A/N: I wrote this story all in one night when I was procrastinating studying for finals and I personally really like it. This is my favorite pairing too, so that makes me happy. And I'm proud of it because it's, like, eleven pages written out. Kinda. Anyways, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Heroes and I never will. If I did, this story would be in the show and not on this website.
It fell on our arms, in our hair, in the leaves of the trees above us. The rain.
I hadn't meant to meet him here, especially not when it was pouring as if the sky was crying just for me. Everyone I'd ever loved was long gone. The big open blue was the only thing that remained. Except now, when the dark gray thunderheads that had rolled in so unexpectedly hung over me like a protective coat. It was usually so blue, so vibrant, and that sometimes made me sad, so I was grateful for the gray that had just arrived. The clouds, and the Gray seated beside me.
I didn't look at him. I hadn't talked to him, seen him, or even heard about him for years.
But it seemed like only yesterday. All the memories flowed into my mind. There were so many things I could've said to him--what are you doing here, I don't want to be lonely anymore, how many powers do you have now, who have you killed lately--with so many different feelings--contempt, acceptance, relief, hate, love (no, I couldn't let it come to that, not yet)--so I kept my mouth shut.
Oddly, so did he. I've always known him as loquacious, bold, rash, and extroverted, and now here he was, silent.
It didn't seem right. He was only quiet to the rest of the world, never to me, and I didn't like it.
I don't know how he knew I'd be there. The man was cunning, devious, and psychotic. At least, he had been last time I'd seen him, fifty years ago.
Most people left the park when it had begun to sprinkle--Californians, jeez--but I'd stayed. The rain could soak through my clothes and chill me to the bones, but I didn't care. It didn't harm me. Nothing harmed me. I'd watched the park lake from my bench as the wind picked up. The water tossed and splashed--between the wind and the rain, tranquility didn't stand a chance. The trees were bowed ever-so-slightly, the leaves ripped off them and shredded mercilessly. Some whipped my face, but I didn't move, didn't flinch. I don't feel pain. Sometimes I wondered if I felt anything anymore.
Then he'd sat down. No, "hi," not even an, "excuse me, can I sit here?" No, "do you mind it I intrude on your wallowing in self-pity," because I knew that he knew that that was what I was doing. And he knew I knew. I could tell by the way the corner of his mouth tweaked up slightly in his signature smirk. I hated his stupid haughty face, the jerk. But I was glad he was there at the same time.
The small smirk became a full on leer. The jerk was reading my thoughts. Where'd he learn to do that? From Matt? I felt a sliver of fear.
"It wasn't him."
I let go of the sigh of relief I'd been unconsciously holding. Matt had disappeared years ago as well, and I assumed he was dead (because he would've had to be nearly a hundred and ten by now) but that's a really awful way to go. Take it from someone with experience.
He didn't say anything else after that for awhile.
She avoids my gaze, staring straight at the small lake. Pond, really.
He was gearing up to say something, I could tell. At least that was familiar--I could read him like a book. And I'm not talking Dickens or Shakespeare. I could read him like I read Twilight--easily.
She reads Twilight.
Of course she does, she's a girl.
She's avoiding me, still. Why won't she look at me?
Great, now you're fighting with me. And being a lovesick puppy, jeez. Gabriel, you're so weak. I don't know how you control me.
Shut up, Sylar. I control you because I'm not weak for everything. The only thing you want is powers. You're a psychopath. You turned me into a psychopath. You turned me into this, two conflicted halves of one person.
Maybe I do only want powers. So what? The only thing you want is--
"Sylar?"
She asked for me. She doesn't want you.
She doesn't know me. If she knew me she wouldn't even remember the name Sylar.
"No."
YOU CANNOT CONTROL ME!
I WILL CONTROL YOU! I NEED HER!
"What?"
You aren't a person! You are a monster and I've been stuck with you in my head alone for fifty years! I won't do that to myself for fifty more!
"I'm Gabriel. I go by Gabriel Gray now."
That's a lie! Lies, all of it! You aren't Gabriel Gray! You are Sylar!
No! I am not Sylar! YOU are Sylar! I will be good!
"Oh, okay."
He still hadn't aged, just as I still looked around thirty. It was weird though, if I didn't know better I'd say there was a difference in his voice, even between the first line he'd said and these last few words.
The rain still came down. I didn't mind it, not really. I might've been a little cold. Was that why I shivered? Or because I could almost feel his life force emanating from him, so close beside me...
He must've noticed the shiver, because he pulled off his left glove and wrapped his warm fingers around mine. For hands that had felt--caused--so much death, they really were warm and clearly alive. It was like he was channeling his own soul into mine to warm me.
Despite the fact that I felt like I'd just sat beside a furnace, I shivered again.
I didn't have a raincoat, just a thin sweater, now heavy with water. He was in his traditional black coat (with the inevitable black t-shirt underneath), and when I shivered for the second time he slipped out of his coat and put it on my shoulders, regrettably letting go of my hand in the process. And even though I now had a large coat on, I wasn't quite as warm for a moment.
Until he took my hand again.
"Better?"
You are incorrigible. You are selfless, lovesick...for heaven's sake, you are not ten! This is not some elementary crush!
Good. Elementary crushes never last.
How could I be like this, smiling at this villain, letting him hold my hand?
"Much."
She smiled at me. I told you she didn't want you.
Good! I don't want her either! Now let's go. Get out of the rain. I don't care if we can't get pneumonia. I don't like the rain.
I do.
"So, how have you been?"
The downpour had already soaked through his shirt. His hair was soaking wet and plastered to his head, dripping down his face like tears and the back of his neck, somehow not causing him discomfort. The droplets gathered in his eyelashes and made his bushy eyebrows seem flatter than when he wasn't soaked.
Why had he come? "How have you been," was a stupid question. I should've questioned his motives. There had to be a reason why he was out here in the pouring rain, wanting to sit by me.
"I've been good."
Maybe I've been picking up on his power, because I knew as soon as he said it that it was a lie. Maybe not physically, but inside he'd been just as lonely as I had.
His hand was still warm, it engulfed mine almost completely. And of course he was still a head and a half taller than me. One of the major problems with being short for eternity: you will always find yourself looking up to people.
But right now he was slumping a bit, like he'd been pulled down by people a lot for his whole life, as if, even though he had to have been one of the tallest wherever he was, no one looked up to him. They'd shoved him to his knees so that they could look down on him.
You do that.
Me?
Yes.
I pull you up! I help you!
You help yourself!
That includes you! Like or not, I am you.
No. You've been separate from the time Chandra Suresh walked into that tiny shop.
Perhaps, but I am the stronger person.
No.
... What did you just say?
You are not the stronger person. You were the stronger monster. But you don't control me anymore.
I will always be here. No matter what. So long as you have your powers, I will be a part of you!
But not the dominant part.
"Gabriel?"
"Yes?"
He smiled genuinely. Had I ever seen him smile like that? He had a nice smile. It lit up his whole face.
"Are you cold?"
"No."
"Oh. That's weird."
"Hmm?"
"How are you not cold?"
"I don't really get cold, not here. I grew up in Queens."
Logical, I suppose.
"Do you want to get out of the rain?"
"I'm fine. How about you?"
"No."
Neither of us moved. I watched his face inconspicuously. He seemed...determined?
I am determined. I will change. For her.
Who are you kidding?
"Claire?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you still cold?"
I shivered, but not because the answer was yes. He was so genuinely concerned...since when was he genuine about anything? I stared into his dark eyes, so filled with worry for me.
"Some."
He slid along the bench so that our knees were touching and put his harm under the coat around my shoulders. I frowned at him, confused.
"Why did you put your arm under your coat? I thought you weren't cold."
"I can't exactly warm you up through a polyester jacket."
She let me warm her up. She used to not even let me touch her. I can't believe she let me hold her hand.
I see rather than hear my inner demon, as if he is there too, on a bench perpendicular to ours. He is in my mind, and is not affected by the rain. I dearly wish he is, though.
You're pathetic, he says. Weak. You're controlled by your feelings for one girl!
I can't be completely detached from my emotions! And she is not just one girl! She is the most beautiful woman on the planet.
You don't need her. There are plenty of other women. I don't like this one. I may have once...but it was only for her power. That delicious power...it's more beautiful than any woman.
Maybe to you. Not to sane people.
YOU'RE NOT SANE! YOU'RE TALKING TO ME! YOU HAVE A DEMON IN YOUR HEAD!
I (against my better judgment) tucked my head under his chin and let him pull my body against his. He may be wet, but, amazingly, he's still warm. Was that one of his powers or something? And why was he here?
In my head and on the other bench, Sylar laughs. He cackles like a madman.
Why was I here? I'd had the weirdest urge when I woke up this morning. I'd predicted the weather easily, something at which she had apparently failed. But something had still convinced me to come and find her.
"Gabriel?"
Now I can feel the vibration of her voice resound through my body. I ignore Sylar's laughter. He cannot ruin my happiness. The one I love is in my arms, saying my name. Not his. Mine.
"Yes?"
I can hear the smile in his voice. I don't have to see it to know that it's still genuine and not the evil Sylar smirk. He's right, he's not Sylar anymore. I didn't know Gabriel was still there--I never got to see him as Gabriel.
Now she can!
"Are you still reading my thoughts?"
"Yes."
"So do I not have to talk to you?"
I laugh softly--not maniacally, like Sylar. But he's stopped.
"Talking is okay. I'm sure it's weird for me to respond to something you think."
I breathed another sigh of relief. For an entirely different reason.
"Good."
"I'm still going to read your mind though. Is that okay? I want to know what you're thinking."
I was so taken aback by the fact that he'd asked, I muttered a reply immediately, the word having nearly been forced from my mouth.
"Yes."
He actually was cute and sweet, when he wasn't acting creepy. I felt him smile at that thought.
She doesn't think you're cute or sweet.
So what?
You don't care at all? Because I do. I like it when she thinks I'm cute and sweet. I'm sure she didn't think you were cute or sweet when you sawed the top of her head off.
If I hadn't "sawed the top of her head off," you wouldn't be here right now!
And for that I'm grateful. But given a choice between you and her, I will always pick her.
If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be special at all!
I would still be special. But I wouldn't be a murderer. I wouldn't be a psychopath. Remember Elle? Remember Lydia? I got their abilities without killing.
I like killing!
I ignore him. He does not have a soul, and I do not try to reason with him.
"I think the rain's letting up."
It was true. I realized that if the rain stopped, I wouldn't have an excuse for being so close to him. Oh, dang. He heard that.
He chuckled slightly.
I realize after that that if the rain stops, I will not have an excuse for holding her so close to me.
How did we get from where we were to where we are right now?
How did we get from where we were to where we are right now?
I knew that we both had it at the same time.
"I'm sorry. So, so sorry, Claire. For everything."
I whispered my reply.
"I forgive you."
My voice grew a bit stronger.
"Wanna know why?"
"Why?"
"If you hadn't done everything you had, neither of us would be here in this spot together."
I look up to see if he will gloat, but he's gone.
I'm still here. You can't get rid of me that easily. And see? I told you. Even she's grateful.
Perhaps, but now I can get around the Hunger. I can fight it. Because now I realize: I have a reason to. But I don't comment on it. I just smile. I also have a reason to smile.
She likes my smile.
The rain stopped, although the wind was still blowing. It blows away the gray that I'd enjoyed, giving way to the typical California bright blue that I hate for its cheer. Most people love the blue. But after nearly a hundred years in a world where hate and war is predominant, that fact that the sky is blue seems like a cruel joke of the universe. But I didn't totally mind if when the gray left now. Because now I have another Gray to protect me. And he'll never leave me.
I will never leave you.
I said it out loud, even though I knew he heard it. It was a whisper, barely said, but his enhanced hearing caught it.
"Don't leave."
I reply, although I know she knows. She doesn't have to hear me. I speak into her hair anyways, and kiss the top of her head, wet and cold but so warm. Just as I am her warmth, she is mine.
"I won't."
A/N: Please review! I appreciate all criticism as well. Some people don't. I do. I have a story similar to this, it's pretty much the same two people, same time frame, same bad weather (except in the other one it's snowing) but different setting and dialogue and no split personalities. Yeaahh. So if you were disappointed with this one...or if you liked it, I guess you could read the other one. When I post it. When I find time to type it up. Again: yeaahh. (By the way: if anyone's confused, feel free to ask. All the different italics and bold means something different, like a different POV.)