I forgot to post the last few days, so have three chapters!

A month later, I was at the end of my rope, and it was all I could do to mentally tie a knot in it and hang on. Specials Project was circling the drain. Most of my staff had quit out of fear, and with every company that pulled funding, the remaining staff lost a little more confidence and the project lost a little more momentum.

The Church of True Humanity was picketing the laboratory I'd managed to procure to continue research. Every morning, my staff and I had to walk through a gauntlet just to reach the front door of the building where we now rented a second-hand lab in the basement. We all strongly suspected that the lab hadn't been upgraded since the 60's, a hypothesis supported by the fact that the entire lab perpetually smelled vaguely like stale marijuana, despite searching floor to ceiling for the source.

Those of us who remained on the project were working for free now, letting the money go instead to the few Special volunteers who hadn't been scared off. We were still paid for our work as University professors, but money was getting tight for all of us. Most of the grad students, though, now had no source of income aside from student loans, and many of the professors were discreetly helping them make ends meet as best we could.

I scribbled something on the whiteboard and looked out over a sea of undergrads. Picking out one likely looking student, I chucked a marker at him, and he caught it with ease, though he looked like a deer in headlights. "Jameson, if I say that this formula won't work for both air and water flows, am I right, or am I full of shit?"

He hesitated before throwing the marker back. "My gut says you're wrong."

I smiled. "That's correct. Your gut knows the physics."

"But the rest of me doesn't."

I winked. "I was going to say it if you didn't. Alright, guys, why is Jameson right? Why does this formula work for both water and air?"

One of the other students caught the marker I tossed. "Because they both behave like liquids?"

"Good! Yes! Remember that!" I caught the marker. "Air and water both behave like liquids. Air is NOT empty space. It's filled with particles and chemicals, just like water. Most of these formulas will work for both. These formulas are your friends. Use them, know them, love them." The door opened in the back, and I was surprised to see Gabriel walking in, but my attention was distracted by another question. "Fox, go for it."

"What about pressure? They can't behave exactly alike in all ways."

"Good point. That's why I gave you formulas. Water and air share similar properties, but they aren't the same. For the most part, you'll just need to plug in different values in the formulas." The look on Gabriel's face was worrying me. "Alright, guys. Do Section 2, Chapter 4 in the online workbook, and have a good weekend."

The students began to file out, and I beckoned Gabriel to come to the desk. He was the most solid, levelheaded man I'd ever known, yet his eyes were full of shadows as he approached. It looked like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and my stomach sank at the sight. Wordlessly, I took his hand and pulled him down the packed hallway to my office, shutting and locking the door behind us.

He sagged into a chair, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry for barging in on you like this. I just…didn't know who else to turn to."

I walked to his back and began rubbing his shoulders. "What happened?"

Gabriel took a deep, shuddering breath. "I was at the shop. A kid came in, and I…recognized her. Her name was Molly Walker. And she said that it had taken years, but that she forgave me, and I just…I just…" He started crying, and the sight of such a strong man brought to his knees shook me to the core.

I had no idea what he was talking about, but he was in pain. I walked around the chair and sat down in his lap, wrapping my arms around him and gently stroking his hair. Softly, I crooned reassurances and he laid his head against my chest, clinging to me. "Shhh. You're ok. Everything will be ok. I'm here, I've got you. You aren't alone. Everything will be ok."

Gradually, Gabriel calmed down and released his grip on me, but I kept stroking his hair soothingly. It was something that always made me feel better when I was sad, and if it was the only thing I could do to soothe him, I wasn't going to stop. "Who is Molly Walker?"

He raised his head from my chest, but didn't meet my eyes. "You know...what I did...before Peter saved me. Before I learned to control the hunger."

"Yes." One night he had explained about his innate power of intuitive aptitude and the hunger that came with it, the hunger that had lead him to kill dozens of people in exchange for his power. Though I didn't know details, he had told me about some of the things he had done.

"Molly Walker was nine when I killed her parents. I never killed children," he said earnestly. "Her father was who I came for, and his wife and daughter weren't supposed to be home, but they surprised me, and...I locked Molly in a cupboard under the stairs so she wouldn't see...I killed her parents..."

My heart was sinking, and I had to force myself to remember that he had changed. His actions proved that.

"After...I found out she had the power to locate people, to find anyone in the world just by thinking of them...there was going to be a bomb in New York. I had to stop them, had to find the man who was going to blow up the city...so I went to find her, to ask her, but she started screaming, and I panicked...I ran." He shook his head. "The hurt I've cause her, caused other people, is unforgivable. But...she came into the shop. She said she forgave me, and that she knew I had changed."

I continued running my hands through his hair as I listened. "She forgave me, Hero. After everything I put her through, she forgave me. I don't deserve forgiveness. I don't deserve happiness or you or...any of it."

I sighed, not knowing what to say. "Gabriel, you've changed. All you can do is live the best way you know how; be generous, love fiercely, and help people every chance you get. I love you, Peter loves you, Emma loves you... We know you're worthy of forgiveness. Now you just have to believe it yourself."

He was staring at me. "You love me?"

I flushed, realizing my slip. "Well...yes."

"Even after everything I've just said, after breaking down all over you?" He seemed floored by the idea.

I smiled. "I've broken down all over you, too," I pointed out. "I trust you completely. You have my love, Gabriel, because you've earned it."

He pulled me closer and kissed me gently. "I love you, too."

I smiled at him. "No matter what you think of yourself, Gabriel, you're a good man, and my best friend. Now...I actually have another class in ten minutes. If you don't have anything to do, you could sit in and we could go to dinner after."

He squeezed my thigh playfully. "Ten minutes? There's a lot we could do in ten minutes."

I leered at him, dancing my fingers around his neck. "We really shouldn't."

He leaned in and stopped just before our lips met. "Come on. We could pretend we're hormonal teenagers making out in a janitors closet." I laughed at the image as he kissed me.

In the end, we had to run to make it to the lecture hall on time, and both of us were slightly rumpled.