasping her knees. She's so tiny, he could probably ring his hand around her waist. Totally nonthreatening appearance, but for those unflinching eyes.
He sneers "Sloppy? I've been doing this for months and they haven't even got my fingerprints." As he says this her eyes move to his hands and she smiles, looking back up and her dark eyes shine with laughter.
"No, they don't, do they?"
His lashes flutter for a moment, uncertain and he swallows. "What do you want? Be a hero and turn me in?" he snorts, lip curling.
She leans forward and she shakes her head. "No, I'm not going to do that, you are."
"I am?" he laughs. "Even if I did get arrested no cell could hold me. That's not going to scare me little Sarah and you certainly don't," he growls out with disgust, teeth bared at her. To his surprise she nods, cocking an eyebrow.
"No, I thought of that. Imprisonment doesn't scare you but maybe there's something else...something you're hiding and don't want anyone to see." She gets up and picks up the telephone and falls to her knees next to him, so that she's staring up into his face, which is red with anger. "Lets see, lets see...I know that you're from Queens and had a watch shop, I know until quite recently you lived with your mother." He blinks and lowers his gaze as Sarah continues. "I know that you've killed people and are planning on killing many more."
"And how do you know this?" His voice is very low and thick.
"Because Chandra told me before you killed him." She looks away and down at the phone. "I contacted him through emails and he told me everything he knew about you, about the both of you working together." She stares back up with a flinty expression. "He was scared for his life, said that no one believed him. And he was right. After I heard about his death I knew that you would be coming. I had to be ready."
He regards her with a supercilious expression, contempt curling his mouth. "I can see right through you. Little mousy woman, frightened of her power has a big old heroes complex hidden away under that meek exterior and thinks she can handle anything. Maybe the boredom of being stuck here and having no voice has driven you crazy. Because this is insane, you can't control me. You think I don't know what you are?" He smirks, eyeing her. "You know prostitutes can serve up to five years in prison?"
Sarah's brows rise and she laughs with amazement. He watches her carefully as she settles down and stares at him pleasantly, but there's something avian about her, piercing. "What's your mother's phone number?" she asks suddenly, nonchalantly.
The vicious smile that had marring his face falls and he blinks rapidly. "W - what?"
She's completely untroubled by his speech and waves the phone in her hand. "Her number, I think she'd like to hear from her son. I bet it's been awhile right? Tell me, what did you tell her you were doing?" He remains silent but his nostrils are flared. Sarah cocks her head and then shrugs. "Doesn't really matter, either way you'll be calling her. Tell me her number." Her deep, whispery voice rings out and he complies with a horror stricken expression. She writes the number down on her pad and then starts to punch in the numbers.
"No! No, stop! I swear if you call her I will kill you!" She waves her hand in the air at his threatening tone, bored. He'd never seen anything like it, she wasn't afraid of him at all. Her thumb hovers over the last number and he speaks hastily. "Please, don't call her!"
"But I think she deserves to know what a monster her sweet son has become."
"She's not at home!" he whines.
"Stuck her in the fruit cellar?" He gives her a ha-fucking-ha expression and Sarah smirks.
"I won't tell her!"
"Oh but I think you will. I'll make you spill every little awful detail about the things you've done. Make you tell her how it made you feel. Do you think she'd like to know that you get off on seeing people suffer?" He's shaking his head back and forth as she speaks bitingly, his breathing hard and fast and all the while begging her not to do it.
"Why are you doing this to me?" his brown eyes are no longer predatory but teary with self pity.
"Because I can," she leans up to him, placing the phone down to lay her hands on his knees. She whispers close to his face, so close that he can smell her. "Do you feel guilty for what you've done?"
He nods, voice froggy and plaintive. "Yes but - but it's not my fault," he says, and as the first tear rolls down his cheek he frowns and his expression grows angry. "Why are you doing this?!"
"You're confused Gabriel, you don't like feeling helpless do you? Well tough shit. You come to my home, you act harmless but all the while you're counting down the seconds to when you can get my blood on your hands. You're inhuman." It was the first time anger had appeared and her words are sharp with contempt and outrage. She moves back from him, inhaling a calming breath and she picks up the phone. Looking back up she's as composed as before, offering him the phone. "You don't want your mother to know the ins and outs of your sick mind? Well the only way to spare her that is to turn yourself in. If you feel guilty for what you've done then you know it's the right thing to do."
He sighs very softy and seems to deflate in on himself. A pall air hangs heavily over him and he doesn't look at her. When he speaks she narrows her eyes at him because he sounds different, voice no longer a threatening andtheatric growl but something softer and normal. "You don't understand, I can't stop even if I wanted to. But I do, I really do want to." He looks up then, miserable, depressed and crying. Sarah searches over his face carefully, frowning.
"Tears won't work on me Gabriel." She gets up and moves to the door. As she does his voice growls out irritable and proves her right.
"My name is Sylar you nasty bitch."
"For that you won't get any breakfast in the morning. Well it's very late and I think we both could do with a rest." She leans over from behind his back, placing her lips next to his ear, "You will go to sleep when I turn off the light and will only wake when I tell you to." He stares ahead, burning a whole in the wall but as the light is clicked off he falls back on the bed asleep.
Sarah stays until she's satisfied he's really under before moving to her own bed. She feels confidant but it was wise to be vigilant and take nothing for granted.
*
"Wake up Gabriel."
Blinking awake he groans and then becomes still, remembering. He had been dreaming that he was back in his old apartment, cleaning out that back room behind the mirrors into the centre of the living room for all to see. He sits up slowly as she repeats what she had ordered him last night. Don't harm me, you're powerless.
She sits in the armchair by the window, cup of something hot in her hand. "The snow has stopped," she whispers, moving the net curtain back for him to see the sun shining.
"Can I have something to eat?"
"Maybe later."
He sighs and sits back, considering her. "You're not going to kill me?"
"You're still here aren't you?" she says before gulping down her tea. "I told you last night what I want you to do and the repercussions if you don't."
"And I told you it won't happen, I can't stop."
"I'm sure you can, you just don't want to," she says matter of factly in her soft voice.
He sits forward, looking at her hard. "I'm telling you the truth! I don't want to do this, any of it but - but..." he hesitates and she becomes alert.
"But what?"
"It's the only thing that makes me special. My - my whole life I wanted to be someone important and now I am."
"You're a serial killer, how does that make you special?" she asks with a sneer.
He clicks his tongue with distaste. "We both know I'm more than that...Like you. When did you find out you were special?"
A flash of emotion passes over her face and she plucks at her sleeves. "I'm not special Gabriel."
"Of course you are. With the ability you have you can do and be anything." His voice lowers an octave an his eyes shine hungrily. Sarah shudders and straightens in her seat, her heart beating hard.
"If I never spoke again it would be a blessing."
His gaze becomes intense and he tilts his head and then nods with understanding. "You did something bad, that's why you're here. That's why you're doing this. You hurt someone?" As he speaks Sarah stands and moves to him, her jaw clenched. But he smiles with accomplishment. "That's why you don't talk, you're scared that you'll do something bad. Guess I'm the exception. I'm kinda flattered," he licks his lips as she bares down on him.
"Enough of this."
"Finally! So what are you gonna do? Phone my mother? You're bluffing because I don't think you want that on your conscience. It would destroy her," he says and there's an edge to his voice that she catches. She takes up the phone and smirks at him.
"You will be the one with that on your conscience. The first moment you killed you set yourself down this path, you and you alone. And don't for one minuet think I won't do it," she says threatening and grips the phone tight.
He leans back wearily and a silence stretches, Sarah sitting back down to watch him as he seems to become unfocused, thoughts elsewhere. Finally his eyes move to her and they hold no anger. "Maybe you should kill me."
"What?" Sarah stares at him with surprise, thrown. His voice is very soft and sad.
"You know where I planned to go next, after I had killed you?" Sarah shakes her head, quiet. "Los-Angeles, to a family that lives there. I've been putting it off for months but the closer I get to them the more I want to go. There's a seven year old girl who has an ability and when I get there I'm going to take it. I'm going to kill her."
"You - you murder children?" her voice wobbles and her mouth has gone dry; a coldness passes over her body.
"No! I couldn't," he says and his eyes shine with tears and this time Sarah doesn't think he's faking. "I tell myself that I would never go over that line but I still wrote her name on my list and I know if I get out of here I will be going there. I can't stop myself," he emphasises, his teeth clenched and he pins her with a desperate gaze.
"My god..."
"So you can phone the police and I'd go but I can't stay there. There isn't any hope for me. You have to kill me." He slumps back and scrubs his hands over his face, through his hair and looks at her, waiting for her to do something.
Sarah sits stunned, her belly in painful knots. Finally she shakes her head. "I can't do that," her voice is tiny.
He smiles with dead eyes. "Gonna keep me here with you indefinitely? Keep you company?"
"Don't be ridiculous..." she snaps. He looks at her more closely now, a spark in his eye.
"I know what it's like, living in isolation and reticence. Before any of this happened I used to be alone, I shut everyone out. I was a nobody."
"And the world was better off for it," she counters and he nods, which makes her blink.
"You're feeling that control slipping out of your grasp, I can see it in your eyes. Because I'm not some unremorseful psycho you expected."
She stares at him derisively. "I wouldn't go that far..."
"But you see, you see that we're alike. I understand you Sarah; you've closed yourself off from others because you don't want to hurt them anymore. I didn't want to be hurt, so it was safer to stay in isolation. I'd give anything to be like that again," he says, appearing sincere and while something in Sarah pings with deep understanding she shakes her head.
"You can't go back to being normal, not after what you've done."
"You have! Your ability, when you first discovered it, it must have been amazing to suddenly have this godlike power. You - you liked using it right? But you hurt - killed someone. The fire," he breathes, recalling what had been said about her at the Cafe. This was the wrong thing to say as Sarah gets up and walks out of the room, her face pinched and eyes shiny.
He had hit a nerve and he smiles for none to see.
*
"Sorry if I upset you earlier."
"No you're not."
They were seated at her kitchen table, after hours suffering from a rumbling belly an empty plate is before him. She had only spoken to order him with her ability, still angry. Now he raises both brows as she wipes a cloth over the table surface.
"You're right, I'm not. But I was right though wasn't I? You've done something bad and all this is a way to punish yourself. Just my luck to get caught up in it."
"What happened to the "we're so alike"? Finally see that it isn't working?" she says through her teeth and he smiles.
"No, I still hold to what I said, to a degree. No the difference being that I'm not a hypocrite."
"Really?" she draws out, throwing a tea towel on the table.
"Yes really. Because you should be in prison but you're here." He keeps his eyes drilled on her as she seals her lips tight but can't drag her gaze away. He grins slowly. "You know I'm right."
"I'm not like you, I'm not a serial killer."
"One life or a dozen you've still taken it and you haven't turned yourself in. Did you use your ability to keep the police away from you?"
She shakes her head and breathes shallowly. "It was an accident, I couldn't help it." Some part of her wonder why she's telling him this, she doesn't owe him an explanation. But she was.
The superior humour that had been plastered over his face fades as she says this and he leans closer to her, reaching out a hand that she won't take. "And I cant help what I do, it's over taken me." She crosses her arms over her chest, uncomfortable by the way he can pull out all these things about her. She sits back as he's slumped over the table, tired.
"We're going round in circles." She sighs.
"I know...I was telling you the truth, I wish I could stop...I'm ashamed, I always have been." his eyes squeeze shut and she has some idea of what he's thinking about.
"Enough to die?" Her question goes unanswered and she gets to her feet, making him do the same. She lets him use the bathroom, take a shower. This is insane, it's all got away from me. She was so sure that her plan would work but now it was all up in the air. His hair dripping they move back into what now is his room, but this time he takes the armchair and she sits on the end of the bed.
"We're at an impasse, aren't we?" he says softy, turning from the window to look at her. "I could tell the police about you but they couldn't keep you there, you feel remorse for what you've done but clearly not enough to out weigh your self preservation. Just like me. Telling my mom about this won't accomplish anything but hurting her. You won't kill me..."
"Maybe, maybe..." She doesn't want to say it out loud but she's been thinking about it for months.
"What?"
"I could tell you to do it." She whispers, fierce gaze but her voice shakes. After a long scrutinising stare he looks away, dismissive.
"You don't want to, more blood on your hands."
"But you're not innocent." She's shocked that her voice sounds so pitying. He's got to her, god help her.
He looks back sharply. "Maybe not but I've told you I want to stop myself, I want things to go back to the way they were." Sarah moves from the bed to stand next to him and with hesitating fingers touches the wound that was healing on his forehead.
"Things can't go back the way there were, I've tried. You can pretend, change your name but inside you know what you've done." Moving her fingers away she inspects them and sees traces of blood there.
"You're still here Sarah, you're still trying. I - I don't want to leave, you know what will happen if I do." Suddenly he smiles weakly. "It's a conundrum for you, isn't it? You're a good person, regardless of what you've done."
Sarah flattens herself again the wall beside him, thoughts inwards. "I was waiting here for you, I think I wanted you to kill me. That's why I didn't go to the police, you were my punishment for the things I've done. I - I left here after the fire, I went to LA and I became a different person. Eden. And I did bad, bad things...When I came back no one had even noticed I'd left." Her voice is clogged with self reproach and sadness and he turns to look up into her face.
"But you've captured me."
"Playing the hero, like you said. There are dangerous people like us populating this world now and they can't be contained by normal means. Only by us." She says with a wry twist to her mouth, not really looking at him.
He snorts softly and sits back. "Well you can't keep all of them here. Only room for two..."
She frowns down at him. "You really think I'd let you stay with me?"
"What other option is there?" She comes to stand before him, hands on her hips and watches as his face brightens with a thought. "Your ability, you can use that on me. You can make me stop."
Her eyes narrow at him she bites the inside of her mouth. She shakes her head. "That's insane."
"Is it?" He sits up energetically, hands clasped together. "You want to do something good? Then do this!" But she's still shaking her head, uncomfortable.
"That would be like rehabilitation. You don't deserve that, you need to be punished."
"Do I have to repeat myself again?" He says, exasperated. "This thing is like an addiction. I want to be better. Please Sarah?" He says pleadingly as she sits back down on the bed, looking around the room, anywhere but him. Minutes tick by and she ends up looking at the shattered watch that's on his wrist. He can't take his eyes from her, knowing what she's looking at. Finally she speaks.
"Were you a nice person Gabriel?"
"...I think so. I was a nerd." She looks back up to see him smiling softly. "I wore glasses."
"Got bullied at school?"
"Every other day." The smile falters. Sarah gets up and peers out of the window. The sun was setting, another day was coming to a close and he was still here. She stares at him hard.
"Are you serious about this?"
He looks away to watch the sun sinking. "We both know you can get any answer out of me." He turns back, "so do it if you're unsure."
She stands undecided, a weak shadow cast on the orange wall behind her. Finally it wavers as she makes a move.
*
The fire had started in the kitchen. An inexpensive, new but poorly made kettle had sat on the stove with the burner on and forgotten. After a few minutes it had disintegrated and caught the kitchen curtains on fire, then the rug and wooden table. Sarah and Gabriel would have inhaled smoke and died in their sleep if it wasn't for Sarah's dog, racing up the stairs with his tail between his legs. Pawing and whining loudly Sarah wakes and the scent of smoke makes every hair on her body stand up and her palms to sweat. Heart bursting with fear she stumbles from her bed and follows her bolting dog down the stair where the smoke is thick and billowing out from her kitchen. She covers her mouth, trying not to breathe in too deeply and stares with shock.
This is a nightmare, this can't be happening to me again.
When the heat from the fire starts to intensify she spring into action and races for the phone, calling 911. Sucking in a deep, acrid tasting breath she speaks as soon as the woman on the line says hello, rattling off her situation and address. Her every instinct was screaming at her to get out and she moves to the door, looking back at the fire. When she sees that it's reached the stairs and is slowly crawling up it she comes to a stop.
Gabriel. He's trapped. Sarah takes a step forward but stops, her way now bloked. A soft indifferent voice speaks up inside and she tilts her head. Leave him, he'll be dead with smoke inhalation before the fire gets to him.
"He wants to die, doesn't he..." Throwing the door open she jumps out into the snow, the coldness making her gasp and looks up at her house. His window is still and dark and she continues to stare as she back pedals towards her car, eyes huge. "Oh god, oh god!" Cursing she cups her mouth and shouts. "Fire! Fire! Gabriel!" Her hand wrenches open the car door but she doesn't move, eyes flicking below to the yellow glow and flickering shadows and back up to see him throwing the curtains aside to open the window. He coughs and chokes, his shoulders shaking.
"You - you." He splutters, eyes massive and petrified. "You did this!"
Did I? Maybe I did...maybe he did..."No! I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Pleading she pushes her dog into the back seat and straps herself in, ripping her eyes away from the man above. But when she looks again he's gone. Just go, go Sarah. He's a monster, he was never going to stop and you couldn't help him. He deserves this. "You deserve this." She whispers and over the cracking and roaring sounds she can hear the wail of sirens. Teeth gritted in a snarl she reverses her car in the snow, willing it to move faster until finally she's going, the now burning house at her back.
God riddance Sarah, you're a hero. She nods, tears stinging her eyes and drives east.
*
Then man had told the detective that Sarah Ellis had tried to save him but it was no use, he was a lost cause. But somehow he got out.
"I think someone was looking out for me. I hope she's alright, wherever she might be..." He had smiled with worry and the detective had patted him gently on the shoulder. He hadn't confessed the reasons for going to see Miss Ellis but Pierce had a very good idea. Her 'job' was the worst kept secret in Fillmore. But she had confusingly never been arrested.
At least he didn't think so.
Walking back down to the patients room he comes to a stop on the threshold. It was empty, Mr Sylar was gone.
*
He's certain she's going to tell his mother, that's why she left him there. Paranoid maybe but he wouldn't put anything past that woman now.
But he wouldn't harm her, she had made him promise and if he was honest some part of him was relieved. She was helping, maybe unwittingly, maybe not because the further east she went the people on his list were left untroubled and safe. All that mattered was getting to Queens before she did. She couldn't hide forever but he wonders what will happen when the chase is over and he gets her.
Maybe it will be his turn to run.
Characters/Pairing: Sylar, Sarah Ellis
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 4,486
Disclaimer: Do not own.
Summery: She's on his list
Note: Gen. Been awhile but here's the ending for anyone interested. Dialogue heavy.
Parts: 1, 2, 3
He doesn't waste any time. Shockingly fast he lunges at her, kicking the covers to the floor. Her eyes widen in surprise and she gasps as his hand slams against her chest and she's thrown back against the cabinet, head connecting sharply with the mirror. Before he can wrap his hand around her throat she speaks and it's his undoing.
"Stop!"
The word coming out of her mouth reverbs through the air otherworldly, taking him aback despite himself. It's deep and echoing but he can feel her whispering it in his ear simultaneously. He unwittingly comes to a stand still, chest billowing and eyes feverish. Before he can draw on an ability she's already commanding him in that eerie voice not harm her, to sit. And he does stiffly, watching her like an animal.
"There..." she says with relief, in control.
"You can't stop me," he barks, enraged.
"But I have." She smiles and moves away from the cabinet, rubbing the back of her head. His heart is racing but she appears unflustered, simply watching him with interest. "You're powerless Gabriel." Brown eyes seer with hate, unblinking and her smile grows wider. He's desperately trying to summon strength, to attack but he can't even move. Panic squeezes his lungs but he clamps down on it before it can show on his face. He settles a blank look over his features and relaxes his body.
"That is not my name. And you can't do this forever, you'll make a mistake, trip up and when you do I'll kill you," he assures disdainfully. Sarah shrugs, an oh-well gesture.
"Really? Well I think I've got this under control but thanks for the warning." She moves to sit in an armchair by the window, smoothing her hair around her ears as she does. "I knew you were coming, read the reports of these odd deaths all heading my way. You're sloppy and I'm shocked that you haven't been caught yet." She tilts her head, hands clasping her knees. She's so tiny, he could probably ring his hand around her waist. Totally nonthreatening appearance, but for those unflinching eyes.
He sneers "Sloppy? I've been doing this for months and they haven't even got my fingerprints." As he says this her eyes move to his hands and she smiles, looking back up and her dark eyes shine with laughter.
"No, they don't, do they?"
His lashes flutter for a moment, uncertain and he swallows. "What do you want? Be a hero and turn me in?" he snorts, lip curling.
She leans forward and she shakes her head. "No, I'm not going to do that, you are."
"I am?" he laughs. "Even if I did get arrested no cell could hold me. That's not going to scare me little Sarah and you certainly don't," he growls out with disgust, teeth bared at her. To his surprise she nods, cocking an eyebrow.
"No, I thought of that. Imprisonment doesn't scare you but maybe there's something else...something you're hiding and don't want anyone to see." She gets up and picks up the telephone and falls to her knees next to him, so that she's staring up into his face, which is red with anger. "Lets see, lets see...I know that you're from Queens and had a watch shop, I know until quite recently you lived with your mother." He blinks and lowers his gaze as Sarah continues. "I know that you've killed people and are planning on killing many more."
"And how do you know this?" His voice is very low and thick.
"Because Chandra told me before you killed him." She looks away and down at the phone. "I contacted him through emails and he told me everything he knew about you, about the both of you working together." She stares back up with a flinty expression. "He was scared for his life, said that no one believed him. And he was right. After I heard about his death I knew that you would be coming. I had to be ready."
He regards her with a supercilious expression, contempt curling his mouth. "I can see right through you. Little mousy woman, frightened of her power has a big old heroes complex hidden away under that meek exterior and thinks she can handle anything. Maybe the boredom of being stuck here and having no voice has driven you crazy. Because this is insane, you can't control me. You think I don't know what you are?" He smirks, eyeing her. "You know prostitutes can serve up to five years in prison?"
Sarah's brows rise and she laughs with amazement. He watches her carefully as she settles down and stares at him pleasantly, but there's something avian about her, piercing. "What's your mother's phone number?" she asks suddenly, nonchalantly.
The vicious smile that had marring his face falls and he blinks rapidly. "W - what?"
She's completely untroubled by his speech and waves the phone in her hand. "Her number, I think she'd like to hear from her son. I bet it's been awhile right? Tell me, what did you tell her you were doing?" He remains silent but his nostrils are flared. Sarah cocks her head and then shrugs. "Doesn't really matter, either way you'll be calling her. Tell me her number." Her deep, whispery voice rings out and he complies with a horror stricken expression. She writes the number down on her pad and then starts to punch in the numbers.
"No! No, stop! I swear if you call her I will kill you!" She waves her hand in the air at his threatening tone, bored. He'd never seen anything like it, she wasn't afraid of him at all. Her thumb hovers over the last number and he speaks hastily. "Please, don't call her!"
"But I think she deserves to know what a monster her sweet son has become."
"She's not at home!" he whines.
"Stuck her in the fruit cellar?" He gives her a ha-fucking-ha expression and Sarah smirks.
"I won't tell her!"
"Oh but I think you will. I'll make you spill every little awful detail about the things you've done. Make you tell her how it made you feel. Do you think she'd like to know that you get off on seeing people suffer?" He's shaking his head back and forth as she speaks bitingly, his breathing hard and fast and all the while begging her not to do it.
"Why are you doing this to me?" his brown eyes are no longer predatory but teary with self pity.
"Because I can," she leans up to him, placing the phone down to lay her hands on his knees. She whispers close to his face, so close that he can smell her. "Do you feel guilty for what you've done?"
He nods, voice froggy and plaintive. "Yes but - but it's not my fault," he says, and as the first tear rolls down his cheek he frowns and his expression grows angry. "Why are you doing this?!"
"You're confused Gabriel, you don't like feeling helpless do you? Well tough shit. You come to my home, you act harmless but all the while you're counting down the seconds to when you can get my blood on your hands. You're inhuman." It was the first time anger had appeared and her words are sharp with contempt and outrage. She moves back from him, inhaling a calming breath and she picks up the phone. Looking back up she's as composed as before, offering him the phone. "You don't want your mother to know the ins and outs of your sick mind? Well the only way to spare her that is to turn yourself in. If you feel guilty for what you've done then you know it's the right thing to do."
He sighs very softy and seems to deflate in on himself. A pall air hangs heavily over him and he doesn't look at her. When he speaks she narrows her eyes at him because he sounds different, voice no longer a threatening andtheatric growl but something softer and normal. "You don't understand, I can't stop even if I wanted to. But I do, I really do want to." He looks up then, miserable, depressed and crying. Sarah searches over his face carefully, frowning.
"Tears won't work on me Gabriel." She gets up and moves to the door. As she does his voice growls out irritable and proves her right.
"My name is Sylar you nasty bitch."
"For that you won't get any breakfast in the morning. Well it's very late and I think we both could do with a rest." She leans over from behind his back, placing her lips next to his ear, "You will go to sleep when I turn off the light and will only wake when I tell you to." He stares ahead, burning a whole in the wall but as the light is clicked off he falls back on the bed asleep.
Sarah stays until she's satisfied he's really under before moving to her own bed. She feels confidant but it was wise to be vigilant and take nothing for granted.
*
"Wake up Gabriel."
Blinking awake he groans and then becomes still, remembering. He had been dreaming that he was back in his old apartment, cleaning out that back room behind the mirrors into the centre of the living room for all to see. He sits up slowly as she repeats what she had ordered him last night. Don't harm me, you're powerless.
She sits in the armchair by the window, cup of something hot in her hand. "The snow has stopped," she whispers, moving the net curtain back for him to see the sun shining.
"Can I have something to eat?"
"Maybe later."
He sighs and sits back, considering her. "You're not going to kill me?"
"You're still here aren't you?" she says before gulping down her tea. "I told you last night what I want you to do and the repercussions if you don't."
"And I told you it won't happen, I can't stop."
"I'm sure you can, you just don't want to," she says matter of factly in her soft voice.
He sits forward, looking at her hard. "I'm telling you the truth! I don't want to do this, any of it but - but..." he hesitates and she becomes alert.
"But what?"
"It's the only thing that makes me special. My - my whole life I wanted to be someone important and now I am."
"You're a serial killer, how does that make you special?" she asks with a sneer.
He clicks his tongue with distaste. "We both know I'm more than that...Like you. When did you find out you were special?"
A flash of emotion passes over her face and she plucks at her sleeves. "I'm not special Gabriel."
"Of course you are. With the ability you have you can do and be anything." His voice lowers an octave an his eyes shine hungrily. Sarah shudders and straightens in her seat, her heart beating hard.
"If I never spoke again it would be a blessing."
His gaze becomes intense and he tilts his head and then nods with understanding. "You did something bad, that's why you're here. That's why you're doing this. You hurt someone?" As he speaks Sarah stands and moves to him, her jaw clenched. But he smiles with accomplishment. "That's why you don't talk, you're scared that you'll do something bad. Guess I'm the exception. I'm kinda flattered," he licks his lips as she bares down on him.
"Enough of this."
"Finally! So what are you gonna do? Phone my mother? You're bluffing because I don't think you want that on your conscience. It would destroy her," he says and there's an edge to his voice that she catches. She takes up the phone and smirks at him.
"You will be the one with that on your conscience. The first moment you killed you set yourself down this path, you and you alone. And don't for one minuet think I won't do it," she says threatening and grips the phone tight.
He leans back wearily and a silence stretches, Sarah sitting back down to watch him as he seems to become unfocused, thoughts elsewhere. Finally his eyes move to her and they hold no anger. "Maybe you should kill me."
"What?" Sarah stares at him with surprise, thrown. His voice is very soft and sad.
"You know where I planned to go next, after I had killed you?" Sarah shakes her head, quiet. "Los-Angeles, to a family that lives there. I've been putting it off for months but the closer I get to them the more I want to go. There's a seven year old girl who has an ability and when I get there I'm going to take it. I'm going to kill her."
"You - you murder children?" her voice wobbles and her mouth has gone dry; a coldness passes over her body.
"No! I couldn't," he says and his eyes shine with tears and this time Sarah doesn't think he's faking. "I tell myself that I would never go over that line but I still wrote her name on my list and I know if I get out of here I will be going there. I can't stop myself," he emphasises, his teeth clenched and he pins her with a desperate gaze.
"My god..."
"So you can phone the police and I'd go but I can't stay there. There isn't any hope for me. You have to kill me." He slumps back and scrubs his hands over his face, through his hair and looks at her, waiting for her to do something.
Sarah sits stunned, her belly in painful knots. Finally she shakes her head. "I can't do that," her voice is tiny.
He smiles with dead eyes. "Gonna keep me here with you indefinitely? Keep you company?"
"Don't be ridiculous..." she snaps. He looks at her more closely now, a spark in his eye.
"I know what it's like, living in isolation and reticence. Before any of this happened I used to be alone, I shut everyone out. I was a nobody."
"And the world was better off for it," she counters and he nods, which makes her blink.
"You're feeling that control slipping out of your grasp, I can see it in your eyes. Because I'm not some unremorseful psycho you expected."
She stares at him derisively. "I wouldn't go that far..."
"But you see, you see that we're alike. I understand you Sarah; you've closed yourself off from others because you don't want to hurt them anymore. I didn't want to be hurt, so it was safer to stay in isolation. I'd give anything to be like that again," he says, appearing sincere and while something in Sarah pings with deep understanding she shakes her head.
"You can't go back to being normal, not after what you've done."
"You have! Your ability, when you first discovered it, it must have been amazing to suddenly have this godlike power. You - you liked using it right? But you hurt - killed someone. The fire," he breathes, recalling what had been said about her at the Cafe. This was the wrong thing to say as Sarah gets up and walks out of the room, her face pinched and eyes shiny.
He had hit a nerve and he smiles for none to see.
*
"Sorry if I upset you earlier."
"No you're not."
They were seated at her kitchen table, after hours suffering from a rumbling belly an empty plate is before him. She had only spoken to order him with her ability, still angry. Now he raises both brows as she wipes a cloth over the table surface.
"You're right, I'm not. But I was right though wasn't I? You've done something bad and all this is a way to punish yourself. Just my luck to get caught up in it."
"What happened to the "we're so alike"? Finally see that it isn't working?" she says through her teeth and he smiles.
"No, I still hold to what I said, to a degree. No the difference being that I'm not a hypocrite."
"Really?" she draws out, throwing a tea towel on the table.
"Yes really. Because you should be in prison but you're here." He keeps his eyes drilled on her as she seals her lips tight but can't drag her gaze away. He grins slowly. "You know I'm right."
"I'm not like you, I'm not a serial killer."
"One life or a dozen you've still taken it and you haven't turned yourself in. Did you use your ability to keep the police away from you?"
She shakes her head and breathes shallowly. "It was an accident, I couldn't help it." Some part of her wonder why she's telling him this, she doesn't owe him an explanation. But she was.
The superior humour that had been plastered over his face fades as she says this and he leans closer to her, reaching out a hand that she won't take. "And I cant help what I do, it's over taken me." She crosses her arms over her chest, uncomfortable by the way he can pull out all these things about her. She sits back as he's slumped over the table, tired.
"We're going round in circles." She sighs.
"I know...I was telling you the truth, I wish I could stop...I'm ashamed, I always have been." his eyes squeeze shut and she has some idea of what he's thinking about.
"Enough to die?" Her question goes unanswered and she gets to her feet, making him do the same. She lets him use the bathroom, take a shower. This is insane, it's all got away from me. She was so sure that her plan would work but now it was all up in the air. His hair dripping they move back into what now is his room, but this time he takes the armchair and she sits on the end of the bed.
"We're at an impasse, aren't we?" he says softy, turning from the window to look at her. "I could tell the police about you but they couldn't keep you there, you feel remorse for what you've done but clearly not enough to out weigh your self preservation. Just like me. Telling my mom about this won't accomplish anything but hurting her. You won't kill me..."
"Maybe, maybe..." She doesn't want to say it out loud but she's been thinking about it for months.
"What?"
"I could tell you to do it." She whispers, fierce gaze but her voice shakes. After a long scrutinising stare he looks away, dismissive.
"You don't want to, more blood on your hands."
"But you're not innocent." She's shocked that her voice sounds so pitying. He's got to her, god help her.
He looks back sharply. "Maybe not but I've told you I want to stop myself, I want things to go back to the way they were." Sarah moves from the bed to stand next to him and with hesitating fingers touches the wound that was healing on his forehead.
"Things can't go back the way there were, I've tried. You can pretend, change your name but inside you know what you've done." Moving her fingers away she inspects them and sees traces of blood there.
"You're still here Sarah, you're still trying. I - I don't want to leave, you know what will happen if I do." Suddenly he smiles weakly. "It's a conundrum for you, isn't it? You're a good person, regardless of what you've done."
Sarah flattens herself again the wall beside him, thoughts inwards. "I was waiting here for you, I think I wanted you to kill me. That's why I didn't go to the police, you were my punishment for the things I've done. I - I left here after the fire, I went to LA and I became a different person. Eden. And I did bad, bad things...When I came back no one had even noticed I'd left." Her voice is clogged with self reproach and sadness and he turns to look up into her face.
"But you've captured me."
"Playing the hero, like you said. There are dangerous people like us populating this world now and they can't be contained by normal means. Only by us." She says with a wry twist to her mouth, not really looking at him.
He snorts softly and sits back. "Well you can't keep all of them here. Only room for two..."
She frowns down at him. "You really think I'd let you stay with me?"
"What other option is there?" She comes to stand before him, hands on her hips and watches as his face brightens with a thought. "Your ability, you can use that on me. You can make me stop."
Her eyes narrow at him she bites the inside of her mouth. She shakes her head. "That's insane."
"Is it?" He sits up energetically, hands clasped together. "You want to do something good? Then do this!" But she's still shaking her head, uncomfortable.
"That would be like rehabilitation. You don't deserve that, you need to be punished."
"Do I have to repeat myself again?" He says, exasperated. "This thing is like an addiction. I want to be better. Please Sarah?" He says pleadingly as she sits back down on the bed, looking around the room, anywhere but him. Minutes tick by and she ends up looking at the shattered watch that's on his wrist. He can't take his eyes from her, knowing what she's looking at. Finally she speaks.
"Were you a nice person Gabriel?"
"...I think so. I was a nerd." She looks back up to see him smiling softly. "I wore glasses."
"Got bullied at school?"
"Every other day." The smile falters. Sarah gets up and peers out of the window. The sun was setting, another day was coming to a close and he was still here. She stares at him hard.
"Are you serious about this?"
He looks away to watch the sun sinking. "We both know you can get any answer out of me." He turns back, "so do it if you're unsure."
She stands undecided, a weak shadow cast on the orange wall behind her. Finally it wavers as she makes a move.
*
The fire had started in the kitchen. An inexpensive, new but poorly made kettle had sat on the stove with the burner on and forgotten. After a few minutes it had disintegrated and caught the kitchen curtains on fire, then the rug and wooden table. Sarah and Gabriel would have inhaled smoke and died in their sleep if it wasn't for Sarah's dog, racing up the stairs with his tail between his legs. Pawing and whining loudly Sarah wakes and the scent of smoke makes every hair on her body stand up and her palms to sweat. Heart bursting with fear she stumbles from her bed and follows her bolting dog down the stair where the smoke is thick and billowing out from her kitchen. She covers her mouth, trying not to breathe in too deeply and stares with shock.
This is a nightmare, this can't be happening to me again.
When the heat from the fire starts to intensify she spring into action and races for the phone, calling 911. Sucking in a deep, acrid tasting breath she speaks as soon as the woman on the line says hello, rattling off her situation and address. Her every instinct was screaming at her to get out and she moves to the door, looking back at the fire. When she sees that it's reached the stairs and is slowly crawling up it she comes to a stop.
Gabriel. He's trapped. Sarah takes a step forward but stops, her way now bloked. A soft indifferent voice speaks up inside and she tilts her head. Leave him, he'll be dead with smoke inhalation before the fire gets to him.
"He wants to die, doesn't he..." Throwing the door open she jumps out into the snow, the coldness making her gasp and looks up at her house. His window is still and dark and she continues to stare as she back pedals towards her car, eyes huge. "Oh god, oh god!" Cursing she cups her mouth and shouts. "Fire! Fire! Gabriel!" Her hand wrenches open the car door but she doesn't move, eyes flicking below to the yellow glow and flickering shadows and back up to see him throwing the curtains aside to open the window. He coughs and chokes, his shoulders shaking.
"You - you." He splutters, eyes massive and petrified. "You did this!"
Did I? Maybe I did...maybe he did..."No! I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Pleading she pushes her dog into the back seat and straps herself in, ripping her eyes away from the man above. But when she looks again he's gone. Just go, go Sarah. He's a monster, he was never going to stop and you couldn't help him. He deserves this. "You deserve this." She whispers and over the cracking and roaring sounds she can hear the wail of sirens. Teeth gritted in a snarl she reverses her car in the snow, willing it to move faster until finally she's going, the now burning house at her back.
God riddance Sarah, you're a hero. She nods, tears stinging her eyes and drives east.
*
Then man had told the detective that Sarah Ellis had tried to save him but it was no use, he was a lost cause. But somehow he got out.
"I think someone was looking out for me. I hope she's alright, wherever she might be..." He had smiled with worry and the detective had patted him gently on the shoulder. He hadn't confessed the reasons for going to see Miss Ellis but Pierce had a very good idea. Her 'job' was the worst kept secret in Fillmore. But she had confusingly never been arrested.
At least he didn't think so.
Walking back down to the patients room he comes to a stop on the threshold. It was empty, Mr Sylar was gone.
*
He's certain she's going to tell his mother, that's why she left him there. Paranoid maybe but he wouldn't put anything past that woman now.
But he wouldn't harm her, she had made him promise and if he was honest some part of him was relieved. She was helping, maybe unwittingly, maybe not because the further east she went the people on his list were left untroubled and safe. All that mattered was getting to Queens before she did. She couldn't hide forever but he wonders what will happen when the chase is over and he gets her.
Maybe it will be his turn to run.