seekevolution | Quarantine

Quarantine

News had a way of spreading a little too quickly. The moment Nathan had fallen at the press conference, media began having it's field day. Mohinder paid little attention.

He arrived at Odessa fourteen hours after the incident, severely jet-lagged and with a computer pre-loaded with all of the information that the Company thought he'd need. Mohinder had been down this road before, though never with such dire circumstances. The Shanti Virus was a subject near and dear to his heart, though it was far less stressful when all he needed to cure it was a bit of blood. Even though it was his own blood, at least he felt as if he was doing something.

Knowing from experience that not everything was black and white anymore, Mohinder kept his laptop and medical kit close at hand and made his way to the quarantine line with a grim look in his redrimmed black eyes. "Mohinder Suresh," he said, forgetting his title again for just a moment. "Doctor. You need to let me through."

The National Guard service man looked wary before radioing it in through the barricade. It was tense. Mohinder's shoulder bag slipped twice and he nearly dropped his sample kit. "All right, cleared to go in. Good luck, doctor."

Mohinder nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. He'd gone from New York to India and back again in two days, bringing Molly to stay with his mother. After what Sylar did to her, again, he could not risk leaving her in anyone else's care. Not with Matt gone.

Seeing the man, however, after he'd just gone off on this quest to find his father at the expense of helping him with a child they both sort of promised to look out for, did not make Mohinder smile. If anything, it only made the lines on his face etch in more deeply. He stood in front of him, looking as tired as Mohinder felt, ill fitting clothing a bit more rumpled than usual. Never mind, of course, that Mohinder had done his fair share of leaving too on his attempts to bait the Company through lectures across the globe. "Do I have a lab yet?" Mohinder asked. No greetings. No necessities. That's what happens when you abandon people, Matt.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Matt looked back at Peter for a loaded moment before he picked up and answered the phone.

Things went by quite quickly after that.

Although the CDC was involved they didn't quite know what orders they were operating under - not that this mattered terribly to the Company, who had people on their side they wouldn't share much about but who could do things to help the process along. Maury might have been one of them if he wasn't locked into his own head, but there was no telling what kind of specials they had working for them. Matt knew he wasn't eager to find out and he still didn't like the Company getting involved to begin with, but he did trust Bennet for the time being. He would have even if there hadn't been little choice.

A decontamination area was already in the process of being set up when Bennet was filling Matt in on the details. Matt, in turn, would angle the phone away to ask Peter for details whenever they were needed - approximation on dead people, for example. When Mohinder woke up from the sound of the others speaking the phone started getting passed back and forth. It wasn't a long call but there was a lot of ground to cover with it.

Teleportation did wind up their fastest and most secure option and Peter got to take both Matt and Mohinder outside of what used to be central Odessa, right into an airtight temporary tent-thing they got to be herded through. There were several closed off and controlled sections in the structure. In the first room they all had to get rid of their clothes and any objects they had on them. What followed were checks for symptoms, blood being drawn for later testing, fresh clothes. It was hectic and odd with the people fussing over them covered head to toe in protective gear.

Matt was too tired of the whole thing to give a damn.

In the end, they were asked to wait while people passed back and forth, deciding whether they dared to let the three out into the world yet. Peter didn't seem tired at all, but patiently waiting for the go-ahead to dash out and leave this stage of his life behind him. Mohinder was probably restraining himself from asking about the findings and plans for the contaminated items and areas one more time.

Matt was leaning against a white plastic-like wall, feeling impatient and trying to read the mind of the small group of people hovering by the computer screen in the other room.

Dressed in light gray running trousers and a slightly too large gray t-shirt (and very happy to no longer be naked with the other two men), Mohinder picked himself up from the floor and immediately went to Matt. He could tell his friend was playing through the thoughts he could reach, and while he didn't want to wreck his concentration, he couldn't stay silent for so long.

"They already did a micro-organic shower. We have no symptoms, the air in this compartment is self contained and there's absolutely nothing left to test for. We know the viral incubation period." It made Mohinder nervous as he tried the lean-again-the-tent technique, not mirroring Matt so much as trying to get comfortable.

Must be asking how we arrived. Company protocols could have us taken into custody...

Mohinder wasn't the sort of man to be paranoid, though he absolutely had the cause to be after all he'd gone through. Curls flattened between the plastic and the back of his head as he stared at the shadows moving outside.

"I just want--"

"Doctor Suresh, officer Parkman, Mister Petrelli, would you please move into the next compartment?" a static, intercom voice interrupted him. Mohinder was all about going first, though Peter's stride beat him to it as he pushed through the plastic zippered door. Mohinder stepped out beside him and found Noah, hands on his hips, looking a little amused but trying not to be.

"You three--" Not that Noah would look at Mohinder. "You three were never here."

Peter's brows furrowed. That might be fair...considering how Peter had helped set Adam free.

"Right." Matt fixed Bennet with a look that wasn't hostile, but to the point - their history had been a shaky one, but Noah had proved himself a good man in Matt's eyes at the end of it. It was just that he still had that infuriating way of not quite playing fair, almost regardless of the situation. Kept his cards close to his chest. "What now?"

The older man shifted his stance slightly, looking back at Matt first, then to Peter. "Now, I'm going to handle it. I suggest you speak very quietly about this. Right now, no one has to know." His eyebrows raised slightly and he tilted his head, observing them through his glances, even shooting Mohinder a pointed glance. There was that slight curl of a smirk in place, too. The one that had made Matt want to strangle him at times. "I'll let you know if I need you."

He turned and gestured to a table behind him. Their items, previously packed into plastic bags and taken away, were tossed a bit haphazardly on the surface. Not that there were many.

"Your belongings are all accounted for. Well, except your clothes, I'm afraid. But I think you can manage, can't you?"

Matt didn't give a damn. Peter still seemed mostly anxious to get out of there, not quite liking the way Noah looked at him. But in true Peter-fashion, he still had to ask. He needed to make amends and wasn't quite sure how yet. "Alright. So we just leave? You sure?"

It was met with a slight nod and a head lightly tilted to the side as if to ask if there were any more questions.

Mohinder had nothing else to say and being around Noah after the last few days he'd spent with him was uncomfortable. His mind kept replaying the encounter-- He'd been so used, so used by everyone, and when he shot the man, for a moment, he'd actually felt like he'd gotten a little bit of control back seconds before he realised he'd been used to do that too.

Touching the bandage over his nose, Mohinder took a moment to calm himself before he retrieved his wallet from the table. Peter wasn't as willing to be so quiet. "Sylar's back."

Mohinder tilted his head forward, teeth gritting, and ignored the wave of panic he had just hearing someone else say it. Bennet's voice was low. Dangerous. "What?" His phone chose that particular moment to go off and pulling his bottom lip angrily against his lower lip, he raised a finger towards Peter and answered. Immediately agitated, Bennet headed towards the door. "I'm on my way. I'll be there as soon as possible."

Mohinder's head snapped up. "Oh god, tell me there isn't a new outbreak--"

"No," Bennet replied, and Mohinder's eyes widened to see the worry on the other's face. "Sylar got to Claire."

"Shit."

Matt pocketed his wallet and cell phone (still dead) and followed Bennet out the door. He barely registered that this brought them all out into the open air. Compared to the silence inside Odessa this place was bustling with activity; there were several cars surrounding the immediate area, temporary stations set up here and there to let people monitor the area and make plans on how to deal with the dead and the fact that half the town was an apocalyptic health hazard. There were media vans as well, further away - trying to get closer. Cover the story. Get something to write about and broadcast.

Bennet waved a few people away when they approached him, but there weren't many of them. He wasn't in charge of the operation and if he was, he clearly didn't want to be right then, if the tight "I'll deal with it later" barked at one of those people was any indication.

"We're coming with you", Matt said in an urgent tone of voice, not even bothering to actually check with the others since it had been abundantly clear that they all wanted revenge on the killer the night prior. This was bad. It was absolutely horrifying, if you stopped to think for more than two seconds. That's part of the reason he didn't. "Let us help. Where is he? ... Costa Verde?"

Plucking the thought from the man's head, Bennet seemed frustrated for a moment that he'd actually been thinking to begin with. Well, tough.

Peter caught up between the two of them. Whatever progress he'd made temper-wise seemed to have regressed with the news. Claire was his niece - he loved her. He couldn't lose her, too. Couldn't see her hurt. "He can't be far. We'll surround him, chase the son of a bitch down. We can kill him. I know the spot."

By the time the arrive near Bennet's home, Mohinder has fully, consciously, and vocally decided (albeit in Hindi) that he does not like teleportation. At all. Planes are a hassle, long lines, security checks, and whatever, but they don't leave him ready to throw up on his shows after experiencing it.

Couple it with Mohinder's belief that killing Sylar is now impossible and the stream of darkness that surrounded him seemed almost impenetrable.

Why would Sylar stay if he'd gotten to Claire? Mohinder and Matt stood in the back room while Noah and Peter and the girl's mother attempted to console her, though her voice sounded...nominal. Almost as if she didn't care any more.

Like she was numb.

Mohinder crossed his arms over his chest, looking up at Matt. "If we can't stop him physically-- Matt, I don't know what we're going to do. Or how we're going to find him." Not unless they use Molly--

And Mohinder is adamantly against that.

"Molly's staying out of this", Matt answered the thought shortly - fierce, protective. There was no discussion. They weren't putting that girl through anything else and the look he gave Mohinder clearly said as much. Matt still held a fair amount of guilt over what had gone down with his father, and there was absolutely no way he'd ask her to do anything for him again.

He listened to the people in the other room for a moment, but he was thinking about the same things Mohinder had already voiced. Claire seemed at least a little better to have Peter there, but her voice, her entire demeanor, seemed .. yeah. Worrying.

"He can't teleport, can't stop time. You said he'd been sick all this time, right?" He looked for the confirmation, a short beat of silence. "Right, so we know he doesn't have anything we don't already know about. We can take him, Mohinder", he added, looking him seriously in the eyes. "He's not getting away this time."

Immediately defensive, Mohinder shot back with: "I wouldn't let you use her again!" which was, understandably, not the sort of argument that they ought to be having now. He'd been against Matt using Molly to find his dad and what happened to her? She'd been locked up inside of her own mind. Hundreds of miles away from where the man had been hiding! Mohinder realised, at least, that fighting right now was a bad idea. They'd fought over it before. It hadn't really come to a resolution but it was enough to let Mohinder remove his talons from the objection. He moved to pinch the bridge of his nose and luckily, thought better of it.

So he apologised before they could start yelling at each other again. When this was over, when this was settled, they'd have to have it all out. Hopefully it would resolve itself, bring them both a little closure but for now--

Discussing Sylar's abilities were just a bit beyond Mohinder. He didn't know if Sylar would be able to retain the powers he'd had before, or what powers he might have gotten while Mohinder was stuck in Odessa. Though-- "It would have taken him time to track down the Bennets. And that means he wouldn't have had time to try to get the list of other people with abilities. He can feel people with abilities. I've seen him do it, Matt," Mohinder said, feeling more and more sick to his stomach. "The only way he'd be able to hunt down more would be to get to Molly, to get to me, or to stand in the middle of a crowd and hope to follow someone home."

Which made Mohinder swallow.

"He's probably on his way back to New York."

It was fortunate that Mohinder chose to let it go, at least for the moment, because the way Matt looked at him quickly became dangerously tense. He'd been just as scared as Mohinder had been, and oh, he was still swimming in the guilt of it all, but he'd gotten her back. And if they were really going to fight about it he wasn't above snapping at Mohinder for the crap he had pulled, either.

But as it was dropped, he just grit his teeth and looked away for a moment. They didn't have time for this. They could yell all they wanted later, but right now ...

Well, right now there was new and worrying information, and Matt's eyes snapped up to Mohinder's face again.

"Feel them? Feel them how?" And with a slow breath, listening to the many thoughts in Mohinder's mind, "New York. Great. The list is still there." He stood up straighter, no longer leaning against the wall. "We get there before him. He'll know we're there, but he's cocky. Arrogant. I've seen these people before, the kind that ... they- the moment they think they're invincible, that's when they stop being careful. We just need a plan. I'll get Peter."

Teleporting. Again. Mohinder let his anxiety about that out with an exhale through his nose. His eyes closed for a moment before he lightly touched Matt on the arm to keep him there for a moment. "After I tried to put an end to the man, Peter inadvertently came to my rescue. Sylar knew it about it even before the door opened. It's as if his ability allows him to sense when another ability is near. It's a bit like Peter's empathy. In fact, I might say it works similarly enough that we need to... We need to be careful."

Sylar might not collect powers the way that Peter could, and he might not access his powers the way that Peter was able to either, but rewriting your DNA (and that was just a theory, Mohinder had never studied Sylar for more than the hour he'd been drugged and tied up in his flat) must take parts of yourself away in the process. Right?

"The more he changes himself, the more dangerous he becomes. Not simply due to his power acquisition, but because he becomes so much more desperate. It's as if what he can do is an addiction. Now-- I doubt he'll be able to fly home, considering how he looks and the reduced air traffic due to the outbreak but he's got a head start. And who knows if he'll make any stops on the way back. He have a few days at least."

A few days to prepare...

Peter found them before Matt could retrieve Peter and when Mohinder repeated what he'd told Matt, Peter nodded stoically.

"You guys ready?" Hands on each of their shoulders, Mohinder wasn't given time to protest before they're standing in his living room with a screaming, afraid young woman. Her eyes immediately turned black-- Mohinder, having felt this before, pressed a hand to his chest.

"Maya-- Maya, stop!"

Edited 2014-01-27 16:19 (UTC)

Matt found that he wasn't nearly as averse to teleportation as Mohinder, but this was probably due to the fact that he'd tried human flight and teleportation easily knocked that one out of the park. The moment of vertigo and disorientation was worth it for the swiftness and precision of the whole thing.

This - the sudden sensation of choking, the loudness of the strange voice, those things coupled with that vertigo had Matt on his knees before he'd even properly managed to take in the sight of those familiar walls of what had somewhere down the line become his home.

Bracing himself against his arms he heard the frantic sobbing voice of Maya, heard her thoughts too, it was all a mess, and then somewhere behind him Peter drew in a choked breath and made a sound that was a bit like coughing except there was no air behind it. When Matt's shoulder hit the floor, his vision blurred, he caught the black eyes of Peter staring desperately back at him.

He felt faint.

Thing was, Maya had started calming down, willed himself to the moment she recognised Mohinder, rambling apologies mixed with tears, saying she was sorry, she didn't know where else to go, so sorry - but as her eyes eventually cleared, Peter's didn't. He had no idea how to control it.

"_{Help ...}"

The double whammy of both powers hitting him at once, no matter how quickly Maya's cleared up, has Mohinder breathless. The woman's face is tracking tears as she goes to Mohinder in apology, but the Indian lightly, and weakly, pushes her off. "Maya--"

"He's like me!" she proclaimed, perhaps a little too much wonder than Mohinder would have liked (though completely understood).

"Go-- Tell him... Calm him down--" At least she didn't argue the point. She was smart and understood at least he role in this. She gripped Peter by the shoulders and forced her to look at him. Much of what she said was in Spanish, but either her tones were soothing or Peter had retained enough high school Spanish to understand enough what she was saying to him.

Though Mohinder was not a religious man, he did thank God when the pressure off of his chest and the sickness running through his veins cleared up. He got himself slowly to his feet before offering a hand to Matt.

"Maya...this is Matt Parkman and Peter Petrelli. They both have abilities like you. Peter is able to mimic abilities. Matt is a telepath." Yep. Outing everyone. They didn't have time to play here. "Did Sylar come back?"

Maya shook her head, still petting Peter like she might a dog. "No-- Why?"

"We're pretty sure he'll be on his way here...perhaps for the computer." Or for Mohinder himself.

Matt very gratefull took the offered hand, still feeling weak even as he got to his feet. He held onto Mohinder's wrist for a moment before he let go and refocused. "What the hell was that?" he asked the room somewhat breathlessly without actually expecting an answer. That had been completely, one hundred percent terrifying. He immediately distrusted the girl - it was unfair, and he knew it. But it was still there.

Peter looked just as shaken as Matt felt, if not moreso. He leant against their kitchen table, hands behind him to hold onto the edge, swallowing as he looked at the others. He'd probably figure out a way to use that later, but the initial complete and utter lack of control reminded him of the radiation. Of exploding. He wouldn't let something like that happen again.

Maya looked scared, a hand coming up to her mouth. "He's on his way? Then we can't stay here ..."

"We'll probably have a day or two before he shows up", Matt answered her despite her looking to Mohinder. She looked a bit startled to be adressed by him. She seemed easily spooked in general and Matt found that to be a problem. "You probably don't want to be here when he does." It was unfair, it was unfriendly, but Matt couldn't help the hard tone.

"Matt's right," Mohinder said, but without the malice or the distrust behind it. He'd saved this woman's life, somewhat literally, and that made him feel responsible for it. Taking Maya by the hand the same way he did to Molly, Mohinder drew her back slightly towards the kitchen. "The lab might be the safest place for you. Sylar won't go back there. It's monitored. Elle will absolutely keep surveillance on it--"

"Elle...Bishop?" Peter just had to chime in and Mohinder, not knowing that she'd been a sort of liaison with Peter when he checked himself in to Pinehearst, just nodded.

"If Sylar comes," Mohinder continued, "she will be able to help you. And what's better, there's hardly anyone around the loft, Maya. Should you run into him, he will be one of the only people affected by your ability!"

It seemed to be enough to get her to agree to go, though she did hug him rather tightly. "Please, Doctor Suresh... You will still help me?"

"Maya, I will do my very best, the moment we are all safe," he promised, pulling back to take her hands again, for just a moment, before he offered her some money to take a taxi to Isaac's old loft.

Mohinder was not entirely sorry to see her go, to be honest. Her ability, and now Peter's ability, were simply too dangerous.

Matt watched the two of them discuss that with a bit more darkness than was strictly needed. He didn't like her, didn't trust her, and for some reason it aggravated him how calm and gentle Mohinder was with her. He kept silent, arms crossed, until the door shut behind her. He listened for her thoughts until she was down the stairs and only then did this body language open a bit, the knot formed by his arms loosening.

"Okay", he said, kind of clipped, looking first at Mohinder and then to Peter. "I don't know about you guys, but I think we need a tally. What we can do and what Sylar can do. What we have that he wants and whatever he could use to ... I don't know, try to control us, blackmail us, whatever."

While speaking, he moved through the room to Mohinder's desk, tapping at it with his knuckles as he went to check the drawer. "You still have the gun?"

"I still have the gun," Mohinder said and made a gesture for Matt to check in the underside drawer with his hand. He never managed to figure out how to strap on his own shoulder holster, but at least he had bullets and the weapon. Two boxes full of rounds wouldn't do much to Sylar, but it could be a distraction. It was the only thing Mohinder actually had to protect himself.

Not much at all.

This place had seen the effects of Sylar in action before. There were pieces of glass still embedded in the cabinets, sanded off of course, but Mohinder had been unable to pull them all out. He'd barely gotten all of the pieces out of his own skin, alone, hands trembling as he sat in the apartment after delivering Peter's dead body to his family.

There were scars from that ordeal too.

Peter helped himself to a glass of water and Mohinder ducked into Molly's bedroom to be absolutely sure that it was safe inside. It looked like nothing at all had been touched. There was still a film of glitter on the carpet from her last, non-crayon based art project.

Peter ran through his abilities once he was settled, listing them out as if checking off boxes while he went. "Telekinesis, flight, immortality, radiation, electro--"

"Electrokinesis," Mohinder supplied when Peter seemed to struggle with the word.

"Right. Super strength-- You know, if you let me talk to Molly--"

"No." Mohinder was adamant about that. Peter was already a walking buffet for Sylar. Giving him their girl's power? No. "Forget Molly exists."

Matt wasted no time in taking that gun out to look at. His own had been left behind at the precinct; he didn't want to bring a gun into a fight fought with powers. He'd never forget four bullets to the chest. He wouldn't forget Sylar almost forcing Audrey to blow her own head off, either.

He checked the amount of bullets, made sure the gun was clean and wouldn't jam, double-checked the safety - all standard things he'd been doing a hundred times before. He was loading it up properly when Peter started counting his powers off. The casual tone in which he did would have been really pretty scary if he hadn't been on their side.

"We're not dragging her into this mess again", Matt agreed when he put the gun back in the drawer, coming around to lean against the front of it. "Don't forget telepathy", he added, nodding towards Peter, who tilted his head back slightly, considering it. "And whatever the hell that thing she just did was."

Yeah, no, sorry. He still couldn't keep the hostility out of his voice. Peter's eyes narrowed slightly though before something in his expression seemed to both simultaneously relax and sharpen.

"You know, I'd forgotten about the mind control. That's a game-changer, Matt. If you can get into his head, we have a real shot."

Kettle on a burner, coffee and tea already prepared in cups, milk set out after a passing a sniff test, Mohinder had busied himself doing what non-superpowered individuals did best: prepared their troops for battle via home cooked meals and comfort. He'd only been half listening, knowing Peter's list fairly well himself, until that 'mind control' issue came up.

Game-changer.

Mohinder nearly dropped the peanut butter as he fished it out of the refrigerator and did bang his head on it as he jerked upright. Cursing in Hindi, eyes wide, he waited for some sort of explanation.

At least until Peter turned his head at the sounds of distress (mentally and physically) coming from the kitchen. "Mohinder? You all--" But the Indian was looking at Matt, not him.

"Mind control now?" He wasn't sure if he should be excited (he was excited honestly) or hurt or even a little worried. "You can read minds. You can transmit your own thoughts to other people telepathically. Enter dreams..and now control people? What else is it that I don't know?"

Told him everything-- Everything-- Knows everything about me-- Don't know him at all. Four months and he can't trust me. Of all people that might understand-- Knows everything and I know nothing-- his thoughts were wired as he slammed the peanut butter on the counter.

Peter looked surprised and Matt could clearly hear it, the you didn't tell him?, but he only vaguely waved a hand towards him and Peter took the hint. He didn't say anything and kept his head down. Mohinder's own racing thoughts were proof enough that it went beyond just Matt being able to do something new and he wasn't looking to get involved.

For his own part, Matt flinched when he heard all of those things, not to mention at the way Mohinder practically flung it at him. That's what he'd been scared of, he realized. People being ... scared. Accusational, maybe - assuming things. He never wanted to be like Maury. He didn't want -

"I never asked for it, okay?" Matt shot back, defensive. He gestured towards his own head. "I don't know what this- this thing is! I just want-"

He cut himself off, not quite able to look Mohinder in the eyes, hand rubbing his neck when he found himself pacing the living room. His voice dipped low, but he did explain. He knew he had to. If nothing else to still that hurt that was echoing in his friend's head.

"I, uh- I can make people do things. It's like I'm ... I can push my thoughts into their heads, and they do it. It's how I made everyone listen to Nathan at the PD", he muttered. "It's something my father told me. Sort of. Said that- it becomes more, and since then I've just been doing things, and I can't explain half of them."

The things Matt could do, and so quickly ought to scare him. Mohinder's certainly proven to be scared of just about everything, even though he tended to give people entirely too many chances. Hate was nothing he felt towards Matt, and the disappointment was only in himself. Once again, he felt inadequate...not just in the inability to have an ability, but to be the sort of man others actually wanted to be friends with.

He was not trust worthy. He was weak. The most he could do was analyses blood and... No one actually needed that any more. Hadn't he been utterly useless in Odessa?

"An interesting overlap of powers," Mohinder said, though he sounded more downtrodden than anything else. He turned back around to slap peanut butter on some bread and be done with it. "I've not run across other examples of parents passing on abilities to their offspring."

Talking like a scientist and not a man had gotten him out of heartache before. Pretending he didn't care was the best way to isolate yourself.

He cut off the crusts without thinking and placed a sandwich in front of Peter just as the kettle signaled it's boil.

"It's not interesting, it's freaking me the hell out!"

Matt snapped because he felt anxious. And defensive. And he really, really wished Mohinder would stop thinking that way, and doing that thing he was doing, so he completely ignored Peter telling himself to not actually turn invisible on the spot and went up to turn Mohinder around by the shoulder. It was with a bit more force he'd really intended.

And so they were in each other's faces, again.

"Stop it, okay? Just stop. Stop. Don't feel sorry for yourself when there's no good reason. Yeah, you mess up, but at least you try to fix it when you do, and you're a better father to Molly than I am when you feel like actually being around for a change!"

That gripe from the Bennet house still stung, evidently. Retaliation was reflexive. Again, Matt felt defensive for many reasons, some of them he didn't really care to understand.

"Did it ever occur to you that it's not about you, huh? Maybe the reason I didn't tell you anything is cause I don't trust myself. How's that for a friendship?"

Know what? Peanut butter sandwiches taste just as good in the back bedroom. Peter excused himself with his plate and quietly shut the door behind him. Neither of the other men were paying that much attention to anyone other than each other anyway and Peter thought, smirking, that though the didn't have time for it, perhaps a little arguing with a little less clothing on would settle the two down. He smirked to himself as he sat on the end of the bed, really very pleased with the snack. He was never fond of crusts, actually. And Mohinder did make a pretty good dad.

Now if only he could drown them out, he'd be set! Thin walls didn't make for a lot of privacy and sandwiches get eaten pretty damned quickly.

"I think I should be told what I can expect as we'll be living together. This isn't a flatmate discussion that consists of animal and food allergies or rules about cleaning schedules, Matt!" Mohinder just wanted to be included.

That was the source of all of his insecurities. He had never been a part of something like this before and being edged out was starting to drive him mad. Truly, what was the point of even being here? Matt could just mind control Sylar off of a bridge!

"For being a telepath, and having an unfair advantage is nearly every situation we've ever found ourselves in, you don't know how to communicate! It can't be so one-sided, Matt! I'd like to be your friend!"

"What the hell, Mohinder, I told you everything about my stupid power! Maybe if you hadn't been off working for the Company-"

Unfair advantage, yeah right. Matt was practically growling and he pushed away from the other man with a hand in his hair before he seemingly regretted the distance and was right back where he'd started, blocking Mohinder against the sink from the rest of the room.

"What was I supposed to say? Nevermind the few hundread dead people, I could make them do the limbo if they'd been alive? There's been no time! I don't even want to have this power to begin with, I never wanted any of it!"

Which wasn't really true, if he was completely honest with himself. He'd always wanted a family and now he had one.

Mohinder didn't appreciate being loomed over, but he kept his hands back against the counter he was forced to lean against rather than give Matt the push he absolutely deserved. They didn't need to turn another fight physical. Mohinder was tough, but he'd been punched enough in his life to never want to experience that again. His poor face wouldn't take it.

Matt's intense agitation didn't egg Mohinder on, luckily. As Matt grew frustrated and upset and frankly, a bit horrible mentioning the dead of Odessa, Mohinder found himself deflated and ill at ease with the other man. Trust was not an issue. He didn't believe Matt would use his ability against him like that any way.

White flag. Truce. Mohinder held up his hands, palms up.

"All right, all right," he said, trying to be soothing. The accent surely helped. He didn't mention the sudden jealous thought about how Peter had known, that there had been time for Peter because it didn't matter. "The things I've done-- I can't take them back. No matter how much I might wish I could." He dropped both his hands and his eyes away from Matt, shoulders slumping as he exhaled the anger from his body. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't feel obligated to tell me anything you don't want to, nor anything you're not comfortable with."

His head was hurting all over again.

And just like that, Matt was done being angry, too. At least in the phyical sense. He backed off in a literal way, sat down at the kitchen table with his head in one hand as he absorbed the apology. Returned it.

"I ... I did mean to tell you, Mohinder. I promise. Molly, she's- she's our girl, you said so yourself. That won't work unless we're friends, and ... I'm trying. I am, I'm sorry." He thought briefly to Janice, again. She'd talked about it too, about how he'd never really talked to her, but that had come from Matt figuring that she didn't want to listen to him anyway. It wsn't that way now, was it?

When he was saying that he wasn't looking at Mohinder, but he looked up at him again with a different expression after a small period of silence.

"You know what I did to my dad?" He waited for the no surface either verbally or mentally before he shrugged. Looked away again, moved his hand from his face to pick at something on the table. "I trapped him in a nightmare. Same way he trapped Molly. What kind of power is that?"

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Sorry about being MIA this weekend. I was dragged out.

hey, it's what weekends are for!

Phew! Back to regularly scheduled tagging!

welcome back!!

Thanks!

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