Title: My Name
Pairing: Pre-Peter/Gabriel (friendship fic)
Summary: (From Settled World Verse, but can be read as a stand alone) Peter and Gabriel go on a mission for Angela and try to pass time during the night.
A.N.: This is before Peter and Gabriel start to date, but after Gabriel is released back into regular society.
3rd Person POV
After decades of ignoring it, Angela Petrelli regained her interest in Coyote Sands. Facing her sister a few years before burned her deeply and she hoped that Peter would be able to sooth Alice's hurt. She arranged for Peter to get some time off, forced him together with Gabriel, and set them off. Their plane ride was riddled with Gabriel's nervous ticks and Peter's thinly veiled aggitation. Peter had tried to melt back into his seat and enjoy the music coming from his headphones, instead he found himself watching Gabriel falling apart. The watchmaker had fidgeted, twitched, slumped, stretched, moped, and at one point he had shed tears. Peter hadn't been fooled into thinking Gabriel was frightened by the flight. He knew Gabriel was struggling with guilt and embarassment and it was only by sheer force of empathetic ability that Peter was able to tear his eyes away and let Gabriel melt down in peace.
It was already dark out when Peter and Gabriel had made it to the remains of Coyote Sands. They had taken refuge in an old cabin, one set aside for boys. Peter had initially headed for the cabin closest to the enterance but Gabriel had sputtered and fidgeted for five minutes in obvious embarassed agony until Peter figured out what had him in a bunch. He had seized Gabriel's arm and marched them towards the nearest boys bunk and settled in.
Now the both of them were huddled on the floor against the wall near a corner. The toes of their shoes almost touched, but Gabriel kept himself in check and braced his sole against the floor. They both had blankets thrown around their shoulders; musty rust colored blankets that wear so threadbare and dirty it was laughable. Peter snuck glances over at Gabriel, who held the hem of his blanket to his mouth like a child. Warnings crawled up his throat, 'it's dirty don't do that', 'it'll make you sick', or 'are you really that cold'. But he said nothing. Gabriel, for the first time since the trip started, looked content. His eyes were shut, his breathing even, and his bottom lip was tucked firmly into the hem of the nasty blanket. Peter wondered vaugely if Gabriel was the type of man who still had his wubby blanket.
Peter opened his mouth, prepared to finally speak, but nothing came out. Instead he wet his lips and focused on his own lap. He could feel that Gabriel's eyes had flicked his direction, but he didn't acknowledge it. The silence between them lasted for a few hours longer, until both their backs ached from the hunched position. Peter curved his spine back and stretched before lying on the ground, his head towards the corner. The sudden movement startled Gabriel. The watchmaker scrunched his eyes shut tighter and scooched further along the wall, away from Peter; while still curled into his blanket with his mouth to his knees.
When Gabriel settled down again, Peter spoke.
"Ahem...So my name's Peter."
Gabriel cast Peter a confused look, but his eyes were shut.
"My mom wanted another kid but she was worried she wouldn't be able to. And she was worried that if she did have another one at her age, there would be complications. So she prayed. I think...yeah, it must have been the only time after Coyote Sands."
Gabriel nodded into his knees, interested. Then scooched closer to Peter, trying to be as quiet about it as possible.
"I think she was lonely. Nathan was growing up and drifting away and Dad was an ass...I think she just wanted someone to love her right ya know? So one day she was driving past a church and stopped inside. She said she just sat down in the pews and stared at all the stained glass. Eventually she fell asleep."
Gabriel worked his fingers into the hem of the blanket near his mouth, eager to hear more even though he knew how the story would end.
"She saw me in her dream. I was...four maybe...and I was crying because a bird flew into my bedroom window. She said that in her dream I picked it up and cried over it until Nathan called a vet."
Peter turned and looked at Gabriel. His face was open and tired.
"She said she knew, when she woke up, that I'd be an empath. She decided to name me Peter because he was the Saint they built the early churches around. She felt like she owed God...or something like that."
For a long time it was quiet, even the insects outside had given way to the peaceful moment. Gabriel pressed his forehead into his knees and listened for Peter's voice. But as the night wore on and nothing came from him but breathing, Gabriel opened up.
"My grandmother...GiGi...could see the future too. But it wasn't pictures, it was all feelings. When my mother got pregnant she talked with GiGi a lot about me."
Peter turned onto his side to get a better look at Gabriel.
"GiGi told mom that she felt evil around Samson, but mom wouldn't listen. She said GiGi was just angry Samson had stolen her away. She should have listened."
Gabriel paused there and Peter tactfully ignored the tears he heard pattering against the wooden floor beneath them.
"GiGi...GiGi had stronger feelings about me with each new month. So when mom asked GiGi what she should name me, GiGi said Gabriel."
'Why' stuck to the tip of Peter's tongue, begging to escape. But he knew better. If he spoke now he risked Gabriel closing off entirely.
"She told mom to name me Gabriel because..."
Gabriel sobbed once and worked to compose himself.
"She felt that I would be loved greatly by someone, but that some day I would bring a feeling of...doom...to everyone around me. The Arc Angel Gabriel, loved by God, but feared by man. For he is who sounds the trumpet for the end of days."
Peter left Gabriel to his tears for a few moments, hoping that he would compose himself. When Peter realised that Gabriel was only going to get more hysterical as time wore on, he decided to act. The nurse reached out and gently clasped Gabriel's hand into his own. Slowly Gabriel's sobs quieted and turned into little sniffles.
By the end of the night Gabriel's worn and weary form was wrapped securly into Peter's front and bundled under blankets.
______________
Okay, so I've taken some liberties on what Gabriel's family is like. I dunno...I imagine his mom was a love struck teen that ran off with Samson despite warnings and then...you know, he turned all evil-y. And I have no idea why either of them were named the way they were other than it makes convenient symbols in the script. I'd like to think that this is the point where Peter contimplated staying friends with Gabriel. So this is NOT the origin fic, just a nice 'maybe this could go somewhere beyond "s'up" in the future' fic.