rp for genetic_fate: a beginning

[heroslayer]

It had all gone according to plan. Well, mostly.

While, true, he hadn't been expecting Elle to come flying through the door of Suresh's workshop and try to kill him, he'd still made his escape. He'd lived. He'd managed to protect the case with the vial of the cheerleader's blood, even as he'd gone through the glass. And, though an alley just blocks from that whole mess hadn't exactly been his idea of the best place to reclaim what the Company had taken from him, it was enough. He had his powers back. That was all that mattered and hitches in the plan were the least of his concerns.

Or so he thought.

Sylar hadn't been expecting them to coming looking for him. Not so soon, he'd thought, as the Company had miles of red tape and rules and regulations concerning this sort of thing. And they wouldn't dare, not when the electric bitch ran home and told them he'd reclaimed his Godly mantle. They had seen what he'd done to Bennet and his doctor friend. They wouldn't risk it, and as such, he hadn't so much as turned his head to see who was coming down the alley.

He should have. If he had, he might have seen Elle. As it was, however, all he managed was a flash of blonde hair, the scent of ozone, and a roll of thunder. His vision went blurry as she hit him the first time, and then black as she struck him again. And when he came to, it was a nightmare made real.

The cell was too familiar, all white-gray walls and confining space. They'd taken his clothing, replaced it a standard issue t-shirt and pants and nothing more. They hadn't even bothered with shoes. Too dangerous, as he might use them as a weapon to break the glass of the observation window that sat just inches from the bed. Ridiculous, since when he'd pulled Eden through that very same glass last time, he'd been fairly sure nothing short of a bullet would have pierced it, but he understood.

He understood all too well that he was the Company's prisoner. Again.

Raising a hand to the glass, he pushed every violent thought in his head - and there were so many of them - in the direction of the window, willing it to shatter. Nothing happened. He'd been expecting as much, but it didn't stop some bastard child of panic and rage from uncoiling in the pit of his stomach. He'd just gotten his powers back. This wasn't fair. He'd kill them all, the second he was out of here, just to prove a point. But first, he was intent on slamming his mind up against the glass again and again until mental exertion and lack of a result made him dizzy.

He didn't know how they were doing it. There were no IVs this time and he didn't feel as physically ill as he had when they'd given him the virus. He didn't know, but it didn't matter. He'd just wait until someone came along to see him, and then he'd break out and he'd make everything fine again.

And that in mind, he settled down on the slab of the bed they'd given him, pulled his knees up to his chest, and watched the door.

Comments

[genetic-fate.livejournal.com]

Mohinder had been able to see the company's point of view. Whilst he had felt he had had little choice but to give Sylar the cure to the virus, and thereby give him back his powers, he also had a good idea of how the Company thought. They had believed the geneticist expendable, and that had been his punishment for choosing his life over the defeat of the other man.

His new ward was awake, when he stepped into the viewing room by the killer's cell. That was less that fortunate, but Mohinder would make do. At that moment, he knew Sylar was safely drugged up, unable to use his powers, and whilst Mohinder kept himself behind the glass, he was perfectly safe.

"Sylar." His voice hid the nervousness inside him. He was safe, he reminded himself. Sylar couldn't hear his heartbeat. "We meet again."

[heroslayer]

"Suresh." He should have been surprised - he hadn't known the geneticist had been working for the Company, after all. Between shooting Maya and Elle's appearance, however, he hadn't had much time to consider the fact that Mohinder had, apparently, sold his soul to the devil. He should have been surprised, but somehow, he wasn't. It always came down to this. To them.

What he was, was furious, though he managed to keep it from his expression. He may have been without his powers for the second time in longer than he could think about, but it wouldn't stop him from lying. Wouldn't stop him from seeming perfectly sane in an attempt to lure the Indian into a false sense of security.

"Aren't you going to come in, Mohinder? I can't hurt you."

[genetic-fate.livejournal.com]

"Not with your powers, no." Mohinder agreed. The rest of the argument went unsaid - Mohinder had had no need to explicitly point out that Sylar would most likely still be able to overpower him with physical strength alone. Especially when he knew he'd have to go in there, sooner or later.

"Yet again, Fate has conspired to bring us together." Mohinder said, arms crossed across his chest as he appraised the man on the other side of the glass. Some dark sense of satisfaction had flown through him at the sight, the knowledge he had his father's killer trapped at last. The victory had not been his own, but that was a small detail.

"How are you enjoying your new accommodation?"

[heroslayer]

"They haven't improved much, from last time I was here," he answered, calmly. What a shame that Suresh hadn't fallen for his trap, but then again, it hadn't been the best put together one he'd ever laid. And it was still salvageable. Still possible to get the Indian in here if he continued to be patient and bided his time. So, he continued to play at sanity.

"Why are you here, Suresh? Gloating doesn't seem ... " He paused, searching for proper wording. "... like your style."

[genetic-fate.livejournal.com]

"I am here because I have been charged to you," Mohinder stated, simply. "Fate, it would seem, has given me another chance with you."

And as for the gloating? "You are, of course, right. I am not the gloating type. But you're special, Sylar. Isn't that what you want? To be special? You were cured. You had the world at your feet. And you were careless... and now, see where you are."

Mohinder hoped that the Company would lose interest in this man, sooner or later. Preferably sooner, because he had a strong desire to fulfil his revenge, once and for all. The man who killed his father, finally brought to justice at his own hands.

[heroslayer]

Sylar offered a sigh of a laugh, shooting a glance down at his feet before returning his attentions to the geneticist. The amusement that had been so freely expressed, however, failed to reach his eyes. "I was, yes," he agreed. "But it doesn't matter. I'll get out of here, Suresh, and when I do ... "

He paused, sobering, before, "Did they tell you what happened to the last person who tried to hold me captive?"

And he would get out. Nothing short of the Haitian with his irritating power to nullify his own would stop him. Even now, he could feel his neural pathways shifting, acclimating themselves to whatever drugs the Company had put him on. Soon, they wouldn't do much, just as the geneticist's steady flow of curare had proved useless, once he'd gotten used to it. Soon, it would be Suresh he was pulling through the observation glass, in revenge for what he was visiting upon him. It might take a few days, but he could wait.

[genetic-fate.livejournal.com]

"I know enough." He glared through the glass, his hatred all the more palpable now. He had cared for Eden, and Sylar had taken her from him. It seemed to be the way their relationship worked.

"I know you killed her."

Mohinder didn't say anything more, but the look in his eyes said enough.

And I'll see you suffer for it.

[heroslayer]

"Then you know she deserved it," he answered, around a small smile. "Did you talk to her about it, Suresh? Did they ever tell you what they did to me?"

The fact that he'd attacked Eden had been more for just her powers, after all. The bitch and Bennet and their doctor friend had taken his life from him. He'd been dead, really and truly dead for roundabouts two minutes. And while they'd revived him - and been careless enough not to check to make sure he was still dead - he'd been dead. He wondered what Suresh would think of that.

[genetic-fate.livejournal.com]

"She was a good person. She didn't deserves death." Mohinder growled, moving forwards and pressing his hands to the glass that separated him from the killer. He would have added that no one deserved that, but he was standing in the company of the one exception. If anyone did deserve death, it was Sylar.

"But you? I would happily see you suffer and die." The grin he gave through the barrier was manic, verging on insane, though he would never know it. In Mohinder's mind, he was still the loyal son following in his father's footsteps. He didn't notice how he'd changed, that dark glint that appeared in his eyes more and more often these days.

Mohinder Suresh was a man on the brink of a fall. If Sylar could notice this, he'd be on to a winner.

[heroslayer]

Indeed he did notice.

He'd seen those shadows that haunted the geneticist's eyes before. Namely in himself, when he'd caught sight of his reflection in one of the display cases at Gray and Sons, right before Brian Davis had shown up. The desperation. The zeal. He hadn't understood what it meant then, but he knew all too well, now. And to think that Suresh was on the eve of his fall was somewhat disturbing and amazingly elating.

He'd have to be careful if he wanted to use it, though. Suresh broken could mean terrible things for him, if he moved too quickly or said the wrong things. If he was mindful of what he said, however, choosy about how he said it, he might be able to make this worth his while. And as such, he licked at his lips, thoughtfully, before, "You may get your wish, Suresh. If you let them keep me here, long enough, they'll kill me.

"But tell me. It you let them do it, would that really be justice for your father? Wouldn't you rather do it yourself?"

[genetic-fate.livejournal.com]

Mohinder fell silent at that, jaw clenched. If it wasn't for the hand fisting and relaxing at his side, he might as well have been paralysed. It appeared to be that Sylar didn't need his powers to hold Mohinder in his sway.

"What is it... that you're suggesting?" He finally managed to ask the question. He may be slightly unhinged, but Mohinder's not an idiot. He can see the plot. But Mohinder isn't daft enough to honestly believe Sylar would offer himself over for murder in return for being freed from the Company.

[heroslayer]

"Let me out, Mohinder," Sylar suggested, pulling himself up from the bed with a grace that was still eerily fluid, despite his missing abilities. He moved towards the glass, stopping just inches from it, face level with the geneticist. And watching him, seeing him stand there like that, it was probably very much like being at the zoo and having the caged animal you'd been studying suddenly take notice of you.

"Stop whatever drugs they have me on, and let me out." He pursed his lips together, thoughtfully, and then added, "Then I'm all yours. You won't have to worry about the Company getting in the way. Just me and you."

[genetic-fate.livejournal.com]

Mohinder took a step forward too, so that he was also only scant inches from the glass.

"You think I'm a fool." He stated, eyes burning as stared the other man down. "You really think I'd believe you'd let me have my revenge if I got you out? What would be the point in getting out, if it were only for me to kill you instead of the Company.

No, you'll escape. We both know it. And I'd rather you died at someone else's hands than have that."

He fell silent then, waiting for the next response.

[heroslayer]

"I never said you were a fool," he answered calmly, tilting his head to one side. "You're anything but, Mohinder. You're the only person who's ever managed to stop me, and you did it all by yourself."

Never mind the fact that he could think of other people who'd managed to take him down. The Company. Peter and his friends. But Suresh was the only one who had done it without help, the only one for whom he managed more than a brief twinge of fear. That was saying something and, even beyond that, it was best to make Mohinder feel good about himself, right now. Illusions of control were such a wonderful thing.

"But ... may I tell you something?"

[genetic-fate.livejournal.com]

Sylar had been right, of course. Mohinder's chest warmed momentarily with pride as he revelled in the fact that, yes, he alone had almost brought about Sylar's destruction.

"What is it?" He replied to Sylar's question with a cool stare and equally calm tone of voice.

He wasn't scared. The man was not invincible, after all.

[heroslayer]

Sylar bowed his head a little, in a mock gesture of thanks, before returning his eyes to him. And when he did look back up, any semblance of calm had evaporated. Now, truth be told, it looked as though it was taking every ounce of self-control not to throw himself against the glass.

"If you don't let me out of here, Suresh, I'll get out of my own. It'll be like the curare. I'll find a way around it." He sneered, pressing his face up against the window in a futile attempt at intimidation. "And when I do, I'll kill everyone here. You. Elle. Everyone. Do you want that, Mohinder? To have that much blood on your hands when I get to you?"

He paused for a moment, letting that sink in, and then, "You can stop me. You can let me out now, and I won't hurt any of them. It's your choice."

[genetic-fate.livejournal.com]

It was the same as when the Company tried to win him round, against Bennet. The same feeling in his chest as when he'd informed Bob he had been working for Noah. It was the sensation of his very moral structure disintegrating in his hands. The complete loss to see what was right and what was wrong.

It made that unhinged glint in his eyes ever the brighter.

"But you'll kill so many more, if I let you out." He commented, stepping back as Sylar moved forwards. But even as he thought that, spoke his thoughts out loud, he already knew where this would lead.

He was playing God. Choosing who lived and who died. Sparing his own life at the risk of hundreds, thousands of others. Innocents. The thought of that power made him feel almost dizzy.

[heroslayer]

"Maybe." His lips twitched upwards, briefly, before dropping a second later. "But what's more important, Mohinder? Yourself? You friends? Your family? Or a handful of people you've never met before?"

He leaned forward just a bit more, forehead actually touching the window between them, now. "It's your choice. Be a hero, and let me out. Save the things you care about. Or wait until I escape, and ... mm. What's that quote? The inaction of good men?"

[genetic-fate.livejournal.com]

It was with a sickening jolt to his heart that Mohinder realised that, throughout this conversation of give and take, he had not once thought of Molly. His instincts were purely of self-preservation.

"You'll never sway me." He growled, but there was something new in his eyes. Something he hoped Sylar would pick up on.

There, in the look he gave Sylar, was the unwritten conversation. The plea to let him see that he was lying, that he couldn't be so brazen in such a high security cell. There would doubtless be at least three people watching them on CCTV as they spoke.

[heroslayer]

Sylar could have cared less about the fact that they were being watched. Let the Company see, let them know that the beast they had caged would find its way back to the wild again, eventually. True, his confidence would probably send them all scrambling to beef up their security, but it would do them little good in the end. When his powers returned, he would be free.

"I'll kill her first, Mohinder," he announced, a small, hazy smile curling his lips. Despite his bravado, the drugs were clearly slowing him down. "Molly. She'll be so useful. I won't need your List. I won't need you."

Sylar put his hands to the glass, here, in such a way it was hard to tell whether he was reaching for him in futility or trying to support himself. He never took his eyes off the geneticist, though, and the expression he was wearing came through loud and clear. Let me out and I'll let her live, Mohinder.

[genetic-fate.livejournal.com]

"You'll always need me." Mohinder responded, keeping that gaze fixed. His words were double-edged. On one hand, it was a plain and simple retort to Sylar's statement. A retort that, when watched by the Company, would not have seemed out of place. No conspiracy here. But, on the other hand, it was his way of saying 'alright. I'll get you out.'

And then, he nodded. The smallest of movements, but another sign to Sylar that he'd made up his mind.

They were going to do it, break out. Together.

[heroslayer]

The smallest of smiles curved Sylar's lips.

He didn't know why Suresh had agreed, beyond the obvious consequences that came attached to his threats, but there seemed to be something more here. Something he was missing. Something he had no doubts hinged on the darkness in the geneticist's eyes, but he couldn't begin to comprehend what. It was slightly annoying - he liked to think he knew Mohinder more intimately than anyone, considering their history - but he could live with it. If Suresh was going to spring him, he could bottle his curoisity for the time being.

"Maybe I will," he answered, finally, taking a step back from the glass.

[genetic-fate.livejournal.com]

"I'll be back," Mohinder told him, safe in the belief that that Company wouldn't imagine he meant to break him out.

Then he stepped away from the window, finally breaking eye contact. There was nothing more that he could have done, right then. He just had to get back to his job, and hatch a plan.

Because, for better or for worse, he had made up his mind. He was going to set Sylar free.