damned_institute | Day 35: South Street

It was strange to see a young woman wandering off on her own, but maybe she was the introverted type. Peter wondered if they should call out to her and see if she needed some company, but it wasn't like he wanted to be patronizing. It would have been understandable during nightshift, but the girl hardly needed protection in a town like this.

Speaking of which, the town was pretty unbelievable. It felt more like a movie set to Peter - he just couldn't believe places like this actually existed. That probably had to do with the fact that he'd been born and bred in New York, though, and he didn't want to be ignorant about it.

Still, this street didn't have much to offer so far, but at least that meant he could start explaining last night's events to Brooklyn. "Well," he started, "you've heard about how people can get brainwashed, right?" Brooklyn would most likely figure it out from there, but hopefully he would be able to see that what had happened hadn't been too bad, seeing how Peter's mood was fine enough.

"Yeah, I've seen it." More than once, he believed. Brooklyn frowned. That was probably the worst thing he'd seen during nightshift. Monsters and creepy crawlies were bad enough, but forcing someone to act against their will was unforgivable. That poor Danny kid...

The incident with Goliath and the Cloisters came to mind, and he quickly shook off the thought. He didn't want to dwell on that. Then there was his possession by Coldsteel, and thinking of that nearly caused him to shudder. Brooklyn was very much against the brainwashing.

He watched Peter instead. He didn't sound upset. "Happen to someone you know?"

"Actually," Peter said, making sure to keep moving even though there wasn't much to see, "it happened to me." He let out a brief laugh to once again make sure that the younger man wasn't alarmed, but he knew that it sounded bad, and the persisting head pain was also making certain that he couldn't forget the way his mind had been toyed with last night.

"It was all right, though. I... I didn't really hurt anyone too badly, and I was actually able to save some people." Peter liked to think that it meant that his need to be a hero surpassed his need to be... well, something else, but he wasn't about to get full of himself, either. He knew that when he had first discovered his powers, he had been quick to step into the role of a hero, and sometimes it hadn't always turned out the way it should have.

He was going to have to be more careful. With his powers, it was far too easy for something that was meant to help backfiring in the end.

Brooklyn's eyes widened in surprise. For someone who'd been under the Institute's control just the night before, Peter was taking things surprisingly well. Perhaps it was because, as he'd said, he hadn't caused anyone any real harm. He obviously felt the need to talk about it, however. It could be he didn't want to come to terms with it just yet.

Who was he kidding? Brooklyn wasn't any good at psychoanalyzing.

His expression became one of concern. "Sure you're okay?" He still didn't know what it was that Peter did exactly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Peter quickly assured the other patient. "I mean, my head kind of hurts, but other than that I should be all right. The thing that's really bothering me is..."

He paused, still feeling some paranoia about the fact that Sylar was here and could be hiding around any corner. He knew it was silly, but he still made sure to glance around and make sure no one was watching them. This place was pretty empty, so it should be safe to talk about the villain. Besides, Sylar didn't have super hearing anymore -- if they had any luck at all, anyway.

"I ran into this guy I know -- well, I don't really know him, but we've crossed paths before. Anyway, he's really dangerous, and while I'm pretty sure he just had his powers back temporarily like I did? He's still a big threat." Peter gave Brooklyn a serious, worried look; the kind of look he imagined Nathan tried to give him in times of need. Peter was used to being the younger brother, but he was concerned for the teen now.

"You should be even more careful, all right?" Peter didn't want to think about what his rival was up to right now, what he might be scheming. Even though Sylar was much less of a threat when he was powerless, Peter still worried. Sylar just wasn't someone who could be taken lightly.

"Someone you know?" Brooklyn frowned. He'd still not run into any of his clan, or any enemies of his clan. Was there a reason he was the only one? "What's his name? And what's he look like, so I can watch out for him?" If the gargoyle had run into someone like Demona, or one of the Pack memebers, he would be sure to point it out to Peter as well, so he was grateful for the heads up.

"At least I'm armed now," he reminded his friend. True, he wasn't a hundred percent sure how to use his new weapons and he'd given his shovel to his new roommate, but it was something. "What's this guy do?"

As they continued walking, Peter noticed they were passing the backs of some stores, but they still hadn't come across a store they could actually enter. It was like this was the back end of the town, which just showed how small it really was.

"He goes by Sylar, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's using a different name here." There was no way the villain would toss his name around now that he knew he had enemies in this place. That would have made it particularly easy to track him down (and to warn people about him), but Peter was going to have to rely on a physical description for now.

"He's got dark hair, around my color, though a bit shorter than mine, and really thick eyebrows. He's usually got some facial hair, too, but just a five o' clock shadow. His voice is usually really calm, and... I dunno, he's just pretty creepy in general." It probably wasn't the best description, but Peter figured the comment about the eyebrows would help, seeing how much they stood out. Peter wondered if he would be able to sketch a picture, but he was pretty sure he only had artistic ability when he was painting or drawing the future, and there was no way he could do that here.

"He takes powers, but not just by absorbing them like I do. He has to get a person's brain to get their power, and you can imagine how that ends." Peter held back a shudder at the memory of having his skull sawed open. He was so lucky to have met Claire.

"He eats brains??" Brooklyn stopped in his tracks, speaking a bit louder than he probably should have been. Catching himself, he quickly lowered his voice just a little. "Like a zombie?" He held both arms straight out in front of him, the only way he knew how to pantomime the undead he'd seen on the occasional late night B movie. The concept sounded ridiculous even to him.

The description of Sylar was somewhat generic, but he tucked it away for later. He'd just have to be careful about what men he ran into at night. Or during the day, for that matter. "I don't know if I really have a 'power' he could steal, though. I mean... being a different species isn't exactly the same as being able to zap people with lazers from my eyes."

"Well, I don't know if he eats them," Peter responded with a quick laugh, giving a crooked smile at Brooklyn's zombie impression. His expression got somewhat nervous after that, though. Who was to say that Sylar didn't eat them? But it seemed so ridiculous, and how would ingesting someone's brain give you their power? Then again, he simply got people's abilities by being around them, so anything was possible.

Still, Peter really hoped Sylar wasn't so crazy that he resorted to cannibalism. He just wasn't sure if he could put it past the man. Straight-out asking him about it wasn't really a possibility, though.

He nodded when Brooklyn brought up his lack of a power. "Yeah, that means you're probably in the clear. Still, I don't think he would mind killing you if it was a means to an end. Just... be careful, okay?" He was sure that Brooklyn was doing his fair share of that already, but there was no reason why he shouldn't drill it a little further into his head, especially since there could be countless others like Sylar around.

"Good to know..." Brooklyn muttered. The thought of someone running about that cut open people's heads to eat their brains was creepier than anything he'd run into at the Institute so far. Doing anything to people's brains was beyond crazy, but eating them would bring it to a new level.

"I'll be as careful as I can be," he assured Peter. A movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Had that girl up ahead just waved at them? Well, she hadn't stopped to get their response. Too late now.

He sighed. "I just hope I never get brainwashed myself. Talk about undoing gargoyle sympathy before it starts..."

Peter had also caught the girl's gesture back toward them, and he couldn't help smiling. It seemed that she was friendly enough to not ignore the only two people who had been walking behind her. Maybe he would sit with her sometime if he ever saw her alone back at the institute, just because.

"All right, good. I'm going to try and warn more people about him using the bulletin board. I just hope people take it seriously." He was sure that if he gave enough information, people would realize that it was no joke. Then again, Sylar was bound to see it as well, but Peter was willing to take the risk. The man was already out for his head, so it didn't really matter.

Peter raised an eyebrow at Brooklyn's last comment. It was strange to have the word 'gargoyle' mentioned again, though he also knew that it was who Brooklyn was, even if it didn't seem that way now. He had to be respectful, but he was still confused by the statement. "What do you mean?"

One of Brooklyn's eyebrows quirked up at Peter's question. Somehow he didn't think the man was really getting the whole mental image. "If you saw a man-sized creature in the Institute with dark red skin, wings, horns, and claws, and it was going after other patients, would you think for a moment that it might be a patient itself or would you attack first and ask questions later?"

The gargoyle sighed, running a hand through a few loose strands of hair. "We're not exactly well accepted in the modern day, despite the fact that we live to protect people. I'd set the image of a monster in people's minds before they ever ran into one if they got free of this place."

It didn't help that most people tended to think the worst of them even when they were trying to be helpful. Actually causing real damage could end up disastrous.

It looked like he had inadvertently touched at a sore spot, and Peter sent his friend a sympathetic glance. "Yeah, that does sound like it would be rough. I... it's hard for me to really imagine it. I mean, having powers like mine means that I'm sure I'd get my share of strange looks, but it's nothing compared to what you have to go through."

Peter tried to come up with an idea of what Brooklyn really looked like, but he got the feeling his mental image wasn't very accurate. Either way, he felt pretty guilty knowing that he would have attacked Brooklyn without a second thought if he had run into him in his regular form. At least Peter had some idea of what the teen looked like now, in case that ever did happen.

In the end, though, he did feel like they could relate to each other for wanting to help and only getting hated for it. Then again, seeing how Peter had almost killed all of New York, he could understand why people would be after him and trying to condemn him, or at least capture him and make sure he never saw the light of day again. It was still depressing, though.

They needed to find a new topic of discussion. Peter glanced ahead and spotted an odd building on the right side - the first one they had encountered so far. "What's that...?"

"What, besides a building?" Brooklyn didn't mind a change in subject, but there was nothing all that special about the place Peter was pointing out. New York had plenty of abandoned buildings scattered about. Heck, he and his brothers had hidden out in several of them. Even a town this size was bound to have one or two.

It didn't look like much of a hideout for villains, either. Though, perhaps small town villains had different tastes when it came to that sort of thing. They could have their base in the local antique shop for all he knew.

He squinted at it in the bright light of mid-day. "I dunno. Were you wanting to check it out?"

"Maybe? It's the first building we've even run into on this street." Though chances were that there was nothing to be found there. It looked pretty run-down, so it would probably be a waste of time when it came down to it.

Except at the same time, it kind of stood out. It was here all on its own, and what was the harm in poking their heads in and seeing what there was? This town might have some sort of connection to the institute, so who knew if there were some secrets hidden around?

He didn't want to force Brooklyn to do anything, though. "Or we could try one of the other streets that actually had some stores on them," he said with a wry smile. They had sort of picked a dud by trying to be different, hadn't they? Well, at least they had gotten the chance to talk and catch up with each other.

"Hey, no, that's cool. Let's check it out." It's not like they had anything better to do, really, aside from using their coupons. Brooklyn had just eaten something of a breakfast, so he supposed he'd be good for a while, and he didn't particularly care for a massage or a manicure. So why not explore some old building?

He wondered if it'd be like one of those kids shows, where the children snuck onto some property they thought was abandoned only to find some old guy living there ended up telling them fun stories of his youth. That sounded like something he could deal with.

Or it could be full of rats and mildew. This was far more likely.

"It'll only take a second, right?" Then they could get back onto the main street and see if there was anything of interest around there, though Peter was getting the feeling that this was all just a huge distraction.

Then again, he couldn't exactly oppose the change of pace. He hadn't even been in the institute for as long as some of the others, and he could already appreciate getting a chance to move around and get some real fresh air without having to worry about getting attacked. There was the Courtyard and the Recreational Field, but at least this town was more interactive than that.

He approached the debilitating building, frowning as he looked it over. If it had been nighttime, this would have been pretty creepy, actually. Now that they were close enough, he could see that the doors and windows were boarded up, but maybe they would be able to peer through the cracks...

Brooklyn popped his head over Peter's shoulder, more curious now that they were actually closer to the place. Sure, it was interesting, but there wasn't a whole lot to it aside from being an abandoned building. No signs of supernatural activity. Nothing.

The gargoyle glanced back towards the street. The orderlies and nurses had been keeping a pretty close watch on them all so far. Did they have any eyes on them now? It wasn't going to be any good if they were caught and dragged away from the scene because it was off limits.

"Think we're clear to, you know, take a closer look?"

"Well, it doesn't look like we can get inside..." Peter frowned, noticing how Brooklyn had glanced back and starting to feel a little more panicked. Though he wasn't sure why he was so worried about the nurses, but he also wasn't looking to get sedated. "Unless we tried to break the door down, but that doesn't seem like a good idea."

He shrugged it off and moved around to one of the windows, bending down so he could peer through the wooden boards and get a glimpse of the inside.

"I don't see much of anything in there," he admitted, feeling bad that he had insisted since it was turning out to be a dead end. They really shouldn't have been wasting their time like this, but could he really be faulted for being curious?

"Hmm..." The gargoyle stared at the structure, more curious now than he'd been before they got up closer to it. Peter was right, though. Any entry would have to be forced, and that wouldn't go over well with the Landel's staff. If they didn't see them now, they'd certainly hear them trying to break in. With the size of this town, a good many people would.

"What about the back?" Brooklyn asked suddenly. He left the other man's side and began making his way around the building. It probably wasn't any different than the front, but there couldn't be much harm in checking it out.

Peter glanced up when he realized Brooklyn was starting to move. While he knew he should follow him, he spent a little longer trying to angle himself so that he could get the best view of the inside. No matter how he looked at it, though, it was impossible to deny that the place looked completely empty and completely ordinary. Nothing special here. He had obviously been expecting too much.

With a sigh, he stood and started after his friend, hoping that nurses weren't watching and wouldn't get upset about them being so interested in this random building. "Find anything?" he asked as he trailed the younger man. He wasn't crossing his fingers at this point. Maybe both of them had watched too many movies that worked like this. Then again, Peter's life had been pretty similar to a movie these days. He could fly, for God's sake.

Celes stopped at a building in disrepair and looked up at it, curious that the rest of the town seemed so very different. No matter, she would not bother to investigate something that could very well get her killed in the daylight. There were still so many other things to do. The general flipped long strands of blonde hair off her shoulders, and felt the cool air bite where it was now exposed. She turned the corner and chanced a look at the two men behind her, offering them a rare, if somewhat chilly, smile.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/447260.html?thread=36557852#t36557852)]

Day 35: South Street

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