A/N: Thanks to all who followed along. I wanted to get this up and just say gratzi to my readers and cross your fingers for Monday night's season premiere of Heroes. Let's all hope they get their mojo back! Cheers!
Chapter 12- Homeward Bound
Gabriel awoke to bright lights almost blinding him and strange voices murmuring in sharp tones. He lay perfectly still, trying to open his eyes slowly to see his surroundings, but the light was like daggers and his head would explode with pain. He gave up and instead focused on his other senses. It was slightly cold and the covers were scratchy as though they were made of wool and overwashed cotton. The room smelled overpoweringly like antiseptic and by all the available clues, he assumed he was in a hospital. He thought hard, but didn't remember ever leaving the jungle and his first instinct was to look for Peter.
He forced his eyes open despite the pain and found himself in a large room filled with rows of cots, almost all empty save a few other unfortunate people who had also ran afoul of something. He was attached to IV lines feeding him clear liquids and no doubt medicines to combat whatever he may have been exposed to. The only colored items in the otherwise mausoleum white room came in the form of olive drab, khaki, and black. An individual passed by the foot of his bed without so much as taking notice that he was awake and she was dressed in fatigues. Outside, the walls rumbled with the sound of helicopter engines and it was only then that he realized he was in a military hospital. He glanced at the faces he could see without his glasses, but none were Peter. As he lay there all alone, he began to wonder if something had happened and he didn't make it.
Peter smiled when Nathan approached and sat on the bed next to his. "Hey." Nathan greeted returning the grin. "How are you feeling?"
"I think I will live." Peter chuckled. "A little sore, but I can manage."
Nathan nodded his head in agreement. He had always felt as though he had to protect Peter because he couldn't do it himself, but after the events that had transpired he began to question his assumptions about his younger brother. "The doc said you were remarkably lucky that you didn't sustain more serious injuries in the crash. All you have to show for it are some scrapes and a fractured ankle. You are one lucky bastard, Pete."
Peter looked down at the plaster cast that encased his lower leg and laughed. "I wouldn't have even had that if I didn't jump 10 feet when I heard a helicopter the day before you came."
"That wasn't us." Nathan corrected. "That was the Mexican government. They spotted the crash site, but was running low on fuel so they had to turn back. They reported it to the central office and we picked it up for salvage operations. Besides, they didn't know there were any survivors. They just assumed…" He couldn't bring himself to say that they thought it was 100% fatality even though most plane crashes were. "Anyway, the doc says you will be safe to travel in a day or so. Ma is already making arrangements." He made his last statement cautiously because he knew how much Peter detested the imminent attention.
"Shit." Peter sighed rolling his eyes. He could just see it: a month's worth of welcome home parties attended and given by people he hardly knew. "What about Gabriel? Where is he?" He asked looking around at the vast empty room anxiously.
Nathan seemed surprised by Peter's sudden anxiety, but then again it was just like his brother to worry about everyone else but himself. "I think he is at the other end." He answered plainly. He just knew what was coming next.
"I want to see him." Peter declared attempting to get up.
Nathan placed his hand on his brother's chest and gently pushed him back down into a prone position. "Take it easy, Pete. You can't just walk over there, that will get you a tranquilizer in the ass, believe me." He could see very well in his brother's murky eyes that he wasn't going to let it go so he sighed, "Tell you what. I will go check on him for you. Anything you want to tell him?"
Peter thought about it, but couldn't come up with anything poignant to say. "I just want to know that he is ok."
Nathan nodded and shuffled across the vast sickbay in search of the other only survivor. In a way he could understand how stressful circumstances could forge such a bond. He and his wingman were close by virtue of surviving firefights, so he could understand his brother's concern. What worried him was that his parent's wouldn't should Peter want to stay in contact with this other man because chances were he was just not of the same cloth as the Petrelli's; not many people were. It wasn't the other man's fault, that was just the way it was and it wasn't likely to change no matter how much Peter rebelled against it.
After a surreptitious peek at the charge nurse's chart, he went to the bed of the only man named "Gabriel" on the list. He was hoping he would still be asleep so he could avoid the unpleasantries, but the man blinked slowly at him while he stalled by reading the chart that hung at the foot of the bed. Nathan was no corpsman, so he didn't understand half of what was scribbled on the papers, but he did know what antivenom and sutures were. He studied the name on the chart- "Gabriel Gray" just in case at some point in the future he would have to help Peter find him. It was a simple name, easy to remember, but plain and it seemed to suit the man it was assigned to. With just a glance Nathan knew that Gabriel was the sort of man he could forget as soon as he walked away. Gabriel cleared his throat and asked, "Are you a doctor?"
Nathan put the chart down and decided to just get it over with. "No. I was one of the men who found you. Peter is asking about you."
Gabriel's eyes seemed to light up at the mention of Peter's name and Nathan remembered what Peter had told him, that the man in the bed before him had saved his little brother's life. It was only because of this that he felt he owed him something. "Where is he? How is he?" Gabriel asked in a rush.
Nathan slowly made his way next to him and stood looking down with his arms crossed. "He is on the other side of the room and he is ok. He was wondering the same about you. Your chart says you will be ready to go soon."
Gabriel seemed surprised and in fact he was. This man was the first to even notice him since he woke up. Everyone else just filed past as though he didn't exist, but that was nothing new for him. He noted the name patch on the man's uniform. "Petrelli" He scoffed to himself, it must be a coincidence because the Petrellis he had heard of would never have allowed a member of the family to join the military- there was not enough prestige to be had. They all would have gone to some ivy league college anyway. "How did you find us?" He asked of the towering man.
"We spotted the smoke from the signal fire Peter built." He answered a little smugly. Gabriel saw no point in telling him it was he that built the fire, it just didn't seem relevant at that point. Nathan walked back to the end of the bed and seemed uncomfortable. "Do….do you need…anything?" He stammered.
Gabriel knew he didn't want to be there, so he didn't want to impose even though his stomach grumbled from hunger. "No. If you will see Peter again before you go, tell him I am ok." Nathan nodded and briskly walked away, leaving Gabriel wondering if Petrelli was going to be the first and last person he would come in contact with.
Both Gabriel and Peter were given clothing by the staff to replace their torn and soiled rags and allowed to shower before the flight back to New York. Neither man was particularly looking forward to flying again, but it was the only sensible way to cross the country. As they waited on the tarmac with Nathan in his flight suit, they looked at each other apparently satisfied with the outcome of their ordeal. When the plane was ready, Nathan gave Peter a quick hug and instructed, "Say hello to Ma for me."
Gabriel's heart sank deep in his chest. Peter was a Petrelli? Petrelli + New York equaled not a snowball's chance in hell that he would ever talk to him again once they got back. Gabriel knew the rules of the game. The rise back was smooth although every time the plane shook in the slightest both men had to make a conscious effort to keep calm.
Gabriel plodded down the stairs onto the tarmac behind Peter who was struggling because of his cast. While he waited, he squinted to look out at the large crowd that had assembled at the airfield and was perplexed at the sheer amount of cheering like he and Peter were the Beatles or something. Flashes from cameras looked like a lightning storm and a brigade of reporters with microphones at the ready were being held back by a line of cops. The men were escorted straight into the terminal where an area had been cordoned off for more reporters.
In front of the line of wildly shouting news types stood two women. One was tall, slender, and stately looking in her full length black mink coat- not a hair out of place. He painted red lips were drawn into a straight line across her expressionless face. The other wore a threadbare dress covered by an equally rumpled cardigan, both of which looked as though they had come from a secondhand shop. Her hair was slightly messy and her face worn with worry, but she clasped her hands in front of her chest and her eyes ran with tears of joy. The two men looked at each other as if to say goodbye and approached their respective mothers. Gabriel stooped down to embrace the only woman that truly loved him while Angela did nothing to outwardly acknowledge her son other than to turn to the press and coldly state, "He will not be giving any interviews. We will release a statement through our publicist." Peter hung his head and hobbled along on his crutches.
Gabriel and his mother followed, but he was assaulted by a wave of microphones and bright lights thrust into his face. "Mr. Gray! Mr. Gray, what was it like being stranded in the jungle?" "Mr. Gray, what do you have to say to the people of New York?" "Mr. Gray, how does feel to be home?" "Mr. Gray, what is it like being in a plane crash?"
There were so many voices and so much chaos he didn't know how to respond. "I just…I just want to go home." He mumbled as he pushed his way through the crowd to the outside of the facility. Together he and his mother walked to the bus stop and waited. "I am so proud of you, Gabriel." His mother beamed. He smiled down at her because for the first time in his life, he was actually proud of himself.
A black chauffeured car slowly passed and through the darkened glass, Gabriel could just make out Peter's face. Peter looked back at the man he envied for so many reasons.