I Can Fix You
Previously on Heroes
"You can start by telling the truth," Gabriel says, his voice lacking the affectionate connotation he had always reserved especially for her. "How I seem to be 'special' and how you seem to know all about it."
"You….you took the abilities you have from people," Claire says.
"You have the ability to detect when people are lying," Claire tells him, trying not to lose control of her own emotions. "I also know you have the ability to know the history of any object you touch," Claire holds out her hand. "Including people."
"You knew! All this time, you all knew! My life….the last six months….a lie? Why?"
"You made me believe I actually had something," Gabriel says, "only to yank the rug from under my feet. All this, it's a lie. I remember everything."
"It was the only way to humanize you."
"What makes you think I am not Sylar now?" Gabriel wants to know.
"I think it is best if we stop hanging around each other for a while," he says. "I cannot rid myself of you looking at me, full of hate and disgust."
Chapter 9: Do You Miss Me?
Gabriel sits on the couch of his dark apartment, staring at the blank television screen. He takes a swig of scotch straight from the bottle, painfully aware that the alcohol will not have any effects on him. Catching his reflection on the television, Gabriel throws the bottle at the TV, shattering both the bottle and the screen. Gabriel gets up from where he was sitting and heads toward the kitchen. Grabbing a steak knife from the sink, he slinks down the counter and onto the floor.
Matt returns to the apartment to find a curious state of affairs. The blinds and curtains are pulled shut, blocking any remaining sunlight, the television is smashed, and the mantle clock that was above the TV is on the floor on the other side of the room, in pieces. The only light source is from the kitchen, where found Gabriel, twiddling a knife.
"When were you ever planning on telling me the truth? When were you going to tell me that I spent the last two years, not in a coma, but stealing abilities from people I had murdered?" Gabriel asks, his voice hollow. "Were you ever going to tell me?"
"Would you have believed us when you woke up? I made it so that you were unaware of your abilities, so they lay dormant, inactive. We were going to wait till they started re-manifesting, when you were ready to accept what was happening as the truth," Matt sighs. "So we just gave you a chance at a normal life, something we've all been striving for lately.
"It may not have been the best decision, but it was the only decision we could have made."
"Why didn't you kill me? You had the opportunity."
"Nobody had the heart to do so."
"Can you make the memories go away?" Gabriel pleads. "Can you make the guilt stop?"
"I wish I could…"
"That's a lie."
Matt sighs. "Fine. Despite what you think, you're a better person now than you ever were. You are not a killer. You have your memories back, but you have something that you didn't have before: people who care about you, people you care about in return, and a life worth living and having."
"Tell me why I shouldn't turn myself in."
"And tell them what?" Matt wants to know. "Nathan spent months trying to clean up the mess he made rounding people like us. People will ask for genocide. They'll go after Claire."
At the mention of Claire's name, Gabriel looks over at Matt. Matt gives him a look, "I didn't have to be a mind reader to know what's going on between the two of you, even if you guys didn't see it yourselves. But there is something bigger than this coming. We can't do it without you."
"What do you mean?"
"Have you been watching the news about the recent murders the last few months?"
Comprehension dawns on Gabriel's face, "My father?"
Matt nods, "Angela is sure of it. One of the recent murders was of a healer, not like the ability you and Claire have, but can heal any living organism."
Gabriel looks at Matt, "He was dying. He could have had that person heal him of the cancer before taking the ability. When I last saw him, he tried to take the ability I took from Claire. He's coming after me."
"And anyone he meets along the way," Matt tells him. "But Angela is having trouble pin pointing places he's heading to, and she fears that he senses that we are tracking him….and that he's now going after Claire.
"He's been at this for thirty years, Gabe, and Peter has to touch the other person in order to do what they do. We need you. Can you be the one we need? Otherwise, we are all dead."
Gabriel stands up, "I….I don't know. I need to think." He heads toward the door, but Matt grabs his arm.
"Gabe, you are not alone. Remember that."
Gabriel nods, "Matt? Thank you. For everything, even when I do not deserve the kindness you have all bestowed me. Or the forgiveness. Now I need to make things right."
Gabriel gives Matt one final look before grabbing his keys. Starting the truck, he pulls into the parking lot of Claire's apartment complex. After a quick scan of the lot, Gabriel sees that the Rogue is not there. Mentally calculating Claire's behavioral characteristics, he heads to Reservation Point, where he is certain Claire is. He drives the truck as far as he could before spotting the Rogue. Gabriel jogs up the trail, and he finds Claire where he knew she would be: the same spot as the night before where she slept in his arms.
She is leaning against the same tree, looking at the night sky, with only the moon and the pale trail lamps giving any light. Claire tries to remain oblivious to Gabriel's approaching steps, but relents to look at him.
"What's wrong, Claire?"
"What makes you think anything is wrong?"
Gabriel shrugs, "Well, someone very special to me said that no one comes to The Point by themselves at night if nothing is wrong."
Claire only lets out a small chuckle, but does not respond.
"I'm sorry, Claire," Gabriel says. "I shouldn't have treated you the way I did. This is a unique situation for all of us. There was no right way to go about it and I'm sorry. I just feel so lost, and I don't know what to do."
Claire scoots over and Gabriel takes it as an invitation to sit next to her, "What else are you feeling."
Gabriel only shrugs, "I felt betrayed, disgusted, confused…..but I never felt angry; which only makes me feel even more confused. When dealing with the maintenance guy I was confused about being so angry, but now I am confused as to why I am not angry over this."
"I don't know either."
"Matt told me about my dad," Gabriel says. "I know that he is coming after me, and that he'll most likely go after you. You would pose as less of a threat than me. Since I've been out of commission the last six months….."
Claire finishes, "He probably is coming after me. Do you think he figured out where we are?"
"He would only know we're in California."
"How would he know that already?"
Claire looks at him, and sees that his face is guilt ridden, "Because I told him you lived in California, but not where. It'll be a matter of time. We have to get you out of here, as far away as we can get you…"
She cuts him off, "No! I cannot leave my family! Your father will just kill them. We have to stay. After I left high school to get my GED, my dad made sure any student information the school had on me is kept private, so that is one obstacle that guy can't get over."
"He already has an arsenal of abilities, more than I have collected already. I doubt that would be too much of a problem."
"I DON'T CARE!!! I refuse to be the victim this time around. I. Am. Not. Going. To. Run," Claire stresses.
Gabriel flinches at the slight jab of a reminder of what he had done to her. "I'm not strong enough to…." Gabriel does not finish the sentence.
Claire combs a hand through Gabriel's thick hair, "You're not going to be alone in this."
"So what do you suggest we do?"
"Well, since Matt will have no choice but to let my dad and the others know about you having all your memories back, we'll all come together to go over what we know, which means all that you know of him," Claire says. "You would know how he thinks."
"Unfortunately."
"But until then," Claire says, moving herself onto Gabriel's lap, "it's just us. What do you propose to do with that?"
Gabriel looks at her longingly, however, "I can't. There are too many things going on, too many things I had done. How can you want me? After what I had done to you, how could you?"
"That wasn't you, that was Sylar. Sylar doesn't exist!" Claire says, firmly.
"How can you be so sure?" Gabriel exasperates. "You have no idea easy it is, just to give in to the need of knowing. How this hunger to drives me to kill, to know how people's abilities work, what makes them tick. They say knowledge is power, they had no idea how stupid they were."
"Do you feel like giving into this hunger?"
"I feel like throwing myself off a cliff."
"Don't you see? This new life you made for yourself, you don't have to be that person anymore. I like this person in front of me, I want to be with this person," Claire takes Gabriel's hands into her own. "Please don't leave me, don't let Sylar take over you."
"I don't know what's real anymore."
"Then lets just take one day at a time," Claire says, leaning her forehead against Gabriel's. Claire allows her lips to hover directly over his, and is about to lean in for the kill when Gabriel speaks.
"You have class in the morning."
Claire groans and slumps her head on Gabriel's shoulder. "You suck."
Gabriel allows himself a low chuckle that reverberated throughout his chest.
A/N: I was about to give up on his chapter. I was halfway through the chapter when the power went out and I DIDN'T SAVE IT THE DARN THING! Damn thee mother nature!
Anywho, sorry for anyone that thought the last chappy seemed rushed, but I simply do not have the patients to drag things out.