I Can Fix You
Previously on Heroes
"You were in a car accident. You suffered massive head injuries."
"You've been in a coma, Gabriel."
"He doesn't like me much, does he? The man with the glasses. The way he keeps looking over here, at me. I dunno. I have never been the most exciting person to be around. I had felt I could have done more with my life…I felt so small, insignificant. As a watchmaker, I fixed old watches…and I was good at it, and I was content with it. But my mother wouldn't let me happy with that…."
"Angela, you said that you still see him as a hero," Noah says. "What is going to happen that will make him a hero?"
"His father will come after us all. He will slaughter us all to get what he wants."
Chapter 3: I Will Buy You A New Life
In Noah's apartment, Gabriel sits outside on the deck, the waning sunlight basking his face as he overlooks the DC landmarks in the horizon. Inside, Noah, Matt, and Nathan are standing around Angela as she types out documents on Noah's computer.
"Ma," Nathan starts, "how can you afford all that to Sylar…er…Gabriel? You were never that generous with Peter or me."
Angela looks at her eldest son, "Nathan, this isn't my money, it's the Company's. With Bob Bishop's ability, we have enough funds to relieve the national debt crisis….three times over. Where do you think you got the funding for your campaign for congress? Or how Heidi has been able to send Simon and Monty to private school after the divorce? Should I also remind you who paid for your honeymoon to Paris?"
Matt rolls his eyes, "Well, be prepared when Noah gives you the credit card bill after Peter and Claire return from shopping for Gabe's new clothes and necessities….and don't give me that look, Bennet. Claire told you Hollister is having summer sale with fifty- to seventy-five percent off. I didn't have to be a mind reader to know Claire's going to take advantage of a summer blow-out sale."
"Children, that is enough," Angela says. "Sputtering about money will get you no where. It is just enough for him to get by. My contacts have agreed to forge the necessary documents to backup the claims we told Gabriel."
Before anymore could be said, Gabriel comes back inside the apartment and both Peter and Claire walk in with nearly a dozen shopping bags, and Matt gives Noah an 'I-told-you-so' look. "Good god!" Gabriel cries, relieving Claire of her load. In a meek voice, Gabriel says, "You guys…I really appreciate what you're doing for me. You all have been so generous and so kind to me this past week…I still don't understand why?"
Peter speaks up, "If there's one thing you should know about my mother, it's that you never try to understand her. I still have a hard time understanding her myself."
Gabriel sighs, "Yeah." Looking over at Matt, Gabriel asks, "So, when do we head out west?"
Five months later-Costa Verde
Gabriel wakes up a quarter till five that morning, in the apartment he now shares with Matt Parkman. Matt was able to get his job back on the LAPD, only now as a detective. He was able to get Gabriel a job at the LAX, transporting luggage around. It was a far cry from his previous job as a watchmaker, but he did not mind it as much as he thought he would. The physical activity kept his mind from thinking too much. He used to crave peace and quiet, but now, peace and quiet made him restless.
Right then, the restlessness forces Gabriel to get out of bed and walk toward the laundry basket containing the sweat pants he wears for jogging. Slipping that and a shirt on, Gabriel looks around his far too tidy of a bachelor pad for his running shoes, and his gaze fall onto a framed picture of him and Elle, the only thing Mrs. Petrelli had of his old life for him. Gabriel is still in disbelief that she is gone.
Grabbing his key ring, Gabriel steps out of the apartment and takes the stairs two at a time and ventures toward his usual jogging direction. His mind starts to wonder as the thinks to himself. During the run, Gabriel makes a mental list of things he needed to do: buy an iPod, buy a computer for the iPod…..screw that, I'd rather have a dog.
Gabriel returns to the apartment at six AM. If it were not for the dishes in the sink and the occasional toddler toy, the immaculate apartment could pass for a realtor's show room. Matt often jokes about his need to tidy-up the place is borderline obsessive-compulsive, but Gabriel is running out of things to occupy his mind.
After a quick shower, Gabriel hears the loud beeping of Matt's alarm clock. Wrapping a towel around his waist, Gabriel shuffles into Matt's room. Sleeping as soundly as a baby, Matt is oblivious to his alarm clock. Gabriel grabs a nerf ball and whacks it against Matt's forehead.
"Time to wake up, Matt!" Gabriel calls out. He quickly dresses in jeans and a UCLA sweatshirt over a black tee with a broken zipper. Socks in hand, Gabriel meanders to the kitchen just as Matt walks out from his room. Looking dapper in his suit and LAPD badge around his neck, Matt is still wiping the sleep from his face. "You got in late, rough case in Homicide?" Gabriel asks.
"Yeah," Matt grumbles. "C'mon, we can grab a McMuffin on the way to work."
Since Matt has a car, it has been fortunate for Gabriel to ride with him to LA. On a good day, the drive to LA from Costa Verde is only thirty minute drive. They part ways when Matt pulls into the police station. As Gabriel walks towards the Metro Express to get to the airport, he takes in the scenery of downtown LA, looking quite the opposite of the Hollywood portrayal. As he waits for the bus to arrive, he purchases the morning paper depicting a studio portrait of a little girl missing.
Reaching the airport, Gabriel flashes his employee badge and the security guard waves him through and he makes his way to the restricted area of the airport. In the crew room, Gabriel greets several coworkers before making himself a cup of coffee. On the television screen, a news report disrupts a morning show.
An Amber Alert has been issued at 5:50pm yesterday afternoon. Seven-year old Olivia Tate has been missing since last Friday, nearly a week. Little Olivia was last seen with her father, James Tate, who is currently separated with this wife…..
"Ah, jeeze," says one of Gabriel's coworkers, shutting off the television. "Why do parents always have to put their kids in the middle of their spats?"
"Yeah," Gabriel agrees. They all clock in and head to the luggage containment. With United Airways being a popular airline, they were all kept busy, sorting luggage to the correct flight. To keep things from getting stale, they would sing to various eighties renditions of pop culture and alternate positions from scanning flight tags to loading them onto the baggage carrier to be taken to their designated flights.
At three p.m., Gabriel clocks out. Taking out his cell phone, he sees that has two text messages. The first message is from Matt, saying that Gabriel will need to take the bus back the apartment again. The second from Peter, telling him that he and Noah Bennet will be flying in the next day for the Thanksgiving dinner at the Bennet home.
The bus stop in Costa Verde could not come any sooner. Gabriel shakes off the creepy feeling the old lady with a bag full of cat food had given him, staring at him the last fifteen minutes. It is a still glorious day and Gabriel takes his time walking the half mile to his apartment complex. A car horn sounds behind him, and Gabriel sees Claire and her mother pulling up beside him.
"Hi, Gabriel," Claire says, giving him a timid wave and a smile.
"Hello, Claire," Gabriel replies, giving the pretty girl a shy smile. He peers over Claire to get a better look of the driver. "Hello, Mrs. Bennet." Mrs. Bennet, with a tight smile, returns the greeting.
"Matt got held up at station again?" Claire asks.
"Yeah," Gabriel says. "How're classes at ICDC?"
"They're good, though I am starting to wish I took Angela's offer and go to a university on the East Coast instead of staying here and going to a community college," Claire says.
Gabriel smiles, "Well, I'm sure you're mother is glad you're close to home." Gabriel gives Sandra a bright smile, but the smile falters when she gives him her trade mark, tight-lipped smile in return. I cannot get it right with this woman!
Sandra, having noticed Gabriel's crest-fallen expression, says, "Well, since Matt's stuck at the station, I insist you come have dinner with us. Lyle is ordering in pizza."
"Yes, thank you," he says, hopping into the backseat. "I appreciate the offer, very much so."
At the stop sign, Sandra turns in the opposite direction of Gabriel's apartment. Several blocks from the Bennets' home, in front of an extravagant home, Gabriel sees an older woman sliding out of a truck parked in the grass and promptly placing a 'for sale' sign on the windshield.
"Stop the car!" Gabriel shouts. Before Sandra could fully turn off the car, Gabriel is out and jogging towards the woman. "Hello! Ma'am?"
The woman turns around, and smiles when Gabriel walks up to the truck, with Claire and Sandra right behind him. "Can I help you?"
"Uh, yeah, I couldn't help but notice the for sale sign. As nice as the truck is and how, nice, your home is, and I must be crazy asking this but I was wondering, what is your asking price on this truck?" Gabriel inquires.
The woman places a manicured hand on her hip, "How much you got on you?"
Gabriel quirks a brow, "Twenty bucks."
The woman grabs his hand and places the keys in his palm, "Sold!"
Gabriel, Claire, and Sandra gasp, "What?!"
The woman smirks, "It's my soon-to-be ex-husband's truck. He took his lawyer ass and his twenty-five year old secretary to Tahiti and wants me to send half the profit I get off this truck to his accountant."
Ecstatic, Gabriel is oblivious to a cold chill that tingles down his spine and shakes the woman's hand and Claire and Sandra opens the driver side truck to inspect the interior. "Gabriel," Claire starts and, having taken the keys from Gabriel, begins toying with all the gadgetry, "this truck is so tricked out."
Gabriel grins, "Hey, can you pop the hood? I want to inspect the engine while it's running." Claire does so, and he inspects the insides. While never having been formally instructed on the proper workings of a car engine, Gabriel always seems to know how it works and when it is broken.
The woman is still smirking, "I hope it is to your satisfaction. I'll be right back with the title and we can finish the paperwork, it won't take long."
Gabriel crouches to his knees to inspect the front tires, and he notices something on the front bumper.
"Ma'am?" He asks, as the woman returns. "Did you meet some unfortunate animal?" Gabriel points out to a dark red spot near the underside of the bumper.
The woman, for a microscopic second, freezes. Then she says, "Oh you had to remind of that. Some mutt ran in front of me and I hit it. I pulled over to see if it was ok enough to take to the vet, but….yeah." Another cold chill runs down Gabriel's spine, but since there was a slight breeze, and they were in the shade, he dismisses it.
Gabriel nods, and signs some paper work. The woman, Lucile Thorton, hands him the title to a 2009 Chevy Colorado with a handwritten receipt and Gabriel hands her the twenty dollars. Ms. Thorton snatches the 'for sale' sign and dumps it in the trash, and enters her home without glancing back.
"Hm," Sandra comments. "Lovely woman. You follow us home; I have some Fabreeze in the garage. The interior just smells off to me."
Gabriel is blaring the radio as he follows the Bennets to their home. As soon as he gets there, Claire hops into the passenger seat and begins setting the radio stations. Gabriel, with a wide smile on his face, as he slides his hand over the gear shift, the side panel, and, finally, the steering wheel. As Gabriel grips the wheel, he gasps, as dozens of images flood his mind.
Claire, hearing him gasp, looks over, and sees Gabriel slightly seizing. "Gabriel? GABRIEL!"
In Gabriel's mind, he sees a girl, the same girl that has been on the news! The sun is down, and Olivia is running ahead of her father. The streets of LA are empty. Olivia races across the street, yelling at her aging father to hurry. He trips, and falls into the street. He is on his knees when he is blinded by oncoming headlights. He is dead as soon as the truck crushes over his body. Olivia is screaming. The occupants of the truck race out, and it is the Thorton's! They argue, and Lucile grabs Olivia and sticks her in the extended cab of the truck while her husband lifts the body into the bed of the truck, satisfied that there weren't any noticeable blood on the street. They dump the body in a lake on the other side of town, and they drive home….
Gabriel's eyes snap open to Claire shaking him and Sandra calling his name. Ignoring them both, Gabriel dashes out of the truck and digs for his phone and presses the speed dial to Matt's cell. Gabriel taps his foot impatiently until he hears Matt's gruff, "Yeah?"
"Matt! I know where Olivia Tate is!"
A/N: well, how 'bout that? How do you like the change of pace in the second half when it is now five months later? Good I hope.
Until then, farewell, and good night.