Title: Elusive
Author: Selestina118
Pairings: None
Characters: Gabriel and Virginia Gray with mentions of Papa Gray
Rating: PG
Warnings: Very brief carnage
Word Count: 1,390
Disclaimer:I do not own Gabriel "Sylar" Gray, his parents, Virginia or Papa Gray, or Heroes. Please don't sue me. :D Thanks!
Prompt: Number 1 - Talk about Gabriel's early life (high school, college days, etc) And mention something that could have affected him (or triggered Sylar).
Author's Notes: I had "Gabriel gets a kitten" on my list of one-shots to write this summer. Little did I know that it would turn out like this or for this kind of a prompt. XD This was for the July fanfic challenge by lacrymosastar on the SylarGabriel on livejournal. Enjoy!
Elusive
It was a cool day, on the cusp of the winter solstice and getting colder as each day passed. Gabriel Gray had received a call from a customer that they needed their watch fixed post haste for a date that they had that was moved up for which it was to presented to their lover. Alas, Gabriel was forced to go into his shop on a Sunday.
He typically spend his sole day off in church in the morning with his mom, often barely awake to participate as enthusiastically as his mother did in the rituals. Then he would spend the rest of his day locked up in his apartment reading from the many books that lined the walls and shelves of each room. If it was a nice day he may even would have gone to the park, but he often could not concentrate with the constant bustling of people disturbing his train of thought.
As Gabriel passed a hot dog stand adjacent to an alleyway, he heard a distinct mewing from the alleyway. It was small and most of the city noises drowned it out easily, but it was there. Gabriel stopped and looked down and around the dark corners. Sitting helplessly there was a thin tabby cat with a bit of pink skin showing on the corner of it's nose – as if it had been caught in a fight at a young age. It looked up at him in fear with an edge of defiance.
It was a spring day and Gabriel was playing on the very small swing set in his small patch of backyard. His mother looked on over him from the window in the washroom as she always did. She monitored his every move and pushed him to become better than his father and his father's father. He was her little angel. A gift from God and the answer to her prayers. He would lead her away from this mundane and simple life.
As Gabriel swung happily he heard a rustling in a bushes at the far end of the apartment. He slowly came to a halt and watched to see if there was further movement. For minutes there was nothing, but as he started to swing again a tiny kitten head popped out. It was a tabby and it was just so small and helpless. It did not have a collar for it seemed as if it was just born. Gabriel could tell that it needed a home – some place where it could be loved.
Gabriel felt sorry for the small creature. He knew that he couldn't bring it inside with him. He had this conversation before with his mom. Time and time again Virginia had told him that he could not have any pets because his father was allergic to them. Cats were even more so forbidden because they were "agents of the devil" that carried diseases and prophesies of death on their backs.
He remembered one distinct time when he pleaded with his mom for a cat. She kept on and on until he just burst out.
"But momma, he's never home. He wouldn't even notice a cat in the house!" Virginia looked on at the young boy with pity.
"Well, you father is making a living for us, no matter how insignificant his job is. His tinkering keeps us where we are. Still, no animals, Gabriel." She knelt down and combed his hair back into pristine place. "Animals are only a distraction to keep you from your full potential." She looked on him as if she could see right through him. The issue was dropped by all parties immediately.
This afternoon Gabriel did something that he would never have dreamed of in his life. He took the kitten in against his mother's wishes and without her knowing. He hid the small creature under is sweater and tiptoed to his bedroom, closing the door behind him. He unloaded the kitten onto his bed and opened a drawer, clearing it of socks into a corner.
Gabriel was thankful that the kitten was so silent, that way he could easily hide it from his parents. He crawled over to it slowly and placed a tentative hand out before it's head – slightly afraid of being scratched. The kitten sniffed lightly at his fingers and began purring as it rubbed its head against his palm.
A large smile crept over Gabriel's face. For once in his short life he was truly happy. He had a friend that would not judge him – something that he began to care for with each caress and purr. As he pet the kitten he noticed that it was pretty dirty from being outside all of the time.
Gabriel ran to grab a basin and he filled it with warm water and soap. He also gathered a dishtowel or two to dry off the kitten. His mother left the washroom with a huff due to fear of not seeing her boy still outside.
"Oh, Gabriel, there you are! I was afraid that something happened to you," she said as she looked at the basin full of soapy water. "What is that for, sweetie?"
"I'm just doing an experiment for school on how water reacts with the base effects of soap . . . ." Gabriel fidgeted at this.
"That's nice dear. Try not to get water all over the place." She left it at that. Gabriel went to his bedroom again, and as he placed the kitten in the shallow water he felt really good for once. The fact that he had gotten away with something in front of his mother thrilled him, but also left him a bit guilty. He hated lying to his mother, but he must keep this little one a secret.
The kitten naturally squirmed, but in no time it was clean with a shiny coat. It looked up at him with such big, green eyes and its paws on his chest as if to say "Thank you, but now I'm hungry!" Gabriel gave a slight chuckle and returned with an eyedropper and a glass of milk.
This care went on for about a week. Gabriel's mother and father were none the wiser. The kitten was surprisingly silent and it met Gabriel every day as he returned home from school and entered into his bedroom.
One day however the kitten did not greet him. Gabriel found this strange and went to the drawer that it had been sleeping in to find nothing. Gabriel ran to his window and looked out into the back yard and frantically searched. Still there was no sign of the kitten. He hadn't even had a chance to name it. Such was Gabriel's life. A series of disappointments.
Sadly, Gabriel went on and ate dinner normally with his mom. His father was still at the shop as usual. As he was finishing up his dinner Gabriel's mom entered his room to clean with a shriek. Gabriel ran up behind her and saw the kitten with a bloody mouse on his bedspread. Gabriel was happy that his mother had found the carnage first. A sense of defiance flowed through him for the briefest of moments as he was unfazed by the blood that coated his bedspread. He felt a slight power through the kitten. It was his after all. Why should he not feel proud that it had found food for itself? That it was a survivor in its species.
Virginia proceeded to bat it away while yelling at Gabriel for letting a diseased animal like it into their home. Gabriel just sat in the corner of his room, cold as steel, listening to his mom but placing his thoughts away from the current situation. Things would get better as time went on, but this left a scar on his heart. His mother had just chased away one of his true friends in a moment of its triumph.
Gabriel looked at the tabby in the alley. It looked like it needed a home, but Gabriel was far to busy to provide proper care for it. He figured that someone else would pick it up. Care for it. Nurture it. That person would not be him however. He had learned his lesson many years ago as he passed the kitten by. He had work to do.