rp for witnessof_fate: playing lab rat

[heroslayer]

Truth be told, Sylar had no idea why he had agreed to helping Suresh in the first place. There were too many what-ifs, too many chances for the geneticist to have lied about what he was doing, since they had only danced around the subject in person.

What if all this research wasn't some kind of side project? What if it was for the Company and he was playing right into their hands? They'd done similar before, he was certain, and oh how they would have loved to get their claws back into him. Or, worse yet, what if all that had happened between him and Suresh in the last few weeks had been some kind of clever trick?

Be nice to the serial killer, Mohinder, and then drug him up when he put his life into your hands. He could almost hear the words coming out of Bishop's mouth. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

His temper raged. How the hell could Suresh do something like that? How could he have been so blind?

He moved towards the door of his apartment, each step echoing in the tiny room like drumbeats to war. With a flick of his fingers, the door sprang open, and with another after he had exited, it slammed shut. Maybe he was drawing unwanted attention to himself, with all that noise, but he didn't care. Right now, all he cared about was getting to Suresh. And less than a half an hour later, he was well within reach of the geneticist, standing at the foot of Mendez's old loft. Of Mohinder's shiny new lab.

Angry as he was, though, he wasn't stupid. If he just stormed in there, no matter how sneaky he was, they would catch him. It had happened last time, when he had come to the Indian for the cure. He'd gotten away, true, but he had no desire for the electric bitch to show up again, even if he would end her, this time around. So, that in mind, he did what any incensed lunatic with super powers would do.

He took out the power for blocks around Mohinder's lab.

No cameras that way, after all - they had to have cameras - and no chance of the Company getting suspicious, as they would have if he'd just taken out the building. And satisfied with his work, he slipped into the Indian's workspace without so much as a sound. Without so much as the thought that, maybe, the real reason he was doing this wasn't because he didn't trust Mohinder, but because he was terrified of having his spinal fluid drawn again.

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[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

Mohinder had been working, steadily, if not making a great deal of progress on the project. Every time he seemed about to make a breakthrough, he fell back again, fumbling in the dark for answers that seemed just out of reach. He would almost reach it, sure he had broken through that wall, and then...nothing.

It was getting maddening.

He'd broken more than a bit of glass the day before, cleaned it up, then sent papers flying again today. His father would have been appalled at the intemperate attitude, but he couldn't be bothered worrying about that.

Sylar's offer to help took him by surprise. He didn't like the idea of using him, but he was also not going to turn down an offer of help. He needed someone evolved, and unless he went down and ran the tests on someone unwilling, he was a little short on volunteers. Matt might have been willing--and, actually, a comparative sample would be useful--but he also might have asked too many questions, and this project? This one was Mohinder's alone.

When the power went out, he cursed silently under his breath, quickly saving his work and straightening, running a hand through his hair. The air had quickly cut out as well, and he moved to the window, looking out, and seeing the flickering darkness spreading out from where he was. Late summer heat, New York City, a part of town with a great deal of over-wiring...it wasn't unusual. But it was damned inconvenient.

[heroslayer]

He was in the loft nearly a second after Mohinder had gone to the window, still silent as the grave. Without aid from any stolen ability, he loomed in the shadows, far from the light coming from the windows. And while the geneticist was clearly the most captivating - and most agitating - thing in the room, he couldn't help but let his eyes drop to the mural on the floor. So many good memories, here.

His moment of nostalgia was quick to pass, however, and very slowly he raised his eyes to Suresh, staring holes into his back from under his eyebrows. On one hand, he truly hoped the Indian knew he was there, and just what he was dealing with. On the other, he hoped Mohinder never noticed, as it would make sneaking up on him that much easier.

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

Mohinder had gotten used to the feeling of being watched ever since Sylar had brought them here and Elle had come. There were cameras, he was watched. He hated it more than he could say, but it suited him well enough to put up with it. Still, that sense lingered, even though his conscious mind knew the cameras had to be off.

He frowned slightly, rubbing the back of his neck, as if it would banish the itch, though it did nothing. He turned, casting a glance at the cameras he'd discovered. No red light blinked, so, paranoid, his gaze swept the room, flicking through the shadows searchingly. Still, when he found Sylar's shape, he still felt his heart leap, breath catching as he involuntarily stepped back before he caught himself.

"Sylar?"

[heroslayer]

Sylar's lips twitched upwards into a wicked smile. So Suresh was afraid? That was a shame, really, but who was he to try and put him at ease? And that in mind, when he spoke, it was with a strange, howling echo to his voice, "Hello, Mohinder."

He hadn't gotten Eden's power, but her tone of voice was almost just as good, sometimes.

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

The tone of voice, with the echoing wasn't really his favorite, putting a bit more of a gap between them, another reminder of all Sylar was that he wasn't, all that all of them were that he followed and cataloged and watched as so many of them pushed against that which destiny called them to.

He frowned, some of the fear easing away, even with the distinctly creepy voice, now that he knew it was actually Sylar and not some Company goon. That was still funny, to feel that flicker of relief.

He glanced up at the lights, gestured out the window. "Your doing?"

[heroslayer]

"It was, yes," he agreed, tone back well within the realms of what could be considered normal. Or at least normal for him, as there was something near dangerous and slightly amused in his voice, now. That cold smile that never reached his eyes was apparently still firmly in place, despite the fact that Mohinder still couldn't see it.

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

"Dramatic," Mohinder said, dryly, working to dismiss that chill in the air, the dangerous note, trying to force it back into some sort of normalcy. For whatever normalcy was for them. Trying to kill him one night, snuggling the next.

Possibly this was going to be more of the former and less of the latter.

[heroslayer]

"It was better than having them watch us, Suresh." And what was all his power if he didn't use it? "Would you really want sweet, little Elle to come down here, again? Do you think she'd be able to stop me, this time, now that I have my abilities back? Would you want her to know what you were doing here?" He paused, taking a step from the shadows, though somehow the light from outside still failed to reach his face. "Or do they already know?"

There. Now that he'd put that out there, where he was in a position to listen to Mohinder's heartbeat, he'd be able to tell whether he was lying or not. If he wasn't, he'd let Suresh have what he'd promised to him, but if he was? Another intimate encounter with the ceiling would be the least of the Indian's worries.

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

Mohinder frowned slightly at the accusatory note that seemed to be in Sylar's voice, confusion flickering in his eyes for a moment.

"They think I am working on the virus, on the vaccines...which, well. I am, but they think that is all I am working on," he said, running a hand through his hair.

"You're the only one I've mentioned the...side project to." And even then, he was being vague, unsure how Sylar would take the truth, or how he, himself, would deal with the humiliation if he failed.

[heroslayer]

"You're telling the truth."

He sounded amazed and, strangely, slightly disappointed. He'd been counting on his anger and his very obviously wrong conclusions - Mohinder just didn't have reason to lie to him, if he'd told him at all - to carry him through. It was his way of coping with the fear of being at Mohinder's mercy again, of having to practically shut down a part of his brain so it wouldn't hurt, and the other man had stripped him of that. Now he had nothing, and he wouldn't dare not keep his word.

"The anesthetic you promised me," he said when he managed to find words, again. "You have it here?"

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

Mohinder didn't understand the disappointment, or the amazement, but the words were clear enough, and he felt a tiny flare of anger, stepping back, glaring at him.

"Of course I was telling the truth..." He hadn't lied in a long time, not since the churning, sickening moments when he had to deal with the realization of who "Zane" was. And even that hadn't been lying so much as...hurt flared in his eyes after the anger.

"Yes, I have it."

[heroslayer]

Sylar didn't seem to notice the hurt or the anger that proceeded it. Instead, he simply let his gaze drift to the windows, briefly, before returning to the geneticist. "Will the light from outside be enough to work by?"

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

"Yes," Mohinder said, still aggrieved.

[heroslayer]

"Alright." A pause, in which something near apology darted through his eyes like a falling star, and then, "Where do you want me?"

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

"Over by the window," Mohinder said, attempting to let it go, still looking not overly pleased, but. They had trust issues, still, apparently. He would have to accept that.

Moving back to a case against the wall, he opened it, finding the anesthesia and a needle, bringing it with him over to the window. "We can just test it first...see if you can hold on to the numbness."

[heroslayer]

He nodded wordlessly, moving from the dark and into the light just as soundlessly as he had entered the lab in the first place. A moment was spent, watching the geneticist hunt for needles, and then he turned away, deciding he didn't want to watch Mohinder select whichever one suited the task.

With a small, summoning gesture, he pulled the Indian's desk chair over to him and helped himself. The last time he'd been drugged, after all, he hadn't been able to muster the will to stay standing, and he felt the concrete of Mendez's floor would be much less forgiving than the wood of Mohinder's had been. And, even beyond that, there had been something comforting in making the chair come to him, in the first place. Something to banish the fear where his rage had betrayed him.

Shooting a glance over his shoulder at Mohinder as he approached with the needle - oh, he shouldn't have done that - he scooted forward in the chair so that the other man could get at his back. He assumed that was were the shot would be going, after all, since the important part would be coming out there.

"Alright," was all he could manage.

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

Mohinder gave him a slightly worried look, noting the difference in demeanor, wondering just what had altered. Fear didn't occur to him, not really. He was trying the best he could to make this different, anesthesia being the biggest, yes, but also consent, and not binding him.

"They don't normally anesthetize for spinal taps, but I think it should work," he said lightly, trying to be soothing. His fingers lightly traced. "It's basically an epidural. There will be just a slight pinch with this one, and then you should be numb along your back. If you can feel anything, or feel it slipping, let me know?"

[heroslayer]

He barely resisted the urge to lean back into Mohinder's fingers. "I will."

He hesitated, and then, against his better judgment, he added, "We might have to go through this, more than once. I don't know how hard it will be to keep my brain from trying to correct itself." If he could do it at all. If he could do it without hurting himself. If ...

What if, in stripping himself of his aptitudes, he lost that power forever? His original gift, his ability to see how things worked, to fix himself and others, gone forever, because he couldn't turn it back on, if and when he turned it off. He felt slightly nauseated by the thought, and as such, took a slow, deep breath, in an attempt to calm the fluttering of his heart and stomach.

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

Mohinder nodded, feeling the tension under his fingers and he frowned, setting the anesthesia down to move around and kneel in front of him, reaching for one of Sylar's hands.

"If it does correct itself, doesn't allow the anesthetic, then we don't have to do anything else. I can find another way." Somehow. "There may even be another area that it's better to take a sample from, and ideally...it would help if I could draw the sample when you're using at least one of your abilities, to see if there is a difference..."

He was asking a lot, he knew, but he honestly wasn't sure how else to get to the answers, and no matter his personal stake in it, he really did want the answers.

[heroslayer]

"I told you I'd do this, Suresh," he started, reaching out for the other man's hand in time. "If it doesn't work, do it anyway." Or else, twisted moral structure or not, he'd go back on his word. Retreat as he had that night at Union Wells. And the idea of running away again was even less acceptable than the idea that Mohinder had, apparently, picked up on his apprehension in the first place.

He took another slow breath, and then added, "Don't tell me. Just do it. I ... keep something moving, telekinetically, either way." That was the ability that came the easiest, after all. Not that the others were anything nearing hard, but it didn't change facts that it would be the least difficult to sustain, even as he was trying to keep his brain's chemistry from adapting.

He reached out with his mind, and sans gestures this time, to toy with something just beyond his field of vision. "Anesthetize away, Mohinder."

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

Mohinder frowned just a bit, then squeezed his hand before standing again. His own peevishness was disappearing, at least, both at the faint excitement curling at the idea of a breakthrough--a nearly sexual anticipation that he didn't think he'd ever really be able to explain to someone, so kept to himself, and with the surety that Sylar at least did trust him, on some level to do this.

He still wanted to warn him before the pinch of the anesthesia needle, but, really, it was a pinch and nothing like the pain of the other, so he went ahead and did it, quickly, using a much larger dose than he would on anyone else, hoping that would help it hold on.

"How does that feel?" he asked, brushing his fingers along Sylar's spine in tender touch after a few moments, to test the numbness.

[heroslayer]

Sylar couldn't keep himself from wincing as the needle went in, even if he had experienced far greater pain than this, in all his years. It was reflex, a ghost of the face he had made when Suresh had taken his original sample. Thankfully, however, it was also just a brief visitor to his face as a moment later he was effecting an expression of perfect concentration.

To turn off his regenerative capabilities was a breeze, like flicking a switch, but to stop him body from reacting entirely? That was much, much more difficult. Especially when it came to trying to continually push the object on Suresh's desk - felt like a pencil holder - around with his mind. It was like trying to hold someone underwater, the other person flailing and fighting tooth and nail, while you waved casually to a friend on shore.

In short, it was damn near impossible.

Teeth grinding, head cocked to one side, he put all his will into keeping his mind from doing anything he didn't want it to. The pencil cup on Suresh's desk came to a halt, rattling ominously on the desk like an angry snake as he focused. It wasn't the best show of control, but it was still motion; it was still use of his telekinesis, as promised. And for as insanely difficult as this all was for him, he was managing, that much very clear in the fact that he could feel pressure at his back but not much else.

"It feels ... I can't ... " He made a face. Apparently, conversation and concentration were too much to muster together. At least it was working, though. Suresh could have his sample, and he wouldn't feel a thing, and they would both go home happy.

There was just one hitch in the plan: unbeknownst to him, blood was suddenly dribbling from his nose. Apparently the brain didn't like having parts of itself shut down, in the name of science. And if Sylar were much for thought process, at the moment, he might have thought it was a small wonder he only had a nosebleed, much less was still conscious.

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

Mohinder noted the nosebleed with worry in his eyes, and debated telling him to stop. But they might not have another chance, and he...needed this. Steeling himself, he moved quickly. Biting his lower lip, he grabbed the syringe for the spinal tap, inserting it immediately and taking what he needed before pulling it back out and nearly dropping it back on the side table.

"I'm done," he said, softly, moving across the room to get the box of tissues for him, swiftly coming back to his side, worry etched in his eyes. "Let it go..."

And please, god, let him heal when he did. Mohinder was kneeling in front of him again, tissue in hand, more concerned than he could hide.

[heroslayer]

Sylar let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding in a sharp sigh, before sucking air back into his lungs through his teeth as he tried to bring his mind back online in full. Pain exploded behind his eyes, leaving bright lines of color on the insides of his eyelids as he closed them. His stomach rolled, threatening the return of his lunch, first out of fear that his ability wouldn't come back and then, when it kicked back in, as every fiber of his being revolted against the drugs in his system.

Suddenly sure he had a fair indication of what it was like to be resuscitated after drowning, he dropped his arms to rest on his knees so he could lean forward in his seat. And after a moment of continued labored breathing, he managed, "Did you get it?"

Suresh must have. Mostly because there was suddenly a dull ache spreading out from the base of his spine, and -- and above the hum of agony in his head, as his mind shifted and settled, there was something else. Some sort of hurt that didn't come with the usual use of his ability, seated at the front of his face, just behind his eyes, and very much out of place.

He reached up, confused, and it was then and only then that he seemed to come aware of the fact that his nose had apparently been bleeding. Oh. Well, that explained Suresh and the tissues, when he felt capable of opening his eyes.

[capableof-both.livejournal.com]

Mohinder nodded sharply in response to Sylar's question, trying to fight to find words around the aching lump in his throat. The first time, he'd meant to hurt him. This time he'd tried so very hard not to, and still the results seemed to be the same.

"I got it," he finally managed. He could use some blood, too, but somehow even that simple request, routine and relatively painless, seemed too much watching him like this.

Instead of handing him the tissues, he reached gently to wipe the blood away, worry in his eyes, still, dark and concerned as they watched him and tried to figure out what could cause it. Matt had mentioned it as well, but this...he wasn't sure this sort of a side effect was one that needed to be occurring. Perhaps it was a sign of too much strain. He didn't know, but it worried him more than he could find words for.

"Are you all right?"