Author's Note: Repost, shouldn't have grammar is mainly a Gabriel fic, I'm not sure, but if he does become Sylar it won't be for awhile. I originally was going to call this "Save Me from Me" but after hearing Relient K's "Be My Escape" I thought that was perfect because it seemed that Gabriel was just trying to escape what he thought was an ordinary life. I also like to note that it has been awhile since I posted anything, so I'm kind of out of my element, and this is a new fandom for me.

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Heroes that belongs to Tim Kring, nor the song Be My Escape by Relient K.

Summary: Claire ends up working for Gabriel Gray at his watch shop to pay for a gift for her father. What new chain of events will occur? Will Gabriel still become Sylar or can Claire save him from himself?

Author: Estelle Stafford

Beta: Silver Candle

Be My Escape

Chapter One: Seemingly Ordinary

Claire found herself cleaning out the attic. It wasn't the worst possible thing she could be doing, but it was on a Saturday none the less. There was also the fact the place was full of dust, spiders and possibly rats, none of which she was looking forward to greeting, but that is what she gets for sneaking out late at night. As much as she hated cleaning this mess up---she looked over to the piles of boxes--she didn't regret sneaking out. It had been worth it. Brody, one of the most popular guys in school had kissed her; though she would never admit it out loud the kiss had been a bit disappointing. It didn't matter if he was a football player and Jackie would without doubt be jealous.

She just couldn't stand Jackie because she was so mean, but Claire had to be friends with her if she was going to be on the cheerleader squad. She knew Jackie had the power to make her life a living hell if she didn't. "Life is so unfair." She complains as she opens another box and was rather surprised to find an old watch.

She pulled it out and turned it over to see something written on the back, a name, "Edward C. Bennet...that sounds familiar." She searched her mind to recall where she had heard it from before. "Oh yeah, that is our great-grandpa's name! Hmm, I wondered if this still works..." She wound it up but it didn't move. "I guess not." She stuffed it in her pocket and decided to ask her mom about it later. She finishes sorting through the boxes, throwing away useless junk, boxing up the Christmas stuff, and the family treasures.

She laughs at some of the pictures she finds. Especially of the one where she made Lyle dance with her in his cowboy boots. It was so cute. He had a chubby little baby face, his hair had also been rather curly, but now his face had become slender, his bright blond curls mixed with light brown and he was no longer her adorable brother. Now he just drove her nuts. She sighs feeling a little sad as she puts it with the rest to go into the photo albums, her mother was feeling nostalgic and wanted all the family photos in albums, she had gone crazy at Kohl's and bought a whole bunch of adorable albums to put her kids' equally adorable faces in.

Claire supposed it had something to do with that she was almost old enough to drive and Lyle was almost in high school. They were all growing up. She, personally, really couldn't wait to go off to college, get away from people like Jackie, stay up late, and just live her life as she pleased. As of now she felt like she was under somebody's thumb: Jackie, her parents, and teachers. They all seemed to be pushing her to be something or live her life in a certain way. It was all frustrating. She found that she was losing herself in all the different people she was expected to be. On one hand she wanted to be the faithful daughter, smart student. On the opposite hand she wanted friends, fun, and a sense of freedom, sometimes that required going against her parents. It was all so...

"Too much thinking!" She exclaimed as she shook her head. "I've been in this attic way too long. I wonder if mom made any lemonade. I need to ask her about the watch." She patted her pocket then made her way down the stairs.

Gabriel Gray tweaked his latest watch. He was a perfectionist by nature, especially when it came to watches. Though most would have been pleased to have such an old piece just running, he would not be satisfied with that. It was two seconds too fast and that would not do. He moved a gear a bit so it wound a tad bit slower. After closing the watch he listened to the tic-tock, tic-tock, tic-tock. It was perfect. He made sure all the parts were secure before putting it back in the box which it had came in. Then he stuffed it back with the rest of the orders. After that he pick up another one to fix, and in between he took customers, checked the orders, ordered parts, and many other little tasks. That is how his day went, everyday. It seemed it would be no different. His life was rather boring and unspectacular.

The door made a ding sound indicating someone had arrived. An older looking man had made his way up to the counter, immediately Gabriel heard the ticking. "Your watch is running half a second too fast." He points out, "I can have that fixed in a couple of minutes." He reaches over for the watch.

The man waves off his offer, "Are you Gabriel Gray?"

"You're not here for a watch?" the watchmaker looks up confused.

He shook his head. "No I'm not. What I'm about to say may seem strange, but I hope you will keep an open mind." The elder man looked almost pleading. "I think you may be a special person." 'Special'; the word rang in his ear; it is what his mother had told him all his life. It is the thing he longed to be.

"Yes," He adjusts his glasses, "I'm listening, what do you mean special?"

Claire looked at the paper in her hand again. Her mom gave her rather detailed directions to the closest watch shop. She recalled her mom's surprise at seeing the old watch. Apparently her dad had been quite upset when he thought he had lost it because it had been in his family for generations, so he would be pleasantly surprised if she gave it back to him fixed as well as polished up for his birthday. Claire was so excited to hear that and she decided the very next day she would go after cheerleader practice.

She wiped some sweat off her forehead. It was good a thing she was fit, because the walk had been much longer than she anticipated, but she finally managed to find the right street. "Now, look for the big purple dog and it should be..." She saw the huge purple plush that was a decoration in the local fabric store and right next to it as promised was the watchmaker shop, written on the door was Gray's Watch Shop." Claire walked in and the door dinged.

"I'll be there in a minute," a voice called out and Claire had hoped the guy was cute, because the voice didn't sound too bad. She was disappointed. The guy who came out looked like one of those dorky guys from an eighties movies, thick black glasses, slicked back hair, bushy eyebrows, and the worst taste in clothes ever! "Can I help you?" though--she found herself smiling--it didn't lessen his voice.

Gabriel had seen a various amount of customers, of all types; however the young blond cheerleader seemed a bit out of place more so then others. She was a representation of everything he wasn't: pretty, popular, and confident. He knew this by her stance, her smile, and of course, her outfit. It was a typical cheerleader outfit, short skirt, long sleeve shirt, and the school colors.

"Um, I was wondering....," she pulled out a watch from her pocket which had been carefully wrapped in a cloth, "If you could fix this."

He took out what looked like a little microscope and put it over one of his eyes. He frowned. Who carries an antique carelessly in their pocket? "This is probably about 18th century, you really should be more careful with this."

The blond cheerleader looks down at her shoes a bit ashamed, "I didn't want my dad to know I had it. I wrapped it up as well as I could."

He ignores her as he unscrews the watch, quickly assessing what is wrong. "I believe I can fix it." It will take a couple weeks. It looks like it will run up to about a few hundred dollars though."

Claire frowned. There went that idea; there was no way she could afford that. "I don't have that kind of money," she admitted. "Can we come up with some kind of arrangement?" He gazed down at her and looked at her slightly confused; she wasn't offering what he thought she was offering was she? Claire instantly realized how that choice of words might be perceived. "No, no," she held her hands up. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that!" She looked around the place, "Maybe I could work here; this place looks like it could use a good cleaning."

"My shop is just fine as it as, I really don't need any help." A little offended that she found his shop not up to her expectations.

"Oh please," she begged with her hands clasped together while she pouted. "I found this watch in my father's attic and I think it will be the perfect birthday gift."

"I can't, some of the parts will have to be special ordered and from a specific distributor."

"Well, can't you cut out the labor and my work will be exchanged for that? I'm sure I can help somehow."

"Uh," he rubbed his forehead out of frustration, "You are not going to leave are you, if I don't agree?"

"Nope," her smile was a rarity in a place like this and he knew that agreeing to this wasn't wise, because he could lose a lot of money but... he kind of liked that smile.

"Fine, I assume your only free time is on the weekend's right?" She froze, because she didn't realize what she would be sacrificing when she offered the deal. "I also assume by that look of dread you don't want to spend your entire weekend here. So, I suppose you can come to work two hours every Saturday for the next two months. You will still need to come with another two hundred though."

She thought for a moment. She had little save up and she was pretty sure her mom would help her out with this one. "Okay, yeah I can do that!" She linger than for a moment, "I guess I'll see you on Saturday." She waved him goodbye.

Claire rushed home as fast as possible she needed to be there in time for supper or her dad just might blow a fuse. She flew through the door and yelled, "I'm home!" Her mother looked up from the pot she was currently stirring.

"Oh good your home. Can you help me by cutting up some of the green onions?"

She grins. "Sure," she replies pulling out a knife from the drawer, along with a cutting board.

"You know you're still in trouble with your father." Sandra looked around the cabinet to find something. "I can never seem to remember where I put the Italian seasoning."

"Top shelf in the very back like always." Claire couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Yeah, I know I'm still in trouble, but mom I really didn't see what the big deal is ow...," She felt the blade cut through her finger.

Her mother reached for her hand, "Oh dear, let's put that in cold water...huh?"

"I guess I didn't cut myself as hard as I thought." She noted seeing that her skin appeared to be unharmed. "It sure felt like it hurt. Anyway," She went back to cutting again, "As I was saying I don't see what the big deal is, I believe I'm mature enough to know how to handle myself at a party."

Grabbing a pot from the cabinet above Claire's head she continued her discussion, "The fact that you had to sneak out proves you're not mature enough."

"No. That just proves you don't trust me."

"Claire, I know you want to go to parties and meet boys I get that, but dear your father and I want what is best for you. I think if you start listening to us, maybe in due time you will see you get more freedom."

"Mom, I get that you guys are trying to protect me, but you can't protect me from everything."

"I know," she said sadly, "but don't tell your father that."

The young girl sighs, "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have sneaked out, but the truth is I had fun at that party."

They might not have heard the door open, but they heard the voice. "Sometimes fun has consequences, doesn't it, Claire-bear?"

"I'm sure paying a price," she mumbles. "I can't believe you actually made me clean out that dirty attic after grounding me for two whole weeks. I'm glad this weekend it will be over. So I can go over to Melody's this weekend right?"

"As long as her parents are there to confirm you are staying there."

"Yeah, I know the routine."

"Now that is out of the way, why don't you get your brother Lyle?" her mother suggested.

"Sure mom, I need to talk to you about something else later. It isn't dire, though." It took Sandra a moment, but she figured that Claire wanted to tell her something regarding the watch.

Gabriel walked up the stairs to his apartment; his mind ran over the events that day. He thought about what Dr. Suresh told him and he held the book tightly in his hand. He hoped to learn more about people with special abilities. It gave him hope he never had before, perhaps he was really special, and he had always wanted to be, so much.

He unlocked the door to his apartment to find his mother cooking in the kitchen. "Mom, I'm home," he greets her with a light kiss on the cheek. "I paid all the bills today, and the doctor says you should be resting."

"Oh come on doesn't my special boy deserve a good meal every night?"

"I really don't need it." He replies in somewhat of a depressed tone. She was always doing things like this for him and he felt rather guilty that he didn't live up to what she wanted him to be.

"Of course, you do you're special. So, darling you want to take your mother out this weekend?"

"I barely got the bills paid." He admitted.

"What did you spend it on?" She asked looking at the book in his hands. "You bought this book," She grabbed it and examined it, "What is this? A fantasy book." She said it with such disdain.

"No, it is about the possibility of humans with special abilities."

"Gabriel," she scolded lightly, "Why are you wasting money on such silly trivialities, truly someone as special as you can think of something better to spend money on." She grabbed the book and threw it in the trash. "Now, you won't be wasting money on any of these silly things anymore, will you?"

"No mother," he agreed. It didn't occur to him to argue how many times he bought her silly things like snow globes to add to her collection, which was growing rather large in size.

"Speaking of which, I think it is time you sell your comic books. Perhaps, you could use the money for something more productive, like law school."

"My comics aren't very high in value." He admitted.

"Then why did you spend money on them?"

"Mom, they were twenty-five cents a piece." He retorted.

"Ever penny, dime, and quarter counts." she almost snarled as she grabbed his face almost digging her nails into his face, "Waste nothing and you will be able to reach your full potential! You need to go to law school so someday you can work your way up to President." He doesn't want to tell her that he doesn't want to go to law school. He feels such guilt by his lack of desire, but his passion has always been related to the field of engineering; he likes to know why things work the way they do as well as building things and figuring how to improve technology. It had always been his aspiration.

He had gone to college for about a month to become one, but due to the fact that his mother didn't approve of the local community college, he found himself dropping out. Anything less than an Ivy League school wouldn't do. As far as engineering went, well...his mother saw that just as unimportant as being a watchmaker. "You shouldn't waste your time in that shop forever."

"I know," he admits, "but it was fathers." She hated that he worked in his father's shop, but after his father left, the chain of events that followed seemed to have trapped him there. As the years went on he still found himself stuck in that shop. Her determination to convince her precious boy to do something speculator just increased. It was, in a way, painful for him, he wanted to give her what she wanted, yet he couldn't help but face the reality that the best way to take care of her was to keep running the shop.

Her eyes flared, "Your father abandoned us, he was a nobody, you owe him nothing!" Her nails dug deeper making an impression in his face. "I gave you everything! Don't I deserve the best?! And we both know that being a watchmaker's mother is hardly what I deserve."

"Yes, I know, I promise I will do something great." He says almost out of desperation. It frightens him when she gets like this.

She smiles as she lets him go, "Of course, you will, you are special. Now let's eat, I made your favorite." Gabriel stared at the table before him; it was rice, beef, and brown gravy. If that was his favorite...why did he never seem to enjoy it? He went to sit down. "Now, now, Gabriel, don't forget to pull out a chair for your mother."

"Of course," he replied, pulling her seat out, "Ladies first."

"Now, bless the meal." He went to bow his head and said some meaningless words that would please his mother. Secretly, he prayed that he really did have some kind of ability.

"Huh," Angela woke up actually frightened, her eyes widened, and a sense of panic had seized her for a moment. When she was younger her dreams had frightened her all the time. Mostly, because she didn't understand them, but that fear faded years ago and it seemed nothing could surprise her, but now she was in her designer gown staring into the night wishing her husband was there instead of at work, apparently the destruction of New York was a shock. Though, that wasn't the most horrific thing. No, it is the horrible sins she must commit in order to protect her family. It was something she would rather not do. The vision has to come true and all she is left to do is encourage the good ones and clean up after the bad ones.

She found herself dialing the cell phone. "Hello Daniel," she greets calmly, "I had a dream I will think you find interesting."

Author's Commentary: Author Notes will be things I think are important to read, commentary will just be further explanation of the story and random comments.

So this was off the what if question of 'What if Claire met Gabriel Gray before he became Sylar?' I was quite curious about this, and how everything else would play out. Did somebody else do this for another pairing? Anyhow so far that is what I can up with. Some events that occur in the show may be written in somehow, and others won't. I'm not a hundred percent sure; I know Angela and Noah are going to play a huge part of it, of course. I want to also include Peter, and some of the others, but I don't know how all that will work out for this plot. I know some things may feel a little off, but I went over this again and again, it still isn't where I want it. I debated if I should post it yet. It has been on my computer for about three weeks, I wrote a lot of Sylaire stuff, some I don't know if I'll ever post, because I'm not sure how it will be perceived. All of it is probably A.U.

So from what I've seen of the show, Gabriel was probably psychology abused by his mother. My theory is that she was never happy with the choices he made unless it was exactly what she wanted and I bet she wasn't even happy then. She was probably controlling, critical, and constantly reminding him of what she thought he should be. I say 'special' a lot on purpose, because I wanted to show that the word always seems to be on his mind.

With Claire and Gabriel, I was trying to show that Gabriel had a certain perception of her, a stereotypical cheerleader, but at the same time was drawn to her. Claire may have come off a little shallower then what she really is in the show, but really I was trying to show that she was a normal teenager with some of the perceptions they have, I know not all teenagers in high schools are like this, but I thought it would be believable for her character.

Reviews are always loved! But I'll live without them, I did write this mainly for my enjoyment and I hope it shows because it was fun!