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Characters: Gabriel, Peter, Arthur, Claire
Fandom: Heroes
Rating: R
Word Count: 1483
Prompt: 13/100 #86 Choices![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
100heroesfics Winston Zeddemore: Ray. If someone asks if you are a god, you say, "yes!" ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
scifi_muses
Notes: Crackfic - AU verse created by @futurepurfect on Twitter. A different origin for Sylar, from a very different AU world.
Shades of Scarlet
It was cold down there. I counted the floors as the elevator sunk. We were four levels below ground. I could feel the weight of all that earth, concrete and humanity pressing down on me. Beside me my father, cast me a quick glance over his shoulder while chatting with Peter about something. I should have been paying attention, but I’d been distracted listening to the gears in the elevator. There was a click that sounded wrong, and it was going to need to be repaired before too long. Hopefully I wouldn’t be underground or on it when it decided to quit functioning.
“Gabriel.” My father let out a sigh. I was used to it. I disappointed Arthur Petrelli on a frequent basis. Pretty much any day ending in Y. I wasn’t my brother, Peter, the chosen one. Not for the first time I wished I’d been born closer to Nathan in age or to some other family entirely. “Were you listening?”
“Yes, sir.” It wasn’t a lie. I had been listening, just not to either of them. “But there’s something wrong with the elevator. It needs to be fixed.”
He closed his eyes and sighed again. “You’re not here to work on building maintenance, Gabriel. You’re here to learn a new ability.”
“He knows, Dad.” Peter barely hid a snicker as the doors open. “I wish I could teach him to do it like I do. Or like you do.”
I’d tried to learn from Peter and my father, but I didn’t know how. Peter, all he had to do was be in a room with someone to copy their power. My father just had to touch you to steal them. Me, I couldn’t do anything but figure out how things worked. Nothing the Company had tried worked on me. I was as hopeless as Nathan. Dr. Suresh insisted that I had a gift, but I didn’t know how to access it fully yet.
I followed them down the long corridor. The walls weren’t even painted. They were just gray concrete with glass windows and heavy doors. Most of the cells were empty. The ones that weren’t held specials who couldn’t be trusted or rehabilitated. I could feel the hate and anger coming from them as they glared at my father. I jumped when a big man slammed his hands against the glass, blue flames creating a corona around his hands.
“He can’t hurt you, Gabriel.” This time Peter didn’t hide the sneer. He was disgusted with me. Hell, I was disgusted with me too. “None of them can get out, and this isn’t even level 5 where they keep the really dangerous ones. You can’t believe the powers I’ve picked up being down there.”
Peter Petrelli was twenty. I was twenty-one. We were what’s commonly called Irish twins even though we’re not Irish, just have good Catholic parents. Arthur wanted to send us out on missions for the Company, hunting down more of our kind. He said it was to help them. I didn’t see the point. How was it good for them to be dragged out of their homes, bagged and tagged like humpback whales…
“I know he can’t get to me, Peter.” I was so tired of him rolling his eyes at me. It should have been enough for him to be dad’s favorite. But then it bothered him that mom liked me best. “It’s just reflexes. He surprised me.”
“Enough bickering out of you two,” Arthur said. This time we both shut up, just like we’d done since we were kids. If we didn’t, he’d just force his will on us anyway. I’d do what he said if only because I hated being made his puppet. “Now this one is quite special. I had to go through a lot to bring her here for you both.”
“What can she do, dad?” Peter asked, a hungry look on his face. I hoped she could do a lot. When Peter absorbed too many powers it made him sick. Last time I thought he might die from it. It was my turn to be disappointed when he didn’t.
“Her name is Claire Bennet.” We stopped in front of a cell. Inside a blonde haired girl was playing with a doll. She couldn’t have been more then seven or eight. “And she can’t die. If you can copy her ability, you’ll both be immortal.”
Our father keyed the door, and we both slipped in. Peter didn’t even blink as he walked over to her. She looked up at him and smiled with big green eyes. “Hi, Claire. I’m Peter this is my brother, Gabriel.”
“Hi,” she said. I was surprised at how calm she was until I realized Dad had worked his will onto hers. It was the only way a kid could be happy to play in a place like this. “Want to have some tea with us?”
“Sure,” Peter said, crouching to sit across from her. He probably already had her ability, while all I could do was wonder how I could get it too. “Come on, Gabe. Sit down with us.”
I hated being called Gabe. Unfortunately Peter didn’t mind being called Pete, so I had no way to annoy him. When we were little I called him Feet, but I hadn’t done that since Junior High. “Hi, Claire. What kind of tea are we having?”
“Brown,” she said like I was a complete moron. She handed us each a small empty paper cup. No pink plastic tea sets for her here. “Here.”
When she touched me, I looked into her eyes, and I saw it. The connections in her brain that made her different were there ripe for the taking. I’d just have to get inside of her skull first. I gasped, jerking back from her touch.
“What’s up, Gabe?” Peter cast a sideways glance at me. “What just happened.”
I scuttled back from them and licked my lip. My hands were shaking and I was hungrier than I’d ever been. I felt like I’d been locked in a cage for months without food. “I can see it. What makes her special. It’s in her brain.”
“Then get it.” Peter got up to block my access to the door out of the room. “Go into her cute little skull and dig it out.”
“I can’t do that.” Even if I’d been thinking of doing just that. I swallowed hard, my mouth so dry that it hurt. Panic was setting in, my breath ragged and I was starting to sweat. I could feel my shirt clinging to my skin. “She’s a little kid, Pete. Fuck, are you crazy?”
“She’s a little kid who can’t die, Gabe. Suck it up and kill the little bitch. It’ll only be for a little while. For once in your life, Gabriel, try not to let dad down.” Claire looked at us, fear creeping in as our voices rose. She backed away from Peter as he stalked towards her, but she was too small to get away. Peter held her down on the slab that served as a bed in the cell. “Just do it. It’s not like she’ll stay dead.”
Claire Bennet screamed when I grabbed her head between my hands and bashed the back of her skull against the concrete hard enough to break it. Blood splattered over my hands, soaking up the sleeves of my shirt. Dots of red hit my glasses and sent a crimson arc across Peter’s face. Licking the blood from my lips, I cracked her again, this time the skin split and I could pry apart the plates of her skull. I dipped my fingers in, probing until I found the place. The single spot in all those neurons that gave her that precious gift of immortality.
I stopped breathing while I studied her amazing brain. I closed my eyes while I imagined making my brain just like hers. I felt the change. It was like a switch being hit, and suddenly I was so very special.
Peter grabbed me by the shoulder and dragged me toward the door. “Did you do it?”
“Yes, I’m like her now.” My voice sounded so different in my years. It was like I was outside of myself. I looked at him and cocked my head to the side. “So are you. I can see it now, Peter. I can see it in you too.”
Behind me, Claire started to scream. I turned back as our father popped the door open to see her blood stained face. Rivulets of tears ran through the blood. She was alive, just like Peter said she would be. But her face was filled with horror. I didn’t think our father would be able to make that memory go away.
“I’m sorry,” I told her as we left the cell. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”
Fandom: Heroes
Rating: R
Word Count: 1483
Prompt: 13/100 #86 Choices
100heroesfics Winston Zeddemore: Ray. If someone asks if you are a god, you say, "yes!" scifi_musesNotes: Crackfic - AU verse created by @futurepurfect on Twitter. A different origin for Sylar, from a very different AU world.
Shades of Scarlet
It was cold down there. I counted the floors as the elevator sunk. We were four levels below ground. I could feel the weight of all that earth, concrete and humanity pressing down on me. Beside me my father, cast me a quick glance over his shoulder while chatting with Peter about something. I should have been paying attention, but I’d been distracted listening to the gears in the elevator. There was a click that sounded wrong, and it was going to need to be repaired before too long. Hopefully I wouldn’t be underground or on it when it decided to quit functioning.
“Gabriel.” My father let out a sigh. I was used to it. I disappointed Arthur Petrelli on a frequent basis. Pretty much any day ending in Y. I wasn’t my brother, Peter, the chosen one. Not for the first time I wished I’d been born closer to Nathan in age or to some other family entirely. “Were you listening?”
“Yes, sir.” It wasn’t a lie. I had been listening, just not to either of them. “But there’s something wrong with the elevator. It needs to be fixed.”
He closed his eyes and sighed again. “You’re not here to work on building maintenance, Gabriel. You’re here to learn a new ability.”
“He knows, Dad.” Peter barely hid a snicker as the doors open. “I wish I could teach him to do it like I do. Or like you do.”
I’d tried to learn from Peter and my father, but I didn’t know how. Peter, all he had to do was be in a room with someone to copy their power. My father just had to touch you to steal them. Me, I couldn’t do anything but figure out how things worked. Nothing the Company had tried worked on me. I was as hopeless as Nathan. Dr. Suresh insisted that I had a gift, but I didn’t know how to access it fully yet.
I followed them down the long corridor. The walls weren’t even painted. They were just gray concrete with glass windows and heavy doors. Most of the cells were empty. The ones that weren’t held specials who couldn’t be trusted or rehabilitated. I could feel the hate and anger coming from them as they glared at my father. I jumped when a big man slammed his hands against the glass, blue flames creating a corona around his hands.
“He can’t hurt you, Gabriel.” This time Peter didn’t hide the sneer. He was disgusted with me. Hell, I was disgusted with me too. “None of them can get out, and this isn’t even level 5 where they keep the really dangerous ones. You can’t believe the powers I’ve picked up being down there.”
Peter Petrelli was twenty. I was twenty-one. We were what’s commonly called Irish twins even though we’re not Irish, just have good Catholic parents. Arthur wanted to send us out on missions for the Company, hunting down more of our kind. He said it was to help them. I didn’t see the point. How was it good for them to be dragged out of their homes, bagged and tagged like humpback whales…
“I know he can’t get to me, Peter.” I was so tired of him rolling his eyes at me. It should have been enough for him to be dad’s favorite. But then it bothered him that mom liked me best. “It’s just reflexes. He surprised me.”
“Enough bickering out of you two,” Arthur said. This time we both shut up, just like we’d done since we were kids. If we didn’t, he’d just force his will on us anyway. I’d do what he said if only because I hated being made his puppet. “Now this one is quite special. I had to go through a lot to bring her here for you both.”
“What can she do, dad?” Peter asked, a hungry look on his face. I hoped she could do a lot. When Peter absorbed too many powers it made him sick. Last time I thought he might die from it. It was my turn to be disappointed when he didn’t.
“Her name is Claire Bennet.” We stopped in front of a cell. Inside a blonde haired girl was playing with a doll. She couldn’t have been more then seven or eight. “And she can’t die. If you can copy her ability, you’ll both be immortal.”
Our father keyed the door, and we both slipped in. Peter didn’t even blink as he walked over to her. She looked up at him and smiled with big green eyes. “Hi, Claire. I’m Peter this is my brother, Gabriel.”
“Hi,” she said. I was surprised at how calm she was until I realized Dad had worked his will onto hers. It was the only way a kid could be happy to play in a place like this. “Want to have some tea with us?”
“Sure,” Peter said, crouching to sit across from her. He probably already had her ability, while all I could do was wonder how I could get it too. “Come on, Gabe. Sit down with us.”
I hated being called Gabe. Unfortunately Peter didn’t mind being called Pete, so I had no way to annoy him. When we were little I called him Feet, but I hadn’t done that since Junior High. “Hi, Claire. What kind of tea are we having?”
“Brown,” she said like I was a complete moron. She handed us each a small empty paper cup. No pink plastic tea sets for her here. “Here.”
When she touched me, I looked into her eyes, and I saw it. The connections in her brain that made her different were there ripe for the taking. I’d just have to get inside of her skull first. I gasped, jerking back from her touch.
“What’s up, Gabe?” Peter cast a sideways glance at me. “What just happened.”
I scuttled back from them and licked my lip. My hands were shaking and I was hungrier than I’d ever been. I felt like I’d been locked in a cage for months without food. “I can see it. What makes her special. It’s in her brain.”
“Then get it.” Peter got up to block my access to the door out of the room. “Go into her cute little skull and dig it out.”
“I can’t do that.” Even if I’d been thinking of doing just that. I swallowed hard, my mouth so dry that it hurt. Panic was setting in, my breath ragged and I was starting to sweat. I could feel my shirt clinging to my skin. “She’s a little kid, Pete. Fuck, are you crazy?”
“She’s a little kid who can’t die, Gabe. Suck it up and kill the little bitch. It’ll only be for a little while. For once in your life, Gabriel, try not to let dad down.” Claire looked at us, fear creeping in as our voices rose. She backed away from Peter as he stalked towards her, but she was too small to get away. Peter held her down on the slab that served as a bed in the cell. “Just do it. It’s not like she’ll stay dead.”
Claire Bennet screamed when I grabbed her head between my hands and bashed the back of her skull against the concrete hard enough to break it. Blood splattered over my hands, soaking up the sleeves of my shirt. Dots of red hit my glasses and sent a crimson arc across Peter’s face. Licking the blood from my lips, I cracked her again, this time the skin split and I could pry apart the plates of her skull. I dipped my fingers in, probing until I found the place. The single spot in all those neurons that gave her that precious gift of immortality.
I stopped breathing while I studied her amazing brain. I closed my eyes while I imagined making my brain just like hers. I felt the change. It was like a switch being hit, and suddenly I was so very special.
Peter grabbed me by the shoulder and dragged me toward the door. “Did you do it?”
“Yes, I’m like her now.” My voice sounded so different in my years. It was like I was outside of myself. I looked at him and cocked my head to the side. “So are you. I can see it now, Peter. I can see it in you too.”
Behind me, Claire started to scream. I turned back as our father popped the door open to see her blood stained face. Rivulets of tears ran through the blood. She was alive, just like Peter said she would be. But her face was filled with horror. I didn’t think our father would be able to make that memory go away.
“I’m sorry,” I told her as we left the cell. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”
