Selene goes to visit an old friend,
and begins showing the stresses dying and coming back to life can have on a person.
I do not own Heroes.
For love of a friend Part 4
Gabriel packed a few things, and went with Selene to her hotel. He marveled at how easily she fit into the elegant surroundings, even dressed in jeans and a tee. Maybe it was her confidence and charm, which was apparent to all who came into contact with her. They seemed to acquiesce to her every whim, and he was almost 100% sure she wasn't using mental persuasion.
When they arrived at her suite, Selene said, "I'll just be a few minutes. I'm traveling light these days." She turned to look at him as he sat on the bed. "I wasn't really sure how long I'd be here." She pulled a large suitcase from the closet, and started tossing in everything from her drawers.
"Is it that important that we see Noah? Why not visit Claire first? She'd love to see you, Selene. It's been awhile, and last she knew, you were dead."
She ceased her running around to stand in front of Gabriel, looking down at him, her hands on her hips. "Is there some reason you don't want me to see Noah?"
"It's not that." He stood, placing his hands on her shoulders. "I'm afraid of what you might do."
She protested, "I'm not going to do anything to Noah, Gab....."
"Selene, I know you. You can be generous and kind. But there's a dark side to you. I wouldn't put it past you to maybe punish him a little?" His hands massaged her shoulders as he spoke.
"A year ago, you might have had the same idea. What's happened to you?" She delved into his mind, but found only Gabriel, who was guileless, honest and sincere in his statements.
"I thought this was what we wanted. Everything we went through, Selene, was for this, wasn't it?" he reiterated, questioning her doubts about him.
"I wanted freedom for you. Freedom to live in peace, and not be feared by everyone. But I wanted you to remain Sylar," she said, shrugging off his hands. "When I woke up, all I could think about was getting back to you. It was the ONLY thing. Now if you don't want me because you've...changed, tell me now."
He wrapped his arms around her, saying, "I do want you, Selene. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone. But I have changed. And if you can't accept that, if it makes me less than the man you fell in love with, I'm sorry. I can't be 'Sylar' anymore. I'm Gabriel now."
Selene remembered back to the time before her death, and her feelings for Sylar, her willingness to die for him. She looked into his warm, brown eyes, sighed, and slid her arms around his waist. She lay her head against his chest, listening to his heart beat rhythmically. She raised her head to look once more into his eyes, saying, "I once said I didn't care what you called yourself. Sylar, Gabriel, Bozo the clown. It's not the name that matters, it's the man inside. I can't say that I won't miss 'Sylar', but I'll give loving 'Gabriel' a chance."
Gabriel tightened his arms around Selene in turn. He smiled down at her, before bending to kiss her. They held each other briefly, before he pulled back and said, "Let's go see Noah."
The flight went smoothly. Gabriel recalled the last time he'd flown, with his anger and desire for revenge making all those around him miserable. So much had happened between that time and now. As Selene stared out the window at the clouds and the Earth below, Gabriel grasped the hand that was holding the armrest a little too tightly. She turned to him and smiled absently. He was worried about her. If he hadn't been Sylar, he might not have understood her behavior. But he did know what she was going through, what she was feeling. He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed the palm. All he got for his effort was a sigh. He lay his head against his seat, wondering what he would be willing to do if she blew up at Noah Bennet.
Gabriel and Selene checked into a typically luxurious, for her anyway, hotel near the building he had told her Bennet now worked. Once settled, Selene asked Gabriel if he could get them into the building. He had the proper ID, but he'd never tried to use it when he wasn't on assignment. He was also loathe to call Noah, fearing the man would get security involved should even a whiff of Selene's presence reach him.
"Why don't you make a diversion so I can sneak in. No reason for Noah to know ahead of time that I'm here," Selene suggested.
"Diversion, Selene? This isn't one of your missions, you know. We'll just go on in. I'll show my ID, and ask to see him. You might do well to say nothing. I'll do the talking if anyone asks questions."
Selene gave Gabriel a dark look. She didn't like being given orders, even they were from the man she loved. They'd been partners. She was no one's subordinate. But she decided to let him lead the way, to make things easier.....on the security guards. She stood back, and waited for Gabriel to get them into Noah's inner sanctum.
When they entered the building, one guard immediately greeted Gabriel with a smile. "Hi, Mr Gray! I didn't know you were working today. Mr Bennet usually lets us know when you're due in."
"Well, Carl, I thought I'd see him about an important case we're following. Haven't exactly set up any surveillance yet. I need to throw some things past him first." He proceeded to sign in on a clipboard the guard had handed him.
The guard looked at Selene, who instantly placed a thought into his head that she was someone he knew from past days. "It's been a long time, Carl," she said, grinning broadly, and using the name Gabriel had revealed to her. "How have you been?"
"Just fine, Ms Everett. Will you be rejoining the Company?"
"I just might be, Carl. Depends on what I'm offered," she said with a wink. The guard laughed at her small joke, knowing agents for the Company made pretty good money, although how much exactly, he had no idea. She accepted the badge he handed her, indicating she was a visitor, and waving at him, followed Gabriel to the elevators. "It's so much more open," she whispered to him. "No more hidden floors? And not like, what did you call it, Building 26?"
"I wouldn't say that exactly. It's just that the secret places aren't holding Specials anymore. He's actually helping our kind, Selene."
Gabriel sounded almost as if he admired Bennet. Selene couldn't believe what she was hearing, both aloud, and silently, inside his mind. Things had changed.....a lot! It made her angry, but she didn't know why. Gabriel seemed to have found a happy medium between being an uncontrollable killer and his past life. Yet, she was not happy for him. Why couldn't she just be happy?
Selene followed Gabriel until he came to a closed door. She quickly insinuated herself between him and the door, placing her hand on his chest. "No, don't come in with me."
"What? Selene...."
"I want to see him alone first, Gabriel. Don't follow me." To placate him, she added, smiling, "Not yet." She turned, and opened the door with the flick of a finger. She stepped into the room quietly, shutting the door behind her.
The man sitting at the desk didn't notice her at first. She walked to the center of the room, stopping when he finally did notice her. Noah Bennet slowly stood, hiding his shock at seeing the figure who was standing before him. "Selene."
"It pleases me that you remember, Noah, considering."
"But how...?" he asked, confused.
"How did I survive? I guess your toy didn't have the desired affect after all. It may have taken me longer to regenerate than it did Sylar, considerably longer, but I did." She noticed his hand seeking something, and took a step forward. "I'm not going to hurt you, Noah. I just came to talk. In fact, Gabriel's outside your door. I asked him to wait a moment." She placed her purse on a chair, and walked around the office, checking out the books and other items sitting on the shelves. "He told me he killed Nathan. I can't say that I'm entirely sorry. But I'm sure it was difficult for Claire." She stopped in front of his desk, leaned her hands on the top, and looked up into his face. "She always was closer to you though. If things had been different, she might have ended up mourning both her fathers. But, as usual, you were one step ahead of Sylar."
"Selene, I am sorry that you were killed. You were never our intended target. As for leaving you, it wasn't me. Danko was in charge of Building 26's captives."
"It's ok, Noah," Selene said, interrupting his blame-fest. She didn't really care who had left her in her death box. But it would have been nice if he had taken some responsibility for what had happened to her prior. "It's been too long to hold grudges, don't you think? Look at how easily Sylar, I mean Gabriel, took to working with you again. He told me you're actually helping the Evolveds now. That he's become some sort of do-gooder, and without any help from me. I guess I have you and Peter to thank for that. He's even gone back to his old name and job."
Noah watched Selene closely. She wasn't quite the same personality he'd known before. And he knew that this made her dangerous.
"I know what we wanted at one time, Noah, but you and Peter took it beyond that. Too far, in my book." As fast as Bennet moved his hand, she moved faster. She reached out, taking his stunner from him, and in seconds, melted the metal before tossing it to the floor. She reached out at him, fingers extended, before finding her wrist held in an iron grasp. She exhaled, smiled, and turned her head to see Gabriel standing behind her. Flexing all her fingers, she told him, "You can let me go now." Without question, he released her, and she turned back to the stunned man behind the desk, saying, "I'm sorry, Noah. I lost my temper. Waking from the dead can have that affect on you. Finding the person you love, changed, can have that affect on you."
Gabriel had come into the office when he sensed her anger flaring. She was unpredictable, as he had been when he was Sylar. As soon as she picked up her purse, and headed for the door, only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
"Noah, I'll be going now. I just wanted you to know I'm fine...again. I hope you don't mind if I drop in on Claire. It'll be wonderful to see her again. Good bye." She then exited the office, and headed for the elevator.
Gabriel watched Selene closely, nodding at Bennet after catching his eye. He was letting the man know he would make sure no harm came to Claire, not that he believed Selene would ever hurt the girl.
As soon as she and Gabriel had left, Noah picked up the phone and called his daughter. He also didn't think Selene was a threat to Claire, but he wanted to warn her that Gabriel was on his way. She amazingly hadn't held any grudge against him after the carnival and media happenings, but she was always on tenterhooks, wondering if someday he would turn back into Sylar, and come after her again.
