seekevolution | The Storm

"It was Noah Bennet." He could easily have told Matt these things in the silence, looking into his eyes, paler brown than he own, and spared their daughter. But sparing Molly was not something that could happen any more. She was special and that small quality was what was going to hurt her in the long run if she remained ignorant of it. It'd already hurt her after all, simply because she was not prepared.

Mohinder didn't need to read minds to see the distress on Matt's face and he accepted it as easily as he had accepted that Matt could enter his dreams, could read his thoughts, could command men to do anything he wished for them to do.

"It's another confirmed outbreak of Shanti. I'll be heading down to Beth Israel Hospital to help contain it." If we can. No. Out loud. "If possible. I've immunity so far, there's no need to worry about me. But you need to get out of New York. Go north...go... I don't care where. No where near the airports though. People will panic the moment they equate this with Odessa. I'm sure the media blackout is going to happen any moment now."

Mohinder swallowed, his throat thick with emotion and worry.

He wanted to go with them...but he couldn't. His service, in exchange for his family-- That was the unspoken deal. Mohinder's eyes were liquid.

"I'll keep my phone charged. If...the towers go down, and they might-- I'll.. I'll find you."

And that's when Molly shuddered, something that could be clearly seen in her entire being when she broke away from Matt to run up to Mohinder and throw herself at him, hugging close, desperately. "Please don't go", she pleaded, but her voice was low and already broken from the knowledge that he had to. She was a child but she'd seen enough to understand cruelty and its habit of tearing people apart. But understanding didn't mean acceptance. She sobbed, burrowed into his shirt. "Don't make us go away, we ... we have to stay together ..."

Matt swallowed, locking eyes with Mohinder over her head, and something was breaking in his own expression as well. But he rubbed a hand over his eyes and nodded. Facts. Facts first.

"We'll find you", he said. The unspoken fact was that they could. Molly could. They wouldn't take lightly on this, but if they were separated, Molly could reunite all of them. "We'll call every few hours, we'll ... don't let them lock you down." He said that seriously. "Don't let Bennet boss you around. He needs you just as much as you need him or else he wouldn't drag your ass out there. Okay?"

Just - their history. Their recent history. Bennet was a manipulative bastard, but Matt knew he came through in tough situations.

Molly was listening, still clinging to Mohinder, hearing the unspoken uncertainties between her fathers. Hated them. Was scared to death of them.

"Yes, that's right. You'll find me. Every day and every night, just think about me and you'll know that I'm all right." Mohinder bent after some effort to kiss Molly on her head and gather her into his arms. "You listen to Matt and don't let him tell you pizza is an acceptable food every night. Don't worry about school either. They'll cancel for a few days at least. We cleaned up Odessa in a week. It'll be fine, you'll come back and maybe summer holiday will get moved but-- But you'll be absolutely fine."

He stroked her hair back from her face.

"Go and get your elephant, Molly."

He just needed one more moment with Matt. Just one. And some moments are not for children to see. She slumped off with a sigh, sluggish perhaps because she understood why she was being sent back to her room, and Mohinder wasted no time in kissing Matt one more time.

"No matter what happens, don't bring her back until you hear from me."

There was no more time after that. Matt had to go. They'd be separated again. There was no mention, on the news, that the bridges, the subway, the train and all of the tunnels had already been closed. Matt and Molly were getting no where.

Matt's answering kiss was short but fierce. I won't. He didn't need to say it out loud - it was all over his face even if it hadn't been clear in his head. In Mohinder's.

He gathered Molly in his arms, elephant and all, after she'd gotten a last hug and whispered reassurance from Mohinder. Then they left. She got to ride up front in the car (thank god for cars issued to the police force) and she was silent, eyes out the window, dejected and scared.

It was late enough that not many cars were out. Matt drove fast, talking to Molly after a while; telling her that if she had any questions, he'd answer them. He told her the basics. That the same thing that had made her sick back in November was now making a lot of other people very sick, very very fast. That that's another thing him and Mohinder had been trying to clear up before they came to get her.

She asked a little, but not much. But when she asked, "Won't they try to keep us here?" something Matt had considered but hadn't really been hit with full force until it was spoken with Molly's young and all too tired voice, he couldn't bring himself to give a good answer.

She was right, of course. The bridges were closed. But they were the best bet if they were going to get anywhere. He could get past road blocks, but if measures were in place to take them down if they tried -- he couldn't mind control people shooting at a distance.

He remembered Odessa. The many people lying dead, and not all of them from the disease.

Matt grit his teeth, swore, and dialled Mohinder's number.

"Matt, please, we can't--" Mohinder said once he picked up, already being ushered towards a clean room he honestly had no need of. It was everyone that needed it, however, but protocol was protocol. He stopped dead in his tracks and his little entorage of Company provided operatives and doctors stopped with him. "Oh God, please tell me she's not showing symptoms."

It took almost half a minute of talk for Matt to confirm their girl was all right before Mohinder could bring himself to breathe again. He sighed against the receiver and carried on with the walk. At least, of course, until Matt said that all bridges and tunnels had been closed, all mass transit had stopped.

And that there was nothing on the radio about any of it.

Mohinder cursed in Hindi and turned back towards Bennet. "I want to tell you to come here but... Matt, I don't know Molly's immunity levels. I don't even know if this is the same strain yet. I'll call you in an hour. I need a sample of her blood. Can you bring it to me? There should be a blood kit under the sink-- Don't ask. Old habits."

"Gotcha", Matt said and snapped his phone shut, mind reeling. He wasn't sure how to feel about any of this. It would be safer to leave, he knew that logically, get everybody out, including Mohinder. If this was turning into Odessa all over again it wouldn't be long before they had riots and violence on their hands and that was something they couldn't rely on any eventual immunity for. And as Odessa had already happened ... one could imagine the panic would start a lot sooner here.

Molly looked at him uncertainly and she didn't look calmed when he told her they were going back home. "We need to figure out how safe you're gonna be, sweetheart", Matt told her in a somewhat tense voice. "Mohinder needs a blood sample."

"What about you?" she asked and Matt nodded, made a mental note to ask that when Mohinder called (he was keeping an eye on the time, if an hour passed and there'd been nothing you bet he'd be calling himself). Ask about the possibility of a new strain. Maybe they all needed to re-test.

Yet another reason to leave. Damn it.

At the same time, he was relieved that they were all together right now. That was the most important thing after staying alive. Sticking together.

The drive home was fast and Matt found the blood kit where Mohinder had said. He wasn't sure how to handle it exactly but from her time with the Company Molly had had her blood drawn plenty of times and they figured it out together.

He kissed her hair when the phone did ring before he stood to answer, and the first words out of his mouth were, "I've got the blood. Are we sure this is the same virus?"

If the task was to bring her blood into the hospital - yeah. (And how little he wanted to leave her, even if he knew he might have to. That was something else to potentially bring up.) Mohinder had hopefully managed to check by now.

Hearing Matt's voice was like Christmas and Mohinder took the time to sink into a chair and rub a hand over his face. "Same strain," Mohinder said softly. "Please tell me you got home all right. They're pulling the same mess here. I'm under guard again." Of course, Mohinder did understand it was for his own protection. There were very angry men and women in the waiting room. Especially since doctors and nurses started to wear protective suits.

Panic. Panic was palpable. Mohinder, however, was much too tired to panic.

"Bring me Molly's samples and my glasses will you? And... And when this is over, I demand you rip off all of my clothes as soon as we can find a sitter for Molly."

That was a relief, at least. Meant Matt knew he was going to be fine, that neither him nor Mohinder would die on their little girl. At least not from the virus. He thought that meant that the chance of her being immune was a good one too, and although he didn't want to be hopeful exactly, he was cautiously optimistic beneath the tension he still felt.

... and then came that entirely unexpected comment that had Matt's mind blanking for a short moment. He licked his lips.

"Sure", he said, trying to sound casual since he knew Molly was watching him despite the fact that he was turned away from her. He wished telepathy worked over distances. Send back an appropriate response. "Yeah, I can do that."

He hung up shortly after that, then turned to embrace Molly. For a long while. She needed to know that they wouldn't let anything happen to her or to each other and he hated that he had to leave her, even if only for a while.

He had her search for the requested glasses while he had a quick change of clothes. He'd have to mind control a lot less if he was Detective Parkman rather than just Matt, and in case anything broke out he wanted to be armed.

I love you, he thought with all the warmth and certainty he could muster, hugging her close again after she gave him Mohinder's glasses and he handed her the spare phone. "If there's anything at all", he said, letting it hang clearly in the air.

She nodded and lowered her head.

The TV was dead by now. She went to find her Atlas and was holding it close to her chest when Matt left.

The roads were still not that busy but he was anticipating them to fill up by morning. It wasn't that late yet, so they had several hours to try to handle the situation. Hopefully they'd manage.

There was almost nowhere to park by the hospital. Big surprise there. He walked the last bit, jogged really, and made his way through the crowd inside with the kind of decisiveness that's helped something immensely by looking harsh and wearing a suit (sans tie, because who cared?) and the moment he spotted someone official looking, grabbed a hold of them.

"Where's Doctor Suresh?"

"He's in the quarantine area," the exhausted looking woman told Matt without a fight. She had on an ID badge, a hospital administrator, likely an assistant to one. She pointed towards the back elevators. "Take those to the fourth floor." She didn't bother to tell him that the guards likely wouldn't let him out of the elevator and as Matt took off towards the lifts, she coughed and caught herself against the wall.

The fourth floor looked exactly as the hospital in Odessa had looked, covered in plastic, manned by armed guards in bio-hazard suits and filled with a parade of people that looked like they were coming out of a science fiction film.

It took a little bit of Matt's particular talents, honestly, to get at the frazzled professor. Mohinder looked up as Matt entered and smiled, relieved. He waved the others away and went to his...boyfriend? "Matt. Thank God you made it. I don't understand how this happened. It's the exact same strain."

Mohinder couldn't exactly launch himself at the other man, but he could take his hand...even if it was just to take the vial of Molly's blood.

Matt didn't let the touch of hands linger long, but only because he was quick to raise his hand to Mohinder's arm instead. He looked to where the last few people were in the other end of the room before he touched his forehead to Mohinder's, just for a second, but there was very real affection in the gesture and he kept his eyes to the other man's when he let go of him and took half a step back.

"Where's Bennet?" he asked in a voice that was a lot sharper than he'd intended. "What's he saying?"

It stood to reason that he'd know something, since he'd been so damn quick to call Mohinder to the scene. Matt didn't like it. There were about a million things about this situation he didn't like, but he felt relieved to see Mohinder this close again.

"I've yet to see him," Mohinder replied, wanting to keep Matt as close as possible. They've had no deaths yet, but they will in a few hours. Fevers are running through children especially fast and their parents seem to be getting sick soon after. The outbreak isn't centred on any one thing, it's just what the media had grasped onto since so many fell sick at the amusement park at the same time. From what Mohinder sees, however, it might have started at the airport and...

And that's very, very bad.

"We'll find him together, I just--" He needed the vial. Mohinder had already guaranteed fifteen people on his team, the vast network of men and women running around on this floor getting samples and running easy testing, were immune, or at least possessed the gene to give them a better chance at not contracting the virus.

That was not, however, good news. The percentage might be a little better than in Odessa but with at least a ninety-two percent mortality rate-- He was afraid.

Running Molly's blood through the testing left him even more drained than before, however, dropping his face into his hands with his shoulders hunched. He looked upset but in reality, he was relieved.

Her markers are the exact same as mine. And as yours... I have no idea what-- But then it dawned on him and he blinked up at Matt, mouth opening. "Blood transfusions. Prior to this strain! That's it!" It would help no one that hadn't gotten his, or another immune person's blood, before contracting the virus, however. "It doesn't just stop the virus from lingering, it outright kills it. That's remarkable!"

Matt pressed a hand to the spot right between Mohinder's shoulder blades while he worked, a quiet reassurance that he was not going anywhere, at least not yet. Not until they'd both agreed to. He was thinking of Molly, just as tense as Mohinder was when he looked her blood over, and for a single shattering moment he was really, really scared when the other man fell into himself that way. It looked like defeat.

But then there was the glorious relief in his thoughts, buzzing with stunned excitement and Matt latched onto that, breathed out, moved his hand down Mohinder's back.

Blood transfusions-? He knew Molly had gotten one, but he himself-

except way back. Way back only not at all long ago when he'd taken four bullets and Mohinder had been one of the only people there.

"So- so what does that mean?" He asked it with a certain urgency now, trying to keep even pace with Mohinder's mind. "What now?"

"It means I have something to synthesis. It means I not only have a potential cure isolated but a delivery system too!" Of course, those sorts of things took years to perfect and administering drugs required trials and... It's interesting but they don't have time. People here were going to die.

Mohinder couldn't reverse that. He couldn't even make them medically more comfortable unless he induced coma. That was not his call, however. He was a geneticists. A virologist. Medicine was beyond him.

"It's going to get very bad. Very quickly. Molly-- she should come here. And... I know this is ridiculous to say but we might do well with some supplies."

He'd been watching too many dooms day scenario programs while Molly was at school and Matt at work.

"Right. What, food, water? Power tools?"

It was a halfway joke, but unfortunately everything had a serious undertone. When they'd shut down Odessa, they'd had most things still. They couldn't count on that this time even if it was unlikely they'd shut the entire island down unless they planned to kill everybody on it.

But 'supplies' was a general word, especially when you were talking to someone who had a tendency to think in terms you didn't quite understand. If Mohinder needed something particular, he'd do well to say it upfront.

Although at that thought Matt withdrew to take out the other man's glasses from his pocket, holding them out.

"I'll get Molly. Just tell me what else we need, I'm on it."

Mohinder held up just one finger and went back to his work station to find something to write with. It took some time and he ran about like a spastic yearling. Endearing, perhaps, if time was not of the essence. By the morning, people would notice how wrong everything was. News shows would not be on and stations would be simply crammed with reruns to compensate for dead air. Stores would be over run. Riots would start. Rush hour... Oh God, he didn't even want to think about rush hour.

Mohinder's hand was steady, however, as he listed items for Matt to go and get. It was nearly nine. That meant stores would be closing very shortly. "Flashlights. Batteries. A lot of batteries." He also wrote down sleeping bags and other assorted gear like chemical stoves and matches, lighters...knives. Good multi-tools. "You'll want to look for light food items. Things in plastic or pouches, not cans. Things with large shelf lives. Tuna pouches, peanut butter, crackers. No soups. And headache medicines..."

Mohinder handed over the list with a somewhat desperate sigh.

"I'm going to get a space set up for us here." He ought to be working on this issue, on the virus, but it was absolutely clear that he himself thought it was a lost cause. "Bring anything Molly might need. And hurry."

And that was definitely disconcerting. How many people would survive this one? There'd only been three in Odessa that they knew of, and even if some people here were immune ... the panic, the riots ... And what would happen to the island after that? Matt thought briefly of Chernobyl. If the virus was airborne, this part of New York might be completely lost. They still hadn't let people into the center of Odessa.

And if Mohinder didn't think there was anything to do about it ... well, there probably wasn't, was there?

Matt took the list. "Yeah. Call if anything changes." And then he left, wasting no time on goodbyes because he knew he'd be back.

The streets were still mostly empty and Matt was quick to go home. Molly had her eyes on the door when he opened it, anxious but relieved, and he knew she'd kept an eye on him the entire time. He was relieved, so very, suddenly struck again by how she was a target, how she'd been targeted before, and even if Sylar was dead (his dad wasn't, though) -- he never wanted to leave her. He hated having to do it.

Now he gathered her into his arms and murmured, "You're fine, you're okay, we're gonna go see Mohinder" into her hair and she nodded into his neck and they both felt a lot better.

But first there was a bit of a treasure hunt. They went through quite a few stores, opted for all the cheap and light options, stocked up the car. It was something that felt incredibly grim. It had a finality to it that Matt didn't like and that worried Molly.

It was nearing eleven when they made their way back to the hospital. It was dark out and the streetlights painted the building in a pale, sickly yellow that was entirely too appropriate.

Molly hadn't brought much. The elephant was in the car because it had become a symbol, but she only carried her Atlas, an art pad with some pencils and a book in her backpack. Although the worry kept her more than a little awake she was incredibly tired and didn't say much when she held onto Matt's hand and he made people look the other way when they went through the corridors and up the elevators. Even if she gave him a slightly mixed look at the way he used his power.

"Don't look", he urged her quietly, meaning the sick and the dying. He was consciously blocking out their thoughts. He didn't want to hear the despair.

She looked, some. She understood a lot more than he'd ever want her to.

And back at the lab-slash-office they'd set up for Mohinder, she went up to him with slightly frightened, unsure eyes. "Will we stay together now?"

There was never a time that Mohinder wasn't pleased to see Molly, but that aside, sometimes were better than others. He quickly removed his gloves and tossed them away before hugging her, hand to her shoulders as he lightly brushed her hair back from her neck. "More or less," he promised. "Though I have a lot of work to do and you have bed to get to. There's a small room back here, through this supply closet, that you'll have to stay in for a little while. Matt and I will be right here, I promise."

Lifting her up, and realising he'd not be able to do that for much longer, Mohinder leads the way into the connecting office where he'd set up a cot and a desk for her to use. There wasn't much space at all and most of the things Matt had gotten were left in the car, hidden under seats, in case anyone decided to get overly excited for candles or canteens.

Mohinder stayed only very briefly with her as she got settled and Matt brought her quilt from home in to cover her with.

I would very much like to stop this rash of desperately needing my services when all I'd like to do is sleep, he commented towards Matt and touched his hand in passing. You should sleep as best you can. I-- I am almost positive that we're going to need you sooner rather than later.

Mohinder had to work for now. He had to get everyone up to speed on his methods, had to get the entire hospital tested. At least he could leave the details of the quarantine up to people that understood best how to deal with people.

He couldn't help but think that Odessa had been a test run, however.

Matt shook his head. He was tired, yeah, but he was riled up too - sleep was far from his mind. Careful to not disturb any of the equipment he leant back against the desk, looking at Mohinder, noted that focus in his eyes that appeared when he thought at him rather than just to himself.

He opened his mouth to answer, then glanced towards where he could just make out Molly, and returned the look as he answered mentally instead. A focus. Edged with tension that looked kind of bitter.

What's the situation? How many dead?

He'd seen the people in the hallways, some lying down, others coughing, one particularly haunting glance of a teenager who looked like she'd fallen asleep sitting up except her chest hadn't been moving and she hadn't been thinking.

An oversight, maybe. They must've gotten to her by now.

"Last count was thirty-two," Mohinder said out loud with his eyes focused through microscope lenses and his mind on what he knows of retroviruses and ways to distinguish them from the rest. Shanti looked so much like the flu, worked so much like the flu, but deep down, in it's molecules, it was something so much more deadly. Viruses weren't exactly alive, not like bacteria, but they were still able to think in a way. Adapt. That was what this looked like-- Something capable of being autonomous. No wonder it had been shelved and hidden away. The people that created this strain were playing God. And they won.

Mohinder looked up from the last sample he'd been working through before Matt came in with Molly and took the glasses from his face to pinch the bridge of his nose.

If this is like Odessa, by tomorrow half of the people in this hospital will be dead. In three days, ninety-six percent will be dead.

And what would they do then?

"Is anyone thinking about what happened? How this one started? We were all cleared, Matt, we--" He was blaming himself. Hadn't they been to Coney Island last weekend, until Molly threw up on the Tilt-A-Whirl?

Matt reached out. Squeezed his shoulder. It was nice how with the intimacy that they now had there was a lot more certainty in gestures like that. Before that kiss in the kitchen Matt wouldn't have been likely to touch Mohinder at all, but now he did and looked him in the eyes and even though his own gaze had something stern about it there was a different dimension to just ... to the two of them.

"Stop it. Don't do that", he said. "If it was our fault, New York wouldn't still be here. And Peter would've spread it to god knows where. Right?"

He didn't ask because he was uncertain. That's how it worked. If Mohinder thought about it, he'd see it too.

"How do we know he didn't?" Mohinder asked. "These things can lie dormant, waiting for a spark, for a catalyst. It could be a certain percentage of nitrate in the air, it could be blocked by high pollen count or god knows what else. The point of the matter, Matt, is that we could be very much the cause of this and never even know it. The HIV virus lived and hid in the rainforest for centuries. It was our doing that allowed it to skip species. Man kind. One little mistake and hundreds of thousands of people die each year from it." He touched Matt's cheek, hardly caring that people were milling back and forth in protective suits and masks. They're going to come to the same conclusions as he himself had in a few hours.

And what then? What happens when the head of the CDC declares this a lost cause? When they abandon this part of the city, and the people in it, everything was lost.

His only hope was that they'd at least be saved when the teams pulled out. He could prove that they weren't infected. That their blood might be used to eventually synthesis a cure. They just had to hold on.

"I'm so sorry, Matt. I don't know how I've managed to be so useless."

Well, fuck. Matt's face went through a few different expressions when Mohinder spoke and settled on a dark wariness. That information opened up entirely too many risks. Worst case, they might be targets. Although officials would probably listen, if word got out to the masses he was already picturing -

He broke away from Mohinder just by leaning to the side, one arm crossed over his chest and the other hand rubbing tiredly at his temples.

"Okay. Great. So you're saying this might be even more of a mess to clean up. Where the hell is Bennet?"

He needed some answers, but he'd already tried that one and sighed before Mohinder had a chance to answer. He'd asked him a question earlier, after all.

"Nevermind. I could ... take a walk. See if I catch anything."

Mohinder nodded stupidly and let him go, despair nothing he couldn't handle when it was all he'd felt for so long, for so many varied reasons. This was no different and it would ease with time. "Let me know," he said quietly. "And I'll call Noah."

Not that either would really care to speak to each other, but some things were important enough to set everything aside for.

It turned out that Bennet wasn't even in New York, but in Boulder Colorado. He'd answered on the third ring and sounded just so very tired. "Suresh. Good news?"

Mohinder paused to look through the long supply closet towards where the lump that was Molly happened to become while she slept. "None. They've cut us off."

"I know. Not my order. There's four other outbreak sites, doctor. There are fifty people working on this. But you--"

"But me what? You're counting on me knowing how to stop an illness because it killed my sister?" He turned and shut the door so Molly wouldn't be disturbed. "This is the third time you've had me risk my family--"

"Family? You're living with a divorcee and a girl you don't really know and after what? Eight months? You're suddenly family?"

Mohinder very nearly hung up the phone right there, though he knew it was true. Noah had been risking his life for decades, family in tow. "We're suddenly a family," he said instead. "What's going to happen to us?"

There was silence for such a long time after that. "Now's the time to pray, doctor."

Matt stalked the halls and there were so many voices surrounding him. Frantic, urgent, hard - mental and verbal. The people in protective gear all had their orders and he made a mental list of them as they came to him. Regulate the people coming and going on this floor and the third. Make sure progress is made and report any findings or shortcomings. If necessary, use force to ensure order.

And outside of the hospital it was more of the same. Make sure nobody exits or leaves. Stay behind the scenes, for now. Matt found this out after grabbing someone by the collar and snapping at them to spill, but whoever that person was didn't know who was running the operation beyond the CDC.

And the military.

It wasn't good enough, he was thinking as he rounded another corner and made his way down a flight of stairs. Not good enough. Whoever were pulling the strings had to be part of the Company or something else, because there was no other reason for the blackout. People who knew what the virus was. What it did.

But as he'd expected a scan of the lower floors didn't give anything but more despair and pleas for help. He didn't try to soothe them, like he had in Odessa. Didn't have the time.

He was tempted to leave and grab someone guarding the bridges, because he knew they were there now, there and anywhere else you might attempt to leave. Positioned there quietly. Ready for the morning. But he wasn't reckless enough and returned to Mohinder's lab before long.

"Military's here", he said immediately when he entered, shutting the door behind him and shooting a dirty look out the glass windows that let the CDC people look right in. To make sure Mohinder was doing his work, no doubt. "Or they will be."

They had orders for the hospital too, of course. Not many, but they'd be there to prevent people scrambling for their loved ones. Protests, riots, you name it. This place was a hot spot.

Mohinder had been doing just about nothing for the last hour. Going through results that turned up no new information, just sentencing someone else to a certain death was weighing down on him so much that the puffiness around his eyes and the redness around his dark irises were absolutely understandable. He once more removed his glasses, just to put the world back into a sort of comforting fuzziness.

"There are outbreaks in Boulder, Santa Monica California, Boston and Detroit Michigan," Mohinder told Matt. "They're quarentined the cities and the outlying suburbs. At six o'clock this morning, they're going to black out the city. Turn off the whole grid. Only people with generators are going to have any power at all..."

Mohinder's fear was palpable.

"I don't know what to do about it except pray I find the impossible."

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