Shades of Gray (Part Seventeen)

Sylar makes it about five floors and stops. He falls to the floor and breathes deeply. "I'll have to... come back... some other day," he says to himself. He struggles back to his feet and heads back down the stairs. He hears some men yelling from the bottom of the staircase, and he turns around.

"Hold it right there."

The voice is chilling and familiar, and Sylar looks up to see who it is. "Bennet."

Noah walks down to Sylar and puts his hand on his gun. "What do you want with Bishop?"

"Why do you need to know? She's not part of your little company anymore," Sylar growls.

"We can't have you killing her. She's valuable."

"Valuable? How is she valuable to you?"

Sylar turns to face the two guards coming up the stairs. He holds out his hand and sends them flying back down. When he turns around, Noah is gone.

"Wow, this pizza's fantastic," Elle grins as she shoves a handful of chips into her mouth.

"Are you always this hungry?" Mohinder asks, with a disgusted look on his face.

Elle smiles and takes a gulp of her beer. "Yes. Why's that so shocking?"

"You're so... tiny."

She laughs and wipes her hands. "I just have a big appetite. That's all."

Mohinder smiles and drinks his beer. Elle looks down at the table and frowns, pushing aside her plate of food.

"Is something wrong?" he asks.

"I still feel kind of sick... I'm gonna head to bed." She smiles at him. "Thanks for dinner."

Elle stands up, goes to her room, and lies down. She stares sadly at the ceiling and starts thinking about Sylar. She sighs and closes her eyes, drifting into a deep sleep.

In the middle of the night, the door slams open, and Elle sits up almost simultaneously. Mohinder jumps out of bed and grabs the gun sitting on his nightstand. He backs up to the door and slowly pushes it open.

"Mohinder?" Elle yells.

He ignores her and pokes his head out the door, to see his front door wide open. Elle gets out of bed and wraps herself up in a sweatshirt. She cautiously opens the door and looks around.

"Elle," a voice whispers from her bathroom.

"Mohinder?"

She turns around and slowly makes her way to the bathroom. She pushes the door open and sees a tall man standing at her mirror.

"Sylar?" she says carefully.

She can see a smile form on his dark face, and he steps into the light coming from the hall. He takes her hands and kisses her, and she smiles. "You came back," she says gleefully.

"Of course I did." He kisses her again.

Mohinder walks into the main room and looks around. "Elle?" He walks into her room to see no one there, and notices that all of her things are missing. He throws the gun at the wall angrily and sits at his desk. "How does he do that?" he yells.

Elle and Sylar walk down the street, holding hands. Elle remains silent, and Sylar begins to worry. "Elle, is something wrong?"

She shakes her head. "I think I'm sick."

He frowns. "Do you need some medicine?"

"I probably should get something... just in case." She looks down the street and sees a small store with the lights on. "Give me some cash and I'll go get it. You get us a taxi." She holds out her hand.

Sylar reaches in his pocket and pulls out twenty bucks, and hands it to her. "Are you sure you don't just want me to get it?"

She smiles. "I'm fine. I'll do it."

Sylar smiles and kisses her cheek. She walks into the store and grabs a couple bottles of medicine, and goes to check out. She stops and looks at one of the dirty shelves, and holds out her hand to pick up a pregnancy test. She stops herself and shakes her head in disbelief. Before walking away, she sighs and throws it into her basket.

"Good evening," the clerk says nicely as she checks her out. "$18.95."

She hands her the bill and smiles. "Thanks. Keep the change."

Before leaving the store, Elle takes the test out of the bag and shoves it in her pocket. She hurries over to Sylar, who's waiting at a cab.

"Was that enough?"

"Perfect," she says as she hops in the taxi. "So, are we staying at a hotel?"

"Yeah. But a nice one. Unlike the motel in Mexico."

They go to the hotel and take the elevator up to their room. Sylar lays down on the bed and Elle walks into the bathroom, and locks the door behind her. She empties out the medicine onto the counter and stares at herself in the mirror. She slowly reaches into her pocket and pulls out the pregnancy test.

"This is silly," she whispers to herself.

She takes the test and sits on the toilet lid, furiously shaking the stick.

"Are you okay?" Sylar yells from the bedroom, where he's watching TV.

She gulps and nods. "Yes, sweetie. I'm fine," she lies.

Elle stares at the test as the image starts to develop, and throws her hand over her mouth, trying not to let out a gasp. She throws it into the trash can and covers it with tissues and the plastic bag. She opens the door and sits down next to Sylar on the bed, frowning.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" he asks worriedly.

"No," Elle grunts as a tear rolls down her cheek.

He turns to face her and takes her arms. "What's wrong, Elle?"

She shakes her head and squints, trying to hold in the tears.

"Elle. You need to tell me what's wrong," he demands.

"I'm so so sorry..."

"What is it? I won't be mad," he promises.

"I'm pregnant."