The Places You'll Go (PART 2)
The Places You'll Go: PART 2
Author's note: Sorry about the delay in updating. Anyway, I hope you enjoy Part 2 :)
"Gabriel, just calm down," Peter half growled, half hissed as they made their way out to the car.
Gabriel only huffed silently as he gripped the door handle of the car and jerked it open. He hesitated slightly, holding Noah in his arms, and then proceeded to buckle him into his carseat. Peter watched, and when Gabriel shut the door and walked around to the driver side door, he just stood there, clutching the handle.
"He knew your name," Peter said, a bit more relaxed. "So he knows who we are."
Gabriel still didn't say anything, but his expression softened just a bit. Peter moved beside him and took his hand. "We were bound to run into somebody someday. It'll be alright."
"No, it would be alright if it was just us" Gabriel gestured his hand between them and then smacked himself in the chest. "Just me. You and Noah shouldn't have to be put in danger because of who I am."
"Who you were," Peter corrected him firmly. "If we're in danger, then I want us to be in danger together. I could never protect Noah by myself."
Gabriel looked away, staring into space. Peter patted his shoulder. "Come on, let's go home." He opened the door.
"Go home?" Noah parroted, yawning loudly. He rubbed his eyes. "Home."
"That's right, Big Boy," Peter said, smiling at him. "We're going home."
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"I want you to read something," Peter said, walking into the kitchen where Gabriel sat at the table, staring into a mug of untouched tea. He tossed a book onto the table.
Gabriel stared at it. " 'Oh, The Places You'll Go'," he read aloud. "You brought Noah's book in here?"
"We know this book by heart-we've read it to him so many times," Peter explained, sitting down. He touched the book. "This is my favorite book of his too."
Gabriel stared at it, watching Peter's hand smooth across the cover. Peter opened it and flipped a few pages. He jabbed his index finger onto the page. "Read this part. This part right here."
" 'Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than you'." Gabriel hardly seemed phased.
"And now read...this part-" Peter pointed again.
" 'Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind'..." He stopped and looked up at Peter.
"It's Dr. Seuss, but it's true," Peter said, almost smiling. "Gabriel, you're not the person you used to be. You're the man I love...the parent Noah loves..." He sighed slightly. "We'll never think differently of you."
"I'll have to tell him one day," Gabriel said, pushing the cup away with his powers. "I can't hide it from him forever."
"He'll forgive you," Peter said. "Gabriel..." he leaned forward and brushed his lips over the other man's. "I forgive you."
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"There's my little cookie-boy!" Claire squealed, standing up halfway in the already crowded booth. Her father stood too and moved to the side, allowing Claire to exit the space.
"CARE!" Little Noah squealed in return, running into her arms. He then grinned at at his grandfather and namesake. "G-Daddy!"
"You're getting so big," Gretchen commented, chuckling. "Soon you'll be bigger than all of us put together."
"No!" Claire pouted. "No-No's going stay little forever, aren't you?"
Noah Bennet turned to Peter and Gabriel, nodding slightly. They all sat down-little Noah opposite of his parents, on Claire's lap.
"So, Gabriel tells me you have big news," Peter said, smiling at Claire.
Claire looked at her father, and then Gretchen. They both smiled. "I've decided to go to med school after college," she said, sounding as if she were going to burst with pride. "I'm going to be a doctor."
"Claire, that's great!" Peter said. "When did you decide this?"
"Dad and I..." she glanced at her father. "We've been discussing it for a while." She leaned back against the vinyl. "I have knowledge of the human body that nobody will ever understand. I want to help people, you know?" She grinned. "Plus, if we're talking biology, I think I take after my uncle more than my actual father."
Little Noah wriggled out of her grasp and moved to sit in his grandfather's lap. The adult chatter did little to hold his interest, and he soon found himself playing with sugar packets and cloth napkins.
"That is truly remarkable, Claire," Gabriel said. "It really is big news."
Claire smiled softly. "Thanks."
For a long time, even after Gabriel had turned his life around, Claire had had trouble connecting with him. Even when he became intimate with Peter, and was in her life constantly-even just the Peter portion of her life, Claire had her doubts. She couldn't let go of the past. She could only see Sylar, and dreaded that she would only see Sylar.
It wasn't until a new future painter had emerged, and a portrait of a pregnant Claire had made its way out of the blue, that she truly began to understand there was a Gabriel Grey. On either side of the painted Claire, was a man-Peter and Gabriel.
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Forty months earlier
"It's remarkable," Mohinder said, turning to Noah. "It has to do with the genetic code."
"So it is possible?" Noah asked. "I need to know that it's possible."
"In theory, yes," the doctor replied. "Of course, you'd need a womb, a surrogate-"
"I'll do it." Claire piped up.
Her father and the doctor both looked at her. Claire took a step forward. "I'm always the key to saving the world, aren't I?"
"Claire, I don't know-" her father began, sighing abruptly. "You're still young, you're in school, you have a life."
"Dad, I saw the paintings." His daughter stared at him. "It's me in them. It's Peter and Sy-" she closed her eyes. "Gabriel with the child, but I'm the one who's going to carry it." She gestured towards Mohinder's work station. "Maybe their sperm can fertilize a baby without an egg, but it still needs a womb."
"There will be people after you," Mohinder warned. "I'm sure that we're not the only ones aware of what's going to happen."
"As usual," Claire said. "I don't feel pain. I can't get hurt. I am the most logical choice for this." She sighed. "And my blood can heal...the baby will be fine."
Her father looked away. "It's dangerous to get attached to an assignment," he said quietly.
Claire leaned against the table. "It won't be an assignment, Dad. It'll be our baby too. Peter will make sure of that."
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Present Day
"Look up there! Hey look up there!" Gabriel pointed to the ceiling. "Noah, look!"
The toddler quit drinking bath water out of his cup and followed his father's finger. As he did so, Gabriel took the oppertunity to pour his own cup of clean water over his head, running his fingers through fast and hard to work out all of the shampoo.
"Eheh!" Little Noah laughed, his face wet.
"Ready to get out?" Gabriel got the last of the suds out and leaned back.
Noah shook his head. "No."
"Yes, come on. It's late." Gabriel used his powers to release the tub drain. "We're going to get your jammies on and go to bed."
Noah stood up and began stomping in the water, squealing and laughing. "Bye, water!"
"Say, goodbye water." Gabriel lifted him out of the tub and wrapped a towel around him. They both watched as the last of the soapy liquid ran down the drain. "All gone," Gabriel said, picking him up and carrying him out of the bathroom.
"Hey, naked-pants," Peter joked, meeting them at the end of the hallway. He took the terry-cloth bundle from Gabriel, giving him a big kiss. "Papa just got your sheets washed and on your bed."
"It's bedtime?" Noah asked.
Peter set him down and removed the towel, helping him into his pajamas. "It's bedtime. What story do you want to read tonight?"
Noah yawned. "Feet."
"Feet?" Peter raised an eyebrow. "You're silly."
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" 'The Foot Book' by Dr. Seuss," Peter said, opening the first page. He grinned as he reached his hand down to wriggle some of Noah's toes. "Look at your feet."
"Look at your feet," Noah parroted sleepily. He smiled, rubbing his eyes. "Look at Daddy's feet."
"Daddy has big feet," Peter muttered, looking at Gabriel.
Gabriel stared down at his own bare feet, and wriggled his toes. Noah giggled again as his father manuevered himself to throw one leg over him and Peter.
" 'Left foot, left foot, right foot, right'," Peter read, settling under the extra, lanky weight. " 'Feet in the morning, feet at night' ".
By the time they reached the third page, Noah was out like a light, snoring softly. Peter closed the book and chucked it across the room. Gabriel used his powers to catch it in mid-air and return it safely to the bookshelf. They were both quiet, staring at the sleeping toddler.
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Thirty months earlier
"This is so weird," Peter whispered, his breath practically touching Gabriel's.
"It's nice, though, isn't it?" Gabriel murmered back, staring down at the sleeping infant. For days they had kept him with them, wherever they were. He had yet to sleep in his crib by himself.
"I never thought I'd be a father," Peter said, tracing his finger down the baby's forehead, all the way to the tip of his nose. "My own family was so screwed up...my life was so...I could never imagine something like this."
Gabriel caught the flicker of something negative in Peter's expression, if only for a fleeting moment, and he grew worried. "Peter, what is it?"
Peter shook his head, folding his lips in. "Nothing. I'm just..." he kissed the baby. "I'm tired."
Gabriel didn't look convinced. Peter placed his head on the pillow, threading his fingers through the other man's. "This seems like one of those times that I wish I had Nathan around. He had all the answers, even when he really didn't."
Gabriel looked as guilty as anything. He pulled away. Peter raised his head. "You were somebody different. It wasn't your fault-"
"Peter, if I could trade Nathan's fate for mine..." Gabriel's voice gave way to tears. "I would do it in a heart beat."
"I know that," Peter said, sitting up. The baby stirred slightly, and Peter picked him up, resting him on his shoulder. "I also know that people make mistakes. I forgive you, Gabriel."
"You shouldn't." Gabriel furiously wiped at his eyes. "Peter, you shouldn't."
"No, I shouldn't," Peter agreed. "But I do. I forgive you because I know that part of it couldn't be helped, and..." he sighed. "Jesus, Gabriel, I understand. I know you think I don't, but I do."
Little Noah began to wail faintly, and Peter bounced him slightly. "Shh, it's okay. Shh...Noah...calm down..."
Gabriel silently took him from Peter and held him against his chest, wrapping an entire arm around his back, and the other just under his bottom. He moved back and forth slowly, making a steady 'mmm' sound in his deep, raspy voice. The baby's wailing turned to drifting humming, and soon he was still.
Peter smiled slightly. "One day you're going to forgive yourself. For yourself, for me..." he flopped back down onto the pillow. "And for our son."
To Be Continued....
Continue to Part 3: kikamontanez.livejournal.com/36378.html