Shades of Gray

After his drastic change in personality, Sylar was able to lie to others, and even convince himself of lies more. Constantly, the line between fiction and reality was dimming, and this conversation was evidence of that.

"Yeah. After dad left, I took over the shop," he continued before sipping some more of his tea. Alison had just finished the last of her cup before walking over to the sink, setting the cup in it.

"Are you still running it?" She asked curiously, before sitting back down at the small table. Gabriel shook his head no. "I've been traveling the past couple of years. I took some of my savings money and went to Texas, Vegas even," he explained. Half lies are a gift, Sylar thought to himself.

Alison looked up with interest. Traveling? That's unconventional. At least for Gabriel, she thought to herself, naively. "How was all of it?" She asked, wanting to hear more. "Interesting," he said briefly, with a slight snort. Waking up in front of Bennett's eyes at Primatech certainly was interesting, at best, he remembered.

Alison raised an eyebrow, but questioned no more. Another question presented itself in reminder; could she lodge with him for the rest of her stay?. Sure, Alison could be with her parents. But besides the fact that she felt that she owed it to Gabriel, she wanted to catch up with him, from her own motivation. Spend time together. He couldn't mind that much, could he?

"Gabriel?" called Alison. He turned around to her. While she was lost in her thoughts, he was standing in front of the sink, rinsing out his glass. "Can I stay with you? For the week, I mean," She inquired. "Why?" Sylar asked, seeming rather defensive.

"So we can talk. And I mean. Who do you think I'd rather spend more time with? My parents, or my best friend?" Alison replied, stating her case. "Yeah, well are you sure we're best friends? You're the one who hasn't been here for six years," He interjected, angrily. Alison could have sworn it felt like the whole room was shaking. But it had been a long time since she had seen Gabriel this angry.

"Yeah, and you're the one who got angry because I 'wasn't there'," Alison replied, letting what Gabriel had said, get to her. He looked at her with mild astonishment. "Look. I'm trying to make an effort to get things where they used to be, between us, at least. I never meant for this to be so personal to you. You had to have known I would always come back," She explained, a sound of desperation barely sliding into her voice.

"You give yourself too much credit. I'm not as incomplete, as dead as you think I am without you, he thought, when in reality, that statement was further from the truth than California is from Florida.

"You can stay," Sylar stated. He was going to warn her not to go looking around too far, but he realized that would only ignite her curiosity, and make his demise arrive sooner than it should. Alison smiled widely and hugged Gabriel briefly. "Thanks Gabriel. Thanks a lot," She said while letting go, and looking up at him.

He knew he had just made her year, so he decided to smile, at least awkwardly. Just another sign that reality and fiction had become entwined.