torchwoodinstitute | (no subject)

(no subject)

Who: Murder Kids
When: January 15th
What: Lockdown at the Hub but some people just don't know how to play by the rules.

The fourth day of lockdown was no different from the third or the second other than a growing sense of boredom. Most of the engineering and IT folk were still working at the Rift core in an attempt to find the intrusion. It shouldn't have taken that long, and that's what bothered Jack the most was the morale of his people.

Many were fine, even with being cut off from the Archive and their work. Some, however, were not. Gabriel and Jim were the worst culprits there, pacing at times, running up and down the catwalks...

It was driving him crazy.

There were also a lot of their people gone, various agents on various missions. That they couldn't get back was worrying too. At least they did happen to have power. Otherwise, by now they would have a very dead prisoner. Jack really hated that.

But what he hated the most? People able to bypass all of his precautions and get into the Hub without any of the security systems in place to let him know.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"You are them! You turned into them exactly!" Luke was screaming, banging his hands against the door once he realized that the whole heating thing wasn't working when it came to bricks and there wasn't any CCTV to manipulate. He was going to kill them... And for what? Because of Suresh? This wasn't even their reality!

He didn't even notice how easily he had taken to that concept and how easily he believed it either.

Jack looked stoic as he glanced towards the screaming. "You know what's probably going to happen, right?" Jack was being straight with Gabriel here. "And you know I can't risk you wanting to do something else if I do what I think I'm going to have to do."

Gabriel sighed. Yeah, he knew. He had been doing a lot better with that, but he'd also been almost entirely removed from temptations. And he also really didn't like this kid. It was honestly surprising him a little.

That wasn't what he was concerned about, though. Luckily, Luke's screaming was keeping him from listening in on this conversation. "If we force Sylar to be alone, he'll never forgive us. You know how loyal I tend to be. Just- keep that in mind, okay?"

"He's too young to stay with us. Too volatile. You could take him under your wing, but I think he needs to go back. And I think he needs to back without Campbell. What Sylar's been telling Mohinder is disturbing, but his eyes--". Jack sighed. He'd killed kids before for far less, but Gabriel was right.

He pulled the Wembly officer's special out of his pocket holster and handed it to Gabriel by the butt.

"I'll be back when I can. Go and keep Mohinder company. I'm having trouble reading your younger self too. I hate it when I get too invested in my people." He dimpled in Gabriel's direction and then headed in to see Luke. He could at least lock the door behind him.

Sylar stared at the door for a long moment, holding Jack's gun. It was one of those times when he really didn't want to follow orders. And of course he really should. Concern for what was going on in that room could easily be masking the hunger underneath. He couldn't risk that getting out and rearing its ugly head again.

So he closed his eyes, heaved another sigh, and headed back upstairs. At least he was heading towards people he wanted to talk to, in this case. He didn't want to strand Sylar back in Primatech, but at least Mohinder was there, too. Hopefully they'd make it out okay.

As he neared the kitchen, his nose reminded him that he'd have some pizza too. So there was another upside. He stopped by the doorway to listen a bit before entering- how were things going over here?

In all honesty, Mohinder had no idea how it was going. He'd never been good with children and while he might have been all right if Sylar was younger, seventeen was a hard age. They'd spoken a little about school. And a little about Primatech. And a lot about the other boy that Sylar had been with.

Mostly because Mohinder didn't understand how Sylar could want a companion at this particular stage in his life. He'd always known him as a loner... Or a user.

"I suppose it's just that... I'm not sure what you see in him. You said there are other teenagers your age there, right?"

Gabriel listened for Sylar's reply. "Yeah, Mohinder and Elle. I like Mohinder. Elle's okay. But Luke understood me, before any of that." Sylar had gotten tired of referring to him as 'Campbell' and had slipped into Luke's real name a few minutes ago.

And Sylar's earnest attempt to explain was encouraging, Gabriel thought. So he stepped into the doorway and smiled. "I don't know if you're going to get this one, Mohinder. After all, you get along with just about everyone."

Mohinder looked surprised to see his fiancé and he stood up a little from the table. Why was he alone? Jack had left the room, Gabriel was meant to be with Luke-- Sometimes Mohinder was honestly just too smart for his own good.

"Where's Luke and Jack?"

Luke might scare him but no one deserved to die. He had almost killed Sylar but if he had, he'd be alone and lost right now, not completely and hopelessly in love.

"Gabriel-- Where did you leave them?" He would run if he had to.

"Mohinder..." Gabriel sighed. He held a hand up to his head, as if he were getting a headache. One had to be careful with homicidal Sylars, lest they find themselves more homicidal than usual. "Luke's about four levels down. He's resting. It took awhile to get him to cool off."

He was sure Mohinder would be on his way already, so he caught him by the arm. Leaning in towards Mohinder, speaking quietly, he looked Mohinder in the eyes and said, "He killed Chandra." He honestly wasn't sure if that would change Mohinder's mind, but it was something he should probably know.

Sylar was watching quietly, but his eyes were sharp. He clearly knew something was off.

The words were shocking to him but that Gabriel would even say them was more shocking. Mohinder pulled his arm out of his grip, pretty face turned angry and eyes with too much passion lifted in Gabriel's direction. "As did you," he spat. You. Not Sylar. "And I was still able to forgive you, and more. I have learned my lesson about revenge and I still bear the scars as proof of that sin."

He didn't mean to hurt Gabriel, but he was angry at what was being done just the same.

"He's a child, Gabriel. My god, he's a child."

Mohinder rushed off, high on his moral horse as always, to leave Gabriel and his younger self behind. A younger self that was scrutinizing everything.

Down stairs, Mohinder tried to hone in on just where Jack and Luke might be and he found them talking behind the closed door of one of the dorm rooms.

He slammed his hand against the door. "Jack Harkness, I need to speak with you this instant!"

Jack turned his grin to Luke, who was as blank as ever. "He has no ability and no power but he does have a lot of heart. Think about what I said."

Luke didn't even nod. "Bring Sylar."

And Jack laughed at that because it was so ridiculous. So single minded. "I'll let him know you're looking for him," he said and left the room, locking the door behind him, to face Mohinder.

He didn't expect to see the tears in his eyes.

Sylar knew immediately that Mohinder was morally affronted by something, but had to wait farther into their conversation before he realized what was going on. It was fascinating, how they interacted with each other, but he was only minimally focused on that.

They were doing something horrible to Luke. Something even Mohinder was upset about.

As soon as Mohinder was out the door, Sylar tried to raise a hand up to push Gabriel against the wall with telekinesis- and he found it frozen in position.

"Yeah. Sorry, kid," Sylar said, hands finally coming out of his pockets. "I've had more practice."

"Jack is killing Luke?" Gabriel asked, tension in his voice.

Gabriel looked uncomfortable. "I don't know. It was a possibility."

Sylar stared at him, hurt and rage boiling in his eyes. Gabriel cut him off before he said anything. "Sucks when its someone you care about, huh?"

The glass on the table in front of Sylar shattered, spilling the remaining ice. "Let me. See him," Sylar said carefully.

Gabriel sighed and shook his head. "All right, I'll take you part-way down, at least. But you have to do it my way." He rose his hands, palms down, and Sylar felt control clamp over his whole body.

By the time Gabriel puppeteered Sylar down to the doors, Jack and Mohinder were at a quiet stand off in front of the door, neither really speaking to the other, and just inside the door sat Luke on the bed, knees drawn up and wraps wrapped around them. He was blank, as always. Maybe more blank than usual.

He didn't even look up when the two Sylars arrived, though he could hear them. What Jack had told him left him chilled, which he only barely registered as amusing considering his power and the potential for his power.

"Let him go," he heard Jack say and only then did Luke glance out to see the way Gabriel had Sylar somehow stood to attention. He knew this drill by now. The adults would leave to argue about them after they locked them inside this room. He wasn't disappointed by the outcome either. It was as he had expected.

There was something surreal about it, though, and he watched Sylar for long, quiet moments before he scooted over on the bed. A silent invitation.

Now that Sylar could see that Luke wasn't dead, he relaxed considerably. And he also shook in place, like a dog might, allowing the full-body shudder to throw off the creepy feeling of Gabriel controlling his movements.

And then he flopped down on the bed next to Luke, frowning. "You were right," he said morosely. "We should've just looked for a way out. You okay?"

"I think we should be done." It was actually a lot easier to say it than he had originally thought. "All of it. I mean, I guess you turn out all right and I ain't exactly a whole lot of anything but bad news for you."

He looked at Sylar, trying to figure out how he was feeling only to realize that Jack was right...he couldn't tell. He couldn't tell because he wasn't feeling much of anything either besides a sense of impending loss. And he'd get over that okay. Attachment was just attachment....something that eventually had to become detachment, right?

It was so far from what Sylar had expected to hear that he didn't register it. It could've been a sentence in another language.

"So we'll get out of here as soon as we can, and then we can see where we feel like going. No more of these places. I'll get us to a reality where none of this exists, eventually." It would mean leaving Mohinder behind, which he didn't want to do. But right now he was worried about Luke. He'd figure out the rest later.

Wow. "Earth to Sylar. Come in you jackass." He didn't like initiating any sort of touching but he put a hand on the back of Sylar's anyway. That usually got his attention. It meant business. "I'm not going with you, fuck head. You either have to stay here or go back." To fucking Suresh. Jesus Christ. From what Luke heard, Mohinder was pretty wrapped up in Elle, but whatever. Mister Wholesome Confusing Accent was the sort of person that Sylar needed to be around.

Not him.

So Gabriel had been right in the bathroom. He'd done better without him. Which was ridiculous until he listened to Harkness. Shit. "You're on your own from here on out."

"What?" On his own? Sylar squinted, as if that would make more sense of it. As he continued to speak, it seemed to clarify things for him. He sounded more and more upset with each word. "No, that's stupid. Why-? What did Jack tell you? Where are you gonna go?"

Luke had been with him through this whole thing. They'd killed his mother together, for god's sake. They were family. He couldn't leave now! "I don't get this."

"Go?" Yeah he hadn't thought that far... "No where I guess? I have no fucking clue. Take my ability and then I won't have to do anywhere." Maybe that's what Jack meant. Thinking about what was best for Sylar didn't mean he should leave his life entirely...just that he shouldn't be in his life as he was now.

The truth was that he didn't want to be alone anymore. He was pretty sure he was dead anyway. Either Jack would do it. Or Gabriel would. Or he'd do it to himself.

"Fuck, I'm not-" He winced and rubbed at his face rather forcefully. "I'm not taking your ability. Why do you-?" He shook his head, but he stopped to look at Luke. "Do you actually want that?"

Ugh, damn it. He was tearing up, and he knew he was going to cry. This still didn't make any sense. "We're supposed to be together, Luke. Through everything. Why now? What happened?"

There were not many instances where Luke would let any of this bother him, but he couldn't stand it when Sylar was upset. It made that protective streak in him flare up and in this case, it caused him to almost completely want to shut down.

His eyes were hard as he pulled himself away. No more fucking touching. He couldn't take it right now. His skin itched at the loss...which was actually pretty crazy when you thought all about it.

"Do you see the sort of person you are without me?" Luke gestured towards the door. "A little less fun, but you're a hundred times better off. And you don't fucking need me anymore. Don't even say you do."

"That guy is not me," Sylar growled. Luke taking his hand away felt oddly final, and he didn't like it. "Things were different for him, we can't just go off of that! And I don't need you to copy powers anymore, no, but who cares? I still-"

He caught himself, because he actually didn't know if he still wanted to take powers through murder. "I want to be with you. Don't leave me alone." That wasn't quite all of it. "Don't make me leave you alone."

"You have options." Luke didn't. He had this life that Sylar helped him realize that he wanted to keep having...even if Sylar wasn't in it. For the other boy, snuffing out someone's life wasn't as good as it could get. "And I really don't think you-- Jesus, Sylar. You know me. You know I can't be like Suresh or Elle or anyone else."

Why was this so hard? Luke felt a tightness in his chest.

"I don't want to fuck you. I don't to go on vacations or get married or settle down or do anything normal like that! You only want to be with me because you're scared. Grow a fucking pair!"

He was too tired to really go into melt down mode. He slumped. This wasn't working.

Luke unfurled his fingers away from his palms and stared at the wall.

"You're the only thing that means anything to me and you want to change. You're going to be such a fucking pussy when you do, Sy, that I will probably kill you myself."

So we MAKE options... was Sylar's immediate response. But he wanted to hear what else Luke had to say, so he didn't speak up.

He regretted that decision, as Luke continued. He had good points, and more importantly, they were points that Sylar didn't want to hear. Scared, really?

At least the last part was easy to respond to. "Yeah, you could try."

It was almost automatic, and it left an oppressive cloud of silence in its wake. Sylar stared down at his hands, flexing them slowly.

"If I mean something to you-" he said eventually. But he didn't finish the sentence. "You fucking suck, you know that? You want to be all selfless and shit for me? Because these assholes think they know better?"

And now he was crying. Great. He wiped his eyes angrily. "Are they gonna kill you?"

Christ on a pogo stick...there was literally nothing worse in the world than to have the other boy in tears. "I'm not being selfless, fuck you," Luke muttered. The instinct in him, the learned lesson and the muscle memory, told him to pull Sylar against him and hold him. But he couldn't be that person anymore, right? He shouldn't hide who he was.

And who he was just so happened to be no one Sylar really wanted.

Fuck. He couldn't take the tears and so he slung an arm around the other boy's shoulders...if he'd even let him, of course.

"Is it really that fucking wrong for me to want you to be.. I dunno. You're what we've always been working towards."

Sylar did not, in fact, mind Luke's arm around him, not at all. He leaned slightly towards Luke, but otherwise didn't move much. He continued to stare at his hands. It was hard to tell if he even heard what Luke was saying, at first.

"Is this what you want?" he asked in a near whisper.

"I just want you to be safe." That might not be something a psychopath said, but Luke meant it. For the moment at least. It was hard to tell which way that the wind would move him.

And honestly? Sylar was in danger of having that protective streak turn on him. If Luke thought he was losing Sylar in any way that wasn't his own doing, he could well end him.

But maybe Sylar was right about options...Luke pressed his head, his lips, to Sylar's ear.

"If I stay with you...that's it. Just me and you. I'll kill anyone that touches you."