WARNING: contains Season 3 Material.
Starring:
Summary: Peter pays the beaten Sylar a visit after a call from Cass.
Date It Happened: December 10th, 2007
Better Man's Brother
Bat Country Labs
Book held in front of him, Sylar remains on his cot, legs stretched out with his back leaning against the wall, a small pillow in between his spine and the hard material to provide some sort of comfort. His comfort is little, however, as his face is already turning a nasty, ugly purple color, the left side of his jaw and face swelling up from the bruise and cuts Nathan left with his fist. His stomach, although not visible through the white t-shirt he wears, is also turning much the same color. He shifts occasionally, grimacing as he does, and he never though he would miss regeneration so much. He's been through pain before, but when you don't have drugs or any way to make yourself feel better, you feel a little down when someone uses you as a human punching bag.
A call about Cass needing him. That's all Peter really got. No details despite asking the man on the other side of the phone. His brother wasn't being forth coming. Instead of teleporting directly into Bat Country, he lets the phone call end and goes to the one place he can think of where Cass might really need him— the room where the possibly reforming serial killer has been stashed. It happens suddenly. One moment no one's there, the next he's standing in the corner with his eyes closed. They open— the man's still think, which causes him to blink. And blink again. A few more times. "What happened?"
Upon Peter's arrival, Sylar sets his book down, shifting his feet across the cot so that they hang over the edge. He pauses for a moment before standing up, slowly, the grimace on his face obvious as he moves a hand down to his stomach, placing it there gently where the bruises are. "Your brother happened," he says, motioning to the spot on the wall where Nathan held him. "He came for revenge for what I did to Claire."
Not everyone wants to believe in the good of others quite as much as Peter does, though he doesn't look to upset at his brother for that. Could be the same reason he can even begin to forgive the man sitting there. Bruised and battered. "I can heal you," he says, looking back, sincere. He has the abilities to do quite a bit, after all. "Looks like the pills worked, though. I know how well they work on other abilities, but… I wasn't sure they would work on regeneration." That meant his brother could have killed him— and he didn't.
"Cass came in and interrupted him," Sylar continues, sitting back down on the cot. Slowly. He remains on the edge, hands gripping the edge of the cot on either side of him, and he looks up at Peter. "She tried to help me, but I didn't want it. It's.. obvious she doesn't like being around me. Of course… you can't really blame her, being who I .. am." He takes a breath, pausing a moment, then continues. "Nathan left after that. — You don't have to heal me. I…" Sylar seems to struggle with what he's about to say next, but he manages to get it out. "… deserve what he did to me. Because of what I did to Claire. She is his daughter."
"I'm going to try to move you somewhere else as soon as I find a place," Peter says, obviously grimacing over this entire situation. He can't really deny that he deserves it, or that his brother had a right to swing fists at the man over it. Not just for Claire, but for so many other people too. Including himself. His future self. The fact that he doesn't move forward to heal anyway might show that more than his silence on the topic. "I'll get you some pain killers to take— but you might have your abilities back as soon as tomorrow. I tried to get more, but it may not work."
"No, Peter, you can't let that happen," Sylar says, standing from the cot urgently, a hand immediately moving to his stomach in response to the pain. "You can't let them come back, nto yet. I can.. still feel it, there. It's more quiet now, less… of an urge, but it's there. The hunger. If it comes back—" Sylar steps forward, the sense of urgency still with him. "You can take me away from here, that's fine, but you have to keep getting those pills."
There's a small nod. Peter lowers his eyes a bit and keeps them on the floor. The hunger isn't something he understands, but… "I'll do what I can. The pills kicked in right away, but the effects took a couple days to fade when I finally went off them. I don't know how long it will take for one dose— but we might have time. If we don't… I can put you to sleep for a while, until I can get more." It's kind of a last resort, but— if he's right, if the powers are causing it… "You might be able to learn how to manage it, Sylar. Without the pills."
"How are you going to get more?" Sylar responds, remaining in a standing position a small ways from Peter. "If you can't get them… you'll have to put me to sleep. I don't know if I'll ever be able to control it, and you can't let me.. do something to the people here. Otherwise they'll just keep thinking of me as…" He takes a moment, eyes dropping to the floor, and he continues to speak. "They'll always think of me as a killer."
"You're not the only person we know who's killed people because of their ability, Sylar," Peter says, shaking his head a little. He may not be one of them, but he could have, easily. Ted did. Niki did. Trina did. And he knows for a fact that Jack and Lachlan and Elena's father have killed without needing their abilities as an excuse. And everyone he met in the future… "It won't be easy. But you… you can't let your ability control you. It has to be the other way around." But that doesn't answer the question. He hesitates a moment. "I called someone I knew in the Company— the person who substituted my pills and helped me escape when I was being held. I didn't tell her who they were for."
"I've done more than just kill people, Peter," Sylar says, shaking his own head as well. "I've ruined people's lives. Claire's. Mara's. Who knows who else. I'm a monster. I'm more than just a murderer." He turns away from Peter, focusing on the opposite wall, having nothing else to say for the moment. Until… "The Company?!" he says, whipping back around to face Peter and take a few steps forward, bringing him closer to the man. "You can't let them know I'm here. They'll lock me up and throw away the key. There's no one left there that will help me. I killed the last one who did. And with my powers gone.. I would be defenseless to stop them." This brings him to his next question. "… Who did you call?"
Ruined lives. And in the future he'd do much, much worse… But so would Nathan and everyone else. With this man pacing toward him, Peter raises his hand and makes the universal gesture for 'wait', "I'm not going to let them take you, believe me." But that doesn't fix everything. "I'm being careful. I'll use my abilities to protect the information if I have to." Mind reading, persuasion… Though he's not sure what anyone would do if he… his mother is in charge of the Company. At least part way. Maybe this man's mother too… "I asked Elle," he finally says, letting his hand drop away. "She's the one who helped me escape."
At Peter's universal gesture, Syar stops, waiting. After all, he doesn't have much else he can do, really. The Company, or Pinehearst, he can never go back to either of those places being what he is now. Not after what he's done to The Company, or what he did to Arthur by betraying him. If Arthur were truly his father, he would understand… but Sylar can't take that risk. The only person he can trust is Peter. He never thought he would ever end up in a position like this with Peter, but the man is all Sylar has. "… Oh," Sylar says in response to the fact it was Elle, his eyes dropping to the floor. "She helped you escape?" It seems so odd that Elle would do such a thing, after she helped the Company turn Sylar into what he became.
The position they find themselves in almost turns the whole world upside down. A little over a year ago, they were trying their best to kill each other. Peter lets out a soft breath when the man looks down and away, knowing that his nod won't be seen right now. He gives it anyway. "She helped me escape. Replaced my pills behind her father's back, showed me that Nathan was okay, and she told me that the Company wasn't really going to help me. That I didn't belong there. And she… wanted to leave with me. And she did for a while— not entirely leaving the Company, but… she might have. If her father hadn't replaced her with a decoy for months. I don't think she really likes the life she's been forced into. She won't betray her father… but her father isn't in charge anymore."
"I was supposed to kill her father," Sylar admits, looking back up at the other man. Everything Peter has said about Elle is.. well, it's a bit for the killer to take, considering his own history with the woman. "I didn't want to. I wanted to stop, to try and be… different. Not that anymore. I went to the Company and warned her. I don't know if she believed me. Her reaction was… typical, really, of someone who walks in a room to find me and not their father."
"You were— supposed to kill Bob?" Peter asks, suddenly rather confused by this whole thing. For who? "I know you're trying to change and it's good that you warned her. Maybe… I don't think she'll tell on me. And if she can get me the pills without even asking what I need them for…" He trails off, as if considering something. There's a sound outside, through the door that draws his eyes. "I should go check on Cass."
"Yes," Sylar says, looking up at Peter. "But I didn't. I warned her, and then I left." At the sound outside, Sylar's eyes shift towards the door, and then back to Peter. "You'll do whatever you have to do. If the Company finds out.." There's a small shrug from Sylar, indicative that he doesn't exactly trust Elle. Whether Peter interprets it as such or not is up in the air. At Peter's final words, Sylar nods, turning back to his cot and making his ways towards it.
"You're right— you didn't." Which means there's hope for him yet… "I'll do what I have to to protect you… and everyone else," Peter assures quietly, before he walks over to the door and puts his hand on it. He walked through it once before. Nothing happens this time. Not at first. He closes his eyes, consentrating. Finally his hand sinks in, the door rippling around him, "I'll be back later," he says to the man who might just be his brother, before he steps the rest of the way through.