Participants:
| Scene Title | Shattered Lies |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Just like her world, more falsehoods fall away. Ethan pays a visit wanting to know where one of Vanguard's biggest investments went to. |
| Date | December 8, 2008 |
Siann Hall: Gabriel and Gillian's Apartment
One way to drown out the absense of anyone outside of herself and the cat… is the music that's playing. Gillian opened up her laptop and started turned the speakers up enough to spread out the music in the room. Dance-style techno music seems to be the choice of the moment (or all moments with her). A rare sound from this apartment, even at the early hours of evening, before people need to think about sleep. The iPod that she'd normally use for such occassions sits on the coffee table, next to a cold glass of water, ice melting away, condensation formed around the edge. And no coaster.
A washcloth, cooled with water rests over her eyes as she lays back on the couch. A yellow cat paces around the kitchen, scratching on the cupboard door that he knows his food is behind. Meow?
She ignores him.
The door makes a light tapping sound. Easy knocks, friendly knocks. Though the knocks won't be so friendly once he's inside. Ethan lowers his hand after he knocks on the door making his presence known. He steps to the side so he is not visible from the peep hole. A light sigh is exhaled. If only he had more time to plan this, he would approach it with more tact. But things are going to hell, and right now fast reactions may save them from certain failure.
And so Ethan stands outside a door of a girl, who he has lied to, manipulated, and took part in the death of her sister. His hands go into his pockets… If she doesn't answer soon. He will open the door for her.
No one is home. Ignore the sound of music.
Gillian sits up, the cloth falling from her eyes. There's no one who would knock on her door— no one's knocked on the door as long as she's lived here. It'd been one of the biggest secrets they'd kept. Or that she'd kept. And Gabriel wouldn't knock. Sylar wouldn't knock. Looking at the cat, she moves toward her bag and grabs the closest thing she has to a weapon, a small taser, prohibited variety. The fog horn would be more useful against the co-owner of the apartment, but she still grabs the taser as she moves to look out the peep hole.
No one.
Leaving the chain firmly on, she unlatches the door and opens it just a crack, not even looking through. "If it's about the rent I'll pay it tomorrow. Go away."
Hm. Just enough. "No.." Comes the voice, a voice she might find familiar. A voice that definitely does not belong to anyone who works in the apartment. A bodiless voice. A voice that just kicked the door open.
To break a chain without creating a huge loud noise you have to kick at that point of the door. That's exactly what Ethan does. A black boot aimed for the closest area on the door to where the chain would be, slams against the door hard. And it wont be but moments after, once the barrier of a door is gone that the Wolf himself will be inside, stalking his prey.
The chain snaps at the weakest point, luckily not ripping off the door frame completely. Gillian jumps back, the door having glanced off of her shoulder, knocking her down onto her backside, and she's staring up at the man. PARIAH. The clothes she's wearing shows off a couple of her tattoos, the ones on her ankles, on her arms— and around one wrist is a watch. A watch with a cracked and broken facing, the hands stopped at a specific time.
"Get out of my apartment. You're not invited here." Despite fatigue obvious on her face, there's defiance in her voice, anger, and the taser still clasped in her hand.
The door is quickly closed behind him, as he stares down at the woman. Then he locks it. They wouldn't want any bad bad men coming in, would they? The man tilts his head at her, his expression one of.. what looks like amusment. His boot flies up again, this time to step down on her wrist. Take the weapon out of the picture.
"Don't waste my time with games." Comes the cockney accent. "The sooner you realize I am in control, and you are nothing the sooner I can get out of 'ere. So!' He gives a charming little smile. "If you scream, or try to do anything else as equally stupid." A flourish of his wrist, and there is a knife in his hand. "Well, I won't take it kindly, understand? So, can we be friends?"
There's a cry of pain as her wrist is stepped on, but Gillian does let go of the taser. It wasn't the wrist with her already broken watch— instead the one with the tribal rose tattoo on the inside. The boot will probably leave a bruise, but her wrist likely isn't broken.
There's visible wincing and she tries to move away— but she really can't, so she just stops. "Fine. Looking for your pal with the scar, then? Either of them? HomeSec killed one, and arrested the other. You can leave now." He's PARIAH. The Peters knew about PARIAH.
The boot leaves her wrist for just a moment, kicking the taser away. Then, his hand goes down to her. To help her up. His brows arch at her words. Hmm.. So a guy with a scar got killed, and another guy with a scar got arrested? That doesn't exactly make sense. Sylar has no scar. Once she is standing, he motions for her to go take a seat. "Why were you there?" He asks simply.
The knife is watched as Gillian stands up, rubbing her wrist. There will be a bruise there, she knows it now. She settles into the chair, letting out an exhausted breath before she keeps holding her wrist. "I was a bystander— I was there to help someone else. It doesn't matter. They're the ones connected to PARIAH, and that's what happened to them. And I know if you were really a fed, you'd have kicked down the door with a lot more than a knife."
"Don't worry, love. I have a nuclear bomb in my pocket." He informs gently. "'oo were you 'elping?" He asks, going to take a seat across from her, the knife is tucked away. It's not that that is the only weapon he has. It's just the one that he can cause the most slow suffering with. Guns go too fast. Too loud, even with a silencer. "'oo said I was a fed? You don't need to know 'oo the fuck I am. You just need to know, that I am in charge. We can be friends, or you can 'ate me, and in retrospect 'ave me reciprocate with unnecessary and prolonged violence. Now it's up to you. Answer all my questions, or… Well, I think you can imagine. Roight? You're a smart girl."
"He doesn't matter. He's gone too," Gillian says, eyes looking away. There's tension in her eyes and forehead, eyes lower to the watch on her wrist. It looks almost as if she's too emotionally tired to be terrified right now. She'd been a lot more scared the last time they'd seen each other. A lot's happened to her since then. "No one said you were a Fed, but Home Sec might have seen me last night— they could have followed me home. And how you know where I live…" She's not the one supposed to be asking the questions, though, but she still asks, "Why do you care?"
"'oo were you 'elping? Where did 'e go?" Ethan asks coldly, staring at her hard. "I know where you live, because I'm a really good guesser. So just, answer the questions, a'right?" The Wolf asks leaning back in his chair. Looking like he's even relaxing a bit. "I just need to know. So tell me, what 'appened? 'oo were you with? And where did 'e go?"
There's a shake on her face, Gillian's eyes actually start to water. She furiously reaches up and pushes the moisture away and glares at him. "I'm not telling you who he was." Defiance as it may be, there's also pain in her voice. Whoever this had been must have meant something to her. "Assface— one of them— sent him to Antarctica. Touched him and teleported him away. He's probably picking his way through ice glaciers now."
Ethan leans forward, looking very interested. "Assface? 'oo the fuck are you talking about, assface? I don't know anyone named assface. Though I don't suppose I would like to either." A little smirk follows that. "You loved 'im. Didn't you? This man, 'oo 'assface' sent to antartica? If we could bring 'em back, would you want 'im back?"
"Peter Petrelli. The guy with the scar!" Gillian's getting a little frustrated at this point. "I know they both work with PARIAH at least to some extent, so you have to know who the fuck they are. Two of them. Selfish Assfaces the both of them, but at least…" She trails off. Does she love him. "None of your fucking business." That question makes her lock up, though she can't help but look toward where the knife disappeared to. "If you want to kill me, kill me. But I'm not telling you anything more."
"Peter Petrelli." Ethan repeats, his face emotionless. A little smirk. "Bold words. Words usually spoken by someone who believes the person with them will not kill them. But do you really have that confidence Gillian Childs?" The man slowly goes to stand up. Reaching into his coat pocket a balck cylindrical type object is produced. A silencer. "Now. Gillian. I need you to answer my questions, if you want Gabriel back."
Gabriel. That actually changes things more than the silencer. Another reason someone would say that is if they just don't care anymore. Gillian's entire world got shattered last night. And watch another piece break away and crack further. Another lie gets a crack in it, though doesn't fall apart completely. Gabriel. She closes her eyes and raises her hands up over her face. "I hate him," she whispers softly. There's definitely strong emotions there, though they may not be hate related. She takes in a slow breath and lowers her hands to look back up, past the silencer, to the man holding it.
"Which question?"
Ethan steps forward, tucking the silencer inside his belt. The Wolf steps forward and slowly goes to crouch in front of her. "No you don't." Ethan whispers quietly. "You love him. You know that as well as I do." One hand slowly goes out to her hand. Gentle, soothing. Not the hand of a killer, the hand of a father. "You want him back. Don't you Gillian?" He tilts his head, a sympathetic expression covering his face.
There's no surge of energy— this man has nothing for her to boost. Gillian looks down at the hand and takes it away. "I'll decide that if he comes back." If. So many factors. She might just shoot him again for all she knows. "I told you all I know. The Petrelli that sent him away said he sent him to Antarctica. I don't know anything else about where he actually went." She's still looking defiant, but the emotional breaking keeps going on. "You were never with PARIAH, were you?"
"No Gillian, I was never with PARIAH." He doesn't react immediately to her hand jerking away. His voice is soothing, understanding, sympathetic. "You want 'im back. You want 'im to be 'ere. You want 'im to 'old you. To tell you everything is going to be alright. To tell you 'e'll protect you." It's almost a whisper..
"You don't know me very well at all," Gillian says, continuing to keep her hand away. But noticably she's holding it close to her chest. "If you can get him back, get him back. If you can't, then stop taunting me. You know what I know about where he went. He knows where to find me, just like you do. I don't have any intention of leaving our apartment until he comes back. Even after this."
"No, I don't." He admits. "So 'omeSec nabbed this guy? This Peter Petrelli?" Ethan asks with intrigue. "After 'e sent our boy to Antartica? Fucking Antartica?" That'll be a hassle. "Whot all do you know about Peter?" He remains close to her, though he doesn't try to take her hand again.. yet.
"Gabriel and Peter hated each other. Had a past. I don't know all the details of it, but there you guy. And he split in two— for reasons I don't know," Gillian says, not lying really because she doesn't know all the details, but she's leaving some details she does know out. "One of the Peters, Assface Number One we will call him, hurt some people close to Gabriel trying to find him. The other Assface, Number Two, found Gabriel and me and asked for help killing the first one. That's why we were there. Things went south, Gabriel got sent to Antarctica. Number Two got shot in the head by HomeSec just after I ran away, Number One got shot a bunch of times and taken off."
It all makes sense. So many secrets, and they are all broken open with one little girl. The man slowly stands, his hand going to brush against her cheek. "I'm sorry about your sister, love." With that, he takes a step back. "Is there anything we can do for you? Do you need anything?" The Wolf asks, quite kindly.
There's another flinch away from the hand against her cheek, but Gillian doesn't fully move away. The flinch is enough. Mentioning her sister makes a sound in her throat, too deep to be a cry or a whine, but not quite a sound of rage either. A sound of betrayal is closer. "You can leave and not come back. Until he returns, this is my apartment."
Ethan gives a sympathetic look, letting his hand trail off her cheek while he turns his back and walks towards the door. He stops for a moment, looking over his shoulder. "No Gillian. This is my apar'ment. You can stay 'ere as long as you'd like. As long as you remember, I'm in charge. For you, I'm God." A moment, then he opens the door. "Sleep well lovely, leave a note if you need anything, money, who'ever. We would love to 'elp you." And with that the door closes behind him.
The seat remains filled after he closes the door. Gillian doesn't move. Chandra's still in the kitchen, now curled up in front of the heat vent. She stands up and starts moving to find bags, anything to shove stuff into. She's at least going to pack, though what she does after that…
 December 7th: God, Guns, and Glory |
 December 7th: We Can Rebuild Him |