5

First Date: Part II

February 14, 2006 - 30 days until 'Patient Zero' is discovered

Claire was returning to their table after her phone call to her father, happy to see that the food had arrived, but Gabriel was standing edgily behind his chair with the look of a man ready to rabbit. He seemed to be caught in limbo for a moment, unable to decide whether to stay or bolt for the door before he caught sight of her and nearly jumped out of skin. "Something wrong?"

"Uh… no? Nothing's wrong at all. Everything is just fine, and normal, and fine." Gabriel plastered an uneasy smile to his face and sat down again, never taking his eyes off of her.

Weirdo. "So… You're a watchmaker." Claire assumed that it was her turn to play Q and A, but wasn't entirely sure where to start since she already knew quite a bit about the man; even if he wasn't supposed to know that.

"An Horologist, yes," he quietly relented, pushing his dinner around his plate without taking a bite.

"How does someone get started in a field like that?"

Gabriel lost his sense of perfect posture, allowing himself to slouch back into his chair with slumped shoulders. "I guess I've always had a talent for fixing things and figuring out how stuff works." A faint smile played at the corners of his mouth while he thought about it for a moment. "At one time I actually wanted to go school for engineering, but… Gray and Sons belonged to my father originally, and Harvey, the old guy that my mother hired to run the place, had to retire because he couldn't work with the smaller pieces anymore." His faint little smile dropped away, leaving a grim expression behind and something akin to mild anger or irritability in his eyes. "The shop was the family's only real way of making any money so I had to drop out after my first year and come back to take care of things. Been there ever since," he added with a disgruntled sigh.

"What happened to your dad?"

He looked up at her from under his heavy brow line, drumming his fingers on the table, and looking more like Sylar than he had since Claire began her journey through time. She hitched her breath, staring into the abyss of eyes that had been transformed from warm and vulnerable to cold and distant. "He walked out on us. When I was a kid. The old going out for a pack of smokes and never coming back routine."

There was something that Claire hadn't known about. She knew from the Company files that Gabriel Gray had been sold by his biological father as a small child to his adoptive family, shortly before murdering his biological mother right in front of him. And she remembered very clearly that he had told her meeting his biological father was "disappointment", but learning that even his adopted dad had just… abandoned him like that… It all started to paint a very real picture for her as to why Sylar was the way he was. She wanted to say something, anything, but the words wouldn't come.

They both sat there in tense silence, idly playing with their food, and wishing that they could be anywhere but where they were. "The exciting world of paper, huh? How did you get into that?"

"My father, actually. He's a… Company man. And now I'm a Company girl."

Gabriel smirked at her in that familiar way that made her trigger finger itch. "I am curious why a paper manufacturer in Texas would send," a girl like you, "someone all the way to New York on business. You must have an important job."

Claire narrowed her eyes at him. Is he seriously testing me? "Public relations. I find clientele and bring them in." The half-truths slipped off her tongue with a startling amount of ease.

"And you have a new client here in the city?"

"He's not exactly new, but he is… tricky. Difficult to keep a hold of."

"I'm sure." Gabriel leaned forward in his chair, planting his elbows on the table, and resting his chin on his clasped hands. His eyes burned deep into hers as though he were attempting to see right through her. The air between them took on a hint of challenge. "I've never been to Texas. Tell me what that's like, Carrie."

"Well, the country can be pretty…" Hold up. "Did you just call me, Carrie?"

"That is your name, isn't it? Carrie Anne Butler?"

Busted. "My name is -"

"And how are you two doing?" Their waiter returned at the most inopportune time. "Can I get you or your… niece anything else this evening?" he asked while blatantly staring at her chest.

"I am not his niece," Claire ground out in clear agitation. We cleared that little controversy up months ago.

"I apologize, your friend?"

"I am not his sister, his niece, his friend, his cousin, or anything else that you can think up. If you would stop staring at my chest for a minute, you might notice that I am his date."

The waiter immediately drew up his eyes and stuttered soundlessly, completely flabbergasted that he had been called out on his behavior. "I'm - I'm really, very sorry, ma'am. Can I get you guys anything?"

"No!" they both shouted at the same time, causing other couples to glance over curiously as their server disappeared for the rest of the night.

"My name is Claire Bennet," she hissed low over the table when their personal standoff resumed.

"That's funny because that's not what your driver's license says," Gabriel accused back, leaning over so that they were directly at eye level with one another.

"What? What the hell were you doing looking at my driver's license?"

"You were acting suspicious -"

"You're the one snooping through my purse and I'm suspicious? What kind of creep are you?" The serial killing, parent murdering, slimy stalking, make my life a living hell kind!

"Just tell me you're not from the government."

"Wha -"

"I swear I only forgot to pay my taxes that one time!"

"…You… You think I'm with the IRS?"

"The fake name, the gun, the acting weird like you're hiding something. It all makes sense now… Why are you laughing? What's so funny?"

Claire couldn't help herself. She cracked up into a fit of hysterics. Oh my God… He went snooping through my purse, and found out about my I.D. and gun, and he thinks I'm with the IRS? Oh jeez. I thought I was so screwed, but this is great!

"It's a fake I.D.," she giggled, pulling her New York driver's license from her wallet to show him again. "I'm underage so I got it to buy alcohol with." How's that for thinking on your feet?

"What about the gun?" he asked incredulously, still perturbed about the whole situation.

"Hello? Single woman living alone in the big city? What if I get mugged, or attacked by rapists… Or have some guy that I asked out to dinner creeping through my personal stuff?" She watched with no small amount of glee as his temper quickly melted into embarrassed shame. "I need some way to defend myself, don't I?"

"I - I'm…" he sunk his forehead to the table with an exaggerated sigh. "I'm sorry, Claire." You just can't help screwing up a good deal, can you? This is why we can't have nice things…

"You know what? Forget about it. Just forget about the whole thing." Claire got up from the table and stormed off knowing that he wouldn't be able to resist chasing her down. She could easily lure him into a dark alley somewhere and go back to her father with a story about how he had attacked her so she had no choice but to complete the mission. And then she could go home and spend time with her bio-parents, really getting to know them having been able to prevent their premature deaths at the hands of a psycho killer.

Gabriel felt her leave and looked up just as she was exiting through the door. He deliberated for a minute, wanting to chase after her to apologize for being an idiot, but figuring that she wouldn't want to hear it. After all, she had told him to "forget about the whole thing". But she had left her coat on the back of the chair, and there he found a solid excuse. Freudian slip aside, it was freezing outside, and surely she would tolerate his continued presence long enough to accept the protective clothing. Hurriedly, he tossed a few bills onto the table to cover the costs of their forgotten dinners and snatched the coat, bolting for the door.

Three... Two... One... Claire felt her own smirk lift the corner of her mouth when she heard him following after her. Gabriel or Sylar, he wouldn't be able to keep from a pursuit. "Claire! Wait!"

She paused on the corner a few store fronts down and next to her intended alley that she had spotted on the way to the restaurant, turning on a heel to glance back at him. "Claire, I'm sorry," he huffed, just a bit breathless from jogging the distance between them. He meant to go on but was interrupted by the high-pitched trilling of his cell phone. Annoyed, he plucked the phone from his pocket and sighed at the name flashing on the caller I.D. "Sorry, I have to take this," he mumbled.

"Mom? No, I'm fine. I just haven't made it home yet… Because I went out… Yes, out… Cat food? Alright…"

Claire rolled her eyes and made to stalk off again. She rounded the corner intending to slink into the shadows and wait for her unsuspecting victim, however, fate seemed to have other plans. A pair of rough calloused hands reached out from the darkness to cover her mouth and pull her from the view of the street.

"I can't bring it over right now… Because I'm kind of on a date… Yes, she's pretty… I don't know if she's Catholic…" Gabriel looked down the walkway where Claire had been heading, except she was no longer visible. He spun around trying to locate the head of blonde hair and shapely body that he had been steadily memorizing the details of, but to no avail. It was like she had just vanished from thin air. Still clutching her coat in his free hand, a knot of worry started building in his gut. His senses practically screamed that something didn't add up, that something was terribly wrong.

"Mom, I gotta - I gotta go. Yes, I'll talk to you later… Yes, I'll remember the cat food… Mom! I have to go!" Following his intuition, he sprinted in the direction that seemed most likely for her to have gone and he didn't stop until a low growling voice grabbed his attention.

"A little girly like you shouldn't be walking around at night dressed like that unless you're looking for a good time. You looking for a good time, girly?" Claire was pinned against the wall of the building next door with a hand wrapped harshly around her throat as a back street cretin pillaged through her bag for money and valuables.

"Hey!" If she could have had access to oxygen just then, she would have gasped in relief. For the first time in her life, Claire was actually happy to hear that damn voice. Gabriel fumbled his way onto the scene, eyes wide with surprise, and palms jutting outward to placate her attacker. "We don't want any trouble…"

His distraction granted her the time to execute a defensive maneuver her father had taught her, bringing her arm around to elbow the offensive appendage holding her in place. The mugger released his grip enough that she was able to land a kick to his shin and wriggle away. Claire darted after her gun that had spilled from her purse when her "date" showed up unexpectedly and whipped the weapon around just in time to see Gabriel colliding against her attacker's face with a clenched fist.

He bent over in pain, covering his nose with his hands, eyes watering and a subtle drip, drip of blood leaking from the wound. Gabriel gave the other man a wide berth as he moved to Claire's side, positioning himself slightly in front of her protectively. After he was finished spewing profanities into the frigid night air, the mugger looked up at the unlikely duo - specifically at the revolver still aimed in his direction, and made a dash back to the brightly lit street side.

Claire hesitated to put her gun away, but acknowledging to herself that Gabriel had assisted in deterring what may have been a rather unfortunate incident, she gathered her purse up and shoved the weapon back inside where it belonged. "Are you okay?" he asked out of pure concern when she placed her back flat against the wall and slid down the rough brick surface to sit on the ground. Her pulse was still pounding in her ears loud enough that she didn't hear his question at first.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked again, crouching down beside her and hovering a hand over her shoulder, still wary to touch her.

"Yeah. I'm fine." She swallowed hard, wrapping her arms around herself trying not to imagine all the twisted things that man could have done to her. Claire had been so determined, so convinced that she could handle everything… Aside from the obvious "what ifs", the event was a serious blow to her ego.

"You must be freezing. Here, I brought your coat back…" Gabriel scooped the garment off the pavement and drew it around her. He sunk himself down to the ground next to her and leaned his back against the brick as she had done. "Well, this has been the date from hell."

The exasperated tone in his voice amused her and she let a lightheaded giggle slip out. He lolled his head around to look at her with furrowed brows of confusion, and seeing her smile made him chuckle quietly. "I didn't leave that waiter at the restaurant a tip either." After a moment of bewildered silence they both broke out into a shared laughter that echoed along the alley.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you have a talent for attracting trouble."

Claire giggled again. "You have no idea."

"I've lived in this city my entire life and never seen anybody get robbed until now. You think we should call the cops?"

"No. I think I just want to go home and take a shower. Get some sleep."

He nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It's been a long day." Gabriel climbed to his feet and offered his hand to help her up. "Come on, I'll get us a cab."

They rode in silence to the Hyatt where Claire had booked her room. Once the cab pulled up to the front there was an awkward moment about how to say farewell for evening that had them both stifling giggles again. He stopped breathing for a moment when she reached out to put her arms around his neck, covertly placing the tracking device that Noah had given her within the fold of his coat's collar under the guise of a hug. When she began to pull away he finally reacted and embraced her as well, automatically closing his eyes and leaning in for a kiss. Left unaware of Gabriel's intentions she bent her chin to look up at him and inadvertently touched her lips to the corner of his mouth for a split second.

"Uh… Good night then," she muttered, rushing to exit the cab and escape to the comfort and security of her hotel room. Claire traced her fingers over her lips wondering exactly what had just happened, or how it had come to be. Oh, well. I guess even a man on death row deserves a last meal.

He watched after her as she disappeared from view of the cab, placing his fingers over his mouth where they had made contact. A dopey grin slowly spread over his face.

To be continued...