I do not own Heroes, I'm not doing this for profit, etc.
Reviews are appreciated.
Angelic Revelation.
Gabriel's Shop-Morning
Awake.
Elle did not want to be awake. She lay on her Gabriel's too small bed, with her back hurting, her head hurting, and feeling nauseated. Elle was miserable. All she wanted to do was roll over and go back to sleep. Instead she was had to do something else. Elle knew why she woke up. It was because she had a terrible need to go to the bathroom. A need that was so bad it was more important than her aching back, her throbbing head and her queasy stomach.
Beside Elle, her Gabriel's chest rises and falls in a slow steady rhythm. Gingerly she untangles their legs, slips her arm off his back and shimmies to the end of the bed. There she pauses. Blue eyes note her Gabriel's soft sleeping features. Elle wants to stay here longer. She wants to watch him, but her bladder has other ideas. Small feet carry her down the hall to the tiny bathroom at the back of her Gabriel's shop.
After a few minutes, Elle pads quietly back to her Gabriel's room. The back pain and headache remained along with the nausea, but her bladder was happy. Elle did not know what was wrong with her these past few days. What she did know was how much she disliked it. As she reaches the end of the hall she sees her Gabriel lying just how she left him. The only change was his eyes. His twin dark brown orbs watch her.
She continues forward to the end of his small bed. She stands there looking at him. Elle really wants to go back to sleep, however that seems impossible. The discomfort she feels will probable keep her awake for awhile. Also, she really wants to know about Peter. Her Gabriel tilts his head, while raising an eyebrow at her.
Elle knows if she sits down on the bed one of two things will happen. The most like is she lays there uncomfortably awake till her lover drags her out of bed. While the second and less likely scenario is that she lets him seduce her. Sex does not seem like the greatest idea given her headache and tense back. Still, Elle considers it an excellent way to pass the time with her Gabriel and she did have to give him his present.
Elle decides she probably will not fall asleep anytime soon and she really wants to know about Peter. With these two considerations in mind, she looks around the room for someplace to sit. A straight backed wooden chair rests next to her Gabriel's dark wooden writing desk. The chair looks uncomfortable to Elle. Sighing she walks over to, turns it to face the bed and sits.
'Elle,' her Gabriel calls from the bed.
'Hmm.'
'What are you doing?'
She smiles, 'We're going to have a little talk, Gabe.'
She watches him sit up. He adjusts himself so his back rests against the wall beside the bed. His brown eyes look sleepy. Elle smiles a little more. Her Gabriel got less sleep than she did since he had to dispose of Adam's body. She wants to know more about that, however Peter comes first.
Curious she asks, 'What the hell was Peter doing last night?'
A dark knowing smiles forms on her Gabriel's soft lips. 'What did it look like he was doing?'
Annoyance flashes through Elle. She was too uncomfortable to play stupid word games with him right now. She demands, 'Answer the question. Why was Peter there?'
She hears him take a deep breath, before beginning, 'Peter was there to help.' He holds up a large hand to forestall her protest. 'I told him that Adam raped you. That way he would approve of what me are doing. That's why I told you if anyone asked you should respond with that answer.'
Elle interrupts, 'Yes, but how did he even get involved in all this?'
Her boyfriend asks, 'Remember his accident?'
She nods a response.
'Well, it really changed Peter. Nathan's car accident, the one which killed Heidi and injured Peter, wasn't an accident at all. You see, Elle, Nathan was about to indict a Mr. Linderman. Who I know you're familiar with.'
Elle knew Linderman. He owned a casino in Atlantic City. Also, he was a member of Primatech's Board of Directors. She had met the white haired man several times. Most of the time he seemed nice enough, however, Elle saw another side of him. Linderman reminded Elle of the two faced Roman god, whose name she had forgotten. There was a pleasant businessman side to Lindreman, which was at odds with the ruthless organized crime connected gangster that slipped out on occasion. Elle heard rumors that he worked some deal with the Russian mob to take over his Atlantic City casino.
Her Gabriel continues, 'Linderman arranged for Nathan to have a little 'accident.' The unintended result was that Nathan survived nearly unscathed, his wife Heidi died and his brother Peter was seriously injured. Linderman got what he wanted because Nathan backed off. The thing most people never realized is how much that wreck changed Peter.'
Elle knew that Peter changed after the wreck. Peter suffered a great deal of head trauma that the doctors feared for his cognitive ability if he ever woke from his comma. She remembers that he woke up and seemed fine, seemed able to do anything he wanted. Elle was so relieved by that. The only change she noticed was that he seemed angry and moody. The nice guy side of Peter was still there, but there was a new side of him came out from time to time. Also, that scar looked really painful to Elle.
She tells her Gabriel, 'I agree he changed a little. I just don't think he changed that much.'
He half smiles back at her, 'He changed. Once they finally let him out of the hospital, he would switch unpredictable from sulking to outraged. The idea that someone could try to kill his brother and him, and actually kill his sister-in-law was a shock. That the person got away with it was even worse. Peter's worldview did not take that into account. The whole 'bad things to good people' was more an abstract concept to him than a reality, until the accident.'
He pauses. Brown eyes consider her. Elle remains quite. A few seconds drag past, 'Gabriel?'
He shakes his head. 'Just thinking of something. Anyway, Peter was withdrawn and angry after the wreck. He avoided me. He drove Claire away. Then he stopped going to class. Finally, I confronted him about it. Peter told me he kept thinking about the wreck. Not so much what happened, but that the guy got away with it. That the guy who tried to kill him got away with murder. That the police, and the lawyers and everyone were going to do nothing. Peter told me he didn't see a point in anything anymore. That society was broken and pointless if people could get away with that.'
He chuckles, 'Amusing considering who his best friend was. I had returned from London only a few months before and added a couple people to my collection since then. All I did was float out the idea that maybe he, Peter Petrelli, should do something about it. At first he did not understand what I was talking about. Over the course of about a month or so I hinted and pushed and cajoled him into having an idea. The police identified the other drive that night. Linderman used his influence to have the whole thing twisted into a simple car accident, with only a small fine and some points on the guy's license. That enraged and disconcerted Peter. When he was not moping, he would rant on and on about that. So finally, the idea hit him. That if a Mr. Eric Thompson could kill someone and get away with it. Then someone else could do the same. The difference was I convinced Peter that killing Eric was the right thing to do, that we were 'saving' society. He could make a difference in the world by stopping those who no one else could. Peter ate it up.'
Gabriel stops. Laughs softly, while shaking his head. 'I think it fulfilled some boyhood fantasy he had about being a super hero who saved the world. I even gave him a little catch phrase 'Save the City, Save the World.' By stopping the 'bad people' here in New York we were going to make the world a better place.'
Elle sits stunned. This was not what she expected. That her Gabriel could manipulate Peter so easily, yet…yet Elle knew that Peter wanted to do good, wanted to help people. He became a nurse to do help those that could not help themselves. She saw how her lover's appeal to Peter could work, could twist him, especially after the wreck. Elle wondered how her Gabriel figured out what made Peter tick, if he had figured her out the same way, if he was manipulating her too…
He continues, 'Once we had decided to save the city, I had already begun 'operating' here. I'd left only two bodies in the park, but I had an idea. My shop was all setup, my tools gathered, and I would gladly get rid of Eric for Peter. The thing was I knew Peter well enough to realize he could not, even after his accident, kill someone. He understood that the only way to stop some people was to kill them, but he could not personally do it. I told him that, if he would help me, I would do it for him. Naturally, he refused. As much as Peter wanted it done, he needed one more push.'
Her Gabriel stops looks at her. Elle waits. A few seconds drag by. She demands, 'Tell me what you did, Gabe.'
He smiles, again. 'This was not the first time Mr. Eric Thompson was involved in something like this. There was another similar incident a year or so before. I found it online and it got me thinking. A little creative web design, some cut and paste and Peter had a reason. I sent him a link that looked like it was from the Times. I just stole all the basic web lay out, set the webpage's shortcuts to default to the Times' homepage and created a story. Apparently Mr. Eric Thompson killed a family of four because the husband was late paying a gambling debt. I had Eric flip into a homicidal rage and beat the family to death in their own home. Naturally, I referenced Linderman a few times in the article, and made sure that Eric was going to get off. The article credited some expensive attorneys hired by Linderman and shoddy evidence collection by the police and the DA being up for reelection, with Linderman making a sizeable campaign contribution. The article read like another case of money and political influence letting a murderer get away. When Peter saw the article, he flipped. Especially when I told him he could have saved that family. If only he would help me, we could save people. He agreed. We were going to save the village by destroying it, or in our case, we were going to save people by killing others. Peter helped me abduct Eric. We brought him back here and…,' his voice trailed off.
Elle sat in the chair fascinated. She never suspected that of Peter. Even thought her Gabriel had told her a lot, she still had questions. 'Then he knows that you are the 'Slayer?'
He shakes his head. 'No, if he did, Peter would turn on me. I killed Eric to help Peter. I told him I would fake the murder to look like that 'crazed serial killer', his words. That way the police would not suspect anything. Besides, I did a hack job on Eric and dumped him in the river. I wanted it to look like some copycat that was pretending to be me. Peter never suspected that I might be that very same person he ranted about.'
Her Gabriel stops. He reaches for the glass of water on the night stand. After a short drink he, continues, 'Sometimes I need help. You've seen how hard this is to do and get away with. For Peter to help, all I have to do is convince him that the person is 'bad.' Sometimes he even brings them to me. Take Candice for example. You knew her, right Elle?'
She nods an affirmation.
'Once it came to light she sold drugs, and that someone died from them it was easy. Peter was the nurse who worked on that guy's girlfriend. You know, the one that jumped out the window and went splat. The cops brought the girlfriend to the hospital once they found that guy smeared on the sidewalk. The girlfriend was hopped up on the same stuff, but when she came down, she told Peter everything. Peter told me and asked for my help,' he concludes with a smile.
Elle understands now. She asks her Gabriel, 'You told Peter that Adam raped me, which made it okay to for him to help, right?'
He nods and then says, 'Yes, I had to justify it somehow. Has he asked you about it yet?'
'Yes,' she responds, 'before we moved Adam from the van to your shop, he asked.'
'I'm not surprised. Normally we do this a little differently but you changed things, made them easier.'
Elle smiles at that. She liked helping her Gabriel. After considering for a moment, Elle asks, 'Does Sarah know?'
Her Gabriel shakes his head back and forth, 'No, not that I'm aware of. I don't think Peter would tell her. Sarah might have some loose sexual morals…but I don't think she would approve.'
She considers what she knows about her roommate. Sarah used sex as a form of rebellion against her repressive childhood upbringing. The rest of her was as straight as arrow though, well except the drinking. Sarah blamed that on her childhood too. All the wild living, plus the genetic disposition she blamed on her father, combined to make her drink too much a few years ago. Elle met Sarah before she sobered up, while she was a notorious party girl. Sarah had shown Elle how to live, or at least how to have a good time in the city. Once Sarah sobered up, she changed. She became less promiscuous, yet Elle knew her friend would never approve of killing people, even if it was her Gabriel's version of saving lives. Elle says, 'Yeah, I don't see Sarah being a big fame of this.'
'I agree,' he responds. 'Don't let her know about what we're doing,' he says with a smile.
Elle nods her agreement. A little voice in the back of her mind bugs her. Tells her she is forgetting something. She considers for second before pushing it aside. Their conversation about Sarah made her think of something else.
'Stay here,' she tells her lover. Elle stands, stretches her tense back and wonders back the workroom. There she finds her purse on the workbench. She digs inside it for a second finds what she wants, grabs it, and walks with it hidden behind her back to her Gabriel's room.
She returns to find him still sitting on the bed dressed in a white T-shirt and boxers. The nausea had faded during their conversation. Her back still hurt, and her head did a little too. Still, this was her Gabriel's reward for helping her with Adam. After all he did most of the work, and she got all the fun last night.
'Close your eyes,' she instructs him. Brown eyes remain open, evaluating her. Elle fakes a pout, 'Please, I've got a surprise for you. You'll like it, I promise.'
An exasperated breath slides past his lips, while he closes his dark eyes.
Elle sets the item quietly on his desk. Then she shimmies out of last night's stale clothes. Next, she removes her undergarments. Naked she evaluates herself. Small hands run across her body. Her normally taunt midsection seemed a little soggy to her. Her appetite had increased dramatically a few days after her dinner date with her Gabriel. Elle knew she was eating more than usually the past few weeks. Also, that she had acquired a bizarre desire for peaches. Peach pie, peaches and cream, peach yogurt, peaches in her cereal, basically peaches were their own food group that went with just about one or two meals a day now. She worried that she would be one of those women that got fat once they found a long term relationship or a husband. Elle did not want to become one of them, but…she was so hungry, and her back hurt like a bitch the past few days and…Elle she thinks, get it together. She was having trouble with that lately.
Elle picks up the pink furry handcuffs. She made sure Sarah gave her the self-release kind, which have a little button instead of a key. The last thing Elle wanted was to not be able to find the damn key again.
Front or Back. Elle considers. While she does so, 'Keep your eyes closed for a few more seconds, my Gabriel.'
Elle decides on back. She places her hands behind her back and awkwardly handcuffs herself. Before she tells her lover to open his eyes, Elle makes sure she can undo the cuffs. A small finger pushes finds the release button. The cuff clicks open, which causes another delay as she struggles to get it back on.
Finally ready, Elle says, 'When I tell you to, open your eyes, okay?'
His confused exasperation mars his handsome features. 'Yes.'
'Now, if I say Redfish you have to stop, understand?' she instructs her Gabriel.
His tone confused, 'Elle, what are you doing?'
'You have to promise me Gabriel.'
He his remain closed as he shakes his head. 'I promise.'
Her heart beating faster, wondering what he will do to her, what her Gabriel will 'make' her do, Elle tells him, 'Open your eyes.'
Brown eyes open, blink, and drink in her naked body. Elle feels his eyes like burning orbs slide over her legs, her sex, her breasts.
Lower lip slid between her teeth, Elle turns to the side. She knows he can see the cuffs now.
'Elle?' he questions. 'What are you doing?'
She turns back to face him. Apprehension slides through her. Elle never played this part of the game before. It was always Sarah and she was the one in control. Still, she manages a smile. Elle knows he would never hurt her. Knows her Gabriel could not do that.
'I'm your surprise Gabriel. You can do anything, anything you want to me. Just don't hurt me and…and stop if I ask,' she tells him.
He slides off the bed. His long legs carry him quickly to her. Warm large hands rub against her slender arms. 'Elle, I would never hurt you. You understand that?'
Joy courses through her. She knew that. Smiling she nods at him.
His voice reluctant, 'Elle…I don't want this.' He waves his a hand like that explains something.
Disappointed blue eyes slide to her feet, where she notices something. Looking up at him under her golden bangs, she observes his hungry dark eyes. Elle says seductively, 'Some part of you does. Hmm…Gabriel. I know you like having control.'
'Elle,' he begins.
She turns to face away from him and takes a half step back. Elle gropes blindly behind her. Petite hands find his boxers. They slide inside to stroke his hard member trapped beneath the thin material. She leans back against him. Tilting her head back over her shoulder, Elle whispers seductively, 'I know you like this, my Gabriel. With all your watches, your clocks, always perfect, you always have to be in control of them. Always making them do what you want…hmm you like that Gabriel?' Small fingers continue to stroke him. 'You want to control me, Gabriel? Want to do dirty things to me?' Elle teases seductively. Blue eyes see something twitch in his face.
Shifting a little more, Elle manages to slide his boxers down, which he then kicks free. Then he pulls off his T-shirt. His muscular chest feels warm, safe. Elle smiles. She knew this would work, knew that her Gabriel always wanted to be in control. Why else would all his watches and clocks work perfectly? He had to control them, had to make them perfect. It was also about dominance with her Gabriel. Why else would he kill people the way he did? Tying them up and stealing their brains, that was all about control and power my Gabriel, Elle thinks, Elle knows.
Her small hand clasps his hardness tight. She swallows. Elle rubs his hard member against her butt. She does not like anal sex. Always found it uncomfortable, even painful. Hoped it was not what her Gabriel wanted, however, if he did, she would do it for him. She endured it for Adam, and her Gabriel was so much better than he was.
Bright slightly apprehensive smile, 'Gabe, you want that?' His hardness rubs against her butt. She swallows a little, supposes she does have to say it, 'You want to have anal sex?'
He blinks. Brown eyes look at her intently, his head tilts. 'Do you Elle?'
'If you want,' she replies.
He shakes his head, 'No, Elle. Tell me do you?'
'No.'
'Okay,' he says before kissing her neck.
Pushing back against him she states, 'You don't mind?'
Soft lips kiss her neck, her ear. Then he whispers, 'It's okay.' His teeth close on her earlobe gently, which he nips softly. Then he trails kisses down her neck, her shoulder.
A strong smooth muscular arm wraps around her slim hips. She leans back against him, letting him support her weight. His large hand cups her chin. Awkwardly he tilts her head back to look at his dark hungry gaze. She sees his desire for her, for the control he has over her.
She stokes his hardness, slowly pumping it in her small hands.
'Stop,' he tells her.
Delicate hands still around his hard member. Elle bites her lip. She wonders what he will make her do next, what he wants to do to her. He releases her chin. Then he places two fingers against her lips. Elle opens her mouth and lets his fingers inside. Wetly she suckles them, while swirling her tongue against his finger tips.
Blue eyes watch his shoulders tighten. Hesitantly she starts to stroke his hardness again. One small hand strokes the length of him, while the other grips his tip. Deft fingers gently grip and turn against it like someone turning on a facet.
Elle's rewarded by hearing his breath hitch. Her Gabriel presses himself against her small hands.
'Stop,' he gasps.
Annoyed she releases his hardness. If he did not appreciate what she was doing, Elle was not going to do anything. Her Gabriel was taking all the fun out of this. To punish him she bites down a little harder than she should on his fingers.
He winces. His fingers slide out of her mouth. Releasing her waist, he pulls her head back roughly. Warm breath against her cheek, he tells her, 'If you didn't stop, you'll make a mess.'
Warmth spreads through Elle. Even with her hands cuffed she could control her Gabriel. Her pink tongue slides seductively between her lips. He smiles knowingly at her.
Elle shudders. Those two fingers she wetted now brush against her sex. Her stomach flutters as his fingers run down her sex, then slide slowly back up. Reaching her clitoris, his wet strong subtle fingers slide back and forth across her delicate burning bundle of nerves. A lustful whimper escapes her throat.
Her Gabriel continues to run his fingers in a cross across her sex. Elle tries to bend her knees and press herself down on his hand. He does not let her. Instead he uses his other arm to keep her standing almost on her tippy toes, with her weight shifted to rest on his chest. She feels his hard member poke against the small of her back.
Elle closes her eyes. She focuses on his touches, on the subtle feel of his strong fingers stroking, messaging, and rubbing her core. Little noises of desire and need sound deep in her throat.
Warmth builds quickly inside her. Elle slips her lower lip between her teeth. Small hips buck and push against his fingers. She feels her vulnerability. With her hands behind her and her Gabriel holding her like this, she cannot press his fingers against her. The lack of control intoxicates her.
The warmth grows inside her. Elle's small body tremors she is close, so close.
He stops.
Elle whines.
Before she can speak his is pressing his thumb to her mouth. She takes it inside. Her tongue rubs against it, while she suckles it like a child. After a few seconds, he slowly slides it out. Then she feels his fingers pressed against her sex again. Small hips try to push themselves down, try to push his fingers inside. Instead his fingers rest loosely against her sex.
'Elle,' he whispers to her.
With her eyes still closed, she replies with a high needy whine. The release that was building inside her begins to fade.
'What do you want?'
'Inside,' she gasps, 'need you inside.'
'What do you say?' he teases.
'Please, Gabe, please, pl-,' her last word cuts off as he slide his two fingers inside her. She does not care that he made her beg. All she wants is his touch. The callused wet pad of thumb brushes against her clitoris. Her Gabriel slides his two fingers with building speed in and out of her sex, while his thumb rubs small fiery circles against her clitoris.
Elle feels the fire within her rekindle. He lets her push her small hips down against his fingers. Little lustful noises start in her throat. A warm pleasure radiates through her. Slender legs start to tremble. His touches too much, his fingers too much, his warm breath against her cheek too much, her vulnerability too much, the warmth spreads through her like an electric current traveling through her seeking escape, seeking release.
Her small body shakes. Quivering muscles cause her legs to buckle. He catches her. One arm around her shoulders, with the other around her waist, her Gabriel holds her. Elle rides the waves of electric wet pleasure as they lessen and begin to fade.
After a few moments, with her breath returned, blue eyes open. They find her lover's happy gloating brown eyes watching her. Elle can sees that he likes this. She knew he would. Knew that he liked the illusion of power he had over her.
Elle smiles happily. She can feel his hardness still pressed to the small of her back. Blue eyes watch him. She waits. Cannot wait.
'Gabe,' she says.
He remains quite watching her, holding her. Elle leans forward a little. With her best seductive voice, 'You're so hard.' Soft fingers brush his erection. 'So big. I don't know if it will fit.'
He smiles hungry, lustful. 'It will.'
Slender fingers stroke him. 'Are you sure? You're so big my Gabriel and I'm so small,' Elle says breathily.
Strong arms lift Elle of her feet. He carries her to the bed. She bends her kneels, which lets him place her kneeling on the bed. Large hands grip her shoulders and guide her face down on the bed.
Elle kneels naked beneath him with her face and chest against the bed. Small teeth bite her lip in anticipation. She feels an electric eager charge building inside her. Her knees slide against the bed as she wiggles to a more comfortable position. His warm hands glide down her flanks. They come to rest on her slim hips.
'What are you going to do to me, Gabe?' she asks.
She feels his strong fingers touch her inner thigh. Roughly he pulls her legs apart. Warm fingers cup her wet sex. Elle moans and presses herself against his hand.
'Elle?'
She gyrates her hips against his hand to create some friction on her sex. A whimper, which she knows her Gabriel will like, sounds in her throat.
He tells her, 'I'm going to fuck you, Elle.'
With what she hopes is a seductive sacred voice, Elle replies, 'Oh, not that my Gabe. You're too big.'
'Don't worry Elle, I'll make it fit,' he replies.
She feels her skin tingle with fiery anticipation, when his hand slides off her sex. Elle wants his hand back, yet she knows what will come next. She closes her eyes. Slender wrists pull at the cuffs as he slides inside her. His hardness pushes deep inside as his strong hips slam against hers. Strong hands hold her, while he pulls back and then slams forward again.
A stifled cry of ecstasy issues from her lips. His thrusts grow harder, faster. Elle feels his hand squeeze her hips, which lets him pull her back against his thrusts. Her slender hips buck back against her Gabriel's.
Warm, burning electric sensations course through her small body. His large strong body thrusts against her again and again and again. Elle makes lustful wanton noises as her Gabriel thrusts into her. The noises seem to encourage him, to make him want her more.
Fighting against the warmth inside her, Elle says between moans, 'Too big…too hard…my Gabe…mmah …harder…fuck me.'
His hips slam against her viscously, making the wet skin on skin smacking sound of sex. She feels his arm release and hook under her hips. His warm muscular chest presses against her restrained hands as he thrust inside her again and again and again.
His pace grows erratic. Elle looses the rhythm between them. She does not care. The electric current inside her shorts out. With her sex shoved against him, with electric heat burning through her, with her thoughts fading to mindless pleasure, with her Gabriel's name on her lips, Elle comes.
Tired legs give way. She slides forward against his arm. He holds her to him, while he thrusts once, twice. In a strangled cry he says, 'ELLE.' His strong arms go slack. She slips forward against the bed.
Elle lies there drifting in the bliss. Slim wrists twist at the pink handcuffs. Finally, her thumb finds the release. Her sore shoulders protest as she undoes the other cuff.
Elle tosses the pink cuffs to the floor, before turning to her Gabriel. He lies beside her. His breath still ragged. Half-closed brown eyes watch her. She rolls her shoulders and neck a few times.
He asks, 'You could get out anytime?'
Elle nods. She asks, 'That…that didn't ruin it for you?'
He blinks and shakes his head. Elle slides over to her lover and curls her body around him. His strong muscles feel good. She closes her eyes as he clutches him tight.
'Tired,' she mumbles against his chest.
A long fingered hand runs through her hair. Elle focuses on his tender caresses, as she her thoughts drifts.
Gabriel's Shop-Late Morning
After breakfast at the bagel place a block away, they return to Gabriel's shop. Elle sat next to her Gabriel reading the latest Cosmo, which she picked up at a newsstand. Beside her, Elle's lover fiddled with one of his numerous watches. Occasionally he would ask her to hand him some tool or part. Aside from that he worked with a quite diligence.
Elle sighs. She feels bored after last night and this morning's excitement. Still, she likes spending time with her Gabriel. Her delicate fingers flip the magazine's glossy page. Blue eyes roam the photo spread on the next page. She sighs and flips the page, again.
RING.
Blue eyes snap to her purse, which is on her Gabriel's workbench. Quickly, she reaches for it.
RING.
Small hands open it. Fumbling fingers dig and shuffle through her purse.
RING.
A finger brushes her phone. She pushes away some tissues, and grapes her phone. Elle looks at the display. Her roommates name and number are displayed. Before bringing the phone to her ear, Elle pushes the accept button.
'Hey,' she greets her roommate.
'Oh, thank God.'
That was not the greeting Elle expected. Sarah sounds both excited and relieved.
'Sarah?' she questions.
'You're okay?'
'Yes,' she responds. Blue eyes look over at her Gabriel. He sits looking at her confused, with his head tilted to the left. 'We're fine. I'm with Gabriel at his shop. What's wrong?' Elle inquires.
'Oh, Elle. I thought…thought you were with Adam last night, and when I woke up and you weren't home I was worried,' Sarah tells her.
Elle forgot about that, forgot that her roommate over heard her conversation with Adam. She did not think it was important but now…
Slender legs push Elle to her feet. Quickly, she walks to the front room of her Gabriel's shop. Elle did not want to try and talk her way out of this with her Gabriel listening.
'Elle?'
'Elle?'
Reaching the front room, Elle slides the curtain closed behind her. 'What?'
Sarah says, 'Where were you last night?'
Killing my ex-boyfriend with my boyfriend and your precious Peter, Elle thinks. She knows that is not the right answer, but…
'Umm…,' she stalls, 'Sarah, umm…' Elle tries to think. Her Gabriel may be upset if he finds out Sarah knew she was supposed to be with Adam. Elle was supposed to tell everyone that she was with her Gabriel last night. The problem is how much of her conversation with Adam did Sarah eavesdrop on? Wait that story was the way out of this.
'Elle? You there?'
'Yes,' she responds. She takes a deep breath. 'I was with Gabriel last night. Why? What's wrong?'
Silence.
'Sarah?' she asks.
'Yeah,' the word hesitant suspicious.
Elle says with her best confused innocent voice like she does not know, like she did not kill him last night. 'What does any of this have to do with Adam?'
A pause before Sarah responds, 'I…I don't know how to say this…maybe you should just come back to the apartment.'
Elle tries to contain her annoyance. She knows Sarah was attempting to be considerate, to tell her that her former lover was dead. The idea of returning to their apartment to face Sarah did not appeal to Elle. It would force her to fake more than her voice. She would have to look sad, shocked and scared. Her roommate knew her too well for that to be easy. Plus, she was too tired to put on the performance a face to face meeting might require.
'Sarah, I'm tired and don't want to go anywhere right now, so just tell me, please,' she tells her roommate.
'I don't,' Sarah's voice tremors, 'I'm sorry. Adam he's dead. They found him in the park this morning. That serial killer got him.' She pauses. 'I'm so sorry Elle.'
I am not, Elle thinks. That is not the right response, Elle. She knows that but…but…stupid social rules. 'Oh, God Sarah,' her voice shocked. 'How terrible…I just….' She pauses. Blue eyes roam around the various clocks and watches in Gabriel's shop. 'Thanks for telling me.' Elle winces, that was probable not the thing to say. 'I need to talk to my Gabriel. Okay?'
'Yeah.'
'I'll see you tonight,' Elle states.
'Okay, I'm sorry Elle.'
'Me too, bye.' Elle snaps the phone closed. She takes a deep breath. Turning on her heal, she walks quickly to the curtain.
She slips inside. Elle finds her Gabriel still hunched over his workbench. The multi-lens glasses he wears distort his handsome features. Elle walks over to the chair beside him, where she collapses. Immediately she sits bolt upright. Pain radiates up her back. Small hands rub at the pain. Scuttling back she steadies herself on the chair back.
Elle sighs. This back pain was ridicules. She was a healthy young woman. There was no reason she should suddenly feel like a crippled Grandma.
Blue eyes close. 'I'm tired, Gabriel.'
Silence.
'Gabriel?'
'Hmm.'
'I'm tired,' she says again.
He responds, 'And you want me to do what about that?'
Elle considers before responding, 'Make me not tired.'
She hears her Gabriel chuckle softly. 'Who was that?'
'Sarah. She wanted to tell me that Adam was dead…I was so sad,' Elle responds, while slim fingers rub her tired eyes.
His confident voice tells her, 'You need to seem sad, Elle. If not, people might become suspicious and we don't want that.'
'Yeah, yeah,' she responds with a tired sigh.
His words confirm her motivation to not tell him about her little slip up with Sarah. She did not want to know what he might do, if he thought her roommate and friend suspected she was with Adam last night. Their plan was to tell everyone that they were together last night. Peter's alibi was his own concern, or at least that was Elle told herself.
'Peter trusts you now,' he states.
Elle is tempted to open her eyes, just so her Gabriel can watch her roll them. Instead she decides that is too much effort. Lacing her voice with sarcasm, 'Great, I really care that Peter trusts me.'
He chuckles, again. 'You should, because he needs your help.'
That causes her to open her eyes. Blue orbs lock with her Gabriel's brown. Her mouth opens to inquire, when she stops. He has that intense be quite and let me talk look written across his perfect features.
'Peter wants to 'stop' Linderman,' he tells her with a hungry smile. 'Your company shares office space with Arthur's law firm, which represents Linderman both here and in Jersey. Peter needs you to get us into the firm.'
Elle raises a hand motioning him to stop. He does.
'Why do you need me to get Peter into his own dad's law firm? Plus, what the hell are you going to do once you get in?' Elle demands.
He smiles knowingly at her, 'After his accident, Peter became estranged from our father. He's no longer welcome in-.'
'Stop,' she interrupts. 'You mean his father.'
He shakes his head, 'No, I mean our father.'
That did not make any sense to Elle. Her Gabriel said his father was a watchmaker. She was even sitting in his watch shop with a giant sign out front that said 'Gray and Sons.' Elle shakes her head not understanding how Arthur could be her Gabriel's father.
His large hand closes over her small one. He squeezes it gently, and then continues, 'My mother, Virginia, worked as a sectary for an aspiring young married lawyer named Arthur Petrelli. The long hours and late nights…well one thing led to another and she became pregnant. My mother quit her job shortly afterwards. She and her husband, my other father, Martin Gray, had been attempting to conceive for years. So, when Mother got pregnant he considered it a miracle. She never told him about the affair. I was born and…I looked nothing like Martin. He didn't seem to notice. Everything was fine, well not fine, but…' he stops.
His brown eyes search hers. Elle squeezes his hand back, while giving him a reassuring smile.
His voice sad, 'My mother always wanted me to become something special. She would go on and on about it. Martin taught me how to be a watchmaker.' He shrugs. 'It was alright. Still, I wanted something more. I always thought that…that somehow I meant for something else. That I was better than what Martin, my father, wanted me to be. During high school it became obvious that I was never going to attend college. It was not that I couldn't do the work. We simple could not afford it. My mother had not worked since I was born and the shop only provided enough to live on. The realization upset me. One day I want off on my parents.'
He pauses takes a breath, while his brown eyes fall to their joined hands. 'My mother told me she would fix it so I could go. That she would get the money. I did not know what she meant by that. I suppose neither did Martin. In the meantime, Arthur had become very rich, very famous and was still very, very married.'
Having met Angelia Petrelli, Elle could imagine she would disapprove of Arthur having an affair. Also, the idea that another Petrelli existed that could threaten her precious Nathan's position as heir apparent would really annoy the old witch. Those considerations brought Elle to another point, why did Angelia let Linderman get away with trying to kill her precious son?
She did not want to interrupt her Gabriel's story, so Elle filed the question away for later. Elle listens to him continue, 'Anyway, a few weeks later a Mr. Deveaux showed up at my family's apartment. He said he was an old friend of my mothers. We spoke briefly and then he met with my parents alone. After he left, I could hear my parents arguing from my room. The last thing I heard was Martin yell that he was going to get cigarettes. He stormed out, slamming the door. He didn't smoke. I went out to find my mother sobbing. I comforted her and after awhile she told me everything…That Martin was not my father. That Arthur was, and that he gave us some money,' with the last his brown eyes shift back to hers.
She watched him swallow past a lump in his throat. Her Gabriel takes a shaky breath. Then he continues, 'The deal was we get the money if we left Arthur alone, if…if…basically the man wanted nothing to do with me. It wasn't a lot of money. It wasn't enough for medical school, but it did let me go to NYU.' He pauses seems to consider how to continue his narrative. 'Martin never came back. My mother was always a little too religious. She blamed herself for driving Martin away. She did of course. Still, his loss changed her. Today she's not a well woman,' he states.
Elle holds his hand. She watches his dark eyes closely. The display a naked vulnerable he has never shown her before, probable never shown anyone before. She assures him, 'I won't leave you, my Gabriel.'
'I know.'
Elle considers her Gabriel. She compares him to Arthur. Now that she is thinking about it, there is a resemblance. The dark hair and eyes, those broad thick shoulders, even the large hand suddenly reminds her of Arthur. The resemblance was there the entire time. She simple never had a reason to notice it before now.
Thoughts and questions concerning what her Gabriel told her tumble through her mind. Gently she asks, 'So, if Arthur is your father, what did he do when you were Peter's roommate?'
His handsome face twists with a bitter self mocking smile, 'Nothing. He did nothing. I only met him twice. He barely acknowledged me. I might as well have been a piece of furniture for all the interest he had in me.'
'I'm sorry,' she whispers.
'Not your fault.'
'Maybe he didn't know who you were?' she asks helpfully.
Dark eyes look at her mockingly like she just stated that people could fly.
'Maybe not,' she states. Elle shakes her head, and then asks, 'How did you become Peter's roommate anyway?'
Her Gabriel smiles, 'Once I found out that I had another family out there, I learned everything I could about them. It wasn't that hard to find out that Peter was planning to attend NYU. Good old Peter wanted the 'real college' experience, which meant a random roommate. Well, I requested him as my roommate on my housing application. Then the first time I did anything illegal was when I stole Peter's application from the mail.' He smiles at the memory. 'A few pen marks later and he requested me as his roommate, too. I could barely wait to meet him that first day at Hayden Hall. I wanted to meet my brother so much and maybe, maybe I could finally meet my father. Peter was there, but not Arthur. Some of Pete's friends helped him move in. I met Nathan too and…well, you've met Nathan.'
Elle nods. She had met the elder Petrelli brother a few too many times. The man was handsome, charming and completely self absorbed. Pushing thoughts of Nathan aside, Elle asks, 'What about your mother? What did she say?'
He shakes his head. 'I lied about who my roommate was. If she knew, it…it would not have been good. It took awhile but eventually I convinced her not to help me move in or visit me. That way she never met Peter.'
He grows quite. Elle sits holding his hand, while she considers all the things he told her. The past few hours have changed how she thinks about her Gabriel. Things with Peter were more complicated than she ever expected and then there was the whole Sarah situation, which Elle really did not want to deal with right now.
Tentatively Elle probes, 'Is that part of why Peter is helping you, because he is your brother?'
He shakes his head. 'No, Peter doesn't know.'
Shocked Elle gives him an incredulous look. Her Gabriel sits there looking at her saying nothing. She demands, 'He doesn't know?'
He responds, 'No, or at least I never told him.' He looks away from her. His dark eyes study the dissembled watch spread before him. 'It was a huge risk even rooming with Peter. If…if Arthur cut me off, then no more university. I figured trying to convince Peter that we were brothers was crossing the line.'
He appears pensive. Elle watches his dark eyes focus on various things as they drift over the table. She is about to speak when he continues. 'Linderman tried to kill both my brothers that night. I would kill him for that, even if Peter hadn't asked for my help,' he tells her. His intense pleading eyes turn to her, 'You'll help us, Elle?'
'Of course, my Gabriel,' she responds without hesitation, without consideration of the consequences. 'I'd do anything for you.'
He smiles. 'I need you to find out when Linderman will be in town again. Then we'll need your help getting in the building. You'll do that for us?'
Elle nods. What her Gabriel is asking seems simple enough. She wants to get Linderman too. Before now Elle did not know the details of Peter's accident. He was a friend, a former lover and her Gabriel's brother, if someone tried to hurt him, it was okay to help kill them. It was right to kill Linderman and it would be fun.
She agrees, 'I'll do it.' Elle pauses, while her sapphire eyes explore his face. Slightly apprehensive, she asks, 'What about Arthur? Do you…you know, want to meet him?'
'Yes,' he responds. 'I…it's complicated Elle.'
Elle knows how complicated a child parent relationship can become. She wants to help her Gabriel, to make things better for him, better than they are for her. 'I know Arthur. We're not like friends or anything, but I've known him all my life. If you want to meet him, I can make it happen,' she finishes with what she hopes is a reassuring smile.
His features change that intense dark flash that Elle both loves and fears slips fleetingly quick across his features. He tries for a nonchalant tone, but she detects a hidden strain, 'Thanks, Elle, just not right now. I…I yeah, it's okay. You're tired. Why don't you go take a nap while I finish this.' He waves a hand over the disassembled watched.
That was not the reaction she expected. Curiosity sparks interesting thoughts about why her Gabriel did not wish to meet his father. She did not understand how he went from desperately seeking fatherly affection one minute, and then the next turning down a chance to meet the man. Did he not think she could get him in to see Arthur?
Her Gabriel smiles, squeezes her hand and says, 'Really, Elle go take a nap. I'll be in after I finish.'
A half smile forms on her face. The whole conversation was bizarre, was too hard to think about right now. The fatigue she fought against during the talk slides through her causing sluggish thoughts and heavy limbs.
'Okay,' she agrees. Soft lips touch as she kisses him before slowly pushing herself to her feet. The muscles in her back issue a complaint. Her small hips twist a little attempting to work out some tension. With a tired heavy sigh, Elle walks to the back room, where she collapses on the bed. Her eyes close, thoughts about the brothers Petrelli drift like clouds before her mind. Her Gabriel was so much more than…than…sleepy...
Elle & Sarah's Apartment-Later That Night
Sarah heard her roommate clattering around in the entryway. For such a small woman, Elle always sounded like a heard of wild beasts when she came home. The thud, thud of her hard short steps, combines with the random banging she somehow manages, woke Sarah from her nap.
Sarah needed a nap because she did not get much sleep last night. Peter came stumbling in after midnight, woke her up and the proceeded to have his way with her. Initially she objected, but Sarah liked sex, liked sex with Peter, and liked that he was so insistent. She got over her objections.
Then her boyfriend scampers off after breakfast leaving her all alone to find out about Adam. This meant she had to call Elle and tell her the bad news. Her friend did not seem very upset about Adam's death. The man she pined over for nearly a month was killed by some psycho last night. When Sarah told her over the phone, she might as well told her that they were out of milk and Elle needed to get some before coming home. That was not what Sarah expected.
She realizes Adam's untimely end and Claire's accident were very close together. Both occurred after Elle started seeing Gabriel. Not that Sarah really suspected that they were somehow responsible. It was just something that struck her as oddly coincidental. Sarah had never known Elle to be violent, and Gabriel was about as aggressive as a lost lamb. Still, there was something about the situation that bothered Sarah.
She hears her roommate's thudding steps echo down the hall toward her. Her small slender body twists from its comfortable sprawl on the loveseat. Brown doe eyes find Elle. Sarah watches small blonde walk into the living room, where she collapses on the other loveseat.
'You okay?' she asks, wondering if her friend wants to talk about Adam.
'No, my back hurts, my head hurts and I've been tired all day,' Elle responds.
Sarah blinks. That was not the answer she expected. Wait, what did Elle just say? She considers, her roommate's back hurts, her head hurts, she's tired and the peaches. Elle could not get enough of them. The past few days Sarah watched Elle eat peaches from cans, from plastic cups, in pies, with cream, even once she saw Elle eat peach slices on a sandwich. Oh, Elle…
'Anything else?' Sarah probes.
Blue eyes dart from the nighttime Manhattan cityscape to her. They seem confused.
'Anything else wrong, Elle? Like maybe some nausea?'
Elle responds, 'Yeah, how did you know.'
Mouth open Sarah looks at Elle. She wonders if her roommate can really be that dense. Well here goes, 'Elle, your back hurts, your head hurts, you're nauseated, you're craving peaches, you're tired all the time, and I bet you have to pee a lot more than usual.'
Sometime during the speech Elle's face changed. The normal irreverent in control happiness faded. A tense pale concerned looked replaced it.
'Sarah, am I pregnant?' Elle asks tentatively.
Sarah considers how she is supposed to magically know the answer to that. She does realize that Elle has almost every symptom. Sarah knows sarcasm is not what Elle need right now. Also, her roommate looks scared to death.
'Well,' Sarah says in her best calm I know what I'm doing even if do not voice, 'I had a scare a few months ago with Peter, so there're some tests under the sink. Why don't you go find out?'
Elle nods mechanically. She remains lying on the loveseat. Blue eyes roam around the ceiling like the answer is hidden in the shadows there.
Sarah pushes herself off the red loveseat. Long slim legs carry her quickly to her friend. Kneeling down beside her, slender fingers touch Elle's hand.
'Hey.'
Wild blue eyes snap to her. Sarah flinches away from her friend. She had never seen Elle like this. There was an otherworldly intense look to her eyes like some mad witch from a movie.
Recovering herself, Sarah squeezes Elle's hand, 'Why don't you go use one of those tests and we can go from there?'
Her friend nods again. Then she blurts, 'You think my Gabriel will still want me if…if…I'm you know.'
The question stuns Sarah. Why would Gabriel not want her? It was his kid, right?
'Elle, I don't know all that much about your relationship with him, but it's…if you are… it's his, right?'
Incredulously Elle answers, 'Yes, Sarah. It's my Gabriel's.
Pink lips form a hesitant concerned smile, 'Okay, I don't mean anything. It was just…I'm sure he would still want you and… We might be getting ahead of ourselves. Go take the test and see what it says. Just, remember they're not fool proof.'
This time Elle actually moves. Her small frame slides past Sarah as she sits up and then walks down the hall to the guest bathroom. The door closes behind her.
Sarah stands, with a deep breath slides past her pink lips. Brown eyes travel a quick circuit around the room. What were they going to do with a kid in this place? She knew that her friend was having sex with Gabriel but Sarah did not really consider the idea that Elle could get pregnant. Her roommate was always so careful or so she claimed. Plus, it was Gabriel Gray.
Brown eyes drift to the nighttime Manhattan skyline. Perhaps Peter was right. There was more to Gabriel than Sarah ever considered. Watching the nighttime lights wake, dance, and die, Sarah considers what she knows about Gabriel. It was then that she remembers that girl. The one from Mexico, or was it Panama? She seems to remember that Gabriel seemed smitten with her before she died.
Slim fingers cover Sarah's mouth as she gasps. Maya that was her name. Now that Sarah thinks about it. She is sure that Maya and Gabriel had something going on between them. That is what really scares Sarah. That psycho killer got Maya maybe nine months ago.
The police found Adam dead by that killer's hand this morning. Last week Claire had her 'accident'. Then there was that Goth kid from the college radio station. What was his name Brian or Byron? He was the first one. Sarah remembers that, remembers that Gabriel started at the college radio station just days before that kid was found in the park.
It was just too much. She could not be considering quite, stammering, bespeckled Gabriel Gray as some psycho killer, could she? The more Sarah thought about the more worried she became. There were too many coincidences, too many things that fit together.
Hands slip around her waist. Sarah jumps. A startled scream escapes her lips. The hands release her.
Whirling around, brown eyes find a scared confused Elle. Immediately she pulls her roommate into a hug. 'Oh, you startled me.' She holds her friend for a second.
After a few seconds, Sarah has to ask, 'Are you…?'
Elle nods.
Sarah squeezers her friend tight and then steps back while keeping her hands Elle's shoulders. Her roommate looks worried, confused, stunned with wide unseeing blue eyes that stare at her.
Sarah asks, 'How do you feel, Elle?'
A horse voice responds, 'I don't know.'
Sarah figures that is fair enough. She has to ask, cannot stop herself, 'Umm…you were with Gabriel all night last night?'
Elle nods with her eyes still distant.
Sarah probes 'He never like went off someplace and you never saw Adam?'
Her friend shakes her head, 'No, he was with me the entire night. I told you before I didn't see Adam last night. Why?'
She must have been wrong, crazy to think that Gabriel could do those things. Besides, Peter was his roommate and friend for years and he would have noticed if Gabriel was doing something like that.
Sarah lets go of her friend. A slim fingered hand runs through her short dark brown hair, while she takes a breath. 'Nothing,' she responds, 'just a crazy thought. So, how are you going to tell him?'
Elle seems to consider. Her lower lip slips between her teeth.
Sarah adds helpfully, 'It's not that late. He can come over tonight and…'
Elle nods. She takes a breath. Quickly she turns and starts walking to the phone in the kitchen.
Watching her roommate walk away, Sarah injects supportively, 'You should tell your dad, too.'
Her blonde friend stops mid stride.
Sarah hears her roommate's tired scared voice say, 'Fuck' over and over while she stands in the middle of the living room.
'Elle?'
Next Time: Elle vs The Disapproving Father, Gabriel vs The Expecting Girlfriend, Peter vs The Inquisitive Lover and Sarah vs The Truth
How will Bob react to his daughter being pregnant with a lowly watchmaker's child? Most fics don't explore his joyous response to the news. What you don't think Bob will be happy? You're probably right ;)
Peter's behavior is explained by the accident. For purposes of this fic, his terrible facial scar was accompanied by a brain injury. Personality changes in people with head injuries are very, very common. The Brain Injury Association of America lists some symptoms as lack of inhibition, (to include increase in aggression, cursing and inappropriate sexual behavior), increase in impulsivity, being quick to anger, and flattened or heightened emotional responses/reactions as common personality changes. Sound familiar…
Gabriel being Peter/Nathan's half brother makes much more sense than the crazy lying thing the show did. Also, it keeps fanatical Virginia in play and gives Angela a reason to dislike Gabriel. Additionally, it makes Arthur's absentee parenting more realistic than cannon or at least it does for me. Plus, it will be fun to explore the havoc Gabriel's 'coming out' will wreck on the Petrelli family. The main difference is that in cannon Virginia is infertile, which I switch to Martin in this story. With Gabriel's parents being Arthur and Virginia, his unique personality and behavior makes a lot of sense.
I wanted to do something different for the Gabriel/Elle smut scene. I've written so many in this fic already, I basically ran out of ideas that weren't variations on something I had previously done. The scene turned out okay. I just don't care for it as much as some others.
Reviews, comments, questions are appreciated.