[fanfic] Legacies: Part 1 (PG-13)

[tiptoe39]

Title: Legacies
Chapter: 1
Author: tiptoe39
Characters/Pairings: Matt/Mohinder; Maya; Elle
Rating: The fic as a whole is rated R; this chapter is rated PG-13 for language.
Warnings: Spoilers for all of Season 2 so far; slash. (The slash is integral to the plot, but it is not the plot itself.)
Summary: We are given legacies by those who leave us, but also by those who stay by our side.
Previous chapters: Prologue



When he opened the apartment door, Molly was there, calling his name and springing into his arms. "Hi there," he said, breathing in the smell of her hair. "I missed you, too." Then, two things struck him simultaneously. One, Molly was trembling and holding him far too tightly; and two, there was a woman he'd never seen before standing in his apartment, staring at him blankly.

"Sylar was here," came a flat, accented voice.

Mohinder was standing in a far corner of the room, so still Matt hadn't even noticed him.

His knees began to knock with dread. "What?" He felt cold, almost frozen, all of a sudden. Molly was hot to the touch in comparison. He shivered as he held her, squeezing her so tight she whimpered. "Oh, my God. Oh, no. Baby, are you OK?" Her fierce little nod against his shoulder was like a sweet whisper of relief. "Oh, thank God. Oh, no."

"Welcome home," Molly said quietly in his ear, her voice and arms shaking. "Don't go anywhere for a while, OK? Stay here for a while?" The note of sweet faith in her voice was crushing to him.

"Of course, of course, of course I will." He covered the top of her head with kisses. "I'm so, so sorry. I will never leave you alone again. I promise." He squeezed his eyes shut. There was an angry question in Mohinder's eyes, and another question in the form of a mysterious girl, and he had to shut it all out. He had to process all the guilt and relief that was flooding through him. She was safe. She'd come through unscathed. Thank God. But he hadn't been here. He hadn't protected her. He cursed himself, held her tight, rocked her in his arms. Anything to put the demons at bay. Her demons, and his own.

But Mohinder was still glaring at him, and there was still a strange woman in his kitchen. So he kissed her ear and breathed, "Sweetie, can you give us a little time to talk? Go pick out your favorite game, and we'll have a tournament when I'm done. Any game you want."

"Even Scrabble?" God bless children for being as resilient as they were. She was poking fun at him already.

Matt grumbled dramatically as he set her down. "Yes, even Scrabble. You just love it when I can't spell things, don't you?"

She reached up, hugged him again briefly. "I missed you," she said, and ran off to her room. The minute she was gone, Matt wished she were back again. Now there was nothing but him, the stranger, and the glare on Mohinder's face.

"Apparently you felt it was all right to leave Molly with a babysitter while you ran off in search of God knows what. She says they were alone for two days?" Mohinder spoke curtly. His accusation had the ring of something that had been whirling around in his head for anger-filled hours, layering and echoing over itself until, when it finally came out, it was poison in the air.

Matt went on the defensive, flushing with rage. "Where were you? Weren't you here?" He knew he was painting himself into a corner, but his anger was ruling him and all he knew to do was lash out. Sylar! Sylar! Of all the people in all the places at all the times...

"No, I was not here! Or did it escape your notice that you were leaving an eight-year-old child alone when you went off on whatever insane manhunt possessed you this time?" Mohinder was advancing on him. The dark-skinned girl was still staring. It was all patently absurd.

He had to throw the brakes. "Wait. Wait. Stop. Just... stop. First of all, Sylar's alive? I thought he was dead. You told me he was killed! And who are you?" he added impatiently, turning to the girl, whose eyes rounded into glassy marbles at the sudden attention.

"Her name is Maya. Sylar used her, played her for a fool, and now she has nowhere to go," Mohinder explained impatiently.

"So what, she's just staying here?" Matt exploded. "The more the merrier in this big happy family? What the hell is going on here!?"

"Please." It was the first word she'd spoken, and she flipped her "l" in a delicate way. When she went on, Matt was able to recognize that English was not her native tongue. "Please sit down. I will try to explain."

Matt caught Mohinder's eyes, glaring into them purposefully, as he took the seat she offered. Mohinder's lips pursed as though around a question, but it went unasked. Instead, Maya began to tell her story.

It took barely two sentences before Matt was on his feet again, pointing toward the door. "OUT," he said.

Tears filled Maya's eyes. Mohinder rose as well. "Now hold on a moment," he started.

"Are you insane?" Matt roared. "She kills people when she gets upset?! And you're letting her stay HERE?"

"I can control it," Maya pleaded. "Please, I have no place to go..."

"You're damn straight you don't. Least of all here, around my kid."

"Our kid," Mohinder said quietly but firmly. "And I'll thank you to remember that you're in the exact same position she is."

A fire lit in Matt's eyes. "Did you hear what you just said?" he demanded. "Ours. That means mine, too. So don't you threaten me like you're just some landlord and I'm a deadbeat tenant. You're not throwing me out of here." There was a waver in his voice at this last statement that could have been fear. Or pleading. Or faith. Neither Matt nor Mohinder was quite sure.

"I..." Maya's high, gentle voice cut through the stillness that followed. "I will go take a walk. You can talk together."

Mohinder started. "Maya, wait."

"It's all right." Her smile was gentle, but maybe just a little too bright. "I will be, ah, twenty minutes. I will knock when I return." Her smile twitched slightly, but she turned the doorknob without a sound and left.

When she was gone, Matt sunk to the table, put his head in his hands, and groaned. "Sylar! God DAMN it!"

Mohinder stared at him for a long moment. "I'm sorry I snapped at you," he said finally. "I've just been all alone here, dealing with this, and--"

"It's not safe here," Matt interrupted. "We're going to have to move."

"I know." Mohinder nodded gravely. "I've already inquired about another apartment. I'll show you the photos and the listing for it if you--"

"That's not important," Matt said firmly. "What's important is that we get out of here as soon as possible. We should probably pull her out of school, too. Shit!" He shook his head. "I was-- I thought I was doing the right thing for Molly. I thought I was going to save the world, more or less!" He laughed bitterly. "I never should have left her. I--"

On impulse, Mohinder reached across the table and touched his hand briefly. "You couldn't have known. I thought Sylar was dead as well. Unfortunately for all of us, we were mistaken."

Matt stared at the hand on the table, just a few inches from his. It had been warm when it had touched him, and he thought that was strange. Why should it be strange that Mohinder's hand was warm? Nervously he looked up, furrowing his brow at him. There was some color in his cheeks, and his gaze was steady. It made Matt a little uncomfortable. There were several minutes of silence.

"I don't want that woman here," he said lamely.

"Trust me, neither do I." Mohinder's eyes slid to the side. "She frightens me. If she breaks down in front of Molly and can't control herself..."

"Then why?"

"Because now that I know what she can do, I'd be an accessory to murder if I were to let her go elsewhere." His voice was an anxious rasp. "I think I may be able to help her. I think the Company may be able--"

"Oh. Great. Right. The Company." Matt sighed laboriously. "How many times have I got to tell you this? They made the virus. They abducted me. They shot Nathan Petrelli--"

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do, and so do you." Matt fixed him with a stare. "I get what you're trying to do, but putting my... putting our daughter in danger crosses the line." He paused. "Let's not do this, Mohinder. Before you left, I was pretty sure we were starting to get along."

The corners of Mohinder's mouth turned up. "Yes. It was a pleasant change."

"But put Molly in danger and all bets are off, you understand? Everything is over." His fist on the table curled, a reminder to Mohinder that Matt was the stronger one, should it ever come to that.

Mohinder sighed. "You're right, of course. We'll... find a place for her. But I'll need to check on her, often. Now that she knows the truth about Sylar, she's just one more target for him."

"And if he could get his hands on that power..." Matt didn't need to finish the sentence. They both shuddered.

"So I guess we'll be packing again," Matt said, cracking a smile. Mohinder answered it weakly. And before he knew he was doing it, Matt was moving his hand over the table toward Mohinder's.

He stopped before they made contact. They stared at each other.

Then the door swung open. Maya stood there, looking slightly surprised and staring at the door as though she'd just seen a ghost open it for her.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I was going to knock, but..."

"Hellooo!"

Mohinder shuddered at the voice.

"So this is your place, huh? God, it smells. I think you need to take out your garbage or something." The sunshine-flash of blonde hair was accompanied by the rhythmic click of heels as the woman strode in. "Damn. Oh, no, it's your disposal," she said, sniffing the sink. "Don't you ever run it?"

When she turned around and finally noticed Matt, their mouths opened in unison. "Who the hell are you?" they both asked.

Mohinder hid his head in his hands. "Matt, meet Elle," he said, sighing heavily. "Elle, this is Officer Matt Parkman. He lives here, too. You remember my employer, Bob Bishop? Elle is his daughter."

"And your partner. Don't forget that," Elle said, striding forward to shake Matt's hand. He drew back at the shock of static electricity, and she pretended not to notice as she turned toward Mohinder. "But seriously, Doctor S, I finally figured out who she is! I didn't realize it when I met her before. Had bigger fish to fry."

She let a crackle of electricity demonstrate just how literally she meant that, and Matt stepped back, his eyes wide and his mouth gaping. "Jesus Christ, Mohinder, how many dangerous women have been under this roof while I've been gone?"

Elle found this uproariously funny. "I like him already!" she cackled.

"Oh, please, God, no," whimpered Mohinder under his breath. Matt stared at him, confused.

But Elle had already moved on. "So when were you going to tell me you'd picked her up? I mean, didn't you know we've been looking for her like crazy?"

"Who... what?"

"This chickie, of course," Elle smiled widely. A bit of bubblegum flashed pink between her teeth as she pointed at Maya.

"What are you planning?" Mohinder's eyes were dark. Matt looked over at him and saw the flashes of suspicion burning deep within those black orbs.

"What? She's a danger, we're going to neutralize her. Make the bad stuff go away. We can do that, you know." And then Elle did the most disconcerting thing of all: she slung an arm around Maya and smiled widely.

"Don't you two worry about a thing," she said, the low corners of her voice scraping gravel. "We're going to take very good care of her."

Next: Company-style hospitality.


I am going to keep writing this AU I'm working on and will probably post it within the hour, fyi. But this one was done and I wanted to get it out there.