Intelligence
Summary: Gabriel discovers a secret Riley's been hiding from him; turns out he's not the only one who is more than human...
Disclaimer: I don't own Intelligence or any other TV show, film or other creative work mentioned or referenced here. Pity, though.
Pairing: Gabriel/Riley
Rated: T
Warnings: slight crossover with Once upon a Time; not checked by a beta, all mistakes are mine
More Than Human
Chapter 1: Red Night
July, 3, 2014 was a warm summer night, offering the possibility of celebrating Cybercom's way into the most important national holiday in the inner courtyard until the fireworks would be best set off against the night sky on the turn of the clock. Attendance was optional, costumes were mandatory; a chance for everyone of the employees at Cybercom, constantly forced to lie or hide the truths from their loved ones, to be someone else for once – someone they admired, someone they wanted to be like, someone so opposite from themselves that they could get lost in the fantasy if just for one night.
The extensive inner courtyard had been lit up with paper lanterns in soft colors and tiny fairy lights hung across the trees. Where normally a few employees sat under the shades of trees to eat a quiet lunch, hundreds were now swarming across the courtyard. Men and women were introducing their spouses, making the rounds, all the while children ran through the throngs of adults to get a balloon in the shape of a giraffe or a dog, to grab something off the buffet, to watch the puppet theater or to just play hide and seek. Lillian had really gone all out to accommodate everyone and their families, and to make the night unforgettable for each of them. Fireworks weren't due until midnight, and by then most families with younger children would have gone home.
Gabriel noticed the crowd had thinned out considerably by half past eleven, and was grateful for the reprieve. He liked children, and he enjoyed playing with them, but since he'd come in at half past eight, he'd been handed around from one employee to the next, everyone who didn't work with him eager to meet him, and hold him up in chatter. He had briefly seen Lillian in her Maleficent costume – apparently she had taken the opportunity to take Nelson at his word. He spotted Nelson and Cassidy through the crowd, though it took him a moment to recognize them. Since Nelson wore regular jeans, Gabriel wondered if he'd ignored Lillian's directive, but coming closer he realized that the faux red leather jacket with gray appliqués and extra long gray fabric sleeves and the rainbow cap completed his Martin McFly look. Gabriel suppressed a chuckle. Nelson really loved that film, and it was an easy enough look to copy. He'd even put on a wig to mimic his character's hairstyle. The two of them clapped hands once he came close enough.
"You look great, man," Gabriel complemented his friend, then turned around to give the doc a once over. "What happened to you? You look like you got out some dusty clothing and threw on a lab coat on top of it, Doc? I'm sure Lillian would have appreciated a bit more effort."
"Well, I always wanted to be Einstein. I have a wig too, but it's just too itchy," Cassidy admitted with a flush, making both Gabriel and Nelson chuckle. "Anyway, great party, huh..."
"Yeah, Lillian seems to have left nothing to chance, and, have you seen," Nelson commented in a gleeful, conspiratorial tone as he drew them both closer, "she's a Disney villain."
He couldn't wipe the mad grin off his face afterwards. Gabriel smiled right back. His friend's ability to be stoked by such simple things always cheered him up. He caught Lillian's glance from where she stood some way away, and nodded to her when she raised her glass. He looked around her group; she was talking to Jameson in a pirate costume, his uniformed mother and a couple Gabriel didn't know. His eyebrows furrowed. He'd been here for nearly two hours and no sign of his babysitter. Apparently he was deemed safe enough to spend a few hours unattended in Cybercom's courtyard. The thought should elate him, considering how much her sweeping of his apartment, the fact that she had been given a key without his consent and the nightly and daily check up calls grated on him at times. Yet she had become such an integral part of his life through all these procedures and their after work dinners and beers, he couldn't help but continuously wonder where she was. It had been Jameson who had picked him up that evening, so he had no idea if she was even here. He was tempted to chip it, but thought better of rendering CCTV images in a courtyard full of unsuspecting people. So he briefly checked Cybercom's security cameras for any indication of her, but came up empty. There were still a lot of cameras even out here, but not enough, and there were too many people crowding the courtyard, and all in disguises to boot. Gabriel gave a low growl of frustration, when it occurred to him that she might be unwell. It would explain why Jameson had picked him up, and why he hadn't seen her while making the rounds. He decided to call it a night. He couldn't celebrate the night to July, 4 without his partner, and he'd rather feed her chicken soup than dance at a party with mostly strangers.
"I should get home, you guys," he mumbled to Nelson and Doc Cassidy, already turning to leave. He caught the sly grin they shared only out of the corner of his eye.
"If you're looking for Riley, look for something red," Nelson told him with a smirk as his father chuckled. They clinked glasses, and left Gabriel standing there. Obviously Riley was there, but hadn't deigned to show herself. Perhaps she enjoyed a few hours of freedom as well. Perhaps she was dancing with a handsome stranger in the small clearing off to his right. It had been kept free as the designated ball room, and he immediately set off in that direction, images of a short red number hugging his partner's curves as she was twisted around a tall male body – maybe the security check guy she had refused the other time?! Gabriel was fuming; she could have at least had the courtesy of greeting him, maybe offer him a dance. He very nearly stomped through the crowd as he approached the dance floor.
Now that he knew she was here, and wearing something red – and damn Nelson for not being more specific, and taunting his imagination in the first place – he somehow knew that the dance floor was where he would find her. He was sure of it. When he finally pushed his way to the forefront of the throng surrounding the clearing, he analyzed the dancing couples carefully, looking for any sign of red and of his partner's sleek form. He grumbled to himself when he found none; he had been so sure that she would be there. Where else could he look? There were still too many people at the party to search for her if she kept moving too. Just as he was about to turn away, go find Lillian and demand the boss lady call for her, a rift parted through the dancing couples and he laid eyes on his partner. She stood on the opposite side of the clearing, and Gabriel's feet were moving before he had made a conscious thought to join her. She was wearing what appeared to be a peasant woman's dress from some centuries ago, but Gabriel couldn't be sure, because all he really saw was the heavy red cloak she was wearing, hood pulled up to cover her head.
"So, I saw your mother came as herself," she greeted him with a smile.
"Yeah, put on her old uniform, stuck a name tag onto it, and claims it's the military nurse from that old TV comedy show," Gabriel laughed with her, though he was a bit distracted by how lovely she looked as he drew closer.
"Well, she did strike me as clever. This proves it. Who are you supposed to be?", she asked cheekily as he joined her, taking in his flyer's uniform.
"I'm with Top Gun, what else?" Coming to stand only a few inches from her, he could get a better look at her costume. She was wearing a long skirt with a delicate flower print and probably a petticoat too, judging by how bouffant it looked. To complete the ensemble she wore a patterned laced top in several shades of brown and green, perhaps? She had a pair of suede gloves tucked into her belt. He had never seen her in anything like it, not even in a skirt or dress before. He hadn't been aware that she even owned any, so either his beautiful partner was hiding interesting hobbies from him, or she'd really gone all out for this party. She certainly looked... ravishing.
"At least you didn't pick Braniac or Tin Man", she teased back, giving an extensive shudder at the latter one.
"From 'The Wizard of Oz', hmm. Has some merit, and you seem to be into fairy tales… Next time," he promised, tongue in cheek.
"Well," Gabriel amended immediately as he raised her hand over her head and twirled her around slowly to admire her get up more closely. He was half expecting her to punch him, but she was a sport and did another little twirl with her skirts in her hands for him when he was done. She smiled broadly at his heavy gaze. Her hair hung loosely around her face as it normally did, but tonight, perhaps set off by the color and intricate pattern of her cloak, it had a softer, shinier quality to it, almost like silk or fur. A mischievous glint sprang to life in his eyes as he surveyed her. "If you'd told me you were coming as Little Red Riding Hood, I'd have matched you as the Big Bad Wolf."
He was only teasing, of course, but he noticed how her grin lost some of its brilliance. He wondered momentarily what he'd said to upset her so, when she answered him.
"Oh, don't worry, the wolf 's already here," she replied, her gaze flitting away to the side. He followed her gaze, and saw a tall white man in a fancy Mad Hatter costume. His eyes narrowed at the sight, wondering what Leland Strand was doing at a Cybercom party. He didn't seem the socializing type. For whatever reason, Riley had never looked comfortable around Lillian's father. She always eyed him with a certain suspicion as if she expected him to stab her in the back or poison her drink. He refocused his gaze on his partner, determined not to let anything ruin his evening now that he had found her in her delectable outfit. Not that it revealed much of anything, but it suited her somehow; fit her in a way he doubted any other get up would have, and the utter perfection of her choice made her even more gorgeous in his eyes. She still looked glum, though, and he intended to change that, so he grabbed her hand again and dragged her out onto the dance floor with him. They were setting into a comfortable slow dance by the time he spoke again.
"Bad wolf, indeed," he commented. "Come on, Riley, don't let him ruin your mood. We're off America's Most Wanted list, Lillian's in charge again, and Leland Strand helped us get this far. Cameron is safe, because of him. What more do you need?"
She turned abruptly in his embrace to watch the man with the unspecified job position for a brief moment. It made Gabriel think that maybe he had misinterpreted her gaze as she did not seem to have been aware of Leland Strand's arrival. Her beautiful eyes met his as she agreed softly mere seconds later, but there was something in them that made him question her affirmation. Her gaze flitted away again, down along her body as if that hadn't been what she had meant. He pondered to ask her about it, but then she stepped closer to him to lay her cheek against his shoulder. Chest pressed against one another, heartbeats merging until each felt only one, they might have danced the night away. His hand on her back moved slightly lower, and her hand moved further around his neck in response, grasping softly onto a few strands of his hair. His thumb began to stroke the hand he was holding which earned him a quiet gasp as her breathing sped up. He had to swallow hard at that, leaning back to get a good look at her face. It was flushed right down her neckline and about the same color as her cloak; a lovely color that suited her perfectly. Her eyes glowed yellow and feral, and Gabriel wasn't quite convinced that they merely reflected the multi-colored lights of the paper lanterns around them. They reminded him of something bright and precious and dangerous too boot, but he wasn't afraid. Instead he felt drawn to them, drawn to her, and he inclined his head to get a closer look.
Their lips were almost touching now, but the mirage had disappeared. Her eyes were back to their chocolate brown color – he hadn't noticed earlier that she was wearing colored contact lenses. He felt that the darker hues suited the intensity of emotion between them at the moment quite well. The animalistic yellow he thought he'd seen had been exciting, but her eyes held no less fascination for him now than they did a moment ago. Gabriel knew he was in trouble when his heart skipped a beat at that train of thought. He could feel her breath tickle his chin. He moved to close the final half inch when an explosion and the following cheers made them both jump; midnight – Independence Day. They exchanged worried glances at what had just transpired. The fireworks had started, but Gabriel and Riley paid their beauty no mind. Riley briefly covered her eyes as if she was worried something was wrong with them. He could see her curse under her breath as she looked up at the moonlit sky. He followed her gaze, this time quite sure she was glancing at the nearly full moon, its perfect disc basking them in its pale light. With a note of panic on her face and barely a glance at him, his mysterious, cloaked beauty ran off through the crowd, and now Gabriel felt quite like the prince watching as Cinderella disappeared on him – only that in his case, no shoe would get them a 'Happily Ever After'.
He made after her to the curious glances of his friends and other guests, bumping shoulders with some, rushing past countless other revelers and down darkened hallways out into the open. He searched the grounds for her car, but it stood motionless and quiet in its parking space. He went over anyway to search for clues as to where his mortified partner had disappeared to. He must have misread her, but she didn't need to run. He'd apologize and they'd pretend it never happened – like they pretended not to notice and not to care about countless other things between them. As he moved closer, he thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, a dark sleek body moving through the pitch-black night just beyond the shine of the street lamps. A flash of familiar yellow eyes and the intense feeling of being observed, then it was gone just as Gabriel rounded the car to find the enticing scarlet cloak he hadn't been able to take his eyes off earlier, and no sign of his partner in the empty parking lot. The cloak hung pinned between the car door and the vehicle. When he stepped closer, Gabriel noticed the perfectly folded set of medieval clothes on the driver's seat. Riley hadn't had the time to change her clothes and disappear, but she wasn't the type to go traipsing around naked either. He picked up the mantle and, for reasons he didn't understand, held it up to his face. There was an earthen, woodsy scent to it, then something uniquely Riley filled his lungs.
He was alone, so he did the only thing he could think of; gripping the cloak tightly in his hand, he ran after the shadow he'd seen to the forested area behind Cybercom. He only got a few feet into the woods when a chilling howl made him pause in his tracks and reach for his gun. Coming up empty, he cursed. He hadn't thought to bring it to the celebrations, what with all the kids around. Gabriel's heart hammered in his chest as his gaze swept over his immediate surroundings in hopes of finding signs of his partner. He couldn't believe that on top of her disappearing act, now he had a wolf running rampage to deal with. He was worried sick, a sinking feeling in his stomach poking and prodding his spinning mind with the worst case scenarios of what might have happened to his friend. Riley was all alone with a wolf on the loose, and he hadn't seen a gun on her at the party. The wisest thing to do would be to go back to the party to gather backup. His right hand tightened around the cloak; screw it. He was intent on finding Riley, and by the time he'd be back with help she might have already gotten eaten by the wolf. Another howl cut through the night air, this one closer. He could barely see more than two meters ahead in the surrounding blackness, but he felt the creature move. The low growls that followed the howling were close, too, so close he could practically feel the heat of the furry body. Gabriel instinctively backed up to the nearest tree in order to find some cover, so he'd at least be able to see the thing when it came at him to maul him. A small part of him that wasn't occupied with trying to stay alive was relieved that the creature was here with him instead of with Riley, wherever she was, then immediately worried that it might already be done with his partner. Gabriel bit his lip as he kept backing up in an attempt to suppress these thoughts in light of his more urgent problems. He couldn't think like that; he wanted to find Riley alive, he had to. She had taken a bullet for him on her first day at work, had saved him so many times from so many more since then – as much as he grouched at her tackling him, sweeping his apartment and generally playing babysitter, he couldn't imagine being still in one piece without her. This time he'd do the saving, he promised himself, just as soon as he figured a way out of the predicament he currently found himself in.
"Nice wolfie, nice," he spoke to the large creature that approached him, yellow eyes fixated on his form. Gabriel couldn't see any other part of the wolf too clearly; it just seemed like a large back mass that sucked all of what little light was around it in, only the eyes standing out. He had stretched out his left hand in what he hoped to be a placating gesture as he still clutched at the scarlet cloak with the right, modeling his voice to be soft and soothing as much as his nerves would allow. As a low growl was the only answer he received, he doubted it had been of any use. "Nice wolfie, why don't you just sit here, and I go looking for my friend. Yeah, just looking for Riley, I'm not gonna hurt you, so if you could, you know, not tear my throat out..."
Had the wolf reacted to his partner's name, or had that only been his imagination, Gabriel wondered as the creature stopped mid-advance. Gabriel had almost managed to reach the tree when he hit a rock or something, stumbling slightly, and the wolf suddenly pounced. The soldier yelped when the full weight of the animal came down on him, claws tearing into his arms and legs through his clothes. This was by far the largest wolf Gabriel had ever heard of, it was more than the size of a man. After this one, all thought left him as he was confronted with two large rows of sharp, bared fangs, and the wolf's growl reverberated through his body from where he was held down by its paws. The wolf snapped its mandibles together several times right in front of Gabriel's face, and the soldier could tell the animal was gearing up to actually tearing into his flesh, so while he applied more pressure onto the arm he now realized he had unconsciously moved against the wolf's throat to keep its fangs away, he moved his right hand across the ground to find something with which to defend himself. As soon as he grasped hold of a sizable rock, he smashed it right across the creature's face. The canine yelped and whimpered as it was struck and fell from its position on top of its prey. Gabriel saw a flash of red as the cloak, still in his grasp, fluttered in an arc above him, and, following the stone's trajectory as he lost his grip on it, sailed away onto the wolf. Without sparing either a glance, Gabriel jumped up, and put some much needed distance between himself and the predator, looking back only when he realized that he heard no further growling or whimpering.
As Gabriel approached again, he instead perceived soft moans coming from the ground. The scarlet color of the cloak stood out even in the near total darkness of the woods, but what Gabriel found beneath it was not a canine. The man's jaw dropped, and he stopped dead in his tracks, then quickly raced toward the figure, only to stop again and backtrack hastily. Even with the chip augmenting his brain functions, he couldn't wrap his mind around what he saw. He had been attacked by a wolf, and he had smashed a stone into a wolf's face, but mere seconds later, lying on the ground, obviously naked under the bright red mantle of Little Red Riding Hood, was the delicate form of a woman that drove him crazy in every way imaginable.
"Riley?", his voice broke as he asked.
Ende of chapter 1!
A/N: Okay, this is an older story floating around my computer. It was pretty much finished when I discovered that Intelligence had been cancelled. I was rather bummed, and forgot about this for years. Father's Day seemed like a good time to work out the last kinks and post it after all.