Bag and Tag: 3
Title: Bag and Tag: 3
Characters/Pairing: Gabriel/Eden
Rating: R
Word count: 2,963
Disclaimer: Do not own.
Summery: Eden's first Bag & Tag.
Note: AU. A week together before the "bag."
Parts: 1, 2, 3, 4
"I think I may have found one."
"You think?" Bennet says lightly on the other end of the line. I can hear a dog yapping.
Flicking through an old book I rest my elbow on the counter. "Yeah, but I'm not 100% sure. His name is Gabriel Gray and he was acquainted with Chandra. It seems they had a falling out, just before I got here. Chandra told me he thought Gabriel had an ability and he did some tests on him but couldn't find anything conclusive. He said Gabriel seemed to have an intuitive understanding of how things work." Bennet hums on the other end and I wait in silence until he speaks.
"You'll need some proof Eden. I understand that you're eager but sometimes -"
I interrupt before I mean to. "It's just I think this would mean a lot to him, he was pretty crushed when Chandra abandoned him." There's another silence, this time tense until it's broken by Bennet awwing at me.
"That's sweet, really, Eden McCain concerned for this guy's welfare. You've come a long way from thieving and arson."
Sarcastic son of a bitch. I glare at the row of old books before me and bite my tongue. I wonder if the ability works over the phone? "What do you want me to do?!" Again another silence greets me and I hold my breath.
"Alright, it wouldn't hurt to check. What I want you to do is make sure you have a case history of the subject: schools, work, family and friends. Check if he's got a record."
I snort. "Gabriel? I don't think so, he's harmless."
"Appearances can be deceiving and I certainly don't need to tell you that, do I?" I grit my teeth and keep silent, my skin hot. "You bring him to us, we do the test and if he poses no threat we set him back on his turf."
"But he won't remember any of it, right?" I can't help feeling regret because if they really do find something he'll never know.
"Yes. My partner will erase his memory of the event. Including you."
My stomach drops but I had expected as much. The Company was secretive and the members of it even more so. "...Ok, so when should I do this?"
"Friday, take a car to Hartsdale. The equipment for the capture will -"
"No!" I bark out, "I mean it's ok, I can handle him without any of that."
There's dead air until Bennet speaks again, his tone oddly gentle "...I know you can." Is there a touch of pride in his voice? But it's gone when he speaks again, all stoic calm. "But assistance will be there. How are your meetings going?" The question is so unexpected that I don't answer at first.
"F-fine, I guess."
"Well just take it one step at a time."
I smile and roll my eyes. "Twelve in my case."
He snorts, "see you soon Eden."
"Bye Bennet."
~
I have a week with Gabriel, time that will be forgotten only by him.
It should be spent doing something meaningful but I don't know what.
Just keep him company is all I can do.
~
His apartment is amazing and I can see why he likes spending time in the bookshop. Every wall has shelves and all were neatly filled with books, most of them antique. He even had books on his kitchen counter. They ranged from every genre and subject imaginable; he had a formidable intellect and thirst for knowledge.
"Have you read them all?" He nods at me, trailing close behind my back as I inspect his collection. "Damn Gabriel, you must read every spare minute."
He chuckles and begins straightening the books I had touched. "Something like that...I don't have much of a social life. Well, none actually." He smiles at me as I turn and I want to touch him, comfort him, this isolation painful to witness. He shrugs, looking at his books fondly. "I love reading but if I did have friends then, yeah, I guess it would be different..."
I press my hand against his chest, tilting my head to him. "I'm your friend, aren't I?"
He nods vigorously, going red. "Of course! I'm glad I met you." He says softly, those soft eyes becoming intense. It was strange, for such a seemingly nondescript man he could be magnetic. He's like an optical illusion, the closer you get the more you realise how intricate the picture is. I lower my head and he moves into the small kitchen, the tea ready. "Are you hungry? I usually just make for one but I might have enough..."
"Oh, that's ok. You should have said before because I feel so guilty when I cook. I make way to much and it ends up in the garbage more often then not." I look at the floor length mirror and even it looks old, very warn and faded in places. With all the tomes packed into the place it had a very austere air. The apartment belongs to someone much older then Gabriel but he does fit into it. My anachronistic man. I see his reflection slightly distorted coming up behind me and I turn with a smile, taking the cup.
"I have Mac & Cheese." He offers and steps back, eyes never leaving mine.
"Ahh, suicide food!" I say and immediately want to take it back when his face falls and he looks down. Desperate to change the subject I point behind him and he turns. "What's with the curtain?"
"Oh, my bedroom is behind it," he pulls the heavy black fabric aside and more light spills into the spacious room. He sleeps in a solitary, pristine looking bed and more books line the shelves above it. I raise my eyebrows at him and can't keep the smile off my face.
"You're so neat, I don't want to touch anything in case I make a mess now." I move towards his bed to look at more of the books and he laughs.
"It's fine, you can touch what you like."
"Yeah? You won't get all pissy?" I put the tea cup down and kneel on his mattress, creating creases in his meticulously smooth bed cover. I look at him over my shoulder and he's standing by the curtain, unreadable look on his face. I bounce slowly and he stares fiercely at me until I laugh. "I can tell you want to get me off..."
He comes forward, his mouth curling in an archaic smile and I feel my heart pound. He stops at the side of the bed and after a hesitating moment points to the shelf over his bed. "I read it for you."
I turn and see 'Sex and Sanity' there. I look at him, impressed and take the book down with a giggle. "Oh my god, I never expected you to! So tell me, was it racy?"
"Only if you find advice about post marital sex arousing. It's a book about Christian views on morality." He keeps his gaze averted as he talks, looking at the book in my hands instead. He had to be a handful of years older then me but it wouldn't surprise me if this is the first time he's ever mentioned sex to another woman. I put the book back and feeling a swell of daring brush my fingers through his hair. It's very soft and clean and he jerks back like expected. He stares at me with surprise as my fingers settle on his cheek.
"You can touch me, it's ok." He swallows and his eyes flick madly over my face until he lays his hand against my shoulder and rubs the end of my shoulder length hair between his fingers. He's very gentle, almost too restrained and I move closer to him, cupping his cheek. "You will be the last person to touch me like this..." He stares into my eyes with surprise, his chest rising and falling fast.
"What do you mean?"
"I've had my hair the same length and style since I was ten years old. This is my chance to start over but I want to appear changed to, something radically different to what I was."
He nods and his tentative fingers curl around my neck and move up into my hair. "I totally understand that, I've wanted to do that since I was a kid. You're like - like what I want to be. But I just don't have the guts." His reverent gaze turns to something more bitter and I make a noise of dissent, curling my own fingers to the nape of his neck.
"If you want to change something, do it. The only thing stopping you is yourself. And you'll always have my help." I promise, eyes locked to his. He goes completely still for a moment until his lips part and he moves down to me, warm breath blowing against my lips. He looks overwhelmed, his nostrils flaring and his eyes gleam wet before my sight is obscured and senses overtaken by the tactile feel of him.
There's something hidden about Gabriel, something pulsing underneath and I think I felt it then, when he kissed me. Something incredibly needy and overpowering and when it ended I thought for just a second he had taken my voice. Crazy but that's what it was like. His hands run over me and I shake in his hold until this oddly childish giggle escapes past my lips and he smiles, his face flushed.
I'm experienced, to much maybe but I didn't feel it then. Maybe because it was something truly new and not a pretense, not some inebriated fumble. I felt I wasn't in control and it was so liberating.
~
It's Spring in New York now and I ask Gabriel to show me the sights. He confesses that he hasn't really seen them that much himself, it all seems so ordinary to him because he's lived here his whole life. So we take a tour of his favourite places.
I tell him about my childhood, about my mother disappearing and then my father walking out. He tells me about his father leaving and his mother. The latter he finds very hard to discuss, didn't want to say anything bad about her but I felt he was withholding but I didn't push it. I tell him about my step mother, that she had died but I couldn't tell him the whole truth, I'm not ready for anyone to know yet.
I told him about L.A. About the drinking and drugs, the thieving. I left out the street walking, I didn't want to see the disappointment in his eyes.
He loves that I changed, he sees me as an exemplary example of everything he wants to be. He wants that so badly, to be special but he can't do it, not without having an ability. That pisses me off. We sit in a willow tree grove, leaves just budding, obscured from the public path.
"I don't agree. Having a power doesn't make you special and the moment you start thinking you are, that you're better then other people? That's when you need to take a step back and look at yourself. I did that. It doesn't define you."
"You've said that to me before, about defining. Ok, so it doesn't completely represent everything about a person but it does make you special. I don't understand why you don't see that." He says passionately, confusion in his eyes.
"Depends on what you deem as special, doesn't it?" I counter, sipping at my coffee. "You think having an ability makes you special. Ok so you can do things other people can't. Fly, whatever. In simple terms that's unique. But isn't the most pressing question of determining whether someone is special is through their actions?"
"People that do good with their power?"
"Yeah, it's not the fact that someone has a power it's what they decide to do with it. Some people have amazing, powerful abilities but because they're selfish they do bad things. Precisely because they live in that mind frame of thinking that they're special and that rules don't apply to them." I say and my voice shakes. It's so very personal but he has no idea.
He stares at me, head tilted until he shrugs very lightly. "I guess that's where we differ. If you have an ability you're not like any other human, you've been elevated to something higher. I can't see that as anything other then being special. Whether that person does good or bad doesn't alter that fact."
I narrow my eyes at his unconcerned tone and turn away slightly, trying to make out the park through the spindly branches. "I think you would say differently if you were on the receiving end of someone who thinks you're something to be toyed with..."
He snorts and I turn to him. "Me? They wouldn't even notice me in the first place! I'd be like an ant or something insignificant like that." He says and lines appear around his mouth and that tell-tell muscle twitches under his left eye. He looks somberly down at his lap so I turn his face to mine, hands cupping gently and swoop down to kiss him until he's groaning into my mouth and tugging me closer. Almost straddling him I break off and laugh, licking my swollen feeling lips.
"You're not insignificant and if anyone tried to hurt you I'd kick their ass."
He laughs with delight and his eyes make an up and down movement of my body as I stand, hand to hip.
"Really?" He says unconvinced, still smiling.
"Oh yeah, they'd have to shackle me..." I say demurely, laughing on the inside.
~
He comes with me to the hair dresser and sees me cry when the tresses start hitting the ground, the sound of the shears so sharp in my ear. I never cry, not infront of people but I couldn't help it. I look so strange and I touch my severely shortened hair uncontrollably. He holds me tight on the train as I stare at my reflection in the window.
"Oh fuck I look like a boy now, don't I? Just call me Den from now on..." He bursts out laughing and becomes out of breath and red faced, moving away slightly. I cross my arms over my chest, feeling jittery and glare at him
"Sorry, sorry. Jeez the things you come out with sometimes!" He snorts and takes my face in his hands and looks at me with a smile. "You're beautiful, it's a pixie cut so it suits you perfectly. And it will grow out in no time if you really don't like it. But I really do."
"Yeah?" I look into the window again and run my fingers along my scalp. It will take some getting used to. "It's a big change for me." He nods and smiles and bends down to kiss my neck. I wonder if he would do this if the carriage was occupied but we have it to ourselves. I turn in his embrace to twine my arms around his neck and I kiss him deeply and slow.
~
It was time, I have to do it.
"Show me?"
He looks at me with confusion, "Show you what? There isn't anything, I told you." He was in a bad mood, I think he may seriously be suffering from depression but he was very good at pretending he was fine. He averts his eyes and sips at his tea cup. I'm seated on the counter, legs swinging and he's leaning against the office doorway, my shop empty like always. God, my shop? Ha!
"You know how things work, without being taught. That's what you told me." I watch him as he moves and sits at the tiny table in the office, irritable. He definitely upset about something.
"So what!" He snaps suddenly and gets up from his seat and splashes the tea into the sink. "It's nothing, just a talent." He turns back, leaning back against the basin. "You need something fixed? That's me. That's it." He almost spits and I have to stop myself from sighing. He was wallowing. I move to him and take his hand in mine, looking up into his troubled face.
"You're feeling hurt and rejected, I get it. But what if Gabriel? You never know unless you try." It fazes me, those words coming out of my mouth. But he knows my feelings about being 'special.' Maybe I'm just being pessimistic, maybe it would be different for him. I can see how much this means to him, maybe more then it ever did to me. If he really does have an ability that is...
But he starts to look at me with consideration. Starting to hope again. I rub my thumb over his knuckles and he looks down at our hands.
"There are other people besides Chandra, Gabriel, people that really want to help. Will you come with me?" His eyes flick between mine and his lips part.
"Who are you?" I don't want to tell him, so frightened that his feelings will change when he learns what I can do. Maybe I don't have to, I don't identify that ability as being part of me anymore, I don't use it anymore.
I take his hand and smile, drawing him to me as I walk backwards. "I'll explain what I can. I just need you to trust me.”
"I do!" He says, expression fierce and my stomach flips over. I lace my fingers through his and grasp him tighter.
"Then come with me."
Characters/Pairing: Gabriel/Eden
Rating: R
Word count: 2,963
Disclaimer: Do not own.
Summery: Eden's first Bag & Tag.
Note: AU. A week together before the "bag."
Parts: 1, 2, 3, 4
"I think I may have found one."
"You think?" Bennet says lightly on the other end of the line. I can hear a dog yapping.
Flicking through an old book I rest my elbow on the counter. "Yeah, but I'm not 100% sure. His name is Gabriel Gray and he was acquainted with Chandra. It seems they had a falling out, just before I got here. Chandra told me he thought Gabriel had an ability and he did some tests on him but couldn't find anything conclusive. He said Gabriel seemed to have an intuitive understanding of how things work." Bennet hums on the other end and I wait in silence until he speaks.
"You'll need some proof Eden. I understand that you're eager but sometimes -"
I interrupt before I mean to. "It's just I think this would mean a lot to him, he was pretty crushed when Chandra abandoned him." There's another silence, this time tense until it's broken by Bennet awwing at me.
"That's sweet, really, Eden McCain concerned for this guy's welfare. You've come a long way from thieving and arson."
Sarcastic son of a bitch. I glare at the row of old books before me and bite my tongue. I wonder if the ability works over the phone? "What do you want me to do?!" Again another silence greets me and I hold my breath.
"Alright, it wouldn't hurt to check. What I want you to do is make sure you have a case history of the subject: schools, work, family and friends. Check if he's got a record."
I snort. "Gabriel? I don't think so, he's harmless."
"Appearances can be deceiving and I certainly don't need to tell you that, do I?" I grit my teeth and keep silent, my skin hot. "You bring him to us, we do the test and if he poses no threat we set him back on his turf."
"But he won't remember any of it, right?" I can't help feeling regret because if they really do find something he'll never know.
"Yes. My partner will erase his memory of the event. Including you."
My stomach drops but I had expected as much. The Company was secretive and the members of it even more so. "...Ok, so when should I do this?"
"Friday, take a car to Hartsdale. The equipment for the capture will -"
"No!" I bark out, "I mean it's ok, I can handle him without any of that."
There's dead air until Bennet speaks again, his tone oddly gentle "...I know you can." Is there a touch of pride in his voice? But it's gone when he speaks again, all stoic calm. "But assistance will be there. How are your meetings going?" The question is so unexpected that I don't answer at first.
"F-fine, I guess."
"Well just take it one step at a time."
I smile and roll my eyes. "Twelve in my case."
He snorts, "see you soon Eden."
"Bye Bennet."
~
I have a week with Gabriel, time that will be forgotten only by him.
It should be spent doing something meaningful but I don't know what.
Just keep him company is all I can do.
~
His apartment is amazing and I can see why he likes spending time in the bookshop. Every wall has shelves and all were neatly filled with books, most of them antique. He even had books on his kitchen counter. They ranged from every genre and subject imaginable; he had a formidable intellect and thirst for knowledge.
"Have you read them all?" He nods at me, trailing close behind my back as I inspect his collection. "Damn Gabriel, you must read every spare minute."
He chuckles and begins straightening the books I had touched. "Something like that...I don't have much of a social life. Well, none actually." He smiles at me as I turn and I want to touch him, comfort him, this isolation painful to witness. He shrugs, looking at his books fondly. "I love reading but if I did have friends then, yeah, I guess it would be different..."
I press my hand against his chest, tilting my head to him. "I'm your friend, aren't I?"
He nods vigorously, going red. "Of course! I'm glad I met you." He says softly, those soft eyes becoming intense. It was strange, for such a seemingly nondescript man he could be magnetic. He's like an optical illusion, the closer you get the more you realise how intricate the picture is. I lower my head and he moves into the small kitchen, the tea ready. "Are you hungry? I usually just make for one but I might have enough..."
"Oh, that's ok. You should have said before because I feel so guilty when I cook. I make way to much and it ends up in the garbage more often then not." I look at the floor length mirror and even it looks old, very warn and faded in places. With all the tomes packed into the place it had a very austere air. The apartment belongs to someone much older then Gabriel but he does fit into it. My anachronistic man. I see his reflection slightly distorted coming up behind me and I turn with a smile, taking the cup.
"I have Mac & Cheese." He offers and steps back, eyes never leaving mine.
"Ahh, suicide food!" I say and immediately want to take it back when his face falls and he looks down. Desperate to change the subject I point behind him and he turns. "What's with the curtain?"
"Oh, my bedroom is behind it," he pulls the heavy black fabric aside and more light spills into the spacious room. He sleeps in a solitary, pristine looking bed and more books line the shelves above it. I raise my eyebrows at him and can't keep the smile off my face.
"You're so neat, I don't want to touch anything in case I make a mess now." I move towards his bed to look at more of the books and he laughs.
"It's fine, you can touch what you like."
"Yeah? You won't get all pissy?" I put the tea cup down and kneel on his mattress, creating creases in his meticulously smooth bed cover. I look at him over my shoulder and he's standing by the curtain, unreadable look on his face. I bounce slowly and he stares fiercely at me until I laugh. "I can tell you want to get me off..."
He comes forward, his mouth curling in an archaic smile and I feel my heart pound. He stops at the side of the bed and after a hesitating moment points to the shelf over his bed. "I read it for you."
I turn and see 'Sex and Sanity' there. I look at him, impressed and take the book down with a giggle. "Oh my god, I never expected you to! So tell me, was it racy?"
"Only if you find advice about post marital sex arousing. It's a book about Christian views on morality." He keeps his gaze averted as he talks, looking at the book in my hands instead. He had to be a handful of years older then me but it wouldn't surprise me if this is the first time he's ever mentioned sex to another woman. I put the book back and feeling a swell of daring brush my fingers through his hair. It's very soft and clean and he jerks back like expected. He stares at me with surprise as my fingers settle on his cheek.
"You can touch me, it's ok." He swallows and his eyes flick madly over my face until he lays his hand against my shoulder and rubs the end of my shoulder length hair between his fingers. He's very gentle, almost too restrained and I move closer to him, cupping his cheek. "You will be the last person to touch me like this..." He stares into my eyes with surprise, his chest rising and falling fast.
"What do you mean?"
"I've had my hair the same length and style since I was ten years old. This is my chance to start over but I want to appear changed to, something radically different to what I was."
He nods and his tentative fingers curl around my neck and move up into my hair. "I totally understand that, I've wanted to do that since I was a kid. You're like - like what I want to be. But I just don't have the guts." His reverent gaze turns to something more bitter and I make a noise of dissent, curling my own fingers to the nape of his neck.
"If you want to change something, do it. The only thing stopping you is yourself. And you'll always have my help." I promise, eyes locked to his. He goes completely still for a moment until his lips part and he moves down to me, warm breath blowing against my lips. He looks overwhelmed, his nostrils flaring and his eyes gleam wet before my sight is obscured and senses overtaken by the tactile feel of him.
There's something hidden about Gabriel, something pulsing underneath and I think I felt it then, when he kissed me. Something incredibly needy and overpowering and when it ended I thought for just a second he had taken my voice. Crazy but that's what it was like. His hands run over me and I shake in his hold until this oddly childish giggle escapes past my lips and he smiles, his face flushed.
I'm experienced, to much maybe but I didn't feel it then. Maybe because it was something truly new and not a pretense, not some inebriated fumble. I felt I wasn't in control and it was so liberating.
~
It's Spring in New York now and I ask Gabriel to show me the sights. He confesses that he hasn't really seen them that much himself, it all seems so ordinary to him because he's lived here his whole life. So we take a tour of his favourite places.
I tell him about my childhood, about my mother disappearing and then my father walking out. He tells me about his father leaving and his mother. The latter he finds very hard to discuss, didn't want to say anything bad about her but I felt he was withholding but I didn't push it. I tell him about my step mother, that she had died but I couldn't tell him the whole truth, I'm not ready for anyone to know yet.
I told him about L.A. About the drinking and drugs, the thieving. I left out the street walking, I didn't want to see the disappointment in his eyes.
He loves that I changed, he sees me as an exemplary example of everything he wants to be. He wants that so badly, to be special but he can't do it, not without having an ability. That pisses me off. We sit in a willow tree grove, leaves just budding, obscured from the public path.
"I don't agree. Having a power doesn't make you special and the moment you start thinking you are, that you're better then other people? That's when you need to take a step back and look at yourself. I did that. It doesn't define you."
"You've said that to me before, about defining. Ok, so it doesn't completely represent everything about a person but it does make you special. I don't understand why you don't see that." He says passionately, confusion in his eyes.
"Depends on what you deem as special, doesn't it?" I counter, sipping at my coffee. "You think having an ability makes you special. Ok so you can do things other people can't. Fly, whatever. In simple terms that's unique. But isn't the most pressing question of determining whether someone is special is through their actions?"
"People that do good with their power?"
"Yeah, it's not the fact that someone has a power it's what they decide to do with it. Some people have amazing, powerful abilities but because they're selfish they do bad things. Precisely because they live in that mind frame of thinking that they're special and that rules don't apply to them." I say and my voice shakes. It's so very personal but he has no idea.
He stares at me, head tilted until he shrugs very lightly. "I guess that's where we differ. If you have an ability you're not like any other human, you've been elevated to something higher. I can't see that as anything other then being special. Whether that person does good or bad doesn't alter that fact."
I narrow my eyes at his unconcerned tone and turn away slightly, trying to make out the park through the spindly branches. "I think you would say differently if you were on the receiving end of someone who thinks you're something to be toyed with..."
He snorts and I turn to him. "Me? They wouldn't even notice me in the first place! I'd be like an ant or something insignificant like that." He says and lines appear around his mouth and that tell-tell muscle twitches under his left eye. He looks somberly down at his lap so I turn his face to mine, hands cupping gently and swoop down to kiss him until he's groaning into my mouth and tugging me closer. Almost straddling him I break off and laugh, licking my swollen feeling lips.
"You're not insignificant and if anyone tried to hurt you I'd kick their ass."
He laughs with delight and his eyes make an up and down movement of my body as I stand, hand to hip.
"Really?" He says unconvinced, still smiling.
"Oh yeah, they'd have to shackle me..." I say demurely, laughing on the inside.
~
He comes with me to the hair dresser and sees me cry when the tresses start hitting the ground, the sound of the shears so sharp in my ear. I never cry, not infront of people but I couldn't help it. I look so strange and I touch my severely shortened hair uncontrollably. He holds me tight on the train as I stare at my reflection in the window.
"Oh fuck I look like a boy now, don't I? Just call me Den from now on..." He bursts out laughing and becomes out of breath and red faced, moving away slightly. I cross my arms over my chest, feeling jittery and glare at him
"Sorry, sorry. Jeez the things you come out with sometimes!" He snorts and takes my face in his hands and looks at me with a smile. "You're beautiful, it's a pixie cut so it suits you perfectly. And it will grow out in no time if you really don't like it. But I really do."
"Yeah?" I look into the window again and run my fingers along my scalp. It will take some getting used to. "It's a big change for me." He nods and smiles and bends down to kiss my neck. I wonder if he would do this if the carriage was occupied but we have it to ourselves. I turn in his embrace to twine my arms around his neck and I kiss him deeply and slow.
~
It was time, I have to do it.
"Show me?"
He looks at me with confusion, "Show you what? There isn't anything, I told you." He was in a bad mood, I think he may seriously be suffering from depression but he was very good at pretending he was fine. He averts his eyes and sips at his tea cup. I'm seated on the counter, legs swinging and he's leaning against the office doorway, my shop empty like always. God, my shop? Ha!
"You know how things work, without being taught. That's what you told me." I watch him as he moves and sits at the tiny table in the office, irritable. He definitely upset about something.
"So what!" He snaps suddenly and gets up from his seat and splashes the tea into the sink. "It's nothing, just a talent." He turns back, leaning back against the basin. "You need something fixed? That's me. That's it." He almost spits and I have to stop myself from sighing. He was wallowing. I move to him and take his hand in mine, looking up into his troubled face.
"You're feeling hurt and rejected, I get it. But what if Gabriel? You never know unless you try." It fazes me, those words coming out of my mouth. But he knows my feelings about being 'special.' Maybe I'm just being pessimistic, maybe it would be different for him. I can see how much this means to him, maybe more then it ever did to me. If he really does have an ability that is...
But he starts to look at me with consideration. Starting to hope again. I rub my thumb over his knuckles and he looks down at our hands.
"There are other people besides Chandra, Gabriel, people that really want to help. Will you come with me?" His eyes flick between mine and his lips part.
"Who are you?" I don't want to tell him, so frightened that his feelings will change when he learns what I can do. Maybe I don't have to, I don't identify that ability as being part of me anymore, I don't use it anymore.
I take his hand and smile, drawing him to me as I walk backwards. "I'll explain what I can. I just need you to trust me.”
"I do!" He says, expression fierce and my stomach flips over. I lace my fingers through his and grasp him tighter.
"Then come with me."