Elle Bishop (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
not_myfirstday) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
paradisalost2009-02-04 10:46 pm
not_myfirstday) wrote in paradisalost2009-02-04 10:46 pm
Entry tags:
Beg for it to just be over ~ Elle and Sylar
Who: Elle ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
touchwithaspark & Sylar heroslayer + Paige Matthews (cameo)
What: Elle's ability is out of control, and Sylar is the person to blame... in a way. Here's what happens when they finally meet up.
When: February 4th - Afternoon
Where: A bit between the Castle and the City (zero population area)
Rating: PG-13 only for 'violence'
Elle wasn't even sure why she was trying to live her life normally. Her ability had gone haywire, she'd gone back home and spent months living what she thought was going to be the rest of her life completely forgetting about those she left behind in the castle, only to return. Returning wasn't even the hard part, it was the fact that she found out that she'd only been gone a few days according to them. All the things she'd done, she'd experienced... only to be put back where she felt like she started. It was confusing to think that there were now two lives she was living and each one was just waiting to be paused so the other could resume. Now this life had started again and she was still broken, still sparking as if she'd never even be able to pretend she was normal again. The lack of sleep was wearing on her too. Every time she shut her eyes she'd see him... see her father dead... see him standing over her trying to slice into her head... see him mocking everything that she had held true for so long.
Part of her wanted to forget, to remember that she was back in the castle, back where she had spent time with Sylar... back where he hadn't done those things. But she knew nothing would carry over... she could kill him... she could make him pay and it wouldn't matter here of all places she could do that and it'd be just fine. So she watched for him, just to see if their paths would cross... just to see if she could find some way to make this hurt inside of her a bit duller. It was probably futile she figured as she left her room once more trying to hide the way she cast energy off of herself. Maybe... maybe if she was a danger to someone else the castle might finally step in, but even that ran the risk of something worse happening to her.
***
Sylar was bored.
While, normally, he would have either tracked down Suresh or Molly, or gotten out of the room in an attempt to alleviate his tedium, however, at the moment, that wasn't exactly an option. Adam had warned him that Elle was out for his blood, and so he'd been on self-imposed exile since then, hoping to preserve what had already been a strained relationship with the immortal and his girl. It was foolish of him, he was sure--since when did he give a damn about what other people thought of him?--but well, he'd hate to have to kill Elle, considering he'd been one of the people there to rescue her, even if she would be back in two weeks. And if she attacked him, he would kill her.
So, there he was, sitting on the bed, waiting like some damn trained dog for Mohinder to get back.
He sighed, casting a glance over at the journal he'd left on the desk, briefly considering putting up some kind of post, just so he'd have someone to bother. Something to do. He thought better of it, though, not feeling entirely social, and looked away, finding something more interesting to stare at on the floor. Unfortunately, however, said interest only lasted all of five seconds at best, and he was back feeling like a caged animal. Another sigh, and he was getting to his feet, contenting himself to pacing the room.
This was stupid. The Castle was a relatively big place, so the chances that he would run into Elle in the first place were relatively slim, and if she really wanted to find him, all she'd need to do was come here. She probably knew that he'd stay put, if she really claimed to know him at all, not wanting to exacerbate the issue, and it wasn't like his room was hard to find. It's not like any of them were, what with the damn nameplates on the doors. And that in mind, his self-sentence to the room suddenly went from being a good idea to being something that made him not only a sitting duck, but put Suresh and the brat in danger, as well.
That wouldn't do.
Turning on his heels, mid-step, he moved for the wardrobe, pulling his coat out of it. Not that he particularly expected to need it, as he didn't plan on going outside so much as getting out of the room, but it had become sort of an unspoken signal in his makeshift household. If his coat was missing for whatever reason, it was a fair indication that he had stepped out; it was better than writing a note.
Shrugging it on, he buttoned it up out of force of habit, checked his reflection in the mirror, briefly, satisfying his vanity, and then headed out, journal untouched on the desk. At least now, if Elle came by the room looking for him, he wouldn't have to worry about her finding anything.
***
It wasn't even as if she wanted to hurt anyone, it was just that she hurt that much more. Someone needed to pay, someone needed to be held accountable, and she was stuck here. There was no recourse for that, and the current that ran across her skin was a not so pleasant reminder of that very pain. She knew people were concerned, worried even that she would never be herself again. Constantly flinching and wincing in pain, but she felt it was what she needed. The pain would keep her focused, remind her that this was what was happening, this was what had happened to her because of what he had done. Done to her, done to her father... she'd been left all alone and there was no way she was going to end up going back there to find everything was just fine.
Out in the halls of the castle she held to herself, keeping her arms from brushing up against people, keeping herself contained since she knew she couldn't keep her ability contained. Every breath she took felt like it could sting if she just let what control she had go. Once out of the halls she at least didn't feel so confined, but she knew it was an issue, she knew that whatever was wrong inside of her wasn't getting any better... if anything it was just getting worse.
Even with less people around she could feel the walls pushing in on her, and even if there was still the biting cold outside, it was still open space, and open air for her to breathe in. It was somewhere that wasn't the castle, that didn't feel like it was closing her in on all sides. Trying to keep her where she didn't think she belonged anymore. The air hit her chest and made it hard to swallow, but once she got outside those doors the chill in the air only made her skin feel a bit more numb to the pain. It was a slight diffusion, but the damp of the snow at her feet wasn't going to make things any better once it started to soak into the ankles of her jeans.
***
If Sylar had been paying more attention to his surroundings rather than his hard-won freedom, then perhaps he might have heard Elle coming. It wasn't as though electricity of that calibre was a quiet thing, exactly, and with his hearing, even if she wasn't discharging all over the place, he would have heard its hum. Unfortunately, however, he was somewhere else, lost in thought, his senses focused entirely on his own heartbeat, so that he wouldn't be subjected to the sounds of conversation back inside the Castle. And it was, quite possibly, a mistake that would cost him his life, as when he chose to look up from the ground--he'd been avoiding making eye contact with anyone he passed, hoping they wouldn't notice him; it had served him before--there was Elle.
Hissing a swear under his breath, cursing himself for not being more alert, he wheeled around, turning to head in the opposite direction. With any luck, she hadn't seen him.
It had started as a near flicker of movement out of the corner of Elle's eye and even that these days wasn't the move keen of her senses with her ability casting light everywhere, still it had been a flicker of something. There was no mistaking the frame of the man turning away from her though.
"You!!" Elle's voice carried rather well, and even with the slight edge of anger to it she managed to keep her words away from any sort of screech of noise. Instead she let her anger fuel her, which pushed her instincts of fight ahead of everything else. With the direct line of sight to him she knew she could at least keep him from leaving. Both of her hands extended and she let a line of current run from her across the distance to press to his back square and even. It was an amount of control that took a lot out of her, but she didn't really want to kill him... she didn't think she did at least.
"You can't just walk away from me like that!" The hurt and anger she knew was misplaced, she knew that it wasn't within reason for her to be this upset at this Sylar, that the events hadn't happened for him yet. But they had happened for her, and they were still happening now.
Sylar cried out as the electricity licked at his back, knees threatening to dump him on the ground, stomach rolling at the smell of ozone and burnt clothing and skin. He reeled for a moment, trying to get his senses back, and then gritting his teeth, he turned to face her slowly, his legs still unsteady.
"If it's all the same," he rasped, his voice thick with pain, "I'd rather not end up dead."
Her breathing was harsh, pulling in shallow as she tried to stop herself from shaking with the anger. She knew it was wrong, knew that it wasn't him, that it hadn't happened here, but all she saw when she went to sleep, all she felt when she shut her eyes was that single line pushing hard into her forehead and slicing into her skin. Inhaling the ice of air outside she felt everything inside of her freeze for a moment before it all hitched up inside of her as she tried not to let herself cry but she'd let go... she'd allowed herself to drop that facade of control for that moment and now there was nothing holding it back anymore.
Her fist tightened at her side, the coil of energy crackling louder now against her skin, and she wanted to unleash it again, she wanted to push it as far away from herself as she could.
"What does it even matter here? You'll be back in two weeks..." The muscle in Elle's arm tenses because she wants to, and there's no reason that she can think of not to. Her hand lifts, keeping her other one fisted to her side as she moves toward him. Closing that distance she drops the control again, another stream of energy being drawn from within her and forced onto the guy standing there, the guy that is taking it, and the guy that should take it.
He cried out again, this time louder, nearly screaming as the world dissolved briefly into a haze of pain that took the ground out from under him. Falling face first into the snow, he managed to catch himself, ending on his hands and knees rather than face down, breath coming short and hard as his heart struggled to keep beating under all the electricity he had taken so far. His eyes stung, tears there unbidden, and his chest burned--literally as well as figuratively--but still, for some reason, he stayed his hand. He could make her stop, if he could force his thoughts into order and really wanted to, but he didn't.
"Mohinder," he growled, through gasps for air. "Molly. The Doctor. Adam. You." That's why it mattered. That's what he had to live for.
Her hand shook as he spoke, her own body and the discharge of energy had been fighting for so long she couldn't keep the effort up to keep herself standing. Her knee buckled first before she slumped down onto her knees. The wet snow felt almost a surreal amount of cold before it started to seep into denim and numbing the surface of her skin. The crackle of energy directed down toward her legs now settled in the snow, feeling her throat tighten as all the pain she had inside just washed over her. She stopped him before... stopped him from killing her, from taking what she had for himself, and she knew that she was the reason for it in the first place. Everything inside of her didn't make any sense, and she just wanted it all to stop, she wanted it to be over so that the pain she felt, both physically and mentally would just end.
"It just hurts... all the time, and you did this, you tried to take it from me, and I stopped you... if I hadn't.. if I had just let you, this wouldn't be happening. I wouldn't hurt so much. I just want it to stop and it won't." All the while her words are filled with hesitation as her ability cracks across her skin, her eyes not even able to look at Sylar, to see what she's done to him, what damage she's inflicted.
She's a danger to him, and the castle did nothing.
Somehow, he managed to look surprised, albeit hazily so, not able to muster much more than that in the state he was in.
He could see why he'd want to kill Elle, outside of this place, of course. Not only had she and Bennet been one half of the mold that had made him a killer, but she'd nearly destroyed his hopes of trying to get his abilities back, when he'd been powerless. She'd almost made him smash the vial of the blood that would cure all his ills, and truthfully, he'd been more than a little pissed about that, still, when he'd first arrived here, the memory fresh in his mind. He would have--would still, when he went home and forgot everything--killed her in revenge. He'd gotten over it, of course, their time spent together as prisoners here helping that immensely, but that wasn't why he looked surprised. No, what shocked him was the fact that Elle sounded like she wanted to die.
He tried to piece his thoughts together long enough to ask. "You--if--whatever happened." He shook his head a little, trying to clear it, mind and body still rebelling gloriously against the abuse. "If you hadn't stopped me, you'd be dead."
By now there was nothing to stop her emotions, nothing to really stop her ability either as it sparked across her features wildly, lingering over salt stained cheeks as she tried not to cry because it hurt even more to do just that. Her palm went flat to the top of her thigh trying to keep herself upright, at least so that she could stare at her hand instead of looking at him.
"It's not like anything good happened after... I end up like this. I end up with nothing. You killed my father... Angela pushes me out of my job... the place I lived in is no longer somewhere I'm welcome, I --" Elle lifts her chin up to meet his eyes as she spits the words out, "I go to Bennet for help." The smirk that appears on her feature is hinted with a mild amusement, at how ridiculous it all was, "I end up with the Cheerleader next to me on a coach flight to Jersey. Where they chain me to the floor. I should've died."
He took a minute, trying to make sense of that around the thudding of his heart. "That's no reason to want to end up dead," he managed at great lengths. "If Claire knew where you were--if Bennet did--one of them would have come for you." As much as he hated to name Bennet a hero in any situation, he knew it was probably true. They were partners in crime, after all.
"And your father ... " He shook his head. "Both my parents are dead. It's not--you could have found something. Someone."
Her jaw clenched in anger, but it was all lost in the ache of her body, the numbing feeling of her legs still sitting deep in the snow. Any anger she wanted to have she knew was completely misplaced, because the man that tried to slice her head open was still back home, still out there somewhere waiting to finish the job... "I told Claire to leave... she was supposed to come with... they were supposed to help, and I'm no better off now than I was before. I can't even control my ability. I can't do anything without the hurt... I want it to stop," Elle's eyes pleaded with Sylar's as tears fell to her cheeks, "Please just... help me make it stop."
"You want me to kill you?" Not that he thought that would help any, but what, exactly, she meant by that hadn't quite caught up with his brain just yet, and that seemed like the logical conclusion. That's how he'd fixed people, back home. That's what people thought he did, even though he'd only raised a hand in anger here, once, trying to seek vengeance for what had been done to Mohinder.
Elle wasn't even sure what she was asking of him herself, all of her synapses firing and misfiring alongside her ability wasn't making anything easier, and it wasn't going to make a difference if she died. She wanted her body to reset, she wanted to just not feel this pain for a while. Two weeks wasn't forever... but it was something other than this pain. It was something other than the glances cast to her as she sent wild streaks of electricity everywhere. It was anything other than the guilt she had from making people worry about her. It was selfish of her and she knew at least that, but she couldn't see past her own wants... her own need to just be normal right now.
"I - I don't even -" Elle's words get cut off by a sharp crack of energy running through her and it's enough to cause her to wince and bite her lip to keep from crying out. "Please... make it stop."
Sylar winced along with her, knowing all too well how that felt, having been a victim of it himself, just minutes before. Even so, however, he couldn't help but shake his head again, though more carefully this time, as the first time it had made the world spin. "I can't. I made a promise that I wouldn't hurt anyone, while I was here."
It was more than that, though. It was the way Adam had looked at him, when they'd carried Elle down to the infirmary the night she'd blacked out. He'd looked like a man broken, tired and worn with nothing left to live for, and Sylar could only imagine what that was like--what it would be like if it had been Mohinder unconscious, not knowing when he'd wake up, if he did at all. And to kill Elle, to take her from him and from anyone else that might care about her here? He could be cruel, yes, but even that seemed unfair--especially when one considered the tentative friendship he had with the immortal.
"You'd do that to Adam?"
Her hand wiped across her cheek, most of her tears dried or frozen across her skin, before her body settled off of her knees. It wasn't as if she could feel them now anyway, and why bother worrying about the current of her mixing with the snow. Now that she was into a better seated position, her weight balanced onto her wrist, her hand plunged into the snow uncaring as to the cold, or the moisture in it as she felt all her muscles tense again. Taking in a shallow breath she shuddered as she exhaled it out, glancing to the snow when Sylar mentioned Adam. It was still difficult to place the memories of what had happened here in Paradisa in with the year she spent back home, the chase of Adam when he escaped, the trip to Ireland... which she still couldn't remember why she went there... the fact that the last time she saw him truly had been the exact moment she'd arrived in the castle the first time wasn't making the year on her own any easier. Now she was back and she knew she'd worried him, but she wasn't sure where she fit anymore.
"I don't want to... no, but..." The electricity ran across her shoulders as she shrugged them up trying to make the distance shorter somehow, "But I can't live like this. It's not fair to me... it's not fair to anyone."
"Let me take you to Suresh," he suggested, stretching out in the snow, not sure how much longer his arms and legs would support the sprawl he'd landed in and unable to feel the cold, fingers long since numb already. "He's been coherent enough, lately. He might be able to fix this." He paused, and then, because he felt it needed saying, he clarified, "The right way."
There was fixing and there was fixing, after all.
Adam had suggested Mohinder before, and she hadn't trusted it. She'd heard rumors back home... of what he was doing. Even if she didn't work for the Company she still knew who to ask where Noah Bennet was at. He had been her hope for answers, and when she found out he was in the field she went to the next best choice, his home. Elle went to Costa Verde in hope of finding something in his files. Now she was faced with going to the 'good' doctor again and she wasn't sure she'd like the results.
"He... he doesn't even have the right formula does he?" Elle questioned it because she didn't trust anyone at the moment when it came to pumping her full of drugs. She lived most of her childhood on one thing or another and willingly forcing something into her that was supposed to fix whatever was wrong with her, it didn't seem right.
"I don't know."
In truth he had no idea what she was talking about, unaware that there had been talking of putting her on pills that had the same effect as the Haitian's powers. All he knew was that Mohinder knew more about them than anyone else here, even in the state that he was, and that he was something of a miracle worker. He'd managed to get him his abilities back when he'd been stripped of them, after all, and he severely doubted anyone else, no matter how well-educated, could have pulled it off. Suresh was unique--special in a way that didn't equate to death, back when he'd had the hunger--and he would have trusted the geneticist with anything.
Which he felt the need to point out, haltingly, mouth still dry, tongue uncooperative. "But it's--he found a cure for the Virus, Elle. If he can do that, he can find a way to help you." On a whim, fingers shaking and only half aware of what he was doing, he reached out for her, knowing that touch went a long way to reassure his geneticist, when he was rattled. Maybe it would do the same for Elle. "It's better than dying."
Elle had been trying to keep her ability in check since he'd opted to move closer despite her unleashing onto him twice before. Still she couldn't keep her ability contained, the snow and whatever inside of her that was broken making it impossible not to feel t all. All of her pleading for a start again, for him to just end it and give her two weeks with nothing, was now being met with contact that he was willingly putting to her. Even if she had some control she wasn't sure if she'd be able to stop it, but given the pain and the general overwhelming sense that her body had been giving her she couldn't do anything but let it happen.
His hand connected to her arm and her body took the chance to siphon off into him, the current forceful to the point that he couldn't pull away. Keeping him locked to her as she cried out in pain, her sound echoing his before she finally pulled her arm free of his touch. "It's... just getting worse... I'll black out the castle again... I can't have anything near me... I can't feel anything but this. I can't.... I can't do it anymore."
Sylar closed his eyes, eyelids fluttering, nearly twitching as she pulled away and his hand fell to the ground, suddenly unable to muster the strength to lift it. It had hurt and he was so very tired, suddenly; he would have told her in that instant that he knew how she felt, but he wasn't sure how well it would go over. So, instead, he mumbled, "So I kill you. And then what? What happens in two weeks? What if it's not any better?"
He paused, sighing, and then, "Please, Elle. Just ... see Suresh. He'll find a way." And on the off chance that he couldn't? He and Adam would think of something else. "I didn't help Adam drag you down to the clinic just to kill you."
Hearing that he'd helped Adam bring her to the clinic when she'd slipped into whatever state was needed to send her home... it surprised her. It was another reminder that he wasn't that Sylar, at least not here. She couldn't feel her legs, and her rear was starting to go numb as well. Meeting Sylar's eyes she saw the worry in him, the pain she'd inflicted, she'd regretted. "I- I shouldn't have... Adam can fix you." Shutting her eyes she leaned away from him, to spare him the charge she knew was starting to run across her body.
When the current stopped she laughed, "It's my fault anyway... Bennet... me? We made you that way." Shaking her head she brushed the clumps of snow off of her jeans, "You did exactly what we wanted you to do... you took his ability... you'd take mine..."
He shook his head--a gesture that took no small amount of effort, as his muscles felt heavy, now. Stiff. Vaguely, he recalled that this was something most electric shock victims went through, decided that it was a miracle he was still conscious, and figured he was hovering close to death. Elle had mentioned Adam as a potential savior, true, but somehow he doubted that the immortal would make it here, in time. He only regretted that he was visiting this upon Mohinder--maybe it was time he paid for his crimes, after all.
She, however, wasn't at fault for hers. "Maybe then, but not now," he said, truthfully, reaching for her arm again, convinced that if he was going to die, he may as well go all out. Maybe it was selfish, as he didn't want to die alone. Maybe he just felt desperately possessed to connect with her for other reasons. He didn't know. "What you did--it wasn't your fault. We talked about it once, remember? When we were back in New York? You said it wasn't your choice. That you wanted to find someone else."
He paused, trying to make sense of his thoughts and of the fragments of memory that floated up to meet him, and then he added, "I told you I accepted your apology. I forgive you." One of them deserved absolution.
Her eyebrows knit together trying to remember, it was odd to have months in Paradisa shoved back into her memories, when arriving back home she'd forgotten it all. Everything was mixed up and what was only a few months ago for Sylar was years for her... it wasn't something she remembered that clearly, and even still she knew that it had happened... just here... not there. It was hard to keep everything straight, to find the events that matched up together that were meant to have only happened here instead of the ones that she knew would happen when he went home.
If it wasn't her fault... if Sylar forgives her here, she had to think that it wouldn't be here fault there either. That everything she'd become was for a reason not of her own doing, that what he spoke was a truth that spread through these two very different worlds. His hand was on her arm and she couldn't help but notice that it felt different, this time... it was more in need than in asking her to follow. Looking at him she saw that he was in horrible shape and it was because of what she had done, and even now she knew that he'd never make it back to the castle. Her hand reached over to clasp onto his just to let him know she wouldn't leave him out in the cold.
"We're both the same..." Elle lets her eyes meet his for a moment, accepting his forgiveness, "it's just sad we don't realize it back home." Swallowing she feels the current in her, but it's settled within her again, it's not wildly moving through her and she gasps in a sharp breath of the cold air. "It.. it's --" There wasn't anything she could say to explain what she'd just felt happen but she knew that she had control of her ability, it was a shift in the way the power was acting inside of her. Returning to being a part of her, not an active element inside of her.
"The pain... it's gone... what did you...? How did?"
"I don't--" He didn't know how to finish that statement, really, mind too much of a messy smear to be any good now that he'd said his peace, but even if he had been in command of his mental faculties? Even if he'd been more aware, rather than focused on trying to ignore the burning in his lungs and how each short, labored breath hurt, he wouldn't have finished. Mostly because as soon as he'd started, an arc of electricity raced up his spine, licking down his arm to leap from his fingers at her arm.
It wasn't anything big, nothing that could or would hurt her, however--more it was just a little current, light and harmless. And, strangely, he was more than passingly aware that it had come from him rather than her.
That was enough to make him focus rather than concerning himself with his looming death, and he turned his head a little, pulling his hand away from her weakly to stare at his fingers, watching in hazed surprise as blue light crackled between them. "What ... ?"
Elle watched it dance across his fingertips and her eyes went wide, "That... that's impossible." Though as the arc dimmed and faded to nothing Elle noticed that Sylar himself was fading to nothing as well. The discharge of her ability had done physical damage to him, and here he hadn't paid a visit to Claire... here he wasn't like Adam and the pain, along with the burns and voltage that she'd let go through him was taking a toll on his body.
"We have to get you help..." Glancing around she knew it was too far for the castle, and still too far into town as well. "Shit... this isn't good. I won't leave you though..." Elle hadn't brought her journal otherwise this would've been a lot easier. Instead she called out for help hoping that someone was as mindless as her to actually go outside in this weather.
***
Paige Matthews wasn't exactly mindless... but she was currently married to nine other people at the moment. Her family had practically disowned her and now two of her spouses were acting a bit... odd. She was worried about them, but she wasn't going to neglect the jingle she heard in her head. Tilting her head aside she waited for it to happen again and with a hug to her loved ones and a promise to return soon she orbed off toward the location of the jingle for help. Of course the location was outside and in the freezing snow and if she had known that? Paige is certain she would've grabbed a coat.
"Hey! Call for help ri-" Paige glanced to the guy leaning against the smaller blonde. "Okay, so that's a positive reply. I'm Paige Matthews, what happened?" Paige moved over toward them, shifting through the snow a bit as the girl moved the guy that was looking like hell down so Paige could take a look. "Are those... electrical burns?"
Elle nodded, "It's my ability... I was... I was upset, and I couldn't control it."
Paige leaned away from the girl for the moment, "Can you control it now?"
"Yeah, but... can you help him?"
Paige looked him over and nodded to the girl, "It'll be a bit. Just... keep an eye on him." Paige held her hands over the burns, letting the light within her warm and move to heal the wounds that were not only horrible looking but not exactly pleasant smelling either. By the time she had healed all of them, her knees were numb from the snow and her arms were nearly frozen from not having on a proper coat. In hindsight she should've orbed the three of them to the castle where she couldn't just fixed him there. She just didn't want to risk moving him in case there was something else going on. Especially for the girl with the 'ability' issues. Clenching her hands when she was done she flexed her fingers outward slowly before rubbing her palms across her arms. "Okay, it's freezing out here, and I can take you both back to the castle, if you want?"
Sylar had smiled vaguely when Paige had appeared--had she really just popped out of thin air, or was he that delusional?--but that was the only response he'd offered. Instead, all of his attentions were focused elsewhere, trying to keep himself upright, having issues even though Elle had somehow gotten him to his feet and was letting him lean on her for support. And he was so focused on that, on trying to keep the swaying that he couldn't entirely help to a minimum, that he didn't realize that the wounds were disappearing until they were completely gone.
Sucking in a sharp breath, near gasping as if it was the first lungful of air he'd managed in an age--and really it was--he stared at Paige for a moment, eyes wide. So much had happened tonight that he didn't understand, and really, this wasn't any different. He was cold, however, and tired, despite the fact that Paige had managed to spare his life, and all he wanted was to curl up next to Mohinder, thank whatever imaginary higher power that he'd managed to hold on to his resolve and consciousness, and go to sleep. So, when she suggested she could get them back to the castle, he nodded, not really caring what it entailed at this point.
"Please."
Elle nodded in agreement and Paige shivered a moment in reply before taking each of them hold by the arm and orbing them into her room. It hadn't been really slept in since the wedding so she figured it was as neutral territory as anything. Plus it would give her a chance to pick up a few things and grab a sweater since she was freezing.
"Ta-Da. So you're in the castle, room eight-sixteen. I'm sure you can find your own way around from here?" Paige glanced to the taller male, "You might want to get a change of clothing before you head to wherever you need to go. You can ask the ghosts, or even the castle from here if it' sort of a difficult task. I mean I don't know what you two were fighting about? But -- yeah. I don't want to know."
Paige grabbed a sweater from the closet and tugged it on over her shirt, "Look I'm going to go back to my husbands and wives, so you two ... just have the ghosts lock up when you leave okay?"
Elle was a bit confused, but with that parting phrase Paige was doing that glowy light thing and then she was gone. "That... was... I mean I've seen weird, and that was weird." Elle shook her head, and took a breath relieved that it didn't hurt, and her ability really did seem to be... well fixed. "Just what happened back there?"
Sylar murmured a thank you to Paige--he'd have to thank her again, later and in earnest--before shooting a glance down at his clothing. The Castle had been kind enough to provide him with a coat that had been all but identical to the one he'd worn on Kirby Plaza, and while it still remained one of his favorite pieces of clothing, he couldn't help but wonder if the damn thing wasn't bad luck. This was the second time he'd almost died in it, after all.
He pushed the thought away, however, raising his eyes to her, slowly. "I don't know. I think..." What he thought was that, somehow, he might have acquired her ability. How, he wasn't certain, but he was almost afraid to make mention of it. "Can you still use your power?"
Elle nodded, "I mean I can feel it." Her hand lifted up to crackle the blue energy around her fingers and almost as soon as she brought it to life she took it away. "I have the control back too... I mean, I don't know how else to explain it... just that I'm not broken anymore." Elle tilted her head aside, there wasn't any real logical explanation to what had happened, "That's not how you normally... claim to fix people. I mean I know the truth, I've," her stomach turns a bit at the memory, despite how unsuccessful he was, she knew... she'd been to the crime scenes after. "I've seen it."
"It's not," he agreed, calmly. He had no problems with what he'd done back home, barring perhaps all but three of his murders, two of which hadn't even been comitted against the powered. Regardless, however, he was quick to furrow his brow, canting his head to one side, watching her as if he could still take her apart, despite his missing aptitude. "But it happened. You're not in pain anymore."
A pause, and then, after a deep breath, "And I think I have your ability."
Glancing to him Elle hesitated for a moment, "Can... can you show me?" She knew what she'd seen outside, but that was in the middle of who knows what, and now she wasn't actively throwing energy all over creation. Now she was in control of her ability and there wasn't a single chance that it could be misconstrued now. If he had her ability, then... then something weird was going on. "Maybe it's a loss? I mean... this castle? Just... try to use it."
"I just got off one. You missed it."
Still, however, Sylar did as he was told, raising a hand, his fingers pressed together. Then, slowly, he pulled them apart, lines of electricity jumping from the tips of his fingers, to pool in the palm of his hand in a neat, merrily crackling ball. Where her power had been the source of a great deal of agony for him, minutes before, however, now that it was here and it was his, it didn't hurt--if anything, much to the contrary, it almost tickled.
Elle watched as the energy pooled at his fingertips, "That's... that's amazing." She knew she'd said it before in front of him, but she was being sincere now. Tucking her hair behind her ear she moved to the other side of him, "Does it hurt? I mean... is it on the surface, or do you feel it inside of you as well? Like... like a hum of something beneath your skin?"
"It doesn't hurt," he answered, sounding distant as he toyed with the flash of power between his fingers, splaying his hand wide so that it hovered in his palm, before closing his fingers around it, letting lines of electricity lap at his skin. "It's--I can feel it. Under my skin. It's like ... "
He shook his head, not able to find words to describe it, but with every beat of his heart, he could feel new--a hum, as she had described it, almost like pins and needles but not uncomfortably so. It made him feel almost warm and suddenly alive.
Elle let out a sigh, no longer so unique, but not something she felt she had the right to complain about really since she wasn't about to send herself into an overload anytime soon. "It might be difficult to sleep... I know I had trouble when I was younger. I- I don't know how.. or why this happened, but I am grateful." Shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket she shrugged, she was actually feeling warmer now that she was inside, but she wasn't in her own room. She hadn't been herself, hadn't been able to be herself in so long... that it felt almost unnatural to be this still. "I should... I should probably find Adam."
He shot her a glance, closing his fingers around the electricity he'd summoned in earnest, hoping that would put it out. He didn't know--which, if this entire thing was strange, that was even more so, because every power he'd taken to date, he had simply understood--but it seemed to work well enough.
"And I should go check on Mohinder." He didn't move right away, though, still watching her, sure that somehow, strangely he could feel her disappointment at not being special, anymore. Maybe it was a figment of his imagination, brought on by the stress of the evening, but still, he felt compelled to address it. "I'm sorry. For what I did to your father. For taking your ability."
Elle nodded, her shoe pressing the toe of it into the floor for a moment, "It wasn't you... well not yet. I hope part of me will remember this though... if I ever go back. I know I won't, but I hope I do." Elle moved toward the door finally, brushing past him but pausing after she opened the door to glance to him, "Maybe this time you didn't take it... maybe this time I needed to give it to you." With a casual shrug Elle moved her hand away from the door and headed down the hall toward the elevator so she could finally get to her own room, and maybe track down Adam.
"I hope I remember, too," he murmured after her. Doubtful, he was sure, but he could at least hope. And that in mind, he headed out of the room, following her as far as the elevator before turning to take the stairs.
touchwithaspark & Sylar heroslayer + Paige Matthews (cameo)What: Elle's ability is out of control, and Sylar is the person to blame... in a way. Here's what happens when they finally meet up.
When: February 4th - Afternoon
Where: A bit between the Castle and the City (zero population area)
Rating: PG-13 only for 'violence'
Elle wasn't even sure why she was trying to live her life normally. Her ability had gone haywire, she'd gone back home and spent months living what she thought was going to be the rest of her life completely forgetting about those she left behind in the castle, only to return. Returning wasn't even the hard part, it was the fact that she found out that she'd only been gone a few days according to them. All the things she'd done, she'd experienced... only to be put back where she felt like she started. It was confusing to think that there were now two lives she was living and each one was just waiting to be paused so the other could resume. Now this life had started again and she was still broken, still sparking as if she'd never even be able to pretend she was normal again. The lack of sleep was wearing on her too. Every time she shut her eyes she'd see him... see her father dead... see him standing over her trying to slice into her head... see him mocking everything that she had held true for so long.
Part of her wanted to forget, to remember that she was back in the castle, back where she had spent time with Sylar... back where he hadn't done those things. But she knew nothing would carry over... she could kill him... she could make him pay and it wouldn't matter here of all places she could do that and it'd be just fine. So she watched for him, just to see if their paths would cross... just to see if she could find some way to make this hurt inside of her a bit duller. It was probably futile she figured as she left her room once more trying to hide the way she cast energy off of herself. Maybe... maybe if she was a danger to someone else the castle might finally step in, but even that ran the risk of something worse happening to her.
Sylar was bored.
While, normally, he would have either tracked down Suresh or Molly, or gotten out of the room in an attempt to alleviate his tedium, however, at the moment, that wasn't exactly an option. Adam had warned him that Elle was out for his blood, and so he'd been on self-imposed exile since then, hoping to preserve what had already been a strained relationship with the immortal and his girl. It was foolish of him, he was sure--since when did he give a damn about what other people thought of him?--but well, he'd hate to have to kill Elle, considering he'd been one of the people there to rescue her, even if she would be back in two weeks. And if she attacked him, he would kill her.
So, there he was, sitting on the bed, waiting like some damn trained dog for Mohinder to get back.
He sighed, casting a glance over at the journal he'd left on the desk, briefly considering putting up some kind of post, just so he'd have someone to bother. Something to do. He thought better of it, though, not feeling entirely social, and looked away, finding something more interesting to stare at on the floor. Unfortunately, however, said interest only lasted all of five seconds at best, and he was back feeling like a caged animal. Another sigh, and he was getting to his feet, contenting himself to pacing the room.
This was stupid. The Castle was a relatively big place, so the chances that he would run into Elle in the first place were relatively slim, and if she really wanted to find him, all she'd need to do was come here. She probably knew that he'd stay put, if she really claimed to know him at all, not wanting to exacerbate the issue, and it wasn't like his room was hard to find. It's not like any of them were, what with the damn nameplates on the doors. And that in mind, his self-sentence to the room suddenly went from being a good idea to being something that made him not only a sitting duck, but put Suresh and the brat in danger, as well.
That wouldn't do.
Turning on his heels, mid-step, he moved for the wardrobe, pulling his coat out of it. Not that he particularly expected to need it, as he didn't plan on going outside so much as getting out of the room, but it had become sort of an unspoken signal in his makeshift household. If his coat was missing for whatever reason, it was a fair indication that he had stepped out; it was better than writing a note.
Shrugging it on, he buttoned it up out of force of habit, checked his reflection in the mirror, briefly, satisfying his vanity, and then headed out, journal untouched on the desk. At least now, if Elle came by the room looking for him, he wouldn't have to worry about her finding anything.
It wasn't even as if she wanted to hurt anyone, it was just that she hurt that much more. Someone needed to pay, someone needed to be held accountable, and she was stuck here. There was no recourse for that, and the current that ran across her skin was a not so pleasant reminder of that very pain. She knew people were concerned, worried even that she would never be herself again. Constantly flinching and wincing in pain, but she felt it was what she needed. The pain would keep her focused, remind her that this was what was happening, this was what had happened to her because of what he had done. Done to her, done to her father... she'd been left all alone and there was no way she was going to end up going back there to find everything was just fine.
Out in the halls of the castle she held to herself, keeping her arms from brushing up against people, keeping herself contained since she knew she couldn't keep her ability contained. Every breath she took felt like it could sting if she just let what control she had go. Once out of the halls she at least didn't feel so confined, but she knew it was an issue, she knew that whatever was wrong inside of her wasn't getting any better... if anything it was just getting worse.
Even with less people around she could feel the walls pushing in on her, and even if there was still the biting cold outside, it was still open space, and open air for her to breathe in. It was somewhere that wasn't the castle, that didn't feel like it was closing her in on all sides. Trying to keep her where she didn't think she belonged anymore. The air hit her chest and made it hard to swallow, but once she got outside those doors the chill in the air only made her skin feel a bit more numb to the pain. It was a slight diffusion, but the damp of the snow at her feet wasn't going to make things any better once it started to soak into the ankles of her jeans.
If Sylar had been paying more attention to his surroundings rather than his hard-won freedom, then perhaps he might have heard Elle coming. It wasn't as though electricity of that calibre was a quiet thing, exactly, and with his hearing, even if she wasn't discharging all over the place, he would have heard its hum. Unfortunately, however, he was somewhere else, lost in thought, his senses focused entirely on his own heartbeat, so that he wouldn't be subjected to the sounds of conversation back inside the Castle. And it was, quite possibly, a mistake that would cost him his life, as when he chose to look up from the ground--he'd been avoiding making eye contact with anyone he passed, hoping they wouldn't notice him; it had served him before--there was Elle.
Hissing a swear under his breath, cursing himself for not being more alert, he wheeled around, turning to head in the opposite direction. With any luck, she hadn't seen him.
It had started as a near flicker of movement out of the corner of Elle's eye and even that these days wasn't the move keen of her senses with her ability casting light everywhere, still it had been a flicker of something. There was no mistaking the frame of the man turning away from her though.
"You!!" Elle's voice carried rather well, and even with the slight edge of anger to it she managed to keep her words away from any sort of screech of noise. Instead she let her anger fuel her, which pushed her instincts of fight ahead of everything else. With the direct line of sight to him she knew she could at least keep him from leaving. Both of her hands extended and she let a line of current run from her across the distance to press to his back square and even. It was an amount of control that took a lot out of her, but she didn't really want to kill him... she didn't think she did at least.
"You can't just walk away from me like that!" The hurt and anger she knew was misplaced, she knew that it wasn't within reason for her to be this upset at this Sylar, that the events hadn't happened for him yet. But they had happened for her, and they were still happening now.
Sylar cried out as the electricity licked at his back, knees threatening to dump him on the ground, stomach rolling at the smell of ozone and burnt clothing and skin. He reeled for a moment, trying to get his senses back, and then gritting his teeth, he turned to face her slowly, his legs still unsteady.
"If it's all the same," he rasped, his voice thick with pain, "I'd rather not end up dead."
Her breathing was harsh, pulling in shallow as she tried to stop herself from shaking with the anger. She knew it was wrong, knew that it wasn't him, that it hadn't happened here, but all she saw when she went to sleep, all she felt when she shut her eyes was that single line pushing hard into her forehead and slicing into her skin. Inhaling the ice of air outside she felt everything inside of her freeze for a moment before it all hitched up inside of her as she tried not to let herself cry but she'd let go... she'd allowed herself to drop that facade of control for that moment and now there was nothing holding it back anymore.
Her fist tightened at her side, the coil of energy crackling louder now against her skin, and she wanted to unleash it again, she wanted to push it as far away from herself as she could.
"What does it even matter here? You'll be back in two weeks..." The muscle in Elle's arm tenses because she wants to, and there's no reason that she can think of not to. Her hand lifts, keeping her other one fisted to her side as she moves toward him. Closing that distance she drops the control again, another stream of energy being drawn from within her and forced onto the guy standing there, the guy that is taking it, and the guy that should take it.
He cried out again, this time louder, nearly screaming as the world dissolved briefly into a haze of pain that took the ground out from under him. Falling face first into the snow, he managed to catch himself, ending on his hands and knees rather than face down, breath coming short and hard as his heart struggled to keep beating under all the electricity he had taken so far. His eyes stung, tears there unbidden, and his chest burned--literally as well as figuratively--but still, for some reason, he stayed his hand. He could make her stop, if he could force his thoughts into order and really wanted to, but he didn't.
"Mohinder," he growled, through gasps for air. "Molly. The Doctor. Adam. You." That's why it mattered. That's what he had to live for.
Her hand shook as he spoke, her own body and the discharge of energy had been fighting for so long she couldn't keep the effort up to keep herself standing. Her knee buckled first before she slumped down onto her knees. The wet snow felt almost a surreal amount of cold before it started to seep into denim and numbing the surface of her skin. The crackle of energy directed down toward her legs now settled in the snow, feeling her throat tighten as all the pain she had inside just washed over her. She stopped him before... stopped him from killing her, from taking what she had for himself, and she knew that she was the reason for it in the first place. Everything inside of her didn't make any sense, and she just wanted it all to stop, she wanted it to be over so that the pain she felt, both physically and mentally would just end.
"It just hurts... all the time, and you did this, you tried to take it from me, and I stopped you... if I hadn't.. if I had just let you, this wouldn't be happening. I wouldn't hurt so much. I just want it to stop and it won't." All the while her words are filled with hesitation as her ability cracks across her skin, her eyes not even able to look at Sylar, to see what she's done to him, what damage she's inflicted.
She's a danger to him, and the castle did nothing.
Somehow, he managed to look surprised, albeit hazily so, not able to muster much more than that in the state he was in.
He could see why he'd want to kill Elle, outside of this place, of course. Not only had she and Bennet been one half of the mold that had made him a killer, but she'd nearly destroyed his hopes of trying to get his abilities back, when he'd been powerless. She'd almost made him smash the vial of the blood that would cure all his ills, and truthfully, he'd been more than a little pissed about that, still, when he'd first arrived here, the memory fresh in his mind. He would have--would still, when he went home and forgot everything--killed her in revenge. He'd gotten over it, of course, their time spent together as prisoners here helping that immensely, but that wasn't why he looked surprised. No, what shocked him was the fact that Elle sounded like she wanted to die.
He tried to piece his thoughts together long enough to ask. "You--if--whatever happened." He shook his head a little, trying to clear it, mind and body still rebelling gloriously against the abuse. "If you hadn't stopped me, you'd be dead."
By now there was nothing to stop her emotions, nothing to really stop her ability either as it sparked across her features wildly, lingering over salt stained cheeks as she tried not to cry because it hurt even more to do just that. Her palm went flat to the top of her thigh trying to keep herself upright, at least so that she could stare at her hand instead of looking at him.
"It's not like anything good happened after... I end up like this. I end up with nothing. You killed my father... Angela pushes me out of my job... the place I lived in is no longer somewhere I'm welcome, I --" Elle lifts her chin up to meet his eyes as she spits the words out, "I go to Bennet for help." The smirk that appears on her feature is hinted with a mild amusement, at how ridiculous it all was, "I end up with the Cheerleader next to me on a coach flight to Jersey. Where they chain me to the floor. I should've died."
He took a minute, trying to make sense of that around the thudding of his heart. "That's no reason to want to end up dead," he managed at great lengths. "If Claire knew where you were--if Bennet did--one of them would have come for you." As much as he hated to name Bennet a hero in any situation, he knew it was probably true. They were partners in crime, after all.
"And your father ... " He shook his head. "Both my parents are dead. It's not--you could have found something. Someone."
Her jaw clenched in anger, but it was all lost in the ache of her body, the numbing feeling of her legs still sitting deep in the snow. Any anger she wanted to have she knew was completely misplaced, because the man that tried to slice her head open was still back home, still out there somewhere waiting to finish the job... "I told Claire to leave... she was supposed to come with... they were supposed to help, and I'm no better off now than I was before. I can't even control my ability. I can't do anything without the hurt... I want it to stop," Elle's eyes pleaded with Sylar's as tears fell to her cheeks, "Please just... help me make it stop."
"You want me to kill you?" Not that he thought that would help any, but what, exactly, she meant by that hadn't quite caught up with his brain just yet, and that seemed like the logical conclusion. That's how he'd fixed people, back home. That's what people thought he did, even though he'd only raised a hand in anger here, once, trying to seek vengeance for what had been done to Mohinder.
Elle wasn't even sure what she was asking of him herself, all of her synapses firing and misfiring alongside her ability wasn't making anything easier, and it wasn't going to make a difference if she died. She wanted her body to reset, she wanted to just not feel this pain for a while. Two weeks wasn't forever... but it was something other than this pain. It was something other than the glances cast to her as she sent wild streaks of electricity everywhere. It was anything other than the guilt she had from making people worry about her. It was selfish of her and she knew at least that, but she couldn't see past her own wants... her own need to just be normal right now.
"I - I don't even -" Elle's words get cut off by a sharp crack of energy running through her and it's enough to cause her to wince and bite her lip to keep from crying out. "Please... make it stop."
Sylar winced along with her, knowing all too well how that felt, having been a victim of it himself, just minutes before. Even so, however, he couldn't help but shake his head again, though more carefully this time, as the first time it had made the world spin. "I can't. I made a promise that I wouldn't hurt anyone, while I was here."
It was more than that, though. It was the way Adam had looked at him, when they'd carried Elle down to the infirmary the night she'd blacked out. He'd looked like a man broken, tired and worn with nothing left to live for, and Sylar could only imagine what that was like--what it would be like if it had been Mohinder unconscious, not knowing when he'd wake up, if he did at all. And to kill Elle, to take her from him and from anyone else that might care about her here? He could be cruel, yes, but even that seemed unfair--especially when one considered the tentative friendship he had with the immortal.
"You'd do that to Adam?"
Her hand wiped across her cheek, most of her tears dried or frozen across her skin, before her body settled off of her knees. It wasn't as if she could feel them now anyway, and why bother worrying about the current of her mixing with the snow. Now that she was into a better seated position, her weight balanced onto her wrist, her hand plunged into the snow uncaring as to the cold, or the moisture in it as she felt all her muscles tense again. Taking in a shallow breath she shuddered as she exhaled it out, glancing to the snow when Sylar mentioned Adam. It was still difficult to place the memories of what had happened here in Paradisa in with the year she spent back home, the chase of Adam when he escaped, the trip to Ireland... which she still couldn't remember why she went there... the fact that the last time she saw him truly had been the exact moment she'd arrived in the castle the first time wasn't making the year on her own any easier. Now she was back and she knew she'd worried him, but she wasn't sure where she fit anymore.
"I don't want to... no, but..." The electricity ran across her shoulders as she shrugged them up trying to make the distance shorter somehow, "But I can't live like this. It's not fair to me... it's not fair to anyone."
"Let me take you to Suresh," he suggested, stretching out in the snow, not sure how much longer his arms and legs would support the sprawl he'd landed in and unable to feel the cold, fingers long since numb already. "He's been coherent enough, lately. He might be able to fix this." He paused, and then, because he felt it needed saying, he clarified, "The right way."
There was fixing and there was fixing, after all.
Adam had suggested Mohinder before, and she hadn't trusted it. She'd heard rumors back home... of what he was doing. Even if she didn't work for the Company she still knew who to ask where Noah Bennet was at. He had been her hope for answers, and when she found out he was in the field she went to the next best choice, his home. Elle went to Costa Verde in hope of finding something in his files. Now she was faced with going to the 'good' doctor again and she wasn't sure she'd like the results.
"He... he doesn't even have the right formula does he?" Elle questioned it because she didn't trust anyone at the moment when it came to pumping her full of drugs. She lived most of her childhood on one thing or another and willingly forcing something into her that was supposed to fix whatever was wrong with her, it didn't seem right.
"I don't know."
In truth he had no idea what she was talking about, unaware that there had been talking of putting her on pills that had the same effect as the Haitian's powers. All he knew was that Mohinder knew more about them than anyone else here, even in the state that he was, and that he was something of a miracle worker. He'd managed to get him his abilities back when he'd been stripped of them, after all, and he severely doubted anyone else, no matter how well-educated, could have pulled it off. Suresh was unique--special in a way that didn't equate to death, back when he'd had the hunger--and he would have trusted the geneticist with anything.
Which he felt the need to point out, haltingly, mouth still dry, tongue uncooperative. "But it's--he found a cure for the Virus, Elle. If he can do that, he can find a way to help you." On a whim, fingers shaking and only half aware of what he was doing, he reached out for her, knowing that touch went a long way to reassure his geneticist, when he was rattled. Maybe it would do the same for Elle. "It's better than dying."
Elle had been trying to keep her ability in check since he'd opted to move closer despite her unleashing onto him twice before. Still she couldn't keep her ability contained, the snow and whatever inside of her that was broken making it impossible not to feel t all. All of her pleading for a start again, for him to just end it and give her two weeks with nothing, was now being met with contact that he was willingly putting to her. Even if she had some control she wasn't sure if she'd be able to stop it, but given the pain and the general overwhelming sense that her body had been giving her she couldn't do anything but let it happen.
His hand connected to her arm and her body took the chance to siphon off into him, the current forceful to the point that he couldn't pull away. Keeping him locked to her as she cried out in pain, her sound echoing his before she finally pulled her arm free of his touch. "It's... just getting worse... I'll black out the castle again... I can't have anything near me... I can't feel anything but this. I can't.... I can't do it anymore."
Sylar closed his eyes, eyelids fluttering, nearly twitching as she pulled away and his hand fell to the ground, suddenly unable to muster the strength to lift it. It had hurt and he was so very tired, suddenly; he would have told her in that instant that he knew how she felt, but he wasn't sure how well it would go over. So, instead, he mumbled, "So I kill you. And then what? What happens in two weeks? What if it's not any better?"
He paused, sighing, and then, "Please, Elle. Just ... see Suresh. He'll find a way." And on the off chance that he couldn't? He and Adam would think of something else. "I didn't help Adam drag you down to the clinic just to kill you."
Hearing that he'd helped Adam bring her to the clinic when she'd slipped into whatever state was needed to send her home... it surprised her. It was another reminder that he wasn't that Sylar, at least not here. She couldn't feel her legs, and her rear was starting to go numb as well. Meeting Sylar's eyes she saw the worry in him, the pain she'd inflicted, she'd regretted. "I- I shouldn't have... Adam can fix you." Shutting her eyes she leaned away from him, to spare him the charge she knew was starting to run across her body.
When the current stopped she laughed, "It's my fault anyway... Bennet... me? We made you that way." Shaking her head she brushed the clumps of snow off of her jeans, "You did exactly what we wanted you to do... you took his ability... you'd take mine..."
He shook his head--a gesture that took no small amount of effort, as his muscles felt heavy, now. Stiff. Vaguely, he recalled that this was something most electric shock victims went through, decided that it was a miracle he was still conscious, and figured he was hovering close to death. Elle had mentioned Adam as a potential savior, true, but somehow he doubted that the immortal would make it here, in time. He only regretted that he was visiting this upon Mohinder--maybe it was time he paid for his crimes, after all.
She, however, wasn't at fault for hers. "Maybe then, but not now," he said, truthfully, reaching for her arm again, convinced that if he was going to die, he may as well go all out. Maybe it was selfish, as he didn't want to die alone. Maybe he just felt desperately possessed to connect with her for other reasons. He didn't know. "What you did--it wasn't your fault. We talked about it once, remember? When we were back in New York? You said it wasn't your choice. That you wanted to find someone else."
He paused, trying to make sense of his thoughts and of the fragments of memory that floated up to meet him, and then he added, "I told you I accepted your apology. I forgive you." One of them deserved absolution.
Her eyebrows knit together trying to remember, it was odd to have months in Paradisa shoved back into her memories, when arriving back home she'd forgotten it all. Everything was mixed up and what was only a few months ago for Sylar was years for her... it wasn't something she remembered that clearly, and even still she knew that it had happened... just here... not there. It was hard to keep everything straight, to find the events that matched up together that were meant to have only happened here instead of the ones that she knew would happen when he went home.
If it wasn't her fault... if Sylar forgives her here, she had to think that it wouldn't be here fault there either. That everything she'd become was for a reason not of her own doing, that what he spoke was a truth that spread through these two very different worlds. His hand was on her arm and she couldn't help but notice that it felt different, this time... it was more in need than in asking her to follow. Looking at him she saw that he was in horrible shape and it was because of what she had done, and even now she knew that he'd never make it back to the castle. Her hand reached over to clasp onto his just to let him know she wouldn't leave him out in the cold.
"We're both the same..." Elle lets her eyes meet his for a moment, accepting his forgiveness, "it's just sad we don't realize it back home." Swallowing she feels the current in her, but it's settled within her again, it's not wildly moving through her and she gasps in a sharp breath of the cold air. "It.. it's --" There wasn't anything she could say to explain what she'd just felt happen but she knew that she had control of her ability, it was a shift in the way the power was acting inside of her. Returning to being a part of her, not an active element inside of her.
"The pain... it's gone... what did you...? How did?"
"I don't--" He didn't know how to finish that statement, really, mind too much of a messy smear to be any good now that he'd said his peace, but even if he had been in command of his mental faculties? Even if he'd been more aware, rather than focused on trying to ignore the burning in his lungs and how each short, labored breath hurt, he wouldn't have finished. Mostly because as soon as he'd started, an arc of electricity raced up his spine, licking down his arm to leap from his fingers at her arm.
It wasn't anything big, nothing that could or would hurt her, however--more it was just a little current, light and harmless. And, strangely, he was more than passingly aware that it had come from him rather than her.
That was enough to make him focus rather than concerning himself with his looming death, and he turned his head a little, pulling his hand away from her weakly to stare at his fingers, watching in hazed surprise as blue light crackled between them. "What ... ?"
Elle watched it dance across his fingertips and her eyes went wide, "That... that's impossible." Though as the arc dimmed and faded to nothing Elle noticed that Sylar himself was fading to nothing as well. The discharge of her ability had done physical damage to him, and here he hadn't paid a visit to Claire... here he wasn't like Adam and the pain, along with the burns and voltage that she'd let go through him was taking a toll on his body.
"We have to get you help..." Glancing around she knew it was too far for the castle, and still too far into town as well. "Shit... this isn't good. I won't leave you though..." Elle hadn't brought her journal otherwise this would've been a lot easier. Instead she called out for help hoping that someone was as mindless as her to actually go outside in this weather.
Paige Matthews wasn't exactly mindless... but she was currently married to nine other people at the moment. Her family had practically disowned her and now two of her spouses were acting a bit... odd. She was worried about them, but she wasn't going to neglect the jingle she heard in her head. Tilting her head aside she waited for it to happen again and with a hug to her loved ones and a promise to return soon she orbed off toward the location of the jingle for help. Of course the location was outside and in the freezing snow and if she had known that? Paige is certain she would've grabbed a coat.
"Hey! Call for help ri-" Paige glanced to the guy leaning against the smaller blonde. "Okay, so that's a positive reply. I'm Paige Matthews, what happened?" Paige moved over toward them, shifting through the snow a bit as the girl moved the guy that was looking like hell down so Paige could take a look. "Are those... electrical burns?"
Elle nodded, "It's my ability... I was... I was upset, and I couldn't control it."
Paige leaned away from the girl for the moment, "Can you control it now?"
"Yeah, but... can you help him?"
Paige looked him over and nodded to the girl, "It'll be a bit. Just... keep an eye on him." Paige held her hands over the burns, letting the light within her warm and move to heal the wounds that were not only horrible looking but not exactly pleasant smelling either. By the time she had healed all of them, her knees were numb from the snow and her arms were nearly frozen from not having on a proper coat. In hindsight she should've orbed the three of them to the castle where she couldn't just fixed him there. She just didn't want to risk moving him in case there was something else going on. Especially for the girl with the 'ability' issues. Clenching her hands when she was done she flexed her fingers outward slowly before rubbing her palms across her arms. "Okay, it's freezing out here, and I can take you both back to the castle, if you want?"
Sylar had smiled vaguely when Paige had appeared--had she really just popped out of thin air, or was he that delusional?--but that was the only response he'd offered. Instead, all of his attentions were focused elsewhere, trying to keep himself upright, having issues even though Elle had somehow gotten him to his feet and was letting him lean on her for support. And he was so focused on that, on trying to keep the swaying that he couldn't entirely help to a minimum, that he didn't realize that the wounds were disappearing until they were completely gone.
Sucking in a sharp breath, near gasping as if it was the first lungful of air he'd managed in an age--and really it was--he stared at Paige for a moment, eyes wide. So much had happened tonight that he didn't understand, and really, this wasn't any different. He was cold, however, and tired, despite the fact that Paige had managed to spare his life, and all he wanted was to curl up next to Mohinder, thank whatever imaginary higher power that he'd managed to hold on to his resolve and consciousness, and go to sleep. So, when she suggested she could get them back to the castle, he nodded, not really caring what it entailed at this point.
"Please."
Elle nodded in agreement and Paige shivered a moment in reply before taking each of them hold by the arm and orbing them into her room. It hadn't been really slept in since the wedding so she figured it was as neutral territory as anything. Plus it would give her a chance to pick up a few things and grab a sweater since she was freezing.
"Ta-Da. So you're in the castle, room eight-sixteen. I'm sure you can find your own way around from here?" Paige glanced to the taller male, "You might want to get a change of clothing before you head to wherever you need to go. You can ask the ghosts, or even the castle from here if it' sort of a difficult task. I mean I don't know what you two were fighting about? But -- yeah. I don't want to know."
Paige grabbed a sweater from the closet and tugged it on over her shirt, "Look I'm going to go back to my husbands and wives, so you two ... just have the ghosts lock up when you leave okay?"
Elle was a bit confused, but with that parting phrase Paige was doing that glowy light thing and then she was gone. "That... was... I mean I've seen weird, and that was weird." Elle shook her head, and took a breath relieved that it didn't hurt, and her ability really did seem to be... well fixed. "Just what happened back there?"
Sylar murmured a thank you to Paige--he'd have to thank her again, later and in earnest--before shooting a glance down at his clothing. The Castle had been kind enough to provide him with a coat that had been all but identical to the one he'd worn on Kirby Plaza, and while it still remained one of his favorite pieces of clothing, he couldn't help but wonder if the damn thing wasn't bad luck. This was the second time he'd almost died in it, after all.
He pushed the thought away, however, raising his eyes to her, slowly. "I don't know. I think..." What he thought was that, somehow, he might have acquired her ability. How, he wasn't certain, but he was almost afraid to make mention of it. "Can you still use your power?"
Elle nodded, "I mean I can feel it." Her hand lifted up to crackle the blue energy around her fingers and almost as soon as she brought it to life she took it away. "I have the control back too... I mean, I don't know how else to explain it... just that I'm not broken anymore." Elle tilted her head aside, there wasn't any real logical explanation to what had happened, "That's not how you normally... claim to fix people. I mean I know the truth, I've," her stomach turns a bit at the memory, despite how unsuccessful he was, she knew... she'd been to the crime scenes after. "I've seen it."
"It's not," he agreed, calmly. He had no problems with what he'd done back home, barring perhaps all but three of his murders, two of which hadn't even been comitted against the powered. Regardless, however, he was quick to furrow his brow, canting his head to one side, watching her as if he could still take her apart, despite his missing aptitude. "But it happened. You're not in pain anymore."
A pause, and then, after a deep breath, "And I think I have your ability."
Glancing to him Elle hesitated for a moment, "Can... can you show me?" She knew what she'd seen outside, but that was in the middle of who knows what, and now she wasn't actively throwing energy all over creation. Now she was in control of her ability and there wasn't a single chance that it could be misconstrued now. If he had her ability, then... then something weird was going on. "Maybe it's a loss? I mean... this castle? Just... try to use it."
"I just got off one. You missed it."
Still, however, Sylar did as he was told, raising a hand, his fingers pressed together. Then, slowly, he pulled them apart, lines of electricity jumping from the tips of his fingers, to pool in the palm of his hand in a neat, merrily crackling ball. Where her power had been the source of a great deal of agony for him, minutes before, however, now that it was here and it was his, it didn't hurt--if anything, much to the contrary, it almost tickled.
Elle watched as the energy pooled at his fingertips, "That's... that's amazing." She knew she'd said it before in front of him, but she was being sincere now. Tucking her hair behind her ear she moved to the other side of him, "Does it hurt? I mean... is it on the surface, or do you feel it inside of you as well? Like... like a hum of something beneath your skin?"
"It doesn't hurt," he answered, sounding distant as he toyed with the flash of power between his fingers, splaying his hand wide so that it hovered in his palm, before closing his fingers around it, letting lines of electricity lap at his skin. "It's--I can feel it. Under my skin. It's like ... "
He shook his head, not able to find words to describe it, but with every beat of his heart, he could feel new--a hum, as she had described it, almost like pins and needles but not uncomfortably so. It made him feel almost warm and suddenly alive.
Elle let out a sigh, no longer so unique, but not something she felt she had the right to complain about really since she wasn't about to send herself into an overload anytime soon. "It might be difficult to sleep... I know I had trouble when I was younger. I- I don't know how.. or why this happened, but I am grateful." Shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket she shrugged, she was actually feeling warmer now that she was inside, but she wasn't in her own room. She hadn't been herself, hadn't been able to be herself in so long... that it felt almost unnatural to be this still. "I should... I should probably find Adam."
He shot her a glance, closing his fingers around the electricity he'd summoned in earnest, hoping that would put it out. He didn't know--which, if this entire thing was strange, that was even more so, because every power he'd taken to date, he had simply understood--but it seemed to work well enough.
"And I should go check on Mohinder." He didn't move right away, though, still watching her, sure that somehow, strangely he could feel her disappointment at not being special, anymore. Maybe it was a figment of his imagination, brought on by the stress of the evening, but still, he felt compelled to address it. "I'm sorry. For what I did to your father. For taking your ability."
Elle nodded, her shoe pressing the toe of it into the floor for a moment, "It wasn't you... well not yet. I hope part of me will remember this though... if I ever go back. I know I won't, but I hope I do." Elle moved toward the door finally, brushing past him but pausing after she opened the door to glance to him, "Maybe this time you didn't take it... maybe this time I needed to give it to you." With a casual shrug Elle moved her hand away from the door and headed down the hall toward the elevator so she could finally get to her own room, and maybe track down Adam.
"I hope I remember, too," he murmured after her. Doubtful, he was sure, but he could at least hope. And that in mind, he headed out of the room, following her as far as the elevator before turning to take the stairs.