6
Bad Boy At Heart
February 17, 2006 - 27 days until 'Patient Zero' is discovered
"This has to be the most boring guy ever. All he does is work, clean, and sleep." Where are the bodies to be hidden, and the diabolical scheming to be done?
Noah chuckled lightly beside her inside the Primatech van. They had been observing their target through the surveillance cameras that had been installed in the Gray and Sons watch shop days before and Claire was beginning to get antsy. "Not everybody we have to keep an eye on is out of the ordinary. They might have abilities, but most are just everyday people trying to live normal lives. And for all he knows, he is just a normal guy."
They continued to watch as Gabriel moved around his shop dusting and polishing every surface to a meticulous shine. Something about what her father had said tumbled around in the back of her mind, festering and flaring her temper. They might have abilities, but most are just everyday people trying to live normal lives. If these people were so intent on trying to be "normal" even when they weren't, whether they knew it or not, then why did they have to be watched? Why did they have to be spied on, and treated as criminals? Obviously there were some with particularly harmful powers that had to be observed lest they accidentally lose control and end up hurting an innocent, but what about the others that weren't inherently dangerous? What about people like West Rosen and Alex Woolsey that she had known? Did they deserve to be watched, and then captured for science experiments? Did they cease to have the rights and liberties that others shared for no other reason than they were different by some random chance in nature and not of their own choice? People like her…
Claire found herself mentally leaping from the topic of "bagging and tagging" to what Noah had been involved with over the years. Using the Haitian's power to abuse her family's minds, abandoning her on her death bed during the eclipse to engage in his blind pursuit of Sylar, helping to manipulate Matt Parkman into shoving Nathan's mind into the head of a monster out of some self-righteous practicality. And then two very distinct thoughts crossed her worried mind.
One being that she had to struggle to remember that Noah had yet to commit such atrocities. He was not the man she knew in the future and thus was completely innocent of her wrath for that particular moment. Lashing out at her father for something he hadn't even done would be a pointless act of futility, and perhaps, having already changed the course of history by traveling back through time in the first place it was plausible that those things would never have to happen. Much like the deaths that had contributed to the reason she had come to change the future, maybe Claire could save Noah as well.
The other racing thought echoing for attention was that she had silently accused the man beside her of being blind in his pursuits of Sylar, and yet, there she was stationed in a Primatech van down the block from the villain's contemporary lair mindlessly watching him wipe down the same table surface that he had already covered twice that afternoon. It was more than a little narcissistic to believe that she was any better than Noah when the sweet taste of vengeance had become her sole purpose for existence of late. Hypocrite much?
"He's still boring. And I seriously think he must have O.C.D. or something because I've watched him clean that same counter like three times already."
"No, he is not." René, being a man of very few words and commonly thought a mute, once he decided that he actually had something to say held everyone's rapt attention. "Watch his movements," he indicated on the surveillance monitor. "They are not the actions of a man that needs his space to be clean. They are not rushed or desperate, but slow and thought out. Methodical."
"Like a habit?" Noah perked up. The Haitian nodded in simple agreement. "Interesting. Like it's something that's been ground into him so much that it's become a part of his nature… but not necessarily his personality."
"So, what? He's not O.C.D. but someone he knows is?" Claire didn't get to have her question answered. Gabriel had climbed up onto a foot ladder to dust one of the shelves that their primary camera was concealed upon. She watched him lift his hand to move over the area directly in front of the video feed, but he stopped with his brows furrowed, apparently in deep thought. He glanced back over his shoulder towards the door and almost imperceptibly nodded to himself. All three members of their group breathed a sigh of relief when he stepped down from the foot ladder, failing to discover the hidden camera.
Gabriel made his way behind the counter that displayed numerous fashions of wrist watches and pulled a sheet of paper from one of the side drawers, laying it down on the glass, and vacantly staring at it for several minutes. He retrieved his cell phone and punched a few numbers in before snapping it shut and spending a little more time thinking. That strange behavior repeated itself at least half a dozen times before he finally stood patiently waiting for an answer.
Inside her purse Claire's phone began to ring. She exchanged nervous glances with her father and René before Noah suggested that she pick up the call. "Hello?"
"Um, hi, Claire?"
"Yeah?"
"Hey, it's Gabriel… Gray. I was, um, just calling to, uh, remind you that you're watch was still here. At the shop."
"Uh, yeah. You know I was actually just on my way to take care of that." Noah quirked a brow at her. "I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Okay, then. I'll see you in a bit."
"Duty calls," she muttered with feigned indifference, sliding open the van door and hopping out. Turning back to the television that displayed the inside of Gray and Sons, Noah observed with a stern frown as Gabriel spun around in an awkward celebratory dance.
Claire was fully prepared for her entrance that time around, not even stopping to hesitate and expecting the obtrusive tinkling of the bell that would announce her arrival. Except the tone of the bell was mysteriously absent. She looked upward to discern why which her counterpart seemed to find amusing.
"I took it out - the bell."
"I noticed," she said taking in the full scope of his mischievous smile. "Why?"
Gabriel shrugged his shoulders. "It always seemed to bother you for some reason."
He took it out because it bothered me? Why would he care if it bugged somebody he barely knows? "Yeah, um, thanks." I think? "I guess I have another thing to thank you for too." He peaked a curious brow. "For helping me out the other night with that guy… That was a heck of a punch."
"Not really," he bowed his head with a humble smile. "I saw he had a surgical scar from a prior nasal fracture that indicated a weak point in the bone. It was just kind of a maximum damage with minimal force kind of thing." His voice slowly trailed off into a whisper as he caught himself beginning to ramble.
"How did you learn stuff like that?" she asked with some genuine amazement.
"I, uh," he started drumming his fingers anxiously. "I used to get picked on as a kid. A lot. I guess I just kind of had to learn how to fight back to survive." For a moment Claire wasn't entirely sure who it was that she was looking at. The man before her had all of the distinctive physical features of her personal tormentor. She had seen some of the contrary traits that belonged to Sylar's personality in him. And yet, this Gabriel was someone completely new that she had never really met before. It was almost impossible for her to imagine Sylar ever getting "picked on", but Gabriel…
"Well, whatever it was, thank you." Claire even felt a real smile come along to accompany the sentiment.
"You're welcome," came his hushed replay with an endearing flush to darken his cheeks and the tops of his ears.
"So," she started lightly hoping to brighten the mood, "how's my new favorite tax evader?"
If it was possible Gabriel's blush reddened even more. "That was one time," he insisted playfully. "And I got it taken care of this morning, thank you very much." He flashed her a dazzling smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. "Your watch is in the back," he said with his smile faltering and his hands beginning to fidget again.
Claire followed him back into his workroom where not just one, but two Sylar wrist watches sat ticking away on the table in perfect unison. "This was… really amazing to get to work with." Gabriel held the piece designated as hers out for inspection. As far as she could know he had restored the device to flawless working order. "I had no idea that there was anything like it out there already. I've been working on mine for seven years now, and… Well, whoever made this one," he tapped gently on the face of the copy she was holding, "was a real genius." You have no idea.
"Yeah, I guess so," she responded. Biting her lip against the uncomfortable silence she had to ask, "How much do I owe you? For fixing it?"
"Don't worry about it. It's on the house," he waved her off.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Well, I mean, I kind of used it to help finish mine so it pretty much paid for itself. I hope you don't mind?"
What was that about changing the course of history again? "No, no, that's fine." She looked upon the simple little watch with its overly intricate innards wondering how many repercussions may have been inadvertently brought about because of its existence.
"Hello?" a distant voice pierced the quiet of the store from somewhere around the front. Gabriel held up a finger gesturing for her to wait while he assisted a customer. After he disappeared from view of the doorway Claire took a few glances around the little workroom. Deciding that it might be her only opportunity to freely look through the personal space, she hurriedly snooped about for any evidence of elicit activities. Inspecting drawers of spare parts, tool cases, and even a few neatly kempt accounting ledgers she found nothing that she thought would be out of the ordinary. Only when she ducked into the little side bathroom was it that she found anything remotely out of place, and all things considered it wasn't even all that despicable.
Huh. So he really does have a thing for blondes, she thought to herself as she flipped through the pages of a magazine featuring scantily clad women that had been inconspicuously tucked behind the toilet. After growing up with a younger brother the contents of the magazine seemed curiously modest. Soft even since the females were only shown wearing imaginative lingerie instead of the smutty nudes that she had accidentally uncovered in Lyle's room once when she had been on laundry duty. Weird. I always figured him for a whips and chains kind of guy… Oh my God. I can't believe I actually just thought about Sylar having a sex life. Gag.
It was an all together anti-climactic event finding a lady zine as her only clue to any deviance on Gabriel's part, but oddly satisfactory. Between a late tax payment and his modest porn stash, Gabriel was seriously starting to make small time white collar criminals look hardcore. Claire carefully replaced everything as she had found it and returned to her spot beside his workbench with only a moment to spare before he returned.
"Hey, um," Gabriel ran a distracted hand through his hair. "I know that our little date the other night didn't exactly go smoothly, but…"
Claire perked up. "Yes?"
"I was just wondering, hoping really, that maybe you would consider giving it another try?" For the first time since she had made her trip through time and space, Claire truly opened her eyes and looked at Gabriel Gray. And she found him to be for the most part normal. From the absurdly dorky clothing with the heavy rimmed glasses to the meek attitude and painfully shy demeanor, Gabriel was the exact opposite of everything Sylar had ever been to her. The building blocks for his dark alter ego were certainly there, but he remained if not somewhat hyper-intelligent and self-deprecating, absolutely normal. She doubted that he could ever even bring harm to a fly in his current state unless provoked.
I guess if I have to forgive my Dad for things that he hasn't done yet, maybe I should give him a chance too? "Yeah. I think I'd like that." After a lingering thought about their previous encounter though she chose to correct that answer. "Maybe a nice quiet night in though?"
A million watt smile lit him up from head to toe brighter than any Christmas tree she had ever seen. "That might be a good idea. Pretty hard to attract trouble with just me around. Even for you," he chuckled. Claire was unquestionably affected by the contagious mirth in his features and felt herself returning the humor with a grin of her own.
To be continued...