Between the Lines - Chapter 5
Title: Between the Lines - Chapter 5 - Ziti With a Side of Betrayal
Characters: Elle Bishop, Gabriel Gary, Noah Bennet
Summary: Elle and Sylar's relationship examined. Chapter 5: Gabriel shows Elle around New York. Elle reluctantly follows through on her assignment.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Heroes does not belong to me. I'm in debt to Tim Kring for creating amazing characters that capture my imagination.
Notes: I've always wondered what goes on between the scenes Heroes shows us, so I just decided to let my imagination take control. Comments and feedback would be super appreciated.
Prologue Meet your new best friend
Chapter 1 - The Watchmaker & The Doctor What do you think my abilities might be?
Chapter 2 - Something Different New life, New identity, New purpose
Chapter 3 - Forgiveness & Broken Watches An angel with a broken watch
Chapter 4 - Pie That’s my favorite kind
Chapter 5 - Ziti With a Side of Betrayal
Gabriel Gray is already at the coffee shop waiting for Elle Bishop before 9 the next morning. He has ordered the two of them coffees to-go and is now waiting at a small round table for his angel to arrive. While sitting, Gabriel’s leg bounces up and down slightly, keeping time with the ticking of his watch. It is a physical indicator of his nerves. A small part of him does not believe that the pretty blonde girl who sat with him eating peach pie just yesterday will actually show up. Girls like that are not interested in watchmakers.
When Elle walks through the door right on time, Gabriel’s breath catches in his throat. Her blonde hair catches the sunlight, framing her face in a heavenly glow. She is wearing a dusty-green colored top and a khaki skirt. Gabriel can’t help but notice how perfectly toned her body is, especially her legs. Elle’s bright blue eyes scan the room, looking for him. Gabriel catches her eyes with a small wave.
“Hey you,” Elle smiles. Her pulse quickens as she bounces over to him. When Gabriel stands to greet her, Elle impulsively hugs him. She tells herself that the hug isn’t for her own selfish needs. It is only to keep up the charade necessary for the assignment, nothing else. Despite telling herself all that, Elle can’t help but enjoy the safety and security she finds in Gabriel’s arms. He is surprisingly strong. You would never be able to tell it underneath his sweaters, but Gabriel Gray possesses a very well defined upper body.
Gabriel is caught off guard by Elle’s hug. Her small body fits perfectly against his; her head tucks underneath his chin and his large arms easily circle her tiny waist. Just as he starts to get lost in this perfect moment, Elle pulls away. “I- ah, I hope you don’t mind but I ordered you a coffee.” He hands her the insulated cardboard cup.
“Thanks Gabriel,” Elle says. Their fingers brush as she takes the cup. “That was really sweet of you.” She takes a long sip, savoring the aroma and taste of the drink. “Delicious! So, where to first?” She gives him a small nudge with her elbow.
“I thought we could take a walk. I can point out all the important places along the way,” Gabriel suggests. And then I thought that we could head across the river for lunch before coming back here for dinner. There is this really great Italian restaurant a few blocks from here.” He looks at her hesitantly. Planning out there day had not been an easy task for Gabriel. He had agonized over every little detail in an effort to design a day that might please his angel Elle.
“Sounds wonderful. I can’t wait,” Elle tells the dark haired man with a smile. Beneath the rims of his glasses, Gabriel’s chocolate brown eyes smile back at the fair-haired girl. The Watchmaker is surprised at how easily he is falling for Elle. The pieces fit smoothly into place, almost like the parts of a finely tuned timepiece.
Elle lets Gabriel lead the way as the walk through the streets of Queens. Eventually they take the subway into Manhattan exploring together. Around lunchtime, an over-excited Elle pulls Gabriel into an Indian restaurant. The two of them spend the entire day together. This is the closest thing Elle has ever had to a date in her entire life. She’s weeks away from turning twenty-four and this is the happiest she’s ever been. On the subway ride back to Queens, Elle just listens to Gabriel talk while she thinks. She considers urging Gabriel to run away with her. They could escape their parents and their powers, and just be happy. There is a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach every time a small part of her brain reminds her that tomorrow night she has to turn Gabriel into a killer.
Around dinnertime Elle can’t take anymore. She can’t bare to look Gabriel in the eyes one second longer knowing what she has to do to him tomorrow night. Elle stops in the middle of the sidewalk and turns to face Gabriel. “Thanks for a wonderful day,” she says. “But I’m starting to feel tired. I think I should head home and take it easy for the rest of the night.” Elle has always been a terrible liar. She can manipulate people easy enough when there is something of benefit in it for her, but she can’t outright fib when she doesn’t believe in what she is advocating. In order to keep Gabriel from detecting her lie, Elle dips her electric blue eyes down toward their feet.
“No, you can’t leave,” Gabriel orders. “We haven’t had dinner yet.” He knows that he sounds harsh, so he switches tactics. “I know it’s been a long day, but what if we skip the restaurant and get a pizza instead? We can take in back to my place. It would be quitter there and we can relax together,” Gabriel offers. He doesn’t want this day to end. As he looks at Elle, Gabriel notices he way her bangs fall into the corners of her eyes. An idle thought crosses his mind: he should reach up to gently brush the hair back from her face, especially on the left side. She has the cutest little beauty mark just to the side of her eye, but with her hair like this, it is obscured from view.
“Humm,” Elle pauses to consider his offer. She taps her index finger to her chin as she thinks. “Alright.” Her tone is neutral and Gabriel looks worried. Elle chuckles and steps closer to him before continuing, “It sounds wonderful actually. Thanks, Gabriel. You’re really sweet.” She reaches across the few inches separating them for him hand. Her tiny fingers weave into his.
Gabriel’s large dark eyes look down at their hands. He gives her hand the slightest of squeezes and is delighted when he can feel her pulse quicken beneath her skin. “The pizza place is just around the corner,” he tells her. Gabriel begins to walk again, giving Elle a small tug to bring her with him. As they walk, their arms bump and brush. They are both a bit awkward, but neither of them seems to mind.
Twenty minuets later they are back in Gabriel’s apartment. During the whole time, Elle has barely let go of his hand. But now she knows that they are going to be watched by more than just Bennet. On the street, she only had to think about peeping tom Noah Bennet watching them through binoculars from the Primatech Paper Company van. He at least might have the decency to not include their hand holding in his final case report. But the cameras in Gabriel’s apartment are another matter. She knows that Company analysts will be pouring over every nanosecond of these tapes, and she really doesn’t want to share her Gabriel with them.
Upon entering his kitchen, Elle drops Gabriel’s hand; reluctantly untangling her fingers from his. “Where are you’re plates?” she asks. Elle is quick to move away from his larger frame. The loss of contact makes her hand feel empty. Distancing herself from Gabriel removes the temptation for the connection she longs to reestablish.
“Ah, in the cabinet right over the sink,” he replies. He puts the pizza box down on the table and crosses to the refrigerator. “Can you get down two glasses while you’re in there? They should be right next to the plates. What would you like to drink? I don’t have much of a selection but I do have milk, water and orange juice.”
“Jelly glasses?” Elle turns around holding two of Gabriel’s glasses. They are empty jam jars, which he has re-purposed as cups. Gabriel suddenly blushes bright red. He knows that he is not rich or sophisticated, but Gabriel was not expecting Elle to criticize him. Elle sees his blush and hurries to correct tone. “I think its sweet.” Gabriel does not look convinced. “No, really. I like them.”
“You don’t mind, do you?” Gabriel timidly asks. He takes both glasses from Elle. Although too nervous to make direct eye contact, Gabriel looks at her out of the corner of the dark frames of his glasses.
“No, I think its cute that you have jam jars for glasses,” Elle says with a smile. “I’ll take some water.”
Gabriel looks down at the glasses. “That’s not what I meant,” he mumbles. His eyes flicker up to meet Elle’s gaze. “Do you mind that I’m just a watchmaker?”
Elle pauses. She needs to approach this situation carefully with the assignment objectives in mind. She needs to win Gabriel’s trust and get him to kill again. Her answer needs to be motivated by those goals, and nothing else. Slowly, Elle moves closer to him. “Gabriel,” she begins. Her voice is soft but firm. “You are not just a watchmaker. You’re special.” She gives him a quick hug. As she pulls away, Elle continues, “Besides, if you weren’t a watchmaker, if you were just like everyone else, we never would have met.” It pains Elle to see Gabriel smile at her answer. If he wasn’t so sweet, if she didn’t fall for him, what was about to happen wouldn’t be so agonizing. Elle doesn’t want to sacrifice Gabriel to the Company. She doesn’t want to turn him into a killer.
“Come on,” Elle says in an attempt to change the subject. “Let’s eat. I’m starving and this pizza smells good.” She flips open the top lid of the cardboard box and reaches for the closest slice. Without pausing to think, Elle bites into the pizza. It is still very hot and immediately burns the top of her mouth. “Ah,” Elle exclaims in surprise. “Hot!” She lets her mouth hang open and attempts to fan cooler air inside.
Gabriel chuckles at Elle’s cute display of impulsiveness. “Here’s you water,” he hands her a glass full of cold water. “It might help.”
“Thanks,” Elle mumbles, her mouth still full of burning hot pizza. She swallows her bite of food and follows it with a huge gulp of water. “That was a close one. I’d have been a goner if it hadn’t been for you.” Elle feels a little like a fool, but ever the Company-trained agent, she turns the situation to her advantage. Her little performance lands directly on the mark, endearing herself to Gabriel.
“Well, I don’t know about that, but I’m gad I could help,” Gabriel says. He takes a slice of pizza for himself. Cautiously, Gabriel takes a tiny bite. “It’s not that hot,” he teases Elle. Gabriel loves how comfortable he is becoming with Elle. She gave him some wonderful advice yesterday: just be yourself. Just as Elle predicted, things are naturally developing between them.
“Sure, tease the girl with a hole burned into the top of her mouth,” Elle says. “Seriously though, this is good pizza. Thanks for convincing me to stay for dinner.” She gives Gabriel a shy smile. Elle is starting to think about abandoning her assignment again. Gabriel doesn’t have to become a killer and Elle doesn’t have to be a Company girl. But then her gaze strays over his shoulder. She knows the camera is there, she knows Bennet is watching, and she remembers what she came here to do.
“So, why haven’t I seen you use your powers again?” Elle asks between bites of pizza. “Being able to move things with your mind, it’s so amazing. If I were you, I’d use it all the time.”
Gabriel swallows slowly. With his power comes hunger, an uncontrollable hunger. Using his telekinesis is a reminder of the price he paid for that power. He had taken the power from Brian Davis, he had killed him to gain his ability. “I- I don’t know.” Gabriel shrugs. “It just doesn’t seem that important,” he lies.
“But you are important, Gabriel,” Elle presses. “I really think you should you use them more. You know, develop them, find your limits.”
“I wouldn’t even know how to start,” Gabriel drops his gaze. He really wishes that Elle would let this alone. He wants them to go back to where there were this morning: the Watchmaker and the angel.
“What if you call one of those people on your list?” Elle prompts. If she can get Gabriel to contact one of the other people on the list, maybe she doesn’t have to lead Trevor like a lamb to the slaughter. If he really is a killer, she won’t need to prompt him to take another power. But that would mean Bennet was right about Gabriel all along. Elle considers all of this before deciding that Bennet is wrong. He doesn’t see what she does hidden beneath the sweater vests and glasses. Gabriel Gray is a good man, not a monster. Despite her conclusion, Elle keeps pushing. “Maybe one of them…”
“No,” Gabriel barks, cutting her off. His eyes flash with anger. Elle has seen this anger before in the surveillance tapes from Dr. Suresh’s apartment. Again, it seems to her that there is another side, another personality, to Gabriel that is fighting to emerge. “This is something I have to deal with on my own.” Elle’s look of fear registers with Gabriel, and he softens a bit. She has this calming effect on him. Whenever she is around, Gabriel doesn’t need to give in to the hunger. He can be special without being a monster. “I’m sorry, Elle, but you wouldn’t understand.”
Elle nods slowly. She actually understands better than Gabriel could even know. Elle has her own demons to deal with. The broken girl who no one loves, who no one can love. Who won’t let anyone get close, who can’t even win the approval of her own father. The Company sociopath. “It’s okay,” Elle reaches out for his arm. “It my fault. I shouldn’t have tried to force you to do anything you don’t want to.” She gently strokes his upper arm from just below the shoulder to the elbow.
There is a long pause in their conversation. “I think I ruined things,” Elle says, standing up from the small kitchen table. She does her best to appear flustered, but not too flustered. When playing a mark, it’s all about appearances. It’s best to leave them with the smallest of impressions than to oversell any emotion. Better to let them fill in between the lines than to offer them a complete play-by-play. “Maybe I should just go.”
“No,” Gabriel says softly. “I’m sorry. Please stay.” He reaches out to a hand to rest on her shoulder. He wishes that he had the power to make her stay with him. Gabriel can tell that something is bothering her. Something tells him that the underlying cause is not his recent outburst, though that definitely set her off, but he’s not sure exactly what is troubling Elle. He desperately to fix her the way she’s fixed him.
Elle shakes her head. “I’m tired. And you’re upset. We should just call it a night.”
Gabriel nods. He’s upset with himself for driving her away. “Alright.” He decides against asking Elle to stay again. It’s apparent that her mind is made up. Instead, he crosses to the door to hold it open for her.
“Thanks for a great day, Gabriel.” Elle flashes him a small, but weak smile before leaving. She’s starting to feel sick to her stomach again. She really doesn’t want to get Gabriel to kill, again. “Good night,” she says standing in the doorway.
“Good night, Elle,” Gabriel says. Before he closes the door, he reaches out for her small hand. Brining it up to his lips, he places a gentle kiss against her soft skin.
As soon as Gabriel closes the door, Elle sighs and leans back against the wall. If Gabriel wasn’t so sweet, this wouldn’t be so hard for her. She doesn’t want to send a good man like this to a horrible fate. In just over twenty-four hours time, she will have played her part, like a good little Company agent, and will have turned Gabriel Gray into a monster. The man that she knows, the man she met in the watch repair shop, the man she has come to like, will be gone forever.
Before that happens, Elle is going to take what she wants. Lifting up her shirt, she rips the wire away from her chest. The tape tears at her skin, leaving two angry red marks. Elle winces in pain. She holds the small electrical device in the palm of her hand. Generating a small electrical burst, Elle fires the bug. With a satisfied smile, she drops the dead device in her purse. She knows that Noah will yell at her later. In fact, he might already have figured out what she is about to do and is storming across the street to get her right now. If that is the case, Glasses is going to be too late to stop her.
Elle take a breath in to steady herself and then knocks on Gabriel’s door. A moment later, he opens the door with a puzzled expression on his face. “Elle? What are you…” Before he can finish his question, Elle walks past Gabriel into the apartment. There is a hungry look in her eyes. Silently, he closes the door behind her and turns around to face her. Before he can speak again, Elle is there. She places her open hand on Gabriel’s chest and backs him into the door. Stunned, he lets her walk him backwards until his body connects with the door with a small, hollow thud. He opens his mouth to ask what she is doing, but before any words come out Elle pushes herself up onto her tiptoes. All Gabriel can do is gulp. She places both of her palms on his chest and presses her body into his. Her lips hover over his for a beat, eyes finding his. Then her eyes flutter closed and she leans in the rest of the way in and kisses him full on the mouth.
It takes Gabriel a few seconds to catch up with what is happening. Elle is back. And she’s kissing him. Elle is kissing him. When Gabriel does catch up, he closes his eyes as well and brings his hands up to cup her tiny face. As he deepens the kiss, Elle responds with the smallest of moans. The sounds only emboldens Gabriel. He takes control of the kiss, walking Elle backward toward the kitchen table. But Elle is not willing to surrender completely to him. She slips her tongue past Gabriel’s lips, which part easily. She drops her hands from his chest and begins to tug his button down shirt free of his slacks.
When Gabriel feels Elle’s hand brush against the skin under his shirt, he breaks the kiss. His hands move from her face to her waist. He steps back from her, locking his elbows to keep her against the table and away from him. She is too tempting right now: chest heaving as she gasps for breath, eyes wide with lust. “Elle,” he breathes, gasping for breath himself. “Wait.”
“Gabriel,” Elle whispers in reply. She reaches for him, but Gabriel keeps her pined against the table. As much as he wants the feeling of her body crushed against his again, he needs to keep his distance. He can’t allow himself to loose control. “Gabriel, please.” Elle’s tiny plea is almost enough to break his bending will, but Gabriel steadies himself.
“We can’t,” he somehow manages to choke out. “Not right now. We-we barely know each other.” He protests. Although his body is telling him that his excuse is quite possibly the lamest excuse known to all of mankind, his brain somehow manages to win out. Things aren’t supposed to happen this way, at least not in real life. Scenarios like this one only play out in movies or on television. In reality, two people need to take the time to fall in love. People don’t just go around throwing themselves at each other.
“Well, lets get to know each other,” Elle says. She runs her fingers up his arm, sending shivers through his body. She takes advantage of his momentary loss of concentration to push her body against his again. Elle places a slow kiss his neck, right where the curve of his jaw ended.
Now it is Gabriel’s turn to moan softly. None of the other girl’s he had kissed had ever discovered that spot. It felt amazing. Gabriel doesn’t want Elle to ever stop kissing him, but then his brain wrestles control away from his physical impulses. “Wait, wait, wait,” he says, pushing her away again. Seeing the disappointed look on her face, Gabriel says, “Tomorrow. Tomorrow night, after work. Meet me here. I’ll- I’ll cook us dinner.” He wants everything to be perfect. He needs to romance Elle properly; a girl like her deserves it. Dinner and candlelight spell love, or at least that’s what Gabriel believes to be true. An intimate evening together that might lead to a different variety of intimacy. That would be more appropriate than giving into primal instincts in his kitchen.
Elle nods eagerly. She pushes herself up onto her toes to kiss him again. This time, it is a quick, chaste kiss; a peck on the lips. “Tomorrow then,” she says. “I can’t wait.” As Elle moves to leave, she takes Gabriel’s hand and pulls him toward the door with her. She turns around to face him as her free hand closes around the door handle. Her electric blue eyes never leave his chocolate brown ones as she opens the door, stepping out of the way. Elle gives Gabriel one last long kiss before leaving. “Goodbye,” she whispers.
Gabriel doesn’t say anything in reply. Elle has left him speechless. This realization only makes her smile more as she pulls the door shut behind her. Elle is still grinning from ear to ear, when she is grabbed roughly by the arm and yanked toward the rear exit of the building. “Hey!” Elle tries to shout, but a large hand comes up to cover her mouth. She forms a large ball of electricity in her right hand and is about to launch it at her assailant when they speak.
“Don’t even think of it, Elle,” Bennet growls in her ear. He wrenches her arm around, bending it up at the elbow and pressing it into her back. His other hand is still covering her mouth, but he tucks the arm in, pinning her other arm to her side. Elle has been trained to fight back, to break an assailant’s hold on her, but Bennet has been well trained. Every move, every twist, she tries to wrench free of his grasp, he counters perfectly.
As soon as they burst from the door of the building, he shoves Elle against the brick wall of the alley. She stumbles in surprise, throwing out her arms to break her fall. Her electricity hits the wall first, shooting out in one concentrated burst. “What the hell Bennet!” Elle bites back. She adjusts her shirt while glaring at him through the twilight.
“What do you think you were doing back there?” Bennet circles her. She can see the handle of his Company issue firearm sticking out from the waistband of his pants. He had obviously come into this situation prepared for the worst. She wonders how long he was waiting outside the door for her and whether or not he would have come in after her had she been in there much longer. “Do you think this is a game? Gabriel is a killer Elle!” He sighs deeply and runs a hand through his short hair. “I knew it was a mistake to put you on this assignment.”
“Relax, Glasses. That was for the assignment.” Elle steps away from the wall. She focuses her gaze on Bennet. She really hates when he yells at her like that. Its not like he’s her father. He’s not even head of the Company. “I needed to make sure that I got invited back for tomorrow. Like you said, we need to kick this into high gear.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Bennet says. He sighs and drops his shoulders. “You will get Mr. Gray to kill tomorrow night.” Elle starts to protest, but he holds up a finger to silence her. He is not finished. “Gabriel is going to kill Mr. Zeitlan. And I will erase you little indiscretion from the final surveillance tapes that go the Company. We both get what we want.”
Elle wants to fight back, to tell Bennet that Gabriel is not a killer and that she will not play her part in turning him into a monster. But then she realizes that Noah has offered her a mutually beneficial arrangement. She comes completes her assignment and Daddy doesn’t have to know that she just threw herself at Gabriel Gray. He would be less than pleased, considering how many lectures he’s given her on what appropriate behavior for a Company agent should be. This might be the last straw; Daddy might sideline her after this. He’s made it clear that if she messes up again, she’d be the new training agent; no more field operations. “Fine,” she says, begrudgingly.
“Get back to the van,” Bennet orders. When Elle doesn’t immediately move, he adds, “Now!” She sighs, but does as she’s told. Elle is always stuck following orders. But that doesn’t mean that she has to like it. She slams the van door closed harder than necessary. Elle refuses to look at Noah the entire ride back to their hotel. She hops down from the van before he even shuts off the engine and marches straight to her room. Once there, she turns the television on and flops down on the bed. The volume is set high to block out Bennet in the next room. She doesn’t want him trying to talk to her about tomorrow night. The gravity of the situation is already pressing on her; she doesn’t need him to remind her about what is going to happen.
Elle lies back on the bed and stares up at the ceiling. She fights to empty her mind. After a few moments, Elle gives up and closes her eyes, recalling the events of earlier. With just a little concentration, she can still feel his lips on her’s. Elle brings her hand up to ghost her index and middle fingers over her lips. Though she is certain that Gabriel has had less experience than Adam Monroe, it was still the single best kiss of her life. Elle drifts off to sleep remembering the way Gabriel felt.
In her dreams, Elle wanders the halls of Level 5. She can feel her own fear, tight in her chest; like a snake coiled around her heart, threatening to squeeze the life from her. The inmates down here are scared too. Jesse shouts, but the glass panel of his cell doesn’t shatter. Elle can hear the clicking of her heals against the concrete floor as she rushes toward the last cell in the row. The sound fills her ears. It keeps a constant pace, like the ticking of a clock. Before Elle can reach the cell, she is sent flying through the air like a rag doll; propelled by an invisible force. She hits the wall roughly and falls face down on the floor. Feeling disoriented, Elle raises her head to identify her unknown assailant. Electricity crackles from her fingertips.
Gabriel Gary stands before her. But the Gabriel in her dream is not the Gabriel from the watch shop. Gone are the glasses that perfectly complement his eyes. His sweater vest has been replaced with a black jacket. Slicked back hair replaces the modest style he once had. Gabriel slowly steps out of the shadows, approaching her like a predator. With one effortless flick of his wrist, Gabriel flips Elle over on to her back. She body slams hard against the floor and she is pinned helplessly in place. “I’ve killed a lot of people Elle,” he tells her. His voice is hollow and emotionless. Elle’s heat is pounding in her ears. “You’re as much to blame for that as anyone. Maybe even more so.” His dark eyes fill with murder. He means to kill her.
Elle bolts upright in bed. Just like in her dream, her heart is pounding in fear. She may have fallen asleep in a blissful state, but this morning Elle feels sick with anticipation. She can barely look at herself in the mirror as she prepares for the day. Her eyes reveal her deepest fears. If there is no hope for Gabriel, perhaps there is no hope for her. He is the only person who has ever been interested in Elle; not Elle the agent, not Elle the sociopath, but Elle the girl. If Gabriel becomes a monster, then Elle has to go back to the Company alone.
Ever since she can remember, Elle has looked for approval and affection. She has over heard her father talking with the Company psychologists about her need for love. Daddy blames her compulsions on her mother’s death. Loosing someone so young creates deep scars. And loosing a mother’s unconditional love creates lasting scars. Elle’s father has always kept her at an arm’s length. She was an agent, a Company asset first and a daughter second.
When Elle couldn’t find affection from Daddy, she sought out surrogate father figures. That search had brought her to Adam. From the time she was fourteen, Elle had been trying to win tenderness from the three hundred-year-old man. But there was no tenderness left in his heart. He had hurt Elle, so she hurt him back. Had Elle been raised in the outside world rather than the confines of the Company Research Facility, she probably would have ended up as a stripper, like all the other damaged girls with daddy issues they just can’t get past.
Elle dresses for the in the floral print top Noah has picked out for her, along with a pair of simple slacks. Her outfit makes her look innocent: dressed in white with delicate flowers. It’s a flimsy disguise for the temptress she must play. When she is ready, she knocks on the door between their rooms. Bennet is there almost immediately, like he has been waiting for her to be ready. “You’re wake early,” he observes. “Couldn’t sleep?”
She doesn’t answer him. Instead she says, “Let’s just get this assignment over with, okay?” It is as if the spark has left Elle. She doesn’t want to fight with Bennet anymore. By this point, Elle knows how any fight will end. Bennet will remind her of their orders, and Elle will cave in, knowing that she has no other feasible options. Any potential affection Gabriel might represent to her is not a guarantee. As unsatisfying as her life with the Company might be, she is too scared to give it up on a whim.
Elle lags behind Bennet on the way to the Primatech van. After hopping into the passenger side, the two of them leave the hotel for Brooklyn. They are going to spend the day watching Gabriel again. After pulling up outside his watch repair shop, Bennet begins calling up the feed from the surveillance camera Elle planted in the back room on Friday. Mutely, Elle joins him he back of the van. She finds a comfortable enough position to sit in for hours and places the headphones over her ears. She brushes her hair out from under the earpieces and settles in.
Most of the day passes in tedium. Gabriel is dresses as he usually is, with a sky blue and brown plaid button down shirt and a chocolate brown sweater vest. He has attached the magnifying lenses to the dark frames of his glasses. Gabriel spends most of the day repairing an antique clock that time has really taken a toll on. Nearly every moving has seized up. Elle loves watching him work. She loves the way his brow furrows as he puzzles over the clock and loves the way he smiles when all the pieces fall into place. Elle wonders if Gabriel will continue to fix watches after she turns him into a monster.
Just after lunchtime, an elderly man enters the shop. “Hello?” he calls. One of his hands reaches into his pocket and removes a gold pocket watch on a long chain.
“I’ll be right with you,” Gabriel replies from the back. He has to take a delicate screwdriver from his lips to speak, but immediately returns it wen he is done. He is almost finished repairing the clock. There are only two pieces left on the table now.
“Don’t worry young man, I’m coming to you,” the man walks toward the sound of Gabriel’s voice. As soon as he rounds the corner into the back room, the man lets out a low, amazed whistle. “That is a beautiful timepiece.”
Gabriel smiles in triumph after returning the last piece to its rightful place. A new soft ticking sound can be heard joining the other timepieces in the shop. He looks over to the man standing next to him. Gabriel’s eyes instantly travel to the watch held in his hand. An ornate etched design covers the top of the case in loops and swirls. “As is that piece.”
“Thank you very much,” he man replies, running a finger along the curve of the watch. “It was my grandfather’s. But this morning it stopped.”
“May I?” Gabriel asks politely. The other man nods in assent before unclipping the claps of the watch chain from the buttonhole on his gray sweater. He slowly holds the watch out for Gabriel to take. Gabriel slowly and reverently turns the watch over and opens the back, exposing the inner workings. “This shouldn’t take to long to fix, but I’m not sure that I have the proper parts on hand. I might need to go poking around the shop. Its not every day I work with something this rare.”
“Could you have it ready by closing?” the man asks hopefully.
“Possibly,” Gabriel replies. “But I was planning on closing early today.” He hopes that his explanation will not offend his customer. But he had been hoping to leave before closing in order to prepare for his evening with Elle.
The older man seems to be able to read Gabriel’s face perfectly. “A young lady, eh?” A foolish smile confirms that he is correct. “A worthy excuse.” He claps a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Treat her right and never hesitate to tell her how beautiful she is. And most importantly, never pass up an opportunity to tell her that you love her.” He speaks from experience.
Gabriel stumbles over a reply. “I- I’ve only just met her.” He shrugs and adjusts his glasses.
“But you already love her. Don’t try to deny it son, I can see it on your face,” the man says. “Tell her.”
Elle’s eyes unwillingly begin to well up with tears. She rips the headphones off her ears and bolts from the back of the Primatech Paper van. She doesn’t want to listen any longer as this man deconstructs Gabriel’s facial expressions. “Elle!” Bennet calls after her as she runs down the alleyway. “Elle!” he screams louder when she doesn’t reply, slow or stop. Bennet growls in frustration as he takes his headphones off and follows after the fleeing agent.
Elle does not make good time as she runs in her heels and Bennet easily catches up with her. He reaches out for her arm to stop her. “Where do you think you’re going? We’re in the middle of an assignment?” he asks her in a harsh tone.
Elle jerks her arm away from Bennet and walks in circles. She brings her right hand up to her forehead, her fingertip push her bangs up slightly. Elle looks around; she is lost and confused. “I can’t do it,” she manages to say between frantic breaths. Bennet is about to reply when Elle continues, “He’s not a monster and I won’t help make him one.” Elle doesn’t want to loose the sweet Watchmaker who might actually love her. He might be the only one who ever has loved her.
“Fine, that doesn’t matter to me,” Bennet says with a shrug of his shoulders. “Mr. Gray is going to kill tonight with or with out you. The real variable here is whether or not you get to keep your job,” Noah explained. “The Company has made it clear to your father that if you do not perform, you are out.”
Elle bites her lip. Daddy has hinted that Elle was on thin ice with Company management. They did not believe that she was performing at a level that warranted her continuance as an agent. She knew that if she did not satisfactorily complete this assignment, she’d be out on her own. Elle couldn’t afford to be on her own. She glares at Bennet, but walks back to the Primatech van. Elle crosses her arms over her chest. She hates not being in control. She hates having to follow orders that leave her with no options.
The rest of the afternoon passes without any other outbursts from the petite blonde agent. True to his statement form earlier, Gabriel does close his repair shop early to get ready for his evening with Elle. After arriving home, Gabriel begins to prepare a baked ziti dish for the two of them. While that is in the oven, he puts together a fresh garden salad to accompany the main course.
After finishing with the food, Gabriel changes his clothes. He selects a shirt with vertical blue stripes and pairs it with a navy blue tie. Next, Gabriel sets up a small table in sitting room. He places two chairs across from each other and covers the table with a white linen tablecloth. The bottle of wine he bought earlier today is placed by Gabriel’s seat. Back in the kitchen, Gabriel selects two matching jelly glasses with a blue swirl pattern. He is just about to begin looking for candlesticks when there is a knock on the door.
Gabriel’s face is covered with a wide smile as he opens the door for Elle. She looks amazing; entirely beautiful. “Hi. I’m not to early am I?” she asks.
“No, not at all,” Gabriel replies. “Come in.” He takes her hand and gives it a light kiss. Elle giggles, but her laughter is cut short when Gabriel pulls her in for a long kiss. Elle is pleasantly surprised that Gabriel has taken the initiative to kiss her. His hand moves from her’s to curl around her back, pulling her closer.
Elle decides to break the kiss before Bennet gets angry with her again. Plus, the longer he kisses her the more she regrets what she is about to do. Turning toward the sitting room, she sees the table. “Do you do this for us?” she asks.
“Yeah,” he answers, running a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry there aren’t any candles. I wanted everything to be perfect.”
“It is perfect,” Elle says, smiling at him. She walks over to the table and runs her fingers along the tablecloth. As Gabriel watches her, the advice he was given by the older gentleman creeps into his thoughts. He should tell Elle how he feels about her. Elle said that his preparations for this romantic evening were perfect. Gabriel was told to never pass up a perfect opportunity.
Gabriel advances toward his angel. Standing directly behind her, he slowly strokes Elle’s arm. His touch makes her shiver slightly. She turns around to face him. Electric blue eyes meet chocolate brown ones, each pair saying what neither can vocalize. “Elle,” Gabriel breathes. He steadies himself to continue with his declaration.
The timer in the kitchen goes off, interrupting their perfect quiet moment. “Would you mind getting that?” Gabriel asks Elle. He hurriedly breaks off eye contact with her. Suddenly he feels foolish. “All you have to do is take the baked ziti out of the oven.”
“Sure thing,” Elle nods. As she heads into the kitchen, Elle catches sight of a clock. Trevor is going to be here soon. Elle’s face drops. She doesn’t want to do this, but she has no choice. Elle takes their dinner out of the oven and hesitates. She could just leave, right now; she should leave. And then she remembers that she has an assignment, she remembers that she is an agent. “This ziti smells terrific,” she calls to Gabriel.
“I can’t wait,” Gabriel replies from the sitting room. He sounds so eager for the night to really get going: dinner, romance, and maybe something more. Back in the kitchen, Elle grimaces. Just do it, she tells herself.
“Hey have you ever been to that little theater down the street?” Elle asks as she brings the ziti into the sitting room. Gabriel pops open bottle the wine. “I saw that they have some sort of artsy spoken word thing there tonight.”
“Well maybe we should stop by later,” Gabriel replies. Elle holds up the ziti dish to his nose. It smells delicious, it smells perfect. This whole evening is going to be perfect. Looking into Elle’s eyes, he has never been happier. Gabriel is thinking about kissing her again, and has even begun to lean toward her over the steaming dish of baked ziti when there is a knock on his door.
Gabriel looks from the door to Elle and back to the door again. The knock is ominous. Their perfect evening is beginning to unravel with this intrusion. “Oh, I invited someone to join us. I hope you don’t mind,” Elle explains as she backs toward the kitchen. She keeps smiling to reassure Gabriel. “Its open,” she calls to the person on the other side.
“Yeah, I’m Trevor. We spoke on the phone?” The person in the doorway has greasy, stringy hair. He’s made up like a goth rocker, complete with heavy eyeliner and torn clothing. In appearances, he has nothing in common with the mild-mannered Watchmaker in the next room.
“I’m Elle,” she says, greeting Trevor after putting the ziti dish down on the stovetop. Elle motions for him to follow her into the next room. “And this is Gabriel,” she gestures toward the tall, handsome man. “I thought you two should meet. Trevor has an ability too.” Elle doesn’t push anything right from the start. She is hoping that she won’t have to take Gabriel by the hand and lead him to kill Trevor.
“An ability? I don’t understand,” Gabriel shakes his head slightly. He has no clue why Elle would have invited his guy here tonight. This was supposed to their night, their romantic evening. Now it was ruined. This Trevor was disgusting. Why did Elle invite him here?
“Don’t be mad but I got Trevor’s number of that list you had. I really think it’s important for you to get to know people like yourself. I mean, alcoholics can’t do it alone,” Elle explains. She turns to the other man in the room. “Trevor, why don’t you show us what you can do?”
“Okay,” Trevor replies. Gabriel does not like the way he is looking around the apartment and the way he is looking up and down Elle. Trevor raises his arm. It is too close to Elle for Gabriel’s taste. He forms his hand in the shape of a gun. He aims by squinting one and then tilts his thumb down. One of the jelly glasses on the table shatters. Gabriel jumps slightly and Elle gasps. Trevor bursts the second glass.
“That is so cool,” Elle breathes. She saw Gabriel’s small reaction. Though he wont show it, she knows that he is feeling tempted by Trevor’s ability. It is up to her to get him to act. “Gabriel, isn’t that special?” When she doesn’t get a reply, Elle tries a new tactic. “Wait here, I have a great idea.” Elle runs into kitchen, leaving Gabriel and Trevor alone in the sitting room. She had hoped that this small display would have been enough to entice Gabriel, but apparently he needed the bait to be dangled in his face a little more.
Elle returns to the sitting room with three more of Gabriel’s jelly glasses. She rushes over to the table and stacks the glasses in a small pyramid. “Okay,” she says to Trevor. “Do it again.” She moves to stand between the two men. Trevor takes aim with both hands and bursts three glasses simultaneously.
Elle gasps again and presses a hand up to her chest. “I love that,” she says to Trevor. “Don’t you love that?,” she asks as she turns toward Gabriel.
“That’s great,” he chokes out. Gabriel can feel his palms growing sweaty. His breathing is rapidly. The hunger he felt so strongly that day in the watch shop with Brian Davis is back. He stays perfectly still, afraid to move, because if he does, Gabriel is not sure what would happen. Along with the hunger, he also feels jealousy growing inside him. He can’t believe the way Elle is gushing over Trevor’s ability. He doesn’t understand why she is interested in him.
“It’s so special,” Elle says, baiting Gabriel. “Let’s see it again.” She walks toward the kitchen for more glasses.
Gabriel turns on the spot suddenly. His eyes are angry. “You think he’s so special?” he barks to Elle. “I bet he can’t do this.” Before really knowing what he is doing, Gabriel throws Trevor against the wall. The motion is jerky. Gabriel did not know that he could do that. When Trevor hits the wall, the force knocks the books to the floor. Gabriel holds him there, arms pressed back against the wall and feet dangling above the floor.
“Gabriel,” Elle says. There is no warmth in her voice. All she wants to do at this moment is to make Gabriel stop. Now that he has finally acted on his feelings of hunger, Elle does not what to let him follow through. She does not want him to become a monster.
“I think you need to leave,” Gabriel says. The warmth is missing from his voice as well. There is a hunger there instead. “Now.” He turns his attention back to Trevor, who is struggling against his invisible bonds.
“Gabriel, don’t!” Elle orders. She fires a shock of electricity square at his back. Gabriel grunts and falls limply to the floor. Since his concentration is broken, Trevor drops to the floor as well.
Elle advances toward Gabriel slowly. “Please…” she voice is soft. She is both begging Gabriel to stop and pleading with herself to end this before he becomes a monster. There has to be a way to redeem the both of them.
“How did you...?” he begins, but doesn’t finish the question. Elle is not longer his angel. She is a devil in disguise. He has never felt so betrayed. It is all become clear to him now. Elle brought Trevor here tonight because of his hunger. She has been playing him from the moment she walked into his repair shop. None of this has been real: the pie, the kiss, dinner, nothing.
“You don’t have to do this,” Elle pleads. She wants to ask Gabriel to just leave with her. Leave the Company and Trevor behind. They can start over together. They can be the Watchmaker and the angel forever. They don’t have to become the monster and the agent. She is begging him to stop. She is pleading for him to stay Gabriel and for her to stay Elle.
Gabriel jumps up. His glasses have been knocked askew. “Who are you?” he asks. When Elle doesn’t answer, he throws her across kitchen. Elle connects with the refrigerator and falls to the floor with a scared scream. She looks up at Gabriel with fear in her eyes. “Get out!” he orders.
Elle hurriedly pushes herself up off the floor. Whimpering, she throws open the door and runs from the apartment. Gabriel turns her attention back to Trevor. Using his telekinesis, he restrains the goth rocker against wall. A flicker of fear crosses his face. Gabriel slowly raises his right hand. Sliding his hand through the air, he begins to slice Trevor’s head open.
The sound of Trevor’s screams fill the apartment. Gabriel did not know that he could do that either. This power is so new to him; he is still discovering the full extent of his abilities. The feeling of his power is intoxicating. It makes him feel alive; it makes him feel significant.
Elle can hear faint screams issuing form Gabriel’s apartment as runs across street. Adrenaline is pumping through her veins, making it difficult of her to open the door to the van. When she finally opens the door, she immediately hops into the back. “We can’t do this. Bennet, we have to make him stop!” She stumbles over to the Company man. Elle catches sight of the scene back in the apartment over Noah’s shoulder and turns away.
“This is incredible,” Bennet says. He’s riveted to the screen. Trevor screams one last time before he dies. “He actually exposes the brain,” he says to Elle, who has found a seat on some crates to his left.
“Oh my god,” she breathes. She rests her chin on her knuckles as tears start to silently roll down her cheeks. Gabriel is gone now. She has killed him as sure as the Watchmaker in the apartment has killed the man with the power he wanted.
As Elle cries, Bennet’s eye never leave the view of Gabriel in his apartment. The older Company agent continues to give the blonde agent a play by play. Gabriel’s fingers delicately probe Trevor’s brain, searching out the source of his power. The Watchmaker’s brow furrows in concentration until the moment all the pieces fall into place. Deft fingers press against the curves of the brain as Gabriel sighs in relief. He transfers Trevor’s power to himself with a contented smile.
Suddenly, Gabriel’s entire demeanor changes. It is like he has suddenly awoken and found himself in a strange place. Gabriel backs away from Trevor’s lifeless body and returns to his feet. He slowly lifts his bloody hands, inspecting them as if they were not his own. His breathing increases rapidly. Gabriel turns around, looking for an escape route. His gaze settles on the kitchen door and Gabriel runs to it. He rests a bloody palm on the stark white door, risking one last look back at the scene in the apartment. Gabriel stumbles from his apartment, leaving a scarlet red stain across the door.
Bennet picks up his Company issue firearm. Elle hadn’t noticed the gun laying on the small case next to the surveillance televisions. She brushes away her tears and wonders if Bennet had taken it from his shoulder holster in preparation for a rescue operation. When Gabriel had thrown her across the kitchen, she thought for sure that he was going to kill her too. “Let’s go,” Bennet says tersely. He puts the gun discreetly into his shoulder holster.
“Go?” Elle’s voice cracks as she speaks. It is a dead give-away that she has been crying. She dabs at the corners of her red eyes with her index fingers. “Go where?”
“We’ve going to bring the body back to Primatech. The Company will be sending a clean-up crew, but we need to get the body before Mr. Gray returns,” Bennet explains. “Our scientists are going to study the brain in conjunction with the tapes.”
Elle nearly throws up on the floor of the van. It was bad enough that she had been ordered to lead Trevor like a lamb to the slaughter and had witnessed his murder, but now Glasses expected her to return to the scene of her greatest crime? She had watched Gabriel become a monster, she didn’t need a visual reminder of the atrocities she had committed against the Watchmaker she had come to care for.
Bennet reaches out to put a hand of Elle’s shoulder, anchoring her to this moment. “You’ve done invaluable work here tonight Elle,” he reminds her. Unlike his usual tone, Bennet is gentle with Elle. He almost sounds sorry for her. “But we’re not done yet. We need Mr. Zeitlan’s brain.” Bennet takes out his cell phone. “It’s done. Meet us at the apartment.” She can tell that the Haitian is on the other end of the line because Bennet doesn’t actually have a conversation, he just gives orders.
The tall and silent enigma known only among the Company as the Haitian has the amazing and invaluable ability to dampen the abilities of those around him. He is normally Bennet’s partner for their bag-and-tag missions. Elle isn’t surprised that Bennet has had him waiting in the wings during this assignment, she’s only surprised that he hasn’t been called in earlier.
Elle nods slowly. She is too broken to fight back anymore. Instead she meekly follows Bennet out of the van. “Stay alert,” Bennet cautions her. “We don’t know when Mr. Gray will be back. The Haitian is on his way but for now be ready to immobilize him if necessary. You’ve seen how dangerous he can be.” Elle doesn’t make a verbal reply, but builds up an electric change in the palm of her left hand. Though her body responds easily to the electricity, but her eyes remain expressionless. Usually there is an echo of her spark captured in her electric blue irises, but tonight they are empty.
Characters: Elle Bishop, Gabriel Gary, Noah Bennet
Summary: Elle and Sylar's relationship examined. Chapter 5: Gabriel shows Elle around New York. Elle reluctantly follows through on her assignment.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Heroes does not belong to me. I'm in debt to Tim Kring for creating amazing characters that capture my imagination.
Notes: I've always wondered what goes on between the scenes Heroes shows us, so I just decided to let my imagination take control. Comments and feedback would be super appreciated.
Prologue Meet your new best friend
Chapter 1 - The Watchmaker & The Doctor What do you think my abilities might be?
Chapter 2 - Something Different New life, New identity, New purpose
Chapter 3 - Forgiveness & Broken Watches An angel with a broken watch
Chapter 4 - Pie That’s my favorite kind
Chapter 5 - Ziti With a Side of Betrayal
Gabriel Gray is already at the coffee shop waiting for Elle Bishop before 9 the next morning. He has ordered the two of them coffees to-go and is now waiting at a small round table for his angel to arrive. While sitting, Gabriel’s leg bounces up and down slightly, keeping time with the ticking of his watch. It is a physical indicator of his nerves. A small part of him does not believe that the pretty blonde girl who sat with him eating peach pie just yesterday will actually show up. Girls like that are not interested in watchmakers.
When Elle walks through the door right on time, Gabriel’s breath catches in his throat. Her blonde hair catches the sunlight, framing her face in a heavenly glow. She is wearing a dusty-green colored top and a khaki skirt. Gabriel can’t help but notice how perfectly toned her body is, especially her legs. Elle’s bright blue eyes scan the room, looking for him. Gabriel catches her eyes with a small wave.
“Hey you,” Elle smiles. Her pulse quickens as she bounces over to him. When Gabriel stands to greet her, Elle impulsively hugs him. She tells herself that the hug isn’t for her own selfish needs. It is only to keep up the charade necessary for the assignment, nothing else. Despite telling herself all that, Elle can’t help but enjoy the safety and security she finds in Gabriel’s arms. He is surprisingly strong. You would never be able to tell it underneath his sweaters, but Gabriel Gray possesses a very well defined upper body.
Gabriel is caught off guard by Elle’s hug. Her small body fits perfectly against his; her head tucks underneath his chin and his large arms easily circle her tiny waist. Just as he starts to get lost in this perfect moment, Elle pulls away. “I- ah, I hope you don’t mind but I ordered you a coffee.” He hands her the insulated cardboard cup.
“Thanks Gabriel,” Elle says. Their fingers brush as she takes the cup. “That was really sweet of you.” She takes a long sip, savoring the aroma and taste of the drink. “Delicious! So, where to first?” She gives him a small nudge with her elbow.
“I thought we could take a walk. I can point out all the important places along the way,” Gabriel suggests. And then I thought that we could head across the river for lunch before coming back here for dinner. There is this really great Italian restaurant a few blocks from here.” He looks at her hesitantly. Planning out there day had not been an easy task for Gabriel. He had agonized over every little detail in an effort to design a day that might please his angel Elle.
“Sounds wonderful. I can’t wait,” Elle tells the dark haired man with a smile. Beneath the rims of his glasses, Gabriel’s chocolate brown eyes smile back at the fair-haired girl. The Watchmaker is surprised at how easily he is falling for Elle. The pieces fit smoothly into place, almost like the parts of a finely tuned timepiece.
Elle lets Gabriel lead the way as the walk through the streets of Queens. Eventually they take the subway into Manhattan exploring together. Around lunchtime, an over-excited Elle pulls Gabriel into an Indian restaurant. The two of them spend the entire day together. This is the closest thing Elle has ever had to a date in her entire life. She’s weeks away from turning twenty-four and this is the happiest she’s ever been. On the subway ride back to Queens, Elle just listens to Gabriel talk while she thinks. She considers urging Gabriel to run away with her. They could escape their parents and their powers, and just be happy. There is a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach every time a small part of her brain reminds her that tomorrow night she has to turn Gabriel into a killer.
Around dinnertime Elle can’t take anymore. She can’t bare to look Gabriel in the eyes one second longer knowing what she has to do to him tomorrow night. Elle stops in the middle of the sidewalk and turns to face Gabriel. “Thanks for a wonderful day,” she says. “But I’m starting to feel tired. I think I should head home and take it easy for the rest of the night.” Elle has always been a terrible liar. She can manipulate people easy enough when there is something of benefit in it for her, but she can’t outright fib when she doesn’t believe in what she is advocating. In order to keep Gabriel from detecting her lie, Elle dips her electric blue eyes down toward their feet.
“No, you can’t leave,” Gabriel orders. “We haven’t had dinner yet.” He knows that he sounds harsh, so he switches tactics. “I know it’s been a long day, but what if we skip the restaurant and get a pizza instead? We can take in back to my place. It would be quitter there and we can relax together,” Gabriel offers. He doesn’t want this day to end. As he looks at Elle, Gabriel notices he way her bangs fall into the corners of her eyes. An idle thought crosses his mind: he should reach up to gently brush the hair back from her face, especially on the left side. She has the cutest little beauty mark just to the side of her eye, but with her hair like this, it is obscured from view.
“Humm,” Elle pauses to consider his offer. She taps her index finger to her chin as she thinks. “Alright.” Her tone is neutral and Gabriel looks worried. Elle chuckles and steps closer to him before continuing, “It sounds wonderful actually. Thanks, Gabriel. You’re really sweet.” She reaches across the few inches separating them for him hand. Her tiny fingers weave into his.
Gabriel’s large dark eyes look down at their hands. He gives her hand the slightest of squeezes and is delighted when he can feel her pulse quicken beneath her skin. “The pizza place is just around the corner,” he tells her. Gabriel begins to walk again, giving Elle a small tug to bring her with him. As they walk, their arms bump and brush. They are both a bit awkward, but neither of them seems to mind.
Twenty minuets later they are back in Gabriel’s apartment. During the whole time, Elle has barely let go of his hand. But now she knows that they are going to be watched by more than just Bennet. On the street, she only had to think about peeping tom Noah Bennet watching them through binoculars from the Primatech Paper Company van. He at least might have the decency to not include their hand holding in his final case report. But the cameras in Gabriel’s apartment are another matter. She knows that Company analysts will be pouring over every nanosecond of these tapes, and she really doesn’t want to share her Gabriel with them.
Upon entering his kitchen, Elle drops Gabriel’s hand; reluctantly untangling her fingers from his. “Where are you’re plates?” she asks. Elle is quick to move away from his larger frame. The loss of contact makes her hand feel empty. Distancing herself from Gabriel removes the temptation for the connection she longs to reestablish.
“Ah, in the cabinet right over the sink,” he replies. He puts the pizza box down on the table and crosses to the refrigerator. “Can you get down two glasses while you’re in there? They should be right next to the plates. What would you like to drink? I don’t have much of a selection but I do have milk, water and orange juice.”
“Jelly glasses?” Elle turns around holding two of Gabriel’s glasses. They are empty jam jars, which he has re-purposed as cups. Gabriel suddenly blushes bright red. He knows that he is not rich or sophisticated, but Gabriel was not expecting Elle to criticize him. Elle sees his blush and hurries to correct tone. “I think its sweet.” Gabriel does not look convinced. “No, really. I like them.”
“You don’t mind, do you?” Gabriel timidly asks. He takes both glasses from Elle. Although too nervous to make direct eye contact, Gabriel looks at her out of the corner of the dark frames of his glasses.
“No, I think its cute that you have jam jars for glasses,” Elle says with a smile. “I’ll take some water.”
Gabriel looks down at the glasses. “That’s not what I meant,” he mumbles. His eyes flicker up to meet Elle’s gaze. “Do you mind that I’m just a watchmaker?”
Elle pauses. She needs to approach this situation carefully with the assignment objectives in mind. She needs to win Gabriel’s trust and get him to kill again. Her answer needs to be motivated by those goals, and nothing else. Slowly, Elle moves closer to him. “Gabriel,” she begins. Her voice is soft but firm. “You are not just a watchmaker. You’re special.” She gives him a quick hug. As she pulls away, Elle continues, “Besides, if you weren’t a watchmaker, if you were just like everyone else, we never would have met.” It pains Elle to see Gabriel smile at her answer. If he wasn’t so sweet, if she didn’t fall for him, what was about to happen wouldn’t be so agonizing. Elle doesn’t want to sacrifice Gabriel to the Company. She doesn’t want to turn him into a killer.
“Come on,” Elle says in an attempt to change the subject. “Let’s eat. I’m starving and this pizza smells good.” She flips open the top lid of the cardboard box and reaches for the closest slice. Without pausing to think, Elle bites into the pizza. It is still very hot and immediately burns the top of her mouth. “Ah,” Elle exclaims in surprise. “Hot!” She lets her mouth hang open and attempts to fan cooler air inside.
Gabriel chuckles at Elle’s cute display of impulsiveness. “Here’s you water,” he hands her a glass full of cold water. “It might help.”
“Thanks,” Elle mumbles, her mouth still full of burning hot pizza. She swallows her bite of food and follows it with a huge gulp of water. “That was a close one. I’d have been a goner if it hadn’t been for you.” Elle feels a little like a fool, but ever the Company-trained agent, she turns the situation to her advantage. Her little performance lands directly on the mark, endearing herself to Gabriel.
“Well, I don’t know about that, but I’m gad I could help,” Gabriel says. He takes a slice of pizza for himself. Cautiously, Gabriel takes a tiny bite. “It’s not that hot,” he teases Elle. Gabriel loves how comfortable he is becoming with Elle. She gave him some wonderful advice yesterday: just be yourself. Just as Elle predicted, things are naturally developing between them.
“Sure, tease the girl with a hole burned into the top of her mouth,” Elle says. “Seriously though, this is good pizza. Thanks for convincing me to stay for dinner.” She gives Gabriel a shy smile. Elle is starting to think about abandoning her assignment again. Gabriel doesn’t have to become a killer and Elle doesn’t have to be a Company girl. But then her gaze strays over his shoulder. She knows the camera is there, she knows Bennet is watching, and she remembers what she came here to do.
“So, why haven’t I seen you use your powers again?” Elle asks between bites of pizza. “Being able to move things with your mind, it’s so amazing. If I were you, I’d use it all the time.”
Gabriel swallows slowly. With his power comes hunger, an uncontrollable hunger. Using his telekinesis is a reminder of the price he paid for that power. He had taken the power from Brian Davis, he had killed him to gain his ability. “I- I don’t know.” Gabriel shrugs. “It just doesn’t seem that important,” he lies.
“But you are important, Gabriel,” Elle presses. “I really think you should you use them more. You know, develop them, find your limits.”
“I wouldn’t even know how to start,” Gabriel drops his gaze. He really wishes that Elle would let this alone. He wants them to go back to where there were this morning: the Watchmaker and the angel.
“What if you call one of those people on your list?” Elle prompts. If she can get Gabriel to contact one of the other people on the list, maybe she doesn’t have to lead Trevor like a lamb to the slaughter. If he really is a killer, she won’t need to prompt him to take another power. But that would mean Bennet was right about Gabriel all along. Elle considers all of this before deciding that Bennet is wrong. He doesn’t see what she does hidden beneath the sweater vests and glasses. Gabriel Gray is a good man, not a monster. Despite her conclusion, Elle keeps pushing. “Maybe one of them…”
“No,” Gabriel barks, cutting her off. His eyes flash with anger. Elle has seen this anger before in the surveillance tapes from Dr. Suresh’s apartment. Again, it seems to her that there is another side, another personality, to Gabriel that is fighting to emerge. “This is something I have to deal with on my own.” Elle’s look of fear registers with Gabriel, and he softens a bit. She has this calming effect on him. Whenever she is around, Gabriel doesn’t need to give in to the hunger. He can be special without being a monster. “I’m sorry, Elle, but you wouldn’t understand.”
Elle nods slowly. She actually understands better than Gabriel could even know. Elle has her own demons to deal with. The broken girl who no one loves, who no one can love. Who won’t let anyone get close, who can’t even win the approval of her own father. The Company sociopath. “It’s okay,” Elle reaches out for his arm. “It my fault. I shouldn’t have tried to force you to do anything you don’t want to.” She gently strokes his upper arm from just below the shoulder to the elbow.
There is a long pause in their conversation. “I think I ruined things,” Elle says, standing up from the small kitchen table. She does her best to appear flustered, but not too flustered. When playing a mark, it’s all about appearances. It’s best to leave them with the smallest of impressions than to oversell any emotion. Better to let them fill in between the lines than to offer them a complete play-by-play. “Maybe I should just go.”
“No,” Gabriel says softly. “I’m sorry. Please stay.” He reaches out to a hand to rest on her shoulder. He wishes that he had the power to make her stay with him. Gabriel can tell that something is bothering her. Something tells him that the underlying cause is not his recent outburst, though that definitely set her off, but he’s not sure exactly what is troubling Elle. He desperately to fix her the way she’s fixed him.
Elle shakes her head. “I’m tired. And you’re upset. We should just call it a night.”
Gabriel nods. He’s upset with himself for driving her away. “Alright.” He decides against asking Elle to stay again. It’s apparent that her mind is made up. Instead, he crosses to the door to hold it open for her.
“Thanks for a great day, Gabriel.” Elle flashes him a small, but weak smile before leaving. She’s starting to feel sick to her stomach again. She really doesn’t want to get Gabriel to kill, again. “Good night,” she says standing in the doorway.
“Good night, Elle,” Gabriel says. Before he closes the door, he reaches out for her small hand. Brining it up to his lips, he places a gentle kiss against her soft skin.
As soon as Gabriel closes the door, Elle sighs and leans back against the wall. If Gabriel wasn’t so sweet, this wouldn’t be so hard for her. She doesn’t want to send a good man like this to a horrible fate. In just over twenty-four hours time, she will have played her part, like a good little Company agent, and will have turned Gabriel Gray into a monster. The man that she knows, the man she met in the watch repair shop, the man she has come to like, will be gone forever.
Before that happens, Elle is going to take what she wants. Lifting up her shirt, she rips the wire away from her chest. The tape tears at her skin, leaving two angry red marks. Elle winces in pain. She holds the small electrical device in the palm of her hand. Generating a small electrical burst, Elle fires the bug. With a satisfied smile, she drops the dead device in her purse. She knows that Noah will yell at her later. In fact, he might already have figured out what she is about to do and is storming across the street to get her right now. If that is the case, Glasses is going to be too late to stop her.
Elle take a breath in to steady herself and then knocks on Gabriel’s door. A moment later, he opens the door with a puzzled expression on his face. “Elle? What are you…” Before he can finish his question, Elle walks past Gabriel into the apartment. There is a hungry look in her eyes. Silently, he closes the door behind her and turns around to face her. Before he can speak again, Elle is there. She places her open hand on Gabriel’s chest and backs him into the door. Stunned, he lets her walk him backwards until his body connects with the door with a small, hollow thud. He opens his mouth to ask what she is doing, but before any words come out Elle pushes herself up onto her tiptoes. All Gabriel can do is gulp. She places both of her palms on his chest and presses her body into his. Her lips hover over his for a beat, eyes finding his. Then her eyes flutter closed and she leans in the rest of the way in and kisses him full on the mouth.
It takes Gabriel a few seconds to catch up with what is happening. Elle is back. And she’s kissing him. Elle is kissing him. When Gabriel does catch up, he closes his eyes as well and brings his hands up to cup her tiny face. As he deepens the kiss, Elle responds with the smallest of moans. The sounds only emboldens Gabriel. He takes control of the kiss, walking Elle backward toward the kitchen table. But Elle is not willing to surrender completely to him. She slips her tongue past Gabriel’s lips, which part easily. She drops her hands from his chest and begins to tug his button down shirt free of his slacks.
When Gabriel feels Elle’s hand brush against the skin under his shirt, he breaks the kiss. His hands move from her face to her waist. He steps back from her, locking his elbows to keep her against the table and away from him. She is too tempting right now: chest heaving as she gasps for breath, eyes wide with lust. “Elle,” he breathes, gasping for breath himself. “Wait.”
“Gabriel,” Elle whispers in reply. She reaches for him, but Gabriel keeps her pined against the table. As much as he wants the feeling of her body crushed against his again, he needs to keep his distance. He can’t allow himself to loose control. “Gabriel, please.” Elle’s tiny plea is almost enough to break his bending will, but Gabriel steadies himself.
“We can’t,” he somehow manages to choke out. “Not right now. We-we barely know each other.” He protests. Although his body is telling him that his excuse is quite possibly the lamest excuse known to all of mankind, his brain somehow manages to win out. Things aren’t supposed to happen this way, at least not in real life. Scenarios like this one only play out in movies or on television. In reality, two people need to take the time to fall in love. People don’t just go around throwing themselves at each other.
“Well, lets get to know each other,” Elle says. She runs her fingers up his arm, sending shivers through his body. She takes advantage of his momentary loss of concentration to push her body against his again. Elle places a slow kiss his neck, right where the curve of his jaw ended.
Now it is Gabriel’s turn to moan softly. None of the other girl’s he had kissed had ever discovered that spot. It felt amazing. Gabriel doesn’t want Elle to ever stop kissing him, but then his brain wrestles control away from his physical impulses. “Wait, wait, wait,” he says, pushing her away again. Seeing the disappointed look on her face, Gabriel says, “Tomorrow. Tomorrow night, after work. Meet me here. I’ll- I’ll cook us dinner.” He wants everything to be perfect. He needs to romance Elle properly; a girl like her deserves it. Dinner and candlelight spell love, or at least that’s what Gabriel believes to be true. An intimate evening together that might lead to a different variety of intimacy. That would be more appropriate than giving into primal instincts in his kitchen.
Elle nods eagerly. She pushes herself up onto her toes to kiss him again. This time, it is a quick, chaste kiss; a peck on the lips. “Tomorrow then,” she says. “I can’t wait.” As Elle moves to leave, she takes Gabriel’s hand and pulls him toward the door with her. She turns around to face him as her free hand closes around the door handle. Her electric blue eyes never leave his chocolate brown ones as she opens the door, stepping out of the way. Elle gives Gabriel one last long kiss before leaving. “Goodbye,” she whispers.
Gabriel doesn’t say anything in reply. Elle has left him speechless. This realization only makes her smile more as she pulls the door shut behind her. Elle is still grinning from ear to ear, when she is grabbed roughly by the arm and yanked toward the rear exit of the building. “Hey!” Elle tries to shout, but a large hand comes up to cover her mouth. She forms a large ball of electricity in her right hand and is about to launch it at her assailant when they speak.
“Don’t even think of it, Elle,” Bennet growls in her ear. He wrenches her arm around, bending it up at the elbow and pressing it into her back. His other hand is still covering her mouth, but he tucks the arm in, pinning her other arm to her side. Elle has been trained to fight back, to break an assailant’s hold on her, but Bennet has been well trained. Every move, every twist, she tries to wrench free of his grasp, he counters perfectly.
As soon as they burst from the door of the building, he shoves Elle against the brick wall of the alley. She stumbles in surprise, throwing out her arms to break her fall. Her electricity hits the wall first, shooting out in one concentrated burst. “What the hell Bennet!” Elle bites back. She adjusts her shirt while glaring at him through the twilight.
“What do you think you were doing back there?” Bennet circles her. She can see the handle of his Company issue firearm sticking out from the waistband of his pants. He had obviously come into this situation prepared for the worst. She wonders how long he was waiting outside the door for her and whether or not he would have come in after her had she been in there much longer. “Do you think this is a game? Gabriel is a killer Elle!” He sighs deeply and runs a hand through his short hair. “I knew it was a mistake to put you on this assignment.”
“Relax, Glasses. That was for the assignment.” Elle steps away from the wall. She focuses her gaze on Bennet. She really hates when he yells at her like that. Its not like he’s her father. He’s not even head of the Company. “I needed to make sure that I got invited back for tomorrow. Like you said, we need to kick this into high gear.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Bennet says. He sighs and drops his shoulders. “You will get Mr. Gray to kill tomorrow night.” Elle starts to protest, but he holds up a finger to silence her. He is not finished. “Gabriel is going to kill Mr. Zeitlan. And I will erase you little indiscretion from the final surveillance tapes that go the Company. We both get what we want.”
Elle wants to fight back, to tell Bennet that Gabriel is not a killer and that she will not play her part in turning him into a monster. But then she realizes that Noah has offered her a mutually beneficial arrangement. She comes completes her assignment and Daddy doesn’t have to know that she just threw herself at Gabriel Gray. He would be less than pleased, considering how many lectures he’s given her on what appropriate behavior for a Company agent should be. This might be the last straw; Daddy might sideline her after this. He’s made it clear that if she messes up again, she’d be the new training agent; no more field operations. “Fine,” she says, begrudgingly.
“Get back to the van,” Bennet orders. When Elle doesn’t immediately move, he adds, “Now!” She sighs, but does as she’s told. Elle is always stuck following orders. But that doesn’t mean that she has to like it. She slams the van door closed harder than necessary. Elle refuses to look at Noah the entire ride back to their hotel. She hops down from the van before he even shuts off the engine and marches straight to her room. Once there, she turns the television on and flops down on the bed. The volume is set high to block out Bennet in the next room. She doesn’t want him trying to talk to her about tomorrow night. The gravity of the situation is already pressing on her; she doesn’t need him to remind her about what is going to happen.
Elle lies back on the bed and stares up at the ceiling. She fights to empty her mind. After a few moments, Elle gives up and closes her eyes, recalling the events of earlier. With just a little concentration, she can still feel his lips on her’s. Elle brings her hand up to ghost her index and middle fingers over her lips. Though she is certain that Gabriel has had less experience than Adam Monroe, it was still the single best kiss of her life. Elle drifts off to sleep remembering the way Gabriel felt.
In her dreams, Elle wanders the halls of Level 5. She can feel her own fear, tight in her chest; like a snake coiled around her heart, threatening to squeeze the life from her. The inmates down here are scared too. Jesse shouts, but the glass panel of his cell doesn’t shatter. Elle can hear the clicking of her heals against the concrete floor as she rushes toward the last cell in the row. The sound fills her ears. It keeps a constant pace, like the ticking of a clock. Before Elle can reach the cell, she is sent flying through the air like a rag doll; propelled by an invisible force. She hits the wall roughly and falls face down on the floor. Feeling disoriented, Elle raises her head to identify her unknown assailant. Electricity crackles from her fingertips.
Gabriel Gary stands before her. But the Gabriel in her dream is not the Gabriel from the watch shop. Gone are the glasses that perfectly complement his eyes. His sweater vest has been replaced with a black jacket. Slicked back hair replaces the modest style he once had. Gabriel slowly steps out of the shadows, approaching her like a predator. With one effortless flick of his wrist, Gabriel flips Elle over on to her back. She body slams hard against the floor and she is pinned helplessly in place. “I’ve killed a lot of people Elle,” he tells her. His voice is hollow and emotionless. Elle’s heat is pounding in her ears. “You’re as much to blame for that as anyone. Maybe even more so.” His dark eyes fill with murder. He means to kill her.
Elle bolts upright in bed. Just like in her dream, her heart is pounding in fear. She may have fallen asleep in a blissful state, but this morning Elle feels sick with anticipation. She can barely look at herself in the mirror as she prepares for the day. Her eyes reveal her deepest fears. If there is no hope for Gabriel, perhaps there is no hope for her. He is the only person who has ever been interested in Elle; not Elle the agent, not Elle the sociopath, but Elle the girl. If Gabriel becomes a monster, then Elle has to go back to the Company alone.
Ever since she can remember, Elle has looked for approval and affection. She has over heard her father talking with the Company psychologists about her need for love. Daddy blames her compulsions on her mother’s death. Loosing someone so young creates deep scars. And loosing a mother’s unconditional love creates lasting scars. Elle’s father has always kept her at an arm’s length. She was an agent, a Company asset first and a daughter second.
When Elle couldn’t find affection from Daddy, she sought out surrogate father figures. That search had brought her to Adam. From the time she was fourteen, Elle had been trying to win tenderness from the three hundred-year-old man. But there was no tenderness left in his heart. He had hurt Elle, so she hurt him back. Had Elle been raised in the outside world rather than the confines of the Company Research Facility, she probably would have ended up as a stripper, like all the other damaged girls with daddy issues they just can’t get past.
Elle dresses for the in the floral print top Noah has picked out for her, along with a pair of simple slacks. Her outfit makes her look innocent: dressed in white with delicate flowers. It’s a flimsy disguise for the temptress she must play. When she is ready, she knocks on the door between their rooms. Bennet is there almost immediately, like he has been waiting for her to be ready. “You’re wake early,” he observes. “Couldn’t sleep?”
She doesn’t answer him. Instead she says, “Let’s just get this assignment over with, okay?” It is as if the spark has left Elle. She doesn’t want to fight with Bennet anymore. By this point, Elle knows how any fight will end. Bennet will remind her of their orders, and Elle will cave in, knowing that she has no other feasible options. Any potential affection Gabriel might represent to her is not a guarantee. As unsatisfying as her life with the Company might be, she is too scared to give it up on a whim.
Elle lags behind Bennet on the way to the Primatech van. After hopping into the passenger side, the two of them leave the hotel for Brooklyn. They are going to spend the day watching Gabriel again. After pulling up outside his watch repair shop, Bennet begins calling up the feed from the surveillance camera Elle planted in the back room on Friday. Mutely, Elle joins him he back of the van. She finds a comfortable enough position to sit in for hours and places the headphones over her ears. She brushes her hair out from under the earpieces and settles in.
Most of the day passes in tedium. Gabriel is dresses as he usually is, with a sky blue and brown plaid button down shirt and a chocolate brown sweater vest. He has attached the magnifying lenses to the dark frames of his glasses. Gabriel spends most of the day repairing an antique clock that time has really taken a toll on. Nearly every moving has seized up. Elle loves watching him work. She loves the way his brow furrows as he puzzles over the clock and loves the way he smiles when all the pieces fall into place. Elle wonders if Gabriel will continue to fix watches after she turns him into a monster.
Just after lunchtime, an elderly man enters the shop. “Hello?” he calls. One of his hands reaches into his pocket and removes a gold pocket watch on a long chain.
“I’ll be right with you,” Gabriel replies from the back. He has to take a delicate screwdriver from his lips to speak, but immediately returns it wen he is done. He is almost finished repairing the clock. There are only two pieces left on the table now.
“Don’t worry young man, I’m coming to you,” the man walks toward the sound of Gabriel’s voice. As soon as he rounds the corner into the back room, the man lets out a low, amazed whistle. “That is a beautiful timepiece.”
Gabriel smiles in triumph after returning the last piece to its rightful place. A new soft ticking sound can be heard joining the other timepieces in the shop. He looks over to the man standing next to him. Gabriel’s eyes instantly travel to the watch held in his hand. An ornate etched design covers the top of the case in loops and swirls. “As is that piece.”
“Thank you very much,” he man replies, running a finger along the curve of the watch. “It was my grandfather’s. But this morning it stopped.”
“May I?” Gabriel asks politely. The other man nods in assent before unclipping the claps of the watch chain from the buttonhole on his gray sweater. He slowly holds the watch out for Gabriel to take. Gabriel slowly and reverently turns the watch over and opens the back, exposing the inner workings. “This shouldn’t take to long to fix, but I’m not sure that I have the proper parts on hand. I might need to go poking around the shop. Its not every day I work with something this rare.”
“Could you have it ready by closing?” the man asks hopefully.
“Possibly,” Gabriel replies. “But I was planning on closing early today.” He hopes that his explanation will not offend his customer. But he had been hoping to leave before closing in order to prepare for his evening with Elle.
The older man seems to be able to read Gabriel’s face perfectly. “A young lady, eh?” A foolish smile confirms that he is correct. “A worthy excuse.” He claps a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Treat her right and never hesitate to tell her how beautiful she is. And most importantly, never pass up an opportunity to tell her that you love her.” He speaks from experience.
Gabriel stumbles over a reply. “I- I’ve only just met her.” He shrugs and adjusts his glasses.
“But you already love her. Don’t try to deny it son, I can see it on your face,” the man says. “Tell her.”
Elle’s eyes unwillingly begin to well up with tears. She rips the headphones off her ears and bolts from the back of the Primatech Paper van. She doesn’t want to listen any longer as this man deconstructs Gabriel’s facial expressions. “Elle!” Bennet calls after her as she runs down the alleyway. “Elle!” he screams louder when she doesn’t reply, slow or stop. Bennet growls in frustration as he takes his headphones off and follows after the fleeing agent.
Elle does not make good time as she runs in her heels and Bennet easily catches up with her. He reaches out for her arm to stop her. “Where do you think you’re going? We’re in the middle of an assignment?” he asks her in a harsh tone.
Elle jerks her arm away from Bennet and walks in circles. She brings her right hand up to her forehead, her fingertip push her bangs up slightly. Elle looks around; she is lost and confused. “I can’t do it,” she manages to say between frantic breaths. Bennet is about to reply when Elle continues, “He’s not a monster and I won’t help make him one.” Elle doesn’t want to loose the sweet Watchmaker who might actually love her. He might be the only one who ever has loved her.
“Fine, that doesn’t matter to me,” Bennet says with a shrug of his shoulders. “Mr. Gray is going to kill tonight with or with out you. The real variable here is whether or not you get to keep your job,” Noah explained. “The Company has made it clear to your father that if you do not perform, you are out.”
Elle bites her lip. Daddy has hinted that Elle was on thin ice with Company management. They did not believe that she was performing at a level that warranted her continuance as an agent. She knew that if she did not satisfactorily complete this assignment, she’d be out on her own. Elle couldn’t afford to be on her own. She glares at Bennet, but walks back to the Primatech van. Elle crosses her arms over her chest. She hates not being in control. She hates having to follow orders that leave her with no options.
The rest of the afternoon passes without any other outbursts from the petite blonde agent. True to his statement form earlier, Gabriel does close his repair shop early to get ready for his evening with Elle. After arriving home, Gabriel begins to prepare a baked ziti dish for the two of them. While that is in the oven, he puts together a fresh garden salad to accompany the main course.
After finishing with the food, Gabriel changes his clothes. He selects a shirt with vertical blue stripes and pairs it with a navy blue tie. Next, Gabriel sets up a small table in sitting room. He places two chairs across from each other and covers the table with a white linen tablecloth. The bottle of wine he bought earlier today is placed by Gabriel’s seat. Back in the kitchen, Gabriel selects two matching jelly glasses with a blue swirl pattern. He is just about to begin looking for candlesticks when there is a knock on the door.
Gabriel’s face is covered with a wide smile as he opens the door for Elle. She looks amazing; entirely beautiful. “Hi. I’m not to early am I?” she asks.
“No, not at all,” Gabriel replies. “Come in.” He takes her hand and gives it a light kiss. Elle giggles, but her laughter is cut short when Gabriel pulls her in for a long kiss. Elle is pleasantly surprised that Gabriel has taken the initiative to kiss her. His hand moves from her’s to curl around her back, pulling her closer.
Elle decides to break the kiss before Bennet gets angry with her again. Plus, the longer he kisses her the more she regrets what she is about to do. Turning toward the sitting room, she sees the table. “Do you do this for us?” she asks.
“Yeah,” he answers, running a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry there aren’t any candles. I wanted everything to be perfect.”
“It is perfect,” Elle says, smiling at him. She walks over to the table and runs her fingers along the tablecloth. As Gabriel watches her, the advice he was given by the older gentleman creeps into his thoughts. He should tell Elle how he feels about her. Elle said that his preparations for this romantic evening were perfect. Gabriel was told to never pass up a perfect opportunity.
Gabriel advances toward his angel. Standing directly behind her, he slowly strokes Elle’s arm. His touch makes her shiver slightly. She turns around to face him. Electric blue eyes meet chocolate brown ones, each pair saying what neither can vocalize. “Elle,” Gabriel breathes. He steadies himself to continue with his declaration.
The timer in the kitchen goes off, interrupting their perfect quiet moment. “Would you mind getting that?” Gabriel asks Elle. He hurriedly breaks off eye contact with her. Suddenly he feels foolish. “All you have to do is take the baked ziti out of the oven.”
“Sure thing,” Elle nods. As she heads into the kitchen, Elle catches sight of a clock. Trevor is going to be here soon. Elle’s face drops. She doesn’t want to do this, but she has no choice. Elle takes their dinner out of the oven and hesitates. She could just leave, right now; she should leave. And then she remembers that she has an assignment, she remembers that she is an agent. “This ziti smells terrific,” she calls to Gabriel.
“I can’t wait,” Gabriel replies from the sitting room. He sounds so eager for the night to really get going: dinner, romance, and maybe something more. Back in the kitchen, Elle grimaces. Just do it, she tells herself.
“Hey have you ever been to that little theater down the street?” Elle asks as she brings the ziti into the sitting room. Gabriel pops open bottle the wine. “I saw that they have some sort of artsy spoken word thing there tonight.”
“Well maybe we should stop by later,” Gabriel replies. Elle holds up the ziti dish to his nose. It smells delicious, it smells perfect. This whole evening is going to be perfect. Looking into Elle’s eyes, he has never been happier. Gabriel is thinking about kissing her again, and has even begun to lean toward her over the steaming dish of baked ziti when there is a knock on his door.
Gabriel looks from the door to Elle and back to the door again. The knock is ominous. Their perfect evening is beginning to unravel with this intrusion. “Oh, I invited someone to join us. I hope you don’t mind,” Elle explains as she backs toward the kitchen. She keeps smiling to reassure Gabriel. “Its open,” she calls to the person on the other side.
“Yeah, I’m Trevor. We spoke on the phone?” The person in the doorway has greasy, stringy hair. He’s made up like a goth rocker, complete with heavy eyeliner and torn clothing. In appearances, he has nothing in common with the mild-mannered Watchmaker in the next room.
“I’m Elle,” she says, greeting Trevor after putting the ziti dish down on the stovetop. Elle motions for him to follow her into the next room. “And this is Gabriel,” she gestures toward the tall, handsome man. “I thought you two should meet. Trevor has an ability too.” Elle doesn’t push anything right from the start. She is hoping that she won’t have to take Gabriel by the hand and lead him to kill Trevor.
“An ability? I don’t understand,” Gabriel shakes his head slightly. He has no clue why Elle would have invited his guy here tonight. This was supposed to their night, their romantic evening. Now it was ruined. This Trevor was disgusting. Why did Elle invite him here?
“Don’t be mad but I got Trevor’s number of that list you had. I really think it’s important for you to get to know people like yourself. I mean, alcoholics can’t do it alone,” Elle explains. She turns to the other man in the room. “Trevor, why don’t you show us what you can do?”
“Okay,” Trevor replies. Gabriel does not like the way he is looking around the apartment and the way he is looking up and down Elle. Trevor raises his arm. It is too close to Elle for Gabriel’s taste. He forms his hand in the shape of a gun. He aims by squinting one and then tilts his thumb down. One of the jelly glasses on the table shatters. Gabriel jumps slightly and Elle gasps. Trevor bursts the second glass.
“That is so cool,” Elle breathes. She saw Gabriel’s small reaction. Though he wont show it, she knows that he is feeling tempted by Trevor’s ability. It is up to her to get him to act. “Gabriel, isn’t that special?” When she doesn’t get a reply, Elle tries a new tactic. “Wait here, I have a great idea.” Elle runs into kitchen, leaving Gabriel and Trevor alone in the sitting room. She had hoped that this small display would have been enough to entice Gabriel, but apparently he needed the bait to be dangled in his face a little more.
Elle returns to the sitting room with three more of Gabriel’s jelly glasses. She rushes over to the table and stacks the glasses in a small pyramid. “Okay,” she says to Trevor. “Do it again.” She moves to stand between the two men. Trevor takes aim with both hands and bursts three glasses simultaneously.
Elle gasps again and presses a hand up to her chest. “I love that,” she says to Trevor. “Don’t you love that?,” she asks as she turns toward Gabriel.
“That’s great,” he chokes out. Gabriel can feel his palms growing sweaty. His breathing is rapidly. The hunger he felt so strongly that day in the watch shop with Brian Davis is back. He stays perfectly still, afraid to move, because if he does, Gabriel is not sure what would happen. Along with the hunger, he also feels jealousy growing inside him. He can’t believe the way Elle is gushing over Trevor’s ability. He doesn’t understand why she is interested in him.
“It’s so special,” Elle says, baiting Gabriel. “Let’s see it again.” She walks toward the kitchen for more glasses.
Gabriel turns on the spot suddenly. His eyes are angry. “You think he’s so special?” he barks to Elle. “I bet he can’t do this.” Before really knowing what he is doing, Gabriel throws Trevor against the wall. The motion is jerky. Gabriel did not know that he could do that. When Trevor hits the wall, the force knocks the books to the floor. Gabriel holds him there, arms pressed back against the wall and feet dangling above the floor.
“Gabriel,” Elle says. There is no warmth in her voice. All she wants to do at this moment is to make Gabriel stop. Now that he has finally acted on his feelings of hunger, Elle does not what to let him follow through. She does not want him to become a monster.
“I think you need to leave,” Gabriel says. The warmth is missing from his voice as well. There is a hunger there instead. “Now.” He turns his attention back to Trevor, who is struggling against his invisible bonds.
“Gabriel, don’t!” Elle orders. She fires a shock of electricity square at his back. Gabriel grunts and falls limply to the floor. Since his concentration is broken, Trevor drops to the floor as well.
Elle advances toward Gabriel slowly. “Please…” she voice is soft. She is both begging Gabriel to stop and pleading with herself to end this before he becomes a monster. There has to be a way to redeem the both of them.
“How did you...?” he begins, but doesn’t finish the question. Elle is not longer his angel. She is a devil in disguise. He has never felt so betrayed. It is all become clear to him now. Elle brought Trevor here tonight because of his hunger. She has been playing him from the moment she walked into his repair shop. None of this has been real: the pie, the kiss, dinner, nothing.
“You don’t have to do this,” Elle pleads. She wants to ask Gabriel to just leave with her. Leave the Company and Trevor behind. They can start over together. They can be the Watchmaker and the angel forever. They don’t have to become the monster and the agent. She is begging him to stop. She is pleading for him to stay Gabriel and for her to stay Elle.
Gabriel jumps up. His glasses have been knocked askew. “Who are you?” he asks. When Elle doesn’t answer, he throws her across kitchen. Elle connects with the refrigerator and falls to the floor with a scared scream. She looks up at Gabriel with fear in her eyes. “Get out!” he orders.
Elle hurriedly pushes herself up off the floor. Whimpering, she throws open the door and runs from the apartment. Gabriel turns her attention back to Trevor. Using his telekinesis, he restrains the goth rocker against wall. A flicker of fear crosses his face. Gabriel slowly raises his right hand. Sliding his hand through the air, he begins to slice Trevor’s head open.
The sound of Trevor’s screams fill the apartment. Gabriel did not know that he could do that either. This power is so new to him; he is still discovering the full extent of his abilities. The feeling of his power is intoxicating. It makes him feel alive; it makes him feel significant.
Elle can hear faint screams issuing form Gabriel’s apartment as runs across street. Adrenaline is pumping through her veins, making it difficult of her to open the door to the van. When she finally opens the door, she immediately hops into the back. “We can’t do this. Bennet, we have to make him stop!” She stumbles over to the Company man. Elle catches sight of the scene back in the apartment over Noah’s shoulder and turns away.
“This is incredible,” Bennet says. He’s riveted to the screen. Trevor screams one last time before he dies. “He actually exposes the brain,” he says to Elle, who has found a seat on some crates to his left.
“Oh my god,” she breathes. She rests her chin on her knuckles as tears start to silently roll down her cheeks. Gabriel is gone now. She has killed him as sure as the Watchmaker in the apartment has killed the man with the power he wanted.
As Elle cries, Bennet’s eye never leave the view of Gabriel in his apartment. The older Company agent continues to give the blonde agent a play by play. Gabriel’s fingers delicately probe Trevor’s brain, searching out the source of his power. The Watchmaker’s brow furrows in concentration until the moment all the pieces fall into place. Deft fingers press against the curves of the brain as Gabriel sighs in relief. He transfers Trevor’s power to himself with a contented smile.
Suddenly, Gabriel’s entire demeanor changes. It is like he has suddenly awoken and found himself in a strange place. Gabriel backs away from Trevor’s lifeless body and returns to his feet. He slowly lifts his bloody hands, inspecting them as if they were not his own. His breathing increases rapidly. Gabriel turns around, looking for an escape route. His gaze settles on the kitchen door and Gabriel runs to it. He rests a bloody palm on the stark white door, risking one last look back at the scene in the apartment. Gabriel stumbles from his apartment, leaving a scarlet red stain across the door.
Bennet picks up his Company issue firearm. Elle hadn’t noticed the gun laying on the small case next to the surveillance televisions. She brushes away her tears and wonders if Bennet had taken it from his shoulder holster in preparation for a rescue operation. When Gabriel had thrown her across the kitchen, she thought for sure that he was going to kill her too. “Let’s go,” Bennet says tersely. He puts the gun discreetly into his shoulder holster.
“Go?” Elle’s voice cracks as she speaks. It is a dead give-away that she has been crying. She dabs at the corners of her red eyes with her index fingers. “Go where?”
“We’ve going to bring the body back to Primatech. The Company will be sending a clean-up crew, but we need to get the body before Mr. Gray returns,” Bennet explains. “Our scientists are going to study the brain in conjunction with the tapes.”
Elle nearly throws up on the floor of the van. It was bad enough that she had been ordered to lead Trevor like a lamb to the slaughter and had witnessed his murder, but now Glasses expected her to return to the scene of her greatest crime? She had watched Gabriel become a monster, she didn’t need a visual reminder of the atrocities she had committed against the Watchmaker she had come to care for.
Bennet reaches out to put a hand of Elle’s shoulder, anchoring her to this moment. “You’ve done invaluable work here tonight Elle,” he reminds her. Unlike his usual tone, Bennet is gentle with Elle. He almost sounds sorry for her. “But we’re not done yet. We need Mr. Zeitlan’s brain.” Bennet takes out his cell phone. “It’s done. Meet us at the apartment.” She can tell that the Haitian is on the other end of the line because Bennet doesn’t actually have a conversation, he just gives orders.
The tall and silent enigma known only among the Company as the Haitian has the amazing and invaluable ability to dampen the abilities of those around him. He is normally Bennet’s partner for their bag-and-tag missions. Elle isn’t surprised that Bennet has had him waiting in the wings during this assignment, she’s only surprised that he hasn’t been called in earlier.
Elle nods slowly. She is too broken to fight back anymore. Instead she meekly follows Bennet out of the van. “Stay alert,” Bennet cautions her. “We don’t know when Mr. Gray will be back. The Haitian is on his way but for now be ready to immobilize him if necessary. You’ve seen how dangerous he can be.” Elle doesn’t make a verbal reply, but builds up an electric change in the palm of her left hand. Though her body responds easily to the electricity, but her eyes remain expressionless. Usually there is an echo of her spark captured in her electric blue irises, but tonight they are empty.