Title: Mr. Gray

Chapter One: Substitute

Couple: Sylaire (Sylar/Gabriel GrayxClaire)

Rating: Debatably K+

Summary: Mr. Gray teaches Claire Bennet how to act natural.

Spoilers: Probably not, I'm just getting back into Heroes (I'm renting it season by season) and can't recall much so … if there are any it's from the first like, um, ten episodes

Disclaimer: I've never put one of these before. But my boobs tell me that I am not Tim Kring, so yeah. I wish I wrote Heroes. I would've had tons of shirtless men … like everywhere … and gay sex … perhaps straight sex too … It would be strange …

Author's Note:Well, this is a straight couple. I haven't written very many of those, but I know I'm going to enjoy this one. It probably won't be past five chapters, if that even. In fact, the possibility of me dropping this is vast; I'm not motivated in the least. I got a burst though, to write this out. Here we go.

Mr. Gray

Chapter 1: Substitute

It was Claire's second town in the last six years. She was a sophomore once again. It was by far her favorite year in high school. Not only was the homework easy, but she didn't have to worry about ACTs or the pressure of being a senior. It was a simple year. And it helped immensely that all of her teachers were loving and didn't believe in harsh piles of homework. As of now, Claire was reading Lord of the Flies and actually enjoying it. Not known for her love of books, her father—or rather, both of them—would've stared at her in complete aghast shock. But as a matter of fact, Noah Bennet had died the year before. Old age did that, ya know. Killed you dead. Claire was used it now.

The last few decades had been silent. A strange foreboding would always follow Claire but she had learned to live with it. The occasional call from her brother, Lyle kept her sane and the telling of his scholarships and girlfriends we're monotonous. They had become closer in the past years. That didn't stop her from fearing what couldn't be seen though. Claire knew that she was being followed around. She just found it increasingly easy to ignore the danger and pretend it wasn't happening. She was 'normal' now. Or as close as she would ever come close to. Her friends, Charlie and Margaret, were normal; her neighbors were normal. Everything was completely normal.

And boring as hell. But Claire could—and would—live with that.

She was in her fourth hour—Biology—when she noticed the small differences around the room. There was no nearly perfect apple on Miss Zings' desk, nor was her computer playing a medley of science related music. The board was swiped of the usual schedule and there were no open windows. The lights were on also. Miss Zings believed in natural lighting and a cooling breeze to keep her brain sane. The whole room was wrong. It could only mean one thing.

They had a substitute.

Her phone rang suddenly from her side-bag. Bending down, Claire searches through the brown bag. It was worn from years of use. Her father had gotten it for her a decade ago, thinking it would cheer her up a tad after a spat with what had been her best friend. It hadn't worked. Finally finding her cell, Claire scrolled through and opened the latest text message.

Math bites. Ms. Shiller's a bitch. Three pages of Algebra? What planet is she from? –Charlie

Charlie was the English-wiz. Not the math-wiz in the least. His brain couldn't function through the use of text talk and math was a foreign language he had attempted at for years. Nothing ever came from his strife.

I feel ya. Miss Zings isn't here fyi. The sub will be a creep, I can feel it. –Claire

Claire watched as the text went into cyberspace and connected with Charlie's phone one classroom away. The miniature phone gave a loving beep as it was sent completely. The blonde quickly put her phone away when she heard the door open and close swiftly. The substitute kept his back to the class easily. A black cardigan and dress pants perfectly matched his dark hair. Tall and broad shouldered, Claire could practically feel the teen angst rolling out, hoping that this man was attractive. To them it would make the class hour that much more bearable.

The man wrote his name in perfected flowing print on the whiteboard. His head blocked it from immediate viewing.

When he slowly turned around, Claire's eyes widened largely.

"My name is Mr. Gray and I will be your substitute today."