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."
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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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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."
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... 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?"
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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.
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"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.
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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!"
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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?"
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"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.
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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."
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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."
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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?"
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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.
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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.
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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?
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"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.
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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."
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