Chapter 37
The record must've gotten stuck on his old record player again, Gabriel realized, as a few lyrics from John Lennon's Happy Xmas (War is Over) continued to hauntingly resound throughout the small, drafty room repeatedly.
He turned his attention away from brewing his chamomile tea on the makeshift stove, which was cramped in the very corner of the room, and made his way towards the record player. The fact that 'war is over' was repeating again and again without stop somehow seemed like an interesting coincidence.
For indeed, the war...or relationship, as some annoyingly optimistic people might like to have called it...between Peter and Gabriel had long since ended. It was now New Year's Eve and Gabriel hadn't heard from Peter since that stormy night in the middle of June.
And although in the early days it might've seemed that Gabriel's life was over, Gabriel soon found that what Nathan had once tried to tell a broken-hearted, eighteen-year-old Peter was indeed true. Life goes on. Life continues. Life is still worth living.
This was true because Gabriel found that he was no longer simply living in order to be loved by Peter...as he also no longer lived to collect powers. Since Peter was gone...and since the demand for power, for blood was quelled...life had to be about something more substantial. And so Gabriel took to getting rid of everything that reminded him of Peter...including the apartment that Peter helped Gabriel to purchase. Instead, Gabriel moved into the overhead room that was attached to his bookstore. He had originally been using it for storage, but it doubled just as nicely as living quarters. He brought in a small cot, a stove, an old record player, and a dozen of his favorite books. There was now a simplicity in his dwelling that he enjoyed...because he was done with anything complicated. He was finished with craving a messy, passionate, codependent existence. Because in the end, isn't that all love truly was?
Gabriel turned the record player off, the room becoming eerily silent again. The wind was emitting a low moan outside, and a cold iciness seemed to seep in through the floorboards and cracks in the wall. This was certainly a lot different than how Gabriel had spent the previous New Year's Eve...he remembered being warm and curled up in bed with Peter, whispering into the young man's ear about what a wonderful new year they were going to enter into together...because indeed, for the first time, they truly would be together as a couple.
Yes, life was a bit lonelier now, but Gabriel made up for that loneliness by appreciating the distinct lack of hurt and vulnerability that a relationship had brought into his life. And although Gabriel didn't trust himself enough to go out on patrol and be a hero by himself without Peter's guiding hand...and warden-like presence...he had taken to doing small, but hardly insignificant, acts of heroics. Just this afternoon, while Gabriel was dining at one of his favorite cafés, he discreetly used telekinesis in order to keep a stumbling waitress from dropping the trays that she was carrying.
That old lady's pie à la mode made it safely to her table because of him. And that had to count for something, didn't it?
Gabriel sighed as he placed the record back into its sleeve. He probably could easily fix his record player using some kind of power, but he just hadn't gotten around to it yet somehow. He grinned, seeing Peter as a little boy fixing the antenna on the radio so that this very song would come in clearly. It was Angela's favorite, after all; the message resounding with her for reasons that neither of her boys could possibly understand at the time. This was Nathan's memory. Gabriel could see that very clearly...for some reason it was becoming more apparent as to which memories belonged to the eldest Petrelli brother and to which memories belonged to Gabriel alone. For some reason, Gabriel's memories were now coming in clearer and crisper, while Nathan's memories were taking on a more distinct dreamlike quality.
He wasn't exactly sure why this was the case, as he hadn't exactly banished thoughts of Nathan from his mind. On the contrary, he now regularly...and voluntarily...visited Nathan's grave every Saturday evening. He sometimes wondered if he might run into Peter there, but he never did. Peter had visited Nathan's grave every Sunday afternoon while he and Gabriel had been together, and the young man seemed to have stuck to that routine. That was fine; Gabriel wasn't visiting Nathan with the hopes of seeing Peter again anyway. Gabriel was going because...because it was part of being a good person now. Because Gabriel had robbed Nathan of something as precious as life, and it was only right that Gabriel dedicate the rest of his to paying his respects. And maybe that was also why Nathan's memories were no longer strangulating Gabriel...maybe he had finally found a healthy medium in which to honor Nathan without losing a sense of reality.
The teapot whistled loudly from the stove. Gabriel quietly moved towards it, grabbing it by the handle and moving it away from the heated burner. He silently reflected on the fact that all of humanity was hanging on the precipice of an unknown new year. Unknown in the fact that no one on the planet could predict who among them would either continue to live or die, who among them would either lose their material wealth or become hugely successful, and who among them would fall in love...or lose the one they loved forever.
Because, yes...fine...Gabriel still loved Peter despite all of Gabriel's insistence that he preferred living like this...like a lonely hermit, freezing to death in the spare room above a bookshop. And yes, sometimes Gabriel wandered the streets at night in hopes that he might catch even the smallest glimpses of Peter returning home from work. And...alright...Gabriel might not have rid himself of everything that reminded him of Peter. Gabriel still had the photograph that Peter had allowed Gabriel to take of the young man. The photograph that Gabriel sometimes pulled out in the middle of harsh, inconsolable nights in order to gaze upon Peter's sweet, shy face for a moment's respite.
Gabriel poured some tea into a small, chipped teacup. The scent of its flavor filled the desolate room, and some of the outpouring steam even managed to warm Gabriel slightly. Yes, it was New Year's Eve...and he was once again alone in life. He shook his head resolutely...but he wasn't going to despair. It was one year later and he was still good. He was still whole. He was saving waitresses from spilling their orders all over the floor and he wasn't even taking any credit for it...and that had to count for something, didn't it?
Just then, Gabriel heard a series of loud and desperate knocks resound from down the stairs at the bookstore's front door. Gabriel gave a small start, placing his teacup down on the stove rather hastily. The knocking wasn't letting up, and for a moment Gabriel had a nervous sensation that someone was trying to break in and rob his store.
He wasn't nervous for himself. He had all the powers on the earth to protect his property...and in that was the problem. Was it right to use his powers to stop robbers? Was it good to call upon abilities at all in this situation? And how should he react if they themselves became violent? These were the sort of questions in the past that Gabriel would answer by merely following Peter's lead.
But Peter was gone and Gabriel had only himself to rely on. He sucked in a deep breath, opening the door to his room slowly before moving down onto the first step of the stairway. It creaked loudly beneath him; the noise only offset by the continual banging against the door.
"Who is it?" Gabriel demanded, trying to make himself sound as intimidating as possible...hoping that whoever it was wouldn't force him into making his own moral decisions.
"GABRIEL!" The voice shouted, straining to be heard over the barrier of the door and the crescendo of the howling wind outside. "It's me, Jennifer!"
Jennifer. Special Jennifer.
Gabriel felt his mouth go dry. Somehow, this was worse than any thief or intruder. Special, little Jennifer with her special, little power. The last time the two of them had spoken was when Jennifer revealed that she had been spying on Gabriel and Peter in order to report back to Angela Petrelli. And that had led to Peter breaking up with Gabriel...Gabriel shook his head, resolutely. No, no, that had been Gabriel's fault. And besides that, Jennifer sounded in trouble, and Gabriel was supposed to be a hero now. Heroes always helped young girls in trouble; Gabriel didn't need Peter around to tell him that.
Gabriel descended the remainder of the stairs, approaching the door carefully. "Jennifer!" He called out, cautiously. "What's wrong?"
"Please, open the door! I need your help!" She begged, her voice sounding uncharacteristically shrill. "It's about my mom...and—and Peter!"
Peter.
Gabriel felt his heart skip a beat as he practically ripped the door off of its hinges. And there she stood, Jennifer DeLuca, and she looked every bit like a girl who had just run through a snowstorm to end up at his front door. Her long, raven hair was wind-swept and tangled, her mascara was smeared across her cheeks, and her bright green eyes were filled to the brim with tears. She wrung her hands in a panic, her breathing coming out rough and belabored.
"Please, I didn't know where else ta go." Jennifer said, hurriedly. "They told me you had moved, so I came to your shop as a last hope. See, you're the only other person I know who's got a power. The only one that can stop him."
"What?" Gabriel demanded, confused. He shook his head, trying to make sense of her words. "Jen, what are you talking about? Stop who? And what does this have to do with Peter?"
"It's my stepdad, Eugene!" Jennifer explained, pushing her way past Gabriel and into the bookstore. She pulled her cell phone out of her jean pocket and pressed a few buttons on it. "Listen to the message that he left me."
"Hey, Jen, this is Eugene..." The recording began, and Gabriel frowned, remembering all that Jennifer had told him about the man named Eugene. That he would beat Jennifer's mother. That he would force Jennifer to use her powers for evil. That he once killed a woman when he and Jennifer were robbing her house.
"...to Peter Petrelli's apartment..." The message continued, and Gabriel jerked his head up towards Jennifer in surprise. But Jennifer merely continued to stare at her phone intently; tears still staining her crimson cheeks.
"...You see, I'm gonna make Peter stab yer mom until she bleeds ta death...and then he's gonna stab himself..." And the man spoke so calmly, it was almost as if he were calling to speak about the weather rather than murder. "...You got two hours, Jen."
Jennifer turned towards Gabriel, distraught. "That was an hour and a half ago. We got thirty minutes to stop him before he kills Peter an' my mom!"
"I...I don't understand." Gabriel replied, shaking his head in disbelief. The man's chilling threat concerning killing Peter continued to reverberate in his ears. And yet, Gabriel couldn't help but wonder if these threats were empty; it seemed hard to imagine that some thug could succeed in taking down Peter. Except...what ability did Gabriel last see Peter doing? It was so hard to remember...the last time Gabriel saw Peter felt like ages ago now. "What does your stepdad want from you?"
"He wants me to come home so that I can help him steal stuff again." Jennifer cried, running her hand across her eyes and further smearing her mascara. "It's why I ran away in the first place. It's why I haven't talked to my mom for almost six months now. Because I was tryin' ta escape that...that monster all of this time."
Gabriel nodded his head, slowly. "So he's using your mother as bait to get you to come back." But then he hesitated, frowning. "But what does Peter have to do with any of this?"
"Peter told me that he met my mom once." Jennifer replied, sniffing back her tears. "That she was tryin' ta get her life back together. But I don't know why they're at Peter's apartment now...maybe Eugene found out what complex I lived in an' was over there lookin' for me. Maybe Peter was tryin' ta be a hero an' stop him."
"That sounds so much like Peter, too." Gabriel sighed, pursing his lips together. He raised an eyebrow as he gazed back down at Jennifer's worried face. "Look, I understand that you're scared, but if Peter's there than I doubt that he or your mother are in any real danger. You see, Peter...Peter's special, too. He has an ability just like us, and he's gotten very good at stopping creeps like your stepdad..."
"No, you don't understand!" Jennifer interrupted, reaching out to grab onto the sleeve of Gabriel's shirt. Gabriel stared down at her in surprise. "Eugene has an ability, too. He can control your body as if you're a puppet. He can make you do whatever he wants."
And something terrible and scary was now just beginning to dawn in Gabriel's mind. But he pushed it away, determined that he could still avoid the truth that any of this was actually happening. Peter was a hero, after all, and Peter had continued to be a hero long after he left Gabriel. Gabriel would read about it in the newspaper sometimes; how Peter...always described as some mysterious vigilante...would stop a gang of thugs in the dark of the night. No, Peter didn't need Gabriel to save him...Peter was always the savior of all.
"Peter can still stop him." Gabriel insisted, darkly. He shook his head, a mirthless smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Peter's fought men with powers before and he's always won..."
"Eugene can use his power to stop you from using yours!" Jennifer shouted, her voice growing strained and ragged. "He can control you in every way possible. When he takes hold of you...you can't do nothin'. You can't even use yer ability to save yourself. I used to try an' create a magnetic force field to protect my mom from gettin' beat up by him. But then he'd take hold of me an'...an' all I could do was just stand there an' watch."
Peter never needed Gabriel to save him before. And this couldn't be real...because Gabriel didn't know how to save anyone. Not without Peter guiding him every step of the way...telling Gabriel what was good and what was evil...not without Peter showing him the fine, fine line that separated the heroes from the villains.
"Peter can stop him" Gabriel reiterated, his mouth now dry and his tongue feeling heavy in his mouth. He wet his lips, uncomfortably. "Peter can save her...just like he always does."
"He an' my mom need us now!" Jennifer insisted, desperately. She rounded on Gabriel with a ferociousness that he didn't imagine she possessed. "Don't you get it? He's gonna kill them an' you are the only person who can stop that!"
"And how am I supposed to do that?" Gabriel demanded, his eyes scanning the room for something to ground him...something to take away the terrible choice that was looming. There was a small rumbling of something familiar and angry burning to his surface. Peter...sweet, beautiful Peter...who would want to hurt him? It made something hot and rough rise up and press against Gabriel's chest uncomfortably. "How am I supposed to stop him if he can take away my power too?"
"He can only do it if he's focusin' on you." Jennifer explained, quickly. "See, I got a plan already. I'm gonna make us invisible by bendin' the magnetic fields around us. Then you can sneak up on 'im and use your telekinesis to stop him."
"What?" Gabriel hissed, turning away from Jennifer in a growing panic. "No...no, no, no, I don't know if I'm supposed to do this." Gabriel ran a hand through his thick, dark hair in an attempt to push it back into place. "Peter might be handling this just fine by himself. And then what if I come in and mess everything up..."
"Look, we don't have time for this." Jennifer snapped, pulling her coat tightly around her body in an act of self-preservation. "I know that I'm the last person you would want ta help because of how I betrayed you. But I came ta you because Peter was in trouble and I thought that you loved him. Because I knew that if I came to Peter he wouldn't hesitate to save you."
Special little Jennifer. She didn't understand. She didn't realize that the very thought of anyone hurting Peter made Gabriel feel overwhelmingly violent again. She didn't understand that Gabriel was already on a precipice of rushing over to Peter's apartment and ripping Eugene apart limb from limb. And then...well, where would it ever stop...?
"And what if Peter's already hurt by the time we get there?" Gabriel seethed; his fears and temper finally bubbling over his seemingly unconcerned exterior. Jennifer tilted her head to the side in surprise, watching as Gabriel began to unravel before her, his hands starting to tremble into fists at his sides.
"What if that monster already...already killed Peter?" Gabriel hissed, his face flushing as those terrible words found their way past his lips. "Or what if he's already hurt Peter very badly? And I...and I lose it. And I take all of these powers that I have..." Gabriel gave a flicker of a flame in his palm as an example. "...all of these powers that churn inside of me...and I take it all out on your stepdad." He closed his eyes; trying to keep all of his dark thoughts at bay...back to the deep inner chasm he had willed them into for so long. "And then...and then what if I can't stop again?"
Jennifer pursed her lips together, a hardness falling into those usually bright emerald eyes. "If my stepdad hurt my mom or Peter...I'm gonna help you kill him." She took a determined step forward, her chest almost bumping into Gabriel's. "I don't care about bein' a hero or a villain anymore. I just care about gettin' my mom back...and I swear ta God, I don' care what I gotta do ta make that happen."
The small presence of a beast...squashed and beaten into submission for nearly a year now...awoke with a roar in Gabriel's chest. Yes, yes, kill to get what you want...what you need. Kill to defend the things that are precious to you. Kill to protect the things that you always swore you would fight for.
And this time if he killed, it would be right...justified even. Because Gabriel wasn't going to kill for selfish gain; he was going to kill on behalf of the gentlest heart that ever walked the earth. Yes...yes, this time the kill would be...good.
"Alright..." Gabriel breathed out, his eyes narrowing as his gaze fell towards the ground. He sucked in another deep breath, before his eyes rose to catch Jennifer's again. "Alright, come on, let's...let's go then."
Jennifer glanced at the watch on her wrist in dismay. "We'll never make it ta Manhattan in thirty minutes during a snowstorm and New Year's Eve traffic."
"Well, we're not taking the subway." Gabriel replied, a small ripple of pride bubbling through him. He raised an eyebrow in her direction, pointedly. "We're going to fly there."
"Fly?" Jennifer demanded, incredulous. "But I thought..."
"I have so many different powers, Jennifer." Gabriel explained coolly, holding out his hand for her to take. "Now just hang on tight and we'll be there in no time."
Together, they stepped out into the swirling snow and biting wind. Jennifer looked up at Gabriel with growing uncertainty, her cheeks growing redder still in the harsh cold.
Gabriel ignored her reservations; instead he simply reached out and grabbed her from around the waist firmly with both hands. "Ready?"
Jennifer nodded, biting her bottom lip, nervously.
With that, Gabriel pushed off of the ground and left the earth far below. Jennifer released a loud gasp, grabbing onto his shirt collar and burying her face into his chest. The snow stung his face upon impact like tiny bullets, and the wind burned across them both with a relentless intensity. He kept his arms firmly wrapped around Jennifer as he took off like a rocket towards Manhattan. At this altitude, the world looked like a paragon of beauty and peace, with Times Square lit up and packed with multitudes of people ready to usher in the New Year.
"Are you alright?" Gabriel shouted to Jennifer over the endless rush of wind.
Jennifer gave a short nod in reply, clearly terrified, as her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and her face remained resolutely pressed into his chest.
Gabriel gave a hint of a smile...he couldn't help it. He felt like Superman, the hero that flew in to save the day; the damsel in distress safely nestled in his grasp.
And yet...he couldn't stop Jennifer's words from resounding endlessly in his mind. If Eugene hurt Peter or Jennifer's mother...then they should kill him. But Peter had to be okay...had to be okay because the alternative was too horrific to even contemplate. Gabriel once promised to always fight for Peter...to always keep the young man safe. And if that promise was broken then Gabriel should indeed punish the one responsible for hurting Peter...but then where did it stop? Where did it stop...that was always the question on Gabriel's mind...he never knew the answer unless Peter was there to tell him.
Gabriel landed on the rooftop of Peter's apartment, skidding across the frozen ice and snow before finally coming to a stop. Jennifer remained curled up into Gabriel's body; her hands hanging onto him with a vice-like grip, seemingly unaware that the flight had ended.
"We're here." Gabriel whispered into her ear. "We'll take the fire escape down to Peter's apartment, and then you get us in, okay?"
Jennifer nodded, finally pulling her face away from Gabriel's chest. "Let's never fly again, okay?" She mumbled, taking several shaky steps onto the rooftop.
"Hey, if this works, we can spend the rest of the night taking the subway home." Gabriel replied, tersely, as they made their way towards the steps of the fire escape.
They descended the stairs quickly, and the closer they got to Peter's apartment, the more Gabriel could feel a cloud of dread permeating him, choking him with fear. Someone was crying out in pain. It was a woman's voice, and a man was yelling profanities at her in return. There was a terrible smacking sound, as if someone was getting beaten repeatedly. Gabriel felt his lungs constrict in his chest, his heart slowing to a standstill. But worse than that, there was a distinct lack of Peter's voice...of Peter's shouts. If a woman was being beaten right before his eyes, why wasn't Peter saying anything...doing anything? God...no, no, no, no...there was only one painful answer...there was only one suffocating reality.
And Peter was so good...so good...an angel among sinful men...a beautiful, innocent angel among this world's pathetic damned...he was an angel...Gabriel's angel...and Gabriel would...would murder...anyone who dared hurt poor, sweet Peter...who had the audacity to lay one finger on Peter's head.
"Do you hear that?" Jennifer hissed, her eyes brimming with tears once more. "He's hurting my mom right now! God, that animal..."
"Get us into that damn apartment." Gabriel seethed, his eyes darkening at Jennifer as they made their way outside of Peter's door. "Now."
"It's locked." Jennifer replied, several large tears slipping down her ruddy cheeks. "Oh, god, Mom...this is all my fault..."
"Use your power!" Gabriel growled, striking out his hand to roughly grab onto Jennifer's arm. "Open the door by bending the metal."
"I can't." Jennifer replied, heatedly, her eyes flashing up into Gabriel's with matched intensity. "If I open the door using my power then I can't keep us invisible at the same time. It doesn't work that way. And if he sees us then it's over, we all die..."
"NO!" Gabriel snapped, giving Jennifer's arm a harsh shake. "It can work that way. I've seen these powers grow...you just need to focus on using them both at the same time." He gave her another shake. "Do you understand me? Focus and do it now."
Jennifer shook her head, helplessly. "I've tried this before. I don't think that I can..."
"Do you want to know what I hear, Jennifer?" Gabriel spat, pulling at her arm until her face was nearly level with his own. He glared heatedly into her eyes, not caring in the slightest that he was revealing the once dormant beast to her...that the villain might still lurk somewhere in that large, dark gaze...that he might be betraying his true nature to her in the moment, the devil still glinting in his hardening glare. "I hear nothing. Now, Peter is the bravest man I know. He would be saving your mom right now if he were able. But I don't hear him, so that means that you need to focus right now and open the damn door!"
Jennifer gazed up into Gabriel's eyes, and he could see his own fear reflected so clearly back in them. After a moment's hesitation, she gave a resolute nod, her lips pursing in growing determination.
Jennifer turned back towards the door, her eyebrows lowering in concentration. She raised one hand towards the lock on the door, her other hand reaching out to grab onto Gabriel's wrist from behind her.
A magnetic force field flickered around them briefly; rendering them invisible...it would gain strength for only a few moments before powering down again. Gabriel noticed that it would disappear every time Jennifer turned her attention back towards the lock on the door.
"Focus." Gabriel hissed, desperately. And he knew that he had a thousand powers at his fingertips that could probably get them in faster. But there was a voice in his mind telling him to stop...to wait...to not make real whatever horrible things lay just beyond the door frame. If Peter truly was dead, then Gabriel didn't want to see it. If Gabriel needed to kill Eugene for this transgression, then Gabriel certainly wasn't ready to do it. And so he simply watched Jennifer...simply listened to the clock ticking loudly on her wristwatch...simply waited for his life to change forever as the world slowed down to a gut-wrenching crawl.
After a few more tense moments, Jennifer finally released a pained sigh of relief. Her shoulders slumped forward as she released her held breath. The magnetic field she had manipulated continued to hold around them, even as the lock on the door clicked open. The door then silently slid back on its frame; revealing the truth of what was taking place in the room.
Jennifer released a muffled gasp; grabbing onto Gabriel's arm for comfort. They crouched near the doorframe, invisible to all others, in a state of shocked disbelief.
A woman was sitting in a chair, her wrists tied behind her with slashed up bits of fabric that Gabriel soon recognized as one of Peter's shirts...the blue tank-top that he always looked so handsome in. Her ankles were tied down to the chair in the same manner. She was covered in bruises and abrasions; her nose bent out of place and appearing broken. The whole side of her face was a swollen bluish purple, and there was a large cut slicing across her upper eyelid.
And Gabriel was shocked to see that the woman was Mary...one of his most loyal customers at his bookstore. He remembered her always asking his advice as to what smart people liked to read...because her daughter was so very smart...her daughter, Jennifer...Mary was always talking about trying to repair their strained relationship.
Eugene was pacing back and forth in front of her like a caged animal. Every so often he would hurl an obscenity in her direction before striking her across the face. Mary let out a muffled sob, her head slumping down towards her chest.
"I guess Jen must really hate you, Mary!" Eugene yelled, pointing at the clock on the wall with an angry insistence. "She knows that you die in ten minutes an' she still ain't here yet! What does that say about you, Mary? That yer own daughter doesn't care if you live or die?"
"Peter..." Mary moaned, her whole body tensing with pain as she tried to turn her neck far enough to the side to catch a glimpse of the young man. "God, what did you do...?"
"Quit askin' me that, you worthless whore!" Eugene seethed, grabbing Mary roughly by the chin and forcing her to look back in his direction. "I don't wanna hear you whine and bitch no more about your little boyfriend. What, you think he actually loved you? He loved the fact that you're the biggest slut that ever lived, Mary, and that's about it."
"That son of a bitch..." Jennifer seethed, her hands clenching into determined fists. "I'm gonna kill him for this..."
Gabriel nodded in agreement, but in reality he barely heard her words. Instead, his eyes desperately scanned the room for Peter. It was as if the whole world was crawling around him in slow motion, his gaze searching the room intently, seeming to take in shapes and objects but not putting any of them together to form a full picture.
"Oh, god." Jennifer murmured, her fist rising up to stuff in her mouth. "Oh, god, Peter..."
"Where is he?" Gabriel demanded, a dark frustration churning in the pit of his stomach. "Why can't I see him..?"
"There..." Jennifer whispered, lifting one trembling finger to point across the room.
Gabriel followed the direction of her point, his eyes finally widening in horror as all the shapes and shadows of the room came together to form one terrible assault upon his senses.
"Peter..." Gabriel moaned, his teeth gritting together furiously. His sweet, handsome Peter. What had that monster done to him?
Peter was tied to the chair in the same manner as Mary, his wrists pulled taut behind his back, his ankles bound together as well. He had almost been beaten beyond recognition, and now Gabriel understood why he hadn't been able to see Peter when Gabriel had first entered the room. It was because Gabriel never wanted to see Peter like this for as long as he lived. The swelling, the bruises, the broken nose, the split lip and shut left eye. Peter was hardly breathing, a barely audible wheezing noise just escaping his swollen lips. He was also unconscious, and Gabriel had a sickening feeling that Peter was suffering from some kind of internal bleeding as well; perhaps even swelling in his brain.
"God, no..." Gabriel hissed, his own breath being sucked out of his lungs. He grabbed at his heart, the room beginning to spin around him. "No, I was supposed to protect him..."
Beautiful Peter...his eyes shyly glancing up at Gabriel the moment the latter had snapped the picture that he loved so much. Such a healthy, vibrant young man...nothing like the suffering, half-alive body that sat bound to the chair now. And after the disgust and horror cleared from Gabriel's clouded mind, he was left with one, singular thought...revenge. Revenge for the man who had done such an evil thing against sweet Peter.
"Peter had nothing to do with this!" Mary continued to rage, her teeth clenched together as furious tears spilt down her cheeks. "You son of a bitch! What did you do to him?!"
"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!" Eugene roared, giving Mary a vicious backhand across her face. Her neck snapped backward and she swayed in her chair, appearing dazed from the force of the hit.
Gabriel glanced back at Peter, a deafening roar beginning to culminate in the former's eardrums. A rough throb, throb, throb of crimson blood was pounding through Gabriel's head...and his rage was suddenly without comparison. All the others times he had felt this dark anger it was because he was experiencing his own pain. But now...god, empathy...he felt each blow that Peter received welted across his own face. And feeling the pain of someone you loved dearly hurt a thousand times worse than any pain a person could experience for themselves.
Gabriel stumbled slightly, a sick wave of nausea bursting forth from his stomach and lodging itself in his throat. His gaze turned towards Eugene, unleashing another barrage of hits across Mary's face. And suddenly he saw a large and intimidating man grabbing onto a woman with dark, brown eyes and night black hair. He saw the man slapping the woman across the face; he saw a little boy hiding behind a ratty old sofa; tears streaking his small, chubby cheeks. And then the memory turned hazy and dream-like and he saw Angela and Arthur fighting over the latter having an affair. Angela was holding a young Nathan in her arms, coldly insisting that she was spending the night in a hotel. It wasn't until she walked out the door that she collapsed against the side of her car, silently sobbing as she clutched Nathan tightly to her chest. And then the memories were real again and he saw himself outstretching his arm...trying to stop Peter from leaving him alone...throwing Peter into the air and slamming him against the wall.
"MONSTER!" Gabriel roared, charging out from behind the magnetic field that Jennifer placed around them. Because Gabriel knew that his abilities were so much stronger than Eugene's. Gabriel needed to stop being a scared little boy and defend the one he loved like a man. Gabriel outstretched his arm, growling in satisfaction as he watched Eugene be the one that flew backwards...watched Eugene grunt in pain as his body collided roughly with the wall.
"You monster..." Gabriel seethed, stalking around the corner with a slow deliberateness. "What did you do to him? Tell me!"
"What...?" Eugene moaned, his chest rising and falling heavily; his face strained and flushed with obvious fear. "Who...who the hell are you?"
"My name is Gabriel." Gabriel explained, tersely, his hand still raised...his anger quickly mounting higher and higher. "And I'm the man who loves Peter more than life itself."
"Wha—what?" Eugene gasped, trying without success to break free from Gabriel's hold. "What kinda kinky crap was Mary involved with between the three of you?"
"Peter was never with Mary..." Gabriel snapped, his eyes hardening as they followed Eugene's gaze closely. His voice grated past his lips like rough sandpaper, "Peter was always mine. And you...you hurt him, you sick bastard..."
"Look, buddy..." Eugene wheezed, his greasy black hair falling down in front of his dull blue eyes. "I got no problem with you, okay? I just' want Jennifer back."
"Yeah, well, I'm not interested in doin' your dirty work anymore, Eugene!" Jennifer snapped, making herself visible as she stepped out into the center of the room. "I'm a hero now, jus' like Gabriel." Her face contorted in pain as she pointed at him, accusingly. "And we're gonna make you pay for everythin' that you've done to my mom and Peter!"
"Jennifer..." Mary gasped, her eyes widening in surprise at her daughter's sudden appearance. "No, no, no...what are you doin' here? You hafta get outta here..."
"Mom, I'm so sorry." Jennifer whispered, tears burning her vision even as she refused to pull her gaze away from Eugene's helpless form. "But I'm done runnin' from him. It's time that somebody stopped him from hurtin' other people."
"Jen..." Eugene gasped out, a sick smile suddenly pulling at the corner of his lips. "Jen, I knew you'd...you'd come back. You need ta stay...stay wit' me." He sucked in a haggard breath, the strain of Gabriel's hold obviously taking a toll on him, "I mean...we were—we were makin' so much progress with your power...why would you wanna stop that...?"
Gabriel blinked and saw a younger version of himself talking to Dr. Chandra Suresh. Young Gabriel Gray was emphatic in his insistence...they were making so much progress together...so much progress with all of Gabriel's insane, selfish murders. Why should they stop? How many more people's heads could be sawed open...how many more lives scattered in ruin...how many more brother's throats slit...?
"Don't talk to her!" Gabriel roared, slamming Eugene's head back against the wall as a sudden torrent of choking, burning anger bled its way through Gabriel's overheated system. Peter was nearly dead...sweet, innocent Peter...and it was all Gabriel's fault...since the beginning...since the very first moment the two men met it had always been Gabriel's fault.
"Okay, so what's the plan?" Jennifer asked, firmly positioning herself near Gabriel as if the two of them were a part of some Justice League of superheroes. She was still so naïve about these powers...just like Gabriel had once been.
"Go untie your mother, Jennifer." Gabriel murmured, his eyes intensifying upon Eugene...his throat...his face...his forehead...what part of the man would Gabriel like to maim first? "And please check on Peter for me. I'll handle Eugene."
Jennifer gave a quick nod...that gleam of heroism still painting her innocent face. "Yeah, good idea." She rushed off to her mother's side, struggling with the tight knots of the fabric.
Eugene snorted, his eyes boring down into Gabriel's with a pained intensity. "So, what...what are you gonna do? Kill me?"
Gabriel pulled his index finger away and glanced down at it. He then raised his gaze back towards Eugene, a mirthless smile quirking his lips. "Something like that."
And inside Gabriel was screaming...crying out in the wilderness for not one soul could actually hear him in order to save him. Peter...Peter was nearly dead, his sweet face beaten beyond recognition. And Gabriel had never told Peter that he loved him...not truly, not in the way that Peter deserved to be told. For that, this monster would pay dearly for his crimes...and Gabriel finally understood how Peter felt after Gabriel had killed Nathan. Because Gabriel felt exactly the same, death was suddenly too good of a release for this monster.
"Look, man..." Eugene grunted, snorting heavily through his nose. "I didn't know nothin' 'bout you an' Peter, right? I only messed up that bastard 'cuz he was tryin' ta act the hero an' get involved in my business..."
And Gabriel saw himself cutting at Peter's forehead as the young man remained helplessly trapped against Mohinder's wall. He saw Peter's long, dark hair fall to the ground in a loss of innocence...as punishment for being a hero and interfering in Gabriel's business...
Gabriel felt a rush of a sudden throbbing, biting rage as he made a quick slashing motion through the air, severing Eugene's hand from the rest of his body.
Eugene made several disbelieving, gurgling screams...much to Gabriel's satisfaction. Mary released a strangulated scream at the sudden turn of events, her newly freed hands coming up to clamp against her mouth. Jennifer spun around from where she was checking Peter's pulse, a terrified shout escaping her mouth as well.
"Gabriel, what are you...?" Jennifer demanded, her face paling at the gruesome sight of Eugene's blood spurting against the wall where he remained trapped.
"Shhhh!" Gabriel hissed, quickly covering the distance between himself and a now sweaty, pale Eugene. "Don't talk about Peter like that. He is a hero. He'd even let you live despite everything, because Peter is so much better than a monster like you, Eugene."
"God...please..." Eugene wheezed; sweat rolling down the side of his temple. "I didn't...I didn't know...I swear ta God..."
"Oh, I think that you knew exactly what you were doing." Gabriel seethed, allowing his dark anger to dictate all of his actions...and it was easier than hurting, easier than thinking. "You're selfish, Eugene, you never even gave a thought to any of the lives you might've been destroying. That woman you killed after robbing her house? She had a husband, right? How do you think he felt when he came home to find her dead body strewn across the floor?"
"Gabriel..." Jennifer hissed, some of her innocent naivety beginning to wear away. Yes, this is what killing someone really meant. It's all brave talk and comforting sentiment until someone actually starts doing the dirty work...and then it becomes real.
"And it's up to heroes like me to stop villains like you." Gabriel murmured, pressing his index finger warningly against Eugene's sweat-covered forehead. He could feel the man trembling beneath his fingertips...but Gabriel didn't care about the power that such a sensation should lend. He only cared about finally making things right for Peter's sake.
"You're...you're a hero...?" Eugene spat, his energy draining along with his blood from his wounded stump. "You're...you're just another punk who happened ...happened to get some...power. You're...just like me."
"No, I am nothing like you!" Gabriel roared, digging his finger further against Eugene's pale skin. "I am nothing like you. I've changed. I'm a good person now, but sometimes good people need to do terrible things for the ones they love..."
Gabriel brought his finger away from Eugene again...his mind reeling, his emotions scattered in utter disarray. All he knew now was anger...and pain...and Peter's pain...and an overwhelming desire to cut...cut...cut...cut.
Eugene gave an agonized shout, his ring finger falling to the ground beside his severed hand. Gabriel figured that it was appropriate...seeing as how the man had treated his wife.
"Oh, come now...Mary didn't make nearly this much noise when you were beating her to death." Gabriel taunted, lifting his chin, a cold mask befalling his features. He lifted his hand again, this time starting his incision on Eugene's thumb...delighting in the shouts that followed.
"God, stop it!" Mary screamed suddenly, her crimson mane sticking to her face and mouth as she continued to hysterically sob. "Please...please..."
"He hurt you!" Gabriel snapped, reeling around to face Mary in disbelief. "How can you sit there, bound and bloodied in that chair, and honestly defend him?"
"Gabriel, you need ta stop." Jennifer insisted, and although she held herself with the same cold, collected mask, fear was clearly laden in her voice. She walked towards Gabriel cautiously, her hand outstretched in a nonthreatening manner. "Please...please. I know that I told you that we should kill Eugene for what he's done. But not like this, okay? This...this isn't right."
"Do you see what he did to Peter?" Gabriel shouted, pointing at the lifeless young man from across the room. "Peter's better than all the rest of us put together, and this monster nearly killed him. Tell me, was that right?"
"No, of course not!" Jennifer replied, her hands clenching into fists at her side. "And I wanna see 'im pay too. But...but jus' not like this." She gave a helpless shrug, her dark, black mane slipping across her worried face. "We're...we're supposed to be heroes now."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Gabriel spat, trying to keep his arm from trembling as it continued to point in Eugene's direction. "The police can't stop him. These powers aren't a game." He gave a mirthless chuckle as he shook his head. "We don't get to be like the heroes in the comic books. We don't get to swoop in and save the day and make everything right and happy again. But if you don't want to get your hands messy, fine. I'll clean it up for everyone; I'll take your sins as my own."
"Gabriel..." Mary whispered softly, a look of realization dawning on her face as she struggled to speak through her choked sobs. "Gabriel Gray? The bookshop owner...?" She ran her hands in disbelief through her sweat-soaked, crimson hair. "I didn't even recognize you..."
Oh, and those words hurt. Another stab of anger and pain wedged itself into Gabriel's already bleeding heart. She didn't even recognize him...but wasn't this the real him? Was it all just play and pretend before...and now he was finally being honest with himself again?
"I'm a good person." Gabriel breathed out, almost as if to convince himself more than anyone else in the room that his reasoning and actions were pure...were good. But Peter wasn't here to tell him...Peter wasn't here to control him...to keep him balanced on that fine, fine line...to keep him from falling over the edge once again. "I know I'm a good person..."
But it was clear to Gabriel now that in Mary and Jennifer's perspective he had become just as scary as Eugene. The villain...the crazed maniac...the reason that these powers were so terrifying, such an ungodly manifestation. To them, Eugene and Gabriel truly were the same person: an angry, intimidating man bent on doing violence.
"Screw you, man..." Eugene panted, his head lolling back and his breathing belabored from his agony. "You...you...honestly believe that...that Peter kid...l—loved you?"
Gabriel spun back around to face Eugene, his teeth clenching together at the other man's words. "Shut up." He growled, his eyes growing hard and emotionless once more.
"Naw, I jus'...I jus' spent the las'...las' hour kickin' the crap outta that kid..." Eugene wheezed, a devilish smile painting his features. "I got...got to know 'im some." He choked out a rough laugh, intermixed with a groan. "An' he never woulda loved...loved a pathetic waste like you...jus' playin' at bein'...bein' someone important..."
"SHUT UP!" Gabriel shouted, grabbing Eugene by the shirt collar and slamming him roughly against the wall...powers forgotten, a raw, animalistic intensity surging forth to take their place. "You don't get to say his name! You don't get to talk about him!"
"He never...never even mentioned you..." Eugene chuckled, darkly. "Never...never asked for you ta save 'im...even after I broke his ribs with my foot..."
"I'm gonna mutilate the hell out of you!" Gabriel roared, his face contorted with pain...yelling the very same words that Peter had once threatened him with.
Mary released another choked sob; weeping and murmuring desperate, nonsensical mumblings as she rocked back and forth with her hands clasped over her face.
"Gabriel..." Jennifer whispered, helplessly, her large, green eyes also filled with something very raw and real now.
"Everybody shut up!" Gabriel snapped, warningly pointing towards Jennifer and Mary. "I need to think...I need to think..."
And Gabriel wanted to kill Eugene...to kill this perverse manifestation of everything that Gabriel had once been as Sylar. Eugene hurt Peter...just as Gabriel hurt Peter. Eugene was a selfish monster...just like Gabriel. And Eugene deserved to die alone and unloved...just like Gabriel...just like Gabriel. Cut, cut, cut, cut...
And the memories passed before his eyes once more; their presence damning evidence to the claim that no one ever really changes. The woman with night black hair...his biological mother...was hitting the intimidating man...his biological father...in the chest repeatedly, screaming obscenities at him in earnest. The man responded by pushing her back into the wall...neither noticing the small boy that cowered in the corner...taking in all of the violent images that passed before his eyes. Then Angela was hugging Kaito Nakamura closely as Nathan played on the floor, too young to understand the true meaning of the relationship...not knowing yet what Angela came to realize; that sleeping with other people was a very satisfying way to deliver a metaphorical blow to the lover who had ripped your heart to shreds.
And now there was Gabriel and Peter...born of their parents' violence and abuse...whether it was physical or merely emotional. They learned that people who love each other always end up hurting each other. That the one who wins in a relationship is the one who can hit the hardest...and take the most hits in return without relinquishing their control.
Parents...children...they all follow the same brutal and tortuous cycles...all trapped in an unending cyclone of fearing true love and fearing what might happen if they give up the need to be right and the wish to hold all of the cards. Because real love...unselfish love...was what was truly terrifying. It was more terrifying than taking a few punches...real or metaphorical...because worse than that was the realization that at any time the one you loved could take back all of those 'I love yous'. And you needed to hurt them before they could destroy you; all your vulnerabilities threatened to be used against you like unending arsenal for their cannon.
Does anyone really have the power to change? Because all Gabriel could hear reverberating throughout his head right now was the same word again and again...cut, cut, cut, cut...cut and everything will make sense once more.
Gabriel released a pained groan, his hand lifting into the air, his index finger pointed firmly in Eugene's direction. He gave a couple heavy blinks, his hot, churning breath scorching past his trembling lips. He didn't even know why he was killing Eugene anymore...for Peter, for Jennifer, for Mary...for himself...to kill the voices that taunted him; to kill the insecurities that insisted he and Eugene truly weren't that different after all.
Gabriel's arm outstretched, sending Peter flying into the wall of Mohinder's apartment. Four years later...Gabriel's arm outstretched, sending Peter slamming into a wall once more. And all that time Gabriel claimed to have loved Peter...Gabriel clung to the insistence that he only hurt Peter because he loved the young man so damn much.
And now six months later...Gabriel was ready to kill in Peter's name. To kill in the name of the man who embraced peace and love more readily than any other person Gabriel had ever known; simply to satisfy the tortured beast that lived within Gabriel and refused to stay dead.
And so it begged the question... does anyone really have the power to change?