flying_monkees | Remembrance (Part 2/?) (Reply)

Title: Remembrance (Part 2/?)
Author:
Characters: Peter/Sylar
Rating: PG
Warnings: AU but no spoilers
Word Count: 2,479
Disclaimer: Heroes does not belong to me no matter how much I wish it did.
Summary: Sylar reminiscences about the past as he waits to share the information he recieved from Peter
Table/Prompt: Written for

mission_insane's Au/What if...
A/N: This is the second chapter in my Angels/Demons universe. It's PG for now, but later chapters will have different ratings. I hope everyone enjoys. Forever love to my wonderful beta and co-conspirator

flwrpwr_vampyre. Love ya hun.

Part 1

Sylar walked down the hallway with a small smile on his lips. He’d missed being home; it had been a long time. Nodding to the others as he passed them, he stopped in front of the familiar office door and took a deep breath before going in. He was not looking forward to this meeting.

“Sylar, long time no see.” The woman sitting at the desk said, smiling at him as he entered. Sylar grinned at seeing who it was.

“Alice. It has been a long time. I’m surprised to see you here; I would’ve thought you were out in the field.” He stopped in front of her desk, glancing towards the closed door.

Alice grinned up at Sylar. She tucked a strand of long brown hair behind her ear, blue eyes flashing in amusement at him. “It hasn’t been that long Sylar. And I need to test out before I can go out in the field. Have a seat; he’ll be with you in a little while.” She shook her head in mock exasperation as he went to sit down, going back to her work.

Sylar sat in the chair and leaned his head on his fist. He hated waiting and he knew the boss man loved it, loved forcing him to sit here and cool his heels. Letting out a huff of breath, he watched the seconds slowly tick by and he started to drum his fingers on the arm of the chair, getting a raised eyebrow from Alice. With a shrug and a sheepish look he stopped and stared off into space, letting his mind wander.

He caught himself humming under his breath and he stopped, trying to remember where he had picked up the song from. Then he remembered. That speakeasy, the one in 1923. The singer had had a wonderful voice and he had been at the club every night for a month, trying to find the assignment he had to fix. That had been an interesting one, that was for sure. He had been glad when he’d finally found what he needed…

1923

Sylar sauntered down the street, smiling and tipping his hat at the pretty women he passed. He was enjoying this time; it was carefree and a bit wild. The last few hundred years had been very conservative and he was happy that people were starting to loosen up again. There were always cycles, it was just some lasted longer then others and the previous one felt like it had lasted longer then most. Walking up to the club, he knocked the code on the door, slipping the bouncer on the other side of the sliding trap door a twenty to get in. With a nod, the bouncer let him into the club and beckoned a girl over to lead him to a table near the stage. With a soft thank you, he sat down and waited for the main show to start.

The waitress came by and he ordered a whiskey. Not that he could drink it, but he had to keep up appearances. He settled back in his chair, fingers tapping along with the singer’s song. She’d sung the same song every night for the last four weeks, but he didn’t care. It was pretty, haunting almost, and he could listen to it forever. A movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he sat up straighter. He was here.

The man walked into the club with a young girl on his arm. The blonde smiled at the older man, sitting down on the pulled out chair. The older man, Frank was his name if Sylar remembered right, sat down next to the girl and ordered for the two of them, chatting comfortably with her. Sylar closed his eyes, letting the future memories wash over him as he sorted out what needed to be changed.

Frank was older, but how much older Sylar couldn’t tell. Frank was comforting a small child who had fallen off her bike. Sylar watched the child grow to become a teacher in a poorer neighborhood, teaching her students and showing them there were no limits to what they could do with their lives. And those students went on to inspire others in their lives.

Another shift and he saw Frank talking to a young man waiting by a bus stop. The young man had been feeling depressed, feeling like he was worthless. Frank waited through three buses, taking the time to talk to the young man and show him how much he had to look forward to. Talking to Frank helped him realize that he had something to live for and he went back his job, saving money to go to college. He became a high school counselor and encouraged the students that came to him to become doctors and lawyers, even scientists. There were more shifts, more paths and Sylar saw them all

Then the perspective changed and Sylar followed the path back to this night, to where it diverged. One path showed the man leaving early with his date and taking her home with a chaste kiss on the mouth. The rest of his night was uneventful. The other path showed him staying and being in the club when the cops came to raid the place. Shots were fired and Frank tried to protect his date. He was shot in the heart twice by the cops and died instantly, unable to be the catalyst so many needed him to be.

Sylar watched Frank carefully, knowing what he had to fix. He just had to figure out the best way to get him out of the club before the cops came. Glancing at his watch, he knew he didn’t have much time. He stood up quickly, walking over to Frank.

“I’m sorry, but don’t I know you? Frank Gallager, right?” Sylar said heartily, clapping Frank on the back like they were old friends.

“Y-yeah. Who’re you?” Frank looked at Sylar a bit confused. He’d never seen this man before and Sylar could feel his nervousness.

“My name’s Sylar, we used to go to school together, you must not remember me. Is this lovely young thing your date?” Sylar smiled charmingly, picking up the woman’s hand and kissing the back of it.

Frank scowled at Sylar, not liking the other man hitting on his girl. “This is Sarah Ann and yeah, she’s my date.”

Sarah Ann smiled at Sylar, blushing lightly. “Pleasure to meet you sir,” she giggled. Sylar turned to Frank.

“I don’t mean to interrupt your date but can I talk to you for a moment?” Sylar beckoned Frank. Frank looked at him for a minute, not sure if he could trust him. But what was he going to do in a room full of people? He grudgingly nodded and got up, stepping away from the table to stand next to Sylar.

Sylar glanced at his watch again, not much time and tonight changed everything about how Frank viewed the world. “Look. Your date seems like a lovely girl and you seem like you're having a good time. I just wanted to tell you that I’ve gotten some information that this place is going to be raided tonight. You don’t have to believe me, but if you like that girl, you’ll want to get her somewhere safe.” He pulled out his wallet, shoving a handful of money into Frank’s hand. “Take her some place else, some place nicer, safer. My treat.”

Frank looked from Sylar down to the handful of money and back up at Sylar. “Why do you care? And how do I know you’re telling me the truth?” he asked skeptically.

Sylar shrugged. “You don’t. But what harm can it do? You take her out for a nice dinner; show her a good time. I bet you anything she’ll love you for it. Go on, what do you have to lose?” He gave Frank an easy going smile. Frank looked over at Sarah Ann.

“You know, you might be right. Who knows, maybe this’ll get me a second date.”

“Then it’s all set. You two kids go have fun, enjoy the night.” Sylar clapped Frank’s back again, giving him a light push back towards the girl. He hoped the other man took him up on the offer before it was too late. Frank shoved the money in his pocket, going over to Sarah Ann. He whispered in her ear and Sylar could see her startled look over at him. With a small shrug and a smile, she got up, taking Frank’s proffered arm and they walked out of the club.

Sylar gave a soft sigh. That had been one of the easiest missions he’d had in a long time. If only they all were like this. He sat back down at his table, listening to the singer. He was still sitting there when the cops came bursting into the club, yelling and screaming. He calmly stood up and walked past the cops and out the front door.

Sylar looked up startled when Alice called his name. He hadn’t meant to daydream but sometimes he couldn’t help it. Thousands of years did that to you sometimes. Getting up slowly, he walked over to the office door and took a deep breath. This was his least favorite part of the job and the boss knew it. Which is why he had been summoned here the second he’d gotten in. With a wink towards Alice to bolster his spirits, he knocked and entered the office.

The room hadn’t changed much since the last time he’d been here. There were still stacks of files everywhere and the file cabinets were bursting at the seams. Almost every spare inch of space was covered with files of some form or color. Bright blue files were stacked nearest the door, then yellows, oranges and reds. It almost looked like a rainbow had exploded inside the room. With a wry grin, he walked over to the man behind the desk, taking a seat across from him. He watched as the boss man hung up the phone he’d been on and sat there, staring at him.

“So. You say you have some information that we should know about. What makes you think this is so important that you came home without permission?” Noah sat back in his chair, steepling his fingers as he stared at Sylar. He didn’t care for the angel but he did his job well and he couldn’t fault him. But he wasn’t about to sit and listen to some crackpot idea coming from the human world.

Sylar rolled his eyes. “Please Noah, as if I’d come home if it weren’t important. I’ve heard from reliable sources that there’s something big going to happen, something that’s going to cause major problems for everyone.” He hated this. Noah always made him feel like he was ten years old. “If you don’t want to know-“

“You’ve been talking to Peter, haven’t you?” Noah sighed, sitting forward on his seat. Sylar looked mildly surprised at that. He hadn’t thought Noah had been paying that much attention to him lately.

“And so what if I have? It’s not like we’re not technically on the same side. We’re both trying to stop the end of the world Noah; they just go about it a bit different is all,” Sylar said, exasperated. He was tired of having this argument every time he talked to the other man.

Noah waved his hand dismissively. “You know it’s not a good idea for our two sides to…mingle too closely. It makes the jobs harder and can cause an imbalance. Stay away from Peter, he’s nothing but trouble. Now, I have a pretty good idea of what you’ve been hearing as we’ve been hearing the same things. We can’t let the balance shift Sylar. You know what will happen if it does.”

“Yeah, everyone knows Noah. If the balance is shifted too far one way, then we have trouble.”

Noah narrowed his eyes at Sylar. “Trouble is putting it mildly. Do you really want to see the end of the universe as we know it? For millennia we’ve been working to keep the balance neutral, even. Without us, and the demons, Armageddon would’ve happened long ago. The humans have no clue we even exist, let alone that we’re the only thing keeping them from disappearing into nothing. Do you want to see that happen? Do you want those humans you seem to enjoy watching to disappear in the blink of an eye?”

“Of course not Noah, I’m here aren’t I? I know the rules, I know my mission. I just wanted to tell you what I’d found out since it had seemed pretty important. You hadn’t told any of us to keep an eye out and I was worried that something was going to go down that we weren’t prepared for.” Sylar scowled at Noah.

Noah ran his hand over his face. “We don’t know exactly what’s going on, just that someone’s going to try and cause trouble. I’m hoping we find out something before it’s too late.” He looked thoughtfully at Sylar. “Keep an ear out, will you? If you hear anything more…”

“I’ll let you know, don’t worry. Anything else?” Sylar said, starting to stand up. Noah shook his head.

“I think we’re done for now. Go get some rest and then get your ass back down there. I have a feeling we won’t get a chance to rest for a long time yet.” Noah looked as if he was feeling tired already and the trouble hadn’t even started yet.

With a nod, Sylar walked out of the office, waving goodnight to Alice on his way out the door. He was looking forward to actually getting a good night’s sleep for once. Maybe he’d even catch up with a few people while he was here. He sauntered down the hallway towards the dorms, humming that same song under his breath again.

Peter landed with a thud outside his father’s building. He didn’t want to be here, he hated coming and talking to his father. But it had to be done; he had to tell him about what he’d learned. Sylar was most likely telling the angels and they were going to be getting ready for whatever was to come. The demons had to be ready also. He walked into his father’s office, ignoring the young man outside of the office door. “Father, we need to talk,” he said to the back of his father’s chair.

“We most certainly do Peter. But I think your father is a bit indisposed at the moment. So I guess you will just have to talk to me.” Peter started as the chair spun around, the person speaking coming into view.

“Mom?”