damned_institute | Day 32: Cafeteria, Breakfast

Sylar's gears were still turning as the nurse and a burly orderly escorted him down long halls and through a strange, sunlit room. He'd been forced to drop his pen when the orderly had seen it, and since then, he'd realized that this place had better security than he'd originally anticipated, as well as a large population of patients. It looked like he'd have to bide his time for now, pretending to be this 'Zachary Blaine' and trying to figure out how the hell he'd gotten here.

His mind went over and over the events in Mohinder's lab, tracing every second that led up to his unconsciousness. According to the computer logs and the decked-out loft, Mohinder was working for the Company now, so had that woman with the electricity been an operative? Was this all a Company front? Even so, it didn't make sense for them to drop him off somewhere without any close supervision. They knew how dangerous he was. How special he was.

But right now, his abilities had been nullified and he was left only with the option of playing along. It was a very good thing that it was something he excelled at, even with his sudden loss of the cure clouding his thoughts and telling him to do something drastic.

Still, it was fun to take ahold of strings and let someone think they were pulling him when in fact he was the puppetmaster. Who knew? Maybe he could find a new toy now that his last one had worn out.

Sylar took his syrup-covered waffle to a table and tried to keep track of both the security and the people flooding in. Soon, he'd find an opening, a weak link he could exploit. It was only a matter of time.

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The look on Diva's face wasn't a reassuring one. And he suspected that she wasn't being entirely truthful when she said she didn't know her attacker's name, but he decided not to push the subject. He had some information to go off of, and the bulletin board seemed to be a pretty good way of finding people.

At his question about her children, she visibly withdrew. Her reply indicated memory loss of some kind. He shook his head. "I don't know about your kids. I'm sorry," he said. Maybe some of the people here really were crazy and needed mental help. His impression of Diva was certainly shifting in that direction.

She sighed. Because what else was there to do when all her life she’d been hounded by humans who all claimed to know what they were doing, what they were fighting for, and yet not one single human could tell her anything about her babies. How stupid. Diva could have killed each of them for their ignorance--she certainly had no reservations over that--but the fact that there wasn’t even a hint of dishonesty made her restless for her Chevaliers.

Turning her head, her gaze roamed over the various faces in the crowd.

As members of the Red Shield knew, Diva wasn’t like her sister at all. Part of the difference lay in her dependence on her Chevaliers. She had mothered them, and yet Diva was still the child that they looked after. She didn’t know how to take care of herself, and short of attacking the human across from her, she didn’t know how to go about finding those two little wide-eyed children.

Jeez, she hated this place so much!

Leon followed Diva's gaze out across the cafeteria. "Is he here?" he asked quietly. He looked back at Diva, his gaze intense. "I won't let him attack you again. Don't worry."

He paused, then continued speaking, a bit awkwardly. "Try not to worry about your kids too much... I'm sure they're being taken care of. Maybe they'll come visit you again?" He liked to think that he'd gotten better at the whole comforting routine after dealing with Ashley. He'd been quite good at not telling her exactly what kind of mortal danger they were in. Sure, she'd picked up on a lot of that herself, but he'd done his best to be reassuring and calm. He could do that same thing here.

"No," she burst out, because if her daughters weren’t with her, were with that boy instead, the one from the Zoo... the one who’d said she’d never see them again... then they weren’t going to be safe. "This is just another place where they’ll cut you up and experiment on you! They aren’t going to be toys for them." Her gaze snapped back to Leon, and Diva narrowed her eyes, suddenly irritated. Any insinuation that her children were all right being away from her touched on her violent temper.

She’d killed humans for less.

Biting her bottom lip, she looked more like an upset child. She didn't want the nurses to stick her with more sedatives if she jumped the table to kill him!

Leon shifted away from Diva at her sudden, angry outburst. "Sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to upset you." Damn. Guess he wasn't as good at being reassuring as he'd thought.

He decided to keep quiet for a bit, rather than risk angering her again. If she got too upset, they'd attract the attention of the nurses, and he certainly didn't want that.

She continued to nibble her lip, tilting her head so that silky strands of hair slipped over her shoulder. Her expression was open, looking like she were considering his apology. Or considering her outburst like someone capable of guilt or tact might. But, naturally, it was for neither of those reasons: seeing him shift away was a small reassurance, thinking that somehow Leon just knew and was frightened of her as most things were.

That, she understood. Her superiority apparently reinforced through his body posture and apology, Diva let her attention slip from the imagined insult.

"Now you understand, I just can’t let anything happen to that precious life. Even if I don't know where they are now and there’s dozens against me." She was a mother, after all, and she’d do anything for her family. It was something worth telling, even to a human. "So you’ll tell me if you find out anything at all?"

Leon nodded, not quite following what Diva was saying. "Of course," he agreed. "If I hear anything at all, I'll let you know." Information on the visitors might be useful to him, too. He'd have to ask Hitsugaya or Rangiku about it. Or maybe Javert. He had a whole list of things to investigate today... hopefully he'd get the time to do so.

Hee, that worked out so well, then!

Diva let a soft laugh of delight escape her, before she smiled warmly. "Thank you." Of course, he was human, and Diva being extra thoughtful to follow her Chevaliers’ suggestions didn’t make him any less susceptible to her penchant for bloody havoc, but following Diva’s whims usually allowed for a longer lease. The humans who all worked for Amshel and had actually met her knew that.

She thought this one would also make a good Chevalier, but those surprises would have to wait for night. Weighing things in her head--not something she was used to doing--made her think to wait until the best possible moment.

Leon smiled. She seemed to be doing a bit better, now. He took a few bites of his breakfast, then realized that Diva hadn't gotten any food. "Are you hungry?" he asked. "You ought to eat something. It'll help you get better quicker." He glanced at the bandages on her neck and arms again. He had to find out who'd attacked her like that. He couldn't just let someone get away with it!

"That’s right," she said with a whimsical smile, but made no move to get up and visit the cafeteria line. Diva found the suggestion quite funny--a secret piece of knowledge that she had, and he didn’t. "I’m going to dine late, though."

Was she hungry? Should she eat something? All very kind offers made to a creature that drank human blood to survive.

Diva wondered if Saya-neesama ever found it as quaint as she did.

Day 32: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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