A/N: I take some liberties with Hiro and Ando's powers, but it's no more pushing the envelope than canon did.
Peter lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, trying to think of what to do. Blood tests, CAT scans and all the usual probably wouldn't detect much. Yes, it might tell him elevated white blood cell count, ketone bodies and various other signals of bodily distress, but he suspected that what Gabriel had was a virus which was systematically destroying him, sabotaging his DNA in a steady progression.
Perhaps it started with turning off his abilities, but it hadn't stopped at that. There had to be others - lots of specials had come forward after Claire's revelation and the authorities had captured a few in addition - the law-breakers. They didn't get much publicity, but Peter was sure that if anyone had been given the same neutralizing shot as Gabriel, it would have been them.
He looked over at Gabriel, whose face was relaxed and carefree in slumber. Peter had to resist the urge to touch, to pet and stroke. It was still amazing to him that they'd ended up together, having been with one another here less than two weeks. He'd barely found him. Before, alone and powerless, Gabriel had fallen so far with no one in his life to prop him up, to lean on, to help him. Peter swallowed roughly. He'd lost so much time. He blinked and looked away, slipping carefully out of the bed. Time.
He cleaned up the kitchen and the leftovers from dinner, leaving a note prominently on the table: "Gabriel - I'll find a cure. I'll be back." He wasn't sure how long it would take, but he wouldn't stop until he had it.
His journey took him far. Gabriel never called. Peter called Claire, he visited Noah, he terrorized Mohinder. Mohinder he also robbed, taking from him a batch of serum that would cure most varieties of the Shanti virus, but specifically not the one they'd been using recently to permanently suppress people's abilities. That variant had been designed to be more virulent than even Mohinder's antibodies augmented with Claire's blood would overcome. Mohinder had laughed at Peter when he finally found out who he wanted the cure for. He'd gloated. All Peter could think of was when Mohinder had him strapped down on a lab table, preparing to inject him with a probably lethal substance, and Gabriel had come to save him.
That was when the terrorizing had begun. Peter wasn't proud of it, but now he had a case of serum and he needed to find a booster agent. He knew of two possible sources - Matt Parkman's child had some ability to turn off and on other abilities, but he was too young to do it reliably, and Peter wasn't sure it would work. More certain was Ando's ability of supercharging. It was helpful too that Hiro basically trusted Peter and could bring Ando to him, rather than requiring Peter to go to Japan.
However, much as Hiro trusted him, Ando did not, especially.
"Everyone who was given this injection was dangerous," Ando pointed out. "They broke the law. They can not be kept in jails, so this must have been the government's solution."
"Just because someone is dangerous, does not mean they deserve to be killed. They deserve a trial at least."
Ando shook his head. "They are terrorists! Terrorists do not deserve an open trial. Maybe they had a secret one. There are many people who misuse their abilities. They must be dealt with!"
Peter pursed his lips. "And you were able to control your ability perfectly from the start?"
"Yes. I was," Ando said firmly, proudly. Peter didn't believe that, but he had no way to refute it.
Hiro had not been there when Ando got his ability. He exhaled slowly. He knew what Peter was getting at - that Peter himself would have been one of those dangerous people condemned to death, only a few short years before.
Ando missed the connection though. Instead he gestured to Hiro. "And Hiro's ability is not dangerous either. We are not criminals. Everyone who was given this injection had abused their abilities."
"That's only what they're telling you. And even if it's true, this is a capital punishment. Is there no chance of redemption, or forgiveness?"
Ando gave him a confused look, like what he was asking for made no sense at all. "That has nothing to do with it. They broke the law! They must pay the penalty!"
"Have you never broken the law?" Peter asked, exasperated.
Ando nodded energetically and gestured expansively. "And when I do, I pay the penalties!"
Peter snorted. "Ando, you're here in New York without a passport even."
Ando stood, making to leave, but pointed at him first. "You were the one who asked us to come here!"
"That's not my point!" Peter's voice rose stridently and he stood up as well.
"Stop!" Hiro's voice cut through the argument. They both fell silent, each frustrated with the other. Both sank back to their seats. Hiro turned to the Italian. "Peter, you wish to save people. That is very noble. You think you can judge the hearts and minds of these people and see which should be saved and which should not. That is very dangerous. It is easy to be wrong and misled." He looked steadily at Peter for a long while. Peter looked down at the table. He'd only been with Gabriel a few weeks and the years in his head were under very controlled circumstances. Did he really know him? He wanted to. He swallowed roughly and nodded.
It was the response Hiro wanted. He turned to Ando and said, "Ando, you wish to protect people. That is also very noble. You have already judged the hearts and minds of people and you will not allow them to change who they are or find a new path in life. That is also … very dangerous. All life is change. It is easy to fall into the trap of righteousness and arrogance." Ando looked away, making no sign of agreement or acceptance.
Hiro went on anyway, "You are both playing with other people's lives. Ando's ability might allow you, Peter, to save many who should have otherwise died. Ando's ability is very special. It has many, many unexpected uses." Ando puffed up very slightly at this praise. "When he uses it with my power to manipulate space and location, I can move many people." Hiro too smiled a little, because like Ando, he was proud of his ability. "And when he uses it with my power to control time, I can follow the thread of a single person's life, finding those moments when they make pivotal decisions for their future, those knots in the string that connect them to others."
Peter was watching him attentively now.
Hiro said, "Tell me who this person is. We will find out if his heart has changed, as you say, and if he deserves to live."
Peter blinked and swallowed. It sounded hopeless suddenly. "He's just a man, Hiro. He hasn't been doing anything heroic lately. He's just been working and trying to get by - that's all." His voice rose with emotion, "Maybe he deserved to lose his abilities - fine, I've lost most of mine and life goes on - but he doesn't deserve to die because of it!"
Stiffly Hiro said, "One does not have to be heroic to have the right to live. Who is he?"
Peter swallowed again and looked down. He might as well try to steal Ando's ability now, though he suspected if he made so much as a move towards him, Hiro would freeze time, they would leave, and that would be that. There was still a chance Hiro at least would listen though. "Gabriel Gray."
Hiro nodded sagely, then he paused, brow furrowing. "That is the secret identity of Sylar!" he said in a rush as he figured it out.
Peter winced. Ando snorted and then laughed, saying, "I will not save Sylar! He deserves to die more than anyone else!"
Peter said softly, "He's a good person now. He's changed."
"Didn't he kill your brother?" Hiro asked in a small voice.
Peter nodded, still looking down. "Yes. He did. And after that, he and I … quarreled. He decided to change his life. He went to an empath to find out what was wrong with his heart, how he could change who he was. He went to Claire, because she'd never liked her abilities either and he felt overwhelmed by his. He went to Matt Parkman - all this on his own, mind you," and Peter looked up stonily at Ando. "No one was making him go, he didn't have to - he just didn't want to be a bad person anymore. He was sorry. He was repentant. He asked Matt to take away his powers. Matt trapped him in inside his own mind - in a nightmare where he had to confront his worst fear over and over.
"I'd had a dream that Sylar would be reformed and that he'd save Emma at the carnival, the one you," he looked to Hiro, "teleported all those people away from. So I went to Matt and I went inside of Sylar's mind to get him out. Sylar's ability has to do with time. Time was expanded within it so what was only a few hours on the outside felt like years inside. I spent relative years with him, getting to know him … He's changed. I swear it. And when we got out, he saved Emma … and that let us save everyone else. He didn't hurt anyone. He hasn't hurt anyone."
Peter sighed and looked ambivalent. "Sure, he was on TV a lot and he show-boated. He was stupid. But he didn't hurt people. He wasn't hurting people. Not anymore. If they took his abilities then maybe that's just. But killing him isn't. Not when he's changed." Not when he's just found love.
Hiro turned to his old friend and asked, "Ando, if he has truly become a new man, would you lend your ability to Peter so that he may save lives?"
"Sylar killed for years. He could not have changed so quickly."
Hiro's lips tightened. He recalled Gabriel's argument with his mother, crying outside her door. He remembered convincing Sylar to spare Charlie and how upset the man was at Hiro's prediction that he would have a lonely death. Hiro did not know Sylar very well, but he had seen in the man the capacity for the change Peter mentioned. It was possible. "Then you would be in no danger in agreeing, if you are so certain that he can not change his ways."
"Fine," Ando said sulkily.
Hiro gave them both a curt nod. He stepped between them, placing a hand on the shoulders of each. Ando reached up and covered Hiro's with his own, lending his ability for what Hiro was about to do. Hiro said, "Now. We will go see."
They were in a clock and watch repair shop, out of the way off to the side. Peter looked around uncertainly. Gabriel - a healthier, more energetic Gabriel - was across the room trying to turn a large grandfather clock so he could get the back off of it and have a look inside.
Hiro whispered, "Another effect of combining Ando's power with mine is that we are out of phase with reality. Do not touch anything, or you will step on butterflies. As long as we are relatively still and quiet, they will not know we are here. We can witness the timeline unfolding and see the event we need to see."
Peter nodded and watched.
Gabriel tilted the clock away from himself, canting it as he tried to get to some latch or catch towards the bottom. Unbalanced, it started to topple. If his first instinct had been to grab it with his hand, it would have been safe, but instead he made a now-useless gesture for telekinesis. By the few fractions of a second later it took him to realize that didn't work for him anymore, it was too late. The enormous, elaborate clock crashed to the floor and into a display case. Gabriel made a pained hiss. He jerked his hand back up and covered his mouth as Martin Grey, his stepfather, ran out from the shop in the back.
"What the hell happened? Oh my God! It's ruined! Oh my God!" He stared in disbelief at the shattered casing.
"I can- I can fix the clock part. I- I- I'll do it for free," Gabriel stuttered.
"For free? The fucking mechanism's not as expensive as the casing! You clumsy oaf! What the hell were you doing?"
"I- I- I was just moving it and it caught on the rug and- Those doctors- I- I've been feeling dizzy and wrong since they-"
"Don't you go blaming doctors for your own damn clumsiness! Have you been drinking? I told you if you drank or did drugs I'd fire your ass!" Martin crowded up on Gabriel, sniffing and looking him over. Finding nothing objectionable, he snarled and turned back to the ruined timepiece. "This was a sixteen thousand dollar Miller!" They both stared at it in horror.
Into the silence, Gabriel said, "I'll pay for it."
"The fuck you will! You have no money! I had to cover your advance for rent!"
Gabriel cringed. "I'll work for free…"
"Whaddaya going to eat?" Martin shook himself and changed tacks. "You're god-damned right you're going to pay for it! And that's the only reason I'm not going to fire you! I ought to anyway… This will take you years to pay off - I oughta send you back to that jail or laboratory," at this Gabriel flinched, "that you came from and save myself the trouble!"
"No! Please! They said I had to have a job and a residence. I- I- I'll work every day."
"You're god-damned right you will! Let me see you use some of those fancy powers to get out of this one, huh? Where are those fancy powers now? Not so much better than anyone else, are you? Just a charlatan, a fake, the whole way through - a LIAR!"
Tucking his head down, Gabriel muttered, "It wasn't a lie."
"Turn something into gold for me then! Huh?" Martin taunted. When Gabriel stood motionless, Martin said, "That's what I thought! All a charade and when the lawyers got a hold of you and proved you were fake and the doctors fixed your head so you didn't believe that crap anymore … now you're here, having to work for a living like the rest of us and you're god-damned right you're paying for this. Don't just stand there! Clean it up! Fucking display case is fucked too. I'm adding that to the bill too! Pathetic!"
Gabriel flinched again and hastened to get a broom. Martin took the main part of the clock to the back to see if he could salvage anything from it. The three spectators to this humiliating disaster stood by quietly for long minutes while Gabriel swept and tidied. When it was clean, he walked over to his work desk and pulled out a picture. He stood staring at it for a long time, running his fingers across it and around the edges. Martin walked out unexpectedly and Gabriel tried to put it away too fast, guiltily.
"What the hell is that?" Martin strode over and snatched at it. "What the hell is this? A picture of some pretty boy? What the hell are you, gay?"
Gabriel snatched it back from him. "What is it to you if I am?" he exclaimed hotly.
Martin rocked back on his heels for a moment in shock. "You're- You're- Give me that!" They struggled over the picture and it tore in half. Peter winced. He'd already guessed who it was a picture of. Martin said too loudly, "Is this your boyfriend? Your rich boyfriend all dolled up in a fancy suit? Why don't you go get him to pay for this, huh?"
Gabriel shook his head, looking away and hunching. He stuffed the bit of the picture he still had into his pocket.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Martin went on. "You don't have any friends! Never have. This fellow probably doesn't even know you exist! You freak! Sick, pathetic freak!"
Gabriel cringed away from him. He sniffed and reached up to wipe angrily at his eyes.
"Now you're gonna cry, like some little nancy-boy? I'll tell you what, boy, it's a damn good thing Virginia didn't live to see you turn out like this!" Martin stalked off, shaking his head, leaving Gabriel standing there trembling, hands stuffed in his pockets, shoulders shaking. "Pathetic!" Martin said, oddly facing the three watching the scene. He threw his hands up dramatically.
Peter swallowed roughly. Martin threw down the other bit of the photograph, then turned and walked away into the workroom, with a last glare at (and cringe from) Gabriel. Peter bent and picked up the piece before Hiro could stop him. It shimmered in his hand and then solidified as it phased into their frequency of reality. He turned it over. It was a photo of Peter Petrelli, all right.
They stood on the rooftop of a single story building, fronting on an alley that ran between a parking lot in the back and a street on the opposite end. Below, in the alley, there were four people - three men and a woman. Peter recognized Gabriel and pointed him out to the others. "There he is."
Hiro nodded and pulled Peter back a little. "We are out of a phase, yes, but we should still be careful, or else we give vuvu day."
Peter looked at him blankly for a moment, then said, "Déjà vu."
"Yes, that too," Hiro nodded.
They watched the scene unfold. Gabriel spoke to one of the other men in the alley in a timid, quiet voice that barely carried to them, "So how much is a dose, if I wanted to pay for it?"
"You liked last time, huh?"
He looked down. "Yeah, that was good."
"Oh yeah, it's awesome man. Nothing like that stuff to take your worries away. And clean too! I bet you felt great the next day, right?"
"Yeah, I felt fine," Gabriel's voice was subdued.
The dealer crowed a little, "You see, that's the great part about this stuff. You can have your fun, then wake up in the morning and still go to work - no shakes, no problems! Great stuff."
"Uh-huh. How much?"
"Forty bucks."
"Forty?" Gabriel sounded taken aback. He got out his wallet and looked through it. "Listen, I don't get paid until Friday-"
"Come back Friday then," the dealer suggested.
Gabriel shook his head. "No. I have twenty-five. Can I get a half dose?"
"Fuck that. I ain't divvying."
"Twenty-five is more than half!" Gabriel said, offering the money.
"Let me see that," the dealer said and took the cash. He looked at the two tens and a five, then folded them and stuck them in his pocket. "Okay, tell you what. You're kind of new at this so I figure you're clean."
"What?" Gabriel said, confused.
"I'll give you a full dose, just like last time," he said in an indulgent voice. "You come back to my car and blow me."
"What?"
"'What?'" the man parodied him. The other couple laughed with him and began to wander off. "You heard me. You want the dope or not?"
Gabriel stared at him, stared at the fact that his money was in the other man's pocket. "You took my money …"
"No I didn't. You're gonna blow me and it's an honest deal. Otherwise, it's what I take for giving it to you free last time and I never deal with you again, ever, and neither does anyone I work with. So what's it gonna be?"
Gabriel swallowed and shoved his hands in his pockets.
The dealer turned and walked towards the parking lot. "My car's back here."
Gabriel hung his head, hunched in his shoulders and looked up and down the alley. With small, reluctant steps, he followed the man.
Ando snorted. "He chose this life. He could have walked away. Those are illegal drugs he is buying with money he should be using to pay for that clock he broke!"
Peter took a deep breath. Life was not so simple. Peter came from a very privileged background, but he'd figured that out at least.
Hiro said, "There is more to see."
For a moment, Peter wasn't sure they'd jumped, because nothing had changed. It was a little windier - the same alley, another night. Clouds dotted the sky. There were four people in the alley again, all male. One was Gabriel. This time he was bolder, his voice coarser and rougher. Peter could see, because he was looking, that he was thinner too.
Gabriel said, "I'd like to do the same as last time - two doses: one now, one for later."
The dealer snorted. "I've already had your nasty hole, boy, and I figure by now, lots of other people have too. Not interested. Cash only."
"I don't have cash - I told you. Listen, there's three of you. I'll blow all three of you for one dose."
The dealer laughed. "What part of 'cash only' do you not understand, junkie?"
One of the other men shoved off the wall and approached Gabriel belligerently. "Did you just call me a faggot, junkie?"
"No, I didn't," Gabriel said, giving him an angry look.
"I don't want no blow job. Only faggots get blow jobs."
Gabriel looked past the tough to the dealer, who laughed tauntingly. Gabriel looked back at the thug and said, "If that's so, then you're not the only faggot here."
The guy swung on him, missing. Where Gabriel made his mistake, or at least the worst of many that night, was in swinging back and actually connecting. Three to one were not good odds and Gabriel had no special power to defend himself.
Ando and Hiro both had to grab Peter from flinging himself off that roof and rescuing Gabriel. Hiro said in an urgent whisper, "No! We know he survives! No stepping on butterflies!" When Peter let himself be pulled away from the edge, Hiro added, "These scenes are what makes him the man he is now, for good or ill. We can not interfere!"
Peter's jaw worked and he shook his head. Hiro and Ando returned to the edge, looking over, lured by curiosity about the ongoing drama. Peter came up beside them. He had to see too. The men had stopped hitting him. Gabriel was curled on the ground, offering no resistance. One of them went to stomp on his hand where he held himself up and he yanked it protectively under him a second before the boot heel came down. Peter jumped and Hiro put a hand on him again. The owner of the boot made a frustrated grunt and drew back to kick him hard. Hiro gripped more firmly, but it wasn't needed. The dealer gave the thug a shove and knocked him off balance, saying, "Cut it out. He probably makes a living with those hands. It's not like he owes us money."
The dealer bent down, making sure Gabriel heard him as he said, "You want to blow people for dope, go find some guys on the meatrack and blow them for cash, then come find me. I'll still do business with you, but like I said, cash only."
The dealer walked off. The tough Gabriel had slugged to start with did something to his pants, then pissed on the man cowering on the ground. "Don't call me faggot either, faggot." He jogged off to rejoin his companions before they got too far away. A moment later, Gabriel put out a shaking hand to the wall and drug himself to his feet.
This then, it occurred to Peter, was how he got the round of bruises across his back that he'd seen before, somewhat faded. He slumped, watching as Gabriel limped away.
Hiro said quietly, "There is much evil in the world."
The next place was Gabriel's apartment. They were standing in the bedroom. Peter breathed a sigh of relief. The last two scenes had been pretty rough to see even though he'd known something like that must have happened. Paramedics saw a lot of the underbelly of humanity. The bedroom door was open though and they could hear noises from the main room. The three walked over. All arrested at the door, for different reasons.
Gabriel and Peter (at least, a somewhat past version of Peter) were naked. Gabriel was on his knees before the couch; Peter was slumped down on it, his legs on either side of Gabriel's hips, facing one another. Gabriel was leaned over him and they were kissing - tender, sensual, affectionate kisses as they touched each other's faces softly.
Ando took one good look and stalked off deeper into the darkness of the bedroom, making an indistinct seething noise. Hiro stared with open fascination. Peter remembered this scene. He hadn't really thought of it as 'formative' to Gabriel's current state, but the whole scene had been overwhelmingly intimate and loving from start to finish - nothing had been rushed; it was a slow climax of caring for one another's needs. Gabriel was prepping him now.
Peter looked away. He looked at Hiro, still staring, then cleared his throat as noisily as he dared. Hiro looked at him briefly, then back at the scene. "This … this is how gay men make love?"
Peter blinked several times. Honestly, he'd kind of thought Hiro and Ando were … well … It was never any of his business though. "Uh … it's one way, yes."
"You can not trust porn," Hiro said with a sudden stern glance at Peter. He looked back at Ando and added, "Or what you see on the internet." He looked back at the encounter they were eavesdropping on. His voice became soft and low. "But this is real." Hiro tilted his head slightly, a small, strangely innocent and delighted smile forming on his face.
Peter glanced back in. Gabriel had entered him and was waiting for Peter to adjust. He'd extended one of his long arms to let his fingers drift down across Peter's forehead, then his cheek, to his collarbone, and down his chest. Peter caught that hand and they twined their fingers together as Gabriel began to move.
Peter swallowed tensely, starting to get turned on - which under the circumstances, was very, very weird. Hiro was still mesmerized. A quick glance to the Japanese man's groin confirmed there was nothing apparent happening there. Peter took the smaller man by the shoulders and guided him away from the door.
Ando hissed at him, "Now we see the real reason why you want him cured!"
Peter looked down and exhaled harshly. Yes, he'd left out the part about him and Gabriel fucking now. He'd presented it as if he were just trying to help out a fellow human being.
Ando went on, "He sells himself for money for illegal drugs and now he sells himself to you for a cure!"
"That is not true," Peter fumed suddenly. "He doesn't think there is a cure. He just thinks he's dying!" He pulled in a deep breath and forged on, because the cat was out of the bag. "He's human." Peter's voice almost growled on that word. "He doesn't want to die alone, unloved, reviled by everyone. We reached out to each other. I thought I could help him. That's what I'm trying to do!"
"If he did not want to die alone and unloved and reviled, then perhaps he should not have killed so many people! He chose to have the life he has had. Now he suffers for it. I have seen nothing that changes my mind about him! He is a killer. He deserved the injection."
Peter's fists balled and he jerked his eyes away from Ando's angry ones to look at something else, anything else. He found himself looking at Hiro, whose face was expressionless. Hiro said, "Until this last scene, I thought he had a very sad life. Now … I think perhaps he has found some happiness."
Peter swallowed.
Hiro went on, "He will not die alone … or unloved … or reviled by everyone, Peter Petrelli, because you will be there with him."
Peter sucked in air, thinking this meant Hiro agreed with Ando and would refuse to help. Ando thought so too, because he nodded emphatically.
Hiro said, "Evil people are not happy. That is why they hurt others - because they have nothing good in their lives. They are angry and they lash out at everyone. Sylar was a bad man … before. He was evil. He had no one. But now he is just a man. And he has someone." He sighed and raised his eyes to Ando. "He has changed. He is hurting no one but himself. You gave your word."
Ando's mouth fell open in shock.