Musical lyrics provided by "This Magic Moment" by Ben E. King and The Drifter's circa 1960.

10

How I Met Your Mother

February 26, 2006 - 18 days until 'Patient Zero' is discovered

Claire made her way to Gabriel's apartment, taking care to avoid his neighbor Steve. When the coast was clear, she knocked on the door to 1B and was mildly surprised when it swung open immediately since she hadn't called ahead of time. He flashed her a dazzling smile and lead her in by the hand, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze in greeting while he continued a prior conversation over the phone perched between his shoulder and jaw.

"Yeah, Mom, I'm still coming over… Yes… Oh, she's still around." He shot her a sly wink that had her covering her mouth to stifle a giggle. "I don't know about that," he muttered with his expression darkening. "Mom… Mom, I gotta go… Mom, I gotta go. I'll talk to you in a little bit… Love you too," he mumbled into the receiver with a little blush coming to color his cheeks.

"I didn't know you were coming over today," he said while snapping his cell shut and sliding it into his pocket so that he could grab his shoes. "You just caught me on the way out."

"Oh, sorry. I guess I should have called first." He picked up on the dejected tone in her voice even though Claire kept her face carefully masked with composure.

"No, it's alright. I, um… I guess I have something to ask you anyways." Her eyebrows nearly disappeared into her hairline, ideas racing through her head about the things he could possibly want to question. Oh, no… Did he find one of the cameras? See René following us one too many times? Has he figured out who I really am, or what I can do?

"I'm not proposing if that's what you're worried about."

"Huh?"

"I mean, not that I wouldn't consider it… Someday…"

They locked eyes for a tense moment while attempting to feel out what page the other was on. While Claire's mind had been spinning, she had completely missed Gabriel's attempt at humor. Sensing her upset, he had tried to fix it leaving them both hopelessly confused. He continued to puzzle over her with creased brows until she offered a stunted laugh, catching on to the situation.

"Um, anyways. You know I talk to my mother a lot." Claire nodded with a plastic smile. Everyday. At least twice. "Well, I, um, kind of told her about you." Great… "And she's got it in her head now that she wants to meet you." Uh oh. "So, uh, since I was going over there anyways… I, um," Gabriel began to nervously fidget until she had to take his hands and physically force him to stop. "Do you want to come with me and meet my mom?"

I've faced super powered serial killers, helped to save the world, smuggled "specials" out from under the noses of government agents, and been a member of a high school cheerleading squad. Why does the thought of meeting a guy's mom scare the crap out of me?

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

She examined Gabriel, biting his bottom lip and looking anywhere but directly back at her. He seemed as anxious about the prospect as she was which felt oddly comforting. "Okay, I'll go." The way he lit up with a brilliant smile from ear to ear was impossible to ignore or fail to return.

"She can be a little… difficult sometimes," Gabriel warned once they were outside of the appropriate apartment. "Just, um… Try not to touch anything. And whatever you do, don't ask about the snow globe collection or we'll never get out."

"Okay?"

With a light wrap on the door and a moment's pause, the beaming face of an older woman was revealed to them. She wore her hair back in an untidy pony tail and a frumpy gray knit sweater matching the one Gabriel had donned, leaving absolutely no mistake about her identity. "Claire, this is my mother, Virginia. Mom, this is my girlfriend, Claire Bennet."

Girlfriend? She looked up into his soft smile noting something like pride there. I guess so… Weird.

"Oh, Gabriel, she's beautiful. I told you, you could get a pretty one if you tried."

"Nice to meet you." Claire made to offer her hand in greeting but Gabriel promptly batted it away before the motion could be completed. She looked up at him again and caught a nearly imperceptible shake of his head.

"Well don't just stand out of there. Come in, come in." Virginia's lingering appraisals of her appearance were far from the strangest thing in that apartment. Much like Gabriel's home, the primary means of decorations consisted of an abundance of shelving, except in lieu of an extraordinary literary collection, there were hundreds of snow globes and various knick knacks. While everything shone of meticulous cleanliness without a single speck of dust in sight, virtually every surface was also crowded with newspapers and magazines in perfectly kempt stacks. With the pungent scent of toxic cleansers in the air it wasn't hard to guess where he had picked up on his ritualistic habits even if the little apartment took on a cluttered feel.

"Here's your cat food, Mom." Virginia graciously took the roll of cans and immediately wiped them off with a rag that stirred the smell of bleach in the kitchen before arranging them into a stack on top of the refrigerator with all of the labels lined up in an outward facing display. Gabriel kept darting his eyes to Claire, studying her reactions as she took in the details of his mother and her home. It briefly occurred to her that the event may have been some kind of defining moment for him. Would she be able to accept the odd lonely nerd as well as the poor moony woman that had raised him?

"She is just so lovely," she continued, pulling Gabriel's face down to kiss him on the forehead before reaching for a bottle of sanitizer and liberally purging her hands with the abrasive substance. "I always knew my Gabriel could find somebody as special as he is." His eye twitched just slightly at something in those words.

"Where's the cat?" Claire whispered under her breath, taking a seat beside him at the table while Virginia was busy preparing something for dinner.

"She doesn't have a cat," he muttered back. She opened her mouth to ask something else but he cut her off with a, "Don't ask," and an eye roll.

"So, Claire, what do you do?"

"I, um, work for a paper company."

"Oh that sounds fascinating." Seriously? "My Gabriel told me that you came to New York on a business trip. Do you get to travel often?"

"Frequently."

"That must be fun." Sure, until you get down to the being tasered and shot at parts. "I always told my Gabriel that he should find a job where he could do some traveling. See the world. Get some culture. Meet lots of new exotic people.

"You look a little young for a job like that. Did you just get out of college?"

Sort of. "I started to go for my first year, but didn't get to finish. Life kind of got in the way." And your son.

"What college were you going to?"

"Arlington."

"Oh that's an expensive one. You must have finished high school with some good grades and scholarships."

Not exactly. "Well, I didn't quite get to finish high school either." Gabriel peaked a brow in silent question. "I, um, my family… We were moving around a lot at the time so I ended up dropping out and getting my G.E.D."

Virginia stopped what she was doing to give her a more critical gaze with a mouthed Oh. "I guess you must come from some money then to still get into a respectable school like that."

Wouldn't really be surprised to find out that Angela or Nathan had stuck their noses into it. No, not Nathan. Nathan is gone… "Not really. I just test well."

"I see… My Gabriel always did well in his schooling, testing and otherwise."

"Mom." Claire wondered if it was just her imagination that put a hint of warning into his tone.

"Such a special boy. He got into a good college too. All on his own merits, and -"

"Mom."

Virginia took his hint and changed tact. "What about your parents? What do they do?"

"Well, um, my dad is also in paper. And my mom breeds show dogs. My adoptive parents anyways."

"I didn't know you were adopted." Gabriel leaned forward in his chair to inspect her more closely as though some fresh light had been shed on her being.

You don't know that you're adopted either. Claire had a passing thought about mentioning that she viewed Noah and Sandra as her real parents since they were the ones that had raised her, but some little vindictive streak in her relished the way Virginia squirmed ever so slightly. "My biological parents are both gone now." Viciously biting back her tongue and tears, she swallowed blood through a tightened throat and refused to acknowledge Gabriel's downcast gaze even as his hand successfully sought hers under the table.

She must have lost a bit of her enthusiasm about the situation because Virginia didn't inquire about anything else. "Sit up straight, Gabriel." Her voice remained softly lilting and motherly but the commanding undertone was obviously apparent and he followed the instruction automatically. "It's time to wash up now. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

She watched curiously as he hopped up from his seat and headed for the sink without a second thought. Claire trailed behind him as he cast a glance over his shoulder to see that she was coming along. He plunged his hands under the faucet once the water had become hot enough to raise steam into the air, fogging the gleaming metal fixtures with condensation. Only the faintest hiss escaped his lips while he proceeded to methodically scrub the skin with an antibacterial soap as precise as any surgeon. The harsh sting of bleach filled her nostrils again when it was her turn to wash, the delicate skin of her hands turning an irritable shade of red and then fading. Virginia was frantically rubbing a damp rag over the surface of the table and chairs, no microscopic bit of grime brave enough to withstand her assault. The actions were repeated at least three times with a fervor that she had never seen before.

"Sit up straight, Gabriel," she repeated again during the course of the meal. "Your posture is just atrocious young man. I know I taught you better than that."

"Yes, ma'am."

At one point during their dinner Claire momentarily lapsed into habit, drawing back from the Grays' picture of perfect manners and caught a light slap on her knuckles from Virginia. "Proper young ladies keep their hands off the table." Gabriel didn't say anything to reprimand the action but the subtle darkening in his eyes and the way he glared up at his mother from under his brow line flagged her experienced memories. Unhealthy intentions, however brief, had been inadvertently stirred from the action. Afterwards, Virginia had suggested that Gabriel retire to the living room while the women cleaned up the kitchen. He hesitated, studying her plastic smile, but Claire nodded that she would be fine and he stalked away with his mouth set into a grim line. If I didn't know any better I'd think Hiro dropped me into 1956, instead of 2006.

"So do you plan on staying in the paper business forever?"

"Not forever, no." Somehow I think I have a better grasp on the meaning of that word than you do.

"My Gabriel is a very special boy. Someday he's going to be a doctor. Or maybe a lawyer. Or even an astronaut." Or a serial killer? "He's going to really be someone important and powerful." Lady, you have no idea. "He's meant to do great things. And he'll meet someone just as special as he is."

Claire couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer. "Are you getting at something, Virginia?"

"Mrs. Gray," she automatically corrected. "I just don't want you to get your feelings hurt dear when he moves on. My Gabriel deserves a nice tall model or a famous actress." Her eyes glazed over with delusional glee at the thought. "A little girl from Texas that just sells paper for a living will only hold him back. You don't want to hold back my Gabriel, do you?"

She doesn't think that I'm good enough for her son? "Of course not." Claire gave her the most false smile imaginable with a side order of gritted teeth and venom. Hastily she retreated from the kitchen in search of her reason for being there. Gabriel was nervously hunched over on the edge of the plastic-sheeted couch, his head hung low in his hands. He was startled into a more "proper" posture upon sensing her approach but he easily relaxed when he saw that it was Claire and not his mother.

"Everything okay?" he asked timidly, quirking his head to the side while his eyes wandered over her undoubtedly agitated features.

No. "Fine. Everything is just fine."

"Gabriel…" She flinched at the sound of the other woman's voice. He bit his lip and gave her an imploring look, almost begging her not to bolt for the door and run out of his life. Claire felt her bristles soothed under the weight of the lost puppy gaze. As long as he remained at her side then perhaps the evening would be tolerable. "Put on some music for us dear."

"Mom, we have company tonight. Can't it wait until later?"

"Gabriel, presidents should know how to dance. I'm sure that Claire would love to help you practice."

He heaved a heavy sigh of defeat and rested his forehead on her shoulder for a moment. "Sunday night," he muttered, beginning to explain the mystery of another Gray family tradition. "Dancing lesson. We've been doing it every week since I was a kid." Gabriel turned his face back up to hers and mouthed a "sorry" before giving her a quick peck on the cheek and heading for the ancient record player nestled in the corner.

Claire looked on, unable to repress the amused smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, as the would-be Boogeyman waltzed around the limited floor space with his mother to tunes that had aged long before her time. He was a surprisingly agile lead, executing steps with the characteristic textbook perfection that she had come to expect from him. I guess if all else fails, I can always blackmail him with this later.

"I need a break. Why don't you two try together?" Virginia didn't even grant them an opportunity to refuse the prospect. She knelt down to select another album for the record player and adjusted the arm of the machine to fill the room with a few popping noises and then some kind of doo-wop music that wasn't recognizable until the lyrics came along. Gabriel extended a hand to aid Claire in her ascent from the couch, his eyes asking her to bear it for just a while longer, and he pulled her close to him for a slow number.

"This magic moment, so different and so new, was like any other, until I met you."

Claire was mildly startled at first by how easily they fit together despite their painfully obvious height differences. His large hands engulfed one of hers and the side of her waist. It was all too easy to ignore the rest of the world passing around them as they spun around in casual circles to the rhythm of the song. Gabriel's face was just as carefully composed as hers, but his eyes merrily twinkled with the smile hovering beyond exposure.

Who was he? The shadow of the man that she had formerly known was just as much a puzzle to her as she was to him. Tall and laden with an unassuming amount of strength, intelligent, ruggedly handsome with a hint of boyish innocence and charm. Quirky and meticulous. Shy but brave when necessary. Loyal and adoring.

"And then it happened. It took me by surprise. I knew that you felt it too. I could see it by the look in your eyes."

Perhaps the question wasn't 'who is he?', but rather who could he be? With history altered, who could the man before her be to the world, and what could he mean to her? Parts of her still screamed to resist falling into the brown depths gazing down at her with a quiet ferocity as unique as its owner, but the kinder, gentler aspects that had wanted to forgive and grant fate a second chance also fell prey to the possibilities of acceptance.

"Everything I want, I have, whenever I hold you tight."

He had boasted before about how much they had in common, which at the time had seemed arbitrary and twisted to his own manipulative means, but knowing more and understanding more, it became clearer all the time. Sylar was not born. Gabriel had created him out of some unfortunate need to survive. And if the roles had been reversed and Claire dealt his hand in life, she couldn't be sure that she wouldn't have been subject to similar methods. Anyone could become a killer when backed into a corner.

"This magic moment, while your lips are close to mine will last forever. Forever, 'till the end of time."

An obtrusive cough broke the couple out of their trance. They had completely forgotten about Virginia's presence and found themselves leaning towards one another, eyes locked and lips lingering in dangerous proximity. "I think that's enough for tonight." Claire couldn't have been happier to be leaving night. If I had to deal with that every day for twenty years I'd become a murderer too.

Gabriel took her by surprise after they had traveled down the hall to leave his mother's apartment complex far enough to be out of earshot. He pressed her up against the wall and seized her face in his hands, capturing her lips with more passion than they had ever previously shared. When she was reasonably dazed and out of breath he pulled away to whisper a "thank you" into her ear. "For not running away screaming," he elaborated with a flirtatious grin.

She reached out to hold his face, falling into his eyes all over again until her phone rang. "Hello?" she answered, biting her lip to stifle the laughter that was threatening to bubble up when he nuzzled her neck, scraping the soft skin with his stubble that had begun to reappear.

"Claire. This is René. I thought you should know that Dr. Suresh just arrived in New York."

To be continued...