"I'm an under cover cop," Gabriel says, once he's inside Elle's cabin.
Elle's eyebrows disappear under her bangs. "I guess I can see why you wanted to wait to tell me." She offers Gabriel the only chair in the room, sits opposite him on the bed. She remembers the night he kissed her under the tree. Fake. Her heart sinks a little. "So you're not just a guitar playing Mama's Boy?"
Gabriel shakes his head, some hair falling over his forehead as he does so. "No. But I have been playing guitar here every summer for a few years," he explains. "I took last summer off to finish my degree early so I could work with Bennet on this case. When I heard he needed an inside man, I jumped at the chance." He looks like a kid for a moment. "He's kind of my idol."
Elle tries to bite back a smile at this. Bennet? Really? "So do you have any leads?"
"I have one really strong one." He tells her. "But you need to play dumb and keep this quiet, okay?"
Elle's thrilled he's not going to keep anything else from her. "I will, I promise."
He's quiet for a moment, like he's debating if he should tell her or not. "We've been trailing Peter Petrelli for months."
Elle's jaw drops. "Peter!? Peter is annoying and kind of a jerk, but I don't think he's a killer." Peter? The whiny nurse? A killer? "What would his motive even be?"
"We're not sure yet." Gabriel confides. "Until I catch him in the act, or we find a motive, we can't arrest him without alerting him that we know he's been behind the killings." He looks frustrated, like it's been eating at him for a while. "He'd flee if he knew we were on to him. That night we met, I wanted to tell you about him." Gabriel looks at Elle with guilt. "I'm sorry I tricked you into kissing me. He was standing right there and I didn't want all my months of work to go blow up in my face. Bennet would kill me."
Elle shrugs, hides her hurt feelings. So it was all fake, then? "Well, maybe I could help you."
"I don't want you involved, Elle." His large hands reach across and cover her smaller ones. They're so warm.
"If it's true, and if it's Peter, he was the one who killed my Daddy." She tries not to cry. She's cried enough today. "I owe him something."
"Let me handle this, please. It's bad enough he's gotten your dad." Gabriel tries to soothe her.
"...He almost got me, too." Elle admits quietly.
"I know. At the lake." Gabriel reminds her he was there.
"I wasn't talking about the lake, although now that I look back on it, he didn't bother trying to help me, did he?" Realization dawns on Elle. She feels stupid.
"A few murders in the city were staged to look accidental as well." Gabriel moves from the chair to sit beside Elle on her bed. It creaks noisily under their combined weight. "But which time are you talking about?"
"A few nights ago..." Elle starts. "The night I had that nightmare? When we... you know..." She doesn't mention the rest. Hates to think that it was all fake. "Well, I was getting air outside my cabin after I had my nightmare when I heard stuff going on inside the cabin. I was so terrified I just kept running. Then I ran into you and, well... you were there for the rest." Her tone is a little crueler than she intended, but the wounded look on Gabriel's face makes up for it. "But that's why I had my cabin switched to this one."
"You'll be alright." He promises. "I'm having you moved again. I have a feeling Peter saw you in here earlier when he and I were fighting. He'll probably be back here tonight."
"Where can I even go?" Elle almost shouts. "I doubt anywhere in this fucked up resort is safe."
"You'll stay with me." He suggests like there are no other options. "Nothing can hurt you when you're with me. Okay?"
Elle stares at the floor. She doesn't want Gabriel to see her cheeks flush. "Well, I still think I can help. I know how to fire guns, and I took a ladies' self defense class."
Gabriel slides his hand up and down Elle's back. The backless dress allows Elle the warm, comforting feeling of skin on skin. "I doubt that will be enough. Just stick close by."
"Is it even a good idea for me to stay with you?" Elle asks. "After what went on between us, added to the fact it was all an act to get me to trust you anyway, I just don't feel like it's right."
He kisses her bare shoulder. "What happened that night under the tree was a distraction, I'll admit." He pushes her long blonde hair to the side and kisses her neck. "But everything after," he tilts her chin toward his. "Everything after was quite real." His dark eyes gaze into hers, showing her nothing but sincerity. "I really do like you, Elle." He nudges her nose with his, kisses her softly. "You're not just a job to me."
Elle returns his kiss, desperate to feel anything but the grief of her father's death. She clings to Gabriel; afraid if she doesn't hang on tight enough, he'll disappear and she'll really be alone. Impatient for more intimate contact, Elle takes it upon herself to tug the hem of Gabriel's shirt up over his stomach, over his arms, past his head. She cards her fingers through his unruly hair for a moment before resuming her attentions on his mouth.
Gabriel pulls Elle onto his lap, her legs straddling his. His hands cup and fondle her ass, her quickening breath only serving to encourage him in his actions. He starts to drag the light sundress up over Elle's thighs with one hand while the other pulls her panties down.
Eager to help out, Elle stands for a moment. She lets her panties drop to the floor while keeping her dress hiked up over her stomach. She lets Gabriel pull her back into his lap once he's freed himself from the confines of his pants and boxers. Elle teases the both of them, rubbing herself on Gabriel's hardening cock.
She gasps, pleased, when Gabriel slides the straps of her dress down her shoulders. He kisses and bites her neck and shoulders while he unzips the back of Elle's dress. He has to make several attempts as Elle's rocking against him proves to make things difficult. She stills, however, when Gabriel manages to slide the top of her dress down, baring her breasts to him.
He cups one of her breasts while pulling her tighter against him, trapping his erection between the two of them. Elle sighs into Gabriel's mouth, thrusts her hips against his. "Need you so bad, " she practically whines. The almost-triumphant look on Gabriel's face doesn't go unnoticed by Elle when he repositions himself, allowing her to fully seat herself on his throbbing member.
They're still for a moment, Elle accommodating herself to Gabriel's length. He slides a hand behind her neck, drawing her face to his. She kisses him deeply, thrusting herself up on his lap slightly. When he groans, deep in the back of his throat, Elle realizes she's found something that works for both of them. Slowly, almost teasing, she slides back down the length of him.
When both of Gabriel's hands reach back and grab her ass, Elle wraps her arms around his shoulders and pulls her chest against his. He sets the pace, guiding Elle along his cock while she hangs on for dear life. He's agonizingly slow, his hands forcing her to savor the moment, rather than rush her completion. When Elle tries to speed things up, he slaps her ass- a promise and a warning at the same time.
"God, Gabriel…" Elle pants. She wraps one arm about his shoulders, while the other cradles the back of his head. She kisses his neck, his mouth, lightly bites his earlobe while gasping. The sweat collects on their bodies, makes them slide against one another, slipping occasionally.
Gabriel lets out a moan that Elle feels in her chest, speeds his thrusting up. He knows Elle can't last much longer. He's not sure he can, either. He leans back, his shoulders resting against the wall. Elle leans forward, braces herself on her knees while still straddling Gabriel's lap. He pulls her hips tightly against his own; lets Elle grind herself against him. It's not much longer before she comes. He's not far behind, thrusting into her wetness erratically, whispering "Mine" over and over in her ear. It's enough to make Elle orgasm a second time. Feeling Elle clench and sigh and pull at his hair is all it takes for Gabriel to spill himself into her. Sated, they collapse on their sides in a tangle of sweaty limbs.
After cleaning themselves up, they lie naked in Elle's bed, planning what's to come next. He pillows his head with Elle's breasts, toying with a rogue strand of blonde hair across her collarbone. She strokes his hair back and rubs his shoulders. Gabriel suggests Elle come stay with him in the city when the summer is over. He has a small apartment, but she can stay with him. She won't even need to work. He promises to take care of her.
Flattered as Elle is, she refuses. "Daddy left behind a lot of responsibility for me. The company will go under if no one's there to mind it." She sighs and inhales his musky post-coital scent. "It'd be nice though... not have to worry about anything." She adds: "But I have to grow up sometime."
Gabriel wants to respond, but any words die in the back of his throat when the glare of blue and red lights shines through the cabin. He sits up first, peers through the fogged-out window by the bed. "Get dressed." He says quickly, grabbing for own clothes.
Elle doesn't bother questioning him, just pulls her dress back over her head, and looks around the floor for her discarded panties. "What do you think is going on?"
"Don't know," Gabriel answers, pulling his pants up. He steps outside, shirt forgotten, and holds the door open for Elle.
When she steps under the threshold, Elle immediately knows why the police are there. Across the lawn, she sees a police SUV in front of Peter's cabin. Angela is outside, barefoot with zinc on her nose, shouting at Bennet's scary partner to let her son go.
The tall man says nothing, just leads a handcuffed Peter into the back of the SUV while Bennet and another detective haul a large box into the trunk. When Peter looks out the window of the vehicle, his eyes instantly dart to Elle and Gabriel. He glares at Elle and shakes his head.
Although Peter is cuffed and in the police SUV, Elle can't help but curl her body against Gabriel's anyway. She feels one of his arms wrap around her waist, while the other rubs her shoulder. She should feel safe, but seeing that haunted look in Peter's eyes terrifies her.
"I don't think I can stay here another night." Elle says, her voice tiny against all the other noise and commotion going on. "I have to arrange Daddy's funeral, go over his will with the lawyers... figure out what's going on with the company."
"Do you want me to give you a ride into the city?" Gabriel asks. He brushes her bangs back from her face, kisses her forehead.
Elle squeezes Gabriel tighter, revels in his closeness. "I can drive myself back," she tells him. "Go for one more ride in that huge, old car." She looks up at him. "Do you have a number I can call you at? After everything's taken care of?"
"Sure," Gabriel says, leading Elle back into the cabin. He writes his name and a phone number beneath it, tears the paper in half. "You got one?"
Elle writes down her cell phone number and kisses the torn scrap of paper before handing it to him. "Keep in touch, huh?"
"Call me when everything's sorted out." He says.
After kissing him like her life depends on it, Elle promises to do just that. She sees him off, and then begins to pack all her belongings. She looks out her window across the lawn, once the police are gone, at her father's cabin. Bennet had asked to her look through the scene and see if anything was missing. He mentioned this serial killer had taken personal possessions from each victim. Elle wasn't about to pack her poor, dead Daddy's personal effects, but she was curious. Was anything missing? If so, what would the killer take?
Elle moves as quickly as her sandals allow, across the grass to her father's old cabin. She slides past the crime scene tape, pleasantly surprised to find the door unlocked. After turning the knob, she steels herself for the scene. Daddy's blood- most of it not even dried yet, covers more of the floor than she realizes initially. It's everywhere. She's even stepping in it.
Making a mental note to throw out the sandals, Elle navigates around the over turned room. She searches through her Daddy's closet, his wallet, anything he had of value on him. She finds his gold watch sitting on his bedside table, flecks of blood oddly complimenting the metal on the timepiece.
As wrecked as the room is, Elle can't find one thing missing. Defeated, she leaves much the way she came in. She heads for the playhouse to get the keys to her Daddy's car. It's not long before her bags are brought over from her cabin and the big, black Cadillac pulls up. She thanks the valet, but has no cash to tip him. She slides into the car she was never allowed to drive and heads back to the city.