Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes, Sylar/Gabriel Gray, Fossil, or Lorus. Please don't sue me. Thanks :D
Author's Note: This is going to be a short fic - possibly only about five chapters long. I hope you all enjoy! Please review because it will help a great deal. ;D Thanks, huggs, and muffins. Now on with the story . . . .
The Watchmaker's Son
Gabriel Gray was a timid watchmaker. Never in trouble - never sticking his nose in other people's business when it wasn't needed. Aracely Driver, on the other hand, well, she was another story. She was a girl of Italian descent with the typical dark hair, hers long, and dark eyes that accompanied her heritage. She didn't mean to get into trouble, it's just that it seemed like it followed her wherever she went.
Aracely had met Gabriel in her freshman year, first semester of college. He was sharing with her a chemistry class and lab, which in-fact, he would have gladly not taken. Chemistry was Aracely's passion though. Now all she had to prove for it was a degree collecting dust on the wall of her apartment and a low paying job at the local drug store on the corner.
Gabriel couldn't really complain about his current job fixing watches. He had a slight longing for something more, but he loved them. It had originally been his hobby, something that he had picked up from watching his father as a boy at work. Luckily he had grown to like the everyday tinkering and dexterous movements that he would have to make. His favorite watches to work on were the really intricate, foreign made pieces. He had no use for digital watches - so commonplace, so basic, so boring, so simple. The soft ticking was soothing in relation to the harsh beeps and alarms of this age.
The clock that he had taken to the most was a wall-mount that was hung near the back of his shop. Every hour as its bells tolled, angels and cherubs would circulate around the topmost area. They were golden and beautiful. Sometimes Gabe thought that if you looked at it in a certain way, in a distinct light, the angels would seem to weep. Beauty and knowing most definitely could not be found in harsh, impersonal digital faces.
Gabriel was hard at work on his German 1917 watch when Aracely walked into his shop, Gray & Sons, which he had inherited from his father, bringing some lunch for the both of them.
"Hey there, Gabe," Aracely said as she placed the bag of food down on his desk and carelessly threw her belongings into a corner chair. Gabriel peered into the bag to search its contents for something good to snack on while he would continue working.
"Salads?" Gabriel said blandly. "Couldn't you pick up something a bit more substantial, Ara?"
"Oh, it's good for you. It'll make your eyesight better," she said as she sat next to Gabriel and grabbed one of the salads out of the bag.
"I believe that is carrots," Gabriel said with a bit of a laugh. "Besides who was the science major here?" He gave her a sideways glance as he took off his work glasses and placed them on the desk. He grabbed the other salad out of the bag and started to open the container as he watched Aracely digging in and wolfing down her lunch. They ate and made small talk about how their days had gone so far. Ara was telling Gabe yet again of how lowly her job was and how she so wished to get out into the world and make a difference.
"I know what you are going through, Ara."
"Oh, but you actually like where you work - what you do for a living. I mean, look at this one piece that you've been working on for ages now. That's dedication, my friend," she said as she finished off her last bit of salad.
"Yes, but this is merely a hobby for me. I love the watches and clocks, but I don't want it to turn into my day in and day out job until I'm seventy. I want to see the world, to be special." Ara, got up, threw the empty container into the trash, and walked over to Gabriel. She leaned over him to get a better look at the watch on his desk.
"How close are you to finishing it?" she said as she playfully tousled Gabriel's overly-perfect hair. He gave her a look as he began to straighten it back into place.
"Well, hopefully I'll get it ticking soon. Just a few more parts left to put into place." Gabriel looked to Ara, "Then I'll work on yours for you."
"Oh, no rush at all, Gabe! It's really heavy to wear anyway," she said as she picked up her old watch off from a box on Gabriel's desk. It was heavier than she had remembered as she looked at it now. The watch was given to her by her older brother, Jacob, as he was about to be wed. His soon-to-be wife found the watch childish to have for a grown man of his age. It was a beautiful, red faced, stainless steel Fossil that on every fifteen seconds would flash a dragon on its face. Each section of the dragon would light up until it was whole. Then it would disappear all together.
"I think all it needs is a new battery and a general tune-up," Gabriel informed her.
Aracely rolled here eyes as she put it back on the box on which she had found it. "It's not a car, Gabe. Ah, I have to get going and get back to the store." After she picked up her stuff and passed Gabriel, ready to leave, he grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
"Your watch, it's running slow," he said as he looked at the Lorus on her right wrist.
"Yeah, I know. I've been meaning to get it fixed, but I haven't remembered or even had the time to bring it over," she said as she handed it off to him. Swiftly Gabriel opened the back of the watch and replaced the battery. After checking it over for anything else that could possibly be in need of repair, he closed it up, adjusted the time, and handed it back to her.
"Thanks, Gabe," she said with a smile. "I'll probably be back later after my shift ends. Oh, the joys of restocking shelves!" With that she was out the door leaving Gabriel alone to his thoughts and watches again.
- + -
Aracely indeed returned to Gabriel that night, but she wasn't his only visitor of the day.
"Oh, you got the watch working like you said you would!" she said as she approached Gabriel's desk. She then noticed a book lying off to the side, Activating Evolution by Dr. Chandra Suresh. "What's this?" she said as she picked it up and flipped through the pages. Gabriel went over to her and watched her as she took in the information in the book.
"It's a book on advances in genetics and brain wave activity. It gives insight on what makes some people . . . different from others. This Dr. Suresh, he came to me because he thinks I'm special, Ara." Aracely stopped looking at the pages of the book and changed focus to Gabriel's face. His brown eyes were filled with excitement and hope.
"Wow, Gabe . . . this is . . . Wow!" Ara could barely choke out.
"I know, Ara. I know! This is just what I've been waiting for. I can fulfill my wishes to do things that can make me so well-known to everyone. I no longer have to be the watchmaker's son who became a watchmaker." Gabriel was flitting around the shop doing minor repairs to this clock and that clock. "I'm supposed to meet with him tomorrow to see if his suspicions are true. Ara?"
Aracely was in shock. How did this man find Gabriel? Could Gabriel really be more than the guy that she's known for a few years as a timid, sweet friend? Her head was swimming. Was he really special like he always wanted to be, or was this kind of special different, maybe even dangerous? She didn't know what would happen as a result of the tests that would be performed. Gabriel would become the equivalent to a lab rat.
"Ara, are you all right?" Gabriel asked seeing that her eyes were becoming glazed over.
"Wha- Gabe? Oh, yes, I'm fine." Ara gave him a wide smile. "This is great news for you, Gabe. Your dreams could actually come true. Hey, let's go out to celebrate!"
"Celebrating already, Ara?" Gabe gave her a smile back.
"Yeah! I know this great restaurant near the mall. Come on, we have to hurry or else we won't be able to get a table before midnight." Aracely grabbed her things and pulled Gabriel out the door, tossing the book carelessly aside.
She hoped that Gabriel wouldn't put too much into these studies - be too affected by these tests. There was no guarantee that his plans for the future would come to exact and complete fruition the way that he wanted.