fic: Hunter and Prey
Title: Hunter and Prey (1/?)
Pairing: Gabriel (Sylar)/Elle
Rating: R (for language)
Summary: Gabriel and Elle go on a search for answers but trouble keeps interrupting.
Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers for 3.14's "A Clear and Present Danger"
A/N: Sequel to 12 Months of Sylar and Elle. So the story might make a little bit more sense if you read that first. I make no promises as to how this fic will go and for how long because I'm better at one shots but I was just itching to work Elle into Volume 4 stuff.
Prologue
Chapter 1
Baltimore, Maryland
Gabriel walks into the shop. It is so eerily reminiscent of the old Gray & Son's back in Brooklyn. A haunting song fills the air and he spies an old record player in motion. He walks around the store, staring at all the watches and clocks. Finally, he stops at a table filled with tools and in spite of himself, he picks up a watch and one of the tools and starts fiddling with the gears. His guard down, it's the tell tale click of a shotgun being cocked that makes him raise his head.
An older man, his father, no adopted father, is pointing a shotgun right at him.
"You move and I shoot. Damn thief. Think you can come into my shop without me hearing you?" The man barks out, a determined look on his face.
Gabriel holds back a chuckle. "Martin. Martin Gray."
"Do I know you?" A wary look enters the older man's eyes.
"Did you live at 427 Kenmore Street in Queens?" He watches for the man's reactions. "It was the middle of February and snowing. You went out for a pack of cigarettes and never came back. Or so the story goes." Gabriel tilts his head, feeling nothing towards this man who abandoned him and his mother. "Kinda cliche, don't you think?"
"Who are you?"
"I'm your son." He sees Martin lower his gun in disbelief. "And I have some questions for you," he continues darkly.
---
"Kent, stay in the car. I promise to be out soon. You want anything?"
"Blue raspberry Slush-O."
Elle grins. "Good choice. A jumbo one?"
"Yes."
"Sounds good, I'll be back." Elle steps out of the car, looking around as she does so. She has a weird feeling but can't quite pinpoint what that feeling is. She walks into the convenience store and makes a beeline for the Slush-O machine. Two jumbo sized cups are filled to the brim, one blue raspberry and one cherry.
In her eagerness to get her hands on her favorite beverage, she doesn't notice some men stationed around the store and another few that enter. When she walks up to the counter to pay for the drinks, she sees a strange look in the clerk's eyes. She whips around in time to see a gun aimed at her and she quickly lets out a bolt of lightning towards the gunman. That's when she notices the other men in the store.
"Shit. A gang bang? Boys really, I'm flattered. But I'm a one man girl these days," she cheekily states as she grabs the flustered clerk. "But if you even so much as try to do something to me, this poor clerk gets it. And you don't want an innocent getting hurt do you?"
She glances around the room, seeing herself surrounded by masked men in heavy duty gear.
A shot rings out and a tranquilizer dart comes zooming at Elle. It hits her in the shoulder and she hisses in pain. She lets go of the clerk and hurls a ball of electricity at the soldiers before her and they all get thrown backwards and fall to the ground, unconscious. Plucking the dart from her shoulder, she drops it on the ground and stomps on it.
"I suppose I can thank Gabriel for not being affected by the dart," she muses. At the corner of her eye, she looks out the front window of the store and sees the masked men tossing a limp Kent into an armored truck. "NO! KENT!"
---
"I'm a very different person now. That was a long time ago." Martin sits down behind his workstation.
"Maybe for you."
"You said you had questions? Well...ask them."
"So, does a boy without a father grow up to be a man? How does he learn how to make the hard decisions in life? Decisions that only a man can teach." Gabriel's voice is somber as he walks over to Martin.
"You want an apology, is that it? You want to hear I'm sorry for walking out on you and your mother?"
"I just want the truth."
"What about? That your mother was a sick infantile woman? Or that I made a mistake to ever have a child with her?"
Gabriel feels tingling in his head. His voice is harsh and bitter. "Let's start there. Because I'm sure as hell not the son of a man who repairs watches and a woman who collected snow globes. So who am I? Tell me."
Martin pauses before he gives his reluctant answer. "You were given to me."
"By whom?"
"A man who needed money. Your mother wanted a baby and couldn't have one. I wanted out of a loveless marriage and was too much of a coward. Seemed like the right answer at the time."
"Who was he?"
"My brother."
Gabriel can't believe his ears and sits down in a nearby chair. He's still a Gray after all. "Is he still alive?"
Martin grabs a piece of paper and quickly jots down an address and hands it over. Gabriel studies it and waits for his lie detection to go off. He's surprised when it doesn't. "You're telling the truth." He wants to say more but his cell phone starts ringing.
"Yes?"
"Gabriel! I need your help," her voice is frantic and he could hear her breathing hard.
"What's going on? You know I'm busy right now." His voice is impatient.
"Kent. He's been taken by some guys in commando outfits."
"What?"
"We got fucking ambushed okay? Thanks to your empathy and giving me healing, the stupid tranq dart didn't affect me."
"Elle, calm down. Where are you?"
"Driving to your father's watch shop. I'm like a block away."
"Fine, we'll discuss this more when you get here." Gabriel snaps the phone shut and sees Martin eyeing him, a look of mild interest in his eyes. "Nothing you need to know. You and I haven't been family ever since you left us." Gabriel informs him as he turns and marches out the store. He sees their car swerve into the parking lot, tires squealing when it comes to a stop in front of him. He walks to the driver's side door and yanks it open.
"What?" Elle asks testily.
"I'm driving. You're way too emotional to drive right now."
Elle huffs at him and gets out of the car. Gabriel slides into the driver's seat while Elle plops down in the passenger seat and slams the door shut.
"We need to find him, Gabriel."
"I agree. First, tell me what happened," he orders as he eases the car out of the parking lot and onto the busy street. His grip unconsciously tightens around the wheel as Elle tells him the story of what happened in the convenience store.
"Gabriel, your knuckles are white."
"What? Oh," he eases his hold. "Was there anything distinguishing about those guys?"
"Besides the fact they were a bunch of SWAT guys? No. I couldn't see their faces because they were covered up from head to toe."
Gabriel purses his lips. "Government guys? Three guesses as to who that might be related to." He lets out a humorless laugh as a dark look settles into his eyes.
"Nathan fucking Petrelli. Should have known. That damn speech he gave on television about homeland security was a warning to those like us."
A brief pause hangs in the air. "Elle, Martin gave me the location of my real father."
"Where is he?"
"Newark, New Jersey apparently."
"That's like 4 hours away from here! What about Kent?"
"We'll get him back. But I need to do this first."
Elle sighs. "Fine."
He looks over at her and takes one hand off the steering wheel and places it on her knee. Slowly, his hand rubs it comfortingly to bring her reassurance. "Thank you." He murmurs quietly. They get onto I-95N and head to New Jersey, unaware of the cars that had been following them ever since they left Martin Gray's store.
CHAPTER 2
Pairing: Gabriel (Sylar)/Elle
Rating: R (for language)
Summary: Gabriel and Elle go on a search for answers but trouble keeps interrupting.
Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers for 3.14's "A Clear and Present Danger"
A/N: Sequel to 12 Months of Sylar and Elle. So the story might make a little bit more sense if you read that first. I make no promises as to how this fic will go and for how long because I'm better at one shots but I was just itching to work Elle into Volume 4 stuff.
Prologue
Chapter 1
Baltimore, Maryland
Gabriel walks into the shop. It is so eerily reminiscent of the old Gray & Son's back in Brooklyn. A haunting song fills the air and he spies an old record player in motion. He walks around the store, staring at all the watches and clocks. Finally, he stops at a table filled with tools and in spite of himself, he picks up a watch and one of the tools and starts fiddling with the gears. His guard down, it's the tell tale click of a shotgun being cocked that makes him raise his head.
An older man, his father, no adopted father, is pointing a shotgun right at him.
"You move and I shoot. Damn thief. Think you can come into my shop without me hearing you?" The man barks out, a determined look on his face.
Gabriel holds back a chuckle. "Martin. Martin Gray."
"Do I know you?" A wary look enters the older man's eyes.
"Did you live at 427 Kenmore Street in Queens?" He watches for the man's reactions. "It was the middle of February and snowing. You went out for a pack of cigarettes and never came back. Or so the story goes." Gabriel tilts his head, feeling nothing towards this man who abandoned him and his mother. "Kinda cliche, don't you think?"
"Who are you?"
"I'm your son." He sees Martin lower his gun in disbelief. "And I have some questions for you," he continues darkly.
---
"Kent, stay in the car. I promise to be out soon. You want anything?"
"Blue raspberry Slush-O."
Elle grins. "Good choice. A jumbo one?"
"Yes."
"Sounds good, I'll be back." Elle steps out of the car, looking around as she does so. She has a weird feeling but can't quite pinpoint what that feeling is. She walks into the convenience store and makes a beeline for the Slush-O machine. Two jumbo sized cups are filled to the brim, one blue raspberry and one cherry.
In her eagerness to get her hands on her favorite beverage, she doesn't notice some men stationed around the store and another few that enter. When she walks up to the counter to pay for the drinks, she sees a strange look in the clerk's eyes. She whips around in time to see a gun aimed at her and she quickly lets out a bolt of lightning towards the gunman. That's when she notices the other men in the store.
"Shit. A gang bang? Boys really, I'm flattered. But I'm a one man girl these days," she cheekily states as she grabs the flustered clerk. "But if you even so much as try to do something to me, this poor clerk gets it. And you don't want an innocent getting hurt do you?"
She glances around the room, seeing herself surrounded by masked men in heavy duty gear.
A shot rings out and a tranquilizer dart comes zooming at Elle. It hits her in the shoulder and she hisses in pain. She lets go of the clerk and hurls a ball of electricity at the soldiers before her and they all get thrown backwards and fall to the ground, unconscious. Plucking the dart from her shoulder, she drops it on the ground and stomps on it.
"I suppose I can thank Gabriel for not being affected by the dart," she muses. At the corner of her eye, she looks out the front window of the store and sees the masked men tossing a limp Kent into an armored truck. "NO! KENT!"
---
"I'm a very different person now. That was a long time ago." Martin sits down behind his workstation.
"Maybe for you."
"You said you had questions? Well...ask them."
"So, does a boy without a father grow up to be a man? How does he learn how to make the hard decisions in life? Decisions that only a man can teach." Gabriel's voice is somber as he walks over to Martin.
"You want an apology, is that it? You want to hear I'm sorry for walking out on you and your mother?"
"I just want the truth."
"What about? That your mother was a sick infantile woman? Or that I made a mistake to ever have a child with her?"
Gabriel feels tingling in his head. His voice is harsh and bitter. "Let's start there. Because I'm sure as hell not the son of a man who repairs watches and a woman who collected snow globes. So who am I? Tell me."
Martin pauses before he gives his reluctant answer. "You were given to me."
"By whom?"
"A man who needed money. Your mother wanted a baby and couldn't have one. I wanted out of a loveless marriage and was too much of a coward. Seemed like the right answer at the time."
"Who was he?"
"My brother."
Gabriel can't believe his ears and sits down in a nearby chair. He's still a Gray after all. "Is he still alive?"
Martin grabs a piece of paper and quickly jots down an address and hands it over. Gabriel studies it and waits for his lie detection to go off. He's surprised when it doesn't. "You're telling the truth." He wants to say more but his cell phone starts ringing.
"Yes?"
"Gabriel! I need your help," her voice is frantic and he could hear her breathing hard.
"What's going on? You know I'm busy right now." His voice is impatient.
"Kent. He's been taken by some guys in commando outfits."
"What?"
"We got fucking ambushed okay? Thanks to your empathy and giving me healing, the stupid tranq dart didn't affect me."
"Elle, calm down. Where are you?"
"Driving to your father's watch shop. I'm like a block away."
"Fine, we'll discuss this more when you get here." Gabriel snaps the phone shut and sees Martin eyeing him, a look of mild interest in his eyes. "Nothing you need to know. You and I haven't been family ever since you left us." Gabriel informs him as he turns and marches out the store. He sees their car swerve into the parking lot, tires squealing when it comes to a stop in front of him. He walks to the driver's side door and yanks it open.
"What?" Elle asks testily.
"I'm driving. You're way too emotional to drive right now."
Elle huffs at him and gets out of the car. Gabriel slides into the driver's seat while Elle plops down in the passenger seat and slams the door shut.
"We need to find him, Gabriel."
"I agree. First, tell me what happened," he orders as he eases the car out of the parking lot and onto the busy street. His grip unconsciously tightens around the wheel as Elle tells him the story of what happened in the convenience store.
"Gabriel, your knuckles are white."
"What? Oh," he eases his hold. "Was there anything distinguishing about those guys?"
"Besides the fact they were a bunch of SWAT guys? No. I couldn't see their faces because they were covered up from head to toe."
Gabriel purses his lips. "Government guys? Three guesses as to who that might be related to." He lets out a humorless laugh as a dark look settles into his eyes.
"Nathan fucking Petrelli. Should have known. That damn speech he gave on television about homeland security was a warning to those like us."
A brief pause hangs in the air. "Elle, Martin gave me the location of my real father."
"Where is he?"
"Newark, New Jersey apparently."
"That's like 4 hours away from here! What about Kent?"
"We'll get him back. But I need to do this first."
Elle sighs. "Fine."
He looks over at her and takes one hand off the steering wheel and places it on her knee. Slowly, his hand rubs it comfortingly to bring her reassurance. "Thank you." He murmurs quietly. They get onto I-95N and head to New Jersey, unaware of the cars that had been following them ever since they left Martin Gray's store.
CHAPTER 2