Chapter 21

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 dezirose417 on livejournal. Once again, if the formatting of this confuses you, feel free to go to incandescentfire or my livejournal.

It was not a complicated process like Elle would have imagined. She was used to getting orders and she figured without someone giving her orders she would have to come up with some plan of her own and her plans tended to be rather badly executed from what she was told.

Of course then she realized she was working with the Haitian who was of very little words. She did not even know his name, if they even had those in the village he came from.

He quickly roped Mohinder's hands together behind his back before binding his feet together like an animal. Afterwards, he hoisted the groggy man over his shoulder and carried him back toward the house fireman style. He paused at the threshold and looked both ways to make sure Gretchen was not about to walk by before ducking into the house and heading towards his room.

Elle almost laughed at the sight. Everything he did seemed so innocent and effortless. Mohinder seemed as weightless to Rene as a feather as he speedily carried Mohinder to his room where Elle shut the door behind them.

When she turned around she spotted the Haitian removing a knife that was hooked onto his belt. She was surprised to see it. Who needed a weapon when they were a weapon? She sensed it was to make him seem like a more intimidating warrior as if he needed any help with that. He was one of the scariest people Elle had ever met and she included herself on that list.

He flipped the knife open and used it to cut off some rope hanging off of Mohinder and used the remainder to tie the limp man to the chair before hooking the knife back on his belt. He knelt beside him for a moment and examined his wounds.

"He was watching the house before Gretchen and I returned. I noticed him crouching in the sand. I do not think he is an assassin or at least another assassin," The Haitian said as he studied his features.

Elle stepped forward as well and examined him. She flashed back to days of Mohinder being her partner. She was his gun. She remembered fitting him with a gun holster and she remembered him shooting Claire's dad. It was all a ruse though. He did not leave Glasses dead for more than a few hours and he could not even put a needle in someone. He was no threatening muscle. He was just a brain.

"I agree. He's probably some kind of leader. I see middle management and for that to work he would have to be in charge of people who wouldn't step all over him. So, much for the crack team in charge of capturing me," Elle said with a smirk. She frowned when the Haitian shook his head.

"The greatest gift we can give our opponents is underestimating them. The Lazarus group are not people to be underestimated," Rene warned as he stood up and dusted the sand off of his clothes.

"Well, fine. How do we handle him already? I mean if my life is in that much danger shouldn't we take action?" Elle asked as she ran her fingers through Mohinder's hair before yanking on the strands to bring his head up.

Rene crossed his arms across his chest in a manner that was not as judgmental as the pose normally was. "Now, we need Claire and cough syrup."

"Cough syrup?" Elle asked with a raised eyebrow.

Rene nodded. "That and a distraction."

"A distraction," Claire asked as she timidly followed Gretchen into Delilah's bedroom which was covered with posters of Kurt Cobain, Beethoven and the Stones. Her bed was queen sized, many layered and covered with stuffed animals. Gretchen grabbed a monkey and giraffe stuffed animal off the bed and tweaked them into a more visually pleasing position on the bed.

"I just don't know what to do with myself. I'm worked up and worried and apparently having hallucinations now since it turns out that Delilah is actually fine apparently," Gretchen said before plopping down for a seat on the bed. "I need to do something."

"How about take a good nap?" Claire offered with a perky smile but Gretchen shook her head.

"I need to do something like what I did for you. Giving you the stars, remember? I need to do something to make her feel better. You should have seen her Claire. She was so freaked out and terrified when she woke up and when my parents went to find a doctor Rene tried to calm her down and she did calm down but she was all hazy and confused," Gretchen said as she seemed to be confused about what happened herself.

Claire was getting less confused by the second as she stepped forward. "Rene comforted her in the hospital?"

Gretchen nodded. "He was great actually. He spoke in those calming tones that he uses and just rested his hand on her head. It seemed to really calm her down."

A grim smile found its way to Claire's lips as the scene she pictured had indeed happened just as she predicted. She knew it was a necessary evil. It needed to be done but it did not make anything better. People deserved more. "He's a sweetie. You're right. We should do something to make her feel better. What does she like?"

Gretchen shrugged as she stood. She smoothed out the bedspread where she was sitting until it was once again perfect. She backed away slowly, careful not to disturb anything.

"I don't know her all that well," Gretchen admitted. "We mostly bonded over music because it's the most obvious thing about her."

"She and Elle were in the telescope room. She probably likes stars too," Claire added helpfully.

Gretchen nodded. "That's true. I'm sorry I didn't notice before but at this point I don't want to bring back any bad memories of her accident."

'No chance of that,' Claire thought to herself but kept the smile on her face. "I understand. So, what's your plan?"

Gretchen paced around the room and every so often glanced up at the ceiling. "Well, she plays piano but wants to play guitar more. Either way she loves all kinds of music. She's too old for a nightlight but she probably shouldn't be alone tonight, so..." Gretchen trailed off as she seemed to come to a conclusion.

"So, I have all the pieces of the puzzle but still can't put it together. Am I supposed to know what you're talking about?" Claire asked as she playfully tilted her lip out in a pout.

Gretchen chuckled, leaving her eyes to linger on Claire for just a second too long before shaking her head and tilting her eyes and her hands towards the ceiling as if she was framing an image from her mind. "Remember how I made that projection of the stars on the ceiling for you?"

"Yeah," Claire said as she stood next to Gretchen and looked up at the ceiling over her shoulder.

"I was thinking I could make a projection on the ceiling that projected the lyrics to Delilah's favorite songs in a constant loop on the ceiling. It may be comforting," Gretchen said, her voice wavering with uncertainty.

Claire nodded along, suddenly enamored with the idea of doing something kind. "You could put the guitar chords with the lyrics so she can learn the sheet music while she's staring up at them. Get her used to it while comforting her. It'll give her mind something to do besides obsessing over what happened."

Claire and Gretchen's eyes met in an instant as a toothy grin broke out across Gretchen's face. "That's it. You get it. You just get it."

Claire felt a connection forming between them as they smiled at each other like the times before this mission. When Claire agreed to watch "Crossing Jordan" with her after a 22 hour day at work just to make her happy or when Claire asked Gretchen to move into an apartment with her on the exact same day Gretchen was planning to do the same.

She felt that connection with a few others as well. Like when Claire and Elle searched through a bunch of songs on the radio before happening to land on one that they both liked, one of the few Elle even knew. Like when Claire instinctively helped carry Elle to the Pinehearst building.

The moment she was currently in felt like a moment warranting a kiss but the timing was off. Claire's timing to be exact. But also Elle's timing was off as she swung the door open, the force of which caused the door to slam and shatter the tension between the girls.

"The Haitian needs your help," Elle said breathlessly.

Claire paused, needing to get a feel for the severity of the interruption. "Well, Gretchen and I were about to work on something together."

"I'll take your place," Elle quickly cut in and she stepped toward Claire. "But the Haitian really needs your help. He asked for cough medicine- you know, for his cold. He's very sick."

"Oh," Gretchen said crestfallen as she turned to Claire. "I guess you should go take care of him."

Claire nodded. "I guess so." She turned to Elle who was positively beaming with delight and she wondered what sort of event was demanding her attention. "Are you going to be okay?"

Elle clasped her hands behind her back and smiled. "Just perfect."

Claire entered Rene's room and closed the door behind her with cough syrup in hand. When she turned she was surprised at what she saw.

"Dr. Suresh? Oh my God," Claire gasped as she stepped toward him.

"Claire," Mohinder croaked as he looked to her with desperate pleading eyes and cracks of skin and bone across his face. The exposed parts of his body through tattered clothing showed blood trickling out in tiny streams. Claire's eyes hardened on his vulnerable visage.

Rene plucked the cough syrup out of Claire's hand and unscrewed the cap leaving it sitting on top of the bottle. He tilted Mohinder's face skyward and tightened his fingers on Mohinder's face to keep his mouth open before handing the bottle to Claire.

"Claire," Mohinder grumbled, barely able to move his mouth under Rene's grip.

Claire stepped forward slowly, never breaking eye contact with the man who served as her chief medical council, the one who tended to all her friends and family, the one who gave her all those procedures and shots.

"You're betrayal hurts me, Mohinder but I have a feeling it's going to hurt you a little more." Claire's gaze hardened to Mohinder then as she removed the lid to the cough syrup and began tipping the liquid down Mohinder's throat.

"You could send her a card. I know for a fact that Hallmark cards are made just for this kind of thing," Elle complained as she flopped down on the large bed and spread her arms out like she was making a snow angel.

Gretchen chuckled and shook her head as she continued to search the web for sheet music. "You don't get it. It's like I explained to Claire, it's not about making me feel better, it's about making Delilah feel better. I don't want her to feel scared or alone."

Elle laughed without any mirth. "Of course, Claire helped talk you into this. She's all sweet and good and always try to help the lost causes. She's just perfect."

Gretchen's brow furrowed and she sported a little pout as she took in Elle's words but did not look in her direction and focused in on the computer screen. "I wouldn't say Claire's life is perfect. She's without her family, has to work as a maid. It's hasn't been all roses and sunshine for her, you know."

"I know," Elle said quietly. Gretchen thought that was the end of the Claire-centric conversation but Elle soon spoke again. "So, she has a crappy job. We all have at some point- well, maybe not you yet, but she just has everything that no one else has. She's just gorgeous and sweet and kind of stubborn and tough."

Gretchen's pout became a frown and she could not pretend to be interested in Delilah's present for a moment longer. Gretchen thought Claire would be pleased that she was breaking up with Elle. Then it would be just Gretchen and Claire again and she was almost sure that Claire did not want to remain "just friends" anymore just as much as Gretchen also did not. However, it was beginning to seem like Claire wanted Elle in the house more than she did and Elle was more fond of Claire than she was of Gretchen. She was not liking the situation one bit but had no idea what to do about it.

With a heavy heart she resumed typing on Delilah's present. At least in that situation she knew what she had to do.

"I can't believe you drugged me. You really have become heartless," Mohinder slurred as he struggled to keep his head up.

Claire reached over and lightly slapped his face in repetition to keep him awake, then took a moment to softly stroke his face. "You were a really good friend of mine, but I guess that was all a lie. Tell me, Mohinder. When did you become a member of Lazarus?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mohinder slurred.

Claire sat back in her chair that was directly opposite of him. She made a big show of sighing since Mohinder was too tired and slow at the moment to keep up with subtleties. "Well, I'm sorry about that Mohinder because here is what is going to happen. Either you will immediately tell us everything you know about the Lazarus organization or Rene will go inside your head and remove every memory of us, Elle and Lazarus from your brain and toss you back to your conspirators. We'll see what they do with you when you're no longer a source of intelligence. With your memory wiped they'd know you came in contact with the Haitian. Even if you didn't talk, with you all mindless they would never know for sure."

She leaned forward towards him and whispered with her most innocent grin, "I don't think they'll be pleased. The choice is yours."

She sat back in her chair and looked to Rene who stood regally at her right side as she waited. She was bluffing with her threat but wondered if Rene would indeed follow through with it. He told her there was a mole within Lazarus, someone infiltrating the organization but she knew that Mohinder was not it, not with the way Rene was letting her treat him. He looked just as disappointed as Claire was.

She realized now was the time that she had to step up and if necessary become the monster everyone thought she was. "So be it," she said as she nodded at Rene who stepped forward to extend a hand towards Mohinder's head.

"Stop," Mohinder said as he used all his strength to lift his shaky head up. She wanted to help and support her fallen friend. She hated that he still looked like a friend and not the terrorist that he was. She held Rene's arm in place as she waited for Mohinder to speak. "You want to know when I betrayed you, Claire? I never did. I've been saving the world more times than I can count since you betrayed us. I joined Lazarus the night you jumped off the ferris wheel."

Claire stared at him for a long moment and wondered what to do. After a moment she said, "Rene, I need you to distract Gretchen. I need Elle."

The Haitian entered the bedroom quietly but still surprised the two occupants. His lips curled in an apologetic smile before he spoke. "Elle, Claire needs your help hanging a painting I clumsily knocked over. I would help her myself but my hands are unsteady."

Elle smothered a laugh at the idea of a shaky handed Haitian. There would be a whole lot more amnesiacs running around if that were true. She threw her legs off the side of the bed in one fluid motion until she was standing up but Gretchen had instantly leapt out of her chair and was moving to follow the Haitian as well.

"You know, I could help her. It's my house. I know about paintings," Gretchen said quickly.

Elle exchanged a look with the Haitian before flashing a charming grin at Gretchen. "You know, I should do it. I'm a freeloading guest and I want to lend a helping hand to the... help."

Gretchen nodded. "And that's so sweet but Claire and I have this rapport going-"

"And she and I also have one," Elle quickly interjected with a shrug at their predicament. "I'll just go and it'll be taken care of before you know it. You keep working on your project. Wouldn't want you getting distracted. The Haitian will even help. He looks like the geek type."

On that last sentence Elle clapped The Haitian on the shoulder and exited through the door and closed it before Gretchen could protest again.

Gretchen slowly sat back down in her chair, embarrassed about not getting her way in her own house and in front of someone she did not know very well. Rene was incredibly intimidating to say the least.

"I don't suppose you know a lot about projectors and computer projects and music, do you?" Gretchen felt she had to ask.

"I know a little," Rene offered with an affirmative slant of his head.

Gretchen nodded and then sat in silence for a moment as she thought over the issue that was nagging at her besides her sister getting hospitalized. She figured Rene had very little of the answers she wanted on a good number of subjects but at least he was there to listen.

"Do you think that Elle likes Claire?" Gretchen asked. Rene frowned, obviously not a fan of this line of questioning but Gretchen would not relent. "Because I think so. It seems like Claire is trying to keep her in the house and I thought it was because she wanted me to be happy because there was something with her and I. Now, with the way Elle is acting I think that maybe Elle wants to stay in the house to be near Claire which means that they want to be together and neither one of them wants to be with me which means..."

Rene watched Gretchen's deflated face and could not help but feel something. Claire may not be showing any loyalty to one girl but he had no loyalties in this department either. Claire was his dear friend and the family member of many other dear friends. He and Elle lived in the same place and to some extent he watched her grow up and had to forget what she learned. And Gretchen as Claire's friend and then girlfriend showed him nothing but kindness after Claire's fall from the ferris wheel despite his threat to her before. To see any of the ladies hurt was the last thing he wanted no matter how inevitable.

"It is foolish to wonder what goes on in other's minds. It will only lead to madness in your own. Do what you can to do well for yourself," Rene instructed to an extremely attentive Gretchen.

She took a moment to take in his words before swiveling her chair back to the computer. "So, you're saying I should stop obsessing and work on this project to make my stepsister feel better?"

"Yes," Rene confirmed as he stepped close to the screen to monitor her progress.

Gretchen puffed up her cheeks and blew out a sigh as her fingers hit the keys. "Easier said than done."

"It always is," Rene agreed.

"What's up?" Elle asked as she burst into the room they were keeping Mohinder in. Through the low lighting and the shadows she spotted the bloodied man look at her with squinted eyes and her eyes widened as she could not believe what she was seeing. "He's still alive AND in that chair?"

Claire flitted her left hand back and forth to signal for Elle to close the door. Elle stuck her tongue in the side of her cheek with annoyance at Claire's non-responsive behavior but closed the door nonetheless.

Once the door was closed Claire still did not acknowledge Elle's presence but fixed a smile at Mohinder full of politeness and manipulation and devoid of warmth. She knew his instincts were screaming out, begging to call her an Angela Petrelli in the making but the curiosity of a scientist that had almost lead to his destruction so many times was keeping him from doing anything other than observe what was about to play out before him.

"Okay, Mohinder. Well, it's obvious you know that Rene and I are here from the future as are you. It's also obvious for reasons that I won't discuss that Elle is not from the future which means it's obvious to all of us that you've come for her. So, it's time to make your move, Mohinder. Rene's gone so your power isn't blocked anymore. You're going to kill her or capture her or convert her to your terrorist ways, right? So, the time is now. She's right here. You can do whatever you came here for," Claire said in calm and pleasant tones.

"What?" Elle finally erupted to Claire in shock but Claire's eyes never left Mohinder who looked somewhat surprised and pleased.

"Hello? What the hell is the matter with you?" Elle screamed at Claire. A second past and Elle roughly shoved Claire who nearly fell out of her chair.

Claire felt bad for her trick but she needed to get things done. She was always the one who needed to get things done. Her position in the world and one track mind would not allow for much else.

"Are you satisfied now, Mohinder? Are you done with the games and the ridiculous statements? Are you finally going to talk now that I am finally the villain that you want me to be?" Claire asked.

"You help villains," Mohinder spit at her.

Claire shook her head at the sentence. He was the one trying to recruit Elle for evil after all. Not to mention that the Lazarus group were the prime suspects in Gretchen's murder. "You're really one to talk. Shoot anyone lately? Like you know, one of my loved ones or something?"

"You think I'm the source of all the murder in the world? If anyone is responsible for a majority of the crime going on it's you. I mean, it's different for some of us than you. You could PASS AS NORMAL!" Mohinder screamed.

"What in the hell are you talking about?" Elle screamed over him as she looked between the two other people in the room and electricity began to scorch her skin.

Claire began to look worriedly at Elle's obviously rattled state but before she could stop herself she responded to Mohinder's accusation which obviously avoided her previous question, something she needed to know the answer to. "You could pass too."

Elle began to take in quick, shallow breaths, trying to stop from hyperventilating and exploding in a way she could not control. Claire was baiting Mohinder to attack her or take her away and with the way they were talking he had an ability too, maybe a dangerous one like hers. With a look to Claire who was finally looking at her with sympathetic eyes she desperately asked, "this is the guy? He's the one that has been after me? Well, fine. I'm ending this now. I'm killing him."

"Elle," Mohinder gasped as Elle raised her hand to him. Claire just as quickly lowered it back down.

"No," Claire warned in a deep stern tone as she took Elle's hands in hers, getting literally seared by Elle's anger. She wished that she could feel the pain of it if only for Elle's sake. She deserved at least that much.

There was nothing she could do for Elle now. That much was made clear as the betrayed look burned its way into Elle's features, blue arcs of light illuminating pieces of the heartbreak that played against her face. She was in utter disbelief at Claire's apparent heartlessness. Claire was the nice one, the good one. Or she was supposed to be.

"No? No?" Elle asked.

"She doesn't have your best interests at heart," Mohinder interjected as he began to break free of the ropes around his wrists.

Claire ignored him this time, focusing on the erupting Elle who she knew was just a girl behind all that volatile energy. "You can't kill him. You can't but I'm not going to let him hurt you."

"Oh really? Well, I guess your brain cells don't regenerate like the rest of you does because offering to let him murder me might just hurt, cheerleader," Elle snapped.

Claire nodded quickly, wanting to be sensitive but knowing she was in a race against Elle's rebellious ability. "Trust me, okay. There is no way he is getting away from us. There is no way anyone is getting to you. I wouldn't let that happen. I promise."

It was at that moment the doorbell rang once again.