"Hi I'm Jokerfest and I'm a fanatic of heroes and Sylar."

"Hi Jokerfest."

"I'm here because I know full well that I do not own Heroes or Sylar but there's a good chance I'm going to kidnap Zach Quinto."

"Awwww."

"And now I've come forth to seek help…well actually no that's a lie I like being obsessed. Hey wait a minute…what's that straightjacket for…I thought we talked about this…NO NOT THE SYRINGE!!

He never spoke to her again. It was as if she had been a tumor and he had had her viciously and quite painfully removed. She had accosted him at the playground, after being suspended for so long, and he had simply shrugged her away and said he wasn't allowed to speak to her.

She supposed it was easy for him to shrug her away when she looked the way that she did, hair cut short, wearing all black, made slightly taller in metal tipped boots. She had hoped that he would be the one person that would see past all that, but he hadn't been.

She was alone again.

Having Gabriel reject her only made it easier for her to fit into her new skin. It made it easier to ignore the others that stared at her in the hall. It made her numb to all the things that she hated about herself and the others. She no longer played at the playground. She simply sat alone on the tarmac. However, despite the fact he no longer wanted her, Tehya still watched over Gabriel. She watched Mia and her friends, and gave them looks so cold and devastating that they knew they could never go near Gabriel again. They pretended that they had lost interest, but the animal part of them knew it was pure fear that kept them from him.

Tehya smiled inside every time she turned them away from Gabriel. She knew that she had done well keeping her promise to him; all it had taken was everything that she loved about herself. She wondered if he even knew how she watched him from day to day. She wondered if he even cared about her anymore.

It was this way that she grew up, learning to hide her emotions, trust no one, move silently, keep the people you love in your sights.

Gabriel did make some friends after the ordeal, but none of them were as close to him as Tehya had been. He moved through them like a fish through a current, touching their worlds enough for them to know he existed, but never close enough to touch his heart. No one was ever allowed there after her.

He knew that she still cared for him as he did for her, but she was a sinner. He could see it in her eyes, how she had lost her way. She no longer held that innocent look in her eyes. She no longer wore her pretty clothes or smiled brightly when the sun hit her face. Even her hair, one of her most defining attributes, she had gotten rid of. Gabriel tried to comfort himself by saying there was nothing left of his old time crush, but he knew that the fact that he was never again taunted by Mia and her gang meant that she was still watching over him.

She was not an old time crush; he thought bitterly, she was the love of his life.

She was sixteen. He was sixteen first, she knew. She had still not let her hair grow since that day. He had still not gotten contacts. He still felt awkward around social circles, and she still believed that she didn't need to be involved in any. She wore all black, he still wore sweater vests, but now despite them the other girls could see that he was attractive. She on the other hand, held a dangerous, mysterious beauty. Many of the boys had claimed to have slept with her, but in all honesty they were all too afraid to talk to her. She was an A student and so was he. She participated in no school sports, but it was obvious that she was in shape. She got an A in PE and had already beaten the records for every kind of athletic feat, including the boys' records. She did not smoke, but had tried weed, coke, and drank on occasion. She didn't like the drugs, but the liquor made some things bearable. She was an avid pupil of three dojos, and had surpassed even some of her previous masters. If she wasn't participating in martial arts she practiced her guitar. Her parents had made her agree that if she was going to pursue martial arts she would need good grades and another extracurricular activity. He had decided that he wanted to take up the family business despite what his mother had said. After all, father was so proud of him, and that was good enough for him. They moved by each other and around each other, but it was inevitable that they would crash into each other.

Literally.

"Aw, what the fuck," Tehya said as she fell right on her butt books and papers flying everywhere.

"Oh, jeez I'm so sorry. I didn't mean…" Gabriel paused as he realized whom he had bumped into.

"S'okay Gabe, no harm done," Tehya said softly as she gathered her books together.

"Here, let me help," he said gently.

She licked her lips and offered a weak smile. "Thanks."

Together they managed to get all the papers and books together. When they were finished they still had not risen. It had been so long since they had dared look into each other's eyes. Gabriel was the first to look away, but Tehya wasn't ready. She tipped his cheek, just as she had done six years ago. "I'm watching over you still."

"I know."

"I know that I seem different, and I am, but I'm still…"

"I know, you don't have to…"

"Six years, Gabriel. We were only best friends for a couple of weeks and I still can't stop…"

"Neither can I."

"Gabriel do you hate me?"

"Hate? No, never Tehya, how could I ever hate you?"

"Then why did you turn away when I got off suspension? Why did you," 'abandon me', Tehya finished in her head.

The bell rang and whatever moment they had had vanished like a wisp of smoke. She gave him a nod and stood up. She knew that he was still afraid, she would be too if their positions had been reversed, and so she left first to take away the awkwardness of the situation. She quickly bustled to her math class and tried her best to shove away her rising tears. She hadn't cried in so long and she didn't want to start now.

Gabriel hurried off to his original destination, the library. He had wanted to do more study on the clocks that his father had brought in the shop. He figured that the library must have had some grain of knowledge that he could use. As he scanned the books he noticed that there was a group of girls giggling at a table behind him. He turned to them wondering what was so funny, and blushed when he realized they were all staring at him. It was unnerving but he shrugged it off and began scanning the shelves once again. The giggling began but had risen in volume. Naturally he wondered if there was something wrong with him. Was there food on his back? Was his hair sticking up? Did someone slap a sign on his back? He turned to them again and this time it was one girl in particular that caught his eye. It was Mia Drake.

Tehya found that she couldn't concentrate. All through math she ran on autopilot while she thought of Gabriel. She had not spoken to him in six years, and now all of a sudden it seemed they were forming complete sentences. She twirled her pencil in her hand snapping at its energy occasionally making it spin impossibly fast in the air. No one dared look at her so she figured she might as well get some practice in. She wondered if she could catch up with him after class, if perhaps she could visit him at home. She shook her head, the pencil fell, no his parents would never allow that. She looked even more like the "heathen" they thought she was. His mother still crossed herself when she walked by. Maybe this was the only conversation she would ever get from Gabriel again. Perhaps, it was over for them both and she had simply been clinging to a dream. She couldn't help herself, though; there was no one that made her feel like she had a purpose save for him. There was no one here in this city that could get to her heart like he did. She knew why she had gone after him at the playground that fateful day, because his energy was pure, because he did right and strived to do better constantly. He was someone worth protecting. She wanted to be his friend again and she was certain once she found him he could fix her, make her the way she had been once.

She was asking him out. Her, Mia Drake, and now he wasn't quite sure what to do. It would have been fine if one of her friends had asked him out. He wouldn't have felt a stab of guilt if it had been one of them, but it wasn't. It was true that she had changed, gotten new friends, treated others better, but he still felt that going steady with her would change things for the worse. He then thought of Tehya and how she would feel. Should he really be thinking about her?

"I can understand if you don't want to, it's okay. I remember grade school, the way I behaved. I was a horrible person and if it weren't for Tehya you would have gotten badly hurt. I know that."

"No, we were just kids Mia, it's fine."

"You still think about it though, don't you? Still think about the way the three of us were?"

"I do, but it doesn't matter. Tehya and I we're not friends anymore…" She touched his hand and nodded sympathetically. "I think that was my fault too Gabriel." He looked down at her and noticed that there was an entirely different look in her eyes. She was not the same girl he was certain of it and so he nodded. She smiled, and for the first time he felt a spark of something he hadn't felt since he and Tehya was younger.

Tehya scrambled out of class as fast as she could and was headed towards the library. She knew Gabriel he was constantly seeking knowledge and so she ventured there. He wasn't there. In fact, he was leaving and Mia Drake was clinging to his arm. The two of them were laughing.

He felt eyes on him, and for a moment he stopped laughing and turned to look around. There she was her green eyes shining with tears. Her hand was clutching her chest and she looked so lost. He buried the pain deep into his chest and waved at her. He wanted to let her know that he was all right, that she didn't need to watch over him. He felt a painful tug in his chest he wasn't sure what it was. He looked down and then back up. She had fainted.