Evelyn's brain struggled to make sense of what was happening, as memories overlapped with reality. She could see the monster coming closer, the growl rumbling under her hands. It felt real, but so did the flowers she was smelling and the paints she was holding in the memories that flickered through her mind... Focus... She clutched the sai tighter, breathing ragged as the fumes from the burning vehicle caught in her throat. The claws reached forward, and she readied to act---

Then something flashed through the air, and Tses was left staring at the monsters chest as blood went everywhere. A startled cry of surprise escaped her mouth as the sight burned itself into her memory. There was no time to deal with it though as Sylar victorious joke was made, and he collapsed. Up above, sirens continued to wail.

"Sylar? Sylar!" Evelyn whimpered, pushing herself to her feel and reaching out to the injured monster. He was breathing, but he wasn't moving and she glanced around in panic. She had to get him out of here and to the surface... The nearest ladder was still fairly far away. Injured leg, injured shoulder, she wasn't sure she could make it, but she had to try. Looping one arm under each of his arm pits she mustered what energy she had left and started to pull him towards the exit. While he was taller, he was thankfully fairly lean which made him easier to pull. She could feel the texture of the plating of his exoskeleton under her hands, and the echoes could see the damage and burns in the little light available.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to hurt you more..." She apologized softly as she pulled, trying not to cry as pain tore through her shoulder, blood running down her back and arm. Each step felt like a mile as she staggered towards the exit, finally reaching the ladder and collapsing at the base. "Help! Someone!" She yelled up to the open light, and a familiar looking face appeared. It was the man she'd pulled from the car. "Someone, he's hurt, I can't get him out myself..."

"He's a monster! I saw the two of them fighting! They caused all this! We should just leave him down there!" Accused the man, pointing at Sylar in disgust. Evelyn felt anger boil in her gut as she forced herself to her feet and screamed back up at him.

"He's not a monster, and you are GOING to get someone to help him, or I will climb up there and drag one of you down here myself," she snarled. The man backed away and Evelyn found herself helplessly staring at the light. At first, she thought no one would come, then slowly, a fireman appeared, and a gurney was lowered. Together they managed to get Sylar back to the surface, while police and pedestrians glared accusingly at the figure. Evelyn stood by him protectively, chin set and daring anyone to act. Sylar might have protected her from the monsters in his world, but she was protecting him from the ones in hers.

"M'am, you need to get medical attention. If you'll come with us..."

"No, I'm not leaving without him, and the only place we're going is to the mansion." She shot a glare at the cops nearby, then a hopeful look at the one fireman who'd taken their side. He seemed to hesitate, then slowly reached for the radio. A police ride, and some panicked explaination to DocProf later, and Sylar was getting help. Only then did Evelyn collapse, leaving the doctor with two patients and a lot of unanswered questions.

(Blue text is being used for NPC Police officers)

Sylar's body was totally drained, he'd used everything he had and more to function at this level. A true mutant fight was far different than just being agile or evasive, the power he had exerted here, was frightening. If Sylar could do this fighting something, imagine what he could do if he was simply mad at the world? Either way the boy was barely conscious at this point, hearing a soft murmur in the distance...was it Evelyn? He could feel movement, he was being dragged it seemed. Probably away from the destruction and fire.

The movement stopped, and Sylar could sense the open air of the surface, people were above him. This was bad, he could barely think let alone escape, and now the normals had found him. Frankenstein's monster found by the angry mob, he knew how that went. Sylar could hear the words, but they were jumbled in his thoughts, unable to process them. The word monster was the only one he recognized, a familiar term that had been applied to him with hate, disgust, and sometimes even with reference. However he could hear Evelyn's tone, she was frantic and in pain, his fault for not going all out from the start. He would owe her an apology after he could move again.

As Sylar was strapped into a gurney and set inside an ambulance, one of the officers finally realized something. He'd heard about the monster of New York, a creature everybody saw sometimes, reported many times, but had never been caught. He whispered to another officer "Isn't that it? That's the Boogeyman everybody talks about." The two officers discussed the sewer boy, and his connections to a massive string of break ins going back a few years recently. The cop who had recognized Sylar approached the ambulance to discuss it with the driver. "That monster could be the serial burglar that's been plaguing general stores for the past few years, We're going to send a cruiser with you. That Mansion has ties with a lot of people, including the department but if they're harboring a wanted criminal there's going to be some serious issues we need to discuss. Don't let it out of your sight till the backup arrives." The driver nodded, before heading off to the Mansion.

Meanwhile inside the ambulance the EMT tried his best to check out Sylar, but the boy's mutation made certain things tricky. Parts of his body were encased with some kind of carapace, his eyes were infected with some kind of black growth, and his muscles felt like they'd been transplanted from a thoroughbred race horse, just what the heck was this kid? As he tried to examine Sylar the boy finally stirred.

He could barely move, but he hissed at the men in the ambulance, he knew how weak he was now, but he had to try and keep them away. Humans were dangerous only when they knew you were weak, he had to get away, find somewhere to sleep and recover. But the boy was still far too drained, and could only muster a question. "The girl...still alive?" He mumbled before passing out once more.

While the EMT knew little about Sylar's physiology to help him, DocProf was experienced dealing with mutants. The encasement of carapace mattered little to his powers, and muscle was muscle: they repaired it all. While he couldn't necessarily undo things like blood loss of loss of limbs, broken bones and cuts were all the same. All it took was a little work and he could at least get someone back on their feet. It was a useful skill to have when the x-men always seemed to be getting themselves into one sticky situation or another.

After Sylar passed out it wasn't long before he was transported into the building and to the infirmary, and then DocProf shooed everyone out the door other than the two patients under care. Having one injured person was always easy to handle: you dealt with the biggest injuries then worked from there. But Evelyn and Sylar were both in bad shape, so it would be a tango to work through their injuries.

Evelyn insisted DocProf started with Sylar, perhaps against his better judgement. The blood loss she was facing needed to be stopped as soon as possible, but arguing would only take more time so he started at Sylar's ribs, powers slowly repairing the internal injuries that had taken place there. As images of the injuries replaced the actual damage, his frown gradually deepened, and he tried not to grimace as each piece of the gruesome tale played past. By the time Evelyn had passed out and he moved to deal with her shoulder, however, he pushed past his personal distaste for what occurred, and focused on saving the teen and the trainee.

Injury by injury he worked, mending bones, stopping bleeding, taking breaks as he went to wash away the dried gore that made it difficult to see the actual damage. Burns vanished from Sylar, head injuries went away, then it was only mild cuts and bruises left. With any luck, one of the two would wake up soon.

There were the rustle of footsteps outside the door where the cops still waited. In many ways, DocProf wondered if waking up would be a good thing right now...

Sylar sat on a table, his mind blank as his body was restructure and repaired. As the pain subsided and his body began to work properly again it didn't take long for the boy to regain consciousness. He wasn't aware how much time had passed, usually an injury took days or weeks to heal without a doctor, so perhaps he'd been asleep that long? Sylar quickly sat up on the table, his mind frantic as he tried to piece together what had happened and where he was. He turned to the doctor and with a hiss and a grab of his claws demanded to know who he was, to be replied to by a calm voice and a familiar scent.

This was a doctor's office, one he recognized. But he never went to any doctor...except the time Serena had him stop by to have his bruises checked out. The Mansion? He was at the Mansion and this was their doctor's office. "Er Sorry, head's still a bit jumbled." He apologized as he placed the claw he'd grabbed at the doctor with atop his head, rubbing it. Most of the pain was gone, but he still felt really out of it. Wait, where was Evelyn? He turned quickly to see the girl on a different table, still passed out. She must have managed to bring them both here, strong girl it seemed. Trouble though.

"What happened? I remember the fight but not what came later." Sylar mumbled to himself, as the doctor worked on Evelyn. Sylar's question were cut a bit short though, as he heard some other sounds outside the room. If people were waiting outside they were either curious about the injuries, or interested in the injured people. The doctor answered the obvious new question on Sylar's face. Police, crap this wasn't good. He was stuck in an office in the bowels of the Mansion with two cops waiting to snatch him as soon as he was let from the room. This wasn't a good scenario, if he'd been anywhere else in New York he could just thrash the cops and make a run for it, but if he did that here he'd end up bringing some trouble down on the Mansion.

Sylar continued checking himself out, confirming that each injury he'd gotten was basically fixed, saved for some mild pain and discomfort. Suddenly a knock at the door, the police man was speaking. "Hey, how longs this going to take?" Sylar remained quiet while the doctor told them to be patient. At least the Mansion still had good people he could count on, even if he was nothing but trouble at this point.

Memories swirled through Evelyn's mind as soon as her legs buckled in the mansion infirmary. Blood loss traded places with the adrenaline that had kept her moving, and her exhausted body finally decided enough was enough and let her drop. In her mind though, she was as busy as ever. The memories drifted past and she mechanically relived them.

"It's easier to see the buttons without the polarized lenses... I promise I won't stare at you or something." She was saying. Aiden's body language screamed of his nervous energy. She could have read it even without the echoes.

* * *

As Evelyn moved forward, she struggled to identify what the sound had been up ahead. It seemed familiar, and she felt drawn to it but couldn't quite decide what it was. In her head, there was too much information clamoring. [Fresh baked bread. Purple lights. Ground moving. Chocolates. Disco with bread?] Not helpful! She would have sighed, but then they spoke up more intently as the noise behind her grew louder.

[Hissing approaching. Danger. Recommended course of action run!]

* * *

As the remark came up about her eyes, her smile returned though. "Ah, yeah, they do that sometimes. But few people notice so I usually forget about it. Even in a world of mutants people are quick to dismiss things as tricks in the light." She shrugged, and tucked her sketchbooks against her side.

Then distantly, she heard voices, as consciousness started to pull her forward. Her eyes fluttered open and she groggily put a hand to her head. Her body felt achy all over, and as DocProf came into focus, he looked exhausted. She rolled over slightly, and the echoes brought her attention to Sylar. His face looked worried, worried enough she forced herself to sit up regardless of the nausea.

"Evelyn, take it easy. You've lost a lot of blood." DocProf instructed, but the silver-haired girl shook her head. Or, the once silver-haired girl...the gore and grime still stuck in her locks made it a dirty grey color with bits of dark red clumped in it.

"Cops." Evelyn hissed, the echoes echoing what her mouth was saying. The echoes were too loud, telling too much. She couldn't let the cops take Sylar. This was her fault, not his. "I need to talk with them. Keep working on Sylar."

"But he's--"

"Keep working on him." She hissed as she got to her feet, staggering slightly as she did so. The cut on her leg was gone, but the memories of the pain were still lingering as she moved to the door and stepped outside, shutting it behind her. She forced herself not to lean on it for support, chin lifted up. The cops faced her curiously.

"Officers." She said with a nod of her head, and the cops returned the gesture.

"Miss Summers. I almost didn't recognize you with the..." One of the cops glanced at her hair then coughed and continued. "We haven't seen you at the company banquet with your parents lately. Thought your family had some sort of falling out."

"Some sort, but we've been working past that. Sometimes families just need a little space, don't you think?" The second officer looked away slightly, and the echoes keyed in on his body language. Recently separated from wife.] She turned back to the first officer, letting that thought linger.

"I heard your daughter has been doing well. She got you that tie last Christmas, didn't she? Sweet kid. She's probably what... seven now? Not much older than that little girl that disappeared a while back. If I recall, it was a 'Boogeyman' that brought that girl to your station, wasn't it? Everyone praised you for helping get her home safe, but you might not have been able to do that if someone hadn't found her and brought her back safe. If that was your daughter, I bet you would have been grateful. Sure, maybe that monster wasn't always good. Maybe he stole a thing or two. But would you value your daughter's life above some robberies?" She was pushing boundaries here, and she knew it. She was a trainee with the x-men, she was supposed to help the authorities, maintain order. But she couldn't hand Sylar over to them. Not after what he did.

She dropped her voice, and glanced back at the infirmary. "I will do what I can to make sure that street gets fixed. My parents are still big supporters of your department and this city. The sewer monster has been a legend for years, getting away, evading. I know once he leaves this mansion, bets are off and you will have to do your job. But he chose not to be a criminal once and save a little girl. All I'm asking is you settle that score with him now."

The cops seemed to consider it for a moment, and slowly, first one cop than the other turned away and moved towards the door. The one with the tie reached for his walkie talkie and spoke into it. "Girl is still at the mansion but doctor said sewer monster freaked out and bailed. We're searching the perimeter, but my guess is he's long gone by now." The echoes noted the front door opening and closing and Evelyn finally breathed before sneaking back into the infirmary and sinking into a chair. [Hands shaking.] Whose hands were shaking? [Ours.] Oh.

Sylar felt relieved as Evelyn stirred and eventually got up, even if she was a bit wobbly. As long as she was alive, he hadn't failed in protecting her, and saving a friend. Though he wished they both hadn't been beaten to a bloody pulp. However he wasn't sure what she intended to do by leaving the room to speak to the police. She couldn't detective her way out of Sylar being caught or having to fight his way out could she?

However as his ears picked up on the conversation as it went, he smiled just a bit. He never imagined he'd be happy he stumbled onto that little girl some time ago, but apperently good karma did eventually pay you back. "Clever girl" he thought as she twisted one good deed from his past into a get out of jail free card for tonight. Sylar remained quiet as Evelyn's words continued before finally the officers left the area and the girl returned to the room, drained again as more stress was piled atop her shoulders. Sylar looked at the girl as she sat down to rest in a chair. And a rare moment follow as Sylar smiled at her, an entirely human gesture for the monstrous teenager.

"And they say I'm scary." He stated jokingly. Sylar would be sure not to try and argue with the girl in the future, because clearly she was far better with words than he could hope to be. "I can't believe they bought that and let me go." Sylar was truly surprised his one good deed could save him with how he looked and the amount of damage he caused not just tonight, but over three years as he lived in the sewers as a street criminal.

Hopefully sticking her neck out for Sylar wouldn't come back to bite her in the future, after all Sylar had very few connections with anyone save Roach and his side of the Mutant life. He'd have to tell him they owed a favor to Evelyn at some point, Roach was weird about settling scores sometimes. "You alright Evelyn? Sticking up for me might not do much good ya know." He thought aloud, she lived here at the Mansion after all, these were the good mutant kids and adults, best to not get too mixed up with someone who was a wanted criminal and half the time thought about eating people.

As DocProf moved to clean up the infirmary, Evelyn caught Sylar's smile and gave one in return, a light chuckle in her throat. She shrugged her shoulder and leaned back into the chair with a sigh as he spoke, the surprise in his voice turning into an echo of information in her head. She was relieved that it worked, but she felt like she was standing on a tight rope right now, trying to ever so carefully keep walking. She was supposed to be training to be an x-men. She was supposed to be a good guy. But sometimes, she wondered if that would ever happen. What if Saphirus was right when he first trained with her? What if he saw something in her even she didn't admit back then? Maybe she was too neutral to be an x-men... The reasons she wanted to talk to Sylar in the first place resurfaced in her mind, but she gave a glance at DocProf, and swallowed them back down. For now, she had to work it out on her own.

Sylar's question caught her a bit off guard though, and she gave a crooked smile. DocProf washed his hands in the sink and she shrugged, looking towards the door. "I'll be fine. Sure, it's maybe not the best stamp for my resume as a trainee, but I stick up for my friends, and you wouldn't have been in this mess if it wasn't for me anyway." She flashed a smile, but inwardly, there was that lingering spark of doubt, and Saphirus' accusing words. She took a side. She was supposed to be a good guy. But what type of good guy was she if she let Sylar get arrested for trying to help her and for saving her life? The dizziness she was feeling didn't quite feel like blood loss at this point.

"What about you though? Are you going to be able to get out of here and find somewhere to go?" She said, sitting back up and glancing at him. The echoes studied his behavior and he didn't seem to be too injured to move. She didn't want to kick him out, but she didn't want him to run into more trouble here.

Sylar didn't know to much about this Doctor they had at he Mansion, but he must be amazing to have dealt with both Sylar and Evelyn's injuries so well. Sylar still felt sore, like he'd worked out way too much or something, but everything else was pretty good. He was sturdier than most, but even he knew he'd been beaten up bad tonight. That other creature had been like Sylar's inner beast let free, no mercy or control, just hunger and violence. It was eerie but also it felt kind of good to know he could still beat the beast.

Evelyn mentioned something about being a trainee, for what? Sylar didn't know, but he could always ask in a bit. His smile stuck for a bit, an odd behavior for the monster boy. "You do certainly have a knack for getting into trouble Sherlock. You're lucky I was in the area at all you know." He said, giving a clue that he'd vacated his previous home or at least abandoned that junction. Sylar couldn't read facial expressions through his blindness sadly, which meant missing on cues others might see, though he couldn't see them, he still felt Evelyn was a little different than the last time he'd met her. Though to be fair, he was too. After moving in with Roach, and being trained on how to better manage his inner beast and cravings Sylar started feeling more confident, and a bit more friendly though he was still as awkward and dense as ever.

She asked if he'd be alright in return, and he shrugged. "Sure, I know my way around the Mansion enough to get out. And to be honest, I actually moved above ground recently." Sylar hadn't really been able to talk with any of his few friends since he'd gotten a job and room mates, and well the semblance of a more normal life. "I uh...Well I kind of found a job, and I get paid with room and board. I even get fresh clothes..." Sylar realized his current outfit was probably utterly ruined after that titanic brawl with the Alien, and he sighed. "I"m sure they look terrible now, but this was actually brand new when my Boss got it for me." He ran his claw back atop his head, brushing his hair back and away from his face.

Actually now that they had a moment to talk, he might as well ask. "Were you looking for me down in the junction? I thought you learned your lesson last time, I swear you're a walking disaster Evelyn." His tone wasn't as harsh as it was normally, and he even laughed a bit. The relief of himself and Evelyn not being dead must be getting too him, Sylar was showing far too much of his inner human than he was used to doing.

Evelyn couldn't remember Sylar ever being in such a good mood, but maybe it was just the relief of being alive that was kicking in. They had cut things close this time, closer than she'd like to admit, and she still wasn't sure if it was quiet over, at least for her. Her immune system was fairly good, but only time could tell if all the sewage and grime for the fight would come back to haunt her. DocProf healed the injuries, but sickness was a different thing to fight. She hoped she could just brush it off though. Getting sick would leave a lot more explaining to do, at least with Mirror.

Lucky... she wasn't sure any of this was lucky, but all things considered, it might have been worse, as hard as that was to believe. "Trouble follows the curious..." She shrugged to herself, still trying to shake the chilling images from her head of what transpired.

DocProf drifted out of the room for a moment, and it gave Evelyn a little more leeway to talk. She blinked with a bit of surprise as Sylar spoke about his new living situation, but then the surprise turned into a slight smile. "I'm glad you found someplace you're at least comfortable with. I'm sorry about the clothes though... I just... I was being dumb." She stared at her knees, and then rubbed the back of her neck as he keyed in on the question. She sighed and glanced at the wall. "Yeah, I was looking for you. I know I'm a disaster, but that's kind of why I was trying to find you. You're the only one I thought might get what I was thinking through." She glanced at the door, and the echoes didn't catch the sounds of anyone approaching, so she let herself keep talking.

"I sort of joined the x-men awhile back. And I mean, it's been cool, but part of me still felt like I wasn't exactly walking the line everyone else was. I don't feel...right and wrong like everyone else does. Everyone has good and bad, horns and halos, and I don't know... It was dumb, I know you weren't exactly going to be able to give advice but you were the only person I guess I thought I could admit that too. You've always been good at just being yourself." She shrugged and looked down at her clothing, which was covered in three different mutant's blood. There was a dead mutant in the sewers today, and the scary thing was, she wasn't sure she felt remorse over it.

Evelyn made a statement about her curiosity, stating that trouble followed to which Sylar replied bluntly. "Didn't curiosity kill the cat too?" Though he was riding high on the endorphin's released by not dying, Sylar slowly settled back into his usual pattern. Though he was friendly with Evelyn, he was still that odd boy who didn't quite fit in this civilized backdrop. Evelyn seemed trouble as the Doctor left, as if what she'd been meaning to say had been held back and was coming out just now.

Whatever had been bugging Evelyn, she'd picked an odd friend to turn to Sylar thought. "Well it's more like he found me. He's like me too, he's a giant bug actually. He had to deal with the same...instinct issues I have, he's teaching me to control it." Sylar looked at his claws for a moment, those odd shapes that to his vision looked as human as Evelyn's hands did, but he knew better. He knew the black monster that had devoured his once human hands, but after meeting Roach and Bennu, after learning to accept what he was, these alien hands felt alot more natural. "Being assaulted didn't stop you last time, I doubt it'd ever stop you." He said jokingly, though Evelyn always seemed to be in trouble, she always found a way out. The girl was absurdly clever.

So Evelyn was an X-man now? What exactly was an X-man? Sylar had heard the term but never really figured out what or who they were. Must be some kind of responsibility though, if they had the girl questioning ethics and morals like this. Sylar didn't really get how some people still clung to old human feelings. Mutant life was very different to normal life, and that meant a different interpretation of the world, including what's right and wrong. At least that's how Sylar felt after spending a few years living on his own and moving in with a couple of nut jobs like Roach and Megan. "It's not like we're normal people any more Evelyn, there's more to good and evil than just two sides. At least that's how I feel. I mean killing a mutant isn't something I want to do, ever. But if the choice was that...thing and you? I'm pretty sure I made the right choice."

She claimed Sylar was good at being himself, a statement which kind of sounded confusing? What else could Sylar be? It's funny actually, a few months ago and Sylar was trying to be someone else, a restrained leashed creature hiding from the world. And now he was ok with that beast, learning to control it instead of hiding. Perhaps his new acceptance could help his friend to deal with her own demons. "Should I be anything besides myself?" He said with a bit of a chuckle. "I tried hiding from this..." He said showing off his hands.   
  "But I can't get away from it, and that's ok. And you Evelyn, are cursed with more intelligence and intuition than I'd ever hope for. Maybe you just understand good and bad better than the rest of us. The humans see black and white, and these X-men whatever they are, maybe they can't see it all either. You just see more than the rest of us Evelyn, I imagine it's hard to sort it all out."

Sylar did his best to play the part of a friend, and give what advice he could. Sylar didn't see the world in black and white, there was more to things than just the surface. Was it wrong to steal? Sure, was it wrong to steal to stay alive? No, that was justified. Sylar killed another mutant tonight to save his friend, that was justified too.

As Sylar went on to explain his situation, Evelyn felt her eyebrows raise slightly. When she imagined Sylar getting a roommate, the first thing that came to mind was not a giant bug. She thought she'd seen just about everyone in New York already, but she had yet to cross paths with anyone that matched that description. She wasn't judging if he was helping Sylar though. Instinct was one thing she couldn't exactly give advice on. The only instincts she really had were driven by the echoes, and everyone knew, those instincts sort of sucked in a general manner.

"You seemed like you were doing better with your mutation... from what I saw, at least. I mean, you didn't try to eat me when it was said and done, so that's a good thing, right?" Bad joke, awkward joke. Thankfully, the conversation had drifted from there.

>>"It's snot like we're normal people anymore..."

Right, like she ever was normal to begin with. She listened to what he said though and gave a grateful smile when he stated he was sure he made the right choice. She didn't want to think of her life as more valuable than another persons, but it still meant something he chose to defend her. Images of the bloody ending flickered through her mind, echos of pain in her shoulder. All of the training she did, and the two of them barely managed to get out alive. Sometimes, her mutation seemed useless.

As he kept talking, she was quiet and considered what he said. She doubted the conversation would have happened any other time, their restraint lifted somewhat with their brush with death. Death... it was funny to really consider it had been that close. It was also frightening though. One minute they could be there, the next, they could be gone. She really should try to be more careful, but in the heat of the moment, thoughts like that always went away.

>>"Should I be anything besides myself?"

His chuckle sounded foreign to her, but as he spoke, she understood it better. Maybe once he had thought he should be something else, and now he realized, there were no good reasons for that. She thought about her own powers, her own inner demons. Was it really that obvious? Was it really that easy of a choice? To just let go, stop trying to pick a side, stop trying to learn to follow the x-men's mindset? "You just see more than the rest of us Evelyn, I imagine it's hard to sort it all out."

"It is... but little by little, I think I'm getting there." She shot him a grateful smile, then the door opened and DocProf walked back in.

"The cops have left, if you're planning on sneaking out of here, you'll probably want to try soon." He said gently to the sewer mutant. While he was a doctor and he would always put his patient's health first, he also knew they were walking a fine line here, and it was a gentle reminder of that.

Evelyn believed Sylar showed better control of himself during that encounter, though Sylar felt his inexperience with channeling his animal instincts wasn't very good yet, at first he still holds back, afraid to let go and that's why he couldn't end that fight sooner. "It's...difficult, but I've been told to accept that part of me that I'm afraid of, to channel it outward instead of repressing it. Sometimes I can stay in control, like riding a wild animal." Sylar explained as he leaned against the wall.

Evelyn brought up their first encounter, a sad point in Sylar's history. Thinking about eating your friend was not a good way to keep friends, but Evelyn had figured a way to wrangle Sylar's human mind back to the surface that night, saving herself. Sylar's words seemed to resonated with something in Evelyn though, the girl went unusually quiet for a moment. Here he was talking to much, and her too little, when did they change places in the world? Sylar laughed a bit internally but continued to talk with his friend.

Evelyn's mutation was leagues different than Sylar's, but in the end they were both people with a unnatural abilities. It took time and effort to learn how to manipulate that power properly. For Sylar it was the strength and ferocity of an animal trapped in a boy's body, and learning how to guide the instincts behind them to control it. Evelyn's power...was more subtle but also more complex, the girl had some kind of super intelligence or intuition, alot more thinking involved. Sylar spoke softly "We're both mutants, I"m a lot showier than you maybe, but we both have some crazy power. Just takes time and practice I guess." Sylar felt better about his inner monster lately, like it was finally taking some of his orders instead of constantly prodding him towards destructive tendencies.

The doctor returned and goaded the boy to consider leaving. Sylar nodded, slightly uncomfortable showing his face to the doc he'd only met once before. "Probably a good idea...sorry about tonight, I'm a lot of trouble to keep being brought back here." Sylar's tail began to sway behind him a bit as he stood up from the wall and moved towards the door passing the Doctor. He stopped though and spoke once more to Evelyn. "I probably shouldn't stay on the grounds much longer, I'm more trouble than the Mansion needs." Sylar sadly wasn't a mutant who just needed a home, his lifestyle meant walking the edge much more than Evelyn was struggling with, Sylar spent more time on the wrong side than anyone here at the Mansion.

After all, if Evelyn knew what else his new boss Roach was teaching him, she might question their friendship much more than ever before, or over something as trivial as physical danger.

As DocProf spoke to Sylar and the sewer mutant stood up, Evelyn felt a small twinge of sadness at his parting. As much as she knew he couldn't stay here after everything, she felt bad that he was almost getting shooed out the door. There weren't many other options though. If he tried hanging out while the cops were 'looking for him', the school could be in trouble for harboring a fugitive, and they already had enough to deal with. In the same instance, the Mansion was definitely a 'corner' they could back him into. She didn't want him to be trapped here again, and she was fairly certain she couldn't talk him out of his a second time.

So, rather than try to convince him to stay or something, she stood and brushed at her damaged clothes.

"Hey, the mansion has me here, we got plenty of trouble already." She flashed a small smile and leaned against the door frame. She was still a little dizzy from blood loss, which meant she was definitely going to have to get some rest tonight. She was not looking forward to that. "Just, be careful out there." She finished lamely, and ran a hand through her grime filled hair. Stress had definitely left her in an awkward situation where she couldn't seem to find the right words to say. Maybe somehow he at least got an idea though.

Normal people would have hugged or shook hands or something. They were mutants though. Sometimes, awkward partings were as good as you ever got. Unless you were Serena. then you could get away with it.

Sylar laughed one last time at Evelyn's statement. "I can imagine. You mutant girls are way too much trouble." With that the boy reclaimed the usual emotionless expression he had, returning to the appearance of a slightly soulless half creature half man. Sylar moved into the hallway, Evelyn leaning on the door as the boy left for his own home. This would certainly be a story to tell Roach, and a good sign of Sylar's prowess in combat when he let the instincts take over.

Evelyn told him to be careful, the statement stopping Sylar for a moment as he turned his head to respond. "No need, I only ever get into trouble with you anyways. Better take that advice yourself. I can't always be around to be your Watson." With that the boy began to walk, heading for the nearest exit...if he could remember the layout of this place. Just how big was this Mansion? Kitchens, upstairs, a clinic they had everything here, it was a lot more impressive than some dingy apartment complex with Roach and Megan, though he was more comfortable there than he was in this building.

Sylar soon made his way outside, taking a deep breath as the night air hit him once more. It was odd, confined spaces made him feel comfortable, safe, but also bothered him if he knew he was in a crowd, but the night air of the surface always seemed to wake him up. Perhaps it was his inner animal, associating the air with the hunt for food. Either way, even if tonight had involved nearly dying and killing another mutant he felt good. He was growing, adapting, becoming a true Predator as opposed to some body desperately grasping at a leash and praying to go unnoticed.

Evelyn had seemed a bit more normal after their little talk, if obviously stressed and weary from the fight. Perhaps he'd been a good friend? Did his words have weight with her? That would be two checks on his list of things to improve at then. Sylar clambered over the wall of the Mansion grounds, his thoughts still focused on this building and the people within. Maybe he should have looked for Serena and said hello...there was always another night. He'd have a great story to tell her, but for now he needed to return home and report in to Roach. And see if Megan had any more of his favorite...meat in the fridge.

Sylar jumped down from the wall and made his way into the night, ready for a long day's rest after all this.