the enemy of my enemy is my friend (rp for factnotbelief)

[heroslayer]

He doesn't like this.

Sylar knows he needs help if he's going to take on Parkman and Petrelli -- he might be smarter than both of them, but they're better armed, and he's never been good at fighting on two fronts -- but people don't just offer people like him help without a catch. Arthur's going to want something from him in return, and as good as he usually is about repaying kindness where kindness is offered, he likes to do it on his own terms. He wants to be the one who decides what and when people get something out of him, not have a debt held over his head, and he knows that's how it's going to go with Arthur. The Petrelli patriarch's already tried it, feeding him some bullshit story about how he's his son to him over the phone to try and make him feel obligated, and he doesn't owe him a damn thing yet. It can only get worse from here on out, he figures, and it's not like he can't find Suresh on his own. He's done it before, biding his time until the heroes let their guard down and move on to more important things, and he's got all the time in the world to wait now. They don't.

Unfortunately, however, neither does Suresh and as angry as he is, he's not too keen on waiting to reclaim what's his and what should belong to him, and that probably explains why, against his better judgement, he gets out of the car and stalks up to the building. If this goes badly, he'll just kill Arthur and go his own way. He makes a show of making sure Arthur knows that's in the cards, too, blowing the door off the hinges as he reaches it in a disturbing display of power. Arthur told him not to kill anyone on his way up here, and he didn't, but he never said he couldn't wreck his little house of cards when he got here.

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[factnotbelief.livejournal.com]

"There's a plan, son. A plan that's been in motion since before you were born. We've gone off course here and there it seems. And quite a lot of that is my fault."

He ticks his fingers against the glass.

"I don't need you, Gabriel. You'll forgive your old man for using that name?" He sighs as if this, all of this, is such a burden. "Your mother had one of her dreams when you were born. She saw what you'd become. I was almost too late. By the time I got upstairs, you were at the bottom of the bath tub. I gave you to Virginia to care for. A good woman. Perhaps too selfish. When you came more fully into your powers, just about the time my youngest did as well, I tried to seek you out again. It was too late. My wife decided it was time to put an end to me too."

His smile seems almost half hearted.

"I'm sorry we were never there for you. My attempt to bring you here has nothing sinister about it. There's no strings attached, Gabriel. If I wanted to, I could have stripped you of your ability a long time ago. I didn't."

He stands again, looking out the window.

"No. I guess I do want something from you. I want you to help me get my sons back. An old man needs his family more at this age than at any other time."

[heroslayer]

Arthur stands up and he finally moves to sit down, sprawling out in the chair the other man offered him earlier, taking up much more space in it than is strictly necessary. It's meant to be a show of disrespect as much as not sitting down when he was offered this seat in the first place was, lounging in the chair rather than sitting in it like a sane person, properly and attentively, and all because he doesn't buy a word of Arthur's story. He's not his father -- he can't imagine his mother being so overbearing to a son that was never really hers -- and he has to want more than he's letting on if he's playing that long lost son crap in the first place.

As much as he'd like to tell him as much, though, he stops himself and sits up a just a touch straighter. If Arthur wants to play house, he'll let him, so long as he gets what he wants, and when it comes to doing what Arthur wants in return? Well, no one ever said he can't just stab him in the back for lying to his face. "Help me get Suresh back first. Then we'll talk about your little broken home."

[factnotbelief.livejournal.com]

"He's at Peter's apartment right now. Your friend is important to me too. We could use his skills here at Pinehearst, if he wants to give them. He's a scientist. He needs research. And people like us can benefit from a man like him being part of the team."

He turns towards the people at the door.

"Daphne knows where Mohinder is being held. Take her and Flint with you." He ignores how guilty Daphne looks. "And please don't kill them. I'll give you something better when you come back."

[heroslayer]

"Something like what?" If it's worth it, he might consider leaving Peter and Matt alone. If not, he'll be telepathic and empathic by the time he gets back, if he comes back at all.

[factnotbelief.livejournal.com]

Arthur puts a hand on Sylar's shoulder and leans inward. "Maury's son is a nuisance. What he can do...the things he can do now, we can't have that." Maury says nothing. If he can even hear the whispering at all. "But you bring him back here first, you understand me. I believe your scientist might like to continue with his brain mapping work. We have the equipment here."

[heroslayer]

He has a feeling that Arthur's lying -- if he's going to give him Matt, why not just let him do it when he drops in on them? -- but he doesn't call him on it. If it turns out he's right, he'll find a way to get at Matt or his father on his own later. It's not like either of them will be particularly hard to find if they're both here. If not, he'll just have to be pleasantly surprised. Either way, his priority right now is getting Mohinder back, and he still needs help to do that, so he can at least play along until he gets what he wants.

He offers Arthur a sick grin, just to make sure he thinks he's sold him. "Fine. Let me out of here and we'll be on our merry way."

[factnotbelief.livejournal.com]

They're waiting for Sylar in the lobby, Daphne and Flint, as promised. The girl looks nervous. Flint just looks bored. "Can we hurry it up please?" he asks, frowning, throwing away a ball of blue fire.

Daphne just rolls her eyes. "I can't carry both of you, so seriously? You guys have to hold on or you're gonna get one hellava road burn."

[heroslayer]

"I think I'd survive." Not that he wants to, though, so he puts a hand to her shoulder, pinning himself there telekinetically, his power stronger than his grip alone. "But whatever. Let's go."

He's apparently as in just a big a hurry as Flint is.

[chimeramimic.livejournal.com]

Peter's going stir crazy. It's been three full days of being stuck in here with Mohinder and his sad, puppy dog eyes and Matt's wavering anger at the situation. He's not a licensed therapist and he really doesn't know who to go to for help for this. He's about to suggest another round of poker when there's a knock at the door.

His eyes narrow slightly before he peeks through the peep hole.

His grin is telling. "Matt, your speedy friend's here."

[mentalmastery.livejournal.com]

Matt looks up from the football game he's been only partially watching for the last half an hour or so and tries to supress a smile as he gets to his feet. Even if he can't be what Mohinder wants him to be to him, he doesn't want to make him jealous out of fear that he might try getting in contact with Sylar again. "Yeah? Well, uh, let her in."

He doesn't think that's the best idea, again considering Mohinder, but he doesn't want to seem too eager to get the door in Peter's stead, either.

[splice-of-life.livejournal.com]

Mohinder's not even paying attention. He's been sitting at the window with a photo of Molly in his hands, one that Matt had given him a day or so before. He's almost rubbed the picture right off. The person at the door doesn't interest him in the slightest, though he glances up to see her standing on her toes to hug man.

Daphne holds on too tight. "Matt," she whispers in his ear, "you have to run."

[heroslayer]

Matt pulls back, looking at her in confusion. "Why, what's -- "

He never gets to finish that sentence, however, as suddenly he's being ripped from Daphne's arms, thrown back against the wall by some invisible force. He hits his head hard enough to keep him from getting back up again, alive but unconscious, and a second later, Sylar slips into the room, pushing past Daphne with a grin on his lips. His eyes drift over to Mohinder, briefly, then he focuses himself on Peter. "Hello, Peter. I think you have something that belongs to me."

[splice-of-life.livejournal.com]

There's no denying the heat that rises on Mohinder's face and in his eyes as he stands only to rush towards Matt to be sure he isn't dead. Sylar's not the sort of man to kill outright when he can take powers. Matt's will be valuable to him and kneeling beside the larger man, Mohinder finds the pulse he's looking for.

Peter and Sylar are squaring off once again, but this time, Sylar isn't alone. Daphne joins Mohinder at Matt's side as Peter flies across the room. He ducks down over Matt to protect him.

He's really very useless in a fight and he doesn't care to help in this one.

[heroslayer]

Peter has the sense not to bother with his pyrokinesis -- or anything else that might accidentally destroy the building -- this time and that limits him as much as the close quarters and the fact that he doesn't want to kill anyone, on Sylar's team or otherwise. Maybe even moreso. Either way, Peter's fighting a losing battle, and before too long it's over, a shard of glass protruding from the back of the empath's head as he hits the ground. Sylar looks almost disappointed for a moment after he collapses, but it's only for a moment, then he turns to Flint.

"Get him. Daphne can get Parkman."

Which leaves him with Mohinder, though he doesn't plan on knocking him unconscious for the trip. Instead, he moves over to him and offers him a hand up from where he's still crouched over Matt's unconscious form. "I told you I'd come for you, Mohinder."

[splice-of-life.livejournal.com]

Mohinder doesn't take Sylar's hand at all, he stand up on his own, graceful in rumbled mismatched clothes that Peter had grabbed from his apartment a few days ago. For a moment, they simply look at each other before Mohinder flings his arms around Sylar's neck.

Flint makes a comment and picks Peter up like a piece of meat to fling over his shoulder. Daphne's not paying attention at all.

Mohinder's lips curl up.

"You're late."

[heroslayer]

Sylar hums and wraps his arms around the Indian slowly, his chin coming to rest against his shoulder. He takes a deep breath, his eyes slipping closed momentarily as he breathes in his scent, and then he pulls back, a crooked smile on his lips. "Sorry. I got a little sidetracked."

[splice-of-life.livejournal.com]

Setting back on on his heels, Mohinder's hands move to Sylar's shoulders before he surveys the damage and winces slightly. "Don't hurt them. What they did, it was horribly stupid. But they mean well. They just don't understand."

He can not be responsible for their deaths. He can't. Bridget was bad enough.

He's about to nose at Sylar's chin when it dawns on him that he's not alone. Both eyebrows raise for that one. "Who...are your friends?"

[heroslayer]

"I wasn't planning on it." Not yet, anyway, but Mohinder doesn't need to know that. He hesitates, looking dubious, and rolls one shoulder in a shrug -- he hasn't come to believe Arthur's story about their relation in the last twenty minutes or so, but he might as well keep playing along. Better he does than have one of his new friends turn on him when they realize he's not really Arthur Petrelli's son. "My father wants them alive."

He glances back at Flint. "He sent them with me to help me get you back. From the look of things, though, I didn't really need it."

[splice-of-life.livejournal.com]

Mohinder's eyes dart again to Daphne and to Matt. The speedster. Peter's mentioned her several times and now he understands why. She was the key to getting them to open the door, she was keeping track of them.

It's worrying how easily people can betray others. At least he's not alone in that respect.

He's about to mention how Sylar really didn't need his backup when something else dawns on him. "Wait, what? I'm sorry? Your father? You'll need to tell me about this sidetracking."

[heroslayer]

"It's a long story." His eyes follow Mohinder's back to Matt and Daphne, then over to Flint, and after a moment, he orders, "Take them back to Arthur. Tell him I'll be back with the good doctor in a little while."

He wants to explain all of this to Mohinder, but he doesn't want to do it while his new friends are standing there, listening, nor does he want to risk Matt waking up while he's in the middle of it all.

[splice-of-life.livejournal.com]

Daphne makes two trips, though it only takes her about as many minutes to get the others from Manhattan down to Jersey. Mohinder's rather fascinated by it, the way the wind behind her swoops everything off of the counter and then blows his hair back away from his face again.

He blinks languidly before taking Sylar's hands. He wants to know about his father, but he needs to get this out because it's been building and bottled up for days.

"He tried to take you out of my memories," he whispers when they're alone, the horror of that almost too much for him to bear. Mohinder's addicted, desirous, and painfully attached to Sylar like he's been to no other. His fingers curl almost painfully into Sylar's hand. "You were almost gone."

[heroslayer]

"What?"

He stares at him, stunned. That Matt's capable of that, he's not surprised, but that he'd actually do something like that shakes him on some level. Matt's supposed to be one of the good guys, and while he himself might do something like that, Parkman's not supposed to. His views on the way the world works are painfully black and white, it seems.

He tightens his fingers around Mohinder's after a moment, the anger that had disappeared the second the fight had been over and Mohinder had been his again returning abruptly. If Arthur doesn't let him have Matt as promised, he's dead set on killing him anyway for this. He took what belonged to him and tried to destroy it. He deserves it.

[splice-of-life.livejournal.com]

It Mohinder finds that upsetting, imagine what he'd feel if he knew what he and Peter had done to his mind. Peter Petrelli thought that erasing minds was a form of rape, but certainly it's even more of a violation to view all of his memories. Mohinder's a little bit bruised because of it. He doesn't even know why thinking about Sylar hurts. It will pass, these things heal, but oh, he'd be destroyed to know what was done to him.

Mohinder wets his lips and blinks away the moisture from his eyes as he shakes his head.

"I'm fine now. I'm fine." He's not. "But tell me about your father." He's just not going to let go of his hand for now.

[heroslayer]

He knows he's lying, but he's not cruel enough to call him on it. He'll fix this by bringing Mohinder Parkman's head on a plate -- possibly literally -- and that's all that matters. That in mind, he's more than willing to change the subject.

"The speedster was waiting for me when I went to search Parkman's car," he explains, frowning in spite of himself. "She left me a business card for a place called Pinehearst. I called it and Arthur Petrelli answered. He promised to help me. He also fed me some stupid story about how I'm his long lost son or whatever, and I figured I'd play along just to get what I wanted." Namely Mohinder. "Looks to me like it worked."

[splice-of-life.livejournal.com]

Petrelli. "What? Peter's father is-- No, you don't believe him, but you could certainly pass for Peter's older brother. Same colouring, eyes, facial structure is more similar to Nathan--" When Mohinder has a conundrum, he sets out on it, trying to puzzle it out loud. "I could do a paternity test. Exceptionally easy. Siblings don't always seem to have the same powers, but complimentary ones... I've never understood why Peter's an ability sponge but his older brother has a relatively tame ability."

And there he is, looking back at Sylar again. Appraisingly.

"You've a complimentary ability. I'll need his blood."