Summary: Peter is a teacher at the Primatech Primary School. Gabriel joins the teaching staff, and they become friends before falling in love with each other. AU and slash.
Pairing: Peter and Gabriel.
Warnings: Slash, with a sexy-time scene.
Notes: This story will be published as two chapters.
For those of you who are wondering, Gabriel does not turn bad in this story. There are no bad characters, just inner conflicts. Oh, the humanity, indeed. Yes, I've written Nathan as a good guy this time, as I promised myself that I would.
Since I enjoy seasonal fan fics (i.e. fan fics which are divided into four sections, each section being headed by one of the four seasons), I have written this as such.
The poem about English grammar, which was written on the blackboard by Peter, was sourced from The West Australian (aka the newspaper of awesomeness, those being my own words), Saturday 19th September 2009, p. 58. The origin of the poem is unknown. BTW, I'm not sure if the grammar described in the poem is actually taught in third grade. I can't draw on my own experience because I can't remember. Anyway, it's not an essential detail, but you can nitpick if I'm wrong.
For those who don't know, Milo Ventimiglia's (he's the actor who portrays Peter Petrelli, and I'm mad at you if you didn't already know that) crooked mouth is due to dead nerve cells he has had since birth. Personally, I don't think of it as a defect. If he's not bothered by it, why should I be?
Dedication: This fan fic is dedicated to petrelli heiress, a very special friend of mine. Her commitment to expressing the wonderfulness of the Peter/Sylar (Peter/Gabriel) pairing is commendable.
Disclaimer: I don't own Heroes, nor 'The Look of Love' by Diana Krall ('Winter' in the second chapter). If I did own Heroes, I would ruin the show. It's hard to believe, I know, but there you go. Hey, that rhymes!
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The Look of Love
Summer
The red brick building housing Primatech Primary School, glistened brilliantly in the sun. It was a small school, with classes ranging from grades one through seven, and one class for each grade. It had been established half a century ago, and prided itself on providing 'high quality eduction to the leaders of tomorrow, at affordable prices'. Primatech was the name of the company that had been a major contributor to the funding of the school's establishment, hence the name.
Peter Petrelli taught third grade. He was a young man, and had taught at Primatech for three years. Peter was well liked by all of the students and staff, because he was polite and generous. It was getting near to midday, and he was teaching English in this period. He wrote the following poem on the blackboard:
Every name is called a NOUN, as field and fountain, street and town,
In place of a noun the PRONOUN stands, as he and she clap their hands,
The ADJECTIVE describes a thing, as magic wand or bridal ring,
The VERB means action, something done, to read and write, to jump and run,
How things are done the ADVERBS tell, as quickly, slowly, badly or well,
The PREPOSITION shows relations, as in the street or at the station,
CONJUNCTIONS join in many ways, sentences, words or phrase and phrase,
The INTERJECTION cries out hark! I need an exclamation mark!
Molly Walker's hand shot up. Peter sighed inwardly. Molly was prone to asking lots of intelligent questions. While Peter had a strange fondness for the little girl, her incessant questioning held up the class. The other kids tended to avoid her, since they were intimidated by her intelligence, and also because she claimed that she could 'find people'. They didn't know what she meant by that exactly, and they didn't really want to know.
"Yes, Molly?"
"Mr. Petrelli, what does hark mean?"
"I don't know Molly. It's just a word like 'wow!' or 'oh!'. If you find out the origin of the word, be sure to tell me, please."
"Yes, Mr. Petrelli." The class giggled.
"Now, class. I who can give me an example of a noun?"
Molly Walker's hand shot up.
"Yes, Molly?"
"Girl."
"Yes, very good. Can anyone else give me an example of a noun?"
Micah Sanders raised his hand. He was another intelligent kid, but he didn't ask as many questions as Molly.
"Yes, Micah?"
"Motherboard."
"Correct." Peter smiled, and Micah returned the smile. It was no secret that Micah was already a genius at age seven, having already built computers on his own. He had even shown Peter some of his creations, and Peter was very impressed.
"Okay, who can give me an example of..." Peter paused momentarily for effect, "...an adverb?"
Molly's hand shot up for the hundred and fifth time that day.
"Someone besides Molly, please." Molly pouted, and Peter smiled apologetically.
"Jennifer, can you give me an example of an adverb?" Peter asked Jennifer Garner. Jennifer was one of the quiet kids in the class, but her secret was being a kid spy at nighttime.
After a bit of thought, Jennifer answered, "Gracefully".
"Yes, gracefully is an adverb. Very good."
Molly's hand raised her hand. It was a wonder that her arm was still attached to her body, with the amount of hand raising which she did every day at school. Peter sighed inwardly, again.
"Yes, what is it, Molly?"
"Mr. Petrelli, why is your mouth that way?" The class giggled.
"Molly, you shouldn't ask such questions!" Micah scolded.
Peter was slightly taken aback, but he kept his composure. After all, it wasn't the first time he'd been asked that question. His mouth was always lopsided, you see.
"It's okay, Micah. I've had this since birth. It's caused by dead nerve cells. Now, do you have more personal questions, Molly? If so, I can answer them, but we'll have to stay back after 3:00 to complete our day's work."
Everyone, and I mean everyone, glared meaningfully at Molly. Molly shook her head.
"Good. Now class, can you please open your workbooks and write down two of each type of word I have up on the blackboard. Who can tell me what two times eight is?"
Audrey Hepburn raised her hand. She was very cute girl, with a mousy laugh.
"Audrey."
"Two times eight is 16."
"Yes, very good. You should have 16 words in total, for this exercise."
The class quietly went about completing the exerise. Peter looked out the window, grateful that he was inside this air conditioned classroom instead of outside in the heat. Very soon, the school bell rang, signalling that lunctime had commenced.
Peter went to the staff room, to find the school principal was already there. Noah Bennet was his name, and what you would immediately notice about him was that he wore horn-rimmed glasses. He could be scary sometimes, but he was a well liked and well respected boss.
Mr. Bennet was standing next to the new member of staff. The man was tall, with dark hair and very thick eyebrows. He was around the same age as Peter. He wore spectacles, though not of the horn-rimmed variety. Instead, he wore old style, thick framed glasses which were black in colour. Peter thought he looked rather smart.
It was his first day teaching at Primatech, and naturally he was a bit nervous. He had stepped in to replace Kaito Nakamura, who had made the decision to retire.
"Peter, I'd like you to meet Gabriel Gray, our new member of staff. Gabriel, this is Peter Petrelli, who teaches third grade."
The two men shook hands. Peter always liked meeting new people, and warmly greeted Gabriel. Gabriel returned the smile, warmly.
"You must be stepping in to teach second grade," Peter said.
"That's right," Gabriel replied.
"Everything been okay, so far?"
"Yeah, it's been cool, thanks."
"I'd love to stay and chat, but you know me," Noah said. "Principal related stuff awaits!" Noah exited with his usual cheerfulness.
"He's a good guy," Gabriel commented.
"Yeah, he is, and he knows how to run a school, believe me," Peter replied.
"Say, would it be okay if I had lunch with you?"
"Oh yeah, sure." Peter smiled again. He liked Gabriel already. He was a little reserved, but that was to be expected on his first day of work.
"So, are you from around here?" Peter asked, when they had sat down with their lunches.
"No, I'm from New York actually."
"Ah, the Big Apple! I was from there myself, and wanted to go someone quiet. That's how I ended up here, at Salty Springs."
"That's funny. I moved here for the same reason." Gabriel nodded and smiled. The conversation continued in a friendly manner, with much laughter shared. Interspersed with the conversation, were various members of staff coming up to introduce themselves to Gabriel. Among these, were Matt Parkman, who taught first grade, Tracy Strauss (fifth grade) and Mohinder Suresh (seventh grade). Gabriel commented to Tracy that she had a striking resemblance to Diana Krall. She laughed cutely and said, "Oh, I get that all the time".
An hour after the beginning of lunch, the school bell rang again to signal its end.
"Well, it was very nice to meet you, Peter. Maybe we could continue our conversation after school."
"I'd like that very much. It was nice to meet you too, Gabriel."
After class had finished for the day, Peter had a quick chat with Molly.
"I've heard that you've said to the other kids that you can 'find people' "
"That's right," Molly said, shifting uncomfortably.
"They don't believe you, do they?"
"No, they don't,"
"Well, I want to know that I believe you. I can 'find people' too, Molly."
"Are you making a joke, Mr. Petrelli?"
"No. I have empathy, you see. That means I can copy the special abilities of other people, whom I've been in close contact with. Do you believe me?"
Molly nodded.
"Good girl. This will be our secret, okay?"
"Okay. Cross my heart and hope to die."
Peter smiled. "See you tomorrow, Molly."
Molly beamed. "Bye, Mr. Petrelli."
After Molly had left the classroom, Peter looked up to see Gabriel standing at the doorway. Peter panicked for a moment, thinking that Gabriel had overheard his conversation with Molly, but relaxed when Gabriel made no indication that he had. Peter grinned, and chatted away with his new friend, as they walked down the corridor.
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Fall
"Molly Walker and Micah Sanders are brilliant students, Noah," Peter said. He was sitting in Mr. Bennet's office, during a lunchtime in October.
"I can see that," Noah commented, as he looked at the two students' interim reports, which Peter had presented to him. Noah had spoken to Molly and Micah personally, and had been impressed by their brightness.
"I'd appreciate it if you could recommend to the Education Board, that they skip a grade."
"Of course. I feel the same way you do, Peter. They really should skip a grade. You know that ultimately, it's not my decision, but I'll do the best I can."
"Thank you, sir."
*****
Later that same day, Gabriel was teaching the grade two's how to tell the time. He was very happy in his new job, as he liked the students and the students liked him, and he had almost made friends with all the staff. He had become best friends with Peter, whom he had gotten to know quite well. Tonight, they were going to have dinner together. He liked spending time with Peter, since Peter seemed to like him and they had common interests. Peter's elder brother, Nathan, would be joining them for dinner. Gabriel had never met Nathan before, and Peter had said good things about him, so Gabriel looked forward to it.
Even with things going so well, there was something that happened in Gabriel's mind which would emerge now and again. It had happened for about a year now. Today, the 'curse' (as he called it), emerged again.
On his toy clock face, he shifted the hands so that the small hand pointed halfway between four and five, and the large hand pointed to the six.
"Who can tell me what time it is on my clock?" A crowd of hands were raised.
"John."
"Half-past-four"
"That's correct, John. We can also call this four-thirty, because it's 30 minutes after 4 o'clock. Are there any questions?"
The students shook their heads. They were a bright bunch.
Tick. Tick tick. The ticking sound in Gabriel's head was faint at first, then grew louder.
Tick. Tick tick. He frowned. "Oh no, it's happening again," he thought.
"Mr. Gray, are you alright?" Katy Perry asked.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, Katy. It's just..."
He looked up the analog clock on the wall behind him. It showed two-thirty. He sensed that each hour, the clock would lose five seconds. He didn't know how he knew that. He just...did.
"There's something I need to do first, kids," Gabriel said, turning back to the class. "Could you please complete page five of your workbooks." The kids settled down quietly to do just that.
Gabriel immediately went to the clock and took it down from the wall. He opened the battery compartment and removed the battery. Just as suddenly as it had begun, the ticking sound in his head stopped. He brought out the clock repairing kit he had brought with him, from his jacket pocket. Opening up the clock, he efficiently checked the springs and mechanisms, and replaced one of the mechanisms. He put the clock back together, replaced the battery, and hung it back on the wall. The ticking sound in his head did not return, meaning that he had fixed the clock. He didn't rejoice, however. He sighed. He knew something was wrong with him, but he felt trapped, because he felt that people would think he was crazy if he told them about the ticking sound in his head. He looked out the window at the orange-red leaves on the trees, wishing that dinner would come sooner, rather than later.
*****
Dinner was going well for Gabriel, under the circumstances. He was getting on well with Nathan. Nathan was the police chief of Salty Springs, and well respected in the community. It was easy to see why, since Nathan had an easy going personality and a hearty laugh. Peter and Nathan mutually respected each other, with plenty of friendly banter going on between the two of them. Gabriel was an only child, and he wished he had a brother or sister whom he could confide in, or at least share a laugh with.
The only downside (though it was a major downside) to the evening was that Gabriel couldn't get the ticking-sound-in-his-head incident out of his mind. He had hardly touched his food, which Peter noticed.
"Gabriel, you need to eat. You're so skinny. Is something wrong?" Peter looked concerned.
Oh, how Gabriel wanted to tell him everything! He didn't want to lose Peter as a friend, so he shook his head and said, "no".
"It's okay, you can trust me," Peter said. "If you have problems, then I want to help you. Come to think of it, you think you have problems? I've had this ticking sound in my head ever since we entered the restaurant. I just can't push it away." Peter gave a nervous laugh, and Nathan laughed too, thinking that his brother had cracked a joke. Peter hadn't.
Gabriel stared at him, wide-eyed. His confession burst out in a rush. He didn't know why he confessed so suddenly, but he felt somehow that Peter and Nathan would understand. Perhaps, that was part of his craziness. "But...but...that's what has been happening to me, for so long now," Gabriel said, sadly. "Every time a clock is slow or fast, a ticking sounds gets into my head. It doesn't stop, until I've fixed the clock. I'm crazy, I know."
There was a momentary silence. "Nobody here thinks you are crazy," Peter said quietly. "You're special, like us." Gabriel looked up at Peter, wondering if Peter had gone mad too.
"This guy..." Peter continued, pointing a thumb at Nathan, "...he can fly".
"You can...fly?" Gabriel asked Nathan.
Nathan nodded his head, seriously. "Yep. Peter is able to mimic the special abilities of other people whom he comes into contact with."
Peter nodded, and said, "That explains the ticking sound!" Peter smiled, and Nathan did too. They were pleased that Gabriel had spoken about the ability that had been his inner demon, and that he was special just like them.
Gabriel looked at the two of them, dumbfounded. He could tell that they were not pulling his leg. "All this time, I thought it was the only one. I've felt so alone. I thought that I had a curse."
Nathan laughed. "You're not cursed. It's just who you are. Peter and I were scared when we first discovered our abilities. But through each other, we learned that there's nothing to be afraid off. Your ability can't kill you."
Peter reached across the table and put his hand on top of Gabriel's hand. "We're here to help you, Gabriel. We're your friends, and we understand what you're going through."
Gabriel smiled. He was so scared that he would be rejected because of his ability, and was pleasantly shocked to discover that he was accepted for who he was.
"I'm not alone," he said, and for the first time, he didn't feel confused about himself. He finished off his meal, enjoying the special bond he had with his new friends.
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The next instalment will be Winter and Spring. No surprises, there. :-)