Between the Lines - Chapter 1
Title: Between the Lines - Chapter 1 - The Watchmaker & The Doctor
Characters: Elle, Gabriel Gray, Chandra Suresh
Summary: Elle and Sylar's relationship examined. Chapter 1: Elle watches surveillance tapes of Gabriel and Chandra.
Rating: PG-13 just to be safe
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 scenes Heroes shows us, so I just decided to let my imagination take control. Comments and feedback would be super appreciated. Sorry Chapter 1 is shorter than I originally planed; I got assigned a project for work, and it unfortunately does not involve Gabriel Gray, Sylar, Zachary Quinto or any combination thereof. I promise to post the next chapter as soon as I can.
Prologue
Chapter 1 - The Watchmaker & The Doctor
Elle Bishop decides to watch the surveillance DVD first. She would save the file on Gabriel Gray for the ride down to Queens. Maybe if she had her nose buried in the stack of papers inside the manila folder, Glasses wouldn’t pester her the entire drive. Noah Bennet could be a real pain in the ass with his know-it-all smugness. The few times Daddy had allowed her to accompany Bennet and the Haitian on a bag-and-tag, he had practically driven her to commit murder. Her fingers and palms had been itching with electricity by the time his little ‘object lessons’ were over.
The reflective disc pops free of the plastic case and Elle spins it lazily around one finger as she saunters over to the television. When she moves, her hips sway seductively even though she is alone. At first she just worked her hips when she walked the halls of Level 5; giving the boys down there a little something extra. But now she does it unconsciously; plus the stilettos she favors don’t offer many maneuvering options.
The briefing room is bare save for a metal table and two matching chairs and the brand new television set up. The Company has a thing concrete and metal; cold and impersonal. The clock above the door ticks off the seconds. Its barely 6:15; too early to be awake or at least continue to be awake with out an infusion of coffee. Too bad the Company didn’t spring for new coffeemakers along with the new televisions.
The image of Chandra Suresh’s Brooklyn apartment fills the screen almost immediately after the door to the DVD tray slides closed. In the corner of the frame, Elle can see his carefully constructed map. She notes that it has a very creepy serial-killer board look to it. Thumbtacks are pressed into cities across the globe and strings are looped from the multi-colored pins to an assortment of newspaper clippings, pictures, and hastily scribbled post-it notes.
The older professor is pouring over the notes of his Genesis files, searching for a breakthrough, when there is a knock on the door. The nearly bald geneticist crosses to the door; pauses to look through the keyhole, and then opens the portal to his small rooms.
“I read it,” Gabriel speaks in a hushed tone, as if he feels he is in a dream; afraid to wake. Elle scoffs at his choice of clothing; he looks like even more of a nerd than in his profile picture. Gabriel has added a navy blue sweater vest over his button down shirt; a sweater vest for goodness sake. Only grandpas wear sweater vests. He clutches a copy of Suresh’s book, Activating Evolution, to his chest like it was a treasured tomb instead of a largely ignored text regarded as a joke by the scientific community. “The entire thing.”
“Good,” Suresh smiles as he opens the door wider to usher Gray inside. “I was hoping you would. Please sit down.”
Gabriel rushes to sit at the table, which is covered in notes, case studies and textbooks. Either he’s anxious to talk to Suresh or afraid that the Doctor might rescind his offer. Maybe both, Elle muses.
“Would you like some tea?” Suresh offers warmly as a way of breaking the tension Elle can feel even here in the cold, brightly-lit briefing room. It’s obvious that Gabriel has much on his mind, but he doesn’t seem to know where to begin. He’s waiting for the Doctor to make the first move; start them down the path to discovery.
Gabriel accepts the professor’s offer. Neither speaks much beyond general pleasantries as the water boils; meaningless phrases that Elle has never had the patience or stomach for. Though he is speaking to the Doctor, Elle can tell that Grabriel’s true attention lies with the notes and open books. His dark eyes scan them hungrily. He stands to get a better look at a textbook.
It is not until Chandra hands Gabriel a steaming hot mug of tea that the true conversation begins. “So your what gonna cut me open?” Gabriel asks with a nervous smile. The textbook he has been scanning was one Suresh had been studying for clues to possible anatomical markers for special evolved abilities.
“I’d like to run some tests, EEG, EKG, nothing invasive. A friend at Colombia has access to a MRI,” Suresh replies. It is a nonchalant delivery, like he was reciting a shopping list rather than speaking of tests that could deliver the groundbreaking results he came halfway around the world for.
When Gabriel replies, Elle notices that he can barely contain his excitement, “Mapping the brain?”
“Measuring alpha waves, resting rates, neuron clusters,” Suresh’s excitement is growing too as he is drawn further in the to the conversation. “The brain controls every human action: voluntary or involuntary; every breath, every heartbeat, every emotion. If the soul exists, scientifically speaking, it exists in the brain.” Elle scoffs. It seems like Chandra is on the brink of abandoning his theory that these extraordinary powers originate in the blood. The human genome project helped him to identify these people, but so far it had offered the Doctor no further leads.
Gabriel Gray sits again. “When I was a kid, I used to wish some stranger would come and tell me my family wasn’t really my family.” Elle notices that he doesn’t seem to speaking just to Suresh. He seems to be talking to himself as well; revealing things that he has thought for a while but never spoken aloud until now. “They weren’t bad people they were just, insignificant and I wanted to be different, special. I wanted to change a new name a new life. The watchmaker’s son became a watchmaker. It is so futile and I wanted to be important.”
This is good stuff, Elle notes. She can definitely use this to gain his trust; use his desire to be important, significant, special against him. It’s almost unfair, Elle thinks. This guy has such a huge complex about being special. A few carefully placed compliments and he’ll be putty in her tiny, manipulative, electric hands. It’s all just too easy.
“You are important Gabriel,” Suresh says. Elle smirks. Looks like she’s not the only one who will be using Gabriel’s admission against him.
“What do you think my abilities might be?” Oh, he’s so adorable, Elle laughs to herself. Her lips curl into a devious smile as she watches her new toy on the screen.
Characters: Elle, Gabriel Gray, Chandra Suresh
Summary: Elle and Sylar's relationship examined. Chapter 1: Elle watches surveillance tapes of Gabriel and Chandra.
Rating: PG-13 just to be safe
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 scenes Heroes shows us, so I just decided to let my imagination take control. Comments and feedback would be super appreciated. Sorry Chapter 1 is shorter than I originally planed; I got assigned a project for work, and it unfortunately does not involve Gabriel Gray, Sylar, Zachary Quinto or any combination thereof. I promise to post the next chapter as soon as I can.
Prologue
Chapter 1 - The Watchmaker & The Doctor
Elle Bishop decides to watch the surveillance DVD first. She would save the file on Gabriel Gray for the ride down to Queens. Maybe if she had her nose buried in the stack of papers inside the manila folder, Glasses wouldn’t pester her the entire drive. Noah Bennet could be a real pain in the ass with his know-it-all smugness. The few times Daddy had allowed her to accompany Bennet and the Haitian on a bag-and-tag, he had practically driven her to commit murder. Her fingers and palms had been itching with electricity by the time his little ‘object lessons’ were over.
The reflective disc pops free of the plastic case and Elle spins it lazily around one finger as she saunters over to the television. When she moves, her hips sway seductively even though she is alone. At first she just worked her hips when she walked the halls of Level 5; giving the boys down there a little something extra. But now she does it unconsciously; plus the stilettos she favors don’t offer many maneuvering options.
The briefing room is bare save for a metal table and two matching chairs and the brand new television set up. The Company has a thing concrete and metal; cold and impersonal. The clock above the door ticks off the seconds. Its barely 6:15; too early to be awake or at least continue to be awake with out an infusion of coffee. Too bad the Company didn’t spring for new coffeemakers along with the new televisions.
The image of Chandra Suresh’s Brooklyn apartment fills the screen almost immediately after the door to the DVD tray slides closed. In the corner of the frame, Elle can see his carefully constructed map. She notes that it has a very creepy serial-killer board look to it. Thumbtacks are pressed into cities across the globe and strings are looped from the multi-colored pins to an assortment of newspaper clippings, pictures, and hastily scribbled post-it notes.
The older professor is pouring over the notes of his Genesis files, searching for a breakthrough, when there is a knock on the door. The nearly bald geneticist crosses to the door; pauses to look through the keyhole, and then opens the portal to his small rooms.
“I read it,” Gabriel speaks in a hushed tone, as if he feels he is in a dream; afraid to wake. Elle scoffs at his choice of clothing; he looks like even more of a nerd than in his profile picture. Gabriel has added a navy blue sweater vest over his button down shirt; a sweater vest for goodness sake. Only grandpas wear sweater vests. He clutches a copy of Suresh’s book, Activating Evolution, to his chest like it was a treasured tomb instead of a largely ignored text regarded as a joke by the scientific community. “The entire thing.”
“Good,” Suresh smiles as he opens the door wider to usher Gray inside. “I was hoping you would. Please sit down.”
Gabriel rushes to sit at the table, which is covered in notes, case studies and textbooks. Either he’s anxious to talk to Suresh or afraid that the Doctor might rescind his offer. Maybe both, Elle muses.
“Would you like some tea?” Suresh offers warmly as a way of breaking the tension Elle can feel even here in the cold, brightly-lit briefing room. It’s obvious that Gabriel has much on his mind, but he doesn’t seem to know where to begin. He’s waiting for the Doctor to make the first move; start them down the path to discovery.
Gabriel accepts the professor’s offer. Neither speaks much beyond general pleasantries as the water boils; meaningless phrases that Elle has never had the patience or stomach for. Though he is speaking to the Doctor, Elle can tell that Grabriel’s true attention lies with the notes and open books. His dark eyes scan them hungrily. He stands to get a better look at a textbook.
It is not until Chandra hands Gabriel a steaming hot mug of tea that the true conversation begins. “So your what gonna cut me open?” Gabriel asks with a nervous smile. The textbook he has been scanning was one Suresh had been studying for clues to possible anatomical markers for special evolved abilities.
“I’d like to run some tests, EEG, EKG, nothing invasive. A friend at Colombia has access to a MRI,” Suresh replies. It is a nonchalant delivery, like he was reciting a shopping list rather than speaking of tests that could deliver the groundbreaking results he came halfway around the world for.
When Gabriel replies, Elle notices that he can barely contain his excitement, “Mapping the brain?”
“Measuring alpha waves, resting rates, neuron clusters,” Suresh’s excitement is growing too as he is drawn further in the to the conversation. “The brain controls every human action: voluntary or involuntary; every breath, every heartbeat, every emotion. If the soul exists, scientifically speaking, it exists in the brain.” Elle scoffs. It seems like Chandra is on the brink of abandoning his theory that these extraordinary powers originate in the blood. The human genome project helped him to identify these people, but so far it had offered the Doctor no further leads.
Gabriel Gray sits again. “When I was a kid, I used to wish some stranger would come and tell me my family wasn’t really my family.” Elle notices that he doesn’t seem to speaking just to Suresh. He seems to be talking to himself as well; revealing things that he has thought for a while but never spoken aloud until now. “They weren’t bad people they were just, insignificant and I wanted to be different, special. I wanted to change a new name a new life. The watchmaker’s son became a watchmaker. It is so futile and I wanted to be important.”
This is good stuff, Elle notes. She can definitely use this to gain his trust; use his desire to be important, significant, special against him. It’s almost unfair, Elle thinks. This guy has such a huge complex about being special. A few carefully placed compliments and he’ll be putty in her tiny, manipulative, electric hands. It’s all just too easy.
“You are important Gabriel,” Suresh says. Elle smirks. Looks like she’s not the only one who will be using Gabriel’s admission against him.
“What do you think my abilities might be?” Oh, he’s so adorable, Elle laughs to herself. Her lips curl into a devious smile as she watches her new toy on the screen.