IV [VISUAL/LOCATION: GRAY & SONS] - THE IDENTITY OF ONE CHANGES WITH HOW ONE PERCEIVES REALITY

[godlikesin]

Gabriel wasn't sure exactly why he had been avoiding his shop. All he knew was that he woke up in the middle of the night with the realization that he hadn't been back there in weeks, and most of the clocks would have run down several times over by now. That simply wasn't acceptable. He really should have been taking better care of his

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[location: gray & sons]

[ellectricshock]

Elle's feeling more than a little bored, and after a couple hours of sitting around in her room at the Sanctuary For All, she's in need of something to entertain herself. Which is why a quick glance at her tablet tells her all she needs to know on his location, and soon enough she's heading in that direction.

The bell above the door rings, just as she remembers it, and she as she walks inside, there's a brief flash of memory, the reflex of using her power to fry a rope hanging from the ceiling -

She shakes her head, pushing it out of her mind, and that's when her gaze settles on him, busily settling down to work.

"Is this a bad time? I can come back later."

[location: gray & sons]

[godlikesin]

The voice was familiar and reassuring so that when Gabriel looked up from the clock that he'd finally plucked off the wall after staring at them all for a few minutes, he already knew who would be standing there. Nervous fluttered in the pit of his stomach as he offered Elle a soft smile. Bad time? No, never

[location: gray & sons]

[ellectricshock]

It was strange, she noted. Even now as she looked at him, everything from his appearance down to his every mannerism screamed Gabriel Gray. But hadn't he just admitted himself as Sylar the other day? Warning bells were going off left and right, and she wondered if this was some kind of coping mechanism for him or if he'd chosen to repress everything altogether. At the same time, he remembered her, so clearly, certain things were still in proper working order.

Nevertheless, she too had her reasons to feel anxious.

"No, I don't mind," she promised, taking a seat in the chair he'd pulled out for her and leaning forward to look down at the clock he was beginning to work on.

"If I'd known you were planning on working so hard, I would've brought lunch."

It was almost too easy for her to fall back into the rhythm from so many years ago. Too easy, and it scared her a little.

[location: gray & sons]

[godlikesin]

"Food. Yeah. I should... Probably get something to eat eventually," Gabriel said with a quiet, nervous laugh. He really should have known that without her telling him, but then again, she always was so good to him. He didn't know what he'd do without her there to keep him sane. "As soon as I finish this up," He said, picking the tools back up as he started to readjust the gears and tighten the springs.

After a few gears were realigned, Gabriel glanced up at Elle over his glasses, offering her a slightly hesitant smile, "How are you settling in?" He asked, a quiet concern in his tone. He only...remembered half their conversation when she arrived. He didn't know why there were parts of it missing from memory, but he could remember at least that she was mad at him. For what or why, he couldn't recall, but the anger was very clear. He could only wish that that had faded by now.

"Are things...better?" Gabriel asked. God, he wished he could remember what had been wrong, what he'd done wrong.

[location: gray & sons]

[ellectricshock]

As he worked, Elle preoccupied herself with looking around the shop. As far as she could tell, it hadn't changed a whole lot in the time that had passed since she'd last been there. Various clocks with various problems still hung on the wall. The ones that had actually made it to the tables were in various states of disassembly, with parts and pieces strewn over most of the available surfaces yet somehow still keeping in a neat order. That was like him, she thought to herself. Structure among the chaos.

"Fine," she answered - quietly, when he asked her. She didn't know what was leading her to act this way. Instead of going off on him, holding a grudge, she was simply calmer. At ease. But she wasn't sure if this had something to do with the fact that her power had recently come under her control again or if it was related to another situation entirely.

"I haven't had any more malfunctions, if that's what you mean," she added.

[location: gray & sons]

[godlikesin]

That...that was a relief. Gabriel couldn't exactly explain how he felt about the idea of Elle being in that much pain. He hated the idea, hated it more than he could ever have hated anything before, more than he had even hated himself after he realized exactly what he had done in order to gain his telekinesis. Not his...Brian's. But that... He didn't need to think about right now.

"I'm glad for that," Gabriel said as he looked up at her, tightening the final few gears on the clock that he was working on and closing the back panel before standing to hang it back on the wall. "You shouldn't have to go through anything like that, Elle," Gabriel said, turning back to her as soon as the clock was hung.

[location: gray & sons]

[ellectricshock]

As he rose from his seat, she swiveled around in hers to watch him hang the clock back up. There was a pause, and then she rose from her chair to stand just behind him, hands idly clasped behind her back. It was easier for her to do things like that: clasp her hands or even sit on them to keep from getting too casual with her ability.

At the same time, it put her directly into his path when he turned around, and she looked up at him, exhaling in a shaky breath.

"Well, it was a... complicated situation," she managed, struggling to look him in the eye. "But it's over now. Nothing to worry about anymore."

[location: gray & sons]

[godlikesin]

Gabriel's face fell slowly as he watched Elle's body language, the reserved manner that she was using, the way that she kept closing herself off, and the fact that she could hardly look him in the eye. He couldn't for the life of him think would he could of done, but... He couldn't just stand here and take it.

"Did I do something wrong, Elle?" Gabriel asked quietly, a sincere fear in his voice as he did. Raising a hand hesitantly as it lingered just away from his cheek until he could actually bring himself to brush a wisp of hair behind her ear. "Is there something that I can do to fix it...whatever it was? Please?" His voice wavered, a sadness in his eyes. "You're still mad at me... Aren't you?"

God. What had he done?

[location: gray & sons]

[ellectricshock]

It was hard for her to see him like this. It was too much of a reminder, the memories were too stark in her mind now for her to push them away in favor of other thoughts. He was too much like Gabriel now, before the Company had decided to intervene. Before she and Noah had - no. She shook her head, doing her best to keep the memories at bay.

"Gabriel."

She hadn't called him that once. Not since she'd been here, at least. Not since he'd become the man the world had come to know as Sylar. The name sounded almost foreign on her lips, but she'd uttered it so readily.

She reached up for his hand, bringing it down and away from her face, but even as she went on, she didn't pull her own hand out of his, her fingers still lightly holding on.

"I'm not mad," she whispered. "I swear. It's just hard. What I knew before, what I'm feeling now. It's hard for me to describe. I'm not really sure I know how to."

[location: gray & sons]

[godlikesin]

What she knew before, what she was feeling now? What...what was she talking about? It hadn't been that long since we'd spoken to her. They were...on really good terms the last time that he could remember before arriving here. They'd had pie and talked, truly talked about everything. He'd told her the truth, that with her there, he didn't feel as though he had to bend to the addiction that came from wanting powers anymore. He could fight it with her help, but now... Now she didn't know how to describe what she was feeling?

"Elle," Gabriel said quietly, squeezing her hand lightly as a soft confusion flooded into his gaze. "I don't understand," He said gently. "We were... Weren't we... Was there something that I said before you left that made things awkward? I thought things were good, that we were having dinner next week."

[location: gray & sons]

[ellectricshock]

She didn't know how to make sense from what he was saying. It was almost like he didn't remember anything that had happened - not only in the past couple of days, but in the past couple of years. He was acting just like he had prior to ever being Sylar. Was it because this was actually, physically Gabriel standing in front of her? Or was it still Sylar, and something had happened to him?

Either way, the worst thing to do at this point was to go on confusing him. Better to play along for now and figure out what had gone wrong later.

"No, no," she said, shaking her head quickly. "You're fine, don't worry. You did nothing wrong."

His hand was still resting in hers, and she gave it a gentle squeeze.

[location: gray & sons]

[godlikesin]

Relief flooded his system at the reassurance. He still wasn't positive exactly what was going on and what she might have meant from what she said, but he was willing to set it all aside. It was better not to dwell on the things that he didn't understand. Otherwise, he'd only end up obsessing about them. And that was the last thing that he needed at the moment.

"If you say so," Gabriel said, offering her a tentative smile. "Have you talked to anyone else yet?"

[location: gray & sons]

[ellectricshock]

She knew how to make her face unreadable. And that was what she was going to have to do, especially if this whole thing continued to happen, if he continued to think he was Gabriel or he really was Gabriel - she was confused on the logistics of it. Clearly, he didn't remember anything apart from a few months back, so she was just going to have to wrack her memory and work from there.

"Not really," she confessed. "I've only been here for what, a day or two? Not exactly enough time to get social."

[location: gray & sons]

[godlikesin]

She did have a point. She was still getting settled, and after her arrival (surprising as it was to recall because...why hadn't she told him that she had an ability, too?), she had every right to not really want to get out and play miss social butterfly right away.

So smiling in understanding, Gabriel nodded. That was all he figured he had to do. The rest spoke for itself.

Allowing his fingers to drift briefly from her hand up the lower part of her arm, he allowed his touch to linger like that a moment before pulling back out of embarrassment, a soft flush enfusing his cheeks as he glanced down at his workbench for a moment before turning his gaze back up to her, opening his mouth to speak and hesitating until his mind could gear back into what he had been wanting to say, what he needed to say.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

[location: gray & sons]

[ellectricshock]

For a moment, she faltered, not really having an idea of what he was asking her. But then realization dawned and she managed to cover up her brief mental fumble with an actual response to his question.

"I - I don't know, and I'm sorry for that," she replied. "I should've told you. I guess - well, it was my job to do certain things, and I guess I wasn't honest about a lot of it. I'm so sorry."

[location: gray & sons]

[godlikesin]

Curiosity flickered against his features for a moment before his mind decided that it wasn't worth it. When she wanted to explain what that meant, she'd do so. What mattered at the moment was that she was sorry, and that was all that mattered. Smiling at her, Gabriel nodded in understanding. He'd only shown her the ability that he had because he'd thought that she deserved to know about the part of himself that she'd saved him from, and, well, he'd needed someone to talk to about at that moment anyway.

"It's all right, Elle," Gabriel said. "I know now," He said gently. "So the why's really don't matter anymore."