Sylar blinked, and the sun rose. That moment was gone.

As he sat up on the uncomfortable metal bench where he'd spent the night, ignoring the pain that throbbed in his torso, he wondered just what he'd been thinking when he dragged the young woman from her bed in order to join him on his journey--whatever that was now.

He didn't regret it, per se, but now that he really thought about it, she could be a problem. She could get in the way, she could get hurt...

What she any better off with him, than with her family? He frowned, thinking about that question. Yes, she was safer with him. He could take better care of her than anyone else, and he would--unless she gave him reason enough to kill her. Her power was tempting, and he'd already stopped himself from taking it while she slept. Why didn't he just take it now and get her out of the way?

His jaw tightened as he closed his eyes. He didn't want to hurt her. She'd helped him. She'd shown him compassion. Before and after she knew the truth about him. No one had done that before. He was a monster in everyone's eyes. Everyones eyes but hers.

Standing up, Sylar stretched the kinks from his aching muscles and sighed, looking over at the bench beside his, "Wake up."

"Already am." Autumn replied, sitting up and yawning, "I have been for hours."

He raised an eyebrow, "Not used to sleeping on sidewalk benches?"

"Not really." She swung her legs over the side of the bench and stood up, sighing softly, picking up her backpack and silently following him as he walked. He heard her yawn behind him, and she picked up a jog in order to catch up beside him, "Hey Sylar..."

"Yes?"

"Not that I don't trust you or anything like that, but...do you have any idea as to what we're going to do?"

He glanced down at her, eyebrow raised, his hands twitching, "About what?"

"Us--this situation, I mean. Where are we going? What are we going to do?" She shook her head, "I wasn't even thinking about all that when I jumped out the window with you. But I've never been one to plan ahead, so..."

"I don't plan." He replied sternly, "We don't plan. We see what happens, and go where we can. Plans get ruined all the time. It's best to just...go."

She nodded, "True. But what if..."

"Autumn!" He snapped, feeling his hands curl into tight fists as he stared down at her. His torso still throbbed, he hadn't gotten enough sleep either, and truth be told...his urge was back in full force. He thought he had it under control, but every time she looked at him or spoke to him, it took everything he had to keep it at bay.

He couldn't kill her. He was not going to kill her.

"There isn't time for what ifs and..."

"Sylar, shut up and listen--we need to get somewhere stable, and soon. You can act as big and as bad as you want, but you're still injured, and you've still got a long way to go. You could drop dead in the next five minutes for all I know. You probably needed...surgery. I'm not a doctor, but I know you need rest. And dozing on a metal bench doesn't count!"

He stared her for a full minute, merely smirking. She was so much like him, yet at the moment, she was irritating him beyond belief.

"Alright. No more metal benches." He grimaced in pain, his hand flying to his wound as he sucked in a deep breath, "Any ideas?"

"Yeah. I know the perfect place."

---

Melony's imminent reaction of sadness and worry were both immediately replaced by anger and frustration, and it took Peter and Mohinder half the night to talk her out of storming the streets of New York looking for Sylar.

Waking up the next morning, her anger still burned, but she managed to push it aside as she sat up in bed and saw Peter sitting, asleep, in the chair beside her.

She shook her head as she stared at him, wondering why he cared so much--not that she was complaining. But she worked for his brother, and Peter didn't have to do half the things he had. He didn't even have to acknowledge her. But he did.

And she was grateful for that.

She tried her best to maneuver her way out of bed without waking him up, but as soon as her feet hit the floor his eyes popped open and he sat up, gazing at her with sleep-fogged brown eyes, "Hey...you're awake."

She smiled, "I'm sorry Peter, I didn't mean to wake you."

He shook his head, yawning, stretching as he stood up, "No, I should've been up hours ago." He said, glancing at his watch, "Although work is the last thing I should be worried about. How are you?"

She shook her head, "Fine, I guess." Shrugging, she walked over to where he stood, looking up at him, "I'm sick of worrying. I feel like I should be...doing something."

She ran her fingers through her hair, sighing in disgust, and Peter placed his hands gently on her shoulders.

"Hey, it's gonna be ok." He smiled softly, "Me and Mohinder--we're gonna get everything under control, I promise." He sighed, "We should've already had things under control. We thought Sylar was dead, we never thought to make sure...we just assumed. This shouldn't be happening to you. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Peter."

"Yeah, you don't know me, very well, do you? I feel like everything's my fault. But this--this is something I could've prevented. Something I was supposed to prevent. This time, I'm stopping it. Do you understand? If I have anything to do with this, we're going to find Sylar and your sister, and then he'll be out of your lives forever."

Melony continued to stare up at him, a dazed smile on her lips. He was like a superhero, ready and waiting to save her every time she needed it. She hated thinking something as juvenile as that, but it was the truth. She just hoped he wouldn't do something stupid. This Sylar guy sounded like a real piece of work--a psychotic piece of work at that--and the fact that her sister was now in his hands made her burn with anger. Though she wasn't sure if it was directed all at him--a part of her wasn't entirely sure if Autumn was kidnapped, or if she left on her own accord. With the events of the past few days, nothing would surprise her now.