It Could Have Been a Perfect Life 03
Fanfic: Heroes
Title: It Could Have Been a Perfect Life
Chapter: 3/?
Pairings: Peter/Gabriel, Sylar/Mohinder, Sylar/Gabriel
Notes: This chapter has been generously betaed by the amazing takhallus . Thanks for everything, you make this fic comes out in a way I never imagine.
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The Bennet house was quiet that morning. Gabriel had woken up stiff but contented. Waking up quite early, he saw Peter lying by his side with his left hand on Gabriel’s chest, silently claiming him. When he tried to move, he noticed the dull ache in his bottom and he smiled for that. Peter had made love to him gently last night and he had returned the favour, now both of them were bonded closer than before. Charlie was the last girl he had made love with, and even that didn’t make him feel the way he felt with Peter now. He felt greedy, as if owning Peter wouldn’t be enough. He felt possessive enough that if Peter allowed him to, he would lock him away for his eyes only. Peter stirred softly, and when he saw Gabriel he immediately smiled.
“Morning, Peter.” Gabriel said affectionately.
“Morning.” He replied. Gabriel kissed his forehead, and got out of bed in search for his clothes. Seeing Gabriel’s gorgeous nudity like that was enough to make Peter want to make love to him again, but he knew that Gabriel must be quite sore, so he just suppressed the urge. He also felt the same soreness, even tough Gabriel had been quite gentle last night.
“I’ll go down first and start some breakfast.” Gabriel said to him. He only wore his black sweat pants, which hung quite low on his hips. Peter’s eyes roamed his body greedily and sensing this, Gabriel merely walked away, leaving Peter with his 'morning problem' to solve.
He had known the house would be empty, so he hadn’t bothered to make himself look presentable. His Mom was at a relative’s house, helping with some wedding arrangements. Both Lyle and Claire had had a sleepover with friends from school last night, and he presumed that they’d be back at eight. He heard the sound of a car when he was making coffee, not expecting his sister to be back so soon.
Claire unlocked the door by herself, and when she turned around, she was quite shocked to see her brother making coffee. Her usually calm and neat brother looked scandalous this morning. This was the first time she had seen him looked so sexy in his sweatpants. He didn’t wear his weird glasses and his hair appeared to have been swept in a hurricane, giving him totally an inviting look. He didn't have a perfect six pack but it seemed flawless with the right amount of masculine hair. She wondered what had hapened to make him to look like that.
She began to walk to her own room, when he saw the door of the guest room was opened. It looked undisturbed, so that meant Peter wasn’t here last night. But she saw his shoes and coat near the door, and Peter usually wouldn’t go anywhere without them.
“Where’s Peter?” she asked. Gabriel stopped sipping his coffee and looked at her as his mind struggled for an answer. Just at the right moment, there was the loud noise of glass breaking and the sound of things falling echoed from the second floor, followed by an audible muttered curse of ‘Damn it’, unmistakably from Peter. Claire immediately rushed upstairs and so did Gabriel, putting down his hot cup of coffee carefully. Gabriel really wanted to slap himself, he had left the door of his room open and Claire would see Peter, presumably if he hadn’t put anything on, lying stark naked on his bed. That couldn’t be more obvious.
Claire outran Gabriel to the source of the voice, which happened to be Gabriel’s room. The door was ajar, and Claire immediately rushed inside. The sight inside his room astounded her. The neat-freak Gabriel’s room looked like a battle had occurred there. His books and clothes were scattered around the floor, and his bed sheets were in complete disarray. The thing that startled her most was the lump of hair that she could see from the other side of the bed. The person's back was to her, but she immediately recognized him.
“Peter?”
Peter turned his head and gasped when he saw her. Gabriel pushed her aside to tend Peter, half-relieved when he realized that Peter had worn his trousers as well, unluckily his chest still bared for all to see. He didn't mind, but he wasn’t sure he wanted Claire to enjoy the delicious treat as well. However, his eyes widened as he saw a glass sticking out of Peter’s right foot. Peter grunted in pain as more blood oozed out of the wound. Gabriel sat him on the bed, kneeling in front of him, and cradling the foot gently in his hand. Claire also came closer to look at him. She noticed that the wound looked bad and Peter hissed in pain.
“Claire, take out the first aid kit from my shelf.” He said, pointing to a brown shelf next to her. Gabriel examined the wound as Claire put the box beside him.
“I tripped-“ Peter began explaining but Gabriel brushed his hair gently and his mouth gave out a sweet sound of ‘hush’, made Peter lost all words. Claire was a bit surprised at this affectionate gesture, but she didn’t say anything. Peter was hurt and she genuinely wished she could share with him some of her power. Even if that wound was being tended nicely, he wouldn’t be able to walk normally for weeks, and it would be very painful for him.
“Listen, I have to take the glass out.” Gabriel explained.
“Okay.” Peter said, groaning loudly when Gabriel began plucking the glass out. Claire winced at the sight and Gabriel tried to do the task as tenderly as he could. When the glass was completely out, blood started to leak more freely, staining the floor red. Peter hissed even more when he saw all the blood. He felt weird then, as if something tried to find a way to get inside him, not physically but mentally. He felt a tugging at his heart, and the feeling got increasingly stronger when he looked at Claire. Still hissing in pain, quietly he studied her features, trying to guess her feeling. She looked nervous, logically who wouldn’t when they saw blood flowing freely, but her eyes held something else - as if she pitied him and wanted to give him something to ease his pain. Peter kept watching her intensely. Claire helped Gabriel with the first-aid kit, but she stopped unrolling the bandage when she realized something.
“Gabriel…” she managed to say. Gabriel diverted his attention from the first aid kit to Peter’s foot and saw that the wound began healing by itself, torn flesh reuniting itself and blood beginning to leak less and less until it became completely healed. Gabriel ran his fingers across the wound, feeling Peter’s skin as smooth as new. He looked at him.
“You can heal yourself too?” he asked. Peter shook his head.
“I don’t…I mean, I don’t know if I can heal.” Peter answered, beginning to panic as he realized Claire’s presence. “Oh, no! Gabriel, she…”
“Don’t worry. She’s okay with it.” At this he looked at Claire, silently asking her for some support. She misunderstood his expression and began nervously scrambling for the piece of glass. Gabriel realized her intentions a bit too late to stop her.
“Yeah, look!” Claire said, cutting her own arms. Peter looked on in disbelief and Gabriel merely stared at her. As predicted, her wound also began to heal in no time. Peter stared in awe while Gabriel glared at her for making herself hurt again.
“Drop that.” He said sourly.
Claire did as she was told, rewrapping the bandage and disposing of the unnecessary first-aid kit. He turned his attention to Peter. “What exactly happened here?”
“Well, I…” Peter looked around, not really sure whether he should explain it in front of Claire. He decided to be a bit secretive. “I was looking for…something, and I tripped, I grabbed your shelf and the jar just fell on the floor along with your stuff.”
Claire looked at him with as sly smile as she realized Peter was blushing. “I assume you’re looking for…your clothes?”
Peter’s blush grew a shade deeper. Gabriel gave a deep sigh. Now he could do nothing to fix things. Claire knew about him and Peter. “Claire…”
“Don’t worry about it. As long as you’re happy, Gabriel. And you…” she inched closer to Peter. “Don’t you dare to leave him, or I’ll punch your pretty face badly.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Peter answered. Gabriel stood up, he looked around for Peter’s shirt and put it around his shoulder, not wanting Claire to see his boyfriend’s heavenly body any longer than necessary. Claire rolled her eyes.
“Oh, come on Gabriel. You don’t have to be so damn possessive.”
Gabriel just shrugged.
*
It took about an hour for both Peter and Gabriel to get ready. Whilst Peter only needed to take a shower and put on some decent clothes, Gabriel insisted on tending his messy room first. Peter was a little irritated by the fact that Gabriel wouldn’t even let him help - his possessiveness over his things was something that Peter had to deal with sooner or later, seeing as he had fallen in love with him. Peter smiled to himself as he waited for Gabriel at the dining table. He had thought someone like Gabriel would want to completely dominate him, even though Peter said he wanted Gabriel to be submissive at times.
Last night had proven him wrong: Gabriel even offered Peter the dominant position first. Peter didn’t refuse the offer and he made love to him as gently as possible. He could feel himself became aroused again as he recalled Gabriel’s sharp intake of breath and moan, they sounded like music to Peter’s ears. The way he called Peter’s name softly as he came was something unforgettable. When Gabriel made love to him, Peter was equally enthusiastic. Gabriel treated him with tenderness, made him melt into his soft touches, however, amid the mild game he could feel Gabriel’s animalistic desire still slept deep within him. Everything about Gabriel was such a mystery to him, their love and passion was dangerous, but Peter couldn’t stop himself from feeling thrilled at it.
He bit his toast slowly, tasting the butter and bread crumble into his mouth. He and Gabriel were going to Isaac’s place today, they had to confirm Isaac’s ability. If they managed to get Isaac’s cooperation, then they would be able to predict Sylar’s movements and their job would be done faster. There had been too many murders already, they needn’t to wait for another moment, letting another victim be killed. Gabriel knew that they wouldn’t need to take any pictures or notes; his eidetic memory would solve that, so he brought nothing with him. Peter saw him descend downstairs quickly, this time not wearing his glasses but still with his hair combed neatly as usual. He had opted for a shirt and overcoat, pretty much like Peter’s. He approached Peter, stole his toast and started eating.
“Are you okay?” he asked after he swallowed the first bite. Peter nodded. He hadn’t expected himself to be so clumsy and hurt himself, but he really thanked God he could heal or right now Gabriel would have had to carry him to Isaac’s place. Which might be amusing, now that he thought about it.
“That’s good. Listen, I need you to say nothing about Claire to my father.”
“Why not? I do think you should be the one who tell him about it. He accepted you and me just fine."
“Yes, he accepted our condition. I just fear for my sister’s safety.”
Peter nodded in understanding as he hurried up with his toast, Gabriel had already finished his share at an alarming rate. He thought that his lover must feel pretty excited about today.
*
The walk to Isaac’s place was amazingly pleasant. Gabriel talked to him constantly and Peter was simply glad to hear his enchanting voice over and over again. On top of that, he noticed that Gabriel had become protective of him: he would place himself closer to the road when they walked on the sidewalks, or put himself next to him in such a way when they crossed the street so that if a car managed to hit them, then it would hit Gabriel first. He also daringly held Peter’s hand whenever he sensed someone looking at his adorable partner, effectively stopping whatever thought they had about Peter. The younger man found himself amused by Gabriel’s antics, but he clearly didn’t mind.
When they got onto the subway train, Peter claimed he was sleepy and slept with his head on Gabriel’s shoulder. Gabriel even shifted his position so that Peter rested more comfortably, his head at the crook of his neck as he circled his long arms around Peter’s body. There were several girls not far from their seat, they fidgeted nervously with red face at the sight of two gorgeous men cuddling together intimately. Gabriel smiled a triumphant smile to them. When they arrived, Peter was already snoring lightly and Gabriel felt a pang of guilt to have to wake him up.
They continued their journey on foot. They could’ve called a cab, that would be much easier for them, but it seemed that none of them wanted to see Isaac that quick. Their walk was undisturbed until they about five police officers gathered in an alley. They quickened their pace to check - there was a murder. Peter looked around in wonder, it was his first time at a crime scene. Gabriel’s eyes scanned his surroundings keenly, trying to put as many details as possible into his mind. It was quite easy to pass the police line, no one questioned them but when they wanted to see more details a few police officers stood in their way. It was too late, though, Gabriel had seen the brainless corpse that they hadn’t put in a body bag yet. He quickly took Peter’s hand in his, and led him away from the place.
‘Sylar has killed again.’ Gabriel thought, positively disturbed by the fact that they were late. Their steps were halted by another officer, this time a tall and large one. He had a sweet, somewhat cute face and he wasn’t altogether frightening even tough he had a large build.
“How do you know the name?” he asked them in general but he directed his eyes to Gabriel.
“The name of what?” Gabriel asked back. The police officer titled his head for a bit, in Gabriel’s opinion he looked like he tried to read their minds.
“Maybe I AM reading your mind. Now tell me how do you know his name?” He said with a grin, absolutely spirited when he saw Gabriel pale considerably. He looked at Peter and he titled his head again. This time, Gabriel felt the need to go away tugging at him insistently. He gripped Peter’s hand more securely and started to lead him on a run. Peter looked at him questioningly, but he didn’t protest Gabriel’s decision and began to run. He pulled him for small steps at first, then they began to walk quickly with the officer still on their tail.
“Freeze.” The officer commanded, but they still moved quickly. He raised his weapon on them. “Freeze or I’ll shoot!”
Another officer, this time a young woman with shoulder-length straight blonde hair ran to his side.“What’s going on here?” she asked him.
Without turning his gaze away from Peter and Gabriel’s retreating figures, he said, “They know his name.”
The woman looked startled, but knowing the situation she commanded him in firm voice, “Stop them.”
He nodded and pulled the trigger. Gabriel protected Peter a bit too late, the bullet shot through his shoulder. Peter fell unconscious into his arms instantly. Gabriel mustered all the strength he had and carried him in his arms, beginning to run. The street, he had observed earlier, had several alleyways side by side, formed by numerous tall buildings. Each building had fire escapes, he’d seen that, but he obviously didn’t want to use them. Gabriel wouldn’t mind holding Peter like that for a day or two, he would hold him until his arms went numb, but trying to keep him safe was an entirely different matter. He ran out of the alley quickly and into another next to it. The sound of water splashed on his shoes and things getting knocked out of his way didn’t brother him. He kept running even faster. Two officers were after him, the tall one and the woman. It wasn’t going to be easy. He suspected the police officer was a mind-reader, therefore he was one of them. Gabriel was positive that the woman had no power; he just knew it and it wasn’t a lucky guess. If she did have any power, she would have used it already.
He heard footsteps come closer. Sweat cascaded down his brow and he made a quick turn into one of the open doors of the building. His body started to take control of his movements and he jumped into an open elevator as someone exited it, naturally without thinking first, and hit the button that would take them to the top of the building. It would be another few minutes until they caught up to them. The top of the building was empty, hedged with barbed wire. He took a deep breath, they would be here soon. Knowing that he couldn’t go anywhere, Gabriel started to feel desperate: he held Peter more securely against himself and cringed when he realized that the bullet didn’t exactly get through his shoulder, it went through his chest. The blood soaked the light beige coat that he wore heavily and Gabriel presumed the worst - Peter would die soon. Tears made his way to his eyes, but Gabriel stubbornly tried to retain them. He couldn’t let them be caught, he was willing to pay any cost as long as both Peter and him could get out of the building.
Then Gabriel experienced something strange: he felt so light as if his feet didn’t touch the ground. When he looked down, he was surprised to see that he was hovering above the ground by thirty centimeters or more. He balanced himself quite easily, wondered briefly how this thing could happen before he remembered that Peter could fly. Perhaps he lent him his power since he fell unconscious? Gabriel couldn’t waste the chance; he bent himself slightly and kissed Peter on his surprisingly cold lips.
“Do you hear me, Peter? I’m going to take us out of here. But if I fail…I’ll be with you nonetheless.”
With that he straightened his stance again. The elevator opened with a ‘ding’ and his two pursuers stepped out with their guns ready at hand. However, they certainly didn’t expect to see both of them hovered above the ground. The woman thought it was out of ordinary, but she had seen the equally amazing thing - her partner's mind-reading power - so these days seeing people with astounding powers should’ve been routine to her. In fact, it still amazed her to see the powers of others. The male officer also felt the same, although it was more like thrill in seeing someone like him. It was the first time he had seen anyone else with power. All this time he thought he was the only one on this planet, when he did see others he didn’t know whether he should feel glad or sad, but the excitement was there for sure. Suddenly he sensed a powerful thought came from the tall man who hovered himself and his unconscious friend.
‘You hurt him and I’ll make you pay for it. If in any case this Sylar - oh yes, I know his name - wants to kill you, then by all means I won’t stop him.’ Gabriel sent his thought to the other man, whose face suddenly looked displeased. Gabriel carefully ascend himself a bit higher before quickly flying away, leaving them behind. The woman looked at her partner.
“There are others like you, Matt.” She said in disbelief.
The man named Matt scratched the back of his head nervously. He kept his gun back.“Well, yeah, don't I just know it too.” He replied. “They know about Sylar.”
The woman sighed deeply. “You told me that, what do you find there?”
Matt shrugged. “Not much, the tall one was careful since he knows I'm a mind-reader and the shorter one was practically too confused to grasp the situation quickly.”
She nodded in understanding as she led Matt away from the place. It didn’t matter if they escaped. The shorter man was bleeding heavily from the shot and his blood would tell them his identity immediately.
*
The air was getting colder as Gabriel took Peter higher above the ground. At first he didn’t know where to go, he even considered taking him to his house. Lyle would be at home at the moment, probably falling asleep, but he couldn’t risk him seeing Peter like this. Lyle wasn’t as cooperative as Claire, he was sure of that, and Gabriel certainly didn’t want to take him to a hospital. Peter could heal himself, but perhaps since this was a gunshot wound and a rather deep one at that, it would take more time for him to heal. So in the meantime, Gabriel just needed to find a secure place where he could guard him.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t realized that Peter’s body had already spat out the deadly bullet. The wound started to heal as color returned to Peter’s cheek. Gabriel didn’t notice it until Peter caught his breath harshly, his lungs greedily taking the air in one sharp intake of breath. Peter clasped his hand on Gabriel’s arms, making him spin and lose his balance.
“Peter! Calm down!” he commanded. Luckily Peter quickly understood the situation. They were flying in the air; he was securely held in Gabriel's arms. He had no idea how they could fly, the last time he checked it was him who had the power to do that, not Gabriel. Whatever happened, he was glad that Gabriel was there for him. He circled his hands around Gabriel’s neck and brought him down for a kiss after a moment of caressing his smooth chin.
“Fly us to my apartment, I never locked the window.” Peter said to him. Naturally, Gabriel already knew where Peter’s apartment was. It was at the highest part of the building which was owned by Petrelli family. He had been there before, when Peter went to collect some things. Gabriel thought that he really could get used to flying; it was a nice feeling, as if he was free. The only downside of it was the chilly air. The Petrelli building was in sight and Gabriel aligned himself and Peter with the window to his apartment. With Gabriel held him steady, Peter opened the large window and stepped in. As soon as he lost Peter, Gabriel quickly grabbed the windowsill, afraid of falling down, but he noticed with wonder that he was still lightly flying even without him. He climbed the window and hopped in.
Peter’s apartment was quite messy. Gabriel watched in distaste at the pile of clothes, whether they were clean or dirty he really didn’t have any idea. Peter’s bed sheets were rumpled badly, and a stack of magazines was scattered here and there. There was only one thing that he liked about Peter’s apartment: it smelled of him, bringing a close feeling to Gabriel. Peter rummaged through his pile of clothes - now Gabriel knew they were clean - for a change from his blood soaked ones. As Peter took of his shirt and overcoat, Gabriel stepped closer to him, embracing him from behind as close as he could and breathed in his scent.
“Gabriel…” Peter groaned as he felt Gabriel’s hard body pressed against his. He reached to the back of his head and brought him down for a kiss. Gabriel ran his hand freely, feeling Peter’s muscles as smooth skin traveled across his palm.
“I thought I might lose you back there.” Gabriel murmured against Peter’s soft neck. He groaned in pleasure as Gabriel’s ghostly breath caressed his sensitive skin. Peter turned himself around in his embrace, facing him. He saw desperation in his lover’s face, realizing in those splendid light-brown eyes how much he meant to him. Peter had been in a few relationships before, but none of them had held the intensity he saw in Gabriel’s eyes. Other people might say that their relationship was akin to a one-night stand: lust-driven instead of love-driven, but for him knowing Gabriel was just like finding a missing piece of himself. He didn’t even know why.
He put his hands on Gabriel’s cheeks lovingly.
“You’ll never lose me, I promise you that.” He leaned forward and sealed his promise in a kiss. Gabriel returned the kiss eagerly, letting Peter take his overcoat off and unbutton his shirt. Soon both of them were chest naked against each other. Their kisses were long and pleasuring, both Peter and Gabriel trying to map each other intimately, running their hands over their lover’s inviting body, feeling their arousal harden with satisfaction. It was then Peter’s phone rang. They groaned in displeasure at the sudden interruption, but Peter chose to ignore the call. After a few rings, Gabriel started to get really annoyed.
“You should answer it first, perhaps it’s important.” Gabriel said logically. Peter looked at him playfully and he started unzipping Gabriel’s trousers, although the phone was easily in reach.
“Peter…”
“If you think it’s important, you answer it.” Peter replied, challenging him to pick up the phone when he already held Gabriel’s erect manhood in his hand. Gabriel hissed in pleasure as Peter’s fingers gave a particularly long stroke, but he picked up the phone nonetheless.
“Hello. Petrelli residences.” Gabriel said, surprising himself with his ability to hold his voice steady while Peter caressed him.
“Hello. My name is Mohinder Suresh, I’m a geneticist. If I may have a word with Mr. Peter Petrelli please.” Gabriel heard the uniquely sexy accent from the other side, he was about to reply when suddenly Peter sensually ran his tongue at the head of his arousal, vaporizing his ability to speak instantly and making him moan in pleasure.
“… Excuse me…” the geneticist said, and Gabriel cursed himself for moaning out loud like that.
“I’m sorry…Peter is…quite busy at the moment. You can call again in one hour, Dr. Suresh.”
“I’ll do that, thank you.”
Gabriel was relieved when the conversation had ended. Peter stood up and he asked him defiantly. “What makes you think he can call back in one hour?”
*
Mohinder hung up the phone with mixed feelings. He could feel blushes colorhis cheeks shamelessly: the moan from the other man on the phone was unmistakably one of pleasure. However, Peter was still busy as the man stated earlier and Mohinder didn’t exactly want to know Peter’s business, so he’d better wait for another hour like he promised. Mohinder Suresh was the son of the late Chandra Suresh, and he was a geneticist. Chandra Suresh was killed, leaving Mohinder with mysteries to solve. Chandra conducted experiments on human genetic code and he believed that he had found people with extraordinary abilities. Mohinder didn’t believe this at first, naturally. Therefore, he tried to find things by himself. He managed to find his father’s secret algorithm, and use his sister’s name to get the password.
The result completely shocked him: dozens of people with extraordinary abilities listed there, complete with addresses and contact numbers. He tried to phone them, one by one, and realized that some of them were deceased. Most of them were killed, presumably by Chandra’s Patient Zero. Mohinder knew almost nothing about this 'Patient Zero', he found out his name by chance on a recorded phone message. In the conversation, Chandra had called him Mr. Sylar (a weird name; that was his first opinion) and Mohinder noticed that Sylar sounded quite desperate. He listened to the recordings over and over again, and the more he heard Sylar’s voice, the more he wanted to understand him better. Surely Sylar was a murderer, and a very sadistic one at that, but Mohinder always pondered about his motives, especially when he claimed that his father had made him a murderer.
He had called other people as well, but so far no one phoned him back. He could understand their feelings; most people would do the same thing if an unknown geneticist suddenly called them and asked whether they had a super-power. Perhaps they thought that he was a lunatic. It was pretty understandable. Mohinder was actually on the verge of desperation. He had a little hope pegged on Peter as well, but he couldn’t suppose that Peter would answer his questions eagerly. A phone call jolted him out of his thoughts, and Mohinder jumped out of his seat hastily.
“Hello?”
“Dr. Suresh? I’m Zane…Zane Taylor… you called me moments ago…” the man named Zane was quite afraid, Mohinder could tell from the tone of his voice. He was quivering.
“Yes, I remember.” Mohinder answered.
“Then I guess… you can help me… I mean… there’s something happened…to me…I can’t explain it…I…”
“I will come to your house.”
As he hung up the phone, Mohinder quickly grabbed his coat and bag, and left his apartment as quick as he could. Peter would just have to wait for a while.
to be continued
Title: It Could Have Been a Perfect Life
Chapter: 3/?
Pairings: Peter/Gabriel, Sylar/Mohinder, Sylar/Gabriel
Notes: This chapter has been generously betaed by the amazing takhallus . Thanks for everything, you make this fic comes out in a way I never imagine.
---
The Bennet house was quiet that morning. Gabriel had woken up stiff but contented. Waking up quite early, he saw Peter lying by his side with his left hand on Gabriel’s chest, silently claiming him. When he tried to move, he noticed the dull ache in his bottom and he smiled for that. Peter had made love to him gently last night and he had returned the favour, now both of them were bonded closer than before. Charlie was the last girl he had made love with, and even that didn’t make him feel the way he felt with Peter now. He felt greedy, as if owning Peter wouldn’t be enough. He felt possessive enough that if Peter allowed him to, he would lock him away for his eyes only. Peter stirred softly, and when he saw Gabriel he immediately smiled.
“Morning, Peter.” Gabriel said affectionately.
“Morning.” He replied. Gabriel kissed his forehead, and got out of bed in search for his clothes. Seeing Gabriel’s gorgeous nudity like that was enough to make Peter want to make love to him again, but he knew that Gabriel must be quite sore, so he just suppressed the urge. He also felt the same soreness, even tough Gabriel had been quite gentle last night.
“I’ll go down first and start some breakfast.” Gabriel said to him. He only wore his black sweat pants, which hung quite low on his hips. Peter’s eyes roamed his body greedily and sensing this, Gabriel merely walked away, leaving Peter with his 'morning problem' to solve.
He had known the house would be empty, so he hadn’t bothered to make himself look presentable. His Mom was at a relative’s house, helping with some wedding arrangements. Both Lyle and Claire had had a sleepover with friends from school last night, and he presumed that they’d be back at eight. He heard the sound of a car when he was making coffee, not expecting his sister to be back so soon.
Claire unlocked the door by herself, and when she turned around, she was quite shocked to see her brother making coffee. Her usually calm and neat brother looked scandalous this morning. This was the first time she had seen him looked so sexy in his sweatpants. He didn’t wear his weird glasses and his hair appeared to have been swept in a hurricane, giving him totally an inviting look. He didn't have a perfect six pack but it seemed flawless with the right amount of masculine hair. She wondered what had hapened to make him to look like that.
She began to walk to her own room, when he saw the door of the guest room was opened. It looked undisturbed, so that meant Peter wasn’t here last night. But she saw his shoes and coat near the door, and Peter usually wouldn’t go anywhere without them.
“Where’s Peter?” she asked. Gabriel stopped sipping his coffee and looked at her as his mind struggled for an answer. Just at the right moment, there was the loud noise of glass breaking and the sound of things falling echoed from the second floor, followed by an audible muttered curse of ‘Damn it’, unmistakably from Peter. Claire immediately rushed upstairs and so did Gabriel, putting down his hot cup of coffee carefully. Gabriel really wanted to slap himself, he had left the door of his room open and Claire would see Peter, presumably if he hadn’t put anything on, lying stark naked on his bed. That couldn’t be more obvious.
Claire outran Gabriel to the source of the voice, which happened to be Gabriel’s room. The door was ajar, and Claire immediately rushed inside. The sight inside his room astounded her. The neat-freak Gabriel’s room looked like a battle had occurred there. His books and clothes were scattered around the floor, and his bed sheets were in complete disarray. The thing that startled her most was the lump of hair that she could see from the other side of the bed. The person's back was to her, but she immediately recognized him.
“Peter?”
Peter turned his head and gasped when he saw her. Gabriel pushed her aside to tend Peter, half-relieved when he realized that Peter had worn his trousers as well, unluckily his chest still bared for all to see. He didn't mind, but he wasn’t sure he wanted Claire to enjoy the delicious treat as well. However, his eyes widened as he saw a glass sticking out of Peter’s right foot. Peter grunted in pain as more blood oozed out of the wound. Gabriel sat him on the bed, kneeling in front of him, and cradling the foot gently in his hand. Claire also came closer to look at him. She noticed that the wound looked bad and Peter hissed in pain.
“Claire, take out the first aid kit from my shelf.” He said, pointing to a brown shelf next to her. Gabriel examined the wound as Claire put the box beside him.
“I tripped-“ Peter began explaining but Gabriel brushed his hair gently and his mouth gave out a sweet sound of ‘hush’, made Peter lost all words. Claire was a bit surprised at this affectionate gesture, but she didn’t say anything. Peter was hurt and she genuinely wished she could share with him some of her power. Even if that wound was being tended nicely, he wouldn’t be able to walk normally for weeks, and it would be very painful for him.
“Listen, I have to take the glass out.” Gabriel explained.
“Okay.” Peter said, groaning loudly when Gabriel began plucking the glass out. Claire winced at the sight and Gabriel tried to do the task as tenderly as he could. When the glass was completely out, blood started to leak more freely, staining the floor red. Peter hissed even more when he saw all the blood. He felt weird then, as if something tried to find a way to get inside him, not physically but mentally. He felt a tugging at his heart, and the feeling got increasingly stronger when he looked at Claire. Still hissing in pain, quietly he studied her features, trying to guess her feeling. She looked nervous, logically who wouldn’t when they saw blood flowing freely, but her eyes held something else - as if she pitied him and wanted to give him something to ease his pain. Peter kept watching her intensely. Claire helped Gabriel with the first-aid kit, but she stopped unrolling the bandage when she realized something.
“Gabriel…” she managed to say. Gabriel diverted his attention from the first aid kit to Peter’s foot and saw that the wound began healing by itself, torn flesh reuniting itself and blood beginning to leak less and less until it became completely healed. Gabriel ran his fingers across the wound, feeling Peter’s skin as smooth as new. He looked at him.
“You can heal yourself too?” he asked. Peter shook his head.
“I don’t…I mean, I don’t know if I can heal.” Peter answered, beginning to panic as he realized Claire’s presence. “Oh, no! Gabriel, she…”
“Don’t worry. She’s okay with it.” At this he looked at Claire, silently asking her for some support. She misunderstood his expression and began nervously scrambling for the piece of glass. Gabriel realized her intentions a bit too late to stop her.
“Yeah, look!” Claire said, cutting her own arms. Peter looked on in disbelief and Gabriel merely stared at her. As predicted, her wound also began to heal in no time. Peter stared in awe while Gabriel glared at her for making herself hurt again.
“Drop that.” He said sourly.
Claire did as she was told, rewrapping the bandage and disposing of the unnecessary first-aid kit. He turned his attention to Peter. “What exactly happened here?”
“Well, I…” Peter looked around, not really sure whether he should explain it in front of Claire. He decided to be a bit secretive. “I was looking for…something, and I tripped, I grabbed your shelf and the jar just fell on the floor along with your stuff.”
Claire looked at him with as sly smile as she realized Peter was blushing. “I assume you’re looking for…your clothes?”
Peter’s blush grew a shade deeper. Gabriel gave a deep sigh. Now he could do nothing to fix things. Claire knew about him and Peter. “Claire…”
“Don’t worry about it. As long as you’re happy, Gabriel. And you…” she inched closer to Peter. “Don’t you dare to leave him, or I’ll punch your pretty face badly.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Peter answered. Gabriel stood up, he looked around for Peter’s shirt and put it around his shoulder, not wanting Claire to see his boyfriend’s heavenly body any longer than necessary. Claire rolled her eyes.
“Oh, come on Gabriel. You don’t have to be so damn possessive.”
Gabriel just shrugged.
*
It took about an hour for both Peter and Gabriel to get ready. Whilst Peter only needed to take a shower and put on some decent clothes, Gabriel insisted on tending his messy room first. Peter was a little irritated by the fact that Gabriel wouldn’t even let him help - his possessiveness over his things was something that Peter had to deal with sooner or later, seeing as he had fallen in love with him. Peter smiled to himself as he waited for Gabriel at the dining table. He had thought someone like Gabriel would want to completely dominate him, even though Peter said he wanted Gabriel to be submissive at times.
Last night had proven him wrong: Gabriel even offered Peter the dominant position first. Peter didn’t refuse the offer and he made love to him as gently as possible. He could feel himself became aroused again as he recalled Gabriel’s sharp intake of breath and moan, they sounded like music to Peter’s ears. The way he called Peter’s name softly as he came was something unforgettable. When Gabriel made love to him, Peter was equally enthusiastic. Gabriel treated him with tenderness, made him melt into his soft touches, however, amid the mild game he could feel Gabriel’s animalistic desire still slept deep within him. Everything about Gabriel was such a mystery to him, their love and passion was dangerous, but Peter couldn’t stop himself from feeling thrilled at it.
He bit his toast slowly, tasting the butter and bread crumble into his mouth. He and Gabriel were going to Isaac’s place today, they had to confirm Isaac’s ability. If they managed to get Isaac’s cooperation, then they would be able to predict Sylar’s movements and their job would be done faster. There had been too many murders already, they needn’t to wait for another moment, letting another victim be killed. Gabriel knew that they wouldn’t need to take any pictures or notes; his eidetic memory would solve that, so he brought nothing with him. Peter saw him descend downstairs quickly, this time not wearing his glasses but still with his hair combed neatly as usual. He had opted for a shirt and overcoat, pretty much like Peter’s. He approached Peter, stole his toast and started eating.
“Are you okay?” he asked after he swallowed the first bite. Peter nodded. He hadn’t expected himself to be so clumsy and hurt himself, but he really thanked God he could heal or right now Gabriel would have had to carry him to Isaac’s place. Which might be amusing, now that he thought about it.
“That’s good. Listen, I need you to say nothing about Claire to my father.”
“Why not? I do think you should be the one who tell him about it. He accepted you and me just fine."
“Yes, he accepted our condition. I just fear for my sister’s safety.”
Peter nodded in understanding as he hurried up with his toast, Gabriel had already finished his share at an alarming rate. He thought that his lover must feel pretty excited about today.
*
The walk to Isaac’s place was amazingly pleasant. Gabriel talked to him constantly and Peter was simply glad to hear his enchanting voice over and over again. On top of that, he noticed that Gabriel had become protective of him: he would place himself closer to the road when they walked on the sidewalks, or put himself next to him in such a way when they crossed the street so that if a car managed to hit them, then it would hit Gabriel first. He also daringly held Peter’s hand whenever he sensed someone looking at his adorable partner, effectively stopping whatever thought they had about Peter. The younger man found himself amused by Gabriel’s antics, but he clearly didn’t mind.
When they got onto the subway train, Peter claimed he was sleepy and slept with his head on Gabriel’s shoulder. Gabriel even shifted his position so that Peter rested more comfortably, his head at the crook of his neck as he circled his long arms around Peter’s body. There were several girls not far from their seat, they fidgeted nervously with red face at the sight of two gorgeous men cuddling together intimately. Gabriel smiled a triumphant smile to them. When they arrived, Peter was already snoring lightly and Gabriel felt a pang of guilt to have to wake him up.
They continued their journey on foot. They could’ve called a cab, that would be much easier for them, but it seemed that none of them wanted to see Isaac that quick. Their walk was undisturbed until they about five police officers gathered in an alley. They quickened their pace to check - there was a murder. Peter looked around in wonder, it was his first time at a crime scene. Gabriel’s eyes scanned his surroundings keenly, trying to put as many details as possible into his mind. It was quite easy to pass the police line, no one questioned them but when they wanted to see more details a few police officers stood in their way. It was too late, though, Gabriel had seen the brainless corpse that they hadn’t put in a body bag yet. He quickly took Peter’s hand in his, and led him away from the place.
‘Sylar has killed again.’ Gabriel thought, positively disturbed by the fact that they were late. Their steps were halted by another officer, this time a tall and large one. He had a sweet, somewhat cute face and he wasn’t altogether frightening even tough he had a large build.
“How do you know the name?” he asked them in general but he directed his eyes to Gabriel.
“The name of what?” Gabriel asked back. The police officer titled his head for a bit, in Gabriel’s opinion he looked like he tried to read their minds.
“Maybe I AM reading your mind. Now tell me how do you know his name?” He said with a grin, absolutely spirited when he saw Gabriel pale considerably. He looked at Peter and he titled his head again. This time, Gabriel felt the need to go away tugging at him insistently. He gripped Peter’s hand more securely and started to lead him on a run. Peter looked at him questioningly, but he didn’t protest Gabriel’s decision and began to run. He pulled him for small steps at first, then they began to walk quickly with the officer still on their tail.
“Freeze.” The officer commanded, but they still moved quickly. He raised his weapon on them. “Freeze or I’ll shoot!”
Another officer, this time a young woman with shoulder-length straight blonde hair ran to his side.“What’s going on here?” she asked him.
Without turning his gaze away from Peter and Gabriel’s retreating figures, he said, “They know his name.”
The woman looked startled, but knowing the situation she commanded him in firm voice, “Stop them.”
He nodded and pulled the trigger. Gabriel protected Peter a bit too late, the bullet shot through his shoulder. Peter fell unconscious into his arms instantly. Gabriel mustered all the strength he had and carried him in his arms, beginning to run. The street, he had observed earlier, had several alleyways side by side, formed by numerous tall buildings. Each building had fire escapes, he’d seen that, but he obviously didn’t want to use them. Gabriel wouldn’t mind holding Peter like that for a day or two, he would hold him until his arms went numb, but trying to keep him safe was an entirely different matter. He ran out of the alley quickly and into another next to it. The sound of water splashed on his shoes and things getting knocked out of his way didn’t brother him. He kept running even faster. Two officers were after him, the tall one and the woman. It wasn’t going to be easy. He suspected the police officer was a mind-reader, therefore he was one of them. Gabriel was positive that the woman had no power; he just knew it and it wasn’t a lucky guess. If she did have any power, she would have used it already.
He heard footsteps come closer. Sweat cascaded down his brow and he made a quick turn into one of the open doors of the building. His body started to take control of his movements and he jumped into an open elevator as someone exited it, naturally without thinking first, and hit the button that would take them to the top of the building. It would be another few minutes until they caught up to them. The top of the building was empty, hedged with barbed wire. He took a deep breath, they would be here soon. Knowing that he couldn’t go anywhere, Gabriel started to feel desperate: he held Peter more securely against himself and cringed when he realized that the bullet didn’t exactly get through his shoulder, it went through his chest. The blood soaked the light beige coat that he wore heavily and Gabriel presumed the worst - Peter would die soon. Tears made his way to his eyes, but Gabriel stubbornly tried to retain them. He couldn’t let them be caught, he was willing to pay any cost as long as both Peter and him could get out of the building.
Then Gabriel experienced something strange: he felt so light as if his feet didn’t touch the ground. When he looked down, he was surprised to see that he was hovering above the ground by thirty centimeters or more. He balanced himself quite easily, wondered briefly how this thing could happen before he remembered that Peter could fly. Perhaps he lent him his power since he fell unconscious? Gabriel couldn’t waste the chance; he bent himself slightly and kissed Peter on his surprisingly cold lips.
“Do you hear me, Peter? I’m going to take us out of here. But if I fail…I’ll be with you nonetheless.”
With that he straightened his stance again. The elevator opened with a ‘ding’ and his two pursuers stepped out with their guns ready at hand. However, they certainly didn’t expect to see both of them hovered above the ground. The woman thought it was out of ordinary, but she had seen the equally amazing thing - her partner's mind-reading power - so these days seeing people with astounding powers should’ve been routine to her. In fact, it still amazed her to see the powers of others. The male officer also felt the same, although it was more like thrill in seeing someone like him. It was the first time he had seen anyone else with power. All this time he thought he was the only one on this planet, when he did see others he didn’t know whether he should feel glad or sad, but the excitement was there for sure. Suddenly he sensed a powerful thought came from the tall man who hovered himself and his unconscious friend.
‘You hurt him and I’ll make you pay for it. If in any case this Sylar - oh yes, I know his name - wants to kill you, then by all means I won’t stop him.’ Gabriel sent his thought to the other man, whose face suddenly looked displeased. Gabriel carefully ascend himself a bit higher before quickly flying away, leaving them behind. The woman looked at her partner.
“There are others like you, Matt.” She said in disbelief.
The man named Matt scratched the back of his head nervously. He kept his gun back.“Well, yeah, don't I just know it too.” He replied. “They know about Sylar.”
The woman sighed deeply. “You told me that, what do you find there?”
Matt shrugged. “Not much, the tall one was careful since he knows I'm a mind-reader and the shorter one was practically too confused to grasp the situation quickly.”
She nodded in understanding as she led Matt away from the place. It didn’t matter if they escaped. The shorter man was bleeding heavily from the shot and his blood would tell them his identity immediately.
*
The air was getting colder as Gabriel took Peter higher above the ground. At first he didn’t know where to go, he even considered taking him to his house. Lyle would be at home at the moment, probably falling asleep, but he couldn’t risk him seeing Peter like this. Lyle wasn’t as cooperative as Claire, he was sure of that, and Gabriel certainly didn’t want to take him to a hospital. Peter could heal himself, but perhaps since this was a gunshot wound and a rather deep one at that, it would take more time for him to heal. So in the meantime, Gabriel just needed to find a secure place where he could guard him.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t realized that Peter’s body had already spat out the deadly bullet. The wound started to heal as color returned to Peter’s cheek. Gabriel didn’t notice it until Peter caught his breath harshly, his lungs greedily taking the air in one sharp intake of breath. Peter clasped his hand on Gabriel’s arms, making him spin and lose his balance.
“Peter! Calm down!” he commanded. Luckily Peter quickly understood the situation. They were flying in the air; he was securely held in Gabriel's arms. He had no idea how they could fly, the last time he checked it was him who had the power to do that, not Gabriel. Whatever happened, he was glad that Gabriel was there for him. He circled his hands around Gabriel’s neck and brought him down for a kiss after a moment of caressing his smooth chin.
“Fly us to my apartment, I never locked the window.” Peter said to him. Naturally, Gabriel already knew where Peter’s apartment was. It was at the highest part of the building which was owned by Petrelli family. He had been there before, when Peter went to collect some things. Gabriel thought that he really could get used to flying; it was a nice feeling, as if he was free. The only downside of it was the chilly air. The Petrelli building was in sight and Gabriel aligned himself and Peter with the window to his apartment. With Gabriel held him steady, Peter opened the large window and stepped in. As soon as he lost Peter, Gabriel quickly grabbed the windowsill, afraid of falling down, but he noticed with wonder that he was still lightly flying even without him. He climbed the window and hopped in.
Peter’s apartment was quite messy. Gabriel watched in distaste at the pile of clothes, whether they were clean or dirty he really didn’t have any idea. Peter’s bed sheets were rumpled badly, and a stack of magazines was scattered here and there. There was only one thing that he liked about Peter’s apartment: it smelled of him, bringing a close feeling to Gabriel. Peter rummaged through his pile of clothes - now Gabriel knew they were clean - for a change from his blood soaked ones. As Peter took of his shirt and overcoat, Gabriel stepped closer to him, embracing him from behind as close as he could and breathed in his scent.
“Gabriel…” Peter groaned as he felt Gabriel’s hard body pressed against his. He reached to the back of his head and brought him down for a kiss. Gabriel ran his hand freely, feeling Peter’s muscles as smooth skin traveled across his palm.
“I thought I might lose you back there.” Gabriel murmured against Peter’s soft neck. He groaned in pleasure as Gabriel’s ghostly breath caressed his sensitive skin. Peter turned himself around in his embrace, facing him. He saw desperation in his lover’s face, realizing in those splendid light-brown eyes how much he meant to him. Peter had been in a few relationships before, but none of them had held the intensity he saw in Gabriel’s eyes. Other people might say that their relationship was akin to a one-night stand: lust-driven instead of love-driven, but for him knowing Gabriel was just like finding a missing piece of himself. He didn’t even know why.
He put his hands on Gabriel’s cheeks lovingly.
“You’ll never lose me, I promise you that.” He leaned forward and sealed his promise in a kiss. Gabriel returned the kiss eagerly, letting Peter take his overcoat off and unbutton his shirt. Soon both of them were chest naked against each other. Their kisses were long and pleasuring, both Peter and Gabriel trying to map each other intimately, running their hands over their lover’s inviting body, feeling their arousal harden with satisfaction. It was then Peter’s phone rang. They groaned in displeasure at the sudden interruption, but Peter chose to ignore the call. After a few rings, Gabriel started to get really annoyed.
“You should answer it first, perhaps it’s important.” Gabriel said logically. Peter looked at him playfully and he started unzipping Gabriel’s trousers, although the phone was easily in reach.
“Peter…”
“If you think it’s important, you answer it.” Peter replied, challenging him to pick up the phone when he already held Gabriel’s erect manhood in his hand. Gabriel hissed in pleasure as Peter’s fingers gave a particularly long stroke, but he picked up the phone nonetheless.
“Hello. Petrelli residences.” Gabriel said, surprising himself with his ability to hold his voice steady while Peter caressed him.
“Hello. My name is Mohinder Suresh, I’m a geneticist. If I may have a word with Mr. Peter Petrelli please.” Gabriel heard the uniquely sexy accent from the other side, he was about to reply when suddenly Peter sensually ran his tongue at the head of his arousal, vaporizing his ability to speak instantly and making him moan in pleasure.
“… Excuse me…” the geneticist said, and Gabriel cursed himself for moaning out loud like that.
“I’m sorry…Peter is…quite busy at the moment. You can call again in one hour, Dr. Suresh.”
“I’ll do that, thank you.”
Gabriel was relieved when the conversation had ended. Peter stood up and he asked him defiantly. “What makes you think he can call back in one hour?”
*
Mohinder hung up the phone with mixed feelings. He could feel blushes colorhis cheeks shamelessly: the moan from the other man on the phone was unmistakably one of pleasure. However, Peter was still busy as the man stated earlier and Mohinder didn’t exactly want to know Peter’s business, so he’d better wait for another hour like he promised. Mohinder Suresh was the son of the late Chandra Suresh, and he was a geneticist. Chandra Suresh was killed, leaving Mohinder with mysteries to solve. Chandra conducted experiments on human genetic code and he believed that he had found people with extraordinary abilities. Mohinder didn’t believe this at first, naturally. Therefore, he tried to find things by himself. He managed to find his father’s secret algorithm, and use his sister’s name to get the password.
The result completely shocked him: dozens of people with extraordinary abilities listed there, complete with addresses and contact numbers. He tried to phone them, one by one, and realized that some of them were deceased. Most of them were killed, presumably by Chandra’s Patient Zero. Mohinder knew almost nothing about this 'Patient Zero', he found out his name by chance on a recorded phone message. In the conversation, Chandra had called him Mr. Sylar (a weird name; that was his first opinion) and Mohinder noticed that Sylar sounded quite desperate. He listened to the recordings over and over again, and the more he heard Sylar’s voice, the more he wanted to understand him better. Surely Sylar was a murderer, and a very sadistic one at that, but Mohinder always pondered about his motives, especially when he claimed that his father had made him a murderer.
He had called other people as well, but so far no one phoned him back. He could understand their feelings; most people would do the same thing if an unknown geneticist suddenly called them and asked whether they had a super-power. Perhaps they thought that he was a lunatic. It was pretty understandable. Mohinder was actually on the verge of desperation. He had a little hope pegged on Peter as well, but he couldn’t suppose that Peter would answer his questions eagerly. A phone call jolted him out of his thoughts, and Mohinder jumped out of his seat hastily.
“Hello?”
“Dr. Suresh? I’m Zane…Zane Taylor… you called me moments ago…” the man named Zane was quite afraid, Mohinder could tell from the tone of his voice. He was quivering.
“Yes, I remember.” Mohinder answered.
“Then I guess… you can help me… I mean… there’s something happened…to me…I can’t explain it…I…”
“I will come to your house.”
As he hung up the phone, Mohinder quickly grabbed his coat and bag, and left his apartment as quick as he could. Peter would just have to wait for a while.
to be continued