Title: "The Road Not Taken"
Rating: PG-13 probably.
Pairings: Claire/Elle, Claire/Gretchen
Summary: When Claire goes back in time to save Elle, her relationship with Gretchen is threatened.
Disclaimer: I do not own the television show "Heroes."
Note: Takes place after "Brave New World." The past takes place after "The Butterfly Effect." Thank you Lied and She-Hulk from the BAM Board and desirose417 on livejournal for all your help.
Chapter 10
Claire's eyes widened as she looked at the ball of electricity hovering over Gretchen's head. Claire tried to be calm and subtle but she was sure her eyes bulging out of her head in panic was currently drawing more attention than the pale blue light of Elle's electricity dancing in the shadows.
She was totally unsure of what to do and could only remain in silent terror when Elle spoke, "Hello cheerleader."
Gretchen who had been frowning through this entire exchange, finally turned to look at the sparkling blond. Claire held her breath as the light and electricity seemed to retract into Elle's hands like claws. Elle rolled her eyes knowingly.
'Rene,' Claire thought. The idea dawned on her as she turned to look at him. His head was tilted slightly to the side and he had an intense look in his eyes. Claire could swear sometimes she could see him using his power without him having to lift his hand.
When her attention turned back to Gretchen and Elle they were regarding each other face to face. Gretchen held out her hand. "We haven't officially met yet. I'm Gretchen."
"I'm Inga," Elle supplied, shaking her hand. Within a few seconds, Gretchen pulled her hand back with a yelp.
"You shocked me," Gretchen said, massaging part of her hand.
"Whoops," Elle shrugged with a smirk. She leaned conspiratorially close to Gretchen and stage whispered, "Must be static electricity or something."
Uh oh. "Elle, may I talk to you in the bedroom for a second?" Claire asked quickly.
Elle ignored her and turned her attention back to the captive audience that was Gretchen. "She's always trying to get me into a bedroom with her. I mean she's cute and everything but it's frankly exhausting. After all, I'm not a machine."
Claire rushed towards Elle at that moment and wrapped her fingers around Elle's arm. She tossed a quick and polite smile towards Gretchen which she was sure came off as crazy looking before asking, "Gretchen, may I use your room? My friend and I need to have a quick talk."
Gretchen froze for a minute, looking cautiously between the two girls. "Uh, sure. I guess it's okay. For a minute."
Gretchen had barely begun to hesitantly smile at the idea before Claire was dragging Elle towards Gretchen's bedroom.
"See, what I mean?" Elle called out as she was dragged along. "The girl is insatiable when it comes to me. You go ahead and spread that information around."
"Shut up," Claire gritted without turning around.
She hoped with Mr. Berg and Gretchen's step family in the other wing of the house they would not hear this whole exchange. She had a feeling it was going to get loud.
As they walked away, Claire heard Gretchen's distant voice behind her. "So, that's Claire's friend? She's really pretty. No one said she was that pretty."
Rene offered no response that Claire could hear if he offered one at all. Claire's only mission was to separate Elle and Gretchen as she pushed Elle inside the bedroom ahead of her and slammed the door shut behind them. Elle bubbled over with laughter the second the door was closed. With a flourish she spun around, lifted her arms and flopped backwards onto Gretchen's bed. She crossed her arms behind her head and crossed her legs, bouncing them up and down as she was laying down.
Elle's eyes flitted around the room before she finally said, "This is the most depressing room I've ever seen and I grew up in a cell."
Claire got right to the point. "What are you doing here and what the hell was that?"
"What? You hate being around fun people?" Elle asked with a grin. Claire smacked Elle on the leg in an attempt to make her get serious. Elle merely smiled wider in response, causing Claire to blush at what could be the reason for that.
"Elle, come on. Tell the truth," Claire insisted. Elle just shrugged with a bit of an attitude this time.
"How'd you get in?" Claire asked, only slightly nicer this time.
Elle rolled her eyes. "Well, Claire, the window walls of this place were so clean and shiny I just walked right on through them as if they were never there. It was like a Windex commercial come to life."
Claire ran her hand through her hair, yanking it roughly every couple inches. In three days, she had seen a bunch of previously dead people alive and now she saw Gretchen and Elle at risk once again. She did not know how much more she could take.
"You know, you're so amazing, if you could just be honest with someone, anyone, you wouldn't be so alone," Claire said, taking a different tack. It was a cheap shot but she had to take it. She needed answers before things got completely out of control.
"Maybe I like being alone," Elle said rather unconvincingly.
Claire shook her head. "Then you're an idiot because there are many people I'm unwilling to give up or give up on and one of them is you which is why I need answers."
A smile spread across Elle's face. "Aw, Claire do you like me, like me? Have you liked me all along?"
"Elle, just please give me something here? How did you get in?" Claire asked.
Elle's face scrunched up. "You know, I really don't appreciate your tone."
Claire stomped her foot petulantly. "Elle, come ON."
"Geez Claire, chillax. You hear that? Chillax? I heard a teenager say that once. How's that for blending in while we're all witness protection, undercover?" Elle smiled proudly, but when Claire just tapped her foot impatiently, Elle chuckled and continued. "I called back after I hung up with you and told Rene I was around the corner. He let me in."
Claire let out a sigh of relief. 'Finally, I'm getting some answers here.'
"Okay, okay. I can't believe he left you with Gretchen though," Claire said, pensive for a moment.
"Why? She seems able to walk, talk and chew gum at the same time. It's not like I'm gonna kill her or something," Elle said.
"You just had a ball of electricity lit up behind her HEAD," Claire growled.
Elle frowned at Claire as if she had just said something completely crazy (to someone who did not know what was going on it would seem completely crazy but not to Elle). "I can't believe you're still so stuck on that. Aren't I the mission here? Shouldn't we be focusing on me?"
"Fine," Claire agreed with a tense smile. "What are you doing here?"
Elle spoke slowly. "We covered this. Rene let me in."
Claire blinked, struggling to keep in her bubbling annoyance. "Why did you come here in the first place?"
"I don't need to tell you that," Elle said with a wave of her hand.
Claire, a rather impulsive instead of thinking girl, crawled on top of the bed and straddled Elle, holding her shoulders down in an attempt to get her to focus. Elle looked confused for a moment, looking between Claire and the door, keeping her focus somewhere near Claire's cleavage most times as if she was unsure whether to be happy with this turn of events or if Rene was going to burst through the door at any moment.
It was a sad moment for Claire that Elle still could not trust her or Rene completely after everything they had been through. 'At least she'll fit in with the 2010 specials,' Claire thought ruefully. She was not the most trusted person in her current life. She was either a blabbermouth who people felt could no longer be trusted with a secret or more importantly their secret or she was considered a freak who should not be trusted just on the basis of being different. In that regard, it was touching that at least Elle distrusted her purely on the basis of her personality.
But Claire knew that Rene would never be bursting through the door and she needed answers sooner rather than later. "Elle, are you in trouble? Are you hurt?"
"No," Elle insisted, shifting under Claire's hips, creating a sensation that was both pleasant and torturous for Claire.
"Then what?" Claire said through gritted teeth before slamming her fist next to Elle's head on the mattress with a huff, nearly losing her balance in the process. Elle chuckled at Claire's attempt to be bad cop. "I'm serious. What?"
"What's the big deal?" Elle asked.
"The big deal is you nearly just electrocuted someone over what could be nothing and if that's the case maybe I'll just let Rene come in here and interrogate you," Claire bluffed.
"You're bluffing," Elle shot back instantly.
"I give up," Claire said, clumsily climbing off Elle and heading towards the door.
Elle pushed herself up into a sitting position. "It's not like I would've killed her or anything. Her hair is already sort of frizzy. She wouldn't have known anything happened at all."
Claire spun around so she was facing Elle again. "Really? You think her electrocution would have escaped her?"
Elle nodded. "Most people find electrocution very disorienting. I mean, you know, I've heard that once they came to. It's fun for me. Always was. As far as I could remember."
Claire was oblivious to the increasingly distant tone in Elle's voice as she shook her head in anger. "So, you would have hospitalized some innocent girl, upset a family, got Rene and I in trouble so you could have some fun?"
Elle waved her index finger in the air. "First of all, you have no idea if that girl is innocent. People are not what they seem, Cheerleader. You should know that better than anybody."
Claire crossed her arms angrily. "Trashing the girl I have feelings for? That's your defense?"
Elle sat even more upright at this news. "That's the girl you like? Her? She looks nothing like me."
Claire was getting more confused by the moment. "What does that have to do with anything? Are you just trying to ruin everything Rene and I have going to protect you and ourselves? Just for fun?"
Elle shook her head and averted her eyes. "No."
"No?" Claire countered.
Elle closed her eyes. "Well, slightly-"
"Slightly?" Claire snapped, her eyes widening.
"Are you a parrot?" Elle yelled finally looking toward her.
"Are you a parrot?" Claire mocked before realizing what a childish argument she got stuck in... and was losing. She straightened herself up. "You know what? Just go back to the hotel, Elle. I will stay here and clean up your mess."
Elle quickly got to her feet and glared at Claire. "Hey, I didn't do anything. That hallway girl has no idea there is anything out of the ordinary going on and I can't go back to the hotel."
Elle trailed off at the last part and Claire could feel concern creep into her voice even as she yelled, "What?"
"Sort of burned the hotel down. Don't panic," Elle said in a rush.
Claire quickly moved forward and strung her arms around Elle's form as if they belonged there as much as lights belonged on a Christmas tree.
"What do you mean? What happened? Are you alright? Was it Lazarus?" Claire asked, palming Elle's face in concern even as Elle struggled to pull out of the embrace as she was obviously and increasingly unfamiliar with it.
"No, it was me. I lost control of my power again. Control never was one of my strong suits. I overloaded all the electrical outlets. It all burned down so fast," Elle said, her words heavy with a mix of self depreciation and disorientation.
"Your power overloaded twice in two days?" Claire asked.
Elle tilted her head back and forth. "There's some stuff I didn't tell you."
The doorknob began to jiggle. Elle stopped talking just before Gretchen opened the door. Claire impulsively pulled away from Elle as if she had been caught doing something. The tension of all things not being said filled the air.
"Hi," Elle said with a blatant false brightness.
Gretchen frowned where she stood with her hand still twitching on the doorknob. "Hi. I heard yelling in my room."
"Oh yes, this is your room," Elle said as her eyes grazed the walls of the bedroom once again. Her eyes sauntered around the science mobiles with a smirk as Gretchen squirmed where she stood.
"Cute. It's cute," Elle said as she scrunched her nose with a smile.
Gretchen's frown twitched before she hesitantly crossed the room and stood next to Claire. After a moment, she jerkily attempted to put her arm around Claire but at Claire's raised eyebrow she settled for just grabbing Claire's arm like a bodyguard. Claire was nearly ready to just let Elle berate Gretchen for her ineffectual attempts to be possessive but when Elle began to narrow her eyes at Gretchen's behavior, Claire became worried that Elle had another zap planned for Gretchen.
"Thanks. I haven't redecorated in awhile," Gretchen said with badly faked casualty as she stuck out her lip and pretended to evaluate the room.
Claire looked past the two women and their antics and spotted Rene standing calmly at the door. She could swear he was almost amused. Whether he was or not, she was relieved at least electricity balls would not play a factor in whatever was to come.
"I'm glad you said that because it really looks like you haven't redecorated in awhile," Elle said with a showy grimace. With a pointed look towards Claire and Gretchen she added, "Could probably use a woman's touch instead of a young girl's."
After an intense moment, Elle began to laugh as if she just said a joke that was funny to all of them and a moment later Gretchen heartily joined in and Claire nervously laughed along as well trying to get a feel for whatever was happening. She glanced towards Rene and found him not laughing but not seeming surprised or confused by what was happening which made him more informed than Claire. If he knew what was going to happen why couldn't he tell Claire? Or at the very least intercede.
Gretchen stopped laughing but held her smile as she declared, "Funny, because I was just going to say you look a little old to be hanging out with a couple of teenage girls. Hmm, weird."
Gretchen and Elle began laughing together once again but this time much more tensely. Claire felt she was about to play bodyguard in this situation but to which girl?
"You know I hate it when people make judgments when they don't know what their talking about," Elle said. Her fingers moved through the air as if they were stroking some fine silk. The grace of the movement struck Claire as Elle's fingers were free from their counterpart, electricity. Claire was yanked out of her admiration when it occurred to her that this movement meant Elle's elegant violence was yearning to be turned against Gretchen.
"And yet you've been giving opinions since you got here about how my room needs redecorating, my house looks like something from the future and how Claire is supposed to be at your beck and call even while she's at work. Doesn't sound like you're much of a pleasant friend from what I've seen in the last few minutes. You're just full of judgments yourself," Gretchen said with a shrug.
Elle looked like she was about to charge at Gretchen but was unaccustomed due to the nature of her power. She was basically a human, long distance taser after all. To Claire's relief, Elle made no move to attack Gretchen or harm her in any way. Claire admired the restraint she never knew Elle had.
"Well, Claire and I are a little more than just friends. Didn't she tell you about how she kissed me on the beach last night?" Elle asked, nodding her head towards Claire.
Gretchen spun towards Claire with a cautiously hopeful expression as if she was waiting for Claire to prove Elle wrong. However, with one glance at Claire's shocked but resigned expression, Gretchen instantly dropped her hand from its possessive perch on Claire's arm. She ran her newly free hand through her hair as if it was never on Claire in the first place.
Claire sensed that Gretchen was embarrassed by the recent revelation but she was stung by her reaction none the less. It was not as if she intentionally betrayed Gretchen in any way. They were not even really dating at the moment. Now Gretchen was just another person who was disappointed with her.
"Well, that's..." Gretchen trailed off, some of her passion fading from the argument before Elle chimed in.
"Yeah, yes it is. Good talk though. Seriously. You can leave us alone now," Elle smiled.
"Hey!" Gretchen yelled before Claire stepped in between them. "Okay, Gretchen, you need to stop this. Please? For me?" Claire said, moving her head around to catch Gretchen's stare which was firmly and angrily fixed on Elle.
Elle leaned close to Claire's ear. "Now? It's just getting good."
"Excuse me, could you just leave us alone," Gretchen asserted.
"Newsflash: you and her are not an us. She and I are the us," Elle said motioning between the three of them before whispering to Claire, "newsflash? That's a little joke I picked up on TV. I totally fit in with those non-specials you're so fond of."
"Claire?" Gretchen pleaded. She never was good with groups.
Claire toughened up and looked to Rene for support. Why could he erase her mind but not read it? Why would he not help her?
"Claire, isn't it time to get down to the point you were trying to make," Rene finally said as he entered the room a little more.
What the hell did that mean? Claire supposed it was time to stand up and make the right decision for the majority. It was all she had been doing for months.
"Gretchen, I really have to deal with Elle so it would be better if you could excuse us," Claire said calmly.
"Okay," Gretchen said quietly, her eyes still staring at Elle for a few moments before she began walking towards the door. Rene moved to follow her out.
Claire let out a sigh of relief before instructing the departing Rene and Gretchen, "Just go and start serving the breakfast that Gretchen made. We'll catch up."
"Breakfast? What are we having?" Elle chirped.
"Nothing. We're already out," Gretchen said quickly.
"Out of what?" Elle asked. Gretchen shrugged.
"You know, it's a good thing you stopped us when you did, Claire Bear. Doe Eyes can't even handle an argument for more than a minute. God knows she wouldn't be able to handle herself in a real fight. Probably couldn't even throw a punch." Elle taunted.
"I could if I wanted to," Gretchen shot back as she reentered the room.
Elle's eyes lit up with a different kind of spark, the excited one she got when causing trouble. "Prove it."
Claire began shaking her head and waving her arms. "No, no, no, no, no."
Elle lightly diverted Claire into one of the room's bookcases as she advanced forward. "See? Even Claire thinks you can't do it."
"Hey, don't push her around," Gretchen said, running towards Elle. She drew her hand far back into a comical position before moving forward to punch Elle. Rene put his arms around her and lifted her up to stop her, making her arm swing far away from ever hitting Elle.
Elle scoffed at the attempt. "My turn."
Elle tossed a punch that hit Gretchen right in the jaw, making them both yell out in pain as Gretchen grabbed her jaw and Elle grabbed her now sore fist.
"It's time to stop this," Rene said, struggling with containing both girls as Claire made her way back to the fight.
"What are you doing?" Claire asked looking between the girls.
"Currently? I'm leveling the playing field," Elle said before suddenly turning to Rene and pushing him into the wall behind them. Rene's head collided against the wall, leaving him disoriented for a moment. Claire immediately rushed to his side to check up on him.
Unfortunately for Elle, this also left her distracted when Gretchen tackled her to the ground.
"I'm okay. I'm okay," Rene assured Claire as he struggled to get his bearings. "Stop them."
Claire reluctantly pulled away from him to pull the two wrestling girls away from each other. Just as Claire was about to reach them, they rolled a few feet away until Elle was on top and ready to strangle Gretchen. Gretchen repeatedly kicked Elle in the shins until Elle began to shift. They continued to wrestle along the floor until Gretchen was on top.
Seizing her opportunity, Claire reached her arms around Gretchen's mid section in an attempt to pull them apart. At that same moment Elle was also thinking of a way to get Gretchen off of her with Rene awake. She raised her leg and pressed it against Gretchen's torso and kicked. She was surprisingly strong and spry and the force of her kick lifted Gretchen off of her and onto her butt. It also jetted Claire straight into the mirror behind her.
All people in the room turned to the mirror as Claire crashed into it with a pain she could only describe and only she could understand as satisfying. Claire was soon getting lightheaded and her vision blurred around the matching shocked and concerned faces of Gretchen and Elle. They began to crawl towards her as fast as they could but before she succumbed to total darkness, Claire saw Rene put his hands on Gretchen and Elle's heads and their bodies fall limply to the ground.
"Now, was I right or was I right?" The spiky haired boy asked as he paced around his four associates. He bumped his shoulder roughly against the other young brunette man in the tent. Just because he did not have an ability, it did not make him afraid of someone who did.
The man who he brushed into, who did have an ability, rolled his shoulder away in an attempt to avoid contact with the spiky haired scruffy young man with the plaid shirt over his "geek chic" t-shirt. He knew why the other man bumped shoulders. It was not a display of comradeship. Their distaste for each other was barely veiled. The bump was meant to push his buttons. Just because he dressed nicely these days and came from an area where people dressed nicely, it meant he was a joke who could have his buttons pushed.
"It is a surprise," The 30 something, leggy and all too familiar looking blond drawled at the two men before she turned to their leader pointedly. "SOMEONE told us she would be in Europe."
"Well, I'm sorry," The dark complected man replied as he closed the notebook he was reading. "According to my research Elle was supposed to be in London at this time. How far we've all come."
'I'll say,' The spiky haired man thought to himself. He never thought he would ever be traveling through time with such an eclectic group of people, let alone one with an accent like their leader's. "I told you. The Sullivan carnival falling apart in a freak electrical storm? Yeah right. And now that she burned the hotel down we know where she is."
"We still have a problem," the honey haired young girl in the tent stated as she put out a cigarette in the sand. Her face was still young and cherubic, but the frown and intensity of her eyes marred her face, making her seem older and more weathered than she was at this point. "How are we going to get her with the Haitian and our favorite spokeswoman guarding her in the Fort Knox of mansions?"
"We could try something where I fly over..." The well groomed man suggested but trailed off as their leader began shaking his head.
Their leader stroked the stubble he had grown. He wanted to go home. He had people waiting for him, but he also knew that what they were doing was right. "We don't try anything. There is no room for mistakes. Hiro Nakamura is the only one coming to pick us up. If he realizes we're the Lazarus group at any point he will drop us in the Paleozoic Era. If we're going to capture Elle Bishop we have to do it right."