Sins of the Father, Chapter 6
Title: Sins of the Father
Rating: PG-13 [Violence, character death and some language]
Pairing: Sylar/Mohinder
Characters: Sylar, Mohinder, later on Maury,Nathan, Matt, Niki, Molly and my own version of Sylar's dad.
Spoilers: Not really anything special, season 1 of course but also the Nightmare Man stuff from S2 is there but altered as another character doing it.
Word Count: 1,989
Summary: Sylar's back in New York and he's out to visit an old friend who can help him find answers as to why he's powerless. The reunion is cut short as Sylar learns more about the mysterious Company and the truth about his father's life. There is a nightmare man and Sylar will be the only one who can stop him, no matter if they're related.
Author's Notes: I came up with this idea one day upon waking which I wish all fics were so easy. I wondered what if there was so much more to Mr. Gray than we think. So I came up with the details that would help explain how Sylar got the ability of intuitive aptitude, his relationship with his father, and gave me some fun Mohinder and Sylar scenes that may get a smut one shot once the story is done. There are flashbacks that weave into the story that typically allow Sylar to learn more about Company/father stuff. Enjoy!
Twenty years ago, Company facility in upstate New York...
Jacob and his son were at the building all day as the treatment was prepared and administered. His wife, Virgina, was herself such a hypochondriac that she jumped at the chance to keep her precious son healthy even if it wasn't necessary. Young Gabriel sat in a chair outside of the exam room. There was a series of shots he received and they bruised up his arm. His small left hand carefully rubbed his skin as he strained to hear what his father and the man called Dr. Anderson were discussing behind the tightly locked door.
Jacob stood in front of Anderson as he finished Gabriel Gray's work-ups.
“So...if it works, what should he be able to do?”
Anderson didn't even glance up as his pen jotted down all of his findings.
“Jacob, you to have to realize that just because we've figured out a couple genetic markers, that we may have a chance to alter DNA. It doesn't mean that your boy is even going to have a significant change.”
The next movement of his pen was halted by Jacob's hand as it slammed down right on the next section of the report. Bright blue eyes startled Anderson as Jacob's jaw shifted and set. He stepped toward the man, and dragged the document across the counter-top.
“Do you understand how much I've put on the line by doing this? By even contacting you in the first place? I don't want to hear that you have no idea what you're doing all of a sudden. Now, we're going to go back to Brooklyn, my son and I, we'll be back in two weeks for a follow-up. I'm confident that there will be no disappointment when we return. Am I right?”
As he spoke Jacob Gray let flicker various atrocities in front of the average man. Terrible things that would be a sign of things to come if Anderson couldn't find a way. Of course, Jacob wasn't actually planning on letting the full force of his ability out against the helpless man. A reminder every now then merely seen by Jacob as nothing more than proper motivation.
Anderson flinched, he gasped as he watched the bright, sterile room change into subliminal flashes into things that he never wanted to glimpse again. Bad memories long since gone brought back to life.
His pale face stared first at the intense eyes of Jacob then down to the counter-top.
“J-just bring the boy back in a couple weeks. I'll do some follow-up work. If...if this doesn't produce the desired result Mr Gray, then there are other avenues we can go down.”
For a moment, Jacob continued to stare intently at Anderson. After a palpable tension in the room between the two men, Jacob finally eased himself back. He smiled, satisfied as he put his hand on Anderson's shoulder and squeezed once.
“The importance of what you can do Anderson if this works...So many people can get a second chance at a life that's worth living. The world will become a better place because of it...you'll see. They'll all see.”
Jacob smiled as he muttered out that last part, he turned and left the exam room. Anderson felt sick to his stomach as he sat down. There was no way to guarantee that Gabriel's system would respond, that he would somehow change. He tried to remind Jacob of that but each time he did, Jacob either waved him off in dismissal or got angry. This man could lie all he wanted to about wanting to help the world, to save it. But Anderson was becoming less naive about his true intentions. He knew when he saw how Jacob interacted with his shy, awkward, average son what all of this was really for. Simply put, to Jacob the boy just wasn't good enough.
Over the long drive home, Gabriel had so much he wanted to say to his father in the seat next to him. He wanted to know why his father pulled him out of school to do this, why he had to get shots even though he felt fine, and why when his father left that doctor looked petrified of him. All he did was tug nervously at the ends of his blue button up shirt as he swallowed each question that came up in his mind with a tight-throated gulp. Lately, Gabriel hated talking to his father. Each time he did there was never eye contact between the two. That alone may not have bothered Gabriel as much if that's all there was to it.
A few days ago, when Gabriel came home from school his parents were both home at the same time. There was a time when Gabriel was younger that spending time with his family made him feel loved and accepted. That day, his mother smiled, or her face muscles twitched to remember what a smile might look like, as she went to her boy. Like always, she fussed over him and questioned him endlessly about his day. All while never pausing to actually let her son speak. As she yammered on and on, Gabriel stole a side-long glance to his father sitting at his desk working.
He was staring at Gabriel, his blue eyes filled to the brim with complete disappointment. A look that made Gabriel's insides burn, he shifted his glance so that soft brown eyes met his father's gaze. Jacob didn't even bother to hide how he felt as he looked at his son. It was Gabriel who couldn't take it and looked away. He looked down at the floor and moved past his mom to go sit in his room. As Gabriel now sat there in the modest sedan, he choked up the courage to speak.
“...dad?”
No reply at first, Gabriel straightened up and cleared his throat before he tried again.
“Dad? I don't feel sick, why did you have that man give me those shots?”
Jacob's face hardened as he kept his eyes on the road and replied.
“Gabe, it's important that you don't question me. Especially since I'm only looking out for your best interests. Is that settled, son?”
The words stung at him as he nodded and fidgeted with his glasses. He'd only gotten them a short while ago and he still found them awkward and uncomfortable. Gabriel had no idea that inside, he was changing. No one would figure out that he would become quite special a week after that fateful day.
Back at the Company facility in New York Sylar as Mohinder was utterly astounded. He read through those documents again and again, his mind reeled. Included in the folder was a follow-up report. It concluded that Gabriel's genetic code, his DNA, had altered but that no ability could be determined. Anderson, like Chandra Suresh later would, could not detect an ability that was so intrinsically linked to Sylar's very core being. The ability of intuitive aptitude. A year ago at the Company's Primatech facility in Odessa, Texas it was determined according to what Sylar read that they found out Jacob's procedure worked. Advances in technology since what Anderson had made it easy for them to see what his main ability was and that he was not born with it. It's the reason why 'subject GG81523' was kept alive and tested. They wanted to learn what Anderson used, what he did and due to a most unfortunate accident nearly twenty years ago, asking him was an impossibility.
He had moved to Bob's desk chair since at one point his legs felt so weak that he could barely support himself any longer. Sylar thought about all of this, what it meant to how his life had gone. Questions could be answered, he could find the man and he could let him know just how extraordinary his son really was. How he got what he wanted for his boy.
As he kept reading over the files, his thoughts were interrupted by a female voice.
“Suresh, I don't think that Bob will be too pleased with you if he sees you sitting in his chair.”
Sylar slowly glanced up at Niki as she stood there in a tailored blue pantsuit and heels, hands folded in front of her with a smug look on her face. He tilted Mohinder's head as he quickly got up, a nervous look on his face since he thought that's what would be expected of Suresh if had just been busted. He moved toward her, it was then he remembered her from Kirby Plaza. How dare she go up against him like that? Especially in the middle of his fight with Petrelli, who the hell was she anyway?!
“Um, you're right. I was.....looking for something.”
Niki narrowed her eyes down at her new partner, he was acting quite strange.
“How did you even get in here? No one has the key except for Bob himself”
Sylar scoffed at this as he replied while trying to keep his patience
“What, are you Bob's personal body guard or something?”
He could have kept up the Mohinder facade, but he figured what fun was there in that? She got in his way yet again but this time she'd pay. Another step towards her and a caramel colored arm shot out and Niki found herself thrown off her feet and backward. A hard shift occurred around Suresh as he spoke, his statement started off in that cultured British voice but it did not end in that same voice.
“Well, I had something here that should've been mine a long time ago...and some lock wasn't going to keep me from it anymore.”
Sylar smiled wide at Niki as her face went pale at the sight of the man looming before her. She tried to move toward him but he just scoffed and flung her hard against the wall, her head smacked against it and bounced off. With a few swoops of his arm, Sylar repeated that same motion again and again. Niki cried out in pain with each hit until she could barely stay awake from the agony within her body.
“Remember me? I hope that you really haven't forgotten so soon. But just in case, here let me remind you”
With a final raise of his arm, he brought it back down and sent her for the final time against the wall, she left a small indent in it as he let her unconscious body drop to the floor. She lay in a heap before him, he scoffed as he moved to go past her and leave the office. But...he knew she had some sort of ability and to have it there and ripe of for the taking was far too tempting to pass up. Sylar shrugged and thought that he may as well as he stopped and knelt down over her body. He slowly, carefully cut into her skull, past the skin and into the bone. The screams were missed but other than that as he took what this bitch did not deserve, it was like old times. After he got what he wanted from her, Sylar resumed his disguise and left the room, files in his hand. As he strolled down the various twisty hallways he ended up in some sort of medical wing.
As he stopped to figure out where he was, he glanced over at one exam room. His curiosity got the better of him as he peeked inside. Underneath blue blankets and white sheets, little Molly Walker lay there. For a few moments he merely looked at her in total silence. It nearly startled the perfect scene when she slowly opened her tired eyes. A small, weak smile on her face as she saw him standing there in the doorway.
“Mo...Mohinder?”
Rating: PG-13 [Violence, character death and some language]
Pairing: Sylar/Mohinder
Characters: Sylar, Mohinder, later on Maury,Nathan, Matt, Niki, Molly and my own version of Sylar's dad.
Spoilers: Not really anything special, season 1 of course but also the Nightmare Man stuff from S2 is there but altered as another character doing it.
Word Count: 1,989
Summary: Sylar's back in New York and he's out to visit an old friend who can help him find answers as to why he's powerless. The reunion is cut short as Sylar learns more about the mysterious Company and the truth about his father's life. There is a nightmare man and Sylar will be the only one who can stop him, no matter if they're related.
Author's Notes: I came up with this idea one day upon waking which I wish all fics were so easy. I wondered what if there was so much more to Mr. Gray than we think. So I came up with the details that would help explain how Sylar got the ability of intuitive aptitude, his relationship with his father, and gave me some fun Mohinder and Sylar scenes that may get a smut one shot once the story is done. There are flashbacks that weave into the story that typically allow Sylar to learn more about Company/father stuff. Enjoy!
Twenty years ago, Company facility in upstate New York...
Jacob and his son were at the building all day as the treatment was prepared and administered. His wife, Virgina, was herself such a hypochondriac that she jumped at the chance to keep her precious son healthy even if it wasn't necessary. Young Gabriel sat in a chair outside of the exam room. There was a series of shots he received and they bruised up his arm. His small left hand carefully rubbed his skin as he strained to hear what his father and the man called Dr. Anderson were discussing behind the tightly locked door.
Jacob stood in front of Anderson as he finished Gabriel Gray's work-ups.
“So...if it works, what should he be able to do?”
Anderson didn't even glance up as his pen jotted down all of his findings.
“Jacob, you to have to realize that just because we've figured out a couple genetic markers, that we may have a chance to alter DNA. It doesn't mean that your boy is even going to have a significant change.”
The next movement of his pen was halted by Jacob's hand as it slammed down right on the next section of the report. Bright blue eyes startled Anderson as Jacob's jaw shifted and set. He stepped toward the man, and dragged the document across the counter-top.
“Do you understand how much I've put on the line by doing this? By even contacting you in the first place? I don't want to hear that you have no idea what you're doing all of a sudden. Now, we're going to go back to Brooklyn, my son and I, we'll be back in two weeks for a follow-up. I'm confident that there will be no disappointment when we return. Am I right?”
As he spoke Jacob Gray let flicker various atrocities in front of the average man. Terrible things that would be a sign of things to come if Anderson couldn't find a way. Of course, Jacob wasn't actually planning on letting the full force of his ability out against the helpless man. A reminder every now then merely seen by Jacob as nothing more than proper motivation.
Anderson flinched, he gasped as he watched the bright, sterile room change into subliminal flashes into things that he never wanted to glimpse again. Bad memories long since gone brought back to life.
His pale face stared first at the intense eyes of Jacob then down to the counter-top.
“J-just bring the boy back in a couple weeks. I'll do some follow-up work. If...if this doesn't produce the desired result Mr Gray, then there are other avenues we can go down.”
For a moment, Jacob continued to stare intently at Anderson. After a palpable tension in the room between the two men, Jacob finally eased himself back. He smiled, satisfied as he put his hand on Anderson's shoulder and squeezed once.
“The importance of what you can do Anderson if this works...So many people can get a second chance at a life that's worth living. The world will become a better place because of it...you'll see. They'll all see.”
Jacob smiled as he muttered out that last part, he turned and left the exam room. Anderson felt sick to his stomach as he sat down. There was no way to guarantee that Gabriel's system would respond, that he would somehow change. He tried to remind Jacob of that but each time he did, Jacob either waved him off in dismissal or got angry. This man could lie all he wanted to about wanting to help the world, to save it. But Anderson was becoming less naive about his true intentions. He knew when he saw how Jacob interacted with his shy, awkward, average son what all of this was really for. Simply put, to Jacob the boy just wasn't good enough.
Over the long drive home, Gabriel had so much he wanted to say to his father in the seat next to him. He wanted to know why his father pulled him out of school to do this, why he had to get shots even though he felt fine, and why when his father left that doctor looked petrified of him. All he did was tug nervously at the ends of his blue button up shirt as he swallowed each question that came up in his mind with a tight-throated gulp. Lately, Gabriel hated talking to his father. Each time he did there was never eye contact between the two. That alone may not have bothered Gabriel as much if that's all there was to it.
A few days ago, when Gabriel came home from school his parents were both home at the same time. There was a time when Gabriel was younger that spending time with his family made him feel loved and accepted. That day, his mother smiled, or her face muscles twitched to remember what a smile might look like, as she went to her boy. Like always, she fussed over him and questioned him endlessly about his day. All while never pausing to actually let her son speak. As she yammered on and on, Gabriel stole a side-long glance to his father sitting at his desk working.
He was staring at Gabriel, his blue eyes filled to the brim with complete disappointment. A look that made Gabriel's insides burn, he shifted his glance so that soft brown eyes met his father's gaze. Jacob didn't even bother to hide how he felt as he looked at his son. It was Gabriel who couldn't take it and looked away. He looked down at the floor and moved past his mom to go sit in his room. As Gabriel now sat there in the modest sedan, he choked up the courage to speak.
“...dad?”
No reply at first, Gabriel straightened up and cleared his throat before he tried again.
“Dad? I don't feel sick, why did you have that man give me those shots?”
Jacob's face hardened as he kept his eyes on the road and replied.
“Gabe, it's important that you don't question me. Especially since I'm only looking out for your best interests. Is that settled, son?”
The words stung at him as he nodded and fidgeted with his glasses. He'd only gotten them a short while ago and he still found them awkward and uncomfortable. Gabriel had no idea that inside, he was changing. No one would figure out that he would become quite special a week after that fateful day.
Back at the Company facility in New York Sylar as Mohinder was utterly astounded. He read through those documents again and again, his mind reeled. Included in the folder was a follow-up report. It concluded that Gabriel's genetic code, his DNA, had altered but that no ability could be determined. Anderson, like Chandra Suresh later would, could not detect an ability that was so intrinsically linked to Sylar's very core being. The ability of intuitive aptitude. A year ago at the Company's Primatech facility in Odessa, Texas it was determined according to what Sylar read that they found out Jacob's procedure worked. Advances in technology since what Anderson had made it easy for them to see what his main ability was and that he was not born with it. It's the reason why 'subject GG81523' was kept alive and tested. They wanted to learn what Anderson used, what he did and due to a most unfortunate accident nearly twenty years ago, asking him was an impossibility.
He had moved to Bob's desk chair since at one point his legs felt so weak that he could barely support himself any longer. Sylar thought about all of this, what it meant to how his life had gone. Questions could be answered, he could find the man and he could let him know just how extraordinary his son really was. How he got what he wanted for his boy.
As he kept reading over the files, his thoughts were interrupted by a female voice.
“Suresh, I don't think that Bob will be too pleased with you if he sees you sitting in his chair.”
Sylar slowly glanced up at Niki as she stood there in a tailored blue pantsuit and heels, hands folded in front of her with a smug look on her face. He tilted Mohinder's head as he quickly got up, a nervous look on his face since he thought that's what would be expected of Suresh if had just been busted. He moved toward her, it was then he remembered her from Kirby Plaza. How dare she go up against him like that? Especially in the middle of his fight with Petrelli, who the hell was she anyway?!
“Um, you're right. I was.....looking for something.”
Niki narrowed her eyes down at her new partner, he was acting quite strange.
“How did you even get in here? No one has the key except for Bob himself”
Sylar scoffed at this as he replied while trying to keep his patience
“What, are you Bob's personal body guard or something?”
He could have kept up the Mohinder facade, but he figured what fun was there in that? She got in his way yet again but this time she'd pay. Another step towards her and a caramel colored arm shot out and Niki found herself thrown off her feet and backward. A hard shift occurred around Suresh as he spoke, his statement started off in that cultured British voice but it did not end in that same voice.
“Well, I had something here that should've been mine a long time ago...and some lock wasn't going to keep me from it anymore.”
Sylar smiled wide at Niki as her face went pale at the sight of the man looming before her. She tried to move toward him but he just scoffed and flung her hard against the wall, her head smacked against it and bounced off. With a few swoops of his arm, Sylar repeated that same motion again and again. Niki cried out in pain with each hit until she could barely stay awake from the agony within her body.
“Remember me? I hope that you really haven't forgotten so soon. But just in case, here let me remind you”
With a final raise of his arm, he brought it back down and sent her for the final time against the wall, she left a small indent in it as he let her unconscious body drop to the floor. She lay in a heap before him, he scoffed as he moved to go past her and leave the office. But...he knew she had some sort of ability and to have it there and ripe of for the taking was far too tempting to pass up. Sylar shrugged and thought that he may as well as he stopped and knelt down over her body. He slowly, carefully cut into her skull, past the skin and into the bone. The screams were missed but other than that as he took what this bitch did not deserve, it was like old times. After he got what he wanted from her, Sylar resumed his disguise and left the room, files in his hand. As he strolled down the various twisty hallways he ended up in some sort of medical wing.
As he stopped to figure out where he was, he glanced over at one exam room. His curiosity got the better of him as he peeked inside. Underneath blue blankets and white sheets, little Molly Walker lay there. For a few moments he merely looked at her in total silence. It nearly startled the perfect scene when she slowly opened her tired eyes. A small, weak smile on her face as she saw him standing there in the doorway.
“Mo...Mohinder?”