I Can Fix You
Previously on Heroes
He looks down at his hands and spaces them six inches from each other and concentrates. Electricity sparks between his hands, a ball forming in the middle and off-trails of sparks dance on his palms like a plasma globe he once saw at a science museum. "What is going on?" he asks of himself aloud.
She reaches the clearing and collapses to her knees, oblivious that Gabriel is there, and buries her tear-soaked face into her palms as she let out gut-wrenching cry. "Claire?" Gabriel rushes to her, whatever worries he had moments ago left his mind. The only thing that matters is Claire. "What's wrong why are you crying?"
"You remember that date I told you I was suppose to have tonight? He said I was a prude, and a bitch for being a tease. Then he just got up and left me at the beach. So I called my dad that we'd talk more when he comes home again in a couple weeks."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me."
"You're here now," Claire says, finally able to stop sniffling. "That's all that matters."
She has been seeing Gabriel's shy smile less and less. Especially since the discovery of the hidden cameras, she can see that she is starting to lose the one person she knows would always be there, and she does not know if things will be the same when Gabriel finally knows the truth.
His son's bread trails had stopped cold, so he decides to go after the cheerleader instead, even if it means scraping at the leftovers.
Chapter 7: Girl All The Bad Guys Want
"Mohinder," Peter says, "we can't do this alone. We need Molly's help in trying to locate Gabriel's father."
"You're insane to believe that Sylar is truly reformed in the first place," Mohinder spats, standing in front of Peter in his New York apartment. "What makes you believe that he won't turn on you the minute he realizes you've all been manipulating him?"
"You know what? We don't. We can only hope that by giving him a clean slate….I've seen him myself in the future, he was different. He was a good guy, and he can be one now if we give him a reason to," Peter says, trying to reason with Mohinder.
"Always the eternal optimist," Mohinder says. "He killed my father! Murdered Molly's parents and then tried going after her, a little girl!"
"Don't forget that it was your father that introduced the idea of people with abilities," Peter reminds him. "Gabriel was starved for attention and anything that would make him stand out of the crowd and your father just spoon fed him the necessary information."
Mohinder's eyes narrows with rage. He steps toward Peter, and with his strength, he pins Peter against the wall, his feet hovering inches above the ground. "Don't you dare blame my father for this," Mohinder rages.
"I'm only pointing out the truth," Peter says. "But can you say you're not so different? When you injected yourself with the formula? What I'm trying to say is that we all have that part of us that is itching to get out. But Gabriel never had that support system to get out of it, not like us."
Mohinder finally lets peter go, but his gaze is still full of disgust. "I'm sorry, Peter," Mohinder says. "But it appears that I am not as forgiving, or forgetful, as you. I cannot help you, and will not let Molly become involved." Then Mohinder snorts, "You don't even know what this man looks like. You barely know where to start."
With his chin up, Peter just walks toward the window to the fire escape. "Fine," he says. "You've made your choice. But people are dying, and Gabriel may be the only person that can stop him. Are you really going to sacrifice those people just to keep your pride?"
When Peter does not get a response, he steps out onto the fire escape and rockets towards the sky, speeding back to DC.
When Peter reaches Nathan's home, he finds that his mother and Noah Bennet are there also. They look up at him expectantly. Peter shakes his head, "It's a no go. What do we do now?"
"We will have to act quickly," Angela says. "I dreamt that he is going after Claire now, but I cannot see what he looks like. I fear that he senses that someone is on to him."
Nathan picks up a stack of files and hands them to Peter. "Whatever Sylar has done, it's nothing compared to his father. I was able to find past murder investigations, and Peter, this guy has been active for over thirty years. There had been a decade with the most activity, at least twenty vics, and practical radio silence for the last twenty years with only five vics during that time."
"And those are the ones that we know of, Peter," Noah says. "The actual number could reach into the hundreds just from people that could've gotten in his way."
Peter looks up from the files he was reading over. "Why haven't I heard of this before? As something as big this, it should've been all over the news," Peter says.
"Each murder was done differently, and spread all over the country," Angela says. "At the time, there was not much linking each case together, particularly since there was not a lot communication between the states. The only commonality is that there was no trace evidence left behind by Mr. Gray."
"But you're sure it's him though?" Peter asks.
"I'm certain of it."
"Now we have to trust our lives with Sylar," Noah says, with a hint of loathing in his voice.
Nathan looks over at Noah, picking up on the feeling. "Yes, we do. He is the strongest player we have on our team, and Peter will be able to do what Sylar can do when the time comes. Those are two reasons right there we should be grateful to have on our side. The last time I checked, he's not Sylar anymore." Nathan cocks his head a little. "Are you still upset about the fact that Claire is friends with the one person she should hate the most?"
"Befriending him will only hurt her in the end," Noah says. "He's a killer, and he'll go back to being a killer."
Angela looks at him sadly, "Noah, let it go. Holding on to your hate will only make you bitter."
"Gabriel and Claire," Peter starts, "it is more than what we want for Claire. We need to build up a foundation now while we still can. I'm thinking of Claire's future here. We are not going to live forever, but Gabriel will. He's not Sylar anymore, even when he gets his memory back, he will have a life worth living as Gabriel."
"He will have someone like him around," Nathan explains to Noah. "Thinking long term, he can have someone like Claire with him to keep him grounded. When we all die, what makes you think he won't revert back to Sylar, without Claire in his life?" Nathan looks over at his brother, "He may never be my most favorite person in the world, but Peter believes in him, and so do I."
The sun is rising, and Gabriel wakes before Claire does. He looks down at the sleeping figure, lying slightly on top of him with an arm wrapped around his waist. Gabriel smiles and he tucks a blonde curl behind Claire's ear. "Hey sleepy head," Gabriel whispers as Claire wakes up from Gabriel's movements.
"Hey," Claire says, sitting up to rub the sleep from her eyes.
"We fell asleep."
"Yeah, you fell asleep and I didn't want to wake you. So….I stayed with you."
Gabriel cocks his head, "Why didn't you wake me up? You're room mates' are probably worried about you by now."
Claire shrugs, "Probably. But you just seem tired. Are you ok, Gabriel?"
Smiling a genuine smile, he says, "Sitting here now, I never could have been better." Gabriel is telling the truth. Gabriel notices that what ever worry he was stressing the night before left, and all that he has on his mind is the pretty girl in his lap wearing his over-sized sweatshirt.
"You've been a good friend, Claire," Gabriel says. "Don't let anyone tell you differently. Promise me that?"
Claire nods, "You've been a good friend, too, Gabe. The best friend I have now."
Gabriel snorts, "I feel like a dirty old man. What does your mother think about you hanging out with guys twelve years your senior?" Why else would dislike me as much as she does?
"Eh…."
Gabriel sighs, "I get it. Let's get you home."
Claire stands up, and helps Gabriel up to his feet. She hands back the large sweatshirt but Gabriel only opens it up, letting Claire slip it back on. As Gabriel pulls the truck into main traffic with Claire in the passenger seat, she slips a hand into Gabriel's and interlock their fingers together. Gabriel, careful not to veer off the road from surprise, quickly shoots Claire a questioning look. But Claire continues looking out the window, as the familiar scenery becomes her apartment complex.
"Gabriel," Claire says as he shuts off the engine, "why won't you tell me what's wrong?"
Gabriel only shrugs, "What makes you think anything is wrong?"
"You've been a bit distracted, and no one goes to The Point at night by themselves if nothing is wrong."
"You wouldn't understand," Gabriel pleads.
"Try me."
"I can't," Gabriel says through clenched teeth, hands gripping the steering wheel. "Things are finally starting to look up; even while Elle was around, things are finally going my way, and I will not burden you with my problems and chase you away."
Claire frowns, "You really think that? Gabe, I poured my heart and soul to you because you are my friend and I know you would always be there for me. I will not sit around and not return the favor."
"You're not going to let this go, are you?" Gabriel asks.
"We've got all the time in the world, Gabe."
"You are starting to sound like Matt," he comments. "Hovering over my shoulder, always asking if everything is ok…"
"That's because he's your friend too," Claire says. She sighs, knowing that she is not going to get anything out of him right then. "Look, why don't you come up? I can make some breakfast, and we can go to Port Harbor. I still want to go to the carnival."
Gabriel relents and gives Claire tired smile, "Whatever you want."
Inside the apartment, they tip toe towards the kitchen. Claire peaks into the bedrooms before they could say anything, "They're both sleeping, and with all the partying they do, they probably had snuck in too much alcohol to notice I wasn't home."
"Nice," Gabriel comments.
Claire prepares the pancake mix as Gabriel reaches into the fridge and pulls out milk, eggs, yogurt and some fruit. Scrambling some eggs, Gabriel attempts small talk, guilty about his earlier behavior, "So….what's your dad up to? Your biological dad, I meant."
Claire shrugs, "Something about revising a bill he had proposed to the president earlier this year."
"That sounds……fun," Gabriel replies.
"Yup."
"I assume Peter is enjoying living in DC now," Gabriel says. "He seems close to his brother."
"They sure are."
"And Angela?" Gabriel says, taking out plates and Claire loads them with pancakes, eggs, and fruit and yogurt. "She is living in DC now too, right?"
"She sure is."
Gabriel rolls his eyes, "Ok, I get it! You're mad." He combs his fingers through his hair. "You win."
"I what?"
"You win, Claire. You want to know what's going on, you got it! Something----" but Gabriel is cut off when Claire's room mates stumble in.
"Where's the fire you two?" Tammy asks, wiping the drool from her mouth.
Liz, however, picks up a fork and stabs at a clump of scrambled egg from the stove, "Yum, this is the shit, right here."
Claire shakes her head, "Its fine you guys." She looks over at Gabriel. "I'm going to get dressed, and we can go hang out at the beach until the carnival opens up." Claire brushes past Tammy and Liz to her room and shuts the door. Tammy and Liz look at the closed door, back to Gabriel, and then to each other. "Awkward!" they sang before going into Liz's room and shut the door.
At Port Harbor, Gabriel and Claire walk along the board walk, silently as Claire tears pieces of her cotton candy and sticks the fluff into her mouth. It has been several hours since Gabriel was about to confess his worries to Claire and then interrupted by her room mates, but neither are able to restart the conversation.
When she finishes the cotton candy, Claire leads Gabriel to a railing that overlooks the beach and the Pacific. Leaning against a wooden post, she sees a nail sticking out. Claire takes in a deep breath and takes Gabriel's hand into her own.
"Claire?" Gabriel asks, unsure where she is going with this.
"Gabriel," she begins, "when did your powers start manifesting?"
Gabriel looks at her sharply, brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"You can do things. You're special," Claire says, placing her other hand on the exposed nail and runs her hand over it, creating a large gash across her palm. Gabriel immediately grabs her bloodied hand, and watches it heal right before his eyes. He looks at her, waiting for her answer.
"I know this because I'm special, too. There's something you need to know, and it's been breaking my heart having to keep this from you."
A/N: it's a good thing im not an episode writer cuz all I can focus on is Sylaire, even when im trying to involve other characters. Oie vey.
Trust Claire to jump into this w/o talking to the others before telling him the truth.
Until next time, fare well and good night.