[costa verde, california] got to play our cards

[heroslayer]

Sylar: [air marshal is much better than being a fat tourist. but at any rate, once they're settled] If I'd known we'd have to go after Claire, I would've suggested we go there first. [pauses, thinking about that] Though, I guess this works just as well. [he can have his cure and then immediately take her ability]

Candice: [shrugs] At least we know how the cure works.

Sylar: I guess. [he doesn't plan on getting sick again and it doesn't really matter if she does or not, so ... he doesn't see how knowing how it works is important any further than him getting his abilities back]

Candice: [well, sometimes shit happens]

Sylar: [he doubts it will] Using Peter's face might work with Claire, too. [as much as he'd love to be Bennet for that, it'd make more sense to be Peter]

Candice: [thinks for a minute and nods] Going to play the same sick card?

Sylar: [shrugs] It works. And if she gets suspicious, I can tell her to call Mohinder and hear it from him.

Candice: [nods] Works for me. And I can play Daddy.

Sylar: [hums. that's almost as good as getting to play Bennet himself] Sounds good.

Candice: [smirks back as she leans back in the seat some more]

Sylar: [is actually going to stay awake this time, not that he's much in the way of making small talk]

Candice: [that's alright. the in-flight movie is substantially better this time]

Sylar: [half pays attention to it, half keeps an eye on the cooler, as if he expects it to run away]

Candice: [this does not surprise her. but eventually the plane lands, and she sighs as they get out of their seats] We need our own car.

Sylar: We could steal one. [he actually knows how to hotwire a car without the use of any abilities]

Candice: Hit the long term parking on the way out?

Sylar: [nods] That's what I was planning on doing.

Candice: Let's go.

Sylar: [grabs the cooler and makes his way off the plane, heading for the long term parking garage. stops once they reach it and takes a look around, both trying to pick out a car and trying to figure out how the hell he's going to get the door open. he may be able to hotwire a car, but breaking into one without his telekinesis is another story. shoots her a glance] Think you can pick the lock on a car door?

Candice: [glances around] I need a slim jim.

Sylar: Guess I'm breaking a window, then. [since he doesn't exactly have one of those on hand]

Candice: [nods] I'll muffle the sound.

Sylar: Any preferences? [sees an old Ford Crown Victoria that looks like it's still in good shape and should be easy to hotwire if she doesn't have one]

Candice: [shrugs] Just don't make me look like a soccer mom.

Sylar: [shoots her a dimly amused look and heads for the Crown Vic, stripping down out of his shirt as he gets close. sets the cooler down and wraps it around his hand tightly, taking a deep breath, then breaks the window in, glancing back over his shoulder reflexively after the glass is shattered. and once he's content that no one heard that, he pulls the shirt off of his hand and shrugs back into carefully, then picks up the cooler and reaches in to open the door] Get in. [slides into the driver's side and leans down, his head near the steering wheel, and starts feeling around the edge of the steering column for a place where he can get his fingers under it to pull it off]

Candice: [does as she's told and gets in the car, waiting for him to do what he needs to do]

Sylar: [it takes a little bit of doing, but finally he manages to get the plastic covering to come away from the steering column. tosses it in the back seat and turns back to the wheel, pulling the starter and power wires out of the column. it's a little sloppy -- normally he'd cut and strip them telekinetically -- but it's passable. presses the wires together, taking care not to fry himself, and the car hums to life automatically. hums, pleased with himself, and puts the car in reverse, not bothering with a seatbelt, even though he's not immortal yet, not wanting the damn thing rubbing against his stitches. rolls out of the parking lot] Any idea where this place is?

Candice: [nods and gives him some directions as they go]

Sylar: [follows them, and sooner rather than later, they're rolling up in front of the Bennet house. or, well, he hopes it's the Bennet house, anyway. checks the paper Mohinder gave him, just to make sure] This should be it.

Candice: [switches the illusions back on again, and now they're Bennet and Peter] Let's do it.

Sylar: [kills the car and gets out, nodding towards the door] Get us in. Bennet wouldn't knock.

Candice: [nods as she gets out and makes her way to the door, aiming to get them in as quietly as possible. once the door's open, she shouts up into the house] Claire Bear? Are you home?

Claire: [wasn't expecting her dad home this early. pushes up from her bed and makes her way towards the stairs] Dad?

Sylar: [arches his eyebrows at the nickname, but doesn't comment. just waits for Claire to come downstairs]

Candice: [gives him a look right back -- what? she's playing a part? -- and then moves to the stairs] Sweetheart, can you come downstairs for a second? There's someone who's here to see you.

Claire: [does as she's told, and she gets about halfway down before -- ] Peter! [niece tackle glomp is go]

Sylar: [manages to grin, albeit thinly -- if she thinks something's wrong, he'll just blame it on his illness once he gets around to explaining it -- and hugs her back] Hey.

Claire: [pulls back to look at him] What are you doing here? Everyone said you were dead.

Sylar: Rumors of my demise have been kinda exaggerated. Though, uh ... [looks at Candice as if he's looking for confirmation that he's allowed to ask for her help]

Candice: [looks over and nods]

Claire: [frowns] What's going on?

Sylar: [takes a deep breath] I think the Company did something to me. I'm not really sure? I mean, I'm sort of just -- just missing most of the last couple of months, but ... I can't use any of my powers. [pauses, and then] I went to see Mohinder about it, since he's kind've the go to guy for this sort've thing, and he says he's seen something like this before and that he can fix it, but I need your blood and his. [looks as though this remedy sort of disturbs him, since he figures it would Peter, and then] Mohinder gave me some of his blood before I left New York, but ...

Claire: You still need mine.

Sylar: Yeah. I feel kinda bad for asking, but according to Mohinder, it's messing with more than just my powers.

Claire: [hesitates for a moment, glancing over at her father]

Candice: [nods] It's killing him, Claire. We need to fix this.

Claire: [still looks uncertain, but she nods] Okay. What do we need to do?

Sylar: I've got Mohinder's blood in a cooler in the car, but ... I didn't really think to bring a needle or whatever. [goddamn it. why didn't he think to bring one of those from Mohinder's place? oh, right. because he's not entirely in one piece. how could he have forgotten about that? would roll his eyes, if it weren't totally inappropriate for Peter right now. maybe Bennet has a syringe laying around somewhere]

Claire: [thinks for a minute before shaking her head] It's okay. I have something.

Candice: [nods] I'll go get the blood from the car.

Sylar: Thanks. [hesitates, looking away briefly, and then] ... sorry. I know this wasn't really how you were imagining a reunion.

Claire: [shakes her head as she flashes him a small smile] It's okay. I'm just really glad you're not ... gone.

Sylar: Yeah, me, too. [you have no idea, cheerleader]

Claire: [heads into the bathroom, to where they keep the spare syringes. she looks at the end of the needle, and winces] I hate this part.

Sylar: You want me to do it? [isn't sure how good he'd be at it, but ... Peter would probably at least offer, and he's got a basic understanding of how a blood draw works]

Claire: [thankfully she shakes her head] No. I can do it. It just sucks. [and with that, she inserts the needle into her arm, and starts to draw out the blood] Why didn't Mohinder come with you?

Sylar: I don't know. [frowns slowly, his eyes taking on a distant, thoughtful look] When I went to see him, he gave me his blood but told me he couldn't really help much beyond that, and then shoved a piece of paper with your address on it into my hand and told me to go. I think maybe he thinks he's being watched?

Claire: [takes a breath and nods as she pulls the needle out of her arm] Right. Because we're doing that whole in hiding thing.

Sylar: [as if that never occurred to him] ... that could be it. [makes a face] I hope I don't end up making trouble for you and your dad.

Claire: [shakes her head] Don't be ridiculous.

Sylar: Yeah, but if someone was watching Mohinder or saw you dad come in with me or whatever ... [come on, Candice. he's practically winning an Academy Award here, but he's also getting bored being this nauseating]

Claire: Peter, don't. We can take care of ourselves.

Candice: [and with that, Bennet returns! holding the cooler in his hands] Alright. Let's do this.

Sylar: Okay. Okay, just ... [trails off, nodding, then glances back at Candice] You wanna move back into the living room, or ... ?

Candice: [shakes his head] We should do this in here. It'll be easier to clean up. [reaches to take the syringe from Claire, who hands it over without question]

Claire: I really hope this works.

Sylar: Yeah, me, too. [moves to close the toilet and sit down on the lid, since he's not sure what kind of effect this cure is going to have on him, assuming it works]

Candice: [stands at the sink and mixes it as per Mohinder's instructions] Do you have another syringe?

Claire: [nods and goes to get one from the closet]

Sylar: [forces himself to look between Claire and Candice idly, not staring at one or the other as much as he wants to, because he's at least smart enough to recognize that that's one of his quirks, not Peter's, even in spite of how much he can practically taste his cure]

Candice: [loads up the syringe, before handing it over to him] Here.

Sylar: [murmurs a thanks as he takes it from her and doesn't bother to wait to do something to sell the act before he injects himself. closes his eyes, waiting to feel something, anything, but he doesn't feel any different, not after a few seconds, not after a minute or two, and finally he opens his eyes, glancing between the two of them, trying to keep the anger off of his face] I'm not sure if it worked.

Candice: [shrugs as she leans back against the sink] Try it.

Sylar: [sets the empty syringe down on the floor at his feet and holds a hand out over it, trying to will it up off the ground and back into his hand. for a moment, nothing happens, and then the syringe begins to rattle on the ground, faintly at first but with growing intensity, before finally leaping into his outstretched fingers. closes his hand around it and can't help but smirk, humming pleasure] I'm back.

Candice: [smirks herself] Knew you had it in you.

Claire: [there's something ... wrong with this. She starts to feel it when those smirks look weird on their faces] ... Dad?

Candice: Oh. Right. We're still all dressed up. [then the world shimmers, and the jig is up] We should fix that.

Sylar: [grins wildly and viciously at Claire] Hello, cheerleader. [a pause for effect] Miss me?

Claire: [eyes widen, and then she does the only thing she can do -- she runs. shoves past them and through the door to the bathroom, or at least try to]

Sylar: [jerks his head pointedly in the direction of the door and it snaps shut just before she reaches it. it takes a little more effort than it would have four months ago, but at least he can do things like that again, and he figures it'll get easier with practice. like having to work a broken leg after it's healed so you can eventually walk right again] Is that any way to greet an old friend?

Claire: [the terror in the room is so thick that he can probably smell it, and she hates that he gets her this scared. She tugged on the door as hard as she could, trying to get out as best she can] You are not a friend.

Candice: Can I tease her? I really wanna tease her. [to illustrate the point, the door opens, just a crack, but when she tries to push the door open further, she just hits another wall]

Sylar: As long as I get the prize at the bottom of the box when you're done, do whatever you want.

Claire: [turns on him with a glare] You won't get away with this.

Sylar: I don't know, Claire. In a few minutes I'll be immortal. And between that and my new friend here, I think that gives me a free pass to get away with anything and everything.

Claire: You bastard.

Sylar: That's me. [flashes her a bright, brittle smile that looks wrong for how sinister the look in his eyes is and waves a hand at her, pinning her to the door. glances over at Candice] If you're going to play, do it. I'm starving.

Candice: [waves a hand] Oh, be my guest. I can play later.

Claire: [struggles against his hold, her instinct to get away still struggling to the surface]

Sylar: [curls his fingers into a half-fist, tightening his hold on her, and stands up. studies her for a moment, just enjoying the fact that he can sort of sense her power again, then raises his other hand, drawing it across her hairline slowly, cutting as he goes. and just so she doesn't heal faster than he's cutting, he raises his chin a bit, holding the wound open as he makes it]

Claire: [she fights it for as long as she can, but eventually it hurts too much and she has to scream, letting the release out somewhere]

Sylar: [grins sickly, clearly enjoying the sound of her screaming. he's not insane enough to think that it's music to his ears or whatever, but he's definitely got a soft spot for the sound of someone shrieking. the fact that it's her is just icing on the cake and it's almost a shame how quick he's done with the cutting, the part that actually hurts. looks vaguely disappointed, since she'll probably stop screaming now, but approaches her nonetheless, hooking his fingers under her scalp to peel it back and off]

Claire: [no, she's crying now, because this was the reason they had been hiding. All the moving, all the running, it was to prevent this and now that was all going away. And there was nothing she could do about it]

Sylar: [shushes her gently, dropping her scalp in the sink, and softly] It'll all be over in a minute. [glances back at Candice] Or, well, at least this part ...

Candice: [smirks]

Claire: [just ... all the glaring] You'll pay for this. Both of you.

Sylar: If she leaves you with enough of your mind you actually remember this happening, maybe, but ... I doubt it. [shrugs, looming over her, and presses one finger to her brain lightly, tracing the lines and whorls, searching for his prize mutely, not bothering with more banter. and when he finds the seat of her regeneration and has had a moment to study it, he steps backwards and closes his eyes, making a small, pained noise as his brain starts shifting to copy it]

Claire: [watches the whole thing -- is forced to, her ability won't let her die -- and she hates every minute of it. she doesn't know what he means by the first part, but she has no doubt that she'll remember this. how could she forget?]

Sylar: [apparently Candice can do some pretty fucked up things, and if it were him, he'd leave her a catatonic, drooling mess. but at any rate, hisses a bit as the changes start to take effect and his body starts pushing out the stitches one at a time. puts one hand to his chest reflexively, smearing her blood on it, and then moves to start unbuttoning his shirt so he can watch his skin knit back together once the stitches are out. is vaguely surprised that her blood didn't do it, but maybe Mohinder's blood in the mix made it impotent or maybe the wound was just too big for that little bit of blood to heal or something. who knows?]

Claire: [her face falls as she watches, knowing that he's going to be unstoppable now, that he's going to hurt so many people, and it's all her fault]

Sylar: [traces his fingers over the unbroken skin, awed, and takes another step back, stopping just in front of the toilet, sitting back down on it. really wants to hand the gun he stole from Mohinder to Candice and suggest she shoot him, wanting to test the limits of his shiny new toy, but ... he can wait. they can do it after they're away from here, seeing as how he's sort of honor bound to let Candice live now, since she helped him out, and he wants to see what she can do to Claire]

Candice: [picks up Claire's scalp from the sink, and places it back on top of her head again, watching as the skin stitches up and heals itself] You okay there, cheerleader?

Claire: Go to hell.

Candice: Give it a couple minutes, and you might just.

Sylar: Don't suppose you'll let me watch? [or, you know, see what Claire's seeing without being a part of it]

Candice: [glances over before shaking her head] Sorry. This is a private party. But I'm sure you'll be able to hear her scream from the next town over.

Sylar: [is vaguely disappointed, but he supposes he'll get over it. mostly because he's a little, literally high from acquiring a new ability and pretty much nothing could rain on his parade right now] Fair enough.

Candice: [pulls Claire away from the door and tosses her to the side, before opening the door for him. don't worry, he'll get to witness others, but this one is personal.] I'll be out in a bit.

Sylar: Have fun storming the castle. [is going to go find a knife. a really big one. and see what happens when he stabs himself]

Candice: [smirks as she closes the door, and for the next hour or so, all you can really hear coming out of the bathroom are screams and sobs. When she emerges, dusting off her hands, Claire's curled up on the far corner of the bathroom, a sobbing mess]

Sylar: [could write his own self-help book at the end of that hour for how much he's played around with the butcher's knife he found. masochism and you. it hurt like a bitch every time he cut himself and he never really worked up the nerve to do anything fatal, but ... he could also write a book on how good it feels when his skin heals. but at any rate, he puts the knife in the dishwasher when she appears from the bathroom and offers her a wicked smile] Have fun?

Candice: [grins herself] Like a little kid at Disney World.

Sylar: Sounded like it. [tips his head in the direction of the bathroom] How's poor, sweet Claire holding up?

Candice: [gestures] See for yourself.

Sylar: Don't mind if I do. [moves to the bathroom door to assess her work]

Claire: [is lying on the floor, eyes wide and glassy, curled in the fetal position and staring at nothing]

Sylar: [bends down to snap his fingers in front of her face a couple of times, just to see if she'll respond]

Claire: [her head tips towards the sound, but there's no other response. Everything else is blank]

Sylar: Huh. [stands up and moves back out to the kitchen] I have to say I'm impressed.

Candice: I am good at what I do.

Sylar: So I see. [there might be something to this partnership after all. she watched him saw Claire open and didn't squirm or protest or ask to be excused. she's clearly just as sadistic as he is beyond that, if Claire's mental state is any indication. she helped him get his powers back, and while she probably has an ulterior motive, he can't say he's not grateful for that. this could be good] Just keep your powers to yourself when it comes to me.

Candice: That goes both ways. [he comes at her? she'll tear him to pieces]

Sylar: Don't worry. You're safe.

Candice: Good. [takes another loving look at her handiwork, before looking back at him] We better get out of here before Papa Bear gets home.

Sylar Probably. [would like to stick around and kill him, personally, but ... letting him see the mess they made of Claire first and have time to stew over it will make it better. they can come back for Bennet later. or kill him when he most likely comes after them]

Candice: [smirks and starts to stroll out the door ahead of him, heading back towards the car]

Sylar: [follows after her, swinging around to get in the driver's seat when he reaches it. gets in and hotwires the car again, though this time without actually touching anything. maybe he's showing off a little, but he's also trying to flex that proverbial muscle to get it back into shape] Where to?

Candice: [thinks that over for a moment] Well, we need to find people with powers. I think we should find a list.

Sylar: looks somewhere between irritated and amused Mohinder used to have one.

Candice: You know, I don't think we spent nearly enough time with Mohinder. Do you?

Sylar: He made it out without any broken bones. I'd say that's a failed visit.

Candice: We should fix that.

Sylar: We should. [maybe he'll find and kill Nathan Petrelli while they're back in New York, too -- assuming he actually survived Kirby Plaza, anyway -- because all the five hour flights back and forth are starting to get a bit tedious] I bet he missed me. [and that said, he puts the car in drive and heads for the airport, smirking all the way]

Candice: [smirks and leans back in her seat settling in for the drive]