Mohinder Suresh (
seekevolution) wrote2014-02-12 01:01 pm
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The Storm
"Mohinder! Mohinder! It's too much!" the little girl protested from her bedroom after one of her adoptive fathers (paper work having gone through thanks to Matt's singular talent) nearly tackled her to rub sunscreen into her fair skin. "I can't breathe! It's in my nose!"
Mohinder more or less ignored her cries, rubbing more of the white cream into the areas behind her ears. "You'll thank me when you're not a lobster tomorrow."
"But we're wasting time! Matt's already pulled up the car and packed it!" She might be young, but that didn't mean she wasn't already imagining herself like the girls on the Disney Channel with tanned skin and sun-bleached hair. It'd started with lipstick and red nail polish and a two piece bathing suit he'd given into only because he's force her to wear a little jacket when not in the water. And a hat.
"He'll wait for us," Mohinder said as he clucked his tongue, dressed in white shorts and an orange collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up, though left open with his chest bare beneath. He had on a pair of sandals too, certainly looking ready for the beach. If only Molly would cooperate!
"And if he doesn't?"
"We'll think of a proper punishment. All right, there you are, bring a change of shoes in case the car gets too cold on the drive."
Mohinder more or less ignored her cries, rubbing more of the white cream into the areas behind her ears. "You'll thank me when you're not a lobster tomorrow."
"But we're wasting time! Matt's already pulled up the car and packed it!" She might be young, but that didn't mean she wasn't already imagining herself like the girls on the Disney Channel with tanned skin and sun-bleached hair. It'd started with lipstick and red nail polish and a two piece bathing suit he'd given into only because he's force her to wear a little jacket when not in the water. And a hat.
"He'll wait for us," Mohinder said as he clucked his tongue, dressed in white shorts and an orange collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up, though left open with his chest bare beneath. He had on a pair of sandals too, certainly looking ready for the beach. If only Molly would cooperate!
"And if he doesn't?"
"We'll think of a proper punishment. All right, there you are, bring a change of shoes in case the car gets too cold on the drive."
you silly
"Relax", he said to him and put a hand on the board, looking to Molly. She was looking out at the waves. They weren't particularly big, not like the ones you might find further out in California, but they gave nice peaks that looked good for a surf. "Want to go out a bit?" he asked her to which she gave him an eager grin and nodded.
I'm right with her, he thought to Mohinder, all calm and confident. He'd grown up with a foot in the sea and Molly had too, and water was never any more dangerous than you let it be. Matt had an ease about it when he shifted to swim out (not far at all, Mohinder, don't worry), hauling her along on the board, and then let her go just a few paces later when a proper wave came in.
"All right! Go!"
Molly braced herself, kept her balance, and rode the wave in like a pro - at least until the water came down over her from behind and she slipped, but she immediately grappled for the board and kept afloat with her arms across it, squealing with laughter. Matt was right there with her, keeping the board steady if she wanted to get on it again, and he looked entirely too happy about the whole thing when he motioned for Mohinder.
"Wanna try?" he teased, and Molly chimed in with a singsong, "It's really fun!"
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He didn't stay in the water as long as the two fish he was living with did, dripping water onto hot sand was he half pranced his way from the surf to the chairs set up. He could see his family from their spot and waved at Molly when she yelled his name and told him to watch her have a go.
He did, with relish, white teeth flashing from between dark lips as he reapplied sunscreen and then insisted on doing the same for Molly when she dragged her board in for a snack.
A woman in her mid forties blocked the sun, little girl about Molly's age in tow, just after the sandwiches had been handed out and Mohinder was reminding Matt that 'lobster' was not a professional colour to be at work. She cleared her throat and Mohinder shaded his eyes to look up, instantly recognizing her as a mother from the PTA earlier in the year. Molly had attended her daughter's birthday party as well, and the raven haired, slightly chubby girl waved shyly at Molly.
"You're Amal, right?" she asked and Mohinder arched an eyebrow.
"Mohinder. Suresh," he replied, amused at the way she suddenly looked flustered and offered her a hand while Molly held out a little package of goldfish crackers to her classmate. "Not a common name, don't worry about. This is Matt Parkman."
"Sorry! I tend to know everyone by their kids' names. I figured saying Molly's... Ah, Molly's parents might be a little rude. Margaret. Welsh. Hello. Good to see you Mr. Parkman. Jessie wanted to come over and say hello--"
Her thoughts were eractic. She was a single mother and obviously, it had been a long time since she'd been intimate with anyone. The way her eyes traveled over Mohinder was hungry, even though she was currently trying to understand how their family worked. And how sex with the two men worked.
There'd never been a doubt in anyone's mind at school at Molly had two dads in the traditional sense of the word. Why else would two men raise a girl together?
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Drying off and coming up for a drink and a snack was a necessarily evil but it only served for a bit more bonding, with Molly talking excitedly at them between popping the goldfish crackers into her mouth, eating half of them by decapacitating them with her teeth. Matt was reaching for one of the many sandwiches they'd made himself when the woman made herself known. Or rather, when her thoughts did.
This meant that when Mohinder introduced him, Matt had already been giving Margaret a guarded look for a while. Sometimes, telepathy sucked. The way she was mentally ogling Mohinder put a serious damper on his mood. The way she was also going on about them almost made him angry, but he shook it off fairly smoothly when he directed his attention to the girl Molly had just chirped a "Hi!" at.
"Why don't we let them play for a bit, huh?" he suggested. At the way Molly's eyes brightened he added, "After you finish that drink." She gave him a smile and Matt looked up at Margaret, asking if that was okay.
"Oh, sure! If it's no trouble", she said, a slightly nervous quality in her voice that Matt didn't like at all. He had half a thought of kissing Mohinder's shoulder (or his collar bone, or his jaw, or that entirely too polite smile) just to mark territory, but didn't.
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Margaret was much more interested in getting dirt on Mohinder and Matt and when she was not actively imagining what it must be like to run her fingers through his slowly drying (and frizzing) curls. Her questions weren't exactly invasive, and Mohinder didn't see it that way either. He just kept right on smiling. "So is Molly Matt's biological daughter?" she asked, glancing up at the scowling older man before turning her attention back to Mohinder alone.
"Molly's adopted," Mohinder said, hardly recognizing when it was good to talk and when not to. They'd never asked Molly to lie but people just assumed. She was white. Matt was white. Mohinder was the odd man out there.
"Oh!" Margaret said in a fluster. Wouldn't she have all the attention at school on Monday while they were waiting to pick up the kids? "Then...have you two been together for a long time?"
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"A while", he said, which was vague enough to be true (especially for the technical meaning of together), shooting her a quick smile and touching a hand to Mohinder's shoulder. Unable to resist some marking now, apparently. It was really close to a small, actual pull. "But that doesn't really matter so long as she's loved, don't you think?"
Don't let her know about her parents, he thought grimly, squeezing Mohinder's shoulder before he let go.
"They're really something though, aren't they? Kids", he added in a bright tone, nodding towards the girls playing with the sand some distance away to steer the topic clear of any other question that might come up about Molly's adoption. His own cheer was largely fake, something Mohinder might pick up on if he paid attention, and something Margaret probably also would if she'd stop gushing over Mohinder's skin tone for two seconds.
Or on the other hand, maybe she didn't actually care, and Matt fell into silence for the most part after that.
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Even Margaret seemed to notice after awhile and her thoughts turned just as tense as Mohinder was. Oh, they must be fighting. This is uncomfortable now...maybe I was interrupting.... Even if that wasn't the case, she excused herself to go back to her beach reading.
Mohinder didn't relax even after she'd left, however. It wasn't her fault, he knew, it was his own. He needed to be careful. Yes, their immediate threats were gone but if anyone knew--
He risked their entire family.
Mohinder turned to busy himself cleaning up from lunch. He couldn't help but think he'd put a damper on Matt's day.
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And Mohinder's thoughts weren't that quiet either. Although Matt still tried to keep out of personal thoughts he felt he had no choice but latching onto these ones, just to set them straight.
"No, it's not you", he said with a sigh, not really looking at him but rather fixing his eyes on Molly who was still playing with Jessie. They'd managed some impressive trenches in the sand that probably formed a pattern, but it was difficult to see from where they were sitting. "It's her. Mind reader, remember?"
It really did come down to that, most of the time. If you were already somewhat disinclined to trust people, hearing their thoughts certainly didn't help.
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Still, this sudden concern, and the rapidly filling beach, gave quite a lot of people thoughts about them. Mohinder always seemed to make those thoughts worse with the way he so dramatically drew attention to himself.
Half the time, it wasn't even his fault. This time, it was likely due to the fact that he was hardly wearing anything and looking so concerned.
About Molly? Does she know?
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As it were he heard a lot more from everyone else than they ever would from him. He blocked them out.
"She doesn't know anything. She's just ..." He searched for a word. "Curious. A lot. And thinking way too much about things she shouldn't be thinking about. I don't like it."
The details of that, Mohinder didn't really need to know, did he?
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When nothing came, he leaned in, hand on Matt's other knee. Honestly, Mohinder had been in America long enough to know that men didn't touch each other that way. Then again, they'd been stealing clandestine kisses after Molly had been put to bed every single night since their first kiss in the kitchen.
Sometimes they even took a tumble in bed together, clothing all neatly kept in place, of course, but whether out loud or not, they were in a relationship of sorts and that allowed for that sort of touching, surely.
"About her adoption? Oh God, we ought to have stuck with you being her actual father--" he lamented.
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What that something would have been he wasn't entirely sure but it didn't really matter. Mentally or not, he would have fixed that problem. He was sure. He was confident in his ability to. If he'd managed Odessa and Sylar, he could fend off a single mother with an over-active imagination.
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Their day at the beach could continue unimpeded by anyone else, starting with Mohinder insisting on reapplying sunscreen to the back of Matt's neck and shoulders. "Much too pink," he proclaimed. "I hardly need you getting skin cancer because you're jealous of my tan," he joked stupidly, rubbing the lotion into Matt's skin in entirely too wonderful a way.
Molly was happy. They were happy. The sand was warm, the water was cool...and they all had each other.
After burying Matt in the sand and one more session in the water, however, it was time to pack up and go. And not a second too soon, either. The sun was still high in the sky but Molly was yawning something feirce.
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She looked a bit like she might fall asleep in the backseat once they pulled out onto the road again, but looked expectantly at Mohinder when Matt shot him a sideways smile.
"So how did you like the beach?"
Matt hadn't had that much fun in months, personally, and felt a lot happier from the experience. He looked it too, elbow resting on the open car window, sunglasses on to shield from the sun coming down on them and the easy smile in place as he kept his eyes (mostly) on the road.
"'Cause I think there's hope for you yet, Suresh."
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"Today was perfect," he confirmed. "Just don't let me look at a mirror." His hair was dreadful...in sort of a beautiful way. Even so, it might break the teeth off of combs or swallow wrist watches should any make their way near him.
The mood in the car on the drive home was sleepy and with Molly quiet in the backseat, curled around her oversized beach towel, Mohinder slipped his hand onto Matt's thigh just to have that sort of connection with him. His thoughts were a happy muddling of at least three languages which tended to mean that he was tired too.
Thank you, he sent to Matt, gazing affectionately at the older man, as if there could be nothing on the horizon to spoil these moments.
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Once home things continued in that sleepy but quietly happy manner. During the last few weeks some more pieces of furniture had actually made their way into the apartment, making it look less like a temporary place to stay and more like a home, even if they still had a lot more to add.
The tasks were a mix between putting things back in their places, picking out something light to eat for dinner and engaging Molly, because if she fell asleep now she'd be up before four am and Matt was pretty sure neither he nor Mohinder wanted that. She watched some cartoons and drew in her coloring books before they ate and after that they all played a game of Scrabble, with Matt and Molly teaming against Mohinder since it just seemed more fair that way.
Molly was perking up again but when they did send her to bed she didn't protest, just hugged them both, accepted their kisses and was asleep after just a few minutes.
Matt was leaning on the door frame, watching her with a small smile on his lips and his arms crossed in that lazy way when he looked at Mohinder. He was feeling such a wave of fondness and affection for both of them. They'd been as close to an ordinary, non-special family that day as they were ever likely to be, and it felt great. Normal. Easy.
"She's amazing, isn't she?" he said out loud after a moment, over the distant voices of the news reporters. The TV was still on in the background.
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"She is amazing," he agreed. Mohinder crossed from the kitchen where he'd been washing ice cream bowls and spoons up to the doorway where Matt watched Molly, a few scant steps. He took there a moment to watch her too before he leaned across Matt to grip the knob and pull the door shut.
They stood facing one another and Mohinder's arms curled around Matt's neck as he stood on his toes to kiss him firmly. You are amazing too, he directs a thought, Matt's back shoved perhaps a little uncomfortably against the jam so that the Indian could do naughty, amazing things with his tongue inside of Matt's mouth.
He's just about to tug Matt's shirt up when the faint voice from the television mentions something about over three hundred people admitted to the hospital, all of whom had spent the day at Coney Island. Fevers, sudden collapses--
Mohinder pulls back as if Matt burned him, eyes wide.
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Matt stared at him, frowning. "What?"
But the answer came quickly as Mohinder's thoughts were spiking with worry-maybe-panic and Matt whipped around to stare at the TV, hands falling to Mohinder's arms. Holding on, in a way.
Shit, this couldn't be happening again. No way.
He pulled Mohinder with him to the living room where he grabbed the remote and upped the volume, the reporter speaking frantically without really knowing what was going on. It made sense. These were still mostly local news. But no doubt would a connection be drawn to Odessa -
Coney Island?
Matt wanted to punch something. He threw the remote onto the sofa.
"We have to go", he said darkly, searching Mohinder's eyes. Hoping he'd say no, maybe, but not at all expecting it.
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One was within walking distance.
Mohinder itched. They could be caught up in this again, trapped again... "We have to get as far away from here is possible--" Mohinder knew already that there was nothing he could do for this. The outbreak was beyond him. He found markers for immunity, markers for the loci the virus latched onto in a person's cells, but that was it. "I'm going to put our bags together, get Molly up and--"
He was interrupted by the phone buzzing on the table, dancing around merrily like oil on a hot plate. He drew closer to Matt for a moment. He wanted to be told to ignore the call...but they both knew he couldn't.
Mohinder answered on the very last ring, breathless and afraid. "Hello--"
"Suresh, we need you at Beth Israel." Bennet. "We're setting up a new lab for you." Mohinder pinched the bridge of his nose and glanced again at Matt. Take Molly and go.
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Phone. Who? Matt mouthed, a darkness in his eyes, but at the mental request slash command he wasted no time, grabbing the backpack he'd had at the beach and quickly gathering things as he thought of them. Wallet, badge, gun, keys, phone, charger.
He shot Mohinder another look before he disappeared into their daughter's room to wake her. He slowed down, though. Stroked her hair. "Hey, sweetheart. Wake up. We have to go."
Molly was depressingly ready and alert when she was told that kind of thing. She didn't even really ask about it, not yet, she just nodded and sat up and got dressed, mutely. Sadly. It broke Matt's heart.
She was thinking how she didn't want to. Matt blocked it out, had to be practical, but he took her hand in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture when he went back out into the living room.
"Who was it?" he asked again, looking Mohinder over. They needed to at least touch ground. Know where they were going to go, in case they couldn't get a hold of each other any other way. Molly seemed scared but wary, looking between the two men.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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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.
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